Did I mention Word Play? It's an annotated collection of links to sites that play with, uh, words.

For example, there's The Famous Country Western Song Machine, which produces songs such as:

I met her in a gay bar with Merv Griffin;
I can still recall that plastic nose she wore;
She was slurpin' up linguini by the off-ramp,
and I knew I'd have to scrape her off the floor;
The painters knew I'd stay a dwarf forever;
She said to me our love would never die;
But who'd have thought she'd freak out on a surfboard;
You'd think at least that she'd have said goodbye.

Or the Dialectizer that translates websites into a variety of dialects, such as "Elmer Fudd"

Today's weawization:

I’m especiawwy intewested in the innocent, intimate, safe, funny, pwofound kind of fun that we can achieve as aduwts. Oh, dat scwewy wabbit! Unwike the innocence of chiwdhood, this innocent, aduwt fun is based not on ignowance, but on infowmed openness. Oh, dat scwewy wabbit! It’s an intimacy that goes beyond sexuawity to cweate moments of physicaw, emotionaw and spiwituaw union that make us wawgew than wife. De kind of intimacy buiwt on twust, wespect, on ouw abiwities to keep each othew safe, to make each othew waugh, to howd each othew cwose, to touch each othew deepwy.

And, of course, Pig Latin:

Oday'stay ealizationray:

Iyay’may especiallyyay interestedyay inyay ethay innocentyay, intimateyay, afesay, unnyfay, ofoundpray indkay ofyay unfay atthay eway ancay achieveyay asyay adultsyay. Unlikeyay ethay innocenceyay ofyay ildhoodchay, isthay innocentyay, adultyay unfay isyay asedbay otnay onyay ignoranceyay, utbay onyay informedyay opennessyay. Ityay’say anyay intimacyyay atthay oesgay eyondbay exualitysay otay eatecray omentsmay ofyay ysicalphay, emotionalyay andyay iritualspay unionyay atthay akemay usyay argerlay anthay ifelay. Ethay indkay ofyay intimacyyay uiltbay onyay usttray, espectray, onyay ouryay abilitiesyay otay eepkay eachyay otheryay afesay, otay akemay eachyay otheryay aughlay, otay oldhay eachyay otheryay oseclay, otay ouchtay eachyay otheryay eeplyday.

Innocent intimacy

Today's realization:

I’m especially interested in the innocent, intimate, safe, funny, profound kind of fun that we can achieve as adults. Unlike the innocence of childhood, this innocent, adult fun is based not on ignorance, but on informed openness. It’s an intimacy that goes beyond sexuality to create moments of physical, emotional and spiritual union that make us larger than life. The kind of intimacy built on trust, respect, on our abilities to keep each other safe, to make each other laugh, to hold each other close, to touch each other deeply.

I am finding my self tickled untowardly by this Poke the Penguin and this Soccer game. (Be sure to have your sound turned on when you play it.)

Why, you ask, would I, Bernie DeKoven, be so untowardly tickled by games that are so blatantly stupid and patently pointless.

Precisely.

Thank you 3Bruces.

Online Karaoke, at last.
(thanks for the pointer Irish Kid and Bored.cc ).

Funny Fun

There's been a discussion on the DeepFUN group about the relationships between Fun and Funny. A response from Stefani Marchese draws the distinction with some very clear lines.

It helped me find other words for the kinds of games I like to play, the games I call "Pointless." They're funny. They make people laugh. Some of them, like A What, are funny even though (or especially because) they make people so confused. Some, like People Pass, are funny even though (or especially because) they seem so risky or risqué. They're all challenging in a way. And in that way, they meet Csikszentmihalyi's criteria for a fun/flow experience. But they wouldn't be as fun if they weren't so darn funny.
ô¿ô

Zippo Tricks
A remarkably extensive collection (here, for example, are the "easy" tricks) of flammable fun.
By way of PenTix

Streetplay presents invaluably concrete evidence for those of us who wonder if kids still play. (The site is very slow today - Internet problems - but well worth the wait.)

Good Old New Games



Always delicious to discover that there are people out there keeping New Games alive. Let's Play is my latest find. There's a small collection of old New Games on the site. Here's a good one I almost forgot:

Psychic Hand Shake

"This activity requires a more meditative frame of mind. Everyone in the group picks a number in their head--one, two, or three--that feels right for them at the moment. Without breaking the mood, we mingle and start shaking hands with one another. If my number is one, I shake your hand just once; if it's two, I shake twice; and I shake your hands three times if it's three. If we have different numbers, there is an unmistakable moment of tension as one of us tries to stop the shake while the other continues. But if we have the same number, we stop at the same time and we know we're in the same group. Those of us with the same number stick together and continue our search. Amazingly, more often than not, we will divide ourselves up into three equal groups!"

You know about Dale LeFevre, of course, one the most intrepid and enduring of the New Games standard-carriers.

And diabolo-master, devil-sticking, dice-stacker Todd Strong's book of Parachute Games.

You can also find the games and philosphy sprinkled about cyberspace. Here's a couple of good old games being used to good purpose courtesy of good old New Gamer Charlie Steffans.

Today's additions to the Lexifunnicon:

Funnite: funnite - a night different from all other nights, generally devoted to the development of sensifunnity

Fununity:having and/or being fun together

Funday: like funnite, except: 1) often devoted to the development of fununity, 2) longer, 3) occuring during the day
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Taprats is an applet and application for playing with Islamic star patterns. Could lead to deep fun.

My wonderful sister's wonderful friend Manny sent me a link to an article called "Play Your Way to a Better Life!" It is what I can only call a wonderful article. Who knew? Who'd think to look to the eDiets website for anything about fun? And who'd imagine that there would be an article of this depth and clarity? The author, Hara Marano, is to be congratulated (I'd do it myself if I could find his/her email address), especially for interviewing play scholar Gary Chick.

For example:

"...there is...evidence that play does much more. It may in fact be the highest expression of our humanity. Play appears to allow our brain to exercise its flexibility, to maintain and perhaps renew the multiplicity of nerve connections that embody our human potential to adapt to meet the challenges life throws at us.

"Play is an activity distinguished by having no goals at all. But the irony is that play has the power to re-energize our life and motivate us afresh to meet whatever goals we set. We are made for play. And we are most human when we play.

"Like art, play is that experience that is almost impossible to define because it encompasses infinite variability. But we all recognize play when we see or experience it."

And:

"How we play is related in many ways to our core sense of self. Play is an exercise in self-definition; it reveals what we choose to do, not what we have to do. We play the way we are. And the ways we could be. Play is our best connection to pure possibility."

Great stuff!
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After a long phone call with my Charles, his closing words: "enjoy it all."

I'd like to make that wish public. You, too, dear reader, may you enjoy every little bit of it.
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