iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I've thoroughly enjoyed your work with CineFix for as long as I can remember. I discovered so many of my favorite films from an off-handed mention in one of your Top 10 videos. This is a bummer, and I'm sorry. But I look forward to seeing what you do next.

010

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Finally got back to playing regularly in August. 35 plays in total. Gold Country is a great new game from @bitewinggames.bsky.social, and the deluxe upgrades are really nice. Probably my favorite game of the month. #bgstats #boardgames

BG Stats 4 x 4.
Gold Country;
Tenby;
Vantage;
The Hobbit: There and Back Again;
Orapa Mine;
SCOUT;
Alhambra;
Radlands;
Trekking Through History;
Got Five!;
The Quacks of Quedlinburg;
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth;
Skulls of Sedlec;
Tag Team;
Fantasy Realms;
dnup.

050

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

#boardgames for May and June, courtesy of #bgstats. We moved to a new home on May 30, so the last two months have been a never-ending cycle of packing, unpacking, cleaning, and assembling. I'm surprised I had enough time to play anything at all. But our new Game Room is set up, so that's good.

BG Stats May 1, 2026 - Jun 30, 2026

Plays: 21
H-index: 1
Games: 19
New: 7
Players: 13
Locations: 0
Hours: 12
Days: 8

Acquire: 1
Carcassonne: 1
Daybreak: 1
Century: Golem Edition: 1
SCOUT: 1
Flip 7: 1
Rebel Princess: Deluxe Edition: 1
Captain Flip: 1
Flip Pick Towers: 1

57 mechanics:
Hand Management: 36%
Set Collection: 26%
End Game Bonuses: 21%
Open Drafting: 21%.

20 categories:
Card Game: 52%
Economic: 21%
Fantasy: 21%
Party Game: 10%
Territory Building: 10%.

060

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Another month of #boardgames with friends and family. A lot of larger groups this month, so my stats leaned more towards party games than usual. But any time gaming is time well spent. Second photo is 2026 so far.

BG Stats Apr 2026

Plays: 35
H-index: 2
Games: 20
New: 9
Players: 18
Locations: 0
Hours: 21
Days: 10

Fliptown: New Frontier: 3
Dominion: 3
Codenames: 3
Dune: Imperium: 2
Love Letter: 2
Just One: 2
Secret Hitler: 2
Brilliant: 2
High Society: 2

25 categories:
Card Game: 45%
Deduction: 25%
Party Game: 25%
Print & Play: 20%.

22 designers:
Steven Aramini: 15%
Alan Stone: 5%
Antoine Bauza: 5%
Benjie Talbott: 5%
Bruno Sautter: 5%.

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
11: Tenby;
7: Love Letter;
7: Ruins;
7: Brilliant;
4: Just One;
4: Tag Team;
3: Dune: Imperium;
3: Fliptown;
3: Dominion;
3: Gazebo;
3: Formaggio;
3: Codenames;
2: Fliptown: New Frontier;
2: Vantage;
2: Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West;
2: Wingspan;
2: Come Sail Away!;
2: Wriggle Roulette;
2: Secret Hitler;
2: High Society;
2: Chicken!;
2: DroPolter;
2: RNSM;
1: Viticulture Essential Edition;
1: Explorers of Navoria.

130

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Q1 in #boardgames. Lots of variety this year, but Tenby is a new favorite of ours! So charming and simple. Other new favorites include Ruins, Gazebo, and Formaggio. Finally got to pick up a copy of Explorers of Navoria and I liked it. Looking forward to playing that more.

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
10: Tenby;
7: Ruins;
5: Love Letter;
5: Brilliant;
4: Tag Team;
3: Gazebo;
3: Formaggio;
2: Vantage;
2: Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West;
2: Wingspan;
2: Come Sail Away!;
2: Just One;
2: Wriggle Roulette;
2: RNSM;
1: Dune: Imperium;
1: Explorers of Navoria;
1: Acquire;
1: River of Gold;
1: Cascadia;
1: Trekking the World;
1: Ticket to Ride;
1: Ready Set Bet;
1: Alhambra;
1: Trekking Through History;
1: Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage “Game.”.

