Monday 23 February 2009

Grab a Banana...

Had a great weekend!

Friday I made fried chicken, rice and salad for dinner, which went down a storm. Gotta love fried chicken!

Saturday we had our evening with friends - pizza, cannelloni, dough balls with garlic butter, salad, plus fudgecake and chocolate and banana cake for pud, if you had any room! All washed down with a few bottles of wine (or soft drinks for the kids,of course!)

After eating we played Grab a Banana, among other things. For those who are interested I will describe it.


Take a pack of Snap cards that has 4 of each card in it. The aim of the game is to collect a set of 4 cards the same.

Sit around a table.

Put objects that must be grabbed in the middle of the table - the set provides plastic bananas, but you can use just about anything. The number of objects should be one less than the number of players.

Dealer gives each player 4 cards.

Dealer then picks up the first card, looks at it, decides whether to keep it or discard it. If he keeps it he discards another card from his hand. Discarded cards are placed in front of the person to the left, who then picks it up and decides whether to keep it or discard it. The cards gradually work their way around the table until they get back to the dealer who will have to use these cards again once the main deck runs out.

Got it so far?

OK, now the fun begins. This checking and discarding of cards should be done as fast as possible - no waiting for one card to move around before you pick the next, just goo for it.

Finally, when one player gets a set of 4 he grabs a banana (or whatever) from the middle of the table. This is the queue for everyone else to also grab a banana, whether they have a set or not. One person will not get a banana and gets a point against them.

Play until you run out of time or until someone reaches a set point limit, say 3 or 5. Alternatively you could play knockout games, where the person without a banana leaves the game and the next round has one less player and one less banana. The final game would have 2 players and 1 banana!

Give it a go - it is great fun, especially with kids and/or after a few drinks!

Sunday, WAS a lazy day - I spent a few hours painting some Saxon peasants for my Hastings game:






They are still waiting for spears and shields, after which they will be based up properly with grass, ricks and stuff on the bases - I will post pics of the finished items soon! Next in line are richer Saxons, followed by the elite Huscarls (big guys with big axes).

17 comments:

Reggie Hunnicutt said...

I made fried chciken last night. Oh it was good.

Rock Chef said...

Wreggie - Yes, I saw that! It is something that I never tire of, especially now that I have discovered a coating that is as close to the Colonel's Secret Recipe as you could want!

Teresa said...

We play a game very similiar to that called PITT. Rachael and her family actually introduced us to it. You have a PITT deck of cards (comes with the game) and they have different commodities on them like Rice, Sugar, Coffee etc. and once everyone's cards have been dealt...the fun begins. Your goal is to get all of the one commodity and I think there's 9 total and you do that buy saying "I've got 2!" or "I've got 4!" and you are holding them facedown and you are finding a person who also wants to get rid of the same # as yourself. It's kinda crazy as everyone is talking and trading at the same time but that makes it fun! Rachael and her family added a part at the end that makes it so much more fun. They put those little plastic spoons you get from taste testing ice cream (itty bitty ones) in the middle of the table...one less than the # of people playing and when you get all of your commodity you grab a spoon and the points are based upon the cards in your hand and weather or not you got a spoon. Some sneaky people take their spoon ever so quietly and nobody sees them and they keep on playing till someone notices...that's funny too.

That's my favorite game these days!!

kenady said...

Sounds like you had a great weekend:)

Grab a Banana sounds like total fun... better than "go fish", which is what i have been playing all weekend with my two sick kids:)

your saxons look great! can't wait to see the final product:)

hope you have a great day!

Rock Chef said...

Teresa - that sounds like great fun! Do you say what you have got 2 of or is trading blind?

Kenady - Erg, entertaining 2 sick kids is no fun is it? Hope they are feeling better soon - maybe you could try them with a version of Grab a Banana?

mr zig said...

i'd like to eat a banana right now :) mmmm potassium!

Rock Chef said...

Yeah, bananas are my favourite fruit.

Teresa said...

Oh no...you don't say it...it's a surprise...I left out a part b/c my comment was so long but there are 2 cards that can 'hurt' you..a bull and a bear. One of them if used correctly can be extra points but you have to be the one to go out first for that to happen. So you keep what you have to yourself and you try to get rid of those cards. :)

James said...

Hi John what make are your Saxons? They look familiar but I can't quite place them...old Foundry?
Nice to see you doing some 28mm again.

I am not going to Salute this year are you doing Battleday? If so I will come down maybe we could do a vlog together!!

Kiki said...

I can't believe you painted those...I had no idea you were so talented. They look great!!!

Grab a banana looks like a game I've played called spoon...similar plot!! Sounds like you had a fun weekend!!!

Rock Chef said...

Teresa - Excellent! I will have to work on a version of this!

James - I traded them in return for painting some stuff for a friend. He told me the stuff was a mix of Gripping Beast and Perry (1st Crusade range), so I assume they are Perry. Not going to Battle Day this year as I am going to Hastings the following weekend and can't do both. And this years battle would have required totally new armies which I wasn't in the mood to paint! We will have to get together and do a vblog sometime, though - that would be great!

Kiki - Thanks, but wait until the shields are on - that really sets them off. Sorry, this game has nothing to do with spooning ;-)

Sitting In Silence said...

That game sounds like loads of fun, I must remember it for when we are camping next time....I think it would be a hoot !

Your painting is great...!

Rock Chef said...

Sitting in Silence - it would be a great camping game - we will have to do it when we go this summer! Last year we played Poker for biscuits!

terri said...

I think that game is the same as "Spoons." It's been years since I played, but I seem to remember it being the same concept.

Your little dudes look great! I would never have the patience.

Claire said...

I have played "Spoons" and it is a crazy card game - I actually saw a dining room table broken in two from a really good game of "Spoons" - I've played "PITT" too but it had nothing to do with "Spoons." I love your figures - can't wait to see them all finished!!!

Anonymous said...

we played spoons which sounds like your game with a regular deck of cards. our spoons was a drinking game. you had to take a shot or swig of your beer if you didn't get the spoon. obviously it got pretty wild as everybody got more and more buzzed.

Rock Chef said...

Terri - Hm, but I am thinking that suggesting that we play "Spoons" sounds even more dubious than playing "Grab a Banana"! I have to be in the mood to paint...

Claire - I can see tables getting broken too! Shouldn't be long before I get some finished.

Nonnasnonsense - Yes, a drinking version did occur to us too...