Hi, all. I just wanted to let you know that we here at You Bitch! are not without the Spirit of Christmas. We went to the grocery store today and bought 5 bottles of wine and a crate of Carlsberg, so it's shaping up to be a merry one, indeed.

I'm a Christmas guy, despite my lack of devoutness, or any other property that would reek of character. It's probably because I like getting presents, and I plan to clean up this year: The crappy little British tree that's shedding needles all over my living room carpet as we speak plays host to a gleaming pile of brightly-wrapped packages, each of them the potential Perfect Toy that I expected throughout childhood, but alas never received. But hope springs eternal, and after a good shaking of each and every one of those packages my optimism is strong.

So, let's all get 'faced and wander into pointless arguments with dear relatives. It's what Christmas is about, and it will end in tears. So enjoy the food while you can.

Last night, I sat down with the Sistas, and we opened up the Game of Life. We'd procured it for a measly £1 at a local charity store a few months ago, and were cracking the box for the first time. It being a used specimen bought on the cheap, the usual defects were there: broken pegs, dog-eared 10,000 bills and promissory notes. Unfortunately, the rules were also missing.

We googled for the rule book, and came up with dozens of different versions of this bastard game. There are more variations to this game than I would have thought. It never really seemed like the organic type of game that would evolve over time. When I was getting my ass beaten at it as a child, it seemed that the adults so thoroughly dependent upon its intricacies that the slightest variation thereupon would render it unplayable.

This being the UK edition, the rules and numbers are different from the one I grew up with in the US. My playing companions, being Germans, were also used to different rules; notably, the German version probably doesn't require you to pick a career until the half-way point.

We managed to cobble up a thoroughly unplayable system of compromises from the various rules, where they made sense (or didn't). Nevertheless, I got my ass handed to me, just like always. You can read the rest of the story over there.

So, does anyone out there happen to have a copy of the ©1992 Milton-Bradley Game of Life (UK Edition)?

Also, I found the scanned handbooks to all Milton-Bradley Games, ever. Check 'em out. Don't miss the first-edition rules to Axis & Allies!