July
2016
By Douglas Kent 911
Irene Drive, Mesquite, TX 75149
Email: diplomacyworld@yahoo.com or dougray30@yahoo.com
On the web at http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/. Also be sure to visit the official Diplomacy
World website which can be found at http://www.diplomacyworld.net.
All Eternal Sunshine readers are encouraged to join the free Eternal Sunshine Yahoo group at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/info
to stay up-to-date on any subzine news or errata. If you don’t like the sign-up process just
send me an email and I will send you an invite which cuts through the red tape. You should also join the Eternal Sunshine
Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/270968112943024/
Check out my eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/dougsrarebooksandmore
My book “It’s Their House; I’m Just a Guest” is
available in softcover and Kindle from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1501090968/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Welcome
to the latest issue of Eternal Sunshine, which is currently
under FDA review for a possible warning label. If you experience any of the following
symptoms, please contact your doctor immediately: difficulty breathing,
diarrhea, constipation, heart palpitation, death, stroke, coma, euphoria, dry
mouth, difficulty urinating, weight gain, weight loss, tremors, lockjaw,
hunger, thirst, or an unconscious desire for oxygen.
So what do we have
this issue? The usual
crap. Plus
columns from Larry Peery and Paul Milewski, and subzines from Jack McHugh and
Richard Weiss. (The Abyssinian
Prince should follow in a few days, I believe).
Roger Cox only needs one more player to fill his Dune game. I have a few spots left in Balkan Wars and
Diplomacy. The rest of the zine chugs
along.
It’s hot here, and probably hot where you are. So stay cool, drink lots of fluids (whiskey
is recommended), and avoid any unnecessary movement (including showering). See you in August!
Last month we gave you two questions:
#1 – The person you have been living with hints at suicide if
you carry out your intention to leave.
Do you leave as intended?
Don Del Grande – Yes. It was probably things like that that lead me
to consider leaving in the first place.
Andy York – Too many
variables to make a definitive answer to this one. For instance, is there a
history of self-destructive behavior, are they prone to making grandiose
statements without any intent, how stable is their job/family situation, etc.
Melinda Holley – I
immediately call the mental health professionals and
report that this person has hinted at committing suicide. If I'm still committed to this relationship,
I'll support this person, go to counseling, etc. If I'm not (and this type of manipulation
would push me in that direction), I let the mental health professionals handle
it entirely.
Andy Lischett - This is the
toughest hypothetical yet. I am a very loyal person so it would take a lot for
me to leave someone I'd committed to, but to have that person then threaten
suicide would reinforce my decision to leave. I would, however, probably delay
leaving to see if I could help the other person, although delaying might just
end up "enabling" her. A threat to commit suicide may originate as a
tactic to make me stay, but if the threat were successful suicide might become
to seem a legitimate action. I would definitely need to know the other person
very well, and it might turn out that there is nothing that I could do.
John David Galt - This
is about the only case where I would actually call the mental health
authorities on someone else against his will.
I believe suicide is entirely between the would-be suicider and his God,
if any – unless he makes it my problem by making a threat like this, a game
changer which makes him potentially dangerous to everyone around him.
Jack Mchugh - I'm out anyone
who explicit threatens it like that, e.g. using themselves as a hostage..but I would try and contact his friends or family or both
to try and get someone to stay with him or her....
#2 – You and your mate expect loyalty and honesty from one
another. One night, out of town, you
have a fling. Do you tell?
Don Del Grande – Yes,
as there is always the chance that my mate will find out anyway, so better that
I be up front about it.
Andy York – Yes, but if I was
in such a relationship that expected loyalty, why would I have a fling in the
first place? [[Well, as you know, that’s the
point of the hypothetical question entirely: to ask you to consider how you
would act in a given situation that you find yourself in, whether or not you’d
find yourself there in real life.]]
Melinda Holley – Yes.
And since we expect loyalty and honesty, I confess and don't try to excuse
it. Find a reason, yes. Excuse it, no. Then I hope we can rebuild our relationship.
Andy Lischett - No. Just an ugly
secret (I would hope) to keep me awake at night.
John David Galt - I've
had plenty of relationships (and in one case narrowly avoided marriage), but
have refused ever to promise anyone "fidelity", so indeed this could
never happen. Still, if I made such an
agreement, I would feel I must abide by it.
Thus if I'd agreed to tell all, I tell all -- and if I'd agreed not to
have a fling, I would not have done it in the first place.
Jack McHugh - No I wouldn't...it
would only make me feel better and my partner worse. I'd keep to myself and use
it as motivation to be a better spouse. If you need to tell someone that's what
friends are for (or clergy or shrink or some other professional if you don't feel
comfortable telling your friends.)
For Next Month (For the time being, I am often selecting
questions from the game “A Question of Scruples” which was published in 1984 by
High Games Enterprises). Remember you can make
your answers as detailed as you wish..but “this could
never happen” is a cop out answer: #1 – You witness a car accident in which one party is clearly
to blame: your Uncle. There were no
injuries, only vehicle damage. Do you
come forward to testify? #2 – You make a
withdrawal at an ATM at your bank and $40 extra comes out. Your receipt shows the amount you requested,
so you know you won’t be debited for the extra $40. Do you report it?
