THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #297

November 18, 2005


Produced by Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287
Accessible through Internet at burgess of world.std.com (all E-Mail addresses are reported in this format, replace the " of " with "@"; if you bounce try sending to me from another account. Some of you have been getting bounced messages from my ISP's spam protection, if that happens to you, USE my backup E-Mail at jfburgess of gmail.com!!! Don't complain that my E-Mail keeps bouncing without forwarding the bounced message to that address. Then I can forward it to the ISP help to get it dealt with.
Web Page Address: /Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html


We're horribly late again, I was off to Oslo, Norway for a business trip and I hoped to get the szine out before I left, but you know how that went. Also, I'm having some trouble updating the web site fully (the index page) but I will fix that this week somehow. I'm hoping Millis Miller (thanks, Millis, for all you dO!!!) will fix things so I can do it the way I did it before, but I might have to improvise. We've got a Tinamou in here from David Partridge, and I pushed the deadlines back a couple of weeks to accomodate the delay. I still want the 300th issue to be my first issue in January, 2006. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone (I guess I need to say, only to the Americans!).


The postal sub price is still $1.50 per issue in the US and Canada, with double that for other foreign subbers(or $3.00 per issue sent airmail). Players in current games and standbys will continue to get the issues for free, and future game starts (except for Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy, which is free) cost $20.00 ($15.00 for a life of the game subscription and $5 for the NMR Insurance.n play in subszines for free and just jack up the issue page count. See the revised game start announcements below!
Check out the connections in the Diplomatic Pouch with all of the information you need to play Diplomacy on the Internet at: /
I also have taken over the Postal portion of the Pouch: http:/evel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/
and TAP on the web is there at: /Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html
where the szine resides in html format. Presently, issues from #190 to the current issue are there, and I will be updating the back issues gradually someday. Also, check out Stephen Agar's more extensive efforts at: http://www.diplomacy-archive.com and http://www.diplomacy.co.uk
Peter Sullivan's subszine is out of stasis, and all the back issues can be accessed via :
http://www.burdonvale.co.uk/octopus/index.html.
Peter was saying that he would be unlikely to be starting any new games in the Octopus until "at least the start of 2002." He had been hereby declared to be in official indeterminate stasis and that date was now a "whenever". But Peter is now clearly back!!! See Octopus' Garden in the print edition below, or on the web at the above address. In the meantime, Rip Gooch and Dave Partridge have been picking up the choo-choo game slack in TAP. Contact Rip at xyropedes of canada.com or Dave at rebhuhn of rocketmail.com for more info. Rip has been traveling this summer also, but he is trying to get his act back together soon.
The TAP mailing list has moved! It now is even BETTER protected than it was. I even have a bit of trouble posting to it. To post to this list, send your email to: tap of diplom.org. But this is completely moderated, it won't go out to the list unless I approve it. In general, I intend to keep traffic down to just the szine, as we've been doing.
General information about the mailing list is at: /mailman/listinfo/tap
You can sign up from there, or send E-Mails to: Tap-request of diplom.org; with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. Normally, Mailman will remind you of your diplom.org mailing list passwords once every month, although you can disable this if you prefer. This reminder will also include instructions on how to unsubscribe or change your account options. There is also a button on your options page that will email your current password to you. A big, big thank you for Millis Miller for setting this all up!!


THE SEARCH FOR KEVIN TIGHE
There is a very special "search for" coming up in issue #300, and I'm going to offer a hundred buck reward for that one, so I'm also going to up the ante on Kevin through issue #300 to $1 billion dollars.... no, make that $100, can't quite afford to be THAT generous. There have been some recent "sightings" of Kevin Tighe. And he's the reason I first started this feature (for those of you who don't recall) and he's the one I continue to be most interested in finding. This may take a bit of real detective work, but as a hint, like many of us Diplomacy players, I believe he is out there making money on some of the poker circuits. I also would like ALL of the previous found people who are still getting the szine to write me SOMETHING for the 300th issue for this section. I know I've been having Doug Beyerlein write me lots of little notes along the way, not all of whom I've been printing, and so I have some things from him already. But he may want to send me something else. What should you write? Something on what you've been up to, a reminiscence of Diplomacy times or friends past, whatever, it's up to you, but I want something from as many of you as possible. While we're at it, some of you other old timers still getting the szine (you know who you are, but I'm thinking most particularly of people like Tom Nash, Dan Stafford, Bruce Geryk, and Steve Hutton, most of whom were once szine editors) also should write me something!!! I plan to have issue #300 be the first issue of 2006, so you have the rest of the year. I'll save them up for that issue, but get writing now!!!


Feel free to spend the time looking for some of the backlog. Let's get Derek, Sylvain, Steve, Ed, Tom, Bill, Gregory, and ESPECIALLY Kevin found too!!! This is a regular continuing feature of the szine and I will be introducing a new "search for" every five issues. Moreover, you can win a $25 prize for finding some previous target who went unfound in the original $50 period. That means that if Steve Heinowski or Ed Henry or Tom Hurst or Bill Quinn or Gregory Stewart or Derek Nelson or Sylvain LaRose or John Smythe is "found" from now on it is worth $25.


Winners will receive credit for Dip hobby activities that I will pay out as requested by the winner. Subscribe to szines here or abroad, run your own contests, publish a szine, finance a web page, GO TO A DIPLOMACY CONVENTION or whatever. Spend it all right away or use me as a bank to cover hobby activities for years. What must you do to win? Get me a letter to the editor for TAP from the person we're searching for.
This is very important, just finding them doesn't do it. They have to write me a letter. The final judge as to the winner of any contest will be the target himself and I reserve the right to investigate the winning entry. When you find someone I'm looking for, you should ask him to send me a letter for print that includes a verification of who "found" him.


INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION EXCHANGE NEWS
The British representative is the editor of Mission From God, John Harrington. John may be contacted at 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 3UW, UK.
E-Mail: fiendish of operamail.com, John.Harrington of tfeurope.com
Please include the full name and address of the foreign publisher with your order, if possible, as well as the szine title. Make your check in US dollars out to me personally or in GBP to John if you're doing things from that end. I will conduct business for Canadians as well, if I can, but prefer to deal in US dollars with them if possible, or Canadian dollars cash. To subscribe to American szines, the system works in reverse.
We have added a European continental representative, most of this traffic likely will occur between Ronald Camstra (in the Netherlands) and John Harrington, but if anyone here in the US wants to get money into Euros, we'll try to help you out. Ronald Camstra can be contacted at siedler of zonnet.nl and his home address is: Wielingenplein 48, 3522 PE Utrecht, the Netherlands. But in Holland it is most common not to send checks but to transfer money by bank. Dutch people can pay directly to Postbankaccount 4652247 of Ronald Camstra in Utrecht. Since he can see the name and address of the sender in his bankreceipt, people only have to mention the name of the zine and the editorial address along with their bank order. Ronald is obviously a huge Settlers of Catan fan. If you're interested in playing that game internationally by mail, I think Ronald can help you out.
We also have reopened a branch office of the International Subscription Exchange in Australia!! Brendan Whyte, the publisher of the excellent szine Damn the Consequences will be doing the honors, taking over in some sense from John Cain, who was the Australian rep for many years. You can contact Brendan to sub to Australian szines from the US or to sub to US szines from Australia, converting Australian dollars into American ones. We are now maneuvering deals to Europe from the other reps as well. You can find Brendan Whyte at bwhyte of unimelb.edu.au (note that this is a new E-Mail address for Brendan) or by mail to send checks at: Map Collection, ERC Library, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, AUSTRALIA.


WORLDMASTERS02 AND WORLDMASTERS04 SECTION
WorldMasters 2002 Email Diplomacy Tournament Finals are over, and in a game that went to 1914 (nice idea here to let the finals go on for longer, a feature of WorldMasters that I applaud) Julio Pereira gets to 14 centers as Russia and TAKES the 2002 WorldMasters Tournament. Congratulations to Julio, and salutes and felicitations to the growing impact of the Brazilians in the Diplomacy hobby. Julio is a fierce player and a good guy to boot. See http://www.worldmasters.net/wm02/ for full details. Since I didn't get sufficient interest to get a team in for 04, I am back on the WorldMasters Tournament Management Committee again. See:
http://www.worldmasters.net/wm04/
for details on that, the Round 2 draws are out and games are going.
Let me repeat what I said last time.... Some of the notable matchups include the WM04R221 draw that includes Lee Harmon (G), Andy Bartalone (E), and Glenn Ledder (F). I don't think I could come up with three more diverse personalities who are all great players! That will be quite a battle. Glenn Ledder also is in the feature gutsy3 game that you can observe in process by joining the gutsy3 observers group on Yahoo. Guess what happened??? I got called in as a STANDBY for Turkey in this game!!! Now I'm negotiating with Lee-Man, Buffalo, and Polymath Glenn. Dan, Urco, and Ian round out the players. This is fun, let's see if I can shake the game up a bit. More on that as the game develops.
It is helping now that I've joined the Yahoogroup WM04-Chat where this discussion is happening. You can join too! But most of the talk there has been about Yann Clouet and the French Hobby's new "World Palmares Evaluation" of FTF Diplomacy Play. Of course, Yann Clouet comes out #1, further backing up winning the John Koning award, and I am 1442nd (in a tie with Mark Nelson and Tony Dickinson, among others!). This uses lots of tournament results, more than 750 of them, and really is quite comprehensive. See those rankings at: http://www.18centres.com/SPIP3/article.php3?id_article=199


DIPDOM NEWS SECTION (with letters)
Obscure and not-so-obscure ramblings on the state of the hobby and its publications, custodians, events, and individuals with no guarantee of relevance from the fertile keyboard of Jim-Bob, the E-Mail Dip world, and the rest of the postal hobby. My comments are in italics and ((double quotation marks)) like this. Bold face is used to set off each individual speaker. I should also make a note that I do edit for syntax and spelling on occasion.
The game Diplomacy is a copyrighted product owned by Hasbro and all reproductions or other use of that material in this szine is intended to be personal use and not infringe on those rights in any way. All reproductions are done at a heavy financial loss to the editor and thus are without the remotest possibility of commercial intent, except to promote THE game, the Game of Diplomacy, which you all should purchase from Hasbro or other duly licensed distributors.
Stephen Agar has matched the Hasbro rule lists and more with some of the even older rulebooks. Check these out if you like:
http://www.hasbro.com/default.asp?xcc_gameandtoyinstructions
http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy.PDF
http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy(OlderVers).PDF
Nice of them to make BOTH of these available. And all seven different US rulebooks for Diplomacy can now be found here courtesy of Stephen Agar (relatively new address for this):
http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/diplomacy_rules.htm


Check out current and back issues of Diplomacy World - www.diplomacyworld.org
We are back on solid track, Tim Haffey has agreed to be the Production Editor that I needed. We always need more articles, Issues #94 AND #95 both are out NOW!!! If you think you should have been on that list and weren't, let me or Dave Partridge know. Help us out, write an article for a future issue!
Also, I'd be interested in hearing any Hobby Award Nominations for:
The 2005 Don Miller Award for Meritorious Service;
The 2005 Rod Walker Award for Literature;
The 2005 John Koning Award for Player Performance;
The 2005 Fred Hyatt Award for GM Performance;
or
A 2005 Kathy Byrne Caruso Award for Lifetime Achievement (if warranted).
The award ballot for this year will be publicized in my Issue 300 in January.


Upcoming Diplomacy World Issue Deadlines:
Deadline Winter 2005, Issue #96: December 1, 2005
Editorial Board for Diplomacy World:
Tim Haffey, 810 53rd Ave., Oakland, CA 94601 USA; trhaffey of aol.com - Lead-Editor, Demo Game GM, and Publisher
Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, USA; burgess of world.std.com - Co-Editor
Stephen Agar, 4 Cedars Gardens, Brighton, UNITED KINGDOM BN1 6YD; stephen of stephenagar.com - Webmaster and Non-US Postal
Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852, USA; rick_desper of yahoo.com - Demo Games
Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033, USA; rebhuhn of rocketmail.com - US Postal


ATTENTION: There is a new company doing a new PC Diplomacy game:
http://www.paradoxplaza.com/news.asp?ArticleID=239&Page=News
This game is out and available. You all should read the interview in the Spring 2005 movement issue of the Diplomatic Pouch that you can find at: /Zine/S2005M/
Contact Susana Meza, pr of paradoxplaza.com, the PR Director for more info or if you want demos or help with a Diplomacy convention!
To find out more general information on DIPLOMACY please visit www.diplomacy-pcgame.com or contact pr of paradoxplaza.com
There has been a firestorm of interest in this, both HEAVILY pro and HEAVILY con. But I stand by what I said last time, Paradox is going to pay attention and make improvements and have staying power, I think. But if you want to see the REALLY negative, check out GameSpy's review (their "lowest rated game review" ever) at: http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/diplomacy-2005/665958p1.html but remember, that really just indicates degree of difficulty, this game is REALLY, REALLY hard.
If one does buy it, I strongly recommend reviewing the detailed web comments on their web site and downloading the errata files before starting to try it. Paradox indicates its intent to actually listen and support the product (meaning at the least that they will fix errors).
e.g. see http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/announcement.php?f=295
BUT, the question is, what will Paradox do to fix and improve things? I think they will do what it takes. But in any case, their main point is not going to compete well with the Pouch/Judges/Human adjudicators, but to provide their own different experience. They may ultimately do that well, but haven't yet.


