Little Girl Singer at Olympics Part of a Switcheroo!

From the Guardian.co.uk Olympics: Child singer revealed as fake Tania Brannigan, in Beijing guardian.co.uk, Tuesday August 12 2008 12:34 BST When nine-year-old Lin Miaoke launched into Ode to the Motherland at the Olympic opening ceremony, she became an instant star. "Tiny singer wins heart of nation," China Daily sighed; "Little girl sings, impresses the world," gushed another headline, perhaps in reference to Lin's appearance on the front of the New York Times. Countless articles lauded the girl in the red dress who "lent her voice" to the occasion. But now it emerges that Lin lent someone else's voice, following high-level discussions - which included a member of the Politburo - on the relative photogenicity of small children. The recording to which Lin mouthed along on Friday was by the even younger Yang Peiyi. It seems that Yang's uneven teeth, while unremarkable in a seven-year-old, were considered potentially damaging to China's international image. "This is in the national interest. It is the image of our national music, national culture. Especially the entrance of our national flag; this is an extremely important, extremely serious matter," Chen Qigang, the event's general music designer, explained to a Beijing radio station. Chen said that director Zhang Yimou - who created the ceremony - had demanded a "very cute" child; a standard certainly met by Lin and, many would suggest, by Yang. "We made the decision that the voice we would use was Yang Peiyi's. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression. "Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in the aspect of voice, Yang Peiyi is flawless," he explained. But at the last minute, officials decided a switch was needed, according to the translation by the China Digital Times website. "We had been through several inspections - they were all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were spectators from various divisions, especially a leader from the Politburo, who gave us his opinion: It must change," said Chen. "I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi. That is to say, we have a perfect voice, and a perfect image and representation - in our team's view - combined together." It appears that Lin, already a veteran of TV adverts, may not have been aware that Yang's voice was used. Chen said they had recordings of both girls and their voices were fairly similar. Yang appears to have taken the snub in her stride. Asked by a CCTV journalist whether she was sad to have missed the opening ceremony, she replied: "No, my voice was there." Not everyone has reacted so calmly. "Adults may lie, but leave the kids out of it," one angry internet user wrote. Her tutor, Wang Liping, wrote in her blog that Yang is cute and well-behaved, with a love for Peking opera. "She doesn't like to show off. She's easygoing," she added. Yang's school could not be reached today. The switch may reflect underlying cultural preferences as well as the incredible attention paid to Olympic preparations. Research by Daniel Hamermesh, an economist at the University of Texas, has suggested that the "beauty premium" in parts of China is far more pronounced than in the west for women. Dr Hamermesh's work shows that ugly people earn below the average income while beautiful people earn more. In Britain, attractive women enjoy a +1% premium. But in Shanghai, the figure was +10%. ********************************************************************************* Lots of coverage on this story - here's direct quotes and a u-tube video of the ringer's performance. When you cut out the crap, they changed up singers because they considered the original little girl too ugly to represent their "national image" even though her voice was "flawless." Now I'm wondering - was that little boy prancing around with the big basketball player actually nine - and was he actually a hero? Come to think of it, wasn't his presence something of a slap in the face to all of the parents who lost children in schools that collapsed in the June earthquake while all around other buildings withstood the quake with minimal damage? Thousands of children were killed and rather than investigating official corruption and malfeasance in office, the central government is trying to buy off bereaved parents with a couple hundred bucks each.

432 - An Interesting Number

August 11, 2008 There Are More Things In Heaven and Under The Earth, Horatio. An archaeological dig has uncovered what could well be the remnants of the theatre where Shakespeare's plays debuted to adoring crowds. The theatre was discovered during excavations carried out by Museum of London staff at a site in Shoreditch, East London. Prior to excavation the site was an old garage and was scheduled to be demolished to make way for a brand-new theatre. Builders clearing the site unearthed the structure and quickly called in archaeologists to prevent further damage. The discovery of the 432 year-old foundations did not come as a complete surprise to archaeologists at the Museum of London. They have suspected that the site had some exciting secrets to yield for some time. Despite suspicions that the theatre was around the Shoreditch area, the exact location of the building was difficult to pin down. A lack of maps, drawings or even reliable descriptions of the bard's debut playhouse made tracking down the forgotten remnants of the building near-impossible. When it opened in 1576 the newly-rediscovered Elizabethan playhouse was simply named "The Theatre" and was among the first dedicated playhouses in England. Shakespeare and his company performed at The Theatre in the 1590s and it has been suggested that many of the bard's best known works such as, Romeo and Juliet and Richard II premiered at the site. Of course, the theatre is in no fit state to be used, spending over four centuries underground has done it no favours. The ravages of time were not the only factor in the decay of The Theatre. A dispute with a landlord in 1597 forced Shakespeare and the Lord Chamberlain's men to move. As they owned the theatre but not the land the building was simply disassembled, moved across the Thames and renamed "The Globe". Only the foundations were left behind and it is these that archaeologists have discovered. Academics are very excited about the find, suggesting that the foundations will reveal a great deal about the playhouses of Elizabethan London. The Tower Theatre Company are equally excited about the discovery as the site is going to be home to their new theatre. Talks are underway between English Heritage, the Tower Theatre Company and their architect to attempt to find a way to leave the thrilling find in-situ. The Tower Theatre Company is a tiny, two-man company who stage up to an incredible 18 shows a year in London with no external funding. The discovery of Shakespeare's first theatre in what will become their basement is undoubtedly a lovely surprise for the company who need all the publicity they can get for their upcoming fund-raising campaign. Money raised by this campaign will be used to purchase the freehold for the site and to begin construction of the new theatre. One can only imagine what an inspiration the find will be to future performers at The Tower Theatre Company's new venue. The opportunity to tred the boards mere feet from where the bard himself once performed is enviable indeed. Published by: Jonathan Dudley ********************************************************************************** Check out the fascinating significance of the number 432.

Oh oh...

It seems I just posted some stuff about climate change a few days ago - darlings, I can't keep track, it's all a blur... But this isn't funny. Instead of taking 60 years (I'd more than likely be buried - oh yeah, and dead - by then, being about 110 years old if I survived - on the other hand, who the heck knows, hmmm...) - it is now being estimated that the North Pole could be free of ice in just five years. Yep, that's not a mistake. Five years. Scary stuff. I hope the Russians get drowned first, the dirty buggers. They started a new cold war and then heated things up, well, they're going to get zapped for their pains from an unexpected source! From the Guardian.co.uk Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up Scientists warn that the North Pole could be free of ice in just five years' time instead of 60 Robin McKie, science editor The Observer, Sunday August 10 2008 Article history Ice at the North Pole melted at an unprecedented rate last week, with leading scientists warning that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2013. Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic. As a result, scientists say that the disappearance of sea ice at the North Pole could exceed last year's record loss. More than a million square kilometres melted over the summer of 2007 as global warming tightened its grip on the Arctic. But such destruction could now be matched, or even topped, this year. 'It is a neck-and-neck race between 2007 and this year over the issue of ice loss,' said Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado. 'We thought Arctic ice cover might recover after last year's unprecedented melting - and indeed the picture didn't look too bad last month. Cover was significantly below normal, but at least it was up on last year. 'But the Beaufort Sea storms triggered steep ice losses and it now looks as if it will be a very close call indeed whether 2007 or 2008 is the worst year on record for ice cover over the Arctic. We will only find out when the cover reaches its minimum in mid-September.' This startling loss of Arctic sea ice has major meteorological, environmental and ecological implications. The region acts like a giant refrigerator that has a strong effect on the northern hemisphere's meteorology. Without its cooling influence, weather patterns will be badly disrupted, including storms set to sweep over Britain. At the same time, creatures such as polar bears and seals - which use sea ice for hunting and resting - face major threats. Similarly, coastlines will no longer be insulated by ice from wave damage and will suffer erosion, as is already happening in Alaska. Other environmental changes are likely to follow. Without sea ice to bolster them, land ice - including glaciers - could topple into the ocean and raise global sea levels, threatening many low-lying areas, including Bangladesh and scores of Pacific islands. In addition, the disappearance of reflective ice over the Arctic means that solar radiation would no longer be bounced back into space, thus heating the planet even further. On top of these issues, there are fears that water released by the melting caps will disrupt the Gulf Stream, while an ice-free Arctic in summer offers new opportunities for oil and gas drilling there - and for political disputes over territorial rights. What really unsettles scientists, however, is their inability to forecast precisely what is happening in the Arctic, the part of the world most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. 'When we did the first climate change computer models, we thought the Arctic's summer ice cover would last until around 2070,' said Professor Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University. 'It is now clear we did not understand how thin the ice cap had already become - for Arctic ice cover has since been disappearing at ever increasing rates. Every few years we have to revise our estimates downwards. Now the most detailed computer models suggest the Arctic's summer ice is going to last for only a few more years - and given what we have seen happen last week, I think they are probably correct.' The most important of these computer studies of ice cover was carried out a few months ago by Professor Wieslaw Maslowski of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Using US navy supercomputers, his team produced a forecast which indicated that by 2013 there will be no ice in the Arctic - other than a few outcrops on islands near Greenland and Canada - between mid-July and mid-September. 'It does not really matter whether 2007 or 2008 is the worst year on record for Arctic ice,' Maslowski said. 'The crucial point is that ice is clearly not building up enough over winter to restore cover and that when you combine current estimates of ice thickness with the extent of the ice cap, you get a very clear indication that the Arctic is going to be ice-free in summer in five years. And when that happens, there will be consequences.' This point was backed by Serreze. 'The trouble is that sea ice is now disappearing from the Arctic faster than our ability to develop new computer models and to understand what is happening there. We always knew it would be the first region on Earth to feel the impact of climate change, but not at anything like this speed. What is happening now indicates that global warming is occurring far earlier than any of us expected.'

