Monopoly Game Collection - Antique Board Games

Being a cheapie, if I'm going to collect something it has to be something I like to play with and it has to be inexpensive. Hence, my joy in collecting Monopoly game sets. I've come across quite a few older games over the years. Through my mom's old antique store, she'd come across old game sets and throw them my way. It seems like every family from way back in the day had a Monopoly set so they are fairly common. Interestingly enough, a new set costs between $10-$15 bucks for a basic set and it is about what you can get for an 'antique' set.

I really like these old sets and marvel at how simple they were. The houses and hotels are still green and red but are made of wood. The Community Chest and Chance cards are the same color but looked typed and don't have pictures. In fact, these older sets don't include the iconic "Rich Uncle Moneybags" character with the top hat and moustache. The money looks pretty much the same from the beginning.


The other big difference between the older versions and the newer ones is the box. Nowadays, there is a large elongated box the includes the board, money and all the pieces. Back in the day, all of the money, tokens, and cards came in a smaller box and the board was separate. The game board itself looks virtually identical to the modern counterpart.

Bobby the Bobcat

Growing up, we never went into the basement at my grandparents house because we were afraid of the stuffed animals. Our worse enemy was the stuffed bobcat. It wasn't until we were much older that we got the courage to take a closer look. Poised in an aggressive pose, Bobby protects the ol' home office from any potential predators. Incredibly, for being dead seventy years and never going outside, it will get the occasional tick.

Before you give me any grief, I didn't shoot it, and my grandfather shot it many years before I was born so I'm not sure which (if any) laws were broken. I'm just not sure what to do with it and it's kind of sentimental for me now. It certainly freaked the dog out as he tried to ascertain what the threat might be.

As might be expected, he took on the name of "Bobby" and he's been delighting the succeeding generations ever since.


If it makes you feel better, he is being kept company by "Ted" the bear, my stuffed teddy bear head that has been proudly mounted in every bedroom I've lived in since about third grade.

Jack Purcell Blue Canvas Old School

I found this pair of Jack Purcell's at a vintage sneaker store in Silverlake, CA. These are an old style Jack Purcell Blue Canvas.

Being old school, they are a completely different cut and mold from those currently on the market from Converse. These older models actually feel more like a typical sneaker. Your average Jack Purcell tends to sit flat and feel almost like a moccasin. The sole isn't very thick, so you tend to stand lower and quite frankly have to get used to it.

These old school blues sit higher like a Nike or Adidas so have a different feel to them. They no longer make them this way, but you run into them occasionally if you keep your eye out. I save these and wear them every so often when I'm trying to look casual but have to have a sharpness to my look. In Hollywood, this would be your lower level meetings or a semi-power meal.

I would wear these to a special day at church (Easter/Christmas) but not regular church (don't want to waste the newness). I'm trying to preserve the newness so they only come out every so often. Starting to get a little wear so I need to be careful!

It's at this point that you laugh at the fact that I have rules for when to wear different sneakers.

Jeff(rey) Rhodes Project - Pt. 2

Update! As I learn more and more about my fell Jeff Rhodes', I'm doing a census of sorts to figure out all of my alternate realities.

So far, I've become friends with 23 Jeff Rhodes' around the world. It's a pretty diverse group of Jeff Rhodes', the only constant being that they are male and they have some command of the English language. Due to privacy concerns, I cannot in good conscience mention to which Jeff Rhodes I am referring to, though due to the nature of this post, it is safe to assume that their names are indeed Jeff Rhodes:

*Texas Jeff
*Pennsylvania Jeff x 4
*Tennessee Jeff
*UK Jeff
*Virginia Jeff x 2
*Massachusetts Jeff
*California Jeff (besides me)
*Arkansas Jeff
*Arizona Jeff
*New York Jeff
*Ohio Jeff
*Mississippi Jeff
*North Carolina Jeff
*Florida Jeff
*Australia Jeff... "is looking forward to playing cricket today in 41 degree heat."
*Indiana Jeff

*A few I can't tell where they're from...

Uncool Hollywood Report - 1/8/10

The Jeff(rey) Rhodes Project - Pt. 1

Jeff Rhodes (left) enjoying a little time with his pal Jeffrey Rhodes (right).

So I'm traveling time from Seattle to LA and I get out of my meeting early and dash to the airport as fast as I can to try and get an earlier flight. When I swipe my credit card, I notice that the kind folks at Northwest Air had already put me on an earlier flight. Great. I board the plane, grab my seat, and close my eyes. Some dude walks up tells me I'm sitting in his seat. I double check my boarding pass, double check my seat number and politely tell him he's wrong. He goes to the flight attendant. The flight attendant comes back and asks for my boarding pass. I oblige and hand it to her. She compares my boarding pass to his boarding pass, "Which one of you is Jeffrey Rhodes?"

We both raise our hands.

This is the first confirmed meeting I've had with another Jeff Rhodes. I thought it was kind of funny. The other Jeff Rhodes was kind of a jerk. I was hoping to compare Jeff Rhodes notes but no dice.

So it got me thinking about how many Jeff Rhodes' there are out in the world. Who are they and what do they do? So I decided to become friends with as many Jeff Rhodes' as I could find. I've started with Facebook and sent friend requests to 272 different Jeff or Jeffrey Rhodes'.

So far:

One Jeffrey Rhodes is a high school kid from Indiana.
One Jeff Rhodes is from Mississippi
More than a few Jeff Rhodes' seem to be from Ohio
One Jeff Rhodes likes to play games on Facebook
Another Jeff Rhodes doesn't like people who play games.

Further reports to come on the Jeffrey Rhodes universe as I make friends with my found pals...

Uncool Music Playlist - Cheap Trick "Surrender"

The Uncool hits keep on rolling... Live, from Jeff's iPod it is the #1 song on his most played list CHEAP TRICK "Surrender".

This is one of my Uncool favorites from Guitar Hero 2.