All I Ask of You

There was this one time, more toward the beginning of Martina's and my relationship, when we were in her car and I began to sing. 

Singing is something I like to do sometimes—especially as a joke—and Martina had told me that she liked my voice, so I decided to go for it.

The song that I was singing on this day was "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera. As I said, I like to joke around, so in my best baritone, with the song playing in the background, I just let loose. 

No more talk of darkness/Forget these wide-eyed fears/I'm here, nothing can harm you/My words will warm and calm you

At first, I just took my singing as a joke. But when I looked over at Martina, I saw she was paying attention to the lyrics and had begun to take me more seriously. 

So I continued: 

Let me be your freedom/Let daylight dry your tears/I'm here, with you, beside you/To guard you and to guide you

Martina's interest continued to grow—she was totally digging it—and, suddenly, I realized that something was beginning to happen: what had started as a joke was turning into a real moment between us. 

So I barreled toward the refrain—because what a refrain it was going to be!   

Say you love me every waking moment/Turn my head with talk of summertime/Say you need me with you now and always/Promise me that all you say is true

That's all I ask of you

And when I looked at Martina after that line, after the refrain, she had tears in her eyes—and I can't say that mine were dry.

99.2%!

So today I have to celebrate a milestone: 99.2% accuracy. 

Let me explain. Many times after I play a game of chess, I analyze it after it's finished, and the website that I often play on, chess.com, has this pretty cool tool that helps me do this. See, after a game is done, all you have to do is hit the"analyze game" button and you are given a report that tells you, among many other things, how accurately you played. I've had games in which I played very accurately—i.e., I found the best moves 90 percent of the time—and of course, I've had games in which I played very inaccurately—I found the best moves, let's say, only 15 percent of the time. 

But today, I reached a new plateau. In one of the games I played, I had an accuracy score of 99.2 percent. Here's the game. I have the white pieces. Enjoy. 

Some of my favorite moves:

9. Qxd4. Usually, it's not a good idea to bring your queen out into the middle of the board so early in a game, but in this position, I knew that if I wanted to maintain an edge, I would have to do so. 

11. Qd3. This is actually my favorite move of the game, and the one I spent the most time trying to find. I knew after 9. Qxd4 my queen was going to be chased back; however, it was crucial to find a square where a) the queen couldn't be harassed any further and b) her majesty still had attacking potential. 

16. Be5. I fought so hard for an initiative in the opening and got it. But it was important to keep the pressure on, and this move did just that.  

Oh, Jeff

When Nadi entered the diner, I waved to her and she immediately saw me. She walked over to my table and sat in the booth across from me. 

"So this is where you like to hide out?" she said.

I noticed that she had a bruise on her face, but I thought it best not to say anything...at least not yet.

"Well, sometimes you just gotta get away from the world," I replied.

The waitress came over. She took our order. Nadi only asked for coffee. After what she had been through, though, I couldn't believe she wasn't hungry. 

"You're not gonna order anything?" I said. 

"Oh, Jeff. You think I can eat? I can't eat. Eating is the last thing on my mind right now."  

The waitress came with the coffee. After she poured it, I said to her, "Actually, we reconsidered. My friend here will have a grilled cheese sandwich." 

The waitress took out her pad and pen. "Do you want tomato with that?" she asked Nadi. 

"I don't—"

I put my hand out. "With tomato," I said. "She'll also have a large chocolate milk, too." 

The waitress took the order. "With whip cream, or...? 

"Yes, with whip cream," I said. Nadi was smiling. 

After the waitress left, Nadi said, "I can't believe you." 

"Well, believe it," I said. "You're not gonna starve on my watch." 

Going Down

Rob was waiting for the elevator when I saw him. Originally, I was going to take the stairs, but I thought it might be better to use the opportunity to talk to—or dare I say bond with—my new brother-in-law. 

"You going all the way to the lobby," I asked. 

Rob turned to me. His expression was blank. 

"Sure am," he said and looked at the little digital display next to the elevator door. The elevator was currently on 37; we were on 10.  

"Nice day..." I ventured. 

Rob nodded, then immediately looked down at the floor. 

