Horse and Rider

I came across this tonight while looking for something else entirely. Very suggestive to me of a game piece (knight), but I do not have further details on the item as the website that hosts it was inaccessible. 400 x 300 - 86k - jpg - www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Images2/Achaemenid/Art... Image may be subject to copyright. Below is the image at: http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/virtual_museum/achaemenid/Artefacts/pottery_glass.htm The Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great, c. 550 - 330 BCE.

"Old Europe" Cultures on Display in New York

I've written about some of these cultures before: Varna, Cucuteni and perhaps Hamangia. Overall, it's a good overview article and the images it presents are excellent. I wish I could see this exhibit! Image: Architectural Model With Seven Figurines Fired Clay Cucuteni, Ghelăieşti, 3700-3500 BC Neamţ County Museum Complex, Piatra Neamţ: 12550-12552, 13209-13213 Photo: Marius Amarie Do these look like dudes to you??? One comment I dispute in the article at The New York Times - that the ancient pre-dynatic Egyptians did not have pottery equivalent with thast discovered in Varna and Cuceteni. I have seen with my own eyes at the Met in NYC. I have pictures too - unfortunately stored on my desktop which at the moment is bounced off my wireless network and not connected to the internet, so I cannot download a few examples of that pottery here for comparison. Working on restoring that connection is somewhat low on the list of things to do around here at present! As a general observation, I've also seen excellent examples of the same types of decorations on pottery from the Iranian Plateau that date back c. 6500 years ago on exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago. In addition, I have seen practically pristine examples of carved Egyptian alabaster bowls and vessels so thin that light glows through them that date from late Naqada to Dynasty "Zero." I have yet to see the like of technical excellence and design sophistication replicated by other cultures in the other museums I have visited. So the authorities quoted in the article should not be so quick to dismiss the artisans of pre-dynastic Egypt (and other cultures with which they may not be familiar). I suppose I could make a better case by doing some searches online for images and downloading them, but frankly my time is at a premium these days and I don't want to devote the time right now. Image: Zoomorphic Figures, possibly bulls Gold Varna, Varna, Grave 36, 4400-4200 BC Varna Regional Museum of History: 1633, 1634 Photo: Rumyana Kostadinova Ivanova If these are bulls, where are their testicles and penises? These are cows - females! Reminds me of Het-Hert (Hathor), the horned cow goddess of the pre-dynastic Egyptians. I also take exception to the pot shots taken at Gimbutas' research back in the 1970s. She shed an entirely new light on discovered objects that brought females to the fore - or at least to equality - with males in pre-civilization and early civilizations. It was controversial back then - but much needed - and it remains controversial in some quarters yet today. NOW naysayers are fond of saying "in light of recent discoveries..." and they thus pooh-pooh Gimbutas' interpretations of her findings and her theories, but I also note that these critics rarely actually cite to others' work that contradicts Gimbutas. A lot of sound and fury on their part, signifying nothing, but you know, it's like that old politcal saw - if you throw enough mud for long enough and hard enough, eventually some of it will stick even if it shouldn't. To my mind, that's what these dudes (they are mostly dudes) have attempted to do with Gimbutas' body of work for the past 30 plus years. It seems some people want to turn back the clock to the bad old days. I think Gimbutas' research speaks for itself. One picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. And she had perhaps thousands of photos of objects in the many books published under her name during the ensuing years - all identified as female or votives to females. It's pretty difficult to say that most of these objects are NOT female or female votives - but hey, some folks keep on giving it the good ol' college try. Anyway - this article demonstrates to me that the folks in charge of our "higher" educational system seriously need to introduce more cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary exposure in what we are teaching the people who will be our future archaeologists, historians and anthropologists. Geez! We still ain't there yet and it's rather sad to say as we are about to begin the second decade in the 21st century! A Lost European Culture, Pulled From Obscurity [not exactly, if you've been reading my blog!] By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD Published: November 30, 2009 Before the glory that was Greece and Rome, even before the first cities of Mesopotamia or temples along the Nile, there lived in the Lower Danube Valley and the Balkan foothills people who were ahead of their time in art, technology and long-distance trade. For 1,500 years, starting earlier than 5000 B.C., they farmed and built sizable towns, a few with as many as 2,000 dwellings. They mastered large-scale copper smelting, the new technology of the age. Their graves held an impressive array of exquisite headdresses and necklaces and, in one cemetery, the earliest major assemblage of gold artifacts to be found anywhere in the world. The striking designs of their pottery speak of the refinement of the culture’s visual language. Until recent discoveries, the most intriguing artifacts were the ubiquitous terracotta “goddess” figurines, originally interpreted as evidence of the spiritual and political power of women in society. [Parallel developments: Indus Valley, Pakistan/northern India; Naqada I, II and III along Nile River; Iranian Plateau settlements] New research, archaeologists and historians say, has broadened understanding of this long overlooked culture, which seemed to have approached the threshold of “civilization” status. Writing had yet to be invented, and so no one knows what the people called themselves. To some scholars, the people and the region are simply Old Europe. Image: Set of Twenty-one Figurines and Thirteen Chairs Fired Clay Cucuteni, Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru, 4900-4750 BC Neamţ County Museum Complex, Piatra Neamţ: 10095-10128, 10703 Photo: Elena-Roxana Munteanu According to the article, these are just "representations" of people (who just happen to be mostly female, perhaps all female). Hmmmm. 21 figures and 13 chairs - sounds like a game to me! The little-known culture is being rescued from obscurity in an exhibition, “The Lost World of Old Europe: the Danube Valley, 5000-3500 B.C.,” which opened last month at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. More than 250 artifacts from museums in Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania are on display for the first time in the United States. The show will run through April 25. At its peak, around 4500 B.C., said David W. Anthony, the exhibition’s guest curator, “Old Europe was among the most sophisticated and technologically advanced places in the world” and was developing “many of the political, technological and ideological signs of civilization.” Dr. Anthony is a professor of anthropology at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., and author of “The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World.” Historians suggest that the arrival in southeastern Europe of people from the steppes may have contributed to the collapse of the Old Europe culture by 3500 B.C. At the exhibition preview, Roger S. Bagnall, director of the institute, confessed that until now “a great many archaeologists had not heard of these Old Europe cultures.” Admiring the colorful ceramics, Dr. Bagnall, a specialist in Egyptian archaeology, remarked that at the time “Egyptians were certainly not making pottery like this.” [Not correct] The striking designs of their pottery speak of the refinement of the culture’s visual language. Until recent discoveries, the most intriguing artifacts were the ubiquitous terracotta “goddess” figurines, originally interpreted as evidence of the spiritual and political power of women in society. New research, archaeologists and historians say, has broadened understanding of this long overlooked culture, which seemed to have approached the threshold of “civilization” status. Writing had yet to be invented, and so no one knows what the people called themselves. To some scholars, the people and the region are simply Old Europe. [How arrogant to assume that because a culture did not have writing - at least - not that we have discovered or could understand if we did -- see Indus discussions! -- that the people of these cultures were not "civilized." Nineteenth century baloney still being served up to the general public and future generations of our scholars today.] Rest of article.

The Dove in Symbolism

Here's an informative and reader-friendly article on the meaning of the dove, a very ancient symbol for the Mother Goddess, in ancient cultures in the Middle East from Biblical Archaeology online. Image: Walters Art Museum, Baltimore In addition to its symbolism for the Holy Spirit, the dove was a popular Christian symbol before the cross rose to prominence in the fourth century. The dove continued to be used for various church implements throughout the Byzantine and medieval period, including the form of oil lamps and this 13th-century altar piece for holding the Eucharistic bread. The Enduring Symbolism of Doves From Ancient Icon to Biblical Mainstay by Dorothy D. Resig Few symbols have a tradition as long and as rich as the dove. A particular favorite in art and iconography, the dove often represents some aspect of the divine, and its use has been shared, adapted and reinterpreted across cultures and millennia to suit changing belief systems. From the ancient world to modern times, this simple bird developed layer upon layer of meaning and interpretive significance, making it a complex and powerful addition to religious texts and visual representations. Image: Naos, Ardon Bar Hama. A dove and two bird-like female figures perch atop this clay house shrine from the Iron Age. The dove was widely recognized throughout the Ancient Near Eastern world as a symbol of the mother goddess Asherah and her counterparts Astarte and Tanit. In the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean world, the dove became an iconic symbol of the mother goddess. Small clay shrines from the Iron Age Levant depict doves perched atop the doorways of these mini-temples. On one example from Cyprus, the entire exterior of the goddess’s shrine is covered with dovecotes. The doves represented feminine fertility and procreation, and came to be well-recognized symbols of the Canaanite goddess Asherah and her counterpart Astarte, as well as her Phoenician and later Punic embodiment, Tanit. First-century B.C. coins from Ashkelon bore a dove, which represented both the goddess Tyche-Astarte and the city mint. In Rome and throughout the Empire, goddesses such as Venus and Fortunata could be seen depicted in statues with a dove resting in their hand or on their head. Rest of article.

Worn Out!