Will Abbott (Thu, 20 Oct 2005 15:09:03 -0500)
Jim, I'm looking at putting together a Diplomacy tournament here in the Lafayette, IN area sometime early in 2006 (date isn't sent yet). 2 questions-
1. Do you know of players, groups, etc. in this area (Lafayette is between Chicago and Indianapolis) who would be interested, or others who might travel for one? ((Jim O'Kelley and Russ Rusnak can tell you about their Chicago area get togethers. Jim's crowd has had a recent get-together, plans another one in January, and has a Yahoo Group, http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChicagoDip Others?))
2. Would you be willing to put a thing in TAP and/or Diplomacy World once I get more details? ((But of course...))
I've got a local coffeehouse interested in hosting, and Purdue University is nearby, so there should be some prospects locally, too.
Will, wabbott9 of gmail.com - Read my Blog: http://wabbott.blogspot.com


David Hood (Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:30:31 -0400)
Time to start making your plans to attend the 2006 North American Diplomacy Championships, held February 24-26, 2006 in conjunction with Prezcon in Charlottesville, VA. The Diplomacy tournament will be run by David Hood using the Dixiecon/Prezcon system that has been utilized in several past Dipcons. There will be four Diplomacy rounds beginning on Friday night, with no time limits except for the Sunday round.
Dipcon is always a highlight of the Diplomacy circuit for the year - get more information now at www.prezcon.com and www.dixiecon.com or you can email the tournament director at davidhood of dixiecon.com for specific information. The Prezcon folks are committed to making this a very special Dipcon, with a specific Dipcon registration fee and T-shirt, so check out their site for more information. The Dipcon committee of David Hood, Michael Lowrey and Andy Marshall has many years of Diplomacy tournament direction experience between them, so screw-ups are extremely unlikely. And Director of Fun Andy Marshall has guaranteed you WILL have fun at this Dipcon, or your money back.
BE THERE OR BE, WELL, SOMEWHERE ELSE THAT'S NOT AS GOOD.
David, davidhood of dixiecon.com


MUSIC AND MOVIES SECTION (WITH COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTS AND SOCIETY)
Tell me anything you like about the recent past in music. List a top two, a top ten, or a top 100, I don't care, just tell me something!! We're beginning to gear up for a "best of 2005" section.


Alexander "Smiley" Woo (Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:13:36 -0700)
Jim-Bob,
I think the Cardinals have a chance, but that's only if they get past the Astros first. (Looks VERY unlikely as of right now - check the time stamp.)
Smiley, awoo of Math.Berkeley.EDU


Rick Desper (Thu, 20 Oct 2005 02:55:34 -0700 (PDT))
Hard to decide who I want to win, since I had called an Angels/Cards WS.
Case in favor of the White Sox: they haven't won since 1917, it's a story similar to Boston's, their manager is nutty, they don't have Roger Clemens, it would be nice for Frank Thomas to get a ring, Tom DeLay isn't from Chicago, somebody in Houston stole my jean jacket...
Case in favor of Houston: they've never won a WS, it'd be nice for Bagwell and Biggio to get rings, Frank Thomas won't even be playing, Tom DeLay has already been indicted, the White Sox deserve their curse because they threw a World Series, it's too late to punish Clemens,...
I'm leaning to the Bagwell/Biggio angle. The only White Sock (I insist on singularizing here) with similar tenure is Thomas, and he won't even be playing.
For now, I'm just loving the former Yankee angle.
Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com
((I'm sticking by my White Sox to sweep model. I think the most interesting aspect of the managerial decisions to be made is on the DH choice by the Astros. The sentimental choice would be to put Jeff Bagwell on the roster (he MIGHT be left off it, but I think they WON'T be able to bring themselves to do that) and make him the DH in Chicago. That would be sentimental, and dumb. And an indication of how cutthroat the Astros intend to be to try to win this (i.e. are they just happy to be here, or do they intend to go all out to win). My heartless self would leave Bagwell on the sidelines and off the roster. In other words, I totally disagree with Rick. This is about scoring runs and preventing runs. I KNOW that crazy like a fox White Sox will be heartless, and that will be the heart they need to win. So says the Jim-Bob!))


Rick Desper (Thu, 20 Oct 2005 09:11:28 -0700 (PDT))
Bagwell was on the roster for both series thus far. I think there's zero chance that he won't be on for the WS. He's already pinch-hit twice, and knocked in a run in the LDS. He'd probably be quite happy to serve as the DH in Chicago.
As I understand it, his injury does not affect his hitting at all, but only his throwing. If true, he's tailor-made for the DH position.
The idea of keeping him off the roster entirely is unthinkable. He's earned the right to play in the World Series.
Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com
((Uh, huh, I hear you.... I know he knocked in a run in the LCS. I'm sticking by my story. I completely agree that he will be on the roster. I'm saying I don't think he should be the DH. If they do that and he hits a game winning HR in Chicago, I fully admit I'm setting myself up for a big "I told you so". Going out on a prediction limb is my business, which is why my rump is so sore.))


