Saturday 26 November 2011

Drumroll please...

Cannon tribute to GoG




And now, the end is here
And so we face the final curtain







The Moneybags seem confused about how to navigate traffic lights - they see the amber and let it go! they speed ahead, leaving a book about the history of a cinema in that very same cinema as they whizz past. Not to be outdone, Team Racecar released The Book of Lost Things in the hollow of a tree, hoping it will get picked up in fairyland. Team Boot, on the other hand are unfazed by all this speed - they go mellow yellow with a chilled out beatnik realease. They continue to avoid the rat-race with a Hobo style railroad release, though The Grapes of Wrath is not liable to fit with GoG's 'poor but free' glamorisation of the lifestyle!
Boots walkin' the lines
Team Cannon, to cheer up GoG (who is sad at the ending of the game), threw A Series of Unfortunate Events at David Cameron (or at least his picture) before releasing it. They then pay tribute to GoG by lying books at her feet. GoG accepts these tributes, and in return she has used her omni-potency (she is, after all, a goddess) to ensure that both books got caught and one AF signed up!

Team Tophat are all prepared for the festive season, they know how to survive christmas. GoG is opting for running As Far As You Can Go With[out] a Passport!
Team Battle ship are clearly feeling morbid rather than festive, their releases this turn started with Death At La Fenice. Fortunately (well, not for animal lovers) only the eagles were dead in their brown release. By the end of the turn they had completely done an about face, or rather About Grace, and were in a much better mood.

The Thimbles go underwater with a yellow submarine release, then head underground to visit the gnomes and leave some litreature with them. Team Iron thought so far out of it that they left the box behind, but opted to stick inside a square. They dedicate their yellow release to Yellowstar - a gone but not forgotten bookcrosser. In Glasgow, the Wolves failed to find the meaning of life but did manage to lose a book...

Team Train headed to the rainbow's end theme park where they observed that they were standing in the rainbow. Unfortunately, having specified their location they are now unable to measure their speed  (in accordance with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) ... so we stopped looking at where they were and used a speedometer to see that they were whizzing about at a million miles an hour - going so fast they were unable to stop before they hit and shattered my kitchen window.


And, so, onto the all important envelope opening....
The winner of our Monopoly game, with 40 points (that's 23 releases, 8 catches, 3 AF sign ups, and 6 bonus points) is Team Cannon! Well done guys!
More accurately, though, well done all of you for making it this far, and a host of awesome releases. Thank you all so much for playing, I hope you had fun! I'll be starting up another game in the first couple of months of next year and it'd be great to have some of you play again if you can face it :)

Thursday 17 November 2011

Go Us!

Monopoly 2011 is nearly over - there have been some awesome releases and lots of books gone wild. Thank you all so much for playing (or just watching, if there are any lurkers out there). I already have some ideas for next time and will hopefully start a new game near the beginning of next year, keep an eye on the forums. In the meantime, here's a few numbers to try to take stock of what we've achieved!
* 36 players releasing books across 14 countries (and living in 13 of those countries...)
* 211 wild releases, of which 25 have been caught so far (an 11.8% catch rate), and 5 of them have been re-released. Our most adventuresome books seems to be this one from Team Wolf, which was caught, re-released, caught again (with AF sign up) and re-re-released! (And we are due to release a further 23 books for our final turn too)
* 11 AF sign-ups
* 11 Controlled releases between players, and (hopefully) a fair few BC-buddies made

Here are a few of my personal  Top 5 favourite releases form the game, in no particular order;
Thimbles serve up Bally Rolls
*Team Iron used the face on the front of The Great Gatsby to complete a headless statue
* Team Wheelbarrow followed a trail of Stardust to find a fallen star
* Team Iron landed on the OBCZ square, so headed off to the Organized Bleached Clothing Zone to make a release
* Team Racecar buried some treasure in hope that a passing pirate may sniff it out
* Team Thimble made book sushi - check out how on Azuki's blog

All that's very well and good, but I must admit I'm still a little bit disappointed that no one threw anything at David Cameron.

Sunday 13 November 2011

Turn Fifteen

Final Turn!