For
the time being I am reserving this section for exceptional films, or films we
see in theaters. I will also mention
films that I backed on Kickstarter or other places, once I get to see them, and
films made by some of my friends or acquaintances. So some months there will be no Dining Dead
section.
Film Review – Altered
Minds: I’ve seen Altered
Minds described as a psychological thriller, which is in part accurate. I prefer to think of it more as a
psychological mystery. I went to public
school with the Writer and Director and Producer Michael Z. Wechsler, so I
already had made a mental note to see this film when it was released. A small crowdfunding campaign for additional
production costs let me back it and get an early copy of the DVD.
The
film stars Judd Hirsch as Dr. Nathaniel Shellner, a Nobel Prize-winning
psychiatrist now 75 years old and slowly dying from cancer. As his family gathers for his birthday
celebration, chaos begins to ensue as youngest son Tommy exhibits a worsening
mental instability and paranoid accusations directed at his father. Tommy (Ryan O’Nan), who was adopted by the
family as a youngster, is joined at the get-together by fellow adopted children
Julie (Jaime Ray Newman) and Harry (C.S. Lee, who many will recognize from his
role on the Showtime series Dexter).
Also in attendance is the Doctor’s faithful wife Lillian (Caroline
Lagerfelt) and eldest child Leonard (Joseph Lyle Taylor) who is the only
natural child.
As
you would expect, one has to tread lightly when reviewing a film like this
because of the need to avoid any spoilers.
The focus of the celebration quickly moves from Nathaniel to Tommy, and
even though his rantings and stories sound fantastic they begin to have an
effect on his two adopted siblings as well.
As Dr. Shellner’s work has focused on traumatized patients – especially
those from war zones or former military personnel – the adopted children have
vague memories of their lives before being rescued and brought to the United
States. And there is the usual tension
between adopted children and the one natural child. Tommy becomes more and more insistent about
his claims, and soon it becomes clear there may be more to the family history
than meets the eye.
Shot
on a moderate budget, the home and surrounding winter landscape is quite
beautiful and captures the isolation the family is experiencing; there is no
world but the family itself at that moment, and the microscope can only be
turned within. Ryan O’Nan does a rather
good turn as the troubled Tommy. His
role is one that could have easily succumbed to overacting but I found he
managed to walk the tightrope successfully.
To my surprise, the acting I was least impressed with was that of my
personal favorite Judd Hirsch and of Caroline Lagerfelt. Granted, both characters are quite reserved
in personality, but I never was fully convinced by their moments of strong
emotion, whether love or anger or despair.
I think Mr. Hirsch played his Dr. Shellner a touch too analytically, and
perhaps that reflected onto his wife’s character.
Wechsler
enjoys some clever misdirection in the plot; at least enough to muddy the
waters and allow you to focus more on what is happening and less on trying to
guess the answers to all the looming questions.
Not everything succeeds fully, but there is enough which works to make
Altered Minds enjoyable and entertaining.
Overall
I think most fans of this genre of film will enjoy Altered Minds, and it is
good enough for me to forgive Wechsler for writing a negative review of the
Romero/King masterpiece Creepshow back in 8th Grade. Considering how much I love that movie, you
should be able to see I give Altered Minds more than a simple passing grade.
The 1960’s or 1970’s or
1980’s or 1890’s – Any Leftovers
Larry Peery – 1980’s
Thomas
Frost (producer) & Vladimir Horowitz for Horowitz in Moscow
Thomas
Frost (producer) & Vladimir Horowitz for Horowitz - The Studio Recordings,
New York 1985
James
Mallinson (producer), Georg Solti (conductor) & the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra for Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D
Samuel
H. Carter (producer) & Glenn Gould for Bach: Goldberg Variations
James
Mallinson (producer), Georg Solti (conductor) & the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra & Chorus for Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor
Comments:
Some
people didn't like Horowitz, but then some people didn't like Lizt either.
Emperor Joseph infamously complained about a Mozart piece having too many
notes, but nobody in Moscow complained when Horowitz played Sousa's Stars and
Stripes Forever as an encore during The Cold War. I'll
have more on that in the next XENOGOGIC; which should be in this issue of ES
somewhere.
Glen
Gould, a Canadian pianist, is remember for being a master interpreter of Bach,
but he's remembered more for his idiosyncrasy of singing along with his
playing. Various live recordings testify to that. Still, is recording of the
Goldberg Variations is perhaps the best ever.
Mahler
gets two reactions from classical music lovers: they love him or they hate him,
but nobody is apathetic towards him. Mahler's Second Symphony, The
Resurrection, was his most popular some. Some said it was his response to
Beethoven's Ninth. I happen to like it and the Solti recording is as good as
any.
Mahler's
Ninth Symphony was his last, although it was his tenth work in a symphonic
form. No chorus or hoopla, just a certain seriousness (unlike in the 2nd) as he
ponders the afterlife.
The 2000’s – First Set
of Five
Doug Kent – Poe – Haunted
Antje
Duvekot – The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer
The
Joe Jackson Band – Volume 4
Joe
Jackson – Rain
Conjure
One – Extraordinary Ways
Andy Lischett - I have two albums from the 2000s.
