THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #235

July 21, 2000

Produced by Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287

Accessible through Internet at burgess of world.std.com; FAX to (401) 277-9904



NORTH SEALTH, WEST GEORGE - July 14, 2000

Yahoo! News - Associated Press Photo

A Place, A Concept, And Now...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Despite repeated statements that they would only re-enter the Diplomacy hobby ``over Buz Eddy's dead and bleeding carcass" here we see John and Kathy Caruso after a recent visit to Buz's palatial Edmonds, Washington estate. Rumors that this is the summer home of Sara Reichert are unconfirmed.

It should be noted that NSWG has still never officially folded despite several near brushes. Please forward to other old NSWG types whose e-mail addresses I may not have.

Terry, terryt of sinclair.net

((And NSWG cannot fold as long as its loyal subszine in TAP continues to live..... long live North Sealth, West George!



Diplomacy World is reborn with Stephen Agar and myself as Co-Editors and David Partridge as US Postal Publisher. Scott Morris is the new variant editor. More volunteers to get us off the ground financially and otherwise are still being accepted. Check out http://www.diplomacyworld.org and we'll have the first restart issue up before World DipCon, where we will be announcing more details, including postal subscription plans. See you all in Baltimore, I hope!!

Also there will be some discussion in Baltimore about postal Boardman/Miller Numbers. Sorry to disappoint Pete Gaughan, but I will NOT be reprinting the highlights of some recent E-Mail about these issues. If any of you have any opinions about the future of Miller numbers, please talk to Lee Kendter, Jr. at World DipCon.



The postal sub price is a flat $1.00 per issue in the US and Canada, a bargain at twice the price.... but you can double that for other foreign subbers (or $2.00 per issue sent airmail). This will be going up finally soon as the amount I lose on every paid subscription rises. Get your resubs in now and then I'll go up by 50% later this year. Players in current games and standbys will continue to get the issues for free, and future game starts (except for Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy, which is free) cost $20.00 ($15.00 for a life of the game subscription and $5 for the NMR Insurance). After the current series of games, I probably won't start another until the Modern game ends (then I will start another Modern with the Wing rule). But there are some other options. Mark Kinney is trying to get his dipszine going again (one game is already filled), but he may have other openings. Mark is looking for standbys too. Contact Mark NOW at 4820 Westmar Terrace #6, Louisville, KY 40222, (502) 412-3079; alberich of iglou.com and get on his subscription list. I'm in the game and you CAN'T miss watching ME play....

Check out the connections in the Diplomatic Pouch with all of the information you need to play Diplomacy on the Internet at:

http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/

Through Stephen Agar's (who is still in charge here) Postal portion of the Pouch:

http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

the szine resides in html format. Presently, issues from #190 to the current issue are there, and I will be updating the back issues gradually someday. Also, check out Stephen's more extensive efforts at (note the new address): http://www.diplomacy-archive.com

The most recent issue of TAP also can be accessed through Pete Sullivan's web page and occasionally David Wang's:

1) David has grabbed and reserved the HIGHLY prized name: www.szine.com!! David Wang's site also allows you to follow John Caruso's postal baseball league that I am in. John and Kathy Caruso are now up on E-Mail and if David doesn't get off his butt soon and start updating the page more frequently, John probably will go invent his own web page. This is a problem at the present time....

2) For the most recent issue of Pete Sullivan's subszine check out:

http://www.manorcon.demon.co.uk/octopus/index.html

Pete is looking for Railway Rivals standbys, but otherwise, he is full with games at the moment.

By electronic mail, through the Internet, subs are free and can be obtained automatically by sending the message: subscribe tap

to majordomo of diplom.org and messages can be sent to the entire electronic mailing list by mailing them to tap of diplom.org which will forward your message to all of the people currently on the list. The message:

unsubscribe tap

sent to majordomo of diplom.org gets you off the list. Please make careful note of that as well since you generally can get yourself off the list a lot easier than I can, and NOBODY likes to see unsubscribe messages sent to the entire list. A big, big thank you for David Kovar for setting this all up!!



THE SEARCH FOR GREGORY STEWART (PLUS LEFTOVER SARA REICHERT TALK)

Gregory Stewart acquired most of his fame in Mark Luedi's Thirty Miles of Bad Road szine and then also wrote lots of press for Don Williams and others before fading away. It is possible or even probable that Mark Luedi knows of Mr. Stewart's whereabouts, but since Mark has been silent for quite awhile, I'll welcome hearing from him in any case. I think someone else suggested that we look for a ``Mike Stewart" who I don't personally recall. If you are looking for Gregory Stewart and happen to find Mike Stewart, that is good too and I'll give an additional bonus prize. I have no idea whether Mike and Gregory Stewart ever had any relationship to each other. But I know we have some BIG Gregory Stewart fans around here. While we're looking, I expect some of you to write about him for print to generate more interest. Fifty bucks for finding him before the deadline for issue 240.

Or feel free to spend the time looking for some of the backlog. Let's get Kevin, Al, and Jerry found too!!! Note that Brenton would love to find Leslie Obata, the woman that Jerry Lucas used as his front too. This could be an easy way toward finding Jerry, though as Brenton notes, who is to say she has the same name now. This is a regular continuing feature of the szine and I will be introducing a new ``search for'' every five issues. Moreover, you can win a $25 prize for finding some previous target who went unfound in the original $50 period. That means that if Kevin Tighe or Jerry Lucas or Al Pearson is ``found'' from now on it is worth $25.

Winners will receive credit for Dip hobby activities that I will pay out as requested by the winner. Subscribe to szines here or abroad, run your own contests, publish a szine, finance a web page, or whatever. Spend it all right away or use me as a bank to cover hobby activities for years. What must you do to win? Get me a letter to the editor for TAP from the person we're searching for.

This is very important, just finding them doesn't do it. They have to write me a letter. The final judge as to the winner of any contest will be the target himself and I reserve the right to investigate the winning entry. When you find someone I'm looking for, you should ask him to send me a letter for print that includes a verification of who ``found'' him.

First, a slightly updated and expanded version of Harry's admittance letter:



Harry Andruschak (Sat, 8 Jul 2000 23:30:15 EDT)

IT'S ALL KATHY CARUSO'S FAULT, BLAME HER!

So there I was in 1994, barely alive. Now I know most people do not like to read or hear the sordid details of somebody else's health problems, so let me just say that had I belonged to a penny-pinching HMO, I'd probably be dead now. Blue Cross/Blue Shield to the rescue, but, by the time I was well enough to write again, I had NMRed all my games and had a lot of subscriptions to Diplomacy zines had run out.

``For Idle Minds and Idle Hands, The Devil Finds a Work To Do". Such as re-reading the beginner's pamphlet MASTERS OF DECEIT and re-reading Kathy Caruso's article titled ``Diplomacy-A Man's Hobby". Go re-read it yourself now before continuing with this article. PLEASE remember that all this was six years ago, and my mind was fogged with drugs, so I am not sure just what my mental processes were at that time. At first I found it hard to believe Kathy's basic premise of how gullible males can be around women players. Being of a scientific nature, somewhere in all this I wondered about an experiment. And so was born Sara Reichert.

Most people knew of my PO BOX address. Few knew that I actually lived at 20805 Margaret, renting a room from a lady with the very real name of Patricia Reichert. So my landlady suddenly had a new daughter, age 16. And things ran away from me. Boy, did they run away.

For example, here is what Kathy had to say about starting out: ``As a female novice you can use the `dumb broad' routine by playing helpless and stupid. You can write and ask some `macho' man if he can help you because you are so confused. You'd be surprised how many knights in shining armor play DIPLOMACY." Such as Eric Ozog in Sara's very first game in the zine CHEESECAKE, where she was France, Eric was Germany, and Sara went on to an 18 center win after stabbing her sweetie Eric for Munich and rolling over him to victory.

