THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #307

November 10, 2006

Produced by Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287

Accessible through Internet at burgess of world.std.com (all E-Mail addresses are reported in this format, replace the " of " with "@"; if you bounce try sending to me from another account. Some of you have been getting bounced messages from my ISP's spam protection, if that happens to you, USE my backup E-Mail at jfburgess of gmail.com!!! Don't complain that my E-Mail keeps bouncing without forwarding the bounced message to that address. Then I can forward it to the ISP help to get it dealt with.

Web Page Address: http://www.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

23 TUNES GAME STARTS THIS ISSUE!!! IT ISN'T TOO LATE TO JOIN, CHECK IN NOW THOUGH!!! Orders for the next turn due December 2nd. I've moved all the deadlines for next issue to December 2nd, since trying to rush them all in before Thanksgiving would not have worked, and I will be away for the holiday celebrating my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary. My brother David, the rest of the family and I are going on a little cruise. That seems to be the popular way to celebrate these big family events these days. I'm going to have a good time, though it wouldn't be what I would have chosen. This gives you ALL time to catch up in getting things to me, so get things to me!!!

Big apologies to Michael Lowrey, the last time he sent his subszine along, he sent two issues at once. I decided to print one and save the second one.... then I promptly proceeded to misplace the second one. He tries to get caught up this time by sending me another copy of the "never printed one plus a new one. No way am I walking into THAT trap again, you get both issues in THIS issue of TAP. And where does the name Houdini Blues come from again??? And what is the Rhode Island connection for that name??? I expect ALL players to be signed up on the E-Mail notification list for the szine, see below. Some of you have been complaining about this, but it is up to you to get on this list, it's easy, come ask me if you have trouble. We have another exciting issue of By the Way in this issue if everything is going as planned. We're making progress on starting new games, help fill things up, see below for more.

The postal sub price is still $1.50 per issue in the US and Canada, with double that for other foreign subbers(or $3.00 per issue sent airmail). Players in current games and standbys will continue to get the issues for free, and future game starts (except for Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy, which is free) cost $20.00 ($15.00 for a life of the game subscription and $5 for the NMR Insurance. Anyone may play in subszines for free and just jack up the issue page count. See the revised game start announcements below!

Check out the connections in the Diplomatic Pouch with all of the information you need to play Diplomacy on the Internet at: http://www.diplom.org/DipPouch/

I also have taken over the Postal port/DipPouch/Postal

and TAP on the web is there at: http://www.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

where the szine resides in html format. Presently, issues from #190 to the current issue are there, and I will be updating the back issues gradually someday. Also, check out Stephen Agar's more extensive efforts at: http://www.diplomacy-archive.com and http://www.diplomacy.co.uk

Peter Sullivan's subszine is out of stasis, and all the back issues can be accessed via :

http://www.burdonvale.co.uk/octopus/index.html.

Peter now seems to be sliding back into stasis! Rip Gooch and Dave Partridge had been picking up the choo-choo game slack, but Rip also has been missing in action completely for over a year now, I don't have an update but he and Dave Partridge communicate. Contact Rip at xyropedes of canada.com or Dave at rebhuhn of rocketmail.com for more info on getting into choo-choo games. And Andy York has been my most frequent subszine guest lately!!! He's been in every issue, thanks, Andy!!!

The TAP mailing list has moved! It now is even BETTER protected than it was. I even have a bit of trouble posting to it. To post to this list, send your email to: tap of diplom.org. But this is completely moderated, it won't go out to the list unless I approve it. In general, I intend to keep traffic down to just the szine, as we've been doing and I'll put your LOCs in here. I EXPECT all players to be on this list, especially those of you who are from foreign countries!!! You need this to find out when the szine is up on the web to check in on results.

General information about the mailing list is at: http://www.diplom.org/mailman/listinfo/tap

You can sign up from there, or send E-Mails to: Tap-request of diplom.org; with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. Normally, Mailman will remind you of your diplom.org mailing list passwords once every month, although you can disable this if you prefer. This reminder will also include instructions on how to unsubscribe or change your account options. There is also a button on your options page that will email your current password to you. A big, big thank you for Millis Miller for setting this all up!!

THE SEARCH FOR MARGARET GEMIGNANI

OK, now, why Margaret? Margaret, of course, is one of the most famous personalities in Dipdom, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Comic, etc. fandom. She was a nurse in the DC area, I believe, and then retired to Florida some years ago. Many people had an address for her in Fort Lauderdale (including me), but that address went missing around 1994. If you do Google searching, as I have done off and on, there is a Margaret Gemignani that contributes to the Baltimore and Ohio Historical Railroad Association, along with a husband, Gino (anyone know if that matches.... the B&O matches where she used to live... but don't tell me, use it as info to go looking yourself!!!) Margaret has a couple of mentions in the Diplomacy AtoZ and I first encountered her in the old Bernie Oaklyn Le Front szine. I think it would be fun to find her.

Feel free to spend the time looking for some of the backlog. Let's get Jeff, Derek, Sylvain, Steve, Ed, Tom, Bill, Gregory, and ESPECIALLY Kevin found too!!! This is a regular continuing feature of the szine and I will be introducing a new "search for" every five issues. Moreover, you can win a $25 prize for finding some previous target who went unfound in the original $50 period. That means that if Jeff Key or Steve Heinowski or Ed Henry or Tom Hurst or Bill Quinn or Gregory Stewart or Derek Nelson or Sylvain LaRose or John Smythe is "found" from now on it is worth $25.

Winners will receive credit for Dip hobby activities that I will pay out as requested by the winner. Subscribe to szines here or abroad, run your own contests, publish a szine, finance a web page, GO TO A DIPLOMACY CONVENTION or whatever. Spend it all right away or use me as a bank to cover hobby activities for years. What must you do to win? Get me a letter to the editor for TAP from the person we're searching for.

This is very important, just finding them doesn't do it. They have to write me a letter. The final judge as to the winner of any contest will be the target himself and I reserve the right to investigate the winning entry. When you find someone I'm looking for, you should ask him to send me a letter for print that includes a verification of who "found" him.

Cal White (Tue, 3 Oct 2006 09:17:30 -0400)

Hi Jim, Just wanted to let you know that I did a quick check of area phone books looking for Derek Nelson. I called the only one listed, but it was not the right one. I'd like to see you find Derek because he's the guy I rode with from Toronto to Baltimore to attend DipCon 76 at Johns Hopkins. Never knew him well (that was the only time we had contact), but he was a nice guy.

Cal White, diplomat of idirect.com

((I always welcome comments like "I looked here and found that" types of things. I don't ordinarily print them unless you say to (which Cal did) in case you want to keep your search info private. Let's get these guys found, I've heard that some other people had been looking.))

INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION EXCHANGE NEWS

The British representative is the editor of Mission From God, John Harrington. John may be contacted at 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 3UW, UK.

E-Mail: fiendish of operamail.com, John.Harrington of tfeurope.com

Please include the full name and address of the foreign publisher with your order, if possible, as well as the szine title. Make your check in US dollars out to me personally or in GBP to John if you're doing things from that end. I will conduct business for Canadians as well, if I can, but prefer to deal in US dollars with them if possible, or Canadian dollars cash. To subscribe to American szines, the system works in reverse.

We have closed the European continental branch, as I think most of you had figured out.

And the ISE in Australia hadn't had much real action in recent years, and Brendan Whyte has moved on to Jerusalem!!! Brendan still produces what I find to be the most readable small szine in the worldwide hobby. Did you all realize that? Write to Brendan at his new Jerusalem address and ask him about subscribing, I'm not sure what the new deal will be. Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, ISRAEL. His travelogues are wonderful.

WORLDMASTERS04 SECTION

See http://www.worldmasters.net/wm04/ for details on progress on the WORLDMASTERS04, the Semifinals have now begun. Some semifinal notables include: Egg Ferreira, Buffalo Bartalone, Lee Simpson, Joe Janbu, Sebastian Beer, Doug Moore, Jerry Fest, Twerg O'Donnchu, Tim Sweeney, Dave Partridge, Glenn Ledder, Adam Silverman, Toby Harris, and Thomas Franke. This is one of the deepest semifinal fields for this great tournament that I've seen, with representatives from nearly all of the world's hobby communities. Actually, the Semifinal games began in October. I was wondering why I hadn't seen anything on progress in these games, and that's why. More on that next issue!!! Thomas Franke and David Partridge are in a game together that seems on first glance to be the weakest in the rest of the players. So my first thought is that one of those two will have a slot in the finals. I am getting raked over the coals for it, but I just ended a game in a three way draw between me, Thomas, and Ray Setzer that I might have had a chance in ekeing out a win mostly because Thomas asked for it to end so he could focus on this semi-final. Sorry, David, but I had to do it..... Of course, after saying that, David Partridge is in England getting beaten on by Guy Thomas in France, who is allied with Thomas Franke in Italy. But Italy has a Juggernaut bearing down on him from Mike Tombu and Julio Cardoza. And Toby Harris just got crunched in his game where he is Turkey, but I don't count him out yet, he has more lives than a cat!! But never mind, I don't know how ANY of this will turn out!!! Doug Moore is doing pretty well as Russia in his game so far, but Russia can always be crunched after doing well early. Buffalo is doing pretty well in his game as France taking down Germany and now attacking Adam Silverman's England, I think, that part is still developing.

I've joined the Yahoogroup WM04-Chat where some of this discussion is happening. You can join too! However, this forum has been very, very quiet, I hope it picks up with semis, maybe I'll have to start some discussion. I had to go the main Worldmasters site at www.worldmasters.net/wm04/ to find some of these results. The new Tournament rankings for FTF also are out there that supercede the ones that were on 18centres. Go check out:

http://eurodip.nuxit.net/php/ranking/affiche_ranking.php?id_ranking=3&lang=Ang

It ranks 4788 FTF players and is the most complete known compilation of FTF play ever in the hobby. You really want to check it out. Poor Eve Smith ends up 4788th, having been in 33 tournaments in the last ten years, an achievement in itself! And of course Don Del Grande is down near the bottom at 4784th, off of 13 tournaments, two of them in Australia. For having the Don Challenge Cup named after him, he didn't do THAT badly in his tournaments Down Under, better than I'd been led to believe at 54/78 and 34/57 And Frank Johansen is a well deserved #1. And I'm amazingly in the top quarter with a ranking of 1171, accurately reflecting the nine tournaments that I know I've been to (i.e. I don't see any missing). Yann Clouet (if I counted right) has been to 95 tournaments, I'd be surprised if someone surpasses him in number, and he ranks 9th. Guaranteed to be a fun browse....

DIPDOM NEWS SECTION (with letters)

Obscure and not-so-obscure ramblings on the state of the hobby and its publications, custodians, events, and individuals with no guarantee of relevance from the fertile keyboard of Jim-Bob, the E-Mail Dip world, and the rest of the postal hobby. My comments are in italics and ((double quotation marks)) like this. Bold face is used to set off each individual speaker. I should also make a note that I do edit for syntax and spelling on occasion.

The game Diplomacy is a copyrighted product owned by Hasbro and all reproductions or other use of that material in this szine is intended to be personal use and not infringe on those rights in any way. All reproductions are done at a heavy financial loss to the editor and thus are without the remotest possibility of commercial intent, except to promote THE game, the Game of Diplomacy, which you all should purchase from Hasbro or other duly licensed distributors.

Stephen Agar has matched the Hasbro rule lists and more with some of the even older rulebooks. Check these out if you like:

http://www.hasbro.com/default.asp?xcc_gameandtoyinstructions

http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy.PDF

http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy(OlderVers).PDF

Nice of them to make BOTH of these available. And all seven different US rulebooks for Diplomacy can now be found here courtesy of Stephen Agar (relatively new address for this):

http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/diplomacy_rules.htm

Check out current and back issues of Diplomacy World - Yahoogroup diplomacyworld

Also, I need any Hobby Award Nominations NOW (!!!) for the :

The 2005 and 2006 Don Miller Award for Meritorious Service;

The 2005 and 2006 Rod Walker Award for Literature;

The 2005 and 2006 John Koning Award for Player Performance;

The 2005 and 2006 Fred Hyatt Award for GM Performance;

A 2005 and 2006 Kathy Byrne Caruso Award for Lifetime Achievement (if warranted).

