SMAK. Alain is back from Ireland and he brings Bushmills Irish Whiskey, whiskey-flavoured chocolate, and a deck of cards bought at the Trinity College Library. We talk about his trip, the influence of AI in the publishing industry and the music industry, and Mike’s new 3-D printing machine which he assembled himself. We also wonder if there is such a thing as alcohol-free whiskey (turns out there is).

KMS. It’s a hot day but it’s cool enough at the HFG. We talk about disc golf, TV shows, hummingbirds, and platypus glowing in UV.

KAMS. We talk about Alain’s upcoming trip to Ireland, Moncton’s heavy traffic, and AI. For fun we also play a few rounds of Last One, using words from Codenames. Then onwards to the main games of the night.

ASKM. It's a sweltering evening, and we talk about credit card fraud and death, then go on to play games with cats, who have nine lives.

Played at Stephan's place. AKMS. Alain regales us with the stories of his trips to New York and Alberta.

KSM. Alain is at the Calgary stampede, and Pascal is visiting PPL in the States. So it’s the same three musketeers as last week.

Played at Stephan's place. PMSK. Pascal is not sailing tonight because of a cycling mishap, and his sailing crew’s loss is our gain. We talk about his accident, and the diving accident of last week, and Kevin’s shed which is now finished, ramp and all.

KMS. Alain is packing for his New York trip and Pascal is on the water. Kevin shows us a picture of his new (and elevated) shed. We discuss a recent diving fatality.

MSKA. Pascal is absent because this is the start of the sailing season, which is too bad because we don’t get to congratulate him in person for winning the IGT foosball championship. Instead, we talk about making cheese out of whale milk.

Played at Stephan's place. MASPK. The beginning of season 12! We start this new season on a harmonious note by playing the coop game The Crew, which Pascal brought.

Played at Stephan's place. MPSKA. Could AI beat a human driver in a F1 race? Could AI beat a human player at Colosseum?

Played at Stephan's place. SKAMP. Alain brings 6 different kinds of ketchup chips and we do a blind taste test. Two brand names are clear winners: Yum Yum in first place and Lay’s in second. Two are middle of the pack:No Name and Old Dutch. And two score very low: Covered Bridge and President’s Choice.

Played at Stephan's place. SPA. Our ranks are decimated for various reasons, giving the survivors a chance to play good 3-player games.

Played at Stephan's place. PSAMK. After playing one game of Heat, we try the coop game The Crew again. We lose two rounds and win two, including the last one, so the crew leaves the HFG full of hope for the interstellar future of mankind.

Played at Stephan's place. AMPSK. Pascal brings two new card games. The one we play first, called The LAB, is a party game with a realistic disease theme.Then we get an introduction to the second one, called Crew, winner of Spiel des Jahres a few years ago. It’s a coop game and we win the first two rounds we try (48 more to go!).

MSAKP. We talk about houses. Und wir sprechen über Bindehautentzündung.

KPMS. Mike is back from Bonaire, with some rum. We teach him how to play Heat.

ASKP. Same crew as last week.

PASK. Mike is in Bonaire, and Ian is still in quarantine. We talk about Trump and the tariffs he announced today. Then we play a new racing game: Heat.

Played at Kevin's place. KSPM. It’s Kevin’s birthday next Sunday, so we go for supper at the Tide & Boar to celebrate, and then to his place for birthday cake and some games.

MSPK. We give Ark Nova another go, starting higher on the appeal score track to make the game shorter, which does not prevent us from ending as late as 10:45 h.

PMS. Us three hearty souls tackle Ark Nova for the first time, under the guidance of Pascal who has played the game online before.

AMPS. We welcome the website back on Mike’s server. And we talk about AI. From now on, these reports will be written by ChatGPT. P.S. Does HFG Mailer work now? Stephan, Quelle phrase française utilise le plus ces caractères étranges ?

Played at Stephan's place. MASKP. If only people kept a diary, we could write a history of the HFG!

Played at Stephan's place. PSAMK. After two weeks of Princes of Florence, we play a bunch of mindless - but fun - games.