That was the final straw. 

"You know, Rob," I said, "we are in the same family now. I mean, we don't have to be best friends, but I think we should at least talk." 

Rob was still looking at the floor. "Yeah, of course...talk," he said. "What would you like to talk about?" 

"Well, for one thing," I said, "how about Mary Ann?" 

Rob took a step forward and pushed the elevator call button. It had already been pressed. 

"Yeah," he said. "Sad story." 

"Mind Playing Tricks on Me"

Recently a friend of mine asked me to make a rap mix for him on Spotify. I decided to make the theme of the rap mix “storytellers,” i.e., songs that tell a story. I told my friend that I thought that songs that told stories had a hell of a lot more staying power than songs that didn’t. 

As I was preparing the mix, I chose to put the Geto Boys 1991 song “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” on there. I first heard “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” in the early '90s, and even though I didn't fully grasp the messages in the song, it made a big impression on me. 

Now that I’m older, I can see why. The song is about paranoia. It’s about how leading the street life leads to a lot of paranoia—always thinking that the bogeyman is around the corner. 

Anyway, one particular verse of “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” really shines in my opinion. It’s the last one, sung by Geto Boys member Bushwick Bill.  When I was younger, I basically just liked Bushwick Bill's voice in this song. But recently, when making the mix, I realized that Bushwick Bill's verse was pure poetry—just an excellent piece of writing.

So...without further ado, here's Bushwick Bill’s verse from "Mind Playing Tricks" on me. 

***

This year Halloween fell on a weekend

Me and Geto Boys are trick-or-treatin'

Robbin' little kids for bags

'Til a lawman got behind our ass

So we speeded up the pace

Took a look back and he was right before our face

He'd be in for a squabble, no doubt

So I swung and hit the n**** in his mouth

He was goin' down we figured

But this wasn't no ordinary n****

He stood about six or seven feet

Now that's the n**** I'd be seein' in my sleep

So we triple-teamed on him

Droppin' them motherfuckin' B's on him

The more I swung, the more blood flew

Then he disappeared and my boys disappeared too

Then I felt just like a fiend

It wasn't even close to Halloween

It was dark as fuck on the streets

My hands were all bloody from punchin' on the concrete

Goddamn, homie!

My mind is playin' tricks on me

***

Dream

So last night I had a very interesting dream. It all started on 64th Road in Forest Hills, Queens, in front of the apartment house that my old friend Gina used to live in. However, instead of Gina's building being there, the Dakota, John Lennon's apartment building, which is actually on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, was. 

Anyway, I was standing in front of this building with a young man, a guy maybe in his late teens/early 20s. He said that he lived in the building and asked me if I wanted to go inside with him. I said to him,  "Are you kidding me? Of course I do. I've forever wanted to check out the Dakota." He rang the bell and his mom came down to the main entrance. When she did, I gave her my elbow because that's the kind of way people greet each other nowadays. 

When I got into the apartment building, I got my first shock. In the dream, I had always thought that if you entered the main entrance of the Dakota, you would see a grand foyer or something like that. But it wasn't a foyer that was on the other side of the main entrance. Instead, it was this kid's apartment. I remember saying to the kid and his mom, "Holy shit. I thought all these years that if I entered the front door of the Dakota, I would see an amazing foyer, but it's actually just your guys' apartment." 

Then there was the apartment itself. It was big, but it looked super old. The high ceilings had ornate cornices, but the molding hadn't been restored in years. The furniture was old and had no rhyme or reason to it. The cushion colors that I saw were pea green and mustard yellow. 

I walked deeper into the apartment, and I saw that the place was absolutely huge. One part of the apartment faced 64th Road, but there was a massive corridor that was parallel to Yellowstone Boulevard.  As I was walking down this corridor, which had tombstone-shaped doors on either side, the young man's siblings appeared. He apparently had a lot of brothers and they were a little bit obnoxious. 

