Easy Friday

We took two of the four legged members of the family to the vet today. Pepper (the 6 year old Border Collie - Lab mix) had a rash on her back and needed annual vaccinations as did Puss Tom (an 11 year old Lilac Siamese). The vet said that Pepper's rash is a simple bacterial infection most likely from a bug bite and will be simple to cure. Of concern is Puss Tom's weight which has dropped to 6 pounds from a high of just over 8 pounds about four years ago. The vet is concerned that he may have diabetes or a kidney problem.

And today is our 10th wedding anniversary! WooHoo... We celebrated a bit early with a meal at Red Lobster the other night. My step mother had sent us a gift certificate for Christmas for Red Lobster and Cracker Barrel.

Officially we had purchased each other Ruger 10/22 carbines for use at a future Appleseed event. The family that shoots together... Shoots together. Or something.

I finally upgraded from the Pocket PC that I've had for the past three years. I picked up a Blackberry Bold from the AT&T store and have spent the last several hours learning some of the ins and outs. My first impressions are very favorable after having struggled with the Pocket PC for so long. For one thing... No More Touch Screen!

Oh, and one of my games as White in ICCF WS/H/171 ended in a draw (my first result in this event). I played very uninspired chess against a fellow about 100 points my better. To be honest my last several Retis as White have been a bit dreary. Perhaps it is time to try something different.

I used to play the Scotch...

2009 US Championship

...has a strong top of the field with Kamsky, Nakamura, Onischuk, and Robson slated to compete. I hope ICC does live Chess.FM coverage.

Breaking 2000 at ICCF

The latest rating list from ICCF has me rated 2020 after 30 games. As I am competing in the Higher Class now I expect that to drop back under 2000. I'm not doing well at all in WS/H/171. I'm holding my own in half of the games but I fear I may be coming up short in the others.

All games are past the 20 move mark and are in the middle game.

In my games as Black, I think I have a small advantage against a Veresov (1.Nc3). I played 1...c5 in the other two of my Black games. One is a Scheveningen where I am at least equal. The other is a Wing Gambit that is nip and tuck and could go in any direction. I have been able to liquidate some of the forces while hanging on to the extra pawn, but White still has potent chances in the middle and Queenside.

As White I played the Reti in two games and a King's Indian Attack in another. The KIA and one Reti are fairly well drawn. One Reti is very imbalanced with gobs of chances on both sides.

So, two out of the six games are very exciting!

[UPDATE] It seems I can not even count to three... Instead of two games, that should be THREE games that fall into the exciting category. The Veresov, the Sicilian Wing Gambit, and the one Reti are all three riveting in their own way. Fifty percent exhilaration in Correspondence Chess is nothing to sneeze at! I'll count it a moral victory to score half a point in any of them...

Obamiconned

You can be Obamiconned, too.

Reading Horowitz's Chess Traps, Pitfalls, and Swindles

I've had this book for a while. I have one of the early editions in Library hard back which means going back to Descriptive Notation. I'm not enjoying this one quite as much as other Horowitz-Reinfeld books but I'm only on the third chapter. I see on the Amazon box at the right that an updated copy with Algebraic notation can be had for less than a nickel...

Three Things the Redskins Should do NOW...

Since they have shown that this is a "win now" year and that the cap means practically nothing... Make no mistake, with the signings of the Big Three this team must win this year.

1) Sign either Ray Willis or Khalif Barnes to play RT.

From LT to RG the Skins are set for this year. They have no starting RT. Heyer and Jansen are NOT it for a team that is a contender. Willis would be the answer to the RT position for years. Barnes would fit nicely at RT this year and until Samuels retires... Which should be in a year or two. Along with a move for Willis or Barnes (Can I have both, Daddy?) are plans Zorn and Co. have announced about trying to get Kendall back in a reserve role.

This would give us a line of Samuels - Dockery - Raback - Thomas - Willis/Barnes with Kendall (or another C/G free agent), Heyer, and Rinehart in reserve.

2) Sign Igor Olshansky to play LE/LT. Right now he is a 3-4 DE, but at 6'6" 309 Lbs he would be a run stopping DE that would shift to DT on passing downs. This would work great with the way the Skins have stated they want to move Haynesworth around. As an example, look at how the Giants have killed QB's by moving and mix-matching big DLs and quick Ends. Forget about running by the left end. Olshansky will absorb and destroy most of the blocking in that direction.

This would give us a d-line of Carter - Haynesworth - Griffin - Olshansky with reserves of Golston, Alexander, Wilson, and Jackson. There's a drop off there at DE, but I think #13 is a great place to pick up a DE this April.

3) Sign LBs Kevin Burnett and Khary Campbell. Khary needs to come back as he is a great fit for this team as a back-up and teams player. Burnett is on the rise as a LB in Dallas and would be a great fit at the SAM. Plus, he's an SEC alum, albeit from the East side of things. And the Skins have a desperate need for LBs. They're gonna have to sign at least three.

Starting LBs would be (W-M-S) McIntosh - Fletcher - Burnett with Campbell and Blades (and who else?) in reserve. I have to say that the LB situation scares the crud out of me. McIntosh has a very suspect injury history in college and the NFL, Fletcher showed his age at the end of the year in 2008, and there is no starting SAM on the roster at the moment.

Will the Skins be able to do all three, or even two of these things? Maybe only in fantasy. But they should be able to accomplish at least one of them and in the process go a long ways to ensuring that Zorn has a decent shot at success in his second year.

Eighteen Taser Hits Equals $3 Million

From the Austin Statesman:

A Harris County jury Monday awarded $3 million to the mother of a mentally ill man who died after he was hogtied and shocked 18 times with a Taser gun during an arrest four years ago. (...) Casey's death was ruled a homicide. An autopsy concluded that he died of psychotic delirium with physical restraint associated with heart disease.

There's that psychotic delirium again that Taser says has nothing to do with their product's use... Even when EIGHTEEN Taser hits are administered. The way Taser keeps denying that their device is a lethal weapon makes one think THEY suffer from some sort of delirium...