Kathy's next paragraph read: ``Once you figure out how to play, never let anyone know. Continue to play the part of the dizzy female and just wait to catch them with their pants down (to coin a phrase). Then strike, and make it a stab they'll never forget. When they write and complain just say, `so-and-so made me do it. He told me that you were going to stab me, and if I made these moves I could save my country. Why would he lie to me?' Then apologize for falling for so-and-so's line. Then stab the sucker again".

And that is not quite how Sara won her second game. Playing England, her ally, France, NMRed a winter season and did not get two builds. Sara stabbed for Holland and Belgium and apologized profusely to the standby who took over. After kissing and making up, the alliance continued a few more game years until Sara was ready for her second stab of France, which took her from 11 to 14 to 17 to 22,

And in the paragraph after that, Kathy said: ``You probably won't be able to get away with this for long, so now you need a new strategy. I like flirting; it never hurts to call a guy `cute' or honey." This happens to be one game where flattery gets you everything."

Sara used that in her third game, which ended as an A/I draw. Playing Austria, she soon had Italy as a solid ally. The climax came when A/I turned west. Austria had 9 SCs, Italy had 8 SCs, France had 5, and England had 12. I figured that in about 1 more game year Italy would have been perfectly set up for the big stab and another Australian 18 center win. I had voted ``yes" on a proposed A/I draw, mostly to impress the GM, Andy Lischett of CHEESECAKE. I was flabbergasted when England also agreed to the A/I draw. With 12 SCs? Stupid blunder on my part.

After that, the word was out that Sara had brains. No more easy wins or draws. But the entire hobby did award her the 1998 ``John Koning Memorial Award For Best Player In The Diplomacy Hobby." The hoax continued mostly out of inertia, not for any valid reason. Simple as that.

Written by Harry Cameron Andruschak, e-mail to sarareichert of aol.com

((Thanks, lots of comments. Most of the publishers where Harry and Sara were playing also have commented on this, some positive, some negative, most at some length. I won't repeat any of that here. But there also is lots of general reading in this section, so check it out even if you're not interested in this issue.))



Richard Weiss (Mon, 03 Jul 2000 15:40:11 PDT

Jim; Congrats on the work and traveling. Don Williams is a long-time friend of the BAGGIES (Bay Area Gamers Group) and one of my opponents in my first ever 7 person FTF Diplomacy Game. Quite a fellow for scoping out fraud.

To Harry and Sara - what a wonderful charade. If someone were to do it, I'm not surprised it was you, Harry. This gets lots of points for my favorite Dip machinations ever. Not only to start over with a new persona but a different sex persona, ala Kathy Caruso! Great.

According to FBI studies, repeatedly, a majority of young women in chat rooms are middle-aged men. Go figure. Did my son cross-dressing for Halloween three years in a row predict his future?

Speaking of my 13 yo son. I just returned from the AAU National Basketball tournament where he and his team played in the appropriate age group. 112 13-and under teams from around the country. Tallest player 6'10" at age 12 and actually moved well. One team averaged 6'6" on the front line. One 6'5", two 6'4", 7 were 6'3" and 12 6'2". These kids were phenomenal athletes. Some are already recruited to private high schools. College coaches are present. His team is not really big, not very fast, not very experienced and not fundamentally skilled. I had hoped they would win 25-50% and they were 2-3. They are great in NorCal but only averge very good, not great. Now comes the CA Olympic games with 5,000 student athletes in San Diego 7/14 and then ARC National Tournament in Las Vegas with about 120 teams for the national age group championships. Then he, an atheist, is playing in the Maccabe games for the Jewish national championships. At the end of that tournament, he will have played approximately 70 official games this year. Incredible to me.

Edi Birsan (organizer extraordinaire), Chuff Afflerback (CNN producer-director) and I have had further conversations about filming a Dip game, such as the WDC this summer, all negotiations on camera/tape, and packaging the show for sale to a network. I can't see why Hasbro wouldn't support it, and we couldn't have a substantial prize. Anyone who has a talent that could contribute to this effort such as tv network/cable; sales, marketing, hubris, etc. please contact one of us. There is an outside possibility that we will have more formal discussions over the weekend of 7/8 while playing some games - however the major focus will be a midnight broom hockey game.

I have not watched Survivor. It has not been on when I run indoors - the only time I watch tv. I might have to break down and watch, however. I understand that various European networks have done this before - definitely Sweden. The SF Lawyer woman was voted off, apparently a popular choice. How about setting up a quick contest - name the three finalists and the winner? I will pay for a one month's subscription per legitimate entrant (Sara can enter as can Harry) subscriber (12 entrants, winner gets a year) for the winner. You can enter. I guess that means I'd have to define the point system. Something simple. Two points for each of the three finalists correctly identified, three points for the winner, ties decided by listing the last player voted off the island and if still tied, split the months. Deadline would have to be to me within 7 days of your pubbing date.

Richard, rcw23 of hotmail.com

((I have been commenting extensively about Survivor on the Usenet group rec.games.diplomacy but I decided not to reprint that whole discussion here. The game is moving much too fast for the contest, I think. By the time you are setting (I'd allow until August 1), they will be down to only seven. Still, I'd go with Richard, Kelly, and Susan - with Kelly as the winner - as I've been arguing for some weeks at this writing. But, by August 1, I may have changed my opinion as Kelly weakened quite a bit in this last episode a few days before I am writing this. Again, r.g.d is more immediate and a better place to discuss this, but I certainly support Richard Weiss' effort.))



Steve Emmert (Mon, 10 Jul 2000 14:03:43 -0400)

Dear Jim-Bob - I will admit to being ambivalent about the discovery of Sara Reichert's alter ego. I am a bit surprised that it lasted this long, as I would have expected someone would have smelled a rat long before now. And the sociological considerations of playing as an ostensibly ingenuous female were very, very interesting to consider.

But I was troubled by the entire scheme, as it implies a degree of out-of-game dishonesty that I am hard-pressed to put down to mere tactics. Within the game, of course, dishonesty is a perfectly legitimate tactic. But creating a false identity is, in my view, beyond within-the-game tactics. I doubt I'll ever believe a thing Harry says from this point on. And as the present generation of Diplo-mercenaries may learn with time, there is a very real value in this hobby (even within the context of a given game) to personal credibility. Harry will never have that again.

I recognize that many players will view this as no big deal. And many others will raise an eyebrow, but eventually put it down as just another tactic of deception that fits perfectly well within the rules of the game. But I don't agree, and I don't think I'm alone. Harry is certainly not the first Dipper to play under a false identity; my sense is that the ones who did so before became hobby pariahs (at least within the postal hobby; I can't speak for what goes on online).

So, am I hopelessly old-fashioned, or what?

Best wishes, Steve, Lse of SykesCarnes.com



Phil Reynolds (Sun, 16 Jul 2000 09:32:47 -0700 (PDT))

Jim - Here's my experience with the whole Harry/Sara thing....

I was aware of Harry Andruschak, mainly from seeing his name in various zines, but also from contacting me about an ishkibibble sample or sub, before I heard of Sara. I started seeing Sara's name popping up in zines, and I had no reason to think the two were related.

At some point, Sara contacted me about playing in a Dip variant in my zine, but the game had already filled up, so I asked if I could use her as a standby for it, and she said yes. (All of this communication was by letter.)

Well, wouldn't you know, one of my players dropped out of the game, and I needed a ready-and-willing standby, and Sara seemed the obvious choice. However, I wanted a confirmation from her that, in fact, she would be willing to accept the role as a replacement player.

So I called Information in California that weekend, giving Sara's street address, to get her phone number. When I called it, a man answered the phone. I asked to speak to Sara, but when the man said Sara wasn't home, I asked if he would tell her to call me regarding playing in a Diplomacy game, and the man agreed to do so.

