…with Gary Moss

Archive for March, 2011

Millions upon millions of stars are in the heavens, millions upon millions of cells make up a single person, millions upon millions of variations. It’s no wonder that we each know relatively so little and are frequently surprised by ahas.

It was the late 1970s; I was in my 30s; I considered myself to be ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ and ‘in the know’.

I hadn’t ever considered the truism that ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’. I was simply going through life thinking that I knew pretty much everything that was important to know.

I owned season seats at Pine Knob, an out door music arena, near Ortonville, Michigan. I loved spending warm summer nights with friends,at concerts, listening to my favorite artists. This one particular evening, I was totally unfamiliar with the performer. I assumed that he was new on the scene, the size of the audience would be diminished, and there was a 50/50 chance that the quality of the show would be nothing to write home about.

We left home for Pine Knob a little later than normal on the evening of his performance, expecting to be able to park right up front, in an empty parking lot. WRONG! The endless line of cars squeezing through the narrow, two-lane, gate was humungous. I rechecked our tickets thinking that maybe I had made a mistake and it was a Neil Diamond concert or Barbara Streisand. No. The tickets clearly said ‘ href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Chapin">Harry Chapin’. I hadn’t a clue about who this guy was.

It was a wild party atmosphere. It was a special kind of audience. The sea of people surrounding me all seemed to know Harry and had come specifically to be at his concert.

How could this be? How come I had never heard about a performer this well known, this beloved? When Harry emerged on the stage the audience went into a frenzy. It seemed like every person had a lit candle or held up a lighted cigarette lighter. When Harry sang, the audience sang with him, knowing every lyric, singing with deep emotion.

I stood in awe, feeling like the world had been keeping a secret from me. And I was so delighted. I climbed upon the bandwagon that very evening and vaulted Harry to the top of my list of favorites. I purchased every tape and played and listened to them frequently. I took inspiration from Harry’s stories and wrote a few of my own.

It was a day in mid-July, 1981. I was driving somewhere in Michigan, running errands, listening to music on the radio, when some announcer broke in and spoke of a car crash on the Long Island Expressway, near East Meadow, New York, and Harry was gone.

After discovering Harry Chapin, I vowed to myself to live my life with my eyes wide open. And knowing that I don’t know what I don’t know prompts me look deeper, feel deeper, ask questions, shake hands, and be open.

That attitude lead me to embrace scrabble when I saw it differently, being played by a group of experts, at a level far superior to my own.

Harry’s song, Mr. Tanner, one of my favorites, makes me pause and think about so many scrabble players who come out to play at club, because they love the game, but then shrink away when they discover that their skills are less than those of The Mavins. Most of them drift back to only playing in casual, home circles, out of the spotlight, playing late at night, out of sight.

Our society may be at fault. We glorify the winners. Society wrongly tells us that anything less 1st Place is a loser. How sad!

Celebrate your interests; get up and out; come play scrabble this week. CLICK

Language can be beautiful; language can be ugly; language can be like a riddle; language can seem obvious and transparent.

I say one thing; The person hearing my utterance hears one thing. But did the receiver know exactly what I meant? Sometimes yes; sometimes not even close.

An aside:
Years ago in a different lifetime, when I had young children, there was a friend who took pride in coaching her 3 year old daughter to develop manners. From the time her daughter could speak, she insisted that her daughter use words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ whenever appropriate. The mom would coach the child whenever her daughter, Marcy received a gift or a compliment; the mom would say, “what do you say, Marcy?” Then Marcy would respond with something, like “Thank you.”

It was one day filled with shopping errands and mom and daughter had already been to the butcher shop and the candlestick maker, before the arrived at the bakery. The bakery was one of Marcy’s favorite places to shop because the lady behind the counter always offered Marcy a treat in the form of a cookie. This day was no different. The saleslady saw Marcy coming, opened the door to greet the shoppers, and then walked to the counter, reaching for the small plate of cookies. “Can I offer you a cookie, asked the kind saleslady, with a big smile?” The mom chimed in as usual, “What do you say, Marcy?”, expecting a polite ‘thank you’.

Marcy froze for a moment. She looked down at the offering of cookies. Then she looked the saleslady straight in the eyes, with her own broad smile, and responded, “I rather have a chocolate donut.”

I’ve been feeling a bit frustrated lately. I have been offering up delicious chocolate donuts (in the form of secrets to win at scrabble) to people who are looking for tuna sandwiches, pork rinds, and milk-of-magnesia. I realize that everyone does not yearn for chocolate donuts, but when you decide that want some, now you’ll know where to shop.

People do things for their own reasons, not yours.
~ Gary Moss

One of the gifts that playing competitive scrabble has given to me is the knowing that it is always important to see the bigger picture. To know, that when I am making this move, I must take into account the advantages and the consequences that this move has on the next move.