Played at Stephan's place. SPKM. We talk about taking showers … OK, that comes after we talked about cycling to work or exercising in workplace gyms.

Played at Stephan's place. SPAMK. On a very cold night, we talk about Trump. Not in a flattering way. Then we play a good game for 5 players that we haven’t played in nearly 4 years.

Played at Stephan's place. ASKMP. We talk about the price of electricity, the new meters, the cold and the snow, and Trump’s threat of tariffs.

Played at Stephan's place. MSPK. The air outside is frigid but the HFG is heated. Alain donated the game Ark Nova to the HFG but we have not read the rules yet. Maybe next week.

Played at Stephan's place. PSK. Mike is away due to bad sinuses. To drink to his health, we finish the bottle of Russian Standard that Kevin brought last week. Then, we proceed to …. just kidding, Mike, we wouldn’t do that to you; we just had beer.

Played at Stephan's place. SPAKIM. Happy New Year everyone! After a protracted break due to the holiday season, we are back in full force. Kevin brings a bottle of now-rare Russian Standard. Alain brings Iceberg beer, jam jam cookies, a spicy bar mix, and pickled wieners from Newfoundland. And Ian gives everyone a fancy 3-D printed box that contains a pack of cards, a set of 5 dice, a notebook and pencil to write down scores, and an inlaid mat to roll the dice on when the box is fully open. And each box and dice are of the colour each players favours in our games. Fantastic beginning to the new year.

Played at other. KPSMI. Stephan has a cold that he doesn't want to pass on to anyone, so we meet online, like in the good old covid days! An added benefit is that Ian can participate. We play on boardgamearena and on gerdov.com., while chatting on Discord.

Played at Alan's place. ASKP. It’s Alain’s birthday this coming Saturday and we meet at his new place in Shediac (Edit: Claudine's place, or I could get in trouble!). There’s plenty of snacks and drinks and Christmas decorations. The three dogs are well behaved. The guests are too.

Played at Stephan's place. SMIK. Lively discussion about TV shows, glow-in-the-dark disc golf, 3-D printing, winter tires, and more.

Played at Stephan's place. KISMPA. We meet at the philosophy factory to produce thoughts about hacking, Cajun music, old men’s eyes, and parking in Stephan’s driveway.

Played at Stephan's place. SPAMKI. Students who don’t write their full name on their exam. IGT becoming another IGT. Root’s real name is No. The City’s plan to develop a new neighbourhood along Humphrey’s Brook.

Played at Stephan's place. AIKMPS. We talk about cars and tires and old computers; then we play a game; then we talk about AI and Franco-Russian words and tambourines.

Played at Stephan's place. AIKMPS. It’s the day after the US presidential election, so that’s what we talk about..

Played at Stephan's place. PISKM. It’s gadget night: a 125X gear multiplier from Teymouth Plastics; a portable UV disc illuminator from Mike; and a made-in-Austria spring-loaded bottle opener from Pascal, complete with a nice wooden exterior. Thanks Ian for the popcorn.

Played at Stephan's place. MASPIK. The highlight of the night is Alain showing up disguised as a hippie from the 70s, complete with afro, tinted glasses, moustache, golden necklace and bracelet, and flowery shirt. Awesome anticipation of Halloween (scary!).

Played at Stephan's place. MASIK. Poor Pascal is under the weather for the third week running. Get well, Pascal!

Played at Stephan's place. KSAMI. Teymouth Plastics comes through once again with a Gerdov original design, this time of a pawn/phallus that screws itself, literally. We also discuss the algorithms used by social media to target ads.

Played at Stephan's place. ASPMIK. What is the most abundant animal by weight? Jellyfish! Why can’t you eat the liver of your dog? Hypervitaminosis A! What is the strongest alcool content of a beer? 12%!

Played at Stephan's place. KAMSI. Ian, does your fascinating gizmo have a name? Kevin, does your fantastic lidar app have a name?

