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Mad Germans on Mud-flats
|
|
| Chess One 2006-08-12, 7:33 pm |
| Check out chessbase and the 3 min video of a bunch of chess players near
Bremen who ....
Surely USA could compete? Underwater chess, mountain chess...
PI
| |
| help bot 2006-08-13, 5:33 am |
|
Chess One wrote:
quote:
> Check out chessbase and the 3 min video of a bunch of chess players near
> Bremen who ....
>
> Surely USA could compete? Underwater chess, mountain chess...
I downloaded this while playing two moves against Sanny's
Advance level at GetClub.com, but after seven hours of
transmission my connection timed out and...no video.
Plus I don't know whether Sannybot played the advance
or the exchange variation at move 3. :>D
When I was a very young bot, my high school cross-country
coach got the idea to break the world's record in the 24-hour
relay. He got the idea from reading popular running magazines,
which showed that particular record was not very impressive, nor
so very tough to beat. So we ran for 24 hours straight, handing
off a baton from one to the other, struggling mightily on account
of one or two team members wimping out (no-shows, the dogs!)
In the end, we beat the published world record, but unfortunately,
a dozen other cross-country/track coaches had gotten precisely
the same idea, from reading the same issues of the same rags.
It goes without saying that, had my coach been a chess player,
he would have anticipated this possibility by *thinking ahead*.
Now, I believe we can win a 24-hour relay while playing blindfold
blitz chess in our underwear. The thing is, there has not been
much publicity surrounding this event, and if we at the same time
all eat strawberry ice cream, don't you see -- we simply have to
set the world record! None of the track teams can play blindfolded,
and the Russian team doesn't like strawberry ice cream. Wait, we
can play blindfold chess in a shark tank, with live sharks, while at
the same time eating strawberry ice cream (this is key, due to the
strength of the Russian team) underwater, and riding manta rays!
Surely no one has tried that yet? And if they have, we'll throw in
some jellyfish and giant squid -- that will show them we mean
business.
-- Gerhart A. Shultz
| |
| Dr. D. Owd Ryndtapper, University of Brattleb 2006-08-13, 7:36 pm |
|
help bot wrote:
quote:
> Chess One wrote:
>
>
> I downloaded this while playing two moves against Sanny's
> Advance level at GetClub.com, but after seven hours of
> transmission my connection timed out and...no video.
> Plus I don't know whether Sannybot played the advance
> or the exchange variation at move 3. :>D
>
>
> When I was a very young bot, my high school cross-country
> coach got the idea to break the world's record in the 24-hour
> relay. He got the idea from reading popular running magazines,
> which showed that particular record was not very impressive, nor
> so very tough to beat. So we ran for 24 hours straight, handing
> off a baton from one to the other, struggling mightily on account
> of one or two team members wimping out (no-shows, the dogs!)
> In the end, we beat the published world record, but unfortunately,
> a dozen other cross-country/track coaches had gotten precisely
> the same idea, from reading the same issues of the same rags.
>
> It goes without saying that, had my coach been a chess player,
> he would have anticipated this possibility by *thinking ahead*.
>
> Now, I believe we can win a 24-hour relay while playing blindfold
> blitz chess in our underwear. The thing is, there has not been
> much publicity surrounding this event, and if we at the same time
> all eat strawberry ice cream, don't you see -- we simply have to
> set the world record! None of the track teams can play blindfolded,
> and the Russian team doesn't like strawberry ice cream. Wait, we
> can play blindfold chess in a shark tank, with live sharks, while at
> the same time eating strawberry ice cream (this is key, due to the
> strength of the Russian team) underwater, and riding manta rays!
> Surely no one has tried that yet? And if they have, we'll throw in
> some jellyfish and giant squid -- that will show them we mean
> business.
Wonderful! You've nailed the silliness of the idea of a "mud-flat
championship." Why people feel the need to make chess "interesting"
with bizarre stunts, or taffy-pull it into a variety program with some
Nashvile band is beyond me. To me, chess is interesting without such
'improvements.'
| |
| Chess One 2006-08-13, 7:36 pm |
|
"help bot" <nomorechess@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1155456354.399922.145910@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
<youth-bot's history snipped>
quote:
> It goes without saying that, had my coach been a chess player,
> he would have anticipated this possibility by *thinking ahead*.
