Modern Art

Not on the previous topic of art.

Saarya called me from school again, asking me to make a pizza run and bring a game to play for up to five players. I would have no more than 1:45 to play, I would have to teach the game to beginners, and teenagers at that, and I didn't know exactly how many players it would actually be.

I brought Modern Art, figuring that that would cover five players, and Torres for two to four. Torres? They may be beginners, but they are pretty smart, so I figured I could make do. Last time I taught some of them Tigris and Euphrates.

There turned out to be five players, so we played Modern Art. Everyone had a good time, and we had some occasional onlookers and kibbitzing. The players were myself, guy on left (GOL), Dvir, guy on far right (GOFR), and Saarya, my son, on the right. Saarya started us off.

In the first round only three artists were played, but after that we ended up with all five artists every round. I knew that I wasn't doing too well. Prices were generally going high, but I seemed to lose out on most of them and not get quite as much in return. And, as usual, I had only one double the entire game, which pretty much sinks any chance of winning.

Dvir had the most trouble understanding the economics of the game. We kept having to explain to him why it is better to accept the 107 for a pair of paintings worth 120 rather than buy it for 108. I expected that this meant that he would lose, but since he usually accepted the advice, he ended up winning, and not by small change either. Something like 530 to 430, two 300 somethings, and me, with my paltry 250.

Why did I score so low? Because the 160 I spent on two paintings that looked like they would easily be worth 180 became valueless when no one else played them. It was painful, but it looks like I wouldn't have won anyway.

In other news: Studies suggest that Mousetrap sucks the testosterone out of male subjects.

Yehuda

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