The Hobby Awards Committee is Jim Burgess (Chair and Treasurer), Fred Davis, Jr., Melinda Holley, Gary Behnen, Jamie Dreier, Paul Kenny, Mark Stretch, and Robert Lesco. I was going to publish the award ballot for this year in this issue, but I realized that I really just had to get this out first and then do that.... and then, well, REAL SOON NOW!!! And when I do, I'm going to give out two sets of awards and get caught up for the missed year, that seems to make the most sense. Committee.... you will be hearing from me soon!

Diplomacy World Issue Deadlines were:

Deadline Spring 2006, Issue #97: March 1, 2006

Deadline Summer 2006, Issue #98: June 1, 2006

Note that Andrew Neumann had taken over the lead editorship from Tim Haffey, but he clearly wasn't up to it. So, I'm officially looking for a lead editor again. As we have had for the last five years or so, the Pouch is back up and running again, and Diplomacy World is dead in the water, it seems that is the way it is. One runs, and the other one stops. This occurs even though there really is no direct connection. If you'd like to do this, let me know, I make it pretty easy, but I CANNOT be lead editor for two szines at once, I just can't.

Editorial Board for Diplomacy World (need a Lead!!!):

Andrew Neumann, andrewneum of gmail.com - Missing Lead Executive Editor!

Tim Haffey, 810 53rd Ave., Oakland, CA 94601 USA; trhaffey of aol.com - Ex-Lead Editor and Archives Editor

Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, USA; burgess of world.std.com - Co-Editor and Publisher

Stephen Agar, 4 Cedars Gardens, Brighton, UNITED KINGDOM BN1 6YD; stephen of stephenagar.com - Webmaster and Non-US Postal

Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852, USA; rick_desper of yahoo.com - Demo Games

Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033, USA; rebhuhn of rocketmail.com - US Postal

ATTENTION: There is a new company that had been doing a new PC Diplomacy game:

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/news.asp?ArticleID=239&Page=News

You all should read the interview in the Spring 2005 movement issue of the Diplomatic Pouch (and I mean ALL!!!!!!! of you!!!!!) that I think you can find at:

http://www.diplom.org/Zine/S2005M/

I'm not sure what is going to happen now, but basically everywhere except in Russia the game pretty much failed. The AI was not good (not a huge surprise) and it just required too many updates to get it to work. Besides, it really was designed for "real time" play and everyone doesn't want that. To find out more general information on DIPLOMACY please visit www.diplomacy-pcgame.com or contact pr of paradoxplaza.com but I think it is about to wither away and die. In sum, I think that is too bad. But the hobby as a whole is going strong with thousands and thousands of Diplomacy players worldwide. REALLY!!!

((After Edi Birsan's retort to Mark Lew about the "naming of the Lepanto opening" and the history of the actual Lepanto, Mark comes back to Edi....))

Mark Lew (Sat, 4 Nov 2006 14:48:11 -0800)

Jim Bob,

I happen to have my nose in Ottoman history this afternoon, and I suddenly remembered I meant to answer whoever it was in TAP that tried to defend the name of the Lepanto opening, saying something like, "it really was a major naval victory of Italy over Turkey". I have no problem with the name of the opening. I think it's cute, but that statement is wrong. ((That would be Edi Birsan..... "JC" in the Diplomacy AtoZ (is that John Caruso??? If not, who???) also has weighed in on this and says: "The battle of Lepanto was not strictly fought by an Italy-Austria coalition but by a Spain-Papacy-Venice coalition, in which the main Navy was the Spanish one. Italy was not yet a nation, but a myriad of small states (as Machiavelli portrays so well). The association of Austria to this battle was by their close relations with the Spanish monarchy, so it is not wrong to mention them. Moreover, the Spanish Admiral who led this battle was known as Juan of Austria, half brother of the Spanish King Philip II, son of Emperor Charles I of Spain and V of Germany. Of course the translation of this fact into the game of Diplomacy suits perfectly with an Italy-Austria alliance." So this has been discussed before, but let's hear your take on it....))

We can set aside the fact that the losers in the battle were the Ottoman Empire and not "Turkey", since the yellow pieces in Dip also really should have been "Ottoman" and not "Turk". But the victor wasn't Italy either. The driving force behind the expedition was the Spanish Habsburgs, and what they were fighting over was the *western* Mediterranean. Spain's naval power was expanding and they were ready to drive the Ottomans and their client states out of their backyard on the North African coast (which Lepanto did succeed in doing, more or less). Toward this end, they enlisted the Pope (who is not "Italy") and gathered up a Catholic alliance which raised the forces and funds for a naval expedition to chase down the Ottoman fleet. Prominent in the alliance, particularly in financing, was Venice (which is also not "Italy"). As condition for their participation, Venetians commanded a majority of the squadrons (I forget the exact breakdown); the unified commander of the expedition was neither Spanish nor Venetian, but a Habsburg prince of the Austrian line. ((Is that Juan of Austria you're talking about???))

The battle was won and the Ottoman fleet was destroyed, but it didn't end Ottoman naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean. The fleet was completely rebuilt within two years and was winning victories again on the coast of Greece soon after. The fact that the victory had little long-term effect is a result of the nature of the alliance. Venice at that time (the beginning of its decline) was playing a balance-of-power game. Venice benefited from a contested Mediterranean. The Ottomans had become too strong, so Venice allied with Spain. After Lepanto, the Spanish leaders were eager to follow up the victory by striking Constantinople and the Ottoman heartland while it was undefended. But Venice didn't want Spain to dominate the sea either, so they stoutly refused to cooperate and that was the end of it.

That's your Lepanto in a nutshell. The idea that it was a victory of Italians over Turks is an invention of 19th century Italian nationalism.

Mark, markdlew of earthlink.net

Mike Barno (Fri, 22 Sep 2006 01:42:37 -0400)

I had a great time playing all sorts of boardgames and cardgames at PLAY 2006 recently (14-17 September). This was in Syracuse, NY so I hope we can recruit your brother next year. It's invitational-only but Dave would be a good fit with these people. The Syracuse local gamers have a friendly and sportsmanlike group that meets weekly. I might go up occasionally for those Tuesday evenings. The other out-of-towners were good folks too. I knew Alan Moon from his early-1980s Avalon Hill work helping Diplomacy players and GMs, and later from a couple of the Linseys' housecons. I've known Donna Balkan from housecons and WBC/WDC forever (though spouse Jim couldn't make it). People came from Texas, Ohio, and Massachusetts as well as a few parts of NYS. Three dozen or so, some of whom were only there for a day or two of the four-day gig.

Here's my list. Played 23 games with three repeats = 20 different titles. Learned 13 games. Taught one game twice and taught another game once. Won less than my share but came in second out of 4-5 players more than my share. I learned those with an asterisk.

* PROPHECY [Altar], (did a crossword puzzle not counted in game stats), * VIKTORY II [Morrison Games], Ta Yu, Ra, Alhambra, * THE PATRONS OF VENICE [Toccata Games], * MASONS [Hans im Gluck/Rio Grande], Basari, * BUS [Splotter], * ALPHA TO OMEGA (group party game at the icebreaker), Fabrik der Traume, * EMIRA [Phalanx/Mayfair], * BURN IN HELL [Steve Jackson Games], * ZIG-ZAG [Kosmos/Rio Grande], Zig-Zag again, * CARROUSEL [Asmodee], Tadsch Mahal, * IN10SITY [Simply Fun], Louis XIV, Ta Yu (taught 2-player first time, taught others 3-player this time), * HELL RAIL [Mayfair], Scrabble, * LASS DIE KIRCHE INS DORF [Mucke Autorenrechte].

I donated an over twenty-year-old copy of BRITANNIA (I was disappointed to check the copyright date and find it wasn't quite an antique) to the prize table, and from the prize table I got a Mystery Bag, DRAGON DELTA, and the New York Times' CROSSWORD. The Mystery Bag was a Kokopelli-themed drawstring-goodies-pouch, holding a CARCASSONNE expansion (The Count of C...), a 65-card deck (regular plus a fifth suit), and I think there was a simple set-collecting card game.

Lots of new friends, good times, new games, old favorites, no tournament stress, cruddy hotel located convenient to 90 and 81. I'm very glad I went. Next year it'll be the weekend before or after Memorial weekend, elsewhere in Syracuse. I intend to schedule vacation days for it again.

- Mike, mpbarno of lightlink.com

((Thanks, Mike, I know there are lots of other types of gamers in the szine, and appreciate the opportunity to raise visibility of some of these games. Mike and Bruce Linsey are big time gamers, and have played many, many more games, I'm more of a Diplomacy focused guy.))

MUSIC AND MOVIES SECTION (WITH COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTS AND SOCIETY)

We're running a "23 tunes" contest here (stolen blatantly from Mark Wightman and the late lamented The Sprouts of Wrath. If anyone would like to send me a tape or CD of their 23 (which was the original point) that would be great, but I don't intend to require that. I will be playing in the sense that I'll be putting 23 tunes in, and you have to guess me, but I obviously won't score points. Send commentary with your choices, and we'll see if people can guess who you are!!! And already there is a LOT of diversity in defining tunes and styles, so BE CREATIVE!!!

23 Tunes Game

Here are the rules for 23 TUNES. You send me three tunes for the first turn, and then two tunes in each of the last ten turns for a total of 23. If you missed the first turn, you can still catch up by sending five tunes next issue, and guess on submitters to this issue. I am also submitting my tunes. After we're done, I'd like to exchange CD's/Tapes for as many of the tunes players as possible, but this is not required. I'll be sending the winner both my LAST 23 tune list and my NEW 23 tune list. The winner is determined by having you guess each issue who submitted what list (I will tell you who the submitters are). For each list you get right, you get a point, you also can win bonus points from me for really cool tune selections. That's it, not complicated. I hope by starting this up, we'll get more to join, five songs required to enter late. Playing this issue (guess who is whom by number) is, in alphabetical order, Jim-Bob Burgess, Rick Desper, Steve Emmert, Doug Kent, Dick Martin, Richard Smith, Brendan Whyte, and Brad Wilson. Most people have some kind of linking theme to their sets, I'll let you figure them out. I have added some kind of comment on each tune. I've not given any tune bonus points this first time around, but if any of you not only guess the author, but also guess their linking theme, I'll give you an extra point. For the ones who have a potentially "hard to figure out theme", if no one gets it, I'll give YOU a point. Deadline is December 2nd, 2006. WHAT I NEED: two more tunes (five if you're joining up new), your guesses as to who submitted which lists, and guesses about people's themes if any. Quite a number of you SAID you would join but haven't yet, so we'll get started and put the pressure on you.

MYSTERY PERSON #1:

1) The "Hallelujah" Chorus from Handel's "Messiah": The title tells you what the words are, and the middle few bars are so famous, but how many people, apart from those that sing it, know the whole movement? A great little number this, boppy and exciting to sing, to sing along to, or just to tap ones fingers to on the steering wheel while caught in traffic, though with the new bridge to replace the Woodrow Wilson drawbridge in DC should ease the latter at least. ((As I've said before, I most prefer the John Eliot Gardner version (Philips R 215049, 1983) with the light clarity of tone that I'm trying to develop right now in my own singing. John Eliot Gardner's recording with the Monteverdi Choir of the Dixit Dominus by Handel (Erato, 1992) is even better to illustrate this point.))

2) "Libera Me" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Requiem": The final movement of this impressive modernist-classical piece leaves the boy soprano on his own to hold pitch and rhythm singing about eternal peace, when the organ comes crashing in over him with dissonance and gusto trying to drown him out in chaos, but its waves of noise break and underneath the sweet high "perpertua" carries on. It's a brave young lad who can maintain that, especially in any live performance in front of an audience. But live or recorded, this is great music and a fascinating musical analogy of peace and goodness and light triumphing over noise and chaos. ((I've heard about five attempts in recent years to compose a Requiem, quite a difficult task to do. Even as I quibble with A.L. Webber on many points in how he composes his other more popular music, this is easily the best of those Requiems. And no, I'm not even counting Paul McCartney's Ecce Com Meum composition.))

