Friday, August 31, 2012

2012 Chess Olympiad Women

The top ten Teams after R4:

Rk.SNo
TeamTeamGames+ = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
12
RussiaRUS4400855.014.016.00
214
FranceFRA4400853.014.514.00
319
SerbiaSRB4310751.013.517.00
47
PolandPOL4310748.013.017.00
518
GreeceGRE4310747.511.017.00
63
GeorgiaGEO4310746.014.014.00
724
LatviaLAT4310746.012.516.00
81
ChinaCHN4310745.013.016.00
96
IndiaIND4310744.012.015.00
104
UkraineUKR4310743.012.016.00

Team USA and Team Canada:

145
United States of AmericaUSA4220643.011.517.00
7759
CanadaCAN4202410.58.012.00

Meh! 

Here are the top ten Team results from R4:

Bo.23
Czech Republic
Rtg-2
Russia
Rtg1 : 3
2.1WGMKulovana, Eva2259-GMKosintseva, Tatiana2530½ - ½
2.2WGMNemcova, Katerina2276-IMGunina, Valentina2507½ - ½
2.3WIMHavlikova, Kristyna2298-GMKosintseva, Nadezhda25240 - 1
2.4WIMOlsarova, Karolina2267-WGMPogonina, Natalija24480 - 1

Bo.14
France
Rtg-29
Argentina
Rtg3½: ½
4.1IMSkripchenko, Almira2442-IMLujan, Carolina2368½ - ½
4.2IMMilliet, Sophie2411-WGMAmura, Claudia23511 - 0
4.3WGMMaisuradze, Nino2284-WIMPlazaola, Maria De L A21641 - 0
4.4IMCollas, Silvia2261-Fernandez, Maria Florencia21601 - 0

Bo.6
India
Rtg-19
Serbia
Rtg2 : 2
1.1GMDronavalli, Harika2503-IMBojkovic, Natasa2392½ - ½
1.2IMKaravade, Eesha Sanjay2371-WGMManakova, Maria23040 - 1
1.3IMSachdev, Tania2379-WIMRakic, Marija23001 - 0
1.4WGMGomes, Mary Ann2396-WGMBenderac, Ana2266½ - ½

Bo.20
Slovakia
Rtg-7
Poland
Rtg2 : 2
3.1WGMBorosova, Zuzana2280-GMSocko, Monika24670 - 1
3.2WGMPokorna, Regina2353-IMRajlich, Iweta2412½ - ½
3.3WGMKochetkova, Julia2305-WGMZawadzka, Jolanta2377½ - ½
3.4WFMMachalova, Veronika2222-WIMWorek, Joanna22871 - 0

Bo.22
Kazakhstan
Rtg-18
Greece
Rtg1½:2½
10.1WIMNakhbayeva, Guliskhan2291-IMDembo, Yelena2457½ - ½
10.2WGMSergeyeva, Mariya2346-WGMBotsari, Anna-Maria23360 - 1
10.3WIMDauletova, Gulmira2267-WGMMakropoulou, Marina22560 - 1
10.4WIMDavletbayeva, Madina2165-WIMFakhiridou, Ekaterini22151 - 0

Bo.15
Cuba
Rtg-3
Georgia
Rtg0 : 4
6.1WGMOrdaz Valdes, Lisandra2344-GMDzagnidze, Nana25470 - 1
6.2WGMLinares Napoles, Oleiny2355-IMKhotenashvili, Bela25090 - 1
6.3WGMArribas Robaina, Maritza2296-IMJavakhishvili, Lela24580 - 1
6.4WIMLlaudy Pupo, Lisandra2264-WGMBatsiashvili, Nino24320 - 1

Bo.24
Latvia
Rtg-36
Belarus
Rtg3 : 1
8.1WGMReizniece-Ozola, Dana2251-WGMZiaziulkina, Nastassia23421 - 0
8.2WGMRogule, Laura2315-WGMSharevich, Anna22611 - 0
8.3WIMSkinke, Katrina2226-FMStetsko, Lanita21300 - 1
8.4WGMErneste, Inguna2203-Revo, Tatiana20581 - 0

Bo.9
Germany
Rtg-1
China
Rtg1 : 3
5.1IMPaehtz, Elisabeth2483-GMHou, Yifan2599½ - ½
5.2WGMMelamed, Tetyana2356-GMZhao, Xue25490 - 1
5.3WGMMichna, Marta2380-WGMJu, Wenjun2528½ - ½
5.4WGMLevushkina, Elena2301-WGMHuang, Qian24490 - 1

Bo.6
India
Rtg-19
Serbia
Rtg2 : 2
1.1GMDronavalli, Harika2503-IMBojkovic, Natasa2392½ - ½
1.2IMKaravade, Eesha Sanjay2371-WGMManakova, Maria23040 - 1
1.3IMSachdev, Tania2379-WIMRakic, Marija23001 - 0
1.4WGMGomes, Mary Ann2396-WGMBenderac, Ana2266½ - ½

Bo.4
Ukraine
Rtg-17
Netherlands
Rtg3 : 1
9.1GMLahno, Kateryna2542-GMPeng, Zhaoqin24111 - 0
9.2IMMuzychuk, Mariya2466-IMLanchava, Tea23511 - 0
9.3GMZhukova, Natalia2442-WIMHaast, Anne2235½ - ½
9.4IMYanovska, Inna2404-WIMVan Weersel, Arlette2151½ - ½

Judit Watch!

