Eternal Sunshine #62

March 2012

By Douglas Kent 911 Irene Drive, Mesquite, TX 75149

Email: diplomacyworld@yahoo.com or dougray30@yahoo.com

On the web at http://www.whiningkentpigs.com – or go directly to the Diplomacy section at http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/. Also be sure to visit the official Diplomacy World website which can be found at http://www.diplomacyworld.net.

All Eternal Sunshine readers are encouraged to join the free Eternal Sunshine Yahoo group at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/ to stay up-to-date on any subzine news or errata. We also have our own Eternal Sunshine Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/EternalSunshDip, and a Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=112223650909

Quote Of The Month – “Ha ha! You said “I do.” I guess that means we’re married.” (Clementine in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”)

Welcome to Eternal Sunshine, the only Diplomacy zine in the universe which can handle a column by Jack “The Sack” McHugh and all his anger issues. 62 issues…that’s over five years. They add up, don’t they? Kind of makes me wonder what you could be doing instead of reading this crap. Writing it isn’t an issue…I suck at everything I do anyway!

Putting the latest Quote of the Month in a minute ago, I was reminded that if you love eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or any other dialogue-driven modern film, I suggest you check out the Newmarket Press Shooting Script Series (www.newmarketpress.com, although their web site is screwy lately). You can buy the actual shooting script for a number of films like Eternal Sunshine, The King’s Speech, and many more. The reason reading them is so interesting is you not only get commentary from some of the people involved, but you also see scenes which were later deleted, or lines which were dropped. In the case of Eternal Sunshine, the whole storyline of Naomi (Joel’s current girlfriend) was cut, and there’s a lot of wonderful, tender connections between Joel and Clementine which help build their immediate attraction for and understanding of each other. I don’t know if I would have wanted any of that in the film itself, but treating the script as a separate work they develop into a beautiful piece.

I started an online Memoir Writing course this month. I still feel such disdain for a lot of what I write, and I am hoping the class gives me new tools to work with, focuses my drive on one of the three projects I want to complete, and provides some much-needed feedback from people who know nothing about me. I have a very difficult time accepting positive comments about what I write, so if I know the person (even peripherally) I can rationalize away their statements as “being kind.” I’ll never finish anything if I continue along that path.

Zine news…hmmm, I’ll probably include another one of my old Guys Explained essays this issue, even though hardly anyone commented on the last one. I have two homework assignments I can share too, but I am waiting before including either of them. Other than that, we have the usual crap this issue. The Twisting Tale returns as Kevin Tighe sends in his chapter. Game openings sit, waiting for players…sign up or miss your chance. By Almost Popular Demand has one round left…and votes on what version to run next? It’s either going to be the same By Almost Popular Demand, or the old By Popular Demand, or perhaps the version Dane Maslen runs where you give five answers to one category (in the order of popularity you predict). If you have an opinion, speak up now!

I’m very happy to finally have my interview with Rebecca Loebe included this month. It had been in the planning stages a long time, but Becca’s schedule has been so packed since her appearance on the first season of The Voice that I didn’t know if it would ever happen. She’s a real talent, a sweet fun person, and super cute….what else could you want?

This issue also includes the results of the ES Football Contest, the opening of the ES Baseball contest, and an update on the ES Dead Pool. And, at last, the final entry and overall summary of the 100 Movies to See Before You Die challenge. It’s likely we’ll try something on TV Series next, but I need to decide what the parameters will be, and you all should get a month or two off anyway.

So, that’s it. Participate or I’ll fold this piece of crap and disappear forever. See you in April!

Playlist: When Did We Do That? – Letters to Cleo; Caribou – Elton John; All the Leaves are Brown: The Golden Era Collection – The Mamas and the Papas; Hearts and Flowers – The Dilettantes.

Hypothetical of the Month

Last month, we gave you these two hypotheticals: #1(from me) – You are an avid fan of a local sports team who has disappointed year after year. Would you be willing to trade one championship in the next four years for another twenty years of frustration, or would you rather just leave it the way it is and hope for more competitive play in the years to come? #2 – You are buying a car from someone who is broke and out of work. Do you offer much less than you think the vehicle is worth, as you feel pretty sure he’d accept it out of desperation?

Melinda Holley - #1 - I try to avoid such Faustian bribes *g*. I'll leave things the way they are, thank you.

#2 - No! I've been on the other end of that type of deal.

Richard Walkerdine - #1 - As a lifelong supporter of West Ham United football (soccer) club I am well used to years and years of frustration (though I have seen them win four cups in the last 40 years) so I would leave things as they are. Sometimes being a masochist can be sort of fun.

#2 - Yes of course I would offer a lower price – I am neither nice nor generous.

Tom Howell - #1 - "... avid fan of [any] sports team..." No. I'm not. About the closest I can get to this is studying someone who fits the description. Or, imagining what it would be like to be a fish trying to imagine being warm-blooded.

#2 - I would offer much less than a) I think it's worth, & b) than I'm willing to pay. But, not for the reason you cite. I'd do that regardless of the seller's circumstances because I enjoy the bargaining process.

Unfortunately, too many people in this country don't have any idea how to bargain. That has led to several unfortunate incidents.

Andy York - #1 - Competitive play without a doubt.

#2 - As you can likely guess, I wouldn't handle this situation at all this way. When I'm in a situation for "bargaining," at most if I don't accept the given price, I'll state something like "is that your best offer, if not what is the real price" and either pay what they say or not. I'm not a dicker and deal person (and, yes, I've tried it a few times and don't like doing it).

For instance, the last time I bought a car (it was new), I told the salesmen I talked to that, when I'd decided what cars I was interested in, they'd have one chance to set a price. I'd take the prices for the cars, decide if I wanted to pay it for the car. After determining the best option(s) I'd either buy one of them for that price or I'd toss out all the offers and look for another car.

For me, it worked out very well - I didn't spend days car searching, hours going back and forth with salesmen/managers and ended up, as a knowledgeable person in the car business told me, with a pretty good deal overall.

So, no....

Dave McCrumb - #1 - Depends. By disappointed do you mean bottom of the barrel every year? If so, yes. If you mean usually in the top half of the league and occasionally competing for but not winning the championship, no. While it is great to win it all I like the competition. I’d rather strive and fail than take it all then give up.

#2 - If I don’t know them, hell yes. If I do (and I like them or are related) I’d probably go the other way and offer them more.

Andy Lischett - #1 - I stick with the team as is. Twenty years of KNOWING they will go nowhere would be too boring.

#2 - I would offer less than it's worth, but maybe not the rock-bottom price he would take.

Richard Weiss - #1 - I am a lapsed sports fan. I was loyal to one MLB team for almost 40 years (Reds, finally driven away by Margie Schott's dog shitting on the field), one NHL team for longer (Blackhawks, until I became a seasons ticket holder for the Sharks and sat on the glass at the right goal pipe), one NFL for 30 (Cowboys, until ownership got too sleazy), and was a Royals fan for the NBA, then a Kareem fan, then a local fan (Warriors then Kings then Suns). If the trade involves some deal with the devil or somehow knowing one championship equals 20 years of frustration, then no. My answer also depends on what "frustration" means. If good teams that get into the playoffs but never win the ring is the definition, I'll take frustration like that. If the deal is more like the AZ Cardinals getting to the super bowl despite terrible ownership and then slipping back to mediocre at best, then definitely no. Overall, in pro sports, since income sharing and the right of free agency, when "any given team can win on Sunday" no.

#2 - Duh, what a stupid question. I would always follow the principles of negotiation, which generally mean not making the first offer. I always offer less than I think the vehicle is worth. I offer as much less as I think I can without offending the other and ending the opportunity. Then I negotiate some more. In Asia, you haven't done a good job negotiating until they run out in the street after you left in disgust at their offer - at least once. One never makes as much money per minute as one does negotiating successfully.

Amazing how many atheists/agnostics there were in the replies about changing religion to marry. "Brights" love company. Anyone else ever heard about "brights" as compared to "Supers?"

Jack McHugh - #1 - No way--one championship isn't enough for 20 years of sucking--just ask an Pirates fan.

#2 –No, I wouldn't do that to anyone--in fact I might offer him more than it’s worth if I could afford it and I think he needed the money.

Per Westling - #1 - This is for ones a question that hits home... The local sports team has been into two finals in recent years, and now they are hanging loose, risking relegation... I know many fans that start to follow teams than they are small, often because the teams have a golden period then, just to grow up and realize that that period will not occur again. But they seem to thrive in the unhappiness and frustration. Do I want to end up in that kind of misery? Being a grumpy old man says "In my days they played much better"? No, I think I go for the promising-future, and live with the hope.

#2 – No. I do not like taking advantage of people. Would try to give hir a decent offer, and try to avoid giving extra as I don't want to offend the person with something that might be regarded as charity.

Don Williams - #1 - Tough question and a good one. My real answer is that it depends on the sport as all are not created equal and even losing team in some leagues eventually can pull it out, whereas in other sports there are definite haves and have nots who are, realistically, more or less locked in. But that’s not what this is about, and “it depends” is a lousy answer. So … I’d pick getting a championship in the next for twenty more years of losing.

#2 - No, I pay a reasonable amount, for a couple reasons. For me, the satisfaction of getting a good deal on the car would be forever marred in my mind if I knew I’d screwed someone in the process of getting said deal; the old guilt trip would stay with me and get longer as the odometer rolled on and on. Conversely, knowing I’d gotten a fair deal and helped someone out would make the car more desirable in my mind. Years ago, I bought some patio furniture at a great price from someone who was selling because she needed the money due to a divorce. I paid what she asked at the time and it was a steal. Later, she asked if I’d sell it back to her (when things had turned around for her again) and I declined. She was cool about it and never said anything to me again, but it still bothers me the littlest bit twenty years later that I may have taken advantage of her – even though I didn’t set the price for the sale – by not selling the stuff back to her when she asked.

John Biehl - #1 - Leave the team the way it is and hope for competitiveness - no 'Faustian' bargains

#2 - This is tough but I'd probably offer less (tho I would try to offer a fair deal) hoping to save some money myself, after all, the seller doesn't have to take a lowball offer.

Heather Taylor - #1 – I don’t want another 20 years of misery, I’ll take my chances with hoping they improve on their own. No championship guarantees.

#2 – No, I’d offer a price that is fair to both of us. I’d feel too guilty taking advantage of them just because they are broke. Unless I knew them personally and they were a total asshole, in which case they deserve it.

For Next Month (For the time being, I am usually selecting questions from the game “A Question of Scruples” which was published in 1984 by High Games Enterprises). Remember you can make your answers as detailed as you wish.: #1 (from me) – You must choose between becoming immediately blind, deaf, or mute for the remainder of your life. Which one, and why? #2 (off the internet) - You are leading 100 people in a survivalist situation, when suddenly your lives are in danger and you must choose between two courses of action. One would cause 10 of the people to die and everyone else would live, the other would have a 70% chance of saving everyone but were it to fail then everyone would die. Which would you choose?

The Eternal Sunshine Football Prediction Contest Results!

The contest was simple: you got one point for each correct division winner, and one point for correctly selecting the wild card teams (two per conference). Then you got two points for each team you correctly choose as conference championship (meaning they play in the Super Bowl), and three points for correctly picking the Super Bowl winner. Congrats to John Biehl, just edging out Rick Desper for the win! I’ll be in touch about prize options. In the meantime, if this is over, that means it’s time for the Baseball Prediction Contest!

The Eternal Sunshine Baseball Prediction Contest

Time once again for the annual Eternal Sunshine Baseball Prediction Contest. The contest is simple: you get one point for each correct division winner, and one point for correctly selecting the wild card teams (one per league). Then you get two points for each team you correctly choose as league champion (meaning they play in the World Series), and three points for correctly picking the World Series winner. We’re not picking winners for individual playoff games…just the division winners, wild card teams, and who goes to the World Series. Any commentary you want to include with your picks is welcome (and encouraged). And remember, like all Eternal Sunshine contests, there will actually be a REAL PRIZE for the winner! In fact, if we get enough entries, I’ll give one to the runner-up too. If you’ve got any questions, just ask me. So send in an entry and join in the fun! All entries will be published next issue, so get them in by the deadline! In case you need reminding (or if you are not a baseball fan and just want to see if you can guess the winners and embarrass these so-called experts), the teams are as follows:

American League East: New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles.

American League Central: Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals.

American League West: Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics.

National League East: Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Washington Nationals.

National League Central: St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates.

National League West: Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, Dan Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks.

Deadline for Picks: March 26^th 2012 at 7pm my time

100 Movies to See Before You Die

An Eternal Sunshine List Challenge

Yahoo Films (part of the Yahoo online pages) has posted two lists of movies “to see before you die.” The first list was composed of mostly classic film choices, while the “modern” list was 100 films from 1990 onward. You can find their lists at: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/100-movies-to-see-before-you-die.html and at http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/100-movies-to-see-before-you-die-modern-classics.html. Some of these choices I agree with, and some I think are completely off the mark. So I issued a challenge to each of you: Submit to me the 100 Movies to See Before You Die that would make your list. Below are the final entries, and the COMPLETE listing of films, including a count of how often any film was listed. Two players who submitted the necessary 100 films were chosen at random for prizes, and they are: Dave McCrumb and Brad Wilson. I’ll be in touch soon about your prize choices! Any additional commentary is welcomed for next issue.

Paraic Reddington:

