Saturday, February 12, 2011

What's Going On In Egypt?

I pegged this guy a few days ago as a gutsy guy in a private email to Mr. Don as we were following live news broadcasts via BBC online and I was freaking out about the possibility of massive violence come Friday (2 - or is it 3? - days ago) after President Mubarak gave his speech and it was clear that he had no intention (then) of standing down.  I was walking around the office wondering - why aren't these people freaking out like I am?  Don't they know what's going on?  Don't they care?  If they know - do they really think events in Egypt won't affect them, one way or another? Oh Goddess...

Tonight I saw his name come up again in this article:

Hossam Badrawi, a stalwart of Mubarak's National Democratic Party, met with Mubarak on Thursday and later told reporters that he expected the Egyptian leader to "meet people's demands" — read that stepping down — later the same day. After Mubarak did not, Badrawi, who had been named the party's secretary general a few days earlier, resigned in protest, according to two party insiders.

Is he real, or is he Memorex?  Only the Egyptian people know for sure -- stay tuned.

The 5th Annual Grand Pacific Open

5th Annual Grand Pacific Open Chess Tournament
April 22 – 25, 2011 Victoria, BC Canada
$4000 Guaranteed Prize Fund

Come play chess on an island in the Pacific! Come to Victoria for the Easter Weekend.

The Grand Pacific Open is a 6 Round Swiss with a Guaranteed Prize Fund of $4000!
Side Events include Active, Scholastic, Blitz and Bughouse Tournaments.

This fine Canadian event has a history of promoting play by female players. This year, Goddesschess is involved - more details later.

Come on, chess femmes! Please come out and support this event. You ladies know what it is like to look around a playing venue and hardly see anyone else who is your gender.  We NEED more chess femmes playing in events like this!

More information.

2011 Aeroflot

While I've got a steak cooking and veggie in the microwae and rice going - whew - here's the latest on Aeroflot - hint - if you haven't figured it out, "w" means "woman" -- a female player.  So, the player in the #1 position is not necessarily a chess femme :)

There are four brave chess femmes competing in Group A - here are the standings I'm interested in after Round 5 which was held today (9 rounds total):

Group A (86 Players):

1 GM Le, Quang Liem 4.5 VIE M 2664 2988 +1.72 0 2638.8 1 1 1 1 ½
63 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra w 2.0 RUS F 2498 2527 +0.18 0 2604.8 0 ½ ½ 0 1
74 WGM Ju, Wenjun w 1.5 CHN F 2514 2476 -0.25 0 2624.8 ½ ½ 0 0 ½
79 WGM Pogonina, Natalija w 1.5 RUS F 2472 2411 -0.40 0 2580.8 0 0 0 1 ½
84 WGM Paikidze, Nazi w 1.0 GEO F 2455 2347 -0.64 0 2605.3 ½ 0 0 0 ½

YOU GO, GIRLS! These femmes are not shrinking from the toughest competition, and they'll be better for it, in the short-run and in the long-run. I'm sure this old saying (proverb) is not quite right, but it's what my mom used to tell us when we were kids: You don't cut your eye-teeth on milk glass. Make of that what you will...

Group B (106 players):

1 GM Gomez, John Paul 4.5 PHI M 2527 2822 +1.52 0 2472.3 1 1 ½ 1 1
8 GM Zhao, Xue w 4.0 CHN F 2494 2653 +0.95 0 2429.5 1 1 ½ 1 ½
26 WGM Kochetkova, Julia w 3.0 SVK F 2311 2529 +1.48 0 2467.8 0 1 1 ½ ½
44 IM Romanko, Marina w 3.0 RUS F 2404 2580 +1.21 2 2500.3 ½ ½ 1 0 1
54 WIM Tarasova, Viktoriya w 2.5 RUS F 2289 2422 +0.90 0 2424.8 0 ½ ½ 1 ½
55 WFM Mammadova, Gulnar Marfat q w 2.5 AZE F 2284 2417 +0.89 0 2423.3 0 1 ½ 0 1
76 Wang, Jue w 2.0 CHN F 2252 2370 +0.72 0 2440.8 ½ 0 1 ½ 0
80 WFM Bajt, Indira w 2.0 SLO F 2215 2343 +0.79 0 2408.8 0 ½ ½ 1 0
86 WIM Ivakhinova, Inna w 1.5 RUS F 2324 2308 -0.12 0 2473.0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½
88 WIM Charochkina, Daria w 1.5 RUS F 2314 2310 -0.05 0 2462.8 0 ½ 0 1 0
90 Guo, Qi w 1.5 CHN F 2310 2290 -0.13 0 2432.5 ½ ½ ½ 0 0
92 WGM Kovanova, Baira w 1.5 RUS F 2391 2231 -1.08 0 2362.5 0 ½ ½ 0 ½
100 WIM Dolzhykova, Kateryna w 1.0 UKR F 2303 2116 -1.13 0 2352.5 0 0 0 1 0
103 WFM Saduakassova, Dinara w 0.5 KAZ F 2225 2054 -0.77 -2 2402.0 ½ 0 0 0 0
106 WFM Adamowicz, Katarzyna w 0.5 POL F 2103 1962 -0.63 0 2310.5 0 0 0 0 ½

Group C (106 players):