Played at Stephan's place. KPASMI. We take our annual group picture, on the deck at the back. Then we play one game, and after that we chat about nerdy things like machine translation, the freezing and evaporation points of oxygen and nitrogen, the pagers’ explosions in Lebanon, the good old articles in National Enquirer (not that nerdy after all), and the calcareous geology of Florida.

Played at Stephan's place. PIMS. We talk about energy and mass in physical system, then jump to how to lose weight, and then to electric scooters. Stephan also comments about the questions he receives in his classroom.

Played at Stephan's place. KSAMI. Bad eyesight. Stunts in space. The start of the school year. New TV shows.

Played at Stephan's place. PASKM. Ian is MIA for the second week in a row (a bad back - Mike said he needs to 3-D print an exoskeleton for himself) but Pascal’s presence away from his sailing boat makes up for it.

Played at Stephan's place. KASM. Did you know that Teslas don’t carry a spare tire?

Played at Stephan's place. MIKS. Alain is in Vegas; Pascal is on Shediac Bay. Lion’s Mane Ian brings a 3-D printed dynamo. Conversation flows easily from there.

Played at Stephan's place. AIPKSM. Welcome back Pascal! He shares with us some pear schnapps he brought back from Austria. And Ian also brings a humongous bag of popcorn.

Played at Stephan's place. KIMS. Mike brings his finished underwater camera, complete with a magic wand (a magnet on a stick to trigger the magnetic switches). If we had a bottle of champagne we would have christened it. Lively discussion touches on a a number of subjects, with the highlight sentence being “sandwich me”.

Played at Stephan's place. KASIM. We discuss gender. We eat chips and popcorn. We play a racist game.

Played at Stephan's place. IMSKA. Spain wins the Euro 2024, the Sail GP 23-24, and the Men’s final at Wimbledon, so we play a Spanish-themed game, on a hot and muggy day like the current weather in Spain probably.

Played at Stephan's place. MSAKI. Ian brings another 3-D printed object, but it is warped after having partially melted in his car left in the sun for the day. it’s a hot day and the remnants of Hurricane Beryl bear on us after devastating the Caribbean, including Jamaica, so we play Jamaica. Picture: the only fan that kept us cool (vintage, circa 1987).

Played at Stephan's place. KISA. Pascal is in Austria for the next few weeks. Mike is MIA. Alain is back from Newfoundland and brought back some seaweed gin. Hurricane Beryl pummels Jamaica but only as a category 4, so we don’t play Category 5.

Played at Stephan's place. MIKS. The two all-electric cars are missing in action. Before the game we talk about the heat dome that is currently sitting over Moncton (34 degrees in the shade today) and then about the four peregrine falcons that fledged this week from their nest box on the Blue Cross Building, which inspired us to play Wingspan.

Played at Stephan's place. KSAM. Only four players tonight; we play an oldie but goldie, even though it means teaching Kevin about it, as he has never played it before.

Played at Stephan's place. PSAMI. Alain’s new Tesla. Mike’s new drone. Stephan’s trip to London. Ian’s 3-D printed gears. Pascal’s disappointment at fussball. Kevin’s absence because of his current trip to New York.

Played at Kevin's place. AKPM - Stephan is off exploring the boroughs of London, and the game night group build arrays of decorative tiles n Azul, and explore the wilderness of Cascadia. Ian is M.I.A., stuck in Taymouth or something.

Played at Stephan's place. SKIMP. Key chains. Scrimshaw. Noisy motorcycles. Fundy Coast trail. Tulips. 3-D printing. And more.

Played at Stephan's place. PAIKSM + ppl. PPL is in town and joins us tonight. Gin that strongly smells of coniferous woods is imbibed. Caramel popcorn is consumed. Stirling Apples’ peanut butter brownies are devoured. Kevin’s used car salesman skills are celebrated. The HFG 3 playlist is featured.

Played at Stephan's place. IAMPSK. Most of the pre-game chat is spent chipping support plastic off of a 3-D printed trophy.

Played at Stephan's place. MISK. Pascal is at home with the kids while Isabelle parties, and Alain is unionizing in Ottawa. The rest of us rejoice in Mike’s successful pool test of his underwater camera dome.

