Eternal Sunshine #154

March 2022

By Douglas Kent - 911 Irene Drive, Mesquite, TX 75149

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/270968112943024/ or on the web at http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/. Follow on Twitter at @EternalSunshDip. Also be sure to visit the official Diplomacy World website at http://www.diplomacyworld.net.

Sign up for the Eternal Sunshine Mailing List at https://mailchi.mp/45376bbd05df/eternalsunshine

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Quote of The Month – “But Juliet, you’re a doctor, you kill people every day.” - (Alex in “Shallow Grave”)

Welcome to Eternal Sunshine, the only Dipzine published by someone who hasn’t had a hug in six years. That easily breaks the personal record I set as an inmate. I suppose I could have found hugs – and more – in there if I’d been willing. There wasn’t much of the unwilling variety except as retribution, and I never got so crossways with anyone that sexual assault became an option. Or maybe after I had that grapefruit-sized cyst on my butt cheek I just wasn’t as attractive to the other inmates.

Some guys have the gift, some don’t. I clearly don’t. I can’t seem to meet ANYONE, or attract interest from ANYONE. The guy from that Netflix series The Tinder Swindler (which I haven’t watched yet) not only attracted multiple attractive women, but also got them to give him tons of money by lying to them. And now, after the show has aired, he’s got MORE women trying to hook up with them because they can’t help but be attracted to the “bad boy” type. Is that the secret? Do I need to start treating everyone like absolute garbage? How desperate and lonely do I have to become before I begin to see that as a legitimate option? Only time will tell.

I mean, even with my irrefutable failure to meet anyone, you’d think I’d know at least one person who knows someone single that they’d consider setting me up with on a blind date. I guess that just proves they want to keep their friends. I’m the kiss of death. Of the dozen or so one-off dates I’ve had in the last six years, three of the women expressed interest in seeing me again and within three days changed their minds…not changed their minds about seeing me again, but changed their minds about seeing anyone. One date with me was enough to convince them to abandon all efforts to meet a man. With this kind of track record, I really have to believe it’s not them, it’s me.

I believe I’ve complained about the online dating scene here before. So many of the profiles that women put up are a list of demands and requirements. And I don’t meet any of them. Being on Texas affects some of these, but that’s where I live. Among the demands (usually a random selection from this list): must be a “Man of God” or of “strong faith”; must be six feet tall; must hunt; must love to travel globally (which I’ve learned means approximately twice a month); must be a gym rat (go to a gym four times a week); must be vegan; must be “420 friendly and a regular” (must smoke marijuana, which is illegal in Texas at the moment); must love to dance; must be a Trump fan; must be a progressive; (no middle ground allowed, gotta fit into that box one side or the other); must love going to gun ranges; must drive a Jeep; must ride motorcycles…the list goes on. I would have no issue if the profiles said THEY liked some of these things, but instead it’s demanding that you fit these rules.

My favorites are the ones with blatant hypocrisy to the point of irony, but with zero self-awareness. “Must be six feet tall or more” long with “can’t be superficial.” “Must be open-minded” in combination with any specific political demands. Or the heavily religious women who seem to think anyone else who is also religious will share their specific beliefs…after all, there’s only one true religion, and it must be the one THEY follow, right? (I always think of Homer Simpson telling Marge why he isn’t going to church any more: “And what if we chose the wrong religion? Then every Sunday we’re just making God angrier and angrier!”) Oh well….the whole thing is a game I am guaranteed to lose. I’ve learned to accept that I will never share my life with someone ever again. One of my film friends tells me “You just need a cute Sugar Baby in her twenties with a Daddy complex.” Anyone have any leads?

I’ve started screening submissions for the NHDocs Film Festival already. Last year was the first time I did that with all the submissions, although I got involved halfway through the process and had to really cram to get it all done. This year I started right when the earliest submissions came in, so I’m able to pace myself. Unfortunately, I haven’t watched any newer narrative films since last issue, mostly because I’m spending that time screening documentaries. Who knows, maybe I’ll go up to Connecticut in October somehow and attend the festival in person?

In zine news, Andy York and Conrad von Metzke have returned. Thank goodness, so there’s actually some quality content in this rag! The Kendo Nagasaki game has ended, and a new one will begin immediately. Join in and play; you can’t do any worse than **I** do when I play. I’m terrible. By Almost Popular Demand is continuing, but this game has seen a drop in participation from BPD. I guess I’ll go back to BPD when it ends, and see if that helps. If it doesn’t…well, BPD/BAPD are only fun when you have enough people playing.

I guess that’s it from me for now. See you in April!

Game Openings

Diplomacy (Black Press): Signed up: Kevin Wilson, Gavin Begbie, Rick Davis, need four more to start.

By Almost Popular Demand: Ongoing. Join in and play NOW!

Where in the World is Kendo Nagasaki?: New game starts this issue. Join in and play NOW!

Also in Andy York’s Subzine – You can find his ongoing “Hangman, By Definition” and Facts in Five, plus an opening for Breaking Away.