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on FRIDAY 25th November (Slightly shortened turn)
Refresh on how to play here (Don't you know by now??)
chatter about the turn in the forum

Battleship (9)
Give praise in the church of GoG, for now you may collect the browns! And you passed Go, so that's 3 releases this turn for you

Cannon (12)
The Final turns sees you on the final square - why not stay awhile and collect the dark blues while you're there?

Boot (6) & Wolf (12)
turn Bally into a work of art
Team boot - Collect the yellows too

Iron (8)
Think outside the box but inside the square... and collect the yellows while you're there

Moneybags (8)
O is for Orange and OBCZ, both are your challenges this week

Racecar (9)
Can racecars climb trees?

Scottie-Dog (7)
Walkies! Let's go play ball in the park. And Let's collect the dark blues too

Thimbles (10)
Chance card: Buried treasure challenge - leave a book underground. And celebrate passing Go while you're there

Tophat (10)
Penny a pound? Head to the market and make some sense of modern economics. And you just slipped past go too!

Train (2)
Rainbow Bright, Rainbow Light.... rainbow's may not include pink, but your release sure should

Wheelbarrows (6)
You've worked hard all game - have a cup of tea on a bench, and put your feet up on some pinks too

Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases...

Team Wheelbarrow
A super speed turn was completed still achieved in double time by the Scottie Dogs, who had only 4 days to plan and execute their release. Team "Wheelbarrow are on the run, but hope someone will catch the book they left behind.

Team battleship left The Monster of Florence at the Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Remembrance Sunday (In the UK). Team Train managed to find a shopping centre next to Rainbow's End theme park, so of course they released a book there.

Team Iron dropped off a book at the local OBCZ (That's the Organized Bleached Clothing Zone, or Laundromat). They then got all autumnal with an orange release as crisp and clean as both the November air and all their clothes.
 
Team Racecar, it has transpired, are fickle friends indeed - they visited poor sick Team Boot, to let them know that and, while no one was looking, made off with a point!
Racecars going no where
Team Moneybag, however, are having none of that; they prevent the Racecars getting away with the points by turning all the Tarmac of the rad surface into books! They then celebrate a job well done by releasing The Third Man in one of it's settings, The Hotel Sacher. 

Team Top Hat have also been somewhat light-fingered this turn , they stole all of Poseidon's Gold and hid it the the Castle of Good Hope - which turned out to be an excellent spot as it is a fort, so easily defensible when the king of the sea comes to reclaim his treasure. 
Yellow!
All this playing in the sea has left Team Boot very worried that their game-mates will catch a chill, and so they turn the tables on them (after negotiations over the medicine card last turn were unsuccessful) by sending them all care packages, with health books and flu remedies in them (including a packet of condoms marked"prevention is better than cure.") This earns a bonus point for being creative and hilarious!

Team Thimble have decided that they are having none of this - they will avoid winter colds by heading off to Thailand for the Turn. Of course they take some holiday reading for whilst they are away; Mansfield Park and Inheritance of Loss.
 
Team Cannon hope that one of the anatomy students will be able to help The Murderer Without a Face with a little plastic surgery. But their colour release already looks beautiful dressed up in her new yellow outfit.
 

Monday 7 November 2011

Turn Fourteen

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on Sunday 13th November (One week turn as discussed!)
Next turn will be announced on Monday 14th November
Refresh on how to play  here
chatter about the turn in the forum


Battleships (10)
You'll need calm waters to stand as still as a statue

Cannon (8)
Black, red, or green? Many kinds of teas in different cafes - and you can add to the collection by making a yellow one too!

Boot (9)
Shoes upon the table? Terrible!

Iron (10)
Flat out at the OBCZ - and make a colour release to collect the oranges

Moneybags (11) & Racecar (2)
Double trouble this week as two teams go visiting...

Scottie-Dogs (9)
A double time release on a one week turn? That give you just 3.5 days... GoG will call it 4, be sure to have your turn submitted by 9PM on Thursday 10th


Thimbles (3)
You're in the park - don't sing the (dark) blues!

TopHat (5)
Keeping the right sort of company, visiting palaces and castles

Train (2)
Don't lend Bally your credit card...

