The brouhaha du jour

I don't normally care to comment on items like this, but as this sort of thing is becoming a pattern, I think I will comment today.

In this story, a Metro Transit bus driver has been allowed to avoid driving buses that feature ads from Lavender Magazine, a local magazine which caters to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities of the Twin Cites area.

My wife and I have discussed this, as well as the recent refusal of Muslim taxi drivers to carry passengers who have alcohol on board, and the all-too prevalent stories of fundamentalist pharmacists refusing to assist customers who have need for contraception.

My take on this issue is the following:

I think these individuals who are making these choices need to reexamine their consciences and think about the lines of work that they are in. Perhaps they are all being way too sensitive and are not in the correct lines of work. They are proselytizing on the company's time.

I know that if there is something I am not comfortable with on a job that is not a legal issue and bothers me that much, I will need to work doing something else rather than ask my job to accomodate me. Isn't that fair?

Tag: fundamentalism

Expansion of the plans for an international carbon market

As described in this news item, Governor Schwarzenegger is expanding the carbon-trading program with the European Union and seven states in the United States Northeast. (I posted about this program back in July.)

Carbon trading is a means for entities to be rewarded for reducing their production of greenhouse gases. The idea behind it is that innovation will spur economic benefits for those companies who can improve their processes.

Although not a universally-lauded concept, it appears that it will be an important tool in the world's management of the production of carbon dioxide.

Tags: greenhouse gases, global warming, carbon trading

Ratdog plays the Fitzgerald Theatre this Sunday!

Tickets? Check. Sitter? Check. Anticipation? Hell yes, check!

Last night I had a funny dream about the coming weekend's Ratdog show. In my dream, I was chatting with Bob Weir before the show about what I thought their setlist might be. (I'm guessing an opener of Big River.) The show was held in my old grade school gymnasium, and very few people were dancing.

I woke up this morning grinning that the show is coming soon. Melissa has seen Ratdog once, and that was when she was pregnant. So, we will get a night out for music without our son, which should be a fun time.

Today Bob turns 59! Happy Birthday, Bob!

The night before the Fitz show, Ratdog is one of many bands who are helping with the humanitarian effort, Rock For Darfur. If you are inclined to see any live music this coming weekend, please check out the link.

Tags: Ratdog, Bob Weir, music, St. Paul

It was a very nice weekend!

I was feeling run down last week, so the weekend couldn't come quickly enough. On Saturday night, Jefe organized yet another great get together for Oktoberfest in NE Minneapolis at Gasthof zur Gemütlichkeit. This was my second time and Melissa's second time there as well, although it was our first time there together. We saw old friends, met some new people, and drank lots of beer and ate lots of German food. I especially appreciated when Jeff started the cheering for me to finish the first boot of beer. I did! :)

Joe Erjavec v Shawn Mize

Here's the game from Friday night. Shawn definitely schooled me on this one! This demonstrates how not to play the Alekhine and how one should be punished for an opening mistake.

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Tags: Twin Cities Chess League, chess

Twin Cities Chess League, Round Two

On Friday night, Tal Tales (Kelly, myself, John, and Blaine) took on Isolated Pawn Storm (Dan, Shawn, Matt, and Duane) in the second round of the TCCL. As I referred to in earlier postings, we were outgunned rating wise on each board.

Board One: Dan (1949) v Kelly (1295)
Board Two: Me (1287) v Shawn (1900)
Board Three: Matt (1525) v John (1106)
Board Four: Blaine (provisional) v Duane (1521)

I half-jokingly told John and Blaine that it was going to be up to them for us to get a draw in the match, as boards one and two would be a really bitch for Kelly and me. (Dan is Kelly's and John's coach.) I've played Dan and Shawn before, and they are tough players. I knew what we'd be in for.

Duane had the shortest game and lost to Duane within the first half-hour. (The matches are G/90). Kelly and Dan had a pretty interesting game. Dan played the exchange version of the Ruy Lopez (C68). I did not have a chance to pay attention to most of it, but it looked like a good battle. However, Kelly resigned.

So now it was up to me and John. I had a rough game against Shawn. He played the Alekhine's Defense against my 1. e4. The beginning went 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. Nf3 d6 5. d3??? (I've played against the Alekhine's before, so I don't know why I played the horsecrap d3. There is no way I should play the sharp c4 followed by the passive and weakening (to my position) d3. d4 is a key square. By not pushing to d4, I left a big hole in my position for Shawn to take advantage of, which he did. (I'll post the whole game later.) Anyways, that game ended up as a miniature, with Shawn checkmating me in 22 moves.