GM Judit Polgar, arguably the most famous female chessplayer of all time, is playing Board 3 for the Hungarian Team in the Open.  Judit currently has 3.0/4:

Judit Polgar, R4, 2012 Chess Olympiad.  Photo by
David Llada @ 25, from official website. 


Polgar Judit GM 2698 HUN Rp:2632
Rd.SNo
NameRtgFEDRpPts.Res.Bo.
1773Maznitsin Andrei2283KGZ24882.5s 12
2216GMNedev Trajko2494MKD26153.0w ½2
3246IMKurmann Oliver2469SUI22220.5w 13
4205GMMichalik Peter2508SVK26823.5s ½3

2. Hungary (RtgAvg:2708, TB1: 8 / TB2: 48)
Bo.NameRtgFED12345Pts.GamesRtgAvgRpwwew-weKrtg+/-
1GMLeko Peter2737HUN1½½2.032564268922.18-0.1810-1.8
2GMAlmasi Zoltan2713HUN½½12.032467259222.39-0.3910-3.9
3GMPolgar Judit2698HUN1½1½3.042439263233.22-0.2210-2.2
4GMBerkes Ferenc2685HUN½½113.042432262533.24-0.2410-2.4
5GMBalogh Csaba2668HUN1½1.52230701.51.73-0.2310-2.3

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Another "Human" Figurine Found at Orkney Dig

The article is not the clearest!  But if I were you, I'd be thinking this figurine looks remarkably like a BIRD GODDESS ...


Third 5,000-year-old figurine found at Orkney dig

A third 5,000-year-old hand-carved figurine has been discovered during excavations on Orkney.
 
Archaeologists had previously unearthed two ancient figurines in 2009 and 2010 at the dig at Links of Noltland in Westray.
All three will go on display at the Westray Heritage Centre.
Alasdair McVicar, chair of the Westray Heritage Trust, said: "The discovery of these figurines has really put Westray and the heritage centre on the map."
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "There was understandable excitement when the first figurine, believed to be the earliest artistic representation of the human form ever found in the UK, was found in 2009.
"To now be able to say that two more examples have been uncovered is unprecedented."

2012 Chess Olympiad Women

Here were the top ten after R2:

Rk.SNoTeamTeamGames+ = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
11
ChinaCHN220048.08.02.00
23
GeorgiaGEO220048.08.02.00
37
PolandPOL220048.08.02.00
414
FranceFRA220048.08.02.00
519
SerbiaSRB220048.08.02.00
622
KazakhstanKAZ220048.08.02.00
72
RussiaRUS220048.07.52.00
85
United States of AmericaUSA220048.07.52.00
96
IndiaIND220048.07.52.00
1023
Czech RepublicCZE220048.07.52.00

And the Team results from R2:

Bo.46
Sweden
Rtg-1
China
Rtg0 : 4
1.1WIMAgrest, Inna2214-GMZhao, Xue25490 - 1
1.2WIMJohansson, Viktoria2179-WGMJu, Wenjun25280 - 1
1.3WIMAndersson, Christin2074-WGMHuang, Qian24490 - 1
1.4WFMHorn, Emilia2037-WGMDing, Yixin24240 - 1

Bo.48
Belgium
Rtg-3
Georgia
Rtg0 : 4
3.1WGMZozulia, Anna2346-IMKhotenashvili, Bela25090 - 1
3.2WFMBaekelant, Eva2128-IMJavakhishvili, Lela24580 - 1
3.3Goossens, Hanne1998-IMKhurtsidze, Nino24440 - 1
3.4Maeckelbergh, Anne-Marie1892-WGMBatsiashvili, Nino24320 - 1

Bo.53
Venezuela
Rtg-7
Poland
Rtg0 : 4
6.1IMSanchez, Sarai2193-GMSocko, Monika24670 - 1
6.2Gutierrez, Leonela2067-IMRajlich, Iweta24120 - 1
6.3Montilla, Jorcerys2050-WGMZawadzka, Jolanta23770 - 1
6.4Varela, Tilsia2036-WGMSzczepkowska, Karina23750 - 1

Bo.14
France
Rtg-55
Chile
Rtg4 : 0
8.1IMMilliet, Sophie2411-WIMArbunic Castro, Giovanna20981 - 0
8.2WGMMaisuradze, Nino2284-Abarca Gonzalez, Damaris20241 - 0
8.3IMCollas, Silvia2261-WFMToro Pradenas, Maria Jose20401 - 0
8.4WIMBollengier, Andreea2253-Larrachea Formas, Emilia20611 - 0