Wheelbarrow (5)
Celebrate the silver screen, then the light blue theme

Wolf (4)
Grant a wishlist request for a fellow player (and your bound to get another catch)

(Un)lucky for Some?

Team Cannon teach Pumpkin to read!
Money bags went on blue adventures; they tried to stay in a hotel but were quickly caught and taken away :)
Team Iron took a lighter, more poetic adventure, incorporating a theatrical visit. Racecars also went to the there, and managed to get up on stage and sing - the cast let them join in  with the performance of 13, in celebration of turn thirteen. Racecars then celebrate the end of their second time around the board by hitching a ride on a carousel. After all this celebrating they need to chill out, so they take a tip from Manny and make some Little Book of Calm soup. 

Team Boot are back up and running after last weeks flu, raising breast cancer awareness. Mission duly accomplished, they found a sofa to put their feet up and watch the telly. Team Top Hat came to join them, watching The Simpsons - but not until they managed to hammer a round book into a square hole.

The Centre of the Universe. Obviously.
Team Train manage to find the centre not only of a city, but of the whole universe (GoG would like to direct Team Train to this youtube video - as you will see, the centre of the universe is in Manhattan, not Calgary) and left a book there. They then went on to scare the pants off a priest at their local church by reminding him that Death Comes for the Archbishop.

Team Wheelbarrow also visited the church,  but the book they take has rather a different sort of Genesis
This release didn't hang about for long!
Team Thimble are owed a favour by the gods after recent misdemeanours, so Hercules offers to hold up The Pillars of The Earth for them, so that they can go to the irish pub and practice for next years Dublin convention. The other side of Irish life is shown in Team Wheelbarrow's second release, the biography of a man who deplored Father Ted, Jazz Music and Contemporary Dance. GoG agrees with him about the Contemporary Dance!

Team Battleship released a burning book on bonfire night.

Team Cannon are not very good at maths - they have made 3 releases and think that adds up to Five Quarters of the Orange - good job this isn't a geometry game! They also released a book in a tree which was caught and got an AF sign up right away - so  we start and end out write up by disproving all theories that Turn Thirteen is unlucky.

Bonus Points...
Team Racecar, simply because all three releases made me chuckle
Team Iron win a local poetry competition
Team Top hat are awarded a certificate of technical accomplishment
Team Train because GoG loves scaring members of the clergy too

Sunday 23 October 2011

Turn Thirteen

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on Sunday 6th November
Next turn will be announced on Monday 7th November
Refresh on how to play  here
chatter about the turn in the forum


Please Note; This is the last turn in which bonus points will be handed out (except in EXCEPTIONAL circumstances!) as GoG does not want to be in a position of effectively choosing the winner :)




Battleships (11)
I suppose it'll be naval history for you... let's hope you have interesting belly-buttons!

Cannons (3)
Roll Three and climb a tree (Oh, cummon, it *nearly* rhymes)
Plus get fruity with a collect the oranges release

Boots (4)
take a pew, put your feet up...
Collect the Pinks!

Iron ( 7) and Racecar
It's your turn in the limelight
Both teams Collect the light blues
Racecar: celebrate passing go!

Moneybags (11)
A night in the Ritz for you moneybags
Collect the dark blues

Scottie Dogs (9)
Rest a book at a rest-a-rant

Thimbles (2)
Not moving too fast around the board... almost as still as a statue...
Collect the greens

Top Hats (11)
Are you square pegs in round holes? Let's see
Collect the yellows

Trains
(3)
well, most new cities were built around the train station, so it makes sense you're in the centre
Collect the Light Blues

Wheelbarrows (2)
Better wear your Sunday best, you're off to church
Collect the browns

Wolf (12)
Don't scare off that leprechaun - maybe he'll tell you where the rainbow ends

Six of One and Half A Dozen Of Another

A Different Sort of Maths Class...

Team Wolf discovered The John Rylands Library, and left a copy of Fahrenheit 451 while they were there - and, feeling peckish on the way home the popped to the indoor market, releasing  another book outside. Team Wheelbarrow also Went To Market - and ran into Mrs. Beeton whilst there

Team Battleship found just the right place to leave a book - with not one rainbow but two. As they collected all the light blues last week they made a celebratory colour release (a little belated because of GoGs lack of attention to detail). Team Train also suffered from GoGs distraction, so they also made a belated colour release. They then went off to play in the Rugby World Cup - Team All-Bally did pretty well!