1.
DeStijl by The White Stripes. I like Apple Blossom.
2.
Peter and the Wolf, by Serge Prokofiev. The Russian National Orchestra,
conducted by Kent Nagano and narrated by Sophia Loren. This CD was a handout at
a charity auction organized by my sister, who pocketed a few extra copies.
Prokofiev is my favorite Russki compose and Peter & the Wolf is fun and
Sophia Loren is way sexier than Sterling Holloway. Unfortunately the CD also
contains Wolf Tracks, an updated, politically correct version of Peter &
the Wolf by Jean-Pascal Beintus, and narrated by (gag me with a spoon) Bill
Clinton. According to the liner notes: "Wolf Tracks is a
tale that converts the image of the wolf from a fearsome creature to one that
represents the imperative to cherish and protect natural resources. This
is a contemporary perspective that encompasses the importance of recognizing
the point of view of others, a value that lies at the core of understanding
different people and cultures." Maybe, but I don't recommend petting the
wolf. In this new version the peace-loving wolf surrenders to Peter, Peter then
feels guilty and releases the wolf back to nature, the wolf then races across
the meadow and stops and turns to howl back at Peter: "Aaaoooo",
which is wolf for "A-hole!"
Andrew Goff - The happiest
times of my life.
The decade dance and rock made love and the babies were something special.
“Sound
Of Water” by Saint Etienne
“Feel
Good Inc.” by Gorillaz
“Speakerbox/The
Love Below” by Outkast
“Discovery”
by Daft Punk
“Yoshimi
Battles The Pink Robots” by The Flaming Lips
Paul Kent – Allan Holdsworth The Sixteen Men of Tain
Pat
Metheny:. Speaking of Now
Pat
Metheny:. The Way Up
Michael
Brecker:. Pilgrimage
King
Crimson:. The Power to Believe
Joshua Danker-Dake - 2000s. This was far and away the best decade for
metal. My goodness, I could put 30 albums on this list.
Sabaton,
“The Art of War” – My favorite band ever: military history meets astonishing
energy, making converts out of non-metalheads of all kinds. This isn’t their
finest album, but it was the beginning of the excellence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJZS4wZR8dM
Therion,
“Lemuria/Sirius B” – This double album is their absolute greatest. One of my
top five all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFi-kCxQ6BI
Iron
Fire, “Blade of Triumph” – An obscure band that’s set the bar high and
subsequently had trouble reaching it, this was the only time they managed an
all-around great album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkMfVeZUqEw
Amorphis,
“Eclipse” – A folk/prog metal band I’d never found particularly interesting
finds the missing piece to greatness in new vocalist Tomi Joutsen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImKQ5JGETA0
Dawnrider,
“Fate is Calling” – It ended up being a one-off side project, but there are
probably more good songs here than in Majesty’s entire catalog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPDAtB4adp8
Martin Burgdorf: 2000 Lio: Je suis comme ca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xc_vmmH_OE\
If
you learned French in school, there is a good chance that you were confronted
at least once with a poem by Jacques Prévert. "Déjeuner du matin" is
the one I had to read in a language course I attended. I think it is incredibly
sad.
"Paroles"
by Prévert is the 16th best book of the 20th century.
2003
The Fall: The Real New Fall LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vep0u9Zstm4
The
name of the band was inspired by "La chute" by Nobel Prize winner
Albert Camus. It was his last complete work of fiction. I always wanted to read
it, but my teacher at the Alliance Francaise told me I should not do it,
because this book was incredibly depressing.
I
am beginning to understand why France has double the suicide rate of countries
like the UK or Spain.
2004
Wire on the Box: 1979
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhtYeJXNNbU
A
great band at its best
2002
shelleydevoto: Buzzkunst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpqOjtyd81o&list=PL_oi20OvO67qL9w73D0qXUGqyTLEdCUbI
A
collaboration between Pete Shelley from Buzzcocks and Howard Devoto from
Magazine
2001
DAVID THOMAS AND TWO PALE BOYS: Surf's Up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-cpLG36V3M
David
Thomas' records are moody, strange, and unique. Believe it or not, the title
song is a cover of a Beach Boys classic.
Steve Cooley - Mud on the Tires,
Brad Paisley
Defying
Gravity, Keith Urban
No
Line on the Horizon, U2
Live
Like You Were Dying, Tim McGraw
Waking
Up Laughing, Martina McBride
FYI – The only people
who are up-to-date with all their selections from the 60’s through the 2000’s
are myself, Martin Burgdorf, Andrew Goff, Steve
Cooley, and Joshua Danker-Dake.
Deadline for the second
set of 5 Albums from the 2000’s (2000 through 2009) is July 26th at 7:00am my time! Feel free
to include comments in your own choices, or on anyone else’s! Or just get your ass in gear and catch up if
you are behind.
Where in the World
is Kendo Nagasaki?
Round 1
Clue to Person With Closest Guess:
We are both dead, but we knew each
other in life.