#	Film
12	Star Wars
11	Alien
11	The Silence of the Lambs
9	The Lord of the Rings (Trilogy or Single Film)
9	The Shawshank Redemption
9	The Wizard of Oz
8	2001 A Space Odyssey
8	Citizen Kane
8	North by Northwest
8	The Godfather
8	The Great Escape
7	Apocalypse Now
7	Blazing Saddles
7	Casablanca
7	Gone with the Wind
7	Monty Python and the Holy Grail
7	Raiders of the Lost Ark
7	To Kill a Mockingbird
6	12 Angry Men
6	Back to the Future
6	Blade Runner
6	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
6	Dr Strangelove
6	Lawrence of Arabia
6	Patton
6	Rear Window
6	Saving Private Ryan
6	Singin’ in the Rain
6	The Third Man
6	When Harry Met Sally
5	A Clockwork Orange
5	Being John Malkovich
5	Ben Hur
5	Fight Club
5	Goodfellas
5	Jaws
5	One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
5	Psycho
5	Seven Samurai
5	The African Queen
5	The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
5	The Graduate
5	The Matrix
5	Titanic
5	V for Vendetta
5	West Side Story
4	A Shot in the Dark
4	Animal House
4	Braveheart
4	Brazil
4	Das Boot
4	Dirty Harry
4	Galaxy Quest
4	Harold and Maude
4	High Noon
4	Hot Fuzz
4	Independence Day
4	It’s A Wonderful Life
4	Life of Brian
4	Mary Poppins
4	Planet of the Apes (Heston)
4	Pulp Fiction
4	Schindler’s List
4	The Big Lebowski
4	The French Connection
4	The Godfather II
4	The Hunt for Red October
4	The Maltese Falcon
4	The Usual Suspects
4	Time After Time
4	Toy Story
4	Trading Places
4	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
3	A Fish called Wanda
3	A Touch of Evil
3	American Beauty
3	Annie Hall
3	Avatar
3	Blue Velvet
3	Breaker Morant
3	Breakfast Club
3	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
3	Dogma
3	Double Indemnity
3	E.T.
3	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3	Fanny and Alexander
3	Fantasia
3	Fargo
3	Forest Gump
3	Glengarry Glen Ross
3	Glory
3	Gran Torino
3	Grease
3	Jurassic Park
3	King Kong
3	MAS*H
3	Miracle on 34th Street
3	Ordinary People
3	Paths of Glory
3	Rain Man
3	Rebel Without a Cause
3	Rio Bravo
3	Se7en
3	Spartacus
3	Star Trek (2009)
3	Star Trek IV
3	Steel Magnolias
3	The Blues Brothers
3	The Bridge on the River Kwai
3	The Caine Mutiny
3	The Departed
3	The Exorcist
3	The Fugitive
3	The Gods Must Be Crazy
3	The Green Mile
3	The Incredibles
3	The King of Hearts
3	The Lion in Winter
3	The Man Who Would Be King
3	The Princess Bride
3	The Producers
3	The Searchers
3	The Seventh Seal
3	The Shining
3	The Sound of Music
3	The Sting
3	The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
3	The Verdict
3	The Warriors
3	True Grit
3	Unforgiven
3	Up
3	Vertigo
3	Young Frankenstein
3	Zulu
2	12:01
2	300
2	12 Monkeys
2	A Bridge Too Far
2	A Few Good Men
2	A Hard Days Night
2	Aliens
2	All About Eve
2	All Quiet on the Western Front
2	Amadeus
2	American Graffiti
2	An Affair to Remember
2	BAT 21
2	Batman Begins
2	Being There
2	Beverly Hills Cop
2	Bonnie and Clyde
2	Bridge Over the River Kwai
2	Bringing Up Baby
2	Bull Durham
2	Bullitt
2	Caddyshack
2	Carrie
2	Catch 22
2	Chinatown
2	City Lights
2	Dangerous Liaisons
2	Dark City
2	Desperately Seeking Susan
2	Dog Day Afternoon
2	Drop Dead Gorgeous
2	Dumb and Dumber
2	Excaliber
2	Fahrenheit 451 (60's version)
2	Four Weddings and a Funeral
2	Fried Green Tomatoes
2	Gettysburg
2	Ghost
2	Goldfinger
2	Gorky Park
2	Gosford Park
2	Gregory's Girl
2	Groundhog Day
2	Halloween
2	Heat
2	Heavy Metal
2	In the Company of Men
2	In the Heat of the Night
2	Inception
2	Inglorious Basterds
2	Inherit the Wind
2	It's a Mad Mad Mad World
2	King of Hearts
2	Koyannisquatsi
2	Labyrinth
2	Little Children
2	Love Actually
2	May
2	Memento
2	Midway
2	Mississippi Burning
2	Moulin Rouge
2	Mulholland Drive
2	Nashville
2	Ninotchka
2	O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2	Office Space
2	On Golden Pond
2	On the Waterfront
2	Papillon
2	Pay if Forward
2	Picnic at Hanging Rock
2	Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
2	Platoon
2	Raging Bull
2	Remains of the Day
2	Resevoir Dogs
2	Rocky
2	Romeo and Juliet (1967)
2	Rosemary's Baby
2	Salem's Lot
2	Serenity
2	Sex, Lies, and Videotape
2	Shallow Grave
2	Sling Blade
2	Slumdog Millionaire
2	Smokey and the Bandit
2	Some Like It Hot
2	Sound of Music
2	Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
2	Stripes
2	The Abyss
2	The Battle of Algiers
2	The Bicycle Thief
2	The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
2	The Dark Knight
2	The Evil Dead
2	The Frighteners
2	The General
2	The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
2	The Grapes of Wrath
2	The King's Speech
2	The Lion King
2	The Longest Day
2	The Magnificent Seven
2	The Music Box
2	The Outlaw Josey Wales
2	The Philadelphia Story
2	The Pink Panther
2	The Rules of the Game
2	The Shootist
2	The Wicker Man
2	Thelma & Louise
2	Throne of Blood
2	To Catch a Thief
2	Tootsie
2	Trainspotting
2	True Lies
2	Wall Street
2	Where Eagles Dare
2	Wild Strawberries
2	Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
2	Wings of the Dove
2	Winter's Bone
2	Woodstock
2	Yellow Submarine
2	Zodiac
1	1776
1	13 Conversations
1	20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1	28 Days Later
1	28 Up
1	400 Blows (and its 4 sequels)
1	A Beautiful Mind
1	A Brief Vacation
1	A Chorus Line
1	A Christmas Story
1	A Day at the Races
1	A Face in the Crowd
1	A Fistful of Dollars
1	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1	A Midnight Clear
1	A Night at the Opera
1	A River Runs Through It
1	Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
1	Across the Universe
1	Adaptation
1	Airplane
1	All of Me
1	All That Jazz
1	All the President's Men
1	Allegro Non Troppo
1	Almost Famous
1	Amelie
1	An Affair of Love
1	An American in Paris
1	Anatomy of a Murder
1	And Justice for All
1	Andy Warhol's Frankenstein
1	Animal Crackers
1	Apocalypso
1	Apollo 13
1	Area 51
1	Army of Darkness
1	Army of Shadows
1	Arsenic and Old Lace
1	As Good as it Gets
1	As it is in Heaven
1	Auntie Mame
1	Austin Powers
1	Away We Go
1	Bad Day at Black Rock
1	Battle Royale
1	Battleline
1	Beauty and the Beast
1	Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1	Before Sunrise/Before Sunset
1	Bell, Book, and Candle
1	Bernard and the Genie
1	Best Years of Our Lives
1	Big Fish
1	Big Jake
1	Bill Cosby: Himself
1	Bird
1	Blade 2
1	Boiler Room
1	Bram Stokers Dracula
1	Brassed Off
1	Breakfast at Tiffany's
1	Breaking the Waves
1	Breathless
1	Bride of Frankenstein
1	Brining Out the Dead
1	Brokeback Mountain
1	Bullworth
1	Burden of Dreams
1	Burn
1	Cabaret
1	Capricon One
1	Captain Blood
1	Cars
1	Catch Me if You Can
1	Charade (original)
1	Charley Varrick
1	Charly
1	Chasing Amy
1	Children of Men
1	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
1	Clerks
1	Close Encounters of the Third King
1	Colussus: The Forbin Project
1	Cool Hand Luke
1	Coraline
1	Crash
1	Creature From the Black Lagoon
1	Dances With Wolves
1	Dave
1	Dawn of the Dead (Original)
1	Dazed and Confused
1	Dead Again
1	Dealing Dogs
1	Death and the Maiden
1	Death on the Nile
1	Deathproof
1	Defiant Ones
1	Deliverance
1	Demolition Man
1	Der Himmel ueber Berlin (Wings of Desire)
1	Diabolique
1	Dial M for Murder
1	Diamonds are Forever
1	Die Hard
1	Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry
1	Do the Right Thing
1	Donnie Darko
1	Don't Look back
1	Downfall
1	Downfill Racer
1	Dragonslayer
1	Driving Miss Daisy
1	Duck Soup
1	Dune (Sci-Fi Channel version)
1	Eating Raoul
1	Edvard Munch
1	El Dorado
1	Election
1	Enchanted
1	Endless Summer
1	Enemy at the Gate (siege of Stalingrad)
1	Enemy Mine
1	Event Horizon
1	Executive Suite
1	Exorcist Three: Legion
1	F/X
1	Face Off
1	Fail-Safe
1	Father Goose
1	Fellini Satyricon
1	Fiddler on the Roof
1	Field of Dreams
1	Finding Nemo
1	First Wives Club
1	Flashback
1	For a Few Dollars More
1	Fragile
1	Frenzy
1	Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel
1	From Hell
1	From Here to Eternity
1	From Russia With Love
1	From the Ashes
1	Full Metal Jacket
1	Gallipoli
1	Gandhi
1	Gaslight
1	Gattaca
1	Gentlemen's Agreement
1	Get Carter
1	Ghost World
1	Ghostbusters
1	Good Night and Good Luck
1	Good Will Hunting
1	Grand Canyon
1	Grapes of Wrath
1	Grease 2
1	Greed
1	Guarding Tess
1	Gypsy 83
1	Hairdresser's Husband
1	Hamlet (Kenneth Branaugh)
1	Hannibal
1	Happiness
1	Hardcore
1	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II
1	Harvey
1	Heavenly Creatures
1	Hellraiser
1	Hell's Angels
1	Henry V (Branagh)
1	Henry V (Olivier)
1	High Plains Drifter
1	His Girl Friday
1	Hitman
1	Holy Smoke
1	Home Alone
1	Hostel
1	Hotel Rwanda
1	How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
1	How to Train Your Dragon
1	Hunting Humans
1	I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
1	If
1	I'm Not There
1	In Bruges
1	In the Mood For Love
1	In the White City
1	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1	Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56 and '78)
1	Invictus
1	Iron Giant
1	It Happened One Night
1	Ivan the Terrible
1	Jason and the Argonauts
1	Jerry Maguire
1	Jesus of Montreal
1	Journey to the Center of the Earth
1	Judgment at Nurenberg
1	Kafka
1	Kelly's Heroes
1	Kentucky Fried Movie
1	Key Largo
1	Kill Bill
1	Kill Bill, Part II
1	Kiss of the Spiderwoman
1	Knight and Day
1	Kramer vs. Kramer
1	Krull
1	La Femme Nikita
1	La Jetee
1	La Salamandre
1	Lady in the Dunes
1	Last Action Hero
1	Last Tango in Paris
1	Legends of the Fall
1	Life as a House
1	Life is Beautiful
1	Little Miss Sunshine
1	Live and Let Die
1	Local Hero
1	Lost in Translation
1	M
1	Macbeth (Orson Welles version)
1	Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
1	Magic Christian
1	Magnolia
1	Magus
1	Major League
1	Maltese Falcon
1	Man Who Planted Trees
1	Man with a Movie Camera - Dziga Vertov
1	March of the Wooden Soldiers
1	Marnie
1	Matewan
1	McLintock
1	Meetings With Remarkable Men
1	Men in Black
1	Midnight Cowboy
1	Midnight Express
1	Miracle Mile
1	Misery
1	Missing
1	Moby Dick
1	Modern Times
1	Mon Oncle d'Amerique
1	Mona Lisa Smile
1	Monsters, Inc.
1	Most John Sayles' movies
1	Most Werner Herzog movies
1	Move Over, Darling
1	Mr. Frost
1	Much Ado About Nothing (Branaugh)
1	Muppet Treasure Island
1	Murder on the Orient Express
1	Mutiny on the Bounty (Brando)
1	My Cousin Vinny
1	My Dinner with Andre
1	My Favorite Year
1	My Life as a Dog
1	My Man Godfrey
1	My Night at Maude's
1	My Sister's Keeper
1	Mysteries of the Organism
1	Mystic River
1	Naked Lunch
1	Napoleon Dynamite
1	Network
1	Night and the City
1	Night of the Generals
1	Night of the Living Dead ('68)
1	No Time for Seargants
1	Nobody's Fool (Newman)
1	Noises Off
1	Nosferatu (original)
1	Notorious
1	Number 23
1	Once
1	Once Upon a Time in the West
1	One Day in the Life of Ivan Denistovich
1	Open Range
1	Operation Petticoat
1	Other People's Lives
1	Overboard
1	Pale Rider
1	Paris Je t'aime
1	Pather Panchali of The Apu Trilogy
1	Paul
1	Pepe Le Moko
1	Phantasm
1	Phantom of the Opera
1	Philadelphia
1	Philadelphia Story
1	Pillow Talk
1	Pinnochio
1	Play it Again Sam
1	Pleasantville
1	Please Don't Eat the Daisies
1	Point Blank
1	Pork Chop Hill
1	Practical Magic
1	Presumed Innocent
1	Pretty in Pink
1	Pride and Prejudice
1	Prime Suspect
1	Princess Bride
1	PT Boat 109
1	Pygmalion
1	Quadrophenia
1	Raise the Red Lantern
1	Raising Arizona
1	Ran
1	Rashomon
1	Ravenous
1	Rebecca
1	Red (2010)
1	Red River
1	Remember the Titans
1	Repo Man
1	Resurrection
1	Return of the Secaucus Seven
1	Reversal of Fortune
1	Richard III (McKellan)
1	Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip
1	Rio
1	Rise of the Planet of the Apes
1	Rocky 2
1	Roger and Me
1	Roshomon
1	Rounders
1	Run Silent, Run Deep
1	Sahara
1	Sanjuro
1	Saturday Night Fever
1	Saved
1	Saw
1	Seargant Rutledge
1	Secret of the Roan Inish
1	Secrets of the Divine Ya-Ya Sisterhood
1	Senna
1	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
1	Seven Chances
1	Seven Men From Now
1	Seventh Seal
1	Shakespeare in Love
1	Shane
1	Shaun of the Dead
1	Shelter Dogs
1	Sherlock Jr.
1	She's Having a Baby
1	Shine
1	Siberiade
1	Silent Night Deadly Night
1	Silverado
1	Simply Irrisistable
1	Sin City
1	Sixteen Candles
1	Sleepless in Seattle
1	Smiles of a Summer's Night
1	Snatch
1	Somewhere in Time
1	South Park
1	Speed
1	Spider-Man
1	Spirited Away
1	Splendor in the Grass
1	St. Elmo's Fire
1	Stalag 17
1	Stand By Me
1	Star Trek
1	Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1	Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back
1	Stealing Heaven ('88)
1	Stopping By in the Evening
1	Stranger Than Fiction
1	Strangers on A Train
1	Streetwise
1	Sunday Bloody Sunday
1	Sunset Boulevard
1	Super 8
1	Sweet Home Alabama
1	Tangled (2010)
1	Tarkovsy's Stalker
1	Taxi Driver
1	Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1	That Obscure Object of Desire
1	That Touch of Mink
1	The 39 Steps (Richard Donat version)
1	The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn
1	The American President
1	The Apartment
1	The A-team
1	The Aviator
1	The Big Sleep (1946)
1	The Birdman of Alcatraz
1	The Birds
1	The Bishop's Wife
1	The Blind Side
1	The Bourne Identity
1	The Bourne Ultimatum
1	The Buddy Holly Story
1	The Candidate
1	The Cheyenne Social Club
1	The Chosen
1	The Commitments
1	The Day the Earth Stood Still
1	The Dead Zone
1	The Deer Hunter
1	The Descendents
1	The Devil Wears Prada
1	The Dirty Dozen
1	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
1	The Dream Team
1	The Emperor's New Groove
1	The Emporer and the Assassin
1	The Enemy Below
1	The Expendables
1	The Family Stone
1	The Fassbinder Trilogy
1	The Fifth Element
1	The Fifth Quarter
1	The Final Countdown
1	The Four Seasons
1	The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1	The Full Monty
1	The Game
1	The Gold Rush
1	The Goonies
1	The Grand Illusion
1	The Great Dictator
1	The Guns of Navarone
1	The Hudsucker Proxy
1	The Illusionist
1	The Insider
1	The Italian Job (1969)
1	The Killers
1	The Killing Fields
1	The King and I
1	The Lady Killers
1	The Long Kiss Goodnight
1	The Love of the Game
1	The Madness of King George
1	The Magician
1	The Magnificent Ambersons
1	The Man Who Came to Dinner
1	The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance
1	The Mask of Zorro
1	The Meaning of Life
1	The Milky Way
1	The Missing
1	The Mother and the Whore (Jean Eustache)
1	The Mummy ('99)
1	The Navigator (Keaton)
1	The Ninth Gate
1	The Notebook
1	The Odd Couple
1	The Phantom of Liberty
1	The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
1	The Quiet American
1	The Rainmaker
1	The Road Warrior
1	The Rocky Horror Picture Show
1	The Sacrifice
1	The Sand Pebbles
1	The Sixth Sense
1	The Station Agent
1	The Sunshine Boys
1	The Tailor of Panama
1	The Teminator
1	The Ten Commandments
1	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original)
1	The Triumph of the Will
1	The Umbrellas of Cherborg
1	The Unbearable Lightness of Being
1	The Vanishing
1	The Voyage Home (ST4)
1	The Wages of Fear
1	The Wall
1	The Watcher
1	The Wild Geese
1	The Women
1	Thin Man
1	Three Days of the Condor
1	Three the Hard Way
1	Thunderball
1	Titus Andronicus (Hopkins)
1	To Live
1	To the End of the World
1	Tommy Boy
1	Too Big to Fail
1	Topper
1	Tora, Tora, Tora
1	Touches Pas Au Grisbi
1	Toy Story 3
1	Training Day
1	Transformers
1	Treasure of Sierra Madre
1	Trois Coleurs
1	Tropic Thunder
1	Truth about Cats and Dogs
1	Twelve O'Clock High
1	Twilight (Newman)
1	Uncle Buck
1	Unstrung Heroes
1	Vacation
1	Velvet Goldmine
1	Victor/Victoria
1	Waking Life
1	Walkabout
1	Wall-E
1	War of the Worlds (1953)
1	Wargames
1	Water for Elephants
1	Wayne's World
1	Welcome to the Dollhouse
1	What the %$@# Do You Know
1	White Chicks
1	White Christmas
1	White Heat
1	White Men Can't Jump
1	Wildcats
1	Win Win
1	Wings of Desire
1	Winter Light
1	Witches of Eastwick
1	Witness
1	Witness for the Prosecution
1	X-Men: First Class
1	Yankee Doodle Dandy
1	Yojimbo
1	You've Got Mail
1	Zombieland (2009)
1	Zookeeper

The Top Ten Things Women Do Which Frustrate Men

By Douglas Kent (originally published on the Guys Explained website)

A female reader wrote and asked that in a "fair is fair" attitude, I should provide a top ten list of things that women do which frustrate men. I don't think this is really so much a "payback" list, because it could also provide insight into how the male works, and perhaps give you ideas and strategies on how to accomplish the same goals without damaging the male ego. Remember, not all of these will apply to evey man, but you'll know which do and which don't to the male in question. So in David Letterman style, we'll go backwards and count down.