Team Moneybag also went collecting this week - they made a steamy release, as well as a wet one ;) Just as badly behaved are Team Thimble, who spent the week teaching Bally how to play Poker and gamble on Dice. Tsk tsk. Certainly he picked up no such naughty habits from GoG...

Team Boot got all political - they went Bushwacking at OccupySaltLakeCity (GoG stands with you! she took biscuits to all the campers at OccupyPaternosterSquare this morning! Right On! Etc.!)


Team Top Hat swapped out their head-wear for a deerstalker instead, they went to play Railway Detectives...

Team Cannons release was entirely not understood by GoG - something to do with baseball, which she thins is the yank version of Rounders?
Team Cannon in a League of Their Own

Bonus Points:
Team Moneybag for Steampunk style
Team Train for International Playground Release
Team Cannon, for proving there is such a thing as a free lunch
Team Thimble for putting up with yet more anti-social antics...

Monday 10 October 2011

Turn Twelve

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on Sunday 23th October
Next turn will be announced on Monday 24th October
Refresh on how to play  here
chatter about the turn in the forums

Battleship (dice roll 7)
sail across the horizon and find out where that rainbow ends
And, make a light blue release to collect the set, since gamehost forgot that bit last turn (sorry!)

Cannon (dice roll 7)
Don't fire! It's not a war - just a game of some kind, down at the sports ground

Boot (dice roll 10)
Achoo.... you sneeze yourself across the board and right into bed with flu!Gamehost suggests you try to trade with team Top Hat for their Healing card so you can get out and visit a friend... offer points or bribes!)
And, for passing go, make a free release

Iron & Wheelbarrow & Wolf (dice roll 7 & 8 & 4)
Three little piggies went to market (apparently!?)
and, as you all passed go to get there, make a free release each
Team Iron - collect the set of browns with a colour-theme release

Moneybag (dice roll 2)
You're so rich, buy Bally a yacht so he can sail away over the water
and... since you have both utilities, you get to make a themed release to collect the set (GoG had not foreseen this and is very curious to see what you will come up with...)


Racecar (dice roll 2)
Chance card: A double release to demonstrate the Ins and Outs of the situation!

Scottie Dogs (dice roll 6)
Scotties may be little, but they sure are powerful

Thimbles (dice roll 3)
You have two weeks. Turn over your papers, you may begin your release exam

Tophat (dice roll 12)
First Class for swells like you, I'm surprised to see you on public transport at all...

Train (dice roll 5)
Bally needs a partner on the see-saws, so you best get down to the playground sharpish!

Sunday 9 October 2011

An Eleventy-First Birthdy Party

Pictured (from left to right); Bally & GoG
It seems Bally was watching gamehost's behaviour at the Uncon last turn, and has decided to do some partying of his own. First he insisted that Team Cannon take him out this week, to Octoberfest where he got blau (pronounced Blue, mean meaning drunk!) enough to make even GoG blush. Once he'd drank all the beer, he wandered into church to see if there was any communion wine left over... no such luck, but he did meet a Sparrow in Gods Hands who told him the story of the (frankly rather stupid) people of Ulm (who did not know how to carry lengths of wood until she showed them), which made him laugh so he did not mind missing out on the alcohol. In all the merriment Mrs Sparrow did not see Bally leave, but Go he did and gone he stays...

Bally continued his debauchery by next insisting that Team Thimble took him out. They hopped in a yellow taxi cab, and (much to the Thimbelina's shock and horror) whisked away to the museum of erotic art, where everyone proceeded to behave very badly indeed.