Hola! I continue to work to exhaustion preparing the house for sale. Hopefully the last of Kevin the Handyman's tasks will be finished on Monday (we'll see). He added another coat of drywall mud to the various drywall repairs and patches he did and on Monday, hopefully, he'll be able to sand what needs to be sanded and prime with "sand" texture primer. Mr. Don doesn't know it yet, but when he arrives for Christmas I'll be putting him to work painting! Kevin also has to finish the fence repair work. He has straightened out and stablized all of the leaning posts with metal reinforcing bars and has stripped off the broken and/or worn pickets. Now he has to put on the new pickets and also replace several post tops that have seen better days. He has to rehang a repaired corner door on one of my kitchen cabinets and then, the only thing left is to install a new range hood. Alas, I haven't purchased the replacement yet. But I will get to it soon - After Kevin left on Friday, about 2:30 in the afternoon I succumbed to temporary insanity and decided to put my bedroom from the north bedroom back to the much larger and freshly painted south bedroom, which was my original room that had been painted pink for 19 plus years until Kevin came to my rescue and did the job for me that I never got around to doing, with paint that I had purchased more than a year ago! The plan was to moved my mirrored six-drawer dresser from the north bedroom and the bed from the middle bedroom (which had been serving as the guest room) back to the south bedroom, where those pieces would join the orphaned night stand and chest of drawers; all would be en suite once again! Part 2 of the plan was to move the "new" dresser from the middle bedroom into the north bedroom, which would become the guest room (which it used to be before I switched everything around in preparation for painting that I never got around to doing). A swap-out of art work on the walls, window treatments and rugs would take place. Part 3 was to move the computer and three overflowing bookcases from the south bedroom back to their original home, the middle bedroom, and work on getting the wireless connection on my PC going again. I was happily huffing and puffing along, taking my time and getting a good work-out. I'd managed to wrestle the mattresses off the beds and the box springs too. I'd got the bedframe and headboard for my bed moved into the south bedroom. My dresser had been emptied of its drawers and had been shoved all the way from the north bedroom into the hall, turned and shoved into the south bedroom and then shoved into place along the wall. And then the phone rang. It was my broker. Could they do a showing on Saturday between 12 and 1 p.m.? I should have screamed NO - NO MORE SHOWINGS UNTIL AFTER JANUARY 1. But I was temporarily insane and so I said sure, I'll the rooms swapped out and ready by then. And so, what had begun as a leisurely way to get a good workout turned into a frantic rush to get the rooms switched around and presentable before noon the next day. I worked in 15 minute bursts with 2-3 minute rest periods in-between and got all major furniture pieces moved. There were important exceptions. First, I decided to pack up several of my old paperback books and clear shelf space for future purchases of research tomes. I packed three medium-size boxes and hauled them down to the garage. The rest of the stuff residing on those bookcases were stacked in piles on the bedroom floor and then I heaved each of the three bookcases into the middle bedroom. Second, although I emptied the new dresser of its drawers, I could not move it without removing the mirror (that had almost killed me when I'd moved it the last time as its weight came crashing down on me after I'd removed the last of four bolts fastening it to the back of the dresser) - given my prior experience I was not about to attempt that feat again, even while temporarily insane! But Kevin was coming the next day (Saturday), and I was going to draft him for assistance. I collapsed into my newly-located bed about 11:00 p.m. I awoke about 3:30 a.m. experiencing symptoms of what I can only describe as an anxiety attack. NOT pleasant. I took a blood pressure pill about 3 hours early and stretched out in the recliner in the family room (a favorite relaxing spot) and engaged in various mental exercises to calm my poor body down. It worked - sort of. I fell asleep with heartbeat still above normal but not frantically racing as it had been. I awoke about 7:15 a.m. - EEK! I was late! I'd meant to get up at 6 a.m. - but my clock radio alarm didn't reach my ears downstairs. I hit the ground running and didn't stop until my friend Ann picked me up shortly before noon, right after Kevin left the house (he arrived shortly after 10:00 a.m.) The rearranging of bedrooms and den/library was mostly finished! Kevin made short work of taking the mirror off of the new dresser, manhandling it into the north bedroom along the south wall and reattaching the mirror with a nifty little ratchet wrench (I've got to get me a set of those). I made up the bed, hung curtains, scoured out toilets and sinks, swept and vacuumed the ever-present drywall dust. I had time to change my shirt, brush my hair and slap some foundation on in a fruitless attempt to tone down my beet-red face, and then Ann and I were off to check out several hours I had on my list of prospects. Fortunately, the rest of the day was much more relaxing and fun. It is a blessing to have good friends. So - two viewings and no offers. I have received zero feedback from my broker. I don't care. I'm sure in this buyer's market there is a long list of what "potential" buyers don't like about Maison Newton (yard too big, too many trees too close to the house, mechanicals too old, appliances ready for the junk heap, roof too old, kitchen/dinette flooring too old, carpeting too old), etc. etc. I have no intention of buying new appliances, installing new flooring (other than the upstairs bathroom, which was all of 46 square feet, and replacement was planned before the house went on the market), new carpeting, new roof, and a new furnace and AC unit. I do not have to sell, and if this place doesn't go on my terms, I will happily go back to Plan A. And THEN, I will get new appliances, new flooring, new carpeting, top-notch rather than cut-rate and efficient "new" mechanicals and a new 25-year architectral style shingled roof! And I'll get quotes from Kevin the Handyman about doing crown moldings in some of the rooms and built-in shelving/bookcases! I'll post pics tomorrow. I took several of the new bathroom, only to discover that I did not have the memory card installed, and I'm too tired to re-take them tonight.

Vital Evidence of Horse Domestication

Domestication of the horse is one of the ten pivotal events in human history, which had an enormous impact on how people lived, worked and ate. This article is a good summary of the development of research closing in on the time period and at least one possible location for horse domestication. From Yahoo News Researchers Find the First Horse Whisperers Sandra Olsen Carnegie Museum of Natural HistoryLiveScience.com Sandra Olsen carnegie Museum Of Natural Historylivescience.com – Sat Nov 28, 9:31 am ET This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Paleolithic hunters in Europe and Asia began exploiting horses for meat thousands of years ago when the last continental glaciers disappeared, yet the origin of horse domestication long has eluded archaeologists - for some captivating reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that for many centuries, horse skeletons did not significantly differ in size or physical structure from those of their wild ancestors, making early taming and use of the animal more difficult to identify. But as part of an international team of archaeologists, my colleagues and I may be getting closer to the beginnings as we look for clues in Kazakhstan. Our team conducted extensive research at three sites belonging to the Botai culture in the northern part of the country, at locations dated to the Copper Age around 3,500 B.C. Rest of article.

2009 World Cup

Judit Polgar tied her R 3 match with Boris Gelfand so tomorrow they go to play-offs. Good luck JP! Meanwhile, young phenom Wesley So knocked out America's last hope by drawing with GM Gata Kamsky (winner of the 2007 World Cup) today in game 2, thus moving on to R 4 with a score of 1.5/0.5 against Kamsky. WOW! So is 16; Carlsen is 18; Ray Robson, a very promising young American player, is 14. Robson will be playing in the 2010 Corus "C" Group - a great invitation and opportunity for Robson to once again shine on the international stage. What he needs is sustained financial sponsorship so he can afford coaches and not have to worry about money for travelling to overseas tournaments. I just don't get that an American company cannot see what a marketing opportunity he represents! He's a teenager, nice looking (the teenyboppers would like him, I think), he's not geeky, and he's a chess prodigy. What's not to like marketing wise? There are a lot of products he could represent - Pepsi, Coke, how about Gatorade switching up and doing a series of commercials on the "sports of the intellect?" How about this for a commercial - screen shot of hundreds of screaming girls (like in the old days with the Beatles), panning out and the crowd expands to thousands! They all chanting something - the mike moves in - they're chanting go Ray go, go Ray go! A police motorcade pulls up before a huge stadium, also packed with screaming fans! A limo pulls out to mid-field. A hush falls upon the massive crowd. And then, the door opens and out steps Ray Robson! The crowd goes wild as Ray coolly walks to the playing platform, climbs the stairs, and takes his place. Sitting there waiting impatient, legs crossed and jiggling in his seat, is none other than [here insert current pop star icon]. Ray sits down, adjusts his cuffs and stares calmly across the chess board. "Your move" he says. Hey, maybe I missed my calling :)

World Cup

GM Judit Polgar is the only female player left. Check out this interview with JP at Chessdom. Meanwhile, GM Gata Kamsky is the only American player left in the field. In Round 3, he will be facing GM Wesley So, who knocked GM Vassily Ivanchuk out in Round 2. Ivanchuk was so upset by his play that he announced his retirement from professional chess. Let us hope he reconsiders once he calms down. Ivanchuk is 100% emotionally invested in chess, I cannot imagine him no longer playing in the top events when he still holds his own and can even dominate in the "super" tournaments. Hmmmm, I just read at Susan Polgar's blog that So, playing black, just defeated Kamsky in Game 1 of R3! Oh oh! Ah - I just checked at Chessdom - they have live coverage of the game, gameboard you can play through and written analysis.

Mural reveals ancient connection to Uzbekistan

Fascinating! As a side note, it was at Afrasiab that several firgural ivory pieces were excavated that were positively identifed as pieces belonging to a chess set, dating to c. 761CE. From JoongAng Daily The painting is significant because it could prove Korea sent envoys to Uzbekistan in the 7th century. November 27, 2009 In most cases, replicas of ancient treasures or great works of art are treated with contempt. But with relics that are at risk of aging or disintegration, replicas can play an integral role in our understanding of the original works and the time in which they were made. In 1965, a mural was discovered in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, when local authorities decided to build a road in the middle of the Afrasiab tepe. A tepe is a mound marking an ancient site, in this case pre-Mongol Samarkand. When it was found, the mural was weathered and its images obscured. But those who discovered it had the foresight to make a drawing of it, from which replicas have been made. A replica of this mural is now being shown as part of the exhibit “The Crossroads of Civilizations: The Asian Culture of Uzbekistan” until September of next year at the National Museum of Korea’s Asian Arts Gallery. The relics in the exhibition show the historical connection between ancient Korea and Uzbekistan through the Silk Road. Considering the distance and the travel routes in place at the time, the history of the relationship that developed between the two countries is indeed remarkable. The mural is significant because it could prove that Korea sent envoys to Uzbekistan via the Silk Road as early as the 7th century. In the 7th century, the mural covered all four walls of a room in Afrasiab Palace in Samarkand, with each wall depicting a different scene. The western wall depicts what are believed to be two Korean men from the Goguryeo Dynasty (37 B.C.-668) having an audience with the king. “The faces of the delegates are difficult to see, but the painting features a clear image of a jougwan,” the press release said. A jougwan is a hat that was worn by the men of Goguryeo and is decorated with a bird’s feather. The actual nationality of the two men in the painting was long debated by specialists, with some saying that their clothing shows they are from the Silla (57 B.C.-935) or Balhae (698-926) eras. With the revelation of the jougwan, however, many have concluded that the men are from the Goguryeo era. The exhibition also displays 150 other relics from the prehistoric age to the 8th century in Uzbekistan, ranging from a Buddha with western features to a machine used by followers of Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion, used to cremate the dead. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.museum.go.kr.

