New Life

Here girls and boys wait to be born into the game of Life. Like the new Sorry, redesigned with a Windows Vista vibe, new Life was at first a rueful experience, like going back to your old college and finding that most of your favorite stores are gone.

But new Life has its charms, and a new agenda. No longer do you have to buy auto, fire, and life insurance, or go without and make your fellow players wonder about your suitability as a partner in real life. Most spaces dealing with car crashes and fires have been replaced with Spin To Win, your chance to play roulette. Gambling and trying to beat the stockmarket play a large part in the game, more than education or your choice of careers, and it's interesting that new Life came out in 2007, right before the whole world landed on the Economic Tsunami! space.

Misconceptions

Alistair thinks that mice are tiny cats.

Oliver thinks the reason Alistair is not allowed to swallow toys is that the toys might break.

To solve our missing Earth problem, the maker of Oliver's solar system sent us Venus, a world that always makes me think of the Ray Bradbury story in which a child is locked in a closet during a rare sunny day on Venus.