Peterhof

More pictures from Russia!

The conference excursion was to Peterhof, the summer palace of the Russian czars. Although hanging around the hotel most of the week got old, the excursions were really memorable.
On the way there, we passed the palace where next month's G8 summit will be held.
We got to Peterhof a little bit early, so we visited this nearby church. According to our guide, the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul was built as part of a contest to build a memorial to the assassinated Czar Alexander II. It came in second to the Church of Spilled Blood.

The palace was incredibly opulent. The style is "Russian Baroque" which apparently differs from other baroque styles due to the white background.
Even though the palace is supposedly "closed" one day a month for cleaning, you can get in that day as part of a tour group.
You can see the picture of Catherine the Great above her throne.
One room was filled with pictures of court ladies, all by the same artist. It was an effect I had never seen before.

The front of the palace looked out onto the Gulf of Bothnia. Peter planned it so that people would usually arrive by sea. (Usually by issuing the command "F Bothnia->St. Pete.") (That's joke goes out to all you Diplomacy fans.)
We finish with the second of the "big head" pictures.

That's Me in the Corner

Well, I've finally been reunited with my luggage. In there was a CD of photos that the organizer provided at the end of the conference. I thought that was a really cool gesture. I also thought I'd show that Russia wasn't all fun in games by highlighting pictures of me attending the conference. Little did I know I was this conference's Zelig.

I was sitting in the upper right of the conference Monday morning, as you can see from the closeup.


The rest of the pictures show me at the rump session studiously taking notes. (Please ignore the empty beer glasses.)

St. Petersburg Boat Trip

I just got back from Russia. Wow, when they say 4 star hotel in Russia, they don't mean the same as in America...or Poland, for that matter. But perhaps I deduct too many stars for the persistent smell of tobacco smoke. I did manage to take three interesting excursions in between conference talks, and I'll post pictures of them one at a time.

The first such trip saw me exchange cigarette fumes for gasoline fumes as we took to the waters of St. Petersburg.

On the bus ride to the boat, our guide talked a lot about real estate. The apartment building on the left is one of the crappy 1990s style buildings -- but not, the guide, assured us, as crappy as the ones built under Krushchev. She returned to the point of how bad those are. In fact, there was a lot of complaining in her narrative. On one hand, that seemed like an odd note on which to start the tour. On the other hand, it seems like Russians have a history to justify a lot of complaining. The apartment building on the right is being built now and is much nicer (but too expensive, of course).

Here is a typical view of the waterways of St. Petersburg. They may look like canals because of the man-made embankments, but they are actually rivers -- the embankments were public works projects of the tsars. I have a lot of pictures of backs of buildings where Pushkin lived or some tsar set up a home for orphaned girls or something, but they all sort of run together.

This is the Peter and Paul Fortress. It was the first set of buildings built in St. Petersburg, and Dostoevsky was once imprisoned there.

This is my big head in front of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Since I didn't feel like asking anyone to take my picture, this will be the first in a series of "big head" pictures.

This is a bridge allegedly built by the same people who built the Eiffel Tower.

My mother the singer

"This is the nicest group of women. As much as I love SaddleBrooke - and I do love it - it was nice to meet women from all over Tucson," Grantham said.

Here's an article about my mother and her singing group (but, from my perspective, mostly about my mother).

Perfect Record

Well, I played in another go tournament today. My record is still unblemished by a victory.

My first game was against one of my opponents from my previous tournament. Since I had regressed to a 17 kyu ranking, and she had advance to 15 kyu, I got a two-stone handicap. It didn't help -- the same result. She cordoned off a massive amount of territory, I tried a desperate invasion, it failed, and I resigned. She ended the tournament undefeated, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad.

My second game was against a 15-kyu kid. I played more respectably and lost by 32 or 34 stones (I can't remember). I feel like I was a few mistakes away from winning that game.

My third game was something else entirely. I played against a kid who entered at 35 kyu. That meant I had to give him an 18 stone handicap. I didn't even know what that looks like. (The most I had played with online was 10, and the most I had played in the tournament was 2...my previous two games.) After some consultation, we came up with the following diagram:


The more observant among you may notice that there are only 17 stones in the diagram. They couldn't figure out where to put the 18th stone. So they decided black could go first (normally reserved for white) as the 18th stone. Now, even if you don't know how to play go, if you recognize that the object of the game is to use stones to surround territory, you realize that black starts with a lot of territory almost surrounded. If I played an 18 stone handicap game against a 2 dan, I'm fairly confident I could pull that off.

But I almost did win despite the handicap. I made one mistake late in the game that allowed my opponent to win by around 30 stones.

The fourth game was much like the third, but this time I had to give my opponent only 15 stones handicap. Once again, I lost by 30 stones. This opponent also finished the tournament undefeated.

