Category: Life

Hanging by an iPhone

beach0309 We spent the weekend and today down in Galveston, celebrating the first weekend of the kids’ spring break.  It was my first trip to Galveston since the hurricane, and things looked about like I expected.  There is a lot of damage yet to be fixed, and quite a bit of damage that doesn’t look likely to ever get fixed.  For example, there’s one house nearby that has an entire exterior wall missing.  You can literally see entire rooms, with furniture and all.  It looks like a dollhouse someone left out in the rain.  On the other hand, most of the obvious parts of the city are open and appear to be engaging in business as usual.  Casey’s had a big crowd tonight, and though there was a long wait, there were unused tables in our room.  Maybe this was a Monday night staffing issue, or maybe it was because the people at a nearby table came absurdly close to getting into a fistfight with a waiter.  I was like a little slice of the blogosphere, island style.

Because I was only there for a couple of days and because the local unsecured wi-fi quotient is painfully low post-Ike, I decided to leave my laptop at home and rely on my iPhone to keep me connected to the office and the internet in general.  It worked reasonably well, but a few things were very apparent to me.

One, email, including corporate email, is a lot better via the iPhone that on a Blackberry.  Blackberry lovers will freak out over this, but it’s true.  Email is easier to read and write, and the handling of attachments is better than it was a year ago (when I last had a Blackberry) and at least as good as on a Blackberry today.  I carried Blackberries for years, and the simple fact is that the iPhone is a far superior device, even for business stuff.

But, there is room for improvement.

When I tried to write this post from the island, it again became clear to me that there is no decent blogging software for the iPhone.  I again beach0309a tried to use iBlogger and again I gave up in frustration.  I wish Microsoft would release a Live Writer iPhone app, but I’m not holding my breath.  In the absence of that unlikely event, the space is wide open.  If someone released a reasonably full featured blogging app- that would support photos and maybe a Photobucket integration, they could own the space from day one.  The fact that there is not a single decent blogging application for the Mac, however, does not bode well for the iPhone.  It also became painfully obvious to me that the iPhone really needs the tethering feature, so you can use it as a wireless modem to connect your laptop to the internet.  That was, by far, the most useful feature of my last Blackberry- and a feature I miss dearly.

Some iPhone apps work great and almost circumvent the need for a laptop, but sans wi-fi some of them are pretty spotty.  Tweetie worked the most consistently, though my partially self-imposed Twitter exile did not allow me to take advantage of it (unlike the hand picked music I used to manually post there via Blip.fm, Live Writer automatically Tweets my new blog posts, so for the time being I’ll just use it as a billboard, like everybody else).  On the other hand, neither of my RSS readers (Feeds and Byline) worked worth a crap over the telephone network (about half and half between 3G and Edge in the Beachside area of Galveston).  I got so frustrated trying to read my feeds, I thought about giving up the internet altogether and subscribing to a newspaper for the first time in a decade.  We can huff and puff all we want, but until those who aren’t in the heart of a big, big city can access online content reliably, online content will continue to be a luxury and not a necessity.  Dropbox, which despite being my online storage service of choice, still inexplicably lacks an iPhone app, worked pretty well via Safari.  I was able to access data over both the 3G and Edge network.

The camera, with a little help from Darkroom, also worked reasonably well, though the iPhone desperately needs a flash.

Make no mistake- the iPhone rocks.  But take it or any other mobile device to the edge of the grid, and things get a little dicey.

25 Random Things

My friend Rick Paul (Facebook page) tagged me in the 25 Random Things meme.  Take a big gulp of coffee (lower and upper case) friends, because I’m going to give it a try:

1. When I was in Kindergarten, my report card had a place to note disabilities.  Right beside “hearing loss” and “poor eyesight” was “left-handed.”  I am left-handed, and they made me write with my right hand.  I think the teachers were all commies- the name of the place was The Little Red Schoolhouse.  I blame all my problems on those mean ladies.  If not for their treachery, I’m sure I wouldn’t have bought Citibank at $50.

2. I have a very distinct false memory.  I talked about it (and even drew a picture of it) here.  I wonder if I can sue Santa Claus for not really bringing me that video game.  With a head start like that, I would’ve been a Pac Man Jedi in college.

3. Back in the eighties, I read every one of the John D. MacDonald Travis McGee mysteries in a row and in chronological order.  Right after I finished, he hosed me by dying.  Later Larry Brown (see item 12 below) did the same thing.  If you’re an author and I start reading all your books in order, be very scared.  Surely there’s a Japanese horror movie in there somewhere.