BG Stats Jan 2026

Plays: 34
H-index: 2
Games: 21
New: 5
Players: 11
Locations: 0
Hours: 21
Days: 15

Tenby: 7
Ruins: 4
Come Sail Away!: 2
Formaggio: 2
RNSM: 2
Dune: Imperium: 1
Vantage: 1
Acquire: 1
River of Gold: 1

27 designers:
Adam Španěl: 4%
Alan R. Moon: 4%
Ben Rosset: 4%
Benjie Talbott: 4%
Bruce Glassco: 4%.

BG Stats Feb 2026

Plays: 34
H-index: 2
Games: 20
New: 4
Players: 9
Locations: 0
Hours: 14
Days: 8

Tag Team: 3
Wingspan: 2
Gazebo: 2
Love Letter: 2
Trekking the World: 1
Trekking Through History: 1
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth: 1
Vantage: 1
Love Letter: Star Wars: 1

26 designers:
Charlie Bink: 10%
Seiji Kanai: 10%
Anthony Perone: 5%
Antoine Bauza: 5%
Ben Rosset: 5%.

BG Stats Mar 2026

Plays: 30
H-index: 3
Games: 13
New: 3
Players: 12
Locations: 0
Hours: 15
Days: 10

Brilliant: 5
Love Letter: 3
Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West: 2
Ruins: 2
Tenby: 2
Just One: 2
Explorers of Navoria: 1
Cascadia: 1
Ready Set Bet: 1

16 designers:
John D. Clair: 15%
Alan R. Moon: 7%
Benjie Talbott: 7%
Bruno Faidutti: 7%
Bruno Sautter: 7%.

050

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Starting off the year strong with some excellent #boardgames Only had Tenby for a week, but my wife is obsessed with (and very good at) it.

BG Stats Jan 2026

Plays: 34
H-index: 2
Games: 21
New: 5
Players: 11
Locations: 0
Hours: 21
Days: 15

Tenby: 7
Ruins: 4
Come Sail Away!: 2
Formaggio: 2
Flickdeck: 2
RNSM: 2
Dune: Imperium: 1
Vantage: 1
Acquire: 1

27 designers:
Adam Španěl: 4%
Alan R. Moon: 4%
Ben Rosset: 4%
Benjie Talbott: 4%
Bruce Glassco: 4%.

040

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Neon Golden released 24 years ago, today. An absolute masterpiece of an album that changed my life in so many ways. Listen to this if you haven't! 🎧 music.apple.com/us/album/neo...

music.apple.com

Neon Golden by The Notwist on Apple Music

Album · 2002 · 13 Songs

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Donkey Kong Bananza was the most fun I had playing video games last year. Nintendo EPD really knows how to make a platformer! Favorite game of the year still goes to Blue Prince, though. That game is magical!

Nintendo Year in Review graphics showing 21 total games played and 160 hours in 2025. Favorite game was DK Bananza.

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

2025 in Stats -356 in-person plays of 82 #boardgames -687+ hours of music (36 vinyl) -200 movies For some reason, 2025 felt like a great time to tune out the world and disappear into my hobbies. Anyone else smell smoke?

030

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Scott et al, any word on whether the new site will play a little nicer with VPNs?

100

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

For three out of the last four years, I’ve watched 31 horror movies in the month of October. Here are the ones I watched this year. You can read my thought about each one on Letterboxd boxd.it/1LRxB 👻🎥

The Shining
Good Boy
Daughters of Darkness
Longlegs
Porno
Evil Laugh
My House Walk-Through
A Bay of Blood
The Ring

28 Days Later
Frontier(s)
Revenge
Santa Sangre
Handling the Undead
Ghostland
In the Mouth of Madness
Clearcut
The Changeling

Fascination
The Monkey
Smile 2
It Comes at Night
To the Devil a Daughter
Felidae
MaXXXine
Trilogy of Terror
Bring Her Back

Sinners
Pet Sematary
The Descent
The Others
The Velvet Vampire
When Evil Lurks

020

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

I didn't get to play as many #boardgames in September as I would have liked, but any time at the table is time well-spent. Vantage once again dominated this month, followed by a prototype that I'm working on and a couple of lighter games for bigger groups.

