Week 8 Reflection (10/11-10/15)

'War is risky business, lad -- and it's too important to be left to some community organizer who has never worked an honest day in his life"

This week we played diplomatic Risk, the classic board game Risk with a special PTJ twist. I had never played the original Risk game so there was no transition and I quickly adapted to the new game. What I loved about this game was it combined so many aspects of world politics: war, diplomacy, backroom deals, espionage and different goals.

In classic Risk, everyone has the same goal: material conquest and while I am sure it is entertaining, it lacks the complexity of this game. It is actually possible to achieve your goals without violent conflict for some players in this game, nay it may be your goal to prevent armed conflict. Not knowing what the other players goals are is the most challenging part of this game but is also what makes it so fun. Alas, OPSEC prevents me from further discussing the game for now.


That was the entirety of the week for world politics*, it was Fall break so I went home and enjoyed loving up my puppies and hanging out with my friends. It was nice, except for when my bag was lost on my way back home and I went without my clothes, laptop or toiletries for 2 days. :/ But still, good week and I look forward to the conclusion of Risk in but a few days.



*Oh dear, I forgot Salome!

Salome was an interesting experience for me, I was quick conflicted. I had never been to an Opera before so I had little idea what to expect. But I also greatly enjoy classical and baroque music as well as the performing arts so I figured I was set to like an Opera. But, alas, that was not meant to be. I found the performance to be lacking -- the orchestra did a good job but as is typical of Strauss, it overpowered the voices of the performers on stage and was not melodic. The performers themselves did not project enough to have the orchestra compliment them, it was as if they were backing up the orchestra at points. My father, a reporter and occasional music critic, did not like Salome and had prepped me to dislike it as well. Perhaps that bias went in with me and influenced my opinion; I don't know. All I know is I came out unimpressed with the performance and slightly more ill** for having gone out instead of staying home resting.


** Literally, not figuratively.