Zappa Plays Zappa

A couple of weeks ago I went to the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. It was a great festival with many top-notch bands and musicians playing. One of my absolute favorite sets of the four days was that of one of Frank Zappa's son, Dweezil playing the music of his father, in the ensemble, Zappa Plays Zappa.

I never saw FZ live, but I have many albums and CDs of his music. He stands out as one of America's finest musicians, known for his scathing satire and well-orchestrated pieces. Dweezil and his band mates did justice to the memory of Frank and his music. I was completely blown away with how great the show was.

I wanted to let people know of the current tour dates in case they are coming to a town near you.

Tags: Zappa Plays Zappa, Frank Zappa, Dweezil Zappa

The Caverns of Mare Cetus

One of my uncles, Jim Erjavec, has been hard at work writing a science fiction/horror novel over the last few years. The Caverns of Mare Cetus is now in publication.

I had read an original draft of the first chapter last year, and I thought that it was both tense and engaging. Here is the plotline from the website:

Mare Cetus, a lifeless world nearly twelve light years from Earth, is riddled with strange and spectacular caverns. Explorers have long sought knowledge, fame, and fortune on Mare, but lately an increasing number of them have met their demise in mysterious ways.

Earth year 2165: Hunter Larson leads a team to lay claim on a priceless ore deposit hidden deep within the black maze of Mare's Laramax caverns. His thoughts haunted by the grisly events surrounding the last expedition to probe the Laramax, he's relying on Renata Stone, a brilliant and accomplished cavern explorer, to add stability and vigilance to his volatile team of experts.

Unknown to Hunter, the Corporation has implemented a plan to ensure the mission's success--but at what price? As Hunter's team penetrates the blackness of the Laramax, they are blind to the terrifying fate that awaits them.

Please check out the excerpts, share with your friends and family who read science fiction, e-mail him, or write a review on the site if you have finished the book. Thanks!

Technorati tag: science fiction

I've been tagged

David Glickman of the Boylston Chess Club tagged me. Please read. My tag is at the bottom of this page.

1. How long have you been playing chess? Have you played it consistently since you started, or were there lulls in your play? How did these lulls affect your performance?

My dad taught me chess about thirty five years ago, when I was five. I played regularly until high school, but in college I did not play at all. Only after I moved far from home, my dad and I played correspondence chess. I played my first rated games at the Chess Emporium in Phoenix in 2002. Since then, I have been an active player.

I am sure I would have been an expert if not for the lulls (I am rated in the low 1400's currently).


2. Aside from playing games, what is your primary mode of training?

I use my Chessmaster program to examine my games, and I look at tactical puzzles a couple of times per month. What actually seems to help me the most is not think about chess too much before a game. When I'm relaxed, I tend to play much better.


3. What is the single most helpful method of improvement that you have ever used?

I don't have any particular method that I could put my finger on. Sometimes remembering a tactical motif has helped in a game, while other times just remembering the opening well has helped.


4. What is your favorite opening to play as white? As black against e4? As black against d4?

I always play e4. As Black I always play the Caro-Kann. One of my friends chided me for how slow an opening it often is, but as I have had so many great games with it, I keep playing it. I like the Dutch against d4, although I usually play the KID.


5. Who is your favorite chess player and why?

Tal is my favorite for his mad brilliance. His play did not always work, but he played on the edge.


6. What is your favorite chess book?

Jeremy Silman's Reassess Your Chess.


7. What book would you recommend for a friend who knows only the rules of chess?

Silman's Complete Endgame Course.


8. Do you play in in-person tournaments? What is your favorite tournament experience?

Yes, with much more frequency than online chess. (However, I highly recommend Chessworld.net for those who like deliberate play.) My favorite game was playing my friend Rich DuRocher at the last Minnesota Open. My favorite tournament was finishing second in the U1600 section at the St. Olaf Open a couple of months ago.