So I stand at 0-8 in competitive go. Despite all this (or perhaps because I'm hungry for a win), I am itching to play again. I'll drop to 19 or 20 kyu after this tournament, and I'll have an even better chance -- right?

I've been selling Christina on the idea of spending a weekend in Richmond next month for the Virginia Open. Winning (or losing) is not guaranteed, but a report here either way is.

Border Issues

I thought I had weighed in on this subject before, but Google can't find a mention of it, so I must be mistaken.

I read in a USA Today article that the Senate has pushed back the date by which Americans need passports when returning from Canada and Mexico. I don't have an opinion on the technical details of the timing of this requirement, but overall I'm in favor of this requirement.

I don't necessarily think that this requirement will increase our border security. Conceptually, however, I think it's good for people to use their passports when traveling out of the country.

First of all, it's easier. After I traveled to a conference in graduate school and my non-passport-carrying fellow graduate students (one in particular) got chastised by Canadian immigration, everyone swore they'd have a passport next time they crossed the border.

Secondly, it makes people think about the fact that they're leaving the US. Maybe I'm being naive, but I think having to carry a passport into Tijuana might make a few people think about the fact that they're entering a sovereign nation with a rich history which wasn't just set up to provide them with cheap booze for a night on the town.

Finally, I hope that Americans who get passports for travel in North America will feel, "Hey, now that I've paid for this thing, I might as well use it." I love America, and I love Americans, but some of you guys need to get out more. Especially now that international travel is not that much more expensive than domestic, people can get out and see the world. And they should -- travel has given me a wider perspective on the world, and I think others could benefit from a more cosmopolitan experience.

Millennium Bridge

My trip to England was mostly work, but I did have part of Friday free and in London. London! I like London, so this was cool. I finally got to do something I wanted to do in my 2000 trip there. The Millennium Bridge was built for the millennium (duh) and opened in 2000. It was quickly closed, as resonance from pedestrian footsteps caused the bridge to sway wildly. Well, they finally "fixed" it (there was nothing unsafe about the original design -- it sounded kind of fun) in 2002.

It turns out this is the easiest way to get from Paddington to the Tate Modern and the Globe. I just take the Underground's Circle Line to Blackfriars and then walk across the Thames.

It has quite nice views. To the north is St. Paul's Cathedral...




To the south, the Tate Modern...



To the west, the Tower Bridge...

Bristol Marriott Royal

Greetings from the Bristol Marriott Royal. I have the option -- do I pay 15 pounds/day (roughly $28) for Internet access through the hotel? Or do I use the free wireless network provided by a nearby independent cinema? Hmmn...

I have a very nice room. This is a quaint old hotel that has been remodeled recently.



They decided to keep the plumbing as is, which means separate hot and cold taps (I never understood the attraction of that). Also, if I'm running cold water in the bath, I can't run it in the sink. And if I'm doing either of the preceding two things, the toilet tank doesn't refill. Quirky, but reasonable.




Right now I'm waiting for room service. I used to feel like I should leave my room and have more interaction with local culture. But I've had plenty of interaction with UK culture over the years, and I'm going to have plenty this week. Plus, it was raining (trust me -- it started after I took the picture.)



I took the train out here, which was cool. I hadn't taken a UK train in over 10 years -- except for the Heathrow Express, which I also took today. I almost duplicated a feat from years back, when I started to nod off as we pulled into Bristol. Fortunately, unlike years ago when visiting my parents, I did not manage to sleep through my stop. A short taxi ride later, I was here and napping in my room. That's another thing I used to feel like I should avoid...but I've learned that I'm talented enough at sleeping that a nap won't keep me up all night.

Well, the room service is here, so I'm going to go enjoy my chicken caesar salad...

Us With Jake

 

I was going through some old files, and I found this picture taken last fall of us with Redskins great Joe Jacoby. Boy, that's one sweaty guy. 

New York, New York

Greetings from Manhattan. It's my first trip back since a 7th grade field trip in 1983, and it's Christina's first visit. (Boy, they don't make field trips like they used to, do they?) Yesterday, we dropped the animals off at the kennel, and then drove up to the Philly area to have lunch with our friends Cheryl and Jon, and their son Noah. Then we drove up to Piscataway, where we spent last night.

This morning we got up and headed to Liberty State Park in New Jersey, where we caught the ferry to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Ellis Island was OK, but since neither of us felt a real personal connection, we cut short the audio tour when it started to get repetitive and headed to Liberty Island. The one good thing I can say about the weather is that the rain kept things from being too crowded. That's the Statue of Liberty there -- really it is.
There's Christina with the original torch.

After touring the statue -- another World Heritage Site off (or on) our list -- we parked the car at a PATH station, took the train into Manhattan, and caught a cab to our hotel. Our hotel is really nice -- it was completely renovated last year. We've got a flat-screen TV, a mini-fridge...all the mod cons. After a little relaxation, we headed out for some sight-seeing and dinner. There's Christina in Times Square...

