Something I am passionate about

I love games.  I may have mentioned this before.  I love card games, board games, dice games, dominoes, even jigsaw puzzles which I guess, technically are not games.  But in my house the puzzles are on the shelves with the games.  Games = fun.

And my favorite game is . . . . . .

Mah Jongg!

Yea for Mah Jongg!

In addition to sharing a bit about this fun game and hoping to recruit some new players, I am also wanting to correct a misconception.  Nothing irritates the beejeebers out of me more than a perfectly good thing becoming twisted into some perverted thing that does not resemble the original and yet still keeping the same name.  Here are a couple of examples of this perversion:

Fajitas.  I have ranted about this for years.  I have grumbled and bitched about this.  I have muttered under my breath and yes, I have resorted to smart-ass sarcasm.  Fajita is a Spanish word.  It means little belt or skirt.  The word is faja, and fajita is the diminutive.  This is the Spanish word for skirt steaks.  Skirt steaks come from cows.  It is a cut of beef, like a pot roast or short ribs.  Do chickens have pot roasts? Do shrimp have short ribs?  Can either of their animals produce a skirt steak?  Quit using that word to mean any possible thing I want to mix with peppers and onions and stick on a sizzling cast iron skillet.  OMG, you just don't know how much this irritates me.  You can bet your sweet ass that I will never order such an abomination and if it is on your menu, there is a really high probablility that I will never darken your doors again.  Be forewarned restaurantiers!!

Right now I am so het up about the fajitas that I can't recall what my second example was going to be. So, on to the Mah Jongg!

Here is what a beautiful Chinese set of Mah Jongg tiles looks like:

And here is a set of American style Mah Jongg tiles:

Aren't they all gorgeous?  I love the tiles.  

Here are some close ups of the actual tiles:

These tiles above are vintage and are the butterscotch color Bakelite, one of the precursors of plastic.

Look at these gorgeous tiles!  They are 2 pieces dove-tailed together.  Typically they are bamboo and old cow bones.  Some of the antique sets have ivory rather than cow bone.

Look how cute this little group of Mah Jongg players are!  This is an American group.  You can tell by the set they are playing with, the colorful tile racks in front of each player and that they also have the distinctive National Mah Jongg League playing card in front of them.  Or you could just assume they are Americans by virtue of the fact that they all look pretty white and non-Asian.

Above this is a closer-up view of more Americans playing with their American version of tiles, racks and cards.

This a shot of the NMJL card for 2008.  The NMJL is in NYC for your FYI.  Ha ha ha ha!!  NY Jewish women are credited for bringing Mah Jongg to the U.S. and making it their own.  Their website is great for information on how to play, where to buy a set, how to get replacement tiles in case you find an old set that is short a tile or two, whatever you need to get your Mah Jongg game up and running, these women have the scoop for you.

Basically the difference between American Mah Jongg and all the other versions out there is the card.  In all other versions you kind of make up your own hands, like playing Gin or Rummy.  In our games the NMJL comes out with a new card each year around Chinese New Year of different hands to play for and point values for each.  They are way more difficult than any hands I would be making up for my own self, that is for sure.

And now I come to my rant and bitch about the subversion of Mah Jongg.  Every time Mah Jongg gets brought up in conversation there is some moron who says "Oh, I love Mah Jongg!  I play that kind of Solitaire on the computer all the time!"  Would you say to a world-class Bridge or Poker player that you know how to play Bridge or Poker because you play Solitaire with cards?  

Well, you shouldn't.  Just because the computer gaming folks came up with some fun Solitaire games that involve some Mah Jongg tiles doesn't mean that you are now a Mah Jongg player. 

Any more than shrimp have grown skirt steaks.

I know, I am a curmudgeon.  Sue me.