Spanish playing cards (10-12). Since the mid-20th century, they have usually been sold with two "comodines" (Jokers), for a total of 50 cards. Stripped decks have 40 cards and lack ranks 8, 9 and "comodines". The popularity of the stripped deck is due to game of Ombre, which became a craze throughout Europe during the 17th century. The Spanish suits closely resemble Italian-suited cards as both were derived from the Arab cards. The four suits are "bastos" (clubs), "oros" (literally "golds", that is, golden coins), "copas" (cups) and "espadas" (swords). Unlike the suits found in northern Italy, Spanish swords are straight and the
The Cosmic Jokers The Cosmic Jokers The Cosmic Jokers were a German krautrock supergroup, and a primary example of space rock. The Cosmic Jokers was never an ensemble, per se; its members did not play together as Cosmic Jokers, and in fact were not even asked to join the group. Their music was created from sessions put together by Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and Gille Lettman in early 1973. He arranged for several acid parties to be held at the sound studio owned by Dieter Dierks, where musicians were offered drugs in exchange for recording tracks. Participants included Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze of Ash