Deadline for Round 2 of the new game is July
26th at 7am My Time
Brain Farts: The Only
Subsubzine With It’s Own Fragrance
By Jack “Flapjack” McHugh – jwmchughjr@gmail.com
(or just email Doug and
he’ll send it to me)
Issue #80
I know you douchebags are probably sick
of politics by now. But the coming
election is very important and that’s why we need to pay attention to it. With that in mind and because I am too damn
lazy to write any book or movie reviews or anything like that, here is some
political crap. Read it and weep
suckers.
PREFERENCE LISTS
by Paul Milewski
The Diplomacy game called “Tom” in
Andy Liscehtt’s Cheesecake #349 is one of those instances in which each
of the seven players got his first choice of country:
AUSTRIA
(Kevin Wilson). Afrtgei
ENGLAND
(John Melesky). Etgraif
FRANCE
(Craig Cowley). Fergait
GERMANY
(Harold Zarr). Gfierta
ITALY (Ken Iverson) Irtaefg
RUSSIA
(Doug Kent). Rigafet
TURKEY
(Cary Nichols). Tfrgeai
Andy’s system of allocating positions
to the players is based on the assumption (the same one I used when I published
Yellow Pajamas years ago) that every person feels just as strongly about
his first choice as the other six players feel about theirs, equally strong
about his second choice as they do about theirs, and so on. Assigning the numerical value of 1 to
everybody’s first choice, 2 to their second choice, and so on, Russia comes out
to have been the most preferred country, with an average preference of 3.0
exactly; the least favorite were Austria and Italy, each with an average
preference of 4.275714 (carried to that many digits). (Were no one country is a more popular choice
on
average than any other, the average preference would be exactly 4.0
for each of the seven positions.)
As long as each person got his first
choice, each person’s satisfaction with the outcome could not have been greater—collectively,
happiness was maximized. In that special
case, it is not necessary to assume that every person feels just as strongly
about his first choice as the other six players feel about theirs, equally strong
about his second choice as they do about theirs, and so on, to know that.
Contrast the special case of “Tom”
with the case of “Jerry” (also in Cheesecake #349), in which at least
one person did not get his first choice:
AUSTRIA (Ken Iverson) Aefgirt
ENGLAND (Brendan Mooney) Etfrgai
FRANCE
(Colin Bruce) Any
country
GERMANY
(Rick Copeland) eGfarti
ITALY
(Ron Fisher) Any country
RUSSIA
(David St. John) Refgtia
TURKEY (Doug Kent). Tefgrai
Mooney and Copeland each had England
as his first choice, so you look at their second choices. Mooney’s was Turkey and Copeland’s was
Germany. Inasmuch as Turkey was Kent’s
first choice, Kent got Turkey, so Turkey was not available to Mooney, but
Copeland’s second choice (Germany) had not been anybody’s first choice and was
available to go to Copeland. So, Mooney
got England and Copeland got Germany.
That’s the way it works.
If the relative preference Copeland
had for England and Germany could have been measured, it’s possible he might
have been twice as happy with England than he was with Germany—or a hundred of
times happier. Who knows? How could you? Rank ordering your preference for chocolate,
vanilla, and strawberry doesn’t deal with the person who somewhat prefers
chocolate over vanilla but thinks strawberry is awful.
The way Andy’s method works might be
likened to each person who submits a preference list being considered as
participating in an auction in which each person submits a secret bid for each
country as if he could win all 7 bidding contests (get all 7 positions), as odd
as that sounds, and each person instructed to “bid” $7 on his first choice, $6
on his second, $5 on his first, and so forth.
The two people (Bruce and Fisher) listed as wanting “any country” would get
whatever is left over (France and Italy), presumably at random—flip of the coin
or whatever. The total “collected” from
the winning bidders would have been $34 (Bruce and Fisher would have “paid” $0
for being willing to take whatever is left).
In “Jerry” this is the maximum amount that can be “collected” from the
five “bidding” players (those expressing a preference)—one of the five people
participating in the bidding cannot get his first choice of country. (In “Tom” a total of $49 would have been
“collected,” the maximum possible in an “auction” of this design, all seven
players having gotten their first choices.)
The ramifications of this approach are
perhaps more obvious in the case of the game “Dr. Pepper” (Boardman #2009-B)
announced in Cheesecake #287:
AUSTRIA (Doug Kent) gertAit
ENGLAND (Stan Johnson) Eiartfg
FRANCE
(Cary Nichols) Fratgei
GERMANY
(Brendan Mooney) Gfertai
ITALY
(Ken Iverson) Iareftg
RUSSIA (Craig Cowley) fRtagei
TURKEY (Paul Milewski) Trigfea
Andy’s procedure resulted in everyone
getting his first choice if it was uncontested (five
people out of the seven). Converting to a
$7 “bid” for first choice, $6 “bid” for second choice, and so forth, in “Dr.
Pepper” we get Kent “paying” $3 for A and Cowley “paying” $6 for R, everyone
else “paying” $7. The total “collected”
is $44. The question to ask is whether
any country assignments other than the actual AEFGIRT shown above to Kent,
Johnson, Nichols, Mooney, Iverson, Cowley, and Milewski, in that order, would
have caused more than $44 to be “collected.”
How about EIFGART (shown below with
the seven players in the same order as before, for purposes of comparison)?