World Juniors Chess Championship (Girls)

Girls' results after Round 9: Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Fide Rtg+/- Ra Rp 1 1 IM HARIKA Dronavalli 2461 IND 7½ 39 7 2259 2532 2 2 WGM MUZYCHUK Mariya 2413 UKR 7 37½ 7 2255 2475 3 18 WIM MIKADZE Miranda 2258 GEO 7 34½ 28 2202 2422 4 33 WFM NAKHBAYEVA Guliskhan 2170 KAZ 6½ 33½ 40 2280 2348 5 10 WIM SOUMYA Swaminathan 2293 IND 6½ 30½ 12 2192 2358 6 13 WFM ABRAHAMYAN Tatev 2277 USA 6 35 21 2269 2394 7 23 WFM NIKOLOVA Adriana 2242 BUL 6 32 18 2211 2336 31 WFM OZTURK Kubra 2188 TUR 6 32 31 2289 2315 9 48 GUO Qi 2048 CHN 6 27½ 46 2258 2353 10 32 PREETHI Rajkumar 2183 IND 5½ 30 16 2234 2221 11 25 WIM NADIG Kruttika 2241 IND 5½ 29½ 16 2239 2308 12 9 WFM HOOLT Sarah 2298 GER 5½ 29 -2 2203 2283 12 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Turkan 2284 AZE 5½ 29 -7 2152 2208 27 WFM PERTLOVA Sona 2217 CZE 5½ 29 24 2264 2323 15 8 WFM SEVERIUKHINA Zoja 2300 RUS 5½ 28½ -2 2206 2286 16 21 WFM BOROSOVA Zuzana 2254 SVK 5½ 27½ 0 2167 2247 17 4 WGM NEMCOVA Katerina 2372 CZE 5½ 27 -11 2222 2302 18 38 KAZIMOVA Narmin 2148 AZE 5½ 26 23 2185 2265 19 5 WGM FOISOR Sabina-Francesca 2337 ROU 5½ 25 -18 2150 2230 I just can't see that Dronavalli is going to give up her lead - consider her the gold medal winner. So - the fight is for silver and bronze. Dronavalli drew with countrywoman WIM Soumya Swaminathan (IND 2293) (I don't know if her name should be reversed - I should check that, but I'm just too tired tonight). The early leader, USA's Tatev Abrahamyan, fell down to 9th after Round 8 (eek!), but has bounced back to 6th place after her defeat today of WIM Inna Ivakhinova (RUS 2248), and is still in the medal hunt. Go, Tatev, go! Narmin Kazimova (AZE 2148) has moved up in the standings to 18th place, after drawing with fellow countrywoman WGM Turkan Mamedjarova (AZE 2284). Only four more rounds to go!

Supporting Local Chess: Announcements

From the Emporia Gazette (Emporia, Kansas, USA): The Emporia Chess Society meets from 1:30 to 4 p.m. and from 6:30 to 9 p.m. every Saturday at at the Granada Coffee Company. All ages and skill levels are welcome, including children. There is no charge.

Arianne Caoili

Now that I've got your attention :) The press loves beautiful women, and when a beautiful woman also happens to be a Woman International Master of chess, she naturally warrants a column indicating where she will be playing next (but naturally!) This beauty isn't adverse to such publicity, but take note - she's got brains too. From Goldcoast.com.au Dance star to play chess on Coast Steve Spinks August 12th, 2008 SHE has danced with the stars and is one of Australia's top chess players, but Arianne Caoili has put the pursuits that shot her to fame behind her as she grapples with university study. The 21-year-old will make a rare appearance on the Gold Coast later this month when she plays in the Surfers Paradise Chess Open. Caoili is using the event as practice before heading to Beijing later in the year to represent Australia at the Chess Olympics. She is also hoping to improve her rating from international master to grandmaster. "I haven't played for a while so that's why I'm going up," said Caoili. "I've been studying in Canberra and in Germany for various reasons. I'm doing my honours in international relations so I've stopped doing some things because I want to be able to give everything to my study. "I'm happy at the moment and I'm enjoying what I'm doing." Caoili last shot to national prominence when she made it to the final of the Channel 7 program Dancing With The Stars. The Australian chess champion eventually lost out to AFL footballer Anthony Koutoufides after being partnered by Carmello Pizzino. Caoili made headlines around the country after accusations she had professional dance training before the show and had lied about it when questioned by controversial judge Todd McKenney. But that was two years ago and the former Gold Coast girl is looking forward. "I just want to finish university with flying colours," she said. "I like to succeed in what I'm doing so I'm really doing a lot of work and it's enjoyable because it's different ... a completely different focus from what I was doing." The chess pin-up caused a storm in 2006 when she was dubbed the 'Anna Kournikova of chess' after a love rivalry ended in a nightclub punch-up in Italy. The former Somerset College student was branded a temptress by the international media, but she said the incident was blown out of proportion. [Check out Goddesschess' take on the subject, "Tussle in Turin"] Caoili was dating GM Levon Aronian for several months and was depicted in several photos with the GM at various chess events; I don't know if they're still a couple.

Iranian Islamic Regime Destroys More Persian Culture

10,000 sq.m. of Partho-Sasanian Site in Susa Destroyed to Built a Hotel From CAIS August 11, 2008 LONDON, (CAIS) -- The ancient city of Susa is renowned for its thousands of years of history and its resident-archaeologists are angry and tearful as the Islamic republic has rubbed them out of their heritage. Last week a hotel construction company belonging to the prominent members of the Islamic Republic bulldozed out 10,000 sq.m. of the pre-Islamic ancient Iranian site of Susa in order to prepare a foundation for construction of a hotel. Experts have dated the destroyed strata to the late Parthian (248BCE -224 CE) and Sasanian (224-651 CE) dynasties. The dug out area is 100x100 metres wide and 6 meters deep. During the excavation a human skeleton most probably being either Parthian or Sasanian, large Partho-Sasanian earthenware vessels, a large number of Partho-Sasanian potsherds and other relics were taken away and destroyed. The illegal permit for construction of Laleh Hotel was issued by Khuzestan’s Province Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation (KCHHTO). Speaking with journalists in Tehran, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation (ICHHTO) on Sunday, asserted the wrongdoers will be prosecuted. Although it was Rahim-Mashaei himself who attended the commencing-ceremony along with the director of KCHHTO, and ordered the construction to begin. To add insult to injury, when Rahim-Mashaei was questioned by journalists about his participant in the destruction of the site, the director of ICHHTO, claimed that he was not aware of the historical importance of the site. Susa was registered on Iran’s national heritage site in 1930s and every elementary school child in Iran knows the historical importance of Susa and its special place in Iranian history and civilisation. According to the archaeologists with the Susa Research Centre, the dug out earth from the site was taken away to a secret location unknown to them, perhaps to destroy any traces of pre-Islamic Iranian heritage.

Philippines Chess: Mary Israel Flores Palero

From the Sun Star Davao Sunday, August 10, 2008 Mary Israel Palero: Exuding beauty and brains By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan "CHESS is the battle of the brains," replied the five-foot-three Mary Israel Flores Palero when asked why she chose chess as a sport. When you see this 15-year-old daughter of Joseph and Eden Gener Palero, you wouldn't think of her to be involved in a serious sport as chess. With her height and good looks, she could even give beauty pageant contestants a run for their money. But Mary confines herself to the challenge of pushing pieces and outwitting her rivals, whether male or female. In the recently-concluded Gaisano South Citimall and Primovit Rapid Age-Group Chess Championships, she won against a male opponent bringing home the P2,000 runner-up cash prize in the under-16 category. "I started playing chess at age nine. My father encouraged me to play the sport," she told Sun.Star Davao. Mary, a graduating High School student at the Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC), made her competition debut during the Davao City Athletic Association (DCAA) Meet in 2003 where she also finished second. She at last won the DCAA title in 2004 but she landed at the fifth spot during the Davao Regional Athletic Association (Davraa) Meet, thus, denying her a slot in the Palarong Pambansa. In the 2005 Davraa Meet in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte, she captured the crown. She then kept the title for the next two years. She finished fifth place in Palaro at the Iloilo City (2005) and in Naga City (2006). She occupied the sixth slot in the 2007 Koronadal Palaro and in the 2008 Puerto Princesa Palaro. Mary, however, has her own share of triumphs like bagging the kiddies' title of the 2006 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship Davao-Mindanao leg held at SM City Davao. "I feel proud of myself when I became champion because I did not expect it," she said. She also swept the championship trophies in the 2005 Araw ng Dabaw chess tournament, 2005 Kadayawan Sportsfest and 2005 Pahalipay ni Mayor sa Pasko chess tournament. She placed fourth in the 2008 National Age-Group Chess Championships in Metro Manila, earning her a slot the to country's team set to see action in the World Youth Chess Championships in Vietnam in October. Mary completed her elementary education at the Banganga Elementary School in Cabantian. She got into the HCDC High School varsity chess team through the recommendation of HCDC coach National Master (NM) Prospero "Bebot" Cruz to sports coordinator Billy Cruzada. Mary however said she continues to give studying importance. "I'm enjoying a full scholarship now being a varsity scholar. I also avail of allowances. I also put weight on my academics while I train for chess," she said. "I usually wake up at 5 a.m. for my regular exercise then I'm off to school. When I return home, I go through my home works and study then I give myself two to three hours to play chess before I sleep," she added. She said being in sports has helped her to be more outgoing because she is a shy person. "I've met different people from different places with different values and skills in playing chess. I've been learning a lot through these experiences," she said. She hopes that she could get sponsors for her stint in Vietnam this October so she could also be exposed in an international competition. "It's really my greatest dream to be the most popular woman chess player in the world," she shared. Mary also dreams of becoming a successful flight attendant 10 years from now with two bachelor degrees to her credit. [Okay, if she earns two bachelors' degrees, why would she want to become a flight attendant? Is that what educated women in the Philippines do?]

