Following the fire at the Jockey, our next meeting on Tuesday 6^th August will be held in a private house in Stanford.  Please get in touch if you would like to come along and would like directions.  As usual, we will be playing shorter games from about 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer.

This week the “Feature Game” is Guillotine, which is a light card game where the players are trying to behead the least popular nobles.  We’ve chosen this as it is a quick game and then we can play something appropriate to the people who come on the night.

And talking of the Guillotine…

A priest, a thief and an engineer are all slated to be executed by guillotine.

The priest is to be dispatched first and the executioner asks him, “How do you want to face on the guillotine?”

The priest responds, “With my face up, looking toward heaven.”

The executioner accedes and the priest is laid face up on the guillotine.  The executioner pulls the cord, the blade drops, and then miraculously stops within mere inches of the priest’s neck.  The gathered witnesses gasp in astonishment. Everybody agrees that it is a miracle and sign of divine intervention and the priest’s life is spared.

The thief is next. When the executioner asks how he’d like to be positioned the thief responds, “With my face up, looking toward heaven.”

The executioner complies, and the thief is laid down face up.  The cord is pulled. The blade falls, and, as with the priest the blade stops inches from the thief’s neck.  Again the witnesses gasp.  They can understand a miracle occurring with the priest but with a thief! Nonetheless, they take it as a sign from god, and release the thief.

Finally, it’s the engineer’s turn.  Like the other two he wishes to be executed face up, looking toward heaven.

The executioner lays him down, but before he can pull the cord the engineer yells out, “Stop! Stop!”

The executioner pauses, and the engineer, looking up at the guillotine says, “I think I can see the problem…”