Illegitimate Iranian Regime Seizes Nobel Peace Medal

An AP report from Yahoo News Iran seizes rights lawyer's Nobel Peace medal By NASSER KARIMI and IAN MacDOUGALL, Associated Press Writers Nasser Karimi And Ian Macdougall, Associated Press Writers – 48 mins ago TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian authorities confiscated Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi's medal, the human rights lawyer said Thursday, in a sign of the increasingly drastic steps Tehran is taking against any dissent. In Norway, where the peace prize is awarded, the government said the confiscation of the gold medal was a shocking first in the history of the 108-year-old prize. Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts in promoting democracy. She has long faced harassment from Iranian authorities for her activities — including threats against her relatives and a raid on her office last year in which files were confiscated. The seizure of her prize is an expression of the Iranian government's harsh approach to anyone it considers an opponent — particularly since the massive street protests triggered by hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed June 12 re-election. Acting on orders from Tehran's Revolutionary Court, authorities took the peace prize medal about three weeks ago from a safe-deposit box in Iran, Ebadi said in a phone interview from London. They also seized her Legion of Honor and a ring awarded to her by a German association of journalists, she said. Authorities froze the bank accounts of her and her husband and demanded $410,000 in taxes that they claimed were owed on the $1.3 million she was awarded. Ebadi said, however, that such prizes are exempt from tax under Iranian law. She said the government also appears intent on trying to confiscate her home. Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to be awarded the peace prize and the first female judge in Iran, said she would not be intimidated and that her absence from the country since June did not mean she felt exiled. "Nobody is able to send me to exile from my home country," she said. "I have received many threatening messages. ... They said they would detain me if I returned, or that they would make the environment unsafe for me wherever I am. "But my activities are legal and nobody can ban me from my legal activities." Ebadi has criticized the Iranian government's crackdown on demonstrations by those claiming the June vote was stolen from a pro-reform candidate through massive fraud. Ebadi left the country a day before the vote to attend a conference in Spain and has not returned since. In the days after the vote, she urged the international community to reject the outcome and called for a new election monitored by the United Nations. During the past months, hundreds of pro-reform activists have been arrested, and a mass trial has sentenced dozens to prison terms. Authorities also went after Ebadi's human rights center in Iran. "After the election all my colleagues in the center were either detained or banned from traveling abroad," Ebadi said. Calls to Iranian judiciary officials were not returned Thursday. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called the move "shocking" and said it was "the first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities." The Norwegian Foreign Ministry summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Norway Wednesday to protest the confiscation, spokeswoman Ragnhild Imerslund said. The Foreign Ministry also "expressed grave concern" about Ebadi's husband, who it said was arrested in Tehran and "severely beaten" earlier this fall, after which his pension and bank account were frozen. Ebadi said her husband, Javad Tavassolian, and her brother and sister have been threatened many times by authorities pushing them to persuade her to end her human rights campaigning. Ebadi has represented opponents of Iran's regime before but not in the mass trial that started in August of more than 100 prominent pro-reform figures and activists. They are accused of plotting to overthrow the cleric-led regime during the postelection turmoil. The Iranian Embassy in Norway refrained from giving a comment. The Norwegian Nobel Committee's permanent secretary, Geir Lundestad, said the move was "unheard of" and "unacceptable." He told The Associated Press that the committee was planning to send a letter of protest to Iranian authorities before the end of the week. Ebadi said she planned to return to Iran when the time is right. "I will return whenever it is useful for my country," she said. "Right now I am busy with my activities against violations of human rights in Iran and my international jobs." ___ MacDougall reported from Oslo, Norway.

Diana Durham and Educational Chess

I received a very nice email recently from Diana Durham who read about my experiences as a volunteer for Shira Evans' Computer Labs for Kids' program at the SOS Childrens Village in Chicago. Diana was an active player in the 1990s and had a peak rating of 2114. Diana is the owner of Educational Chess: We have our own method of teaching chess that includes other school subjects, such as math, English, and languages- the Diana Durham chess teaching method.We focus on the quality of learning, not on the quantity of students. Anyone can teach the basics, but only Educational Chess helps students understand things at a much deeper level. We reached thousands of children since 1990, about 150-200 children per year. We have taught in dozens of schools, and helped educate parents about the game of chess. In addition to the Educational Chess website, Diana has a blog. She sent me links to two cool chess education tools that are fun to use: Chess Hangman Chess Crossword Puzzle

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Packers come on at noon, they're playing the annual Shriners Game in Detroit against the Lions. I'll be having dinner at 3 p.m. with some of the family at one of my sister's. She's a great cook and I stuff myself unrepentantly and always bring home leftovers! Yum! The office is closed tomorrow, so I have a 4-day weekend, yippee! Kevin the incredible handyman whom my friend Ann told me about, is wrapping up various projects around the house and will be back on the job tomorrow morning. Right now I am battling drywall dust (he's doing replacement/patching of the drywall on the basement stairwell and patching settlement cracks and the hole in the living room ceiling left by the plumber's March visit to fix a leaking toilet). I will be glad when THAT is finished - I'm tired of cleaning every single day and I don't know if I'll ever get rid of all the dust - I hate dusting! I discovered I need an industrial strength shop vac. Maybe I can talk my sister into going shopping tomorrow after all... Normally I don't pay much attention to those emails one always gets that are circulated to 50,000 other people, but these Turkey-day cartoons made me laugh out loud, something we could all use more of in these dark days. Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Computer Labs for Kids: Update on SOS Childrens Village