3) "Mau Kamu Suka Kamu" by Rano Karno: An interesting delve into singing by TV presenter Karno comes up trumps with this sugary but fun silly love song in a disco-dangdut style (one could never call Karno himself `dangdut', he's too respectable!). Mothers and daughters will sing along in the catchy chorus. A difficult track to find outside Java, but worth the effort of hunting down, especially to see the expression on the faces of expat Indonesians when you play it! ((I have a strange soft spot for silly love songs, you know.....))

MYSTERY PERSON #2:

1) "Haunted" by Poe: An honorable attempt to deal with her father's death. Really the whole album is. ((You all know how much I grew up on complex layers of sound and this 2000 release was the best of that genre in that year by far.))

2) "Can You Do It" by Grand Funk Railroad: Produced by Frank Zappa, from their final studio album of the original incarnation (1976's Good singing, Good Playing) ((People forget how focused and talented a producer Frank Zappa was. This year's Zappa Plays Zappa led by Dweezil was one of the musical happenings of the year... of course I did NOT get to see it, but I hope some of you did.))

3) "Tempus Fugit" by Yes: Trevor Horn takes vocals on this album, Drama, instead of Jon Anderson, prior to his stint as opening act on MTV in The Buggles. One of the ten best true rock songs of all time. ((You probably all know how much I like the Buggles, and Yes was the very first rock concert I ever went to in person, before Trevor Horn joined the group, of course.))

MYSTERY PERSON #3:

1) "White Rhino Tea" by the Ozric Tentacles: Starting this off slow with an instrumental by this jazzy space rock band from 1991. Six minutes of dreamy, haunting sonic tapestry, and the first cut off of what I think is their best album, Strangeitude. ((Most of the progressive rock like this which I like is much earlier than this, Bob Olsen and I, for example, are huge Klaus Schulze fans, but the Tentacles fit well into this genre and are worthy successors.))

2) "The Secret of Bethany's Mouth" by the Green Pajamas: This psych pop masterpiece is the latest from this veteran group, from the 2005 release 21st Century Seance that naturally is about various kinds of ghost stories, following up on the theme. Green Pajamas remain possibly the best of the many bands continuing to plumb the new psychedelia. This song has as its main inspiration the romantic mystery novel "Pale as the Dead" by Fiona Mountain and as a folky feel to it. ((Since Eric Ozog isn't in the game (at least so far) I can tell you that this is Eric's favorite band and they hail, naturally, from Seattle.))

3) "The Pictures on My Wall" by Echo and the Bunnymen: 1979 beginning of the McCulloch boys is fresh and exciting when heard today. There is even a hint of Joy Division-ness in them on this cut. This first single was unavailable anywhere I knew about until the mid-1990's, since the early vinyl printing was small. ((I was happy to see someone select this song, not many people have ever heard it, but to us Bunnymen fans this is an essential pickup.))

MYSTERY PERSON #4:

1) "6 Underground" by Sneaker Pimps: If you know Sneaker Pimps, then you're way too cool for me. But "6U" is a terrific tune. ((Ah, lots of people are selecting psychedelic or electropop sorts of things. "6U" is from their first and probably best album, I think it reached #6 on the British pop charts, was less popular here in the States. Its various members are presently scattered around doing all sorts of side or separate projects. From what I know, none of that is producing anything terribly exciting, which is too bad.))

2) "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" by the Allman Brothers Band: "Liz Reed" is the tune that, in my mind, definitively proves that the Allman Brothers were in reality jazz musicians. It's their tribute to Miles Davis. ((I haven't heard this since I was in college in the 1970's and had my jazz show on the radio station. I never played this song on that, to my recollection, but I do remember it being an extended drum solo by Trucks and being quite striking.))

3) "Spanish Sky" by Chris Isaak: "Spanish Sky" is from Heart Shaped World, the album (back then, they still called them albums) that made Isaak famous with the single, "Wicked Game." I doubt I could ever get tired of that CD. ((I don't think this is my thing, and I think everyone will know this list isn't mine when I say that I think I remember "Wicked Game" but I'm positive I've never heard the whole CD.))

MYSTERY PERSON #5:

1) Pure Reason Revolution - The Bright Ambassadors of Morning: So, you're a promising new pop band with a (currently) trendy retro-rock stylee. You've just been signed to Sony-BMG, one of the biggest labels in the world. It's single time. You choose to go for a 12-minute epic masterpiece. Music biz suicide? No! Everyone loves it. ((And worthy successors to Pink Floyd, Genesis, and other bands who did it before them. There's nothing wrong with 12 minutes.))

2) Mastodon - Siberian Divide: One of America's up and coming metal bands, Mastodon have gone a bit arty with their "Blood Mountain" album to great effect. It's hard to pick a best track, but this is my favorite. ((Metal seems to be making a comeback, in new and interesting "arty" ways.))

3) Wolverine - Liar on the Mount: This track is from the Swedish prog-mettalers' 2006 album "Still". It features spoken passages from none other than Mr. George W. Bush. How dare they lambast the leader of the free world! Oh well why not, everyone else does and the track is really good. Oddly, the first time I heard this track, the tone of Dubya's voice reminded me of the guy on Mylo's "Destroy Rock and Roll" who rattles off a list of musical artists that are "evil", including David Boowie and Cindy Looper. ((No, say it ain't so? W.?? The real question about lies is the relationship between lies and propaganda. If no one calls you on it - not really - is it a lie or just spin?))

MYSTERY PERSON #6:

1) "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty: I have always liked "Baker Street", which has one of the most famous sax riffs in pop music. It was big on MTV in the early 80s when videos were young. ((Yes, indeed, and I am a huge sax fan, at that time, I was much more of a Saxa fan with the English Beat, but this one is more famous than Saxa's on, say, "Mirror in the Bathroom".))

2) Waterloo by Abba: "Waterloo" is one of the ABBA songs that was not on my Dad's ABBA 8-track tape that he'd play in the car in the 70s. His collection consisted of one 8-track apiece from ABBA, John Denver, The Beach Boys, and Helen Reddy. That was it, I think. After having that beaten into my head for about five years I developed a bit of an antipathy to the group, but that's faded in recent years. When I moved to ((place name censored since it might give away who this is)) I rediscovered the group, since they were still big in the dance clubs in a retro way. Of course "Dancing Queen" was the big hit. Didn't hear "Waterloo" until I saw "Muriel's Wedding", the film that inspired the musical "Mamma Mia". Both are filled with ABBA tunes. ((My dad really did have this 8-track collection you'll have to figure out if that means this is my list or that my father and this person's father had the same 8-track tape taste. And "Muriel's Wedding" and "Mamma Mia" are both worthy vehicles for this infectious music!!))

3) Angel by Sarah McLachlan: "Angel" has been the title of a number of songs. I picked the Sarah McLachlan song after listening to a few since it sounded nice. ((I also like the P.P. Arnold version of "Angel of the Morning", but that's more than just Angel - there is a theme in this one, in case you can't tell.... and I think Sarah is just that "nice". I'll bet she's nice and down to earth in person too.))

MYSTERY PERSON #7:

1) Mem Shannon, "Taxicab Driver" (from "A Cab Driver's Blues", Hannibal/Rykodisc, 1995): Blues is not necessarily a native New Orleans form of music: the blues' roots in the Mississippi Delta took it north to Memphis, Kansas City and (most of all) Chicago. But take gritty urban blues, the swampy, funky second-line rhythm that fuels New Orleans music and a sharp wit typical of New Orleans, and the result is a song like this: funny, foot-tapping and utterly charming. Shannon's expressive voice and distinctive guitar sound (Albert Collins meets Wes Montgomery) make this one a treat. ((Many people think that this sort of music all sounds the same, they're completely nuts. The range of potential emotions is immense and fundamentally isn't music about emotion. It's just emotion.... or is that the motion. Sorry, can't resist a Ghod reference.))

2) The Kinks, "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" (from "One from the Road", recorded 1979, released 1980, Konk Records): I always thought the Kinks rocked harder and wrote sharper lyrics than the (to me) overrated Beatles, and here's the proof. This whole live album glistens and sizzles with intensity and passion, and the band never sounded tighter. The song is that rare bird, a political song from the late 1970's still sadly relevant; its ferocious lyrics sum up Jimmy Carter-malaise era U.S.A. well, and they are just as apt today for the running disaster that is Bushism. Dave Davies never sounded better on lead guitar than here. ((I know there are Beatles fans of this generation - resident TAPpites Keith Sherwood and Peter Sullivan most definitely included - but a lot of people didn't remember that the Kinks were making relevant music in the Elvis Costello era.))

3) Eartha Kitt, "Let's Do It" (from "Eartha Kitt Purr-fect Greatest Hits, 7N Records, 1998; recorded 5 October 1953, with Henri Rene & His Orchestra): Cole Porter, that old sybarite and matchless wit, must have loved this: the ever-slinky Miss Kitt turning a Porter tune about falling in love into something else entirely - let's just say Kitt's throaty delivery and arch-seductive voice obviously take the "it" of the title to mean somnething more, er, basic. This snappy, hot little number is a textbook case of how to take a standard and make it your own. Kitt - now on Broadway in "Mimi le Duck" - is a force of nature, a dazzling entertainer with an utterly distinctive voice and great legs for a lady in her 70's. Her 50's recordings are as sexy and dangerous as anything Elvis ever did. ((And she even played Catwoman on Batman, who can forget that??? And I just noticed after checking that she shortly turns 79, so she's almost OUT of her 70's. Lastly, she once played Helen of Troy in the Orson Welles production of Dr. Faust, it was Welles who saw that her magnetic personality made her an actress, not just a singer/dancer.))

MYSTERY PERSON #8:

1) "Want-Ad Blues", John Lee Hooker: Sure, there are better-known Hooker tunes, like "Boom Boom" and the classic "Boogie Chillun", but this is the one I keep coming back to. Maybe it's the slyly suggestive lyrics sung in Hooker's gravelly voice that's always just around but not quite on the beat that creates the magnetic tension. Maybe it's the groove so deep "even a white person could get it". Whatever. It's easy to listen to and hard to sit still for. ((Yes, yes, yes, this music seems so simple, but is so complex....))

2) "Sing, Sing, Sing", Benny Goodman: I hadn't heard this tune for ages til I heard Los Straitjackets play it in concert a couple years back. they ripped into it as a surf guitar instrumental and I kept thinking to myself, "I know this song, I know this song...what is it???" then it clicked and I was blown away. It's still as amazingly hot today as it was back in the big band days. Gotta go back to the source and pick the original for being so timeless, even though the live Los Straitjackets version is about as good. ((I think all of us were not actually alive when Benny Goodman originally recorded this, or if we were, we weren't really old enough to pay attention. It's scary how good and fresh some of that music sounds today in our world of retreads and recycles. Cab Calloway is another of the band leaders who made music that sounds wonderful and amazingly hot today. for Cab, I recommend the "Are You Hep to the Jive?" CD compilation that came out a decade ago or so.))

3) "Blue on a Green Planet", Big Country: Anthems...nobody does anthemic guitar rock as well as Big Country. Big, loud, wailing guitar sounds. Lyrics that sorta make sense if you don't think about them too deeply. Drench with heartfelt emotion. Crank it up to 11. Repeat. ((No one has the big sound down better than these guys. If you've only heard their eponymous "In a Big Country", the Country is big enough to hold some other great anthems as well. Big Country has a conscience too.))

Rick Desper (Tue, 24 Oct 2006 06:10:44 -0700 (PDT))

Does this mean that Kenny Rogers isn't going to the Hall of Fame?

Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com

p.s. That's a joke.

Warren Goesle (Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:29:33 -0500)

He'll be there! I LOVE his music! Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Goz, wgoesle of comcast.net

((Gaylord Perry is in the Hall of Fame (sorry, you asked for that). And I was a HUGE Gaylord Perry fan as a kid, regardless of the way he pitched. It informs my feelings about the Steroid/HGH issues as well. To me, you blame the Commish not the player. It is the Commish and the Owners' job to implement the rules and stop people. Note that LaRussa is taking a lot of heat, but he is a LAWYER by training and he knows precisely what he is doing. Will he challenge in Game 6 according to the RULES? Maybe, maybe not, and let Kenny Rogers worry about it. [[Of course, we never got to Game 6 to find out/]] I'm sure that will get the howls.... but I believe ALL of it.))