So, with my game finished, we have lost the match. John, however, is undettered, and is playing a great game against Matt. He remained focused, had at least 12-15 minutes more on his clock than Matt, and had a sweet position. I was pretty sure he would win the game if he kept it up. I watched for a little bit before following Kelly out in the hall.

I said, "Win or lose, John is playing like a m--f--ing stud!" We were talking about the game with Dan and Duane, trying to figure out which way their game was going to go. I said that I thought John would win, although he played a sub-optimal move that could have given Matt a chance to recover.

However, John kept his grip on the board, Matt had severe time trouble, and John mated him. Great game!

I am really proud of our team, despite losing 1-3. I am not sure yet who we will be playing next month, but I feel like we will have a good match.

Tags: Twin Cities Chess League, chess

Kramnik is the World Chess Champion!

The big event is finally over. Kramnik and Topalov were tied 6-6 yesterday, and they had to play four shorter games today to decide the winner. Kramnik won those, 2.5-1.5.

As Kramnik was playing this tournament under protest, I am happy to see that he won and no suit needed to be filed after this event.

Here is a link to Chessgames with the games.

Tags: Chess, Kramnik, Topalov, World Chess Championship

Twin Cities Chess League, Round Two today

I'm up analyzing my game from earlier this evening at the Chess Castle. I lost this one, but it was a pretty interesting game.

Later today is the second round of the Twin Cities Chess League. We won last month, but that will be easy compared to what we face tonight. I am on board two, and I think I am likely going to be playing Shawn Mize, a player currently rated 1900. (I'm at 1287, although I will game some points for last month's Thursday Knighter.) Regardless, I'm sure I'll have a tough game, so I hope to be at my best.

Tags: Twin Cities Chess League, chess

South Park last night

Trey and Matt took on the 9/11 conspiracy theorists in last night's episode. I thought it was a particularly funny episode, but that is due in part that I don't believe the 9/11 conspiracies. (I was listening to an excellent discussion on R U Sirius' show a couple of weeks ago about this very subject.)

I don't think this way because I think the present administration is a good one--I think they are one of the worst we have ever had. However, I think the simplest explanation of events is the correct one. Bush and Co. abused it, to be sure, but I don't think they caused it.

Tag: South Park, 9/11 conspiracies

He's Lincolnish, he's superstantial, and tomorrow...

Stephen Colbert has Andrew Sullivan on his show! That should make for a good interview!

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I did not realize that this was under serious consideration by some, but it was reported on the morning news that neither Jon Stewart nor Stephen Colbert are going to run for the White House in 2008. LOL!

Robert Anton Wilson

In the last few days, I have found out that Robert Anton Wilson is dealing with end-of-life health care issues that are quite painful. I hope that this part of his life goes as well as possible and that he passes on gracefully.

I have been rereading my dog-eared copy of The Illuminatus! Trilogy in the last couple of weeks. I picked this book up during the summer of 1989, and I think this is my third or fourth read through it now. It is a delightfully crazy read that deals with many historical conspiracies in a unique way.

He is one of those modern writers that not enough people are aware of, and in my opinion, that is unfortunate. He was written some other great works, including the Cosmic Trigger series, Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy, and others. He challenges mainstream thinking between his fiction and prose. He was one of my favorite writers in my early 20's and continues to be one of my favorite writers today. I never met him, but I thank him for his contributions!

Tags: Robert Anton Wilson, Illuminatus Trilogy, end of life care

My human-machine interface

This morning I had a long overdue eye appointment. Part of my checkup was to get a retinal scan with a new machine that takes a picture.

Sticking my nose close up to the machine, they took two good pictures of my right eye. However, something did not feel right when they took the first picture of my left eye. I had tensed up and got faint from the combination of my awkward posture and the light being shot into my eye. Things were fuzzy for about two minutes before I could see normally again.

This is pretty damn funny to me, because I've had this reaction to other tests over my lifetime. I need to relax more, but I often forget!

Tag: stress

A somber weekend

Although I had time to write this weekend, I did not feel up to it at all.

On Saturday, I attended a funeral of one of my professors at the University of Minnesota. Her class was the first one I took in my program, the Master of Liberal Studies, in the summer of 2003. My major output during that time was my paper on teaching chess in the classroom that I have published on my website and on the Minnesota State Chess Association's website.

Jill had been sick for a couple of years with cancer. Since she was a person I did not see very often after the class had ended, I did not know that she was going through this ordeal. I had found out by e-mail this week that she passed and the arrangements for her funeral.

I stayed through part of the reception and talked to one of her friends, a fellow musician. We talked about losing loved ones. (I lost my brother in January of 2004.)

I felt okay during the time I was at home that evening, but I woke up tearful in the middle of the night from a strong dream dealing with Michael's death. I hadn't felt that way in quite a while, and although I shouldn't have been surprised considering that I was at Jill's funeral earlier, it still caught me off guard.

