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Carcassonne: The Discovery (View Game)
This is another stand alone version in the Carcassonne series. It is decidedly simpler than the original Carc, with each player only using 4 meeples in the game. The theme is also different as players claim a newly discovered region consisting of meadows, mountains, and seas. A good play for younger gamers, but normal Carc is more suited for experienced and competitive gamers.
Carcassonne: the Castle (View Game)
This is a great stand alone version of Carc especially designed for 2 players. Strategy becomes important because tile laying space is limited. A new expansion is to be released soon for this game entitled "The Falcon". Definitely a good buy.
Carcassonne: The City 2 (View Game)
This is a reimplementation of Carcassonne: The City. It comes at a cheaper price and plays the same. Definitely a good buy for any gamer. This game is like Carcassonne but includes new mechanics that change the game. You are building within the limits of the walls of Carcassonne, so space is more limited than in the original game. Fun and competitive.
The Kids of Carcassonne (View Game)
A more kid-friendly version of Carc that uses the same mechanics (but without scoring). Players instead try to place their figures to win. A good game for younger children. Serves as a good introduction into the world of Eurogaming for youngsters.
Cardcassonne: The Carcassonne Card Game (View Game)
A spin off game from the original Carcassonne. This game definitely is worth looking into, especially if you prefer card games to board games. Nicely continues the theme of Carcassonne and is quite easy to pick up whether you are a new gamer or have been playing for years. This is fun to play whether you are a fan of the original Carcassonne or not.
Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers (View Game)
This is the same game basically as the original Carcassonne but with a few rule changes. However, I love the prehistoric theme that this game brings to the table. This leads to more plays for me when choosing between this and vanilla Carc. Definitely a good buy if you are just going to buy the base game (between this and Carc).
Carcassonne Big Box 2*ND (View Game)
A reimplementation of the first Carc Big Box that contains a different mix of expansions. A great buy if you don't own the game yet but are a fan, especially since it contains so many expansions. I give this out as a gift to my gaming friends who are interested in Carc but have not yet purchased it.
Carcassonne Big Box*ND (View Game)
A great way to save some money when looking to buy Carc along with some expansions. It also acts as a great space saver because all the components are in one box, convenient for storage. This makes a great buy for oneself and a gift that will never go unappreciated.
Carcassonne: Wheel of Fortune (View Game)
This is a reimplementation of the original Carcassonne with an expansion built in. It contains all the components and can be played as a stand alone or in combination with the other expansions. The wheel is an interesting mechanic that adds some randomness to the game (other than tile drawing). I'd suggest this expansion for completionists/collectors (like myself) and for new players looking to buy the base game with a built in expansion.
Carcassonne: Traders & Builders Expansion (View Game)
This is the second expansion universally considered a must have by Carc players (the other being Inns and Cathedrals). This is a fun large expansion that adds much to a game. The builder allows you to take an extra turn if you add to the city or road that it is on. The pig allows you to get 4 points per city on a field rather than 3. The trade tiles allow for new end game scoring that can drastically change game play. I recommend this for all Carc players.
Carcassonne: The Tower Expansion (View Game)
Another conflict filled expansion for Carcassonne. Adds a vertical component to the game that allows you to capture your opponent's meeples and ransom them for points. Can be very fun or very frustrating. I suggest this game for players who like very attack based games of Carc.
Carcassonne: The Princess & the Dragon (View Game)
Definitely my favorite expansion. This one calls for all out attacks on your opponents. The dragon rampages about the land, eating up meeples and allowing you to take out your opponent from that valuable field he's holding onto. This princess (which only appears in cities) allows you to remove your opponent's knight from a city. The fairy offers some protection from the dragon and gives you a few points here and there, but your opponent can easily take it away at critical moments. A great expansion adding in lots of new elements that can make or break your game.
Carcassonne: the Count (View Game)
Another small expansion that packs a lot of punch in the Carc line. The Count creates another new "starting tile" dynamic with a 4X3 city. The city has four quadrants that you can place meeple into, thereby allowing you to leech your opponent's points when they score without you scoring. A fun expansion that adds a lot to games, regardless of playing style.
Carcassonne: River 2 (View Game)
This is a fun expansion that reimplements the earlier River expansion. You can use this river alone or in combination with the River I in order to make one large river for big, multi-expansion games. The River II adds in features that work with other Carc expansions (such as Princess and Dragon or Inns and Cathedrals), and can add a lot of depth to the game. Definitely a good buy at a cheap price.