Prior posts! The children who participated in the program, all residents of the SOS Childrens Village, ages five through eight, were so well-behaved - it was just remarkable to me. I don't have the words to describe what I felt as I watched them participating in the first part of the program on Common Sense Values. One would expect children of these ages to get a little antsy after awhile, but these kids didn't. They were so intent! This was the largest project yet that Shira and Computer Labs for Kids has undertaken (prepared for 28 children, all of the residents of SOS Children's Village between the ages of five and eight). Having an individual "buddy" for each participant was a stroke of genius and probably one of the keys to the program's success. Each child was able to proceed at his or her own pace with the buddy, a volunteer who went through special training. But, in addition to preparing the program for this many children, Shira had to line up volunteers and get them trained! At the conclusion of the Awards Program (where each child received a Certificate for successfully completing the Values portion of the program), a 15 minute break was well received by everyone! Whew! Many of the children rushed to the bathrooms but then they rushed right back into the class room to their work table. Some shared a snack with their buddy; some went through their workbooks once again with their buddies, but I saw many children going through their completed workbooks by themselves! I don't know what time it was; the day that had started out mild and partly sunny had turned darker and cloudy, and I wondered if the kids would make it all the way to 5 p.m., when it would be almost full dark. It seemed we still had a long way to go. And then, Shira was calling everyone to attention. The room was suddenly abuzz with anticipation! The Dell notebook computers were being handed out to the buddies! The expressions on the childrens' faces as their buddies came back to the work tables with those trademark green Dell notebooks - priceless! Shira had worked very hard to customize the programs downloaded to each notebook, and she made sure that each notebook would be "fail safe." As I understand it, each notebook has special settings that will restore it to the way it was before a disaster occurs - such as a child deleting all of its programs or the computer contracting some nasty virus. I'm not a techy, but I think that is what she meant! Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of this special program that makes this happen (and I'm probably not describing it corrrectly, either). The second part of the program was designed to go through the basics of operating the notebook with the children, with a 30 minute period after graduation to allow each child to work with his or her buddy to answer individual questions and explore all of the programs further. This was accomplished by video images of the notebook on the wall that walked each child through the essentials (how to turn the notebook on and off; how to tell if your notebook is on or off; how to open a program; how to close a program; exploring the features of the programs; how to properly shut down the notebook and close it for future use; etc.) To successfully conclude the second part of the program, each child had to complete a workbook with his or her buddy (as they did in part one). A sticker placed after each assignment signified successful completion! Before I knew it, more than an hour had passed and everyone had completed their workbooks. The children once again lined up to receive their Certificate for completing the second part of the program. I took my place as Holder of the Sacred Certificates and called out the name of eac child as I handed the certificate to Shira who, in turn, presented it to the child. And then, each child's buddy stepped forward and presented the child with the notebook computer they had worked on during the program. Photo: The buxom beauty on the left with the certificate in hand is me; the lean, winsome beauty bending down to present a certificate to one of the students is Shira. Greg is standing to the right, looking on. In the background are some of the buddies with notebook computers in hand, waiting to present them to their students. Somehow, we had managed to finish ahead of schedule! The kids had plenty of time to work with their buddies on the notebooks before 5:00 p.m., when their foster parents would arrive to take them home. They were eager to do this! All of the children spent the rest of the time with their buddies learning how to use the programs on their notebooks. Some of them reviewed the Common Sense Values program that we had worked through in the first part of the program. Photo: one of the children working through "The Road to Happiness" program installed on each of the Dell notebooks. The program teaches common sense values without preaching any particular religious creed. Respect for others, their property and their dignity as human beings, and tolerance of others who are different than you, are core concepts presented in this part of the program presented by Greg Molinaro. The presentation was tweaked to teach the children how to care for their notebook computers, how to protect them, keep them clean, keep them safe, and how to respect to notebooks and property of others. During this last portion of the program, Erin, Shira, Greg, Lynn and I had to deconstruct our set-up! Whew! It had taken us hours to get everything right, and now we were tearing it all back down! It was work, but it seemed to go much faster than setting up did. Finally, it was almost over! The children packed up their notebooks, workbooks and certificates. They were led downstairs to wait for the arrival of their foster-parents. Although tired, I couldn't stop smiling. It seemed that no one else could stop smiling either :)) Finally, everything was packed up and Erin, Shira and I lugged it down to Shira's car. The guys (presenter Greg and Lynn, who videotaped during the entire program) were in the parking lot packing up their own car, and they asked us out to dinner - how sweet! We were all ready to kick back and relax a bit, and relish a successfully completed program! The guys picked a special place in Bucktown. None of us knew what Bucktown meant but it sounded interesting and Lynn said the restaurant was the best. I had visions of cowboys and a Bronco Billy setting... Our destination was Club Lucky on Wabansia Avenue. We piled into the car and we were off, trailing behind the guys in our Smart Car (Go Car?) It took awhile to decide how to spell "Wabansia" but fortunately, I did remember the address number. Shira punched it in to the GPS thingy in the car and voila! We knew which way to go -- just as we lost sight of the guys' car... We hit slow spots on the expressway at times where traffic came to a standstill or crawled along at 3 mph. The guys' car was lost to sight, which in the old days (like - 20 years ago) before cell phones and GPS thingys, would have been cause for mucho panic! But that GPS thingy got us to where we needed to go, and even before we got there thanks to some very chic driving by Shira, she caught us right back up to the guys and were tailgating them for a bit, just for a little bit of razz. Club Lucky is a great authentic Italian restaurant in a now "gentrifying" area of Chicago. Founded in 1990, it has recently come into vogue and "chic" people visit along with the occasional celebrity. Of course I count myself among them, even though I was wearing an ABC alphabet sweater and baggy blue jeans to match the bags under my eyes. Lynn acted as our host for the evening. It seemed he knew everyone and he knew the menu and what to order. Photo: Book shot of Club Lucky main dining room. We had a delicious and leisurely meal. The company was even better. I got to know a little bit about Greg, Lynn, Erin and Shira's backgrounds. Wow! These are some awesome people. I would glady work with this crew again. In fact, it was hard to say goodbye. The world today seems determined to beat us down, but knowing that people like this are out there in the world, doing good every single day - it is inspiring, and encouraging. All too soon, we ladies had to say fond goodbyes to the gentlemen, because Shira (who was driving) had to get me to Union Station so I could catch the 8:00 p.m. train back to Milwaukee. Query: How do three women navigate in a car equipped with GPS that says YOU ARE HERE, YOU ARE HERE (in what sounded to me like increasingly hysterical tones), upon arrival at our destination? Answer: We keep driving around in circles looking at each other saying WHERE? WHERE? WHERE IS IT? because Jan doesn't recognize anything! (Darlings - cut me some slack - it was DARK OUTSIDE! And where were the street signs, I might ask the City of Chicago, hey? I didn't see a sign saying Adams Street or Jackson Street. Do they take them down for the winter?) We'd left Club Lucky with plenty of time to get to the station but - the minutes ticked by and it was now 7:40 p.m. I'm thinking to myself "Self, you are going to have to stay overnight because you are going to miss the last train to Clarksville, er, Milwaukee). Just then, it was Erin who spotted the words UNION STATION many feet above our heads, atop a vast expanse of Corinthian pillars that grace the front facade of that mighty ediface! An ediface, I add, with which I'm not familiar since I now realize I have always managed to leave the Amtrak station and enter it via the Adams Street exit right on the Chicago River (which, I now understand, is actually an entrance to the Metra but also hooks up to Union Station somewhere underground, or something like that) --well, it was a comedy of minor errors, and all is well that ends well. It turns out we navigated to Clinton Street based on the address that Lynn had given us (the correct address), but it was not Canal Street, which I was looking for. Now, looking at a street map of the area around Union Station, I see that Canal Street is one street east (I think) of Clinton Street. Well! No wonder I didn't recognize anything! Map makers have no conception of how women actually navigate. They need to put landmarks on the maps as well as street names. With the target building now firmly in my sight, I said hasty goodbyes to Shira and Erin, jumped out of the Go Car (or Smart Car, or whatever it is) and did a lively step around the crosswalk (waiting respectfully for each light to turn to WALK even though there was no traffic) to get to the building; a brisk walk uphill and a left hand turn to the main entrance that looked vaguely familiar -- I think I walked past this facade in 2006. I glanced at my watch and my heart skipped a beat - 7:45 p.m.! I tried the first massively imposing brass mounted door I came to, wondering what the heck would I do if it was locked? It opened! Marble everywhere! I got down endless steps into the grand waiting room/hall as fast as I could go - gravity is my friend in this case! Then I am walking very fast (because I no longer run, not only because I would jiggle unforgivably, my weak ankles would never allow such activity as running), following the overhead signs toward the train platforms. In less than five minutes, I am in a part of the station that looks comfortably familiar. Ah! There is the Adams Street exit! I know where I am! Ahhhh, nothing to worry about after all, I got to Waiting Room B for Hiawatha with 10 minutes to spare (I even had time to double-check at a desk that actually had live person behind it giving information. I was out of breath but trying to look cool. Yeah, right Jan, as I discreetly attempt to wipe the sweat pouring from my brow. Then I settled back and watched the show as people poured into Waiting Area B after me, all of themn panting and thankful to have made it on time, right up to the time we started to board! As per usual (because I've taken that particular train enough times to know), the waiting room was packed with people travelling back to Milwaukee. I maneuvered as best I could to get a spot near the gate's entrance to the track. It seemed much longer, but actually it was probably only five minutes when one of the assistant conducts called the train and people hustled to line up and crowded toward the gate. Not at ALL like orderly Milwaukee, where people give respect to "first in line!" and lined up behind each other. NOOOOOOO - in Chicago, hoards of strangers press in all around you, trying to squeeze through a five foot wide doorway, and they will knock you out of the way if you don't claim your space with glowering face and pointed elbows! I'm very good at the glowering face, BTW. The matronly double chin helps tremendously... All the while I'm thinking "Darlings - chill! We ALL have to walk the same half-mile walk on stinky, wet underground concrete platforms to get to the few places where the conductors have placed the step-ladders to actually get up in to the train cars. Relax. There's enough seats for everyone!" Of course there is - I haven't yet seen a standing room only Hiawatha on a Sunday evening back to MKE. I estimate there were some 300 people taking that train back to MKE. I took a measured but determined pace and scored a seat all to myself, facing "backwards" once again. It didn't matter to me. I relaxed with eyes closed against the seat most of the ride north, and was vastly entertained by three lovely ladies in the seats in front of me (behind me?) who talked non-stop about their shopping expedition, their husbands, and fascinating details of their soap-opera drama worthy personal lives, until they got off at the Sturtevant stop! It's not that I wanted to eavesdrop, but in the close confines I really had no choice, since I didn't have ear plugs. As we slowed down to the Sturtevant station, I made sure I was up with eyes wide open, and I spotted the three ladies exiting to the platform, greeting their waiting husbands with big smooches. We arrived at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station on time and without incident. The "Intermodal Station" is a fancy name for a combined Amtrak and overland bus station, which used to be housed in separate locations a couple of blocks away from each other. The Intermodal is much prettier, especially at night, all lit up, now that it has emerged from a multi-million dollar makeover (photo right) but it sure isn't Union Station in Chicago! One of the advantages of not being Union Station is that I had a very short walk to the exit where taxis were waiting for passengers disembarking from the Chicago train (the drivers know the Hiawatha schedules much better than I do), and I lined up with other passengers for a very short wait for a cab. Zoom zoom zoom! I'm the next in line - cab pulls up. A hair-raising 18 minute ride later, I'm $31.50 lighter in the pocket book (not including tip), but I was home before 10:00 p.m. Ahhhhhhhh. The exorbitant cab fare was worth it! Goddess! What a long day. It started at 5:00 a.m. (and a crappy night's sleep beforehand). After I refrigerated my "doggy bag" from Club Lucky (I'd ordered Fettucini Alfredo and got about three days' worth of food that, frugle Milwaukeean that I am, I was not about to leave to the garbage), I scrubbed up for the night, determined to go to bed at a civilized hour because I had to return to the office the next day. Dream on... I sat up until 1:00 a.m. typing out the first blast of my experiences as a volunteer. Oy! Shira has since finished her work assignment in Chicago, and is on to a new assignment. I am hoping - I pray - that the lives of everyone we met with and interacted with on November 15, 2009 at the SOS Childrens Village Chicago, will spread out like the waves in a pond when a pebble has been tossed into its center. I can personally attest that I will never be the same after my experiences as a volunteer for this project. I'd do it again in a heart-beat.