I think it was the next day that I got a call from Harry. I can't recall if he said he was a friend of Sara's, but I distinctly remember him asking me about one of my house rules (which I publish occasionally and which Harry must have seen), stating in part that deception of the GM (me) will result in a person being permanently banned from my zine. Harry asked if I was serious about this, and I said yes. It was then that he told me he was Sara. (I believe he later added something about not wanting to lie to me because I was on chemotherapy at the time. This would have been around the fall of 1997 and winter of 1998.)

I told him that although I would not reveal his secret to anybody, I did not want him playing under a pseudonym in my zine. He seemed to accept this and thus declined to play as Sara in my zine, although he did express interest as himself in some game openings and being a standby.

Not too long after Harry's revelation, Sara and I started getting into games together. I simply signed up for games as I normally would. When it came time to make opening negotiations in one of the games, I made a closing comment on a postcard to Sara to the effect that, ``If you don't do what I want you to do, I'll let everyone know who you really are."

Now was I serious about this threat? I really don't think so. I was just trying to scare Harry into doing what I wanted him to do, which was be my ally. Sure, this is not the best way to make an ally, but when someone hems and haws about being an ally in a Dip game, you might have to switch quickly to a fallback strategy (which Harry later deemed blackmail).

Instead, Sara dropped out of the game, as well as almost every other future game that had us together as players. Fine by me - I wanted to play in these games, and if Harry was so scared that his ruse would be exposed, so be it. He just didn't want to take any chances with me, it seems.

A few months back, I asked readers of my zine (including Harry) what they thought about people playing under pseudonyms in hobby games. In the following issue, I gave my take on this (as I relate below), but I was extremely careful not to identify Harry or Sara as the people who had prompted my question. Further, when I had e-mail conversations with some other hobby publishers and came to realize that they knew who I was talking about, I still never identified Harry or Sara. (It was like we knew who each other meant without saying exactly who they were!)

A brief while later, I got a short, scathing letter from Harry, accusing me of blackmailing him in our earlier game and stating, ``Publish and be damned!" I reminded Harry that I had never named him or Sara in any discussion and that he was overreacting.

And I once again made my plea to him to give up his hoax. He had perpetrated it successfully for several years, and I thought now was the perfect time to make good on the promise he made in that revelatory phone call, which was that he would fess up at some point. But he simply wasn't ready to do so yet.

So I dropped the whole thing and had no intention of giving any more attention to the whole Harry/Sara thing ... until Jim Burgess splashed the whole affair in his last issue of TAP - and thus this letter, for what it's worth.

Let me end by making one point clear: I do not have a problem with someone playing under a pseudonym, as long as he doesn't cheat by using it to control more than one power in a game, or doesn't imitate a real person with the same name, or doesn't play under the pseudonym in my zine. I think it's a very clever and laudable thing if someone pulls it off effectively and honestly, and Harry certainly seems to have done that, so many kudos to him for a ploy well plotted.

- Phil, preyno of yahoo.com



John Biehl (Fri, 7 Jul 2000 01:28:49 -0700)

Jim, I was not aware of any male-female impersonations (or vice-versa) in PBM Diplomacy in the brief time I was in the hobby (early 70's). John Boardman should know about the early years (you trade with him as I see by his sub list). ((And John also knows Harry very well from the Science Fiction hobby and I suspect John will weigh in on this shortly.)) I attended a DipCon in Chicago in 73(?) where I met some early stalwarts of the hobby (Conrad von Metzke, Len Lakofka, Walt Buchanan, John Boyer and Edi Birsan plus our `founder' Allan Calhamer - these names and faces I remember). I had also heard of the name Buddy Tretick as a player (but only because Rod Walker mentioned him) I met Buddy this last Mar at Vancouver airport and he filled me in on that particular `tete a tete'). I came into PBM by signing up in Rod Walker's Wild 'n' Wooley (my first game was 72D). This is it, all the name-dropping I am capable of and I, a peripheral player. As you can see, a fraction of all the 'names' in the hobby. I like history so there, you have mine.

See ya, John, jeen of telus.net

((No problem, it is VERY relevant and I am pleased to have you playing here. I had a few other comments and exchanges that I decided not to print. Just know that my house rules do not prohibit the use of pseudonyms - regardless of whether I know about them or not - and that I believe that the ``fun'' in outing Harry outweighed any ``protection of his right to have fun'' in this. I had lots of fun watching Sara. I had lots of fun figuring out that Harry and Sara might be the same person. I had lots of fun proving it with Don Williams and visiting Harry in person. I think we all can understand that when Harry had gone to the lengths of trying to place Sara as a hooker in Winnemucca, Nevada he was operating in a suspension of disbelief zone that was highly warped. From my point of view, Harry and Don and me and lots of other people will be laughing about this one for a long time.))



INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION EXCHANGE NEWS

The British representative is the editor of Mission From God, John Harrington. John may be contacted at 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 3UW, UK.

E-Mail: fiendish of operamail.com or johnh of fiendishgames.demon.co.uk

Please include the full name and address of the foreign publisher with your order, if possible, as well as the szine title. Make your check in US dollars out to me personally or in GBP to John if you're doing things from that end. I will conduct business for Canadians as well, if I can, but prefer to deal in US dollars with them if possible, or Canadian dollars cash. To subscribe to American szines, the system works in reverse. There has been some interest in finding a new Australian representative. Should someone Down Under have an interest, or from anywhere else in the world, please contact me.



WORLDMASTERS99 SECTION (with letters)

If you've had your head under a tree, the World's Largest Diplomacy Tournament is currently underway by E-Mail, featuring over 550 players from all around the world. TAP readers who are participating are ENCOURAGED to write in commentaries on games, or teams, or whatever. You can see the commentary on the games by logging in as a guest at this website:

http://webforum.cloud-nine.com/~ worldmasters99/login



DIPDOM NEWS SECTION (with letters)

Obscure and not-so-obscure ramblings on the state of the hobby and its publications, custodians, events, and individuals with no guarantee of relevance from the fertile keyboard of Jim-Bob, the E-Mail Dip world, and the rest of the postal hobby. My comments are in italics and ((double quotation marks)) like this. Bold face is used to set off each individual speaker. I should also make a note that I do edit for syntax and spelling on occasion.

The game Diplomacy is a copyrighted product owned by Hasbro and all reproductions or other use of that material in this szine is intended to be personal use and not infringe on those rights in any way. All reproductions are done at a heavy financial loss to the editor and thus are without the remotest possibility of commercial intent, except to promote THE game, the Game of Diplomacy, which you all should purchase from Hasbro or other duly licensed distributors. shouldn't that be Szine???))



Check out the new Diplomacy World - www.diplomacyworld.org



MUSIC SECTION (WITH COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTS AND SOCIETY)

Comments on the 1999 year in music are still welcome.

The tape thing is still going very slowly. I need some uninterrupted time to do it.... I need to figure out some timings and get together to actually make a master tape. Then I'll either find a commercial service or perhaps buy some new equipment to get the copying done. Once I find the cost of that, I will let people know the cost. I am leaning toward a five dollar fee, so the people I've chosen below for five dollar awards automatically get them for free. There are a few other selected individuals who've been sending me tapes and CD's and things who also will get them for free. For now, I'm going to stop reprinting all the rest of the header stuff each issue. The way I do things, I was sticking it in my face so I noticed it and kept it on my to-do list, but obviously it was way too repetitive.



Leif Bergman (Thu, 13 Jul 2000 09:58:01)

Dear Jim, I hope you have a nice summer over there. Myself, I am enjoying every bit of it since we have bad weather, something I'd prefer to last summer when we had sunshine and intense heat for most of the season.

I saw in the letter column last issue that you have Survivor now, in Sweden it's called Expedition Robinson and we are looking forward to the third season now. The first season was great with a cop winning the title and after he got all tangled up in the B league of famous people, photos in the tabloid press and celebrity parties all the way.

