Saturday, August 4, 2007

Ouija and Other Lunch Treats


In the office where I work, lunch is usually something to be done in a hurry. We often gobble down our baon or rasyon, expectant of some after-lunch treat or other.

I suppose I can sort out my working years into seasons -- defined in terms of what we do between 12 and 1, after a wolfed-down lunch.

Crossword-puzzle solving season is as far back as I can remember. Three of us would race to the library in a bid to get to the newspaper first. The one who grabbed it first from its rack got to sit with the newspaper; the others would flank the lucky one, craning their neck at the page, waiting to be consulted.

My brother in law -- bully for him -- who was enrolled at UP would sometimes drop by at lunch time and refused no food or entertainment except a crack at the exact-same puzzle. That's how I came to know in-laws can be pains in the A _ _.

We've had our card-playing days. Name it, we played it. Black jack, red dog, mahjongg (cards, of course), 44, pekwa, ace-deuce, pusoy dos, tong-its. We often played beyond 1 p.m., at which point we'd lock ourselves inside the stock room, never mind that it was 2 x 2 meters big, windowless, airless, and had a mouse or two in residence.

We've had our season with dart games, game-and-watch (remember the handheld brickgames, popeye, octopus?), the rubics cube.

We had a long fling with word games -- scrabble, squabble (a more exciting and provocative version of scrabble), scribbage, big boggle and its local sister, word factory. Hey, I have bragging rights to "word factory" -- do you know? I coined it at the behest of office friends who quit to become entrepreneurs and chose it among a list I gave them, which included word safari, word war, and wordy-word-picker. (I' d have picked the last, wouldn't you?) My prize: Word Factory's first prototype set.

Hard to forget was our Pictionary season. It was rollicking fun and we were all fiercely competitive. Because of it, I willed myself to learn how to draw, but still I was better at guessing the word, but best at stomping my feet in anger and calling my teammates "dense" when they couldn't decipher my sketches. In turn, they wanted me out of the team. Our room shook with our laughing and yelling and jostling.

One afternoon, after a especially lively game, the whole building did shake and move as it had never done before. The quaking lasted an interminable five minutes, which found me petrified on a chair by the phone as officemates took refuge under tables. "Stop na naman, Lord," I recall crying.

Later that night, we learned Hyatt Terraces and Hotel Nevada in Baguio collapsed in the 7.7-degree quake, burying and killing hundreds in the debris... including one office friend who was attending a conference at Hotel Nevada.

It took a week before Joy's body was retrieved. A pall of silence and grief fell on our office and stayed for months. And we never played Pictionary again.

Which leads me to our cabbalistic days with the Ouija board. An office mate had an authentic one, the kind Linda Blair used in The Exorcist. We tried to call the spirits of Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Ninoy Aquino, John Kennedy, Elvis Presley. Most days, we had on board a lolo, nanay, relative or friend called in from wherever it is they were resting in peace.

Some days, we summoned no one in particular. Some unknown spirit or other would come, manifested by the shaking glass which then started to spell out messages.

One day, an unnamed and unsummoned visitor came. We began by asking for the usual -- name, age, sex, location.

Yes, location. Specifically, we asked: "Are you from heaven or hell?"

The moving glass answered: " H - E - L - L."

We persisted, even as our hands on the glass turned clammy: "How does it feel to be in hell?"

And the glass had an answer that chilled our spine: "C - O - L - D."

That was also the last time we dabbled in spirits.
Note: We watched Ouija (featuring Judy Ann Santos) the other weekend at the cinema. I didn't like it much (read: didn't scare me a bit) but it nudged memories.

80 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay! Katakot naman yan! Palabiro naman yung spirit na yun, cold daw sa hell hehehe! Or baka airconditioned room nya? :p

Hootin Anni said...

that's eerie...about the H E L L and then C O L D?!!

You HAVE been added to the Over 50 blogroll. Hope you find some new friendships along the way as you visit other 50+ bloggers.

[You may have to refresh your blog to see your blog's link in the list]

Anonymous said...

Oh man! I hope they remember to dress me up in winter clothing before burying me six feet under... ;-)

Anonymous said...

you sure keep busy anna, good for the brain.

quija board reminds me of the "spirit of the glass" that we used to play when i was in high school. it was kind of spooky to me because we did it at night in the dark.

Anonymous said...

Okay, you got me there, in every lunch break gimik you can think of, AM. I am chuckling. Why not LOL? Hubby asleep already and the door between the library where I am and the bedroom where he is at, is open.

