Saturday, July 31, 2010

True Guitar Hero

Some jazz, some blues


And this one, too, just because I love that Les Paul goldtop:

Friday, July 30, 2010

Is This What Plato & Aristotle Fed Their Felines?


Don’t get me wrong. I’m not in favor of undue government interference in private enterprise, but shouldn’t somebody stop a cat food company from positioning its product as “classic pate”—on the grounds that it constitutes a criminal insult to public intelligence?

Friday, July 23, 2010

Oops

Sometimes when you blunder away a piece you lose the thread and your game falls apart. To wit: 25. Rh3. Been there. White loses on time, but it was all over anyway.


Sunday, July 11, 2010

Nichols Park Sunday Concert Series 2010


Sundays, 4-6 PM, North Fountain – 53rd Street, Kimbark & Kenwood, Chicago

L.V. Banks and His Swinging Blues Band
July 11

Willy White (blues)
July 18

Jimmy Ellis Quartet (jazz)
July 25

Walter Scott (blues)
August 1

To Be Determined
August 8

Vance Kelly and the Backstreet Blues Band
August 15

Akasha (reggae, rock)
August 22

Billy Flynn (blues)
August 29

To Be Determined
September 5

Rosen Draws Robson in St. Louis


Photo: Betsy Dynako

Congratulations to NM Eric Rosen of the Chicago Blaze, who drew wunderkind GM Ray Robson in the first round of the U.S. Junior Closed Championship now taking place in St. Louis, alongside the U.S. Women’s Championship. Take a look at this exciting game, with strong threats on both sides of the board.


Since I’m not competent to comment on chess at this level or any other for that matter, let’s get the annotation from the press release of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, which is hosting both the junior and women’s tournaments:

“In a match-up that featured the greatest rating differential in the tournament, Robson (2613) took on NM Eric Rosen (2209). Rosen did not let the 404-point difference faze him.

“’It was a hard pairing, playing Ray in the first round,’ Rosen said. ‘It’s always good to play the strongest player to get them out of the way.’

“Early on, Robson used more than 10 minutes on 9…Nc5. ‘I think I used way too much time in
the opening,’ he said.

“Robson said it was a complicated position in the middlegame that led him even deeper into time trouble.

“’I was doing fine up until I blundered [37…] Kh7,’ he said.

“This allowed Rosen to fork Robson’s rook and queen, winning the rook and putting pressure on the defending champion. Robson managed to advance his a-pawn down the board and, after a series of rook checks by Rosen, the two agreed to a draw.”

See Bill Brock's commentary as well.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Nick Carr on Colbert

Read his new book. Because he's right.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Nicholas Carr
www.colbertnation.com
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