1 Jensen, Bjarke 5.0 DEN M 2258 2918 +2.01 13.5 1 1 1 1 1
6 WGM Burtasova, Anna w 4.0 RUS F 2294 2414 +0.71 16.5 1 1 1 1 0
10 WFM Repina, Varvara w 4.0 RUS F 2280 2316 +0.21 11.0 0 1 1 1 1
18 WFM Kineva, Ekaterina w 3.5 RUS F 2120 2218 +0.47 13.0 1 0 1 ½ 1
25 WIM Kharashuta, Ekaterina w 3.0 RUS F 2296 2238 -0.35 15.5 1 ½ 1 0 ½
28 Xu, Huahua w 3.0 CHN F 2104 2159 +0.30 14.5 1 0 1 ½ ½
30 Rjanova, Valery w 3.0 RUS F 2156 2153 +0.08 14.0 1 0 1 1 0
35 WCM Enkhtuul, Altanulzii w 3.0 MGL F 2119 2247 +0.95 12.5 1 1 1 0 0
48 Dogodkina, Julia w 2.5 RUS F 2070 2261 +1.24 15.0 1 0 ½ 1 0
58 WFM Nikolaeva, Alexandra w 2.5 RUS F 2199 1969 -1.41 11.5 ½ 0 1 1 0
66 WFM Shustaeva, Natalia w 2.0 RUS F 2105 1534 -0.57 15.5 1 0 1 0 0
78 Anu, Bayar w 2.0 MGL F 1957 1973 +0.01 11.5 0 ½ ½ 0 1
81 Polozova, Marina w 2.0 RUS F 0 1905 1905 10.0 0 0 1 0 1
98 Khalilova, Khadija Gyunduz w 1.0 AZE F 1702 1793 +0.37 12.5 0 ½ ½ 0 0
99 Saikhanzaya, Ganbaatar w 1.0 MGL F 1704 1776 +0.30 11.0 0 0 0 1 0

Chess in Zimbabwe: National Championships

Story from mmegionline.bw
National chess championships start with free-for-all

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer
22 February 2011

The fifth Metropolitan National Chess Championships get underway this weekend with a free-for-all preliminary round.

The stage offers minnows a rare chance to pit their wits against established players and possibly cause upsets.

Defending champions have been exempted from the round that will be staged on Saturday and Sunday at Legae Academy in Gaborone West Phase II.

The champions Barileng Gaealafswe (men) and Ontiretse Sabure (women) will enter the national championships at the semi-final stage. Resident Zimbabwean chess players like Dion Moyo and highly-rated Spencer Masango are tipped to give Batswana a run for their money. Moyo is the reigning Zimbabwean champion.

Kenneth Boikhutswane, of the Botswana Chess Federation (BCF), said the announcement of the sponsorship for this year's national championships will be made just before the semi-finals.

Over the last five years, the sponsorship has grown from P10, 000 to P60, 000 in 2010. The semi-finals will be held on the weekend of March 5-6.

The Botswana players to watch are Candidate Master (CM) Providence Oatlhotse, Fide Master (FM) Phemelo Kheto, Jona Chaka, Moakofi Notha, Spencer Masango, Dion Moyo, Candidate Master(CM) Oaitse Kokome, Ivon Makabe, Candidate Master (CM) and Thabo Gumpo. In the women's section, the top names are FM Kgalalelo Botlhole, WGM Tuduetso Sabure, Onkemetse Francis, WCM Tshepiso Lopang, Thapelo Francis, Fredah Kebakile, Boitshepo Rebatenne, Faith Mbakhwa, WFM Boikhutso Modongo and Gorata Sebetso.

These are the players who did well in the season opening Air Efficiency tournament recently at Yarona Country Lodge in Mogoditshane. Phemelo has won the national championships four times in succession.

While 23 chessmen will qualify for the next round, the women category will see 17 top performers sailing through.

The incentives for sterling performances in this year's tournament are tickets to represent the country at international competitions. Good performers will qualify for the Africa Individuals tournament in Zambia in May, the Commonwealth Chess Championships in South Africa in June and the Africa Junior Chess Championships to be held at the end of the year.

Ancient Writing: Undeciphered Voynich Manuscript Dated to Early 15th Century

That's the early 1400's.  So very interesting - hasn't the Turin Shroud also been carbon-dated to about that same time period?  Two enigmatic survivors from a time we think we know about - and yet, what do we really know about then, or now, for that matter? 

University of Arizona experts determine age of book 'nobody can read'
10 Feb 2011
University of Arizona

While enthusiasts across the world pored over the Voynich manuscript, penned by an unknown author in a language no one understands, a research team at the University of Arizona solved one of its biggest mysteries: When was the book made?


[Excerpted] University of Arizona researchers have cracked one of the puzzles surrounding what has been called "the world's most mysterious manuscript" – the Voynich manuscript, a book filled with drawings and writings nobody has been able to make sense of to this day.

Using radiocarbon dating, a team led by Greg Hodgins in the UA's department of physics has found the manuscript's parchment pages date back to the early 15th century, making the book a century older than scholars had previously thought. ...

Currently owned by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University, the manuscript was discovered in the Villa Mondragone near Rome in 1912 by antique book dealer Wilfrid Voynich while sifting through a chest of books offered for sale by the Society of Jesus. Voynich dedicated the remainder of his life to unveiling the mystery of the book's origin and deciphering its meanings. He died 18 years later, without having wrestled any its secrets from the book.

"Is it a code, a cipher of some kind? People are doing statistical analysis of letter use and word use – the tools that have been used for code breaking. But they still haven't figured it out."

<><>
The Voynich manuscript's unintelligible writings and strange illustrations have defied every attempt at understanding their meaning. Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.  td>

Okay. Where have we seen this kind of pattern before? In board games, darlings! Think about it. Is this not a Nine Man's Morris gameboard?  I'm not saying about what's in the rest of the book - but this drawing - heh. 