Susan Polgar On Chess

Here is her latest column from Lubbock Online: Polgar: Many winners, great success for chess tourney held on Tech campus Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sunday, August 10, 2008 Story last updated at 8/10/2008 - 3:31 am A record 52 players from across the country participated in the fifth annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls held at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion, which ended Aug. 1. This is the first year this prestigious event was held at Texas Tech University. In past years, it was held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (2004), Phoenix (2005), Oak Brook, Ill. (2006), and Cherry Hill, N.J. (2007). The winner of the 2008 SPNI is Courtney Jamison of Texas. Even though she had come close before, she was not able to capture this elusive title. However, this was her year. After starting out on fire with five straight wins, she took a quick draw in the final round against a dangerous Linda Diaz of New York to clinch the title. 2008 SPNI Final Top 10 Standings The winners are listed below by name, rating, state and final score: 1. Courtney Jamison, 2,046, Texas, 5.5 2-3. Linda Diaz, 1,726, N.Y., 5.0 2-3. Ashley Carter, 1,877, Michigan, 5.0 4-6. Rebekah Liu, 1,699, California, 4.5 4-6. Angel Bohannon, 1,700, Texas, 4.5 4-6. Nisha Deolalikar, 1,726, California, 4.5 7-13. Brianna Conley, 1,573, Ohio, 4.0 7-13. Michelle Xue Chen, 1,762, Massachusetts, 4.0 7-13. Amelia Wheeless, 1,711, North Carolina, 4.0 7-13. Rita Mirchandani, 1,813, Florida, 4.0 7-13. Sylvia S Yang, 1,911, Texas, 4.0 7-13. Michelle Farell, 1,506, Oklahoma, 4.0 7-13. Fiona Lam, 1,727, Maryland, 4.0 • Nisha Deolalikar (California) was the winner of the Texas Tech four-year academic scholarship as the highest-finishing player who has not graduated from high school by August. The scholarship must begin the following year at Texas Tech in Lubbock. • Linda Diaz (N.Y.) was the winner of the $500 Ursula Foster award as the highest-finishing player younger than 14. • Crystal Qian (Arkansas) won the 2008 SPNI Miss Congeniality award. She received the highest total of votes from her fellow players. • Faith Munoz (Texas) was the winner of the SPNI Sportsmanship Award. • Morgan Mahowald (Minnesota) won the biggest upset award. She is rated 994 and defeated a player with a rating of 1,683 in the first round. For her effort, she received a $100 cash scholarship, sponsored by Dewain Barber and American Chess Equipment. Melanie Newell (Mississippi) scored the biggest cumulative upset. • Randy Wheeless, father of Amelia Wheeless, president of the N.C. Chess Association, was the co-winner of the SPNI Parents & Friends Open. He tied for first with my elder son Tommy Polgar. Chess Dad Greg Gossell won the Parents & Friends Unrated Section. Congratulations to all. Special thanks to Jerry Perez, Dr. Hal Karlsson, Dr. Rich Rice, Chase Watters, Peggy Flores, Paul Truong, Mr. and Mrs. Grimaud, Randy Wheeless, and all other volunteers for transporting the players and their families from and to the airport. Also special thanks to Chief TD Frank K. Berry of Stillwater, Okla., for running the tournament and chess dad Matt Mahowald for running the Parents & Friends and Bughouse events. This was truly a team effort to make the tournament a big success. More than $150,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded in this event and an additional $25,000 was budgeted for housing, meals and organizational costs, etc. This level of support for chess from a university is unprecedented. Once again, special thanks to Texas Tech, the Susan Polgar Foundation, American Chess Equipment, Internet Chess Club, Lubbock Convention and Visitor's Bureau, U.S. Chess Trust, and others for sponsoring this fantastic event. I am looking forward to an even bigger and better 2009 SPNI. Prior to this tournament, only one of the 52 players had visited the magnificent Texas Tech campus. At the end of the tournament, I asked the players to fill out a tournament survey. After spending a week on campus, approximately 40 of the 52 players expressed interest in attending TTU in the future. In fact, some have started the process to apply. Thank you for sending in many wonderful comments. Please keep questions and comments coming by e-mailing me at susan.polgar@ttu.edu. You can also find a lot of information at http://www.SPICE.ttu.edu or through my daily chess blog, http://www.susanpolgar.blogspot.com.

Venus of Willendorf Celebrated

A feminine icon of fertility and goddessness receives her due. Mature women with post-menopausal "bulge" around the middle and bountiful breasts, revel in your beauty! Austrians fete voluptuous, prehistoric Venus By VERONIKA OLEKSYN, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 7, 5:26 PM ET VIENNA, Austria - It's Venusmania in Vienna, where Austrians are celebrating the discovery 100 years ago Thursday of a tiny but voluptuous figurine that dates back 25,000 years to a time when mammoths roamed the region. Venus wine, Venus chocolates, and pancakes with Venus jam — Austria is going all out Friday to fete the limestone beauty known as the Venus of Willendorf for the hamlet along the Danube where archaeologists stumbled upon her a century ago. The Venus of Willendorf is just 4 inches tall but is celebrated for her undeniably curvy, feminine figure. Experts say the statuette dating back to the Paleolithic era is among the world's oldest depictions of a woman. But exactly what she represents — or who carved her all those thousands of years ago — remains a mystery. Was she a fertility symbol, a lucky charm, a goddess — maybe even a prehistoric piece of pornography? "That's of course an interpretation question," said Walpurga Antl-Weiser, an expert at Vienna's Natural History Museum who has written a book about her, adding that it's hard to know what the humans of that era were thinking. The figurine wasn't made from local materials, and over the years, similar statuettes have been found elsewhere, including France and Russia, Antl-Weiser told The Associated Press. Back then, mammoths, bison and woolly rhinos roamed Willendorf, with humans living in camp communities, according to the Natural History Museum. Modern-day archaeologists found the statuette during an excavation in 1908 and brought her for safekeeping at the Natural History Museum. She made her public debut in 1998. Before Friday's big bash, she'll make a brief homecoming trip back to Willendorf. Starting Saturday, the Venus of Willendorf — along with several "sisters" from Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — will be on display at the Natural History Museum until February. Fact is, the figurine continues to fascinate. Reproductions of the Venus are widely available — as chocolate, marzipan, even as soap. On Friday, Austria's post office will officially unveil a special stamp in her honor. To Antl-Weiser, the interest is easy to explain. "She's very corpulent but still very beautiful," she said. "One gets the feeling she has become an icon."

Treasurer Trove!

Roman ring is unearthed in field Published Date: 31 July 2008 (Pocklington Post) By Staff Copy A RING found by treasure hunters in Dunnington could date back nearly 2,000 years, an inquest has heard. The silver Roman ring had been unearthed by a man using a metal detector in a local field.It was subsequently sent to the British Museum for examination.Weighing 4.3 grams, it is made of silver and bears a palm branch motif – a symbol of victory during the Roman era.Experts estimate it could date back to between 100 and 300AD. York coroner Donald Coverdale classified the ring as treasure and said he hoped the Yorkshire Museum would take it. ************************************************************************************ Amateur treasure hunter finds £25,000 bejewelled cross in field with metal detector By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 11:16 PM on 06th August 2008 Amateur treasure hunter finds £25,000 bejewelled cross in field with metal detector A pure gold cross dating from the 7th century has been discovered by a man with a metal detector. The inch-long piece of Anglo Saxon jewellery is made out of 18-carat gold and was probably worn as a pendant. Experts believe the English-made piece could be worth at least £25,000. It is thought the cross, which is decorated with fine detail and adorned with red gemstones, might have originally held a religious relic. Two of the four gemstones and any relic are missing. It is made with gold probably melted down from Merovingian French coins. Two of the red cabochon gemstones are missing as is the relic that would have been kept in its centre. The red stones are among the world's most ancient gems and were used by ancient Greeks who called them granatum, the same word they used for pomegranate seeds. The anonymous finder discovered the 1,400-year-old cross just 12 inches beneath the sod on a farm in Nottinghamshire. He had already unearthed a Saxon penny and beaten copper plate before probing deeper. 'Instinctively I put down the digger and scraped gently at the soil with my gloved hand,' he said. 'Then I made contact with a piece of metal that made me want to remove my glove. It seemed warm, almost alive, to my touch. 'My fingers closed on it and when I opened them I was gazing down, literally with my jaw dropped in astonishment, at the most wonderful find I've ever recovered. 'The actual moment of the discovery remains as sharp as ever in my memory, but the remainder of the day, even the next few days, have since become a blur thanks to my excitement.' The finder rushed to show his find to the farm's owner. 'Farmers being farmers, he didn't show quite the same excitement as he might have displayed if I'd shown him a prize-winning cow, but he seemed quite pleased,' he said. He handed the find to a coroner who declared it as treasure trove at an inquest. This means the finder will get half the proceeds of a sale. He is likely to split his earnings with the farmer. The specific location of the find is being kept secret for fear that so-called 'nighthawks' will descend on it in case there is anything else to be found. Another story on this find (with more details).

Free E-Book on How the Olympics Began

BAR (one of my favorite websites) is offering a free e-book on the how the ancient Olympics began if you sign up to get the email newsletter of the Biblical Archaeological Society. Got to love Herschel Shenks! Get your FREE e-book, “The Olympic Games: How They All Began,” on the ancient origins of the modern Olympics when you sign up for our FREE weekly newsletters with breaking news, features, contests and more.

Cleopatra Buried in Paris?

