On Thursday night, Amy and I headed downtown to Millennium Park to catch some music as part of the "Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz 2010" series.  We did this last year as well and really enjoyed the night of quality tunes under the stars.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion at night

In effect, taking part in something like this is a lot like going to Ravina, with the suburban "snootiness factor" dialed down considerably.  Since there is a large lawn at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, you can bring along a blanket and chairs, dinner, and some wine, and just enjoy some great jazz.

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Last night we headed over to Indian Boundary Park on the North Side to catch another one of the Chicago Park District's summer "Movies in the Park" showings. Over the years, we've experienced many of these free films, including Surf's Up, Kung Fu Panda, and The Bourne Ultimatum. This time around it was one of our favorites… Clue.

Eerie evening sky over "Clue"

We were joined by our friend Nick Rosario — as well as his sister Heather and her two daughters. We made some food and brought it with us to have a little picnic ahead of time, "poor man's Ravinia" style!

Amy & Steve

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I've previously written about our positive experiences with the boardgame Ticket to Ride (released 2004), as well as its first official expansion, Mystery Train (released 2004). Now we'd like to talk about the USA 1910 Expansion. In short, if you own the original Ticket to Ride game, then you MUST pick up the USA 1910 Expansion (released 2006). It's that simple.

USA 1910 expansion was introduced in 2006

Why is this a requirement? Because compared to any other enhancement to the game, the USA 1910 Expansion not only "fixes" some of the game's perceived flaws, but also adds entirely new life and strategy to the base game… not bad for the $15 retail price!

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Every year, I build a village under our Christmas tree from scratch, using different materials and themes.

2009 Tanner Christmas Tree

For many years I used LEGO to create such villages as 'Pirates of the Christmas-be-an', 'A Tour of Jackhannesburg', and 'Christmas on Hoth'.

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As Amy & I mentioned back in August, we recently purchased Ticket to Ride, a boardgame for 2-5 players that involves building collections of train routes on maps. (Not familiar to Ticket to Ride? Learn more via the official website!)

Mystery Train expansion was introduced in 2004

The game won the 2004 Spiel des Jahres, which is somewhat like the Academy Award-equivalent for boardgames. That same year, the first expansion for the game, Mystery Train, was released.

The expansion was originally available for free at game trade shows and via magazine inserts. The maker of Ticket to Ride, Days of Wonder, also sold it for a short time via their website. Eventually the expansion went out-of-print, but then was made available as a PDF download on their website. I printed my set on some card stock and it has worked out well.

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On Saturday, October 10 we held our 4th "Clue Night", welcoming 16 friends to join us in playing multiple versions of the boardgame Clue, while enjoying some good food, conversation, and laughter watching the 1985 film of the same name.

Yes, we have many versions of "Clue"!

We first held a "beta test" of this idea shortly after we got married, and continued it in 2006 and 2007, taking a break last year — why, we're not really sure. I think we sort of forgot, to be honest!

I built a "Tower of Clue" for this event

Amy & I own 40+ derivatives of Clue/Cluedo (the latter being the original UK name), including themed versions, puzzles, spinoffs, associated products, and media adaptations.

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