Sangeeta Hosea

Mrs. AAA has been around for only 10 days, and You already know all her character flaws! In that case You could probably write a 10 volume work on Dom, Niels, Cappin' Kafka, Boomie, Deffy the Red, and me :-)

How about a new user-name: Mrs.Freud :-)

<I look forward to getting your short story Brankat!>

Sharky played a very smart game. He lurked just behind me for days, then nudged just ahead with about 120 to go. I took this as my cue to accelerate, and zoomed off until I was 50 ahead again. Then I sagged: it was very late here, and presumably even later in the ocean depths. He hadn't moved for hours. I thought I could come back and finish it next day ...

Not a chance. With the effortless killing grace of his species, he powered past me with a succession of relentless posts. Some might call this 'spamming one's own forum', but I recognize the tactical strength and power involved.

Next time I get into a race with a shark it'll be on land, high in the mountains and very far from the sea. Denver or somewhere in the Urals, maybe. But below the snowline, in case he adapts and uses his fin like a snowboard.

It reminds one of the legendary <Harry "Snapper" Organs'> call of the 1967 Marlboro Cup at <Belmont Racetrack>, in which <Joan Baez> got up in the final strides to nudge the great <Spectacular Bid> in the shadow of the wire.

Re: <Shark strategy>-- actually you made a brilliant ploy with the public refuting of your race. Deny everything is one of the best "ploys" going.

However, as is often the case in nature, the cool genetic coding of the <shark> proves more than a match for the culturally learned <"thinking"> of the <human>.

<Ernest Hemingway> would have enjoyed your sleek "reportage" and your clever reprise of both <The Old Man and the Sea> and Stanley Kubrik's racetrack heist drama <The Killing>.

I'm pretty sure about this.

I didn't *want* to win ... I *didn't* want to win ... *I* didn't want to win ... I didn't want to *win* ...

But if I had 'won', then winning is what I would have wanted.

My method guarantees that you always land on your feet. You simply take whatever part of the body hits the ground first, and redesignate it as a foot.

Anatomically complex, but effective.

Where could I have learned that from? I don't believe I've ever had the patience to watch a sports event all the way through, never mind listen to the annotations. Though I managed nearly five seconds of an olympic 100m race once before flicking back to a Stargate rerun.

I accidentally saw one live football game in the 1970s. They let me out of school for the day and I was too young or stupid to go to the pub.

If the answer is "Give 'em both barrels" then I hand over the expedition's stock of Guinness to the natives. Handing out guns and firewater is marvellous fun -- I believe the academic johnnies call it 'Gonzo Anthropology'.

Which reminds me, I bagged an anthropologist once, in the headwaters of the Upper Voltmeter. The third Lady Dom, bless her, mounted him in the den - but professed herself disappointed with the result. I think he eventually turned up as a pendant.

The internet, of course, is after my time -- but if it allows free-for-all stalking then I disapprove in the strongest terms. I knew a Russian chap, Tarkovsky - we called him Tarka the Auteur - who said Stalkers had to be specially bred for the job. Most pertinent thing I ever heard from a Russki, with the possible exception of 1.Nf3. Kharosho, what? Right bloody horrorshow, in fact.

You are <discerning> rather than <judgmental>.

Which is good, because some judges are mental.

I know because I saw it on TV once.

It's so exciting. Will it be a Bishop? A King and a Queen? A Knight living in a Castle? A Queen surrounded by Pawns?

OTB is a dream...

Heaven in fact.

If you're around live chessplayers, might I suggest a bout of blitz games during which you play every possible opening?

I know you don't like speed chess online, but it's different in person. But I'm being a perfect hypocrite because I rarely play any kind of blitz anymore.

I went through the phase, though, and I reckon it done me good. You should try it if the opportunity is there -- 10-minute games, anyway. And *all* the openings.

5/5 score!!

Plus I beat the "Top Stick" <club treasurer> for the first time ever in 5/0 after 300 attempts so I was whooping.

I like whapping the clock and moving instantaeously.

I didn't go to the Club this summer cuz of no time. But I did play my friend <Don> in OTB almost every day for a few weeks.

It "works" live (most of my wins were his clock running out as my King runs) but not on the Net.

Internet Blitz is poison to me, but it's certainly the most popular time control on Yahoo by far <5/0, 2/0, 1/9> and <Hideous Nakamura> and <Alexander Maastrich Treaty> enjoy it and can be seen on playchess according to some.

Oh and also the recent sighting there of top secret World Champion <"Legs Banana">.

I don't know any openings.

It's in the database!!

You don't have to 'know' openings, just play 'em. Afterwards you'll find you know stuff anyway -- enough to bluff, at least. And I am living testament to the fact that if you can bluff your way through life you'll do fine.

Well, I suppose you could *call* it living ...

<BTW are you aware that our own <Spaniel of Heaven> defeated <Dag Haammarskojld> in chess?>

Here's my idea.

I re-shoot <Terence Malick's> fine "Days of Heaven" but this time with chess sets and references in every scene.

And fewer off-topic shots of woodchucks and such.

Well Ok we could work up an original screenplay I suppose.

Luckily, I've got <full legal permission> to develop this project from <Howard's> new lawyer (see his forum for details).

Needless to say, I'm very excited about it.