The translation from French to English if a bit suspect in parts, but this is a fascinating story. Could there possibly be truth to it??? Is the mummy of Cleopatra buried in Paris? The following is a translation of La momia de Cleopatra se esconde en París by Ramón Llanas for lavanguardia.es (Posted August 3, 2008) Cleopatra VII, the great Cleopatra, the big nose of geopolitical power, is in Paris. It is a matter of justice, because what would be better for a woman like her? Specifically, she is buried in the gardens of the National Library of France, at its old headquarters of the Rue Vivienne, near the Louvre and the Palais Royal. That is what Juan Angel Torti, former Chilean journalist and possibly the most elegant retiree in Paris, has been sustaining for years. This former reporter for Agence France-Presse, whose headquarters is a stone’s throw from where the Egyptian queen supposedly lies, looks forward to the moment when archaeologists reach access to the end of the 120 meters long tunnel at the temple of Tabusiris Magna, 50 kilometers from Alexandria, where the sarcophagi of Cleopatra and Marco Antonio are allegedly located. That is expected to happen later this year, as announced by the Egyptian authorities. But Torti is certain they are in for a big disappointment: “The tomb of Cleopatra is empty.” Author of a book on this subject (Cleopatra in Paris, published in Chile and recently translated into French), Torti stumbled upon a publication in which former Théodore Mortreuil, conservative and secretary-treasurer of the National Library, who died in the 50’s, argued that the female pharaoh was buried in the gardens of the institution. From there, Torti began an investigation which brought many surprises, some not related to Cleopatra, such as the existence of an artificial lake with fish in the basement of the Palais Garnier, the Opera Theatre of Paris, or the presence of other mummies buried at the foot of the monument of the Bastille. Torti argues that the mummy of Cleopatra is part of a batch of three (two men and one woman) given to General Bonaparte in his failed expedition to Egypt. “They were among the few things that the future Napoleon I was able to draw from Egypt after the French defeat by the English. Those three mummies were exhibited at the National Library upon his return, to a wide audience. The whole world would see Cleopatra and all newspapers spoke of the event. ” In 1870, Napoleon’s nephew, Napoleon III, declared war on Prussia. The Prussians defeated the French, arriving in Paris. “It was the first time that Prussian troops paraded under the Arc de Triomphe, and the last one, because after the First World War, the Unknown Soldier was placed at the foot of the monument and the German soldiers had no choice but to march around it in 1940. ” The Prussians eventually got tired of parading through Paris. “What happened to the National Library during their stay? Its officials had built a wall to seal a room in which they concealed the priceless possessions of the institution to save them from looting, including the three mummies.” When the danger subsided, the wall was destroyed, but the humidity had begun to decompose the mummies. Nevertheless, they were shown again. “Shortly thereafter, in 1871, the city saw the arrival of the Paris Commune, the popular uprising that became especially strong in the north part of the capital, creating chaos.” One high ranking official of the military in charge of protecting the National Library found the smell that emerged from the mummies irritable and gave the order to bury them in the garden, under the cloak of night. Monsieur Mortreuil was shocked, but had no choice but to accede to the wishes of the military and, shovel in hand, headed the entourage that carried on with the burial. “Torti hopes that when the Egyptologists fall flat upon the empty tomb of Cleopatra, the French authorities will assume their responsibilities and, again, someone will go to the beautiful gardens of the National Library, shovel in hand. This time, however, it will be to rescue Cleopatra, the most Parisian of the queens of the world.

Chess Legend to Play Rising Chess Star

What a great idea - kudos to the promoter who came up with this idea. It's a perfect way to promote chess in the Philippines and, indeed, garner international interest, since folks are interested in GM Wesley So's progress in the chess world. Story from Sports. Inquirer.Net Chess Legend vs Chess Wonder Boy P1 million showdown slated By Marlon Bernardino Cebu Daily News First Posted 09:43:00 08/09/2008 IT'S all system's go for the richest sports event in the country when the undisputed Chess Legend takes on the Chess Boy Wonder in a P1 Million showdown to be held in Quezon City, Davao, Iloilo and Cebu. Eugene Torre, Asia's first grandmaster, and Wesley So, presently the world's youngest grandmaster at 14, will face each other in a one-on-one duel consisting of ten games. Two games each will be played in Quezon City, Davao, Iloilo and Cebu and if the match remains unresolved, another two games will be played in Quezon City. A knockout game will ensue if the duel is tied at 5-5. This was announced yesterday by the event's project director lawyer Samuel Estimo after Quezon City representative Matias Defensor agreed to bankroll the match in a meeting last Monday. “Magandang proyekto ito kaya nagpapasalamat tayo kay Cong. (Mat) Defensor na sumuporta sa event na ito,” said Estimo, a former secretary-general of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP). NCFP region 11 coordinator James Infiesto is pleased when he learned that Davao City is one of the four venues of the event dubbed as “Dream Match.” “We are privileged and honored that our city is one of the four venues in the Torre and So one-on-one duel,” said Infiesto. “Maganda ito, legend versus future of Philippine chess.” “Tiyak aabangan ito hindi lamang sa Pilipinas kundi pati sa buong mundo,” said Reginald Tee, consultant and spokesman of Wesley So who is currently playing in Turkey for the World Junior Chess Championship. The match will be held at a date to be agreed upon by the two GMs preferably after So and Torre have fulfilled all their international tournaments. “Baka February 2009 after sa event ni Wesley (So) sa Corus,” said Tee. Torre will leave on August 8 for the United States where he will also visit his daughter, Nicolle, who is now based in Alaska. According to Estimo, the two chess luminaries had drawn their three previous games with Torre nearly winning their last encounter. The first to score 5 1/2 (5.5) points will win the match and the P600,000 winner's prize while the loser will earn P400,000. Another P100,000.00 will go to the winner of each leg while the loser will take home P50,000. It shall be recalled that Torre and arch rival GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr., settled for a 3-3 draw in their recent “Quezon City Chess Road Show” one-on-one. Copyright 2008 Cebu Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. According to my calculations, 1 million P equals $22,540.30 USD (1.00 PHP = 0.0225403 USD)

Harika Dronavalli Leads World Juniors Girls

Article from Press Trust of India: Harika beats Nakhbayeva, takes sole lead in World Jr Chess From Our Chess Correspondent Gaziantep (Turkey), Aug 9 (PTI) Top seeded International Master India's Dronavalli Harika today scored a clinical victory over Guliskhan Nakhbayeva of Kazakhstan to emerge as the sole leader after the 7th round of ongoing World Junior Girls' Chess Championship here. Playing the white side of a Nimzo Indian defense, Harika attained a slight advantage out of the opening and nurtured her position well enough to knock down one black pawn before tightening the noose. Guliskhan did not have answers of the precise technical display and called it a day when she was about to lose the second pawn too. The victory helped Harika take her tally to 6 points out of a possible 7 and she now enjoys a half point lead over nearest rivals Adriana Nikolova of Bulgaria and Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine. Amongst the other Indian girls in the fray, only Soumya Swaminathan scored a victory and inched herself up to 5 points at the expense of compatriot Kruttika Nadig. Soumya won with black pieces. Also reaching 5 points with her cool display was R Preethi, who held erstwhile sole leader Tatev Abrahamyan to a draw in a rook and pawns endgame. Top chess femme standings after 7 rounds. USA's Tatev Abrahamyan is in 4th place with 5.0, leading a pack of several chess femmes also with 5.0.

Art and Chess

A fine article in The Telegraph.co.uk about artists who happen to be chessplayers (or is that vice versa?) (Cruella DeVille as the black queen by Maurizio Cattelan) From Duchamp to Damien Hirst, chess has long inspired the big names of the art world. Alastair Sooke reports Last Updated: 12:01am BST 09/08/2008 In 1927, Marcel Duchamp, the French-born trail-blazer of conceptual art, married a young heiress called Lydie Sarazin-Lavassor. The honeymoon did not go well. "Duchamp spent most of the week studying chess problems," recalled the artist's close friend Man Ray, "and his bride, in desperate retaliation, got up one night when he was asleep and glued the chess pieces to the board." Bad move. They were divorced three months later. Full article.

Correspondence Chess

In the old days, it was done with postcards. Now, it's played on the internet. I didn't realize it, but I've been playing correspondence chess for years! It's any game at a website server where you make a move, the other player is notified via email and has a certain time limit to make a responsive move, etc. etc. I have played at Its Your Turn and Red Hot Pawn. Unfortunately, this format practically invites unethical players to cheat by utilizing a chess program to "suggest" moves. Of course, no one has to cheat against me, I'm so bad a player you can win even if I were using a computer! Been playing for years and I still hang pieces, don't understand the concept of controlling the center, and manage to lose winning positions (but I don't know they're winning positions). LOL! I saw this announcement at Susan Polgar's chess blog: The International Correspondence Chess Federation is considering holding a World Championship for young women, and is asking anyone who is possibly interested to contact us so we can determine if there will be enough participants to schedule the event. The event will be played on the ICCF webserver (www.iccf-webchess.com). Moves are made on a chessboard via drag and drop, an easy way to play, with the server sending the move to the opponent, and keeping track of moves, time used, and even sending reminders. Any young woman who will have her 20th birthday after March 1, 2009 will be eligible to play, and is requested to send a note expressing your interest to schakels@comcast.net. Any questions will certainly be welcome. Details will be determined later, but there are no ICCF dues, and the entry fee for the recent Junior World Championship was 20 CHF, about $20. Time controls are typically 50 days for 10 moves. Finally, I want to express heartfelt thanks to Susan Polgar for volunteering to post this note on her websites and blogs. Corky Schakel, ICCF-US Secretary

