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.