Save Your Vagina! Down Under

A couple of weeks ago I gave all the homosexual men a pass on reading my blog when I wrote "Save your vagina" - a post about menstrual cups. If you're a man and only interested in other men, then you don't need to know about this, nobody else has an excuse. Stop being grossed out and get familiar with your bodies!

When I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I was talking specifically about Mooncups -  the brand I know and love. However I know a lot of people like to support local, and the Mooncup is from the UK. Introducing Juju cup! The down-under, locally sourced, Australian solution to all your monthly woes.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Zombie Dice

Players: 2+  
Playtime: 5-10 minutes

Replay Value: 5/10 

Zombie Dice (another Steve Jackson game) is a quick and simple dice rolling game that is great for getting you in the gaming mood. You play as zombies. Hungry zombies. Each dice rolls dictates whether you collect brains for your winter stash, the humans run away, or you get shot.

At the start of your turn, you pull 3 dice out of the container and roll them. Each brain is worth one point. Footprints mean the person has run away. The shotgun blast is, well, as shot in the head. Don't worry you are a super zombie and can handle getting shot twice times, but the third time puts you on the ground.

Five click bait titles that need to stop happening. And you won't believe why!

Because it's fucking annoying. *end post*

But seriously, it needs to stop. Whatever happened to meaningful headings? I don't mind if they are sensationalist attention grabbing headings, but they need to tell me what is happening. It's not that hard, I could have titled this post "Why I hate clickbait" or simply "clickbait" but A. my friend Shigy beat me to that one (damn you, I've been sitting on this idea for a month) and B. I think I finally hit on some solid irony. Or satire. Or sarcasm. For a writer I'm really bad at defining those terms.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Munchkin

Players: 3+  
Playtime: 45minutes+

Replay Value: 10/10

Munchkin is a role-playing card game based on old-fashion dungeon crawlers which makes it sound complicated and boring. However Munchkin strips away the tedious character creation, grumpy dungeon master and in-depth creation of a big complicated fantasy world, and just leaves you with good ol' fashion monster squishing, back stabbing and hilariously illustrated shenanigans.

Save your vagina!

While it's not Tuesday, I want to review something. As a female, I statistically spend 25% of my time walking around with my knees clenched together because it's That Time of the Month. At my age I also need to think about contraception, and I chose the Implanon implant, because I'm forgetful. It's a small implant embedded under the skin of your inner arm. After the first week my arm had recovered from the implant, and now you can feel the rod under the skin but otherwise it doesn't effect my arm movement, or hurt if you press on it. However, reading the side of the box is pretty off-putting because the possible side effects of Implanon are listed as:

• Mood swings
• Weight gain
• Headache
• Depressed mood
• Headache
• Vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina)
• Weight gain
• Acne
• Breast pain
• Viral infections such as sore throats or flu-like symptoms
• Stomach pain
• Painful periods
• Mood swings, nervousness, or depressed mood
• Back pain
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Pain
• Pain at the site of insertion

Let's be honest, I have had most of these although I haven't gained any weight or suffered any (more) Acne. I'm on to my third Implanon implant (each on lasts three years) and because I'm so forgetful I would never switch to the pill, or a monthly injection (which has been shown to weaken your bones).

Tuesday Reviewsday: Games library

So for the last couple of months I've managed to stick to the schedule and review one board game a week. I'm a little chuffed with myself for managing this level of committee, but I'm starting to run out. Not all the way out, here's my games library, reviewed and to-be-reviewed:

• Pandemic - Base game (done) On the Brink expansion (done) and In the Lab expansion (coming soon)
• Lords of Waterdeep - Base game (done) and Scoundrels of Skullport expansion (done)
• Betrayal at House on the Hill (done)
• Takenoko (done)
• Star Fluxx (done)

Tuesday Reviewsday: Star Fluxx

Players: 2+ 
Playtime: 5-45minute

Replay Value: 10/10

Star Fluxx was released in 2011. There are currently 16 different versions of Fluxx, including the original, Cthulhu Fluxx and Stoner Fluxx, however, we opted to purchase Star Fluxx. This game is stupid fun. I mean those together and separately, it's stupid, it's fun, it's stupid fun. The rules are quite simple, you deal each player three cards. First player is decided by whoever says "I'm going first" and draws a card. Then they play a card. Then the next player draws one, and plays one. Super duper simple. In fact those are the only rules that exist when you start the game.

