Here we are, already the middle of March.  It also happens to be the Ides of March – I like the idea of a festival for the Feast of Anna Perenna, a goddess of the year (Latin annus) since the day was enthusiastically celebrated among the common people with picnics, drinking, and revelry. 

We’ll gloss over the gory part of the Ides of March, which is when Julius Caesar was assassinated.  Let’s get our revelry on instead, shall we?

Speaking of revelry…  You probably know by now that Princess Nagger is obsessed with Minecraft:

Minecraft

She got interested in Minecraft when she spotted this:

MinecraftDragon

Pretty cool looking, no? 

For those unfamiliar with Minecraft, it’s a creative building game that allows players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world.  Gameplay has two principal modes: survival, which requires players to acquire resources and maintain their health and hunger; and creative, where players have an unlimited supply of resources, the ability to fly, and no health or hunger.

A third gameplay mode named hardcore is the same as survival, differing only in difficulty; it is set to hardest setting and respawning is disabled, forcing players to delete their worlds upon death.  In May 2012, the game was also released on Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live Arcade game.

It’s sort of like a computerized or digital version of Lego’s or building blocks. 

Her obsession is so great that she keeps talking about how much she wants to go to MineCon.  Yes, they actually have a Minecraft Convention sort of like Comic-Con, but for the rabid Minecraft fans and players. 

It started as a spontaneous gathering of Minecraft fans on August 31st 2010 in Bellevue, Washington (my old hometown), conceived by Notch (the creator) after expressing in a blog post several requests for a meet-up by players and had called on the community to organize one with no specific choice of venue.

While Notch had labeled it “Minecraftcon 2010”, it is a bit of a misnomer as it implies a formal convention not unlike that of a typical gaming or anime convention.  A thread on the Minecraft Forums was an unofficial organization point for the Con, complete with YouTube videos and pictures afterwards.

Of course 2011 was a much bigger gathering in Las Vegas – this time 4,500 people attended, aging from new born to 105 years old and coming from 24 countries.  Crazy, right?  Last year it was held at Disneyland, Paris and attended by 4,500 people again. 

Princess Nagger is anxiously waiting for them to announce when and where the 2013 MineCon will be – she’s hoping we’ll know that information before we move, on the off-chance that it happens to be here in the East before we move West.  She’s also negotiating for me to buy her a Steve head:

SteveHead

And the Minecraft foam sword:

MinecraftSword

She already has plans to have the head autographed by, as she puts it, “Famous people!” like Notch and Jeb and Pink Hair (who actually isn’t called pink hair, but Princess Nagger refers to her as that because of her pink hair).  If any of your kids are Minecraft-aholics like Princess Nagger is, she invites them to join her in her world.  You can email me the info if you don’t want it public.

Speaking of obsessions…  In addition to her Minecraft obsession, Princess Nagger has also been bugging me for months to get her a fursuit.  Yes, all one word, because that’s how it’s listed on Etsy.  There’s an artist on there that will custom make an animal head that you can actually wear, the pictured example is their dragon head:

FursuitDragon

Princess Nagger wants to have a wolf version made for her head.  Just so she can ‘wow’ her friends at school.  I told her she better start saving her non-existent money, because my money tree out back seems to have stopped producing.  Ahem.

Speaking of silly…  You’ve seen prank gift boxes, haven’t you?  One Christmas I got several different ones to wrap gifts for my sister, brother-in-law, nephews and parents – it was hilarious seeing them think that what was pictured and described on the box was actually their gift.  My niece sent me an image to this new one the other day:

CribFeeder

Here’s the back of it (click on the image to see a larger version that you can actually read):

CribFeeder2

Isn’t that hilarious?  It’s a Prank Pack Crib Dribbler gift box.  If you have a friend who’s going to have a baby, this would be so much fun to put a real gift inside and have them think this is what you got them. 

Speaking of funny…  I’ve discovered that one of the best parts of buying directly from the Lego site is the cheering Lego’s at the completion of the purchase:

LegoCheckout

Lego’s have sure come a long way, haven’t they?

That’s it for this week – it’s great to be back into the fragmented fun and catching up with friends old and new. If you have fragmented or random thoughts more than once a week, you’re always welcome to join me for Random Tuesday Thoughts each week as well. Have a great weekend!

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25 Comments

  1. I’m so glad you explained Mindcraft for us. I was clueless. My kids play it at a neighbors house. My girlfriend said it was kid friendly, so I took her word for it. But I really had no idea.
    Missy would like you to read ..Foxy Friday: POF EditionMy Profile

  2. I have never heard of prank gift boxes, but that one is hilarious. My daughter is expecting her first baby, and that would be so funny to give. (Maybe even a good idea??? Lol.)
    And I will have to order some Legos just to see the little cheering men. Have a great weekend!

  3. Oh thank God… I thought that was a real invention for a baby gift 🙂

    Those pixelated things make my head a little dizzy… whooooo…

  4. Why doesn’t that surprise me about PN! lol I love it that she’s interested in that period of history. Dragons, knights with swords the whole bit. She’s so imaginative I love it! That invention cracked me up! Love it too! You have a great day & weekend my friend, Hugs & see you on Monday. Theme is sad songs. I want to find songs that are kinda sad. Just the thought of it depresses me & that’s not what we’re here for, but it was requested so oh well!
    Xmasdolly would like you to read ..Aloha Friday’s New Get Together Party! Introducing “Riddle Time”My Profile

  5. I saw that gag gift the other day online, and I thought to myself [tho my youngest grandson is now 17]…hey, that’s a totally cool concept. Just allows you to sleep longer before diaper changes. LOLOLOL

    Lego…they sure have come a long way!!!! I remember when they came out [eons ago] when it was just squares/rectangles and red white and blue.
    Hootin’ Anni would like you to read ..Spring flowers a’bloom….My Profile

  6. Hello! I found your site through Aloha hop 🙂 My link is above.

    It is interesting that you post (in part) about mine craft – as I have a post being published tomorrow about a gamer raising a gamer .. i.e. my DD. Now – she has expressed interest in minecraft, but thus far I have resisted because she is so enamoured of Club Penguin (ooo .. I should see if there is a PenguinCon or something) so I have been able to dodge that bullet. But her little gamer friends (all boys BTW, to daddy’s dismay) at school have all been talking about minecraft – so I am thinking that I will have to give in soon! But but … I don’t WANNA give up more of my game time!! (did I say that out loud)

    In any case – I enjoyed your post thank you for entertaining 😀
    Melanie would like you to read ..Frida Blog HopsMy Profile

  7. My boys are obsessed with Minecraft too! I even got my older son a creeper shirt for Christmas. I hope they don’t find out if there’s a “con” around here any time soon. We’re headed to NYC ComicCon in October, and I don’t think we’ll be able to afford two “cons”!

  8. Oh my goodness, my son just loves Minecraft!!! Good grief. I will not be telling him about the conference. He would be begging to go. Too bad it’s so far away 😉 bwahahahaha

    I love those gag gift boxes. Hilarious!!! I have to share that with my sister. She will love it!!

    Kudos for the Ides of March intro 🙂
    Kay would like you to read ..ML: Reposting St. Patty’s DayMy Profile

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