Played at Stephan's place. PASKM. We talk Teslas, iPhones and eSims, but not 3-D printers because Ian is MIA. Pascal makes up for last week’s absence with a perfect evening.

Played at Stephan's place. SAIMK. We shake off the wonderment of seeing a total solar eclipse on Monday and try to concentrate on games. Pascal is MIA because he’s taking pictures of the Atlantic Attack in action at a national tournament in town.

Played at Stephan's place. PSIMK. First session of April but last one before Mike’s birthday on Friday, and the total solar eclipse and the end of the world next Monday. Fun chat for an hour before the games and for 45 mjnutes at the end.

Played at Kevin's place. KAPIMSP – Kevin turns one year older, again, and we feast at Tide & Boar before having games at Kevin’s place. Special guest Paul joins us for the evening and we play games that accommodate 7 player, a rarity.

Played at Stephan's place. PASKMI. More and more exotic 3-D designs appear. We learn some stats about Mike’s forks of different sizes. We discuss the upcoming eclipse.

Played at Stephan's place. ASPKIM. Second test of Mike’s underwater camera housing in Stephan’s sink, but same result as before, so it’s back to the drawing board.

Played at Stephan's place. MASPIK. The full crew is present to see the iPhone 15 Pro that Stephan has bought in order to finally enter the 21st century. We also chat about diving, which leads directly to our first game.

Played at other. PAKM - A reduced crew meet at CAVOK to play games in a public setting as Stephan is sick, and Kevin’s dog just had surgery and needed some quiet time.

PISK. Mike is away flirting with turtles in some tropical sea. Alain is AWOL for the second week in a row. The rest of us sample two different scotches, popcorn, chips, and sweets. The discussion subjects are too varied to list here but are available upon request.

Played at Stephan's place. SPIKM. Good turnout even though this is St Valentine’s Day. Ian delivers another 3-D printed base for Mike’s underwater camera. Stephan discovers that he is inexplicably out of Scotch.

Played at Stephan's place. MIPSA. We skipped last week because many people were otherwise occupied, but this week only Kevin is AWOL and we forge ahead.

Played at Stephan's place. AKMSP. Ian is covid-afflicted. Pascal arrives only at 8 pm, so he does not take part in the first game. We discuss AI-generated images before the games, and TV shows after the games.

Played at Stephan's place. AIPSMK. We renew with the practice of going for supper together at a restaurant before the games. We choose The Pumphouse, and their hamburgers -including one for Burger Fest - do not disappoint.

Played at Stephan's place. SMAKI(P). Pascal duties as official photographer of the Attack ringuette team force him to be late, by which time we have already started an inaugural game of Earth. He gets to watch and learn the rules, at least.

Played at Stephan's place. PSAMKI. Happy new year everyone; best wishes for 2024. May we all win many games!

Played at Stephan's place. PMS. The last meeting of the calendar year sees a reduced crew because of various family commitments in this holiday season. But we get to play 3-player games. Wishing everyone a happy 2024!

Played at Stephan's place. SPIMA. Kevin is under the weather, so we play a game he’s not too keen on: Power Grid.

Played at Stephan's place. MISKPA. Happy birthday Alain (tomorrow), though he misses the first game because he’s dining out with his union colleagues on the proletariat’s dime. Before the games we discuss the various rules for Carcassonne. After the games we discuss Mike’s underwater camera and its waterproofing test tonight in one of Stephan’s buckets.

Played at Stephan's place. SIMKAP. Ian delivers another 3D-printed component for Mike’s underwater camera. Pascal brings gingerbread cookies. Kevin brings a Christmas beer. Mike and Stephan don’t really want to talk about chess. Alain chills.

Played at Stephan's place. ISKMP. Stephan and Mike and psyching themselves up for Jean Desforges' last ever chess simultaneous in Moncton tomorrow night (he will retire this summer and move back to Montreal). Mike will try to repeat his success of last year while Stephan will try to avenge his defeat.

Played at Stephan's place. AKSIMP. 3-D printing. Elements of the periodic table. Somebody thinks we sound like owls.