Looks like the stuff one sees under one's very first microscope!  I got one when I was in seventh grade (I was 13) for Christmas, and I spent many happy hours in the attic over the next four years exploring the microscopic world of whatever it was I could find to put on a glass slide and put under the magnification lenses.  I'm sure it did not cost a lot of money.  My parents were poor and there were six children to provide for -- but that little microscope opened up a new universe to me.  I could see, up close, for the very first time, that there were, literally, worlds within worlds within worlds.  I didn't spent much time in that un-insultated attic during the winter, it was friggging cold up there, let me tell you!  But I had my own little world-fort up there, and NO ONE was allowed to cross the magic line, which was sometimes hung with a blanket-curtain, that constantly fell down.  When we moved to a house across the street that my parents bought the year I entered high school (1966 - an eon ago), that microscope moved too, and I set up a "lab" in the attic of the new house, which had three dormer windows and roomy bays!  It was a real change from the old house, but the floor still creaked and it was still dusty and mouldy and hot as hell in the summer and cold as hell in the winter.  I chose the west-facing bay to set up my new lab, and spent many hours crunched up with a blanket wrapped around in the cool days in Grandpa Newton's green leather club chair that we'd inherited after he passed. 

Well, I haven't thought about these things for a long long time, and it's making me very sad right now.

Could these teeth turn "out of Africa" theory upside down?

We live in exciting times, archaeologically, that's for damn sure.  Thank Goddess for the internet - where news like this can now be instantaly published and read by anyone who has an interest.  Here is a new twist on what we thought we thought we knew :)

Ancient teeth raise new questions about the origins of modern man
2 Feb 2011
Binghamton University

BINGHAMTON, NY – Eight small teeth found in a cave near Rosh Haain, central Israel, are raising big questions about the earliest existence of humans and where we may have originated, says Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam. Part of a team of international researchers led by Dr. Israel Hershovitz of Tel Aviv University, Qaum and his colleagues have been examining the dental discovery and recently published their joint findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Excavated at Qesem cave, a pre-historic site that was uncovered in 2000, the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man, Homo sapiens, which have been found at other sites is Israel, such as Oafzeh and Skhul - but they're a lot older than any previously discovered remains.

"The Qesem teeth come from a time period between 200,000 - 400,000 years ago when human remains from the Middle East are very scarce," Quam said. "We have numerous remains of Neandertals and Homo sapiens from more recent times, that is around 60,00 - 150,000 years ago, but fossils from earlier time periods are rare. So these teeth are providing us with some new information about who the earlier occupants of this region were as well as their potential evolutionary relationships with the later fossils from this same region."

Rest of article.

Ancient Teeth Found in Israel. Credit: Rolf Quam.
It struck me just now, looking at this photograph of some of the teeth the article speaks to, that they rather resemble man's early attempts to make dice...

The National Geographic Says - No Looting of Maya Tombs

Here's what the NG blog says:

Report From Saqqara: Contrary to Rumor, the Two 'Maya' Tombs Are Safe
Posted Feb 9,2011

After looters swarmed the ancient burial ground at Saqqara on January 29, panic swept the world of Egyptology. One online group reported that looters had entered and “destroyed” the interiors of “many tombs.” On the Facebook group “Egyptologists for Egypt,” a contributor wrote that the tomb of Maya, in particular, “is destroyed and even the reliefs in the burial chamber have been hacked out.” As that rumor spread, there was confusion about which Maya tomb—there are two at Saqqara. Some reported that it was the tomb belonging to King Tutankhamun's wet nurse (whose name is often spelled Maia); others said it was that of Tut’s treasurer.


It turns out the reports were grossly exaggerated. The tomb of the wet nurse is still sealed with bricks. And on Tuesday, inspectors at Saqqara led me into Maya the treasurer’s burial chamber. “Nobody touched the tomb here, “ said Mohammad Mohammad Youssef, chief inspector for South Saqqara, as he and a colleague broke a wire and seal on the metal door leading underground. “We put seals on the lock about a month ago when we checked it for humidity and temperature, and the same seals were still here and the locks were not broken.” Youssef and I walked down a tight, sandy staircase of a dozen steps to an iron gate with another three locks on it, and another seal that was untouched after the looting. Then we entered three chambers, over 3,000 years old, shimmering with golden-yellow reliefs.


The reliefs are from the Amarna period, about 3,350 years ago, when wall paintings were more naturalistic than in other pharaonic eras. They show the treasurer and his wife with various gods, including Osiris, god of the afterlife; Isis, goddess of motherhood and fertility; Ptah, god of creation; and Anubis, the jackal-headed god who oversees mummification. Maya "is praying to these different gods, meaning that he has good relations with all of the gods, who will be with him in the afterlife,” said government Egyptologist Ashraf Mohiee.


Aboveground, looters broke into several small storerooms, which hold bones, shards of pottery, and other collected items. The treasure hunters rifled through a portion of this material, tossing items on the floor. “We’ll lose some archaeological information if it’s a mess inside,” Maarten Raven, who leads the Dutch expedition at the site, told me by phone from the Netherlands. “But it’s nothing major.” He expressed great relief that the tomb itself was fully intact.


—Jeffrey Bartholet

Truth? Lie? Somewhere in between? Cleary, something happened at Saqqara. I very much doubt that archaeologists and their workers were just making things up as they were emailing reports and blogging about tombs being broken into and looting taking place. They did not imagine those events!

So what, really, happened? We will probably never know the full truth because the Egyptian government - however it is constituted now and in the future - will make sure we do not! Tourism in Egypt has already suffered a great heart-blow during the recent unrest that led to the ultimate resignation of President Mubarak. The authorities, whoever they may be, are not going to 'fess up to the wholesale rape of ancient antiquities! Billions of dollars are at stake - and I don't mean the billions that the illicitly stolen antiquities will ultimately fetch on the underground market.