In the Swedish version they start out in four different teams and when some are gone they are transferred to two teams that battle it out. Team South, four young male made an alliance from the start that they should all be in the final four, the thing was plotted by a hard core stalinist revolutionary. The others didn't have a chance, they never knew what hit them and in the end the four of them were the last standing. In the second season there was a HUGE argument between a girl who was vegetarian and extreme animal rights involved. That year they had a goat on the island and after a while someone got the idea of making him in to a barbecue, they were all hungry and agreed that it was a good idea apart from the animal rights girl, and she receives all kind of supports from groups like Animal Liberation Front.

I also saw that you talked about Survivor diplomacy. We have played a variant based on the program a few times called Robinson Diplomacy: All the normal rules apply. Starting with winter 1903 one is voted out, the one with the most centers is immune to the vote (in the Swedish version holding the statue), if more than one have equal number of centers, count back is used. Every uneven ( 03,05,07 and so forth) winter this is repeated untill there is two left, then all vote at the same time. Every even winter a price competion is held conducted by the GM, this time the one with the most growth since the last price competition is the winner, The GM decides beforehand what the reward is.

Some examples:

One free unbreakable support

An extra unit somewhere.

Can change armies into fleets and vice versa

Can not be attacked by a combination of units from different powers.

Get to nuke one area.

This is a fun variant and if you feel like opening a waiting list sign me on :-)

BTW I will send you some money soon to boost my credit. Did you receive the music CD I sent you?

Cheers, Leif, leif of pobox.se

((I need to comment on the CD and will do so next time. Yes, I have it and have played it a number of times on random with other CDs. I need to listen to just it by itself and then comment on it.))



Richard Weiss (Sat, 08 Jul 2000 21:07:13 PDT)

Jim; Summer is going very well out here, great weather, time with the kids, new girlfriend, good little bands. I saw Roy Rogers and Shanna Morrison last night. I hadn't realized they had a CD or two out and were playing a lot together. There was way too little of his playing slide or bottleneck. He can play some sweet, sweet notes. They were very eclectic - Irish only a couple, blue grass, ballads, blues, pop, Mose Allison, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and on. Pleasant. Too slow for me.

I keep being tempted to alter my life by returning to large venues and to plan ahead to be one place one day - to see BBKing, Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi and Tommy Castro at one of their stops on their major summer tour. I think I have too many great memories of each to try to approach a Zen-Be Here Now attitude and enjoy the whole thing.

S'later, Richard, rcw23 of hotmail.com

((Yeah, I still go to little club thingies, but haven't been to a big show in some time - like years. I need to do it again just to see what happens.))



Mike Barno (Sun, 09 Jul 2000 11:52:22 -0400)

Richard's letter in TAP 234 was about the third time this year I've seen discussion of Sea of Despair that lacked knowledge of its origins. Not that it'll ever get to the point that royalties are involved, but here's the history for what it's worth. In the early- to mid-Eighties, Mark Luedi's zine Thirty Miles of Bad Road had a frequent contributor named Gregory Stewart. He didn't play a lot of Dip, but he wrote stories involving his ``Desperate Man" character. One issue he put the Desperate Man on a spaceship with all the zine's subscribers, insufficient supplies, and no spacesuits. The readers were invited to vote on whom to eject in order to stretch supplies for the rest. The top five votegetters each month were sent out the airlock. This went pretty well, but I don't recall if it was completed before the zine folded. A year or two later, Tom Swider decided he wanted an audience-participation game for one of his subzines - it might have been ``Expletive Deleted" in the groupzine Coat of Arms. The setting was moved to a ship at sea, people got multiple votes to toss people overboard or help save people, and the ejection criterion became ``over 20 votes" rather than ``the five people with most votes". The name was ``Sea of Despair", though it later got called ``Chuck 'em Overboard" elsewhere. Like most simple good ideas, it got done to death and has largely faded away.

Until the TV networks, ever lacking in good ideas, copied a European show using a similar concept. Frankly, Jim, I find fawning over a TV show to be more offensive than fawning over a zine poll. I can participate in my own activities (silly and unproductive as some like Dip may be) rather than waste time and electricity staring at people so superficial they'll do anything to be on TV. If someone gave me a television, I'd trade it for a computer upgrade or a pile of German boardgames.

Mike, mpbarno of lightlink.com

((Oh, I know, it ***IS*** Network TV. Still, I do think it is interesting to Dippers and you know me, I take off on FIAWOL tirades all the time..... thanks for the history of Sea of Despair.))



Mark Lew (Mon, 17 Jul 2000 17:06:52 -0700) From: (Mark D Lew)

The name of Jerry Lucas's alter ego was Judy Winsome. That's from my era. ((I was never in doubt about the Winsome/Lucas issue. It was Leslie Obata's name that I was searching for. But thanks anyway. If it was an excuse that made you write, then it worked!)) You've got a lot of old farts on your list, so you've probably already heard this from someone who got the zeen sooner.

I moved more than a month ago, but I never got around to sending out a COA notice. I'm now at: 5241 Manila Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618. It's just a few blocks from where I used to be.

Oh, reading along I see that Brenton has already mentioned Judy Winsome's name. I corresponded with Judy quite a bit. I don't recall exactly when that was. His zeen first appeared when Voice of Doom was still around, whenever that was. It might have been before I moved to California, and I'm sure it was before Pete moved to California. (It wasn't until after Pete arrived that the No Calif crowd started getting together FTF.)

I think the Judy Winsome alias was different from these others you're discussing because Judy's identity was never really a secret. It was pretty much common knowledge that Judy was really a man, but we all addressed our letters to Judy anyway. It was sort of an experiment in gender identity. Jerry was interested in that, and so was I, so we discussed it a bit. He did mention once that he wore a dress to some event - I think it had something to do with a girl's sports team he coached (soccer? softball? I don't remember). He said it was fun, but it didn't sound like a serious transvestite experience. Since then I've done some cross-dressing (eg, Halloween on the Castro). It's great fun, but I don't think of myself as a real transvestite.

The thing about the SF area is that things like cross-dressing aren't too unusual, so it's easy to find your own interest level. If you live somewhere else, maybe you wonder about it and think, ``oh my god, am I a queer?" or whatever, and you never really know what the story is. Here, if you're curious about wearing a dress, you just try it. Maybe you like it or maybe you don't, but before long you figure out exactly what level of interest you. For me, once a year is more than enough, and then only with the right sort of friends to hang out with. (The most fun I had was with my crazy lesbian friend and her straight roommate.) The most fascinating thing is how women interact with you. Especially if they can't tell (in my youth, when I had long hair and a flat stomach, I could ``pass"; I'm not sure if I still could) but even afterward. Also, you'd be amazed how many straight women are turned on by a man dressed as a woman, particularly younger women. Your wife is in the drama crowd, so you probably know what I'm talking about. ((Absolutely, I have known lots of cross-dressers and tried it once myself too - but way back in college before I grew my beard.))

But I digress. Jerry lived in Santa Clara, I think - somewhere in the South Bay. As I recall, he had a daughter who was around late high school or early college age. That means she's probably in her late 20s now. I'm sure he mentioned her name, but I don't remember it now.

As you know, America's history-based movies are loaded with misrepresentations, but with enough truth to pass as plausible for the bulk of the audience. I never watch movies, but the soc.history newsgroups are always full of debunking of Gladiator, 13th Warrior, Braveheart, etc. Even the History Channel delivers an occasional blunder, in addition to the steady supply of mild distortion and coverage of pseudo-history like King Arthur, Atlantis etc.

I can no longer claim that I don't remember the last movie I saw in the theater. It was an ongoing puzzle for me. I know it has been several years. The last movies I know I saw are more than five years old, but I have a vague recollection of seeing something in Berkeley some time around 1997. Anyway, a few weeks ago, one of my married friends who calls me when her husband is out of town (nothing naughty) called out of the blue and said let's go see a movie. I wasn't really in the mood, but she knows me well, so she let me dither for a while and then made her decision and told me where and when to meet her. It wasn't exactly mainstream Hollywood, some quasi-documentary about marijuana, playing at Berkeley's ``artsy" theater. But I was assured that it really is a new release, so I guess it counts as a ``movie". The thing I noticed was that the sound was ridiculously loud, enough that I found it painful occasionally. I asked my date about this, and she said it was completely normal. Wow. If I ever see an action film, I'll be sure to wear earplugs. Seriously.