MPKS. Not much chit-chat tonight - we dive deep into good 4-player games.

Played at Stephan's place. MAKSIP. We stuff our faces with leftover Halloween candies.

Played at Stephan's place. IAMPSK. First snow on the ground, time change this weekend, Halloween yesterday: the seasons are turning. We first play a classical Halloween game.

Played at Stephan's place. PSAKMI. We overcome our ailments to all get together again. We talk about animals, then hunting, and from there bows and guns. So for our first game we play with guns (styrofoam ones). Not having been played since 2019, Cash & Guns is, in the words of Alain, a “bored” game.

Played at Kevin's place. KIP - we gather at Kevin’s place for some 3-player action while other HFG members are taking sick leaves.

Played at Stephan's place. AIMPSK. We admire a dice tower that Ian 3-D printed and is donating to the HFG. And we use it in our first game.

Played at Stephan's place. PMISK. Marking exams; the cost of owning pets; electronics; more electronics; more more electronics.

Played at Stephan's place. PSIMK. We talk about food. We also eat food, most notably Mozart balls from Austria (thanks, Pascal). And we drink Ian’s Balvenie Whisky.

Played at Stephan's place. APKIS. Mike is on the road, coming back from a mini-vacation in Boston. We chat about money matters, in the wake of Ian’s good fortune at the lottery.

Played at Stephan's place. After a pause last week because Stephan was attending a comedy show at the Capitol, the HFG resumes its activities this week. Incoming Hurricane Lee is the main topic of conversation.

Played at Stephan's place. PASKM. Stormy day, so Pascal is back with us, and he comes in his new electric car. And he quickly gets back to his winning ways in our first game of the night, Category Five (because it's hurricane season again!).

KIAS ... but Ian now has a new Hyundai Sonata, not a Kia ... Mike is in Rhode Island and Pascal is on the water, so it's an unusual quartet who meet at the HFG this week.

Played at Stephan's place. SMK at the HFG. We talk about cars and TV shows.

Played at Stephan's place. SKMIA - POWER LOSS! Gameplay interrupted! Candlelight end of the only game we played. We chatted too long again, played only a single game.

Played at Stephan's place. PASKM. Routing systems,Barbie, Oppenheimer, nukes, socialism, housing problems, and much more.

Played at Stephan's place. PSAMIK. Full crew tonight, as Pascal cannot sail tonight. Alain shows off his leather briefcase, and Stephan shows off his stamps collection.

Played at Kevin's place. SKAM - A one-off game night is held at Kevin’s place while Melissa is out seeing a Spice Girls cover band. We start the evening playing a game of Chicken! with Elizabeth (6) who ends up humiliating the HFG crew with her win of 25 points. We collectively decide to never talk about this again and to not log the event on HFGclub.

Played at Stephan's place. MKIS. We chat for an hour (underwater cameras, marine biology, chinese goods, Root, etc.) and then we play 4-player games.

Played at Stephan's place. KMS. Pascal is on Shediac Bay, Alain is in Toronto, and Ian is indisposed. We keep Fire & Axe for another day and we concentrate on good 3-player games.

Played at Stephan's place. IMSAK. We have a good discussion as usual (the future of IGT, fountain pens, hot tubs, obesity), then we play a new version (map # 4) of Voyages. And then, without looking at the time (around 9 pm), we start another sailing game (in honour of Pascal, off sailing tonight): Fire & Axe. But there's no way that we can finish that game in less than 2 hours (especially considering that we haven't played in a while) and by 10 pm we realize our mistake. So we do something that may very well be unprecedented in the annals of the HFG: we abort the game and go home at a reasonable time.

SIMPAK. Today's the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and the sun is shining bright (for a change). We discuss the tourist submarine that recently disappeared while visiting the wreck of the Titanic.

Played at Stephan's place. IMPSKA. Before the games we go to the O'Creek Brewing Company for a communal supper. Food orders there can only be given by cell phone, a warning to Stephan that life is passing him by.