Standby List: HELP! I need standby players! – Current standby list: Andy York, Andy Lischett, Paul Milewski, Harold Reynolds, Jack McHugh, Brad Wilson, Graham Wilson.

Meet Me in Montauk

The Eternal Sunshine Letter Column

Andy Lischett: Speaking of the experience of seeing movies in a theater, the first time I saw Night of the Living Dead was at a midnight show. A dark theater full of screaming people definitely enhances the creepiness. One of my favorite movie lines is, "They're coming to get you, Barbara."

[[There are so many films that I saw in theaters where when and how I saw them affected exactly how I enjoyed them…either increasing, decreasing, or changing that. The communal laughter or emotion or fright plays a big role, or used to. And who you see the film with…while I was greatly disappointed in Starship Troopers – having been a huge fan of the book, and despising the way they ruined the plot – it was all the worse because Mara and I saw it with her Dad, who talked to us throughout. Sitting next to Mara or Heather during a scary movie and knowing their stress was building at certain points made things more tense and exciting. Or, when my oldest brother and I went to see Eddie Murphy’s first film “48 Hours.” There are many moments when various characters, including lead Nick Nolte, treat Murphy’s character terribly and throw around racial slurs and stereotypes like confetti. We didn’t know that was going to be the case, but as we sat in our seats and the lights were about to dim, I suddenly had a realization and leaned into Paul to whisper in his ear. “Paul…we’re the only white people here.” Normally this wouldn’t have been an issue, but I instinctively knew (and perhaps recognized from the trailer) that caution was in order. We did NOT laugh out loud at anything in that film until other people were laughing too. The additional tension actually helped enhance the heavier parts of the plot, the violence of the villains, etc. That scene is one I planned to include in the next memoir, if I ever write it.]]

I've never seen After Life, but the premise as described in Wikipedia sounds similar to an old BBC comedy named The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin. A conservative, proper and frustrated middle-aged middle-management type gets bored with his life and tries to shock people. That went on for several episodes until everyone around him got used to his shocking behavior, and he became frustrated when his increasingly weird behavior was expected and ignored.

[[This is really not similar. In After Life, the Gervais character was always a bit abrasive and blunt (generally in a form of sarcasm or humor), but the death of his wife and his search for some way to keep going day after day lead him to just not care any more when it comes to being polite. Especially in British society, politeness and the necessity to restrain emotion have been a common foil for films and television shows. His actions aren’t about TRYING to shock. They’re about grief, a search for purpose, depression, helplessness, and caring about others (in positive and negative forms). Also about the rules of society and how they’re not written down.]]

Your NHDocs "job" sounds interesting, even if sometimes boring and tedious. Do you ever hear back from any of the filmmakers? Often documentaries try too hard to sell their opinions as truth.

[[Actually, I try not to judge based on the opinions of the film, but simply on the merits of the filmmaking and the contents. Certainly, there are times where I have noted in my comments that the film is utterly one-sided, but being one-sided isn’t a flaw in and of itself unless you try to position yourself as something other than one-sided. I never hear back from the filmmakers, as there is a layer of administration above me which interacts with them. But it is not uncommon – especially with films that are not accepted for the final festival – for the filmmakers to ask for (and get) the feedback those of us who rated their work gave. At times the comments can be rude or crude, especially when the film rates one star out of ten, and there occasionally seems to be a contest to see which viewer can come up with the cleverest way of cutting it to pieces. But when I can, I include constructive comments even for the worst of them. One I watched this past week was quite bad, effectively useless, but I did point out a few ways that they might be able to take the two-hour nightmare and edit it down into a tolerable (or decent) ten-minute short.]]

Dane Maslen: Your comment that these days you're finding it harder to become interested enough to watch all the way through a film struck a chord with me, though in my case it's reading SF that's suffering that fate. I'm frequently getting just a few pages into a short story and deciding that I'd make better use of my time by skipping to the next one. I suppose there's some logic to this. I do after all now have nearly 50 fewer years available than when I was first reading SF as a teenager.

[[I do wonder how much of it is related to that, the subconscious realization that my time is much more finite now and even when I have nothing planned, what I’m doing is a waste. Clearly I have less tolerance to fight through things than I once did. Growing up in the days when you only had a few channels to choose from on TV, bad programs were better than none.]]

Mark Nelson: As a follow-up to my comment on food shortages, what was interesting was that the two major supermarkets were the ones that were most affected by it. The smaller supermarket chains were not. Apparently, the reason for this is that the big chains centralise their logistics in each state. So when COVID runs through the staff working at these places they no longer have the staff to get the goods out to the supermarkets. Whereas the small chains mostly have links directly with the suppliers. What this meant where I live is that Coles and Woolworths (the big two supermarkets) might not have any of XYZ in their store, but if you walked across the road to ALDI then you could buy it there.