I saw SFO's Parsifal a few days ago. They were papering the house for the last night, so there were plenty of loose comps floating around among my singer friends. I got confused about the start time, so I showed up about 40 minutes late. They let us in anyway, to the bottom-level standing-room area, for the rest of act one. The funny thing about Parsifal is that you can be 40 minutes late and really not miss anything. It's about 15 minutes of plot set to four hours of music. I don't really love Wagner, especially not late Wagner, so I almost didn't go. But it was free, and I had nothing else to do that afternoon, so I figured it would be silly to pass it up. I didn't love it, but I did stay interested through the whole piece, which frankly is more than I expected. The star (in my opinion, and apparently most everyone else's) was Kurt Moll as Gurnemanz. What a magnificent voice. I think he's about 70 now, but he still sounds great.

I still like 'Merkin football, so I hope it doesn't die or get WWFified. This year I've finally gotten into baseball in earnest. I used to (in theory, but never actively) root for the Mariners, because of the Alaska connection and because my sister is a big fan, but now that I'm actually watching, I've switched to the A's. The odd thing is that I sort of like all three of the other teams in the division, too (presumably because they're familiar), so I root for them when they're not playing the A's. Not very logical, I know, but there it is. I like that the A's have somehow managed to be contenders without joining the high-payroll club. Last year, they had the highest win-per-payroll ratio. This year they're down to about fifth. If the point is to measure effectiveness of money spent (and I think it is) a better statistic would be to count deviation from .500 (rather than from .000) and divide that by the payroll. On those terms, I think Oakland would be on top again. I forget the list, but I think the other teams were all below .500.

Some day I might actually try seeing a game live. They have some ludicrously low-priced specials for non-peak-day games, and there's never any question about being able to get a ticket. But for now I'm happy with just watching on TV. Of course I always root against the SF Giants, too. Primarily because I hate SF's imperialistic attitude, but now also because they're fans are so ornery. I've seen other parks with loud and enthusiastic fans, but Pac Bell is so far the only one I've seen where they routinely boo. Half the time I can't even figure out what they're booing about. What a bunch of miserable punks.

The basic Overboard game has been around for decades at least. It was certainly not invented by Dipsters. I've never seen the TV show. It sounds like a conflation of the two big trends in television - the new, high-stakes game shows, and the ``real world" stuff - neither of which I care for. I hate the new quiz shows. Ben Stein's money was bad enough, with sloppier questions and too much time wasted on dumb jokes. The millionaire shows extend the trend farther: there are even fewer questions per hour, and the questions are even dumber (plus they're multiple choice, like an SAT). Bleah, give me Jeopardy anyday (or more precisely, five days a week). My brother-in-law has been bugging me to go to LA and try out again. I'm not as quick as I used to be, but I'm sure I can still pass the test, and now I'll be a much better screen-test candidate than I was before. When was it? About six years ago, I think.

mdl, markdlew of earthlink.net

((Thanks for some wideranging comments, as usual. Some time I'd like to you to comment on Al Gore as a Presidential Candidate. You still were very influential in getting me to look DEEPLY at him back in the 1980's and as a result I see him today as the VERY best possible type of person who could evolve from our current system. Not the perfect Presidential candidate I could IMAGINE, but the best I could hope for. I realize that you have ignored politics pretty steadily for the last decade, but there it is. As I look at Ralph Nader again, he seems even more pathetic than the last time. Can any single man carry such repressed guilt around and still live?? He seems to hate America (I think you have to be some kind of glass half full sort of person or it's all over) and he has achieved multi-millionaire riches while gradually getting further and further away from his original consumer little guy focus. Amazing. I think we all know by now how I feel about Buchanan and Bush.... I think Buchanan follows paths that get him in trouble because he just loves the rhetoric so much [not to say I'd like him anyway, but....]))



Rick Desper (Fri, 21 Jul 2000 03:01:28 -0700 (PDT))

Have you received my snailmail I sent from Zurich yet? I may have forgotten to write ``Mit Luftpost" and the Swiss may decide to be cheap and put the letter on a boat :( ((Nope, I think you lost.....))

Anyway, I'm in Montreux right now and just saw a nice Q&A session with Pat Metheny and Michael Brecker at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Pat mentioned Brad Mehldau as a promising young musician, so I think I'll take the opportunity to plug him in TAP. He played piano in my high school jazz band in West Hartford, and now plays with Josh Redman. He's very good.

I'll send another snailmail letter about Italy and Switzerland (the first was about Austria and Prague). Oh, and maybe some Dip stuff too. Just got my pre-reg confirmation, so I'll see you in Bal'mer!

Rick, rick_desper of excite.com

((Can we break the DipCon record of 230 participants?? I think it might be close. This clearly will be the largest FTF hobby gathering in North America in more than a decade. Make your last minute plans to join us!!!))

((Here are the details on World DipCon at the World Boardgaming Championships in Baltimore. The official website for the whole event is at www.boardgamers.org and it begins on August 1st, though the first Diplomacy event starts Friday morning at 9 AM. The other Dip sessions are Friday at 6 PM, Saturday at 9 AM, and Sunday at 8 AM. The World DipCon meeting occurs at 5 PM on Saturday and is followed by a Gunboat Dip ``demo''. Each heat is set to last eight hours and is being run by Jim Yerkey as usual. The World DipCon meeting will feature an address by Allan Calhamer and a chance to look at copies of the revived Diplomacy World. It is being held at the Hunt Valley Inn, north of Baltimore off of I-83, exit 20A. I hope to see each and every one of you there. If the list that Edi Birsan has been distributing is accurate, there really is going to be one of the greatest gatherings in DipDom history and the total attendees may challenge the record of 230 DipCon attendees set way back in 1976.))



2000 HOBBY AWARDS BALLOT



Don Miller Award (Meritorious Service)

- Stephen Agar (Diplomatic Archives/Postal Section of the Diplomatic Pouch)

- Edi Birsan (Starting the Diplomatic Corps web page & organization)

- Manus Hand (Running the Diplomatic Pouch as Overall Editor)

- Doug Massey (Designing & Running the JDPR Diplomatic Rating System)

- Conrad von Metzke (BNC & Publisher of Costaguana)

- - - - - - - - - - -


Rod Walker Award (Literature)

- David Cohen (Diplomacy & the Way of the Warrior, A Book of 5 Rings: The Teachings of Miyamoto Shinman Musashi from The Diplomatic Pouch Fall 1999 Movement Issue)

- Eric Grenoux (A Call to Arms from Flat Earth Society Issue #10)

- Brent McKee (Canadian Naval History from Making Love In A Canoe)

- Tom Potocki (Are You Man Enough? The Virtues that Make A True General The Diplomatic Pouch Spring 1999 Movement Issue)

- Paul Windsor (Geography is Destiny: How the Standard Map Dictates Fortunes & Strategies from The Diplomatic Pouch Fall 1999 Retreat Issue)

- - - - - - - - - - -


John Koning Award (Player Performance)

- Jamie Dreier

- Mark Fassio

- Robert Paquin

- Sara Reichert

- Cal White

- - - - - - - - - - -


Fred Hyatt Award (GM Performance)

- Michael Lowrey (Carolina Command & Commentary)

- Brent McKee (Making Love in a Canoe)

- Tim Miller (Email GM)

- Tim Richardson (Email GM)

- Conrad von Metzke (Costaguana)

- - - - - - - - - - -


VOTERS, PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF PROMINENTLY IF YOU RESPOND BY E-MAIL OR SIGN YOUR BALLOT IF YOU RETURN BY POSTAL MAIL

Again, the Committee is soliciting a $1.00 donation per vote to defray costs of the awards themselves. This is a voluntary donation and does not affect your vote in any way. We plan on continuing to send the winners plaques. The Committee currently consists of myself (Chairperson), Fred Davis (Treasurer), Gary Behnen, Jim Burgess, Paul Kenny, and Robert Lesco. The voting deadline is Sept. 2, 2000. Please send votes, contributions, and comments to:

Melinda Holley, 1823 Enslow Blvd., Huntington WV 25701 (Rebel8954 of aol.com). Thank you for your participation.