At some point, a familiar motif from prior dreams of mine again reared its head: the gum. In many dreams I've had recently, I've had a mouth full of pink chewing gum—chewing gum that impedes me from speaking. During last night's dream, the gum impeded me from speaking to this guy's mom. There were also girls, girls in their 20s, in the apartment, and I was barely able to speak to them, again because of the gum. However, this time, I decided to do something about the sticky stuff. I walked over to a fountain that was outside the apartment and began digging in my mouth for the gum, trying to get it out. I was mostly successful, but I got a lot of strange looks from people who saw me digging in my mouth. 

Back in the apartment, I continued to hang out with the young man. Apparently, he and his family also had a lot of pets. They had something like seven cats and three dogs and maybe even a few wilder animals, too. I remember seeing a burrow in one of the rooms, like a rabbit burrow or a fox's den, next to a sofa. I remember wondering how an animal could dig a hole in an apartment, but nevertheless, there it was. 

The Hockey Mask

Believe it or not, but in the movie Friday the 13th Jason is not wearing a hockey mask. Also, he isn't wearing a hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part 2, either. Jason first "gets" his hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part 3.

That leaves me wondering: When the makers of the movie made "Friday the 13th [Part 1]..."

1) Did they know the hockey mask was going to become The Hockey Mask? 

2) Did they know the hockey mask was going to become the Hockey Mask? 

3) Did they know that the hockey mask was going to become the hockey mask? 

4) Did they know that the hockey mask was going to become the hockey mask? 

5) Did they know that the hockey mask was going to become the hockey mask? 

6) Did they know that the hockey mask was going to become the hockey mask? 

I would say that I would choose number 1. However, number 3 would be a close second. I don't think anyone underlines anything anymore, so six would obviously be out.

Studying Pays Off

Although the opening played in this game is called the English Opening, the position reached after move nine or so resembles that of a King's Indian Defense, and I played this game very much how they say you should play King's Indian Defence positions. 

In the King's Indian, you should do whatever it takes to take control of the a1-h8 diagonal. And that's exactly what I did here. 

Up until move 27, the play had been very cat and mouse, with my opponent and me doing a lot of maneuvering and posturing. However, on move 26, I sacrificed a pawn to gain supremacy of the a1-h8 diagonal—just like how they tell you in the books—and after that, my opponent had big problems. His biggest problem: his rook on f2. My dark square bishop became poised to give that rook hell, and that’s exactly what I did. After move 30, cxb5, my rook got to the third file, and all my pieces came alive—and White found himself in serious trouble.

So I guess all the studying I did paid off.  

 

A Really, Really Nice Game

You know, as a chess player, I'm always after that "perfect" game. Well, perfection is hard. But here is a darn good Sicilian Defense game of mine. I say it's darn good because, well, it's just a great game, soup to nuts. I played the opening, middle game and endgame well. In addition, I hardly made any mistakes. In any given chess game, I'm apt to make several mistakes. But there is only one in this game, and it wasn't a critical one. 

I have the black pieces. Enjoy. 

I Just Needed to Know

I had gone into Martina's backyard with the dog, and I had brought a newspaper so I could entertain myself while the pup and I played fetch with a stick. 

The newspaper was a German one and there was an article in it that I had wanted to read. The article was about Princess Diana's death in Paris. I guess the newspaper had decided to publish the piece because July 1st will mark what would have been Diana's 60th birthday. 

The article was an hour-by-hour account of the aftermath of the horrific car crash, told from the perspective of one of Diana's former drivers, a man named Colin Tebbutt. After the accident, Tebbutt was given the job of facilitating the return of the princess' body to England. One of his duties, according to the article, was making sure that Diana, even in her state, looked presentable. He arranged for her to have particular clothes and make-up on.

Anyway, as I was standing there, playing with the dog and reading, I got very much into the article. Especially interesting was a part where Tebbutt began describing how Diana looked when he first got to the mortuary in Paris. He said that she had a sheet covering all of her body except her head, and she only had mild bruising on her face. Put another way, he said that despite what the reality was, Diana mostly looked like herself. 

Now, up until this point in the article, I had been able to understand all of the German on the page. However, as I was reading this description of Diana lying in the mortuary, I came across a word I didn't know: "zerzaust." The article said Diana's hair was "zersaust."

