Camera Returned: Pictures from Scrabble Tourney

Phew!  My camera was returned today via USPS and all is well.  I had left it in Las Vegas, but kindly tournament director Mark mailed it back to me, along with all my notes and picures.

First, may I introduce Miss Betsy Chai from Calgary, CA whom I played in the tournament last week.  Is she not a doll?  Please don't think I am being too friendly, Betsy, in saying that.  Eric, the man in her life, thinks so too!

 

Below is a picture of Olobatoke, Chief of Kabba, from Abuja in Nigeria.  His grandfather was the King of Kabba, elected by the families in his tribe.  Chief Toke, as he is called, plays the Collins dictionary.  Chief Toke, or Toke, is also the President of the Nigerian Scrabble Association and has served since 2009.

 

Talking with Toke was a treat, and he was patient with me as I tried to get all his family history down correctly.  He might also become King of Kabba if elected by his community of a dozen families.  As current Chief, he is a magistrate and settles disputes and gives advice, generally in charge of administrative and civil matters in his tribe.  The picture below is of Toke playing in the tournament.

Next, may I introduce Bassey Umoh.  He lives in the southern part of Nigeria in the state of Akwa Ibom.  He speaks not only English, but his native language is Efik/Ibibio.  Umoh has been the State chairman of the Scrabble Association in his area since 2012, and also plays in the Collins Division.

Umoh works as an auditor for his state government.  This is Umoh, and standing beside him is Sam Kantimathi who organized this tournament. Sam is from California.

 Umoh, on the left, mostly wore a business suit during the tournament days, but doesn't he look handsome in this blue?  I failed to ask him about this outfit, so I really do not know if this is what he might wear in his off-work hours.

 

We did some sight-seeing and I was amazed at the ceiling of the Belagio Hotel that was covered in colored glass that featured this work by artist Chihuli.  The picture does not do it justice.

 

 

Since it was the Chinese New Year, all the hotels were beautifully decorated in red with the Year of the Snake being emphasized.

 

 

 

And I just have to show you some women at the reception desk wearing those killer six inch heels.  Will they be able to walk when they are 50?

 

 

Sam put on a good tournament and was ably assisted by Director Mark Milan.  They do this for the love of the game.  Thanks, gentlemen!



A Pause in Lent

The Catholic Knight says...

use of pictures and statues (iconography) in churches has always been used as a way of telling a story visually. It's no different then when parents use picture books to explain things to small children. The icons (statues and pictures) serve to visually tell a story, and remind people of some Christian truth.

A previously published pen and ink drawing (icon) of the Beggar Christ and Vincent de Paul by Meltem Aktas caught my attention. A copy of her work is displayed in the meditation room at St. Mary’s Hospital Pavilion (oncology clinic) in Grand Junction, CO. It certainly gave me pause after studying this icon and reading the poem associated with the drawing.

On the back of this framed illustration is a poem written by Jennifer Gordon for the 10th anniversary of Colorado Vincentian Volunteers that explains Aktas' rationale for creating this piece of art:

In unfamiliar streets I wander laden
With a loaf so full
That surely there will be enough for all.
In the same streets we meet.
I see your clothes, Your eyes, and think, “Aha!
Here is one who needs me.”
With a smile I hope is warm
I offer you bread
Only to know that the piece you give me
Is exactly what I did not know I needed.

This is my rendition in watercolor (5"x7") of the original painting by Aktas.




This is framed and displayed in the living area of our home and is a reminder of my professional and volunteering affiliation with the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (Kansas).

Please visit Floss who is hosting "A Pause in Lent" found here and read what others are thinking about this Lenten season as we take a pause in our lives for reflection.

Also linking to Spiritual Sundays

What I Left in Las Vegas

The Vegas Scrabble tournament was great fun!  We played 21 games in the main tournament (there were also two Early Bird and two Late Bird tournaments before and after the main event).  Of the 21 games, I won 12 and lost 9 and was not too disappointed in the outcome.  I think I went up a few rating points in the final standings, but they have not yet been posted.

Opponents I played were from all over the map in North America:

What I left in Las Vegas:

• my EXLIM camera with all the tournament pictures
• all the pictures from the various hotels with gorgeous decorations celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Snake
• money at the Black Jack tables
• discarded house slippers

I was glad to leave the slippers, not happy to leave the dollars.  What will be returned is the camera and pictures.  The camera was turned in after the last Scrabble game and the director of the tournament will graciously mail it back to me.  So stayed tuned for some graphics from Las Vegas!

Since I had driven to Las Vegas from Grand Junction, CO, the car was available to transport friends from the Riviera Casino and Hotel to various local restaurants.  The Riviera did NOT supply tasty food at any of their five restaurants, so that is why Lee, Glenda, Regenia and I went out for evening dinners.

And by the bye, Lee and Glenda both placed in the top three in severals tournaments.  Glenda won one of the early birds! She wisely did not spend her earnings at the casino.  Lee and Glenda and I have known one another for well over ten years, and Regenia is a new friend from Arlington, TX. We had fun together in our off-play hours, or at least I had fun with them!

Post Script:
The Riviera is one of the older hotels, and one that a person does not necessarily brag about staying there.  (In fact, you could say it was the crummiest hotel/casino on the strip.) The last day we were there, Regenia and I walked over to the new Wynn Hotel for a late lunch. We enjoyed our little outing and were ready to walk back to our "shabby" hotel but got lost in the vastness of the grounds.  Regenia asked a bellman which direction to take to find the way back.  He asked where we were staying, and both she and I were vague about our hotel, just saying we were headed north.  I thought it was kind of funny that neither of us wanted the bellman at the ritzy Wynn to know where we had laid our heads for five nights.  We were hotel snobs!  And the bellman could have cared less where we actually stayed; he was just trying to be helpful with his directions.