Update!!

TNVSC34 is as strong as ever. We currently have 47 active members with most of us playing Monday and Friday or either Monday or Friday. We have members from all over the country as well as locally. We have new and old members. When we get new players, we usually have some growing pains. They sometimes do not show up on time and that causes some panic to those players who are waiting for them to show up on ISC. Sometimes they dont have their settings correct before they play.

I do not have phone numbers for everyone. Perhaps I should. I try to call those players who are tardy if I can. But here are some friendly reminders to ALL members of TNVSC34. Please show up by 12:55 Pacific standard time Monday and Friday and get ready to play. Be courteous to your first game opponent. And set your variables. For our club it is 20 minutes, double challenge, rated games and rankings of 0-9999. And send your results to Anthea Palmos after you finish playing….

I have never been an active member of Facebook. In fact I hardly ever go on it even though I have an account. When I do happen to visit my Facebook page, I notice others on there quite frequently. They post pictures. They may voice their religious and political beliefs. For me my Blog is my Facebook page. So my Blog is not just about Scrabble and Club 34. I may voice my political leanings from time to time. It is what I want to do and have the freedom to do so…. I may also share with you some personal experiences about myself.. I hope all of you enjoy my thoughts and experiences…

If someone makes a great play or has a great Scrabble achievement, I will be the first to talk about it. Its not about me. Its about all members of Club 34. And yesterday was no exception. I was on a nice little winning streak of 7 and had thoughts of maybe reaching 20 or 30 at some point when I ran into my good friend Bill Lapinski.

In our third game yesterday we were nearing the finish line. I had a 60 point lead and was feeling pretty confident. All I had to do was prevent a bingo and the game was mine. I knew Bill had a satire rack with a blank so preventing a bingo would take some miracle on my part. It was my turn. I had qat and oak on my rack. I knew exactly what Bill had since the bag was empty. If I played qat in this one particular spot that was very dangerous, Bill could have bingoed through the t in qat. If I play oak there would be no bingo since Bill had too many vowels and there would be no bingo through o a k so I played oak knowing that I would eat the Q but that would not cost me the game. In another part of the board on the bottom triple line, LI was in the first two spots. So what does Bill do?? He bingoes with ‘linearise’. Of course I challenged! The word was good. Bill won 446 to 411. Hats off to Bill Lapinski for the play of the day!!!!

David Poder, Director Club 34

The Internet, ISC and Covid-19!!

TNVSC34 continues to grow and attendance at our meetings is reaching unbelievable heights. Last minute cancellations are not too frequent but always occur because a player cannot get on the Internet or ISC. I therefore strongly appeal to you to get on them first thing in the morning so if there is a problem, you can notify me hours before we start playing. That gives me enough time to try to find another player or notify players affected with a bye!!

We now have 47 players and I am especially pleased with the number of players from far away. We have players from Minneapolis, Phoenix, Tucson, Santa Rosa, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Santa Fe, Austin, Santa Rosa and so forth…

We have 18 players who want to play Monday and Friday. We have another 10 players who prefer Monday and 6 for Friday. So if you are one of those players, you do not have to notify me that you plan to attend. You will automatically be included on the roster of players UNLESS you notify me that you cannot play. I have another 12 players who wont commit for either day so therefore you MUST let me know that you plan to play when you receive an email of availability.

I play in other virtual clubs during the week. I am very proud how I run TNVSC34. The games are prepaired and if you plan to play you must stay for all 4 or 5 games. The sessions run quickly and very smoothly. There are few hiccups during our play but sometimes you forget who you are playing or what your opponent’s ISC handle is. That should never be the case. Sometimes you cannot find your opponent and you feel the need to text me. I am usually playing my game so these texts or emails can be very annoying. Like I am going to know where that player is?? Please try to fix the problem yourself without getting me involved. There is very little I can do at the time….

For those of you new to Club 34, let me just tell you that I took over directorship 6 years ago. Membership has increased four fold. That I am very proud of. I also try to think of ways to make Club 34 more exciting. Last year I decided to start a film club and I was just about ready to have its first session when Covid-19 hit. I never thought I would start a book club because I’m sorry to say I haven’t read anything in many years if it was not Scrabble-related. But I decided to follow in the footsteps of my good friend Tom Brown who directs a very successful film and book club in Santa Monica.

I recently completed my first book in many years ‘Too Much and Never Enough” authored by Mary L. Trump, Potus’ only niece and someone who grew up with him and has known him for nearly 60 years. What I am about to tell you are observations and thoughts of Mary Trump, not mine but hers… She wrote this book to let the world know ‘How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man.”

Mary is a Phd and clinical psychologist who has taught college courses in trauma, psychopathology and developmental psychology. It is an excellent read and I strongly suggest that all of you get a copy of this book. I just want to share with you a few of the highlights that I take away from this wonderful piece of literature.

On page 12 of the Prologue Mary describes Potus as being a ‘malignant narcissist and having a narcissistic personality disorder’. In fact according to Mary he meets all 9 criteria as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-5).. His father Fred Trump created Donald. Everything you see in Donald you see in his father who made lying a way of life in the Trump family. The dislikes of black people come from Fred Trump. In fact Mary stated in her book that ‘she could not recall any of us having any contact with colored people’ while growing up or beyond. This describes Potus who brags how he has done more for black people than any other Potus except maybe Abe Lincoln.

Not paying taxes, a dislike for black people and lying were Trump criteria, a way of life. Donald had 3 siblings. One of them sister Maryanne is a judge in the New York area who describes Donald as a ‘clown’ when she found out he would be running for the Potus. When Donald wanted to get into the business school at the University of Pennsylvania, he knew his grades were not good enough so he had a friend take his SAT exams… All monies Donald has he got from father Fred who set him up in business…

But when father Fred was dying from Alzheimers, Donald wrote a codicil to Fred’s will and tried to fix it so that all monies would go to Donald, not his siblings. Sister Maryanne found out about this and put a stop to it…. These are Mary’s words, not mine.

An excellent book. Go buy it….

David Poder, Director