Rick Desper (Tue, 24 Oct 2006 15:50:50 -0700 (PDT))

I knew Gaylord Perry. Gaylord Perry was a friend of mine. Kenny Rogers is no Gaylord Perry. He may be a "first ballot" Hall of Famer in the sense that, if he's on the ballot at all, he'll be kicked off the first time. That has nothing to do with his performance in Game 2. Rogers is possibly good enough to be on the ballot, but he's nowhere near the caliber he would need to be to be considered for the Hall (esp. given his history of choking in the postseason.) ((I actually agree, of course.... just making the point that what it is alleged he did or didn't do to baseballs is not especially relevant to me, or to the process.)) I was quite annoyed to read a column at ESPN.com which was basically an anonymous coach saying that he figured Rogers was cheating the whole game. It's one thing to say the fairly obvious thing anonymously, but I disliked the further step of expanding the allegations, without evidence, under the cover of anonymity.

Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com

Rick Desper (Sat, 28 Oct 2006 08:29:11 -0700 (PDT))

From Abyssinian Prince 302: ((Rick Desper comments: I'll pick the Cardinals to win the WS at this point, simply because they seem to have the most balance.))

I just remembered that the Cardinals were my pick all along.

:) Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com

Warren Goesle (Fri, 20 Oct 2006 23:17:48 -0500)

You guys are pretty quiet about baseball this year. Hmm... Momentum is a tricky thing. So are expectations. Everyone "expects" that the Cardinals will get drilled by the Tigers. It doesn't mean it *won't* happen. I pick St. Louis to win Game 1, and then Detroit gets the next 4.

We can probably all play back in our head the catch that Willie Mays made in the 1954 Series off of Vic Wertz. The catch that Chavez made in Game 7 of the NLCS off of Rolen was as spectacular as that one, but won't be remembered as such, since the Mets lost the game. Too bad.

The 1908 World Series winners have hired Lou Piniella to manage them for the next 3 years. The Cubs must believe that they can win right away, otherwise he's the wrong guy, for the same reasons that Dusty Baker was the wrong guy. Why not Girardi, or someone that can build a winner? I think Cubs' fans are now looking at 200 years of frustration.

Cheers! Goz, wgoesle of comcast.net

Rick Desper (Sun, 22 Oct 2006 02:33:12 -0700 (PDT))

Don't know quite what to say. I was thinking that Verlander would lose game 1. He's been off his game recently. But I also have been thinking that the Cardinals don't have enough pitching from the beginning of the playoffs, and I've been wrong from the beginning of the playoffs. First it was the Jeff and Jeff show and now Reyes wins in Detroit?

I have no idea what's going to happen.

Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com

Mike Barno (Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:52:22 -0400)

I didn't hear any live music all spring and summer. So when I finally heard a concert October 13, my first national act of the year, I did it right: a Rock'n'Roll Hall of Famer, from the second row.

Gregg Allman and Friends opened a new tour at Magic City Music Hall in Johnson City, New York, where I heard the Ratdog and Rusted Root shows I mentioned in my best-of-2005 article. This was a fine show, all new arrangements by Gregg, played tightly considering it was the tour's first gig. Danielia Cotton from New York City opened the show just as my cousin and I were up front checking out the big band's equipment, so we spent the night up front near stage right, close enough to watch musicians play and to see their expressions. Something like 1500 people there but we were never crowded from behind into the rail. Ms. Cotton (http://www.danielia.com/site.php) is the daughter of a jazz singer who writes her own rock and soul and blues. Sometimes she plays with a full rock band, but for this show it was just her and one guy on guitars; hers was acoustic. She has one album out, and is working on another. I liked some of the new material, especially "Bang My Drum". Good songs, done with heart. Recommended.

After Danielia's one set and a short break, Allman came on with six other fine musicians. This tour isn't the Allman Brothers Band with Dickie Betts, but guys with about a thousand years a cumulative experience with all sorts of rock and blues bands including past Gregg Allman "solo" tours: Mike C. Barnes (guitar), Jay Collins (sax), Jerry Jemmott (bass), Neil Larson (keyboard), Floyd Miles (percussion) and Steve Potts (drums). Boy oh boy, could they play. Barnes would lay out the sweetest lines of electric slide guitar, subtle and moving, then rip the hottest wails without moving a facial muscle. "Laconic" is the word. Collins had two saxes, and I swear the bigger one was longer than an oboe. It honked like an elephant lightly farting through its trunk, but it was just the ticket in the context where it was used.

Allman did a ton of new arrangements for this tour, and it was obvious. This wasn't like hearing a tribute band, or a band running through the same version they've been playing for years. A couple of Allman songs were recast to a funk sound, and it worked. Plenty more tunes were much bluesier than the recordings you hear on the radio. They worked well, too. A couple of vocal mikes gave Gregg bad squeals several times, but otherwise, the night went great. The worst "problem" I had was the new arrangements; my neural network kept wanting to dance or lip-sync to the rhythms I was used to instead of the ones they were actually playing. But I consider "not the same ol'" to be an asset rather than a detraction. They're doing this on the east coast for a couple of weeks in October, then taking a break, then touring from November through January. If you get a chance, check it out. Not just rehashing memories, this is creative new work done around the old framework, and it's fine to the ear.

Mike Barno, mpbarno of lightlink.com

Dick Martin (Thu, 2 Nov 2006 02:48:53 -0500)

ok jim-bob, i'll bite. i'm not entirely sure how the game works, but i reckon it'll become obvious as we go along. hmm...to do it "desert island" style or just what i'm listening to lately...decisions, decisions. i'll tack some entries on at the end of this, but there's a lot of catching up to do in the meantime. ((Mark Lew has dropped the non-caps style, but it is fitting that someone is still doing it.... I capped your selections for the 23 tunes game so you don't give yourself away.))

for starters, i've moved (a couple times) and am now at 4615 brookeville rd, brookeville, md 20833. so if you could update your address for me, that'd be great. i still have a fondness for reading zeens the old fashioned way: on paper. call me old school. i've also gotten remarried (once) and changed jobs (about a half dozen times) since i checked in last (same sort of govt contracting business, though). haven't done much in-person gaming for years, but still amuse myself on the computer (mostly diablo2, starcraft, www.neopets.com (yes!) and www.nationstates.net). ((That is the point to staying around in paper the old fashioned way! Also, somehow I can't abide having you not living in Rockville, it just seems like you and Rockville go hand in hand - inseparable.))

time passes, and it's a bit weird having my rock'n'roll heroes dying from old age instead of the classic drug overdoses. sigh...george harrison, john entwistle, joe strummer, most of the ramones, stuart adamson (and just when i'd rediscovered the glory of big country, too), warren zevon.... all gone. wow. i particularly miss zevon. of all the musicians i've listened to, he was the one i most wished i could be. so many great songs about drug addicts, mercenaries, psychopaths, scoundrels, werewolves, and losers with the occasional splash of pure romance and heavy doses of morbid humor, sung in at least seven different languages. i don't think we'll ever see another one like warren. he went out with style too, leaving us with easily the best album ever by a musician with terminal lung cancer. the documentary of the making of the record is also worth picking up. never mind that it's a vh1 production, it's one of the best movies i've ever seen about living life right up to the very end. ((Agreed, I found Zevon's last album spellbinding. You said it perfectly.))

speaking of movies (weren't we?)... i miss steve langley's "regular guy" movie reviews. they were clear and concise and very accurate (in other words, i usually agreed with him). only once did he truly miss the boat, with his comments on "heist". sorry, but that disaster was one of the worst squanderings of talent in movie history, with only two decent lines and one clever twist balanced against a dozen forehead-slappingly inexplicable happenings. (best line isn't "that's why they call it `money'!", it's "don't you want to hear my last words?" "i just did" <blam!>) fred davis's movie list from a few issues back was a fun read. partly because it practically screams out "i was written by an old white guy!" and partly because he's got some interesting choices that i might have to catch up with sometime. and partly because he inspired me to think about what would be on my own list. the short list: "wizard of oz", "star wars", "casablanca", "pulp fiction", "seven samurai", "city lights", "notorious", "apocalypse now", "sunset boulevard" and "all that jazz". the longer (less orderly) list can be found on the web in the imdb at http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=17353394 - it's 1259 titles long and still growing. ah, imdb, no site is more dangerous for the movie trivia obsessed.

((Indeed, I spend a not insignificant amount of time there myself, and I know I am a light user. I thought Steve's explanation for stopping the movie reviews was (as usual for him) completely logical and straightforward. He was going to the movies to escape from drudgery on his job, and once he was retired, he found no need to go see the movies. As I understand it from him, he went from seeing about five movies a week to pretty close to zero cold turkey. I've not heard a great deal from him this year though. Steve, check in with us.... (no guarantee he'll pay attention, but we'll ask) I just today saw the best movie I've seen this year, deserving of Oscar nomination, and it's a Will Ferrell movie! "Stranger than Fiction" sees Will keeping his overacting safely locked up in his pants. People like Linda Hunt, Emma Thompson, and Queen Latifah are perfect in relatively small roles. Dustin Hoffman is even better in a slightly larger one, keep your eye on the coffee, and on Emma's cigarettes. Zach Helm is the screenwriter, and (not being on line at the moment) you'll have to go to the aforementioned imdb to find out what else he's done. But I've not heard of him before so I think he's a fresh new face worth watching! This is great high concept without going nuts like so many of the other hot directors do, so that you feel like you're being artsied to death. Go with the plot as it develops and you'll be well rewarded. I won't tell you more, though most of you will probably read reviews that will tell you a bit more. I will just ask you though, is anyone hotter just moving around than Maggie Gyllenhaal? No, no, not by a long shot.))

doug kent's saga has been a fascinating read. thanks for sharing, doug.

the endless baseball discussions, on the other hand...well...guess i'm blown away that anybody pays that close attention to it at the level you guys do. even though there are a couple minor league teams within easy driving distance of here, they're not exactly household names. instead the papers waste endless ink on the angelos-crippled orioles and the underdog (and also angelos-crippled) nationals. the nationals soap opera (is dc getting a team? are they ever going to sell them to a real owner? will they have a stadium? will they have parking garages? will it be back to the drawing board?) is so exhausting that i don't have any energy left to root for the actual team on the field. i wish them the best, though.

mini-tirade on the music industry time. i don't know about you, but i'm sick of the riaa and other powers that be whining about how internet piracy is killing their business. ummm...no. i don't believe that for a minute. either they're not doing their homework or else it's too scary to admit the truth. i think it's much more likely a combination of factors. first of all, all the old guys like me have finished replacing their vinyl with cd's by now. second, there's serious competition for entertainment $$$ with dvds and computer games that wasn't there before. third, radio isn't very good at breaking new bands anymore outside of a few narrow genres (country & rap). maybe that's because the music sucks (contrary to public opinion, i don't believe that's so), is too crass to listen to for extended periods (definitely), or it's just safer to play classic rock (yawn). fourth, it's too expensive for what you get. there's no way i'm going to pay a buck a song for a heavily restricted download that vanishes at the first disk crash. $15 for a cd when i can get two great dvds for the same price? i'm gonna think twice. fifth, it's a lot easier to get perfectly fine used cds on amazon or half.com.

when it comes to free downloading (which i might have done a time or two), that's ideal for trying out new stuff, what radio used to be good for. the quality is too hit-or-miss to replace good ole cds. my feeling is that it's a net-positive for the bands, particularly bands that are still able to tour. oh well, there are plenty of great free music sources on the net these days that are perfectly legal. i've been playing around with pandora.com lately. it's an interesting concept, playing songs related by "musical genomes". ((Lots of this sort of thing exists out there, also with Movies, on Netflix even.))

your discussion with mark lew on politics in the latest issue was interesting. unfortunately you're both totally wrong. :) ((OK, I look forward to you telling us why, I got less commentary on this than I expected, so let me refrain from commenting much on what you say and see what else gets generated. We have a long deadline before the next issue, so comment away.))