Warren Goesle (Fri, 21 Oct 2005 08:42:03 -0500)
Gentlemen,
So I've been pondering the upcoming World Series...well...ever since the last one, and trying to make sense out of it. The fact that we've got a team in it who's never been in one before against a team who hasn't won a World Series since the last time they THREW a World Series kinda makes looking at it in a historical context futile. I'd like to take the easy way out (and I'm surprised Jim-Bob didn't think of this first) and say that, since the Red Sox won the WS last year there must be something special about the year 1961 (stay with me on this). That was 43 years after the Red Sox won their previous WS, and 43 years before they'd win their next. Coincidentally (or not), it's now been 44 years since that year, when it was 44 years after the White Sox won THEIR last WS. If we extrapolate this further, note that 1961 was 53 years after the Cubs last won the WS, and it would put them on pace to win again in 2014. I can hardly wait.
Hmmm, maybe I'll try logic instead.
I keep hearing about starting pitching staffs. I don't buy into that much, because the White Sox will at most face Oswalt only in Game 3 and Game 7, so how many games can he really win? Alright, we watched Randy Johnson go the extra mile in 2001, and Clemens do a good relief job in this year's NLDS, but in the end it's going to be Clemens against Contrearas, Pettitte against Buerhle, Oswalt against Garland, Bakke against Garcia and then repeat. So for Game 1 (and 5) I call it a push, give a slight edge to Houston for Game 2 and 3 (and 6 and 7), and give a big edge to Chicago for Game 4. Is that enough to tip things in Houston's favor? Um, I don't know.
Relief pitching gives a slight edge to Houston. Lidge over Jenks? Of course. Middle relief might go to the Sox, but barely.
Position players, both offense and defense, goes to Chicago. Both teams will manufacture runs, but Chicago will get theirs' easier. Both defenses are tight. Houston will have more highlight material, but Chicago's is sounder overall.
I'm not sure where to put the advantage for the bench. My gut says Astros, but, as Jim-Bob and Rick suggested, how will the DH or lack-thereof figure into that?
So, who is hotter? The White Sox, despite being called "dead" in mid-September, have won 12 of their last 13 games. Houston has merely been very, very solid getting through the pack of contenders into the Wild Card slot, then beating a tough Atlanta club followed by a wounded Cardinal club. The White Sox are streakier, but of course that can cut both ways.
So this brings us to the managers. Hmmm. Garner has really never impressed me...until this year. Funny how making the World Series changes your perspective on that. Ozzie is, hands down, the most exiting manager in MLB today (Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times.). In what seems likely to be a tight, low-scoring series, I'd expect a lot of moves by both. Look for Ozzie's to be more frequent, and more puzzling. I'd have to bet that he makes 3 calls that will decide games that look really strange at the times he makes them. But how many of those 3 work out? Hmm...
My analysis on the better team: Uh, I have no clue. None. Not even a bluff. Not that that little detail will keep me from making predictions (were you guys worried about that?)...
Note: the weather for the first two games is supposed to be very un-baseball like. We're due for highs in the low 50's, with temps dropping to mid-40s for both Saturday and Sunday game-time, and rain possible both days (someone actually said the "s-" word as a possibilty for Sunday night). While I have opinions about the weather as well, I'll leave the predictions for that to others.
I think that the White Sox win a sloppy Game 1. Neither starter looks sharp, and Chicago gets about an 8-6 win. After that, just when all the commentators are giving their "mea culpas" about how wrong they were about it being a low-scoring Series, it becomes a low-scoring Series. Houston gets Game 2 about 2-1, and then heads home for a good outing by Oswalt. Garcia picks up the Sox in Game 4, and commentators start making noises about "the Best World Series ever". So Clemens dispatches Contrearas in a blowout Game 5 at that point. The Series returns to Chicago, where the lice, frogs and locusts have taken over. Buerhle outduels Pettitte in a 1-0 classic Game 6, and, just as all the commentators have said that Houston can't possibly recover from that any better than they said the Astros could recover from their NLCS Game 5 meltdown, Oswalt gives up 1 run on 3 hits over 8 innings and Lidge closes out a 3-1 Game 7. The lice, frogs and locusts board the next train to Houston, and Astros' fans start hiding their firstborn.
Having just re-read the above, I really can't shoot any holes in it, or come up with anything smarter. Feel free to try. I'm just gonna sit back and watch, and hopefully see some good baseball.
Goz, Warren.Goesle of CMCElectronics.us
I live in my own world, but it's ok. They know me here.
((Fascinating the detail of your analysis is.... to Yodaize it. But, I don't really think that you can plot a series that closely, even me, prediction out on the limb guy. I still go with the White Sox in a four or five game annihilation. And I've heard rumors about the Astros still not being sure if Bagwell is on or off the playoff roster..... ;-) ))


Rick Desper (Fri, 21 Oct 2005 09:33:20 -0700 (PDT)
Without citing everything, I agree with the implied sentiment that Oswalt is the best pitcher in the Series, and the team with the best pitcher usually has the advantage if their other pitchers are at least half-decent. Houston's are better than that.
I don't think Bobby Jenks is at the level of Lidge, Rivera, or Foulke. At some point, that probably will hurt the White Sox.
I'm almost picking the Astros to win, it seems, but I think I want to simply sit back and enjoy the series.
Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com


Rick Desper (Mon, 24 Oct 2005 06:29:29 -0700 (PDT))
I hear that the White Sox got the benefit of Yet Another Dubious Call, namely a batter who was allegedly `hit by pitch' when the pitch actually hit his bat. And then Konerko stepped to the plate and hit a grand slam.
These are the kind of things that signify something, though I'm not sure exactly what.
Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com


Warren Goesle (Mon, 24 Oct 2005 08:40:42 -0500)
"Dubious" is the wrong word.
"Incorrect" is the right word.
I'm willing to cut the umpires a break on the dropped-third strike call last week, as I still can't tell definitively that they blew that one. But the non-call on the catcher's interference was hideous.
Nonetheless, that was an awful first pitch to thrown to Konerko. As Tim McCarver said, "a catcher doesn't catch many high sinkers".
Goz, Warren.Goesle of CMCElectronics.us


Rick Desper (Thu, 27 Oct 2005 04:42:43 -0700 (PDT))
Wow. Another sweep.
Anyway, I thought I'd chime in with some early 2006 predictions:
AL East: Yankees
NL East: Braves
The rest is murky. :)
Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com


Warren Goesle (Thu, 27 Oct 2005 07:28:12 -0500)
Since Rick left a few of the easy predictions for 2006 out, here's my take:
Jim-Bob will predict the Red Sox to win the World Series. He will tell us no fewer than 4 times how the Yankees won't even make the playoffs. He will say that Ken Griffey, Jr. will have a great season and help the Reds to the playoffs. He will laud Barry Bonds and pick the Giants to win the NL West and make it at least to the NLCS, with Barry being NL MVP and hitting 75 home runs. He will somehow rationalize that the financial system under which MLB plays is "fair".
Did I leave anything out?
((No, but you're really being rather inaccurate on purpose. My big thing on both the Yankees and Braves is that they make the playoffs but don't do anything once they get there. I agree with Rick's early 2006 prediction, but would add that neither the Braves nor the Yankees will win their first round playoff series. On Griffey, Jr., he did JUST what I thought he would do this year, but that was lots more than many people thought. I never said, nor thought, that Griffey, Jr. would lead the Reds to the playoffs. I WILL laud the Barry and you have most of the rest right, though I think about 50 homers is all we'll get out of Bonds but that will put him in Aaron country at the end of the year. And the financial system in MLB IS fair, it just isn't balanced. And while I might like to see balanced, we've got to figure out a way to design it AND a way to get us from here to there. I am not optimistic about this.))
Note: the best team in baseball won the World Series last night. Emphasis very heavy on "team". My wife, who is a White Sox fan but not really a baseball fan, and I were discussing them last night and I noted that the Sox have a different hero every game. I'm amending that to, "a different hero every inning". Last night it was Uribe in the 9th, Dye in the 8th, etc.
They hit and pitch just well enough to win...and win and win. I salute them and call them "my Daddy".
And apparently locusts like deep-dish pizza as much as they like baked beans.
Goz, Warren.Goesle of CMCElectronics.us