Carcassonne: King & Scout (View Game)
This is a fun little expansion that can add a lot to the game (writing from the perspective of normal Carcassonne). It includes 5 new tiles that have new configurations that add a lot to gameplay. It also adds two new unplayable tiles that are held by the players that completed the largest city and road. At the end of the game, the player who holds each of the respective tiles gets 1 point for every completed city (in the case of the king tile) and 1 point for every completed road (in the case of the robber baron tile). This element adds in new end game points that can completely alter gameplay (it can actually be advantageous to complete an opponents city or road!). This is a fun expansion for new and old players alike.
Carcassonne: Inns & Cathedrals Expansion (View Game)
Many consider this to be a must have expansion. My gaming group never plays without this one. It adds a 6th player for starters, as well as scoring tiles (50 and 100 points) so you don't have to remember how many times that you've gone around the score board. It also adds in a "big meeple" worth two so that you can claim an opponent's city as your own with a single placement. A new mix of tiles is also included that add in new configurations to make gameplay more interesting. The inns and cathedrals allow cities and roads to go for double or nothing depending on if they are completed or not, and can act as a great way to attack your opponent. I strongly recommend this to all Carc fans.
Carcassonne : Travel Edition (View Game)
A fun, "mini" version of the base game. It has all of the components of regular Carc, but smaller in size. A good purchase if you're taking a road trip and want to save space.
Carcassonne: Cult, Siege, & Creativity Expansion (View Game)
This is an expansion that I rarely play without. It consists of 12 tiles. 2 tiles are blank (so that the player may create their own tiles with their own rules to use). 6 of the tiles are Shrines, which play just like the Cloisters of the base game, but when placed next to a Cloister may cause a battle for points that becomes winner take all. 4 Siege tiles (an English Printing of the German Die Katherer expansion) can be placed to cut the value of an opponent's city in half. This expansion includes several new mechanics of attack that are fun to play with in competitive matches. I am a big fan of this expansion, especially considering the low cost.
Carcassonne: Catapult (View Game)
This expansion adds a fun, quirky element to what can be very serious games. The Catapult introduces a dexterity component to the game where players fling tokens across the board that can change gameplay drastically. This is a great expansion to use when playing with light gamers or with a younger crowd.
Carcassonne: Bridges, Castles & Bazaars Expansion (View Game)
This is definitely a worthwhile expansion to get for Carc. The bridges are a fun mechanic that allow you to place tiles that would otherwise be placed in "illegal" positions. Castles are a gamble that can pay off huge. Bazaars can be a little much for smaller games (since tiles are auctioned off for points), but they are fun in games with lots of players (4 or more) or with several expansions. I suggest this expansion for all Carc players.
Carcassonne: Abbey & Mayor Expansion (View Game)
This is one of my favorite expansions to Carc. It adds in several new mechanics. Abbeys are of great use because they are played to fill in holes in your game that otherwise are impossible to complete (thus allowing you to retrieve your valuable meeples that you previously thought were trapped). The mayor is a new way to claim cities as your own that can be a game changer. Barns completely reshape the way you look at fields. I suggest this expansion for someone who is well seasoned with Carc and is looking to try something new. It works great when combined with other expansions as well, especially Traders and Builders or the Tower.
Carcassonne River 1 Expansion (View Game)
This little expansion is a great addition to Carc. It changes up the start of the game drastically without adding any new rules that change gameplay. I strongly recommend this purchase. This is a great purchase to change up your games a bit, especially at such a low price.
I suggest this purchase if you have played Carc a few times and haven't purchased the base game yet. I have purchased this as a gift for my friends who I have introduced to Carc but not yet purchased it. This version of the Big Box contains all of my favorite expansions (Inns and Cathedrals, Traders and Builders, Princess and Dragon, Abbey and Mayor, and Bridges Castles and Bazaars) for a bargain. All of the components come in one large box that make storage much easier (and all of the expansions are housed separately in the box so that there is no frustrating mixing and matching come gametime; you just pull out the expansions you want and you're good to go).
Carcassonne - The Mini Expansion (View Game)
This is a great addition to the "vanilla carc" set. It adds in 12 new pieces with new configurations that weren't previously available in the basic Carc set. Also, it does not add any new rules. One of the main complaints about the other Carc expansions is that they add too many rules or drastically change the game from its original design. This expansion gives you 12 new pieces without any rule changes. I strongly recommend this purchase, especially since it is rare and is a bargain at this site.