Catching Up -- What's Going on in Egypt!

Hola darlings!

I haven't abandoned the blog - I've just been so enthralled by what's been going on in Egypt -- and I've taken on a new family tree research project for a friend of a friend -- and today it's WARM outside.  Absolutely amazing - FINALLY above 32 degrees F!  After an early hike and back to the supermarket to stock up on essentials (wine, bread, meat, and nuts for the squirrels) I've been busy -- and the Christmas tree is still up, I haven't even attempted to start the project that is taking it down!

So - in between bouts of working on this new family tree, and heaving tremendously huge blocks of snow (fortunately rendered maleable due to the temperature) over my shoulder in an attempt to at last clear my driveway of the accumulation from the Great Blizzard of 2011 -- working in shifts -- I'm taking a break now.

Ancient Egypt was a land of goddesses.  I often wonder what happened in that twilight time between the "official" closing of the last temples in the 400's CE by orders of the Holy Roman Emperor who was, by that time, a nominal "Christian," and the 600's CE invasion by and takeover of Egypt by the Muslims and their new, fierce god, Allah, who was just a retred of the tired, old storm god of the Israelites, Yahweh. 

Christianity did have a bulwark in Egypt, in the form of the Copts who, with their language, kept alive a link to the old hieratic form of writing, which was a "shorthand" for the even older hieroglyphics. A continuous chain to the ancient past. The Holy Mother Isis, and the creator-goddess Hathor (and perhaps the "archaic" creator-goddess, Neith), found much common ground with the Christian concept of the Holy Mother Mary.  And so, perhaps, the Egyptians of the time gave a new gloss to their old beliefs.  The Egyptians were very good at adopting and adapting foreign deities into their own religious pantheon and inconography.  

Then, Islam came and presumably swept all away before it.  But - not quite... At the root of Islam (not talked about - perhaps not even generally known by the average Muslim)  is another ancient Mother Goddess - al-Alat.  And those Coptic Christians, they never went away, either.  They are still there -- a minority, to be sure, persecuted, to be sure.  For shame - Shame, Shame on the Egyptians of today for forgetting the lessons of their ancient and glorious past!  Tolerance - tolerance, acceptance, incorporation.  In ancient Egypt, there was room for all gods and goddesses.

I don't know about you, but since the first outbreaks of protest marches in Egypt on January 25, 2011, I have been feverishly following the news and praying incessantly for those brave souls, just as I prayed incessantly for the brave souls in Iran in 2009, who were marching also - then - for freedom.  Interesting, isn't it, that Freedom is not a god, She's a Goddess.  She is a Mother - nurturing, protective, fierce when She needs to be.  Determined.  She Never Gives Up. 

I followed the news online and on BBC news and other news shows on PBS on television over the last two plus weeks.  As the days went by, I got more and more wrought.  What would happen?  Reports were streaming in of people being killed by security forces and "unknown snipers" who were, presumably, also security forces of the Egyptian government.  Upwards of 500 people were killed during the - euphemistically called "unrest."  Yes - unrest.

It brings me to tears just thinking about it.  People - today - dying for Freedom.  Let them not be forgotten. I do not know any of their names. I pray that their names will become known to all.  I pray that out of the new Egypt that emerges from the ashes of the old, a monument will rise to those people who were killed, and we the world over will be able to see their names, someday, engraved in stone that will last for 10,000 years, and more. 

What will happen next?  I don't know - no one knows. Egypt, that most ancient land, has embarked upon a journey to a brave new world.  Let us all pray for her.  In the meantime, Egypt's people are stepping forward to help clean-up after days of confrontation, stress, hope and anger, and hope again and, predictably, no regular garbage pick-ups. Let us hope the new Egypt can fix their bureaucracy :)  For some reason, this photo (from The New York Times) gives me hope.

Maybe, after all,  I will get to take that trip to see the Egyptian Museum before I'm too old and decrepit.  But not this year, darlings.  Not this year. 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Another Wisconsin Woman Who Made a Difference

I came across this obituary tonight while researching something else entirely.  She was so young - and changed the lives of so many women of all colors, in Milwaukee, during the Great Depression.  I salute you, Mary Kellogg Rice.  What wonderful things you did.  You empowered people through the greatest way possible - you helped them discover the wonderful things they could do themselves and for themselves.

I didn't know anything about you or what you did but now, thanks to the power of the internet, many people who read here will learn about you and the program you ran. 

Amid Depression, Rice helped women find work through art
WPA project gave work, respect to thousands of Milwaukee's poor
e-mail print By Amy Rabideau Silvers of the Journal Sentinel
Jan. 17, 2011

In those dark, desperate days of the Great Depression, thousands of women found employment and hope through a Works Progress Administration project.

Mary Kellogg Rice, then a senior studying art at the Milwaukee State Teachers College, was asked to serve as art director for a handicraft project. Hundreds of women showed up that first day in 1935, reporting to a vacant building at Jackson and Wells streets downtown.

They were the poorest of the poor. Many were middle-age. Many had never worked or were considered to have no skills. Some could not read or speak much English. All were on relief and ordered into the program because there was no "able-bodied man" in the household for other WPA work.

"They were undernourished and miserable, that's all I can say," Rice later told the Journal Sentinel. "They looked as if they'd been through an awful lot. They'd been assigned work, but they didn't know what it was. Some of them had walked all the way across Milwaukee to get there."