#10. Women Love Romance. This frustrates men, because they worry that women set the bar on romance from movies and television. When a man and a woman watch a scene like the proposal scene in Serendipity or the radio scene in Say Anything, the woman is enjoying the romance and the emotion of the characters...the man is thinking "Great, how the hell am I going to top that? Is this what she expects from me?"

#9. Women Love Dancing. Most men hate to dance, or fear it. Maybe they just don't know how to do it, or maybe they are terrified of making the wrong move. But women love dancing, and they think it is romantic and magical. This also frustrates men because women love to watch the four hundred dancing shows now on television, when he'd rather watch some guys blowing each other up.

#8. Women Take a Long Time to Get Ready. I understand why this is. A woman's clothing choices, makeup, and hair prep are complicated. Even when I wore a suit and tie I could get ready in 10 minutes or less. But most guys don't get it; they just know you take forever. But if you speed it up or skimp on the makeup, you're likely to get some comment later about how you never want to look nice for him.

#7. Women Cry. Okay, some guys cry - I do all the time. But most guys hate to see a woman cry, because they either can't understand why, or they assume its something they did, or else its the mysterious hormone thing. If the man doesn't understand it, he can't fix it. And the possibility that this leads to #1 on this list terrifies him.

#6. Women Are Bad Drivers. This is not true, but it is so accepted that it pisses men off to no end. A guy who drives badly is just being "an asshole" and doing it on purpose. A woman makes the same moves because she is a terrible driver, and shouldn't be behind the wheel.

#5. Women Spend Money. If the woman does the grocery shopping, the man is convinced he could do it twice as fast at half the price. Women's clothes are 50% more expensive for no reason, but guys blame that on the woman's expensive taste. A 50% off sale is a blessing to a woman...to a man, it's an excuse to spend. Again, an attempt to cut back in this area will result in the same complaints anyway, plus whining about how you never dress up for him anymore.

#4. Women Do Not Understand Money. Again, not true. But in many households the man wants to control all the money, all the bills, all of everything. This is because he is "better at it" and so he can hide any activity he knows he shouldn't have done (the new putter, the unexplained bar tab, the room at the Super 8 motel). So the woman is left with no real idea of what they have, what they can afford, or where the money goes. All they know is the man "isn't made of money."

#3. Women Get Jealous. So the guy flirts with a waitress, hits on his secretary, or fantasizes about that new girl in accounting. Big deal! He can look as long as he doesn't touch, right? Why should you get jealous over that. It isn't like he's cheating or anything. Inevitably, if he does cheat, it is because you "drove him to it" because of your constant bitching about his innocent flirting and ogling.

#2. Women Make Plans. Most guys like to fly by the seat of their pants. Why did you agree for us to have dinner with the Wilds on Thursday? I hate that guy. You KNOW I've got to watch football on Saturday, I don't want to go to that stupid thing at the botanical gardens. Can't you go with one of your Yenta friends? As usual, the flip-side is if you don't make plans, his suggestions involve odd sexual requests or a lot of staying home...at which point you become "boring" and he looks for excitement elsewhere.

and finally:

#1. "We Have to Talk" The most feared words in the English language to a male. Most men would rather jump out a window (3rd floor or lower) than be subjected to twhatever is going to follow. Even a fake stroke or heart attack is not out of the question.

So there you have it. Another in-depth look into the male mind.

You Don't Know Me

The Eternal Sunshine Interview

After months of planning and trying to connect properly, this issue we have an interview with the amazing Rebecca Loebe, musician extraordinaire and a contestant on the first season of The Voice. Oh, and Heather and I both have crushes on her.

What is your name: Rebecca Loebe.

What is your astrological sign: Leo for sure! Capricorn rising! (I think).

How old are you (exact or approximate): 28

What is your earliest childhood memory: It's a tie between the day my twin brothers were born (I was 3 years and two weeks old), our babysitter sat my sister and I down on the front porch and tried to explain to us what was up. I also remember diving headfirst out of our van, as if the asphalt parking lot below were a swimming pool. That may have been shortly before they were born, not sure.

Describe your immediate family (present day): I have three younger siblings and two fabulous parents. Everyone is opinionated, hilarious and talented in their own ways. We're a little geographically spread out right now, but we're still really close. Everyone gets along really well.

What do you do for a living: I write songs and sing them for people.

Where were you born: Fairfax county hospital in Arlington, VA.

What did you want to be when you were growing up: When I was little I tended to want to do the job of whoever was pissing me off at the moment -- if I had a bad babysitter, I'd think that I should be a babysitter so I could be the best babysitter ever and SHOW them...then I'd have a bad teacher and want to be a teacher when I grew up...You get the pattern. Somewhere around high school I started feeling like I wanted to make music for a living, and I've been working with that ever since.

Douglas Kent: In what ways did your father influence your musical taste, and your choice of career?

Rebecca Loebe: When we were kids, there were always musical instruments around. I remember coming home from pre-school singing some children's song I had learned there, and sitting down with my dad while he figured out the chords. I'm guessing they were G, C and D. I say that because, about a decade later, when I was in middle school and began showing interest in playing guitar/singing songs, my dad had a marvelous talent of distilling any modern pop song I wanted to learn down into those three chords. When it was time for me to go to college, he didn't bat an eye when I applied to seven music colleges and nothing else, and he drove me to Boston himself 2 weeks after my 17th birthday, to begin at Berklee. His support and non-judgment has probably been the biggest way in which he has influenced my choice of careers.

Douglas Kent: Who else would you list as your strongest early musical influences?

Rebecca Loebe: I grew up listening to a lot of pop music from the 50's and 60's, girl groups specifically. In fact, for the first 6 years of my life I thought that the music industry was completely run by women. So much so that when I first heard "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, I thought 'Wow, that's really good for a boy!'

Douglas Kent: Aside from introducing you to a number of new fans, how has your involvement with The Voice changed your outlook on the industry? Or has it?

Rebecca Loebe: I had a wonderful experience as a contestant on "The Voice," and you are right that it introduced me to a much wider audience than I may ever have accessed before. In terms of my outlook, I'd say that for me The Voice was a perfect illustration of the entertainment industry vs. the music industry. I think that the actual process of filming/ performing on "The Voice" had very little to do with the music
industry, that was all entertainment industry stuff. What happens post-Voice (either by getting signed to a label or building your own music career with the notoriety you have gained) is when you start operating within the music industry.

Douglas Kent: A number of people have coincidentally commented recently that once your personal life and relationships are going well, it is much harder to write songs. Do you agree with that?

Rebecca Loebe: Yes. I find that when my personal relationships are going well I write a lot more from other people's perspectives.

Douglas Kent: Of all the independent artists I've talked to, you seem to be at the forefront of using social networking and technology to expose more people to your music, and to give the avid fan the additional access
they crave. Your .net website is a perfect example of what I mean. Was that your idea, or did someone suggest it? Or, did you see someone else doing the same thing?

Rebecca Loebe: I've really enjoyed having an additional outlet to share content with my fans at www.rebeccaloebe.net. I've got to give credit to a singer/songwriter named Matthew Ebel -- he's been running a subscription-based .net site for a few years now, and when I began scheming to build one of my own I reached out to him for advice.

Douglas Kent: You mention that Mystery Prize was entirely fan funded. Was that through Kickstarter, or some other method?

Rebecca Loebe: I spent two years raising funds for Mystery Prize, beginning in the spring of 2007. At the time Kickstarter did not exist, though it's the same pre-order based premise.

Douglas Kent: Mystery Prize has a more country feel than Hey, it's a Lonely World (to me anyway), or perhaps just it's the production. Are you finding your musical tastes and writing style changing as time goes on, or does it stay rather static?

Rebecca Loebe: I find writing to be a completely organic, evolving process. Nothing static about it. When I'm recording songs, I always try to figure out what the songs 'want' in order to tell their stories most effecively,
and with the songs on "Mystery Prize," a more americana/country approach emerged.

Douglas Kent: Speaking of musical taste, who are some of your favorite artists (well known or independent)?

Rebecca Loebe: Most of my favorite artists happen to be independent, let's see...Raina Rose, Matt The Electrician, Randy Newman, AJ Roach, Nels Andrews, Carrie Elkin, Danny Schmidt, Robby Hecht, Jenn Grinels, Alexa Woodward, Anais Mitchell, Feist, The Lascivious Biddies, Patty Griffin, Joni Mitchell, Gillian Welch are all long-time favorites. Mainstream-wise, I also really enjoyed Mumford and Songs and Adele's
releases in the past year.

Douglas Kent: I was struck by the delicious harmonic mix between you, Jenn [Grinels], and Raina [Rose] at a recent show I caught. In a way it reminded me of the way Crosby, Stills, and Nash fit so uniquely together. Have you ever considered a CD entirely of collaborations, or as a trio? Raina has done The Gypsy Moths of course, so she has some experience outside of solo performing.

Rebecca Loebe: We love singing together! We've never discussed a project together, although I'm sure none of us are opposed. Whenever we sing together we talk about touring together more. Hopefully soon!

Douglas Kent: Which leads me to, what's your performance history? Were you part of any bands before going it on your own?

Rebecca Loebe: I've been playing and singing solo my whole life, and just in the past year I've begun putting together a band. Two bands, actually -- one in my old hometown in Atlanta, and one in Austin where I have moved to. I've still only played with a band maybe 15 times in my life, so I learn something new about it every time. It's been a really fun new way to make music.

Douglas Kent: What musical instruments would you consider yourself skilled in?

Rebecca Loebe: Guitar, guitar, kazoo and guitar. I can spell chords out on the piano, but it's nothing to write home about.

Douglas Kent: On stage you carry a tremendously fun, energetic, loving-every-minute kind of attitude. Do you think that is a good representation of you as a person too?

Rebecca Loebe: That about sums it up J

Douglas Kent: Is there a specific dream or goal musically you have set for yourself, one you'd like to achieve someday?

Rebecca Loebe: I just hope to make a reliable living performing original music for people who feel a connection to what I do. I'm working towards that every day.

Douglas Kent: Your vocal style has a tremendous range, but not just in tone. You seem to move between serious, joking, and this hidden sultriness which I find sooo appealing. Were you voice trained at all, or is this just natural ability?

Rebecca Loebe: I took voice lessons in high school and a bit in college, which were very focused on control, breathing, exploring range, etc. I think that 5 years of full time performing is teaching me more about expression, honestly -- how to use my voice to convey an attitude or an idea separate from the words I'm articulating.

Douglas Kent: Any plans yet on your next full-length CD? Your EP was a change-of-pace treat.

Rebecca Loebe: I'm in the studio right now, working on a new full length CD to be released (hopefully!) sometime in the first half of 2012. It's going to be a fun record, somewhere between the irreverence of the Bees & Zombies EP and the more pensive side of "Mystery Prize."

Douglas Kent: How did you enjoy the experience of making your first true music video (for The Bees)?

Rebecca Loebe: It was really challenging! Believe it or not, I shot the video a few days before taping began on "The Voice." It was a great warm-up for being on camera!

Douglas Kent: I have a lot of other questions, but I think I've overstayed my welcome, so a few typical closers: Five of your favorite books?

Rebecca Loebe: The Awakening, The Time Traveller's Wife, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Pride and Prejudice.

Douglas Kent: And five of your favorite movies?

Rebecca Loebe: Tank Girl, The Godfather II, The Professional, Bullworth…and can I please count 30 Rock as a movie? Cuz I love it.

Douglas Kent: You’re the boss, so I can’t see why not! Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, and I hope everybody reading visits www.rebeccaloebe.com (and then perhaps www.rebeccaloebe.net) to find out what you’ve been missing if you aren’t familiar with Becca’s music!

The Dining Dead -
The Eternal Sunshine Movie Reviews

It seems to get harder and harder to find films we want to see enough to justify the expense of going to see them. Between that and another busy month we were 100% DVD again.

Seen on DVD – Scream 4 (D, of the entire series, this had the fewest scares, the most plodding plot, and the least number of laughs). Hanna (B, well-acted and directed, the “mystery” was not crucial to enjoying the film). Midway (B+, I’ve seen it too many times for it to get a higher grade but it is still an excellent representation of the battle and how much dumb luck played into it). Love and Other Drugs (A-, between the moving script and the always terrific Jake Gyllenhaal this was a much better movie than I expected it to be). Doghouse (B, pretty funny British zombie film, where all the zombies are women).

Meet Me In Montauk
The Eternal Sunshine Letter Column

Cal White: Doug, would it be possible to put some sort of "advertisement" in ES and/or DW about my favorite web site for Diplomacy? You've probably heard of BOUNCED (www.dipbounced.com). It's been around since 1999 and the creator (Christian Shelton) won the Miller Award for putting the site up. I have been playing Dip for nearly 40 years and that site is by far the best place I have ever found for playing the game. He has had a couple of hardware issues (hard drive failures which were quickly fixed) which have led to the loss of a few players. The site needs (and deserves!) some new blood. Thanks for any help you can provide.

[[I think this qualifies!]]

Kevin Tighe: A good transition between 100 films and 30 TV shows could be 5 Guilty Pleasure films - movies that have few fans and generally negative reviews, but we enjoy them. You know, like Grease 2 or any Matrix sequel.

[[Hmmm, I’ll have to keep that in mind!]]

Andy York: About the movies, I gave "Everything Must Go" a 'B' when I saw it last year. It wasn't a typical Ferrell movie, but his comments at the preview showing about making it might have given me a different spin on some of it.

Speaking of running Dip at Cons (you mentioned Texicon in the letter col), Jeff J ran one session at OwlCon last weekend. I think he had five or six (thought pre-reg had the game full). It turned out a good game from what I saw (I was running a game on the adjacent table) with A/G/I doing quite well (as I recall).

[[You would have won easily…you’re Andy York!]]

Andy Lischett: Brad Wilson chose The Big Sleep for a lot of great lines. Coincidentally, soon after reading Brad's choice TCM ran the movie with (unless someone convinces me otherwise) the greatest movie line of all... "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!"

Walter Huston won an Oscar for best supporting actor in the Treasure of the Sierra Madres, but the Mexican bandit (Alfonso Bedoya, according to Wikipedia) should have.