Carcassonne (View Game)
This is the game that got me into board games. A great gateway game, we often play just this for 5-6 hour stretches. Simple and easy to learn at the surface, but can also provide depth for veteran players. I never grow tired of Carcassonne, even after trying out many new games since then.
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Opius rarus är en stekelart som beskrevs av Zaykov och Fischer 1983. Opius rarus ingår i släktet Opius och familjen bracksteklar. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Bracksteklar
rarus

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Wide selection of Halloween bags to keep your kids safe while they have fun!
Custom printed Halloween bags remind us of the lovely fall season and are a great kickoff to the season. Some bags come with printed stock designs on them with space for a Halloween message while some are left open to your limitless creativity. Plan a safe night for Halloween trick-or-treaters by providing them with trick-or-treat bags that feature safety tips and fun illustrations. Halloween is fun for kids and many people don't realize the untapped potential for business advertising during Halloween. Your logo is seen all around town for quite sometime. Even so, Halloween bags are reusable so this one time investment has potential to bring back massive returns. These bags can be used for generations to come.
Looking for other Halloween goodies? Visit our section filled with Halloween Handouts. Glow products can help children be seen during the nightime hours and can be handed out at local events.


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A kind of dawn
As the pandemic shroud lifts gently from live music, Desert Dwellers are ready to plug back in and coax the vibe and transport the faithful. If, maybe, a little less obsessively
Last December, Desert Dwellers (Amani Friend and Treavor Moontribe) released a three-hour video stream set, captured last summer in a verdant clearing in the trees somewhere west of here, garnished with visual effects and tree-bedecked dronescapes framing the two producers under a small shelter. A little Buddha statue grinned knowingly in front of their rig.
A gifting gesture, quite obviously, for their homebound fans, and hey, even last summer we were all ready to get out of the house and play. Composed largely from the duo's recently completed three-volume set of remixes of their landmark Breath release, Friend and Moontribe drifted effortlessly through a lengthy and exquisitely tempered set, characteristically lithe and deeply invested in their earthy, gently seductive vibe.
And they didn't know at the time — no one did — that they were only halfway through this pandemic thing, so a successful sabbatical-breaking moment for the duo probably landed as a sustaining event for their live-gig-deprived fans. COVID was the only thing on tour in 2020.
A break can be a good thing if well timed, but kind of a drag if uncooperatively long.
"To be truthful," Moontribe says, "both of us were pretty burnt out on traveling so much when COVID hit — we were already talking amongst ourselves about taking some breaks, ways to be a little more picky about the shows we take. … So, in a way, it helped us achieve that without having to say no to a lot of promoters."
Turning down work, even if you feel like you need to, isn't necessarily the easiest thing to do.
"Yeah, it's hard to do," Moontribe says. "You don't want to pass up opportunities. But when you're traveling as much as we were — and we don't travel as much as some artists do, I don't know how they do it — it was really tiring, and our approach to touring in the future is definitely going to be different. Do things in little sections, then maybe take a couple of months off… we're not going to go as hard as we did."
And that, by itself, is a signal of having crossed a threshold. Desert Dwellers, birthed from the southwest desert raves of more than 20 years ago, have established themselves as essential producers, easing effortlessly through trance, tribal, bass and psychedelic colorations without sounding forced or stiffly performative. Vibe and color, nuance and tenderness. In some ways, they have defied the skepticism that once shaded the burgeoning EDM scene. And with more than two decades of original music and countless remix projects, they quietly display their own longevity as evidence of the wider scene's durability, and can maybe afford the indulgence of sitting a few gigs out.
"I think the real blessing is, it's not a trend," Moontribe says of the EDM scene. "Like hip-hop and rock 'n' roll – neither of those are going away any time soon, and neither is electronic music culture. It's multi-generational: here's people like me who are approaching 50, people who are 60 and older, and all these young people in their 20s and teens who are finding it, and that's really awesome."
We wondered if the duo, with such a lengthy tenure and abundant catalog, ever felt some sensitivity or caution about repeating themselves — that kind of ghostly specter that haunts developing artists who travel long roads in their respective genres and release a lot of material. There's a balancing act involved in managing this, of course; a fanbase grows up around an artist's aesthetic framework, and you're never sure if chasing your musical instincts can disrupt that paradigm.