Team Racecar go for an entirely different sort of ass, released on a mule in tribute to GoGs day-job working on WarHorse (No?). Then they take stock a little, realise that they are using all their petrol whizzing around the board - what if they run out before the game is over and are stuck unable to move (after all, Nothing Lasts Forever)? So they grab a Sedan chair in preparation to go green if needs be (GoG is a little worried who they think will carry them?)... 
Team Top-Hat go for some indulgence of their own, since they are Dying for Chocolate ;) Bally slipped away while they weren't looking and back into the church... still no wine to find though, and no talkative birds to chat up either this time.
Team Iron pit down their housework and went out - but not to paint the town red, oh no... to paint the town head, with one of the funniest releases so far this game and an utterly deserved (long-awaited) catch.
Conversely to all this merry making, Team boot are in a kind of hell - Tech Week in their theatre (For anyone who doesn't work in theatre, Tech Week is basically an exquisite form of torture, where you live in world of sweaty darkness and everyone's diet is pure sugar and caffeine (which makes them very friendly, but only for brief periods before the crash...)). They also warn Londoner GoG of another hell that is only just starting to hit her; the preparations for her city hosting the Olympics. Oh dear.... Team Boot kick off at a local Olympian, but do promise that the improvements in public transport stay around after the tourists go home, and  make it all worth while. (GoG, meanwhile, is skeptical about Boris' ability to even get the transport working before the games begin...)  
Despite some technical problems, Team Moneybag released a book in Eldon Square, to complete their set of yellows. Team Wolf release Engleby in a park, and Team Wheelbarrow made a contribution to a local bookshelf.
Team Battleship dropped off their little monsters at School, in the hope that someone else would pick them up again...

Also worth noting this turn; GoG is becoming a little worried at the habit she is developing of talking about herself in the third person (and this nickname really isn't helping her divinity complex!)

Bonus Points to...
Team Cannon for elaborate story telling (GoG does not seem to be able to post up PDF files for everyone else to read, maybe you can give us a link to your tale?)
Team Racecar because flattery will get you everywhere
Team Thimble (to help them get over the shock of naked Bally cavorting...)
And Team Iron, because that was bloody brilliant.






Wednesday 28 September 2011

Turn Eleven

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on Sunday 9th October
Next turn will be announced on Monday 10th October
Refresh on how to play  here
chatter about the turn in the forums


Battleship - dice roll 5
playground

Boot - dice roll 8
planes & trains

Iron - dice roll 7
statues & monuments

Cannon - dice roll 10
city centre
+ passing go
+ collect the light blues

Moneybags - dice roll 7
square
+ collect the yellows

Racecar - dice roll 3
statues & monuments
+ collect the greens

Scottie dogs - dice roll 7
playground
+ passing go

Thimbles - dice roll 2
museums & galleries
+ collect the yellows

Tophat - dice roll 7
church
+ passing go
+ collect the browns

Train - dice roll 7
market
+ passing go

Wheelbarrows - dice roll 11
community bookshelf

Wolf - dice roll 6
park

Ten Again...

Moneybag's book tree
Scottie Dogs find out all about the Hotel World, whilst Team Cannon went to stay in the crooked house hotel, and took a spirit level to check how wonky Bally's bed was. Unable to sleep, they stepped out into the dark blue night to watch some fireworks and release The Light Fantastic - they saw this book get picked up... but no journal entry so far :(

AHH! Spiders!
Team Boot are very brave - this week they went on a lunch date with One Dangerous Lady at the Black Widow Cafe... and it seems they survived. Team Iron also headed to a local cafe this turn, taking Joseph Andrews with them, where they celebrated their catch and new bookcrosser (who wants to know if he can have a bonus point)! Meanwhile, The Thimbles settled down to a cup of chai in Kolkata's most popular 'adda' spot.

Trains playing musical statues
Battleships are cheering along (whoever he may be?) by releasing Go Huckle Go in front of a Go Maine sign. Gamehost has a theory that Huckle is Bally's alter-ego (like Clark and Superman) and Battleships want him to run so fast he kicks up a sandstorm. Team Train going no where fast - they're frozen in time and standing statue still

Wet Wolves
Team Moneybag agree with  the Wheelbarrows; Oranges are not the only kind of fruit

Team Racecar leave jewels in the tower of London, whereas Team Wolf have fun playing with sandcastles (gamehost is very proud that she resisted the temptation to make jokes about what dogs normally do in sandpits....)
Hmm... tea!