Ancient Sacrificial Tradition Continues Despite Protests

Story from The Times of India Indians throng Nepal's Gadhimai fair for animal sacrifice Sudeshna Sarkar, TNN 24 November 2009, 06:05pm IST KATHMANDU: Thousands of Indians from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states bordering Nepal swarmed to the Himalayan republic’s southern plains Tuesday to attend a notorious Hindu fair there and sacrifice animals and birds in the hope their wishes would be fulfilled. While a debate began to grow in Nepal about the Gadhimai Fair in Bara district and the wanton cruelty it inflicted on animals, the festival drew its strength from zealous Indian attendees who have been flocking to it every five years in a bid to circumvent the ban imposed on animal sacrifices in their own states. The name on everyone’s lips on Tuesday, when the slaughter of buffaloes started, was that of Raman Thakur, a farmer from Sitamarhi in Bihar who sacrificed 105 buffaloes to show his gratitude. The goddess, Thakur said, had answered the prayer he had made five years ago by granting him a son. Men, women and children poured in from Bihar, most of them carrying kid goats and roosters, many of which had been smuggled across the porous Indo-Nepal border, bypassing the few Nepali quarantine posts. “My son Vishnu has been ill for years and can’t walk,” said Kalaiya Devi, pointing to a severely malnourished child in her arms whose legs looked like matchsticks. “I am going to sacrifice a pigeon now and come back with a buffalo at the next fair if the goddess gives him the strength to walk.” People who believe in witchcraft and supernatural powers and were hardened to suffering due to the suffering they themselves have undergone for generations are the people who keep the Gadhimai Fair in Nepal alive while the locals regard it more as an occasion to do brisk business when their hotels and restaurants remain full. Ram Mahato, 37, who also came from Sitamarhi, planned to watch the execution of the animals, visit the circus and drink his fill of local liquor that has also been doing brisk sale underground despite an official ban on it. He had not heard of Maneka Gandhi, let alone her plea to the Nepal government to ban the quinquennial slaughter at Gadhimai. Neither had he heard that six people, including one from Motihari, had died after consuming adulterated hooch. “Gandhi?” he asked, scratching his head. “Is she related to Indira Gandhi? But then, they have everything, unlike us. They can afford not to seek the blessings of the goddess.” The local Maoist MP, Shiv Chandra Kushwaha, said he had decided to skip attending parliament – which his party had agreed to allow to convene for three critical days to pass the budget – to attend the fair since it was for a bigger cause. “About 75 percent of the people who come to fair to offer sacrifices are Indians. We can’t stop them because it is a religious sentiment. Why blame us? It is not us who are making the sacrifices.” The Maoist MP estimates about 15,000 buffaloes will be killed Tuesday. On Wednesday, he says, the number of slaughtered goats, roosters and pigeons will run into hundreds of thousands. The temple authorities have built a new slaughter house at a cost of nearly NRS 5 million while a huge pit has been dug to bury the heads of the butchered animals. The animal skins are being bought by tannery owners in India and Nepal. [What happens to the rest of the animals? Are they eaten?] Nepal’s government refused to ban the massacre despite warnings by animal lovers and livestock experts that it could cause an outbreak of animal-borne diseases like goat plague, swine flu and bird flu. Though celebrities like Maneka Gandhi and yesteryear’s sex symbol French actress Brigitte Bardot raised their voices against the killings, the root of the problem perhaps is that these voices are not as potent in the drinking water and electricity-less villages of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as the voices of imagined gods and demons.

Radical Islamists Destroying Ancient Pakistani Artefacts

Story from The Himalyan Times Taliban destroying Gandhara heritage in Pakistan Last Updated : 2009-11-22 12:22 PM Agence France Presse TAXILA: Archaeologists warn that the Taliban are destroying Pakistan’s ancient Gandhara heritage and rich Buddhist legacy as pilgrimage and foreign research dries up in the country’s northwest. “Militants are the enemies of culture,” said Abdul Nasir Khan, curator of Taxila Museum, one of the premier archeological collections in Pakistan. “It is very clear that if the situation carries on like this, it will destroy our culture and will destroy our cultural heritage,” he told AFP. Taxila, a small town around 20 kilometres south of Islamabad, is one of Pakistan’s foremost archeological attractions given its history as a centre of Buddhist learning from the 5th century BC to the 2nd century. Violence is on the rise in Pakistan as Taliban bombers and gunmen strike with increasing frequency and intensity in the cities of North West Frontier Province and around the capital Islamabad. “Even in Taxila we don’t feel safe. The local administration has warned us about a possible attack on this museum. We have taken some extra security precautions but they aren’t sufficient and we lack funds,” said Khan. “For weeks we don’t get even a single foreign visitor. If visitors don’t come, if sites are not preserved and protected, if research stops, what do you think will be the future of archaeology?” he said. In March 2001, Taliban militants in neighbouring Afghanistan blew up two 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddha statues in defiance of international appeals. The Islamist militia has since spread into Pakistan. Their opposition to music, art, dance, girls’ education and idolatry makes archaeologists fear that Pakistani Buddhist relics are in the eye of the storm. Italian archaeologists were active in Pakistan’s northwest Swat valley from 1956 until they reluctantly discontinued work in 2007 after Taliban fighters led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah rose up demanding sharia law. “It is not planned to carry on any research activity,” said Luca Olivieri, co-director the Italian archeological mission in Pakistan. After 17 years as curator in Swat, Khan took no risks. With the Taliban killing and bombing their way through the valley, the museum closed in 2008 and he evacuated the most priceless antiquities. That September, the Taliban twice tried to blow up 7th century Buddhist relics -- damaging a rock engraved with images of Buddha that for centuries had been a pilgrimage site.This year, the rebels marched to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad, precipitating a major military operation in the northwest district and followed up with a current offensive in South Waziristan.“ This is the worst time for archaeology. Militancy has affected it very badly. There were 15-20 foreign missions working in this field, now this research has completely stopped,” said Khan. He says the army has requisitioned the museum building in Swat’s main town of Mingora. Despite the summer offensive, which appears to have flushed out Taliban havens in Swat for now, he doubts life will soon return to normal. “I don’t see any chance in the near future of re-opening the Swat museum. The situation is still not suitable. “The museum building was badly damaged in a bomb blast. The display cases are broken and the building needs complete renovation,” he said. “There is still fear in people’s minds but I hope that the army will succeed in bringing back normalcy,” he added. The situation is not much better further south. Peshawar, the troubled capital of northwest Pakistan known for its Buddhist heritage and archaeology, used to attract thousands of tourists but security fears and bomb attacks make it a no-go area for foreigners. Its museum is open, but one gate has been sealed and cement barricades outside the second allow only pedestrians to enter.

Parthian Grave/Artifacts Found In Iraq

Unfortunately, no much of a description of the magnificent finds was given! What are they? Parthian grave with astounding artifacts found in Iraq By Mohened Ali Azzaman, November 19, 2009 An Iraqi excavation team has uncovered a grave with magnificent finds dating to the Parthian period. The grave’s artifacts have astonished scientists for their beauty and magnificence. “The discovery includes 216 artifacts all belonging to the Parthian Period,” said Antiquities Department spokesman Abdulzahara al-Talaqani. Talaqani said the finds are at least about 2000 years old and the new grave is the largest to be excavated from the same period in Iraq. The Parthians were a Persian dynasty and their name is probably drawn from the Persian dialect they spoke, historically known as Parthava. They established an extensive empire which included Iran, Mesopotamia and other regions. They ruled Iraq for more than three centuries while their empire survived from 247 BC to 224 AD. Talaqani said the grave occupies 306 sq. meters and consists of several floors connected by special staircases. He said Iraqi excavators also came across “pottery pieces of glass all in good condition and that digging is continuing.” The team working on the Parthian grave is one of nine other teams currently excavating Iraq’s ancient treasures. The acting head of the Antiquities Department Qais Hassan said: “The grave exhibits important architectural features. The dead were buried in it with their belongings such as gold, precious stone and pottery.” Hassan declined to give details about the location of the grave for security reasons. “It is not the first time the pick-axes of foreign and Iraq scientists strike Parthian treasures. But this time Iraqi pick-axes have brought to light the largest and the finest Parthian grave which has astonished and surprised us,” Hassan said He said the great care taken “of the architecture, decoration and building of the grave is a sign that the grave does not belong to ordinary people but to the royalty.”

Chess Femme News

Some chess news for Sunday evening. Susan Polgar's column at Lubbockonline.com Polgar: Checkmate in 60 seconds: Is traditional or rapid chess better? Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sunday, November 22, 2009Story last updated at 11/22/2009 - 2:20 am Deysi Cori wins Girls' U-16 World Youth Chess Championship title, and her brother, Jorge Cori, wins the Boys' U-14 World Youth Chess Championship title. What a dynamic duo! It is a mistake to neglect the old masters By Errol Tiwari November 22, 2009 GM Alexandra Kosteniuk talks a little about her performance at the World Blitz Chess Championship, from which she and a number of other players travelled directly to the location of the 2009 World Cup. Kosteniuk defeated Magnus Carlsen in one of her blitz games :)) [Event "World Blitz Championship"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2009.11.16"] [EventDate "2009.11.16"] [Round "4"] [Result "0-1"] [White "M Carlsen"] [Black "A Kosteniuk"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2517"] [PlyCount "86"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. dxe5 Nc5 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Nc3 Be6 10. Bb5 Nd7 11. Bf4 a6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Nd4 Nb8 14. Qd3 Qd7 15. Qg3 Re8 16. Bh6 Bf8 17. Na4 Kh8 18. Be3 Qe7 19. f4 Bc8 20. Nb3 Nd7 21. Nac5 a5 22. a4 Ba6 23. Rfe1 Bc4 24. Nxd7 Qxd7 25. Nc5 Qf5 26. b3 Ba6 27. Qf2 Bc8 28. Bd4 h6 29. h3 Qg6 30. Kh2 Bf5 31. g4 Bxc5 32. Bxc5 Be4 33. f5 Qg5 34. Be3 Qe7 35. Bf4 Qb4 36. Re3 Qc5 37. Rc1 Rab8 38. h4 Rb4 39. f6 g6 40. c4 Reb8 41. Bxh6 Rxb3 42. Rce1 Rb2 43. R3e2 0-1 From The Week in Chess: The Russian Cup took place in St Peterburg 3rd-12th November 2009. The event was a 32 player knockout for men and 18 players for the women.Time control: 90 minutes + 30 seconds for all moves. ... The women's event was won by Tatiana Stepovaia who beat Irina Turova after a final blitz game. Official site: http://www.totalchess.spb.ru/ The official site does not feature an English translation and I don't have time to attempt a translation either by hand or by using Babelfish. Congratulations to Stepovaia.