GAMES SECTION

``So I called up George and he called up Jim, I said let's make a deal.

He said he'd talk to him. Gonna start a church where you can save yourself,

You can make some noise, When you've got no choice...

You told me useful things, what people think of me, I guess I should thank you.

It's true, then I agree... I'm all alone, I've got no choice,

I'm all alone, I've got no choice."

From ``Got No Choice" by the incomparable Mark Cutler, from the CD Mark Cutler and Useful Things.

If you want to submit orders, press, or letters by E-Mail, you can find me through the Internet system at ``burgess of world.std.com''. If anyone has an interest in having an E-Mail address listed so people can negotiate with you by computer, just let me know. FAX orders to (401) 277-9904.

Standby lists:

Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Stan Johnson, Randy Ellis, Bob Acheson, Heath Gardner, Phil Reynolds, Paul Kenny, Dan Gorham, and John Schultz stand by for regular Diplomacy.

Phil Reynolds, Chris Trent, and Jim Sayers stand by for the Colonial Diplomacy game.

Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Phil Reynolds, Jim Sayers, and Kurt Ozog stand by for the Modern Diplomacy game.

Art Schleinkofer and Harold Reynolds stand by for Colonia. Help, more are needed for this game, maps are provided for free by me.... or by Harold Reynolds just ask.

Let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF. Standbies get the szine for free and receive my personal thanks.



GAME OPENING INFORMATION

Eric Ozog will be running Air-Sea Diplomacy some time in the future. You can contact Eric at ElfEric of Juno.com if you are interested in the game. I'll publish the rules closer to a time when Eric wants it to start.

The only Diplomacy oriented opening left that I am GMing in this szine is an opening for a game of Star Trek Diplomacy! These will be the last Diplomacy game openings until more games end. See Stephen Agar's rules on his web page at (new location, and including that little typo on ``start trek''):

http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/variants/rules/start_trek.htm

I decided how I will treat the Star systems and the ``revolving rings'' rule. I will keep the map as a ``code" and the real locations (which I will provide as names from Star Trek) will rotate through the coded spaces. This WILL make it easy to make up maps. The game start is open now, and since I want to STRONGLY encourage press, you can sign up and ``claim'' a race. Chris Trent claims the Ferengi, Stephen Agar claims the Borg, and Jody McCullough claims the Romulans. Buddy Tretick and Roland Sasseville, Jr., also are set to play. Chris Lockheardt has stepped out of the sixth spot, so we now need THREE more players. This game also has the $20 game fee ($5 of that refundable for NMR insurance). Not much action here, but I'll keep the opening for now.

Then, for NON-Diplomacy oriented types. John Harrington is offering to guest GM a game of Office Politics. Any interest in that?? Let me or John know! I have one person signed up, but I've forgotten just this instant who it is.

Also, I am going to design some postal rules for Devil Take the Hindmost, and Chris Lockheardt is pulling out of that opening too, so I need three players. Eoghan Barry is signed up. Postal rules from me will be forthcoming shortly.

Stephen Agar runs a British Diplomacy mailing list and has a new broader web postal gaming web site too at: http://www.postalgames.org.uk

and if you are interested, contact Stephen Agar at stephen of spoff.demon.co.uk who still heads up The Diplomatic Pouch postal section or or join the Brit hobby mailing list at (aw, you guessed it, another new address): http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/about_this_site.htm



FANTASTIC VOYAGE: 1999K, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1903 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

Summer 1903

AUSTRIA (Gorham): has a TYO, a BUD, a VEN, f ION, a SIL, a SER.

ENGLAND (Biehl): has f IRI, f ENG, f NTH, a BEL.

FRANCE (Davis): has a BRE, a MAR, f MID, a GAS.

GERMANY (Shreve): has a PAR, a MUN, f DEN, a PIC, a BUR.

ITALY (Tallman): has a ROM, a PIE, a BOH.

RUSSIA (Tretick): has a MOS, f SWE, a UKR, a GAL.

TURKEY (Ellis): has a CON, f AEG, a ARM, a BUL, f BLA, a SEV.



Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Dan Gorham, PO Box 279, Belmopan, BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA ($5)

Frdan of BTL.NET

ENGLAND: John Biehl, 8809 Delwood Drive, Delta, BRITISH COLUMBIA, V4C 4A1 CANADA,

(604) 589-9124 ($10); jeen of telus.net

FRANCE: Rick Davis, 1130 Hevrin Cr., Soledad, CA. 93960, (831) 678-4470

redavis914 of aol.com

GERMANY: Dwayne Shreve, 739 Union Church Road, Elkton, MD 21921 ($5)

dwayneshreve of yahoo.com

ITALY: Terry Tallman, 3805 SW Lake Flora Road, Port Orchard, WA 98367, (360) 874-0384 ($3)

terryt of sinclair.net

RUSSIA: Buddy Tretick, 9607 Conaty Circle, Spotsylvania, VA 22553, (540) 582-2356 (E-Mail)

bernietretick of earthlink.net

TURKEY: Randy Ellis, 3116 McGee, Apt. 1N, Kansas City, MO 64111, (816) 931-8406 ($10)

bukowski64 of yahoo.com



Game Notes:

1) Note Randy Ellis' and Buddy Tretick's new E-Mail addresses.



Press:

(TARTAKOWSKY VILLAGE, A BURG NEAR THE MOSCOW-UKRAINIAN BORDER [White Russia in circa 1900 ... Calhamer, you drunk then?] WET BIRDSEED AND GUTTER DROPPINGS PRESS): While the Kaiser was washing everything down with a beer or two [more like three cases], the Tzar was still trying to climb out of that spittoon. The Tzar, now a shrunken mess, or so his wife told him, was making his way up through the Kaiser's nasal passages, finding an opening in the Kaiser's throat. When the Kaiser opened his mouth, the normal state of things, the Tzar saw the light at the end of a somewhat nasty smelling tunnel. While almost falling down the slimy throat of the Kaiser, the Tzar climbed further up onto the tongue, from those deep caverns, in spite of the noise of the chimes caused by those darned German tonsils [I had offered to take out his tonsils many times over the past years ... no avail]. Then it came ... that onrush of beer. The Tzar bit into the tongue of the Kaiser in a vain attempt to hold on. However, biting slime is still biting slime. Swoosh! Down the proverbial tubes once more in the life. The Tzar now wonders just which orifice his final escape will be from the Kaiser's body. He took out his emory board and began sharpening his nails, so that an attempt to grip the tissue would improve. The Tzar chuckled as his thoughts went from dismal, to terrorizing, knowing the pain he would cause the Kaiser with those nails. ``He will either think he is passing a kidney stone, or that fish bone he swallowed is trying to get out of his rectum!" screeched the Tzar, as he was flushed further and further through the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestines, and ... oh, no, not the large intestines!



(Sometimes I Feel Like) FLETCHER CHRISTIAN: 1999Cgh013, Colonia VIIb Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1754 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

Spring 1754 - Clarifications

ENGLAND (Power): f ANTARCTIC OCEAN-south pacific ocean.

Summer 1754

AUSTRIA (Prosnitz): has f TAHITI, f SURINAM, f NAPLES, a PERU, a BAVARIA, a BOSNIA,

f SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN, a SILESIA, f GREECE, a MANAUS, f BISMARCK SEA, a SAVOY,

a SWISSE, a VENEZUELA, f PAPAL STATES(WC), f ECUADOR.