David Partridge (Thu, 27 Oct 2005 06:00:26 -0700 (PDT))
Locusts are good on deep dish pizza! Goz, you need to become commissioner and get to work, for the final sign of the apocalypse, we need to see a Sox vs Sox WS.
Dave, rebhuhn of rocketmail.com


Warren Goesle (Thu, 27 Oct 2005 08:24:53 -0500)
Um, do you mean Sox vs Cubs? If so, which Sox?
Note that the Cubs, with the last WS win in 1908, at least used to have some company, with the White Sox last WS in 1917 and the Red Sox in 1918. Now #2 in futility is the Indians, dating to 1948 (although some folks would argue that #2 in futility, and maybe #1, is the fact that the Yankees haven't won for 5 years). Misery loves company, and now the Cubs pretty much stand alone.
Gotta go hide the firstborn.
Goz, Warren.Goesle of CMCElectronics.us


David Partridge (Thu, 27 Oct 2005 06:51:47 -0700 (PDT))
Nope, Sox vs Sox. That's why you need to be Commissioner and making changes (<:
Dave, rebhuhn of rocketmail.com
((You guys are a hoot. Still, I wake up this morning thinking that betting on my choice (I'm much more rational when predicting about teams that I am not a fan of) would have made me a LOT of money. I really was sure it would be a sweep. And, for at least twice, I am correct, sirs! And next up, I don't have a response from Pete Gaughan yet, but the "West Coast version" of the baseball coffee clatch with Mark Lew asking Pete Gaughan...))


Mark D Lew (Sun, 30 Oct 2005 14:17:20 -0800)
Pete,
I'm curious if you have a reaction yet to the whole foofaraw in Dodgers land. In Athletics Nation the buzz is overwhelmingly pro-DePo. For some reason there's still loyalty to him, so the general attitude is McCourt is a jerk and DePo got screwed. A subtheme - which I'm inclined to agree with - is that while DePo had some things in common with Beane, one thing he lacked was Billy's people skills and ability to schmooze and charm anyone, and that's what got DePo fired. He had way too many enemies in LA to just trust his job was secure and after a losing season they all caught up with him.
Another subtheme is that the Dodgers are now perceived as likely trading partners. Apparently the organization has several young guys that we like, but they're the same guys that DePo would like. With DePo gone, the new guy might not value them as much so perhaps we could get a deal. Among the known names, the one who gets mentioned the most is Hee-Seop Choi. I don't know much about him, but apparently Billy has liked him in the past and he's now seen as possible DH-plus-backup-1B to replace Hatteberg. The other thing I'm hearing now is that the Dodgers would be a good destination for Zito if we trade him. Before this, the talk was all about the Mets. Zito would be a personal good fit in LA, and about a year ago I remember predicting Dodgers as the most likely ultimate destination for him.
The talk about Choi points up the fact that the A's, in spite of being an AL team, haven't really had a true DH type hitter in years. Seems like the commonest pattern for DH is either big slugger who comes with a high salary, or a veteran who had mediocre defense to begin with and now doesn't play in the field at all. The former are too expensive for us; the latter we sometimes have in their younger days but he moves on before he reaches the DH phase of his career (eg, Giambi).
One of the A's games this past season was the first time in baseball history both teams batted their DH ninth. A's had done that several times this year. As often as not our DH is one of the second-rank guys on the bench anyway. When we do have a DH, the pattern seems to be to get a AAAA type player who hits well enough that he could be a big-leaguer if he had good defense, but his defense isn't good enough to put him in the field, and his hitting isn't good enough to warrant a DH spot. I gather that Choi is in that category, but near the top within the category.
Re Zito: For what it's worth, my current is that it's about 50-50 he's with the team for 2006. Beane is saying he's not interested in trading Zito, but I think that's just to push the price up. If he gets a good offer, he'll give up Zito; if he doesn't, he won't. The question is what the demand will be for a good starting pitcher. It's possible that there'll be a backlash against the widespread overpricing of starting pitching last year. If that's the case, you might even see Beane go out and buy a few.
mdl, markdlew of earthlink.net
((I also didn't see the DePo dumping coming. The word in the press out here (and McCourt has lots of friends around here, since he would have preferred owning the Sox) is more that they don't like his choices on who to trade and who to keep, focusing in particular on LoDuca.))


Mark D Lew (Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:15:25 -0800)
Epstein: Wow. I didn't see that one coming either.
mdl, markdlew of earthlink.net
((We saw the hints of it coming, but it is a big surprise. If I read the tea leaves right, I think that Theo Epstein might even end up switching careers and NOT be a GM any more. That would be my guess right now. This was a real mess. As far as we can tell, what happened was this (some informed speculation built in): Theo and Larry Lucchino should really have gotten the deal done in the spring, and all parties agree that they probably could have done it then. They didn't want Theo getting an agent (policy for management level contracts), so during the season everyone was too busy to get it done. Then after the season, first Lucchino stretched the negotiations out by starting them at a lower number than he probably "should have", but then the discussion came around to respect and controlling the discussions with the media. Theo was upset that he and Larry weren't speaking to the media with the same voice, and ditto for the other senior management. Theo had "his guys under control" but Larry didn't have Charles Steinberg (his guy) under control. And weirdly, Charles was the guy who FIRST discovered Theo as an intern. So they reached a deal in principal on a Thursday/Friday. Then, as a signal for the new regime, Theo and Larry held joint conference calls with writers to "leak" the news of a deal. This was so weird in this world (not in mine, but in theirs) that at least one writer on a talk show said he'd never been in such a thing before. Writers usually try to talk to both sides separately! But then, and this is my speculation, Charles Steinberg also talked to at least one writer. And Theo killed the deal on Monday, perhaps because he saw he never was going to really control the organization and the structure. Maybe it was something else. But everyone keeps talking about "what if Theo just comes back" like Ken Macha came back in Oakland. Could still happen, otherwise it looks like we're going to get Jim Beattie.))