Played at Stephan's place. AIMSPK. It's the beginning of season 10 on this most hallowed HFG website. Like a bunch of old men we discuss lawnmowing equipment. And sports cars. Oh, and platypus fur too, of course.

Played at Stephan's place. SAMKIP. Happy Birthday Ian (yesterday)! The whole gang is reunited (now that Mike and Stephan are back from Spain) for the last gaming session of Season 9.

Played at Kevin's place. KIPJ - Special session #2 held at Kevin’s place in Stephan’s and Mike’s absence. A special guest from IGT, Jesse, joins us for the night. Alain is on soccer duties, missing most of May events.

Played at Kevin's place. KIP - Kevin hosts game night this week. We start early, but still only end up fitting two simple games. Stephan and Mike fail to show up. Spain must be more interesting. We compensate by having some Spanish liquor. Alain is M.I.A., presumed kidnapped by wild raccoons.

Played at Stephan's place. MSPK. Alain is in the tropics, and Stephan and Mike will be in Spain for the next two weeks. We get to play a new game that Kevin brought.

Played at Stephan's place. MPASIK. The whole gang goes to Yanakee Sushi & BBQ before the gaming session, and everything is delicious and satisfying.

Played at Stephan's place. ASPMIK. Hurting your wrist while unscrewing a lid. Hurting your shoulder while sleeping. Gender identification. Golden retrievers wearing a monk's cloak while riding a giant black cat. Nepo's bad play at the chess championship. And more.

Played at Stephan's place. SPIKAM. We take the annual group photo for the archives.

PIKSMA. We talk about this and that. Like, Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica. And, can one survive on fat reserves alone? And movies about murders in the Antarctic, or about firestorms.

Played at Stephan's place. IPSAMK. Happy birthday Mike! We talk about his recent bout with covid, and also about addictions, food, chatGPT, Skeptic magazine, and the cost of living. And speaking of food, we eat a rhubarb pie and donuts and chips.

Played at Kevin's place. KISAPP - We meet at K-Chimac to celebrate Kevin’s last day in his 30’s, then meet at his place for games. Paul joins us as a special guest.

Played at Stephan's place. PSAMI. Disappearing planes. IQ tests. Did you know that the average chess grandmaster's IQ is about the same as the general population (100)?

Played at Stephan's place. KASM. On a snowy evening we get to play four-player games.

Played at Stephan's place. SIMPK. Before the games, we go to the Tide & Boar Brewery, where we eat very well (and a varied diet too: charcuterie plate, Newfoundland style fish & chips, big burger, Buffalo wings, and a salad). Then at the HFG we discuss air fryers.

Played at Stephan's place. IPSKAM. A full crew under a nice quiet snowfall. The beginning of a 5-sessions month.

Played at Stephan's place. KISPM. Watching live sports, is it worth it? How about live chess? How about collecting food socks? What is a trucker's hat? What is the mesh for?

Played at Stephan's place. PKSM. In an apparent effort to limit the competition, Stephan forgets to send an invitation this week. PKM still show up, allowing us to play 4-player games.

Played at Stephan's place. IMPASK. We talk about weird sports and physical activities, inspired by Netflix"s Physical 100.

Played at Stephan's place. KIMS. Thanks to Kevin who ordered, received, and is donating a replacement piece for the Tsuro blue stone marker we (i.e. Stephan) lost a few weeks ago.

Played at Stephan's place. SIMPAK. We spend so much time chatting about ChatGTP that we only have time for one game - one at which ChatGTP might actually do well!

SPIMAK. Welcome to spring, meteorologically. We discuss movies, the mysterious loss of Ian's blue Tsuro meeple, washers and dryers, and Stephan's garbage-to-the-curb tactics. Also, Citadels gets a new look thanks to card sleeves brought by Ian.

Played at Stephan's place. AKIMPS. Sleep apnea; addictive drugs; perfect murders; 6-yr-olds shooting their teachers; Glen's attacks on Mike.

Played at Stephan's place. AIKMPS. Happy New Year everyone! The full crew is here to talk about Olympic disciplines, Mike's new cat (Glen), Camel races with robot jockeys, and the fake G-forces in Top Gun: Maverick.