4. I think Richard Shindell’s Are You Happy Now is the most well-written song I have ever heard.  It’s not my favorite song ever, but both lyrically and musically I think it is the most well-written song.  Every time I hear the “Cinderella checked her watch” verse it sends a chill down my spine.  You can buy this excellent record at Amazon.  You can’t buy any of my excellent records at Amazon for two reasons.

5. While not very random, I deeply, madly and completely love my kids, far beyond any emotion I would have previously believed myself capable of.  Of course, they all know this and think they own me.  The other day, my 7 year old said, in a calm, teaching voice, “look, just because you’re older than me doesn’t mean you get to boss me around all the time.”  I really didn’t have a good reply for that.

6. I knew some of the guys that formed the Marshall Tucker Band in high school.  Tommy Caldwell was a very good golfer AND a rock star.  Previously, I would have thought those to be mutually exclusive.

7. When I was a little kid, Tog’ls were far and away my favorite toy.  I loved them so much that I later bought a bunch of them on eBay for my kids.  So far, none of them share the love.  Now if there was a Tog’l app for their iPods…

8. When I was in college, I was a huge Al Green fan.  I listened to his records all the time, to the point that it drove my roommates crazy (Andy, Al and Carter will attest to this).  Then I heard a cover of Al’s Love and Happiness by The Amazing Rhythm Aces, and became a big fan of theirs.  Later, I realized that my sister’s neighbor was Russell Smith, the lead singer for the Aces.

9. I started writing songs in my early teens, mostly in a failed attempt to impress chicks.  One of my songs was recorded by some friends of mine while we were in high school.  I remember another friend calling me over to her car one day because that song was on the radio.  I wish it was that easy to get my songs on the radio now!

10. I’ve had my ear pierced twice, in college and then much later in the Bahamas while on vacation.  Both times with my buddy Carter (see item 8 above).

11. I remember the first Grateful Dead song I ever heard: Uncle John’s Band.  I instantly became and continue to be a huge fan.  My oldest daughter, Cassidy, is named after a Grateful Dead song.  When she was born, I emailed John Perry Barlow and told him we’d named her after one of his songs.  He wrote her several emails.  How cool is that!?

12. I love modern southern gothic literature (or whatever you call it).  Cormac McCarthy, Larry Brown and William Gay are among my favorite authors.  I also like vintage pulp science fiction, such as Andre Norton and Edmond Hamilton.

13. I think Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the funniest movie ever made.  Other hilarious movies that come to mind are Spaceballs, Raising Arizona, Bad Santa and the greatly overlooked Idiocracy.

14. I love computers and software.  I wrote a shareware game (Touchstone Trilogy) back in the eighties, was briefly a game designer for a small software company and have built computers from parts.

15. I am scared of heights.  When I was a kid there was this tree house in the woods by my house.  It seemed like it was a mile high.  It used to terrify me climbing up, and terrify me even more starting the climb down.  I know why cats sometimes wait for the firemen.

16. When I was a kid, I had this red transistor radio I won playing bingo at the beach.  I’d lay in bed at night with that single earphone and listen to WOWO from Fort Wayne, Indiana.  One far away station, but somehow it seemed more compelling than the multitude of music choices today.

17. I once got an email from the Professor.  And, while you didn’t ask, the answer would be Mary Ann.

18. I am bored to tears by politics.  I have voted for more democrats than republicans for President, but I think many of my democrat friends are supremely unrealistic and utterly naive.  I’m not sure what this says about me, but I don’t think it’s good.

19. I grew up in Cheraw, SC, a great little town.  I wrote all of one and part of another song the last day I spent there, after my mom died:  My Mother’s House and Raccoons and Foxes (the latter co-written with Ronnie Jeffrey).

20. My cars in order are 1972 Chevelle Malibu (brown), 1978 Camaro (silver), 1986 Saab 9000 (red), 1988 Jeep Cherokee (red), 1992 Explorer (green), 2001 Expedition (blue) and 2008 Toyota Tundra (red).

21. I am an Eagle Scout and went to the Boy Scouts World Jamboree in Norway in 1975.

22. When I was a kid I had a pet flying squirrel named Secret.

23. While in college I (and a lot of my buddies- you know who you are) watched General Hospital religiously.  Remember the Ice Princess?

