Eliot On Lilacs And The Burial Of The Dead & Nobu's Game Of Mahjong.

It was old T. S. Eliot who opined that April was the cruellest month. Something to do with innocent lilacs and the burial of the dead...

... which reminds me, last Friday Nobu-san appeared on the scene, lilac like, like a harbinger of spring and joined Noda and I for his first game of mahjong of this still rather chilly year.

April is indeed the cruellest month. Here we are nearly at Golden Week in Japan and tonight it was brass monkey weather, cold enough to blast a few innocent lilacs in the flower, I shouldn't wonder.

Anyway, here is the way the game went. It was a game of extremes. David won the first game in triple figures, with Nobu conceding the majority of the points and going out on a Chombo hand at one stage.

Then the flow of the game began to move Noda's way, but David finished in the black and received a further boost from Nobu's Yakitori.

David changed seat in the third game, which was a pity for him as he proceeded to give half of his winnings to Noda who was in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Still, since Nobu committed his second Chombo during this game and finished it owing David 12,000 and Noda 30,000, David didn't feel he ought to complain too much.

It was only twenty minutes to midnight so a fourth game was offered, but Nobu seemed somewhat dismayed by his blasting in the bud and elected to call it a night.

Noda -18, +40, +150 = +172
David +103, +9, -58 = +54
===
Nobu -85,* -49,** -92,* = -226

* Chombo
** Yakitori

So, in a single swipe, we have a new top player (if one can seriously call Noda "new" in any sense of the word) and a new bottom player, and a new top record and a new bottom record, and a new best result and a new worst result, and to cap it all, a new worst ever form record of -226/3.

Yes, April can be a cruel month for the lilacs.

David H
Japanese-Mahjong.com