A Fairy Tale Castle

I saw this at Yahoo Travel - hard to believe it's actually real! It's the perfect castle for Cinderella, or Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or JanXena. It's the Lichtenstein Castle near Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo credit: Greg Gawlowski - Lonely Planet Images)

Section 8 Housing Experiment a Failure in Antioch, CA

An article in The New York Times about Section 8 (subsidized) Housing shows that you can take people out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of people. Sociologists have long claimed that leaving behind high-crime, low-employment neighborhoods for the middle-class suburbs buoys the fortunes of impoverished tenants. An article in the July/August edition of The Atlantic Monthly, however, cited findings by researchers at the University of Memphis that crime in Memphis appeared to migrate with voucher recipients. More broadly, a 2006 Georgia Institute of Technology study found that every time a neighborhood experienced three foreclosures per 100 owner-occupied properties in a year, violent crime increased by approximately 7 percent. As Antioch’s population grew to 101,000 in 2005, from 73,386 in 1995, the city built about 4,000 housing units in the early years of this decade. Now it has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the state, with about 23 of every 1,000 homeowners losing their homes as of June, according to DataQuick, a real estate information clearinghouse. While total crime in Antioch declined by 15 percent in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period in 2007, violent crime increased by about 16 percent, according to city statistics. Robberies and assaults accounted for most of that rise. In an incident report filed with the Antioch Police Department, Natalie and Darin Rouse complained of constant problems with gang members’ blaring car stereos and under-age drinking on the street. In a written account, they blamed “gross community overdevelopment, affirmative action loopholes and incompetent state government management of federal affordable housing programs” for the problems. Full article.

Russian Terrorism Comes Out in the Open

Russia's unprovked attacks on civilians in Georgia shows just what kind of barbarians they are. Under the excuse of "protecting" Russian citizens - all of whom became so by fiat when Russia decided to side with a separatist movement in South Ossetia in Georgia - Russia sent tanks and troops into Georgia and has bombed both civilian and military targets far away from the alleged site of conflict in South Ossetia. And - get this - they're saying it's all the fault of the USA. Talk about bullshit! But you see what has happened - Bush has so weakened our military strength by bogging us down in "wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan (we should have been out of both places years ago) that we cannot adequately mount a military response to the Russian terrorists. Putin and his puppets are thumbing their noses at us and killing Georgian civilians with impunity. And we can't do a damn thing about it. Welcome to the new world order.

Friday Night Miscellany

The weather has turned clement at last! The air has dried out from 70 dew point (may as well wear a loin cloth and live in the jungle with that kind of dew point) earlier in the week and I've been able to live for the past two days without central air conditioning! What's more, we may get some scattered showers tomorrow. We need rain - desperately! NBC has the Olympics Opening Ceremony on tonight for FOUR HOURS. That was YESTERDAY'S NEWS. Oh please. Trying to jerk viewers into thinking this is "live." What a joke - and even funnier (and sad) is that people will fall for it! I am, instead, watching the 2004 "Hellboy." Well, it was that or "Washington Week." What would you watch? Actually, it's pretty engaging :) To tickle your ironic bone, your funny bone, your sore toe bone, your sniffly nose bone, your bad hair day bone, and whatever other bone you can think of, including empty pocketbook bone:

• Evidence is piling up that a new mini-Ice Age could descend suddenly and take hold within 365 little old days, with catastrophic consequences. One of the ironies of global warming!
• Only girls being born in Arctic - I've written about this elsewhere - this is scary as hell.
• Victim of Indian temple stampede rises from the dead
• Tee hee hee - The Sun never fails to amuse. Our old International Chessoid was modeled after it. Check out the "leprechaun alien."

Was that a cue, perchance? Meet our Mr. June, 2000 pin-up from the cheesy chess tabloid formerly known as The International Chessoid a/k/a TIC. He's none other than GM Ivan Vassalhunk, known to be a bit high strung but with an ELO of 3452 and that bod, I doubt you'll hear many complaints from the chess femmes...

'night...

2008 World Juniors Chess Championship (Girls)

Rank after round 7 Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Fide Rtg+/- Ra Rp 1 1 IM HARIKA Dronavalli 2461 IND 6 24½ 7 2256 2565 2 2 WGM MUZYCHUK Mariya 2413 UKR 5½ 24 8 2276 2506 3 23 WFM NIKOLOVA Adriana 2242 BUL 5½ 20½ 26 2198 2428 4 13 WFM ABRAHAMYAN Tatev 2277 USA 5 24 21 2268 2426 5 18 WIM MIKADZE Miranda 2258 GEO 5 21½ 14 2191 2349 6 31 WFM OZTURK Kubra 2188 TUR 5 21 24 2262 2297 33 WFM NAKHBAYEVA Guliskhan 2170 KAZ 5 21 25 2250 2287 8 6 WIM MAJDAN Joanna 2323 POL 5 20 6 2204 2362 9 32 PREETHI Rajkumar 2183 IND 5 19½ 21 2229 2268 10 12 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Turkan 2284 AZE 5 18½ 3 2131 2259 11 10 WIM SOUMYA Swaminathan 2293 IND 5 18 2 2142 2300 Those are the top players with 5 to 6 points, battling for the top 3 spots. Dronavalli has the sole lead now after winning her Round 7 game and she's going to be very difficult to knock out of the top spot, having garnered tons of international experience against tough fields during the past year, and playing particularly fine chess since January of this year in major events. How is Narmin Kazimova doing? Right now she's in 25th place with 4 points, a more than respectable showing after 6 rounds against the toughest competition she's likely to face anywhere in the world. Narmin came to my attention by way of her perfomance in the European Women's Individual Championships earlier this year. India's Mary Ann Gomes, Padmini Rout and Nadig Kruttika are in 19th, 20th places, respectively, also with 4 points. There are 9 players from Turkey, which isn't surprising to me since the event is being hosted in Turkey; on the other hand, I saw only one US player, Tatev Abrahamyan (go, Tatev!) India has 6 players and they're all in the top 21 (2 in the top 10)! Play is half over; tomorrow is a free day and then the second half begins on August 10th. There are a total of 13 rounds, and from the looks of things it will be a tight race all the way to the end. In the juniors (guys) section, Hou Yifan is hanging tough in 5th place with 5.5 after Round 7.

Who's Doped and Who's Not?

When watching the Olympics for the next two weeks, remember this quote: In an interview with Craig Lord, John Leonard, President of the World Swimming Coaches Association, said: 'We know that any performance that comes from outside the world top ten in the year [before the Games] to the podium is an anomalous performance and literally everyone of those performances over the last four years has later been proven to be doped. So if we get performances that are coming from outside the world top ten in the 2008 Olympic Games, no matter what nation they are from, we have to look long and hard that performances.'

What that means, in simple English, is that if a bunch of Chinese unknowns suddenly start winning medals in the swimming competitions, they were probably doped and stopped taking the stuff 2 weeks ago so it wouldn't show in urine tests. There are reasons why Chinese swimmers, particularly the females, look just like the East German women's swim team did in the 1980's, and it's not because they train 24-7! The NOVA special on the devastating results of doping those East German athletes in the 1980's should be enough to make anyone pee their pants. One woman was so altered by the constant overdoses of steroids and testosterone that she had a sex change operation and became a "he."

Here's the full story about the Chinese and doping: Spectre Of Doping Haunts China On Eve Of Games, Jul 21, 2008, by Craig Lord, SwinNews.com.

Of course, doping is not limited to the Chinese, but it is interesting that as of the date of this story, no members of the Chinese swim team had yet been named! Were they waiting to see who would pass their internal urine tests prior to naming the team???

Chariot and Horse Burial Uncovered in Bulgaria

I am fascinated by this kind of burial - it is so evocative of the ancient chess piece the ruhkh (warrior and chariot) and the "King's Champion" - Ruhkh - utilized by the Shahs of ancient Persia. Until the game of chess was modernized, probably in Spain at the end of the 14th century (The Chief, Ricardo Calvo, wrote extensively on this) the "rook" (a/k/a ruhkh) was the most powerful piece on the board, capable of broad sweeping moves. Bulgarian archaeologists discover ancient chariot By VESELIN TOSHKOV, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 7, 12:24 PM ET SOFIA, Bulgaria - Archaeologists have unearthed a 1,900-year-old well-preserved chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Thursday. Daniela Agre said her team found the four-wheel chariot during excavations near the village of Borisovo, around 180 miles east of the capital, Sofia. "This is the first time that we have found a completely preserved chariot in Bulgaria," said Agre, a senior archaeologist at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She said previous excavations had only unearthed single parts of chariots — often because ancients sites had been looted. At the funerary mound, the team also discovered table pottery, glass vessels and other gifts for the funeral of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat. In a separate pit, they unearthed skeletons of two riding horses apparently sacrificed during the funeral of the nobleman, along with well preserved bronze and leather objects, some believed to horse harnesses. The Culture Ministry confirmed the find and announced $3,900 in financial assistance for Agre's excavation. Agre said an additional amount of $7,800 will be allocated by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for an initial restoration and conservation of the chariot and the other Thracian finds. The Thracians were an ancient people that inhabited the lands of present day Bulgaria and parts of modern Greece, Turkey, Macedonia and Romania between 4,000 B.C. and the 6th century, when they were assimilated by the invading Slavs. Some 10,000 Thracian mounds — some of them covering monumental stone tombs — are scattered across Bulgaria.

Chess News Update

Chess Femme News has been updated, and my August column at Chessville is now up and running. Enjoy!

