…with Gary Moss

Archive for October, 2009

I was recently telling a friend that I offered up 30 free passes, each for 1 FREE PLAY, at Scrabble CLUB #350. I gave them out to a group of people who were passionately involved with their own endeavors. To date, no one has used the ‘free passes’. My friend then asked if I told them that refreshments would be served.

I hadn’t. (It’s not cool to serve food when the place where you are playing is in a cafe.)

But, my friend was probably right. People who wouldn’t show up otherwise will usually show up for cookies or a party.

I’m writing today’s blob as I’m sipping my morning coffee at BRUEGGER’S. The line of customers begins at the counter and snakes out the door. Many people are holding coupons for a dollar off of their purchase. I wonder if they would have come here this morning had it not been for the incentive?

I’ve never been a big fan of HALLOWEEN. But Halloween has always been a time when people get together and party. The USA has made Halloween into a major event. It is in the public eye for most of October. The season is filled with parties and eating; especially candy. It gives unofficial license to diabetics to pump some extra insulin and eat a little candy, it lures children to postpone the directives from their dentists.

Being a bit of a purist, when it comes to Scrabble, I want the people who come to my events to be the type of people who are enthusiastic about the game of scrabble and wanting to become even better players. I’ll work with anyone, regardless how novice, as long as their goal is to expand word power and learn strategies.

That does not mean that scrabblers don’t enjoy a good party too. Some of the most sumptuous spreads that I’ve ever enjoyed have been at scrabble parties. (Amnon makes the best hummus; Najat is the hostess with the mostest; and the Blankhead’s potluck lunches are to die for.)

For me, every club gathering feels like a party, with or without the cookies.

Come around! Share the JOY.

I’m a little hesitant about writing this blog. If all of you PCs out there were to come over to MAC it could ruin a very good thing for me. But since I sincerely enjoy sharing ‘GOOD NEWS’, I feel compelled to tell you like it is.

I’ve actually been using ‘APPLE’ since the mid-1970s. My first computer, most likely the original APPLE, with 64K memory, used a TV for the monitor, and the Centronix printer was almost as large as my desktop. About all my computer could do in those days was sort data.I owned a private school in the 1970’s and 1980’s and understood the importance that computers would come to play in our lives. Although I became a computer used and offered computer labs in my elementary school, I felt inadequate to put hands-on, in the development of programs. The closest I came to program development was being a part of a few think tanks, advising programmers, as to the content that would enhance learning for the end user. I was one of a small few who assisted Ravi Ravichandran, the creator of LEXPERT. One of the frustrations that I dealt with was that most of the packaged programs, for sale at that time, were being developed for PC. In the early years I hired my own programmer to write programs for my MAC.

As the years passed, and MAC expanded its programming base, I remained loyal and always felt very comfortable using that which I knew. (I understand completely why so many PC users are reluctant to even consider change; they are comfortable with what they know.) In recent years, on a number of occasions I’ve hired Geeks to create web sites for me, but every time I required a change to the site I had to pull out my wallet and pay them a hefty fee. But then, I bought my most recent computer, an iMAC, in 2007. I was overwhelmed with joy to learn how user friendly, programming had become on the iMAC. Within days after my purchase, I built my own web site, and now, whenever I need to add, delete, or change things, I can do it myself, within minutes. Next, I learned about One-To-One. It’s just like having my own private coach on call. In the last 2 years I have learned how to make movies and slideshows, I’ve made web sites for others and am now completing the transformation of my class, ‘SCRABBLE 101′ into a study movie called ‘SCRABBALUTION’.

Last night I was honored to have been included with a group of MAC users who were showcased at the APPLE STORE in Costa Mesa, California. It was like a piano recital, except the spotlight was on the projects that we iMAC users had created. The night was full of ‘AWE’ and ‘WONDER’ and ‘AHAs’. Every project was more thrilling than the previous. The variety was awesome, ranging from music to photography to web site development. Last night we inspired each other, our creative-teachers, and the passers-by who stopped to watch.

If you’re interested to see some of my early endeavors CLICK HERE. My current project, ‘SCRABBALUTION’, will be released on November 15. It is a thumbnail history of scrabble and a class to help you improve your scrabble game, on a DVD, divided into lessons, divulging the secrets of the scrabble champions. Selling for $49.95 + shh, all paid orders received before 11/15 will be sold for $44.95 including shh. Make your check payable to JFTSOI and mail c/o Gary Moss, 3367 Punta Alta #3B, Laguna Woods, California 92637. It is the perfect holiday gift to yourself or another scrabble enthusiast.

I’ve never found it easy to ask others for anything. I make a pretty lame salesperson. My successes have come by creating a great product or activity that has lead others to join me or ask me for something.

But that’s not how the world works. It seems like the ones on the repeated commercials and in our faces all the time know that asking for our business, is the way to get sales.

My annual fund raising event for The Braille Institute is too important for me to sit by passively and hope that you participate.

