I've played about 100 games of Rook (kind of like Spades but much faster with better trumping opportunities) on the computer so far today waiting for people to get back to me. (You used to be able to play against other human beings online, but that is no longer possible thanks to Atari--well, Infogrames really; using the Atari name is just a desperate attempt at credibility--and their stupid business decisions of late.) Waiting around is one of the least glamorous parts of PR, and there is a whole lot of waiting around involved in this job because it mostly consists of being a middle(wo)man.

Since I brought it up, the PC version of Rook, part of the Parker Brothers card game collection, is not very well done. It wants to run in full screen (it's a freaking card game) and insists on seeking to the CD, which has to be in the drive, for dumb animations, music, and sounds. The AI cheats like crazy, too. The computer opponents get both the Rook and the Red One card far more often than probability would dictate, and more often than not, if the opponent has both those cards, they will also hold nearly an entire run in the trump suit as well, making for some ridiculously one-sided hands, usually several in each game. It wouldn't have killed them to come up with a better range of opponent personalities and skill levels, either. While I don't expect to be able to create customized opponents like Westwood did in their version of Monopoly a few years ago, some obvious variation would be nice.

Enough about that. The most interesting part of my job right now is the search for a pirate band (not to be confused with a band of pirates). I found one (several, in fact) and now I am waiting to hear if our client can afford them. I hope so because I think their party will be greatly improved by some upbeat seafarin' tunes.