Top hats are tipped to uncommon heroines and one extrodinary hero

Team Wheelbarrow take a global approach to the concept of high, with a release in the Svalbard (Norway), the northern-most large town.

Bonus Points:
Team Iron, a point to give to their AF sign up
Team Wheelbarrow for their latitude attitude

Not-Ten-gham and Nonsense



Turn Ten's Nottingham Uncon celebratory releases, starting as far away from central England as we can and working inwards;

Team Thimble are not a very good shot - their arrow goes astray and ends up 4371 miles away in Sherwood, Miami, Florida... no wonder Robin never got the warning to go and Hide

From 4367 miles away Team Iron celebrate Nottingham's exports of lace and Hollywood versions of history (most notably Disney's Foxy Robin Hood)

3768 miles away from Nottingham ought to be far enough away for an Outlaw to hide from the Cannon-fire, right? Good job there's still a Robin Hood Inn Sherwood!*

Team Battleship are sailing 3117 miles away from Nottingham Castle, but still manage to find a Castle kitchen

814 miles from Not-effing-ham, Team Boot can be seen celebrating Kosher Cookery

A Train journey of 257 miles is a long way... Robin hides in the bushes so as not to be caught en-route 

Team Racecar are not used to pedal-power, so cannot manage to cycle the 108 miles to Nottingham in honour of the area's Raleighs, but release a copy of  The White Woman on the Green Bicycle anyway

63 miles away, in the Robin Hood Pub, a Scottie Dog wants to Play Dead 

Somewhere in the city, Robin Hood is hiding away all the Moneybags he stole from King John... let's hope he doesn't find them

At the very centre of the bookcrossing shrine, Goddess of Game is drunk and getting stroppy - 'Don't You Know Who I Am?' she asks; 'I demand a sacrifice to appease my ire!'. None of the other Bookcrossers know what she is on about, but fortunately Team Wolf are on hand to make wild releases right in her lap...
GoG is normally much more attractive than this (hopefully)
... and so, the wrath of GoG abated, the game continues

Nottingham Bonus Release Bonus Points go to:
Scottie-Dogs, for awesome crafting skills
Team Wolf for sacrificial releases and assorted bribery (namely cigarettes, alcohol and toy frogs)
And Team Boot, because I don't care what you all think that was effing hilarious 

*oh dear... the puns are getting worse... sorry.

Monday 12 September 2011

Turn Ten

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on Tuesday 27th September
Next turn will be announced on Wednesday 28th September
Refresh on how to play  here
chatter about the turn in the forums

Turn Ten is uber-long because gamehost will be at the UK Unconvention and then taking the opportunity to visit her folks whilst in the area.
*** All teams are invited to celebrate by releasing an extra 'Nottingham' themed book this turn!
(Hints; Nottingham is most known for Robin Hood, lace making and it's castle. Wikipedia is your friend for this challenge!) ***


Battleship
Dice roll: 4
Ships in harbour - better head to market to stock up on supplies
Plus you passed go! Make a celebratory release

Wheelbarrow
Dice Roll: 4
Chance Card: High and low challenge - make two releases with a huge height difference

Cannon & Scottie-dogs
Dice Roll: 6 & 7
Bally's going to the Uncon too... he needs soemwhere to stay the night
Team Cannon: make a dark blue release to collect the set!

Iron, Boot & Thimbles
Dice Roll: 11, 5 & 3
is there room for you all at the cafe table?

Wolf & Racecar
Dice Roll: 12 & 10
there's just enough of summer left for you to build a sandcastle!

Tophat
Dice roll: 9
Chance card; girls are just as good as boys (maybe even better) - prove it with a heros and heroines double release

Train
Dice Roll: 5
Bally's not very good at standing still - maybe you can teach him with  game of musical statues?

Moneybag
Dice Roll: 7
Tree of Knowledge, Tree of Life, Tree of Ballycumber!

Nine[ty] Nine Luft'ball[y]'ons

Bally on show
Team Train ensured that Bally was most certainly not Behind the Scenes at the Museum - he was right out front, on his own plinth and everything!

