July 7, 2023 – Fremen Friday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound v19 Fanchurian
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: MacDuff’s Soap Company – Christmas Cabin
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Tis the Season

First off, I love Dune. Not the movie – I haven’t read that – but the book. It took me 3 tries to finally get through it, but hot dang the payoff is so good. If you’re wondering whether you should enter into the land of the Fremen for a few hundred pages, then answer is you should. I save my reviews of the following books so as not to spoil, but, start by reading Dune and then decide if you want to continue. Seriously, just do it.

I also love spicy scents, but, spicy scents do not love me… until now. MacDuff’s Christmas Cabin smells like it’s going to obliterate my face – like Melange did as the spice must flow – as a side note, judges, don’t watch that whole video. It’s long and dumb but the link added flair. Anyway – I did one pass, then two, and then three, all the while fully expecting a fire in my pores that would have me taking a second shower to wash it away – yes, I’ve done this before with spicy scents. But the burn never came. Thank goodness. Overall, a great shave. For obvious reasons I don't have a spicy aftershave, but, Tis the Season fit well in the Christmas vein.

FOF Haiku of the day

The spice must flow now
If only to torch my face
The cabin softens

My other main hobby is board games! Having kids put a damper on this for some time, but pre-kids my wife and I played board games 1v1 several times a week and we’d have other friends and family over a few times a month. We have a decent collection that is mostly on those shelves, though there are some others floating around the house. Some of my favorites (linked to BoardGameGeek profile pages) are Pandemic Legacy – we finished up Season 0 with my 2 brothers last Fall and too long ago and it is the best board game experience I’ve ever had, we played Season 1 with one of my brothers in like 2014 or 15 and are now playing it again as the group of 4 as we work through each season and it is so difficult and also so stressful and also so fun and challenging, and, when we finish season 1, we’ll move on to Season 2. My wife and I started Season 2 once with one brother shortly after we had our first daughter, but life was too chaotic and it just fizzled out. 7 years later, I’m glad we’ve restarted the series because they are so dang good. We’ve recently really enjoyed a more chill gaming experience where we compete alongside each other but not as much head to head in Wingspan. Other games at the top of my list include things like Le Havre which is a sort of worker placement euro game that requires you to think dozens of turns ahead, but still be flexible enough to turn your plans on a dime if a better option becomes available or your plans are taken by someone else; I really enjoy Shadows Over Camelot as another cooperative game, but unlike Pandemic this adds the element of a traitor towards the end of the game to keep things interesting (though sadly I think this one is out of print); Agricola is another worker placement type euro game that is a lot of fun, though a bit less in depth than Le Havre. We also really enjoy playing some lighter and quicker two player games like Lost Cities, Bohnanza or Bohnanza the Duel, Patchwork, and 7 Wonders Duel, among others. Killer Bunnies is a game of chaos and silliness that we bust out when we’ve got my siblings together and occasionally play with just the two of us, too. When we first started gaming more regularly we were broke and in college, but it was one of our favorite things to go the local game shop every few weeks and pick up a new expansion for the game and then spend the next few days playing over and over and over.

Kids changed how we game, mostly because we have so much less time, but it’s great that they’re finally at an age where we can start introducing them to kids versions of games and they’ve begun to build their own collection with games like Quacks and Co. and Flash Point: Fire Rescue being their current favorites alongside the classics like uno, war, and Sleeping Queens. My middle child and only son would play a board game from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to sleep and I love it.

It’s such a great hobby that challenges your brain, brings families together, and has so many options to find something that you love. Highly recommend it! I love to talk board games so if you’ve got questions, hit me up!

**July 7, 2023 – Fremen Friday**

* **Brush:** Chisel and Hound v19 Fanchurian
* **Razor:** Blackland Blackbird Lite
* **Blade:** Gillette Silver Blue
* **Lather:** MacDuff’s Soap Company – Christmas Cabin
* **Post Shave:** Noble Otter – Tis the Season

First off, I love Dune. Not the movie – I haven’t read that – but the book. It took me 3 tries to finally get through it, but hot dang the payoff is so good. If you’re wondering whether you should enter into the land of the Fremen for a few hundred pages, then answer is you should. I save my reviews of the following books so as not to spoil, but, start by reading Dune and then decide if you want to continue. Seriously, just [do it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0).