Bo.58
Turkmenistan
Rtg-19
Serbia
Rtg0 : 4
11.1WFMHallaeva, Bahar2174-IMBojkovic, Natasa23920 - 1
11.2Isaeva, Aknur2011-WGMManakova, Maria23040 - 1
11.3WFMAtabaeva, Gozel2076-WGMStojanovic, Andjelija22770 - 1
11.4Atabaeva, Ogulgerek1917-WIMRakic, Marija23000 - 1

Bo.22
Kazakhstan
Rtg-59
Canada
Rtg4 : 0
12.1WIMNakhbayeva, Guliskhan2291-WIMKhoudgarian, Natalia21581 - 0
12.2WIMDauletova, Gulmira2267-WCMPeng, Jackie20091 - 0
12.3WIMSaduakassova, Dinara2216-WCMBotez, Alexandra20091 - 0
12.4WIMDavletbayeva, Madina2165-Lacau-Rodean, Iulia19991 - 0

Bo.2
Russia
Rtg-47
Brazil
Rtg3½: ½
2.1IMGunina, Valentina2507-WFMFeliciano Ebert, Vanessa2231½ - ½
2.2GMKosintseva, Nadezhda2524-WIMTerao, Juliana Sayumi21871 - 0
2.3GMKosteniuk, Alexandra2489-WCMGazola, Vanessa Ramos20331 - 0
2.4WGMPogonina, Natalija2448-WFMChang, Suzana Komoto20061 - 0

Bo.49
Estonia
Rtg-5
United States of America
Rtg½ :3½
4.1WIMTsiganova, Monika2164-IMKrush, Irina24670 - 1
4.2WCMNarva, Triin2028-WGMFoisor, Sabina23560 - 1
4.3WFMVahtra, Tuuli2014-IMGoletiani, Rusudan2341½ - ½
4.4WFMNarva, Regina2042-WGMAbrahamyan, Tatev23030 - 1

Bo.6
India
Rtg-50
Australia
Rtg3½: ½
5.1IMKaravade, Eesha Sanjay2371-WIMCaoili, Arianne22041 - 0
5.2IMSachdev, Tania2379-Yu, Sally19901 - 0
5.3WGMGomes, Mary Ann2396-Nguyen, Giang21051 - 0
5.4WGMSoumya, Swaminathan2271-WIMNovakovic-Dekic, Biljana2104½ - ½

Bo.60
Mexico
Rtg-23
Czech Republic
Rtg½ :3½
13.1WFMReal Pereyra, Diana Carime2075-WGMKulovana, Eva2259½ - ½
13.2Garcia Morales, Ivette Alejandra2014-WGMNemcova, Katerina22760 - 1
13.3WIMGuerrero Rodriguez, Alejandra2072-WIMHavlikova, Kristyna22980 - 1
13.4WIMMendoza Velazquez, Lorena Alejandra1993-WIMOlsarova, Karolina22670 - 1

And the top ten after R3 today:

Rk.SNo TeamTeamGames + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
16
IndiaIND3300626.010.08.00
22
RussiaRUS3300624.511.07.00
323
Czech RepublicCZE3300624.010.08.00
420
SlovakiaSVK3300624.08.58.00
519
SerbiaSRB3300622.011.56.00
629
ArgentinaARG3300622.08.58.00
77
PolandPOL3300620.011.06.00
814
FranceFRA3300620.011.06.00
91
ChinaCHN3210526.010.09.00
103
GeorgiaGEO3210526.010.09.00

As you can see, darlings, things are all over the place! But it's early days, yet. Mostly, the big battles won't come until the later rounds, when the strongest teams are all settled in at the top and fighting for each draw.

Here were the Team results for R3:

Bo.8
Armenia
Rtg-6
India
Rtg1½:2½
9.1GMDanielian, Elina2476-GMDronavalli, Harika2503½ - ½
9.2IMMkrtchian, Lilit2454-IMKaravade, Eesha Sanjay2371½ - ½
9.3IMGalojan, Lilit2349-IMSachdev, Tania23790 - 1
9.4WGMKursova, Maria2338-WGMGomes, Mary Ann2396½ - ½

Bo.2
Russia
Rtg-21
Mongolia
Rtg3½: ½
7.1GMKosintseva, Tatiana2530-IMMunguntuul, Batkhuyag2434½ - ½
7.2GMKosintseva, Nadezhda2524-WGMBatchimeg, Tuvshintugs23111 - 0
7.3GMKosteniuk, Alexandra2489-WIMYanjindulam, Dulamsuren22321 - 0
7.4WGMPogonina, Natalija2448-WIMAnkhchimeg, Bayanmunkh21671 - 0

Bo.10
Romania
Rtg-23
Czech Republic
Rtg1½:2½
10.1IMFoisor, Cristina-Adela2402-WGMNemcova, Katerina22760 - 1
10.2WIMBulmaga, Irina2380-WIMHavlikova, Kristyna22980 - 1
10.3WGML'ami, Alina2372-WIMOlsarova, Tereza22411 - 0
10.4WGMSandu, Mihaela2246-WIMOlsarova, Karolina2267½ - ½