Deysi Cori Wins World U-16 Title

Sports 22 November, 2009 [ 00:03 ] Peru's Daisy Cori wins U-16 World Chess Championship LivinginPeru.com Isabel Guerra The young chess player Daysi Cori confirmed that she is the best in her category worldwide after winning the U-16 World Chess Championship, currently taking place in the town of Kemer, Turkey. Daysi beat Georgian Mariam Danelia and added 9.5 points in the table, taking a lead of 1.5 points to its closest competitor (Meri Arabidze) and took the title. "I'm very, very happy, very happy. In the last world championships I have not had the opportunity to reach the top. I only would see how the Europeans won and sang their national anthems. Now I'll be amongst them," she said in a telephone conversation with El Comercio. Daysi still has an scheduled game for tomorrow against Nazi Paikidze (Georgia) but even is she loses the game she will still be the champion. However she wants to stay undefeated: "Anyway I'll go to win my last game," he said.

2009 Chess World Cup

Round 1 of the World Cup has been completed. Here are the results for the players I am following: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS 2517) - didn't make it into the next round. She lost both of her games playing GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov (AZE 2719). GM Hou Yifan (CHN 2588) and GM Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2689) are going to play-off after drawing both Round 1 games. I understand that GM Judit Polgar's match didn't take place because the player did not make it (for whatever reason - I haven't checked to see what the latest news is on that). So JP goes through automatically to Round 2. American players: Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS 2708) 1.5 / Ivanov, Alexander (USA 2539) 0.5 Friedel, Joshua E (USA 2551) 0.0 / Wang, Hao (CHN 2708) 2.0 Jobava, Baadur (GEO 2696) 1.5 / Robson, Ray (USA 2567) 0.5 Hess, Robert L (USA 2572) 0.5 /Motylev, Alexander (RUS 2695) 1.5 Kamsky, Gata (USA 2695) 1.5 / Antonio, Rogelio Jr (PHI 2574) 0.5 Onischuk, Alexander (USA 2672) 1.5 / Flores, Diego (ARG 2602) 0.5 - Onischuk to R2 Smirin, Ilia (ISR 2662) 1.5 / Ehlvest, Jaan (USA 2606) 0.5 Shabalov, Alexander (USA 2606) 1.0 /Baklan, Vladimir (UKR 2655) 1.0 - going to play-off Savchenko, Boris (RUS 2644) 1.0 /Shulman, Yuri (USA 2623) 1.0 - going to play-off Akobian, Varuzhan (USA 2624) 1.0 /Tregubov, Pavel V. (RUS 2642) 1.0 - going to play-off

Computer Labs for Kids: Update on SOS Childrens Village

Prior post. Yaaaahhhh! I have some photos from Shira! These tell the story. They are "still shots" that Shira extracted from the video that Lynn Ward took during the class. The kids, of course, are the stars :) It seemed to take a long time, but actually it was a remarkably short time between Millie and Chrystine bringhing the children up to be registered by yours truly and the volunteers arriving in singles, twos, threes and more for Erin to register. Soon, everyone was in the room we had set up as the classroom, and I was sitting outside panting, trying to catch my breath! LOL! But I didn't stay out there for long. Soon I was inside, circulating around, trying to stay out of the way as I watched the action. The class started with everyone (and I do mean everyone, including volunteers and everyone else in the room) standing up and doing a loosey-goosey exercise. With everyone being silly together, kids and adults form an instant connection. Then it's back to our seats and down to business! The first part of the class began with the "values" section, which was led by instructor Greg Molinaro of "The Way to Happiness." It is a common-sense approach to teaching values that does not a religious credo. "The Way to Happiness" video was presented in several sections so that the children could concentrate on one key concept at a time. Every child had an exercise book to work through with his or her buddy (technical instructor), who would ask questions at the conclusion of each video segment to elicit responses from the child that would reveal whether the child "got" the lesson of the video segment. As needed, the buddy would then ask the child questions designed to elicit further responses until the exercise was completed. As the child progressed through each exercise, the buddy would ask the child to place a sticker (the same stickers I had handed out to each child during registration) next to a particular section within the exercise, signifying that the child had successfully completed that part! Above is a photo of the class while Greg went through an abridged video presentation of "The Way to Happiness." The video presented vignettes that dramatized certain every-day situations to help the children understand common-sense values, emphasizing the Golden Rule, that will help the kids keep their laptops safe and also learn how to share it with others. This photo shows a part where the buddies are going through one of the segment's workbook questions with their children. It's intense one-on-one, but also fun, as can be seen by the expressions and body language of the participants! The entire class was designed to be completed in 3 hours, including time for one-on-one instruction after the award of each child's laptop computer for further work with their buddies to familiarize themselves with the programs downloaded to each laptop. The class was designed to keep in mind the ages of the children and time constraints (on a Sunday afternoon) of the volunteers. Shira tried to think of everything when designing this program, her most ambitious yet! Although Shira said that we started the Values Section late, we somehow managed to finish on time. The children were so eager - and so intent - being in that room was like being at a championship level chess tournament, except for the exchanges between the children and their buddies. It was awesome to behold! At the conclusion of the Values section, each child was called to the front of the room by name (in alphabetical order), to receive a Certificate of Completion for that part of the class, and received congratulations from Shira and Greg. It was my job to loudly call out the name of each child, which I did with gusto since I have a naturally big mouth :) and hand the certificates to Shira, who did the actual presentation to the child. I am happy to say I only made one goof, badly mispronouncing the name of one of the children, for which I abjectly apologized to her later. She was very magnanimous and forgave me for being such a screw-up. This photo: Greg on the left, Shira in the center presenting a Certificate to one of the children, and me on the right, looking MUCH stouter than I really am in person, darlings. But I think I must get a new bra, ahem. At the conclusion of the first certificate ceremony, we took a 15 minute break, and then Part 2 of the class began! The computers!

Rare Glass Rhyton Discovered in Southern Bulgaria

Archaeologists Discover Unique Ancient Rhyton in South-Eastern Bulgaria BalkanTravellers.com 19 November 2009 A unique decorated glass rhyton, or ancient drinking vessel, was discovered by archaeologists in a tumulus near the village of Karanovo in south-eastern Bulgaria. The glass vessel is decorated with the image of an unknown animal, Bulgarian media reported today. According to experts, such glass artefacts are extremely rare not just for Bulgaria, but for the whole world. The excavations near Kranovo, according to Bulgarian media, began in 2007, following illegal activity by gold-diggers. As BalkanTravellers.com reported, archaeologists working in the Karanovo area recently discovered an ancient Thracian aristocrat’s tomb, filled with valuable artefacts, such as silver, bronze and clay vessels.

Ancient Writing: Karnataka Copper Plate

From The Hindu Online November 19, 2009 Copper plate inscription throws new light on Alupas Pramod Mellegatti SHIMOGA: A rare copper plate inscription collected by a numismatic expert and retired lecturer of Shimoga Khandob Rao throws new light on the Alupas who ruled parts of the Malnad and coastal districts of Karnataka for thousand years from 450 AD making Udyavara, Mangalore, Barkur and Mudbidre as their capitals. Mr. Rao is said to have collected the inscription from a copper vessel dealer of Kollegal in Chamrajnagar district. S.G. Samak of DVS Pre-University Independent College in Shimoga and archaeologist, who has deciphered the inscription, says that the Alupas, who ruled today’s districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and a part of Shimoga, are credited with having the longest reign in Karnataka for nearly a thousand years. He says that the inscription is written on a copper plate measuring 20 x 20 cm. At the top is the figure of twin fishes, the royal emblem of the Alupas. There are 14 lines written in typical Rashtrakuta characters. “Hence, it can be assigned to the 8th century AD,” he says. Dr. Samak says that the inscription belongs to Aluvarasa II of Alupa family. “It mentions that Aluvarasa and Ereyyaparasa made a grant to Belmannu Sabha, free from tax to be paid to Shivalli on the day of the Solar eclipse. This grant was made in the administrative sub-division of Manideva of Kantavara and the document was prepared in the presence of Chokkapadi Bhatta. The grant was to be protected by Boygavarama of Kapu, Nanda of Bela, Nanda of Kolunur, Medini of Santuru and Urapppana. An interesting feature of the copper plate inscription is that the contents are similar to that of Belmannu copper plates discovered in 1973 by Late Gururaj Bhat of Udupi. Belmannu copper plates are claimed to be the earliest copper plate inscriptions in Kannada. “But the difference is the Belmannu inscription is written on five copper plates in 28 lines, whereas the present inscription is written on a single plate in 14 lines,” says Dr. Samak.

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What struck me about this image right away was the "double fishes" at the top - they reminded me so much of Indus "fish" symbols. Of course, this copper plate was inscribed at least 2,000 years after the height of the Indus civilization - but I wonder - is there a connection that was passed down from generation to generation as the original Indus Valley settlers migrated south and east?

Plans to Display Karanovo Thracian Finds

Story at Novinite Bulgaria Archaeologists Present Unique Thracian Tomb Finds November 17, 2009 A team of Bulgarian archaeologists led by Veselin Ignatov formally presented Tuesday their finds from the tomb of an aristocrat from Ancient Thrace near the southern town of Nova Zagora. In October and November 2009, Ignatov’s team found a burial tomb of dated back to the end of 1st century and beginning of 2nd century AD, located outside of the village of Karanovo, in southern Bulgaria. The finds at the lavish Thracian tomb include gold rings, silver cups and vessels coated with gold and clay vessels. Those include two silver cups with images of love god Eros, and a number of other ornate silver and bronze vessels. According to Ignatov, the finds are sufficiently varying and rich to be used for the forming of a small museum dedicated to provincial Roman-era art. The aristocrat belonged to a rich family descended from the ruling strata in the Odrysian Kingdom (5-3rd century BC). The previously unknown tomb was discovered after in 2008 the archaeologists started to research area damaged by treasure hunters, and found a Thracian chariot at a nearby spot. The archaeologists from the Nova Zagora History Museum are going to continue their exploration of the Thracian tomb on the spot even during the coming winter months after a special shelter is built on the site. Ignatov said a total of six two-wheel and four-wheel chariots have been discovered in the region, and that he had the idea of creating a center for the study of ancient chariots in Nova Zagora.

