Notes from Hades

lot of activity this time. First of all, I was traveling again (hence the extra week in the deadline), this time to Sweden. And, since my travel was going to take place over my wedding anniversary, I took Celeste with me. My parents were kind enough to come down and look over the boys for the time we were gone. However, nothing seems to go smoothly. The day before we were scheduled to leave, the glass top of our cooktop shattered. Fortunately, no one was near it when it happened, so no one was hurt. Then, on the day we were going to leave, the rear breaks on Celeste's car went out. We were fortunately able to get it fixed before we had to leave.

So we rush to the airport for our flight. We were scheduled to fly from LAX to San Francisco, and from there to Frankfurt, and finally from there to Stockholm. From Stockholm, we were going to take a train to Skövde. Unfortunately, our initial flight was delayed, and as a result, we missed all of our connections. Fortunately we were able to get a flight to Munich and a connection to Stockholm the same day, but it arrived after our train left, and there were no more trains leaving that day. We ended up waiting in train stations and bus terminals until we finally caught a train that left the airport at 3:35 am (originally scheduled for 3:14 am) that got us to Skövde at about 7:20 am.

Why were we in Skövde, you ask? Well, it turns out that Celeste's great grandfather was from that area. After checking into our hotel and grabbing a quick shower and breakfast, we got our rental car and drove to the area where the farm Celeste's great grandfather worked on was located. We found the farm and talked to the family who lives there now. They were very friendly and we talked to them for a couple of hours. They directed us to the museum in Skara where we could find some more information. So, we set out for Skara and there, we found the information we came for and more, since they directed us to the library where they helped people with genealogy research. There, we were able to find even more information about Celeste's family, including a living relative – a 78-year-old cousin named Siv who Celeste's father had actually met when he went to Sweden in the 80's. Sven at the library called up Siv and arranged for us to have lunch at her house the next day.

The next day, we headed back to the farm to thank the prople there, then we were off to Husaby where Siv lived. On the way we stopped at the chapel in Våmb, a Medieval fair in Varnham, and the church in Husaby. There were supposedly relatives buried in Våmb, but we couldn't find them. We were able to find the graves of Siv's parents, husband, and daughter in Husaby, however. At lunch, we also met Siv's grandson Emil, who builds sailboats near Gothenborg, on the west coast of Sweden. We had a wonderful time, and Siv even invited us to stay the night, but we had already paid for our hotel, and we had to catch our train back to Stockholm the next morning, so we had to decline.

After our event-packed two days in Skövde, it was back to Stockholm. We arrived at our hotel early Sunday afternoon, and were able to see Skansen, an open air museum/zoo, which was very interesting. I had to work during the week, but Celeste got to explore Stockholm, which she loved. We did have some events during the week. On Wednesday, the whole Forum was invited to the Stockholm City Hall for a buffet. This is the place where the dinner and reception for the Nobel Prizes is held. Truly an incredible place. On Thursday it was our anniversary, so we had dinner at the Gondolin, a restaurant overlooking Gamla Stan, the old part of Stockholm. The Forum wraps up at about midday on Friday, so that afternoon, Celeste and I were able to do some more exploring together, including the Nobel Museum, which was very interesting, if small. Overall, we had a fantastic time in Sweden. If you ever get the opportunity to go, I highly recommended it.

The next deadline is Tuesday, November 20 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Please do not call or fax orders after 10:00 p.m. Pacific time. My wife and I tend to retire early. Also, if you want to fax in orders, call first. We hang up on unannounced faxes.

Game Openings

Dog Park. Machiavelli. Rules determined by player vote as usual. Have Kevin Wilson, Dave Partridge, Bob Robles, Pasquale Giovine, Mike Scott, Dale Horsely, and Jerry Roalstad. Starts this issue!

Greyhound. Age of Renaissance. This game will start when Dog Chow finishes and will use the European rules and alternate map. Have Michael Longdin, Bob Robles, Dave Partridge, Steve Koehler, Dave Hood, and Robert Koehler. This game is full.

Sand Flea. Dune. We will use the optional Lansraad, Ixians, and Bene Tleilaxu powers. Have Kevin Wilson, Bob Robles, Paul Bolduc, Michael Longdin, and Ward Narhi, will take up to 1 more (2 if one player plays the Bene Tleilaxu).

Canus Domesticus. Republic of Rome. This will be run as a pbem game through the website, and will not be synchronized with the zine. Have Ward Narhi, Dave Partridge, Paul Bolduc, Michael Longdin, and Jerry Roalstad. This game has already started. Check the website for updates.

Frontier Dog. Gunslinger .Scenario to be determined. Have Paul Bolduc, Chris Geggus, Mike Scott, and Andy Lewis, will take up to 3 more.

Pateel. Kremlin. Will start after Flea Collar ends. Have Ward Narhi, Mike Scott, Bill Scharf, Bob Robles, and Pasquale Giovine, will take up to 1 more.

Hunter. Silverton. Will start after Terrier ends. Have Dave Partridge, Michael Longdin, Ward Narhi, Cary Nichols, and Bill Scharf, will take up to 1 more

Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Machiavelli. Have Mike Scott, Cary Nichols, Dave Partridge, Bob Robles, Lynn Mercer, Brendan Whyte, and Berend Renken. Starts this issue!

Prosyon. Merchant of Venus. This game will start when Sirius ends. Have Dave Partridge, Bob Robles, Chris Geggus, and Gina Teh. Will take up to 2 more.

Robover. Robo Rally. Have Dave Partridge, Bill Scharf, Chris Geggus, Dave Hooton, and Gina Teh. Will take up to 3 more.

Wish List

History of the World. Have Chris Geggus and Dave Partridge, will take up to 5 more.

Industrial Waste. Will take up to 4.

Outpost. Will start after Hound ends. Will take up to 10.

In general, game ownership is recommended, but not required.

Note that a subscription to S.O.B. is not required to play in a game run by flier, but that a game fee will be charged to non-subbers.