Getting 'Retricked'

So, who knew for sure that 'retricked' is not an actual word? All of you did? Good! Why didn't you tell me a week ago?!
Of course, you needn't tell me that if I was not so blur as to think it was an actual word... it cost me about 82 friggin' points! Bleh... Sthooopid (re: Post on Prefects Camp)!!

I'm talking about the Scrabble competition last week. All in all, it was seriously fun -geek-. Although by the end of the day, we were all pretty knocked out. Who wouldn't be after 6 games?

We were matched according to our spreads. I did pretty good for the first 3 games, got trashed on my fourth game and everything pretty much went downhill from there. XD My fourth game was against Ms. Retricked. 'Dang it, girl, I gotta shake your hand. You re-tricked me!' -curses stupidity- I went from a positive spread to negative in that one game. Trust me, you don't want to know anymore than that. My opponent meanwhile, went on to win first place. Haha. I hope she remembers my contribution to her. She owes me biiiiiiiiiig time.

But anyway, Xin Fang placed no. 5, which is awesome because she will get to represent Penang at national level later on. The others also did great. It was indeed an interesting experience, as we got to meet and play against all kinds of people with different habits when it comes to playing.

And of course, there's that adrenaline rush whenever one tries to play nonsense words, whether intentionally or otherwise.

There is a certain air of vindication whenever one gets challenged on a word that one knows exist.
A: -places word 'Lavalava'-
B: -eyes you suspiciously- Challenge.
A: Sure. No problem... -Struts confidently to computer and hides a smirk when word is accepted-
B: -completely baffled- 'Lavalava?????'

Of course, it sucks when you think it exists, when it actually doesn't...
B: Challenge.
A: Sure. No problem.
B: -types word into computer- Not accepted.
A: WHAT??!! But... but... I thought... but... WHAT?!!! -sigh- -walks over and removes letters from the board dejectedly-

But sometimes one doesn't get challenged at all.
A: -Places 'ac' on the board- -stares at opponent, ready to be challenged-
B: -Goes on with his turn-
A: -Heaves a very silent, but very big sigh of relief- 'Sucker... -snicker-'

Then there's that obligation on ethics when it comes to being fair when using the clock.
-B doesn't press the clock eventhough it's A's turn-
A: 'Hmmm. Tell or don't tell? It's his own fault for not realising it... Hmmm... I'll just wait a moment more... Ladeedadeda' -takes own sweet time shuffling tiles-

At the end of the day, our minds were so 'scrabbled' that nothing but Scrabble tiles and Scrabble boards loomed in front of our eyes.

"Time to go home."
"Home... H-O-M-E. Home. 9 points..."

But heck, I wouldn't mind doing this all over again. :-)

Scrabble-d

Oh, lookey here... two posts in one day. I'm on a roll, baybeh.

I just stumbled upon the official Scrabble website and found the history of Scrabble on it.

Scrabble-Mania just started in me this year ever since I signed up for the Scrabble team, which I'm still not confirmed to be in yet or otherwise yet, fyi. but I'll know that for sure tomorrow.

One of my most vivid memories of Scrabble would be playing it with my mum and dad when I was much younger. I kept wondering why my dad could score so high marks and I was so pathetic. Sometimes, I even played it by myself... yeah, against myself. :P I always gave up halfway because it got too boring.

Back then, I played the game in the simplest way possible. Just place words on the board and count the points. I usually placed the first word I could think of and that was that.

But this year, I'm suddenly exposed to the world of Scrabble with heavy strategies. New terms were introduced to me by the school Scrabble Gurus like Xin Fang and seniors Yi Lyn and Audelia.

Front hooks, back hooks, stacking, and lists of 2 and 3 letter words, lists of Bingo words, etc. etc. Whoa... is this Scrabble? And dang, I'm having a blast. There's something really fascinating about watching these Scrabble Gurus tossing around tiles and explaining strategies. Who knew there were people who could make shifting tiles on the rack and tossing tiles on the board seem so intimidating and cool at the same time?

Anyway Jess, you asked you wondered what the history of Scrabble was, and whether it was designed by someone named S.C. Rabble.