his administration was clearly taking on water early in the first term. their imperial presidency mentality clearly wasn't working with a divided congress, and it looked to me like w was gonna be a one-termer just like daddy. then 9/11 happened and that changed everything. suddenly our smirking frat boy president could jut out his chin, growl about how "we're gonna git bin laden, dead or alive" and look like a serious leader. the administration shrewdly seized on terror as the issue they could ride for every occasion ("don't question the president, or the terrorists win!", "pass tax cuts or the terrorists win!", "you're not safe voting for the other party or the terrorists win!"). it's natural for every president to try and amass as much power as possible, that always happens. but the circumstances, and the republican-owned house and senate allowed him to get away with it. it's impossible to blame everything that has gone wrong on bush, because his party leadership has been at least as responsible for the mess we're in as he is. i've never gotten the feeling that the republican brass particularly know or care what good governing is about. they're more interested in grabbing power for its own sake instead of using it responsibly. it doesn't appear to have dawned on them that bomb-throwing partisanship is only ok when you're not driving the bus. now after only four short years of republican domination it looks like they are going down hard. another week and we'll know for sure - it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out. maybe the shameless republican big lie machine still works the magic, but it looks like the magic is wearing off. and this is without any particularly effective effort by the democrats - the gop is imploding all on its own. (fyi, no, i'm not a democrat and don't particularly care for them either.) ((I nailed my pre-election guess that the Senate would go to 49 Republicans and that Chafee in my Rhode Island would lose. And I saw before and say now that this is not because of some wonderful alternative proposed by Democrats, but more a NOT Bush argument. Much of what you say I agree with and don't see how it opposes what Mark Lew and I were saying - just hitting issues from another direction. But I'll let you or others weigh in before reiterating.))

writing contracts doesn't make the republicans big spenders. their key is that they have perfected "borrow and spend" as an unstated philosophy while still aggressively slamming the dems for being tax and spenders, whether that's true or not. borrowing is painless...for now. and "now" is all that matters when the only goal is to be re-elected. maybe the debt will matter someday, maybe it won't, and how can that be measured anyways? ah, who cares, this current batch of elected officials will be dead before that happens. or global warming will have killed us all and it won't matter anyways. whatever. put it off til tomorrow. get rid of the death tax today or the terrorists win!

it's true that this administration controls information as tightly as any i've ever seen and stays distressingly "on message" even when the message is blatantly false. unfortunately saying that something is so often enough might work to get you elected, but it doesn't work so well as foreign policy.

i got a nice chuckle from the comments implying that the government should promote innovation. that's not like any government i've ever seen. ((This is the only point I'll break in on a bit. Would you accept it as dissuading innovation less? Those are two sides of the same coin. And if government funds research it directly affects innovation. You can say government itself does not ever directly promote innovation but if you say that, I'll vehemently disagree with you. Innovation tends not to be a very public sexy thing, strangely enough. But I'll not say more than that clarification and see if the popular support from the peanut gallery supports you or me.))

basically i'd say that bush has been a failure because he believes that he's divinely inspired. he can't admit that he's made a mistake because god is never wrong. so whatever the course is, we've got to stick to it. right off the cliff, if need be. and the people around him take advantage of that, because he just doesn't care about anything outside of his narrow focus: holy war against the terrorists and tax cuts for the wealthy.

i read recently that bush wants to be like reagan. and i'd say he's doing a great job of it. he's just like reagan, only without the charm.

ok, enough ramblings for now. maybe i should do this more than once every five years....ok, enough for now! seriously!

richard martin just hanging around in cyberspace at... http://www.PhantomEmpire.com

drop by for a visit sometime! phantom2 of speakeasy.net

Mark Lew (Mon, 6 Nov 2006 17:14:13 -0800)

Jim-Bob, Pete, BRUX

(1) Its not officially announced yet, but the team has made a deal for a new stadium in Fremont. Some locals are bewailing that the team has moved away, but the real news here is that the As *didnt* leave Oakland. Fremont is just 20 miles down the road, so it's no more of a move than it was for plenty of other teams that relocated to a more suburban locale. For those east of the hills, a significant portion of the fan base, the drive will become easier because it will now be practical to approach via 680, thus avoiding the worst traffic area, through the Caldecott Tunnel and near the MacArthur maze.

The Fremont solution was inevitable, I think. (And presumably that's why there really isnt that much fuss about it.) It solves all the problems. The Coliseum was no longer satisfactory. The City of Oakland had no interest in cooperating for a new stadium. Giants territorial rights prevent the team from moving to San Jose or Silicon Valley, which is what the owners would have really liked. By going to Fremont, they get a cooperative city government, they're still reasonably close to Oakland, and they've moved a half hour closer to the South Bay audience (generally considered the best source of potential revenue) without technically violating SFs territory.

(2) Ron Washington was hired manager for the Texas Rangers. This is what really has the fan base in an uproar. Seriously. I havent seem them so excited since Hudson and Mulder were both traded within a week of each other. The fans are far more upset about losing Wash than they are about losing Zito. (Admittedly, the latter news was absorbed gradually over a year or more.)

Unless they're pretty hard-core, most baseball fans outside Oakland probably haven't even heard of Ron Washington. He's been the third-base coach for 11 years the longest tenure for any coach or player, come to think of it, well beloved by the players, and widely credited for the team's excellent infield defense. ((I was a huge Kansas City Royals fan in high school, and for the teams I was a fan of, like the SF Giants, the Royals, and the White Sox, I even closely followed their minor league teams. So I was aware of Ron Washington when he was in the Royals minor league system in the 1972-75 period. I think he was traded to the Twins but he went through some other team, maybe the Dodgers or Padres, one of the teams that had a Triple A team in the PCL. But I remember him as a utility infielder for the Twins in the mid-1980's. He wasn't an especially brilliant fielder, but I guess he did OK teaching fielding to the A's. I did a quick "compare stats" on him (since I think that is an interesting programmed way of telling what players are like) and among current players up popped Marco Scutaro! So to the extent that he "made" Scutaro, I'll bet he is one person who was campaigning for Washington to get the job.))

Some, including at least one serious journalist, have suggested that Beane dragged out his own manager search so that Washington would be hired by Texas and therefore it wouldnt look so bad when the A's didn't offer him the job. That idea had been floated in Athletics Nation weeks before, and I thought it was amusing, but I didnt think people would be believing it literally.

My take is quite different. I think Washington prefers managing in Texas to managing in Oakland partly because its closer to home, ((I noted he originally was from New Orleans, so is that what you mean by "home"?)) partly because it works better for him to make a fresh start with a new team, and partly because he knows what its like to work for Billy Beane and would prefer not to. If both Oakland and Texas offered him a managers job, I think he would have chosen Texas. I also think that Billy was well aware of that. (Wash may well have told him so at the interview.) He knows that If Oakland offers Wash the job and Wash says no - or worse, maybe, but only if I dont get an offer from Texas - then everybody looks bad. Whether Billy wants Wash or not, there is nothing to be gained by offering the job publicly before he finds out whether Texas is going to make an offer. *That* is why Oaklands manager search has been drawn out.

Now that Wash is out of the way, Billy can decide who he really wants of the candidates available. I think itll be Geren, who I think will actually be pretty good. The fan base is vociferously against Geren right now, though. Theyre pretty vocal against Beane at the moment, too. More than Ive seen since ... well, ever. Beane's always been popular. Right now I'd guess his approval rating among those who know enough to have an opinion, is somewhere around 50%.

mdl, markdlew of earthlink.net

Pete Gaughan (Tue, 7 Nov 2006 19:57:15 -0800)

(1) The thing I'm most interested in finding out about Fremont is, what on earth will they call the team? It would be insane to continue with "Oakland A's". California? San Jose?

Mark Lew replies: There's been plenty of speculation. City of Fremont made some official comments saying (1) they don't expect "Fremont" to be part of the name, and (2) they understand that it will be strictly "a marketing decision". The second one is absolutely right. They'll name it whatever they feel will sell the most. Keeping the Oakland name isn't completely insane. Fremont is arguably an Oakland suburb and plenty of cities keep the city name when moving to a suburb. Putting San Jose in the name has a lot of plus marketing but also some minus; unlike something more nebulous it reinforces the idea that the team has left Oakland and moved to another city (which is also both plus and minus). That's particularly true for the nationwide audience. Some guy in Florida has no idea where Fremont is and only a hint of a clue where Oakland and San Jose are. If the A's are still the Oakland A's, he thinks, "Oh, they got a new stadium somewhere"; if they become something generic like California A's, pretty much the same; but if they become the San Jose A's he thinks, "Hey, the A's left Oakland and moved to San Jose." Also, putting San Jose in the name might cause Peter McGowan to kick up a fuss, though I don't think he could actually block the name change. Some have suggested "South Bay A's" as a compromise, on the theory that it plays nearly as hard for the San Jose affection but with less blowback both from McGowan and from Oakland fans.

(2) I guess I hadn't really thought about whether Washington wanted a job offer from Oakland. If he didn't want to work there all along, then Beane was an idiot for not making sure the public knew that (through off-the-record comments that he could be sure would turn up in the media). And if Washington didn't want the Oakland job, why were A's players campaigning so hard for him? Weird.

- Pete Gaughan, RaptorMage of astound.net

Mark Lew (Wed, 8 Nov 2006 01:40:04 -0800)

Oh, I think Washington definitely wanted the job in Oakland. I'm just saying that between Oakland and Texas, Oakland was his second choice. He had to figure that Texas wasn't a definite yes (most in Texas are saying he was a longshot candidate, with Wakamatsu and Hillman being the favorites) and that Oakland wasn't a definite no. He definitely wanted to be a manager somewhere, and would happily take either job, but if he had the choice between the both of them he'd rather go to Texas. (There's a quote from one of the Texas people - the owner, I think it was - that suggests that, but only if you read between the lines. Billy of course has revealed nothing about it.)

I figure Billy had not definitely decided against Wash, so he surely wasn't going to say anything about it before Texas hired him. Now that he is hired, I still don't see there's a great need for Billy to let it be known (if indeed it is true) that he knew Texas was Wash's first choice. What exactly is served by such a leak? To diminish the public hostility? That's going to flare up regardless and it's going to simmer down, and it's unlikely to do any real harm. If it does, he can always leak it later.

((But it does seem pretty clear from "MoneyBall" that Ron Washington is more of a baseball traditionalist and less of a stats driven button pusher than Billy Beane likes, isn't it?))

The new conventional wisdom that is (barely) starting to form is that Beane's choice now is Trey Hillman, but San Diego might want him too in which case we probably won't get him. A few weeks ago nearly everyone thought it was sure to be Geren, but now they don't seem so sure. Not sure what the difference is. Maybe just idle minds starting to wander. Fan preference is all over the map. In a straw poll I don't think any one candidate would get 25% support. Hillman probably would rank highest, but there is substantial support for Geren, Black, Hershiser and numerous other candidates and non-candidates. (Though come to think of it, I don't think I've seen anyone say we should choose Manny Acta.)

mdl, markdlew of earthlink.net

Bruce Linsey (Tue, 7 Nov 2006 23:53:05 EST)

OK, I really can't say much about the managerial situation in Oakland, since I don't follow the team (or even the sport) that closely. But I do have an opinion on the above. I don't think it would be at all "insane" for the team to keep the name "Oakland A's" if they move to Fremont. I can think of a number of pro sports teams which have retained the name of the main nearby city even though they're based in a suburb. I'd guess strongly that the team WOULD keep its current name under those circumstances, although I suppose San Jose and Bay Area would both be suitable alternatives.

The suggestion that they might use the name "California" makes me wanna puke, though. First of all, I really dislike it when a team uses a whole state's name instead of just a city - that seems unduly greedy to me. (And given that, you can imagine just how much I detest the grossly misnamed "New England Patriots"!) But the situation is exacerbated immeasurably when a team uses a state name and the state has another team (with a city name) within its borders. Thus, the Florida Marlins really piss me off! It just sounds so stupid when we have games like "Florida at Tampa Bay." Of course, while I'm railing, I should also inveigh against the Grand Award Winner for dumbest team name of all time, the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." (And to think I actually almost liked this team once upon a time!)

