Interesting: Other Foot

The website I got this from is down, so I am blatantly stealing their info.


Other Foot is a card game similar to Apples to Apples, but far more fun. It requires at least three players, and at most the number of players that will fit around your card table. The only other requirement is a large stack of small blank cards. Index cards (cut in half) are perfect for this purpose, however any small pieces of paper which can clearly be written on will suffice (I have been known to use the paper fliers that accumulate at my local cafe).

The game begins with each player grabbing a handful of blank cards and writing words or phrases on them. There are absolutely no rules about what can be written on a card. There is a basic set of guidelines below for what will be more likely to make the game more fun, but feel free to write anything you want. Occasionally people will draw small pictures.

When each player is satisfied with the number of cards he or she has made (No required amount, but typically somewhere between ten and forty cards each) all the cards are shuffled together (this can be annoying since they aren't playing cards) and each player takes five cards.

Players take turns being the judge. At the beginning of the turn, the judge plays a card from his hand, face up, into the center of the table. Typically, the judge will read the card aloud, either for the benefit of players who are far away, or because many people have barely legible handwriting. Every other player then chooses a card from his or her hand which could be understood as some kind of response to the judge's card. The responding cards are played immediately (there is no time limit on deciding which card to play, although players who take too long can be ridiculed).

The judge decides which card "goes best" with his own card. The "best card" may somehow match his card, or perhaps finish a thought, or just sound strange in response to his card. Again, there are no rules for deciding. When the judge decides whose card is best, that player gets a "point", which he scores by taking the judge's card and placing it in his score-pile. All other cards from play are placed in a discard pile, which will be shuffled and returned to the draw pile when the draw pile eventually runs out of cards. If the judge decides that there is no real winner, the round is declared a wash, and all cards from play are placed in the discard pile. All players draw a card to return their hands to five cards (if they have not done so already) and the player seated to the left of the judge becomes the new judge.

The reason quotation marks are employed about the word "point" is that the points in this game are about as meaningless as they are on everything2. When people feel they have played long enough, everyone counts his scorepile, and decides upon the "winner", who gets about ten seconds of glory. The fun of this game is not in the competition, but in the human interaction during play. Points are merely an engine to drive the gameplay.

Additional Rules:

If an onlooker passes by and wants to join in (common in coffeehouses where you know a lot of people), tell them to make ten cards and place them in the discard pile. Then they can join in.

If you think of a good card you want to make in the middle of a game, make the card and put it in the discard pile.

If a card comes up multiple times and is consistently boring, and never works with anything, you can either ask for a vote to get rid of it, or you can just get rid of it. This is typically done by either crumpling the card into a ball, or tearing it into very small pieces.

If, between games, you want to go through and get rid of lame cards, you can.

There are no ultimate rules which make a "good" card or a "bad" card. Actually, even the distinction between "good" cards and "bad" cards is somewhat flawed. How "good" a card is can depend entirely on its interactions with other cards. A card may seem incredibly boring, but this fact can make it all the more enjoyable when it sounds really bizarre in the context of another card (For example, Diversify your investments with Fast Zombies vs. Slow Zombies).

That said, here are some basic guidelines for what works well, and what doesn't.

Good Cards:

* Anything open-ended; if your card sounds too specific, perhaps try removing a word, preferably a word essential to the meaning of the card (Instead of Maggot-Ridden Corpses, try Maggot-Ridden).
* People, places, or things, but not specific ones (Instead of Pope John Paul II try Every pope whoever lived, or instead of Willie Nelson try This one dude I met at Hempfest).
* Anything incredibly violent, graphic, or sexual (The baby eater, Vaginal discharge, Booty Call).
* Anything overly benign (Not as unusual as you would think, Actually quite futuristic).
* By far, the best phrases sound like snippets of conversation you overheard but don't know the context for (I bet I'd do really well on an I.Q. test, needs a man, etc.)

Bad Cards:

* Band Names.
* Self-Contained phrases. Don't try to make a joke on the card itself. The weirdness is supposed to come out in context.
* Specific People, places, or things. This rule can be completely wrong sometimes. I find The Queen of England to be an incredibly enjoyable card. However, specific people, places, and things in your everyday experience generally don't work.

The reason for the name "Other Foot" is just as unknown as perhaps the reason for the name Egyptian Ratscrew. Legend tells us that that was simply the phrase on the card that came up when they were deciding what to name the game.

Other Foot is extremely fun to play with a group of incredibly creative friends, preferably a really large group. However, be wary, as it can be extremely boring if played with a group of incredibly uncreative friends. If you have a bad experience playing Other Foot, perhaps you should reconsider what sort of people you surround yourself with.

Interesting and Helpful: Robert Goulet

Rex Grossman, not so much.

Interesting: Worse than Satan?

We report, you decide.

Broke: NCBG

Finally, an urban planning post! One of the best resources for my class last semester in Development Finance was the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group. NCBG, which ran out of grant money and closed up shop today, was an independent watchdog of the city of Chicago's increasingly "creative" financing schemes for neighborhood development. If you want to understand how a TIF District works, better get on the NCBG website soon--it'll come down sometime this year.

from Chicago Reader Blogs: Clout City

Helpful: Root against Peyton Manning

All good liberals should.

