19 July, 2017

The Name(s) of the Game(s)!

 

It’s been quite some time since my last installment, and believe it or not, I’m killing some time right now as I’m waiting for a bidding activity on a new sailboat I’ve found on “ebay.com” that I want to add to my fleet!!  I’ve got about an hour to go. (smile)

I think too that I’m compelled to write because in the past 15 hours (believe it or not), I’ve had two conversations (one with my friend Leslie, and one with Tanuja) in which the “Chronicles” have come up.  Inasmuch as it was noted during both that I’ve not provided a new installment since our “Antigua Adventure” (which [surprisingly] now was just over 2 months ago!!), I figured that I should try to get back in the zone!! (smile)

Looking at my photos, I couldn’t find one in particular that inspired a singular story that would incorporate my own “installment criteria” of containing at least 500 words, I thought I’d combine a few photos that would follow a relative theme (if you will).  I think this will be a category that I’ll now call “Miscellaneous Musings”.  We’ll see how this works. (smile)

I’ve had this “Friendly Game of Chess” set for a number of years. The reason it caught my eye was because I was initially attracted to the board rather than the pieces!!  Most people don’t pay much attention to the board and focus more on the sometimes visually unique treatment(s) given to the pieces….their sculpting, or coloring etc.

The crystal clear glass / frosted glass treatments on the pieces here are not unusual at all.  One sees sets that look like that all the time, and the accompanying board is treated the same way.  However….I thought it was pretty unusual to see a black glass chess board as is featured in this set, and that got my attention immediately!! (ha,ha,ha,ha)

This set sits on my living room coffee table as the centerpiece because it fit perfectly in the diamond shaped area between the mirrored insets.  That allows the chess set to be a sort of “standalone presentation” piece, and it’s become a nice conversation starter when guests have seen it!! (smile)

I’m familiar with the basics of the game of chess, but I’ve not played in many years.  My brother-in-law Michael plays too, and actually has a smaller glass set that is like the earlier ones I talked about (the clear and frosted chess board).  Although we’ve talked about sitting down and playing (we’ve also done that regarding Tennis as he has a racket too), we’ve yet to do so.

Following the theme today I figured I should include the “Tic-Tac-Toe” set. I found this in a store and thought it was different because it wasn’t your typical glass Chess / Checkers game sets commonly found.  I also liked the wooden case it came in.  The “mirrored playing surface” was quite different, and I was impressed with the overall visual presentation of the game in general.  I liked it so much that I got one for Michael too, just because he already had a chess set!!  Yeah, I guess I’m a good brother-in-law. (ha,ha,ha,ha)

Believe it or not, I found myself in a bit of a quandary as to how I wanted to display it.  Would I display it with “X”s winning?? Would I display the “O”s as winners??  Would I have the game simply end in a tie??  I decided that for each of the 9 spaces from left to right, I would throw dice, (which of course, have nothing to do with this game [smile]) and if an even number came up, I’d put an “X” in the space.  The result is what is represented here in the photo!!

Okay, so not the most scientific approach to a solution, but it was a bit of fun, and of course that’s what games are supposed to be right?? (smile)  Maybe I’ll do it again in a few months to see what different result will appear.

Mentioning the use of the dice to achieve my aforementioned solution provides a nice intro regarding the next piece featured in this installment.  I’ll use a bit of “author’s license” and declare this one appropriate because it refers (albeit perhaps rather loosely) to “gaming” rather than a specific game. (smile)

I’ll start by saying also that these are not the dice I used to solve the “Tic-Tac-Toe” display challenge.  They are much too large and a bit heavy to throw with one hand to tell the truth.

I LOVE THESE DICE!! (ha,ha,ha)  I first saw a set like these in a gift shop here in 1993. I had just moved here and thought “what more perfect symbol of my new place of residence could I possibly find??”

They were out of the price range I was willing to pay, and I figured that in this case “patience would indeed become a virtue”. (smile)  It was a number of years later that I found this set on Amazon for considerably less than offered in the “tourist trap gift shop” on the Strip!!  For quite some time I displayed them alone on the shelf, and while they were quite nice, they didn’t have the visual impact that I felt they deserved.  I called the dice “Life is a Gamble”, but something was indeed missing….I couldn’t exactly figure out what.

Two years ago, when I found myself being a volunteer at “The National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement” (i.e. The Mob Museum), I accumulated a few items that ended up being a cute addition to the dice, and formed a unique frame of reference for where I’m still doing my volunteer work today!! (smile)

Adding the Mob Museum souvenir Deck of Cards, the Poker Chip, and the “Repeal Day” Martini Glass gave the dice “a cast of characters” to relate to in my humble opinion.  I added the words “Fugget-about-it!” to my original caption, and the rest is history!! (ha,ha,ha,ha)

There you have it.  This is a good day….I got a new sailboat (a new installment will come regarding that), and I knocked out this brand new installment of the “Chronicles”.  I’m very pleased, and glad to get back in the writing groove again.  1058 words….not bad, not bad at all!! (smile)