I Know the Location of Dr. McNinja!

Not exactly the most appropriate follow-up but...

I KNOW THE LOCATION OF DR. MCNINJA!

*ahem*

Reading the newest page, a map of the city Dr. McNinja lives in is shown. The comic's author, Chris Hastings, announced that we now had everything we needed to find the name and location of this actual real-world city. So, almost immediately, I set out to do just that! Through the magical wonder that we call "Google Earth", I typed in a bunch of street names that I could make out (New Hampshire Ave, Somerville Ave, etc), but what ultimately did it was the name of a park which I could JUST make out as "Constitution Park". It took about an hour, but I FOUND IT.

The irony? I used to live less than 50 miles from this city when I was in Kindergarten and 1st Grade!

Now, if anybody who reads this has ever listened to me mention my whereabouts between 1991 and 1993, you now have everything you need to know to find Dr. McNinja's hometown. =P

(I won't leave you hanging forever! Just IM me or something and I'll tell you. ^_^)

Also, with the other stuff going on, I haven't had a chance to mention my new board game idea: HARD POWER. Each player controls a country. Using military power, industrialization, and trade, the players must overcome their rivals to become the world's preeminent Hyperpower! I came up with most of it last week at work. The game play is fairly simple, in my opinion at least: each turn you use Diplomacy Points (basically, Money) to buy Industries, Bases, Trading Ties, or a Military (Army or Navy) unit. Unlike Risk or Axis and Allies, the emphasis isn't on conquest but on trying to expand yourself economically and PROJECTING power rather than flexing it. You begin by controlling only 1 territory, and you can only place Armies in either that Home territory or a territory you attack and annex afterwards. Most of the map is "Neutral" and each territory is its own independent country with its own domestic army that you must defeat before annexing. Annexing allows the player to secure resources and provides a safe, steady income... but, you can gain far MORE Diplomacy Points by placing multiple Trading Ties on these territories, MULTIPLYING the number of DP you get. There are also Event Cards to shake things up, which I have to thank Ed again for helping me develop a full 52 card deck of.

My only problem now is the map. Right now, the game uses the standard Risk map (because it's the easiest for me to get my hands on). Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Event Cards (you pick up 1 card for the event, then a second card for the territory the event occurs in), if I continue to use that map I'll end up with a Territory deck of 84 cards (42*2)! Ideally, I want a deck of about 52 cards, like the Event cards, so that means I should have only 26 territories. The problem? The map that I really want to use is the Risk map from the 1996 computer version, which has 60 territories. That... that's a bit more than 26. >_<>_<() Ah well... I suppose a 120 card deck isn't SO bad...

On a more serious note: the wake is today. This hasn't been a very pleasant week, but at least it hasn't been downright terrible (besides, you know, my grandma dying and my school screwing me over AGAIN). Tomorrow's the funeral, and then after that I guess it's going to be a matter of figuring out what to do about everything. They plan to sell my grandma's house and split the money among my Dad, my aunt, and uncle. This means everybody who still lives there needs to move. Malinda and Taliyah are looking for an apartment in Hasbrouck Heights. My Dad is going to help Aunt Sue find an apartment here in Fair Lawn, and John is supposed to move in with his friend in Pennsylvania. I guess time will tell how this will actually play out though.