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5/10 THURSDAY 11 MAY 1967 131st day - 234 days to come

Had new ideas for a cube number game. Call it TAKE A NUMBER.

Walked to Alice's apartment and gave her a check to replace the one I sent last Friday and which didn't get there.

Met Bob Abel and the inventor of REAL ACTION BASEBALL, Bill Hart, from Richmond, Va. at a bar on 2nd Ave. Bob was talking about arranging a panel to discuss jazz on radio. I said how about games and he thought he might just set one up. He is working on a game idea he calls GOURMET, based on pre- paring a perfect meal. He thinks it would have appeal. I have my doubts. He will probably want me to make a game out of it when he gets the preliminary ideas in shape. Bill Hart came here for supper. His baseball game was origi- nally published as RED BARBER'S BASEBALL GAME. He now pub- lishes it himself. There are improvements in the new game and he will send me a copy. One change in the rules that has not been incorporated. When a field ball is hit to the outfield, the defensive player may choose, instead of moving the ball three spaces on a turn, to spin a 2-3-4 spinner on the hope of catching a runner who would otherwise by safe. (Why not always use this spinner for an outfield ball?) He had a sample of his new REAL ACTION BASKETBALL and we played

[diagram of portion of grid, with rectangle labeled "backboard," and one white circle, one black circle]

a little of it. There is a spinner with numbers 3-4-5-6 (this is ap- proximate since he had other num- bers but is going to change) on the outside. In the inside there is two spaces, the some [crossed out] what larger one being marked "defense" (I think) and the other marke "offense". There are also the numbers "0" and "1" in these two spaces. In the outer ring there is a thin color space between each number. The board is a fairly large quadrille with the two ends being marked as shown. The backboard is raised above the board. The players choose for the possession of the ball (which is a sphere with a flattened side on which it rests. The offense spins and moves the ball in a straight line, in- cluding diagonally, the full number of the spin. The defense spins and then moves either the 1 or 0 shown in the center portion. With a 1 he must move the defensive man (shown in the diagram) 1 space, but must stay in the five spaces shown within the heavy line (the 6th has a circular hole.). When the defense wants to try for a basket they flip the ball with a finger, trying to get it into the hole (off the backboard usually). If they get in the hole they score two points and the other team gets the ball from their end of the court. If unsuccessful they spin to see who recovers at the spot the ball is resting. If the offense they can try for anoth try again for a basket. While the (cont. on 5/10)