I also love spicy scents, but, spicy scents do not love me… until now. MacDuff’s Christmas Cabin smells like it’s going to obliterate my face – like Melange did as [the spice must flow](https://www.google.com/search?q=the+spice+must+flow&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS974US974&oq=the+spice+must+flow&aqs=chrome.0.0i355i512j46i512j0i512l8.2495j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:11c28f1a,vid:qZmguw8KB6A) – as a side note, judges, don’t watch that whole video. It’s long and dumb but the link added flair. Anyway – I did one pass, then two, and then three, all the while fully expecting a fire in my pores that would have me taking a second shower to wash it away – yes, I’ve done this before with spicy scents. But the burn never came. Thank goodness. Overall, a great shave. For obvious reasons I don't have a spicy aftershave, but, Tis the Season fit well in the Christmas vein.

#FOF Haiku of the day

The spice must flow now
If only to torch my face
The cabin softens

My other main hobby is board games! Having kids put a damper on this for some time, but pre-kids my wife and I played board games 1v1 several times a week and we’d have other friends and family over a few times a month. We have a decent [collection](https://imgur.com/rwpRPdI) that is mostly on those shelves, though there are some others floating around the house. Some of my favorites (linked to BoardGameGeek profile pages) are Pandemic Legacy – we finished up [Season 0](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/314040/pandemic-legacy-season-0) with my 2 brothers last Fall and too long ago and it is the best board game experience I’ve ever had, we played [Season 1](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161936/pandemic-legacy-season-1) with one of my brothers in like 2014 or 15 and are now playing it again as the group of 4 as we work through each season and it is _so difficult_ and also _so stressful_ and also _so fun and challenging_, and, when we finish season 1, we’ll move on to [Season 2](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/221107/pandemic-legacy-season-2). My wife and I started Season 2 once with one brother shortly after we had our first daughter, but life was too chaotic and it just fizzled out. 7 years later, I’m glad we’ve restarted the series because they are so dang good. We’ve recently really enjoyed a more chill gaming experience where we compete alongside each other but not as much head to head in [Wingspan](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266192/wingspan). Other games at the top of my list include things like [Le Havre](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35677/le-havre) which is a sort of worker placement euro game that requires you to think dozens of turns ahead, but still be flexible enough to turn your plans on a dime if a better option becomes available or your plans are taken by someone else; I really enjoy [Shadows Over Camelot](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15062/shadows-over-camelot) as another cooperative game, but unlike Pandemic this adds the element of a traitor towards the end of the game to keep things interesting (though sadly I think this one is out of print); [Agricola](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260/agricola) is another worker placement type euro game that is a lot of fun, though a bit less in depth than Le Havre. We also really enjoy playing some lighter and quicker two player games like [Lost Cities](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50/lost-cities), [Bohnanza](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/11/bohnanza) or [Bohnanza the Duel](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/205867/bohnanza-duel), [Patchwork](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163412/patchwork), and [7 Wonders Duel](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173346/7-wonders-duel), among others. [Killer Bunnies](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3699/killer-bunnies-and-quest-magic-carrot) is a game of chaos and silliness that we bust out when we’ve got my siblings together and occasionally play with just the two of us, too. When we first started gaming more regularly we were broke and in college, but it was one of our favorite things to go the local game shop every few weeks and pick up a new expansion for the game and then spend the next few days playing over and over and over.

Kids changed how we game, mostly because we have so much less time, but it’s great that they’re finally at an age where we can start introducing them to kids versions of games and they’ve begun to build their own collection with games like [Quacks and Co.](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/354886/quacks-co-quedlinburg-dash) and [Flash Point: Fire Rescue](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/100901/flash-point-fire-rescue) being their current favorites alongside the classics like uno, war, and [Sleeping Queens](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17053/sleeping-queens). My middle child and only son would play a board game from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to sleep and I _love it_.

It’s such a great hobby that challenges your brain, brings families together, and has so many options to find something that you love. Highly recommend it! I love to talk board games so if you’ve got questions, hit me up!