Friday, January 25, 2008

SOURCES NEEDED *NOW* FOR NY TIMES

Folks - I'm handling the Monte Carlo fire from NYC, where I'm on vacation. If you are in Vegas and/or have a Monte Carlo story, please EMAIL ME as soon as possible. I'll need a # to call you back at so we can talk.

Thanks,
Steve

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Scrabble: PRISSING For 149!!!

Remember the thrill I got last year when one of my stories became a joke on NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me"? Well, here's another one: I just got 149 points on one Scrabble move.

Many of you know I'm a bit of a computer Scrabble nut. I don't play Scrabulous, the Indian site that could be offline by the time you read this because Mattel and Hasbro are after them. Instead, I found something called the Internet Scrabble Club, or ISC, and for a few years now Miles and I have played. Don't know why the companies aren't after them except that ISC is nonprofit and there's no advertising or fees. Who knows, we may be next.

I usually play a few times a day when I need a work break. We play fast games, with both sides getting about 3 or 4 minutes total, so the game doesn't usually take but 7 or 8 minutes. When I'm not playing Miles, I play random players with ratings close to mine, usually with minimal conversation. (I have, however, recruited two Petcast guests, a trainer and a vet student, from the ISC.)

Anyhow, I was playing tonight while editing our newest episode of "The Strip" podcast. And holy mother of God, I laid down the word "PRISSING," hit two triples at once and hit a jaw-dropping 149. I had been losing pretty badly at that point, but I did end up eking out a win 404-394. Here's the board:


This is actually the completed board after the game was over. I was wondering what exactly PRISSING meant, so I went to Scrabble.Com to look it up. It turns out to be, duh, the act of acting prissy." But I figured I'd provide that screenshot, too, since I've always wondered what a woman and a baby had to do with Scrabble.


In case you're curious, the known record for the most points in a single Scrabble move was QUIXOTRY, which landed a fellow in Lexington, Mass., a whopping 365 points en route to a record game score of 830. Read that fascinating tale (no, really, I found it fascinating!) by Stefan Fatsis here on Slate.Com.

"The Strip" is LIVE tonight - with Sheldon!


Join us tonight for extended excerpts from my 2-hour chat with the third richest American! Hear him talk about Steve Wynn, his legacy... and bowling!

Come on down at LVRocks.Com at 7 pm PT! Or wait till the podcast.