OK, I'm better now! :-)

Bruce, GonzoHQ of aol.com

Mark Lew (Wed, 8 Nov 2006 01:40:04 -0800)

Not intended to support nor rebut your argument, but one data point you might not be aware of. Fremont is in fact closer to downtown San Jose than to downtown Oakland, though not by much. Although Fremont is arguably a suburb of Oakland, it's just as plausibly a suburb of San Jose.

((Regarding Bruce's comment about the Angels...)) I assume you know the logic for this, right? The team wants to be called "Los Angeles" because their marketing has determined where the best money. At the same time, the team is contractually obligated to have "Anaheim" in its name. The contract doesn't specify that "Anaheim" has to be at the front end of the name. Basically, they want to be called "Los Angeles Angels" and that other part is stuck on there because they're required to.

ig, markdlew of earthlink.net

((Mark is correct, it is a contractual obligation.))

Bruce Linsey (Nov 9, 2006, at 8:47 AM)

In fact, I'd bet if you asked a sampling of the general public nationwide, they'd tell you that Oakland is bigger than San Jose. This misimpression would be due in large part (actually, entirely) to Oakland's prominent place in the history of American professional sports.

Bruce, GonzoHQ of aol.com

Mark Lew (Thu, 9 Nov 2006 10:40:50 -0800)

I'll agree with "in large part" but not "entirely". I think some of it comes from history generally. Oakland was larger than San Jose for most of its history. Until recently, San Francisco - Oakland was comparable to Minneapolis - St Paul.

ig, markdlew of earthlink.net

Pete Gaughan (Thu, 9 Nov 2006 07:22:49 -0800)

Fundamentally, my problem with an "Oakland A's" team in Fremont is just a personal one: I see Oakland as being a minor city, making it weird to keep their name when the team is in another minor city. It would be like having a stadium in Clearwater and calling the team the "St. Petersburg Rays" when Tampa is the only city of significance.

- Pete Gaughan, RaptorMage of astound.net

Mark Lew (Thu, 9 Nov 2006 10:40:50 -0800)

"Only city of significance". Surely overstates the case. Tampa isn't that much bigger than St Pete. I'm not into Oakland pride nearly as much as others in the city, but if someone were to say San Francisco is the "only city of significance" in the Bay Area, I would surely object to that.

I think there's some truth in saying that the conceptual geography represented by the A's is Bay-Area-that's-not-San-Francisco. Oakland was once the figurehead of that anti-region. Now it's San Jose. By that logic the team ought to become the San Jose A's. That idea might be resisted by (1) Oaklanders who don't want to let go of the title of most prominent non-SF city in the Bay Area, and (2) San Francisco interests who prefer the team not attract greater not-SF following.

ig, markdlew of earthlink.net

((OK, I thought I had responded to this... but it turned out I hadn't. So... my E-Mail was lost, this is an attempt to recreate it. First, I would like to guess what the sizes of these cities all are: San Francisco the largest ranked about 15th, San Jose next about 20th, Oakland next around 50th, then Tampa around 70th, St.Pete way back around 90th, and Fremont bringing up the rear around 100th. I went to the Information Please web site for the answers and their rankings listed as estimated in mid-2005 (infoplease.com). I am probably more knowledgeable than the average person, but I hadn't been studying the rankings recently. Working up from the bottom, I nailed Fremont pretty closely, it is ranked at 96th with about 200,000 people, one COULD name a team after Fremont, but that's pretty small as cities for naming sports teams go. Green Bay of course tops (or bottoms, depending on your point of view) that list with just barely over 100,000 people and a ranking of 233. But they have "history". St. Pete is 69th, larger than I thought, but still considerably smaller for a comparison at about 250,000, and Tampa is 58th with a little over 300,000 people. Oakland is also a little larger than I thought though, at 42nd with about 400,000 people. Then I lose my ranking as San Jose is now bigger than San Francisco (you all probably knew this, but I didn't). San Jose has almost 900,000 people and is 10th, I hadn't realized they cracked the top 10, since they're still growing so fast, they probably nearly have a million by now!!! San Francisco is about as large as I thought, though, with 14th place and almost 750,000. I just heard the 49ers are thinking about building a new stadium a bit "south" too. This is not surprising. The tenth largest city with only the Sharks in Hockey as a major sports franchise? San Antonio is the comparable city then as it is 7th and doesn't have too many sports teams either and then has Houston not far away. But here, the key is that San Jose is actually BIGGER than either one of its team owning neighbors. So of course it is a magnet to getting teams to move their stadiums south toward San Jose. It's pretty much a no-brainer. So, go for it, A's! Good move.))

Drew James (Sat, 11 Nov 2006 10:33:39 -0500)

Big East Basketball Preview Comments

I believe that the Big East is in for a great entertaining season. While there are the usual "tiers of talent" there are no clearly dominant teams. The league lost 18 of the 21 players that were on the BE first or second teams last season. In the top tier are UCONN, Pitt, G'town, Marquette, and SU. At the bottom are WVA, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Seton Hall, and South Florida with everyone else falling in between. ((I think that Notre Dame is going to fall and one of the lower teams like Cinci/Rutgers is going to surprise a bit. Marquis Webb for Rutgers, in particular, is now a senior and this should be his best season. Cinci will surprise if newcomer Deonta Vaughn matures really quickly. Choose your poison on what you think will spark a surprise. And UConn is going to have a tough season, especially early, I think. Calhoun is certainly whining enough about it.))

My team, SU, will live and die on the senior play of Nichols, Watkins, and Roberts. All have played great and times and all have all disappeared for long stretches of previous seasons. Forgive me SU fans and Coach B, but as much as I loved Gmac, he was overrated as a player, but not as a leader. His points will be made up by star frosh Harris and sophomore Devendorf. Harris is built like a tank, but is certainly not the next 'Melo. He out muscled opponents in high school which won't be as easy in Div 1 and also has a limited jump shooting ability. ((My brother David will debate SU basketball with you, I respect 'em, but don't like 'em, especially your current big three seniors. We'll see how they do now that they have to lead on their own.))

The biggest changes in the league will be the moving up of DePaul and possibly St John's and the drop of WVA and Notre Dame. WVA will be awful after basically losing the entire team to graduation. However, my favorite team to hate, Notre Dame, may struggle to make even the Big East Tournament with the loss of Francis and Quinn and a mediocre incoming class. Watch for Brey to get the axe at the end of the season. Cincinnati will also drop into the bottom of the league this year. ((Well, gee for a ND hater, I think you're overestimating them a bit. They could have a TRULY bad year. Colin Falls is way overrated in my view, and they need Tory Jackson to step up as a rookie... now for our local team, Providence. They're going to sneak up on people this year, and I think they have a shot at the NCAA's, though agreed that is a stretch. I think the biggest issue for them is that people see that Randall Hanke may not be back for this season, probably redshirted and then think PC has no inside presence. Frosh Ray Hall is going to get a chance to play and he's going to make one of the Frosh teams by the end of the year. He's a 7 foot, 280 pound bruiser type, he comes from Colorado and was off the Eastern basketball radar screens, I think. Also, if you saw Geoff McDermott last year, he was injured all year, and you're going to see a different player this year and he's going to AVERAGE a double-double. And if he does that I guarantee it will be noticed. Sharaud Curry is going to be one of the top five Big East point guards. So why do none of these guys get any credit, none of them are on ANY pre-season Big East teams by anyone? I'm not really sure. But I honestly think PC could end up as high as 6th, and NO lower than 12th in the league and most people are predicting them lower than that.))

I hate the everyone doesn't play everyone else in the league at least once, but that will be getting better soon. It doesn't bother me that some teams don't make it to MSG at the end of the season. It adds another race to the end of the season. Of course, that is coming from an SU fan who doesn't ever have to sweat that out.

Drew, kjames01 of twcny.rr.com

((I think it remains clear though that the Big East Conference will remain one of the top three basketball conferences pretty much every year, and they will get about eight teams into the Tournament each year. Thanks, Drew for getting me started, more as the season gets going.... toward the Tournament itself. Of course, there, since I nailed Florida last year and they have everyone back it will be quite difficult to pick against them. But the odds are still against them, it is SO hard to do and even harder to do again.))

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION

"So I called up George and he called up Jim, I said let's make a deal.

He said he'd talk to him. Gonna start a church where you can save yourself,

You can make some noise, When you've got no choice...

You told me useful things, what people think of me, I guess I should thank you.

It's true, then I agree... I'm all alone, I've got no choice,

I'm all alone, I've got no choice."

From "Got No Choice" by the incomparable Mark Cutler, from the CD Mark Cutler and Useful Things.

If you want to submit orders, press, or letters by E-Mail, you can find me through the Internet system at "burgess of world.std.com". If anyone has an interest in having an E-Mail address listed so people can negotiate with you by computer, just let me know. FAX orders to (401) 277-9904 if you let me know in advance to be sure the fax machine is set up.

I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine.

Standby lists:

Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Bob Osuch, Doug Kent, Sean O'Donnell, Vern Parker, Heath Gardner, Paul Kenny, and Jeff O'Donnell stand by for regular Diplomacy.

Let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF. Standbies get the szine for free and receive my personal thanks.

GAME OPENING INFORMATION

We've got lots of openings in the subszines, check them out!!! Contact Rip Gooch directly at xyropedes of canada.com and try to entice him to return. Rip has been a bit missing in action lately, but I am assured that he SHALL return.

I'm ready to start a new Breaking Away game, who's interested??? Challenge David Partridge again as he is in, so are Brendan Whyte and Alexander Woo. I also am giving a free spot to Eric Martin. Anyone else? Rick Desper is in too. That leaves us looking for ONE more spot, can I convince someone to take that now??? Please, please, I'd like to get toward starting that next issue!!!

I am willing to open another new game of REGULAR Diplomacy if there is enough interest!!! Fred Wiedemeyer, Brad Wilson, and Sean O'Donnell start the list, who would like to join them???

Also, is there any interest in another game of Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire 7x7 Dip? I know it may be getting tired, but I really like it. We have Karl Schmit and Sean O'Donnell on the list, let's get seven!! It's FREE!!!

I also am starting a game of the variant I designed, Spy Diplomacy. Signups for that are now open. Bruce Edwards and Eric Ozog are signed up. The rules were published recently, ask to see them if you missed them!!!

John Harrington is offering to guest GM a game of Office Politics. Any interest in that?? Let me or John know! Jody McCullough and Bruce Edwards are interested, anyone else? I think I'm going to drop this one as having no interest.

And since Colonia is over, Harold Reynolds is looking to start something else.

Also, I am going to design some postal rules for Devil Take the Hindmost, and we have an opening here: Bruce Edwards, Mike Barno, and Eoghan Barry are signed up. Postal rules from me will be forthcoming shortly, on my never ending to-do list. I will get them in SOON! I'm more likely to get these things started if I see some interest..... I've GOT to do this now, Eoghan is getting tired of waiting....

Right now, the other thing going is the Modern Diplomacy game with Wings. Sean O'Donnell, Jeff O'Donnell, Steve Koehler, Art Schleinkofer, Bob Holt, Rick Desper, Alexander Woo, and Dave Partridge are signed up for that. I will start it when I get a full complement of players, we only need TWO more!

TAKING OVER ISHKIBIBBLE'S REGULAR DIPLOMACY GAMES ((NOT))

Last chance for anyone who was a subber to Ishkibibble to join any new game for free, but this is a ONE TIME only offer, get your request in now. It is going to expire VERY shortly. Marc Ellinger and Fred Wiedemeyer already have taken us up on this request. Come on, let me call by name who qualifies for this deal..... Karl Schmit, John Power, Tim Snyder, Dave Partridge, Graham Wilson, and Kevin Wilson. I especially would like to fill the Modern Diplomacy game that Dave Partridge already is in. As soon as one more game fills, I'm going to pull this offer.

THE PHIL REYNOLDS MEMORIAL: 2006B, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1901 IS DECEMBER 2ND, 2006

Summer 1901

AUSTRIA (Burgess): has a SER, a BUD, f ALB,

ENGLAND (James): has a WAL, f ENG, f NTH.

FRANCE (Williams): has f MID, a BUR, a MAR.

GERMANY (Ellinger): has a MUN, f HOL, a KIE.

ITALY (Crow): has a TYO, a APU, f ION.

RUSSIA (O'Donnell): has a UKR, f RUM, a LVN, f GOB.