The project flourished, becoming a model for programs elsewhere. More than 1,300 women were sometimes involved at one time, with a total of 5,000-plus women by the time it closed in 1943.

More than half a century later, as more modern-day politicians debated welfare reform, Rice decided to write a book about the Depression-era project. Her handwritten manuscript - "Useful Work for Unskilled Women / A Unique Milwaukee WPA Project" - was later published in 2003.

"It was a gift to Milwaukee to say, look what these women did," said Lois Quinn, researcher with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Employment and Training Institute.

"It's totally a Milwaukee story," Quinn said.

Rice died of natural causes Jan. 6 in Tiburon, Calif. She turned 100 last month.

For her part, Rice always credited Elsa Ulbricht, one of her teachers at the teachers college, for the program's direction and success. A well-known art educator, Ulbricht was asked about what a program might do.

Ulbricht insisted that women should produce both useful and well-designed goods. And she tapped Rice to run it.

The young art student worked with art school grads - both women and men - to design production items and supervise the work. As art director, she approved every design.

The goal was to make high-quality items that could be used by public institutions.

"They went to the county orphanage to see what was needed, and they were shocked by the conditions there," Quinn said. "So they made educational toys, curtains, rugs and quilted coverlets for the beds."

They created dolls and fabrics, wall hangings and furniture. They re-bound books for schools and libraries, and designed costumes for high school productions. Other clients included hospitals, nursery schools and the University of Wisconsin.

"Very shortly, after they had their first paycheck, you could see it," Rice said. "What was interesting to me was that they couldn't buy much, but they could get a white collar and wear it. And then they could have a permanent wave. The change was really just dramatic. They knew they were doing useful work, and they knew they could do it."

The women began to find work with other WPA projects.

"They sent women from the handicraft project to the World's Fair, where they demonstrated how to make the items," Quinn said. "Other states began to copy the program.

"Eleanor Roosevelt visited and wrote about it in her 'My Day' column," she said. "One of their wall hangings was in her house when she died."

The project was groundbreaking in yet another way.

Although only 2% of Milwaukee's population was then black, the number in the handicraft project was 25%.

"The county sent the African-American women they hadn't allowed to work on other projects," Quinn said. "And they already had a separate facility where they wanted them to work."

That, declared young Rice, wasn't going to happen.

"We were furious and vowed not to have a segregated workplace," she wrote in her book. "The idea that race should determine where and when one worked offended our sense of fairness."

Such integration was just the beginning.

"There were supervisors who were African-American," Quinn said. "They had skills that many of the white women didn't have, and they made them supervisors."

Mary Kellogg married Edward E. Rice late in 1942. He was from Milwaukee and a diplomat with the U.S. Foreign Service. They spent their first married years apart, while he served in China during the war.

They spent much of their married life overseas. Odd things sometimes happened when she tried to pursue her own art. In the Philippines, someone saw her weaving and she was soon working under the auspices of the United Nations and the Philippine government, organizing work projects for local women.

The couple later retired to the San Francisco area. Rice finally began to find time for art, first weaving until back problems developed, then experimenting with a fabric-dyeing technique called shibori.

"That led to collaboration on a book, 'Shibori: The Art of Japanese Resist Dyeing,' published in Japan in 1983," said Margaret Serrano, a lawyer who became a close friend. "It is considered a classic on the subject and is still in print."

But Rice's roots went back to Milwaukee and unfinished business with the old WPA project. She thought that someone should write about what it meant to the women and families, the young teachers and a Depression-weary community.

"She remained intensely interested in public policy, particularly policy affecting women and children," Quinn said. "Her vision was what could be done and what had happened in the past. She was a remarkable woman, remarkable throughout her life."

A private service is planned.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

2011 Aeroflot

Three separate Swiss-style tournaments, each 9 rounds, and each offers nice cash prizes and, for Group A, a guaranteed spot at the elite Dortmund Super-Tournament (usually held in August in Germany)!  That is quite a prize, in and of itself!

Tournament A:
for chessplayers with a FIDE rating higher than 2549.
Total prize fund Group A: EUR


1st Prize200006th - 10th Prizes1700Ñ…5=8500
2st Prize1000011th - 15th Prizes1200Ñ…5=6000
3st Prize700016th - 20th Prizes700Ñ…5=3500
4st Prize400021st - 30th Prizes500Ñ…10=5000
5st Prize3000

The winner of the A tournament will be entitled to participate in the round-robin Super Tournament in Dortmund in the second half of July 2011.

Tournament B:
or chessplayers with a FIDE rating less than 2550, but higher than 2299.
Total prize fund Group B: EUR 37500


1st Prize100006th - 10th Prizes850Ñ…5=4250
2st Prize600011th - 15th Prizes550Ñ…5=2750
3st Prize350016th - 25th Prizes450Ñ…10=4500
4st Prize200026st - 35th Prizes300Ñ…10=3000
5st Prize1500

Tournament C:
for chessplayers with a FIDE rating lower than 2300 or without rating.
Total prize fund Group C: EUR 18000


1st Prize35006th - 10th Prizes500Ñ…5=2500
2st Prize230011th - 15th Prizes400Ñ…5=2000
3st Prize150016th - 25th Prizes250Ñ…10=2500
4st Prize100026st - 35th Prizes200Ñ…10=2000
5st Prize700

No separate Women's events for Aeroflot!  The women play in their ratings against male chessplayers.