Ouija board, my daughter just asked me where she can get one to play with her friends. Maybe will ask her to go to you, :D

Anonymous said...

This post reminded me of my own good old days in the bank that I worked before. almost the same activities. We even had a little gambling den, winner take all. One creative officemate introduced this by scrapping the sides of the pencil and wrote there take all, get 10, pay 10.

Unfortunately, the lunch break rendezvous was busted when the new bosses (PCGG)appointed by Cory had a habit of inspecting the vault, store rooms and pantries where we held our sessions.

for lack of things to do, another adventurous officemate introduced us to lunch time fashion show featuring Gerard Peter and other famous model groups. Oh my, Carmi Martin was so young, fresh and very sexy.

The good thing about this, everything became free because we found some bosses of ours there. No talk, no see, libre. So, lagi approved ang expenses charged against entertainment allowances (client call kuno). ha ha ha. One bookkeeper friend ay laging may prepared voucher.

There are more but this might take months to tell. ha ha ha.

Yan ang buhay sa Pinas.

slim whale said...

It's cold down there? that's a bit of good news. Now I know I would really enjoy the afterlife.

ScroochChronicles said...

You seemed to have skipped Trivial Pursuit. We were addicted to that game. We had an aunt in the US who would send us all the follow-ups of the original board game.

Re. Ouija....naku something similar happened to us. We were hanging out at a friends gallery in Makati Ave. having the usual beer and pica-pica (in this case it was Maling fondue..yakk) when one pulled out a Ouija board. Like you we summoned all our dead relatives and a couple of dead celebs. Tapos biglang nag-spell ng S-A-T-A-N!! Naku, takbuhan kami palabas.

Abaniko said...

Cerebral games to relax you, huh? Did you also coin 'squabble'? Pero di ba nakakatakot ang Ouija? Ayoko yatang laruin yun ah.

Jigs said...

Lnch Time Frivolities! Ang saya! My mom and grandma loves answering crossword puzzles! In fact my lola has a collection of finished crossword puzzle books! Haha!

But scrabble is my forte! I love that game! And of course Pictionary is always fun!

That Quija board is scary. And dangerous I think.

Lynn said...

I remember those variants of Ouija and spirit of the glass which I play with my cousins and classmates when we were in gradschool. I laugh now at what they were called then - spirit of the coin and spirit of the ballpen. I'm interested in the paranormal but the two cases of what I can consider strange I quickly tell myself that there are logical explanations. But hell is cold all this time if we believe the spirit that you came across. Now that's some trivia. :)

Lynn said...

*gradeschool I mean

Forever59er said...

Mitch and (hootin) Ani!

Lynn here said there is a oncept of hell as "cold." And I was about to mention that too.

When we played that long-ago game and asked the question on how hell felt like ... all of us were waiting for "HOT" and we would have continued playing if that was how the glass answered. Instead, it said "COLD.' And we remembered the non-physical concept of hell (remember .. we don't have anymoer bodies to get cold or hot) as the absence of God's warmth and love. And thus ... COLD.

And that was why we stopped playing ... we realized it was no longer stuff to be amused about.

Forever59er said...

Hootin'ani!

Thank you. Am honored to be in the seniors blogroll. I'd like to visit as many as I can, given constraints I still have. This should be fun, I know. :)

Forever59er said...

snglguy!

Ikaw talaga hahaha. Why did I almost predict that remark from you? :)

Forever59er said...

Intsik!

Yup, the makers of the Eureka (which I also suggested) brand are my friends and former office colleagues. They also manufacture crossword (scrabble de luxe really), chess sets, brain twister, kinderkit, and leaps'n'slips (my suggestion too) which is their take to snakes and ladders.

The best place to play online scrable is www.isc.ro. :)

Forever59er said...

Belle!

Come to think of it, thats part of the reason I enjoy this job and would still be sad leaving it soon (in spite of blogging). My workplace is not just where I work but where I find fun, friends, and fulfilment.

Forever59er said...

Teacher Julie!

Did you feel eerie? a bit afraid? Ay ... this post pala should be read in broad daylight hahaha.

I don't have an authentic ouija board and don't even know where to buy it. It's not too advisable to be played by adolescents ha.

Maybe I should add an epilogue ... when my BIL died under foul circumstances, we tried to find answers in the ouija board (which we just made out of cardboard). The answers we got were truly intriguing.

Forever59er said...