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what this word meant. I tried to extract the meaning from context but couldn't. So what did I do? I marched through that backyard (with the dog right behind me...after all, she's gonna follow me; I've got the stick), walked into Marty's house, made my way into the kitchen, and, with zero preamble, asked Martina, "What does 'zersaust' mean?" 

Without asking any questions, Marty told me that it meant "wild"; "all over the place." 

That made sense. I figured "zersaust" probably translated to "disheveled." 

I thanked Martina, and the dog and I went back to the backyard, where we continued to play fetch and where I finished the article.

But there was just no way I would have been able to keep reading without having first defined that word.  I just needed to know.

Annotated Game

Here's a game with my notes. So if you've ever been intersted in knowing what I'm thinking when I play, this game's for you. I have the White pieces.

King's Indian Defense

 A well played King's Indian Defense...Phew! 

Interior Monologue on the Way to (and at) the Dog Poop

"Can you watch her?"

"Yeah, I'll watch her." 

"She'll probably stay with you." 

Yeah, she always stays with the person who's got the stick. But she did go after me that other time. Well, it doesn't sound like she's going after me. Is that a hornet? Holy shit, that thing looks big. Better not make that thing angry. I'm glad I went swimming. Weird how that can make you feel better. Should probably shave now, too. My beard will be softer. Yeah, shave and then a shower. It's the best time to do it. It's funny how when I was writing about song lyrics before, I wrote them down how I heard them, not how they really are. But who cares, though. If that's how I heard them, then that's how I interpret them. Who cares what the author wrote. And, anyway, "all but love is dead" is so much better than "all but life is dead." Why would he have made it "all but life is dead"? What could that mean? No, no, all but love is dead. 

Let's see. Where's the shit? There's no way I'm not going to find it. Ah, OK. Eww, flies are on it already. Well, of course, what do you expect? Flies eat shit. They have their purpose, too. I hope I don't get any flies in the doggy bag. No, I think they all flew away once I came. Yup, there we go. Don't want to leave any poop on these people's property. Wow, I feel a lot better after swimming. But I should shave now. It's the best time. Beard is soft. 

Music Is Life

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm always listening to music. In fact, I truly believe that Spotify is one of the best inventions ever. It's like a magic music machine. As someone who grew up in the '8os and '90s, it's hard to fathom that nowadays you can just open Spotify, enter a song and, boom, it's there. I remember having to go out and buy a CD if I wanted to hear a song. I even remember requesting songs on the radio. 

But I digress. Really, what I want to mention in this blogpost are two awesome lines from two separate songs. The songs themselves were new discoveries. One of them,  "And I Love You So" by Perry Como was recommended to me by Spotify. When I first heard the song, I thought, "Oh, that sounds nice." But when I heard the line I'm about to mention, I immediately added the song to my library. 

The other song I want to talk about I came across when I was watching the '90s movie Benny and Joon. The song, "Have a Little Faith in Me" by John Hiatt, came on during a montage, and I just instantly thought it sounded awesome. Again, when I read one particular lyric later on (that lyric is also below), my love for the song was cemented. 

So, without further ado, here are two awesome lines from the songs. 

"And I Love you So":

The book of life is brief/And once the page is read/All but love is dead/That is my belief

"Have a Little Faith in Me": 

When your secret heart/Cannot speak so easily/Come here darlin'/From a whisper start/Have have a little faith in me

Score Will Follow

How is he able to bring his score up so high? What am I not doing right? Christ, I've been playing chess for how long now? 20 years? I mean, my score is OK, around 1800 on chess.com and 2000 on lichess. I suppose if you put those two together it would be 1900. And 1900 isn't that bad. I could definitely live with 1900. But what I don't understand is, like, when I'm not playing that well, and my score is around 1800 or less, well, that is not that far from what my score had been when I wasn't studying to the extent that I am now. I don't know. I probably shouldn't get that discouraged. I mean, if you think about it, for as long as I could remember, I wasn't able to get anywhere near 1800. Now, 1800 is the score that I have if I'm not playing well. Still, I feel like my score should be higher. I mean, look at some other players that I know. They have super high scores. But, then again, I don't know what they did to get those scores, how much time and effort they invested. Remember, you played for so many years. You didn't necessarily study. You should focus on quality. You should focus on the quality of your games and the depth to which you can understand certain positions. Don't worry about score. Score will follow. 