CHINA (Acheson): has f YELLOW SEA, a SINKIANG, a TIBET, f KOREA, a PEKING, f MANCHURIA,

a GOBI DESERT, a SZECHUAN, a BHUTAN, a MONGOLIA, f JAPAN.

ENGLAND (Power): R a peru-CHILE; has f MALAY SEA, a TOGO, a ANTWERP, a FEZAN, a CHILE,

f ANDAMAN SEA, f WEST ATLANTIC OCEAN, f ENGLISH CHANNEL, f NORTH SEA,

f ANTARCTIC OCEAN, a CONGO, a BOLIVIA, a GABON, f EAST INDIAN OCEAN, f HAGUE,

f CENTRAL ATLANTIC OCEAN.

FRANCE (Alme): has a FLANDERS, a BURGUNDY, f ALASKA, f BRITTANY, f LIGURIAN SEA,

a VIRGINIA, f GHANA, a TOULON, a SAHARA, a YUKON, a PARIS.

NETHERLANDS (O'Donnell): has f CORAL SEA, a KATANGA, f TASMAN SEA, a UGANDA, f SAMOA.

OTTOMAN (Johnson): R f solomon sea-CPO; has f ARABIA(EC), f HAWAII, a ARMENIA,

a SUEZ, f PERSIAN GULF, f BLACK SEA, f SIBERIA, a AFGHANISTAN, a EGYPT, f RED SEA,

f BULGARIA(EC), f TARAWA, a KAZAKSTAN, a SUDAN, a OMSK, f IONIAN SEA, f CPO.

PORTUGAL (Stimmel): has f CANARIES, a AMAZON, f BAY OF BENGAL, a KASHMIR,

f MID-ATLANTIC OCEAN, f AZORES, a VANCOUVER, a OREGON, a BENGAL, a ARGENTINA,

f IFNI.

RUSSIA (Rauterberg): has f NATAL, f VLADIVOSTOK, a ST.PETERSBURG, a CRIMEA, a POLAND,

f SE ATLANTIC OCEAN, f SEA OF OKHOTSK, f WEST INDIAN OCEAN, f BALTIC SEA, a URAL,

a CAUCASUS, a ROMANIA, a HANOVER, a NEPAL, a ZAMBIA, f DENMARK.

SPAIN (Partridge): has f GULF OF ADEN, f PHILIPPINE SEA, a TUNIS, f GULF OF CALIFORNIA,

a KENYA, f SOLOMON SEA, f CALIFORNIA, a LISBON, f GIBRALTAR, f GULF OF SIAM,

a ETHIOPIA, a TEXAS, a LIBYA, a MOROCCO, a LOUISIANA, a NUBIA,

f WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN, f RABOUL.



Supply Center Chart

AUSTRIA (Prosnitz): BUD,VIE,SUR,TRI,TAH,ven,bav, (has 16)
bel,NAP,vza,col,nwz,pps,fij,sav,ecu
CHINA (Acheson): PEK,WUH,XIA,AMO,tib,tai, (has 11)
NAN,sin,jap,manch,mon
ENGLAND (Power): NIG,MLA,EDI,LON,kam,peru, (has 16)
sia,nwy,ire,jav,gab,sum,bol,con,hag,fez
FRANCE (Alme): PAR,DAK,TOU,QUE,BDX,tau,ohi, (has 11)
gha,mas,ont,ala
NETHERLANDS (O'Donnell): ANT,MEL,lou,vir,uga,sam (has 5)
OTTOMAN (Johnson): IZM,JER,BAG,IST,HAW,persia, (has 17)
egy,afg,bul,gua,yem,wak,gre,iwo,tar,sud,oms
PORTUGAL (Stimmel): GOA,BRA,manit,mah,arg,azo, (has 11)
kha,bah,van,ben,ric
RUSSIA (Rauterberg): MOS,KIE,CAP,STP,VLA,CRI, (has 16)
pol,moz,swe,mal,kor,zam,den,ang,rom,han,nep
SPAIN (Partridge): MAD,MEX,SOM,VAL,MAN,cal, (has 18)
tun,rab,bor,eth,hon,tex,nwg,cam,ken,lis,lag,flo
Neutral: bur,cey,cub,die,ifn,mor,nat, (Total=136)
niz,num,ore,tim,togo,vol



Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Gene Prosnitz, 2600 Netherland Ave., Apt. 1116, Riverdale, NY 10463, (718) 601-8131 ($5)

ProsnitzE of aol.com

CHINA: Bob Acheson, 807-556 Laurier Ave., Ottawa, ONTARIO K1R 7X2, CANADA ($5)

racheson of intranet.ca

ENGLAND: John Power, 5043 Lymbar Dr., Houston, TX 77096 [FORWARDED] ($5)

Temporarily: jrpower of bechtel.com

FRANCE: Hank Alme, 506 Paige Loop, Los Alamos, NM 87544

almehj of swcp.com

NETHERLANDS: Sean O'Donnell, 2219 Grafton Road, Grafton, OH 44044

sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com, seanside of snap.com

OTTOMAN: Stan Johnson, 2401 W. Southern Ave. #56, Tempe, AZ 85282, (602) 454-9356 ($5)

PORTUGAL: Robert Stimmel, Apt. #57, Casa de Sherry Apts., 2462 North Sycamore Blvd.,

Tucson, AZ 85712-2541, (520) 326-8369 ($5)

RUSSIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)

prosit of execpc.com

SPAIN: Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033

rebhuhn of rocketmail.com



Game Notes:

1) We are trying to fix the map. No map this issue, but we should have a fixed one next time.

2) The presence of ``South Pacific Ocean'' on both sides of the map confused me a bit last time, so England ended up with a unit there as well as Austria. The Austrian move was supported, though, so it really is there and the English move from Antarctic bounces. See the correction above.

3) John Power is in the process of moving, no new permanent address yet. He wants his old address to be used, which will be forwarded to him. He also has his work E-Mail address back, but use it sparingly. He will have a private E-Mail address again soon too.



Press:

(NETHERLANDS-SPAIN): Movement is for position against Ottoman no other though I need some fleet north of me to get to them like I said in the e-mail.

(OTTO-SPAIN): Well done! You have outplayed me again!!!

(NETHERLANDS-AUSTRIA): I've tried writing and I can't seem to manage it - comes back as an error.

(NETHERLANDS-GM): So you on a bright sunny day for Netherlands it's full of stormy nights.

(NETHERLANDS-RUSSIA, BRITAIN): So you've taken over everything of my homeland eh. Oh well better luck next time. For I still have Spain to work with. Unless you count China in e-mail Diplomacy.

(SEAN-JIM-BOB): Hey in Ed Prem's e-mail Diplomacy I was doing pretty good as Russia, such a shame that not enough players were all that dedicated so it was scratched.



SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1904 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1905 IS SEPTEMBER 2ND, 2000

Fall 1904

AUSTRIA (Zarr): a gre h (d ann).

ENGLAND (Sayers): f nth-ENG, f MID-bre, f ska-NTH, f POR-spa(sc).

FRANCE (Sasseville): f gol-SPA(SC), f tyh-NAP, a PAR-bre, a MAR S gol-spa(sc).

GERMANY (Johnson): f den-bal (d r:ska,hel,otb), a SIL S a mun-ber, a mun-BER,

f hol-KIE, a bur-MUN, a BEL h.

ITALY (Schultz): f nap-ROM, a VEN S a tri, f wes-TUN, a VIE S a bud,

f tun-ION, a TRI h, a BUD h.

RUSSIA (Trent): f nwy-SWE, a ukr-WAR, a ber h (d r:pru,otb), f BAL S a swe-den,

a swe-DEN, a SEV S TURKISH a rum.