Dwayne Shreve (Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:20:50 -0400)
Hey Jim, I just ran across this on the web: "We all wonder where our friend Dwayne Shreve went to. (BOOB to WORLD OF DWAYNE SHREVE): Dwayne won't let me mail the szine to him any more, I would, but he won't let me..... "
Out of curiousity, I had done a google for "Dwayne Shreve" in quotes and this was near the top of the hits. How could I resist answering? I am still very much alive, but maybe just too damned busy for complete happiness. Hell, I didn't get anywhere near enough bicycling or fishing in last summer and now it is autumn going on winter. I am retired, but seem to keep taking on responsibilities, especially websites of nonprofit hiking or trail groups. On the other hand, it seems to be those retirees who don't have enough interests who get sick and die.
This past late February and early March, a friend and I bicycled 2/3 of the way across the Yucatan Peninsula. As of this coming New Year's eve, a few including me, will be two days into the Peten Jungle, camping at the bottom of the second highest Maya pyramid anywhere. If the guide does it right, with my coaching, we will still have some cold beer, although that will just be a taste. We will largely bring other more alcohol intensive drinks. See http://www.mostlymaya.com/2006_Mirador_trip1.html for a description of it on my website.
Dwayne, dwayneshreve of yahoo.com
[image: Day glyphs] http://www.pauahtun.org/tools.html
((Thanks for the update, I hope you don't mind if I print your note in TAP, even if you aren't reading it..... ;-) I bet you're glad you weren't bicycling in the Yucatan last week. Good luck on the trip, I've visited many of the Mayan pyramid sites as well and read a lot of the academic literature studying them, but I don't think I've been to the one you're talking about going to next. I've not done the "hikes through the jungle" bit.))


Dwayne Shreve (10/26/05)
No problema. I sort of figured that you would print it. I didn't know you were interested in the Maya ruins. That's great.
The only ways to see the ruin that I am going to next, El Mirador, are by helicopter or by two days on foot and/or horseback. Throw in an extra day and you also see Nakbe and a lot of other sites between the latter and Carmelita. This time I will have a digital camera and should get a lot of photos to pick and choose between. Last time I was disappointed in the quality, especially after scanning.
The hurricane hit some of my favorite places hard. Places like Isla Mujeres have good shelters and I suspect that Cancun does as well. I still haven't heard about Punta Allen; the people I know there were in Michigan at the time.
In early March, 2007, I plan to again head to Mexico and buy a bike, but this time I will bus to places like Xpujil to see some Rio Bec sites and a few other odd ones there. Bikes go under the bus. Given time, I will go somewhere else for other ruins. Maybe it will be in the Puuc hills to do day trips to see obscure ruins.
At the end, I plan to swim, paddle and maybe fish in Punta Allen. I can't think of a lovelier place to "rest up" after a ruins trip. Maybe you would want to think about going on this one too. I plan to sell the bike either in Punta Allen like last time or maybe in Playa del Carmen.
Dwayne, dwayneshreve of yahoo.com
((No thanks, but I could easily see myself doing something very similar after retirement. I presume you have or have heard of Michael Coe's books on the Maya, I think he has eight of them, including the indispensible "Reading the Maya Glyphs". And yes, I thought you were talking about El Mirador, I've not gone on any of the "helicopter/hiking" accessible trips.))
THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION
"So I called up George and he called up Jim, I said let's make a deal.
He said he'd talk to him. Gonna start a church where you can save yourself,
You can make some noise, When you've got no choice...
You told me useful things, what people think of me, I guess I should thank you.
It's true, then I agree... I'm all alone, I've got no choice,
I'm all alone, I've got no choice."
From "Got No Choice" by the incomparable Mark Cutler, from the CD Mark Cutler and Useful Things.
If you want to submit orders, press, or letters by E-Mail, you can find me through the Internet system at "burgess of world.std.com". If anyone has an interest in having an E-Mail address listed so people can negotiate with you by computer, just let me know. FAX orders to (401) 277-9904 if you let me know in advance to be sure the fax machine is set up.
I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine.
Standby lists:
Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Bob Osuch, Doug Kent, Sean O'Donnell, Vern Parker, Heath Gardner, Paul Kenny, Jeff O'Donnell, and Dan Gorham stand by for regular Diplomacy.
Let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF. Standbies get the szine for free and receive my personal thanks.


GAME OPENING INFORMATION
We've got lots of openings in the subszines, check them out!!! Especially, contact Rip Gooch for Railway Rivals, see Rip's subszine elsewhere in most issues of TAP. Come on, help me out!!! Contact Rip Gooch directly at xyropedes of canada.com. Rip has been a bit missing in action lately, but I am assured that he SHALL return.
I'm ready to start a new Breaking Away game, who's interested??? Challenge David Partridge again as he is in, so are Brendan Whyte and Alexander Woo. Anyone else?
I am willing to open another new game if there is enough interest!!! Also, is there any interest in another game of Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire 7x7 Dip? I know it may be getting tired, but I really like it. We have Karl Schmit and Sean O'Donnell on the list, let's get seven!! It's FREE!!!
I also am starting a game of the variant I designed, Spy Diplomacy. Signups for that are now open. I'll publish the rules shortly or you can look at them at www.variantbank.org. Bruce Edwards and Eric Ozog are signed up. I'll try to remember to punch in the rules in the next issue.
John Harrington is offering to guest GM a game of Office Politics. Any interest in that?? Let me or John know! Jody McCullough and Bruce Edwards are interested, anyone else?
And since Colonia is over, Harold Reynolds is looking to start something else.
Also, I am going to design some postal rules for Devil Take the Hindmost, and we have an opening here: Bruce Edwards, Mike Barno, and Eoghan Barry are signed up. Postal rules from me will be forthcoming shortly, on my never ending to-do list. I will get them in SOON! I'm more likely to get these things started if I see some interest..... I've GOT to do this now, Eoghan is getting tired of waiting....
Right now, the other thing going is the Modern Diplomacy game with Wings. Sean O'Donnell, Bob Holt, Rick Desper, Alexander Woo, Dave Partridge, and Eric Ozog are signed up for that. I will start it when I get a full complement of players, the other Modern game is now done!