Allow me to correct that sentiment. XD

Scrabble was started by this architect in Poughkeepsie in New York State named Alfred Mosher Butts. (I'm pretty thankful the game isn't called Buttler or Buttable...) And I quote the official Scrabble website;

Mild-mannered, bespectacled Butts disliked dice games. They were all down to luck. On the other hand, he felt that all-skill games, like chess, were too highbrow for the general public.

Yep. I don't know how to play chess... and have no intention on learning. XD

Anyway, during 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression, he developed the initial idea for the game, which he called Lexico.

'Lexico was played without a board and players scored on the basis of the lengths of the words formed. There were additional scores for words employing 'minor honours' (B, F, H, M, P, V, W, Y) and a higher additional score for major honours (J, K, Q, X, Z).

Butts calculated the letter frequency and value of each letter of the alphabet by meticulously combing the front page of the New York Times.

He reasoned that too many S's made the game too easy. So he reduced them to 4.'

However, the patent board did not like his idea much. He did a little more tinkering here and there, changing to names like New Anagrams, Alph, Criss-Cross then Criss-Crosswords.But all were still unsuccessful with the patent board.

'Then came the big breakthrough in the shape of James Brunot, an owner of one of the first Criss-Crosswords games.

The Brunots decided that the game needed a few finishing touches.

They rearranged the premium squares and simplified the rules, which were overly long and reconsidered the name of the game. Then they lodged a Copyright application, which was granted on 1 December, 1948.

Soon after, came the all important name change ! After much searching, they decided upon the name Scrabble for the game and managed to register the trademark on 16 December, 1948.'

The popularity of the game grew and never stopped growing. Ta-dah! And that's the history of Scrabble. Oh gee, is that the word 'Geek' written across my forehead? Oh, no. It's been there for a long time already. XD. Gonna go explore more of the Scrabble website now.

Fan Girl-ly Moment

CSI NY SPOILER ALERT

Not that it really matters... those who don't care for CSI NY can just turn away from now. Those who do care already know about this... :P

-Throws all dignity aside and starts squeeing and flailing- Yes, for those who don't know, I am actually extremely capable of that.

If I wasn't clear the first time, SPOILER ALERT.

For the first time ever, we have a CSI wedding. Yeah, I suppose it's still called a wedding if the wife-to-be is already 7 months pregnant, the couple tied the knot in jeans, and their two bosses are their only guests (One of which is dressed even more smartly than the groom, by the way...).

The Danny/Lindsay relationship has long been a hate-it-completely or OMG-I-love-them with the fans of the show. It's only one of the two extremes. And in case you haven't picked up already, I'm a die hard fan. As in, the kind who remembers all the dialogues and has all the videos.

CSI's got the bug-man, Grissom, recently featured in Star Two. CSI Miami's got the H-Man and his Mighty Black Frames, Horatio, who has also been recently featured (and mocked) in Star Two as well... Remember the CSI Miami movie featuring Horatio's glasses? XD And now CSI NY's got a shot gun wedding between the show's Drama King and country girl. Geez. Gotta love the franchise. XD

Check out the promo, it made me almost get teary-eyed. Almost...




Right. With that enthusiam out of the way, subject shift.

The first term exams just ended and the momentum has shifted to competition season. It's time for the students to disappear regularly from class and for the respective teachers to start complaining about the fact.
It's time for students to start strategizing which lessons they can skip and get away with, and which lessons have teachers who will make students sorry they ever bothered to ask to be excused.

And then, it's also Sports Day season. So we have marching fever, banner painting mania and a whole load of running around. Ain't school life grand? (Depict that sentence in whichever tone you want.)

But seriously, I believe in living this final year of school to the fullest. And if that means I have to balance Drama, Scrabble, societies, prefect duties and studies all in one and pass out at the end of each day, then so be it. Patsy's latest post (Check the side links) on loneliness in a new place really meant something to me. While leaving Form 5 may be the start of a brand new wonderful adventure, it also means leaving behind some of the best times of your life.

So for goodness sake, just cos' it's SPM year, don't bury yourselves in books and forget to really live. For your own sake, and your high school friends. :-)

THERE! I finally posted a REAL update. Now quit bugging me about me about blog-updating. XD