[[I’ve seen similar complaints around me locally shoppers who frequent Wal-Mart have expressed dismay at the countless empty shelves or missing products. My local Kroger’s store is – of course – dealing with shortages and out of stock items, but to a far lesser extent.]]

As a follow-up to my comment on statues. There's a town in Western Australia that's named after an English officer. He was around in the 1830s (?) and is notorious for slaughtering Aboriginal people. At the time of the massacres they were entitled the same legal rights as the settlers. He wrote as much in his diaries, but he thought that was a waste of money to give them a trial; so he skipped that step. Am I favour of knocking this guy's statue down? (Not that I know if any exist, he didn't stay in Australia very long). No. Am I in favour of renaming the town that's named after him... to my mind that is a different issue.

I have a dim recollection that's there a sequel to the Mists of Avalon (or was it a presequel). Are these any good? Sequels/presequels that are only written due to the popularity of the the original tend not to be as good...

[[I know there is one or more, but I’ve never red them. One was plenty.]]

I supervised a summer project once where the student was modelling the spread of laughter in an audience. I got the idea for this project from something that I read somewhere - I could never find the somewhere though. What I read was that at one time American TV shows that were recorded in front of a live studio audience used to pay people with distinctive laughs to sit at strategically chosen locations. The idea being that when they started laughing this would encourage people sitting near to them to start laughing, which would start a chain reaction of laughter throughout the audience.

[[Not surprising. Societal mammals seem to have a genetic desire to follow the crowd, as evidenced by the social pressures inducing laughter when someone tells the “No Soap, Radio” joke. (If someone is unfamiliar with this ancient gag, look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_soap_radio ). But of course in your example its more that laughter can be naturally contagious for many people. Could it have an involuntary physiological link, like yawning?]]

Richard Smith: So you have Not Tonight... bedding in and Octopus's Garden fallow. Regarding the latter I see there were no game end comments from any of the players. I wonder if that's a British thing? Rivals game analyses can be very nerdy like Rimmer's Risk anecdotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Ovgnp2KXk

[[I’m not sure, I expect it was more that the players didn’t bother sending anything, and that Peter didn’t feel like prodding them. As a GM there’s a general need to sometimes harass players to send their orders, and once the game is done it’s easy to decide “if they’re not interested enough to say anything about the game, why spend the effort to try and get them to?”]]

Andy York: You mention you don't really follow the Academy Award contenders. I don't so much, I'm much more choosing movies based on whether I'd like them, though a good/critical review might draw me in. A friend passed on that a local theater was selling a pass to see all ten of the nominees for a set price over a week. At that point, I really looked at the list and discovered that I'd already seen five of them and only one of the other others was of more than passing interest.

[[I really wish they’d go back to five. Ten is simply too many. There are sometimes a worthy film or two who don’t get nominated with five, but with ten the whole thing is watered down.]]

Last night I had a neat experience at the AFS Cinema. The Austin Film Society did a screening of Buster Keaton's silent movie "Cameraman" followed by a Q&A and book signing by a Keaton authority. Beforehand, she pointed out which scenes were improved and two scenes where, if you were looking closely, could see Keaton almost cracking up laughing. I have to say, it was worth it seeing it on a big screen - Keaton is so emotive it would be easy to miss his facial expressions on a small screen. Well done movie, lots of laughs and the speaker brought quite a bit of additional layers and info on the movie and Keaton. And, I have to say, the monkey deserved an Oscar. I don't know if I've ever seen an animal actor so accomplished in so many tasks - and there was only one monkey, not a set of swap-outs depending on the trick so common today.

[[I’ve found seeing old films on the big screen to be a very worthwhile experience, and one I hope to resume soon. North By Northwest has been a favorite of mine for decades, but in a theater it was a new experience entirely.]]

Jack McHugh: Indestructible Machine End Game for Turkey - I was happy to survive this game.

I'm flattered Andy mentioned my fleets by name--the issue with Bob was getting him to talk to me. I never had the leverage to be able to take the initiative in the Med . I was trying to get together a stop the leader alliance but no one was writing enough for it to work.

I enjoyed the game and I apologize for my last NMR. Unfortunately my gallbladder removed at the end of November kind of took me out and I also fell down and hurt my knee in December which didn't help.

The Dining Dead – Eternal Sunshine Movie Reviews

As you see, nothing much this month. Part of that is because I simply couldn’t find myself interested enough to watch anything I found on the streaming services (although there are a few movies I am planning to watch when they become available without a rental fee, such as Belfast and CODA, and I’ve got the Blu-ray for Shiva Baby which I need to sit down and enjoy when I’m in the mood). The other issue was, as discussed in the intro to the zine, I’ve started watching the new submissions for the NHDocs festival. I’m more than thirty hours in at this stage – the submissions pile up quickly. Once I get my rhythm going there, I expect to watch more movies I haven’t seen before. Narrative films become a nice change of pace from documentary after documentary.

Older Movies Watched (that I’ve seen many times) – Shallow Grave, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Cracker (UK version, series starring Robbie Coltrane), Blood Simple.