Bo.20
Slovakia
Rtg-25
Israel
Rtg2½:1½
12.1WGMBorosova, Zuzana2280-WIMEfroimski, Marsel2174½ - ½
12.2WGMPokorna, Regina2353-IMKlinova, Masha2317½ - ½
12.3WGMKochetkova, Julia2305-IMBorsuk, Angela22661 - 0
12.4WIMMrvova, Alena2241-WFMShvayger, Yuliya2202½ - ½

Bo.19
Serbia
Rtg-11
Spain
Rtg3½: ½
5.1IMBojkovic, Natasa2392-WGMMatnadze, Ana24221 - 0
5.2WGMManakova, Maria2304-IMAlexandrova, Olga24171 - 0
5.3WGMStojanovic, Andjelija2277-WGMVega Gutierrez, Sabrina2355½ - ½
5.4WGMBenderac, Ana2266-WIMHernandez Estevez, Yudania22521 - 0

Bo.29
Argentina
Rtg-45
Turkey
Rtg2½:1½
13.1IMLujan, Carolina2368-WGMOzturk, Kubra22941 - 0
13.2WGMAmura, Claudia2351-WGMYildiz, Betul Cemre23410 - 1
13.3Fernandez, Maria Florencia2160-WCMKaya, Emel19741 - 0
13.4Martinez, Ayelen2095-WCMCemhan, Kardelen1938½ - ½

Bo.7
Poland
Rtg-12
Hungary
Rtg3 : 1
3.1GMSocko, Monika2467-GMHoang, Thanh Trang24641 - 0
3.2IMRajlich, Iweta2412-WGMGara, Ticia2385½ - ½
3.3WGMZawadzka, Jolanta2377-WGMRudolf, Anna22891 - 0
3.4WGMSzczepkowska, Karina2375-WGMPapp, Petra2302½ - ½

Bo.43
Austria
Rtg-14
France
Rtg1 : 3
4.1WFMNovkovic, Julia2066-IMMilliet, Sophie24110 - 1
4.2WFMExler, Veronika2103-WGMMaisuradze, Nino22840 - 1
4.3WIMKopinits, Anna-Christina2234-IMCollas, Silvia22610 - 1
4.4Schnegg, Anna-Lena2088-WIMBollengier, Andreea22531 - 0

Bo.1
China
Rtg-4
Ukraine
Rtg2 : 2
1.1GMHou, Yifan2599-GMLahno, Kateryna25421 - 0
1.2GMZhao, Xue2549-IMMuzychuk, Mariya24660 - 1
1.3WGMJu, Wenjun2528-GMZhukova, Natalia2442½ - ½
1.4WGMHuang, Qian2449-IMUshenina, Anna2433½ - ½

Bo.3
Georgia
Rtg-9
Germany
Rtg2 : 2
2.1GMDzagnidze, Nana2547-WGMPaehtz, Elisabeth2483½ - ½
2.2IMKhotenashvili, Bela2509-WGMMelamed, Tetyana2356½ - ½
2.3IMJavakhishvili, Lela2458-WGMOhme, Melanie23371 - 0
2.4IMKhurtsidze, Nino2444-WGMMichna, Marta23800 - 1

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

2012 Chess Olympiad - Women

Just a brief report tonight on the Olympiad.  First, the starting position of the U.S. and Canadian Women's Teams relative to all 128 teams:

U.S. 5th Place: 2419 Average ELO
Canada 59th Place: 2044 Average ELO

Team Results R1:

Bo.5
United States of America
Rtg-67
New Zealand
Rtg4 : 0
5.1IMZatonskih, Anna2512-WFMMilligan, Helen19871 - 0
5.2IMKrush, Irina2467-WFMTsoi, Nicole17861 - 0
5.3WGMFoisor, Sabina2356-WFMFairley, Natasha17881 - 0
5.4IMGoletani, Rusudan2341-WIMMeyer, Marany21171 - 0

Round 1
Bo.122
Aruba
Rtg-59
Canada
Rtg0 : 4
56.1Dania, Manuelle0-WIMKhoudgarian, Natalia21580 - 1
56.2WCMCarrero, Claudia0-WCMPeng, Jackie20090 - 1
56.3Jacobs, Annelaine0-WCMOrlova, Yelizaveta19470 - 1
56.4De Mey, Maria Paula0-WCMBotez, Alexandra20090 - 1


USA in 4th place and Canada in 43rd after R1. Lots of chess to go. 

White Lady (Me) Goes Berzerk While Waiting for Bus

Darlings, I have a story to tell you for sure!  But not tonight.  I'm exhausted.  Let's see, what can I say about August - it has been a Month From Hell.  Right now, my mother is in Intensive Care at a local hospital.  We think she'll be okay, but it was touch and go for 24 hours, touch and go.  I haven't had much sleep.  She's 85.