Paul Milewski: Friday Sandee and I both took a day off to go to Dayton to take her daughter Sarah for a scheduled checkup at the hospital for her high-rsik pregnancy. The day in Dayton was interesting. The first thing I noticed when we reached their apartment (it’s a very small building with just a few parking places) is that I didn’t see Sarah’s car. At the hospital, while Sandee and I were sitting in a waiting room while Sarah and Troy (the biological father, or so we're told) went for her first test, Sandee tells me she asked Sarah and Sarah told her, “That’s another story.” Later Sandee found out from Sarah that Sarah simply turned the car over to the bank, as Sarah couldn’t afford to keep making the payments (or maintain it in running order, for that matter, but I add that as an aside of my own), so now she has no car and still owes about three thousand on the car loan (the bank didn’t get much for the car when it was sold). Her guy Troy (I don't know the term currently in vogue for that type of relationship--"boygriend" sounds too casual) didn’t seem to shut up the whole time we were there. He is quite a talker. He also kept playing with his cell phone, taking the battery out and putting it back in. He told me he has an app that lets him check the weather any time. Great. No job, no prospects, no car, no driver's license, but he knows if it’s going to rain or snow. I am thoroughly disappointed in the guy. At any rate, it looks as if Sarah will go to the hospital to have labor induced on or about February 29. She’s been doing better, and the doctor doesn’t think a caesarean will be necessary. If we hadn’t gone up to take Sarah to the hospital Friday, we wouldn’t have known about the car. Sandee is disappointed that Sarah isn’t being “truthful” but it’s more a case of Sarah not wanting to tell Sandee anything. I suppose that’s a thin line. You might think she's simply reluctant to tell her mom all the bad news, but Sarah is dirt poor and desperate and pretty much one of the most unrealistic and impractical people I've ever known. Sarah told Sandee that Troy won't get a refund from the IRS because he is behind on child support for his 17-year-old daughter (he fathered out of wedlock, as the quaint but accurate expression goes). That may be, assuming he's telling the truth about that, but I don't have a lot of confidence in his truthfulness. He lost the job he had waiting tables because he quit showing up for work. He also got himself arrested for stumbling around the neighborhood drunk. Sandee tells me Sarah told her that he got into their "jar" and spent what little savings they had. I just wonder what will be next.

[[May you be blessed to live in interesting times? Or is the expression “cursed” instead of “blessed?” Either way, that what you have.]]

Dave McCrumb: Please take any criticism that you get from your writing class with a grain of salt. Listen to what is said but you must then decide if the criticism is valid. I do not subscribe to the generalization of “Those that can, do; those that can’t, teach” statement, but in the case of writing it is more often true than not. Successful authors don’t have the time or can’t afford the pay-cut to teach writing courses. Occasionally they will teach a weekend workshop or even a week long class because they enjoy it, but that is rare and events are far apart. Besides, their advice is the same as for anything else in life, you improve by practice. You should be writing every day. You should be reading books similar to the style you intend to emulate but don’t limit yourself as other genera may give you a different perspective to help improve your own work. Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés. Or to paraphrase - Chance favors the prepared mind.

Many creative writing teachers have one excuse or another on why they are teaching rather than writing. It usually boils down to they can’t get published. There are many reasons for that, some valid. Most of it is about desire. If you really want it you will learn how to make the connections necessary to become published. Of course, today anyone can get e-published or self-published. If that is all you want, that is fine. It all depends on your goals and what you hope to accomplish.

The best way to tell if your teacher is good is if they help guide you rather than criticize your work. If all you hear is criticism, you have wasted your money. The goal of a teacher is to make you better, not point out your flaws. You already recognize most of them which is why you are trying to get help. As an example, Sharyn taught a 5-day course (2 hours per day) last summer at Chautauqua, NY. One man told her about another week long course he had attended. The teacher was critical about everything they wrote that week, no positive reinforcement given to anybody. For the last day he had written out part of a chapter of one of Sharyn’s books. The teacher was ripping it to shreds: horrible grammar, not writing in dialect, ridiculous plot, etc. At the same time he was passing around his copy of the book with the section highlighted with a list of her awards. He told Sharyn while the class didn’t get a lot out of that class, they did learn that they needed to be selective about where they received advice.

So my advice is: determine your audience, practice, accept all comments but with a grain of salt and above all be persistent.

[[To be honest, I am as interested – or more – in the reactions and comments from the other people taking the class. However, the teacher seems to be very positive-focused, and so far I think she may be quite helpful with motivation and focus.]]

Jim Burgess: re – 23 Tunes - There are different ways to run it, yours was as good as any. I had a great deal of fun with it, like David McCrumb I found myself thinking about my songs all month. And I tried hard to skate across a wide range of my musical interests. I would be really surprised (and somewhat interested) if anyone was familiar with all of the tunes. An interesting fact I just realized today in looking at the whole list. I've seen at least one of the band people who did these songs in person (and heard most of the songs performed in person) and in a REALLY wide variety of forums and locations (some even within the same band, as with U2 from one of their very first concerts in the US where they obviously performed "I Will Follow" to a more recent stadium type concert where they played "Sunday Bloody Sunday") and for the classical pieces I've performed them all (the Messiah and Sacred Head Sore Wounded singing two different parts, not at the same time). The memorable ones are the ones where I was in some sort of tiny venue right next to the stage (Nektar, Synergy, Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Crooked Still, U2 (the first time), The Go-Go's, Silly WIzard, The Pogues, The Waitresses, Richard Barone, the Tom Robinson Band, and most especially Mark Cutler who is the only one of the group that I've talked to personally).

The Intergalactic Touring Band, of course, NEVER ever toured, which was part of the joke, but I saw more than half of the members and other people participating in the actual studio-only album live in their other music lives.

Amber had the most songs I don't know, Andy Lischett's list was actually much more diverse than I thought it was as it unfolded piecemeal, and Rick Desper had the most songs that went and grabbed me and made me listen to them again. It has been difficult to get Carmina Burana out of my head ever since (which I wish I could sing some time!).

I think Richard's TV show idea would be good as long as you HAVE to choose obscure TV shows (you would have to define in some way), not allowed to choose M*A*S*H* or the Tonight Show or the Super Bowl.

[[I don’t know about obscure, but I think part of the requirement will be that it is a show worth watching NOW. We all know how some shows that were terrific in their day don’t hold up in the slightest.]]

The Twisting Tale

This is a rotating story, with a different author every issue, and a chapter of 500 words. If you’d like to participate, please email me and let me know, and I’ll let you know when your turn comes up. We need more particpants! Email me at dougray30@yahoo.com if you’d like to participate!

WE NEED MORE PARTICIPANTS! ONLY MEANS YOU DO AN ENTRY EVERY 3 OR 4 MONTHS! IF WE DON’T GET MORE PARTICIPANTS, THIS WILL END SOON!

Chapter 10 by Kevin Tighe

OUR STORY SO FAR: Our main character was blamed for the murder of Wilber Woode in San Diego. He then borrowed a car and landed in Seattle at a place owned by Joe, a very talkative man who is into movies, trivia and a Wizard of Oz devotee. Joe says he has a special job for our unnamed hero, but first he wants to show off his Dorothy costume. Meanwhile people are being murdered by an unknown man silently wielding a syringe. So far there’s been only one murder per coastal town in the Western U.S. Their only warning is the message “I love you.” left on their PC. He’s working off a list of 12 names and so far 9 people are dead. The last one was a woman named Laura Palmer, who also was missing a liver. The man who found Laura was on the hit list but managed to survive the syringe and the ensuing house explosion. We last left our killer going after a baker in the early morning hours.

Chapter 10 LIONS, TIGERS AND BEAR CLAWS, DUDE

Newport, Oregon

Three teenagers Summer, Clover and Mead were just a block away from the bakery. Mead whiningly says, “Whoa, I can’t believe it’s morning already, Skyrim is so like engrossing, you know?

“Dude” replies Clover flowerily, “Totally, like, I mean, wow.” “You know?”

“Hey dudes, why is that dude laying on the pavement? What’s wrong with him? I don’t want to step over him to get my donut,” said Summer hotly.

“We agreed to bear claws you numb wit. Hey, I think it’s like Mr. Foster, man he looks dead.” Clover kicks him. “Yeah, he’s like dead.”

“Look there’s a cigarette butt next to him, he must have died of smoking, you know?”

“Dude you don’t like die while you’re smoking. You sort of die after like 40 years and you’re lying in a bed coughing your black lung out and there’s blood and it’s gross.”

“Yeah, totally, my uncle died like that. Only way you die of smoking while cruising down the street is if you get hit by a cigarette truck.”

“Hey, good one, so Mead why don’t you 911 this. Summer and I better blow.”

“Dude!?”

“You’re the only one without weed, so call. We’ll meet back in the basement. Cool?”

_________________________________

Seattle, Wash.

The man was sitting in a Starbuck’s just staring at a note in his hand. A waiter came up to him, “Excuse me sir, but you’ve been sitting here for the last hour and you don’t have a laptop or a newspaper. You need to order more or free up the table.”

“Hmmm? Oh yeah, I guess so. Say you ever meet the guy next door?”

“Yeah, Joe? Did you know he really hates Asians? We don’t let him in here anymore. Say you look pretty shaken. He didn’t show you his Dorothy outfit? . . . Oh, that is just sad. So what’s so important about that paper you’ve been staring at this whole time?”

“It’s something I have to do and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to do it. But you see I have no choice. No choice at all.”

This is the second month in a row the selected player failed to submit their chapter. So, last chance. It’s open to anybody. Send a chapter in. Or, if nobody does, I’m ending the story here.

Next up – Paraic Reddington

The Eternal Sunshine

Dead Pool

Another update: Jack McHugh picks up a point for Gary Carter, and Martin Burgdorf snags one for Johannes Heesters. Nelson Mandela was hospitalized a few days before the deadline, but then released. So there are still some players with two points, some with one, and a few still have none. Nobody has three yet. Remember, if someone on your list expires, drop me a note in case I haven't heard about it! Here’s a copy of the current table:

LIFEBOAT!

A game of survival, bad breath, and fish odor…

This is the simple game of Lifeboat. Everyone plays this, whether you participate or not. Each turn everyone still alive in the lifeboat may make a single vote to throw someone off the lifeboat, or a single vote to remove one vote from yourself (a defensive measure). The high vote getter is thrown overboard, as well as any player getting 2 or more net votes (due to the damage caused when Sanka was tossed overboard). In a tie, everyone with that score is thrown over. Last one in the boat wins. I’ll probably give a prize, as usual. Press is encouraged. Note that the votes themselves are NOT revealed. I just simply announce who is thrown overboard. If you’re not listed as in the lifeboat right now but want to be, email me and I will add you next issue. If you are listed and don’t’ want to be…well, too bad. There is no suicide in this game; you just can ignore it if you want to.

Currently in the lifeboat:

PRESS

OCCUPY ETERNAL SUNSHINE to ETERNAL SUNSHINE INDEX: Nowhere is your attack on the Ninety-Nine percenters more blatant than in this rank capitalism-infested index! The very existence if the ESI is an affront to all good and decent ES members anywhere. Trading in the sick coinage of human creativity and social participation is disgusting beyond belief! We are here and we are outraged, and we will camp in the pages of this zine until you meet our demands. And right now our demands are that you bump up the DUK listing by at least 4% for this press item alone. Or we will never leave. Ever.

ESI – OES: Be careful what you wish for. Never leave? Not a fun thought.

Brain Farts: The Only Subsubzine With It’s Own Fragrance

By Jack “Flapjack” McHugh – jack@diplomacyworld.net

(or just email Doug and he’ll send it to me)

Issue #40

I’m back…I still have my job, I’m still going to lose my house sometime in the near future, and my home life is like the torture scenes in Hellraiser but without the fun. I do derive an ounce or two of pleasure with the idea that I offend at least a few of you jackasses with this monthly column. I guess I can call it a subzine now, since super-dope Jim-Bob has withered into a subzine himself. Who cares anyway? I hope you are all following the debates and the upcoming election, because it is completely pointless. Nothing is going to get better. We’d do as well if Katy Perry became President. This country might have five or ten years left before it completely falls apart. I’m just not sure whether to make my goal to live that long, or NOT to live that long.

I thought about offering a Dip variant or something, but why bother when Doogie can’t even fill his? So fuck you all. Missed your chance. So here’s a contest instead. See how many times you can kiss your own ass in one hour. The winner gets photos posted on Facebook.

MAMA'S BIBLE

Four brothers left home for college, and they became successful doctors and lawyers. One evening, they chatted after having dinner together. They discussed the 95th birthday gifts they were able to give their elderly mother who moved to Florida .

The first said, "You know I had a big house built for Mama."

The second said, "And I had a large theater built in the house."

The third said, "And I had my Mercedes dealer deliver an SL600 to her."

The fourth said, "You know how Mama loved reading the Bible and you know she can't read anymore because she can't see very well. I met this preacher who told me about a parrot who could recite the entire Bible. It took ten preachers almost 8 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $50,000 a year for five years to the church, but it was worth it Mama only has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot will recite it."

The other brothers were impressed. After the celebration Mama sent out her "Thank You" notes.

She wrote: “Milton , the house you built is so huge that I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house. Thanks anyway."

"Marvin, I am too old to travel. I stay home; I have my groceries delivered, so I never use the Mercedes. The thought was good. Thanks."

"Michael, you gave me an expensive theater with Dolby sound and it can hold 50 people, but all of my friends are dead, I've lost my hearing, and I'm nearly blind. I'll never use it. Thank you for the gesture just the same."

"Dearest Melvin, you were the only son to have the good sense to give a little thought to your gift. The chicken was delicious Thank you so much."

THE ATHEIST

An atheist was walking through the woods..”What majestic trees! What powerful rivers!

What beautiful animals!” he said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.

He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him..

He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him.

He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer. He tripped & fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out, 'Oh my God!'

Time Stopped…The bear froze…The forest was silent.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. 'You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident.' 'Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer'?

The atheist looked directly into the light, 'It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian'?

The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:

"Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen"

There was a man who lost one of his arms in an accident. He became very depressed because he loved to play golf. One day in his despair, he decided to commit suicide. He got on an elevator and went to the top of a building to jump off.

He was standing on the ledge looking down and saw this man skipping along, whooping and kicking up his heels. He looked closer and saw that this man didn't have any arms at all.

He started thinking, what am I doing up here feeling sorry for myself, I still have one good arm to do things with. There goes a man with no arms skipping down the sidewalk so happy, and going on with his life.

He hurried down and caught up with the man with no arms. He told him how glad he was to see him because he lost one of his arms and felt useless and was going to kill himself. He thanked him again for saving his life and said he knew he could make it with one arm if that guy could go on with no arms.

The man with no arms began dancing and whooping and kicking up his heels again. He asked, 'Why are you so happy anyway?'

He said, 'I'm NOT happy. My balls itch.

HEARTTHROBS PART 10

by Richard Walkerdine

This really is probably the last in the series (well maybe just one more) though I am wracking my brain to come up with something else as a replacement – alas, so far to no avail. But I am sure I can think of something eventually. So this month we start with the delightful Francoise Hardy.

A French singer and actress, born in Paris in 1944 and, in my opinion, one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen. The auburn hair, the piercing blue eyes and the pouting lips all combine to perfect effect.

She began her singing career in the early 60s and although most of her songs were recorded in French she also sang in English, Italian, Spanish and German – a very bright girl by any measure.

She also appeared in several films including ‘What’s New Pussycat’ and ‘Grand Prix’, mainly for her looks I suspect. In 1965 she had an international hit with ‘All Over The World’ which she sang in English (yes, I do have it in my collection) and which reached No 16 in the UK charts and was a hit in many other countries. Her soft, gentle voice is simply lovely.

Although now well into her late 60s she is still recording and her last album (La Pluie Sans Parapluie) was released in 2010. A very, very lovely lady.

But I have saved the best till last, the absolutely iconic Kylie.

When you get to the point when you no longer need to use your last name and yet everyone still knows who you are then you have truly reached the level of a superstar. Elvis is of course a perfect example but Kylie is certainly up there.

