Where the weather is fine, the people are friendly, and I get passed on my morning "run" by octogenarians. It may be time to get in better shape.
My health resolutions aside, I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I've found that copious amounts of alcohol combined with a Six Feet Under DVD box set makes for a pretty good time. Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and a Bountiful Solstice to all.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Perplexed
Re: The $50 billion lost in the Madoff hedge fund fraud -- where on earth did all that money go? Originally I had just assumed it was lost in bad stock investments, but I have been told by someone who used to prosecute these cases regularly that the people who run Ponzi schemes don't typically invest the proceeds, since they want to keep a pool of capital available to pay their "investors." Is this correct? There's no way Madoff could have spent $50 billion on just his own lifestyle, right? If anyone can demystify this situation for me, please do leave a comment.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
So Close, And Yet So Far
Well, the US Chess League Championship match did indeed go to a tiebreak, and just like last year, Dallas emerged victorious over Boston. Congratulations to the Dallas Destiny, and to the winning lineup of IM Zivanic, IM Kuljasevic, FM Schneider, and WFM Zorigt! Congratulations also to team manager John Bartholomew, who has put together what is clearly the premiere organization in the USCL.
The match itself got off to a good start, with GM Christiansen offering a dangerous gambit in the Taimanov Sicilian. I'm not sure if this is something he prepared specifically for IM Zivanic, but he quickly proved that White's initiative and pressure against f7 was worth more than Black's two bishops. NM Esserman was the next to finish, with a nice victory over FM Schneider from a Marshall Gambit declined. I have played Schneider myself and know from experience how good he is at defending tough positions, so it was impressive to see Esserman play so precisely to convert his opening advantage. Unfortunately, NM Krasik was already in difficulties against WFM Zorigt, and couldn't save a tough position out of the King's Indian Defense. This left it up to Board 2 and IM Kuljasevic, who was the hero of the night. First he showed nice technique in creating queenside pressure against SM Sammour-Hasbun's Semi-Slav, and then he eliminated all three Boston players he faced in the blitz tiebreaks, sealing the match for Dallas.
So once again we came up just short at the finish line. This would be a proper time to find something inspirational to say, but I can't think of anything at the moment besides tired Red Sox analogies, and those won't do anyone any good. So instead, here's some Vera Lynn.
The match itself got off to a good start, with GM Christiansen offering a dangerous gambit in the Taimanov Sicilian. I'm not sure if this is something he prepared specifically for IM Zivanic, but he quickly proved that White's initiative and pressure against f7 was worth more than Black's two bishops. NM Esserman was the next to finish, with a nice victory over FM Schneider from a Marshall Gambit declined. I have played Schneider myself and know from experience how good he is at defending tough positions, so it was impressive to see Esserman play so precisely to convert his opening advantage. Unfortunately, NM Krasik was already in difficulties against WFM Zorigt, and couldn't save a tough position out of the King's Indian Defense. This left it up to Board 2 and IM Kuljasevic, who was the hero of the night. First he showed nice technique in creating queenside pressure against SM Sammour-Hasbun's Semi-Slav, and then he eliminated all three Boston players he faced in the blitz tiebreaks, sealing the match for Dallas.
So once again we came up just short at the finish line. This would be a proper time to find something inspirational to say, but I can't think of anything at the moment besides tired Red Sox analogies, and those won't do anyone any good. So instead, here's some Vera Lynn.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
US Chess League predictions
Ah, the USCL finals are upon us once again. Last year, your Boston Blitz were defeated by the Dallas Destiny, in what was surely the most exciting USCL match ever -- or would have been, had the match not lasted until 2:00 am. This year, the two teams have marched inexorably towards a rematch, and the commissioner has wisely moved the starting time to 3:00 on Saturday, December 6th. My prediction: another drawn match, but this time Boston will prevail on tiebreaks. In Esserman (and his 3000 ICC blitz rating) we trust.
Update: I just remembered that Boston hasn't had a drawn match all year. I'm downgrading myself from a Kreskin to a Criswell.
Update: I just remembered that Boston hasn't had a drawn match all year. I'm downgrading myself from a Kreskin to a Criswell.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Obligatory Election Thought
In 1936, Mikhail Tomsky learned that he was about to be arrested for treason by the secret police of the USSR. He committed suicide. The Soviet Foreign Minister, Molotov, later claimed that "Tomsky's suicide was a plot, a premeditated act. Tomsky had arranged, not with one person but with several people, to commit suicide and therefore to strike a blow once again against the Central Committee."
In 2006, three detainees held indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay hanged themselves in their cells. The camp commander, Rear Adm Harris, claimed that the suicides were carefully plotted: "[These men] have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe that this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
On this election day, as on all others, I am thankful that our apparatchiks are replaceable.
In 2006, three detainees held indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay hanged themselves in their cells. The camp commander, Rear Adm Harris, claimed that the suicides were carefully plotted: "[These men] have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe that this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
On this election day, as on all others, I am thankful that our apparatchiks are replaceable.
