Scrabble

Scrabble is a word game played on a board that almost everyone knows and has played. The game is made now in the USA by Hasbro and in the rest of the world by Mattle. Invented by Alfred Butts in 1938. When Mr. Butts invented the game he called it "Criss-Crosswords". He manufactured them himself but was terribly successful. In 1948 James Brunot an owner of one of the original games purchased the right to manufacture the game from Butts in exchange for a royalty for each game sold. Mr. Brunot made a few slight alterations to the rules and board and changed the name of the game to Scrabble. Scrabble is a real word. It means to grapple or struggle with as if with the claws or hands. Brunot and his family made the games themselves in a converted schoolhouse in Connecticut. The legend around Scrabble involves Jack Strauss the then president of Macy's. He apparently played the game while on vacation and when returning to work found out that Macy's didn't carry the game. He then immediately placed a huge order for Macy's. In 1952 the Brunot's realized that they just couldn't keep up with demand and sold the rights to Selchow & Righter. They owned the rights to the game until the 1980's when they sold it to a company called Coleco that went bankrupt selling Scrabble and Parcheesi to Hasbro.

In the 1980's there was a Scrabble game show on NBC hosted by Chuck Woolery. It was a fairly popular show running for six years. There are clubs and organizations worldwide dedicated to the game. Tournament play is very popular as well. The World Scrabble Championship is held during odd years. The last tournament was held in Warsaw, Poland.
There is money involved in the larger tournaments. This of course brings hardcore players and in just recently a cheater. At the National Scrabble Championship in Orlando, Florida a 13 year old was recently ejected from a final round of games for slipping in extra blank tiles, causing a scandal.
The highest score yet achieved was in the Ireland National Championship by Toh Weibin. It surely involved the use of a "Q" tile and a triple word square.

Here Kitty, Kitty

It has been confirmed that a male mountain lion has taken up residence in Los Angeles' Griffith Park. The 3 year old mountain lion has been dubbed P-22. The "P" stands for puma! Griffith Park sit smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles and is approximately 8 square miles in size. In the park there are the traditional picnic grounds, playing fields and walking paths as well as a zoo, horseback riding area and merry go round. Griffith Park is also rather wild and mountainous in areas filled with ravines and lots of great hiding spots for a mountain lion. It is believed that the mountain lion was attracked to the park by the deer that run free through out. This being Los Angeles P-22 is now an instant celebrity!

Arnold Dingfelder Horshack has Died

 Arnold Dingfelder Horshack aka Ron Palillo has died at age 63. Mr. Palillo died in his West Palm Beach home where he was found unresponsive by his long time partner Joseph Gramm. Playing contrary to his reality Ron Palillo was cast as remedial student Arnold Horshack in the the sitcom "Welcome Back Kotter" in 1975. The series ran for 4 years. In reality Palillo was an excellent student skipping years in high school and graduating from University of Connecticut with a 3.9 GPA.

After "Welcome Back Kotter" Palillo performed in supporting roles in several TV series's as well as doing voice over work. He did however have a darker side battling depression and living in virtual seclusion for several years. Returning to his first love the theater was his salvation. He then went on to teach both in Florida and at his alma mater University of Connecticut. He was quoted as saying "I finally have something more to say than 'I played Arnold Horshack.' " His character of Arnold did bring him fame and was a delight to watch.

It's New Word Time Again

Every year dictionaries do an update adding new words and one assumes removing out of date words. It is that time of year again. The Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has come out with their partial list of this year's new words. Merriam-Webster is the country's biggest selling American dictionary. The company was founded by Noah Webster the father of American dictionaries in 1828 and after his death George and Charles Merriam secured the publishing rights. The company is now currently owned by the Encyclopedia Britannica.
The company has provided a partial list of the new words. They don't give out the full list until after publication. Apparently the dictionary business is cut throat. This year some of the new words in their publication will include: f-bomb, sexting, Mash-up and earworm.

The American lexicon is a rather complicated one and it seems to becoming more so with each passing year. What would Noah Think?