Go Bears!

Helpful: Review of Never Eat Alone

As promised, a quick review of Never Eat Alone. I first heard about Keith Ferrazzi in The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Ferrazzi is the epitome of what Gladwell calls a connector--someone with a very wide social network who can introduce friends and acquaintances to a very different group of friends and ideas. Connectors are critical in helping to spread ideas, fads, rumors, and innovations, but in Ferrazzi's book, he describes the theory and practical steps one can take to use the power of connectivity to improve one's quality of life, career, and personal fulfillment.

The most meaningful thing I grasped from the book was that someone like me who is in grad school and still discerning my next career move can still be a success purely by helping to make my friends and acquaintances successful.

I really recommend this book to you, dear reader, even if you are shy and hate "networking." Your career and friendships will be better for it.

If I may be so bold, I would like to summarize the book in two points that help validate the title of this blog as a life strategy:

1) Be interesting. Read interesting things and have interesting questions and stories in hand in case you happen to meet someone you've always wanted to meet, or just so people will want to invite you to things and want to have you around. Even someone who isn't naturally funny can be interesting.

2) Be helpful. Make connections with people before you need to ask them for a favor. Volunteer. Put friends in touch with other friends who might benefit from sharing ideas. It's fun to do, and it is one of the best ways to show your friends that you care about them.

One more thing:
3) Remember people's birthdays. This is the other way to show you care about someone. Call, text, send a card, sing them a song. Birthdays matter.

Interesting: Book Report '08

The wife and I have decided to read the books written by all of the 2008 presidential candidates. Bring it on Vilsack!

Here's where I started:

Amazon.com: Barack Obama: Books

Reviews to come this spring!

Helpful: Never Eat Alone

Read this book! Review to come Friday.

Never Eat Alone (and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time)

Interesting: Paper Robots!

Paper Robot´s Paper Robots!

Tragic: The Story of Jonathan Schulze

Even if we could end the war, it wouldn't be enough.

Helpful: Dont Be That Guy

You hear me, Indigo Steve? Dont Be That Guy!

Helpful: iConcertCal

Did you resolve to see more live music this year? I did, and iConcertCal is going to help me. The iTunes plug-in scans your music library and automatically creates a calendar of upcoming concerts by those artists, in your city. Fantastic. Free program, for Mac OS X 10.3 or higher.

Interesting: Built Chicago

Built Chicago is a new website about Chicago architecture, planning and real estate. Not bad.

Interersting: Sundance for Free

In an encouraging trend for short films--and independent films in general--the Sundance Film Festival is streaming dozens of movies from the upcoming festival for free on their website. Sadly, you will not find my new favorite short film, Static.

From Very Short List.

Helpful: Amazon Wish List

Did you make a resolution to read more this year? Do yourself a favor and set up a Wish List on Amazon right now. That way, when you hear about cool books or movies that you might want to buy later or receive for your birthday, you'll remember what they are. Of course, if you have a blog, you can also post the wish list in the right sidebar and hope that people out there get the hint...ahem.

Interesting: Obama is in. Kinda.

Here we go.



A Message From Barack

Helpful: TXT 2 PIC

All of your sign generator needs, all in one place.

TXT 2 PIC

Helpful: A weight watcher's guide to booze

Apparently, pale ales and stouts have the most calories, and a four-ounce glass of red wine has only 70 calories. So let's do the math from the New Years Eve party - how many calories are in 14 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of bourbon?

Caloric Values of Alcoholic Beverages, Alcohol calories

Helpful: Relevancy and Cash

Cody's got a multi-part series on search engine optimization working over at Yahoo! Publisher Network. Using his advice, I hope to improve my blog income from the $3.14 I accrued in 2006. Wish me luck!

Bleak: Iraq

'The jihad now is against the Shias, not the Americans' | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited

Interesting: John Edwards

Being a Democrat in Illinois, I get a lot of questions about Barack Obama. I'm a big fan, and I'm excited to hear if he announces a run for president this week. That said, I am very encouraged by John Edwards and his campaign strategy. Edwards has often been criticized for a lack of leadership experience, so he has turned his presidential campaign into a nationwide community service organization. Rallies and marches just don't cut it anymore. Improving this country takes work, and the more hands helping, the better.

Interesting: Mexico

Mexico 2006
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Here are some pics from our trip to Mexico last month. Indigo Steve joined us, and is shown enjoying a popular Mexican treat, Bubu Lubu.

Not Helpful: CTA Construction

Budget twice the time to get home each night? This is gonna be great.

Helpful: Don't Fear

It's for the birds.

Interesting: Tag, I'm it

Cody says
I'm it, so here you go. Five things you don't know about Matt Kuzma:

1. I have performed karaoke in three countries, including "You Were Always on My Mind" during a high school trip to Switzerland and a recent performance of "Careless Whisper" in Mexico. What makes a great karaoke song? A groove, little to no instrumental solo, words like "la la" or "na na" that the crowd can sing along to. Please, no American Pie. Thanks.

2. I hate The Cure, but secretly like them.

3. I love running, but secretly hate it.

4. I need to buy new pants.

5. I miss my Aunt Linda.