But, that’s nothing new to any of us. That’s the way that life works.

And when I see the scrabble players that just don’t get it . . . . I worry, as I connect the dots and realize that so many of those people are in positions of power today. It seems to me that they DO NOT SEE or CARE ABOUT the bigger picture and the consequences.

Last evening I played scrabble with a very pleasant group of scrabble enthusiasts. More than one of the novice players spent blanks for 8 points or 10 points as if they were worthless. After gasping with horror I suggested that the BLANKS are the key to obtaining high scores and winning the game. Some of the novices heard my assertion and wanted to know more. One of the novice players declared that blanks only confused him and were therefore worthless. I am sure that he was annoyed by my know-it-all attitude and dismissed my suggestion.

Maybe the man just wanted to spend an evening out, sharing an evening with his girlfriend, be it scrabble or bowling or a movie.

Maybe at the time of design and construction, the builders of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station were only focused on the power benefits to the people and the profits for the company?

Maybe when a crisis arises and we rush into war without an exit strategy, we might be less than wise. And why are many of our enemies around the globe fighting us with weapons and ammunition that we supplied to them.

How many of the people that we have elected have proven themselves to be corrupt?

How many of the CEO in recent years have robbed us blind?

How many laws and rules practices do we endure that turn around and bite us in the behind because we lock them in without anticipating changes in the future?

The novice player, who squandered his blanks, last night may go on to become the Purchasing Agent for the US Navy. He could sign requisitions for $300 toilet seats, just because shopping is too confusing.

I challenge you to see the bigger pictures in your life and the activities which you enjoy. I challenge you to be the best you can be. Shun mediocrity. Hold others in power accountable to think about the consequences before making their current play.

Learn how to see the bigger picture while taking my online class, SCRABBLE 101. CLICK

Even if you are a tea lover, as long as you are a scrabble player you will find some value in this piece.

I don’t know exactly when I became a coffee fan. I do enjoy the beverage, but I do not consider myself to be a coffee aficionado. I know the coffees that I like and dislike when I taste them. I know for instance that I do not like the decaffeinated varieties that I’ve encountered; I am not a fan of the thick, dark, bitter espressos that I’ve sampled. My ex father-in-law was a fan of putting chickory into his coffee; that was a turn-off to me. From time to time I do enjoy various flavored coffees, especially cinnamon. But most of all I prefer a French Roast, black.

My wife Adrienne, noticing my love affair with coffee, gave me the book ‘A Cup of Coffee’ by Norman Kolpas. I found the book to be interesting and I read from cover to cover. I now know much more about coffee, than the average bear, and have deeper appreciation of the beverage that I consume at the beginning of most days.

As you may know from reading my blogs, there is little to nothing that I do in life that doesn’t, in someway, come full circle back to scrabble. That is true for coffee too. While reading the book I found a section entitled ‘Coffee-Taster’s Terminology’. I stopped my reading and spent an inordinate amount of time looking at the words on the list and considering whether or not they we legal words in the OWL2. Many of the words listed below, which also appear in the OWL2, have different definitions when comparing this list of terms and the definitions in the OSPD4 or to ZYZZYVA.

And so I’ll share that list with you here and now:
acidy; aftertaste; aged; aroma; baked; bitter; bland; body; bouquet; bright; burnt; buttery; *caramelly; *carbony; chocolatey; cinnamony; clean; *cocoay; dead; delicate; dirty; earthy; flat; flavor; floral; fragrance; fruity; grassy; green; *groundy; hard; harsh; *hidy; lifeless; light; mellow; mild; mouthfeel; muddy; musty; neutral; nutty; papery; *past-croppish; quaker; rancid; rich; *rioy; rough; rubbery; soft; sour; spicy; stale’ stinker; strawy; strong; sweet; taint; tannic; thin; toasty; *turpeny; vinegary; watery; wild; winey; woody
(All words preceded by an * are not entries in the OWL2 and therefore not legal to play in sanctioned play.)

Although studying words on lists like the one above may be fun, it is a very inefficient method to learn the valuable scoring words in the OWL2. If you want a fast leg up along with a tried and tested plan to improve your scrabble game, you’ll want to consider enrolling yourself in the online scrabble class, SCRABBLE 101. CLICK HERE

word |wərd|
noun
a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others (or sometimes alone) to form a sentence and typically shown with a space on either side when written or printed.

If you are a scrabble player you probably only consider a word to be the entries on the OWL2 (Official Word List, 2nd Edition). And yet you know that there are many other words in other lexicons.

It was reported today that the Oxford English Dictionary has recently added some new entries into their lexicon. Beware! These are not yet on the OWL2. They are: LOL; OMG; WASSUP; TAQUITO; and ‘MUFFIN TOP’.

