The Twilight's Last Gleaming

I must say, I've really been enjoying some of Garth Brook's songs from his "Walmart" special albumn in his box set - the CD is entitled "The Lost Sessions". One of my favorites is called "American Dream". It's short and sweet clocking in at 1:54, with very little vocals. Tears anyone? My other favorites include "For A Minute There", "Allison Miranda", and "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream".

Speaking of tears, and the pathetic little sissy-boy that I apparently am, I watched "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" this weekend. As if that wasn't bad enough... I cried. That little girl just stole the show. I won't get into details just in case you decide to watch it. I had thought about buying the movie when I came out a little while back but I just couldn't convince myself to walk out with it in my hands. It just felt... weird. How could I possibly like a movie called "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"? But after Gayle told me it was good and that I'd like it, I started to have second thoughts. My sister had it and told me she'd loan it to me. Apparently she forgot. So I watched it on Pay-Per-View.

And speaking of "Allison Miranda":

On a two lane north of casper
is where this song begins
heading back to Oklahoma
for a week to visit friends
She was walking along the highway
so I pulled off to the side
and asked her if she needed a ride
...

Ever notice that's how all the great stories start... by saying yes! But nooooooo, when somebody offers me a ride what do I say? No. I'm a freaking genius! I'd rather walk... who am I kidding? Granted the odds were 376,543,299:1 that she was just being nice, but that's ok. I think those are pretty good odds for me!

Now, we can't forget about chess! Lots of chess going on in the world. The FIDE World Cup is over, with our hero Gata Kamsky finishing 9th. Not bad considering he's been out of chess for the past 10 years. Today we managed to fit a few games into our Christmas Party. The first willing participant, Chris from the VNA, tried some scare tactics and stories of the many men that had fallen to his deadly opening mate-in-7. We played two games before he and John had to run back to the VNA. Unfortunately they couldn't stay for the whole party. How did Chris and his masterful mate-in-7 fare against such a meager opponent as myself? He fell, twice.

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Nick decided to try his hand. He started out strong, playing a few reasonable opening moves, but he too fell. Then Mr. Morris, in a surprise move that will be talked about for years to come, sat down to play. I did bring a second board with me, so it was a little disappointing that noone grabbed it and tried to play each other. But instead everyone wanted to simply bring me down. As for Kipling I offered the ultimate sacrifice. While poised at the edge of eternal darkness, someone suggested that we flip the board around to see if I could survive. Honorable Knight that he is, Kip politely declined and faced certain death. He fell.

Not to dismiss any of the games played today, but the last was the most exciting. Sue told me that Elise used to play at the chess club years ago and that I should play her. Elise agreed. I could tell that she knew how to play the game. Although she did get the worst of the opening due to some exchanges that left her with doubled pawns and my knight in a strong central outpost, she defended well and could identify the problems with her position. In the end she wasn't able to overcome those weaknesses, but it was an exciting game.

All in all, a lot of fun.

Speaking of fun, I actually played a game at the chess club this Saturday! For your enjoyment:

[Event "PVCC Skittles Game"]
[Date "2005.12.17"]
[White "McDonald, Enrique"]
[Black "Borowski, Edwin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B34"]
[WhiteElo "1370"]
[BlackElo "1882"]

{The following game was played at the Pioneer Valley Chess Club on Saturday,December 17, 2005 without the use of a clock.} 1. e4 {Before the game I waslooking over the position that occurs after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 so I was alittle surprised to see Enrique play 1.e4. Then again, I don't watch hisgames too closely so he may be an e4 player.} c5 2. Nc3 {avoiding the linesthat I had been studying. Years ago I used to be an avid closed sicilian player, before I switched to the dark side. Still, my path is clear.} Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 d6 7. Qd2 {a little too early I think, though not necessarily a bad move.} Bd7 8. Bc4 Nf69. Bh6 $4 {a blunder. do you see it?} Bxh6 10. Qxh6 (10. Nxc6 Bxd2+) 10...Nxd4 11. Qg7 Rf8 (11... Rg8 12. Qxf7#) (11... Rg8 12. Bxf7#) 12. O-O-O Ne6 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14. e5 Ng4 15. Qxh7 Nxe5 16. Rhf1 Bc6 17. f4 Nc4 18. Qxg6+ Kd7 19.Rfe1 Rf6 20. Qd3 Nb6 21. Qg3 Nd5 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Qh3 Qh8 24. Qe3 Qxh2 25. g3Qh5 26. Qa3 a6 27. Rd3 Rc8 28. Qb4 Qf5 29. Red1 Rc5 30. Rc3 Rxc3 31. Qxc3 Rf832. Qb4 Rc8 33. c3 Qe4 34. Rd4 Qe1+ 35. Rd1 Qxg3 36. f5 Qg5+ 37. Rd2 Qxf5 38.Rxd5 {forgetting that after Qxd5 the b7 square will be protected.} Qxd5 {white resigns} 0-1

As for "The Twilight's Last Gleaming" well, heck, isn't that what it's all about?

Until next time, Ed.