ENGLAND
Doug Kent) gErtait
ITALY
(Stan Johnson) EIartfg
FRANCE
(Cary Nichols) Fratgei
GERMANY
(Brendan Mooney) Gfertai
AUSTRIA (Ken Iverson) iAreftg
RUSSIA (Craig Cowley) fRtagei
TURKEY (Paul Milewski) Trigfea
EIFGART would have resulted in fewer
people getting their first choice (3 people: Nichols, Mooney, and Milewski) but
the other four people would each have gotten their second choice. Kent (E) would “pay” $6, Johnson (I) $6,
Nichols (F) and Mooney (G) $7 each, Iverson (A) and Crowley (R) $6 each, and
Milewski (T) $7. The total “collected”
would be $45. Three get their first
choice, four get their second choice.
That’s more than $44 and represents a higher collective or aggregate satisfaction
with the outcome than the way used by Andy (which is the same I would have used
in Yellow Pajamas) to assign countries to players. If using dollars in this manner doesn’t
thrill you, you’re welcome to go Old Testament on me and use talents of
gold. The principle is the same. Instead of what happened (five players
getting their first choice, one player his second, and one his fifth choice),
we get three players (Nichols, Mooney, and Milewski) getting their first choice
(same as before) and the other four (Kent, Johnson, Iverson, and Crowley)
getting their second. Looking at it a
different way, two players (Johnson and Iverson) take one step down their order
of preference to get their second choices so that another player (Kent) can
take three steps up—a net gain of one step collectively. The collective happiness is greater if only
three of the people get their first choice instead of five (because Kent wouldn’t
get stuck with his fifth choice). We
shouldn’t be aiming to give as many players as possible their uncontested
first choices: We should be aiming
instead to give everyone taken together, or collectively, or on average,
however you care to put it, as close as possible to their first choices,
contested or uncontested.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MALCOLM SMITH?
By Larry Peery
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152501396125786&set=gm.10154175910870483&type=3&theater
From UK Postal Gaming Zine Hobby Old Farts
FB Page (courtesy of Simon Billenness). Malc is the guy in the middle.
Hej Ya! As I sit here
wondering if I’ll ever be able to walk like a normal person again, I find my mind occupied with a more important
subject --- thanx to Rip and Peter.
You might remember a game some years ago that actually
inspired a TV show. It was called “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” It
was a big hit game show for pre-teen kids on public television and was intended
to improve kids’ interest in and knowledge of geography. You can probably find
bits of it on You Tube. Anyway, my version is called “Where in the World is
Malcolmsmith?” For those of you who have
never heard of him Malcolm was a British Diplomacy player in the 1980s. He was
from Northumberland. The Diplomacy Database sums up his career in one
entry:
More on that event here:
http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/oldzines/bohemia3-4.pdf
However, there was much more to Malc than his one DIPCON
victory. I know because he was my roomie at the Con and the combination of his
tournament win and his vibrant personality will remain with me as long as I
live. I can still hear his Northumbrian accent (If you’ve never heard think a
combination Texas and Hillbilly accent in the States.) which got thicker and
thicker when he’d had a few pints or got excited about something.
He came to Fredericksburg, Virginia (Yes, THAT DipCon ---
David Hood’s first!) as the only Brit in attendance and got a lot of attention.
He is that kind of guy. American Dippers were fascinated by him and followed
him around like he was a rock star. He ate it up and took full advantage of his
special status. I would dare say that even Toby hasn’t surpassed his single event
record for the number of free pints other players bought him. I don’t remember
the first rounds of the tournament but I definitely remember the last one. By
then Malc was definitely a Diplobili (e.g. a championship contender) and I
think everybody there was rooting for him to win, if they couldn’t of course. I
don’t know but I can’t help but think that it was Allan’s manipulations that
resulted in his eighteen centers win as England. In the 64 player tournament he
had 118 points, enough for the title.
But thinking back I remember a story he told me one night in
our dorm room. He’d had a pint or four and was feeling the pressure of doing so
well I think. I asked him some questions about his background and his life in
England. He told me his entire boyhood his goal was to become an officer in the
British Army, although he had already told me stories about how the Brits (e.g.
London bureaucrats) had treated his beloved Northumbria (a relatively
undeveloped rural area in the northeast of England next to Scotland. More about
it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northumberland
). I remember he almost came to tears when he described the destroyed bridges
and unfilled bomb craters scattered around the County --- relics not just from
WWII but also WWI. It was because London
wouldn’t come up with the money to repair the local infrastructure. (No wonder
Northumberland voted solidly to leave in the Brexit Referendum.)
Then he looked at me and said in words to the effect of, “I
really wanted to be an officer in the Royal Army. I figured it was my ticket
out of the Northeast to a better life. But you know what, the Army recruiters
refused to accept me as an officer candidate because my English wasn’t good enough.
Instead they offered to let me join the ranks.
I told them to go to hell and walked out on them and my dream.” I never forgot that story.
Surprisingly I don’t recall the next time I saw him. 1988
and 1989 were busy Diplomacy travel years for me but it might have been at WDC
I in 1988 or MANORCON in 1989 or perhaps even WDC IV 1994 (all in Birmingham)
--- or perhaps that’s all wishful thinking on my part. J After that I lost contact with him although I
heard he’d moved to Aberdeen to work for British Telecom and then to Norway on
another telecommunications project.