NOT TONIGHT, DEAR,

I HAVE A DEADLINE (3)

By Conrad von Metzke

Hey, amigos. I've been having the time of my life for the past seven days. Care to guess how?

Okay, I'll tell you. I've been lying in hospital with suspected heart problems, first waiting until they stabilized my various readings, then going through tests and therapies and even a surgical procedure where they stick a sensor directly into the heart to look around for specific blockages. Oh, do let me tell you, it was the time of my life....

..except that in the end they didn't find anything wrong! So they threw me out, giving me a list of things to do and not to do, and a list of more appointments that they want me to make to try and figure out what the hell happened. And of course, try to decide where to go from here.

And also they have diagnosed early stage dementia, which I suspected and is in part why I decided a while ago that I wouldn't be doing any more games.

And I met a couple of utterly drool-worthy nurses, and gained serious respect for a couple of doctors, and in off-hours read three very fine books (of which the best in my view is "1954",about the game of baseball and the year in which it broke down the color barrier and allowed "negroes" to play) and along the way gained a great deal more respect for the medical profession than I already had.

I was released this morning. So I'm very tired now, but in no way as tired as I was the day I went in, when I couldn't even walk across a room without gasping for breath and needing to pause before walking any longer. The breathing is much improved, the stamina coming back, and - with limits until I bounce back to my old form - my energy and functionality are on the way to being restored.

So that's how I spent my end of winter. Some of it had me terrified. Some of it was a bundle of fun. But in the end I gained a goodly amount and don't regret a minute of the entire "ordeal." (Though obviously I'd have preferred no ordeal at all....).

And now, dear friends, I am off to resume a healthier life, without too much sugar or coffee, and with various positives to keep things in balance as I should have done all along.

Oh - and loving mention of my wife Jean, who stood by at every crucial point, and provided support, and made me once again very glad that I chose the right lady to share my life - including the occasional miseries. I may drool at hot nurses, but in the end I want Jean right where she always is.

So - if you'll excuse me, I have 18,000 more pills to take, and then it's off to bed....

Here's an oddment of trivia - a trivium - which may interest you, posed in the form of a quiz:

How many pills - medications - am I now assigned to take per day?

1. 1-10

2. 11-20

3. 21-30

4. 31-40

Well. I won't leave you in suspense too long - the answer is actually 'C,' but if you add one more pill it would be 'D.' I am the consumer of twenty-nine and one-half pills per day. How jolly.

DO NOT GET SICK. It is bad for you.

Your friend for as long as I last, Conrad

Out of the WAY #42

by W. Andrew York

(wandrew88 of gmail.com)

Howdy!

This year is just zipping along, and I’m still running to keep up with things allowing little time for reading or some of my other pursuits. Mostly just the games are below, though the Gunboat game is pushed for a truly head-scratching typo. The two other games move apace. In Texas Talk the years’ worth of Ann Richard’s quotes concludes. I’m debating what to use as a place-holder for that column until I have the time to research/write/vet meatier content. Your thoughts?

One things I’ve started discussions on to supplement the Recipes bit was inspired by one of the vendors at a local farmer’s market. She sells fresh salsas, toum and the like, as well as mushrooms. Last fall she started a YouTube channel (Native Roots Salsa Company) with videos on using her products in various dishes (some include Potato Cheese Soup Florentine, Caldo des Res and Gazpacho). Unfortunately, the fresh products are not easily shippable, but you certainly can use her recipes as inspiration, substituting local or commercial products from where you are.

Just recently she started creating shelf-stable, and shippable, product. So, I asked last week about a monthly recipe for here, using those products (but, again, you could substitute your locally sourced substitute). As her product line isn’t very large, and I’d just presented the idea, she wanted to think on it. So, maybe in the next few months that area might be reinvigorated. I’ll still include at least one recipe from a finished cookbook (once I get back to that) and some of my own creations.

This month, unfortunately, I was only was able to get in two movies in theaters, “The Cameraman” (more in Doug’s zine from our exchange on it) and “The Power of the Dog” (beautiful cinematography, solid acting). Also attended several online concerts, lectures and music related events.

Around here, starting today, SXSW is back on – and in-person, though a smaller event than it was when last held in 2019. I’ve had several invites to events, as well considering all the free events around town. 2019 was the first year I did more than one or two events, and found it very worthwhile. I’m hoping to catch some of the free music and other events (such as the “Resound Presents - Lost Weekend 2022”, “Patreon” programs at the location they are taking over and the Austin Film Society’s “AFS@SXSW’22” film celebration). It’s also nice to walk around the downtown where there are all sorts of street performers, pop-up booths, giveaways and such.

And, there are 300 movie screenings, including around 90 world premieres. I’ll probably try to catch at least a couple if there are general public seats left (best chance is a 2^nd or 3^rd screening at a satellite venue during the day). But, that’s never assured.