The picture dates from the early 90s when a girlfriend who was starting her career as a fashion designer asked Kylie if she would be one of her models at her first fashion show. Kylie was happy to agree and, as usual, held nothing back.

Kylie Minogue was born in 1968 and first came to fame in 1986 playing Charlene Mitchell in the Australian soap opera ‘Neighbours’ where she played opposite Jason Donovan. The episode in 1987 where the two characters finally got married was watched by 20 million viewers in the UK alone (and that was more than one in three of the entire population).

(Doug, don’t you DARE refuse to print this picture – it is absolutely lovely).

In 1988 she released her first single ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ which stayed at No 1 in the UK charts for five weeks. Hit after hit have followed and of course her stage shows, and costumes, have become ever more spectacular. An icon in every sense of the word.

But in 2005 she was diagnosed as having breast cancer. Surgery followed soon after and then she had to undergo chemotherapy. She finished her treatment in France by the end of that year and, thank god, made a full recovery and her records and concerts are as popular as ever.

In 2008 the French Cultural Minister, Christine Albanel, stated that doctors were now saying there was a ‘Kylie effect’ which was encouraging young women to have regular checks for the disease. It’s so nice to know that good can come from bad.

I absolutely love her to bits.

PASTOR PATTER

by Richard Walkerdine

Pastor Brown was driving to church one Sunday in his BMW when he saw Pastor White on a bicycle. He pulled over and asked him, “What happened to your Chevy?”

“Things have been very tight lately,” replied Pastor White. “I had to sell it to pay for the church mortgage.”

“You need to preach your sermon on the importance of sharing one’s wealth with God and the church, Pastor White. How else do you think I got my BMW?”

The next week he saw Pastor White again, but this time he was walking.

“What happened?” asked Pastor Brown. “Did you have to sell your bike?”

“No,” replied Pastor White, “I think one of my congregation must have stolen it.”

“Oh that is terrible,” said Pastor Brown. “Look, in your next sermon preach the ten commandments and when you get to ‘Thou shalt not steal’ lay it on extra heavy. I am sure your bike will be returned.”

Sure enough the next week Pastor Brown saw Pastor White back on his bicycle. “You see,” he said, “I knew the ten commandments would do the trick.”

Pastor White, looking a bit sheepish, replied, “Well it did help, but not in quite the way you thought. It was when I got to ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’ I remembered where I had left my bike.”

THE BLOND BARMAID

by Richard Walkerdine

A guy walks into a bar and orders a beer. The barmaid who serves him is a blond. It is just before 6pm and a TV is on at the back of the bar. After a minute or so the 6 o’clock news comes on and the first item is showing a man standing on a ledge high up on an apartment block and threatening to jump.

“I bet he jumps,” says the guy.

“Oh no way,” replies the blond barmaid.

“Well,” says the guy as he takes a $20 bill out of his wallet and puts it on the bar, “I reckon he will. You want to bet on it?”

“Sure I will,” says the blond as she covers the bill with one of her own.

A minute or so later the news bulletin shows the man jumping off the ledge and falling to his death. The blond shrieks as she sees it.

The guy laughs. “It’s okay honey,” he says, “I won’t take your cash. That was a recording. I saw the original on the 5 o’clock news earlier.”

“Well so did I,” replies the blond. “But I never thought he’d do it twice.”

Author’s note: Apologies to any blond readers – I don’t actually believe that hair colour (or gender for that matter) has anything to do with intelligence.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #330

February 26, 2012

Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287, jfburgess of gmail.com

E-MAIL/WEB ONLY ISSUE! PDF will be available on the website. Join the tidal wave of Dippers going to World DipCon in Chicago in August, we can overwhelm Shark Chum with 330 warm bodies!

Web Page Address: http://www.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

Some of you are still not on the E-Mail list for this szine, I keep trying to sign you up, please accept the offer! I am being a bit more systematic about that right now. I am going ahead and finishing all the games here, and then we'll see what happens.

This issue establishes the continuation of the szine/subszine inversion. As most of you know, this thing began as a ßubszine" to Terry Tallman's North Sealth, West George, then became its own szine with a host of subszines. The subszines remaining will appear as sub-subszines to our new flipflopped home in Doug Kent's Eternal Sunshine. Doug will keep us on schedule so we will charge forward and finish the remaining games that I have in here. After that, we'll see how it goes and what I do next. I'd like to keep writing and doing some game GMing. You all should see first what I actually do.

For production, in addition to the HTML's of each separate product on the web page, I will also have a PDF that you can print of the entire subszine (including my famous handdrawn maps!). You can just print the maps if you like, but remember maps are for pikers anyway, you don't need no steenkin' maps, keep them up in your head where they belong. I don't think there are very many people I owe money, but if you think I owe you money, just ask and I will pay. ONE GROUP that is definitely owed money is the players with NMR insurance. NMR insurance still continues, I will still call you for it, and when your game ends, I will refund the money.

I have now tried to sign up all the players, some multiple times, but please check. THIS IS A PROBLEM, sign up now if you're playing so you get proper notification!!! General information about the mailing list is at: http://www.diplom.org/mailman/listinfo/tap

You can sign up from there, or send E-Mails to: Tap-request of diplom.org; with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE LETTERS SECTION

((Let's keep talking about FTF tournament diplomacy! Note below my write up for the recently held TempleCon 2012. The website for the Convention itself is http://www.templecon.org/12. Looking beyond that World DipCon is fast approaching in August, I'm about to put a real hard full-court press on getting every single one of you reading this to come. Why not? E-Mail me with your excuse and I'll shred it. The convention is in beautiful downtown Chicago and has five rounds beginning first thing Friday morning, August 10th and ending on August 12th. Find more information at: http://windycityweasels.org/wdc or contact Jim O'Kelley (aka Shark Chum) and come meet me and maybe you'll see my "Alice" T-Shirt coming out of the closet... let's especially get some of the old crowd to come join us, there remains a rumor that Pete Gaughan might show up.))

((For these and other upcoming cons around the world: http://devel.diplom.org/Face/cons/index.php))

Drew James (Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 9:18 AM)

Jim,

This is turning out to be a fun sports year. My Giants came out of nowhere to win the Super Bowl! I was thrilled when they beat the Cowboys to win the division and would have been more than satisfied if they had lost in the first round of the post season. Of course, the team I care the most about is SU basketball. They are #2 in the country and winning the Big East. They have a chance to go undefeated at home which certainly has made it a great year to be a season ticket holder. Expectations are properly sky high and anything less than a Final Four berth will be a major disappointment to Orange Nation. I think they have a good shot at the Final Four, but they certainly aren't a shoe in. They have issues in terms of rebounding and shooting threes. Their zone defense is especially strong this year and is the bedrock of their success. While they have depth, that aspect is over-hyped. Basically only 7 players are getting any minutes. The "bench scoring" stat is highly misleading as CJ Fair comes off the bench, but is playing more minutes than any other player on the team. The "starter", Christmas, only plays for about 2 minutes a game - he is typically out of the game before the first media time out. The fact that two McDonalds All Americans are sitting the pine, though, is a good indication of SU's experience and talent level, though. Given the success of the Giants and SU, at times I dare to believe that maybe, just maybe, the Mets could overachieve this year and actually be simply bad - or even mediocre, rather than god awful. I know, I know, that is probably too much to hope for...

((You may want to join our little baseball prediction group, that will come next issue, as usual!))

I sure am glad that SU is heading out of the Big East. What a mess!

I've started listening to XM radio more frequently these days - more specifically "Alt Nation". I've enjoyed listening to "new for me" bands such as The Bombay Bicycle Club and The Wombats. I particularly enjoy the Wombats song "Let's Dance to Joy Division" not just because it is a great song in its own right, but also gets me thinking about my all time favorite band (along with New Order). Speaking of New Order, it is too bad that they have had a falling out which seems to finally be the end of the band. I'm OK with that given their age, but I'm still hoping that they release the outtakes from their last album to put a final wrapper on the band.

Regards, Drew, karelanddrew of gmail.com

((I agree, Joy Division's live album is still one of the small number of CDs that is always in my car. New Order always was somewhat more listenable.))

Eric Ozog (Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 7:49 PM)

Hello- I wanted to let you know that a new The Goblin Market album, Beneath Far Gondal's Foreign Sky will be released in early March on Seattle's Green Monkey records. I normally don't endorse albums, but this one is special. The third Goblin Market record-by Jeff Kelly and Laura Weller of the Green Pajamas (who Cathy and I know personally, we've been to several of their shows)-is their best yet. I bought an advance copy and was so impressed I had to listen to it twice in a row. Haunting and achingly beautiful, the 12 well crafted songs of this concept album are so integrated, with one flowing into the next, that one has to listen to it whole to appreciate the full context. The overall mood is melancholy, like their two preceding albums, but there is just enough rock interspersed to wake things up. Listening to this record is like being inside a movie.

If interested, you can buy a copy of the record on CD from: www.greenmonkeyrecords.com

View videos at (or UTube): www.thegreenpajamas.net

Listen and download previous Goblin Market songs at: www.thegoblinmarket.bandcamp.net

Best, Eric, elferic of juno.com

TEMPLECON 2012 Report (First Round of Four Tournament Nor'Easter)

Thanks to everyone and to the great TempleCon hosts, I reserved one crash room and that ended up with four people in it, Rob Premus, Carl Ellis, Alex Amann, and Phil Weissert. I think having a crash room is a really important part of helping travelers who come from a distance to the con.

Here are the board results with detour09 basic points in parentheses)

Round 1, Board 1

Austria (Steve Cooley):

(22.58)

England (Carl Ellis):

( 1.00)

France (Phil Weissert):

(46.77)

Germany (Rob Premus):

( 4.84)

Italy (David Burgess):

( 9.68)

Russia (Roland Cooke):

( 6.45)

Turkey (Alex Amann):

( 9.68)

Round 2, Board 1

Austria (Robert Rousse):

(22.95)

England (Tim Geil):

( 4.92)

France (Steve Cooley):

(34.43)

Germany (Jim Burgess-2 TD):

( 9.84)

Italy (Carl Ellis):

( 6.56)

Russia (Adam Sigal):

(16.39)

Turkey (David Burgess):

( 4.92)

Round 2, Board 2

Austria (Jim Burgess TD):

(11.32)

England (Adam Sigal-2):

( 0.75)

France (Roland Cooke):

(26.42)

Germany (Phil Weissert):

(15.09)

Italy (Sam Lavoie):

( 1.50)

Russia (Alex Amann):

(20.75)

Turkey (Rob Premus):

(26.42)

Round 3, Board 1

Austria (David Burgess):

(0.00)

England (Phil Weissert):

VOTED SOLO

(110.00)

France (Robert Rousse):

(0.00)

Germany (Alex Amann):

(0.00)

Italy (Rob Premus):

(0.00)

Russia (Carl Ellis):

(0.00)

Turkey (Roland Cooke):

(0.00)

Round 4, Board 1

Austria (Phil Weissert):

( 1.50)

England (Alex Amann):

(45.61)

France (David Burgess):

(15.79)

Germany (Adam Sigal):

( 1.25)

Italy (Ben Teixeira):

( 1.50)

Russia (Rob Premus):

(26.32)

Turkey (Carl Ellis):

(12.28)

This is also the first tournament in the regional sub-Grand Prix tournament that is in its fourth year that we've dubbed the "Nor'Easter". The next tournament in that group is Boston Massacre in Cambridge in June; HuskyCon in August; and Carnage, November in Vermont. We will again have a First Place Nor'Easter prize to be awarded and with more help from Robert Rousse (Carnage co-organizer), Second and Third Place prizes as well. Phil Weissert, of course, was the tournament winner as well as Best England, Best France, and Best Germany (taking the unofficial Western Triple!!!). Robert Rousse was Best Austria (which I just delivered to him in person at TotalCon), David Burgess was Best Italy, Rob Premus was Best Russia and Best Turkey (taking the unofficial Juggernaut).

Drop Dead Time Deadlines: These worked like a charm again, this is the way to play tournament dip, you're always moving, no waiting around while people write orders. The games really moved along, I again used my loud voice with reminders to people as needed, and people respected other players' space with need for order writing time. And the atmosphere was great. I ended up going again with the 17 minute spring, 15 minute fall continually running clock.

Lastly, more experience on selling Diplomacy on site: I was still not as successful as I would like to be here, both from within other people already attending TempleCon as well as travelers. So I'm going to be asking about some other ideas shortly. Stay tuned. I didn't try walking around the Con playing Edi Birsan's Teaching Videos from You Tube again like I did three years ago.... don't believe me, yes, I really, really did this three years ago, but it didn't really gain anything but laughs, especially from the miniatures players, so I didn't do that this time around, but I did play it some in our Diplomacy corner.

Now we look forward to World DipCon in Chicago in August, see you all there, I hope!

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION

I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine.

Standby lists:

Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Bob Osuch, Doug Kent, Sean O'Donnell, Heath Gardner, Paul Kenny, and Jeff O'Donnell stand by for regular Diplomacy. Let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF given the new policies.

GAME OPENING INFORMATION

I'm going to start the game opening list over. Under the new regime, who wants to play? First off, another regular Diplomacy game is open. Doug Kent and Brad Wilson are in, anyone else? Also, a new Breaking Away game is open. Currently Andy York is on board.

THE PHIL REYNOLDS MEMORIAL: 2006B, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1906 IS MARCH 23RD, 2012

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1906 IS APRIL 20TH, 2012

Spring 1906

AUSTRIA (Burgess): f ion-NAP, a bud-GAL, a PIE-mar, a VIE S a bud-gal,

a VEN S a tyo, f gol-wes (d r:tus,otb), a bul-SER, a TYO S RUSSIAN a boh, f TYH S f gol-wes.

ENGLAND (James): f edi-NWG, f MID S f wes, f nwg-NWY, a BEL h,

f WES S FRENCH f spa(sc)-gol, f SWE-gob.

FRANCE (Williams): f NAF S ITALIAN f tun, a GAS h, f spa(sc)-GOL, a BUR S GERMAN a mun.

GERMANY (Ellinger): a SIL S a mun, a MUN S a sil, a BER S a sil, f nth-DEN, a FIN-stp.

ITALY (Crow): f TUN h, a MAR h.

RUSSIA (Barno): a WAR-sil, a BOH S a war-sil, a STP-fin, f BLA h,

a LVN-stp, f gre-ION, a RUM-war (imp), f GOB s a stp-fin.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: David Burgess, 101 Laurel Lane, Queensbury, NY 12804

(518) 761-6687, burgesscd of roadrunner.com or dburgess of glensfallshosp.org

ENGLAND: Drew James, 3644 Whispering Woods Terrace, Baldwinsville, NY 13027

(315) 652-1956, kjames01 of twcny.rr.com or karelanddrew of gmail.com

FRANCE: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947,

wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org ($5)

GERMANY: Marc Ellinger, 751 Turnberry Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65109

mellinger of blitzbardgett.com

ITALY: John Crow, 946 S. Medalist Circle Plano, TX 75023-2851,

(214) 532-1418, johnny.crow of hotmail.com

RUSSIA: Mike Barno, 1071 Warren Road Apt 8 Ithaca, NY 14850, (607) 481-4526

mpbarno of gmail.com

TURKEY: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA

CANADA T6T 1N1, (780) 465-6432, wiedem of telus.net or wiedem of shaw.ca

Game Notes:

1) An IF RAGE draw (that is all survivors) is proposed. IF RAGE, then what? Please vote with your summer orders and if you don't vote the draw is rejected.

Press:

(DUCK to GAME): I didn't realize when Boob called this a "memorial" it was a reference to "time immemorial" and the ongoing and forever nature of such things. I swear we will all be collecting pensions by the time this is over.

(GM to GAME AND DUCK): Are those just the same thing? Is Duck Game? Or is a Duck Game?? Or is THE Duck Game??? At least we have more staying power than Tim Tebow...