9. Please give us a link to what you consider your best two blog posts (on your own blog).

I blog about other subjects other than chess, but my two favorite chess related posts are my game against Rich and this game from the Twin Cities Chess League.


10. What proportion of total chess time should be spent studying openings for someone at your level?

I think at my level (class C), studying the openings should not usually be more than 15-20% of the time, unless you have difficulty getting a decent game against a particularly difficult and frequently played opening.

Now that I am done, I tag Phorku. (He plays my dad quite often at the Parma Chess Club.)

I have been blogging for a year.

My classmate and friend Janet has been interested in blogs and blogging for many years, and my friend, Jeff, started his blog over a year ago. (His first post was a picture of Melissa and me on our wedding day.) Because of those influences, I decided to start this blog a year ago today.

I have enjoyed writing this blog, regardless of whether I'm posting a single picture or writing a description of a book or a concert. However, as I have not been writing as often, I'd like to take some time to review what I have written over the last year to evaluate what are the most gratifying entries.

Benefit for the Cedar Cultural Center this Sunday

The Cedar has featured many great bands from all over the world. Among some of the best shows I've seen there have been local jazz musicians Happy Apple, Tuvan throat singers Hun-Huur-Tu, Italian electronic band Fiamma Fumana, and alt-country Luther Wright and The Wrongs. (The latter did a bluegrass, honky-tonk, and country cover of Floyd's The Wall.)

If you are inclined, please check this event out. Full details are here.

Thursday Knighter VI, Round 2

Last night Justin Backes and I played against each other. It turned out to be a Caro-Kann with an unusual, but playable 5. Qf3. There were some moments where I think each of us could have played more accurate moves (he could have retreated his Bishop to d3 to avoid capture by my Knight and I could have played Bxh2+), but overall I was satisfied with our play.

At the end of his 30th move, he asked for a draw. I appreciated the offer, although I took five minutes to consider it. I didn't see a winning plan for either of us, and I agreed.

[Event "Thursday Knighter VI"]
[Site "Chess Castle"]
[Date "2007.6.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Justin Backes"]
[Black "Joe Erjavec"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Qf3 e6 6.Be3 Nd7 7.Bd3 Bxe4 8.Bxe4 Ngf6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Be3 Bd6 11.Ne2 O-O 12.O-O Re8 13.Ng3 Qc7 14.Nh5 Nxe4 15.Qxe4 f5 16.Qh4 Be7 17.Qg3 Qxg3 18.hxg3 g6 19.Nf4 Kf7 20.Nd3 g5 21.Ne5+ Nxe5 22.dxe5 b6 23.Rfd1 Red8 24.Rd3 Rxd3 25.cxd3 Rd8 26.Rd1 c5 27.b3 Rd5 28.f4 gxf4 29.gxf4 h5 30.Kh2 1/2-1/2

My review of the final episode of The Sopranos

For those of you who have already watched this episode and are interested, please read my review over at Blogcritics. Thank you!

No More Effin' Ziti

Our first wedding anniversary! :)

Thursday Knighter VI

Last night fifteen of us made our appearances for the June Thursday Knighter. I am the second lowest rated player this month at 1421, and Steve Turmo is still the highest rated player at 2023.

I played the sixth seed, John Loftus, a class B at 1744. I lost this game, but I felt satisfied with my play. It was one of the few games in which I did not leave the table. It was a complicated morass!

Some Particle news

A couple of members of Particle have been in the music news lately. Keyboardist Steve Molitz played a gig with Phil Lesh and Friends at this past weekend's Mountain Jam. He joined Phil, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, and John Molo for an incredible show. (A download is available here. I wasn't at the show, so I was one of many downloaders. It's a very hot show!)

Particle's drummer, Darren Pujalet, is featured in Modern Drummer. Congrats, Darren!

Description of Monday's simul by DeWitt Green

Chess Night

Chess “Expert” Jerome Mitchell stepped out of his comfort zone Monday 4 June. He simultaneously played and defeated eight players at once.