I have my first in-person SABR meeting tomorrow morning, looking forward to it. They released a book (free .pdf version for members) on “Dominicans in the Major Leagues”. It definitely looks like it’ll be a great read.

And, since I’ve mentioned baseball, by the time of the next issue the Minor League season will have started (it’s not directly tied to the recently concluded Major League contract negotiations). They’d already added some additional games at the end of the season to align with the majors so I expect if they extend the MLB season we may have even more baseball. And, for those interested, Houston’s new (last year) AAA team the Sugar Land Skeeters had a rebranding. They are now the Space Cowboys – I’m guessing the new logo will be an acquired taste.

I’m hoping this weekend is the last blast of winter, though it was mild overall. In the next days we should have one or two mornings with light freezes – nearly a month after the normal “last freeze”. At least there should be no precipitation in the City.

That’ll do it for this time – enjoy your March!

==================================

Texas Talk

ANN RICHARDS QUOTE #12 (Concluding a Year’s Worth of Quotes)

“Learn to enjoy your own company. You are the one person you can count on living with for the rest of your

life.”

Sources: www.inspiringquotes.us/author/3002-ann-richards

===================================

Letter Column

(always welcome, send them in!)

(if something shouldn’t be included here, clearly mark it as a personal comment)

[Dane Maslen] – I had been going to comment that I was glad that you'd switched back to a more readable font in Out of the

WAY as I'd found reading extensive chunks of text in the last few issues quite hard work. I have, however, just taken a

look at the previous issue and discovered that the font therein now looks absolutely fine. I suspect the software I use for

reading PDF files must have had a bug that has now been fixed. I'm glad I never complained about the font. You'd

have wondered what the hell I was talking about. [WAY] - The font is Times New Roman 10 for the bulk of the text,

with the titles and such in a larger size. Of course, sometimes if I cut and paste someone else's letter into the zine I could

forget to resync that bit. Regardless, glad you’re seeing things more clearly now!

Later Note: [DM] - Perhaps the PDF reader I use had temporarily (Out of the WAY always used to look just fine until four or

five issues ago) lost its Times New Roman font and was using something else as a substitute.

Aha! I've just gone rummaging on the internet and discovered a discussion entitled "Overlapping glyphs in Times New

Roman substitute on Ubuntu 18.04". Guess what OS I use! The discussion talks about the problem being introduced by

a software update in December 2020, so maybe I have been having trouble with the font for rather more than four or

five issues. It seems that the PDF reader doesn't have Times New Roman at all (unless I were to go out of my way to

install it), but up until that software update it had been applying a sensible substitute. It's now doing so again.

[WAY] – That type of thing happens more often than not. For me, most of the time when a problem crops up I start at

my keyboard and work the way up the chain to the source. Well over half the time I can find the issue and correct it/

re-download the file/apply a patch – and searching the Internet for a solution certainly helps! Glad all is well on your

end.

===================================

Mini-Book Reviews

(finished since last issue)

Journey Through James by Douglas Estes (2020; 72p).

Consisting of 30 lessons, the author discusses the entire Book of James in the New Testament. Each lesson refers the reader to one, or more, verses of the book that’ll need to be read from another source. Then, there’s roughly a page (give or take) of commentary going through the overall theme of that reading and analyzing the individual verses. On the opposite page, there are two “ThinkThrough” questions about the lesson and inviting the reader to reflect on how it applies to them. The balance of the page is lined to allow the reader to jot down notes, additional questions or action items for themselves. Only of interest if you have the interest into delving deeper into the Bible. [February 2022]

===================================

Babylon 5 Quote

In “Acts of Sacrifice” – Sheridan: “The first casualty of war is always the truth.”

===================================

Game Section

Everyone Plays Games: Hangman, By Definition; Facts in Five

Game Openings: Breaking Away (Kent, Burgess, Smith; Firth, minimum 6 players needed)

Standard Choice (Smith, minimum 4 players needed)

Possible Game Openings: Breaking Away Variants, Grey-Press Gunboat (no preference lists)

Suggestions accepted for other games to offer.

Standbys: Breaking Away (x1); Gunboat Diplomacy (x1)

Rules for Breaking Away. Breaking Away Variants and Choice available on the Variable Pig website (variablepig.org)

~~+++++++++++++++++++++~~

“Round Rock Express”

(No-Press Gunboat, Game #1)

MN: 2021Crb32

Note – I listed the wrong year for the Spring report last time (1902 v. 1903). One person did comment on that!

More Important Note – It was reported close to the deadline that *somehow* the English Fleet in Gascony was converted to an

Army (I shouldn’t have changed the designation unilaterally and should have noted, and investigated, the misorder last

season). So, as there wasn’t enough time to contact folks, and it significantly changed the potential retreat, we’ll redo the

turn. Orders on file will be used unless updated ones are submitted before April’s deadline. Corrected turn is below.