Myepinoy!

I remember the Girard Peter lunchtime shows featuring models in skimpy wear. Ang ganda nga ni Carmi. Hah, PCGG for good governance (cat calls!!!. ) But, who am I to be holier than thou ha ... a state university staff playing scrabble way past lunch time. haha.

How about a full-length post on your own lunchtime treats?

Forever59er said...

Slimwhale!

You and singlguy are like minded. And masyado ginawin. hahaha

Forever59er said...

Abaniko!

Black jack ad pekwa. Cerebral? hahaha .. you give me and my office mates too much credit.

Anyway, squabble .. am not sure now if I coined it as I am really fond of naming things.

Squabble is a so nakakapikon game because it involves grabbing each other's tiles when you form new words out of the kalaban's words. Better not play it if someone is pikon.

Forever59er said...

Scrooch!

I have heard of trivial pursuits but haven't played it. Must be fun ha. Let me google it one of these days.

Naku, oo ... meron na din nagsabi na si Satan or Lucifer sila.

This ouija thing is really mysterious. Everyone agrees, there is an outside force moving the glass ... kasi all of us touch it lightly. It does answer.

Is it an instrument of good or evil or just a neutral amusement? Hard to answer.

Forever59er said...

Jigs!

Awww, i will also be a cool lola ha.

So you love scrabble. Have you ever played it online .. with a human player thousands of miles away? It's cool too!

Forever59er said...

Yes, I would tend to agree that hell is cold because God or love is absent. The hell there is the knowing that you are in that love-bereft place forever forever ... tick .. tock ......... and definitely, that's not trivial. :)

Thanks for the nice take!

Wenchie said...

Hi Anna, kakatakot naman your last story. Ayoko i-try yan, baka sumagot mga nakaaway ko sa office na rest in peace na. When I was working, laging 5-10 minutes lang lunch break. Di pwede pag hintayin ng matagal mga constituents. Or we'll end up in the paper the next morning. Pero pag la ng session, few visitors na lang in the office, we sneak to the nearest mall to catch some sale goodies. Btw, congrats for winning the raffle ha. Mag MOA na....

Heart of Rachel said...

I'm sorry to hear about your office friend. I remember that day . I was in school when it happened and I was really scared. I have a bit of a story I'd like to share about that (sorry if it's off topic). My yaya (since I was a child) was waiting for me at the pergola to pick me up. When the earthquake happened, the guard told everyone to go out in case there was a cave in. My yaya refused to leave. She was the only one left. All the while she was thinking about me and didn't realize it was risky staying there. I know she loves me but I realized she loves me more than I give her credit for.

Anyway, about the Ouija board, I remember my classmates playing with it in school. I never joined because I was afraid I might offend a spirit. Duwag lang talaga ako. haha!

Forever59er said...

10 minutes lunch break? constitutents? You working with congress? With a local government unit?

Yup, I told Janet Toral I've never won in a draw. Obviusly, there's always a first time!

Hala ... I blew it na eh. hahaha

Forever59er said...

Rachel!

Yup, sad. I might blog one day about Joy who shouldn't have been at Hotel Nevada in the first place. But .....

Bow din ako sa yaya mo.

Yup, i suppose all of us has a vivid story to tell about the day the earth moved and two hotels in Baguio collapsed.

gibbs cadiz said...

so it has come true: hell has frozen over. yay! :) anna, kailan na ulit EB natin, haha. :)

Forever59er said...

Gibbs!

Oo nga ano .. I forgot that phrase.

Sige, tell me when ... haven't you heard ... i'm rich!!

Forever59er said...

Lynn!

I didn't know about spirit of the coin or the pen. But I suppose they work with the same basic premise as spirit of the glass. Interesting!

p said...

i scared.

carlotta1924 said...

yikes ang creepy naman nun!

so you named word factory? i remember my old school having one and my coteachers and iused to play that when we don't have students hehehe. =)

exskindiver said...

I am not surprised that you coined the term word factory.
btw, I heard that you were interviewed by chiquie roa for lifetyle channel. congratulations!
i wish you can post a video of it on your blog. you think you will be allowed to?

