The Book of Ashes

Preparations... 2:46PM

Rock the Funky Monkey!

I can almost relax. This week has been hectic and its almost over now. First off I've had a cold, not a bad one but just enough to sap a little energy from me. Secondly its been a long week at work. Everytime I finish something I get two new tasks added to my list. But its all good, its just combined with birthday preparations and the cold it was a little tiring.

So Thursday night Eddie took us out for the now ritual, "I've got a job" shout which I started back in '98. There was mum, Bonnie & I, Eddie and Tom & Karina. It pissed down that night and the gutters were overflowing and we went and had a curry which was excellent choice for that night. By this stage though I was a little stressed. I had started planning some games for my birthday and had made some cards (up to midnight the night before) but hadn't actually invented the game yet with only 1 night left to go and our house was also a tip. So after dinner I headed home, made the cards, tidied half the house and went to bed after midnight again.

Ashes 29th... 2:53PM

Friday morning was wet and cold. I was tired from having the cold and staying up too late each night. I woke up to a treasure hunt for my present from Bonnie (a DVD burner for my computer - yay!) and some cards and presents from family. I was feeling a little less stressed though as I had finished creating my game.

Work was good. The guys did a cheese burger run at 11 and the boss brought some chocolate mud cake (pretty damn rich) for my birthday which was cool. I achieved some work but didn't work too hard. I also wrote up the rules of the game.

After work I headed home, the flat needed tidying and the food prepared. We had heaps of food, heaps of drinks, a sink full of ice and everything sweet. I went and told our neighbour I was having a party and he said he was a brewer and if he'd known earlier he could have brought a keg along (damn!). Apparently they have to sample some of them, taste a few litres then can do what they want with the rest so long as they don't sell it. He's a good guy will have to have him over for a drink some time. So after 2 hours of tidying and preparation the place was finally ready and I could relax. As usual my friends started turning up from 9 onwards (a few early souls before then) so the party didn't kick off till around then. It was an excellent party though, it went till after 2 in the morning and for once I drunk just enough to really enjoy myself but to not be hung over the next day. Can't say the same for everyone else. Also the music was not pumping so loud that you can't talk with people (or it anoys the neighbours) which was good. A different kind of party for me and reading this it definitely sounds like I'm getting old. Not so, the game we played during the night was good. Not perfected but good.

The game... 3:07PM

The rules of the game were simple. As someone entered they got given a hand crafted card with the ashes corp logo on the back. On it they had a mission, a game or a person card to follow out. The rules stated...

1. Keep your card secret, keep it safe.

2. You may ask someone to swap cards (without telling them what your card is) if they agree then you can swap.

3. Do what your card says on it.

4. Have fun.

I forgot to say you can't swap with the person you last swapped with and there was a cyclic rule that didn't quite work out at one stage but otherwise it rocked.

The cards idea was based around the board game risk where you get a mission card at the start of the game and you have to acheive that mission. Then I incorporated the idea from Leon, Steve & Brooke's 30th where each person had a piece of puzzle and they had to go around and find the person who had the matching piece. This meant that you had to introduce yourself to random people and gave you an opening line. After that I borrowed from many different games I've played previously. So what was on the cards?

Well, there was the lucky lips card where whoever had the card had to wear some led flashing lips on their shirt. There was the Seedy Old Man card and the Old Maid card which you didn't want to end up with. There was the Joker of course which made you immune to other card plays unless you had the Other Half card which could take the Joker off you. There was the Party Thief who could force you to swap cards with him (unless you had the Joker) and then there was the tattoo card which entitled you to a fake tattoo. There were also the mission cards which were to find 3 people you didn't know very well and memorise their favourite colour, favourite fruit and most embarrassing story (remember that road trip Kate?) or find the person with the closest birthday to yours. There were the game cards where you had to yell out 7 randomly or the other one where if you heard 7 you had to continue the count and if two people said the same number you both drank and started again. Once a few drinks had been had by all and the natatural inhibitions had worn off, the night became a blast. People were yelling out happy birthday to me, random counting games were going off and everyone seemed to want a tattoo. Bev sat solid on the lucky lips for half the night unconvienced anyone had a good card to swap him and I'll tell you what, everyone had a turn at being the seedy old man for a while. Of course Martin turns up and gets the Town Drunk card when he's on call and wanted to be sober! I also concocted a few special mixes called Potable, Iniquitious & Melange. These were green, red and blue in that order and ranged from weak alcohol to 50% alcohol. They went down rather well.

So I guess I really need to put some photos up as they speak many more words than actual words do. Thanks to everyone who came along or gave me a call that night. I had a great time and hope everyone else did too.

Ashes MC.