24. I once woke up and saw a ghost (or something unexplainable that looked like a ghost) hovering over my bed late at night.  I thought I was imagining it, until I noticed that my cat was sitting on the bed staring up at it too.  Oddly, it wasn’t a scary experience.  Later, as a party theme, my friends and I had a psychic come in and try, unsuccessfully, to summon it back.

25. I drink only occasionally and then very moderately (although last Saturday night was a major exception to that rule), have never smoked a cigarette and do not eat sweets.  Never fear- I have lots of other bad habits.

I don’t know how to tag people in Facebook, where I got tagged by Rick.  So if you see this, are my (lower or upper case) friend and have not already answered this meme, please consider yourself tagged.

Up in Smoke

upinsmoke

I’m not the least bit surprised that I disagree with Dave Winer about the Michael Phelps thing.  In fact, if I ever find myself agreeing with him about anything of significance, I’ll assume that one of us has lost his mind.  I am a little surprised that I (mostly) disagree with Thomas Hawk.  I’ve read Thomas’s blog for a long time, and have met him (I had dinner with Thomas and his wife after a photo walk in San Francisco a year or two ago).  He’s a smart guy, who, like me, out-kicked his coverage in the wife department.  He’s right most of the time, particularly about intellectual property issues.  But he’s wrong about this.

I’m no prude, as anyone who knew me in high school and college can readily attest.  But I have no problem with Kellogg taking Michael Phelps off their cereal boxes.

Whether or not, chemically or philosophically, smoking pot is “like having a beer” is irrelevant.  Even if smoking pot and drinking beer are like speeding or not wearing seatbelts, it is not good corporate or social policy to encourage it.  Many sponsors and their all important customers would feel the same way if Phelps had gotten drunk and been photographed stumbling around with a beer in his hand instead of a bong.  Why?  Simply because he has become a role model for kids.  And with that comes a whole lot of money and a little responsibility.  The fact that some random guy gets a pass for smoking pot while the guy whose face is plastered all over the place can’t is neither illogical nor unfair.  Would Thomas feel the same way if some grade school teachers were photographed smoking joints in the school parking lot?  Doubtful.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that smoking a little pot is a world-stopping, toss ’em in jail and throw away the key event.  I’m not even necessarily disagreeing that pot should be legalized.  On the one hand, I don’t think many people would argue with the proposition that it’s healthier not to drink to excess, smoke, or drive too fast.  On the other hand, there is no reason to allow companies to push cigarettes and alcohol and not marijuana.  At the end of the day, I reconcile the somewhat inconsistent status quo under the slippery slope theory.  Just because unhealthy amounts of alcohol and tobacco aren’t illegal doesn’t mean that other unhealthy things should be legal.  It’s not a mathematically perfect world.  Plus, as far as I can tell, there don’t seem to be hordes of narks hitting the streets every day looking to put the occasional joint aficionado in the pokey.

The decision about smoking pot, like the decision about drinking, wearing seatbelts and a whole lot of other stuff, is a serious decision that everyone has to make for themselves, when they are mature enough to consider it thoughtfully.  Young kids who look up to people like Michael Phelps don’t need any more value eroding messages.  TV has that covered.  It’s a personal decision and, in the absence of excess, one that’s probably more about philosophy than morals.  Even so, we don’t need to put those decisions on the Coke vs Pepsi level.  Again, I’d feel the same way if we were talking about alcohol or tobacco.

I don’t eat any of those Kellogg products.  But if I did, I certainly wouldn’t stop because of this.

Would you?

3 Things I Remember About: 1974

President Nixon giving a televised address exp...

Image via Wikipedia

It’s time for another installment in my 3 Things series.

Here’s the list so far.  I started with the year 1965, because that’s the first year I can remember 3 things about.

1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973

Other than starting the 9th grade, here are 3 things I remember about 1974.

ddlp 1)  My sister was in her last year of graduate school at Vanderbilt, in Nashville, TN.  I remember visiting with my mom.  A few years later, I would follow her to graduate school at Vanderbilt.

2)  I remember buying David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs LP and listening to it over and over and over.  I’m not a huge Bowie fan, but that record was great then, and it’s great now.

3)  I remember seeing all the Watergate coverage on the news.  It was a different time then, with no internet and only a few television channels.  We weren’t bombarded by information all day long, so we actually looked forward to the evening news.  I haven’t watched the evening news in close to a decade.

Is there anyone else around old enough to remember 1974?  If so, what do you remember the most?

