spider, Louise Bourgeois. imagine sitting in the chair.
The entire basement (empty, dark, 40 foot ceiling, concrete floors, walls) is Bruce Nauman's work. He does the big fluorescent light pieces. (example below, but this one is not at dia)
It's great to stand in an enormous unlit basement completely by yourself with your eyes half-shut as that thing (or something like it) flickers at you on its own schedule.
Richard Serra. These are great because they are very big and somehow gracious.
I was disappointed in the positions I collected from Nationals, but I thought you might enjoy two good questions kids asked me recently that I couldn't answer and had to go home and look up. Answers are at the very bottom.
Jermaine's question: This position from a Guioco Piano occurred after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. O-O Bc5 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nxe5 Qh4. What is white supposed to do here, or has he already messed up?
Danny's question: This position occurred after
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 Nxd4 6. Nxe5 d6 7. Nxf7 Qe7 8. Nxh8 Bg4. White is up a rook and pawn, but black's pieces look very dangerous. What's going on?
Americans in Prison/ the Economist
Incidentally, do you know the difference between prison and jail? I had been using the terms synonymously, until a prison guard friend of my sister corrected me. Jail is where they take you overnight; prison is what you are sentenced to.
I've been getting my Economist late, lately, so this excerpt is two weeks old, but there is an eye-brow-raising article/ blog entry by Lexington (it's the magazine's editorial (?) blog on American politics) about incarceration rates in the US:
America has less than 5% of the world’s people but almost 25% of its prisoners. It imprisons 756 people per 100,000 residents, a rate nearly five times the world average. About one in every 31 adults is either in prison or on parole. Black men have a one-in-three chance of being imprisoned at some point in their lives. “A Leviathan unmatched in human history”, is how Glenn Loury, professor of social studies at Brown University, characterises America’s prison system.
read more here
If I had a 1 in 3 chance of being imprisoned in my lifetime, I would be really angry.
A Public Service Announcement / Spam on Blog
Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue
STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters....S.T.R. (see below)
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening
Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE - '3' steps, STR
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
NEW SIGN OF A STROKE - STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE
Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.
Thanks to Charlie Hertan (whose recent book, Forcing Chess Moves, won ChessCafe's Book of the Year) for this life-saving information.
your, ah, moment of Zen: Dan Flavin's "The Diagonal of Personal Ecstasy"
answers!
Jermaine's question: After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. O-O Bc5 7.
Re1 O-O 8. Nxe5 Qh4, white should take the knight with 9. Bxd5 because after 9...Bxf2+ 10. Kh1 Bxe1, he has 11. Nf3, forking the queen and bishop. After 11...Qh5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13.
Qxe1, white has two pieces for a rook.
Danny's question:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 Nxd4 6. Nxe5 d6 7. Nxf7 Qe7 8. Nxh8 Bg4
White is doing well and should continue 9. Qd2 Nxe4 10. Qf4 Be2 (10... Nxc2 11. Qxg4) (10... h5 11. Ng6) (10... Bh5 11. Re1) 11. Re1 Bxc4 (11... Nxc2 12. Rxe2) 12. Qxe4 Qxe4 13. Rxe4+ Kd7 14. Be3 Nxc2 15. Rxc4
Nxa1
9 comments:
My wife and I saw a great Louise Bourgeois exhibition at the Hirshhorn in DC: it's there until May 17.
We got our daughter an awesome t-shirt with the words "Home for Runaway Girls" emblazoned on it: that comes from a Bourgeois graphic work.
I've read that Bourgeois sees her spiders as nurturing and maternal, which is so bizarre you've gotta love it.
Have fun with your dad on his visit!
DIA:Beacon is, in fact, amazing and the best modern art museum I ever visited.
We went there with three generations of family members, and it blew all of us away. It quite literally exhausted us with the scale and quality of the art.
Everybody had favorites. Mine were the Sol Lewitt installations, the room full of Warhols, and interesting spatial stuff by Smithson and Sandback
The space itself is a work of art.
Strokelore:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/stroke.asp?print=y
Lizzy, your blog is just way too interesting. I may have to start a support group for people whose lives have been ruined by reading it obsessively.
"Beacon is a nice little town with lunch places and Main Street and fresh air."
Ah yes, fresh air, I knew it was around here someplace. Don't forget to breathe some of it while you're in Beacon. It'll help keep your cheeks pink. Have a great time with your dad.
Lizzy, your blog is just way too interesting. I may have to start a support group for people whose lives have been ruined by reading it obsessively.
"Beacon is a nice little town with lunch places and Main Street and fresh air."
Ah yes, fresh air, I knew it was around here someplace. Don't forget to breathe some of it while you're in Beacon. It'll help keep your cheeks pink. Have a great time with your dad.
Sounds like a great day trip. Art, a good place for lunch and fresh air. Glad that you and your dad had a nice time of it.
Totally off topic but did you happen to read the article in the New York Times this week about jury selection in the Brooke Astor trial. The article gave a brief description of the 12 jurors. One of them was a woman who was described as a retired textile designer who plays chess. It was an odd little detail and I became curious about this anonymous retired textile designer/chess player. But I threw out the Times and I can't find any mention of it on line so now I'm wondering if I made the whole thing up.
EB
My wife was at her regular yoga class when one of the participants, a nurse practitioner, fell over in a pose she would normally not have any problem with. She knew the signs of stroke and immediately asked that an ambulance be called. She was in hospital receiving stroke treatment within 30 minutes. She's made a complete recovery made possible because she knew what her symptoms were and what they meant.
spider, Louise Bourgeois. imagine sitting in the chair
Not necessary, I just recall any random game vs a GM.
If I had a 1 in 3 chance of being imprisoned in my lifetime, I would be really angry.
If you were really angry, most interactions with police officers (and courts, and parole boards, and ...) would not go well. And around it goes.
According to the The Economist's Pocket World in Figures: 2009 Edition, p.101, the USA ranks #1 in the world (USA! USA!) in Prisoners, both total prison population and per capita. Russia is not too shabby either, bronze and silver. China gets the silver in total prison population, but doesn't make the top 24 in per capita. Virgin Islands (US) gets the bronze in per capita.
In the answer to Jermaine's question, Black would play 10...Nxe5 instead of 10...Bxe1. This would lead to 11.Rxe5 Bg4 threatening 12...Bg3, and if White tries 12.Re2 he does not retain his two minor pieces for long, as 12...Rxe2 13.Qxe2 Rae8 threatening the queen and Re1+ which can't be stopped by 14.Be4 due to 14...f5
... attributed to the tactically trusty Fritz.
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