>
> Now, I believe we can win a 24-hour relay while playing blindfold
> blitz chess in our underwear.
In anyone's underwear - we are Murcans!
quote:
> The thing is, there has not been
> much publicity surrounding this event, and if we at the same time
> all eat strawberry ice cream, don't you see -- we simply have to
> set the world record!
You underestimate the taste of the media and general public for a bit of
real spectacle, and they seem sick of contrived 'reality' shows. Media Execs
have their tongues hanging out for a bit of real reality, though, if you
ever met one, you would realise how seldom they are likely to encounter
anything at all.
quote:
> None of the track teams can play blindfolded,
> and the Russian team doesn't like strawberry ice cream. Wait, we
> can play blindfold chess in a shark tank, with live sharks, while at
> the same time eating strawberry ice cream (this is key, due to the
> strength of the Russian team) underwater, and riding manta rays!
> Surely no one has tried that yet? And if they have, we'll throw in
> some jellyfish and giant squid -- that will show them we mean
> business.
That would show them floating corpses and cause them to relfect negatively
on how smart we chess players were - a situation I suggest we avoid - and
should you take this mild criticism as it is intended, um, I forgot what
happens next, since it is so rara avis - whoops! that's un-American - its,
its...
quote:
> -- Gerhart A. Shultz
Yorn, Franklin T. Gothic, Midle.
[is that how you say it if dad and son have same name?]
| |
| Dr. D. Owd Ryndtapper, University of Brattleb 2006-08-13, 7:36 pm |
|
Chess One wrote:
quote:
>
>
> You underestimate the taste of the media and general public for a bit of
> real spectacle, and they seem sick of contrived 'reality' shows. Media Execs
> have their tongues hanging out for a bit of real reality, though, if you
> ever met one, you would realise how seldom they are likely to encounter
> anything at all.
This desire for "spectacle" is contrary to what chess is. The idea that
you can make chess, an art/sport/game with "boring" visuals that
requires effort to be understood, into a mass-media "event" by striving
for spectacle is akin to those unfortunate sound recordings that set
Mozart to a disco beat (AKA "crossover crap") in the hope that new
audiences will flood concert halls. It doesn't work. Audiences drawn by
the Bond bimbos don't go to hear the Kronos quartet. They only want
more Bond.
Along the same lines:
"Although he was the first English critic to take the movies seriously
(in an article of 1921 on Charlie Chaplin), he rejects the common
excuse for distorting great novels and plays on the screen. 'Is it to
popularize Shakespeare? But with me he is already popular.' Agate
steadily fights the highbrow attempts to ram culture down the throats
of people; he knows it can only bastardize culture and the people too."
- Jacques Barzun, James Agate and His Nine Egos.
| |
|
| >
quote:
> Surely USA could compete? Underwater chess, mountain chess...
>
Underwater Chess are you Joking?
Bye
Sanny
| |
| The Historian 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
Sanny wrote:
quote:
>
> Underwater Chess are you Joking?
No, he's serious. Insane, but serious. Some people think you must
destroy chess to make it popular.
| |
| Chess One 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
"Sanny" <softtanks@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1155976467.059473.182960@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
quote:
>
> Underwater Chess are you Joking?
The German event was reported in der Spiegel, a national paper.
You know, sometimes people play simuls to gain public attention for the
game, and those large chess sets which are sometimes set out in front of
shopping malls draw big crowds, even if the games aren't world championship
material and deadly serious affairs between blokes with long beards.
Deadly serious has done the game in! USCF membership declined some 10,000 in
2 years. And the scholastic sign-up rate of new players is exactly the same
as the non-renew rate of those who first tried chess just a year or two
before.
Stunts makes chess fun, and lookit! There she is! Some grandma is playing an
8 year old and everyone is cheering! Cheering them both.
Otherwise the general public have this absurd idea that only Lybraryun-types
with severe anal-compulsive diction, wet views on the old SU, and such
similarly pimply misanthropic nerds who wear really thick glasses and
sometimes dribble, these folks congregate to play chess in clubs just for
certain types of men.
