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Do You Play Cards ?
I got the idea for this topic from one of Ojibwa's Origins of English diaries. He was talking about the term renegade and I remembered that the root verb renege used to be a common word back when people played cards. In a trick-taking game, like Bridge, Hearts or Spades, a person reneges when they fail to follow suit. If, for example, diamonds is led and someone trumps the trick even though they had a diamond in their hand, that person reneged. Anyway, that got me to thinkin', as we Old Coots are wont to do, about the Good Old Days. I used to play cards a lot, all different games.
Some trace the history of playing cards back to China. It's true that the Chinese used something like cards, long strips of paper, but they were used in other games. I don't follow that theory, I don't see how they would have gotten to Europe. It's possible that cards originated in Persia or elsewhere in the Middle East. At any rate, they first appeared in Europe, in Italy or Spain, around 1370. The first definitive mention of playing cards is in a document dated 1377. The Italian and Spanish packs used different suits than the ones we're used to, those are Spanish cards on the left, with coins, clubs, cups and swords. Spanish card games used a stripped-down deck with no 8s, 9s, or 10s. The 40-card Spanish deck was carried around the world by navigators and conquistadors and these decks are still in use in some parts of Latin America. Our modern deck comes from France. The French simplified the design of the court cards so they were cheaper to print and introduced the modern suits: hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs. The French also named all the court cards. The king of spades represents David, of diamonds Caesar, Alexander is the king of clubs and the king of hearts is Charlemagne. The English pack, the one we use, is based on the Rouen pack, named for the French port from which they were exported to England. When manufacture began in England it was a Royal Monopoly and heavily taxed. The over-size spade on the ace of spades comes from the elaborate tax stamp that appeared there on every deck made in England.
Most card games fall into one of two broad categories, the Whist family where the object is to take more tricks than the other team, and the Rummy family where players collect melds, like 3-of-a-kind, 4-of-a-kind and runs. Cribbage is one of my favorite games. It was invented in 17th Century England by Sir John Suckling and The Game at CRIBBIDGE comprises CHAP. IX of Charles Cotton's The Compleat Gamefter published in London in 1674. These are my cribbage boards.The folding board on the right belonged to my father-in-law, he carried it to Peleliu and the Phillipines during WWII. Cribbage was one of the very few things we shared. At one time almost everybody knew how to play it, well, all white males anyway. I taught the game to my son when he was small. It's good arithmetic practice. As it turned out, he was one of the only boys in his class who had ever heard of cribbage. He'll probably bond with his future FIL over a game of Super Mario.
And then there's Poker, my all-time favorite card game. I played quite a bit of Poker back in the day. Some writers try to trace the origins of Poker back to a Persian game called As-Nas (history HERE) but I don't believe it. It seems to me that Poker is an American invention, a straight-forward development of an English game called Brag. Poker is Americana. It's embedded in our language, our songs, our popular culture. Think of all the words and phrases that come from this All-American game. Hit the jackpot, pass the buck, ace in the hole, deal me out (in), chip in, he's bluffing, so-an-so is a shill. Vin Scully used to say, "Deuces wild," when there were 2 on, 2 out and 2 strikes against the batter. There are still people who play in organized Hold 'Em tournaments, there are people who watch these tournaments on TV and there are people who play Hold 'Em online, but the old Friday Night game, Dealer's Choice, seems to be a thing of the past. It's not just the loss of the Poker culture and its links to an American past, it just seems like people don't get together as much anymore, they're too isolated, too atomized ... Oh Hell, I'm geezing again. I'll stop now.
OK, I know pNut played some Poker, commonmass is a Cribbage player. Anybody else ? Any Bridge players ? What about regional games ? I know they used to play Euchre back east, something called Skat in German communities, any Hollywood Gin players out there ?
Do You Play Cards ?
Latest Updates on Kossack Regional Meet-Up News Can Be Found Below the Orange Group Hug.
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Three Star Kossacks & Nashville KosKats Meet-up
by marykk ♥ for Three Star Kossacks
The Three Star Kossacks and the Nashville KosKats met Saturday, March 8th for dinner and then a show afterward to welcome Sandy on Signal to town. About 15 people attended. The organizer marykk said it was the most well attended and succesful event yet for her Kossacks. State Senate Candidate Mary Mancini attended as well as a representative from Planned Parenthood due to an upcoming amendment to the state Constitution which would allow more restrictive abortion legislation.
Here's a couple of photos:
L-R: Patrick is Lucky, sow hat, Mr. sow hat, Sandy on Signal
L-R: Mr & Mrs JKTownsend
You can join Three Star Kossacks, which includes the entire state of Tennessee, by sending a Kosmail to marykk.
Also, you can join Nashville KosKats by sending a Kosmail to ZenTrainer which is for the city of Nashville.
Event Organizers! Please contact wink from Netrootsradio.com by KosMail to schedule airtime with them to live broadcast your Event. Wink & Justice will then promote it on The After Show radio program!