After 2 rounds, here are the standings (chess femmes only):

Group A (86 players):

57WGM Ju,Wenjunw1.0CHNF25142637+0.33½½
80GM Kosteniuk, Alexandraw0.5RUSF24982407-0.230½
81WGM Paikidze, Naziwj0.5GEOF24552430-0.06½0
86WGM Pogonina, Natalijaw 0.0RUSF24721873-0.6300

Group B (106 players):

4 GM Zhao, Xue w 2.0 CHN F 2494 3116 +0.69 1 1
59 IM Romanko, Marina w 1.0 RUS F 2404 2512 +0.29 ½ ½
67 WGM Kochetkova, Julia w 1.0 SVK F 2311 2441 +0.35 0 1
68 Guo, Qi wj 1.0 CHN F 2310 2476 +0.44 ½ ½
70 WFM Mammadova, Gulnar Marfat q w 1.0 AZE F 2284 2418 +0.36 0 1
81 WGM Kovanova, Baira w 0.5 RUS F 2391 2215 -0.46 0 ½
87 WIM Ivakhinova, Inna w 0.5 RUS F 2324 2283 -0.10 0 ½
89 WIM Charochkina, Daria w 0.5 RUS F 2314 2290 -0.06 0 ½
94 WIM Tarasova, Viktoriya w 0.5 RUS F 2289 2233 -0.13 0 ½
95 Wang, Jue wj 0.5 CHN F 2252 2282 +0.07 ½ 0
96 WFM Saduakassova, Dinara wj 0.5 KAZ F 2225 2266 +0.08 ½ 0
97 WFM Bajt, Indira w 0.5 SLO F 2215 2214 +0.00 0 ½
103 WIM Dolzhykova, Kateryna w 0.0 UKR F 2303 1702 -0.64 0 0
106 WFM Adamowicz, Katarzyna wj 0.0 POL F 2103 1663 -0.31 0 0

Group C (106 players):

1 WGM Burtasova, Anna w 2.0 RUS F 2294 2869 +0.58 1 1
17 WCM Enkhtuul, Altanulzii wj 2.0 MGL F 2119 2745 +0.79 1 1
18 WIM Kharashuta, Ekaterina w 1.5 RUS F 2296 2317 +0.05 1 ½
34 WFM Repina, Varvara w 1.0 RUS F 2280 2036 -0.60 0 1
45 Rjanova, Valery wj 1.0 RUS F 2156 2050 -0.21 1 0
47 WFM Kineva, Ekaterina w 1.0 RUS F 2120 2020 -0.19 1 0
49 WFM Shustaeva, Natalia w 1.0 RUS F 2105 1523 -0.30 1 0
52 Xu, Huahua wj 1.0 CHN F 2104 1477 -0.35 1 0
57 Dogodkina, Julia w 1.0 RUS F 2070 2254 +0.48 1 0
77 WFM Nikolaeva, Alexandra w 0.5 RUS F 2199 1757 -1.12 ½ 0
83 Anu, Bayar wj 0.5 MGL F 1957 1477 -0.19 0 ½
87 Khalilova, Khadija Gyunduz wj 0.5 AZE F 1702 1859 +0.28 0 ½
101 Saikhanzaya, Ganbaatar wj 0.0 MGL F 1704 1319 -0.22 0 0
106 Polozova, Marina wj 0.0 RUS F 0 1383 1383 0 0

Southwest Chess Club Action!

Hello chess players,
 
We have a 1-night Speed Chess (Blitz) event this Thursday night, to say farewell to our St. James Catholic Church location
(starting Feb. 17th, we'll be back in Hales Corners, more info below). 
 
Winter Blitzzard VI
February 10
10-Round (Round-Robin) in one or more sections (depending on number of players). Game/5 minutes=Blitz.
USCF Quick-Rated. EF: $5.00.
TD is Becker;  ATDs Fogec & Grochowski.
Location:  St. James Catholic Church Parish Center in Franklin

Here's the blog entry for the tournament.  Feel free to chime in!  
Here's our latest club schedule:   http://home.roadrunner.com/~swcc/Calendar.pdf
UPCOMING EVENTS AND NEWS!
 
UPCOMING CLUB MOVE (Feb. 17!)
The Southwest Chess Club will soon be meeting at a new location.  Starting on Thursday, February 17, we will be at the Hales Corners Village Hall/Police Station, located at 5635 South New Berlin Road, Hales Corners, Wisconsin, in the downstairs Community Room.  As many of you know, we met for many years in this location prior to major renovations and are pleased to be returning.  More details, including maps, will follow as we get closer to February 17.
 
 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Is There a "Twin" to the Moravian Venus of Predmosti?

Very interesting...

Czech prehistoric engraved "Venus" has "twin sister" in USA
ÄŒTK | 7 February 2011

Venus Predmosti.
Brno, Feb 4 (CTK) - The prehistoric Czech "Venus of Predmosti", north Moravia, an engraving of a woman on a mammoth tusk, which is one of the oldest artifacts in Europe, may exist in another version that is in a U.S. collection, Martina Galetova, from Brno's museum, has told CTK.

The engraving dating back to the Upper Palaeolithic Age was found over 100 years ago by archaeologist Martin Kriz. It is housed in the Moravian Land Museum (MZM) in Brno. (Image, right: line drawing of engraving on bone).

The possible "twin sister" of the "Venus of Predmosti" is owned by U.S. art collector Duncan Caldwell.

Both engravings are very similar. Experts from the Moravian museum are not fully convinced that Caldwell's artifact is genuine.

"It must be further examined thoroughly. However, he (Caldwell) has not given his consent to it yet," Galetova, from the museum, who examined Caldwell's Venus for a short time, told CTK.

If it were proved that both artifacts were made in the same locality at the same time, while one of them disappeared and was uncovered only recently, it would be a real sensation since "Venus of Predmosti" is unparalleled in Europe.