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It’s the Teachers, Stupid

From Bill Gates’ 2009 Gates Foundation letter:

It is amazing how big a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. Research shows that there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school.

I’ve read this data elsewhere as well.  What this tells me is that I- and probably many others- have traditionally put too much focus on picking a school for our kids and not as much importance on the teachers that make up the school.  As a lawyer (my rarely-mentioned day job), I should have known that.  Rarely, if ever, do clients hire a lawyer because of the firm where he works.  Rather, they hire the firm because the lawyer works there.  The hard part where schools are concerned is that, unlike lawyers, teachers don’t seem to have the opportunity to generate external reputations (e.g., personal brands) that extend beyond their school of the moment.  Or if they do, the customer/parent doesn’t know how to access that information.  I think there’s some intent on schools to promote this lack of transparency.  Because it gives the schools power over the teachers, and because it avoids questions (read interference) from concerned parents.

How can we not demand accountability with our educational system?  If my dry cleaner forgets to replace broken buttons on my shirt, I can call the driver and remind him to do so.  How in the world can we take a “cross-our fingers and hope” approach with our children’s education?

As parents, we need to remember- and to make sure that school administrators remember- that we are their customers.  That we have trusted them with our precious children, and that the education of our children is one of our most sacred responsibilities- on the parental level and as a society.  We need to demand accountability, both on the administrator and the teacher level.  Other than the occasional “squeaky wheel,” some of whom are so angry, illogical or unfocused that their demeanor defeats their entitlement, I think schools too often get a free pass as far as accountability goes.  This is doubly or triply the case in non-traditional schools that deemphasize tests and grades.

I remember when we were choosing a school for our kids.  My wife researched all the options, made a matrix of pros and cons, attended school fairs and, ultimately, we made a decision.  During the first parental orientation, the headmaster (a “pre-owned” car word for principal) suggested that the parents read a certain book.  I read it, and tabbed some pages where I had questions.  After the next session, I asked the headmaster some of those questions.  Rather than engaging me, he simply told me, in so many words, that the school did certain things a certain way and if I was not OK with that, perhaps this school was not the best place for my kids.  In other words, he told me “this is how we roll.”  I remember feeling simultaneously irritated by being blown off and impressed with what I then viewed as his confidence.  But it wasn’t about my feelings- it was about my kids’ education.  So I put my ego and my book away and my kids, in turn, began school there.

Over time and as my exposure and investment, both psychological and monetary, grew, I began to have some new questions.  Nothing major at first, just some lurking issues I was concerned about.

For example, there’s less turnover with Jeopardy contestants than there seems to be with my kids’ teachers.  I’ve been troubled by that for a while, but other than an (unanswered) email or two, for a long while, I never really sought answers as to why.  Recently, I decided to try to get some answers about that and a few other things.

posI emailed the headmaster and asked if he would meet with me.  As the tuition paying parent of multiple students, it never dawned on me that he would refuse.  That is, until he did.  Well, he didn’t actually ever say no.  He just asked if I would meet with one of the other administrators instead.  I said that was fine, as long as I could meet with him afterwards.  Over the course of several emails, I asked nicely but firmly that he meet with me.

He did not.  That, friends, is the complete opposite of accountability.  That is customer amnesia.

Maybe this guy thinks he’s a rock star.  Maybe he likes to hide behind his employees.  Hell, maybe he has a legitimate, albeit hard to imagine, reason for refusing to meet with me.  I don’t know because the only meaningful message I got from him was when I showed up for the meeting and he didn’t.  Even if the “policy” (a shield for unaccountability if ever there was one) is that parents meet with other administrators first, I was willing to do that.  As long as everybody stipulated to the “first” part.

I guess that’s just “how they roll.”

The thing is, though, that the “this is how we roll” argument that may work before our children are entrusted into a school’s care is utterly invalid after our kids- and our time, karma and tuition money- are invested.  At that point, how they roll must become secondary to accountability, what’s best for the children and something that feels like customer service.  Otherwise, the entire system is upside down.  Broken buttons are one thing.  Education is something else entirely.

If I refused to meet with one of my clients, even one who does not work with me directly, all hell would break loose.  If one of my clients, many of whom pay me far less than I pay in annual tuition, asked me to sit in a room for an hour and stare at them, I’d do so without hesitation.  Because I know who the customer is, and because I take customer service seriously.  And because I know that if I don’t, there are plenty of others who will.

