Saturday, October 06, 2007

A Great Myth

Many well-known beliefs accepted by countless people are of course nothing more than a good story. Up until fairly recently I would have been quite happy to attribute the biggest myths to religion. That was until last night, or maybe it was early this morning as the details are a bit foggy! This was when a view was aired that has taken over as the biggest Great Myth of all!

Two weeks ago Kenyon, the David Irving of the Cock-Eyed MJ Club, delivered a gem of revisionist interpretation, this being that “he never won the last game [of the night]”. Dave and I both guffawed rather loudly at this quaint proposal, less so after the last game was completed and our scepticism was aptly supported by the lack of tenbo in our trays.

Indeed the last game of the evening is always one too many for me. If winning handsomely, my total suddenly becomes something of a pimpled teenager. If losing, then my wares start to look like the wrong end of a shark’s snack.

Since the inauguration of the MJ table in 2006 we have all become a bit obsessed by our standings (or failings) in the overall table. The last game of the night becomes more weighed in ones mind as alternate endings are thought out. Of course once having done all this, everyone usually meekly accepts the suggestion of “one more then?”

So as the night had turned into morning and Hide and Noda had departed, we three foreigners played one more game. Just as the starting oya was being decided Kenyon, for it was he who first gave life to this work of biblical fiction, repeated his belief that “he never won the last game [of the night]”. Dave and I, even though both had been imbibing copious amounts of the amber nectar (well at Mama’s it is more Lucozade colour) were still in control of our facilities to pour a large glass of cynicism on that thought.

And when the final game was played out and trays were opened and scores tallied, what dear reader did you think was the result? Had Kenyon’s premonition been proven to be the most accurate since a Middle Eastern teacher’s one about his mate denying him three times some time after dinner...? Or was it just some myth that has become over time, accepted by some as the truth...?

Yup, that’s right, Kenyon cleaned up.

So please, lets not hear anymore about this one, like most myths, just look at the real facts and the truth is clear as clear can be.
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I am awaiting Dave's long promised update on his MJ website, to incorporate the Etiquette of Mahjong page as well as realising that this is 2007. Unless he is wishing to keep to Ge'Ez Calendar in which case he is still 6 years out.