GregHowley.com

I attended PAX East in Boston this past weekend, and while it did seem tamer than PAXes past, I did have a good time. I particularly missed the GeekDad/GeekMom panel. I got to report on a rest room fiasco that was later explained, I randomly bumped into an old girlfriend I hadn't seen in literally 20 years, and I purchased Lia an awesome creeper hoodie. Here are my highlights.

• Acquisitions, Inc had their first appearance at PAX East. For those of you not in the know, Acquisitions, Inc. is a Dungeons & Dragons group headed up by Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. They play the bulk of their games in front of an audience, and they are damn funny. It helps, of course, if you're into D&D, but I found watching those guys do their thing to be damn entertaining.
• Playing board games. I tried Urbania for the first time, got another go at Sentinels of the Multiverse, which I then bought, and had a phenomenal game of Wiz-War, in which I ended up duking it out with Becky for most of the game. Near the end, when I was a round away from winning, Caela made me drop a treasure into a glue puddle. I dispelled the glue, and then Tony immediately killed me and grabbed the treasure to win the game. I'm not sure I've ever had more fun losing.
• PwnMeal.
  
  At the convention, attendees were gifted with small oatmeal packets labeled "PwnMeal", which were heavily advertised. I thought it was ridiculous. Then I saw the commercial. Very fit shirtless guy gritting his teeth and pouring oatmeal all over himself while screaming in a testoserone-fueled rage. Yes - it was a parody perpetrated by the Cards Against Humanity folks, and it was hilarious. Each packet of PwnMeal had dry oatmeal and a number of exclusive game cards which soon began selling online for upwards of $100 for a complete set.
• On Thursday night, a friend of mine held a Rock Band party in Boston. A few dozen folks showed up for cocktails and Rock Band. I'd never played the game before, and it was a lot of fun.
• Our normal Thursday night pre-PAX event had been Drink, and since we'd skipped it on Thursday in favor of the Rock Band party, we went there Saturday night to celebrate a birthday. I'd never known, but they have one of the best burgers I've ever eaten.

So there it is, my PAX 2014. It went by way too quickly.