The Blanding Bugle

Volume 18 Issue 11

November 2009

Do You Mü?

Steve's become an international man of business. Last summer Steve and Doreen bought iPhones and, of course, Steve felt compelled to write some piece of software to run on it. It didn't take him very long to decide to make an iPhone app to play his favorite card game Mü.

Last winter he spent some weeks writing a version for his Zune so he already had solved many of the harder problems (such as getting a computer to play well enough to be competitive) but doing it on the iPhone turns things up to a whole new level. The Zune has a virtually non-existent consumer market but the iPhone is a different matter entirely. Since Mü is a copyrighted card game, Steve decided that before he started, he needed to see about getting licensing rights to sell the game. Might as well try to make some coin on it, right? So he sent email to the game's author, a German game designer named Frank Nestel. Frank seemed very excited about the project and negotiations were begun. By the end of October they had settled on a licensing deal and signatures are in the process of being exchanged as of this writing.

For the last several weeks he's been spending nights, early mornings, and weekends putting his game together and now it's nearly finished and in the final stages of testing.  Once the papers are signed he can begin actively promoting the game and hopefully it won't be too long before it will be available for sale through the iPhone store.

For those who aren't familiar with the game, Mü is a trick taking game similar to Bridge or Spades. It's played with a special 60 card deck and features a very innovative auction round, ever-changing partnerships, and asymmetrical trump suits.

The game is very pretty and colorful. The computer opponents are so good that Steve almost always loses on the harder settings. The game supports linked play with up to six players playing over Bluetooth.

Halloween

Each of the kids got to pick out a costume this year. Kray was a Pirate, Jason a Knight, Mike some character from Halo, Matt was a Warlock, Chris was a Ninja and Jessica was a "Glamour" Witch (please notice the pink in the photo). Doreen was a Fair Maiden and Steve was a Knight.

Instead of going trick or treating in the rain and wind, the family had two parties that night (older kids and younger kids) and had a blast. We might just do it again as it was a lot of fun.

Sorry no pictures of the older kids as they were quick to take them off and wouldn't put them back on. They were very handsome though!

Soccer comes to an end...well almost.

The regular season saw an end on Halloween with three terrific games played in the sunshine, the wind, the rain and the bitter cold.  Jessie scored a hat trick (3 goals), Chris played and excellent game and Matt almost had one--darn goalie!

Jessie, Chris & Matt
Yes, Jessie's hair is blowing in the wind!

The first two weekends in November they each will be playing in a tournament and hope to do well.  The first Saturday alone sees the Blandings scheduled for six games!

Running for Life

Doreen, always the pretend athlete, has taken on something bigger than herself and she is going to do it!

Last month after getting the treatment plan of "Wait and Watch" she just couldn't sit still.  First, she had lost almost 30 pounds walking and starving (all those special diets and icky medicines) and wanted to keep it off.  Second, she had given up her gym membership, but getting out of a warm and dry bed for a run in the cold and wet--she needed something to run for. Lastly and maybe most importantly, she finally has a cause, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma to fight for so she did the unthinkable: she signed up to run a half marathon in May of 2010 to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). She joined Team in Training!

With tears running down her cheeks she signed the paper work pledging to raise $2900 by May 2, 2010, for the privilege to run in the Vancouver BC, half marathon. What craziness? Never has she done anything quite like this before. But her signature was on the line and she is committed to run 31.1 miles.

As much as the running every morning scared her to death, raising money was something she didn't even want to think about. She knew she had six months, and she figured slowly it would trickle in. She put together her Team in Training website, posted it on Facebook and a few dollars were dropped in her donation box.  She then spent two days perfecting the perfect email letter that she was going to mass email to some 500 email addresses she has collected over the years. No harm in asking, right?  She thought she was very cleaver in asking for only $13 as she had to run 13 (plus a tenth) mile for her race: a dollar for a mile.  She figured it was one nice lunch out.  It really wasn't that much.  She sent the 500 emails and in less than three days had raised all $2900 and then some.  She actually went to the first Team in Training meeting later that week with 100% raised already! 

To top it off a long time friend said that his foundation would match the donations up to $5000. She set a new goal of $500 and with six months to go she think she can have $10,000 for LLS when she runs the streets of Vancouver. 

Many of her teammates are running for someone they know with a blood cancer.  They call it running in "honor" of or for that person.  Doreen has decided to run in "honor" of her six children: Kray, Jason, Mike, Matt, Chris & Jessie. No they don't have cancer, she does, but she wants to run so that she can live to see them grow up.  She is running for her life! She is running for their life!

Please donate now to help the LLS provide money for research.  Who knows it may be your dollar that finds the cure--the cure that will let Doreen attend six wonderful weddings, gather tons of grandbaby kisses and hugs and live a long life with her family.   Visit her website at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/vancouvr10/dblanding remember just $13 at a time--that's all she asks. She does the running every dark, cold and wet morning, you just donate $13.  Please for her kids--her life.