Since I wanted to ask him a question for an article I was
researching (this isn’t it) I posted a query on a couple of FB Diplomacy pages
and actually got some replies which you can read here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/91386810482/
So here are the clues we have at the moment:
Martin Le Fevre last heard from Malc when he moved to Norway
for a telecoms job
Rip Gooch reports: “The trail goes cold in pretty much the
same place, no matter in which direction one takes. I tried to find my
erstwhile subzine editor (e.g. Malc published a sub-zine called Bohemian
Rhapsody in the 1980s.) some years back with no success.
John Dodds tells us: “Malcolm moved to Antwerp after his
time in Norway but I haven’t heard from him for about 20 years. There are no
obvious leads on Google or LinkedIn.
Peter Sullivan chimed in with: “ ‘Smith’
is not exactly an easy game to Google for, I guess…”
James Burgess wrote: “I try to keep track of everyone and
usually am a good source. But not on Malcolm. He did
publish Bohemian Rhapsody for a while out of Norway, does that help?
Laurence Peery: “I remember reading it (vaguely) It's no big
deal. I just wanted to verify something with him before DK screams about me for
not having a footnote :-) It is sad, though, that so many old-timers just have
faded away. I can say that since it is happening to me.”
Rip Gooch: “ Bohemian Rhapsody was
a companion zine to my own Ripping Yarns for a while. I have copies if that
helps. If it's a specific anecdote it might be more difficult. He was always
full of 'em!”
Peter Birks: “I went to Ascot with him back in 1998, and was
meant to meet him in a pub in High Holborn a couple of years after that, but he
didn't show up. Haven't heard from him since.”
Laurence Peery: “Rip and Peter: You gave me an idea. You'll
see the results on the various FB pages. Thanx for that.
At least it proves the mind is still functioning even though the body is
fading. :-) Be right back”
John Dodds: Some more
google searching turned up this which shows Malcolm as living in Hove after his
foreign adventures. No way of knowing how current it is. John found the
information online at http://www.around.co.uk/default.asp?xyz=5991
Malcolm Smith (DOB 1959) – Hove/United Kingdom
Born in Darlington. Went to schools
in Hurworth, Darlington (Abbey Road, Hummersknott), then the Queen Elizabeth VI
Form College, then took a degree in Computer Science in Middlebrough (Teesside
Polytechnic). He has lived in Darlington, Brafferton, Middlesbrough,
Hartlepool, Newcastle, London, Antwerp (Belgium), Oslo (Norway, Stuttgart
(Germany) and now in Hove.
Rip Gooch: “The Case of the Disappearing GM.”
So there you have it: the last confirmed sighting of Malc
was at Ascot in 1998.” The questions are: 1) Where has he been since; and 2)
Where is he now? That’s your mission: FIND MALCOLM SMITH!
Sounds like a job for Toby after he gets back from Chicago,
don’t you think?
Clues, a verifiable location or a provable sighting can be
posted on FB online at UK Postal Gaming Zine Hobby Old Duffers at https://www.facebook.com/groups/91386810482/permalink/10157050730105483/
or emailed to me at peery@ix.netcom.com
Eddie Chapman
Intimate Diplomacy
Germany (Harold Zarr Jr)
vs. France (Doug Kent)
Spring 1903 Orders
Doug/France
A
Brest - Paris
[[F
London – Yorkshire]]
A
Marseilles Supports A Paris - Gascony
A
Paris - Gascony
Harold/Germany
German
Army Silesia to Warsaw
[[German
Army Burgundy to Gascony]]
[[German
Army Munich to Burgundy]]
German
Fleet Denmark to North Sea
England:
English
Fleet Norwegian Sea supports German Fleet Denmark to North Sea
[[English
Army Edinburg to Yorkshire]]
Italy:
Italian Army Apulia holds
Italian
Army Tyrolia to Piedmont
Fleet
Ionian Sea to Tyrrhenian Sea
Russia:
Russian
Army Prussia to Livonia
Russian
Army Warsaw to Moscow
[[Russian
Fleet Rumania holds]] (Destroyed)
Russian
Fleet Baltic Sea to Gulf of Bothnia
Turkey:
Turkish
Army Bulgaria to Rumania
Turkish
Fleet Black Sea supports Army Bulgaria to Rumania
Turkish
Army Sevastopol holds
Turkish
Fleet Constantinople to Aegean Sea
Turkish
Fleet Smyrna to Eastern Mediterranean
Mercenaries
in Chaos
Austria:
Army
Vienna
Army
Budapest
Fleet
Trieste
PRESS:
Germany
to GM: Let’s see if we can put
France to bed – permanently.
Diplomacy (Black Press): Signed up: Harold
Zarr, Kevin Wilson, Zachary Jarvie, Ken Peel, need three more.
Balkan Wars VI (Black Press): Rules
and map in ES #113. Fast-paced
Balkan variant, great fun and no season separations allowed. Signed
up: Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Larry Peery, needs 3 more.