Then again, there's a trust involved in pursuing your instincts and embracing restlessness, and an honestly pursued exploration across genres means following your inspiration and letting the fanbase take care of itself.
"With our last album, Breath, we intentionally went into the kind of slow-tempo house music realm, completely different from our Great Mystery album before that," Moontribe says. "And a lot of that was due to not wanting to repeat ourselves. We could have made another bass music album and maybe appealed to more fans, but I feel like with the Breath album, we gained new fans."
And then, especially in the EDM world, add the dimension of remixes. Handing off pieces of a song, just pieces, to another producer results in some hybrid creation — part original artist, part interpreter — that gets absorbed as a collaboration. In the end, whose is it?
In a sense, it almost doesn't matter. Where the original artist's work ends and the remix artist's work begins is the alchemy, and alchemy is one of the scene's essential bodily fluids.
Is there a set of unwritten rules or a kind of etiquette involved in handling remixes?
Moontribe has to think about that a bit.
"I think everyone kind of has their own rules and etiquette around that.
"For us, when someone asks us about doing a remix, before anything we have to listen to the original track, and feel like there's something we can do with it that's going to be really, really great, but different from the original, and just as good or just as powerful.
"For us, every remix album has benefitted us just as much as it's benefitted the original artist," Moontribe adds. "Some of those tracks have gotten us some of our largest amounts of streams, and those artists have been able to grow because of their affiliation with us, and vice versa."
ON THE BILL: Desert Dwellers. 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. April 17 and 18, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder, bouldertheater.com. Tickets start at $55. (The April 17 shows were sold out at press time.)
Some essential listening, and some nonessential
Someone once observed that electronica was music without a memory. We're not sure if that's true, but in any case, we thought we'd get Treavor Moontribe to riff on a few of electronica's best known (and maybe overlooked) pioneers. (And no, we did not ask about Bassnectar.)
Juno Reactor: The first vinyl I ever bought as a DJ was the Juno Reactor album from 1994. Hugely influential. They crossed over (into the mainstream), and for an act that was based in psytrance, especially at that time, was really unheard of. It was a very underground genre, and kind of still is in some ways.
Banco de Gaia (Toby Marks): His music was a huge part of the Moontribe scene and the parties that we did in the desert in California in the '90s. We have a remix of Banco de Gaia out there — "All Sleeping" was the track. "Last Train to Lhasa" is one of the best electronica songs of all time.
Steve Roach: Steve Roach is more on the Amani [Friend] side of things, as far as inspiration goes. Steve Hillage (System 7): Not a big part of my listening. I do have pretty much all the System 7 stuff. For me, I think their earlier acid house stuff was my favorite.
Daft Punk: I appreciate what they've done. They command nothing but respect — I mean, they practically invented that kind of disco and house music… I get why they were so popular, but it's a little more on the commercial side, just not something I listened to very much.
The Orb (Alex Paterson and others through the years): When it comes to psychedelic, [The Orb is] one of the most influential for everyone, right? And even their new music is killer. It's just so weird and so experimental. And totally unique. … It's almost unplayable. It's meant for people tripping. It just is. And if you're not, it's kind of too weird.
apr 15 2021 issue
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Bay Meadows Sweetens Track Deal
Company's $260 million cash purchase of the Hollywood Park racetrack includes potential ownership stake.
Pillsbury Lawyer Secures $1.7B Bank Deal
Michael Halloran shepherded client Zions Bancorp's planned acquisition of Amegy Bancorporation Inc.