TURKEY (Wiedemeyer): has f BLA, a BUL, a ARM.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: David Burgess, 101 Laurel Lane, Queensbury, NY 12804

(518) 761-6687, dburgess of glensfallshosp.org

ENGLAND: Drew James, 3644 Whispering Woods Terrace, Baldwinsville, NY 13027

(315) 652-1956, kjames01 of twcny.rr.com

FRANCE: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947,

wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org ($5)

GERMANY: Marc Ellinger, 751 Turnberry Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65109

ellingermc of aol.com

ITALY: John Crow, 824 Kinwest Parkway #101, Irving, TX 75063, (214) 532-1418

RUSSIA: Jeff O'Donnell, 1345 Simpson Drive, Hurst, TX 76053

(440) 322-2920 or (440) 225-9203 (cell, as late as midnight Eastern)

TURKEY: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA

CANADA T6T 1N1, (780) 465-6432, wiedem of planet.eon.net

Game Notes:

1) Note that Jeff O'Donnell has changed his mailing address, at least temporarily. I think that means that you should use the cell phone number above as well. The other weird thing is look at John Crow's zip code and Jeff's new one. Look CAREFULLY, no, they're not QUITE the same....

Press:

(STAR TREK PRESS - SISKO'S LOG): We are under attack by an alien group of lizard/humanoid hybrids called the Gorn, and they are attacking us along with an unknown alien group. (Sisko is interrupted by Jadzia Dax as he thinks to himself how nice it is that she is alive in this reality.)

(Dax)(D) I have analyzed some of the strange protomatter signatures from subspace. We are not the only beings suddenly placed into this reality from other realities. The Gorn are apparently involved in a uneasy truce with the Federation in a reality and in that same reality there are intelligent Tribbles who were Federation allies before they attacked the Federation in that same reality. They got wiped out by the Gorn. The Tribbles are here too.

(Sisko)(S) Yipee!

(D) There is more. I've found out who is responsible and who the unknown alien group is that is attacking us.

(S) Who?

(D) Q

(S) Q?

(D) Actually Q and QII.

(S) QII? You mean Q2?

(D) No! QII.

(S) Whatever?! How have you managed to get all of this information?

(D) I analyzed the protomatter telemetry and found a primitive but readable form of communication piggybacked in the matter stream called "Game Press".

(S) Game Press? And you're saying that Q put it there? But why? Just to amuse his warped sense of reality by watching us struggle through one reality to the next like a child torturing a bug!

(D) Pretty much.

(S) Who is QII?

(D) A member of the Continuum who has lowered himself to our insect-like existence and apparently is an ally of the Gorn.

(S) You know, I actually talked to him on the com-pic, but I did not want to go to war with the Gorn without provocation. I didn't know he was a Q.

(D) QII.

(S) Whatever. I wonder if my dad has a recipe for baked lizard meat?

(D) If QII is helping, it's more likely that we should be concerned about what the Gorn eat...

(S) Good point! (As they walk toward the Defiant in preparation for battle with the Gorn...)

(MALICE IN CENTERLAND - PART 1: IMPRACTICAL DEMON KEEPING):

One day when he was six a boy we shall call Malice went with his family to the beach resort of La Ciotat, a quaint town near Malar Beach on Cape Croisette, a tiny protusion of land jutting into the Gulf of Lyon southeast of Marseilles, in France. It was the beginning of a sweltering August when the French take that six-week hiatus they call a vacation but which over-worked Americans and other overly zealous capitalists jealously call degenerate sloth. (And if you are wondering, Gentle Reader, why this story starts in France, it's because I am the writer and you are the Gentle Reader... that�s why.)

Under the watchful eye of his mother, Malice explored many things in La Ciotat that summer: the grounds of the farm where his family stayed; the tiny shops that were busy now but would struggle during the off-season when the tourist flow trickled to nothing; the breaks and folds of Malar Beach; and the inconsequential woods near at hand. She was a good mother. Yet, even so, she was not everywhere all the time and so couldn't note the very curious discovery Malice made one afternoon as he explored a not-so-famous cave at the foot of the narrow sea cliffs between the beach and the woods.

Some twenty centuries or so before the founding of La Ciotat, a Carthaginian galley overburdened with cargo for Hannibal�s war with Rome was caught by a storm, tragically too far from the safety of the jut of land that would one day be named Cape Croisette. The storm was an unseasonably wicked storm. A horridly powerful storm. Some said a demonically inspired storm.

Her crew, of course, fought desperately to save her, but the Nellie sank beneath the relentless oceanic onslaught with lethal consequence for all hands. For many days after detritus from the wreck was strewn ashore along the coast and was cautiously, methodically, and nearly completely, scavenged by local fishers, hunters, and tribesmen. Pilgrims, wanderers, and deserters from the army would occasionally find additional remnants of the Nellie for months thereafter. But one item -� a globe of solid crystal -� was not seen by human eyes again until that sweltering August day when Malice tugged it free from the rocks in the cave and placed it in the beach duffle he'd filled with worn shells, smoothed stones, and bits of curiously shaped driftwood.

As legend would have it across the centuries, the galley and her crew had not so much been caught by a freak summer storm as doomed by dark magic. This conjured doom, omened in the dark auguries of a Carthaginian necromancer, was a consequence of the presence aboard the Nellie of the Diplonomicon. It was whispered that the Diplonomicon, an artifact of arcane and catastrophic wild magic, had been crafted in the molten magma of the volcanic heart rock of the Island of Malta. The tortured souls who had swallowed many lives to force powerful magic into the degenerate artifact called it the "Maltese Dipcon."

From earliest history, the artifact had presented itself as a rectangularly-shaped shallow stone box constructed in two parts; a flattened lid with a grooved edge that snugly fit into a slightly deeper bottom piece to create a shallow compartment. The lid's center was inlaid with a rune of black stone. Though polished, the stone neither caught nor reflected light. A modest tablet crafted from a light, fine-grained wood rested snugly in the compartment. The surface of the tablet was inscribed with lines and scripts suggestive of a map, while seven glyphs outlined the tablet�s edge at irregular intervals. Like the lid, the tablet was inlaid with black stones, only these were shaped as small circles, thirty-five by count. ((I really hesitate to interrupt this spellbinding tale, but should not that be thirty-four, rather than thirty-five black stones??? Perhaps we will learn more as the tale develops.)) At each end of the tablet were sectioned compartments holding cut and polished stones of seven different colors. The stones were all generally rectangular in shape, but while some were short and squat, others were long and thin. One hundred and twelve in all, the stones manifested both the upright and inverted energies of each of the 56 cards of the Minor Arcana of the ensorcelled Tarot from whence they derived their immense latent power.

Forged with horrific, pitiless, and venomous rites, the Maltese Dipcon was a tool of hegemony and war, a magical and hideous relic of bloodshed and mastery over peoples and nations. The star-crossed Nellie�s orders had been to transport the artifact to Carthage's great general in a final, extreme act of defiance and conquest. Faced with ruin before the treachery and legions of an empire-bent Rome, Hannibal had been ordered to defy ancient prophecy and invoke the necromancy of the Diplonomicon to alter the fate of Carthage and her empire. The Grand Magus of Malta would arrive with the Dipcon in Hannibal's camp in the hills south of fledgling Roma. It was said he alone knew the baleful, secret Rites of Summoning. To invoke both the supernatural and demonic, he would carefully pick out 22 stones, one for each manifestation of the tarot's Major Arcana. He would carefully select 22 stones to ensure that their correct colors and shapes and placement on the tablet would properly invocate the desired dark magic. He would utter cabalistic mutterings and unleash catastrophic forces of desperation and conquest against the soldiers of Rome. Hannibal's army would march west, destroy that city, enslave her people, and sow her fertile fields with salt.

Or so went the plan. With the sinking of the Nellie and the Maltese Dipcon sank the ultimate fortunes of Hannibal, his army, his beloved Carthage, and a mighty civilization. Years later, the Diplonomicon a bitter curse on his lips, he would take his own life in a tiny unnamed Turkish village before Roman assassins could end his life as entire legions had not.

Young Malice knew none of this of course or he surely would not have let three more summers pass before again opening the discarded beach duffle. Such is the way with boys - without a thought today's found treasures are tomorrow's forgotten junk. The duffle remained for many months forgotten in a dusty corner of the garage behind the house in which Malice and his family lived. After one better than average cleaning of the garage, however, Malice rediscovered the duffle bag of beach treasures from La Ciotat. Quite by accident, he pulled from the bag the curious crystal globe. In the dim light of the unlit garage Malice could see next to nothing so, with the globe, he walked out into the bright daylight. Where the crystal globe quite immediately and mysteriously split in half.

Well, not quite. That is the version of the story Malice would tell years later when asked to repeat the odd beginning of a much odder story with quite the oddest ending. In fact, in the sunlight Malice saw that encased at the center of the crystal globe was a tiny figure. Squinting closely, he could see that the figure was brownish-green of color and possessed of tiny horns and equally tiny batlike wings. Like any nine year old, he was surprised and excited at such a find, but less surprised than he was a scant moment later when the demon opened its eyes and shook its head. With a startled gasp, Malice dropped the globe to the ground where it split neatly in two, disgorging the tiny occupant. The demon jumped up and scurried for the shadows of the garage.

Now young boys may startle at the sight of fast-moving small things, but they seldom fear them. Without a thought Malice scooped at the demon with his left hand, then his right, and a moment later the demon was wriggling in his closed fist. With insight beyond his years Malice thought glass the most appropriate container for the struggling prisoner. He found a small canning jar in the garage and, without incident, dropped the demon into the jar and capped it.

You or I might find such a thing as capturing a demon perplexing but Malice was quite sanguine and sure of what to do next. First, he spoke to no one of the captive. Keeping a demon was nothing like keeping a lizard or lightning bug. Adults would take a demon away as a dangerous and unduly bad influence and this he did not want. Second, he thought the demon would need air. (He was wrong in this.) He poked a few holes through the jar's lid. The demon would need food, Malice thought. At first he added grass and dead bugs to the jar but, when after several days the demon hadn't eaten, he progressed to small bits of vegetables and live bugs. Over the days and weeks and months and years ahead he found that the demon would eat most normal food but preferred crusty oatmeal and bits of stale croissant.

With steady feeding the demon grew. Over time it outgrew the canning jar and Malice found a larger jar. And then a larger jar. And then a still larger jar still. The years passed this way until the day arrived when there were no larger jars to be had. Malice was seventeen that year and had taken to keeping the demon in the cellar of the dilapidated work shed at the far end of the property he and his parents lived on just outside the town of Provedance. Malice eyed the demon one day, wondering not for the first time if demon-keeping wasn't an unusual, if not outright dangerous, practice. He pondered getting a large aquarium but knew this would ultimately only delay answering the inevitable question of what to do with a fully grown demon of indeterminate �- but potentially enormous �- cataclysmic power. As Malice watched that day, the demon used the claws of one hand to clean the claws of the other. This was not unusual. Malice had noted over the years that the demon was quite meticulous and conscientious in its grooming. In spite of its ever-increasing size and possibly unearthly powers of Hell, the demon had been a quite decent companion (he couldn�t bring himself to say 'pet') through the years. This penchant for growing, though, had called the question at last and Malice was finally perplexed to the point of uttering aloud the problem troubling his mind.

"Mon Dieu, but what am I to do with you?" This innocent question was quietly answered from a most sinister and odd source.

"Well, you might decide to release me from this bloody jar," said the demon, looking up from its claws to Malice. The source was sinister because it was, well, after all was said and done, a demon. A real one. The source was odd for the simple reason that, up to this point, neither had ever spoken to the other before.

"Damn! I... I didn�t know you could talk."

"Likewise, I'm sure," answered the demon.

"You�ve never said a word until now? Merde, it's been years."

"Eleven, give or take. What's to say? We are captor and captive, you and I. Roles seemed pretty clear to me." Malice considered this and decided the demon was right. Still. And he wasn�t sure why the demon was swearing in French at this point, though your writer is, Gentle Reader. Merde is French for shit.

"So," said Malice, äre you a real demon?"

"Hey -� you got me there. What's the giveaway? The horns? Wings? Maybe this amulet around my neck �- what?"