Anonymous said...

wow!sa iyo pala nagmula ang word factory. di ba dapat may royalty fee ka or something? :)

ang nasubukan ko lang na pagtawag ng mga ispiritu - pero this is really child's play - ay spirit of the ballpen . hahaha! hay naku, ngayon ko lang na-realize parang eng-eng pala to.

so totoo pala ang ouija. kaya pala pinagbabawal ng mga simbahan. kala ko kasi it's just a game, and the spirits are make-believe. pero di ko pa nasubukan.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon Ma'am. Beth here from Lifestyle Network's Momworks. Would like to request for some pictures of you and your family that we can use for the segment on Mother Bloggers. Could you please email them to bmanalaysay@probeprod.com? thank you

Anonymous said...

I would like to know the exact address of the ukay ukay warehouse you mentioned in the August 5 issue. If possible the landmarks if any.

Anonymous said...

Katakot Annamanila!

Ang iksi naman ng lunch break nyo... and you still had time to play games. I bet you'd play way past lunch no. ;) I loved pictionary too (high school pa ko non... hehe!). It was because of pictionary I got my nickname... whenever I'd sign my name in the notes we'd pass around in class... I'd draw a toe and a net. My friends shortened it to Toe.

I remember that earthquake very well. It was scary!

Anonymous said...

Since you have experienced Ouija firsthand and "talking" to spirits, I would like to ask you now that what's your view about the veracity of such.

I onced played with it and the hair on my back stood when I recalled how I was amazed that I felt the glass seem to be or have been moving on its own. But perhaps, this could be explained by some scientific measure, like inertia or fulcrum.

BTW, it's good to know that you coined or invented the word Word Factory since I've always see it available on major stores here. Don't you think you should deserve portion of the copyright fees on such game?

Forever59er said...

Philo B!

Being scared doesn't become you! :)

Forever59er said...

Carlotta!

Yes, I enjoy naming things. My son's engineering/contracting firm, I wanted to name Edifice Rex but he chose Innobuild (which was No. 2 in the list I gave him). instead. Hindi daw nya gusto ang sound ng Oedipus complex, eh.

Let me know if you want some company or product named. :)

Forever59er said...

Exskindiver!

Hmmm. I dunno. It didn't even occur to me to have it recorded. Let's see how it goes.

Ty for wanting to see it. :)

Forever59er said...

Lady Ces!

I am getting more than royalty fees I guess. I get all their products factory price. Have you noticed how I was giving away scrabble sets like they were hotckaes. haha

And they makers are very dear friends who consider me their lucky charm. parang mascot ba .. haha.

Forever59er said...

Beth!

Will do, asap. Thanks for being patient.

Forever59er said...

Anonymous!

Re ukay shops:

There's one in corner Aurora Boulevard and C P Romulo Street, just opposite Mercury Drug, Cubao Quezon City. It's a big, two story place. There's another at N. Domingo Sreet (cor. lemme see ... near Pinaglabanan Church in San Juan. Very nice ang stuff nila, with signature bags and caps to boot.

Forever59er said...

Toe!

If you must know ... we take lunch 10 minutes to 12 or thereabouts ... so we're ready to play the game of the moment by 12 noon. And yes we sometimes (sige na nga, often) go beyond 1.30 pag nagkakasarapan. Ay dyahi!

Oooh, thanks for that trivia about the pictionary origins of toe (and net). The name lends itself to pictionary ha. Not many names do, including mine. :)

Forever59er said...

Major Tom!

All I am almost certain of is there is indeed a force outside the human live players that makes the glass move. In our case, we hardly touch the glass and yet it moves decisively to a letter or another. The veracity of the answers is a different story. It is possible the spirit is also just amusing himself.

I think the ouija board is potentially dangerous and I won't let young people play it without adult supervision. What kind of supervision? I don't know really.

There was a time we seriously played it in aid of a murder investigation where the victim was a member of my family (it was a celebrated case, mind you). We conducted the sessions almost always with a priest. Some of the information we got were very intriguing. Some predictive info came true. Others didn't. In the end, I'd have to say I have NO conclusive answer to your question.

I think it is meant that way. :)

Anonymous said...

What fun it must be to be working with people who you can also play games with, and during lunch hours.

We only get half-an-hour lunch breaks here. Minsan pa nga sa desk na ang kain kapag talagang busy.

Anonymous said...

What great memories of your lunch hour/s! who else ang promotor kundi si Annamanila? di ba? Medyo creepy ata yun ouija, i have never tried that b4, I will never siguro. Baka sino pa ang matawag ko.

I enjoy pictionary too!

Forever59er said...

Niceheart!

True! In this workplace, we work hard and play hard (more of the second than the first .. hahaha!).