The “Simul” kicked off the newly sanctioned Midtown Global Market (MGM) Chess Club. We meet every Monday 4:30-8 P.M. in one of the open areas of the Market. Because it is a public arena some chess players may have trouble concentrating. This did not seem to bother Jerome at all.

During the battle Jerome seemed to be pursuing three different openings and juggled each to checkmate. A knowledgeable spectator stated that Jerome aggressively played each match until he had a clear advantage then coasted into each mate. As one of the admittedly weaker players it did not appear like he was taking it easy. I was counting on the numbers to cause him to make at least one mistake. Preferably his misstep would be on my board. Jerome had determined not to make mistakes.

As he mated each of us he shook hands and commented on some key point each of us had presented. That is the only reason a person can willingly put his “cred” on the line. He strengthens his game by sharpening his skills on more and or stronger opponents. At the end of his session Jerome exclaimed “more!” Maybe next time he’ll try 12 at once.

The value of having regular contact with stronger competitors and a variety of players is the club members get stronger as a group. It is within the mission of Uplift-Chess, which has teamed with MGM, to bring chess to anyone. We compare chess skills to life skills. In developing chess skills we are developing critical thinking skills. Those skills are preparing us and ours to reach higher.

Uplift-Chess is looking forward to developing a competitive team. If you are interested in being part of that push join us for Chess Night at Midtown Global Market Mondays 4:30-8 P.M.

I played in a simul last night

Thanks to the efforts of DeWitt Green, a chess instructor at Sanford Middle School, I was able to play in a simul against local expert Jerome Mitchell. Jerome played eight of us last night at the Midtown Global Market. I lost, but it was fun playing against him.

DeWitt will be organizing some type of event every Monday from 4:30 - 8:00 p.m. Join us if you have time!

(Good luck again to Dane Mattson, who will be heading to Las Vegas! Dane was checking out the action last evening.)

I saw Forest Whitaker this weekend

On Friday we were flying down to Texas to visit Melissa's dad. While we were waiting at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport for our connecting flight, Forest Whitaker comes off a plane. We waved and he waved back to us. That was a neat moment! (I especially liked his performance in Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai.)

For those who are interested, here is a story about a Hip Hop Chess event. The story mentions the RZA from Wu-Tang Clan, whose music was in Ghost Dog.

Chess dream

Last night I dreamed that I was playing in a tournament. Gata Kamsky was sipping cognac and taping up the latest copy of This Week in Chess on the wall. He paused and asked if I wanted it.

Round Four

Yesterday's top five boards were all decisive, so we now have a single player, GM Alex Shabalov, with a perfect score. He will have the Black pieces against Nakamura. I'm predicting a hard-fought draw.

U.S. Chess Championship: Round 3 today.

As reported on Susan Polgar's blog, three players share first place with a perfect score, but they are not the players with the highest rating going into the tournament. The top three boards were all draws yesterday, including Eugene Perelshteyn's game against defending champ Alexander Onishuk. (Game)

I am interested in Perelshteyn's results, partially because he was listed in Chess Life as a "Show" for this tournament (as in Win-Place-Show), but also because he played the Caro-Kann, my favorite opening, in round one. (Game)

Today he plays Black against Jaan Ehlvest.

The U.S. Chess Championship is underway!

The Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship is taking place today. Live games are available at the Monroi site.

5/8/1977

I was way too young, and my parents were...um...not in Ithaca that night, which was 30 years ago yesterday.

I listened to just a single song from the Dead's legendary show from Cornell University last night, which was the amazingly powerful Morning Dew.

Chess game that I recently finished

I played the following game on Chessworld.net over the last few weeks, and it just ended. A number of positional factors came together which helped me complete the game successfully.

Environmental design

I read this interesting article in The Rake yesterday about the construction of extremely energy efficient housing near Bemidji. It is based on the German standard known as Passivhaus. I was up until yesterday unaware of that standard, so I thought I would share it here with interested readers.