Happy Birthday Dad

Caught looking grumpy after a day at
White Water World without sunscreen.

Thanks for that last trip to Queensland. I'm so glad I got to spend five days with you for my birthday. Thanks for going on the kiddy roller coaster with me, and admitting it was the best one in the park, even if we barely squeezed into the seats. Thanks for tolerating me stubbornly insisting we don't eat any junk food. Except in Theme Parks, where it's $10 hotdogs or $50 sit-down three course meals. What's up with that anyway?

Thank you for teaching me to drive. And for not laughing at me too much as you did.

Thanks for never taking over any project I was doing, no matter how badly I was screwing it up. Thanks for helping me fix everything after. You taught me that asking for help isn't a problem, if you tried your hardest first. You showed me that I can do anything, but I'm going to screw it up a few times first.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Scoundrels of Skullport

Players: 2-4
Playtime: 45minutes +

Replay Value: 8/10

Scoundrels of Skullport is an expansion to Lords of Waterdeep (which I reviewed back in November). Released in 2013 it includes two different expansions, three new boards and a mountain of new Intrigue and Quest Cards, as well as new buildings and Lords.

You can use one or both of the new expansions. Using only one expansion means adding 3 buildings to the base board, but has no other effect on set-up. Using both expansions adds 6 buildings to the board, and each player gets another agent.

Christmas in the smart-ass house

I intended to ignore Christmas. I told my partner I wasn't looking forward to the Big Day. I made him promise not to buy me a gift. I even asked him on Christmas Eve if he had bought me anything. And he said no. Liar.

A couple of weeks ago we went to see the Hunger Games, and I got all worked up over the terrible advert for NERF Rebelle. Basically generic NERF toys made 'girly'. Take three guesses what I got for Christmas.

That is the Nerf Rebelle Diamondista Blaster. Not only ignoring my request to not exchange gifts, he bought me something I had actively whinged about. Smart-ass.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Takenoko

Players: 2-4, better with more players

Playtime: 45minutes

Replay Value: 7/10

Takenoko is probably the lightest game I own. It's good to pull out every now and then to remind myself that not every games needs to have 12 layers of strategy and contingency plans. Sometimes it's gardening and feeding the roly poly fat panda.

Takenoko was released in 2011. Unlike the majority of my library it is a simple and pleasant concept, where you help build a lovely garden, grow beautiful bamboo, and then feed it to a roly poly panda.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Pandemic - On the Brink

I'm going to assume you have read my review of the base game Pandemic, or know how the gameplay is structured.

If you have played Pandemic or read my review, you know that you lose. A lot. But for some reason I decided to go out and buy the Pandemic expansion On The Brink. And now I have three new and brilliant ways to lose.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Betrayal at House on the Hill

Players: 3-6, semi co-operative - more players is always better

Playtime on the box: 60minutes

Actual playtime: Up to 2 hours
Replay Value: 7/10

Is there someone in your group who likes to read the manual cover to cover? Good, invite them over and give them the rule book. Make them read it twice while you are cooking dinner. Then keep the rule book close at hand to answer your ten thousand questions.

Betrayal at House on the Hill was released by Avalon Hill and Wizards of the Coast in 2004. You are cast as a motley assortment of characters who have stumbled into a haunted house. So, of course, you decide to go exploring.