Nowadays, though, with everyone in his own cubicle with a connected pc, we tend to play our own fave games tho we still sometimes converge for a game of texttwist, family feud, or hangaroo.

Occasionally,a retired officemate comes bringing hamburgers and fries so we could lunch while playing board scrabble.

Forever59er said...

Leah!

I am not always the promotor (you give me too much credit hahaahaa.) Definitely not with the ouija board, not with pictionary, not with darts. Yung word games pa .. baka. :)

We can have a pictionary (rather than scrabble) party when you come. Ay, I will practice na my drawing. :)

Jap said...

Hi anna =) I'm such a skeptic when it comes to Ouija (I haven't tried it of course) hehehe are you sure that no one was moving the glass except for the spirits? I'll have to see for myself but I'm also afraid of the consequences hehehe some skeptic huh? LoL

Anonymous said...

Jap!

It's okay. Am also not a 100 per cent believer. But you know, there is more than in this world than meets the eye. :)

Anonymous said...

Jap!

I meant to say there is more in this world than meets the eye. :)

Anonymous said...

scary stuff that ouija board... I seem to remember in one family reunion a looong time ago they experimented with it... in the dark (I was just an onlooker though)at Christmas...
it's evil that game, in my opinion anyway

Anonymous said...

Pining!

It can be, but not necessarily, scary and evil. And potentially dangerous too, I suppose. I don't encourage you or anyone to play it.

Gina said...

Hi Anna!

Just got back from a few days' vacation and catching up with blogs.

I'm sure I've played Word Factory before, it's just that everything is all mixed up in my head --Boggle, Scrabble, Pictionary,etc. Wow, Anna ha. That's sure is something you can brag about!

Ouija , same as Spirit of the glass isn't it? I've had scary spine-tingling memories of dabbling in it too back in my college days. We've had a few sessions in the boarding house where I used to live and yes, we did call on some famous persons like Jose Rizal etc. We got other spirits we didn't know, most of them died not of natural causes but accidents and premature deaths, so I guess it is mostly restless souls who inhabit the glass. We stopped doing it after we had a few scary experiences.

The date was July 16, 1987. That was the big earthquake. I remember the day like it was just yesterday. The ground shook and made a big thunder-like sound. I grabbed my baby niece who was in a hammock and hid under the dining table. And later learned of all the devastation and deaths esp. in Baguio and other parts of Northern Luzon. Very sad.

Forever59er said...

Oh, Gina, you sound energized! You must have had a fun vacation!

Actually, everyone I personally know who dabbled in the spirit of the glass was none the worse for it ... except, as you say, for a few scares, some moments your spine tingles and you want to scamper away. But the literature is full of accounts of spirit possession and other bad experiences. That is why I keep saying in this comment section that playing it is not advisable unless supervised (I don't even know who should supervise.)

I pray that such devastating earthquake as happened in 1997 doesn't take place again.

Anonymous said...

How you manage to interweave happy lunch time activities with scary sidelights and consequences is beyond me, annamanila.

Wenchie said...

Hi Annamanila, yup, I used to work in congress, the upper house (Senate). That's how dedicated we were in our jobs maybe because that's how our beloved boss treat all of us also. I can't say the same thing though for the other legislators and their staff.

Re the earhquake, we were in our experimental psychology lab class in UST when it happened. I hid under the table and prayed so hard, then I've noticed I was the only one left in our room. They don't trust our old building pala and got scared more. he he

Anonymous said...

spirit of the glass really mystifes me. My sibs and I played it during our teen years. And when we asked "who are you?" the glass moved to spell "D-E-V-I-L". My sister swore she never moved the glass. Is it possible the spirits possessed the glass?

cacofonix said...

I dabbled in Feng Shui one time and saw a doppleganger (or is it my overly active imagination?) and orbs in photos of my place...they (spirits from the other side) do exist like air particles eh?

As for the 1990 earthquake, I've never prayed as fervently in my life while crouched under an office desk haha...:).

I think I promised a blog address...http://mykaleidoscope888.blogspot.com/. In town to enjoy what I miss most - and they're plenty!:).

Anonymous said...

July 16, 1990 earthquake - I was nine months pregnant, my due month, actually. I gave birth to Gem on the 31st, and while in the hospital, we felt countless after shocks. Grabe.

Anonymous said...

oH my, I got chills and goosebumps. I'm kinda matatakutin hehe. I will never dabble with Oiuja...
Did you know I was trapped in a building that toppled during the earthquake. that's a story for another excuse to meet up hehe.
fun naman ng lunch breaks nyo!