Played at Stephan's place. MISAP. Last meeting of 2022, midway between Christmas and New Year's Day. We talk about underwater cameras, floppy disks, and Butt's Corner.

ASKMIP + ppl, who's in town as part of his holiday travels. The table extension goes in for the first time in, what, 4-5 years? Much to chat about, but we don't even mention the winter solstice or Argentina's win at the World Cup.

Played at Alan's place. ISKAMP. The first big snowfall of the year does not prevent us from gathering at Alain's place to celebrate his 52nd birthday.

Played at Stephan's place. SMAKIP. All kinds of goodies are brought: gingerbread men, cake, scotch, chips; the holiday season is coming! We admire Alain's new phone, and the new wooden box Mike built for the Category 5 cards.

Played at Stephan's place. MISKP. More 23andMe results, this time for Stephan, who is boringly 100% European, almost all of it French-German, as expected.

Played at Stephan's place. MAPISK. We discuss Alain's very European ancestry, from his 23 & Me results.

APSKIM. The first snowfall of the season in Moncton is a gentle one and does not prevent the full crew from being present, all the better to discuss hoof trimming, university financing, and murders by body builders.

Played at Stephan's place. SKIM. Mike remembers fondly his first snowstorm in Canada. Kevin remembers not so fondly his bout of covid and some other respiratory disease. Ian reveals he walks 5 km every day ... walking his dog. Stephan says nothing.

Played at Stephan's place. SPAMK. Why do feverish people shiver? Why do weasel need more food than other mammals of similar weight? Why do crows in the sun open their beak?

Played at Stephan's place. MISKA. We discuss Mike's ancestry, based on his results from 23andMe. Turns out he's royalty!

Played at Stephan's place. SAMPKI. We're back at the HFG after Stephan's two week battle with a kidney stone. It's also Stephan's birthday tomorrow (born in 61, he turns 61) and Mike and Irina provide a decadent chocolate cake.

Played at Kevin's place. PIMK - Kidney stones are no joke, so we talk prevention. Game night is held at Kevin’s for a second week.

Played at Kevin's place. KP - pascal and Kevin go face to face at two-player games. Stephan is incapacitated, Alain is drowning in exams, Mike is overwhelmed, Ian saves G2E! We play a game of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza for shits and giggles, but abandon it after we realized it’s REALLY aimed at kids.

Played at Stephan's place. AMKIPS. Hurricane Fiona badly mauled the Maritimes last weekend, and today Hurricane Ian is wreaking havoc in Florida, so of course (and as we often do at this time of year) we play Category 5.

Played at Stephan's place. AMSPI. Kevin is away at a parent-teacher meeting, so we play a game he's not too keen on.

Played at Stephan's place. MIASPK. Everybody uses the back entrance because work is being done on the HFG's front porch. From there people move straight to the table, leaving us no time to chat about the Queen's death.

Played at Stephan's place. KSIMA. Coffee consumption. Nicotine addiction. Biosphere II and its smaller imitators. Back-to-school days at the University.

Played at Stephan's place. KSAMP. Alain brings a blueberry pie, and part of his collection of fountain pens and craft papers. We all practice our cursive writing.

Played at Stephan's place. AKSIM. Public transport. Longhorn Steakhouse. House of the Dragon. Fountain pen podcasts. HFG landscaping. Maine desert.

Played at Stephan's place. MASKIP. We're back to a full crew, as Pascal just flew in this morning from his vacation in Austria and other European countries. Absent for many weeks now, he quickly makes up for lost time by winning the first two games and almost winning the third one.

KIMS. Kevin brings a new game and introduces it to us. It is a roll-and-write game with sea voyages as the theme. It plays fairly quickly and we like it enough so that after the first game we start another one ... at which point the power goes out all over Moncton! But we soldier on (sail on?) by candlelight. Romantic cruises, anyone?

Played at Stephan's place. KIMAS. Dentists. Billion-dollars lottery jackpots. Blue lobsters. Spinning beer cans.