Earlier this evening when I was trying to get to the hospital as quickly as I could after leaving work nearly an hour early, that was NOT the time to be messing around with me.  Someone tried.  Stupid, stupid man.  I'm fine.  He's still alive, too.

More tomorrow.

August 30, 2012.  Well, obviously it's not August 29th, LOL!  Update - Mom, tough woman that she is (where do you think my DNA comes from, heh?) is out of the ICU and in a regular room.  She is doing splendidly and is hoping the doc will tell her she can home Saturday.  We'll see.  I think she needs a little more physical therapy yet -- she had no session today, for instance.  Another mix-up because last night the doc said she would have PT until he was satisfied that she is physically strong enough to go home.  She is on a mostly liquid diet so that her giant ulcer has a chance to heal.  She's not happy with that but on the other hand, she does love the pampering she receives from the hospital staff when she plays cute little old lady.  That's my Ma, hamming it up.  I'm a chip off the old block for sure, darlings :)

Sooooo, now that I can breathe again and will have a nice 3-day weekend to recuperate even further from the unrelenting stress of the past couple of months, I can tell you about my encounter with the man in the green shirt.

I received a call from  my sister Yvonne Monday evening after a long hard day at work.  Mom was in the hospital.  She gave me a brief run-down.  It was not a good situation at that time.  Mom had been throwing up blood for an unknown period of time and had passed out at least twice.  She called my sister rather than using her Medic Alert button (she said she left it in the bedroom but I think she planted it there on purpose just so she could call me sister, but that's another story).  My sis is like 20 minutes away speeding on the x-way by car, so she calls an ambulance to go to Mom's house.  Mom sends the ambulance away, and is therefore in very poor shape when my sister arrives, expecting to see the ambulance there!  I'll spare you the rest of the details.  After hours of ER care, Mom is finally installed in the ICU.  Exhausted sister, who is starting a new job this coming Tuesday (day after Labor Day) and has to be way the hell up north tomorrow for certain pre-start rituals (physical, drug test), was beside herself! 

So, I had to go into work Tuesday morning scared to death for my Mom, and gave the scoop to those who need to know what the LATEST health crisis in my life was. At least I received sympathy!  I needed it!

I knew, particularly on the first day of her stay at the hospital, that plenty of family would be in and out all day, so I intended to leave work at 4 p.m. to beat the rush hour.  Ha ha ha!  I have never been so deluded in my life!  I left at 4:07 and caught a bus to take me on my intended route (that I thought would take less time, ha ha ha!) at 4:20.  Bus is absolutely jam-packed.  I had managed to score a seat but by the time the bus hit 16th street and about 20 students piled on, I was being hit about the head constantly by back-sacks on oblivious students' backs!  We FINALLY get to my corner.  It's 27th and Wisconsin.  Anyone familiar with Milwaukee should know the area.  It's a major east west north south hub.  Always busy.  Perhaps in the 1920's the neighborhood was elite.  It hasn't been elite for a long time, certainly not when I was in first grade and my family moved to a lower flat on 27th just west of Clybourn Avenue, a few blocks away.  It was poor even then, but it was primarily poor white people.  Today it's all black poor people, and the culture has changed.

Yeah yeah, I know what I sound like.  Well, ride the bus along with me for the past 40 plus years as I've gone through the neighborhoods that have changed, NOT A SINGLE ONE FOR THE BETTER.  There was a major IMPORTATION of trouble from Chicago when Illinois was early to change its welfare laws, and Wisconsin did not.  That was back in the late 1980's, long before Tommy Thompson's "work-fare" became law here.  Crack cocaine and gangs made the trip along with the young black women producing baby after baby after baby. 

It's not poor people, per se, or black people, per se, who get my dander up.  It is a certain class of trashy people, and trust me on this darlings, I've seen them in every color during my bus travels to and from work, shopping, riding the bus to get from where I am to where I need to be.  Importing about 100,000 unwanted citizens from Chicago didn't help my struggling city any.  Think I'm being a racist? Think I'm exaggereating?  Take the city bus along with me for a week.  You will receive a mighty education in a big hurry. 

Now, being raised in what were even then considered "tough" neighborhoods (because we were poor, we were white but we were poor, and we have our own stereotypes to contend with), I learned a thing or two along the way about how to carry myself so as not to make myself an unnecessary target, and how to fight dirty if need be to defend myself.  In fact, just last week I picked up a good self-defense tip from one of the hot chicks with whom I ride the bus.  She's always being harrassed.  Me, not usually, but I've long since passed my babehood days!  She's a babe!

However, standing on 27th and Wisconsin at 5 p.m. waiting for a bus, trying to get to the hospital that's a short 10 minute bus ride away, if only it would come -- well, as a white face in a primarily darker-hued crowd, one sort of stands out.