The 80's are over, baby.
Cheerio! Austin Innes
quote:
> Bye
> Sanny
>
| |
| Taylor Kingston 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
The Historian wrote:
quote:
> Sanny wrote:
>
> No, he's serious. Insane, but serious. Some people think you must
> destroy chess to make it popular.
Actually, underwater chess was featured on the cover of Chess Life
some years ago. Two scuba divers were shown using a special full-size
set down in the waters of the Caribbean or some such tropical sea. The
deal was, each player had to remove his mouthpiece and hold his breath
when it was his turn to move. Talk about time pressure!
| |
| The Historian 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
Taylor Kingston wrote:
quote:
> The Historian wrote:
>
> Actually, underwater chess was featured on the cover of Chess Life
> some years ago. Two scuba divers were shown using a special full-size
> set down in the waters of the Caribbean or some such tropical sea. The
> deal was, each player had to remove his mouthpiece and hold his breath
> when it was his turn to move. Talk about time pressure!
Yes, it was an amusing stunt, almost like a circus sideshow. And I'm
sure some people enjoy seeing chess marketed as a circus sideshow.
| |
| Taylor Kingston 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
The Historian wrote:
quote:
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> Yes, it was an amusing stunt, almost like a circus sideshow. And I'm
> sure some people enjoy seeing chess marketed as a circus sideshow.
Yes, it's not to my taste. For me, a great pleasure of chess is that
when I play, that's ALL I'm doing. The rest of the world disappears. I
have enjoyed both chess and underwater diving very much, but I don't
want to combine them any more than I do, say, gardening and surfing.
| |
| The Historian 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
Taylor Kingston wrote:
quote:
> The Historian wrote:
>
> Yes, it's not to my taste. For me, a great pleasure of chess is that
> when I play, that's ALL I'm doing. The rest of the world disappears. I
> have enjoyed both chess and underwater diving very much...
In Vermont?
...but I don't
quote:
> want to combine them any more than I do, say, gardening and surfing.
Agreed. But unfortunately there are people who want to twist chess into
some sort of mass-market product based on 'spectacle'. It's akin to
those scholastic chess types who market chess to kids, removing such
old and boring elements as touch-move to help raise the headcount in
the tournament.
It's not that chess cannot be presented effectively to mass audiences,
of course. The BBC Master Game, broadcast in the 1970s everywhere in
the UK save perhaps Conrwall, managed to bring chess to a wider
audience without men playing on mudflats or carting in a rock band. The
film Searching for Bobby Fischer also managed the trick - the chess
tournament scenes, aside from some moments of silliness such as locking
the chess parents away, are extremely realistic. Neither one of them
needed to dumb down a thinking person's game to reach the general
public.
| |
| Taylor Kingston 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
The Historian wrote:
quote:
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> In Vermont?
No, when I lived in San Diego. I never scuba-dived, but I did a lot
of snorkeling at La Jolla Cove. Peak moment: being in the midst of a
school of baby Garibaldi, little fish about the size of a fingertip,
their scales a mix of day-glo orange and iridescent blue, like jewels
swimming around me in the sunrays. Unforgettable. Also came
face-to-face with seals and moray eels now and then.
I believe Lake Champlain is popular with divers, but I have not tried
it. No Garibaldi there.
quote:
> ...but I don't
>
> Agreed. But unfortunately there are people who want to twist chess into
> some sort of mass-market product based on 'spectacle'. It's akin to
> those scholastic chess types who market chess to kids, removing such
> old and boring elements as touch-move to help raise the headcount in
> the tournament.
>
> It's not that chess cannot be presented effectively to mass audiences,
> of course. The BBC Master Game, broadcast in the 1970s everywhere in
> the UK save perhaps Conrwall, managed to bring chess to a wider
> audience without men playing on mudflats or carting in a rock band. The
> film Searching for Bobby Fischer also managed the trick - the chess
> tournament scenes, aside from some moments of silliness such as locking
> the chess parents away, are extremely realistic. Neither one of them
> needed to dumb down a thinking person's game to reach the general
> public.