I don’t have all the answers.  I mostly have questions.  But I know that education, for all the reasons described in Bill Gates’ letter and more, is among the most important issues we face, on all levels.  I know that accountability generally increases results.

And I know who the customer is.

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The Rules of 42

Republished, upon reader request, from another, older Newsome.Org page, to increase readability and consolidate content.  As an interesting (at least to me) aside- these rules were directly responsible for my receipt of a job offer to serve as a domino teacher on a cruise ship.  I didn’t take it, but it was cool to get it.

Note also that I wrote the original post below over 12 years ago, and some of the people mentioned have grown up and become semi-responsible adults.  I hope one day to join them.

*****************

Forty-two is a trick taking game played with dominoes. It is especially popular in Texas, USA. There is a place in Texas called Rancho DeNada where there is almost always a forty-two game in progress. The following description is loosely based on information from David Dailey, Kit McKormick, John Rhodes, Adam Hauerwas and Kate Gibson. Also, see John McLeod’s excellent Card Games web page for the original version of these rules and more great information.

There are basically two forms of 42: it can be played for points or for marks. The version for marks will be described first. The version for points is similar except in the bidding and scoring – the differences are described later.

Players and equipment

There are four players in fixed parnerships – players sit opposite their partner. Gibmonster was a good partner many years ago. Now he is afraid to bid. Kate gives him a lot of shit when he bids. Kate also drinks daiquiris mixed with bourbon. Kate is a cool chick. Bub is a good partner for about three hands. After three hands, her alcohol level is up, her attention span is down, and it’s all downhill from there.

A double-six set of dominoes is used – that is 28 dominoes, one for each possible pair of numbers from 0 (blank) to 6. A domino with the same numer at each end is called a double.

Rank and suit of dominoes

There are 7 suits: blanks, ones, twos, threes, fours, fives and sixes. The highest domino of each suit is the double.

Normally one suit is trumps. Every domino containing that number is exclusively a trump, and apart from the double, they rank in order of the other number on the domino. For example if threes are trumps, the trump suit from high to low is:
3-3 6-3 5-3 4-3 3-2 3-1 3-0

Update:  sorry, but the images were lost somewhere along the way.  Please imagine there are still beautiful images where the broken ones appear.

The remaining dominoes, apart from the doubles, belong to the two suits corresponding to the two numbers on them. Within each suit they rank in order of the other number on the domino. So if threes are trump, the members of the fives suit from highest to lowest are:
5-5 6-5 5-4 5-2 5-1 5-0

Values of Dominoes

Each domino with 10 pips – 6-4 5-5– is worth 10 points to the side that wins it in their tricks.

Each domino with 5 pips – 5-0 4-1 3-2– is worth 5 points to the side that wins it in their tricks.

In addition each of the seven tricks is worth one point to the side that wins it.

There are therefore 42 points available in each hand. One time Johnny Walker bid 43 but he was drunk.

The Deal

The first dealer is selected at random. Thereafter the turn to deal passes clockwise. The dealer “shuffles” the dominoes by mixing them thouroughly face down on the table. Then each player in clockwise order, starting with the player to dealer’s left takes seven dominoes and sets them on edge so that the owner can see their values, but the other players cannot see them. The dealer is supposed to take dominoes last, but Kate never remembers this rule. One night Kate got hammered while playing dominoes at the Ranch and tried for about an hour to call random people on the phone. She was unsuccessful in both dominoes and dialing. Later she and Gibmonster did some really crazy stuff while we all listened. Where are those drums when I need them….

The Bidding

Each player has just one chance to bid or pass, starting with the player to dealer’s left and going clockwise round the table. Each bid must be higher than the previous one. If Amy bids, you can assume she has an ass kicking hand. Amy does not bid much. One night in San Antonio Amy got shit faced and abused Bo (a serious turn of events). Bo said it was “huge bullshit.”

The lowest possible bid is 30, meaning that (a) that’s usually what Gibmonster bids, and (b) the bidder’s team undertakes to win at least 30 points in tricks. Then come 31, 32, 33, etc. up to 41, then 1 mark (which is equivalent to 42), 2 marks, 3 marks etc.

Bids of 1 mark and above require the bidder’s side to win all the tricks (i.e. all 42 points) or take on one of the special contracts (Nello, Plunge, Sevens) described below.