Spring 1903 - Redo

Austria: F GRE s a bul, A BUL s a gal-rum, A TRI s ITA a ven-tyl, A BUD s a gal-rum, A gal-RUM, A VIE s ITA a ven-tyl

England: F NWY hold, F gas hold (uno; r-mao/otb), A pic-BRE, F mao-POR, A lpl-YOR, f lon-eng (nsu); a gas-mar (nsu)

France: F NWG-nwy, A SPA s a mar-gas, A bel-PIC, A PAR s a bel-pic, A mar-GAS

Germany: F swe-BAL, A bur-BEL, A MUN-ber, A war-MOS, F DEN s f swe-bal, A ber-SIL, A KIE-ber

Italy: F EME c a tun-syr, A TUN-syr, A ven-TYL, F ION c a tun-syr

Russia: F bal-kie (r-bot/pru/lvn/otb), F rum-BLA, A UKR-rum, A BOH-mun

Turkey: A SMY-syr, F CON s f rum-bul(ec) (nsu to support), F AEG-smy

Supply Center Count

Austria: Bud, Tri, Vie, Ser, Gre, Bul = 6

England: Edi, Lpl, Lon, Bre, Nwy = 5

France: Mar, Par, Por, Spa, Bel = 5

Germany: Ber, Kie, Mun, Den, Hol, Swe, War = 7

Italy: Nap, Rom, Ven, Tun = 4

Russia: Mos, StP, Sev, Rum = 4

Turkey: Ank, Con, Smy = 3

Neutral: none

Next Due Summer1903 and Fall 1903

Note – Split seasons are granted when 2 or more requests are received if 4+ players; 3 or less requires only 1.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Hangman, By Definition

This is a five round game, with each round consisting of a variable number of turns. The winner will be the person who wins the most rounds, with a tie breaker being fewest total number of turns in those winning rounds. Second tie breaker will be the most number of letters guessed (by total count revealed, not by individual letter).

Each round will consist of identifying a word of at least six letters. Along with each word will be the first definition given. All words and definitions will be identified by blank spaces. Words and definitions are verified in a dictionary that was my high school graduation gift (slight hint to those who might want to find the edition).

The goal is to guess the word in as few turns as possible. Each turn, all players will submit one letter to be revealed. The letter submitted by the most players will be the letter revealed in the next turn. Ties will be broken by a randomized method. Additionally, each player should submit a guess for the word. Once the word is correctly identified (spelling is important), that round will end and a new round will begin. All players who guess the word in the same turn will share in the win for the round. If the word is not guessed by the end of six turns with no letter being revealed, no one will win the round.

Along with revealing letters in the word, letters will be revealed in the definition. There are no bonus points for guessing any part of the definition, it is only there to help players figure out the word. No guesses about parts of the definition will be confirmed or displayed except by the letter revealed in that round. The letters “E” and “S” can never be chosen as the letter to be revealed.

Game 1, Round Five, Turn 1:

Letter Votes: D – 1; H – 1; L – 1; N – 1; O - 1; T – 1 Revealed: L (dice roll decision with d6)

Words Guessed: (Firth) Sketch; (Kent) Banner; (Lischett) Winter; (Maslen) Letter; (Smith) Wordle; (Wilson) Pencil

Solution:

Word: __ __ __ __ __ __ (6)

Definition: __ __ (2) __ __ __ __ __ (5) __ __ __ __ __ (5) __ __ (2) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (8)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ (7) __ __ __ (3) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (8) __ __ (2)

__ __ __ __ __ (5)

Never Revealed: E, S Already Revealed: L

Game Words Correctly Guessed: Infinitesimal (David-Gardner, Firth, Kent, Smith, Wilson);

Triclinium (Firth, Maslen, Smith, Wilson)

Chummy (Wilson)

Region (Firth, Kent, Lischett, Maslen, Smith)

Player Comments:

[Andy Lischett] – My guess is WINTER, although no definition of winter would begin with a two-letter word.

[Kevin Wilson] – I missed your earlier question on helping make things readable. I suspect the main reason I missed the semi- colon was it was at the end of a line. The suggestions would be don’t have any punctuation at the end and bold

punctuation. Not an issue this time and not an issue for me as I’ll pay closer attention. [WAY] – both those are things I

can do, as long as I remember next time it occurs. [KW] - Ugh, another 6-letter word. Shorter is harder. [WAY] – don’t

want to make it too easy.

[Richard Smith] – I’ll have a topical guess at WORDLE (One of several pivoted pieces forming the throat of an adjustable

die used in drawing wire, lead pipe, etc.) [WAY] – and a fun, daily, word puzzle that I quite enjoy!

[Mark Firth] – Word: SKETCH; Definition: An image which is normally painted and retailed in Chile.

+++++++++++++++++++++

FACTS IN FIVE

Rules: There will be five rounds, the cumulative high score at the end of the fifth round will be the winner. Anyone may join anytime with a starting score matching the lowest total from the previous round. Anyone missing a round will add the lowest score of that round.