Agreed.
| |
| David Kane 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
"The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1156006178.659771.135740@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
quote:
>
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> In Vermont?
>
> ...but I don't
>
> Agreed. But unfortunately there are people who want to twist chess into
> some sort of mass-market product based on 'spectacle'. It's akin to
> those scholastic chess types who market chess to kids, removing such
> old and boring elements as touch-move to help raise the headcount in
> the tournament.
This sounds like an urban legend to me. Usually the rule
differences are those dealing with recording, and those
involving arbiter intervention.
In my experience, scholastic chess is supply-limited.
Tournaments fill with marketing that, at most, involves
handing out flyers at a previous tournament.
quote:
> It's not that chess cannot be presented effectively to mass audiences,
> of course. The BBC Master Game, broadcast in the 1970s everywhere in
> the UK save perhaps Conrwall, managed to bring chess to a wider
> audience without men playing on mudflats or carting in a rock band. The
> film Searching for Bobby Fischer also managed the trick - the chess
> tournament scenes, aside from some moments of silliness such as locking
> the chess parents away, are extremely realistic. Neither one of them
> needed to dumb down a thinking person's game to reach the general
> public.
>
Of course, Searching for Bobby Fischer put chess in
a poor light. Hardly the stuff of recruiting.
Scholastic chess booms because those involved
understand that the key is to take the inherent appeal
of a great game and incorporate it into a fun package.
It basically just follows the tried and true model used
by other popular youth activities. Why this is so
upsetting to some adult chess players is the mystery.
My theory is that they want to maintain chess as
the preserve of misfits. In that light, electing the
likes of a Sam Sloan to the USCF EB makes a
lot of sense.
| |
| The Historian 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
David Kane wrote:
quote:
> "The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1156006178.659771.135740@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
>
> This sounds like an urban legend to me.
Pittsburgh, last I heard, was an urban area. And it's not a legend
there.
Usually the rule
quote:
> differences are those dealing with recording, and those
> involving arbiter intervention.
>
> In my experience, scholastic chess is supply-limited.
> Tournaments fill with marketing that, at most, involves
> handing out flyers at a previous tournament.
>
>
> Of course, Searching for Bobby Fischer put chess in
> a poor light. Hardly the stuff of recruiting.
Which explains why USCF placed an ad on the videotape edition. And
which explains, no doubt, why so many chess-playing children know the
film.
quote:
> Scholastic chess booms because those involved
> understand that the key is to take the inherent appeal
> of a great game and incorporate it into a fun package.
But chess is fun without your "incorporation". And that brings up back
to the mudflats, so to speak.
quote:
> It basically just follows the tried and true model used
> by other popular youth activities. Why this is so
> upsetting to some adult chess players is the mystery.
See above.
quote:
> My theory is that they want to maintain chess as
> the preserve of misfits.
My, what a chess-hating statement! It's worthy of Richard Peterson.
In that light, electing the
quote:
> likes of a Sam Sloan to the USCF EB makes a
> lot of sense.
The election of Sam Sloan to the EB is, frankly, an insult to chess.
| |
| Chess One 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
"The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1156004028.970280.135820@74g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
quote:
>
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> Yes, it was an amusing stunt, almost like a circus sideshow.
Except there was no circus! If you ever wanted to be a writer, try an apt
metaphor.
And since there was no circus, chess was no side-show neither, rather it was
front and central performance art reporting in a major and serious national
daily, in a country which has sponsored more chess in the past 10 years than
USA in its entire history.
quote:
> And I'm
> sure some people enjoy seeing chess marketed as a circus sideshow.
I'm unsure some people do - but that is inconsequent commentary, since who
can these people be, if not the shadow of the gloom-merchants in long
beards, content to let chess decline from public attention - and who never
had any great facility at the game themselves?