Book-fruit
More works of art come in the form of this week's colourful releases;  Thimbles see red with two terrifying releases (Trail of the Dead and Dead Watch), Wheelbarrow demonstrate that Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Team train are as yellow as Bally himself, and Team battleship are midnight blue with Bally as their Man in the Dark.

Team battleship release a copy of  The Amusement Park Mystery in an amusement park (obviously) whilst Scottie-Dogs have no time for play, they are busy with the start of term and Mr Majeika And The School Book Week.  

Team Wolf continue there good luck with another catch and AF sign up from their latest release, left in one of the official German booktrees (more info on these here, for German speakers). Meanwhile, Team wheelbarrow opt for a more Earth-bound OBCZ. 

Team Iron prove that Bally is a golly good sport (what-ho) with a PG Wodehouse release to would make Bertie proud. Bertie would also approve of the Top Hats, being very stylish on Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris

Paella
looks like they weren't the only peckish ones - Team Boot need new notches in their belt after having Sandwichs in salt Lake City, tapas in Spain, and going out for a posh dinner in Holland... all at the same time! phew! 
After all that nosh, Moneybags decided that Bally was looking a bit it of shape and ought to work on his Body a little bit, so sent him to do a power-workout at the gym. Bally did not like this, he tells me that he much prefers power naps.

Boo!
Oh - and before I go, I must warn you all that the Cannons are clearly trying to intimidate members of the other teams by sending them scary parcels... full of eye balls and monsters (with the occasional book thrown in, of course). If you receive one of these threatening packages, please do not be concerned - I have been assured that the cannons are in fact harmless.

This weeks bonus points go to...
Moneybag for original thinking
Trains for providing Bally a platform to show off
Wheelbarrows for persuading a tree to grow books

Monday 29 August 2011

Turn Nine

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on Sunday 11th September
Next turn will be announced on Monday 12th September
Refresh on how to play  here
chatter about the turn in the forums


Wheelbarrow
Dice Roll 2
Take Bally to the O to the B to the C to the Z - Get down!
And - make an Orange release to collect the set

Boot
Dice Roll 4
Chance Card: Triple Time Challenge - Synchronise your watches! each Player releases one book, but they must all be set  free at the same time

Top Hat
Dice Roll 11 
apparently cafe is the Dutch word for pub, so maybe you could get something stronger than tea when you make this release?
Train
Dice Roll 3
Let Bally make an exhibit of himself
And - make a yellow release to collect the set

Iron 
Dice Roll 7 
Hopefully Bally is better at sports than I am (though I play a mean game of tiddlywinks) and will be on the winning team for this release!

Thimble
Dice Roll 3
History abounds so don't tie Bally down
And - make a red release to collect the set

Scottie Dog
Dice Roll 8
It's nearly back to school time - don;t forget your packed lunch!

Battleship
Dice Roll 7
What better way to appreciate the summer than sitting in a park with a book?
and - make a dark blue release to collect the set
Racecar
Dice Roll 12
maybe for you it'll have to be drive thru rather than sit in

Moneybag
Dice Roll 9
Who's got the power? Bally's got the power, that's who!

Cannon
Dice Roll 7
Contribute to the Community Bookshelf!

Wolf
Dice Roll 10
Bally wants to be low hanging fruit so he's sure to be picked

Sunday 28 August 2011

Seven for Silver, Eight for Gold

A 'Digest' write up of the last two turns to catch us up :)

Team Battleship
Tree: Howards End is on the Landing  at the foot of a tree in a cemetery
Collect the Oranges: I Feel Orange Today in with the orange sweeties and next to a bonus point
Speed Release: Harlequin NASCAR - Speed Dating



Cannons spot a photo opportunity
Team Cannon
OBCZ: Earned a bonus point making a whole new OBCZ to house Am anderen Ende des Mikroskops
Square: The House on Bostwick Square, on some squares at Courthouse Square
  
Team Iron
Passing Go: left hanging onto the dentist's chair by Tooth And Nail

Team Top Hat
Chance card - Healing challenge to collect a 'Get out of bed' card: The English Patient in a well being centre 
 
Moneybags outside a church
Team Moneybag 
Market: What Came Before he shot her at the outdoor market
Passing Go: GOal (geddit?)
Church: Gone Baby Gone and gone again - this book was caught and re-released
Collect the Browns: The Da Vinci Code - a mystery book wrapped in a brown paper bag