Allergies

My throat is itching. My nose is itching. I have a tingly feeling in my nose like I have to sneeze. I try to scrunch up my nose to try and not sneeze. Whoops. Can't do it. I sneeze. When I sneeze, I am able to tell that it isn't going to be just one sneeze. My nose is tingling again and it feels as if dust has flown up in there and needs to come out. Achoo! Another sneeze. My scalp starts itching. I'm sneezing, my scalp is itching, I'm hot and I feel like I could rub my eyes forever, just to make the itching stop. I wish that I could wash my face, but I can't. I'm at a basketball court, and there's nothing around me but trees and pollen and flowers and sunlight. Achoo!  Every time I sneeze, it makes and my nose and the pallet of my throat tingle even more. If I were to blow my nose right now, clear liquid would come out. Blowing my nose wouldn't help anyway. Often when I blow my nose during an allergy attack, it only makes things worse. It's almost like you get everything out, only to make room for the new particles. Might as well not blow your nose—just stick with the devil you know. Achoo! My face is hot. I try and just shoot the basketball, but I'm rocked by a huge sneeze. This feels tiring to my body. 

Happy Birthday

During Xmas I sent a letter to my old friend Matt. I had gotten his address from Kaivan, our mutal friend. Several months after having sent the letter, it was returned to me. I asked Kaivan if Matt had moved. Kaivan in turn asked Matt about his address. Matt confirmed that there was a problem with his address. Kaivan relayed this information to me. He did so by taking a screenshot of a conversation he had had with Matt over text message. 

A few days after Kaivan sent me the screenshot, I looked at it again.  At the bottom of it, I saw that there was one last message from Matt, one I hadn't seen the first time I looked at the screenshot. Matt had written this: "Yo, if you speak to Chad, wish him a happy birthday."

Another Nice Game

 

Mosquito

I was in the park and something that looked like a mosquito landed on my leg. I swatted it away and thought to myself, "Is that a fucking mosquito? No, they're not out and about yet, are they?" The thing flew back at me, but I swatted it away again. It landed on the bench. I looked at it and I thought it sorta looked like a mosquito. 

A few minutes later, my elbow started to itch. I had a mosquito bite.

Nice Win (Sicilian Defense)

Here's a nice win of mine. I had been having some trouble against the English Attack variation of the Sicilian Defense, but I was victorious in this game. I have the black pieces. 

Once I Heard That Voice

Martina and I were in a woman's apartment because the woman was giving away her washing machine and Martina wanted it. I was in the hallway of the apartment and Martina was in the kitchen, undoing the machine's tubing. The woman had been chatting with us but then went somewhere else. Suddenly, I heard the voice of a young girl. The woman had opened a door in the apartment and was talking to a young girl. There was a child in the house, this woman's child, I surmised.  I didn't turn around, but I began looking around the hallway for a picture. To my right, on a shelf, was a framed picture of a young girl. Once I heard that child's voice, I knew there'd be a picture not far off, and I was right. 

Cat

I was in a car, stopped in the road and waiting for the driver to make a left. We had to wait a while because it was rush hour. Sitting in the windowsill of a house facing the road was a cat. The cat was grooming itself. 

Run on a Country Road

I went for a run on a country road that cuts through fields, and when I got home and went to wash my hands, I saw in the mirror that I had a pear tree bud in my hair.

Nice Game

Here's a game I'm very proud of. I like it because in the end I sacrificed three pawns for an attack—and won. I have the black pieces. 

Running Errands

Martina had just parked the car on a side street in the city.

"You can wait here while I run to the bank," she said. "If you want, you can look around...there's an antique store here."

I had noticed the antique store. There were old books in cardboard boxes out front. 

"Yeah, OK," I said. "Sounds good."

We both got out of the car, and Martina crossed the street and headed for the bank. The antique shop was basically right by the car, so I just moseyed on up to it. 