...and there she is after our dinner at the Carnegie Deli. She was quite full after half a sandwich...I made a pig of myself and finished mine off. I won't need to eat for days.

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw various NYC icons like the Ed Sullivan Theater, where David Letterman tapes his show.

Renovations

We (and by we I mean mostly Christina) have done a lot of work on the house this year. Now we're at the point where we can relax and enjoy it. See below pictures of our living room and dining room.


I'm reclining in that chair right now!

Hey from the UK

I've flown into London a bunch of times (I have 5 Heathrow stamps in my not-yet 3-year-old passport), but every other time it's been on a transatlantic flight. My flight from Cologne yesterday was on a small plane (regional jet) which came into Heathrow nice and low (it also came in from the East). So we were treated to a nice view of London, which I realized as soon as I heard the camera (or phone or Palm or whatever) of the guy behind me taking pictures. I took a couple myself -- this is what I think is a nice view of the Thames from the north. Can you spot any landmarks?



I can! There, that's the London Eye.

Pictures from a Go Game

Here are some pictures from the Cherry Blossom Tournament taken by my third opponent. (I'm playing black here.)


My opening wasn't too bad...because of my bad experiences having groups killed in the first two games, I took a conservative approach, opting for enclosures rather than approaching my opponent's corners. In general, this is not a bad approach, but in retrospect this was a mistake for me. It's not the way I usually play, so I ended up in an unfamiliar configuration.

I think the second picture shows where things started to go wrong. I haven't really staked out any additional territory. I have broken up White's territory on the left, and I'm starting to make some territory on the top, but in the mean time, White has made some solid territory on the left.

The third picture shows that I have made some territory along the bottom, but not as much as White did on the right.

In the fourth picture, I've conceded too much of the right to White. He's built up a solid territory there that's going to prove the difference in the game.

The fifth picture shows an abortive invasion I made on the right, but it was really too late at this point.

In the end, White had about 80 points on the right, which is about as much as I had in all of my territory combined. We didn't even bother to count the final score. Looking back, I am not as displeased as I was at the time. I did a few nice things in the game. I like the way I broke up the territory on the left, and I did a decent job of building territory -- just not enough.

Final Tally

Well, the NCAA tourney is over, and it's time for one final evaluation of my picks. I ended up with 87 points out of a possible 168, good for #34,429 in the Yahoo! tournament picks. That's the 97% percentile...surprising me by improving from last weekend. I guess picking UCLA to lose the championship game was worth a lot. Too bad I didn't join a real pool this year...

A Splash of Cologne

Greetings from Cologne (or Köln, if you prefer). My flight got in late yesterday, so I didn't have as much time for sightseeing as I had hoped. My main goal was to see the Cologne Cathedral, a World Heritage Site. The parts that you have to pay to see were open until 6 pm yesterday, so I headed over there with about 2 hours to spare. Once I got there, I realized that these parts (the tower and treasury) weren't the impressive parts, and I had no great interest in them. The interior of the cathedral itself was quite impressive, but I couldn't wander around because there were services going on. I'll probably try to stop by today or tomorrow. The cathedral was built to house the bones of the Three Magi. It was started in 1248, but not completed until 1880. Unlike other cathedrals that took a long time to build, they managed to stick to the original Gothic plan.



I sat outside the Cathedral and enjoyed some falafel before going in.





From the conference reception, the cathedral is the dominant sight in the city. Unfortunately, someone decided to build an ugly building in front of it. The Cathedral is the one major pre-war structure. Allegedly, Allied bombers spared it so they could use it as a landmark to find the city. I've heard that story about other sights in other cities that were spared bombing, so I'm a little built skeptical.

How Do I Rate?

Greetings from Germany! It's my first time here (besides the Frankfurt airport) since '72. I had hoped to post some pictures, but while I brought my camera to the Internet cafe, I appear to have left the cord back in the hotel room. Sigh. Hopefully I'll remember to download the pictures to the laptop tonight so I can upload them tomorrow.

Recently, I told you of my (mis)adventures in the Cherry Blossom Go Tournament, which I entered as a 15 kyu. I said, "My understanding of the ratings is that I will be bumped down from 15 kyu to something worse...17?" Well, the new ratings are out and guess what -- I'm a 17 kyu (closer to 18 than 16). To a certain extent these ratings are nonsensical -- since I lost all my games (and since the score of the game doesn't get reported), for all the rating system knows, I'm really a 35 kyu who resigned all my games. But it takes the (reasonable) assumption that people are probably somewhere near their first guess. So "17 kyu" is the answer to the question of, "What's the most likely rating of someone who enters as a 15 kyu and loses all of his games?" So I have a starting point for next month's tournament, which I hope to enter.