I spent the rest of the day both sad and tired.

Tags: grief, death

I've reached a small milestone with blogging

I started blogging three months ago, on July 5th. This technology is fairly new to me, but as I enjoy writing, I have taken to it. I am learning more about my writing style as it evolves in this space, and I am learning about the community of people who read and create blogs. I have enjoyed my established friends' blogs, while enjoying the work of new blog friends.

I have enjoyed two aspects of this. I enjoy the diary-like reflection of blogging, in which I may post something that does not necessarily get read or commented on. It helps capture a certain mood or thought of a particular day. However, if it were only for that, I would be journaling offline and not publishing.

What makes this technology interesting is creating conversations over many miles with people I don't see very often or will never meet. As I enjoy conversation in general, I enjoy those people's blogs who engender a space for discussion. Recently I have been reading and commenting on Terra Praeta's blog, and I enjoy the conversations there.

I think that this technology can be wonderful if we use it wisely to bring important issues to light, wherever we are in this world. We are a complicated planet of people living in a complex time. We are interdependent on each other, whether we are fierce individualists or live in strong communities. We need to bring our voices and our best thoughts together to create societies that will prosper and promote the best of humanity. Despite our many shortcomings, we are a marvelous species that has learned much, but still has plenty to learn. I think this is a place we can use to help us learn more about each other and help create a good future.

Tags: blogging, optimism

Listening to my first CD ever purchased today

In the years between becoming a reformed Deadhead and seeing Mickey Hart and Bembe Orisha at the Minnesota Zoo--a twelve year stretch--I started buying compact discs. Although I was not going to any Dead-related shows, I still purchased one great Dead-related disc, Deadicated. Between having my favorite band's songs covered by a wide array of musicians and having proceeds from this CD going to the Rainforest Action Network and Cultural Survival, I had to have it.

I enjoyed most of the album, but Suzanne Vega covering China Doll and Cassidy, the Indigo Girls playing Uncle John's Band, and the strange cover of Wharf Rat by Midnight Oil stuck out for me. (The last one is strange because the Dead's music was new to them at the time of the recording.)

It's good to listen to this again and feel the joy of other musicians playing the Dead's music! :)

Tags: Grateful Dead, Deadhead

Game Seven: A pretty well played draw

I made a comment on Susan Polgar's blog that I wish that game five will actually be played rather than be a forfeit win for Topalov. Like many fans, I am having trouble with the less-than-professional behavior. Over the last couple days I have rooted less for Topalov, although I admire his games.

With that stated, the seventh game was actually a pretty good game. They both played well and although Kramnik was a pawn up at the conclusion, he could not convert that to an advantage and the game ended in a draw.

I am now a bit heartened that they played serious chess rather than mind games with each other!

Tags: Chess, Kramnik, Topalov, World Chess Championship

Dick Cheney is a dick!

Andrew Sullivan posted this today. The administration seem like a bunch of bullies who can't stand up to criticism of their policies. They have to resort to intimidation tactics like the one they used on Steve Howards. They are a despicable lot!

Tag: Dick Cheney is a dick

An important analysis about the torture and detention bill

I have not read his blog before, but Glenn Greenwald published this excellent analysis about the torture and detention bill.

I think this is the time to carefully read up on the bill (H R 6166), look at how your senators voted on it, and tell them with your vote in November what you think.

Tags: civil liberties, war on terror, torture

Private web searching

This morning I heard a story on Future Tense about a search engine named Ixquick. Unlike other search engines, this one will not store information, like your IP address. This provides a means for you to avoid having private information gathered about you while you search.

I believe that people have the right to privacy from government and corporations. Those entities should have a policy of consumers and technology users opting-in if they wish to share their information. This right is not automatic, though, and people need to think about their privacy in the digital realm and take practical steps to protect themselves.

Tags: privacy, search engines

A nice weekend, with apple picking!

This was a very nice weekend; yesterday was sunny and the high was in the low 80's. Melissa has never been apple picking before, so we went to the Afton Apple orchard.

We picked a bag each of Spartan and Cortland. It was fun walking around. Our son kept one apple in his hands for nearly an hour before finally eating it. Our feet were very sore last night, and that felt good to get in plenty of exercise.

It was nice to also disconnect electronically from the world for most of the weekend. I had enjoyed keeping up on the World Chess Championship, but with the problems Kramnik and Topalov were having with each other after game four, it was wonderful to unplug from it and find out that they started playing again today.

With the forfeit win going to Topalov in game five and with a draw today, Kramnik still holds the lead in the tournament, 3.5-2.5 with six games remaining.

Tags: family life, chess, Kramnik, Topalov, World Chess Championship