The prestigious Journal of Archaeological Science will report on the find of another "Venus ofPredmosti" in March.

Galetova said she hoped that she would persuade Caldwell to agree with a further exploration of his artifact.

The "Venus of Predmosti" is unique thanks to its style since an engraving of a female figure was not typical for palaeolithic artists who mainly created geometrical engravings and plastic artifacts. Moreover, the woman's head on the engraving is in an unusual triangular shape.

According to some expert opinions, it might be a shaman's work.

Caldwell showed his "Venus" (also an engraving on a bone) only recently to researchers in France. Galetova, who was in France then, had a chance of having a look at the work.

Caldwell's artifact has the same part missing as the "Venus of Predmosti" and there is also an inscription on it identifying the excavation site: Predmosti and "Moravie" (that is Moravia).

It is certain that Kriz, the pioneer of archaeology in Moravia, had no idea about the existence of another "Venus of Predmosti."

Archaeologists have found out that the "sister" was in the hands of the noble family of de Saint-Perier several decades ago.

The family members were fans of prehistoric art and expressed interest in the archaeological research in Predmosti. Around 1990 the heirs offered the "Venus" for sale and Caldwell bought it.

"It is certainly a (pre)historical piece, not an imitation. It was created by a similar engraving method. However, it is hard to say whether it really comes from Predmosti," Galetova noted, adding that it cannot be ruled out either.

2011 Moscow Open

My apologies for not getting the news to you yesterday - I was still celebrating the Lombardi Trophy coming back to it's true home - Green Bay, WISCONSIN!!!!  GO PACK GO!  As I'm watching a special celebration on television that was held earlier today at WAY BELOW ZERO Lambeau Field, I'm touched by the obvious dedication of the fans who turned out and PACKED Lambeau (they paid a nominal $5 per ticket for entry) to watch a parade of politicians trying to shine in reflected glory, and the main event, THE PLAYERS, THE COACH, AND DOM CAPERS, THE MOST WONDERFUL SUPER-HUMAN ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH - EVER.

Okay - enough, Jan, enough!  Back to the Moscow Open.  Here are the final standings for the ladies in the "B" Group, which was the "Round Robin Tournament for Young Grandmasters - Women:" 

Name
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
Place
1
 Fominykh, Maria
1/2
0
0
1/2
0
0
1
1
0
3
 8
2
 Girya, Olga
1/2
1/2
0
1/2
0
1/2
1
1
1/2
4,5
 5
3
 Kosteniuk, Alexandra
1
1/2
1
1
1
1/2
1
0
1
7
 I
4
 Gunina, Valentina
1
1
0
1
1/2
0
1
1
0
5,5
 4
5
 Galoyan, Lilit
1/2
1/2
0
0
1/2
0
1
1/2

3,5
 7
6
 Zawadzka, Jolanta
1
1
0
1/2
1/2
0
0
1/2
1/2
4
6
7
 Munguntuul, Batkhuyag
1
1/2
1/2
1
1
1
1
1
0
7
 II
8
 Ambartsumova, Karina
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
 10
9
 Kashlinskaya, Alina
0
0
1
0
1/2
1/2
0
0
1
3
 9
10
 Zhao Xue
1
1/2
0
1

1/2
1
1
0
5,5
 III

And the WINNER is:  GM ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK, on tie-breaks, with 7.0/9. 

Final standings for all the various groups here.

Interview with GM Alexandra Kosteniuk - some interesting news revealed:

Alexandra KOSTENIUK: ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Alexandra Kosteniuk, former world champion was the main favorite to win the Young Grandmaster Tournament among women. That’s why it was harder for her to affirm her status and win the first place. Alexandra shared her impressions on completing the closing ceremony of Moscow Open 2011.

 – Congratulations, Alexandra! What are your emotions now?  – The most positive – it’s always a pleasure to win a tournament. Moreover I haven’t won individuals for a while.

– Was it hard to chase the leader?  – Yes, it was not easy after my failure in the second round. Munguntuul played very well and almost didn’t lose points. I reached her only before the final round when I was tired as resulted in the last game. But all is well that ends well.

– Is there something special for you when you play in Russia? – At home even the walls help. I had a lot of good tournaments in Moscow – starting with the World Championships among Women 2001. I love playing here and the result shows some positive influence of my native city.

– Did you believe in your victory? – I wouldn’t say that I believed or thought about it. Of course I wanted to play good. There was a moment in the tournament when I improved my play and won several difficult games. But thoughts about the outcome appeared only by the end of the final game.

– What can you say about your future tournaments or work in FIDE? – I already finished my work in FIDE. Right during the tournament I informed FIDE commission about my decision. Mostly I did it because this year I want to practice and play more serious and it’s hard to combine all these activities. Beside my professional career I’m also a mother which is obviously difficult, so trying to be a community worker in addition is almost impossible.

I have lots of plans for this year but they are all about chess. I take part in «Aeroflot Open» in a few days then Russian Team Championship, and then I hope to be nominated from Russia to FIDE Grand Prix. After that I plan to participate in two team competitions – European Championship and World Championship. In the near future I will be seen at the board fairly often.

More on the Fox Burial in Ancient Jordan

More details on the approximately 16,500 year old fox burial (the fox was buried in one grave, and later on divided and part of it buried in a second grave!) at  'Uyun al-Hammam, or "spring of the pigeon," discovered in the small river valley of Wadi Ziqlab in northern Jordan in 2000. 

