Grand Masters Game 6

There's a new Go Seigen game review on Guo Juan's site. I'm working on memorizing the game (below) before I watch the review. When I have it memorized, I'm going to add it to Mnemosyne, to start trying to commit these games to long term memory.

歌剧

昨天晚上，春燕，刘建和我一起去看歌剧。歌剧很好听。我们去看 "Ariadne Auf Naxos"。 因为我想一个歌唱家唱得很好听，所以我想去看这个歌剧。可是昨天晚上他只唱了一点儿。

唱 "Ariadne" 的女人是美国人。她很有名。她叫 "Deborah Voigt"。几年以前，她应该在 Royal Opera House 唱歌，可是他们对她说 "你太胖了。这个服装太小。" 所以当时她没唱。她比以前瘦了。 她唱歌唱得很好听。

我很喜欢 Naiad, Dryad 和 Echo。我也很喜欢音乐：小提琴，等等。

看歌剧以前，我去春燕的家吃晚饭。刘建做中国饭。 晚饭很好吃。我想回中国。

昨天最长日。夏天快乐！

Last night, Chunyan, Liu Jian and I went to see an opera. The opera was very good. We went to see "Ariadne Auf Naxos". I wanted to see this opera because I think one of the singers is very good. But last night he only sang a little bit.

The woman who sang "Ariadne" is American. She is very famous. Her name is Deborah Voigt. A few years ago, she was supposed to sing at the Royal Opera House, but they told her, "You are too fat. This dress is too small." So at that time, she didn't sing. She is thinner now. She sang very beautifully.

I really liked Naiad, Dryad and the Echo. I also really liked the music: the violins, etc.

Before the opera, I went to Chunyan's house for dinner. Liu Jian cooked Chinese food. Dinner was delicious. I want to go back to China.

Yesterday was the longest day. Happy summer!

This is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

---William Carlos Williams

Airbags

Last night, on my way home, I was cycling down Guilford Street, near Russell Square. There weren't any cars on the road, but there was a girl on a bike cycling in the opposite direction. When she was just about opposite me, she suddenly flipped over her handle bars and slammed face first into the pavement. I stopped, of course, but expected her to just get up and brush herself off and insist she was fine, if a bit scratched up, and everyone would go on their way. But I looked over and not only did she not get up, but she wasn't moving at all. Her bike was still tangled in her legs and sticking up at a most gruesome angle.

Her face was turned the other way, so I cycled around and pulled up on the other side of her to assess the situation. I was much relieved that I could easily hear her breathing -- it sounded like she was snoring, which I realized in retrospect was probably because of the blood which soon seeped out into a puddle around her face on the pavement, evaporating that relief of mine. Someone who had more sense about her, or maybe just already had had her phone out, was already calling the ambulance, so I got people to help direct traffic around her so that she didn't also get run over.

The cops came and she sat up and eventually was able to produce her name, so I guess she was ok. I was the only one who really saw her flip over, so after the ambulance came the cops took down my contact info. I doubt they'll contact me though. It was obvious what had happened. She was carrying one of those rolled up yoga mats in her hand and it got caught in her front wheel. She wasn't wearing a helmet. I guess it wouldn't have helped her much in this case though.

I'm told that cement trucks are one of the biggest killers of cyclists in London. Car doors are of course a classic problem. But perhaps the greater danger is our own carelessness.

There's a girl in my office who was in a rock climbing accident the year before last. Actually, the accident was while hiking out to where she was going to go rock climbing. She fell head first onto a rock and totally smashed up her face. She shattered much of her cheeks and mouth; she's still dealing with surgery for it. Her doctors told her that the face is like an air bag for the brain.

Shaken, I did what any good Londoner would do, and headed to my local to tell my story. Not long ago, I found out that Alex (a number theorist from Imperial) and his wife Sylvia live on the same street as me, which is a coincidence of nearly miraculous magnitude in this massive city of tiny roads. So I called them up and met them and some friends of theirs down at the Salisbury Arms. It's nice to have local friends. Unfortunately, Alex is moving to the U.S. next week. Sylvia will still be around through August, but then she will join him in the States. But a friend of Alicia's is moving to London soon and wants to live in my area, so maybe I'll get a new local pub companion.