(TEBOW TIME): The Wall Street Journal isn't known for its sense of humor. But one WSJ columnist recently gave Tim Tebow a nice subtle dig to lead off a column that wasn't even about sports: "The Lord works in mysterious ways, or so it is often said. But in an era when few can read His signs, those signs have a way of becoming a bit more obvious. Like 45-10."

(FRANCE to AUSTRIA): The only thing I clearly remember about this game is your treachery. Death to the Hapsburgs!

(JAMES to WORLD): The game seems to have lost momentum and interest. If you agree, please vote for the draw.

(IL DUCHY DU NORMANDIE to LEGHORN): See? I told you this would be fun. About as much fun as having dragons tattooed on your face.

(DUCHY to MONDE): An inside reference to our misspent youth.

(BOOB to MONDE): I have a published article in French, you know... I just found it the other day. I was sitting around with Robert Rousse and Alex Amann on Friday and talking about what the proper definition of geek/nerd was. We all agreed that if you were spending lots of time between age 16-24 playing Go, Diplomacy, or running Dungeon and Dragons expeditions instead of chasing girls, the answer was clear. I know which category I was in... which led to...

(RUSSIA to GM): Your Google profile gives your photo plus "Senior Investigator". Do you now investigate seniors? Is this part of the Obamacare Health Mandate Death Panel takeover?

(GM to RUSSIA): It's actually a real job title, I also have the job title Professor... BUT I do qute a lot of investigation of seniors and have been publishing papers promoting things that the Right call "Death Panels". The physicians like to call them "Palliative Care Consults" which to my economist mind is part of the problem. When faced with the choice in the press of calling something a palliative care consult or a death panel, which would YOU choose?? We're finally starting to understand that language matters, and of course negative words ring truest, even to people who SWEAR they are unbiased and don't pay attention to the language tone. I have blog comments as well as published papers on these questions if you felt like hunting around.

(SAUGUS to PROVIDENCE): You guys started re-planning the Great White Trash Tour through California yet? We’re waiting for you...

(PROVIDENCE to SAUGUS): In short, no, we haven't. I sent you guys a bit more detailed private message for the game. Everyone should come to World DipCon to see me, and we have to get Charlotte excited again about the idea. I think she doesn't really want to think about "that time" again.

(ENGLAND to WEST): I trust we all joined together to hold off the Russia/AH steamroller. If not, the Mongolian hoards will be in London, Paris, Berlin, and Rome before too long...

(DON to DREW): Thanks for... you know what. If the GM can get out another move by, say, the 4th of July, we have a chance of remembering enough to keep the bayonettes all pointed in the right direction.

(BOOB to DON): You KNOW that Doug will not allow me to miss deadlines any more...

(JUST A PLAYER to TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR): There was a "Chris Martin" arrested for DWI in the Ithaca area yesterday. I had to check to make sure it was a local person and not a visiting dance instructor at IC or Cornell.

(COME TO WORLD DIPCON ANYWAY): He's not Chris Martin unless he stabs for solos.

(DON to MIKE): Nice to see you’re still around. Too bad you’re doing so well. I always liked you better when your country was smaller than mine. Things were always much safer that way.

(PIRATE RADIO, OFF THE COAST OF GASCONY):

Well, I don't know why I'm still in this game,

I just know that Boob is surely to blame.

Been so long I can't remember my name,

Late again, oh yeah it's always the same...

Huns to the left of me,

Wops to the right,

Here I am stuck in this riddle with Drew.

Yes I'm stuck in the middle with Drew.

And I'm wonderin' what it is I should do,

It's so hard to keep this game on my mind,

My old zines I'm sure I never will find,

Doug always pesters me,

Boob's out of sight,

Here I am stuck in this pile of... doo.

Well, we started off with promise,

And we ended in this no man's land.

'Cause the game's gone on forever,

And we're sure the pain will never,

Ea-ee-ee-ee-eese... ea-ee-ee-ee-eese.

Tryin' to make some sense of it all,

It's been years between the spring and the fall,

I want to play so I can even the score,

Who to stab? Who can recall any more?

There's just not much left of me,

It ain't cool - it ain't right.

Here I am, stuck in this muddle with Boob,

Yeah I'm, fucked in this puzzle by Boob.

Well, we started back in '06 –-

Back when Bush was still the president,

Now I won't say this game's a bore,

But Obama's nearly done his four,

Gee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ze... Gee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ze...

Well, I don't know why I'm writing this press,

I guess I still got some things to address,

I'm so scared I'll lose my mind and forget,

Why I'm here, well at least I wouldn't regret...

Clowns to the left of me,

Jokers to the right,

Here I am, stuck in `Phil Reynolds' with you

Yes, I'm stuck in `Phil Reynolds' with you...

Yeah, we're sucked into this muddle by Boob,

Yeah, we're fucked in this puzzle with Boob...

(Song to the tune of "Stuck in the Middle" by Stealers Wheel)

SPIRALS OF PARANOIA: 2005A, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1909 IS MARCH 23RD, 2012

Summer 1909

FRANCE (Jim Tretick for Buddy Tretick): has f ENG, a SPA, f WES, a BUR, f TYH, f NAF,

a MAR, f IRI.

GERMANY (Ozog for Tallman): has a MUN, f KIE, a TYO, a PIE, a BUD, a VIE, a TRI,

a ROM, f SKA, a VEN, a BEL, f NAO.

ITALY (Kent): has f ADR, a NAP, a BUL, a GRE.

RUSSIA (Sundstrom): has f SEV, a UKR, f BLA, a RUM, a ANK, a SYR, a ARM.

TURKEY (Lutterbie): has f SMY, f CON.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221,

(414) 281-2339 (E-Mail) paul.rauterberg of att.net

ENGLAND: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA CANADA T6T 1N1,

(780) 465-6432, wiedem of telus.net or wiedem of shaw.ca

FRANCE: Buddy Tretick, 5023 Sewell's Pointe Way, Fredericksburg, VA 22407

FRANCE: Temporary Standby is Jim Tretick, jtretick of gmail.com

GERMANY: Terry Tallman, PO Box 782, Clinton, WA 98236, (360) 331-5698 ($2)

terryt of whidbey.net

GERMANY: Temporary Standby is Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138,

(360) 691-4264, ElfEric of Juno.com

ITALY: Doug Kent, 911 Irene Drive, Mesquite, TX 75149

dougray30 of yahoo.com

RUSSIA: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,

Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

TURKEY: Vince Lutterbie, 1021 Stonehaven Ave Marshall, MO 65340-2837,

(660) 886-7354, melvin4852 of sbcglobal.net

Game Notes:

1) The FGR draw proposal was rejected again and is reproposed, please vote with your fall orders. Remember that if you aren't voting, you are vetoing the draw.

2) We now have two medical replacements, as Buddy's son Jim (who some of us played with many years ago as James Alan) will be playing for Buddy as Eric is playing for Terry.

3) Since no one moved, see last issue, #329, for your map.

Press:

FLIP FLOP: 2003G, Regular Diplomacy

THE NEW DUE DATE FOR FALL 1913 IS MARCH 23RD, 2012

Summer 1913

AUSTRIA (Wilson): R a war-PRU; has a PRU.

ENGLAND (Kent): has a YOR, f NAO, f MID, f NWY, a DEN,

a SIL, f NTH, f GOB, f BAL.

FRANCE (McHugh): has a PAR, f NAF, f MAR, a MUN, a BUR, f SPA(SC), a GAS.

GERMANY (Sundstrom): has a STP.

TURKEY (Levinson): has a BUL, a ARM, a CON, f TUN, a MOS, a TUS, f TYH, a WAR,

f WES, a TYO, f ION, f GOL, a BOH, f PIE, a GAL, a VIE.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Brad Wilson, 713 Tasker St. #1, Philadelphia, PA 19148-1237

bwdolphin146 of yahoo.com

ENGLAND: Doug Kent, 911 Irene Drive, Mesquite, TX 75149

dougray30 of yahoo.com

FRANCE: Jack McHugh, 810 School Lane, Folcroft, PA 19032, (856) 456-5984,

jwmchughjr of gmail.com

GERMANY: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,

Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

ITALY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947,

wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org

RUSSIA: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230,

sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com

TURKEY: Alexandre Levinson, Beeklaan 504, 2562BP Den Haag THE NETHERLANDS, don't need phone,

al of tolkin.nl ($5)

Game Notes:

1) The host of draw proposals: FET, FATE, and FAE; all were rejected.

Press:

SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy

TURKEY WON WITHOUT HOLDING ANY HOME CENTERS

Addresses of the Participants

ENGLAND: Doug Kent, 911 Irene Drive, Mesquite, TX 75149

dougray30 of yahoo.com

FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($0)

rolands6 of verizon.net

GERMANY: Mike Barno, 1071 Warren Road Apt 8 Ithaca, NY 14850, (607) 481-4526

mpbarno of gmail.com

RUSSIA: Bob Osuch, 19137 Midland Avenue, Mokena, IL 60448, (708) 478-3885

ROsuch4082 of aol.com

TURKEY: Bruce Linsey, PO Box 234, Kinderhook, NY 12106

GonzoHQ of aol.com

Game Notes:

1) Now, we would like to see some more endgame statements if we could, I've printed the full game SC chart and would like to print more endgame statements in the next issue. I think Bruce also is going to say that he is retiring from Diplomacy with this game (I hope he doesn't). Bruce has promised me an endgame statement, so we'll keep this game on the books for one more issue. Remember, this game began in 1999, thirteen years ago!!!

CAST NO SHADOWS: Breaking Away, Designer's Rules

Rules at: http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/Tinamou/rules/BreakingAway.htm

RICK DESPER SQUEAKS OUT THE VICTORY OVER ALEX WOO!!!

Turn 17 (just run enough to get last three places)

FINISHED BEFORE

Carrot, Granny, Water,

Kyrie, Gloria

NEWLY FINISHED

Krstajic (6), Mideast (4), Agnus (2)

-F-I-N-A-L- -F-I-N-I-S-H- -L-I-N-E-

120 (no replenishment)

Empty

119 (no replenishment)

Empty

118 (no replenishment)

Empty

117 (no replenishment)

Empty

116 (no replenishment)

Empty

115 (replenish with a 5)

Drugs

114 (replenish with a 6)

Rincewind

113 (no replenishment)

Empty

112 (no replenishment)

Empty

111 (replenish with a 3)

Crockett

110 (no replenishment)

Empty

109 (replenish with a 3)

Zorro, Xavier, Kyoto

108 (no replenishment)

Empty

107 (no replenishment)

Empty

106 (replenish with a 3)

Vidic

105 (replenish with a 4)

Dragutinovic

104 (replenish with a 5)

Sanctus

103 (replenish with a 6)

Bowie, Bonham

102 (replenish with a 8)

Travis

101 (replenish with a 9)

Wally

100 (no replenishment)

Empty

99 (no replenishment)

Empty

98 (no replenishment)

Empty

97 (no replenishment)

Empty

96 (no replenishment)

Empty

95 (no replenishment)

Empty

94 (no replenishment)

Empty

93 (no replenishment)

Empty

92 (no replenishment)

Empty

91 (no replenishment)

Empty

90 (no replenishment)

Empty

89 (no replenishment)

Empty

88 (no replenishment)

Empty

87 (no replenishment)

Empty

86 (no replenishment)

Empty

85 (no replenishment)

Empty

84 (no replenishment)

Empty

83 (no replenishment)

Empty

82 (no replenishment)

Empty

81 (replenish with a 3)

Gavrancic

-S-P-R-I-N-T- -F-I-N-I-S-H- -L-I-N-E-

80 (no replenishment)

Empty

79 (no replenishment)

Empty

78 (no replenishment)

Empty

77 (no replenishment)

Empty

76 (replenish with a 3)

Yorick, Death

Addresses of the Participants - Their Team and Their Cards

TEAM 1 (Rick Desper): rick_desper of yahoo.com (51 points)

Team Name: The Turtle Moves; Captained by Cut-My-Own-Throat Dibbler

A: Rincewind the Wizzard

6 3 6 6 (8)

B: Granny Weatherwax

Finished

C: Captain Carrot

Finished

D: Death

3 3 3 (3)

(Rincewind with the Luggage, Granny on Her Broom, Carrot of the City Watch, and Death is just DEATH!)

Total Replenishments: 12+58+18+15+33+33+18+28+19+31+16+42+35+16+15+9 = 398

TEAM 2 (Tom Howell): off-the-shelf of olympus.net (29 points)

Team Name: Never Ending Worry Source; Manager: Rumour; Team Captain: Ye Olde Manager

A: Water

Finished

B: Kyoto

3 3 3 (7)

C: Mideast

10 7 3 (11)

D: Drugs

10 9 5 (11)

Total Replenishments: 12+35+37+44+30+22+16+30+24+23+18+27+43+50+22+11 = 444

TEAM 3 ((David Partridge): rebhuhn of rocketmail.com (6 points)

Team Name: Famous Four

A: Krstajic

4 5 4 3 (17)

B: Vidic

3 8 3 (6)

C: Gavrancic

3 3 3 (3)

D: Dragutinovic

4 3 4 (4)

Total Replenishments: 12+35+40+28+13+18+16+28+20+29+14+56+14+14+19+13 = 369

TEAM 4 (Brendan Whyte): obiwonfive of hotmail.com (9 points)

Team Name: The Reverse Alphabeticists

A: Zorro

4 3 3 3 (11)

B: Yorick

3 3 3 (3)

C: Xavier

5 3 3 (11)

D: Wally

3 3 9 (3)

Total Replenishments: 12+26+24+28+28+38+17+18+16+19+15+31+20+30+12+18 = 352

TEAM 5 (Alexander Woo): aswoo of yahoo.com (44 points)

Team Name: Just Ordinary; Manager: Credo

A: Agnus

7 6 7 3 (11)

B: Sanctus

4 4 5 (3)

C: Kyrie

Finished

D: Gloria

Finished

Total Replenishments: 12+44+22+17+22+42+28+25+27+26+17+24+45+17+8 = 376

TEAM 6 (Andy York): wandrew88 of gmail.com (17 points)

Team Name: Alamo

A: Crockett

4 3 4 3 (10)

B: Travis

3 3 8 (4)

C: Bowie

3 3 6 (5)

D: Bonham

3 3 6 (5)

Total Replenishments: 12+12+12+60+20+22+21+19+16+38+17+55+18+13+23 = 358

Game Notes:

1) I just noted the three last moves that take the last three sets of points. Rick Desper wins with 51 points, a brilliant balanced play!!! Alex Woo finishes second with 44 points. Tom Howell had the highest number of replenishments (meaning he has a lot of great cards unused in his hands) but finishes third with 29 points. Andy York plugs along and finishes fourth with 17 points. Brendan Whyte finishes fifth, and Dave Partridge brings up the rear as he gets off the schneide on this last turn, but still doesn't pass Brendan.

2) The rules are on the TAP website in the Tinamou section. Ask if you have any questions. Up above in parentheses is the card you played to get to where you are in the field. The replenishment card is the last card in your list. Be careful to note that the card you played (the one in parentheses) is not available for you, for next turn. Just for fun, I'm going to keep track of total replenishment, by turn, which is a rough measure of how the teams are doing. Of course, it is lining up to get across the sprint and final lines in the right places that really counts.

3) So far, Andy York is the only one interested in another game of this?? I'd like to get six again. I left everything else here for one more issue in case you'd like to write endgame statements.

LAST WORD:

Rick Santorum said today that, "I don’t believe that the separation of church and state is absolute. The First Amendment means the free exercise of religion and that means bringing people and their faith into the public square." Interesting idea... one of the things that bothers me when people say things like that (I don't know if Rick Santorum believes this) is whether they think they are "following the founding fathers" in doing so. I always go back to James Madison when I'm seeking wisdom on this. Here are some quotes from Madison that illustrate what the separation of church and state is about:

"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries." (note that includes both civil and nation warfare, and it promotes the diversity of religions healthy for society)

"The number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state." (research in the present day clearly shows this to be true, Madison was a great sensemaker, and so those who favor religious faith communities should support this idea, lest they end up with the faith society in places like Scandinavia that scare them so much)

And finally, and most importantly: "The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted." (never forget that one, and it ties the first two together)

Interestingly, there is a tenet among thoughtful faithful people that strong faith communities bring diverse contradictory political beliefs together without personal judgments upon one another, not a bad goal for a democratic society either. I honestly don't understand what Rick Santorum wants.