The OWL2 is filled a lot of it’s own seldom used entries. Here are the 5 letter words that contain a ‘J’: JAMBE, HIJAB, JAMBS, BANJO, JABOT, JUBAS, JIBBS, JIBED, JEBEL, JIBER, JIBES, OBJET, JUBES, BIJOU, JUMBO.

Use my lesson on CD to learn how to use the word tool, ZYZZYVA, to explore the world of word lists. CLICK HERE.

I listen to NPR when I drive around the city. This morning I heard a story about a group of volunteers who assist the Pasadena, California Police Department in their missing persons bureau. The group originated several years ago to help offset a funding budget shortfall.

As I listened to the processes used to locate run-aways and other missing persons, my curious mind saw some of the parallels that I use in learning more words to improve my scrabble game.

Everything is different and everything is the same.
~ Gary Moss

One of the volunteers is a scientist, by day, searching the heavens for undiscovered planets and stars. He sees many parallels between his scientific searches and the more earthly search for missing persons. He applies much of his scientific knowledge to develop regimens in his volunteer job. Last year the bureau found more than 500 missing persons.

Thousands of weekend duffers head off to the links every week where during 3+hours, playing 9 holes, they take 100+ strokes (not counting the Mulligans), and experience one or two good hits that are encouraging enough to bring them back for another round next week.

Another, more serious, golfer hires a pro for a lesson or three at the driving range. He develops a practice regimen and applies the knowledge gleaned from the pro. After a few days or weeks, this golfer notices that he finishes the 9 hole course taking less than 90 strokes.
Duh!

Everything is different and everything is the same.

A person calls me on the phone and tells me that he is a ‘GOOD’ scrabble player and is looking for some decent competition, I invite him to play at Club #350. He show up a few weeks later. He has no knowledge of the 2 Letter Word List and flinches every time that opponents play common scrabble jargon: aeriest; jeon; xu; usufruct. Realizing that he is only a ‘novice’ player, and unwilling to make a commitment to put in the time to become better, he drifts away and we never see that player again. Too bad. He could have become ‘good’.

I guess it all depends on what your definition of ‘good’ is.

For all kinds of scrabble study aides and unique gifts, CLICK HERE

Sometimes I learn the most about the game of scrabble during the times when I’m teaching scrabble to others. At those times, I need to find specific words and terms to articulate the skills of the game, so that my students will understand clearly.

That is not an easy task. Most people who have played the game in some other arena come with various notions of ‘How To Play’. My job begins by pleading with those people to unlearn ALL of their bad habits and misinformation.

Novice players often think that scrabble is just a simple word game in which one scrambles the letters on the rack until one finds a word, and then one finds a position to play it on the board.

Playing simple, common words may be one way of amusing yourself with ‘word play’, but that is not how to really PLAY the game at it’s higher levels.

The lettered tiles and the fact that were play words on the board often limits novice players from seeing the bigger picture.

SCRABBLE is a game of Strategy and Memory, which uses words. The simple word ‘ax’ can be played for as few 10 points or for more than 50 points. Which would you rather earn, if you were trying to win the game?

Novices play ‘hug-of-war’; Advanced players play ‘TUG-OF-WAR’.

Just like in the lives we live, every action we take may have consequences or some reaction. PLAYERS of scrabble know that every word played on the board provides different opportunities . . . or not, for the opponent to achieve a retaliatory high scoring play.

One of the most difficult lessons to teach novice players is: ‘When you are playing THIS TURN you must also be considering the letters which you may draw to replenish your rack and how that will design your NEXT TURN.

Isn’t that exactly what we do when we make investments? choose a career path? There is no guarantee that things will work out every time, but there is an added degree of confidence when we plan ahead.

Just what was Barry thinking? Maybe he wasn’t, by george.

It was almost a year ago when I admitted publicly that I have been struggling with my weight. It was probably obvious to you, if you knew me. What can I say . . I love to eat sweet treats. That was not good, considering that I am also Diabetic.

The truth be known, Food is my drug of choice.

Knowing myself as well as I do, I knew that I needed to create some pressure upon myself to follow through on the necessary changes in my life style, in order to achieve any meaningful weight loss. Like all other addicts, I had to admit my addiction to myself and others as a first step. I did so very publicly on this blog.

Even though I’ve had enormous support from my wife, Adrienne, I am the one who has to make the choice, every minute of every day, whether or not to choose a burger or a salad, a diet soda or a milk shake, pizza supreme or salmon and vegies.

This morning was the first time that my weight was less than 190 in more than 20 years.

Sure, there are times when I miss the old days, sitting in front of the TV, stuffing my face with chocolate chip cookies and milk.

Sure, there are days, now and then, when I buy a Hershey Bar, and inhale it.