An over-reaction, the gender binary and kids toys

I went to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay last night. It was one of those rare occasion where I think the movie outshone the book, and I'm actually happy that they split one book into multiple movies. Kudos to the director/screen-writing and the rest of the production team. Anything with a female, weapon-carrying protagonist gets my attention. I especially loved the scene where Hamitch mocked they stylist for covering Katniss in an inch-thick layer of make-up. Just that little bit of recognition that it's okay not to wear make-up made me punch the air.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Pandemic

Players: 2-4 Co-operative

Playtime on the box: 45minutes

Actual playtime: Depends how quickly the game stomps you
Replay Value: 10/10 - I will never turn down a game of Pandemic

Now that the Ebola scare has quieted down (in my corner of the world at least) it seems safe to talk about Pandemic. Released in 2007 by Z-Man games, Pandemic is a devilish horror of a game where you are a Centre for Disease Control team trying to save the world. Designed by Matt Leacock, it is a beautifully balanced game where you are constantly hovering between life and death by plague.

A two-player game after set up

Why I'm not excited about Christmas

Last week I was Scrooge McDuck (the evil one from the early cartoons, not the endearing rich uncle he was re-drawn as later) and this week I'm going to be the Grinch. I'm not excited for Christmas. I don't give a toss about tinsel, I'm not excited for Santa, and I didn't watch the pageant.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas - 2000



To be fair, I wasn't always like this. Even though I knew Santa was a myth from about seven (my parents hid my gifts in my cupboard, but labelled them from Santa, I caught on) I used to love Christmas. Let me paint you a picture of my childhood Christmases.

Tuesday ReviewsDay: Lords of Waterdeep

Players: 2-5 (I found it best with 3)

Playtime on the box: 60minutes

Actual playtime: 90minutes +



Lords of Waterdeep was released by Wizards of the Coast in 2012. It is based in the Dungeons and Dragons universe but you won't need any background knowledge to enjoy the game.

Reading the rulebook makes Lords of Waterdeep seem like an overcomplicated nightmare but after the first round of game play it feels ridiculously simple. After playing four games I find myself daydreaming and plotting how I can win the game next time. It's an "hours to learn, lifetime to master" kind of game and the number of people you're playing against alters game play dramatically.

"Literally I can't" has me figuratively fuming

It took a lot of editing and a lot of deep breathing to make this blog into something other than a sweary rant fest. A lot of repetitive news articles and petitions will jump up and down and tell you this song is misogynistic and offensive. But they don't tell you why.


For starters, the song is ear bleedingly bad. There has actually been research done into the complexity of music, and how catchy it is. There is also some very unscientific and damning research into SAT scores and music preferences. Your brain actually gets a kick out of decoding music, picking out the rhythm and finding the patterns. I listened to this song once and I can't get the damn thing out of my head. It's terrible. It's repetitive. It's a cheap thrill to the brain because it takes minimum effort to find the pattern.

A week ago 9% died

This time last week I was swarmed with emails about Melbourne Cup day. Did I want in on the sweep? Tickets for the sweep are selling fast! We're almost sold out! We've opened up another sweep! Race in an hour, would you like to buy a ticket?

I sent one reply naming myself a morally objecting boring person. But since I was on a generic mailing list, I kept getting them. Thankfully the person behind the emails was polite enough not to ask me in person whilst asking everyone around me. I respect that, and personally I wouldn't have bothered to unpack a mailing list and remove one name every time I sent out and update.

Why you NEED to love what you do (it's in the maths)

I spend a minimum of 8hours a day at work. (40 hours per week)
I travel roughly 2 hours each day. (10 hours per week)
I spend between 30-60minutes getting ready each morning, this includes my breakfast and everything with feathers or fur (lets say 4 hours per week)

That puts us at 54 hours.  (32%)

I also sleep for at least 7.5 hours each night. (52.5 hours per week)

I like food, it keeps me alive and takes up anywhere from 30-90 minutes for cooking and eating dinners. Plus another 45 minutes for breakfast, lunch and snacks since they're generally simpler meals. (7 hours worth of dinners. 1.5hours worth of breakfast/lunch/snacks not counting weekdays - I've already counted breakfast time above, and lunch is had at work)

Now we're up to 115 hours on working and surviving. (68%)