Namely Marly

Stephen Colbert is reporting on a recently released version of Scrabble that changed its rules to allow proper nouns. If you don’t know anything about the 62-year old game, the Wiki page on Scrabble defines it as “a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid.”

There are Scrabble enthusiasts all over the world. In fact, there’s even a World Scrabble Championship. Scrabble is not for the feeble in heart or mind. People serious about the sport, (uh, I mean game) study word lists to stay in peak form so they can merge their jumbled set of letters with ones already on the board to score high points.

People of a certain demographic are usually drawn to the board game. They can be described as the literary elite. They’re like chess players, but with words. Maybe said differently, most avid scrabble players are, well, nerds. And there are more of them than you realize. According to a recent Time Magazine article, Scrabble is in the top 10 of highest grossing iPhone apps. The thing is having strict rules keep the game challenging. That’s why the literary elite (and aspiring nerds) like the game so much. And it’s probably why some are calling this recent change (allowing the use of proper nouns) an idiot rule.

You see, not allowing proper nouns has been an important rule. It keeps people from throwing in words like Izzard (as in Eddie) to rack up points. You could use a word like jack because although it is a name, it also has a definition beyond the name (you know, that thing that you use to lift up the car to change a tire?).

But Hasbro changed all this in a new edition of the game, Scrabble Trickster. The word is, this rule change will be limited to only this special version of the game so hardcore Scrabblers can take a deep sigh of relief. However, I do like Stephen Colbert’s new middle name, Qxyzzy. That’s a real point getter!

Obama, speaking to astronauts  on the space station tells them how everyone back home is excited about the bay window of the space station that they’re opening up and adds that Stephen Colbert is excited about his new treadmill.  Colbert commented “Yes, I am! Yes I am! But not quite as excited as having the most powerful man in the world saying my name…in space!”

Christiane Amanpour, one of the best-known female journalists in the world, was on the Colbert Report recently discussing her new show on CNN, Amanpour. After Stephen Colbert commented on what he described as an elegant name, she responded, that it was, “a name I was once told would never, ever make it in television.” Colbert responded, “Are you kidding? I bet half of your success is based upon the name Christiane Amanpour. Just saying that name is like cozying up with a snifter of brandy in a Swiss Chalet. All you need to do is add the middle name Chandelier. Christiane Chandelier Amanpour.”

Here’s someone who was told that her name would be an impediment to her success, but she persisted and now that name is the handle on which she hangs her hat. Not only is she CNN’s chief international correspondent, but she’s anchor of a half-our, weeknight interview show with a corresponding blog, both bearing her name.

Her career has included reporting from war zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Somalia and others. She’s interviewed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Pakistan President Musharraf, and Mikhail Gorbachev. She’s received many accolades and awards including both Emmy and Peabody awards.

Amanpour is quoted as having said, “Remember the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ when the voice said, ‘Build it and they will come’? Well somehow that dumb statement has always stuck in my mind, and I always say, ‘If you tell a compelling story, they will watch.’”

Amanpour’s own life and name have now become that compelling story.