Saturday, March 15th
LAKossacks Roll Out the Red Carpet for shanikka!
TIME: 12:30 PM
LOCATION: City Tavern
9739 Culver Blvd. • Culver City
ORGANIZER: Send Dave in Northridge a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. Dave in Northridge
2. shanikka (Guest of Honor)
3. jakedog42
4. Gay CA Democrat
5. Otoelbc
6. susans
7. gmats
8. Mugwumpblues
9. Shockwave
10. SanFernandoValleyMom
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Maybees:
homogenius
Former Chicagoan Now Angeleno
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Latest diary: Los Angeles Kossacks - Rolling out the Red Carpet for Shanikka - March 15, Culver City
Saturday, March 15th
Sacramento/Central Valley Kossacks, Silicon Valley Kossacks and the SFKossacks Demonstrate at "Don't Frack California"
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: California State Capitol lawn
1315 10th St. • Sacramento
YOU CAN FIND US GATHERED AROUND OUR DAILY KOS 7 ft. BANNER
-courtesy of tmservo433.
After the protest ends we'll be heading over to a local watering hole. Meet us at KBar at 1000 K Street, a couple of short blocks north of the Capitol building.
The Don't Frack California website has also arranged for buses from all over California. Places as far away as San Diego and Los Angeles. Check out their ride board and buy a ticket STAT.
RSVPs:
1. Anthony Page aka SecondComing
2. mrsgoo
3. Dan Bacher
4. smileycreek
5. paradise50
6. navajo
7. Meteor Blades
8. dsb
9. Where4Art
10. remembrance
11. Glen the Plumber
12. TLO™
13. Glescagal
14. kimoconnor
15. stagemom
16. cooper888
17. gotmooned
18. aitchdee
19. ybruti
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Maybees:
jpmassar
dharmasyd
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Latest diary: The California Frack Wars: Episode 3 Revenge Of The Greed
Quick re-mention of March 15 statewide "Don't Frack California" demonstrations
Sunday, March 16th
NYC Kossacks Meet-up
UPDATE: Special Guest Star! It's Juliana Forlano, known on DailyKos as IronicNews. She's a political satirist and the host of the news parody series Absurdity Today.
TIME: Noon
LOCATION: Spitzer's Corner
101 Rivington Street (Ludlow) • NYC
ORGANIZER: Send sidnora a kosmail to RSVP
RSVPs:
1. sidnora
2. rubyr
3. joanbrooker
4. belinda ridgewood
5. MBNYC
6. jfdunphy
7. communitygis
8. No Exit
9. Its the Supreme Court Stupid
10. Denise Oliver Velez
11. Mets102
12. plf515
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Maybees:
Laura Clawson
Rosalie907
Ian Reifowitz
kathny
Bethesda 1971
David Nir
wader
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Latest diary: NYC Meetup, Sunday, March 16: Good times ahead, now with special guest!
Saturday, March 29th
Houston Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: Fadi's Mediterranean Grill
4738 Beechnut Street • Houston
ORGANIZER: Send Chrislove a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. Chrislove
2. htowngenie
3. Libby Shaw
4. MarciaJ720
5. Bree Davis
6. krwheaton
7. Mary (Honorary Kossack)
8. Alan (Honorary Kossack) |
Maybees:
Mr. Libby Shaw
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Latest diary: Houston Area Kossacks: Meet-Up Scheduled for Saturday, March 29 (plus a note on future meet-ups)
Saturday, April 5th
Seattle & Puget Sound Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: Noon - 3:00 PM
LOCATION: Pyramid Alehouse, Brewery & Restaurant
1201 First Avenue South • Seattle
ORGANIZER: Send EagleOfFreedom a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. EagleOfFreedom
2. Reetz
3. John Crapper
4. John Crapper's S.O.
5. WisePiper
6. bleeding blue
7. mlharges
8.
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Maybees:
Ojibwa
otto
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Latest diary: Seattle & Puget Sound Kossacks April Meeting
Saturday, May 3rd
DKos Asheville Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: The Bywater
796 Riverside Dr. • Asheville
ORGANIZER: Send randallt a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. randallt
2. davehouck
3. Joieau
4. Gordon20024
5. SteelerGrrl
6. SteelerGuy
7. GulfGal 98
8. Otteray Scribe
9. flwrightman
10. people power granny
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Maybees:
Audri
Mr Audri
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Latest diary: [Waiting for linked diary]
Tuesday, May 13th
SFKossacks Roll Out the Red Carpet for LeftOfYou & Expat Okie
TIME: 11:00 AM, Early lunch!
LOCATION: Yank Sing
Rincon Center, 101 Spear St. • San Francisco
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. navajo
2. LeftOfYou
3. Expat Okie
4. side pocket
5. Justice Putnam
6. dharmasyd
7. Lorikeet
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Maybees:
annieli
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navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries
about your event or if you have changes or additions.
EVERYONE is welcome, tell us what you're working on,
share your show and tell, vent, whatever you want.
This is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.