There were about 10 boxes, all filled with books, at the entrance to the shop. A cardboard sign propped up against one of the bins said "1 EURO." I was happy when I saw the old books, happy because it showed that stores were reopening and the act of browsing was again possible. 

The books themselves didn't really interest me. They were virtually all in German. I did have one interesting thought, though, standing there. I thought, "Every book here was someone's dream. It's sort of a shame people's dreams wind up getting sold for a euro." Still, I concluded, that's not a reason not to pursue one's dream.

After I lost interest in the books, I decided that the other side of the street looked inviting. I was cold and it was sunny.  I crossed the street and immediately felt a little better. The sun was warm and I felt revived. I had my sunglasses in my pocket and I took them out and put them on. I just stood there. In the reflection of the car window, I saw myself. I looked a little funny. I guess I looked like a guy who liked sports, there in my shorts and Nike pullover. But the whole outfit looked kinda weird with the sunglasses. Still, it was nice to be in the sun. 

Eventually, I decided to go back into the car. It was even warmer in the car. When Martina got back from the bank, we made our way to the next place on our list. 

Good italics, good ellipsis

Good italics, good ellipsis: 

This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home.

This little piggy had roast beef,

This little piggy had none.

And this little piggy... 

You Only Live Twice

Sometimes my mom says things that stay with me. One of those things was a comment she once made about a line from a song. The song was "So Far Away" by Carole King, and the comment she made had to do with the following line: 

So far away 

Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore 

It would be so fine to see your face at my door 

Doesn't help to know you're just time away. 

Right there, that "time away" part. I remember when it came on, my mom said that she really liked that line. When I challenged her on it, saying, "But what does that really mean, 'It doesn't help to know you're just time away'?" she said, "I don't know, but I like it." 

And that's the comment that has stayed with me: "I don't know, but I like it." 

I feel like that's a very apt line when it comes to talking about music and the joy we get from it. Sometimes, we have no idea why we like something in a song, a funky hook or a strange turn of phrase. We just like it—it does something with us, period.

Such is my feeling when it comes to a song I recently discovered on Spotify: "You Only Live Twice." 

At first, I was irritated by the title: "What do they mean, 'You only live twice'? That makes no sense." But then, after listening to the lyrics and the melody—and still, mind you, not fully understanding what exactly is meant, I just began to accept the song, I began to take it in. 

Why? Well, I don't really know why...but that's the point. =)

Kobe

Today on the basketball court I pretended I was Kobe Bryant. Why? Well, yesterday I was rewatching the 2008 Olympic championship basketball match between Spain and the USA, and something Kobe did on the court just got me so pumped up. With three minutes to go and the score being USA 104, Spain 99, Kobe hit a hugely clutch three-pointer. 

The shot was awesome because it slowed down the momentum that Spain was beginning to build and just showed them that no matter how "A" their game was, the US had an answer. Another big shot by Dwane Wade a few plays later was enough to give the USA team the boost they needed to get the win. It was just a great moment in sports. 

Anyway, today on the basketball court, I practiced the shot that Kobe hit.  I was on the left-wing and passed myself the ball by putting topspin on it. Once I had the ball in my hands, I got into the triple-threat position and imagined a defender in front of me, a defender who was probably intimidated by me. I jabbed right once, imagined the defender stepping backward and then I just pulled up and took the shot. 

Cup of Coffee

I was sitting across from X. I was teaching X English. I was testing him really hard. We were in a room and X had a cup of coffee in front of him, a coffee I had gotten for him. We were really working hard. I asked him a series of questions. He kept getting the answers wrong. Every time he would get an answer wrong, we would have to stop and I would have to reiterate a point. Finally, he got a crucial question correct. The moment he did, he took a sip of his coffee.

Chess win (Sicilian Defense)

Here is a nice win of mine in the Sicilian Defense. I especially liked how active my pieces where. I'm Black.

"Ditto"

One of my favorite movie scenes—matched only by the scene at the end when she says the word.

