TPIR Car Games Ranked

Here's my ranking of TPIR car games, from favorite to least favorite. Did I miss any? What is your favorite and least favorite?

1. One Away - I like the involved process of having to ask the sound effects lady how many number you've got right

2. Money Game - it's fun how they occasionally go "el cheapo" with the last two numbers of the car being relatively low like the first two numbers. I like the reveal on this one, and I always like it when it's possible to win a paltry sum, in this case probably less than $300.

3. Golden Road - the game is really simple (not easy, but simple) still I have to love this one since the car is always super expensive and they rarely play it

4. Any Number - I love how you can end up winning the piggy bank (less than $10!)

5. Spelling Bee - nice design with the hexagon shapes and bee colors. Nice temptation option with $500 per card

6. Ten Chances - the way people can screw up writing the numbers down makes this one fun and difficult to watch at the same time

7. Let 'em Roll - good dramatic ending as the dice go down the slide and hopefully land on CAR. Also nice option to take the $

8. 5 Price Tags - the set on this one is so big, it makes the game feel big

9. Hole in One (or Two) - nice that it involves the actual physical skill of putting, but I think the hole is too big and it's too easy now that you get two chances

10. Pathfinder - fun to try and figure out the whole path from the first square before they start

11. Stack the Deck - this one is pretty new and it's not too long, but nothing about it excites me yet

12. Temptation - either the temptation prizes are too nice or the car isn't nice enough, because I usually think it's crazy to go for the car

13. Dice Game - all numbers in the price of the car are 1-6? boring

14. Three Strikes - used to like this one but it's too hard and can go on for too long

15. Lucky $even - way too hard

16. That's Too Much - too long and too difficult--shouting out "that's too much!" seems like it should be fun, but it's stupid. I fast forward through this one

17. Card Game - this game is so boring and it takes forever. I fast forward through this one

Amp

I bought my first guitar amp on Sunday!

Fender Reissue Blues Deluxe

Previously I had been playing it through my small old keyboard amp, my PA, or through just the club PA, none of which I could hear very well. I was a bit worried that an amp this size might not be powerful enough to compete with our lead guitar player's amp, but now I am glad I went with this size. My first time playing it at home I was afraid to raise the volume about 1.5 (out of 10) for fear of pissing off the neighbors. It sounds great and it should make me a better guitar player--I can hear both my good and bad playing so much better through this thing, so I am able to pay better attention to what I'm doing right and wrong.

Back

I am having mixed feelings about the Styx, Clapton, and Foreigner I haven't heard in ten years that is playing on the restaurant's satellite radio station. The music isn't bad, I don't hate it, I'm not embarrassed for liking it, but I'm not excited about it. I suppose it's just that I'd rather listen to something else. Oh, here's that 80's ZZ Top song that I never knew prior to the band... same feeling. The Cars now... same feeling.

Also wondering how I feel about earlier tonight when I was contemplating my short term memory problem as I was leaving the apartment, while simultaneously forgetting to bring the USB drive that had stuff on it I meant to work on. It's kind of amusing, but that joke is getting old too.

Sleep?

So far, I have been behaving myself this week. I may have to change that tonight and/or tomorrow to get my Austin fix in before heading up to Wisconsin for a week. Behaving myself means I haven't been getting home really late and tired. Last night I had some trouble sleeping, which normally never happens. I was up at 3 am downloading 80's videos to watch on TiVo. Earlier I also downloaded a bunch of music from itunes for use in my mashup projects. I never would've guessed that's what I'd be spending money on iTunes for.

Where Am I?

I really liked the trio tonight--until they were done. Loved the guitar sound, and wanted to ask the female lead singer/guitar player about her setup. I only got as far as complementing her on the choice of a Joe Jackson song for their finale. When I asked where she was from after noticing her accent (England! she said) , she completely blew me off and I never talked to her again. I was probably the only non-friend in the audience and still the most likely to start dancing in front of the stage (no one did), so I was completely baffled how she didn't want to recruit a new fan by talking to me for a bit. I don't know what to think. It's probably better that I don't know their name.

What's Up

I've still been seeing music regularly, but it hasn't been as fun and I haven't been taking notes. A few weeks ago I went to see Hacienda again at Emo's Lounge, but it wasn't as fun because I was on a "just OK" date and wasn't able to party down like I usually would. Last weekend I did the Keep Austin Weird 5K which had some pretty high profile bands like What Made Milwaukee Famous and Alejandro Escovedo after the race. I watched the whole WMMF set but only stayed around for a few of AE. Before the race I watched I saw the only non-Austin band, from CA, whose name I forget. The music was alright but they were a little too enthusiastic to the point of seeming a bit fake. Also questionable was some of the lead singer's trying-to-be-funny interjections--like wondering aloud if they'd go up in flames from the heat "like a monk in Vietnam." Wow, that's not just crude that's downright sick (especially for a family audience)! I wore whatever I could find around the house during the race: mardi gras beads, race medals, leis, and my melodica. I really annoyed a lot of people during the race playing it, which was fun. Also, one of the bands along the way called me up to play a solo.

Seems like I've been seeing the free bands at LJ's on Thursday a lot lately. The first one last night was alright, but the second one (the mask wearing dirge playing band I mentioned in a previous post) drove me out of there. I paid one of the guys in the first band a back handed complement by saying that they were really good "in comparison to the second band." Heh, I crack myself up!

What else... I've really been enjoying work and not much else lately, which is completely opposite of my normal situation. I haven't played guitar or keyboard since our last gig, which was almost two weeks ago. And, I've been watching more TPIR then MEtv lately. I'll miss our next two gigs next weekend because I'll be taking a week-long break up to Wisconsin. I haven't been up there during the summer since I've moved down here, and I'm looking forward to it.

Have a nice Independence Day--have an Independence brew if you can!