Each round will consist of five categories and five letters. Each player submit may an entry for each category which has a key word that starts with each of the letters (twenty-five total entries). Key words are generally the first word; however articles (the, a, etc.) and modifiers (“red” in red bicycle for “R” in “mode of transportation” or “general” in General Lee for “G” in “Military Leaders”) are not key words. A word in the category may not be the key word (“bank” in “Bank of America” for “B” in the category “Banks”). For given names, the last name is the key word, if married it will be their post-marriage last name. However, in the case of commonly used stage names, that name should be used (in a category of female singers, ”Q” could be “Queen Latifa” and “Cher” for “C”). An entry may only be used once per round. Please clearly identify which individual you are using as your answer if there are multiple potential people with a given name. For instance, if the category is American Presidents, answering Washington is fine as there is only one; however, if you decided to use Bush you need to indicate whether you are submitting the father or the son. Unclear answers will be matched to score the least points. Using the Bush example, if one person submitted “Bush” and three people submit “George W. Bush” the latter would score 2 points and the former 1.

One point will be scored for each entry that unarguably meets the letter and category. An additional point will be added if anyone else also uses the same valid entry for the same category. Maximum possible score in a round is 50 with a lowest possible score of 25, presuming an individual submits a valid entry for each category and letter in that round.

Research is allowed, collaboration between players is not.

Game Four, Round Four

Bolded - Scores 2 points for matching another entry; Crossed Out - scores 0 points; otherwise scores 1 point.

REMINDER - Last names are generally the key word, not first names.

Players A B E O W

Musical Instrument

Mark Firth Aeolian Harp Bongos Euphonium Oboe Whistle

Doug Kent Accordion Bassoon Electric Guitar Oboe Whistle

Andy Lischett Alto Sax Bassoon Electric Guitar Oboe Washboard

Walt O’Hara <> <> <> <> <>

Kevin Wilson Accordion Bagpipe Euphonium Oboe Washboard

Oscar Winning Director

Mark Firth Woody Allen Frank Borzade Clint Eastwood Orson Welles William Wyler

Doug Kent Allen Brooks Eastwood <> Wilder

Andy Lischett John G. Avildsen K Bigelow Clint Eastwood <> Billy Wilder

Walt O’Hara <> <> <> <> <>

Kevin Wilson Woody Allen Warren Beatty Clint Eastwood Laurence Olivier Billy Wilder

Current Podcast Title

Mark Firth Athletico Mince Black Girl S… Espanolistos Off Menu Witness

Doug Kent Anatomy of… Bible in a Year Even the Rich Office Ladies We Can do Hard Things

Andy Lischett Anatomy of… The Bible Recap Ezra Klein Show Office Ladies WokeNFree

Walt O’Hara <> <> <> <> <>

Kevin Wilson Always Sunny… Ben Shapiro… Ear Hustle Office Ladies Wait, Wait…

Poet

Mark Firth WH Auden John Betjeman TS Eliot Wilfred Owen Walt Whitman

Doug Kent Angelou Blake Emerson Olds Wordsworth

Andy Lischett Maya Angelou Robert Burns Ralph W Emerson Frank O’Hara Walt Whitman

Walt O’Hara <> <> <> <> <>

Kevin Wilson Maya Angelou Lord Byron TS Eliot Wilfred Owen William Wordsworth

Seaport City

Mark Firth Aden Brisbane East London Odessa Wilmington NC

Doug Kent Annapolis Baltimore ~~Elmhurst~~ Oakland Wilmington

Andy Lischett Amsterdam Brest Edinburgh Oslo Walvis Bay

Walt O’Hara <> <> <> <> <>

Kevin Wilson Antwerp , Belgium Busan, S Korea Everett WA Oakland CA Wilmington DE

Note – for allowed and disallowed answers, please feel free to correct me!

Notes on Mark’s Answers: Black Girl S… is Black Girl Songbook; None of the Wilmington answers match as the two with

states listed aren’t the same state and the one without a state could be either, or one of three other Wilmington seaports,

so none are the “same” answer

Notes on Doug’s Answers: Anatomy of… is Anatomy of a Murder; Elmhurst is disallowed as it isn’t listed in the Seaports

Finder website; None of the Wilmington answers match as the two with states listed aren’t the same state and the one

without a state could be either, or one of three other Wilmington seaports, so none are the “same” answer

Notes on Andy’s Answers: K Bigelow is Katherine Bigelow; Anatomy of… is Anatomy of a Murder

Notes on Kevin’s Answers: Always Sunny… is The Always Sunny Podcast; Ben Shapiro… is The Ben Shapiro Show; Wait,

Wait… is Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!; None of the Wilmington answers match as the two with states listed aren’t the

same state and the one without a state could be either, or one of three other Wilmington seaports, so none are the

“same” answer

General Player Comments:

[Mark Firth] – [Regarding podcasts, Athletico Mince] I think this is the only one I’ve ever listened to. It took 10 minutes to find

one beginning with E.