File translated from T_EX by T_TH, version 3.85.
On 26 Feb 2012, 21:55.

Where in the World is Kendo Nagasaki?

Rules in ES #58. Send in your guesses. I’ve played this in Brandon Whyte’s Damn the Consequences a few times and it’s fun, takes only a minute or two each turn, and helps you work your brain!

ROUND 1

Clue to Person with the Closest Guess (Notified by email): I died at about the same time as you began your career.

Deadline for Round 5 is March 27^th at 7:00am My Time

Game Openings

Diplomacy (Black Press – Permanent Opening in ES): Signed up: Mark Firth, John Biehl, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Geoff Kemp, Don Williams, need 1 more to fill. Sign up now!

Youngstown IV (Gray Press): The classic 10-player variant, which seems to have fallen through the cracks lately. Jack McHugh is going to write an article on it for Diplomacy World, but he wants to play again first, so sign up and help out! Signed up: Jack McHugh, Brad Wilson, Geoff Kemp, Martin Burgdorf, Don Williams, Marc Ellinger, need 4 more. Sign up now!!! Just four more!!

Balkan Wars VI (Unknown Press Level): To be Guest GM’d by Brad Wilson: Signed up: Doug Kent (that’s me folks), Jack McHugh, Lance Anderson, needs 3 more. Contact Brad to sign up at bwdolphin146 “of” yahoo.com. Sign up now!!! HURRY!!!

Narnian Wars (Gray Press): A variant based on the C.S. Lewis world of Narnia. I ran this once or twice in Maniac’s Paradise. Rules and map contained in ES #51. I’ve added this back to the openings list by request as I only left it there for two issues last time. Signed up: Martin Burgdorf, needs 7 more to fill.

Aberration V (Gray Press): A nine-player variant with an expanded and altered European map. Rod Walker’s design modified by Nicholas Fitzpatrick. Map and rules in ES #61. Signed up: Martin Burgdorf, Hugh Polley, needs 7 more to fill.

Everybody Plays Diplomacy (Black Press): An ongoing everyone-plays variant. Rules are in ES #47. Join in at any time!

By Popular Demand: New game will begin in ES #63. Not 100% sure of the format yet.

Lifeboat: Everybody plays, whether you actually do anything or not.

Movie Photo Contest: 10 Rounds, with a prize to the winner. Join anytime!

Where in the World is Kendo Nagasaki?: Rules in ES #58. Send in your guess! Join anytime!

Kremlin: House rules in ES #59. I’d like to get five players for this, any takers? Jack McHugh and Jim Burgess signed up, need at least 2 more.

Standby List: HELP! I need standby players! – Current standby list: Graham Wilson, Jim Burgess (Dip only), Lance Anderson (Dip only), Martin Burgdorf, Paul Milewski (Dip only), Brad Wilson, Kevin Tighe (Dip only), Chris Babcock, Don Williams, and whoever I beg into it in an emergency.

I’m going to continue to go through my files and seeing what other variants I can offer, until I find one that gets enough interest to fill. When I offer a variant I’ll give it an issue or two, but if nobody signs up I’ll drop the opening and replace it. If somebody wants to guest-GM a game of anything, just get in touch. If you have specific game requests please let me know.

Eternal Sunshine Game Section

Diplomacy “Dulcinea” 2008C, W 16/S 17

Austria (Lance Anderson – lance_anderson “of” hotmail.com): NBR! Plays 1 short..NMR! All units

unordered: A Belgium, F Brest, A Budapest, A Burgundy, A Denmark, A Gascony, A Holland, A Kiel, A Norway,

A Paris, A Picardy, A Ruhr, A Sweden, A Trieste, A Venice.

England (Kevin Tighe – tigheman “of” yahoo.com): Disband F North Atlantic Ocean..

A Clyde Supports A Yorkshire – Liverpool, F English Channel - Irish Sea (*Fails*),

A Yorkshire - Liverpool (*Bounce*).

Turkey (Jim Burgess – jfburgess “of” gmail.com): Build F Smyrna, A Constantinople, plays 3 short..

A Constantinople – Bulgaria, F Greece - Ionian Sea, F Irish Sea - Liverpool (*Bounce*),

A Livonia Supports A St Petersburg, F Marseilles Supports F Spain(sc), F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Hold,

F North Atlantic Ocean Supports F Irish Sea – Liverpool, F Rome Hold, A Sevastopol – Rumania,

F Smyrna - Aegean Sea, F Spain(sc) Supports F Marseilles, A St Petersburg Supports A Livonia.

Would Martin Burgdorf standby for Austria?

Fall 1917 Deadline is March 27th at 7:00am my time

PRESS

Eng-A/T: You don't tell me what. I tell you what! (and yes, I am watching Walking Dead right now.)

Eng-Tur: Only 2 more to go, this must be soooooo tempting.

Tighe: Hey, I've won a game. I remember it well, it was back in the 80's. Reagan was saying something stupid. And I know that doesn't narrow it down.

“Dulcinea” Diplomacy Bourse

Billy Ray Valentine: Probably in his limousine.

Duke of York: Stands pat once again.

Smaug the Dragon:

Rothschild: Sells 397 Crowns and 500 Pounds. Buys 593 Piastres.

Baron Wuffet: Nada.

Wooden Nickel Enterprises: Sells 500 Piastres. Buys 551 Crowns.

VAIONT Enterprises: Sells 500 Crowns. Buys 454 Piastres.

Insider Trading LLC: Lost everything in penny stocks.

Bourse Master: Stands pat.

Next Bourse Deadline is March 26th at 7:00pm my time

PRESS

WNE to Dukey: I'll bring a clothes-pin so you won't have to hold your nose when I come sit next to you.

Brits to Rothschild & York: If this game made sense, the Turks would be on their last legs, not me!

DUKE OF YORK to WOODEN NICKEL ENTERPRISES: No, no, no pounds... but your churning will be too little too late. Soil yourself as you will.

DUKE OF YORK to VAIONT ENTERPRISES: We shall see, if Austria stabs for the solo I shall salute you. You all are going to laugh in any case when the curtain is torn in two and the gates of hell are opened....

Anonymous: Will T stab or is a Draw possible!

VAIONT to SELF: OK, maybe it is time to start diversifying. Just a bit. It couldn’t hurt, right?

VAIONT to ROTTER: I’m not lazy, I’m efficient. Letting the invisible hand of the market do all the magic and what all, right? Besides, I’ve always been a huge fan of the buy-and-hold strategy. You churners always have always struck me as a bunch of meth addicts who’ve gone off their therapy …

IMPARTIAL OBSERVER to RED GUYS: Hey, it’s been real. But it’s time to ickit-stay oo-tay he-thay oob-Bay. Now, before he catches wise. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’ …

OCCUPY ETERNAL SUNSHINE to BOURSE MANAGER: Here, in yet another dark, dirty, dank and despicable corner of this nasty little zine, you work diligently to destroy the dreams of the fettered masses. Have you no shame? We OCCUPY ES-types intend to camp out in the pages of this press until you meet our demands … or until corporate America starts hiring again and we can go back to over-extending ourselves on credit cards offered by predatory banks. We intend to be here for a very long time. And tell that guy Wuffet to watch his ass … it’s one thing to say he should be paying more taxes, and another for him to actually do it!

Graustark Diplomacy Game 2006A, W 14/S 15

Austria (Don Williams – dwilliams “of” fontana.org): Build A Vienna.. F Venice Supports F Apulia – Adriatic

Sea (*Void*), A Vienna Supports A Trieste.

England (Fred Wiedemeyer – wiedem “of” telus.net): Build A Liverpool, F London..

F Apulia Supports F Naples - Ionian Sea (*Cut*), A Liverpool – Yorkshire, F London - English Channel,

A Moscow Supports A Warsaw - Ukraine (*Void*), F Naples - Ionian Sea, F Norwegian Sea Hold, A Paris Hold,

A Spain Hold, A St Petersburg Supports A Moscow, F Tunis Supports F Naples - Ionian Sea,

F Tyrrhenian Sea Supports F Naples - Ionian Sea, F Western Mediterranean Hold.

France (Hank Alme – almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): No units.

Germany (Harley Jordan – harleyj “of” alum.mit.edu): Remove A Livonia, A Berlin..

~~A Albania - Serbia~~ (*Disbanded*), A Budapest - Rumania (*Fails*), F Denmark Hold, A Galicia – Ukraine,

F Holland Hold, A Marseilles – Burgundy, A Rome - Apulia (*Fails*), A Silesia – Galicia, F Sweden Hold,

A Trieste Supports A Albania - Serbia (*Cut*), A Warsaw Supports A Galicia - Ukraine.

Russia (John Biehl – jerbil “of” shaw.ca): Retreat A Moscow - Ukraine.. Remove F Eastern Mediterranean..

F Adriatic Sea - Trieste (*Fails*), A Bulgaria Supports A Rumania – Serbia,

A Greece Supports A Serbia – Albania, F Ionian Sea - Aegean Sea, A Rumania – Serbia, A Serbia – Albania,

A Sevastopol Supports A Ukraine – Rumania, A Ukraine - Rumania.

Fall 1915 Deadline is March 27th at 7:00am my time

PRESS:

GHOST OF TURKEY to WHAT THE HELL IS HARLEY DOING?: Well, I'm glad my man Don is still alive, is this the "make the Russian suffer" deal with the devil?? I also am glad my other man, Hank, is still alive even though he has no units. This sounds like the everyone blast John deal to me. If so, go to it, I see John has having ruined things for me as well.

AUSTRIA to GHOSTLY VOICE: I hear you knocking, but you can’t come in. Damned, pale, ghost! Go back to your haunts and taunt us no more. Or, at least go scare the Russian from time to time.

ARCHDUCK to SPECTRAL SULTAN: I don’t know how long Big Brother will let me stay around, but I will share with you that I’m feeling a little Faustian these days. Still, once you get past the “forever damned in Eternity” thing, bargaining away your immortal soul to the forces of evil … er, E/G, isn’t bad. So far, it’s been a Hell of a lot less painful than having Biehl stab me in the back every three or four seasons simply because he’s gone off his ADD meds again.

WILLIAMS to ALME: Speaking of deals with the devil, what did they charge you for that weird little purgatorial limbo you’re in out there in Portugal? In the game but out of units? Sucks. Sort of like being a quadriplegic with no Kevorkian in sight …

ARCHDUCK to FRED and HARLEY: I’m your puppet … I’m your puppet … (song to the tune of “I’m Your Puppet”.) Keep those strings tightly fastened, my friends … I wouldn’t want you worried that I’m getting any ideas about growing a mind (or spine) of my own.

Berne[d] Apr 1, 1915: The Institute for Strategic Studies main article for their current issue of 'Military Affairs' characterizes the German strategy as one of "Throwing away Victory to the Altar of English Appeasement". The lead analyst, I.C. Cleerly, had a more succinct and terse description of Kaiser Harley the Horrible saying he is a 'Dummkopf'.

AUSTRIA to RUSSIA: You haven’t written in a while … I get that. But circumstances do lead me to ask – how’d that last stab you put on me work out for you? E/G at 23 centers, and you’re still pulling pieces off the board. Hopefully next time we’ll be able to play better together in the sand box.

Black Press Gunboat, “Scream” 2010Brb32, F 08

England: F Edinburgh - Norwegian Sea, A London - Yorkshire.

France: A Belgium – Picardy, ~~A Brest - Paris~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Gascony or OTB),

F Gulf of Lyon - Tyrrhenian Sea, A Ruhr – Burgundy, F Tyrrhenian Sea – Rome,

A Venice Supports F Tyrrhenian Sea - Rome.

Germany: A Paris Supports F Picardy – Brest, F Picardy – Brest, F Spain(nc) Hold.

Russia: F Black Sea Supports F Sevastopol – Armenia, A Budapest Supports A Trieste, A Galicia – Vienna,

F Helgoland Bight Supports F Skagerrak - North Sea, A Holland Supports A Kiel – Ruhr, A Kiel – Ruhr,

A Moscow – Sevastopol, A Munich Supports A Kiel – Ruhr, A Norway Hold, A Rumania - Bulgaria (*Fails*),

A Serbia Supports A Rumania - Bulgaria (*Cut*), F Sevastopol – Armenia, F Skagerrak - North Sea,

A Trieste Supports A Serbia (*Cut*).

Turkey: F Black Sea – Constantinople, A Serbia - Greece.. F Adriatic Sea - Trieste (*Fails*),

A Albania Supports F Adriatic Sea – Trieste, A Armenia – Ankara, A Bulgaria Supports A Greece - Serbia (*Cut*),

F Constantinople Supports A Bulgaria, A Greece - Serbia (*Fails*), F Ionian Sea - Aegean Sea, F Rome - Naples.

W 08/S 09 deadline is March 27th at 7:00am my time

Concession to Russia Fails

Supply Center Chart

England: Edinburgh, Liverpool=2, Even

France: Marseilles, Rome, Tunis, Venice=4, Remove 1 or 2

Germany: Belgium, Brest, London, Paris, Portugal, Spain=6, Build 3 (No Room to Build)

Russia: Berlin, Budapest, Denmark, Holland, Kiel, Moscow, Munich, Norway,

Rumania, Serbia, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Sweden, Trieste, Vienna, Warsaw=16, Build 2

Turkey: Ankara, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Naples, Smyrna=6, Remove 2

PRESS:

France: Scream is right.

Germany to France: I am only a moron in the sense that my goals in this game do not match your goals. My goal is to have fun. I am. If Russia takes the win because of that, it doesn’t bother me.

Turkey to France – if Tri didn’t work I’ll give you the support next turn.

Diplomacy “Dublin Boys” 2010D, W 06/S 07

Austria (Paul Milewski – paul.milewski “of” hotmail.com): Build A Trieste, A Vienna.. A Budapest – Vienna,

A Galicia – Silesia, A Rumania – Sevastopol, A Serbia - Trieste (*Fails*), A Sevastopol – Moscow,

A Trieste - Tyrolia (*Bounce*), A Ukraine – Warsaw, A Vienna - Bohemia.

England (Kevin Tighe – tigheman “of” yahoo.com): Build F London..

F Baltic Sea Supports A Prussia – Berlin, F Helgoland Bight Supports F North Sea – Holland,

~~F Kiel Supports F North Sea - Holland~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Denmark or OTB), F London - English Channel,

F North Sea – Holland, F Norway Hold, A Prussia – Berlin, F St Petersburg(nc) Hold.

France (Jeff O’Donnell – unclestaush “of” yahoo.com): A Burgundy – Belgium, F Naples - Rome (*Fails*),

A Picardy Supports A Burgundy – Belgium, A Piedmont - Marseilles (*Bounce*), F Tyrrhenian Sea - Gulf of Lyon,

A Venice - Tyrolia (*Bounce*).

Germany (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): ~~A Belgium Supports A Holland~~ (*Dislodged*,

retreat to Ruhr or OTB), ~~A Holland Supports A Ruhr - Kiel~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Ruhr or OTB),

A Munich Supports A Ruhr – Kiel, A Ruhr - Kiel.

Italy (Hank Alme – almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): Build A Rome.. A Rome - Venice (*Fails*),

F Spain(sc) - Marseilles (*Bounce*).

Turkey (Brad Wilson - bwdolphin146 “of”yahoo.com): Build F Smyrna..A Bulgaria waves goodbye to

Czar FlapJack (Holds), F Black Sea – Constantinople, F Greece - Ionian Sea, F Ionian Sea – Apulia,

F Smyrna - Aegean Sea, F Tunis Supports F Greece - Ionian Sea.