World Blitz Championship 2009

There are two chess femmes playing in this elite of the elite championship of 22 players: GM Judit Polgar (HUNG 2680) and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS 2517). So far, the ladies have scored some telling wins through Round 28 (which gives you an idea of how fast and furious this BLITZ Championship is going), but both of them are out of contention for a medal. There are 42 rounds altogether. What are the odds that they can stage a second-half comeback? Hmmm.... This news is probably a bit old (from The Week in Chess), after 17 rounds: 1. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2801 21.0 2. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 20.0 3. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2723 18.5 19. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2680 11.5 20. Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2517 11.0

More on that Indus Measuring System

Some spectacular headline claims are made in this article from the Telegraph.co.uk! It makes sense to me though, since we know there was sustained trade among the Indus Valley civilization, Sumer (Mesopotamia), parts of Iran (Elam) and even Egypt, too. The entire trade netword would have collapsed unless the producers, the transportation people, the traders, and the sellers at the other end had a method of converting relative values of goods and services. I applaud Dr. Wells for arriving at this brilliant and yet - when you think about it - utterly common sense conclusion! This man deserves a Nobel Prize in Archaeology (is there such an award???) Indus Valley's Bronze Age civilisation 'had first sophisticated financial exchange system' The Indus Valley's Bronze Age civilisation may have developed the world's first sophisticated system of wage labour, financial exchange and measurement, a Canadian mathematician has discovered. By Dean Nelson in New Delhi Published: 6:00AM GMT 17 Nov 2009 According to a new study of clay pots and ceramic tablets discovered almost 70 years ago in Harappa, now in Pakistan, the people of the Indus Valley had a detailed system of commodity value, weights and measures. Dr Bryan Wells, a researcher based at India's Institute of Mathematical Sciences, told The Daily Telegraph he had begun work on his thesis ten years ago when he first saw photographs of the clay pots with markings which appeared to be in proportion to their relative size. But he was not able to test his thesis until he visited New Delhi earlier this month where the original pots are stored in one of the city's Mughal era forts. The three pots each had different markings, the smallest with a 'V' to indicate 'measure' and three long strokes. The medium vessel had six strokes and the largest had seven. When he measured them he found they were in proportionate capacity: 3:6:7. The inscriptions on the pots matched those on bas relief ceramic tablets which he believes are tokens of exchange for fixed measures of grain or other commodities. The size of the pots – the largest is 2.7 metres in circumference, and contains 65 litres – indicates an organised system of exchange for large scale transactions, he said. The bas-relief tablets are "definitely some kind of exchange token. These pots are more than one metre wide. You're not going to be carrying them around. The chits or tablets have representative value and they are being used in an economic context," he said. In his paper Indus Weights and Measures, to be published in the archeological journal Antiquity next year, Dr Wells suggests the tablets may be the equivalent of 'wage slips' or credits for work representing fixed volumes of food. "It is possible that wages were paid with grains dispersed from a centralised storage facility or in the case of incised tablets material for construction projects and other short-term projects," he wrote. Although older coins and ingots have been discovered from the Mesopotamia, but Dr Wells' findings amount to a more detailed decoding of an ancient value system.

More on that Lost Persian Army Found

From Time Magazine Online The Vanished Army: Solving an Ancient Egyptian Mystery By Ishaan Tharoor Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 In 525 B.C., the Persian Emperor Cambyses dispatched 50,000 of his soldiers to lay waste to an oasis temple in the Sahara because its oracle had spoken ill of his plans for world domination. The punitive expedition proved to be one of antiquity's most dramatic episodes of imperial overreach. One morning, while the army was having breakfast, writes the ancient historian Herodotus in The Histories, it was set upon by "a violent southern wind, bringing with it piles of sand, which buried them." The Greek continues, "Thus it was that they utterly disappeared." For centuries, this little anecdote — like many others in Herodotus's famous text — seemed to be a myth. The Histories is lined with rumors and fantastical hearsay of ants that dig for gold, rings that make their bearers invisible and winged serpents that patrol remote mountain passes. But recent excavations in western Egypt by a team of Italian archaeologists may have unearthed traces of this long-lost army, entombed in the desert for some 2,500 years. Rest of article.

Computer Labs for Kids: Update on SOS Childrens Village

A photo of part of the SOS Children's Village in Chicago, taken from the parking lot outside the Community Center that hosted the project). Sunday was the day for Computer Labs for Kids Foundation's latest project! It started earlier than usual for me. I arose at 5:00 a.m. I am having this room (my former bedroom turned into the den/library) painted and I was still in the middle of clearing out mountains of piled-up print-outs, spread-eagled books and dozens of journals and magazines, scattered all about the floor! I cleared out some more piles, and then headed downstairs to enact my all-important early-morning rituals (my one cup of coffee for the day, two slices of rye toast, put out plenty of in the shell nuts for the squirrels, fed the birds). I managed to read through the first section of the Journal/Sentinel before it was time to run upstairs and get myself ready. I left the house at 6:32 a.m. and did the 12 minute hike to the bus stop. Standing at the bus stop in the chill morning air at 6:45 a.m. for my ride to the train station. It was a bit eerie to be out so early on a Sunday morning, when the sun was just pressing above the horizon to the southeast. There was next to no traffic – two cars on 76th Street when I pressed the "Walk" button to cross – unheard of! While I waited at what is normally a zoom-zoom-zoom intersection during the work week, I saw squirrels dashing back and forth across the six lane divided highway, a hawk and a gull playing tag-team about 30 feet above my head, watched a flock of geese flying toward Jackson Park and was entertained by a chorus of crow calls in the last patch of woods behind me (it surrounds a very small condo complex where a lot more trees, survivors from the time before the area got "developed," were cut down for the condos to go up) It was in the 30’s with a persistent breeze from the northeast, brrr! The bus arrived and got me downtown close to schedule, about 7:25 a.m. I walked the four blocks to the recently remodeled "Intermodel Station" which houses the Amtrak station and Greyhound and other buses stations. It is a very nice space now – but not gigantic like Union Station in Chicago and has no pretensions to being "grand" like that space is! Unfortunately, during the fervor of "urban renewal" in the early 60’s our lovely 19th century red sandstone train station near the lakefront was torn down and the tracks re-located. That wonderful place, preserved in photographs replete with ladies and gentlemen in late 19th century dress, can be found in our local museums. The building was lovely and would have been a great landmark for Milwaukee. Well, hindsight is always 100% accurate. I arrived at the station, located the new counter where one purchases Amtrak tickets and got my roundtrip tickets. Right around the corner a line had already begun forming for the call to board the Hiawatha to Chicago. I got some V8 juice from a handy little store right across the hall and then staked out a place in the line. Perhaps 10 minutes later the conductor called out ALL ABOARD THE HIAWATHA SERVICE FROM MILWAUKEE TO CHICAGO as he released the chain that was the only thing separating us from the door to the elevated platform along the track where the massive train sat waiting for its passengers to board. I had my choice of seats, as there were not many travelers to Chicago as during the work-week (or on Friday, when people go for a weekend and come back Sunday night). As per usual, I managed to pick a backwards seat thanks to my inerring sense of direction (cough cough), but travelling backwards doesn’t bother me as I usually spend my time napping anyway, which I did most agreeably during this trip! We left promptly at 8:00 a.m. (A look back across the Chicago River toward the train station exit I took on Adams Street - this looks west). (A look to the north across Adams. Beautiful!)We arrived in Chicago right on time at 9:30 a.m. As I did the three block walk to the McDonalds on Adams and Wells from the Union Station exit that is right on the Chicago River, I stopped to take these photos just the other side of the Chicago River, wisely anticipating that they might be the very last photos of the day I'd manage to grab! There was the McDonalds, beckoning to me - FOOD, FOOD! I walked toward the corner of Adams and Wells and could see Shira inside. I waited for the light and crossed Adams. Then I had to wait for the light on Wells to change! There was Shira, standing outside the entrance (she'd seen me coming at about the same time I saw her inside), ready with a big hug. Our first face to face meeting after all these years! (This is the very same McDonalds that Mr. Don and I have fond memories of from our 2006 expedition to the University of Chicago's Oriential Institute one fine Sunday morning in early October. We had breakfast there shortly after arriving at 9:30 a.m. Later in the day as we headed back toward Union Station after a very interesting bus ride, we took a late lunch break. As we left, we walked into a fierce storm headed directly our way from the west, the direction we had to go! A tornado was reported to be headed straight toward us as Mr. Don dragged/pulled me through vicious winds those three blocks from the McDonalds at 186 West Adams toward that very same Chicago River exit/entrance into the relative safety of the underground labyrinth that is Union Station and the METRA combined!) Shira is even lovlier in person than she is in her photographs! And she is model tall and thin. It was great to see her at last! We went into the McDonalds. I was surprised by the number of people around! The last time I'd been there, I recall the place being relatively deserted, and there was nowhere near the street traffic of cars and people in 2006 that there was in 2009. But I digress -- I was famished and wanted to eat something - anything! While I stood in line, Shira told me that another friend of hers - Erin - had flown in just for a short weekend all the way from Los Angeles to help out too! She identified Erin -- I had actually seen Erin - sitting at a table outside a Starbucks right across the street from the McDonalds, enjoying a cigarette in the chilly air! I remembered thinking to myself as I waited for the walk light to change "That poor woman must be freezing out there!) I was no more than 15 feet away from Erin as I waited for the next walk light to turn so I could cross Wells Street where Shira was waiting, hopping with impatience! Erin quickly joined us as I waited in line and Shira performed the introductions. I ordered an Egg McMuffin and OJ (please do not lecture me on fat and cholesterol). We happily chattered away as I ate my breakfast. It wasn't long before Shira, Erin and I piled into Shira's car for the day (a Smart Car? I can't remember what it's called, but it's sort of a communal village approach to car ownership/sharing - I remember reading about the launch of this enterprise some years ago - in major cities - and wondered idly if it would ever work. Since I do not know how to drive and do not own a car, it was only of academic interest to me. The car was roomy - it looked sort of like a gigantic boxy modern interpretation of the old station wagon that was popular shortly after the babyboomers started being born. Shira programmed the GPS coordinates for the SOS Childrens Village into that app on her iPhone and we were off! Shira has some fabulous friends, let me tell you! After a call for help, Erin flew in from Los Angeles specifically to help out Shira with this project, in Chicago for less than 48 hours! She’s flying back to LA today at 7:00 a.m. The plan was for Erin to catch the train (METRA?) to O’Hare at 5:00 a.m. (just a short walk from where she was staying with Shira) to catch her flight back to LA. (As it turned out, Erin missed her flight, but was able to book one leaving at 11:00 a.m. I hope she made it home okay).

