…and this is a 
Playing hooky in nerdtopia
Category: Personal
Posted on: June 22, 2006 10:31 AM, by PZ Myers
You may have noticed it was a bit quiet here on Pharyngula yesterday. I took the day off. My daughter Skatje has been away for a few weeks, visiting her sweetie-pie in Kentucky, and we had to make the long drive to the airport and back, so we decided to make a day of it in the big city as long as we were there. I also had to drop by the Big U and sign some papers.
When my boys and I decide to paint the town red, guess what we do? We headed to Dreamhaven Books, Comics and Art, Phoenix Games, Uncle Hugo's (what is it with the remarkable concentration of geekdom on Lake Street in Minneapolis?), and The Source Comics & Games. After eating lots of Chinese food, we headed to the airport, only to discover Skatje's plane was delayed.
So we sprawled on the floor of the Humphrey terminal and played Zombies until she arrived. I have discovered that when faced with the shambling horrors, I will roll lots of "1"s, slapping ineffectually at them until they grapple with me and gnaw on my brains. My sons Alaric and Connlann will grab shotguns, fire axes, and grenades and cut a bloody swath through them on their way to the helicopter pad, where they will fly away leaving me in a slowly closing circle of implacable moaning flesh-eaters.
When Skatje finally showed up (she had a fine time with her boy toy, who apparently works in a comic book shop and plays D&D), it was midnight, and we had the long drive home to face…we finally staggered into the house after a long day of nerd decadence at 3AM.
As you might guess, now I'm feeling exhausted and my brains have been repeatedly chewed upon. And you all know what weirdos we are here at Chez Myers.
Comments
PZ - where do you get Chinese? I lived in the western 'burbs for 4 years from '96-'00, and still miss a restaurant in the small Chinatown in MPLS called Rainbow. Very unusual and very good. Also miss the 2 amazing Thai restaurants in SPL (one around the corner from the old science museum, and also from the diner in the Robert Altman's PHC movie, don't recall exactly where the other one is/was, though I could probably find it if I were in SPL and had a car). Wonder if these places are still there.
Posted by: typekey pseudonym![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 10:50 AM
Rainbow is still there (at least it was the last time i was in Mpls--last winter.) It's on Nicollet Ave (Eat Street), a great place to go in Mpls for Asian grocery stores, not really a Chinatown though.
All this talk of Lake St and Eat St...God I miss Minneapolis, especially the pho at Kinhdo on Hennepin. I'm too poor to fly back this summer, but usually my mother and I (my folks live near Mankato) take a day in Minneapolis to hit a museum, do some shopping, have dinner, and hit a Twins game. Always one of my favorite days of the year.
Posted by: MAJeff![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 11:04 AM
Mr. Myers, every time I think I can't love this blog more, something like this comes along. The thought of one of my favorite bloggers playing Zombies with his children does my heart good.
And it's good to know that they'll be prepared if the zombies ever show up. ;)
Posted by: Evil Bender![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 11:15 AM
Next time, how about trying some Nuclear War? Think of it as providing the raw materials for Zombies.
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 11:27 AM
We enjoy playing Give Me the Brain from Cheapass Games.
BTW, have you seen zombies dance?
Posted by: Ken Cope![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 11:44 AM
The Big U? You work at American Megaversity? Wait, that's in Boston. I'm confused.
Speaking of The Big U and zombies, I just finished watching season 1 of Buffy (hey, I've been busy the last 9 years...), and it reminded me a lot of The Big U: Lots of promise, but not really there yet.
Posted by: Johnny Vector![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 11:53 AM
It's not that your family's weird, PZ. It's that all other families are. Why can't my parents be nerds?
Posted by: Alon Levy![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 12:28 PM
I love Dreamhaven! The Gustavus Gaming Society would make a trip up there at least once a year.
Posted by: Nymphalidae![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 12:37 PM
Slapping ineffectually at the dread hordes is nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed, all our efforts will be but slapping feebly against the unyielding might of Cthulhu, in the end. Ia.
Posted by: ZGBuccheri![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 2:21 PM
Unabashed geekery. That's hot; real hot.
A kidding-on-the-square question for you, Dr. Myers: does the fact that your daughter's boyfriend works in a superhero-related field and plays D&D mitigate or exacerbate your natural apprehension as a father?
Posted by: Heliologue![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 2:21 PM
Dreamhaven is one of my favorite places in the world. Too bad I live in Texas now. Bleh.
Posted by: Joker Cross![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 2:29 PM
Damn, I decided to delay my Source-run for about a week (some neat expansions coming out then, including, hopefully, the card expansion to Arkham Horror!).
To think, if only I had made the drive, I could have given Dr. Myers an embarrassing celebrity experience!
Posted by: Fox1![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 3:42 PM
Celebrity gaming experience for me: playing Star Fleet Battles in a local game shop and discovering that A) the store owner is a personal friend of Robin Williams, B) that Robin Williams was in Seattle, and C) that Robin Williams plays Warhammer 40k and walked out with a 8 inch stack of Codexes. I go from bitching about my phaser dice to going, 'What the....? Is that Robin Williams with that stack of 40k stuff?' in about 15 seconds.
Posted by: NBarnes![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 4:06 PM
You live in Minnesota and you did't play Maul of America? I guess with 3 I can understand it. (I'll second playing "Nuclear War" by the way...)
Posted by: DouglasG![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 4:13 PM
The trick to surviving "Zombies", as to surviving corporate America, is to procure and administer an Alternative Food Source to distract the brain-hungry monsters.
Posted by: Caledonian![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 5:39 PM
Where in Kentucky, if I may be so nosy? I ask partly because of Tara's "small world" post. I wonder how many degrees separate me and PZ.
Posted by: wheatdogg![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 6:33 PM
She was somewhere near Murray State University.
Posted by: PZ Myers![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 7:20 PM
Ah, nevermind. Murray's about 2.5 hours from here.
Posted by: wheatdogg![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 8:37 PM
Celebrity gaming experience for me: playing Star Fleet Battles in a local game shop ...
Ahh, so that's what was making the "Hull, hull, hull, hull, hull, dammit! hull ..." sounds.
Posted by: Rick @ shrimp and grits![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 9:24 PM
If you want to play Maul of America you can at nertopia online - also known as g-engine. http://www.ccgworkshop.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Posted by: Oligo![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 22, 2006 9:38 PM
As any true afficianado knows, the key to surviving zombies lies in that bastion of improvised weaponry, the garden shed. It is well known that when zombies are present all garden sheds will spontaneously fill with scythes, loose lawnmower blades, piles and piles of circular saw blades, barrels of flammable liquids and may, in the more modern garden sheds, have battery-powered nailguns and small circular saws that can be weilded one-handed.
Posted by: KeithM![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 24, 2006 10:30 PM