Where in the World is Kendo Nagasaki: Rules
in ES #113. Send in your
guesses. Prize for the
winner? Probably!
By Almost Popular Demand: Started in #112. Join in!
Same as BPD but the #1 answer in each category gets zero points. Send in
your guesses. Prize
for the winner? Probably!
Hypothetical Questions: Just send in
answers. Anybody can play at any time,
just takes participation.
Dune: To be GM’d by Roger Cox. Signed up: Kevin Wilson, Doug Kent, Martin
Burgdorf, Jack McHugh, John David Galt, one more would be optimal. Sign up NOW!!
You can sign up with me.
Coming Soon – Colonia VII? Deviant Diplomacy? Kremlin? Make a suggestion or express interest!
Diplomacy,
“Milk and Trash”, 2015A, W 06/S 07
Austria (Jack McHugh
– jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): Build A
Budapest..
A
Armenia Supports F Constantinople - Ankara
(*Cut*), A Bohemia Supports A Vienna – Tyrolia,
A
Budapest – Serbia, F Constantinople – Ankara, A
Rumania Supports A Budapest – Serbia,
A
Silesia - Berlin (*Fails*), A Trieste Supports A Vienna – Tyrolia, A Vienna
- Tyrolia.
England (Mark Firth
– mogcate “of” me.com): Build F Edinburgh, F
Liverpool.. F Edinburgh - North Sea,
F
Holland Supports F Edinburgh - North Sea, F Liverpool - Irish Sea, F London -
English Channel,
F Mid-Atlantic
Ocean - North Africa, A Smyrna - Armenia (*Fails*), F Spain(sc)
- Gulf of Lyon, A Wales – London,
F
Western Mediterranean Supports F Spain(sc) - Gulf of
Lyon.
Germany (Jim Burgess – jfburgess “of” gmail.com): F Baltic Sea Supports A Berlin –
Prussia,
A
Berlin – Prussia, A Burgundy Supports A Munich, A Kiel
– Berlin, F Livonia Supports A Berlin – Prussia,
A
Marseilles – Piedmont, A Munich Supports A Kiel – Berlin, A Portugal Hold.
Italy (John Biehl –
jerbil “of” shaw.ca): Remove A Bulgaria..
F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea (*Bounce*),
F
Gulf of Lyon - Tyrrhenian Sea, F Ionian Sea - Tunis (*Fails*), F Tunis
Unordered, A Tuscany Unordered,
A
Piedmont Holds (No Such Unit), F Venice Supports A Piedmont (Impossible).
Russia (Kevin Wilson
– ckevinw “of” comcast.net): A
Prussia Supports A Silesia - Berlin (*Dislodged*,
retreat to Warsaw or OTB).
Turkey (John David
Galt – jdg “of” diogenes.sacramento.ca.us): Remove
A Ankara..
F
Eastern Mediterranean - Ionian Sea
(*Bounce*).
Deadline
for F 07 is July 26th at 7am my time
PRESS
(BOOB to DOUG): I'm about to take a
week and a half of vacation and spend some relaxed time catching up on stuff
like TAP and my music lists for your szine, but this time, you get little more
than orders from me.
GM – Boob: Orders is still more
than some people.
(GERMANY to THE
EAST): Well,
how about that, what did you do now?
Black
Press Gunboat, “Noah’s Titanic”, 2015Arb32, F 07
Austria:
A Galicia - Rumania
(*Fails*), A Moscow - Warsaw (*Bounce*), A Prussia - Warsaw
(*Bounce*),
A
Sevastopol – Rumania, A Trieste - Tyrolia (*Fails*), A Tyrolia -
Bohemia (*Bounce*),
A
Vienna Supports A Tyrolia - Bohemia.
England:
F London Supports F English Channel - North Sea (*Void*), F
Wales - Liverpool (*Bounce*).
France: A Burgundy - Ruhr (*Fails*),
F English Channel - Belgium (*Fails*), A Marseilles – Spain,
A
Picardy Supports F English Channel – Belgium, F Spain(sc)
- Mid-Atlantic Ocean.
Germany:
F Belgium - English Channel (*Fails*), A Berlin Supports A Munich, F Clyde - Liverpool (*Bounce*),
F
Denmark - Baltic Sea, A Holland - Belgium (*Fails*), A Munich Supports A
Silesia – Bohemia,
F
North Sea Supports F Belgium - English Channel, A Ruhr Supports A Holland -
Belgium (*Cut*),
A
Silesia - Bohemia (*Bounce*), F St Petersburg(nc)
Hold.
Italy: F Aegean Sea Supports A Bulgaria, F
Apulia Supports A Venice, A Armenia Hold, A Bulgaria Hold,
F
Ionian Sea – Tunis, A Tuscany – Piedmont, F Tyrrhenian Sea - Gulf of Lyon,
A
Venice Supports A Tuscany – Piedmont, F Western Mediterranean Supports F Spain(sc) - Mid-Atlantic Ocean.
Turkey: Retreat A Sevastopol - Ukraine.. A
Ukraine Supports A Sevastopol - Rumania.