Despite an unexpected detour and some fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants instant navigation to reach the expressway on-ramp (we managed to successfully navigate by applying logic and intuition in female group-think), we arrived at the SOS Children's Village about 10:40 a.m. Even though the program wasn’t scheduled to begin until 2:00 p.m., there was a LOT to do and there was hardly any down time for the rest of the day. First we unloaded the car - 28 boxed laptops accompanied by a very large, very heavy "tool" tub (fortunately it had rear wheels and a retractable handle, so it weighed about as much as my 19 inch carry-one does when I go to New York) that contained all of the supplies needed for the program and Shira's audio/visual equipment. (Erin's table arrangement before the photographer changed everything around about five times!) Once we got everything up to the meeting room on the second floor of the Community Center for the Village, there were tables to arrange. The day before, Millie, who is the Director of the Village facilities, and her assistant(s) had wiped down everything with disinfectant – just a Swine Flu precaution, etc. However, there were the inevitable smears of poster paint and white glue that didn't come off in a routine swab-down. After a brief discussion, Erin had come up with a good lay-out for the tables, giving all of the participants a good view of the area where the projected video would be. But because of the constraints we were under with respect to photographing the children, once the photographer got there (who volunteered his time, spent the entire day, and took us out to dinner afterwards - more about that later) - soon the tables were dancing around and around. Ultimately an arrangement was decided upon that was good for photographing the proceedings, complying with the restrictions on photographing the children. Unfortunately, the lay-out was not the most advantageous for the volunteers who would be working with the children. The children were seated across from their volunteers, with their backs to the photographer's set up, instead of being seated side by side with their volunteer with the lap-top in between. It was awkward, but it worked out pretty much okay once everything got underway. Everyone was so engrossed in the program, it really didn’t matter who was sitting where. By the end of the program, some of the kids were laying halfway across the tables working on the notebooks, and other creative volunteer "buddy" and child arrangements were seen, too. Once Shira, Erin and I got everything up to our second floor location (there was an elevator, thank Goddess!), all of the laptops had to be unboxed, unwrapped, and the power cords and AC adaptors had to be unwrapped, connected, the twisty ties removed from the cords (we did not want the children hassling with THEM!) and the convenient rubber stretchy "hold band" was closed to hold the cords in place to form a neat bundle. The notebooks were stacked with identifying labels on each one so that each volunteer could find his or her child’s computer and grab a cord/AC adaptor pack at the same time. While Erin and I were busy getting the notebooks ready, with the assistance of Millie, the Director of the SOS facilities, and another young woman who also works at the SOS Village (I never did catch her name, unfortunately, and they did not wear name tags, but I will get her name and insert it where it needs to be), the speaker who would be delivering the first part of the program and a photographer arrived and began their own set-up! I'd had no idea about these aspects of the program (check out The Way to Happiness), and was really impressed with how quickly Shira had been able to pull things together and get it all organized! She had only just arrived in Chicago when we played our three-game Shira Chess Challenge Match over Labor Day weekend at the end of September, and now she was leading the way for her Foundation's most ambitious project yet! Soon Shira and the motivational speaker (I will also supply his name, what a great guy!) set up Shira's A/V equipment. The tables were being shoved around to satisfy the photographer (see above). Millie and her assistant put up Computer Labs for Kids banners. I did a toilet paper and hand-towel check in the ladies' room (LOL!) Erin was in charge of the volunteers. She was to get the volunteers checked in on our Master List, get media releases signed, make sure the volunteer’s training had already been completed (or would be completed at one of two computers we had standing at the ready), and make sure that each volunteer was filled in by Shira's IT volunteer assistant (Joe) regarding the particular programs that the children would be working with during the second half of the program. I was in charge of registering the children. My job was to make sure each child had a name tag and a supply of stickers that would be used to mark off completed exercises on worksheets that they would go through with their volunteers, and was checked off the Master List, then matched up with his or her volunteer. Originally part of my duties was also to obtain signed releases (media and computer) from the foster-parents of the children. However, before things started to get really hectic, Millie and her assistant took charge of getting the necessary signed releases from the foster-parents as they brought their children to the first floor of the center. (This was a requirement of the program - the foster parent must bring his or her foster-child to the center by 2:00 p.m. and return to take his or her foster-child home at 5:00 p.m.) This change in the original plan worked like a charm, as Millie and her assistant obtained the foster-parents' signatures on the necessary releases as the children were brought to the center and I was afterwards free to greet each child one-on-one and get them signed in. After the computer equipment was declared ready, Erin worked on the volunteer folders and name tags as we went over our respective duties again and again while I worked on assembling the name tags for the children. During this time, there were interim meetings with Shira, Millie, the motivational speaker and the photographer. The center was abuzz with activity - and it was yet a couple of hours before the foster-parents and the kids would arrive! Until today, I had no idea just how much behind-the-scenes work goes into organizing a three hour event that was designed to host 28 children, 28 volunteers (one for each child), a photographer, a motivational speaker, additional volunteers (in case some volunteers did not make it), foster-parents, additional children (non-participants), and additional support volunteers working with the children and the IT people (for instance, accompanying a child to the restroom or to get a drink of water). Whew! I was already exhausted by noon, and our day had not even yet begun! Shira called a lunch break about 12:30 p.m. The volunteers were scheduled to arrive at 1:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the start of the program. Shira had thoughtfully provided lunch for Erin and I - delicious chicken sandwiches and cheese plates from Starbucks. Absolutely delish! It was a nice break. While we munched we also talked about how things had gone thus far, and what was left to face – and do – as people started to pour into the center. Millie and her assistant went to McDonalds (I could have gone for a Big Mac, but good manners prevented me from slipping Millie money on the side for a sneak Big Mac). After lunch we continued taking care of last-minute details, and going over the after-program items – DVDs and books to be handed out, connections to be made and contact info to be exchanged, etc. Always primary were the children. I like kids, and I usually get along with them just fine. But I was worried - would I be overwhelmed with these duties? How would the equivalent of a classroom full of young children behave at the peak of excitment? I didn't have long to fret, though, because the volunteers who would be working with the children started arriving in twos and threes, fours and fives! They needed to be checked in, releases signed, last minute instructions issued, and then the volunteers met with an IT expert who did a quick review of the programs with them. We should have expected that it would not be the smooth and easy process that was outlined in our "Volunteer" materials! But those materials did prepare us for what we needed to do. . While early-arriving children were being marshalled downstairs by the able Millie and assistant, I helped Erin out as best I could with volunteer check-in. It was hectic but we made a good team. All went relatively smoothly, except that some volunteers didn't arrive early enough to have their full review with Shira’s IT people to go over the programs. With some foresight, Shira had set up two separate computers in the registration area where volunteers could go through an online training program (about 15-20 minutes in length) if they had not previously completed their training. We had three (maybe four?) volunteers go through their training at those computers.

(The Community Center, a quick photo I took from the parking lot shortly after we arrived. The second floor area houses an open area where several computers are housed that the kids of the Village can use during designated hours (strict rules apply). Those computers are the property of the SOS Childrens Village and not part of Computer Labs for Kids' project, but we did use two of those computers to help give last-minute training to some volunteers who had not completed a short online "course" (an outline designed to familiarize the volunteers with what they would be doing while working with the children during the program). Millie and her assistant were soon bringing the children upstairs to get signed in! There was one line of girls and one line of boys. Except for the usual exuberance one would expect from excited five to eight year olds, and one young man who will clearly make an excellent chess grandmaster some day, the children were very well behaved, on their best behavior, and they were all so sweet and shy! The girls went first (because there were fewer of them and courtesy dictates ladies first), and then the boys. All waited mostly patiently in line to give me their names and be checked in. I just wanted to hug them all, but hugs are not appropriate from a stranger, so I gave them what I hope was my best smile as I scrunched myself down to their height and learned the correct pronunciations of their names. Sometimes I had to ask them again because they were so shy and soft-spoken. I tried to commit their names to memory (which would become important later on), although I did make one mistake, which I gravely apologized for later on! Then I put their name tags (suspended by a stretchy sort of shoe-string thingy poked through two holes of a vinyl casing that held a name tag) over their heads and gave them their stickers, explaining that the stickers would be needed for the program. More tomorrow -