Middle Eight

So one of my hobbies is songwriting. I think I wrote my first song at 19, for a girl I was dating at the time. Over the years, I have written about 20 songs, some of them pretty good. 

One cool thing about writing songs is that you wind up becoming very aware of how a song is constructed, and having that awareness makes you appreciate music more. Also, it's fun to think about hooks, licks and other aspects of a song that make it great or not. 

One aspect of a song that I often think about a lot, both when I'm writing and listening, is the middle eight. I first learned of this term, "middle eight," through the Beatles. In interviews, John Lennon would sometimes say that he had written the middle eight to some of Paul's songs and vice versa. 

But the term itself to me was so weird—"middle eight." I knew what a chorus was, and I knew what a bridge was, but what the heck was a "middle eight"? 

Well, basically, a middle eight is a bridge. However, it's a specific type of bridge. (Just to be clear, the "bridge" is the part of the song where the melody changes. It usually occurs when the piece is three-fourths finished and literally acts as a bridge to the end of the song.) 

A middle eight is a bridge that (usually) lasts eight measures. Hence, middle eight. (Oh, and just in case you were wondering, there are four beats in one measure. So, for example, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four would be two measures. A middle eight lasts eight of those.) 

Anyway, I love middle eights because I love the part of the song where there is a departure, a change, a release, something new. Sure, the main melody is important, and of course, a hooky refrain is important, too. But there is something special about the middle eight. 

And maybe you can come to appreciate the art of the middle eight as well? 

Each of the songs below has an excellent middle eight. 

Enjoy! 

"A Hard Day's Night." 

The middle eight begins at the part, "When I'm home everything seems to be 

right..."  

"Colors of the Wind" 

 The middle eight begins at, "Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon..." 

 "Let It Be Me" 

"Each time we meet love..."

  

More Sophisticated

The names of the openings are starting to get more sophisticated. =) =) =) The one played in this game: "The King's Indian Defense: Averbakh, Benoni, Advance Variation, 7...h6 8.Be3." I have the black pieces.

 

Bernstein

I think this is just great. I love the way Leonard Bernstein compares his work as a conductor with actors interpreting Shakespeare. So much of the arts really are connected, and I also like to think that, in a way, everything really is connected, that everything really is one river feeding the same sea. The performance is also very interesting. That guy's fingers…wow!

 

A Note on a Semicolon

Perfectly placed semicolons: 

1) He didn't have dollars; rather, he just had euros.

2) He didn't have dollars; he just had euros. 

Two Notes for Me (on Writing)

1. She was always a sarcastic girl, so I was not at all surprised when she told me that she thought my work was "amazing." [The italicized "a" works.]

2. "Hi," I said, putting my hand out for him to shake it. ... "Hi," I said. I put my hand out for him to shake it. [The second sentence is probably superior to the first.]

Getting the Win

I finally got this win. Phew.

Anyone Who Knows What Love Is

So two of my friends and I have this WhatsApp group called "Songwriting" where we share songwriting tips and discuss why we like certain songs. I thought that my last contribution to this WhatsApp group was worth sharing here.  Enjoy. 

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Hey guys,

So, like, this song, "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" from 1964 is my new favorite song at the moment, and I thought I'd just tell you why...like, break the piece down in terms of how I see it as a music lover and songwriter.

So, first off, I like the song because right at the beginning, there's that catchy, twinkling-like little hook with the xylophone. I feel that when writing a song, you really have to catch people at the first moment. This can be done in many different ways, and this twinkly little riff definitely does it.

Then, of course, there's that chorus of people repeating "anyone." I like that, but that's all, I just like it, nothing more. Then comes the singer's voice. In addition to being smoky and full of emotion, I like how she takes the time to enunciate, and I certainly like that her words and her story are so simple.

You can blame me

Try to shame me

And still I'll care for you.

The highlight of the song, though, I think, is the pre-chorus. You really feel a rise, a rise in tension; plus, there is so much emotion in those chords and in the melody. And speaking of the chords themselves, I think they create a poignant mixture of emotion because they are not run-of-the mill. In fact, most of the chords in the pre-chorus are what's known as achromatic, meaning they break key.

