T.D.

Had a 10% off key code at Daedalus Books and Music, and went for this OJC limited edition, which has been high on the want list for a while: Threw in a Coleman Hawkins disc to justify the fixed shipping cost: Looking forward to both!

WGM Regina Pokorna (SVK, 2357) Just won a tournament in Croatia.

I use Firefox plus "Spybot Search and Destroy" (freeware) for popup blocking (my Norton Antivirus claims to have spyware/popup protection, but I don't really trust it), and have never had any problems with the AMG site, aside from slow page loads and the occasional timeout.

'Bout time of course, but I don't see how firing the GM 3 games in can make a lot of difference this season. OTOH, it appears that in this Photoshop age, goat-sex pics don't have the leverage that they used to...

Matt Millen must have a whole bunch of pictures of William Clay Ford f*****g a goat...

I've had good experiences, but haven't gone in many years. A key factor is finding a chiropractor who is a straight shooter (will treat you in a small number of appointments rather than hyping endless treatments) and who does good massage (or has a good masseuse on staff). Granted, I figure treatment by a capable masseuse/masseur would be just as effective.

Horrible news. I've also been a long-time fan of the theatrical pieces, as well as radio plays. And Kagel had a sense of humor, which doesn't exactly seem to be common in the world of classical music... I'm now going to play an appropriate (and a favorite) Kagel CD: Mauricio Kagel 3, Finale coupled with >>..., den 24.xii.1931<< (Montaigne).

Doubt it's just CDO investments. I've been hearing that AIG trading desks have some seriously underwater/mishedged CDS (credit default swap) positions. This may betray my ignorance, but prior to your post I would have considered a CDS to be a type of CDO. Isn't a CDS essentially a firm-specific CDO? I could be wrong (worked on Wall St. for many years, but only hear things second-hand these days), but I think a CDS is a type of derivative swap instrument roughly descended from an interest rate swap agreement, and with similar documentation and counterparty structure. I think a CDO (collateralized debt obligation) is a kitchen-sink style bond-like investment, which can be backed/collateralized by all manner of things: mortgages, corporate bonds, various senior/subordinate/equity tranches of other collateralized deals, even swap agreements like CDS. Some of the most notorious CDOs, whose prices most spectacularly vaporized, were partly "collateralized" by CDS (that in itself is a true absurdity, and could very well be why the Street got stuck with all the "super-seniors" that later melted down). [Added] As someone mentioned above, the ratings agencies will deservedly undergo big changes. The rating of CDOs was particularly egregious, and riddled with conflicts of interest.

Doubt it's just CDO investments. I've been hearing that AIG trading desks have some seriously underwater/mishedged CDS (credit default swap) positions.

Speaking of teams that suck year after year, the Cardinals are 2-0...

Yes, there have been a lot of exciting games in this event. Topalov and Magnus always play for wins in every game, and the 3-1-0 scoring system seems to be encouraging aggressive play. Interesting that Magnus tried to revive his Dragon system with 12...a6, which looks kind of slow and had previously led to a defeat for him. [Added] In the women's KO World Championship, chess fox Alexandra Kosteniuk (hey, she encourages the image by publishing pinup shots) made the Finals. Less pulchritudinous young stars Hou Yifan (14 years old?) and Humpy Koneru will play rapid tie-breaks for the other slot. I must be out of touch, or just plain wrong, but had the impression that FIDE KOs had 4-game semifinals and 6-game finals. For sure some old men's KO events did.

Interesting, but I don't pay much attention to the short-term ratings fluctuations. Here the top six players are in a band seven Elo points wide. I can't imagine the differences are "statistically significant," as they say. I hope tournament organizers don't make too many invitation decisions based on differences of 1-5 ratings points...

Seems serious. But I can't imagine the TdF (or any other races run by the "ASO" group) letting him in. And Astana is already pissed about being excluded from the Tour in '08. Tony's Rock Racing suggestion is a very good one, but I can't imagine the mega-egos of LANCE and RR impresario Michael Ball (absolutely no kidding, that's his real name ) coexisting. Ball already hired the flamboyant Mario Cipollini early this year, but Cipo quit after a clash of titanic egos. P.S...Holy crap, now Cyclingnews says it's confirmed! Here's another take.

The Raiders...the karma statement above might apply to that sad team. Al Davis must have incurred some seriously bad karma.

Young Magnus just (Round 6) took over the lead at the Bilbao supertournament. He gave Aronian a serious thrashing.. Beat him like a rented mule, so to speak...

I doubt the weather will permit much play on Saturday. Sunday should be OK.

I'd like to buy her a vowel... She just advanced to the quarterfinals, which might entail enough prize money to buy a vowel or two...

Yes, the Topalov-Anand situation was strange. Looked like Anand played right into one of Topalov's prepared lines (he and Cheparinov have hatched many strong novelties in the Queen's Indian), got into time trouble (Chessdom at one point said El Topo had an hour left vs. Anand's 18 min - how often does that happen?) and lost meekly. You wouldn't think Topo would use big novelties in the event, because Kamsky (based on admittedly ancient history, the 1996 Karpov match) might be expected to use the Queen's Indian. Perhaps it's the big paycheck. I read on Mig's blog that the first prize is 150,000 Euro. Even the tail-ender gets 30,000 (all less 24% in taxes).

That reminds me of a weirdly self-referential (IMO) aspect of TV. Back when I watched, I found that the overwhelming source of material for TV comedy shows (SNL and that ilk, not sitcoms) was other TV shows. Funniest things on the comedy revue programs were always spoofs of old shows. That's one of the reasons I scaled back viewing (even before stopping altogether).

More from Nalchik: Anna Gasik will try to win with white against Mkrtchian

I stopped watching TV (at home, that is) last January (2008). Have only watched a few DVDs since then. I still watch a bit in public places or while at other peoples' homes. Big test will be the upcoming football season. But I got through the Olympics fine, so don't expect many problems.

I'm sure her pic has already been posted, but...more from the women's World Championship knockout tournament: One of the favorites, Antoaneta Stefanova, before her first game in Nalchik

It's an Ivanchuk exacta, as he also won the Tal Memorial Blitz: 1. Ivanchuk 23.5 2. Kramnik 22.5 3. Carlsen 21 4. Mamedyarov, Svidler 20 6. Grischuk, Karjakin, Leko 18 9. Gelfand, Kamsky 17.5 11. Ponomariov 17 12. Grachev 14.5 13. Alekseev, Karpov, Morozevich 14 16. Eljanov, Movsesian 12.5 18. Tkachiev 11.5

Just saw it. Chuck often gets into time trouble. Looks like he'll win the Tal Memorial, as Moro lost to Kamsky. Dunno if this should be on the chess babes thread, but here's a pic of Chucky's ex-wife, WGM Alisa Galliamova (RUS). I saw (didn't meet) them at the 1995 Intel PCA Rapids in NYC. Chucky lost in the finals to Kaspy. Among many other chess notables there, I also saw the (then) long-haired and pudgy Kramnik (walked past him on the street).

Moro is always teasing his many fans (of which I'm one)...directly upon attaining the #1 live rating, he got beaten by Chuckles. Granted, this can happen to anyone.