BG Stats Sep 2025

Plays: 24
H-index: 3
Games: 14
New: 5
Players: 10
Locations: 0
Hours: 16
Days: 9

Vantage: 7.2h
[Unnamed Collection Prototype]: 1.7h
Things in Rings: 1.2h
Just One: 0.8h
Flickdeck: 0.7h
Love Letter: 0.7h
Tiny Towns: 0.7h
Fliptown: 0.6h
Half Truth: 0.5h

16 designers:
Adam Hill: 7%
Ben Pinchback: 7%
Bruno Sautter: 7%
Jamey Stegmaier: 7%
Jon Perry: 7%.

040

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

NBC's high-concept drama, Kings - a biblical story of David retelling in a modern setting. The cast in this show was insane! Ian McShane, Sebastian Stan, Dylan Baker, Macaulay Culkin, Brian Cox! I loved this show!

020

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

I still rave about how good Kelsey Grammer was in this to anyone willing to listen.

120

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

It appears that I'm a little obsessed with a #boardgame I've only had for 8 days. Vantage is unlike anything I've played before, and I just can't get enough of it!

BG Stats Aug 2025

Plays: 38
H-index: 3
Games: 14
New: 2
Players: 7
Locations: 0

Vantage: 14
Flickdeck: 8
Rebel Princess: Deluxe Edition: 3
Project L: 2
SCOUT: 2
Castle Combo: 1
Come Sail Away!: 1
Dog Park: 1
Dominion: 1

22 designers:
Adam Španěl: 7%
Ben Rosset: 7%
Charlie Bink: 7%
Daniel Byrne: 7%
Daniel Piechnick: 7%.

070

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Amazing and unexpected news! Drop your Bug (2006) review on @letterboxd.social.

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Post a screenshot of your first 5 steam purchases and let bluesky judge you open the steam client, click your name in the top right -> account details -> view purchase history and scroll down No shame in my game.

Awesomenauts, Monaco, Civ V, Democracy 3, and Outlast

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

July in #boardgames! My wife has a new favorite game apparently, and I'm loving Rebel Princess. Finally played Kingdomino IRL and it's such a breezy, fun game.

BG Stats Jul 2025

Plays: 27
H-index: 2
Games: 14
New: 4
Players: 6
Locations: 0

Project L: 9
Come Sail Away!: 4
Flip 7: 2
Rebel Princess: Deluxe Edition: 2
Azul: 1
Flickdeck: 1
Kingdomino: 1
Last Will: 1
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth: 1

22 designers:
Bruno Cathala: 14%
Adam Španěl: 7%
Alex Hague: 7%
Antoine Bauza: 7%
Bruno Faidutti: 7%.

140

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Been in Canada for all of five hours but already accomplished something I've never done in the states: found two Klaatu albums in the wild! Great country 🇨🇦 Big fan!

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

A pretty solid trio of indie rock albums released 18 years ago today! 🎧

Album covers of Stars' " In Our Bedroom After the War" Spoon's " Ga Ga Ga Ga GA" and St. Vincent's "Marry Me"

010

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

25 years ago today, Radiohead played their most-legendary show ever in Berlin. A once-in-a-generation band playing at their creative peak. 🎧

youtu.be

Radiohead Live at Berlin - 4/7/2000 Full Audio

YouTube video by ledraps22

010

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

There is no such thing as a perfect corporation, but I'm beginning to question whether continuing to support Xbox at this point is a moral failing.

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Everwild and, especially, Perfect Dark were the only two upcoming Xbox games that I gave a shit about. Microsoft continues to sacrifice thousands of jobs from the only exciting part of it's portfolio in order to fund the endless money pit of AI. Shareholders rejoice!

100

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

June #boardgames. Come Sail Away is a new favorite!

BG Stats Jun 2025

Plays: 39
H-index: 3
Games: 20
New: 8
Players: 18
Locations: 0

Sprawlopolis
Azul
Bohnanza
Come Sail Away!
Crokinole
RNSM
Things in Rings
Take 5
Courtisans

28 designers:
Peter C. Hayward: 10%
(Uncredited): 5%
Adam Španěl: 5%
Anthony Perone: 5%
Danny Devine: 5%.

040

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Y'all ever cry because you received a tote bag in the mail? #favoritevegatable

Tote bag from Favorite Vegetable with an illustration of Brian Wilson

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

A story I wrote a few years ago about how I stopped worrying and fell in love with The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, and Smile - my favorite album of all time. I hope Brian is at peace. His music means so much to me.

moundofwires.wordpress.com

Brian Wilson Presents Smile

In Which I Review an 18-Year-Old Album I’ve told this story countless times across the internet, but it’s worth telling it one last time here. For nearly 18 years, my favorite album has been consta…

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

A lot variety in both games and players made May a great month in board games.