So I am asking. Please be a part of this event and make a difference. Your tax deductible donation will be appreciated. If you’d prefer to make a pledge based on my playing results you can do that too. CLICK HERE for details.

Having asked, I feel better.

Help others and you’ll feel great too.

The Mayan civilization predicted the end of the world would occur on December 21, 2012.

Scrabble players at CLUB #350 do not buy into that prediction, as clearly evidenced by the early schedule of 1st Sunday Tournaments, already projected well into the year 2015. After that, anything could happen.

The little known ‘pig latin’ philosopher, Arygaa Ossmaa, made a prediction only a short 8 weeks ago that. . . ” on or about November 15, 2009, a revolutionary DVD, entitled SCRABBALUTION would be released divulging all the secrets of the ‘Expert Scrabble Players’ to all players in the kitchen-table-world, and the current generation of those who play on their iPhones” Ossmaa did not predict how many of the rank and file would avail themselves and grab this ‘brass ring’ containing the mysteries of ‘how to bingo and hook’. Ossmaa did warn current ‘Experts’ to be prepared for Armageddon in the competitive scrabble world; countless individuals who view and take the teachings of Scrabbalution to heart may very well ‘even the playing field’ and unseat some of the long reigning mavens.

SCRABBALUTION will be released in DVD format. It runs for about an hour in ‘real time’, but is designed to be stopped at many points during the viewing, encouraging its viewers to participate in a variety of scrabble related assignments.

SCRABBALUTION will sell for $49.95 + $5 shh.

“A great gift for word lovers.” ~ Susan Sutton

“A great video teaching tool for classrooms.” ~ Stacy Schwartz

All early orders, with checks, received prior to November 13, 2009 will be sold for $44.95 and we will ship for free.

Make your check payable to:
JFTSOI
3367 Punta Alta #3B
Laguna Woods, California 92637

Does the speed of change wear you down? It does me. At times, it makes me mad and frustrated.

I grew up at a time before the invention of the computer. For us, our brains and our own intellect were our computers. Owning and possessing the wisdom of the ages required great listening skills, excellent memory skills, thinking skills, knowing how to access information in libraries, and living long enough to amass wisdom.

In my opinion, it is the aging of the thoughts within certain individuals that produces the sages and gurus.

Today, the ease at which most people can access information is incredible. By typing a single word or a phrase onto google we are privy to the knowledge of the ages. Does that make us wise?

Some ‘wise guys’ think that because they are privy to the ‘WISDOM’ of the ages that they know it all, but I still believe that true ‘WISDOM’ is a product of age, like fine wine, like hard cement, like scrabble mavens.

People who think that they know it all DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY DON’T KNOW.

And it is nearly impossible to have a reasonable conversation with them. Along with their thinking that they know it all comes their self-righteousness.

As for me, every time my curiosity get the best of me and I begin a NEW project I always start off by learning how much I DON’T KNOW, yet. I’m not driven to learn more in order to become ‘wise’. Like so many of you, I am driven to create the projects that I dream up from my own imagination. And while you and I do our things, our personal wisdom grows.

I have no use for ‘wise guys’. I have a profound respect for ‘wisdom’.

When playing scrabble, have fun, continue to learn words and strategies, and the wisdom will follow.

Today I was move by something to rewrite the lyrics to ‘The Beat Goes On’. The sounds of Sonny & Cher singing it still reverberates in my ears.

The beat goes on, the beat goes on.
Whiz Cards pounding Stems into the brain
La-de-dah-de-dee, La-de-dah-de-dah
DA and EMF were often played aha; History has turned the page aha
The Iphone is the current thing aha; bingo queens are the new born rage aha
And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Whiz Cards pounding Hooks into the brain
La-de-dah-de-dee, La-de-dah-de-dah
Clubs are like the Super Mart aha, bingo kings will break their hearts aha
Newbies keep on showing up to play, most don’t stay to play a second day.
And the beat goes on, the beat goes on.
Whiz Cards pounding words into the brain
La-de-dah-de-dee, La-de-dah-de-dah
Grey Hairs fool you if you sell them short,
Age don’t matter in cerebral sport.
We all keep learning faster all the time
Yet all those vowels still make players whine
The beat goes on, the beat goes on.
Whiz Cards pounding Anagrams to the brain
La-de-dah-de-dee, La-de-dah-de-dah
And beat goes on, yes beat goes on.
And the beat goes on and on and on and on.

The purpose of time is to keep things separated so they don’t all happen at once. I can’t even imagine what that would be like.

We eat one thing at a time. We taste one thing at a time. We experience others, one person at a time. We frequently have one favorite one day and a different favorite the next day.

It would be impossible to have 100 favorites; that would diminish the concept of favorite.

In some ways, our limited amount of time on this planet precludes us from knowing everyone, from doing everything, from tasting all those tastes.