"You don't have to be a smartass. What's your name? You do have a name?"

"Demon."

"That's your name? Demon? Just Demon? That�s dumb. I'm Malice."

"Don," said Demon.

"Huh?"

"I said `Don.' I was known as `Monde'. Monde is French for `world.' In my case it was an anagram for Demon. No one got it though, so now it�s just `Don.' That name is good enough for now. If you drop the E and M from Demon you get Don. The EM stands for `earthly manifestation,' which is how you see me now. While I'm at it, I should tell you this is only how I look to you and isn�t my true form."

"What's your true form?" asked Malice.

"Open this jar and I'll show you," said Don.

"Don't think so, Don. Whatever you look like, you're still a demon. How do I know what you'll do? Impractical as it is, I've been keeping you for a very long time and you might be out for a little revenge."

"That might all be true, Malice... except for one little thing."

"And what�s that, Don?"

"It is I who have been keeping you. Now open this jar."

SPIRALS OF PARANOIA: 2005A, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1905 IS DECEMBER 2ND, 2006

Winter 1904

AUSTRIA (Rauterberg): has a BUD, a VIE, a SER, a BOH, a NAP,

a TRI, f ION.

ENGLAND (Wiedemeyer): rem a wal, f eng, f nwg; has f MID.

FRANCE (Tretick): bld a par; has a PAR, f BRE, f EDI, a LVP, f IRI.

GERMANY (Ozog for Tallman): R a tyo-MUN, a boh otb; bld a kie, a ber; has a KIE, a BER, a SIL,

a HOL, a MUN, f NWY, a MAR, a PIC, f NTH.

ITALY (O'Donnell): rem f pie; has a TYO, a VEN, f ADR.

RUSSIA (Sundstrom): has a UKR, a SEV, a GAL, a LVN.

TURKEY (Biehl): bld f con; has f CON, f AEG, f GRE, f EAS.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221,

(414) 281-2339 (E-Mail) trauterberg of wi.rr.com

ENGLAND: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA CANADA T6T 1N1,

(780) 465-6432, wiedem of planet.eon.net

FRANCE: Buddy Tretick, 5023 Sewell's Pointe Way, Fredericksburg, VA 22407, (540) 898-3386

cell (540) 226-5571 (E-Mail) berniebuddy32 of aol.com

GERMANY: Terry Tallman, PO Box 782, Clinton, WA 98236, (360) 331-5698 ($2)

terryt of whidbey.net

GERMANY: Temporary Standby is Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138,

(360) 691-4264, ElfEric of Juno.com

ITALY: Jeff O'Donnell, 1345 Simpson Drive, Hurst, TX 76053

(440) 322-2920 or (440) 225-9203 (cell, as late as midnight Eastern)

RUSSIA: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,

Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

TURKEY: John Biehl, #8 - 11530 84th Avenue, Delta, BRITISH COLUMBIA, V4C 2M1 CANADA,

(604) 816-0460 (cell) ($7); jrb of dccnet.com

Game Notes:

1) Terry is still having some medical problems, Eric Ozog is continuing to negotiate and submit orders for Terry. Eric originally brought Terry into the Diplomacy hobby all those many years ago, and so I'm glad he's agreed to do this.

2) Note that Jeff O'Donnell has changed his postal address, at least temporarily. And you should use his cell phone number above if you want to call him, I think.

Press:

(JEFF O'DONNELL/ITALY to ERIC OZOG, MATT SUNDSTROM, AND JOHN BIEHL): My apologies for my sad effort of tactics and Diplomacy regarding the Austrians. Not since Chamberlain went to Hitler has a diplomatic effort turned into the movie "Deliverance" so quickly. I'm going to send Tyrolia to Trieste, supported by the Adriatic and Venice. I won't make it, but it will tie up Budapest and Serbia. you guys can do what you want.

(7 OF 9'S LOG): The Cardassians have attacked us again. I can't believe I laid down for these idiots. We are not surrendering because there is no one to surrender to. THe Federation in this reality has not got long and it's my fault. Maybe I should go back to the Borg? Escape is my only hope. ((Not Obi Wan Kenobi???))

FLIP FLOP: 2003G, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1908 IS DECEMBER 2ND, 2006

Summer 1908

AUSTRIA (Wiedemeyer): has f ADR, a BUD, a GAL, a UKR, a SEV, a TRI.

ENGLAND (Schmit): R a bur-BEL; has a BEL, a KIE, f MID, a RUH,

f NTH, f NWG, f HEL.

FRANCE (Jeff O'Donnell): has a BUR, a PIC, f SPA(SC), a GAS.

GERMANY (Sundstrom): has a BER, f HOL, f SWE, a DEN, a NWY, a MUN, f SKA.

TURKEY (Levinson): has a ARM, f AEG, a BUL, f APU, f TYH, a ALB,

f ION, f BLA, a RUM, a SER.

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA CANADA T6T 1N1,

(780) 465-6432, wiedem of planet.eon.net

ENGLAND: Karl Schmit, 1509 O'Keefe Road, DePere, WI 54115, (920) 338-8402,

diplomacy of new.rr.com ($4)

FRANCE: Jeff O'Donnell, 1345 Simpson Drive, Hurst, TX 76053

(440) 322-2920 or (440) 225-9203 (cell, as late as midnight Eastern)

GERMANY: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,

Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

ITALY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947,

wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org

RUSSIA: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230,

sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com

TURKEY: Alexandre Levinson, Beeklaan 504, 2562BP Den Haag THE NETHERLANDS, don't need phone,

levinson7 of hotmail.com ($5)

Game Notes:

1) Note Jeff's new temporary postal address above. You also might want to use the cell phone number, as a result, if you want to call him.

Press:

(STAR TREK PRESS - CAPTAIN'S LOG): "UG!" The Romulans have mounted a successful counteroffensive and have taken, at least temporarily, our Andorian ally's home world. What's worse, they unexpectedly sent a Bird of Prey into the Federation Neutral Zone to defend its forces occupying Deep Space 2. They can hold it. I have to attack it to make them use their resources, but we can't take it. On top of that, the Romulan troop transport that we had surrounded by two Federation and one Andorian transport has escaped unharmed. Up until this moment, we were unaware of the Romulans having cloaks on transports. I was wrong. I salute the Romulans, this time, the war goes on.

(JEFF to SEAN): I read your endgame statement. It was well thought out, well written, and surprisingly (un-Sean like) brief. There is just one problem. This ain't endgame!! It's midgame! ((Well, to be fair, part of that is my fault, he sent it to me, and I prefer to print these things rather than count on being able to find them again when the game ends.)) PS Did you see how I managed to get attacked by Austria and Turkey in Phil Reynolds? Apparently, it matters not which one of us plays Russia, Russia sucks! ((I used to think that too, until I got the hang of it in a way that works for me by watching Allen Schweinsburg play it in a few games. Patience, patience, patience in negotiation in moves is the secret. Don't get out ahead of yourself until you're ready to spring to victory.))

I CAN'T FIND MY MONEY!: 2001F, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1914 IS DECEMBER 2ND, 2006

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1914 IS DECEMBER 23RD, 2006

Spring 1914

AUSTRIA (Parker): a bud-GAL, f ADR h, f TUN S f tyh-wes, f tyh-WES, a WAR h, a LVN h,

f eas-SYR, a PIE h, a CON S a arm-ank, a VIE h, a VEN h, a arm-ANK, a SMY S a arm-ank,

a TRI h, a MOS h, f aeg-ION.

FRANCE (Kent): f MID-iri, f wes-NAF.

GERMANY (Wilson): a ber-SIL, a kie-BER, a MUN S a ber-sil, f eng-BRE, f bel-ENG,

a BUR S a gas-par, f LVP h, a SPA S a mar, f POR S a spa, a PIC S f eng-bre, a STP h,

a MAR S a spa, f NAO-iri, a gas-PAR.

TURKEY (Miller): a ank h (d ann).

Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Vern Parker, 337 Winter Hill Place, Powell, OH 43065, (614) 402-5139

VernDip of aol.com is preferred

ENGLAND: Mark Kinney, 4830 Westport Road, Apt D, Louisville KY 40222

alberich of iglou.com

FRANCE: Doug Kent, 11111 Woodmeadow Pkwy #2327, Dallas, TX 75228

dougray30 of yahoo.com

GERMANY: Kevin Wilson, 18623 Santa Maria Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70809, 225-751-3857,

ckevinw1 of cox.net

ITALY: Formerly was Heath Gardner, metaphorman of gmail.com

ITALY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883

mpbarno of lightlink.com

RUSSIA: Rick Desper,

rick_desper of yahoo.com

TURKEY: Tim Miller, 258 New Mark Esplanade, Rockville, MD 20850,

tim of webjudge.net

GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, +1 401-351-0287

burgess of world.std.com

Game Notes:

1) The GA-GA draw is defeated yet again, and the GA-GA sallies forth again. If you have finally become GA-GA over this game, vote yes to this with your Summer orders. If you fail to vote, as usual, you veto the proposal.

2) For the Summer deadline, if everyone submits orders, no reason to wait. The outcome of this depends on a very simple small set of unit moves. So, if you know what you want to do, and submit them, I'll adjudicate them.

Press:

SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1922 IS DECEMBER 2ND, 2006

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1922 IS DECEMBER 23RD, 2006

Spring 1922

ENGLAND (Kent): f ENG S f mid, a GAS S FRENCH f mar, a ruh s RUSSIAN a kie-mun

(nso, d r:bel,otb), f MID S FRENCH f spa(sc), f NTH s f hol, f HOL s RUSSIAN f hel-kie (nso),

f POR S FRENCH f spa(sc).

FRANCE (Sasseville): f MAR S f spa(sc), f SPA(SC) S f mar, a BUR-mun.

GERMANY (Barno): a bul-SER.

RUSSIA (Parker): f stp(nc)-NWY, f nwy-NWG, a WAR h, a DEN S a kie, a BER S a kie,

f HEL-nth, a KIE S TURKISH a mun-ruh, a pru-LVN.

TURKEY (Linsey): a arm-SMY, f AEG h, a rum-BUL, a gal-BOH, a SIL S a boh-mun,

f WES S f gol, a ukr-GAL, f GOL S f wes, a mun-RUH, a TRI h, f NAF S f wes,

a TYO S a boh-mun, f PIE S f gol, a boh-MUN.

Addresses of the Participants

ENGLAND: Doug Kent, 11111 Woodmeadow Pkwy #2327, Dallas, TX 75228

dougray30 of yahoo.com

FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($0)

roland6 of cox.net

GERMANY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883, (607) 589-4906

mpbarno of lightlink.com

RUSSIA: Vern Parker, 337 Winter Hill Place, Powell, OH 43065, (614) 402-5139

VernDip of aol.com is preferred

TURKEY: Bruce Linsey, PO Box 234, Kinderhook, NY 12106

GonzoHQ of aol.com

Game Notes:

1) Last time, we had proposed the new TREe and the beGREFT draws. If you thought the game is up the TREe or you are so beGREFT that you cannot continue, you would have voted for one of these draws. Neither of them passed. We have a new proposal for a concession to Turkey. If you want to concede to Turkey, please vote with your Summer orders, since there isn't much action there, I'll probably keep taking votes on this through Fall. Doug's army will retreat by default to Belgium.

Press:

(GERMAN HOME CENTERS IN EXILE IN BULGARIA to 10 DOWNING STREET, LONDON): Are you brave enough to try to cut France out and get the proposed three-way? That path would get you defeated if R/T stay together. And if T stabs R, it lets you off that hook, but Turkey will be at 17 or 18 counting my centers.

FINDING THE COMMUNITY: Breaking Away, Designer's Rules

CONGRATULATIONS TO RICK DESPER WHO HUNG ON FOR THE VICTORY!!!

Game Notes:

1) The rules are on the TAP website in the Tinamou section. Ask if you have any questions. New game start in this, who wants to play again (or for the first time)??? We have five signed up so far, see the list in the game opening section. I want to start this up soon, so sign up!!! Can I twist arms on just ONE more of you to join??? COME ON, I really want to start this one up!!!!

Press:

Personal Note to You:

File translated from T_EX by T_TH, version 3.35.
On 16 Nov 2006, 16:49.