The highest opening bid allowed is 2 marks (unless the declarer intends to play a Plunge). Once someone has bid 2 marks a subsequent player can bid 3 marks, and so on. One time Cody bid two marks. Kent, the next bidder, bid three marks and got his bid. Gibmonster, who didn’t bid, got stung by a scorpion. It was a pretty exciting hand. To play Plunge it is necessary to bid 4 marks, or 5 if the bidding had already reached 4.

If all four players pass, the dominoes are thrown in and the next player deals. If Gibmonster was cloned, this would happen a lot.

The Play

The highest bidder (the declarer) names trumps, or may name one of the special contracts if the bid is 1 mark or more.

The declarer leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if possible. A player unable to follow suit may play any domino. The trick is won by the highest trump in it, or if it contains no trump, by the highest domino of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next. On those rare occasions when Gibmonster has the bid, he usually calls twos or threes as trump and leads with a non-double, non-trump. It’s either really smart or really not smart, we’re not sure which. Such a move is universally called a “Gibby opening.”

When a non-trump domino is led, it counts as a member of the higher numbered suit, but for following suit it counts as belonging to both suits. For example if threes are trump and the 6-5 is led, it counts as a 6 rather than a 5. But when fol
lo
wing suit the 6-5 can be used to follow to a lead of either sixes or fives. If threes are trumps then the 5-3 when led counts as a 3 not a 5, because trumps are trumps and nothing else.

Notice for example that if blanks are not trump, and you hold the double blank, although it is the highest card of its suit the only way it can win a trick is if you lead it. Any other blank which is led counts as the lowest domino of some other suit. Cody used to like to make clever points like this before he married Chilton. Now she just tells him to shut the hell up. Usually he does.

Tricks are kept face up to the right of one member of each team, in the order that they were played, and can be viewed by all the players. For example after two tricks one side’s captures might look like this:
6-6 6-4 6-1 4-3this trick is worth 11 points, and was won by the 6-6 (sixes are trump)

5-5 5-0 6-2 5-3this trick is worth 16 points and was won by the 6-2, a trump.

When playing a contract to win all the tricks, declarer can elect to stack the tricks. In this case the third trick is stored on top of the first, the fourth on top of the second, and so on, leaving only two previous tricks visible at one time. This saves space and reduces the players’ opportunity to chack back to see what has already been played.

Special Contracts

Nello

A declarer who has bid 1 mark (42) or higher can announce Nello, which is a contract to lose every trick. Declarer’s partner turns all her dominoes face down and takes no part in the play. The declarer leads to the first trick, and there are no trumps. Doubles form a suit of their own ranking from 6-6 (highest) to 0-0 (lowest). Rules of play are as usual, and a lead of a double calls for doubles. If a non-double is led the larger number determines the suit to be followed, and a double cannot be played to the trick unless no dominoes of the suit led are held.

Plunge

The declarer must hold at least 4 doubles to announce Plunge. Declarer’s partner chooses trump (without consulting). Delarer leads, and declarer’s team must take all seven tricks to win.

To play a Plunge, declarer must have bid at least 4 marks. In order to play a plunge, declarer is allowed to open the bidding with 4 marks, or jump to 4 marks over any lower bid, or bid 5 marks over a previous bid of 4. This is the only case where a jump bid or opening bid higher than 2 marks is allowed. A subsequent player could overcall 4 marks with 5 marks, and play a normal contract to win all the tricks, or Nello. 5 marks can be overcalled by 6 marks, and so on.

At some venues, including Rancho DeNada, a Plunge bid is not allowed. At Rancho DeNada, that’s because if someone said “Plunge,” Gibmonster would dive into the cement pond with his boots on and drown.

The Scoring

The scoring is in marks. For any bid from 30 to 42 (1 mark), the declarer’s team score 1 mark if they win. For higher bids they score the number of marks bid. If the declarer is unsuccessful, the contract is set, and the declarer’s opponents score as many marks as the declarer’s team would have scored. The game ends when one team reaches a total of seven marks or more.

The marks are drawn to form the word “ALL” – the first mark is drawn as the left side of the “A”, the second is the right side, the third the crossbar, the fourth the vertical of the first “L”, etc. The winning team is thus the first to complete the word “ALL”. You can also spell “SEX,” if you are into that sort of thing.

When playing for money, the winners are paid an agreed amount for each mark the losers were short of 7, plus an amount for each time the losers were set. If the winners end up with more than 7 marks any excess over 7 is ignored. Also it does not matter how many times the winners were set – they lose nothing for this. For example if A & C agree to play B & D for $0.25 per mark and $1.00 per set, and A & C win 7 – 4, with each team set once, then B & D pay A & C $1.75.