Guitar Hero World Tour
My friends G and R just bought the latest Guitar Hero, which features two new instruments to go with all the usual fun. Naturally, we have spent many, many hours testing it out. Verdict: thumbs up! The playlist is quite diverse, with songs from a nice mix of genres including country, pop, and heavy metal. The guitar and bass parts are largely the same as in previous games, but the drum kit is a fun addition, and the learning curve for it isn't too steep. World Tour also comes with a microphone for covering the vocals, which means that we all had plenty of chances to make fools of ourselves (always a good thing).
Have you tried the game yourself? Any songs you would like to see included in the next installment?
Have you tried the game yourself? Any songs you would like to see included in the next installment?
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween!
In honor of the occasion, a clip from one of the most poorly made horror movies of all time.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Boylston Chess Club Championship, Round 6
From time to time I'll be posting games from this year's Boylston Chess Club Championship. You can see my commentary simply by playing through the game. If you spot any errors or have any questions, please feel free to comment!
Play online chess!
Laura Dern is Freaky!
This deserved to be on someone's blog. Why not mine?
WARNING: Impossible to understand without context!
WARNING: Equally incomprehensible with context!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Idiocracy
Decent movie. I'm becoming a bit of a Mike Judge fan -- King of the Hill in particular is a fantastic show, and Office Space was good as well, if overhyped. I'm surprised that Judge is still struggling to obtain financing for his projects: Idiocracy was nearly abandoned by Fox before it was finally released in a small number of theaters.
Idiocracy centers around Private Joe Bauer (Luke Wilson), a likeable everyman whose only ambition in life is to obtain his pension from the army: When his superiors tell Joe to lead, follow, or get out of the way, he invariably chooses the third option. Unfortunately, Joe's utter normality makes him an attractive guinea pig for army scientists working on a top-secret cryogenisis project, and thanks to the requisite series of mishaps, Joe is accidentally frozen for five hundred years. Upon awakening, he discovers that humanity has literally bred itself stupid. (Harvey Danger was right!) With the help of a fellow test subject (Maya Rudolph), Joe attempts to find a way back to the past, while coping with the hazards of being the only intelligent man in a world of morons.
For the most part, this movie lives up to its premise. The people of the future are a sorry lot, completely dependant upon a rotting infrastructure left to them by their more intelligent ancestors. They live as hedonists, but without creativity -- stuffing themselves on fast food, breeding like mad, and gaping mindlessly at the TV. Judge fleshes out his vision of the future with some great little details, satirizing pop culture (thrill to the hit TV show "Ow, My Balls"), commerce (marvel at "Brawndo," the sports drink/crop waterer that's "got what plants crave!"), and politics (laugh at President Camacho, the ex-wrestler who has taken power by virtue of sheer machismo!) Of course, Joe's interactions with these nitwits provide most of the movie's humor. My favorite scene involves his long, painful attempt to convince the President's Advisory Council that plants might actually crave water instead of electrolytes. Their response: "Water? Like from the toilet?"
Idiocracy centers around Private Joe Bauer (Luke Wilson), a likeable everyman whose only ambition in life is to obtain his pension from the army: When his superiors tell Joe to lead, follow, or get out of the way, he invariably chooses the third option. Unfortunately, Joe's utter normality makes him an attractive guinea pig for army scientists working on a top-secret cryogenisis project, and thanks to the requisite series of mishaps, Joe is accidentally frozen for five hundred years. Upon awakening, he discovers that humanity has literally bred itself stupid. (Harvey Danger was right!) With the help of a fellow test subject (Maya Rudolph), Joe attempts to find a way back to the past, while coping with the hazards of being the only intelligent man in a world of morons.
For the most part, this movie lives up to its premise. The people of the future are a sorry lot, completely dependant upon a rotting infrastructure left to them by their more intelligent ancestors. They live as hedonists, but without creativity -- stuffing themselves on fast food, breeding like mad, and gaping mindlessly at the TV. Judge fleshes out his vision of the future with some great little details, satirizing pop culture (thrill to the hit TV show "Ow, My Balls"), commerce (marvel at "Brawndo," the sports drink/crop waterer that's "got what plants crave!"), and politics (laugh at President Camacho, the ex-wrestler who has taken power by virtue of sheer machismo!) Of course, Joe's interactions with these nitwits provide most of the movie's humor. My favorite scene involves his long, painful attempt to convince the President's Advisory Council that plants might actually crave water instead of electrolytes. Their response: "Water? Like from the toilet?"
Sadly, Idiocracy is a little thin on plot. The movie sometimes seems unsure of where it's going (will Joe and Maya get together? Would anyone care?), and it falters at the finish line, with a predictable "hero-in-peril" scene followed by a preachy monologue. Still, I'd give it a solid B+. It's got a lot of laughs, and that's all I'm really looking for in a light comedy like this.
Holt sh*t, it Beef Supreme!
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