TAKING OVER ISHKIBIBBLE'S REGULAR DIPLOMACY GAMES
I'M TRYING TO TAKE OVER Phil Reynolds' two regular Diplomacy games somewhere in TAP. One is going to Harold Reynolds' subszine, since Colonia is over and I'll take the other. I am calling for orders from everyone NOW, and whichever game looks easier to start I will give to Harold, but I'm getting no response. Should we just shut these down?? I have Phil's last issue, #44, but that was published way back in December of 2003. I'm not sure if people have moved or whatever in that time, so a little help would be appreciated. And I hope everyone comes back, but I might need some standbys. I'm going to start nagging so I can get these restarted. Please let me know if you care playing, thanks to Karl Schmit for responding each time that he's in....
Us and Them: Winter 1901 was published and it was early on, but I think I can find all the players. Hank Alme (Austria), Karl Schmit (England), John Power (Germany), Tim Snyder (Italy), and Fred Wiedemeyer (Russia) are all here already and Paul Boymel (Turkey) and Marc Ellinger (France) are locatable. Please let me know if you plan to continue!!!
We are the Champions: This one is even earlier, ONLY Spring 1901 had been published. But again, most of the players are around here, and I've located Paul Boymel (Italy) and Marc Ellinger (Turkey). Dave Partridge (Austria) is here of course, Graham Wilson (England) is just joining us, Fred Wiedemeyer (France) and Kevin Wilson (Germany) are here. Paul Risner probably is not going to be able to continue in the game.
You can find that last issue of Phil's szine at:
/Postal/Zines/ishkibibble/ishkibibble_44.pdf
Call for orders is NOW, the next season after the results above. You should already have submitted these before. Then I'll give one of the games to Harold. I'm not getting any traction or writebacks on these games, does everyone just want to abandon them???


SPIRALS OF PARANOIA: 2005A, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1902 IS DECEMBER 3RD, 2005
Summer 1902 - CORRECTED!!!
AUSTRIA (Rauterberg): has a GAL, a SER, a BUD, f GRE.
ENGLAND (Wiedemeyer): has a YOR, a SWE, f NTH, f NWY.
FRANCE (Tretick): has f SPA(SC), f MID, a GAS, f IRI, a POR.
GERMANY (Ozog for Tallman): has a KIE, a MUN, f BER, a RUH, a BEL, f DEN.
ITALY (O'Donnell): has a TUS, a APU, a NAF, f ION.
RUSSIA (Sundstrom): f bul(ec)-bla (d ann), a RUM s AUSTRIAN a ser-bul (nso);
has a WAR, a ARM, a RUM, a FIN, f GOB.
TURKEY (Biehl): f ANK-bla, f AEG S a con-bul, a con-BUL;
has f ANK, f AEG, a BUL.


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221,
(414) 281-2339 (E-Mail) trauterberg of wi.rr.com
ENGLAND: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA CANADA T6T 1N1,
(780) 465-6432, wiedem of planet.eon.net
FRANCE: Buddy Tretick, 5023 Sewell's Pointe Way, Fredericksburg, VA 22407, (540) 898-3386
cell (540) 226-5771 (E-Mail) berniebuddy32 of verizon.net
GERMANY: Terry Tallman, PO Box 782, Clinton, WA 98236, (360) 331-5698 ($2)
terryt of whidbey.net
GERMANY: Temporary Standby is Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138,
(360) 691-4264, ElfEric of Juno.com
ITALY: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728,
(440) 322-2920 or (440) 225-9203 (cell)
RUSSIA: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,
Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net
TURKEY: John Biehl, #8 - 11530 84th Avenue, Delta, BRITISH COLUMBIA, V4C 2M1 CANADA,
(604) 591-1832 ($7); jrb of dccnet.com


Game Notes:
1) Terry is still having some medical problems, but rather than hold up the game anymore, Eric Ozog has agreed to pay attention to the game and negotiate and submit orders for Terry. We all hope this will be a brief interlude. Eric originally brought Terry into the Diplomacy hobby all those many years ago, and so I'm glad he's agreed to do this.
2) Buddy Tretick has now moved. See the new address and E-Mail above.


Press:


FLIP FLOP: 2003G, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1906 IS DECEMBER 3RD, 2005
Winter 1905
AUSTRIA (Wiedemeyer): R a stp otb; bld a tri, a bud; has a TRI, a BUD, a NAP,
a ROM, a UKR, a MOS, a VEN.
ENGLAND (Schmit): has a HOL, f ENG, f POR, a BUR, f MID,
f NWY, f NTH, a STP.
FRANCE (Jeff O'Donnell): has f TUN, a BRE, f GOL, a MAR, a GAS.
GERMANY (Sundstrom): bld f kie; has f KIE, f BAL, a DEN, a WAR, a SIL, f SWE.
RUSSIA (Sean O'Donnell): a war-LVN; rem a lvn (out).
TURKEY (Levinson): bld a con, f smy; has a CON, f SMY, f ION, a SER, f GRE,
f BLA, a SEV, a RUM.


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA CANADA T6T 1N1,
(780) 465-6432, wiedem of planet.eon.net
ENGLAND: Karl Schmit, 1509 O'Keefe Road, DePere, WI 54115, (920) 338-8402,
diplomacy of new.rr.com ($4)
FRANCE: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728,
(440) 322-2920 or (440) 225-9203 (cell)
GERMANY: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,
Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net
ITALY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947,
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org
RUSSIA: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230,
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com
TURKEY: Alexandre Levinson, 1, allee des Marniquets, 78430 Louveciennes FRANCE, don't need phone,
levinson7 of hotmail.com ($5)


Game Notes:
1) The game is a whole lot smaller now, thanks to Don and Sean for playing. Sean sent his end game statement now, so I'm going to print it now.