His first mistake was getting tossed off the already over-crowded bus by the female bus driver for trying to pick a fight with one of the passengers.  When I first arrived at the corner, I was the only one there, but that didn't last very long.  By the time the overdue 27th Street bus arrived, there were probably 20 people waiting, and they didn't give a shit about who had been there first or ladies first, well, like I said, they're a certain class of people and they're not taught good manners.  Mind you, I would have been more than willing to get my face up there first, using strategic elbows, glares, toe-mashes and even kicks to get to the front of the mob, but I could see from my vantage point what others waiting for that same bus either did not see or didn't care about -- the bus was already packed, standing room only.  I did NOT want to rub elbows and trade sweat and possibly have someone try to pick my purse on the way to the hospital.  I had ENOUGH to deal with.  Let's just say I was not in a good mood, and when I saw that over-crowded bus that I knew I was not going to get on, I got really, REALLY pissed off.

A pissed off Jan is not someone you want to be around.  Think - Krakatoa, east of Java...

So, bus driver kicks man in green shirt off the bus.  He's dancing around the door as she shuts it in his face, making lousy boxing moves and cursing up a storm at a much younger man who is still on the bus.  I can't even see the bus driver at this point, she is covered in people!  That's how crowded that bus was.  No way in Hell was I getting on that bus, even though she seemed to wait there an extra 45 seconds (even when the light for her to go was green), as if inviting the Stupid White Woman to Get On the Bus and Save Herself.

I declined.

Man in the green shirt is drunk, or high, or both, and perhaps mentally ill.  Who knows for sure, except the caseworker who doles out his SSI money every month?  He staggers around for a few second after swinging a bit too hard at his now long-gone target (who is riding away on the bus that should have been, in a righteous world, MY bus), and his eyes alight upon -

ME!

That was his second mistake.  His eyes take in fashionable cardigan, tailored slacks, gold earings, diamond ring, perfectly coifed hair (well, one must be presentable in public), sunglasses that do an amazingly wonderful job of camoflauging the fact that I am actually turned 61 (gasp!) but look, well.... Jack Benny's age...

And since I've lost some weight I am actually getting my figure back well, what can I tell you.  I'm One Hot Momma.

Not that he saw Hot Momma.  He saw clueless white woman from the suburbs!  He could not have been more wrong.

The encounter was over in a flash.  He approaches.  Hey, he yells, you got any money?  No, Dude, I reply, I'm broke until payday on Friday (honest-to-Goddess truth -- both that I called him Dude and that I'm broke until tomorrow).  He laughs.  He moves closer.  Hey, what's your name?

I lower my sunglasses just a smidgeon on my nose and look at him over the top.  Now I could have said something really cool like "Trouble" or "Your Worst Nightmare" (that would actually probably be true), but instead I say something like "There is no earthly reason why you need to know that" and I give it a slight Emma Peel accent.  Oy, I can be such a ham!

He's taken aback for about 30 seconds - yeah, I could actually see the sound of my words travel into his ears at super slo-mo, reverberate around his ear drums, the signals make their way to his brain and then his brain struggling to decipher just what it was, exactly, I'd said.  Then he said, hey, you gonna buy me some McDonalds.

That is when he made his final mistake.  He reached out to grab my left arm.

Before it got there my right arm was already flinging him back.  And then he got an angry look on his face like "NO WHITE WOMAN GONNA MESS WITH ME."  I didn't say OH YEAH?  But I may as well have.  Both hands went up and I did this neat little Ninja Turtles move (I'm not kidding) and he goes flying back about 6 feet.

Mind you, this is all happening in micro-seconds.  There were other people constantly joining the crowd waiting for the next 27th Street bus to arrive, including a few guys who looked as if they were planning on coming to the rescue of the white woman who was stupid enough to wear actual jewelry on 27th and Wisconsin. 

They didn't have a chance.  Mr. Green Shirt decided that retreat was the better part of valour and headed across the street (against traffic, horns blaring and he nearly got hit once), all the while shaking his fist at me and calling me who knows what in Ghettoise.  I took two steps toward him just to rattle his brain, careful to have shoved my sunglasses full up on my forehead at that point and gave him the full benefit of my OWN Ghettoise Glare. 

And then I did something very, very bad.  Oh, Ms. Eloise, I exhibited the worst of bad manners.  I did a CHOMP, CHOMP motion with my teeth.  Just for the hell of it.  Just because my nickname with the Ladies of the Bus is Jannibal.  Now if you can't figure out where that nickname comes from, darlings, you don't deserve to be reading this blog! 

And it is absolutely true that I was pissed off enough to have ripped off his face if I'd needed to.  With aforesaid teeth. 

Until the next 27th Street bus arrived, about 10 minutes later, he continued lurking across the street around the bus stop there, in front of the small corner store that used to be, years ago, an IGA (is there still anyone alive who remembers those?).  He was occasionally shaking his fist at me and cursing, and the people around me were shaking their heads.  But as the bus arrived and I looked over one last time, he was gone.

Loki?

Twenty Urn Burials Discovered Near Maski - India

From TheHindu.com
News» States» Karnataka

20 urns with skeletal remains found near Maski

Bageshree S.



A group of amateur photographers who had climbed up a hillock near Maski in Lingsugur taluk of Raichur district last week were in for a big surprise. They came across about 20 ancient urns with skeletal remains on the slopes of the hillock.
 