The Search for a German Stonehenge Begins

German scientists dig for their own Stonehenge Wed Aug 6, 2008 10:23am EDT (From Reuters) BERLIN (Reuters Life!) - Archaeologists have discovered traces of a Bronze Age place of worship in Germany in what they say might be the country's answer to Stonehenge. Scientists from a university in Halle are excavating a roughly 4,000 year-old circular site in eastern Germany which contains graves that bear a strong resemblance to Stonehenge, a prehistoric stone circle of towering megaliths in southern Britain. "It is the first finding of this kind on the European mainland which we have been able to fully excavate and which shows a structure we have until now only seen in Britain," Andre Spatzier, head of the excavation team, told Reuters TV. He thinks rituals and ceremonies took place at the site, possibly even sacrifices. "The way it is built, with many concentrated rings of graves, walls, palisades and pillars are very similar to the British monument at Stonehenge," added Spatzier. The site, near the town of Poemmelte, was discovered through aerial photos which showed the formation of the graves in a ring with a diameter of about 80 meters (yards). One difference to Stonehenge, however, is that the remains are made out of wood rather than stone. So far the scientists have found few items such as bones or pieces of glass, but they expect to find more as the dig continues. The final results are expected to take up to three years. Stonehenge goes back to 3,100 BC when native Neolithic people started its construction. There is no consensus among scholars on whether it was a temple, burial ground or an astronomical site. (Reporting by Reuters Television, Writing by Madeline Chambers, editing by Paul Casciato)

Mysterious Object Crashes Near Needles, CA

This is "old" news, from May, 2008. Here's the You Tube link (video) to the news broadcast out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Normally, darlings, I don't pay any attention to this sort of thing, but I have to admit I found this rather intriguing and a very well done news report! I don't think it's an "alien spacecraft" - more likely a test on a top secret aircraft being developed for/by the US government that went awry. That would be a fascinating story, though, all by itself.

Knights Templar Launch Legal Battle Against Pope

From The Telegraph.co.uk If even a tenth of what is said in some of the myths of the Templars is true, they sure were an interesting group - supposedly the progenitors of the Masons (Scottish rite), the first pirates flying under the "Jolly Roger" flag, the engineers of the mysterious "money pit," the architects of the mysterious Roslyn Chapel. The heirs of the Knights Templar have launched a legal battle in Spain to force the Pope to restore the reputation of the disgraced order which was accused of heresy and dissolved seven centuries ago. By Fiona Govan, Madrid Correspondent Last Updated: 1:07PM BST 04 Aug 2008 The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros (£79 billion). They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights were appropriated by the church. But their motive is not to reclaim damages [yeah, right] only to restore the "good name" of the Knights Templar. "We are not trying to cause the economic collapse of the Roman Catholic Church, but to illustrate to the court the magnitude of the plot against our Order," said a statement issued by the self-proclaimed modern day knights. The Templars was a powerful secretive group of warrior monks founded by French knight Hugues de Payens after the First Crusade of 1099 to protect pilgrims en route to Jerusalem. They amassed enormous wealth and helped to finance wars waged by European monarchs, but spectacularly fell from grace after the Muslims reconquered the Holy Land in 1244 and rumours surfaced of their heretic practices. The Knights were accused of denying Jesus, worshipping icons of the devil in secret initiation ceremonies, and practising sodomy. Many Templars confessed to their crimes under torture and some, including the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were burned at the stake. The legal move by the Spanish group comes follows the unprecedented step by the Vatican towards the rehabilitation of the group when last October it released copies of parchments recording the trials of the Knights between 1307 and 1312. The papers lay hidden for more than three centuries having been "misfiled" within papal archives until they were discovered by an academic in 2001. The Chinon parchment revealed that, contrary to historic belief, Clement V had declared the Templars were not heretics but disbanded the order anyway to maintain peace with their accuser, King Philip IV of France. Over the centuries, various groups have claimed to be descended from the Templars and legend abounds over hidden treasures, secret rituals, and their rumoured guardianship of the Holy Grail. Most recently the knights have fascinated the modern generation after being featured in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.

4000 Year Old Canaanite Warrior Found

This is a rather sad discovery because the archaeologists are saying this "warrior" was between 15 and 20 years old when he was buried. Hardly even time to have a life. Lebanon Daily Star By Mohammed Zaatari Daily Star staff Tuesday, August 05, 2008 SIDON: The British Museum's excavation team in Sidon have recently unearthed a new grave containing human skeletal remains belonging to a Canaanite warrior, archeology expert and field supervisor Claude Doumet Serhal told The Daily Star on Monday. According to Serhal, the delegation made the discovery at the "Freres" excavation site near Sidon's crusader castle. "This is the 77th grave that we have discovered at this site since our digging activities has started ten years ago with Lebanese-British financing," she said. According to Serhal, the remains go back to 2000 B.C., with a British archeologist saying the warrior had been buried at the age of 15 to 20 along with a spear and two stamps. "We have discovered earlier this year a jar also belonging to the Canaanite period i.e. to 2,000 years B.C. where a skeleton for a newborn baby had been found," she added. The archeologist said that Freres "is the first excavation site in old Sidon that is located on a land owned by the General Directorate of Antiquities." "We can say that through the discoveries we have been making at this site, we will be able to draw a graph showing the history of this ancient Mediterranean merchant city since 3000 BC," she added. Serhal said the British delegation would continue its work until the first of September "when we will announce the discoveries we have made." "Among the institutions that have taken in charge the financing of our project, are the British Old House Institution, the Issam Fares Foundation, the National Cement Company, the Hariri Foundation and Sidon's school network in addition to Byblos Bank," she said. Serhal had described Sidon as one of the most important metropolises of the Near East from the earliest of times. "It is mentioned 38 times in the Old Testament and appears in Genesis as the oldest Canaanite city, 'the firstborn of Canaan,'" she said. During those 10 years ago of excavation the discoveries were continuous: tombs and burial jars for children and adults, jugs, pieces of pottery with Phoenician inscription, bronze weapons for warriors in addition to jewelry. "Last year, for example, we found tons of wheat going back to 3000 BC," Serhal added. The British Museum launched earlier this year an archaeological documentary entitled "Sidon 5,000 years" with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the ancient history of the southern port city.

2008 World Junior Chess Championship (Girls)

Standings after Round 4: Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Fide 1 13 WFM ABRAHAMYAN Tatev 2277 USA 4 10 2 1 IM HARIKA Dronavalli 2461 IND 3½ 9½ 2 WGM MUZYCHUK Mariya 2413 UKR 3½ 9½ 4 17 WIM DAULETOVA Gulmira 2267 KAZ 3½ 9 5 7 WIM GOMES Mary Ann 2316 IND 3½ 8½ 6 18 WIM MIKADZE Miranda 2258 GEO 3 8½ 29 ISGANDAROVA Khayala 2207 AZE 3 8½ 31 WFM OZTURK Kubra 2188 TUR 3 8½ 9 19 WIM PADMINI Rout 2257 IND 3 8 24 MUMINOVA Nafisa 2242 UZB 3 8 11 22 WIM IVAKHINOVA Inna 2248 RUS 3 7½ 12 9 WFM HOOLT Sarah 2298 GER 3 7 23 WFM NIKOLOVA Adriana 2242 BUL 3 7 33 WFM NAKHBAYEVA Guliskhan 2170 KAZ 3 7 15 6 WIM MAJDAN Joanna 2323 POL 2½ 8 30 WFM LEKS Hanna 2198 POL 2½ 8 17 25 WIM NADIG Kruttika 2241 IND 2½ 7½ 26 WIM YILDIZ Betül Cemre 2236 TUR 2½ 7½ 27 WFM PERTLOVA Sona 2217 CZE 2½ 7½ 20 4 WGM NEMCOVA Katerina 2372 CZE 2½ 6½ 12 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Turkan 2284 AZE 2½ 6½ 15 WIM TSATSALASHVILI Keti 2271 GEO 2½ 6½ 16 WIM POURKASHIYAN Atousa 2269 IRI 2½ 6½ 21 WFM BOROSOVA Zuzana 2254 SVK 2½ 6½ 32 PREETHI Rajkumar 2183 IND 2½ 6½ 26 11 WIM DAULYTE Deimante 2288 LTU 2½ 6 27 47 KALASHYAN Varduhi 2049 ARM 2½ 5½ 28 48 GUO Qi 2048 CHN 2½ 5 29 38 KAZIMOVA Narmin 2148 AZE 2½ 4½ 30 8 WFM SEVERIUKHINA Zoja 2300 RUS 2 6½ 31 10 WIM SOUMYA Swaminathan 2293 IND 2 6 28 WFM GASIK Anna 2211 POL 2 6 33 5 WGM FOISOR Sabina-Francesca 2337 ROU 2 5½ 34 34 WFM SGIRCEA Silvia-Raluca 2167 ROU 2 5 60 ALAVI Hour Homa 1723 IRI 2 5 36 45 IKONOMOPOULOU Maria 2074 GRE 2 4½ 37 40 WFM TJOLSEN Katrine 2121 NOR 2 4 41 WFM ERIC Jovena 2111 SRB 2 4 46 MIDDELVELD Martine 2073 NED 2 4 49 WFM CHIERICI Marianna 2037 ITA 2 4 51 ALBANO Jeremias Bianca 1990 POR 2 4 52 HEGARTY Sarah 1966 ENG 2 4 43 42 WFM BERKE Ana 2100 CRO 2 3½ 44 43 WFM SHAMIMA Akter 2099 BAN 2 3 45 14 WFM PAIKIDZE Nazi 2277 GEO 1½ 5 37 WFM KLIMETS Elena 2150 BLR 1½ 5 47 3 WFM BODNARUK Anastasia 2394 RUS 1½ 4 48 35 WFM DAVLETBAYEVA Madina 2155 KAZ 1½ 2½ 49 44 WFM EFROIMSKI Marsel 2091 ISR 1½ 2 63 KAYA Sena Nur 1529 TUR 1½ 2 51 20 WGM CORKE Anya 2255 HKG 1 4 52 36 WFM TOTH Sarolta 2151 HUN 1 3 39 WIM HAMRAKULOVA Yulduz 2145 UZB 1 3 50 WFM BAYRAK Asli 2013 TUR 1 3 53 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA 1 3 61 ANTON Sarah 1681 AUS 1 3 57 54 ACAR Gizem 1931 TUR 1 2½ 56 MISOVIC Sanja 1914 MNE 1 2½ 59 55 BUKOVEC Tina 1929 SLO 1 2 57 BOYARCHENKO Marie 1895 LUX 1 2 58 ANTONOVA Nadezhda 1883 TJK 1 2 62 KARAYAYLALI Pinar 1597 TUR 1 2 63 65 DAI Irmak 0 TUR 1 1 67 OZMUT Perinisa 0 TUR 1 1 65 59 GARCIA Liria Caetano 1792 BRA ½ 1½ 66 64 BOSNJAK Antonija 0 BIH 0 0 66 KAYA Saadet 0 TUR 0 0 68 SALATIC Milica 0 BIH 0 0