So, for example,  the song starts in the key of D major. However, in the pre-chorus, we have our first achromatic chord change with that D minor.  D minor is definitely not in the key of D major, but that's OK because music is all about breaking the rules.  All that being as it is, the pre-chorus has got a lot of chromatic chords—it almost seems to be in an entirely different key, maybe G# minor?—but then, thankfully, when we get to the refrain, "Anyone who knows what love is will understand," we return to our original key, D, and the tension is released.

And speaking of the refrain, we can't underestimate how important it is. Not only is it the title of the song, but it is also such a fantastic release of tension. It's almost like the waters have finally reached the sea, so to speak.

As for the second verse, well, I like that too because it continues on that same theme, "I may act crazy, but I'm in love, and that's what love is, whether you understand it or not."

Finally,  I think I like the song because it speaks to something universal, love—and, that is, I feel, love however you might interpret it.

So that's my take on the song. I thought it would be cool to write this so you guys could see how my mind works when it comes to listening to music and songwriting.

Anna Rudolf

So there's a funny story with this game. Recently, I've been taking an online endgame course. The course was created by Anna Rudolf, a prominent International Master of chess. The funny thing is, though, on chess.com, there is an Anna Rudolf bot that you can play against. The bot supposedly plays at the same strength as Rudolf (2400) and plays moves and openings that she would. 

Well...

I actually beat the Anna Rudolf bot today. I think it was the seventh time I played against "her." All the other times I lost. 

The super ironic thing is—and this is really funny—this game I won against the Anna bot today goes into the endgame, and I actually used some of the techniques that the real Anna taught me in her endgame course. 

The game is below. I've annotated it so you can see what I was thinking every step of the way.

Finally Did It

I was trying to beat this opponent all night...I finally did it. I have the black pieces. My dark-squared bishop was a monster in the end. 

Artist

Yesterday, I was researching something on the New York Times website, and I came across this really interesting article from 1964. 

The article is about an eccentric artist who never really had much success in his life. However, after he died a violent death, a gallery decided to hold an exhibition of his works. 

The guy seemed like a sort of tragic figure, but there was something very intriguing and maybe even beautiful, in one way or another, about the article. 

Nice Win with the Black Pieces

Here is a nice win of mine. I have the black pieces, and I chose to play the King's Indian Defense in response to White's opening move of pawn to d4.  

 Just so you know, in the King's Indian Defense (1. d4, Nf6 2. c4, g6 3. Nc3, Bg7, 4. e4, d6), Black cedes center control of the board to white, at least for the time being, then seeks to undermine white's position in various ways. White, for his part, tries to play on the queenside. However, if White is not careful and/or doesn't generate sharp enough queenside play, Black, if he's skilled enough, will amass his pieces on the kingside, then launch a attack.  

 In the game below, I was able to do just that—amass my pieces on the kingside and ultimately launch an pernicious attack. 

My opponent was rated 2000, which is 200 Elo points below a master. The "Elo" system is the system that's used to calculate  a chess player's strength. Enjoy! *

The Red Wheelbarrow

I'm kinda proud that I was able to teach this poem to a few of my students today. The students were teenagers, and their take on the poem was super interesting. The poem itself, I think, is mystifying. 

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"The Red Wheelbarrow"

By William Carlos Williams  

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

No Context

The following text was on my desktop. I'm not gonna say why. I'm just gonna post it without any context. Enjoy! 

Titanic is a love story and in it a boy, who is from the lower classes, falls in love with a girl from the higher classes. However, their love affair is cut short by the fact that they are on the Titanic. The boat hits an iceberg and the story ends in tragedy.

Endgame Knowledge

So I've been working hard on my endgame recently, and that can really be seen at the end of this game. Instead of promoting my pawn to a queen, I instead opt for a knight. This means that I will have to mate with a bishop and a knight, which is a heck of a lot harder than mating with a bishop and a queen or even a king and a queen. But I wanted to put some of the endgame knowledge I've acquired to use. The mate was difficult to achieve, but I'm happy I figured it out. My opponent (2000) has the black pieces and she played the Sicilian Defense.