They learnt later that it was one of the ancient historic sites of Karnataka, many of which have been found in the past in Raichur, Gulbarga and Koppal belt. What the photographers had come upon was an urn burial site dating back to the Megalithic or Iron Age, which had got exposed following continuous rain that had washed off the top soil.

Other sites

Maski is also famous for the Ashokan rock edict which was discovered by a British mining engineer in 1915, which dates back to the 3rd Century B.C. Another important location is Hirebenakal in Koppal district, which has a massive dolmen burial site.

“Ancient burial sites of this kind have been mapped in Maski and in this belt in pre-independence period,” says K.R. Ramakrishna, Commissioner, Department of Archaeology and Museums. One of the early colonial archaeologists to study this region was Robert Bruce Foote.

‘Excavate to find more’

Channabasayya Hiremath, Associate Professor, L.V.D. College at Raichur, says research related to these sites was later carried out by archaeologist B.K. Thapar in 1954.

“What needs to be done now is further excavation because there must have been human habitation close to the burial site,” says Prof. Hiremath.

Prof. Channabasayya Hiremath says that the time period of the burial site at Maski may have been about 100 years later than the time of the Ashokan edict, which is on another hill about a kilometre away.

Dolmen site

The Hirebenakal site in the neighbouring Raichur is one of the largest clusters of Megalithic burial monuments in India with 400 port-holed dolmens, dated between 800 to 200 B.C. “The site presents quarry stones from which rock sheets were removed for erection of the monuments,” says Mr. Ramakrishna, adding that it points to sophistication in use of implements.

Neolithic implements, pottery, iron slag and cave paintings have been found around this area, pointing to continued and regular habitation in this region over a period of time. “As many as 10 rock shelters containing paintings ranging in date from Mesolithic period to early historic period have been found,” says Mr. Ramakrishna.

Variety in burial

Historians have talked about how the variety in these burial sites point to society which already had division of classes, with different kind of burials – such as pit, cist, urn and dolmen burials – indicating different social status.

Female Slaves in Greece Had Short Hair

Okay..

I'm actually surprised this article even made it into the "news" because (1) the hair pins found only date back to 200 BCE or so, and it was quite well established by that date that women did fuss with their hair!  DOH! (2) While perhaps not numbering in the hundreds, I'm pretty sure there are enough surviving images from the period of "high class" women and female "slaves" that it didn't take finding some bone hairpins to deduce that high class women used the hairpins and female slaves did not.  DOH!

But I got a kick out of this article anyway, because it's so silly!

From Hurriyetdailynews.com

Excavation reveals ancient hair fashion
ÇANAKKALE - Anatolia News Agency
August 20, 2012
 
Bone hair pins found in Assos, per article.
Archaeologists conducting excavations in the northwestern province of Çanakkale’s Ayvacık district have discovered hairpins thought to be over two millennia old, proving that ancient societies also had a pronounced desire to “look good,” according to researchers.

“The hairpins show us that there was a high demand for them in ancient times. Maybe their existence shows us that there was a small atelier for hair pin production here,” said Professor Nurettin Arslan of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, the head of the excavations, adding that women of the age placed great importance in being well-groomed and stylish.

Arslan said the hairpins had been found in many places in the ancient city but that the most were in the agora, which has been the site of the school’s ongoing dig.

Noting the unique designs on the hairpins, Arslan said, “They date back to the second century B.C. They are nearly 2,200 year old.”

The hairpins were made of various animal bones, the professor said. “Such a material was already a natural one that was used in the ancient era. It was used not only for hairpins but also for necklaces and small spoons. We have found some examples of them in previous excavations.”

Arslan said hairpins were the easiest way to differentiate between servants and free women in ancient Greek society.

“Dresses [for both sets of women] were the same, but we know that servants had short hair and free women had long hair. We also know that hair models were different in every century. When dating sculptures and coins, we sometimes look at their hair models. In this way, we have chance to make a dating,” he said.
 

Ancient Tibetan Tombs Reveal Secrets of Past Kingdom

Still learning something new every day!  Before I read this article, I do not believe I had heard of the "Bon" religion.  Wow! 

From China.org.cn

China Exclusive: 2,000-year-old tombs bear secrets of ancient Tibetan kingdom
Xinhua, August 24, 2012