| July 14, 2005 at 12:00 AM
When Churchill Downs Inc. put its Hollywood Park racetrack on the auction block, more than a dozen companies jumped at the chance to buy the prime property. But after months of intense bidding, one company broke ahead of the pack. Bay Meadows Land Co. not only offered $260 million in cash for the L.A. racetrack, it also gave Churchill Downs the chance to become a majority owner of the track if Bay Meadows can get legislation passed in the next three years that would bolster the horseracing business. The industry has seen a decline in business because of competition from casinos and other gambling outlets. Bay Meadows wants California legislators to adopt a bill that would allow slot machines and other forms of gaming at racetracks. If the San Mateo company wins this lobbying effort, it will keep Hollywood Park intact rather than shut it down and redevelop the land. Churchill Downs would then be able to reinvest in the site. Daniel Kelly Jr., a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell's Menlo Park office who represented Bay Meadows, said such a repurchasing option is unusual. "When our client put that in the bid I said, 'Are you kidding me?'" Kelly said. "But in the end, this feature distinguished the Bay Meadows bid from the others and won the deal for our client." Kelly said the provision was complicated and very difficult to negotiate. Under the terms of the deal, Churchill Downs could get a majority stake in the racetrack for up to three years and a declining stake over the following five years. The repurchase option would be cut off if the land is redeveloped. Based in Louisville, Ky., Churchill Downs owns seven racetracks throughout the country and hosts the Kentucky Derby and other prestigious races. In a July 6 release announcing the deal, Bay Meadows said it would seek alternative uses for the current racetrack site "in the event that our best efforts are unable to improve the underlying economics of the horse racing industry and to stem the tide of horses leaving the state." Hollywood Park is 11 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles and three miles form Los Angeles International Airport. The 238-acre site also includes a casino. The racetrack was launched in 1938 under the chairmanship of movie mogul Jack Warner, of Warner Bros. The original shareholders included many stars, directors and producers, such as Al Jolson, Walt Disney, Bing Crosby and Sam Goldwyn. Bay Meadows also owns and operates Bay Meadows Racetrack in San Mateo. The company is itself owned by Stockbridge Real Estate Fund, a private partnership formed to invest in real estate. "We understood that most or all of the other bidders were developers," Kelly said. Bay Meadows is also a racetrack owner and "understood how the economics would improve if gaming were permitted at the racetrack." The Davis Polk team also included partners Yukako Kawata, Thomas Patrick Dore Jr. and William Weigel, counsel James McIntyre and Betty Moy and associates Kevin Smith, Ashira Ostrow, Sharon Crane, Renata Ferrari, Lori Fields and Frank Azzopardi. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represented Churchill Downs. Los Angeles partner Eric Remensperger led the Gibson team. — Brenda Sandburg HOW TO ENJOY INDEPENDENCE DAY To most people, $1.7 billion is a lot of money. But for Michael Halloran, the price tag on client Zions Bancorp's planned acquisition of Amegy Bancorporation Inc. — announced July 6 — wasn't even enough to be the merger of the week. "It's not as big as Bank of America and MBNA," said the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman partner, referring to the big June 30 deal worth about $35 billion. Zions' decision to expand into Texas by acquiring Amegy nonetheless provided some stressful nights and a work-packed month, culminating in three harried days over the July Fourth weekend, Halloran said. And while the bulk of the work was done in the days leading up to the deal, legal work on bank mergers tends to linger for months. "After the signing, you have to file applications with regulators, and it takes quite awhile to get them to approve," he said. "It's not like a regular public company merger, when you have all this regulation." But Halloran added that he doesn't mind the extra work inherent with bank acquisitions, which in recent times have tended to be rather straightforward affairs. "The banking industry today is in pretty good shape," he said. "The banks that you're acquiring tend to be profitable in and of themselves." That was the case with Amegy, which is now bathed in controversy since it was reported last week that the bank turned down a competing offer that may have been worth more money. Along with Halloran, Pillsbury's local lawyers included partners Rodney Peck, Patricia Young, Keith Gercken and Cindy Schlaefer, along with associate Harpreet Bal. Amegy was represented by lawyers in Sullivan & Cromwell's New York office. — Justin Scheck


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Bill Leonard
Letter to the Editor: We need churches that always speak of love, unity and mutual respect
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Critical Race Theory, voter suppression and historical negation: The irony of it all
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Re-forming a post-COVID church in a post-churchly nation
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Naming and un-naming: Slavery, schools and the present moment
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In the year 1612, British Baptist/dissenter Thomas Helwys published A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity, the first English call for universal religious freedom. Addressed to King James I, it began: "Hear, O King, and despise not the counsel…
America 2021: Got church and steeple but where are the people?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NEFWT8miTo&t=108s
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Born on 10 January 1986 in Liverpool, Clancy was member of girlband Genie Queen, who were managed by 80s popstar Andy McCluskey from OMD. The highlight of their career was supporting boyband Blue on tour. However, the band didn't secure a record deal and fell apart.
She supports Southport FC, mainly because her brother Sean, plays for the Conference National team.