BG Stats May 2025

Plays: 30
H-index: 2
Games: 18
New: 10
Players: 18
Locations: 0

Flickdeck: 7
The Quacks of Quedlinburg: 3
Forest Sky: 2
Just One: 2
Skulls of Sedlec: 2
Things in Rings: 2
Bohnanza: 1
Fairy: 1
Flip 7: 1

20 designers:
Alex Hague: 11%
Justin Vickers: 11%
(Uncredited): 5%
Antoine Bauza: 5%
Bruno Cathala: 5%.

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

I like this one, but I wish I could get it to the table more. It's a little too bland for my group, I think.

010

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

There are like five movies on this list that I've never heard of...so that's exciting!

010

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Unfortunately, April was a busy month, so #boardgames took a backseat. But I still got a few Crokinole games in, and I'm absolutely smitten with Botanik! And, honestly, what free time I did have went almost entirely to Blue Prince.

090

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

I ended up buying one from each (one for me, and one for another friend). But it was rough. Best Buy still not live yet, apparently.

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Well, me and a friend were both feverishly clicking "Checkout" on our Target carts, so at least we were able to bond over our shared frustration.

100

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I assumed you were referencing TOTK. That's on me. Thanks for the clarification.

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Difficult to sit at a desk and work when all you're thinking about is Blue Prince. How do construction workers do it?!

000

Reposted by Cale

Josh Kovensky @joshkovensky.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

For your enjoyment: here is Secretary of Education Linda McMahon talking about implementing AI in schools, but pronouncing it "A1," as in "A1 Steak Sauce" www.youtube.com/live/lxrg28z...

50367871867

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Good month in #boardgames A handful of new games played with some classics thrown in.

BG Stats Mar 2025

Plays: 32
H-index: 3
Games: 18
New: 6
Players: 14
Locations: 0

Flickdeck
Bohnanza
Botanik
Fruit Fight
Trekking Through History
Azul
Calico
Carcassonne
Dominion

21 designers:
Antoine Bauza: 5%
Bruno Cathala: 5%
Charlie Bink: 5%
Daniel Piechnick: 5%
Donald X. Vaccarino: 5%.

180

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Chuck ain't Hakeem. Would've been cool those playoff matchups though, especially with the 95 team. But as a Houstonian growing up in those days, I'm happy it turned out like it did.

100

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

All of them. And wait until next Tuesday to do so.

020

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I really enjoyed visiting Digg every day for the last decade. It was a place with curated articles and videos of things I never would have found organically. Their weekly editorial features were a must-read for me. I liked original Digg too. But this seems like a disappointing step backwards.

nytimes.com

The Return of Digg, a Star of Web 2.0 (Gift Article)

Two decades after creating Digg, a community-focused social message board, Kevin Rose is reviving the site and teaming up with a founder of Reddit.

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

At this point, I'm just watching to judge the audience reaction to the David Lynch tribute. #oscars

010

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Well-deserved win for a song that no one would willingly choose to listen to twice. Right up there with past winners, "Lose Yourself," "A Whole New World," and raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head." "El Mal" - one of the all-time greats.

010

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of my country than this specific moment. Absolutely repulsive behavior from our supposed leaders being broadcast live on TV. Just gained a lot of respect for Zelenskyy for refusing to suck the dicks of these fascists.

nytimes.com

Trump and Vance Rebuke Zelensky During White House Meeting: Live Updates (Gift Article)

000

Cale @ihatecale.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Having three of the "greatest hits" be songs from Under the Blacklight really shows how this band continues to misunderstand what made them so likable in the first place. Or maybe I'm just super out of touch.

000

Reposted by Cale

n+1 @nplusonemag.com · 17/02/2025

“The pronounced sense of emergency that defined the first term feels almost entirely absent in the midst of an actual emergency.” www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

nplusonemag.com

DOGE Nation | Mark Krotov

Like Critical Race Theory before it—but with a supercharged intensity, since each new campaign of right-wing hate has been more aggressive than the last—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has come to st...

063