1/10/10

I Join the Mafia...

Well, that's what they call themselves! (Ourselves, now.)

The Greenville Mafia was in past years a prime mover in the start-up of the Boardgames Players Association (BPA) twelve years ago, and indeed the incorporation was performed by one of our members, Scott Pfeiffer, a local attorney. The BPA is an international organization that draws 1400 - 1500 participants to its week-long championships held annually in Lancaster. PA. See  http://www.boardgamers.org/ .

This gives me the weekly opportunity to play board games with some of the best players in the world. We have our own meeting house, and there are three plaques on a wall just listing the names and years of members who won 1st place honors at the BPA championships in individual events - dozens, in fact. With normal attendance at our sessions of 12 - 14, there are usually at least three different games in play at any given time. And these aren't Monopoly or Scrabble - these are euro games like Dominion and San Juan, war games like The Kaiser's Pirates and Napoleonic Wars, railroading games like Ticket to Ride and Empire Builder, and many others.

I may not ever attain the level of play of other Mafioso, but at least, after a hiatus of decades, I'm playing games again on a regular basis!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Mark,
    My husband Marc has been fighting cancer for 2 years and a half now, and though now cancer-free, he is worse than ever: because of eye problems, he can't watch TV or even read anymore.
    So listening to audiobooks is all he can do. We are doing "Audible", but you get only 2 books a month - or you get ruined! Then we discovered Librivox... We have downloaded many, many, many books and short stories, and at the end of the day, the main criterium to choose an audiobook is ... the quality of the reader.
    I have to say, without the shadow of a doubt: YOU ARE THE BEST.
    Thank you so much for this amazing work and for helping people like Marc, who have almost no other pleasure left, enjoy long and rich hours of fiction.
    (I also have a long list of reading suggestions to submit to you!!!)
    Thank you again Marc
    Tony, Cambridge, MA

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  2. Am listening to your "Great Expectations," and your voices are superb! Really enjoying it, and plan to listen to other audiobooks by you.

    May I ask what equipment you use? I'd like to give this a try ....

    Lee
    gesmer at gmail.com

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