Prehistoric Cemetery Reveals Man and Fox Were PalsCharles Q. Choi

LiveScience Contributor
livescience.com – Fri Feb 4, 10:35 am ET


Among the most fascinating additional facts are:
  • The Natufian culture was known to bury people with dogs. One case discovered in past excavations in the area involved a woman buried with her hand on a puppy, while another included three humans buried with two dogs along with tortoise shells.
  •  The new discovery at 'Uyun al-Hammam shows that some of these practices took place earlier with a different doglike animal, the fox.
  • At least 11 people were buried at the site in Jordan, most of whom were found with artifacts such as stone tools, a bone spoon and bone dagger, and red ochre, an iron mineral. One grave held the skull and upper right arm bone of a red fox, with red ochre stuck on its skull, along with bones of deer, gazelle, tortoises and wild cattle.(A neighboring grave with human remains also contained the nearly complete skeleton of a red fox, missing its skull and upper right arm bone, suggesting that a single fox had parts of it moved from one grave to another in prehistoric times). The presence of red ochre is significant in a religious/spiritual context.
  • Although foxes are relatively easy to tame, domesticating them might have failed because of their skittish and timid nature. This might explain why dogs ultimately achieved "man's best friend" status instead. However, fox symbolism and fox remains are quite common in later Stone Age sites, both in domestic and burial contexts, so even when other animals were domesticated, prehistoric people maintained an interest in the fox.

Upcoming Egypt-Focused One Day Work-Shops at University of London!

To tell you the truth, I don't remember how it was I got on the mailing list, but I'm sure glad I did, LOL!  If I lived in London (or was independently wealthy and could travel back and forth at a whim), I'd surely attend most of the work-shops because they all sound absolutely fascinating.

Study Day: Forensic Aspects of Ancient Egypt

Event Info

Host: University of London
Type: Education - Lecture

Time and Place

Start Time: Saturday, 5th March 2011, 11:00 am
End Time: Saturday, 5th March 2011, 5:00 pm
Location: University of London, Garden Halls
Street: Cartwright Gardens
City/Town: London WC1
View Map

Contact Details

Email
Phone: 07973 695 168
Link: http://www.ees.ac.uk/userfiles/file/FilerStudyDays2011.pdf

Description

A study day presented by Joyce Filer BA DipArch MSc MSc, formerly Curator of Human Remains , Dept of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum, London.

For further information please contact Richard (details above). A printable booking form can be downloaded by clicking the link above.


Study Day: Mummies of Ancient Egypt

Event Info

Host: University of London
Type: Education - Lecture

Time and Place

Start Time: Saturday, 19th March 2011, 11:00 am
End Time: Saturday, 19th March 2011, 5:00 pm
Location: University of London, Garden Halls
Street: Cartwright Gardens
City/Town: London WC1
View Map

Contact Details

Email
Phone: 07973695168
Link: http://www.ees.ac.uk/userfiles/file/FilerStudyDays2011.pdf

Description

A study day presented by Joyce Filer BA DipArch MSc MSc, formerly Curator of Human Remains , Dept of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum, London.

For further information please contact Richard (details above). A printable booking form can be downloaded by clicking the link above.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN!

WE WIN!

The Lombardi Trophy is coming home to Green Bay, where it belongs.

I couldn't even watch the fourth quarter - I turned the game off.  I was upstairs reading (Harry Potter) and putting curses on the Steelers under my breath and lost track of time - the phone rings, it's 'Sis from Las Vegas screaming and yelling WE WON WE WON WE WON!  Then I heard fireworks going off - TONS of fireworks.  All of Milwaukee is shooting off fireworks right now!

OHMYGODDESS!

Now I get to watch the post-game and EVERYONE in this state is going to have a hang-over tomorrow, including me :)  I don't think much work is going to get done.

Greg Jennings catches a 31 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers in the 4th Quarter.

The Goddess of Football smiled on the Pack tonight :)

2011 SUPER BOWL

Packers lead 21-10, third quarter is starting.  Image is Nick Collins scored a defensive TD after an interception.  Unfortunately, Charles Woodson was injured and is now out of the game.

I'm PROUD to Be a Cheesehead

When World Collide...Packers win... 2010 Season's Highlights (good stuff, particularly for Clay Matthews fans :))




WSCF: Sixth Annual All-Girls Chess Tournament

SIXTH ANNUAL ALL-GIRLS CHESS TOURNAMENT

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Sponsored by
Acuity Insurance

Location: Acuity Insurance Corporate Office 2800 S. Taylor Drive Sheboygan, WI 53081

Format: Three Sections K3 U800*, K5 U800* and K12, 5 Round Swiss G30
K3 U800 Three Team Trophies. Individual trophies to top 5 players.
K5 U800 Three Team Trophies. Individual trophies to top 5 players.
K12 Three Team Trophies. Individual trophies to top 5 players Medals to all participants.
*Under 800 Wisconsin or USCF ratings

Scholarships: 1st K3 U800 $100; 1st K5U800 $200; K12, $400 to 1st place, $200 to 2nd , $100 to 3rd

Entry: No onsite registration.  Registration closed February 3, 2011.
 
Check out the Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation's flyer for further information. WSCF website.
 
Last year's All-Girls Tournament, also sponsored by Acuity Insurance of Sheboygan, featured 32 girls playing in the K-3 Individual, 56 playing in the K-6 Individual, and 23 playing in the K-12 Individual.  Fifth Annual All-Girls Tournament results.

I'm PROUD to Be a Cheesehead

PACKERS WILL WIN SUPER BOWL XLV - so predicts Anastasia the Sacred Doggy...

I'm PROUD to Be a Cheesehead

Def Crew Whip Hop (LOL!  Love that name) Packers Anthem



I'm PROUD to Be a Cheesehead!

Check this out by highereducationrecords.com

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