Phil Innes
| |
| Chess One 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
| a boring guy 'weighs-in' with his resentments about promotion of chess -
absent whatever he ever did
how odd that we never heard what Brennan did for chess, except to write
biographies of dead "c" players
somehow this contrast has passed him by, as has much else
as for a thinking person's game - can he speak for us? i never encountered
such a sour numbskull in my entire life who is easily confused by Zed, the
computer program, who he thinks is me
while Zed passes the Turing test, Brennan and his nihilistic cohorts are
hardly happy examples of the game, and maybe soon we will hear more of their
opinions about what women players should include in their book about idiotic
sexist boring male pigs, from the pig's perspective?
PI
"The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1156006178.659771.135740@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
quote:
>
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> In Vermont?
>
> ...but I don't
>
> Agreed. But unfortunately there are people who want to twist chess into
> some sort of mass-market product based on 'spectacle'. It's akin to
> those scholastic chess types who market chess to kids, removing such
> old and boring elements as touch-move to help raise the headcount in
> the tournament.
>
> It's not that chess cannot be presented effectively to mass audiences,
> of course. The BBC Master Game, broadcast in the 1970s everywhere in
> the UK save perhaps Conrwall, managed to bring chess to a wider
> audience without men playing on mudflats or carting in a rock band. The
> film Searching for Bobby Fischer also managed the trick - the chess
> tournament scenes, aside from some moments of silliness such as locking
> the chess parents away, are extremely realistic. Neither one of them
> needed to dumb down a thinking person's game to reach the general
> public.
>
| |
| David Kane 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
"The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1156019815.567748.209560@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
quote:
>
> David Kane wrote:
full-size[vbcol=seagreen]
The[vbcol=seagreen]
breath[vbcol=seagreen]
>
> Pittsburgh, last I heard, was an urban area. And it's not a legend
> there.
What is it, then?
The fact remains that kids take to chess in droves, and even if
somewhere, someone decided to treat touch-move
lightly (I'm still skeptical unless you're referring to the
Kasparov-Polgar incident) has nothing to do with it.
quote:
> Usually the rule
>
> Which explains why USCF placed an ad on the videotape edition. And
> which explains, no doubt, why so many chess-playing children know the
> film.
Do they?
The whole theme of the movie is parents pushing their
kids in youth activities, *especially* in this case in
which the activity garners no respect in the adult
world (homeless drug addicts, oddballs in unpleasant
clubs, low-paid burnt-out teachers etc. are the examples
given of adult chess players)
quote:
>
>
> But chess is fun without your "incorporation". And that brings up back
> to the mudflats, so to speak.
Apparently not fun enough to attract adults in droves, though,
is it?
quote:
>
> See above.
Sorry, I don't see that you answered anything above.
quote:
>
> My, what a chess-hating statement! It's worthy of Richard Peterson.
No, just someone who doesn't hate children playing
chess.
quote:
>
> In that light, electing the
>
> The election of Sam Sloan to the EB is, frankly, an insult to chess.
>
But it makes good sense if you are terrified
of chess moving towards the mainstream, doesn't
it? Do you have an alternate theory?
| |
| The Historian 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
David Kane wrote:
quote:
> "The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1156019815.567748.209560@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> full-size
> The
> breath
>
> What is it, then?
How more blunt must I be? There is a nationally-known scholastic chess
organizer in Pittsburgh that 'waives' touch-move in his tournaments.
quote:
> The fact remains that kids take to chess in droves, and even if
> somewhere, someone decided to treat touch-move
> lightly (I'm still skeptical unless you're referring to the
> Kasparov-Polgar incident) has nothing to do with it.
quote:
>
> Do they?
I seem to recall many child-chessplayers in the scholastic tournaments
I worked at being familiar with the film.
quote:
> The whole theme of the movie is parents pushing their
> kids in youth activities, *especially* in this case in
> which the activity garners no respect in the adult
> world (homeless drug addicts, oddballs in unpleasant
> clubs, low-paid burnt-out teachers etc. are the examples
> given of adult chess players)
Oddly enough, in the film the parent that pushes his kid is presented
in a bad light. I doubt anyone seeing it, aside from yourself, sees the
entire film as a documentary on parents pushing kids.
quote:
>
> Apparently not fun enough to attract adults in droves, though,
> is it?
