August 25, 2008

Chesstories
The Legend of Dalukah by Don McLean, has received a significant footnote upgrade. (July 16. 2008)

Chessquest
The Sacred Bone by Brian Stross pdf file 3.1 M instant download While Goddesschess is on vacation during the next two weeks, this article oughta hold ya! Formally titled "The Mesoamerican Sacrum Bone; Doorway to the Other World", here you will find 54 pages of excellent research on the subject of dice and related traditions. Thanks Brian! See also: html link - a good portal but lacking important graphic content. (July 13, 2008)

The Sacred Game by J.C. Hallman Goddesschess "enthusiastically" presents this informed thoughtspiece from the pen of J.C. Hallman. (July 6. 2008)

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Rounding up this week's files...

Baubles, bangles, bright, shiny beads . . .

Bling from the past!
Credit payments into the future...

From the land of the Golden Fleece, incredibly delicate, intricate and beautiful earrings from circa 400 BCE.  Georgian National Museum, image from Biblical Archaelogical Review "Artifacts from the Land of the Golden Fleece."

It's the sort of classic jewellery favoured by modern women except these earrings were worn 2,500 years ago.  Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov discovered gold earrings, a ring and other funeral gifts dating back to the 5th century B.C. while excavating  a Thracian tomb near the village of Kushare, about 280km from Sofia, Bulgaria.

Rare copper pendant found at Fort James in Jamestown, Virginia:  A copper pendant found buried in the early fort-period cellar excavated earlier this year could be the profile of a Powhatan Indian. Bly Straube, Senior Curator at Historic Jamestowne, notes that the pendant may have been a type of identification badge for an Indian entering the fort. If it is indeed the likeness of a Powhatan Indian, it is one of only four known to exist outside of the 1580s drawings made by John White of the Roanoke (N.C.) colony.

Bling at the Blog! For more bling see at Jan Xena's sparkling Goddesschess blog

So how does one acquire expensive bling? As any treasure hoarding dragon knows, coins with monsters are one possibilty

- OR - one learns to play Monopoly!

Monopoly...and its ex-chequered past... Ed note: As kids we played this game endlessly - so often in fact, we began calling it "Monotony". What were we really learning from that game? Perhaps not all we bargained for. A recent look at the new Global Monopoly hints at a hidden history.

But first a word from the London markets!

Hall, Hubert: The Antiquities and Curiosities of the Exchequer. London, 1898
Contents: "The Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England;" "Treasure and Records;" "The Exchequer House;" "the Officers of the Exchequer;" "The Chess Game;" "Exchequer Problems;" "The Making of the Budget." On line Google Book source for Hall's chess analogies

And now, for the American round up ...

The Landlord's Game
The Landlord's Game is a board game patented in 1904 by Elizabeth Magie. It is a realty and taxation game, similar to Monopoly. Though many similar home-made games were played at the beginning of the 20th century and some predate The Landlord's Game, it is the first of its kind to have an attested patent. Large illustration of the game board and its miscellaneous parts...

Real Board Game History
By Mary Bellis - Anti-Monopoly! In investigating the history of the world's best selling board game, I discovered a trail of controversy surrounding Monopoly beginning in 1936. This was the year Parker brothers introduced Monopoly ® after purchasing the rights from Charles Darrow.

Monopoly and Landlord's Game - a Historical Review At Gameslist - a large selection of variants, excellent graphics and commentary on the history of monopoly and Landlords games; popular myths vs. historical facts...

Americanopoly : A review of Americanopoly—America as Seen Through its Games is the latest book by games historian and researcher Bruce Whitehill, whose first work, Games: American Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992, was considered the benchmark in its field. Americanopoly shows the history of the United States from the 1840s through the present using commercially manufactured American games to tell the story.

Ed. Note: Each of us at Goddesschess were delighted to receive a copy of Americanopoly from our good friend Ulrich Schadler. The Swiss Museum of Games, where he is curator, recently hosted a special exhibition featuring Americanopoly.

Stock Ticker:
Stock Ticker is a now out of print board game (graphic) that was popular upon its release and is still played today. It was released by Copp-Clark Publishing, a venerable Canadian publisher.