Deadline
for S 08 will be July 26th at 7am My Time
Supply Center Chart
Austria:
Budapest, Moscow, Rumania,
Serbia, Trieste, Vienna, Warsaw=7, Even
England:
Liverpool, London=2, Even
France:
Brest, Marseilles, Paris,
Portugal, Spain=5, Even
Germany:
Belgium, Berlin, Denmark,
Edinburgh, Holland, Kiel, Munich, Norway,
St Petersburg, Sweden=10, Even
Italy:
Ankara, Bulgaria,
Constantinople, Greece, Naples, Rome, Smyrna, Tunis, Venice=9, Even
Turkey:
Sevastopol=1, Even
PRESS
Germany to France: Then enemy of my
enemy is my friend. Italy is your enemy
and mine. We are friends and need to act
in concert or you will shortly fall to him.
Look for an Italian army in Piedmont and an Italian fleet in the Gulf of
Lyon at the end of this turn! You need a
fleet in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean!
Germany to Austria: If you think Italy
will not take advantage of your open territories in the Balkans in the same way
as he has done previously, you may want to reconsider moving against me.
Germany to Italy: Are we going to
see a four naval unit convoy this turn?
If so, it will be impressive – and the first time I have ever seen one!
Casual Observer to
Kaiser:
Hey mon, you mighty want to think about, ah, well,
some kinda stalematey line, ya know mon?
Kaiser to C.O.: Yer a
ganja-smokin’ git. Lookey here, I needs ta lemonate England furst.
Casual Observer to
Kaiser:
Right, but, hey mon, France is holding back Italy and
you ain’t helpin’ none.
Kaiser: That’s because I
don’t know what I’m doin’, gitter-man.
Broadcast to World
from Paris:
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the
seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in
the air, we shall defend our land, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on
the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the
fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never
surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this land or a
large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas,
armed and guarded by a few tugboats and canoes, would carry on the struggle,
until, in God's good time, the New World Order, with all its power and might,
steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”—President Jacques
“Winston” DeVille
Vatican - French
Embassy:
A helping hand in your holy war with the heathen tyrant.
Ita - Aus: thought long and hard about standing
Turkey out of Rum, but figured you'd be more concerned if I ended up there and
him in Warsaw. If he's still wandering next year, I will cover Rum/Ser for a
stand-off, as needed.
Papal Envoy - Turkey: it appears the
compass I gave you last Christmas is broken!
Pope Pluvius: On this, the 500th
anniversary of St Cecil the Super(ce)cilious, we have
this to say to Germany: .
By Almost
Popular Demand
The goal is to pick something that fits the
category and will be the "second most popular" answer. You score
points based on the number of entries that match yours. For example, if the
category is "Cats" and the responses were 7 for Persian, 3 for Calico
and 1 for Siamese, everyone who said Persian would get 7 points, Calico 3 and
the lone Siamese would score 1 point. However, the most popular answer in each
category scores zero points! The
cumulative total over 10 rounds will determine the overall winner. Anyone may
enter at any point, starting with an equivalent point total of the lowest
cumulative score from the previous round. If a person misses a round, they'll
receive the minimum score from the round added to their cumulative total. In
each round you may specify one of your answers as your Joker answer. Your
score for this answer will be doubled.
In other words, if you apply your Joker to category 3 on a given turn,
and 4 other people give the same answer as you, you get 10 points instead of
5. Players who fail to submit a Joker for any
specific turn will have their Joker automatically applied to the first category.
And, if you want to submit some commentary with your answers, feel free
to. The game will consist of 10 rounds,
with the 10th round being worth double points. A prize will be awarded to the winner. Research is permitted, but
cooperation or collusion between players is not!
Round 2 Categories
1. Someone who served
or serves as host of The Tonight Show.
2. A month of the year.
3. A farm animal.
4. A crayon color.
5. An island nation.
Comments By Category
Tonight
Show – Kevin
Wilson “Kind of depends on how many of us old guys are playing whether it is
Johnny or Jay that get #1.” Dane Maslen
“OK, so I'll admit that I suspect I've gone for what would normally be the most
popular answer for number 1, but I can always hope I'm wrong.”
Month – Kevin Wilson “My birthday month!”
Farm Animal – Kevin Wilson “Mmmmmm,
bacon.” Brendan Whyte “Pig (breed:
Whining Kent).”
Crayon
Color – Kevin
Wilson “Green, my favorite color.”
Island
– Kevin
Wilson “I’m guessing the UK or Australia as #1.” Andy Lischett “My original choice was Ceylon,
but I hadn't realized that it changed its name 44 years ago. They did not
consult me.” Mark Firth “Iceland (in
honour of their victory over England in the European soccer Championships last
night).”
Jim Burgess recovers from worst last round to best this
round, scoring 13 (out of a possible 22).
Poor Kevin Wilson grabs the top choice in each category, leaving him
with a big goose egg.
Round 3 Categories
1. A red fruit.
2. A religion.
3. A sport played with
a ball.
4. Something you find
in a sewing kit.
5. A sci-fi television
show, past or present.
Deadline for Round 3 of By
Almost Popular Demand is July 26th, 2016 at 7am my time.
General Deadline for
the Next Issue of Eternal Sunshine: July
26th, 2016 at 7:00am my time. Hope to See You Then!