Why the hell do we WANT to attract people "in droves"? The "bums on
seats" argument doesn't work here. We could attract audiences to
performances of Hamlet by cutting 50 percent of the play, including
those long speeches, and spicing it up with a scene of Hamlet and
Ophelia "getting it on" while Claudius watches. I don't see the need to
attract to people by such means, and in fact I'd rather they not come
if they need such 'encouragement.' Look up the James Agate quotation
elsewhere in the thread.
quote:
>
> Sorry, I don't see that you answered anything above.
Sorry, I don't see that you are any more capable than Innes in
understanding the argument.
quote:
>
> No, just someone who doesn't hate children playing
> chess.
>
>
> But it makes good sense if you are terrified
> of chess moving towards the mainstream, doesn't
> it?
Not at all.
Do you have an alternate theory?
| |
| The Historian 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
The Historian wrote:
quote:
>
> Why the hell do we WANT to attract people "in droves"? The "bums on
> seats" argument doesn't work here. We could attract audiences to
> performances of Hamlet by cutting 50 percent of the play, including
> those long speeches, and spicing it up with a scene of Hamlet and
> Ophelia "getting it on" while Claudius watches. I don't see the need to
> attract to people by such means, and in fact I'd rather they not come
> if they need such 'encouragement.' Look up the James Agate quotation
> elsewhere in the thread.
"Although he was the first English critic to take the movies seriously
(in an article of 1921 on Charlie Chaplin), he rejects the common
excuse for distorting great novels and plays on the screen. 'Is it to
popularize Shakespeare? But with me he is already popular.' Agate
steadily fights the highbrow attempts to ram culture down the throats
of people; he knows it can only bastardize culture and the people too."
- Jacques Barzun, James Agate and His Nine Egos.
| |
| David Kane 2006-08-19, 7:36 pm |
|
"The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1156023666.218626.202790@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
quote:
>
> David Kane wrote:
quote:
>
>
> Oddly enough, in the film the parent that pushes his kid is presented
> in a bad light. I doubt anyone seeing it, aside from yourself, sees the
> entire film as a documentary on parents pushing kids.
Anyone who watches it intelligently will see that
theme. In any case, the adult chess world is portrayed
negatively on the whole. BTW, the pushy
Dad is not portrayed as simply bad. It shows him as
overly caught up in his son's achievements, but still
a sympathetic character.
quote:
>
> Why the hell do we WANT to attract people "in droves"? The "bums on
> seats" argument doesn't work here. We could attract audiences to
> performances of Hamlet by cutting 50 percent of the play, including
> those long speeches, and spicing it up with a scene of Hamlet and
> Ophelia "getting it on" while Claudius watches. I don't see the need to
> attract to people by such means, and in fact I'd rather they not come
> if they need such 'encouragement.' Look up the James Agate quotation
> elsewhere in the thread.
This rant has little to do with the point, because nothing analogous
is used to attract kids to chess (or baseball or soccer or lacrosse etc.)
But I guess there will always be those whose views are so narrow
that anything but 12-hour games played by GMs
isn't "real" chess.
quote:
>
> Sorry, I don't see that you are any more capable than Innes in
> understanding the argument.
You haven't *made* an argument. All you've
shown that you know little about about
scholastic chess and are a victim of your
prejudices. Taking pride in his
ignorance is classic Innes - maybe you
*are* paying a bit too much attention
to him.
| |
| Chess One 2006-08-20, 7:37 pm |
|
"David Kane" <davidekane@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:9Y2dnZJ6WMQpHXrZnZ2dnUVZ_qOdnZ2d@comcast.com...
quote:
>
> Do they?
>
> The whole theme of the movie is parents pushing their
> kids in youth activities, *especially* in this case in
> which the activity garners no respect in the adult
> world (homeless drug addicts, oddballs in unpleasant
> clubs, low-paid burnt-out teachers etc. are the examples
> given of adult chess players)
Yes - the program not only did not have Fischer in it, but hardly any chess
[for a chess player] either. It was more about the nature of a prodigy, a
kid who still held some honor and respect in playing the game a certain
way - in marked contrast to almost all the other characters around him.
I thought it was an excellent movie in this respect, and I use that word
advisedly, since 'respect' for this 'otherness' in the child seems to be the
quintessential point the movie wished to make.