F 07 Deadline is March 27th at 7:00am my time

PRESS

Eng-Ger: "English army Prussia moves to Berlin." I love it!!!

Eng-Fra: No worries, it looks like you need someone to support your back.

(BOOB to THE CROWD): I almost got to join you, but I'm glad Kevin is coming back. I keep worrying somehow we're going to lose him again... you're all coming to World Dip Con in Chicago in August right? I really, really want to meet the inestimable Kevin Tighe. And I'd love to see Brad and Jack again, and meet the rest of you.... I think I have right who I've met, right??

Everybody Plays Diplomacy “Dandelion” 2010Cvj08, F 07

Player Names or Handles will be shown for any power they commanded each season.

Remember, in some seasons if we get enough players you may not wind up commanding any nations. All press submitted will be printed.

Austria (Brad Wilson): A Albania – Tunis, A Berlin Supports A Munich – Kiel,

A Bulgaria Supports F Aegean Sea – Constantinople, A Greece Supports F Ionian Sea (*Fails*),

F Ionian Sea Convoys A Albania – Tunis, A Munich – Kiel, A Naples Supports A Rome,

A Rome Supports A Naples, A Tyrolia - Trieste (*Bounce*).

England (Rick Desper): ~~A Belgium Hold~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Picardy or OTB), F Brest - Mid-Atlantic Ocean,

F Clyde – Liverpool, F Irish Sea Supports F Brest - Mid-Atlantic Ocean, F North Sea Supports A Belgium,

F Norway – Sweden, F Skagerrak Supports F Norway - Sweden.

France (Tom Howell): A Burgundy – Belgium, A Holland Supports A Burgundy – Belgium, A Kiel – Denmark,

F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - North Atlantic Ocean, F North Atlantic Ocean - Norwegian Sea,

A Ruhr Supports A Burgundy – Belgium, F Spain(sc) - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*).

Italy (Dave McCrumb): Retreat F Constantinople - Aegean Sea.. F Adriatic Sea - Trieste (*Bounce*),

F Aegean Sea – Constantinople, F Tuscany - Gulf of Lyon, F Western Mediterranean - Spain(sc) (*Fails*).

Russia (Jack McHugh): A Moscow – Ukraine, A Sevastopol – Rumania, A St Petersburg – Norway,

~~F Sweden Supports A St Petersburg - Norway~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Baltic Sea or Gulf of Bothnia or Finland

or OTB).

Turkey (Italy Must Win): F Black Sea – Armenia, F Constantinople – Ankara, F Smyrna - Syria.

W 07/S 08 Deadline is March 27^th at 7:00am my time

Supply Center Chart

Austria: Berlin, Budapest, Bulgaria, Greece, Kiel, Munich, Naples, Rome,

Serbia, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Vienna=13, Build 4 (Room for 3)

England: Brest, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, St Petersburg, Sweden=6, Even or Remove 1

France: Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Marseilles, Paris, Portugal, Spain=7, Even

Italy: Constantinople=1, Remove 3

Russia: Moscow, Norway, Rumania, Sevastopol, Warsaw=5, Build 1 or 2

Turkey: Ankara, Smyrna=2, Remove 1

PRESS

Italy Must Die -> Italy Must Win :P

ITALY MUST WIN to THE BOARD: Desperate measures for desperate times.... will I get Austria or will Italy be obliterated? C'mon, baby, mama needs a pair of new shoes....

Black Press Gunboat, “Streets of Soho,” 2011Arb32, W 05/S 06

Austria: Retreat A Ankara - Smyrna.. Build A Vienna, A Budapest.. F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea,

A Budapest – Rumania, A Constantinople Supports A Smyrna – Ankara, A Galicia - Warsaw (*Bounce*),

F Greece Supports F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea, A Rumania – Ukraine,

A Sevastopol Supports A St Petersburg – Moscow, A Smyrna – Ankara, A Trieste – Venice, A Venice – Apulia,

A Vienna - Tyrolia (*Bounce*).

England: A Denmark – Kiel, F English Channel - Mid-Atlantic Ocean,

F Irish Sea Supports F English Channel - Mid-Atlantic Ocean, F London - English Channel (*Bounce*),

F North Sea - Holland (*Bounce*), A St Petersburg – Moscow, F Sweden - Baltic Sea.

France: Build F Marseilles.. A Belgium - Holland (*Bounce*), A Berlin – Silesia,

F Brest - English Channel (*Bounce*), A Gascony – Burgundy, F Marseilles - Gulf of Lyon,

~~F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports F Brest - English Channel~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Western Mediterranean or

North Africa or Spain(sc) or Portugal or Spain(nc) or Gascony or North Atlantic Ocean or OTB),

A Piedmont - Tyrolia (*Bounce*), F Western Mediterranean - Tunis.

Germany: NRR! Remove F Gulf of Bothina..~~A Moscow S F Gulf of Bothina – St. Petersburg(sc)~~, A Kiel – Berlin,

A Livonia - Warsaw (*Bounce*), A Ruhr - Belgium (*Fails*).

Italy: Remove F Tyrrhenian Sea.. F Naples Supports A Tuscany – Rome, A Tuscany - Rome.

Russia: Remove F Armenia.. F Ankara - Black Sea.

F 06 Deadline is March 27th at 7:00am my time

PRESS

The Observer: Austria continues inexorable growth with France and England squabble…We long for a cooperative arrangement ere we’ll all be speaking German (with an Austrian accent).

Paris: Le Monde: British Fleets…French Armies…Priceless!!

Italy to France: Ask for whatever miserable help I can give you and it’s yours.

Diplomacy - “Lighthouse” - 2011? – W 02/S 03

Austria (Don Williams – dwilliams “of” fontana.org): Remove F Adriatic Sea..

A Budapest Supports A Galicia – Vienna, A Serbia Supports A Venice - Trieste.

England (Paul Milewski – paul.milewski “of” hotmail.com): Retreat F English Channel - Irish Sea,

Disband F Norway.. ~~F Irish Sea - Wales~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Liverpool or North Atlantic Ocean or OTB),

F London - Wales (*Bounce*), A Wales - Yorkshire.

France (Kevin Wilson – ckevinw “of” comcast.net): A Burgundy Supports A Picardy – Belgium,

F English Channel Supports F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Irish Sea, A Marseilles Supports A Burgundy,

F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - Irish Sea, A Picardy - Belgium.

Germany (Brad Wilson – bwdolphin146 “of” yahoo.com): Build F Kiel..

~~A Belgium - Burgundy~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Ruhr or OTB), A Bohemia – Galicia,

A Denmark - Holland (*Fails*), F Helgoland Bight Convoys A Denmark – Holland, F Holland - Belgium (*Fails*),

F Kiel - Denmark (*Fails*),

~~A Vienna Supports A Galicia - Budapest~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Bohemia or Tyrolia or OTB).

Italy (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): F Aegean Sea Supports F Ionian Sea – Greece,

A Galicia – Vienna, F Ionian Sea – Greece, A Rome – Venice, A Venice - Trieste.

Russia (Fred Wiedemeyer – wiedem “of” telus.net): Build F Sevastopol, A Warsaw..

F Armenia - Ankara (*Fails*), F Constantinople – Smyrna, A Norway - St Petersburg,

A Rumania - Ukraine (*Bounce*), F Sevastopol - Black Sea, F Sweden Hold,

A Syria Supports F Constantinople – Smyrna, A Warsaw - Ukraine (*Bounce*).

Turkey (Lance Anderson – lance_anderson “of” hotmail.com): F Ankara Hold, A Bulgaria Hold,

~~A Smyrna Hold~~ (*Disbanded*).

F 03 Deadline is March 27th at 7:00am my time

Would Jack McHugh standby for Turkey?

PRESS

From the steps of Moscow:
"Sir - the Syrians are not happy"
"Why - is it because of our army temporarily located there?"
"No, it is not that ."
"Well, what then?"
"There's been a shortage of vodka since the troops have been there"

ARCHDUCK to EUROPE: A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

CRAIGSLIST CENTRAL EUROPE: For sale or trade by owner -- Small kingdom, trace amounts of deferred maintenance in evidence, needs TLC. Previous owner fallen on hard times due to bad economy, assassination of patriarch, divorce, war, pestilence, disease, depravity, and excessive credit card debt. Excellent central location in lively neighborhood, but must love dogs, and experiencing at bayonet-point the cultures of heavily armed immigrants from Italy, Turkey and, newly arrived, Germany. Owners will consider any serious offer, but will give priority to those offering asylum. Discretion a must. Ask for Franz-Joseph.

By Almost Popular Demand

The goal is to pick something that fits the category and will be the a popular answer but NOT the "most popular" answer. You score points based on the number of entries that match yours. For example, if the category is "Cats" and the responses were 7 for Persian, 3 for Calico and 1 for Siamese, everyone who said Persian would get 7 points, Calico 3 and the lone Siamese would score 1 point. However, if your answer is the most popular answer, you score ZERO. The cumulative total over 10 rounds will determine the overall winner. Anyone may enter at any point, starting with an equivalent point total of the lowest cumulative score from the previous round. If a person misses a round, they'll receive the minimum score from the round added to their cumulative total. In each round you may specify one of your answers as your Joker answer. Your score for this answer will be doubled. In other words, if you apply your Joker to category 3 on a given turn, and 4 other people give the same answer as you, you get 10 points instead of 5. Players who fail to submit a Joker for any specific turn will have their Joker automatically applied to the first category. And, if you want to submit some commentary with your answers, feel free to. The game will consist of 10 rounds, and the score is doubled for Round 10. A prize will be awarded to the winner. Research is permitted!

Round 9 Categories

1. A dangerous sport.

2. A film Jodie Foster appears in.

3. Something you find in a woman’s purse.

4. A character from the TV show “All in the Family”

5. A country beginning with H.

Selected Comments by Category:

Sport – Brendan Whyte “A dangerous sport? Anything with Americans in it.” Dave McCrumb “According to Ernest Hemmingway there are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering. All the rest are merely games.” Richard Weiss “I don't live in NASCAR land and am not a gear head, maybe skiing or snow boarding will be the highest ranked answers this week, given the avalanches and accidents. Did anyone list "Tiger Trainer?” Hank Alme “Since I climb a lot, I have to pump my ego once in a while by reminding myself how dangerous it could be!” Per Westling “An investigation showed that sport including sitting on something that moves is the most dangerous ones, so that is Equestrian and Motor sports. When accidents happens that are often fatal, or at least serious. The most dangerious of the equestrian sports are the cross-country part of the Eventing.”

Jodie Foster – Rick Desper “The leading candidates are The Accused and Silence of the Lambs. Also possible: Taxi Driver, Freaky Friday, Nell, Maverick, and a host of other films.”

Purse – Brendan Whyte “I don't know... I can never find ANYTHING in there.” Dave McCrumb “In my wife’s, EVERYTHING including the kitchen sink.” Richard Weiss “I find my hand slapped everytime I look for something in a woman's purse. I'll say cell phone. I almost said keys, but of course a woman wouldn't be keys to her car and house in her purse - they'd be tooooo EZ to find.” Dane Maslen “I was tempted to answer "The kitchen sink" for number 3.”

All in the Family – Rick Desper “Meathead is going to be the #1 answer here.” Michael Moulton “Trying some reverse psychology. Everyone will assume Archie is the obvious answer so they'll pick someone else. I am guessing Edith will be most popular.” Richard Weiss “I'd say the Jefferson dude, but don't know his name. Edith would be nice, but I'm guessing she or meathead is number one as we all avoid Archie.”

H Country – Rick Desper “I'm hard pressed to think of anything other than Hungary. Hmm...the UN also has Haiti and Honduras.” Hank Alme “Thinking Hungary will edge Honduras out.” Per Westling “Hungary, beautiful town Budapest, but I am a bit worried about the rather extremistic right government in that country.”

General Comments – Hank Alme “This is an interesting variation. I have not figure out a strategy beyond going with what I would have answered last time (which worked: I won) and picking something else. that is only good for a point or two, it seems, and a bit random at that. Maybe I am not devious enough...

Congrats to Heather for scoring a round-high 19, and frowns for Duck Williams for a mere 2 points.

Round 10 Categories – Double Score!

1. One of Shakespeare’s plays.

2. A General who died during the U.S. Civil War.

3. Something an artist uses.

4. A job that everybody hates you for doing.

5. A country beginning with U.

Deadline for Round 10 is March 27th at 7:00am my time

Eternal Sunshine Movie Photo Contest

There are ten rounds of movie photos, and each round consists of ten photos. Identify the film each photo is from. Anyone may enter at any point. If you want to submit some commentary with your answers, feel free to. The game will consist of 10 rounds. A prize will be awarded to the winner – and it might be a very good prize! Research is not permitted! That means NO RESEARCH OF ANY KIND, not just no searches for the photos themselves. The only legal “research” is watching movies to try and locate the scenes. Each round will also contain one bonus question, asking what the ten movies being quoted have in common. The player with the most correct answers each round gets 3 points, 2^nd place gets 2 points, and 3^rd place gets 1 point. In the event of ties, multiple players get the points (if three players tie for first, they EACH get 3 points). High score at the end of ten rounds wins the game, and a prize (unless you cheated). If there’s enough participation I may give a prize for 2^nd and maybe even 3^rd place overall too. The final round will be worth double points.

Round 4

Stock	Price	% +/-
AJK - Allison Kent	62	1.6%
ALM - Hank Alme	56	3.7%
AMB - Amber Smith	55	-9.8%
AND - Lance Anderson	52	-14.8%
BAB - Chris Babcock	15	-25.0%
BIE - John Biehl	77	2.7%
BRG - Martin Burgdorf	67	3.1%
BWD - Brad Wilson	70	4.5%
CAK - Andy Lischett	69	3.0%
CAL - Cal White	15	-25.0%
CHC - Chuy Cronin	0.01	0.0%
CIA - Tom Swider	6	-40.0%
CKW - Kevin Wilson	71	2.9%
CKY - Carol Kay	6	-40.0%
DAN - Dane Maslen	70	2.9%
DBG - David Burgess	3	-40.0%
DTC - Brendan Whyte	66	3.1%
DUK - Don Williams	55	5.8%
FRD - Fred Wiedemeyer	65	3.2%
FRG - Jeremie Lefrancois	4	-33.3%
FRT - Mark Firth	67	3.1%
GRA - Graham Wilson	12	-29.4%
HDT - Heather Taylor	67	3.1%
HLJ - Harley Jordan	65	3.2%
HPL - Hugh Polley	33	10.0%
JOD - Jeff O'Donnell	67	3.1%
KMP - Geoff Kemp	67	4.7%
KVT - Kevin Tighe	68	6.3%
LAT - David Latimer	66	3.1%
LCR - Larry Cronin	0.01	-99.0%
MRK - Mark Nelson	33	-17.5%
MCC - David McCrumb	71	4.4%
MCR - Michael Cronin	0.01	0.0%
MIM - Michael Moulton	66	3.1%
MRC - Marc Ellinger	65	3.2%
OTS - Tom Howell	63	3.3%
PER - Per Westling	58	1.8%
PJM - Phil Murphy	38	-13.6%
QUI - Michael Quirk	25	-16.7%
RAC - Robin ap Cynan	60	1.7%
RDP - Rick Desper	64	4.9%
REB - Melinda Holley	71	2.9%
RED - Paraic Reddington	73	2.8%
RWE - Richard Weiss	57	0.0%
SAK - Jack McHugh	92	4.5%
TAP - Jim Burgess	74	8.8%
VOG - Pat Vogelsang	6	-40.0%
WAY - W. Andrew York	68	3.0%
WLK - Richard Walkerdine	106	5.0%
WWW - William Wood	0.01	0.0%
YLP - Paul Milewski	76	4.1%