Aussie School Girl Wins Coveted Weiqi Spot

Fascinating. This young lady has her head together - and the potential to earn "millions of dollars" playing Go! Reported in The Australian D. D. McNicoll August 05, 2008 Schoolgirl passes go JOANNE Missingham, a 14-year-old schoolgirl from Brisbane, has become the first Aussie to join the ranks of professional go players in China. Go, or weiqi as it is known in China, is an ancient strategy game with similarities to chess. In Hangzhou last month, Joanne faced fierce competition as players from across China battled for one of only two playing positions offered by the Chinese Weiqi Association each year. The top professional go players can earn millions of dollars each year. Australian Go Association president John Hardy says Joanne's achievement is extraordinary. "Remember in 2006 how underdog Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus fought his way to the final of the Australian Open (tennis)? Joanne's achievement must seem like that to the Chinese," Hardy says. Joanne will also represent Australia in the World Mind Sports Games, which will be held in Beijing after the Olympics. strewth@theaustralian.com.au

Supporting Local Chess: Announcements

Atascocita, Texas From Our Tribune.com August 4, 2008 Atascocita Library 19520 Pinehurst Trail Drive, is open Sunday 1-5 p.m., Monday and Thursday 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Tuesday 1-9 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Friday 1-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, call 281-812-2162. August programs: Aug. 7 at 1 p.m. Third annual Tween and Teen Chess Tournament. Sign up for an exciting afternoon of chess. Check out our amazing trophies in the display case. Registration is required since space is limited. ***************************************************************************************** Washington, D.C. From an article in the Mercury News.com (San Jose, CA) Check out the competitive chess players who congregate at Dupont Circle [Washington, D.C.] More on the chessplayers at Dupont Circle: Checkmate: Dupont Circle Chess for Newbies TOM MURPHY BALKS at my use of the word "intimidating" to describe the chess players at Dupont Circle. Then again, I have to remember to take what he says with a grain of salt. One of the most skillful players at Dupont, Murphy claims to know only "a little something" about chess. Having just sat through a chess lesson with him, I beg to differ. To a beginner like me, Murphy's mastery of the board game — featured prominently in The Washington Post Magazine's "The Days and Knights of Tom Murphy" last fall — is nothing short of mind-boggling, and the chess tables at Dupont Circle are downright scary. Walk through the northeast quadrant of the park and, unless you're a competitive chess player yourself, you're bound to agree. Luckily, according to Murphy, there's hope for even the most clueless chess newbie — as long as you follow a few basic rules. Rest of article. ************************************************************************************************** Announcement from Emporia Gazette! I have no idea where Emporia is - there is not an ounce of identifying markers in the page from which these announcements are taken. I believe they both refer to the same chess club: Saturday (August 9, 2008) The Emporia Chess Society meets from 1:30 to 4 p.m. every Saturday at Pyramid Pizza. All ages and skill levels are welcome, including children. There is no charge. Aug. 11 The Emporia Chess Society meets from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Granada Coffee Company. All ages and skill levels are welcome, including children. There is no charge.

Dragon Monument Found in Azerbaijan?

Ancient stone monument found in Lenkoran, Azerbaijan BAKU. JULY 28. KAZINFORM. A stone monument with an image of an unusual animal, similar to a dragon on it, was found in Kozalar village, of Lenkoran, Azerbaijan. The animal has a crown on his head, with fire coming out of its mouth. According to archaeologist Janvashir Hasanzade the age of the stone with the image of a dragon is at least 2000 years. He said the discovery is an anthem of the Girkan state on the Ptolemy's map. The ruins of ancient buildings were found in this territory. They locate at an area of 2 hectares. An underground tunnel of 3 meters in height and 1 meter in width was discovered during the digs in 1988. [! 1988? Nothing like these archaeologists being current in their field publications. Geez!] Due to the tense situation in the country, no studies were held there. [In 1988? or now?] The underground tunnel is in four directions. The west part of the tunnel extends to 6 kilometers to the ruins of Bellebur tower, Kazinform cites TodayAZ.

Official Chinese News Agency Reports 16 Police Killed

Can this be confirmed by independent sources? If not, I don't believe it. Report: 16 police killed in China border attack By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: August 4, 2008 Filed at 12:13 a.m. ET BEIJING (AP) -- China's official Xinhua News Agency says an attack on a border patrol station on the country's frontier with Central Asia has killed 16 police officers. The report says the assailants used a dump truck to ram their way into the paramilitary police station in Kashi and then tossed two hand grenades. Besides the dead, Xinhua says 16 officers were injured. Xinhua, citing police, said two attackers were arrested. It did not identify them. The area is home to a Muslim Turkic people, the Uighurs (WEE'-gurs). The Uighurs have waged a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule. The attack comes four days before the opening of the Olympics in Beijing. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BEIJING (AP) -- China's official Xinhua News Agency says an unknown group of people has attacked a border patrol station on the country's frontier with Central Asia, leaving dozens of police officers injured. The report says the assailants drove two vehicles inside the paramilitary police station in the Kashi region Monday and then threw two grenades. The brief Xinhua dispatch described the attackers as ''rioters.'' The area is home to a Muslim Turkic people, the Uighurs (WEE'-gurs). The Uighurs have waged a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule, with some drawn to the militant Islam that has buffeted Central Asia.

Chess News

Hola! I've been working like a maniac for the past two days on the August, 2008 Chessville column, that I submitted just a few minutes ago to my editor for review. It should be up and running soon. Keep your eyes out. Meanwhile, dondelion has updated Random Round-up at Goddesschess, and has a report on the award of the Goddesschess Promoted Pawn Prize at the 2008 Canadian Open. Vacation is over - back to work.

Friday Night Miscellany

It's Friday night and everything's all right - well, it would be, if the dew point would just drop about 20 points -- relief is supposedly on the way, just hovering to the west of Madison right now... So much is strange and unusual in the news this week, it's hard to pick and choose, but I thought I'd start out with some 'ONE STEP BEYOND' stuff. For anyone old enough to remember that outstanding show, I understand it's still in syndication - somewhere - but I don't have cable or satellite t.v. so I'll never see it again, unless it's one U-Tube somewhere. Well, alas, and moving on: Something of a minor sensation was made a week or so ago when Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the astronaut, was on a late-night radio show and talked about close encounters of the alien kind and, as I gather (not having heard the broadcast or read a transcript), about U.S. government cover-ups of the TRUTH, which is indeed OUT THERE, just waiting for Mulder and Scully to show up. Here's some brief info about what Mitchell said (and has said for the past 10 years):

• Frenzied press coverage after latest interview
• For those who want to hear it for themselves, check out this UFO Blogger post, which has the relevant excerpt, as well as NASA's response ("Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinion on this issue.").
• What Mitchell said 10 years ago
• A video interview from this year's X-Conference in which he says much the same again

So, today I see this report by "another NASA veteran" who confirms Dr. Mitchell's accounts in all aspects and will tell all - but only for a large pay-off. He probably wants Euros, too...

Not to be outdone, no less than The New York Times published it's own article about UFOs - but they covered their butts by placing it in the Op Ed pages. Chickens!

The Axum Obelisk is being resurrected in the town of Axum, Ethiopia, near Addis Ababa. Take a look at a map, you'll see that Ethiopia has Sudan on it's west border, and Somalia on its east. Yeah, a real comfy, peaceful spot, just full of liberty and justice for all - and religious tolerance, too. Wonder how long the 1,700 year old Obelisk will last once it's standing in place? Any one want to place a bet? I wonder if Vegas is giving odds??? Perhaps someone will hold the Obelisk hostage in hopes of a big pay-off, threatening to blow it up if the cash doesn't come. Hmmmm, I smell a movie in the works...

J.K. Rowling ia making a bid for the title greediest author of all time. Still four months to release date and already the cheapo paperback edition of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" is a best seller on Amazon.com.

But wait - according to the Daily Grail.com there's also 100,000 copies of a super-duper "Collectors' Edition" selling for only $100 USD, available for only a few fervent fans. Hmmmm, let's see, if all 100,000 "Collectors' Edition" sell (I believe we can expect they will), that's a gross of Ten Million Dollars. The blurb about the book at Amazon says: Net proceeds from this Collector's Edition and the Standard Edition support of the Children's High Level Group, a charity co-founded in 2005 by J K Rowling and Emma Nicholson MEP to make life better for vulnerable children. (The Children's High Level Group is a charity registered in England and Wales under registered charity number 1112575.)

"Net proceeds", heh? Well, we all know how that works in the movie industry. Does it work the same in the book printing industry? Also note, it does NOT say that "ALL net proceeds" from the sale of the Collector's and Standard editions go to support the charity. Just an oversight? Are we supposed to assume that ALL net proceeds will go to the charity and Ms. Rowling gets not a single dime? Yeah, and the Moon is made of green cheese.