[Regarding Seaports] My first answer was Annapolis, would it have been acceptable? [WAY] - Yes, the Annapolis in Nova Scotia is a seaport

[Andy Lischett] – Oboes are so much classier than ocarinas. I’m not sure if an alto sax is just a variety of sax, or a distinct

instrument. Ditto for the electric guitar. [WAY] – they both are distinct instruments within their respective families

[AL] - No idea who Ezra Klein is, but I hope that’s acceptable for E. [WAY] - Yup

[AL] - Oscar Winning Directors sounds easy, but it isn’t. There are less than 100 and many popular directors never

won, or start with C, F, H, S or ?. Billy Wilder for sure. Don’t think Robert Altman or Wes Anderson ever won an

Oscar. Clint Eastwood? I don’t think so, but the computer says yes. Ingmar Bergman? Nope.

[Later] – Five days after giving up and going to the internet, a “B” Oscar-winning director popped into my head while

eating lunch.

[Kevin Wilson] – Olivier didn’t win an Oscar as a director but as an actor. He did direct movies though so kind of a cheat

maybe. The category didn’t say Best Director Winners just Oscar Winning Directors so I took the separately, Oscar

Winning and Director.

Nothing much out there in instruments with a “W” but letting my period in Louisiana show through.

I listen to a lot of podcasts but none on my regular playlist with any of these letters. A couple I knew of and others I

found but none currently on my playlist. A couple on there I’ve tried, to the counter viewpoint, and just couldn’t

stomach continuing. [WAY] – Most I’ve never heard of, nor do I routinely listen to any that I’ve heard of. However, I

do listen to “Wait, Wait…” most Saturday mornings on the local NPR Station, enjoy it!

Game Four, Round Five

Letters: D G J N *

Categories: Multi-Player Board Game; Statesman/Politician during WWII; Non-US Capitol City;

Food Seasoning; Songbird

Current Standings

Scores by Category 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Now Previous Total

Kevin Wilson 9 8 6 9 6 38 + 121 = 159

Doug Kent 10 7 7 8 5 37 + 117 = 154

Mark Firth 8 7 4 8 5 33 + 106 = 139

Andy Lischett 9 6 7 8 5 35 + 101 = 136

Walt O’Hara *35 + 101 = 136

*NMR, receives lowest score from this round

===================================

Deadline for the Next Issue of Out of the WAY:

April 6, 2022 at noon Central US Time Zone

See You Then!

Game entries, letters of comment and other material can be sent to:

wandrew88 at gmail.com; or by post to: W. Andrew York; POB 201117; Austin TX 78720-1117

Eternal Sunshine Game Section

Diplomacy, “More Than Ever”, 2021A, S 02

Austria: Andy Lischett – andy@lischett.com – A Budapest – Trieste,

F Greece Supports F Ionian Sea - Aegean Sea (*Cut*), A Serbia Supports F Greece, F Trieste - Adriatic Sea,

A Vienna Supports A Budapest - Trieste.

England: Paul Milewski – paul.milewski@hotmail.com – F English Channel - Brest (*Fails*),

F Irish Sea - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Bounce*), A Yorkshire Hold.

France: Brad Wilson - fullfathomfive675@gmail.com – A Belgium Hold,

F Brest Supports F Spain(sc) - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Cut*), F Marseilles - Spain(sc) (*Fails*), A Paris – Picardy,

A Portugal Hold, F Spain(sc) - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Bounce*).

Germany: Heath Davis-Gardner – heathdavisgardner@gmail.com – A Berlin – Munich,

F Denmark Supports F Kiel - Helgoland Bight, A Holland Supports A Munich – Ruhr, F Kiel - Helgoland Bight,

A Munich - Ruhr.

Italy: John David Galt – jdgalt@att.net - F Ionian Sea - Aegean Sea (*Bounce*), F Naples - Ionian Sea (*Fails*),

A Tunis Hold, A Venice Hold.

Russia: Simon Langley-Evans - slangers1964@gmail.com - A Moscow – Sevastopol, A Norway – Sweden,

F Rumania Supports F Sevastopol - Black Sea, F Sevastopol - Black Sea, F St Petersburg(nc) – Norway,

F Sweden – Skagerrak, A Ukraine Supports F Rumania.

Turkey: Jack McHugh - jwmchughjr@gmail.com – F Ankara - Black Sea (*Fails*), A Bulgaria - Greece (*Fails*),

A Constantinople - Bulgaria (*Fails*), F Smyrna - Aegean Sea (*Bounce*).

PRESS

None.

Deadline for F 02 is April 9^th at 7am My Time

Where in the World is Kendo Nagasaki?

The Rules were in Eternal Sunshine #131, read them if you want a detailed explanation and examples. Basically, this is a guessing game, trying to guess the mystery person and their location (both chosen by me before the game started). Closest guess gets a public clue and notification they were the closest. Everyone else sees the clue but has to figure out on their own who was the closest that turn.

Turn 1