What is amazing and true in life is that when one door closes for each of us another door opens. We always have the choice to walk past that open door and go on to the next one.

When I moved into Laguna Woods Village I had no idea of the chocolates whom I would encounter. I sort of knew Mark Landsberg, the scrabble guru. I think I had said hello to him a time or two at a tournament. We didn’t move in the same circles, so that was the extent of our association. Now living in the same community, attending the same Monday afternoon scrabble club, a door opened and friendship expanded. We talked a lot about scrabble and even collaborated to produce the very first National Senior Scrabble Championship (even though NSA wouldn’t allow us to call it that).

WARNING! It is dangerous living in a senior community. Everyone here is in their twilight years and you never know whose light is going to extinguish next, or when.

But, I wouldn’t trade it. There are more stories here than in Wikipedia. I met Darla from ‘Our Gang Comedies’, scientists, classical pianists, pioneers who settled Alaska, and survivors of Hitler’s death camps.

This week I will be recording songs in Yiddish, sung by Renee Peters, who lived through the bombing of London in WWII.

Life is a box of chocolates.

Some people tell me that I have way too much time on my hands.

I find musing and writing much superior to watching the tube and exercising.

So on this first rainy day of the season, in southern California, I’m holed up at The Corner Bakery Cafe, eating breakfast and pounding on my keyboard.

Today I rewrote the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ and the ‘Preamble’ the way I think a scrabble player may have written them.

I pledge conformity to the Rules of the North American Scrabble Players Association, and to the Game for which it stands, one lexicon, the OWL2, providing opportunity and challenges for all.

We the players of NASPA, in order to form a more perfect competition, establish fairness, insure no Q’s on the floor under the table, provide for impeccable word adjudications, promote the general warfare, and secure the blessings of blanks to ourselves and our very best friends (when they are playing others), do unanimously tout CLUB #350 as one of the most outstanding clubs in the United States of America.

I teach an online scrabble class. Only the most interested and driven players will pay a fee and enter into the participation agreement that I require. It’s not about the money for me, I receive less than $6 a day for doing my part. I’m looking to share my knowledge with others who are devoted enough that they will commit to work diligently for 15 – 30 minutes a day, 7 days a week, for 5 weeks.

‘Less Is More’ describes the way I look at my results. Most people are not willing to make that kind of a commitment to take any kind of class, let alone a scrabble class. But the students who decide to enroll, all come away with a deep appreciation and knowledge of the game. There is never a dropout.

One of the most difficult concepts that I attempt to teach to novice scrabble players is that Less Is More when playing the game.

Everyone understands that when the game is over, the player with the most points wins the game. So, most players are determined to earn as many points as possible on every single turn. For some, it becomes unthinkable to exchange tiles on a turn and earn ‘Zero Points’. For some, it feels like they are throwing in the towel if they play off one or two tiles, earning a small score on a turn.

Expert players know that ‘rack balance’ is key, when building opportunities for achieving bingos and other high scoring plays. In order to balance one’s rack it may become necessary to exchange or play off a few tiles for few points. But when the expert player does those things it is with a purpose in mind. It usually, but not always, leads to an extraordinary play on a turn down the line.

Less Can Lead To More. (This notion is also true in other parts of Life.)

Remember the thrill of seeing a magician up close at your table? The excitement and awe especially makes an impression on young kids, but it is not necessarily limited to them. I remember being in my 30’s when I took in an evening at The Magic Castle, in LA, for dinner. I had no idea how those magicians did their slight of hand illusions. I was mesmerized.

I remember another time when a performer showed a group of us how he did a ‘magic’ trick. It was interesting to experience, but that trick was never the same again for me. It lost it’s ‘magic’.

Did you ever hear about the class called ‘Marriage Encounter,’ for couple who want to strengthen their marriages. I was instrumental in the organization of Jewish Marriage Encounter in the Mid-West in the late 1970s. Hundreds of couples attended and most to all found a personal benefit. One of my friends and his wife reluctantly attended at my urging. Charlie’s job was writing. In fact, he had written programs for business, employing the same techniques used by ‘Marriage Encounter’ to stimulate communication and problem solving. Understanding the mechanics, for Charlie, took the ‘magic’ out of the experience. Rather than participating fully, he sat their analyzing the make up of the program.

There is a definite risk, as a scrabble player, when you know more. If you become very good and more competitive and continue to play with the same friends and family, the others will no longer want to play with you, for losing. And you’ll become bored by their novice level of play.

When you study the ‘SATINE STEM’ and learn the 70 bingos that it can produce, the challenge will no longer there for you. You’ll just recognize bingo after bingo when they appear on your rack and you’ll simply earn yet another high score in the game; you beat another opponent. Ho hum.

There are at least two ways to continue enjoying scrabble when you know more.

You can become magicianlike, mastering your art, leaving others steeped in wonder.

or

You can become a teacherliker and share your knowledge, expanding the worlds of other.

Enjoy Life; Enjoy Scrabble