Bloomsday

-- But what about the fighting navy, says Ned, that keeps our foes at bay?

-- I'Il tell you what about it, says the citizen. Hell upon earth it is. Read the revelations that's going on in the papers about flogging on the training ships at Portsmouth. A fellow writes that calls himself Disgusted One.

So he starts telling us about corporal punishment and about the crew of tars and officers and rearadmirals drawn up in cocked hats and the parson with his protestant bible to witness punishment and a young lad brought out, howling for his ma, and they tie him down on the buttend of a gun.

-- A rump and dozen, says the citizen, was what that old ruffian sir John Beresford called it but the modern God's Englishman calls it caning on the breech.

And says John Wyse:

-- 'Tis a custom more honoured in the breach than in the observance.

Then he was telling us the master at arms comes along with a long cane and he draws out and he flogs the bloody backside off of the poor lad till he yells meila murder.

-- That's your glorious British navy, says the citizen, that bosses the earth. The fellows that never will be slaves, with the only hereditary chamber on the face of God's earth and their land in the hands of a dozen gamehogs and cottonball barons. That's the great empire they boast about of drudges and whipped serfs.

-- On which the sun never rises, says Joe.

-- And the tragedy of it is, says the citizen, they believe it. The unfortunate yahoos believe it.

They believe in rod, the scourger almighty, creator of hell upon earth and in Jacky Tar, the son of a gun, who was conceived of unholy boast, born of the fighting navy, suffered under rump and dozen, was scarified, flayed and curried, yelled like bloody hell, the third day he arose again from the bed, steered into haven, sitteth on his beamend till further orders whence he shall come to drudge for a living and be paid.

From Ulysses, James Joyce

中文

最近，我用中文没写了。我很忙。用中文写花很多时间。

学期结束以前，我们只有两个中文课。最后上课以后，我们一起去中国饭馆儿吃晚饭。一个学生得给饭馆儿打电话。 没有学生说了“我给他们打电话”。

上周田老师讲了几个笑话会说汉语的外国人。两个中国人走路。前面一个外国人很胖。中国人说“你想他吃什么了？” 外国人说“我吃饭！” 中国人不好意思。

我常常忘了东西。我们开始新课的时候，我忘了课以前的汉子。所以我开始用 Mnemosyne。每天我用 Mnemosyne 干汉字牌。 Mnemosyne 问我汉字刚忘的时候以前。我想 Mnemosyne 很有用。

Recently, I have not written in Chinese. Writing in Chinese takes a lot of time.

Before the term finishes, we only have two Chinese classes. After the last class, we will all go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. One of the students has to call the restaurant. None of the students has said, "I will call them."

Last week Teacher Tian told us a few jokes about foreigners who can speak Chinese. Two Chinese people are walking down the road. In front of them is a foreigner who is very fat. The Chinese people say, "What do you think she ate?" The foreigner said, "I eat food!" The Chinese people were very embarrassed.

I often forget things. When we start a new lesson, I forget the characters from the lesson before. So I started using Mnemosyne. Every day, I use Mneomosyne to do Chinese cards. Mnemosyne asks me the characters just before I forget them. I think Mnemosyne is very useful.

< sigh >

Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:53:38 +0100
From: maths-support
Subject: pine

Hi -

I seem to remember we all use pine. You may have heard about the new email system that ISS is introducing soon. In a few weeks time, according to latest predictions. I am one of the "early adopters". Unfortunately it doesn't work well with pine. Although pine can read the inbox on the new system, it cannot transfer emails with attachments to other folders. This is thought to be something to do with the Microsoft IMAP server used by the new system. I don't know of a cure.

The new email system works well enough with thunderbird over secure-IMAP. If you have a little time to spare, I suggest you get to know thunderbird on the existing system. There will also be a new webmail system called "OWA" (rhymes with slower), and for Windows users, a rather snazzy Outlook thing that also does calendars. ISS will supply instructions for use in due course, the early adopter guinea-pigs are testing them right now.

Let me know if you have any questions -

- Dan

Even though there may only be a few of us who still use it, it seems morally wrong to adopt an email system that doesn't support pine.