But, I finally have the resolve to get down to a healthier weight. (I still plan to drop another 15 pounds.) I already feel better these days and I can tell that I have greater control of my Diabetes. Who knows? If I lose another 20 pounds I might even be able to change my dependence upon insulin.

There are many things that we, as individuals, choose to change in our lives. Every successful change goes through a similar process, beginning with a commitment + a goal + a plan + a support system.

Becoming a better scrabble player requires nothing less. Check out SCRABBLE 101.

Last year’s blog: Click Here

And while man has been evolving from whatever into whatever, the planet around him has proven to contain everything that he has needed: a wide variety of things to eat for nourishment; a wide variety of elements to mold and manipulate into the creature comforts for his pleasure; and the natural elixirs to maintain his own wellbeing.

At every moment that man uncovered a mystery like the discovery of how to make and use fire, how to smelt iron, how to make gun powder, how to use stems to identify high probability bingos, the word spread slowly or quickly and was shared with the multitudes, bringing others up to speed. ( We could have probably done without ‘The Pet Rock’ and ‘The Three-Cornered Jimmy’. )

The point being, we have the ability to continue to evolve into anything we choose to become and possess anything that we can imagine.

Imagine yourself winning The 1st Sunday Scrabble Tournament in Laguna Woods, California. Now, today, begin to do the things that are necessary to make that thought into a reality. Life can be as easy as that,

Yes, at times Mother Nature may throw an unexpected Earthquake or Tsunami at you devastating you and the millions of others. Sure, it knocks you off track while you help with more urgent necessities. But, once order is restored we all have the choice to return to our endeavors- or not.

So many things have emerged because of the persistent characters of inventors: wall paint for caves; the printing press; the telephone; the game of scrabble; the KIA gerbils.

Imagine yourself having the knowledge of all the words in the OWL2. Now imagine yourself discovering an easier way to procure that knowledge. You’d be every scrabble players’ hero.

You have everything that you need. You simply have to do a little more work.
~ Gary Moss

You and your opponent sit down at the table across from one another. You each reach in the bag of tiles and draw a single tile to determine who plays first. You draw a ‘D,’ your opponent draw an ‘L’. You go first, and according to statisticians, you have a 10-15 point advantage at this point. At times you may wish to stop right there and claim victory . . . but that’s not the way the game goes. (The first word played on the board receive double the value.) At times you may be hard pressed to play something at all. Let’s say your first rack of 7 tiles included: D-I-I-I-I-R-U. YECH! If you exchange tiles, your opponent will receive double score for his/her first play. Tough decision!

In another game your first rack is: A-E-I-N-R-S-T. You can play any one of the 9 bingos and be off to a fantastic beginning.

The randomness of things have driven people crazy over the millennia. The earliest of people may have attributed good fortune and bad fortune to ‘the gods’. Later peoples attributed and still do attribute many outcomes to ‘GOD’. Others will tell you that everything is predetermined and forecast in ‘the stars’.

Certain men and women have anointed themselves or have been anointed by others, claiming special powers to know things ‘beyond the abilities of common man’. (The high priest/priestess; the shaman; the king/queen; medicine man; the dictator; doctor; auto mechanics; etc. And common men have believed them, following their leadership . . . even into battle, sacrificing their own lives all because of some charlatan’s deception.

The charlatan knows that we are basically lazy and want others to do the heavy lifting for us. If they provide an answer and a solution that can fool us, we’ll bite like a fish on chum.

If and when the charlatan can refine their presentation, create a showy ritual, do a little hocus-pocus, persuade us that he/she is the ‘true messenger,’ confuse us with the numbers, promise to protect us from Darth Vader (Moammar Gadhafi), then we’ll all fall into line and follow him/her anywhere. We’ll sacrifice our possessions, give up our first born, and become dependent sheep.

The novice scrabble players and gamblers have a lot in common. They loose time and again and attribute it to bad luck. What is even funnier is when they win and attribute it to their superior play. The truth is, most novices win and lose according to the randomness of the tiles, the cards, and the slots.

MAVINS are people who know what the charlatans know and have taken some actions to have a greater degree of control in the outcome. Mavins would never build an uninsurable-multi-million dollar home on a flood plain.

A novice scrabble player watches the mavin scrabble play lay down bingo after bingo and curses his own bad luck. The mavin sits, silently amused by the rant, and knows that the bingos were the result of understanding rack management and learning large numbers of words in the OWL2. The mavin knows that there are ways to improve his odds over randomness with knowledge. The novice leaves everything to chance and complains.

Even the trained weatherman, who can’t control the weather, knows that his educated guess and predictions can warn people to honker down in the face of an oncoming storm. And still, we always read about people who have died in their homes instead of seeking higher ground.

Over time, man has learned that he can take steps to combat some the effects of randomness. It requires obtaining knowledge.

It is all up to you. Choose.