I discovered early this week, much to my horror, that I have MICE. Yes yes, I have mice outside, they don't bother me and I don't bother them. But one or more unknown entities of mouse origin invaded the Inner Sanctum, the Sanctum Sactorum, the Abode of this Goddess. As Bugs Bunny once said, "you know, of course, that this means war..."

I got moth balls, and bombed the exterior of the house. Tomorrow I'll get outside and search the perimeter for wee openings the size of a dime or larger and plug them up and do further mothball bombing. Meantime, I did research on the internet and discovered that essential oil of Peppermint is a known mouse deterrent. Great, I thought. I ran to the supermarket after work on Monday and purchased 100% Pure Peppermint Extract - and two "camoflauged" mouse traps made of plastic. Guaranteed to hide the body of the deceased from one's squeamish view after the trap has sprung.

Well, okay. The camoflauged mouse traps don't work - I tossed them in the garbage and they'll probably take off one or more fingers of some unsuspecting garbageman somewhere down the line. I also discovered, upon further research, that 100% Pure Peppermint Extract is NOT the same as essential oil of Peppermint. Nooooooo - 100% Pure Peppermint Extract is guaranteed, according to my research, to attract ANTS. After my bout with the Invasion of Body Snatcher Ants a few years ago and a costly extermination process, you can imagine my horror - and I'm still hunting down cotton balls saturated with 100% Pure Peppermint Extract. How many cotton balls can one woman possibly hide in a 1,650 square foot house, I ask you?

The mice, meanwhile, were laughing at me. The first night I put out the camoflauged mouse traps, they ate all the peanut butter off the triggering mechanism and the traps did not spring. Next night, same thing. So, last night, I went back to the supermarket and got the cheap old-fashioned kind of mouse-trap that takes muscles to set - the Victor Mouse Trap! I just love that name, implying as it does, "victory" of mere humans over the Mighty Mouse.

I eagerly set a trap last night and after three false tries, I finally got it set without snapping off my fingers or my nose. Put it down in the suspect spot near the fireplace in the living room where they must be coming in through some miniscule hole along the gas pipe from the basement (they have left distinctive "clues") - anyway, I was all set. I didn't get much sleep though, anticipating that distinctive "snap" sound when the trap goes off.

Only it didn't happen. This morning when I checked, all the peanut butter was gone - and the trap had not sprung!

Ohmygoddess, I thought, a ghost mouse! I staggered to the office bleary-eyed and groggy all day, from lack of sleep, cursing the little bugger or, more likely, buggers under my breath. They were mocking me, I could feel their teeny beady eyes boring into the back of my neck, and they were snickering, their whiskers twitching this way and that...they were probably hiding under my bed and coming out at 2:45 a.m. to giggle in the corner, waking me up just enough to wonder what the hell was that strange noise in the corner...

So, tonight, when I got home, I got really serious about mouse extermination. I checked the Victor trap - this time the peanut butter was still intact, but I saw I had far too much of it on the trigger. I pulled the trap, sprung it with a butter knife (let me tell you, it works, whoa!) and made sure this time I put only a smidgeon of peanut butter on the trigger and mushed it in well so any offending mouse would have to really dig down to get at the goodies. That was about 6:30 p.m.

Shortly after 8 this evening, I heard the distinctive sound of the trap going off. OHMYGODDESS, I got one, I thought. I ran out from my upstairs bedroom (where the computer hutch is currently residing), turned on the big overhead light on the ceiling overlooking the staircase, and sure enough, there was a mouse, still alive but caught by the neck, tugging in vain to try and get out. It was all over in a few seconds. The struggle ended.

Did I mention I was eating supper at the time - a hamburger, loaded with ketchup and pickles and mayo. I kept eating. Am I a cold hearted beyatch or what? To make a long story short, I went downstairs, donned rubber safety apparel and disposed of the mousey corpus on the compost pile below the retaining wall out back, expecting that either the racoons will get it or the ants and beetles will. I then washed off the trap (there was some blood on it) and wrapped it in paper toweling to absorb the moisture. I baited a second Victor trap (they come two to a pack) and after springing it a couple of times, I successfully got it over to the spot near the fireplace where I'd caught the first mouse.

I was upstairs still working on my hamburger, not 10 minutes later, when I again heard that distinctive "snap" sound and, sure enough, when I ran out to the balcony overlooking the living room and fireplace and turned on the big light, there was another little sucker caught in the trap, also struggling to get out, also deceasing in my sight in a few seconds. I finished my hamburger and disposed of this body in the same place as the first.

Number 1 corpus was larger, number 2 corpus was smaller, so I figured "daddy" and "mommy" - which means, quel horreurs - babies! Definitely field mice, not voles, not rats (thank Goddess!) I pulled out the first trap from it's paper towel wrapping, still damp, and baited it again. It also went off 2 times while trying to set it, but on the third try I got it down on the floor near the fireplace. So far, nothing. I'm hoping there are no babies and no further mice invade my Inner Sanctum.

Does this make me a murderer? What's more, does this make me an inhuman monster murderer who continued chomping on a hamburger while mayhem and death occured practically under her very nose? Oy! Well, I was hungry.

The lesson to be learned from this - don't fall for the "humane" traps that are intended to shield one's delicate sensibilities from the death of a mouse. THEY ARE FRICKING INVADERS AND DESERVE TO DIE. DIE MOUSE, DIE! Ahem... Buy the Victor traps that are two for $0.99 and just be careful for your fingers (and don't get your nose too close, either). Don't make my rookie mistake and put too much peanut butter on the trigger. If you're not squeamish (evidently I'm not, at least when it comes to dead invader mice) you can wash the traps after removing the mouse corpus and use it again and again. Just make sure you dry it thoroughly so rust doesn't start in the mechanisms. Ninety-nine cents was never better spent.

'night, darlings.

'Viking' Chess? Nah - But Fun!

Players from five states gather in Eau Claire for 'Viking chess' By Janie Boschma Leader-Telegram staff July 31, 2008 For some folks, there's nothing better to do on a hot Saturday afternoon than to play a few rounds of Viking chess. Seventy kubb players from five states - Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa and Colorado - will face off this weekend in the largest kubb tournament ever held in the United States, and charities will benefit. Nicknamed "Viking chess" for its Swedish origins, kubb (pronounced koob) is a popular lawn game in Nordic countries. "Supposedly the Vikings played it thousands of years ago," said Eric Anderson, who organized the Midwest Kubb Championship, the second in Eau Claire. Registration for the 32-team tournament begins at 8:15 a.m. Saturday, followed by an overview of kubb rules at 9:15. The tournament kicks off at 9:30 and will continue through the afternoon. Spectators are encouraged to attend. Aaron Ellringer of Eau Claire will be part of the tournament with his two-man team, A to Z. "There's a really friendly part of it. It is competitive to a certain degree, but I just know it's going to be fun," he said. "There's just something silly about throwing sticks around." Essentially, two teams stand on opposing sides of the field by a row of five wooden blocks (or kubbs) and throw wooden batons to knock each other's kubbs down. "To win the game, you have to eliminate all of the kubbs on the opposing team's side," Anderson said. "If you knock the king over at the end of the game, you win." The king, the largest block that sits in the middle of the field, is the 8-ball of kubb. Ellringer said personal preference usually determines how many people play (at least two per team in the tournament) and the size of the playing field. World championship competition rules in Sweden call for an 8-by-5 meter field. The game has been described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. "Once people start playing, I'll be honest, it's addicting," Anderson said. He said the tournament combines two of his passions: kubb and helping the people of embattled Darfur, Sudan. Through sponsorship and his own personal contribution, Anderson said 100 percent of the event's proceeds will supply survival kits for Darfur refugees (through the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees) and support Girls on the Run of Eau Claire County, the local chapter of a nonprofit organization that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. Anderson first began playing kubb while living in Sweden with his family in 2005 and 2006. When he moved back to the United States almost two years ago, he wanted to introduce that aspect of Scandinavian culture to Eau Claire. It began with the formation of Beserkers, a kubb club he said now meets about once a week to play - sometimes at Peace Park across First Avenue from Just Local Food Co-op or at other parks around town. Anderson said Beserkers is the first and only kubb club in Wisconsin. He said he hopes to expand from the dozen players in the club to a kubb league soon. Anderson already has plans for a national kubb championship game in Eau Claire for 2010. "I think it's a really good thing for Eau Claire," said Ellringer, a Beserkers member. "We've been quietly talking about making Eau Claire Kubb City USA. It seems like lots and lots of people are paying attention to it."

Ancient Rock Art in Durham County, England

From BBC News online:

Ancient rock carvings discovered
More than 100 new examples of prehistoric art have been discovered carved into boulders and open bedrock throughout Northumberland and Durham.

The 5,000-year-old Neolithic carvings of circles, rings and hollowed cups, were uncovered by volunteers.

One of the most interesting discoveries was an elaborately carved panel on Barningham Moor, near Barnard Castle in County Durham. English Heritage now wants to extend the project to Cumbria.

Abstract art
Kate Wilson, inspector of ancient monuments at English Heritage, said: "We know virtually nothing about this art. That's the exciting part of this discovery.

"What we need to do now is to discover how this art relates to other prehistoric features in the landscape.

"We are talking about very simple and abstract art, using circles, lines and triangles. Mostly the designs are pecked into stone in the shape of simple cups and rings."

Archaeologists have discovered thousands of examples of prehistoric rock carvings in the area in recent years.

Many feature on a website backed by Newcastle University, which includes about 6,000 images.

Ms Wilson added: "We are sure there remains a lot that is still undiscovered in Cumbria."