Forever59er said...

Jerry!

I guess most events or situations have their up and downsides if we look close enough. I am afraid I am stretching the point. :)

Forever59er said...

And who is the his honorable senator? I am reluctant to name names baka hindi ko mahulaaan. :) I heard that Joker Arroyo, is almost staffless?

Ay, you were among those who hid under desktops. I was paralyzed where I was.

Forever59er said...

Noems!

The glass did seem to move by itself, didn't it? Some people are offering scientific explanations. But I know there are things that don't have physical explanations. After all, the world is more than just physical organisms and we are more than our bodies.

Forever59er said...

Cacofonix!

Doppleganger ... that sent me running to a dictionary. :) But I know what you mean. One step beyond ha. I visited your new site ... its very nice and you write very well! How long will you be in town?

Forever59er said...

Rhodora!

Yes, you remember the right date. July 16, 1990. (Sorry I misdated it in an earlier counte comment.) Must have been etched in your memory, ha. That was really scary ano? The first thing I thought of were my children ... how they were at school. Wala pang cell phones nun di ba? How I worried. Fortunately before the day was over, we were all assembled at home safe.

Ang dami ngang aftershocks. May power na when you gave birth?

Forever59er said...

Chateau!

Don't worry, I won't invite you to an ouija party, if ever I organize one. :)

You were trapped in a building that toppled? Oh my ... taga Baguio ka nga pala. Ay, tell us the story before you blog about it ha? Alam mo ba si Leah taga Baguio din?

Wenchie said...

Hi Annamanila, I used to work for the late Senate Pres. Marcelo B. Fernan. He is such an honorable man. Btw, did you visit the MOA na?

Unknown said...

hmm. in born-again literature and doctrine, things like the Ouija board are considered evil. and it does have Biblical basis, because in the Torah, it is said that witchcraft/divination is among the most abhorrent sins for God. the Ouija board is a variant of witchcraft in that it is actually conjuring up a spirit. in 1 Samuel, king saul had had all the mediums and witches killed in the early part of his reign. but he broke his own edict when he had visited the witch of endor in 1 samuel 28.

though there is no mention that his death was a direct result of that disobedience to God's law, the fact remains that activities like this are abhorrent to God. and i certainly agree with the comment that this is evil...

but you know, i would agree too, that hell just might be cold, and annamanila's analysis on why it is..

engaging work and great community here, annamanila. :)

Forever59er said...

Rowena!

I agree 100 per cent, Marcelo Fernan was a dream of a government official and legislator. You are lucky to have worked closely with him.

Forever59er said...

I have read some of the liteature .. and you are right. There are many opinions it can be an instrument of the evil.

For me the operative ord there is it can be ... but not necessarily.

When we were playing it, some spirits emphasize said that normally God didn't approve of their communciating with the living except for exceptional cases.

Ty for coming and sharing your take. Very interesting!

Forever59er said...

The above is my response to Lorie!

Anonymous said...

Those board games I can't forget. Snakes and ladders, boogle, scrabbble, squabble, millionaire's game, pictionary, word factory, etc... We played cards too.

But ouija, spirit of the glass, spirit of the ballpen. I avoided those games.

Anonymous said...

Annamanila, I had fun memories with Pictionary too. I remember our family's scrabble session where our eldest brother, who takes pride of his extensive vocabulary, would put all the players to sleep waiting while he ponders on his next word.

I think you would enjoy watching the show Crossing Over where the seance host talks to the dead relatives of some radomly picked up audience members. Very eerie, most times poignant. He has a book too.

Word Factory is also popular Leap Frog dvd (children's educational aid) on phonics. What are the chances that they lifted it from your coined word? :)

Anonymous said...

Lazarus!

How nice .. we like the same games. I think most bloggers love word games no? And it makes sense to keep away from the ouija board. :)

Anonymous said...

Geri!

I know that 'word factory's is a registered trade mark but I don't own in. And I am not too hot about intellectual property rights; in fact i feel complimented if people use what i write or coined, with or without acknowledgement.

Crossing over ... sounds interesting. Will check out the book.

Oo nga, so hirap to play with very deliberate players sa scrabble. Dapat may timer ah. :)

auee said...

Are you familiar with "spirit of the coin"? We used to do this back in my 80's (elementary) but I never had the courage to join in "ouija" sessions.

BTW try playing TABOO, it's massive fun, too.

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