Team Boot
Sports Ground: Gamehost recommends checking out the release notes to see why The Damned Utd earned a bonus point
OBCZ: Well.... it seems Team Boot are not much loved by Team Cannon... not only was there some point stealing early in the game, then there was idea stealing too when Cannon's pipped them to the post in opening a new OBCZ - it seems Cannons were just waiting to land on this location to do so too! But Boots march onward, an gamehost is sure that Duizend schitterende zonnen will be the first of a thousand splendid books
Collect the Oranges: Oranje Jaarboek about the Dutch Royals, outside a palace

Scottie Dogs go Pink!
Team Scottie-Dog 
Rainbow's End: Where Rainbows End? Next to a pot of gold of course... or in this case an English bank. Bonus points for irony.
Collect the Pinks: Four Play at the Big Pinks restaurant on Miami Beach (that's a long way to travel on little Scottie-dog legs!)
Historical Places: Ramses; The Temple of a Million Years next to an Egyptian advertising board

Team Wheelbarrow 
Rainbow's End: Fly the Rainbow flag by releasing Before Night Falls outside a production of Rainbow's End

Thimbles serve up Bally-Rolls
Team Thimble
Community Bookshelf: A Chocolat themed parcel... nom nom nom
Restaurant In The Miso Soup at a Sushi house. Check out Azuki's blog to find out how to make book sushi

Team Racecar
Community Bookshelf: sent an english afternoon tea themed parcel, complete with weather and An Instance of the fingerpost
Passing Go: If on a Winter's Night a Traveller in the Australian section of Kew Gardens, because it's a near to winter as the northern hemisphere gets in August (Gamehost looks out of window at windy rainy night. Maybe not...)
City Centre: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay about the heart of New York, in the heart of Westerville

Team Train... on a train
Team Train
Bench: Dood spoor on a train bench
Square: Who Framed Roger Rabbit hanging next to a yellow square

Team Wolf
Playground:  a copy of Ich bin schwanger which got caught, re-released, re-caught nad an AF sign up. Wooh!
Passing Go: Das Regenbogenschwert which also got caught. A lucky turn for Team Wolf ;)
City Centre: Scoring yet another catch with Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses on a city university campus
Collect the Light Blues: A light blue copy of In meinem Himmel: Roman by a blue lake beneath a blue sky

Turn Eight Bonus Points to...
Battleships for supersonic speed dating ;)
Thimbles for the funniest release so far...
Boots because gamehost feels bad about not managing to roll you the numbers you planned for!
Trains because the photo made me laugh :D 

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Turn Eight

Submit the details of your teams completed challenge - including a link to the book's page (and pictures if you want) - to Vekiki's email (Don't PM please).
Submissions deadline: 21.00 GMT (that's 9 PM, London time) on Sunday 27th August.
Next turn will be announced on Monday 28th August
Refresh on how to play  here
chatter about the turn (or laugh at hungover gamehost) in the forums

Thimbles
Dice Roll 4
nom nom nom... feed up bally with a restaurant release

Racecar, Iron & Wolf
Dice Roll 7, 6 & 3
Bally's the pivotal point, right in the city centre
And, Team Wolf get to make an additional Light Blue release to celebrate completing the set

TopHat & Wheelbarrow
Dice Roll 9 7 3
Give Bally a sporting chance...

Boot
Dice Roll 2
Are you in the Zone/ I hope so....
AND: complete your set with an ORANGE release

Cannon & Train
Dice Roll 8 & 12
More even sided than a rectangle, but still right angled...

Moneybag
Dice Roll 2
Christenings, Weddings and funerals? Lets hope Bally arrives, meets a finder and leaves again too
AND: make a Brown release to complete your set

Battleship
Dice Roll 11
full speed ahead, you only have half the time to make your release! Your submission deadline is 9pm GMT on Monday 22nd

Scottie Dogs
Dice Roll 11
Greyfriars Bobby wasn't quite the right breed maybe you can find a better historical match for Bally?
AND: complete your set with a Pink release, from last weeks turn with gamehost's humble apologies!