I should clarify that last headline …
I played a guy named David today. My apology was to Joe (who was my opponent this summer, and with whom I played nearly a dozen games) for saying this was one of the most fun games I’d played. Which it was. It’s not everyday you get to play on an oversized board with artistic chess pieces and “elves” to move them for you. I credit my win to the many games I played with Joe under his tutelage. And my second game today, where I lose soundly and quickly, I credit to … er, the glare from the sun? Read more…
Mega Chess in Tollefson Plaza! About the best use of the plaza that I can think of …
I’m going to see if I can play a game.
“The Cove”
The Cove, a documentary about a dolphin slaughter in Japan, was a difficult movie. On the one hand, it's a testament to the power of film. The footage obtained is powerful. Powerful enough to actually stop the slaughter. And it's shot like a Dirty Dozen mission or Ocean's 11 heist, which makes for an interesting movie. But on the other hand, I am extremely wary of documentaries that have a particular cause. And this movie is a good example. Take it's use of Paul Watson as a "talking head", a man I generally think has crossed the line past activism Read more…
TV’s back!
After a summer cable hiatus, Mary and I have re-hooked up our cable. Originally, we’d cut cable out to save money, and we watched shows via DVD, Hulu, and iTunes. But we found a good compromise. By switching to Click (something I’d planned on doing anyway) we were able to get cheaper Internet and pay Click about $12/month for broadcast channels over cable. This works perfectly. Our monthly costs won’t rise, and we can watch The Office (which was great tonight, by the way!), Lost, How I Met Your Mother, Saturday Night Live (the only show we couldn’t watch in Read more…
Stockard Channing on Freelancing
A few years ago I watched Stockard Channing on Inside the Actors Studio. One of the students asked her at the end, “How do you evaluate whether you should take a part?” Her answer, and I’m paraphrasing from memory here because I can’t find it on the Tubes), was roughly this: There are three good reasons to take a part. Because you love the part. Because it will help your career. And the money. Look for two out of three. Of course, Channing was speaking about acting, but it’s a pretty good way to look at freelancing jobs too. Working Read more…
Play to the End
I just finished Play to the End, by Robert Goddard. I've never heard of the author, but he can tell a good murder mystery, that's for sure. I've been reading a lot of mysteries in the last few years, which has a lot to do with my interest in writing in the genre. This book was the first in a while that I had to put down so that I could work on my own. I don't know what it was, but but it got me going! Set in Brighton, the book takes place over a week. The "detective," as Read more…
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