LHASA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Four tombs recently unearthed in southwest China's Tibet autonomous region are believed to contain relics from an ancient Tibetan kingdom that thrived more than 2,000 years ago.
The tombs, found in Gar County of Ngari Prefecture, were found to contain wooden caskets with human remains, copperware, swords and the skeletons of cattle believed to have been buried as sacrificial items, said Dr. Tong Tao from the archeological institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"We believe the location of the tombs was central to the ancient Shangshung Kingdom, a once-powerful tribe that was taken over by Songtsen Gampo to become part of Tibet in the seventh century," he said.
All four tombs were found near a Bon monastery in Gar County. Bon was a religion that prevailed in Tibet before Buddhism was introduced from India in the seventh century. Its followers worshipped "natural spirits," like mountains and lakes. [Similar to Daoism?]
"The ancient kingdom of Shangshung is widely believed to be the cradle of the Bon religion and therefore a cultural and political center for the plateau," said Tong.
Most of the sacrificial items inside the tombs were apparently introduced to the plateau from India, what is known today as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and China's interior regions, he said.
"The swords, for example, apparently came from central and northern Chinese regions, while a gold mask unearthed from one of the tombs is similar the gold masks prevalent in northern India," he said.
Tong and his colleagues believe the items indicate that the ancient Shangshung kingdom conducted diverse cultural and personnel exchanges and could be one of the earliest centers of civilization on the Tibet plateau.
None of the four tombs were newly discovered, but scientific excavation and research for conservation purposes did not start until June.
In 2005, monks in Gar County unearthed combs, firewood, copper kitchen utensils, carbonized plants and pieces of silk -- some of which bore handwriting and paintings.
Jin Shubo, a senior official in Tibet who has professed an interest in plateau archaeology, sent the samples for carbon dating and found they dated back 1,800 to 2,200 years, putting them somewhere between the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24) and the Wei Kingdom (220 - 265) , he said.
"The Book of Han, which recorded the history of the Han dynasty, said emperors of the dynasty often presented silk as gifts to maintain relations with the western kingdoms," said Jin.
The pieces of silk unearthed from the tombs, he said, were probably gifts from Chinese emperors.
A large quantity of horse, cattle and sheep skeletons indicates that the tomb's owners were rich and powerful, said Li Linhui, deputy head of Tibet's institute for heritage preservation.
One of the tombs housed the remains of four to five people, while the other three had one corpse each, he said.
Researchers have taken samples of the remains to Beijing for DNA analysis to determine whether the tomb's occupants were related.
Tong and his colleagues are planning to conduct large-scale excavation and research in the tombs next year.
"Hopefully, we'll find out more about the mysteries of the ancient Shangshung kingdom," he said.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

New Language Discovered

From Hurriyet Daily News

Mysterious tablet’s secrets revealed
DIYARBAKIR - Anatolia News Agency
A tablet found at the Ziyarettepe excavation area has stirred excitement among scientists and archaeologists. The tablet, which belongs to third century has writings in unknown language. Currently, scientists are working on it

A tablet from the eighth century BC in an unknown language found at the Ziyarettepe excavation has stirred excitement among scientists.

“The tablet in Ziyarettepe is quite important. The first evaluations and translation of the tablet were done in England. However, the first announcements are being made at our museum in Turkey,” said Nevin Soyukaya, director of the Diyarbakır Museum, which is supervising the excavation.

Soyukaya said the Ziyarettepe excavation had revealed a lot of knowledge. “Human history repeats with every excavation, as scientists say. The region provides important knowledge, and these important findings are brought to the Diyarbakır Museum.”

Dr. Timothy Matney, a professor at Akron University in the United States, said the settlement at Ziyarettepe, consisting of 32 hectares near the Tigris River (Dicle River), dated from the third century BC to 700 BC, making it one of the oldest settlements. “It was an important center for the Assyrians. It was an accommodation and state center for the Assyrian military, so there was a big palace where the state governor resided on the mound. We uncovered it, and the tablet was found in the burnt ruins of the throne room of the palace in the Assyrian state center TuÅŸhan.”

Possibilities for newly encountered language
The translator of the tablet, Dr. John MacGinnis of Cambridge University, said the tablet was written in Assyrian cuneiform and was very significant for historians and archeologists. The translation of the tablet took a very long time, he said. “We finally realized that women’s names were listed in the text. It is highly probable that these are the names of women who once worked in TuÅŸhan.”

He said the most surprising thing was that the names on the tablet were not Assyrian. “To figure that out, we were in contact with many specialist colleagues and compared it with many languages in the Middle East. But they said this language did not match any of them. For example it is not Persian, Elam, Egyptian, Arabic, Hebrew or Aramaic.”

He said the most likely possibility was that the names belonged to Shubrians. “Shubria was one of the names of this region before the Assyrians came here.” Another possibility, MacGinnis said, was that the women had been relocated to the area from the Zagros Mountains on the Iraqi-Iranian border.
MacGinnis said the tablet was important because it showed a new language. He said the tablet listed the names Impane, Ninuaya, Sasimi, Bisunume, Malinayasi and Pinda. “Our work in the region will provide new data on this topic. All those findings indicate that it is the known state center called ‘TuÅŸhan’ in Ziyarettepe.”

History of the area

Over 3 million people were relocated by the Assyrians, according to Dr. Kemalettin KöroÄŸlu of Marmara University. The Shubrian language is not well understood and was never written, he said, but a group of relocated women had worked in the Assyrian palace, and this was a standard practice of kings in the empire.The excavation is part of the “World Heritage Threatened by the Ilısu Dam Lake” project, a joint effort by the Culture Ministry, General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works.
August/27/2012
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