Press:
(SEAN-BOOB): I won't be into depth/detail because it's not exactly written in stone yet, but I do some writing on the wall, but if you you're thinking what I think you are especially with the note you've left me. I'd say your on target. Time will tell mostly because it isn't written in stone. Pretty much I feel like I'm playing a new version of Diplomacy without a map to look at to help guide my decisions. A little irony there isn't it?
(BOOB to SEAN): Yes, but this is real life, good luck working your way through it.
(RUSSIAN END OF GAME STATEMENT WHILE IT'S FRESH IN MY MIND): Well I came into this game trying to figure out how best to win. My first thoughts was establishing a R/T alliance though the Turkish response was a A/T/R alliance which got me rather suspicious, so I decided to check out what other players may be planning, and I wanted to know if any of them matched. France offered a three way alliance against Germany, and I couldn't turn that down especially since it would bring me within borders with my dear uncle, whom I very much like to out play in Diplomacy whether it be out survive or most likely see which one of us stabs the other first as we have many times at family gathering Diplomacy games that we been kicking up almost a year back, but a few things gotten in the way there, but anywho, it didn't go anywhere near as I had planned because England decided not risking being in the middle of apparently dubbing it an O'Donnell Juggernaut. I did speak to dear old Uncle Jeffy Pooh about this, and he openly said something to the effect of "So, much for using England to invade Russia because Russia sucks." I could have died laughing because I also had plans on talking to England about invading Russia at the near elimination of Germany figuring one step at a time.-Thanks England you made my only reason for allying against Germany in the first place pointless, just thought I should mention it. Jeff maybe next game- To top it off I got over concentrated with England to get him to halt the invasion allowing my though I had thought I/T/A would just deal with eachother or hopes so at any rate. A/T decided to get what they could outta me.
I'd say overall nothing worked. I definitely didn't want R/T/A for this particular game, and I didn't try keeping that front as secure as I could have, and again England used a hose to put out my candle. Overall I'd say France may suck, but I must say Russia sucks more for this one.
While I'm doing this, as my last order aside from the retreat. I've order all the cathouses to entertain the German troops in Warsaw while buying all the alccy's, so I could get devastatingly drunk though the rest is for the troops in Warsaw though I'm sorry but the English and Austria and Turkey already drank the rest of it unless you like home brewed beer and wine. The liquor I killed off.
To Italy, I would like to thank you for making it possible for me not to be the first player eliminated from the game. Thank you very much. I'd send you booze, but alas it's in the occupiers hands.


I CAN'T FIND MY MONEY!: 2001F, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1911 IS NOVEMBER 3RD, 2005
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1912 IS DECEMBER 24TH, 2005
Fall 1911
AUSTRIA (Parker): f alb-ION, f TYH C a nap-tun, a VIE h, a gal-WAR, f ion-EAS,
a PIE h, a BUL h, a tus-VEN, a ven-APU, a SEV-arm, a NAP-tun, a SER S a bul,
a STP h, f GRE S f alb-ion.
ENGLAND (Kinney): a lon h (d r:yor,otb).
FRANCE (Kent): a PAR-bre, a SPA-mar, a lvp-WAL, f PIC-bre, f TUN s TURKISH f aeg-ion (nso).
GERMANY (Wilson): f hol-BEL, a MUN h, f NTH S a bel-lon, a BUR-par, f ENG C a bel-lon,
a bel-LON, a NWY h, a MAR h, f EDI h, a RUH S f hol-bel.
TURKEY (Miller): f AEG S a con-bul, a ARM h, a CON-bul.


Supply Center Chart
AUSTRIA (Parker): TRI,BUD,VIE,ser,rum,nap, (has 14, even)
war,mos,stp,sev,ven,rom,bul,gre
ENGLAND (Kinney): none (out)
FRANCE (Kent): PAR,spa,por,BRE,tun,lvp (has 5, bld 1)
GERMANY (Wilson): KIE,BER,hol,den,bel,MUN,swe, (has 10, bld 1)
nwy,mar,edi,lon
TURKEY (Miller): ANK,SMY,CON (has 3, even)
Neutral: none (Total=34)


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Vern Parker, 337 Winter Hill Place, Powell, OH 43065, (614) 402-5139
VernDip of aol.com is preferred
ENGLAND: Mark Kinney, 4830 Westport Road, Apt D, Louisville KY 40222
alberich of iglou.com
FRANCE: Douglas Kent - Unit E, #30694-177, Federal Correctional Institution McKean,
PO Box 8000, Bradford, PA 16701
GERMANY: Kevin Wilson, 18623 Santa Maria Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70809, 225-751-3857,
ckevinw1 of cox.net
ITALY: Formerly was Heath Gardner, 1510 W. Friendly Ave., Greensboro, NC 27403-1207
metaphorman of gmail.com
ITALY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883
mpbarno of lightlink.com
RUSSIA: Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 977-7691, rick_desper of yahoo.com
TURKEY: Tim Miller, 258 New Mark Esplanade, Rockville, MD 20850,
tim of webjudge.net
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, +1 401-351-0287
burgess of world.std.com


Game Notes:
1) The GA-GA, GAFT, and FAGET have all been defeated. There are no new proposals.
2) A very warm thanks to Mark Kinney for playing out the English position in a bad situation. I really appreciate it.


Press:


SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1920 IS NOVEMBER 19TH, 2005
Summer 1920
ENGLAND (Gorham for Brosius): has f LON, a GAS, f NAO, a KIE,
f MID, f ENG, f HOL, f POR.
FRANCE (Sasseville): R a mun-RUH; has f MAR, f SPA(SC), a RUH, a BUR.
GERMANY (Barno): has a CON.
RUSSIA (Parker): has a MOS, a STP, a BER, f DEN, a NWY, a WAR.
TURKEY (Linsey): has a ARM, a UKR, a SIL, f WES, a SEV, f GOL, a MUN, a GAL,
f NAF, f AEG, a TYO, f PIE, a BOH.


Addresses of the Participants
ENGLAND: Standby is Dan Gorham, PO Box 90, San Ignacio, Cayo, BELIZE, frdan of btl.net
FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($0)
roland6 of cox.net and ICQ: 40565030
GERMANY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883, (607) 589-4906
mpbarno of lightlink.com
RUSSIA: Vern Parker, 337 Winter Hill Place, Powell, OH 43065, (614) 402-5139
VernDip of aol.com is preferred
TURKEY: Bruce Linsey, PO Box 234, Kinderhook, NY 12106
GonzoHQ of aol.com


Game Notes:
1) The FREGT draw is rejected and then reproposed. We now require everyone to vote every season, no perpetual draw votes. And failure to vote would be a yes. So actually technically you don't HAVE to vote, since this does NOT mean the game will just be ended by the GM, it just means someone must veto the draw every turn. So it is just draw vetoers who must vote. At least one person continues to veto the proposal. This proviso will be in place at least until the Fall turn. At that point, we'll see if anything substantial actually changes.
2) Thanks to Eric Brosius for playing this position for awhile, but as he says, he does NOT have time to play an active position and it looks like this position has become more active. Thanks in advance to Dan Gorham for stepping in.


Press:


FINDING THE COMMUNITY: Breaking Away, Designer's Rules
CONGRATULATIONS TO RICK DESPER WHO HUNG ON FOR THE VICTORY!!!




Game Notes:
1) The rules are on the TAP website in the Tinamou section. Ask if you have any questions. New game start in this, who wants to play again (or for the first time)??? We have two signed up so far, see the list in the game opening section. I want to start this up soon, so sign up!!!


Press:


Personal Note to You:


File translated from TEX by TTH, version 3.30.
On 22 Nov 2005, 20:46.