I think it could be contrasted with those players who were also prodigies,
some of whom held on to this honorable way of playing the game, compared to
others who struggled to find their own compass in adult society.
I note that it is on the all-time favorite list of American movies - which I
take to indicate that the /thema/ of dealing with the prodigy appeals to a
much greater audience than the more modest chess community.
<---------->
quote:
>
> No, just someone who doesn't hate children playing
> chess.
If there was a lesson from the movie, I would say that it was that children
[like adults!] do things for their own reasons, not ours.
Phil Innes
quote:
>
> But it makes good sense if you are terrified
> of chess moving towards the mainstream, doesn't
> it? Do you have an alternate theory?
>
>
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Taylor Kingston wrote:
quote:
> The Historian wrote:
>
> No, when I lived in San Diego. I never scuba-dived, but I did a lot
> of snorkeling at La Jolla Cove.
AH,
I have been there. Beautiful spot. I caution you that should you choose
to rock hop to the small "islet" in the cove to take photographs of
sealions, the tide comes in very quick in February. One could find
themself stranded. Been there, done that got the tee shirt!
quote:
>Peak moment: being in the midst of a
> school of baby Garibaldi, little fish about the size of a fingertip,
> their scales a mix of day-glo orange and iridescent blue, like jewels
> swimming around me in the sunrays. Unforgettable. Also came
> face-to-face with seals and moray eels now and then.
> I believe Lake Champlain is popular with divers, but I have not tried
> it. No Garibaldi there.
>
>
> Agreed.
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| help bot 2006-08-22, 2:36 am |
|
Rob wrote:
quote:
>
> AH,
> I have been there. Beautiful spot. I caution you that should you choose
> to rock hop to the small "islet" in the cove to take photographs of
> sealions, the tide comes in very quick in February. One could find
> themself stranded. Been there, done that got the tee shirt!
Somewhere near San Diego...
While many others settled for lying about, getting a nice
tan, or splashing about in the shallow water...I decided to
see if I could swim out a ways, then turn back and swim to
shore. However, there was a tide/undertow/whatever which
took hold a ways offshore, and as I started my "return", I
noticed I was not making any headway at all.
Meanwhile...my sister and/or father had notified the
Life Guard that I needed rescuing! But he only went to the
water's edge to observe me, as I desperately decided to
redouble my efforts (unaware that anybody had a clue as
to my being "swept out to sea" while they tanned in the sun).
My increased speed was just barely enough to overcome
the strong pull in the opposite direction, and exhausted, I
eventually *crawled* out of the water, feeling very embarassed.
The Life Guard advised me to never try that again, but if I did,
to not try and swim back, but instead get the Life Guard's
attention, by waving my arms franticly (like when I hang my
Queen). Oh well, it was a good workout.
-- help bot
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| Taylor Kingston 2006-08-22, 7:40 pm |
|
Rob wrote:
quote:
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> AH,
> I have been there. Beautiful spot. I caution you that should you choose
> to rock hop to the small "islet" in the cove to take photographs of
> sealions, the tide comes in very quick in February. One could find
> themself stranded. Been there, done that got the tee shirt!
Rob, I think you may be confusing two different inlets there. What
you describe sounds like the children's pool, a bit west of La Jolla
Cove proper. The children's pool was a legacy of Ellen Browning Scripps
(of Scripps Institute of Oceanography fame), a man-made, concrete-girt
enclosure intended to stop the surf and maximize safety for the
kiddies. A glorified wading pool. In recent years, in a somewhat
controversial decision, it has been closed off to people, and has
become a sun-bathing beach for dozen of seals.
La Jolla Cove proper, where I did my diving, is an entirely natural
inlet. There is a small "islet" some ways out in it, maybe six feet in
diameter, but one could not rock-hop to it even at the lowest tide.
Most of the time it's submerged several feet.
Trivia question: what movie featured the children's pool? Hint: it
starred Peter O'Toole.