Good Evening my Name is Alfred Hitchcock

The drollest of the droll Alfred Hitchcock was born one hundred years ago today in London. The legendary suspense and horror film maker thought of his films a comedies. He saw them as all amusing little stories that may also titillate. Alfred Hitchcock has been lauded and eventually Knighted for being one of films true auteurs. He as also been derided for being a tyrant and a misogynist.
Blondes always were his victims. Sometimes they were tortured and sometimes they were the torturers. They were always blondes. Starting in the silent era with his first film "The Lodger" shot in London in 1927 Hitchcock made his mark visually. A master of suspense and the "MacGuffins" Alfred Hitchcock was able to keep an audience on the edge of its seat for more than 55 years. Take a shower in a cheap motel and try not to think of Janet Leigh. See a flock of birds and Tippi Hendron instantly comes to mind. Hitchcock knew what freaked us out and was able to make us watch it. This was the joke to him. If you were crawling he was laughing.

Salute Helen Gurley Brown!

The feminist icon Helen Gurley Brown died at the age of ninety. Ms Gurley Brown found fame with her 1962 book "Sex and the Single Girl". The book was a landmark in feminist literature giving the advise that women could have a career as well as having sex before marriage. She encouraged women to become financially independent. She also advised that women didn't have to marry if they chose not to. The book became a bestseller with endorsements from both Joan Crawford and Gypsy Rose Lee on its jacket.
Ms Gurley Brown then went on to become the Editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. Where she reigned until her ouster in 1997. During her tenure at Cosmopolitan the concept of "Cosmo Girls" took hold. These were glamorous sophisticated and successful women who controlled their own lives. Helen Gurley Brown was a major figure in the sexual revolution as well as in the women's right movement of the 1960's and 1970's.
The irony of her coming to fame as a supporter and profiler of single women was Helen Gurley Brown was married for over 50 years to her husband David Brown one of America's most successful film producers.

Jobriath the Forgotten One

You haven't heard of Jobraith have you. No one has and that's the shame. Who was he? He was a glam rocker from the 70's, a lounge singer and a stage actor. He was also gay and that is why no one knows him now. The 70's may have been the time of gay liberation and rock stars like Bowie threw bisexuality in faces but it was still a much more uptight world. Jobriath was a little too out for the record buyers and his records just didn't sell.
Born in Pennsylvania with the name Bruce Wayne Campbell he was a piano prodigy who was classically trained. He was drafted into the army during the mid 60's and quickly went AWOL. He later appeared in Los Angeles and was cast in Hair. Jobriath then performed with a folk rock band called Pigeon and was signed by Decca records. Around this time the military police found him and not too much later he was spending time in a  military psychiatric hospital. It was when he was released he became Jobriath.
A demo that he submitted to Clive Davis was rejected for being "mad, unstructured and destructive to melody". The tape was overheard by promoter & manager Jerry Brandt. Brandt is noted for discovering both Carly Simon and Patti Smith. Jobriath was living in LA working as a prostitute when he signed with Brandt who immediately started promoting him. Eventually getting Jobriath signed to Electra Records for a reported $500,000. A marketing campaign then began that was over the top. Almost as over the top as Jobriath himself. His face was everywhere in New York, buses, huge posters and an enormous billboard in Times Square. Brandt made extravagant announcements "Elvis, The Beatles and Jobriath" it was an amazing media blitz of hype. The first record was the eponymously named "Jobriath"andcritically well received. Jobriath made his public debut performance on the television show "The Midnight Special". He performed two numbers including "I'maman" which would become his biggest hit. Unfortunately record sales were not great and the album didn't chart.

Six months later a second record was released "Creatures of the Street". Both Peter Frampton and John Paul Jones are featured on this recording. A concert tour was announced without much hype and commenced featuring elaborate costumes designed by Stephen Sprouse. Jobriath was basically abandoned by both Electra and Brandt during the tour.
In the mid 70's Jobriath gave up his music career and moved to the Chelsea Hotel to restart his acting career. During this time he started performing a cabaret act under the name Cole Berlin. He lived in the roof top apartment in the Chelsea and supplemented his income again with prostitution. In the early 80's Jobriath's 10 year contract with Brandt finally expired. Jobriath did perform at the Chelsea's 100th anniversary celebration. He died 6 months later in August of 1983. He was one of the first famous musician to die of AIDS.
Jobriath has always had his fans. Morrisey, the lead singer of the Smiths, is among them. Morrisey has overseen the release of a compilation album titled "Lonely Boy Planet". Performance artist Ann Magnuson is currently working on a performance piece and ep about Jobriath.

Jobriath the self proclaimed "rock's truest fairy" is gone but not entirely forgotten.