Variations

Rank of Doubles in Nello

In Nello, some people give declarer the option of playing with the doubles as the highest dominoes of their suits (as in a normal contract) rather than doubles being a separate suit. Some allow a declarer in Nello a further option of specifying that the doubles are the lowest dominoes of their suits. When playing this variation, a declarer who announces a Nello must at the same time state whether doubles are their own suit, high in suit or (if allowed) low in suit.

Sevens

This is another special contract, which can be played by a declarer who has bid 1 mark or more. Declarer leads, and each player must play a domino whose pip total is as close as possible to 7. The trick is won by the closest domino to 7, or if several are equally close by the first of these which was played. The winner of a trick leads to the next. The declarer’s team have to take all seven tricks to win.

There is no strategy in sevens – the play is forced throughout.

Without special contracts

Some players do not allow the special contracts Nello, Plunge and Sevens.

Opening lead

Some people play that the lead to the first trick must be a trump.

No hands passed out

Some people play that if the first three players pass, the declarer must bid. The hand cannot be thrown in.

42 with bidding and scoring by points

The information on this form of 42 was supplied by Adam Hauerwas.

In this version the bids are the numbers from 30 to 42, then 84 and 168. You cannot bid 168 unless someone has bid 84.

For bids below 42, if declarer’s team make their bid, both sides score the points they take. If not, the declarer’s team score zero, and the opponents score the points they take plus declarer’s bid.

For bids of 42, 84 and 168, declarer’s team score the bid if successful. If declarer is set the opponents score declarer’s bid but nothing for their tricks.

It is not possible for all four players to pass. After three passes the dealer must bid.

Low-No is a game equivalent to Nello in the game for marks. Low-No can only be bid by the dealer and only when the other three players all passed. The declarer’s side score 42 points if successful, and the other side score 42 points if the declarer is forced to take a trick.

The special contracts Plunge and Sevens are not allowed.

Instead of naming a trump suit, the winner of the bidding has two other options (in either case the object remains to win at least as many points as were bid – or all the tricks if the bid is 42 or more):

  1. No trumps: Exactly what it says. The double is the highest domino of each suit as usual and every other domino belongs to two suits.
  2. Doubles: There is a trump suit consisting of all the doubles, ranking from high to low: 6-6, 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1, 0-0. When a double is led everyone must follow suit
    with a double if possible. The doubles don’t belong to their normal suits so for example if the 4-2 is led you can’t trump with the 4-4 unless you are out of 4’s, in which case you could play anything.

Remarks on bidding strategy

Three passes might leave the dealer in an incredibly awkward situation without having a bid to make; that’s part of the game. Note, though, that this gives the dealer’s partner incentive to bid 30 on a somewhat mediocre hand, because they could be saving the dealer from an awkward situation.

If the dealer gets “stuck” with the bid after three passes, note that Low-No could be bid by the dealer in order to avoid going set on a 30 bid. Since the opponents get the bidding teams bid PLUS whatever points they catch, if you go set on a 30 bid the opponents would receive 30 + (at least 13 points required catch for the set) A dealer might bid low-no on a terrible hand if only to restrict the opponents to catching 42 points (instead of more from a bid of 30 which is set).

No-Trump may be bid on a hand with a lot of control but short on long suits. The problem here is regaining the lead once it is lost. Example no-trump hand: 6-6, 6-5, 5-5, 3-3, 3-2, 3-1, 1-1. Tricks might be played in order from left to right, and one would hope that one or two “threes” would fall on the first three tricks so that the double-three could pull in the remaining threes — making the 3-2 and 3-1 good.

Hands on which it is right to declaring doubles trump are rather rare. One possible hand where it would make sense to bid doubles would be the following: 6-6, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1, 6-5, 5-4. Note if the double-five falls on the first trick, you gain ten points and make your 5-4 good.

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Video Fun: Playing Cards

I have been experimenting with the time lapse features of my camera.  Here’s a video I made last night during a game of Pay Me with our friends.  There is a lot of iPhone action going on between plays, demonstrating the iPhone’s penetration into non-techie America.

You can do a lot of interesting things with time lapse.  Back in the nineties, it took me about 8 hours to compile a two minute time lapse animation for one of my films.  Today’s technology makes it very easy.

I expect I’ll do more stuff like this.

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