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Taylor Kingston wrote:
quote:
> Rob wrote:
>
> Rob, I think you may be confusing two different inlets there. What
> you describe sounds like the children's pool, a bit west of La Jolla
> Cove proper. The children's pool was a legacy of Ellen Browning Scripps
> (of Scripps Institute of Oceanography fame), a man-made, concrete-girt
> enclosure intended to stop the surf and maximize safety for the
> kiddies. A glorified wading pool. In recent years, in a somewhat
> controversial decision, it has been closed off to people, and has
> become a sun-bathing beach for dozen of seals.
That may be it. Not really sure. It was my only time there. There was a
cliff behind it . I remember that because the rope ladder had to be
dropped for me to climb back up it.
quote:
> La Jolla Cove proper, where I did my diving, is an entirely natural
> inlet. There is a small "islet" some ways out in it, maybe six feet in
> diameter, but one could not rock-hop to it even at the lowest tide.
> Most of the time it's submerged several feet.
>
> Trivia question: what movie featured the children's pool? Hint: it
> starred Peter O'Toole.
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| Taylor Kingston 2006-08-22, 7:40 pm |
|
Rob wrote:
quote:
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> That may be it. Not really sure. It was my only time there. There was a
> cliff behind it . I remember that because the rope ladder had to be
> dropped for me to climb back up it.
Rope ladder? Hmm, now it sounds like another place entirely, unless
they added such a ladder after I left SD.
[vbcol=seagreen]
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|
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Taylor Kingston wrote:
quote:
> Rob wrote:
>
> Rope ladder? Hmm, now it sounds like another place entirely, unless
> they added such a ladder after I left SD.
>
They added that as a way for me to get to safety. It was not a
permanent fixture I don't think. I did draw a crowd, though.
[vbcol=seagreen]
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| Taylor Kingston 2006-08-22, 11:36 pm |
|
Rob wrote:
quote:
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
>
> They added that as a way for me to get to safety. It was not a
> permanent fixture I don't think. I did draw a crowd, though.
Lucky you weren't devoured by the mosasaurs and liopleurodons that
regularly patrol those waters.
quote:
> Trivia question: what movie featured the children's pool? Hint: it
> starred Peter O'Toole.
That was probably too trivial a question. Answer, if anyone cares:
"The Stunt Man" (1980). In a movie-within-a-movie kind of scene, the
children's pool was the site of a German landing being filmed for a WW
I flick. Many explosions when it was strafed by enemy biplanes. In a
neat bit of movie trickery, they made it look like the Hotel Del
Coronado was right beside La Jolla Cove, when actually it's about 15
miles south. The title character was played by Steve Railsback,
probably more famous for playing Charles Manson in the TV movie "Helter
Skelter."
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Taylor Kingston wrote:
quote:
> Rob wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Lucky you weren't devoured by the mosasaurs and liopleurodons that
> regularly patrol those waters.
Taylor, I am old but not that darn old!
quote:
>
> That was probably too trivial a question. Answer, if anyone cares:
> "The Stunt Man" (1980). In a movie-within-a-movie kind of scene, the
> children's pool was the site of a German landing being filmed for a WW
> I flick. Many explosions when it was strafed by enemy biplanes. In a
> neat bit of movie trickery, they made it look like the Hotel Del
> Coronado was right beside La Jolla Cove, when actually it's about 15
> miles south. The title character was played by Steve Railsback,
> probably more famous for playing Charles Manson in the TV movie "Helter
> Skelter."
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| help bot 2006-08-24, 5:37 am |
|
Rob wrote:
quote:
>
> Taylor, I am old but not that darn old!
Not to worry. No matter how old you might be, such
creatures have never patrolled the shores of San Diego.
And besides, with the sole exception of Loch Ness, they
are now pretty much extinct. [Statistically speaking, the
odds of being eaten by a lioplurodon are nothing next to
the danger of being trampled to death by a stampede of
migrating lemmings, or carried off by army ants.]
I would imagine the #1 threat here is *drowning*,
followed by jellyfish, sharks, getting hit by a boat,
giant squid, orcas, being swept out to sea (only a
true nitwit would ever risk this), and finally,
swallowing your snorkel or respirator mouthpiece.
Oh, and lastly, being slapped to death by a crazed
seal.
-- help bot
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