Played at Stephan's place. MASKI. Pascal is travelling in Europe, but he is with us in more than spirit as we discover, stuck to the underside of the table where he normally sits, a souvenir of his presence. Otherwise, we spend most of the evening chatting. Some of that conversation leads to the first game.

Played at Stephan's place. MASKI. Cost of living; jobs; idle ants; 1980s games; apps; carnivorous plants; birds crashing in windows; computers; new TV shows; phones listening to our conversations.

Played at Stephan's place. SMK. Only the hardcore trio this week. We get to play games for fewer people.

Played at Stephan's place. SKIMP. Alain is away in Toronto. Pascal is here but will be gone in Austria for the next five weeks. We play a new game.

Played at Stephan's place. MASKI. Where we learn that Alain is a papyrophilist, and Ian is a yo-yo collector (a yoyophilist?). Ian is also the fourth HFG member to proudly display the HFG license plate.

Played at Stephan's place. MSKAP. Alain and Pascal are a bit late because of prom duties, so MSK squeeze in a quick game of Azul. And then we play Colosseum for the first time in 4 years (how time flies!).

Played at Kevin's place. IMK - Stephan is in agony, root canals are no joke. Kevin hosts game night, probably the first time since the dawn of COVID. Ian has expensive vet bills, but dog is healthy. Mike spent a rainy evening in his hot tub.

Played at Stephan's place. SKAMPI. We are six cool cats, but we all self-identify as human beings.

Played at Stephan's place. IAMPSK. Happy Birthday Ian (last Monday). To celebrate, we greatly increase our blood sugar index with a pecan pie from Stirling Apple and many decadent donuts from Halo. Lots of brain fuel for the games ahead.

Played at Stephan's place. SMAPKI. The whole regular crew is present for the last session of season 8. Beautiful evening and we spend some time outside admiring Mike's new car, a red dragon. Then we get down to business.

Played at Stephan's place. SMIPAK. Mike is back from his vacation in the Dominican Republic and we sample the rum he brought back. Alain is back from his laser eye surgery and he does not wear glasses.

Played at Stephan's place. PIKS. Where we learn that Ian does not like lobster. We also discuss the price of gas, the cost of raising children, the machinations of sperm bank operators, and the tribulations of contact lens wearers.

Played at Stephan's place. SKIMP. In which we learn that Ian went to school, that Mike is going to Punta Cana, and that homeless people go nowhere.

Played at Stephan's place. SKAMP. We discuss the ills of society - lengthy discussions both before and after the game.

Played at Stephan's place. MASKIP. Pascal takes the annual group picture. We get Alain’s report about his week vacationing in the Dominican Republic, and sample the rum he brought back. We learn that AI will never replace physicists (but it’s good at making paintings).

Played at Stephan's place. PIMKS. Where we discover the various lives of Ian Stewart ... and Pascal's obsession with butter chicken ... and Kevin's fight with covid.

Played at Stephan's place. PSAM. Happy birthday Mike (yesterday)! To celebrate, Irina makes a delicious lemon torte which we devour. Then we play a newish game (Alain has never played it, Stephan and Mike have played it a few times quite a while ago, and Pascal is an old hand at the 2-player version of it).

Played at Stephan's place. MIS. What was supposed to be a special meeting at Kevin's place to celebrate his birthday ends up being a meeting at Stephan's with only three cats present because of covid alerts within the others' families. Happy birthday Kevin anyway!

Played at Stephan's place. PAMSKI. Moncton's homeless people. Commuting in Moncton (and in Moscow). What we did in late March 6 years ago, skipping a week.

Played at Stephan's place. AMSKIP. Old dogs; the price of gas; the lifting of mask mandates and other covid restrictions; TV shows; the clocks set forward by 1 h.

Played at Stephan's place. SPAMK. We talk about Ukraine and covid, what else? And boobies at the evening's close (the birds, of course).

Played at Stephan's place. MISPK. Of course, we talk about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started after the day of our last meeting.

Played at Stephan's place. SPIMK. Russia vs Ukraine. Truckers and their protests. The James Webb telescope. Fish learning. F1 racing.