TURKEY (Munson): f AEG S f alb-gre, f alb-GRE, a SER S a rum, f BLA S a rum,

a RUM S a SER, a BUL S a ser.



Supply Center Chart

AUSTRIA (Zarr): none (out)
ENGLAND (Sayers): lon,lvp,edi,bre,por (has 4, bld 1)
FRANCE (Sasseville): par,mar,spa,nap (has 4, even)
GERMANY (Johnson): ber,kie,mun,hol,bel (has 5 or 6, even(r:otb) or rem 1)
ITALY (Schultz): rom,ven,tun,vie,tri,bud (has 7, rem 1)
RUSSIA (Trent): mos,stp,war,sev,nwy,swe,den (has 5 or 6, bld 2(r:otb) or 1)
TURKEY (Munson): ank,smy,con,gre,rum,bul,ser (has 6, bld 1)
Neutral: none (Total=34)



Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Harold Zarr, 215 Glen Drive, Iowa Falls, IA 50126-1957, (515) 648-2821

hdzarr of dmacc.cc.ia.us

ENGLAND: Jim Sayers, 15 Holdsworth Street, Woollahra 2025, AUSTRALIA ($10)

100233.513 of compuserve.com

FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 722-4029 ($5)

roland6 of home.com and ICQ: 40565030

GERMANY: Stan Johnson, 2401 W. Southern Ave. #56, Tempe, AZ 85282, (602) 454-9356

ITALY: John Schultz, PO Box 1322, Valparaiso, IN 46384, (219) 462-0474

RUSSIA: Chris Trent, 3536 Watt Avenue, #B205, Sacramento, CA 95821, (916) 685-7772 ($5)

chrisimaus98 of hotmail.com

TURKEY: Scott Munson, P.O. Box 1042, Gardiner, MT 59030 ($5)

samunson71 of hotmail.com



Game Notes:

1) With this issue we say so long to Harold Zarr. Harold says that he doesn't want to receive the szine to the end of the game, which is his right. Thanks for playing out the position and playing in the szine, Harold!



Press:

(TURKEY to ITALY): I didn't do anything aggressive this turn. Let's try to get in touch...I'LL WRITE YOU!!!! I SWEAR!!!!!

(TSAR OF ALL RUSSIAS - SULTAN ALI-SCOTT): Please note my kind-and wholly unnecessary-gesture in my support of Rumania. Think of it as a military back rub.

(TURKEY to RUSSIA): I stuck around one more turn, just to be on the safe side. But I will do what I said.

(RUSSIA-ENGLAND): What are your plans after the dissolution of the French Empire?

(TURKEY to ENGLAND/FRANCE/ITALY): Looks like things are starting to get kinda interesting in the Med., don't'cha think?



SADDAM HUSSEIN: 1999Arn42, Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy - Black Hole Variant

THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1906 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1906 IS SEPTEMBER 2ND, 2000

Spring 1906

AUSTRIA (Weiss): a vie-GAL, f tri-ADR, a bud-Rum (ann); and nukes LON, NTH, NWY, STP, MOS(2).

ENGLAND (Reichert): f lon-ENG, f edi-Nth (ann), a lvp-YOR; and nukes ALB(2), BUD, SER(2),

TRI, VIE.

FRANCE (Schultz): f bre-MID, a par-GAS, a mar-SPA; and nukes withheld.

GERMANY (Gardner): NMR; a BER h, a MUN h, f KIE h; and nukes withheld.

ITALY (Barno): a rom-APU, a ven-TYO, f nap-TYH; and nukes GM, ALB(2), RUM(2), MOS(2), CON(2).

RUSSIA (S. Kenny): f stp(sc)-GOB, f SEV-arm, a war-SIL, a mos-UKR; and nukes BUL, CON(2),

PRU, BAL.

TURKEY (McCullough): f ANK-arm, a con-Bul (ann), a smy-SYR; and nukes TUS, BLA, RUM(2),

SER(2), EAS.



Addresses of the Participants

Sandy Kenny, 23 East Coulter Avenue, Collingswood, NJ 08108-1208

Jody McCullough, 1071 Brown Avenue, Lafayette, CA 94549-3153

jodymc of home.com

Richard Weiss, 2777 Northtowne Lane, Apt V 1105, Reno, NV 89512

rcw23 of hotmail.com or diplomat of higherquality.com

Sara Reichert, 20805 Margaret, Carson, CA 90745-1224

sarareichert of aol.com

John Schultz, PO Box 1322, Valparaiso, IN 46384, (219) 462-0474

Heath Gardner, 3017 Mayview Road, Raleigh, NC 27607, (919) 834-4832

hgardner of prodigy.net

Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883

mpbarno of lightlink.com



Current Standings

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 TOTAL

SANDY KENNY  4  3  0  5  1 13
JODY MCCULLOUGH  3  1  6  1  3 14
RICHARD WEISS  4  1  0  5  5 15
SARA REICHERT  1  2  2  4  1 10
JOHN SCHULTZ  0  6  2  2  4 14
HEATH GARDNER  5  0  3  0  0  8
MIKE BARNO  0  5  4  3  3 15
Black Holed 15 15 16 11 16 11 84
Neutral  2  1  1  3  1  8

Total 34 34 34 34 34 11 181

Times GM Nuked  1  1  3  5  1  1 12
Ind. Prison Off.  0  0  1  1  1  0  3
Greenland  1  0  0  0  0  0  1
Iceland  1  0  0  0  0  0  1
Kurt Ozog  0  1  0  0  0  0  1
Beale St., SF  0  1  0  0  0  0  1





Game Notes:

1) Heath still tries his ``ostrich'' approach and continues to stay in last place. Lots of other maneuvering (including some more nukes withheld) as we work towards the end.... and even some who launch their nukes (e.g. Mike Barno) don't do so to any great effect. Of course, Mike does nuke me again though, so I continue my efforts to match your totals for Supply Centers with my number of Nukes. I'm four ahead of Heath at the moment, but it looks like Heath may be able to pick up three this turn, possibly more if he actually moves.

2) Reminder: again I am capitalizing the first letter of the province of the last location for units that are annihilated by nukes.



Press:

(``MIKE BARNO"): Since Harry ``came out" with the identity of his Sara persona, I must now admit that there has never been a ``Mike Barno" in real life. I (Marie Beyerlein) was curious in the late Seventies to see whether an incredibly goofy person could win by playing in ways that would confound opponents who thought too conventionally. Since then, it has just been so much fun for 22 years that I never wanted to stop. But since the Reichert pseudonym has been exposed, this seems like a good time to end the Barno hoax.

(SWEET SARA-RICHARD): Your press to me in TAP-234 read like a veiled threat. I hate veiled threats directed at me, and that explains the five nukes directed at you. Of course, that press last issue could have been black press NOT by you. If so, you have my apologies and my assurances that it won't happen again. My plans for 1907 are to once again nuke Heath Gardner to oblivion, unless somebody gives me cause to reconsider my priorities.

(RICHARD - SARA): Notice my pattern of nukes this time, trying to make a very long string, so you can have lots of potential paths to count up the maximum number of holes which can be traversed. I believe female brains, due to less testosterone in utero, are much better at that sort of thing than male brains. About the only thing female brains are better at, I might add.

(HARRY ANDRUSCHAK-JIM BURGESS): At the moment, the Reichert/McDuffie household does not have a cat. This was not always the case. Back before Patricia Reichert married Phil McDuffie (yes, the Black man who chuckled all the time at the hoax going on for over six years, and who did a superb job of answering the phone as Sara's step-Father), we did have a cat, given to us by a friend who no longer had the time for its care. It annoyed my landlady no end that the cat preferred me to her, and often slept with me, even though she was the one feeding the brute. Two reasons crop to mind.

1) Pat was the one who took her to the vet. Cats resent the vet and hold grudges against those who take them there.

2) At the time, I still snored quite loudly. It may be that she liked to sleep on my chest because she thought I was purring in my sleep. But who knows what really goes on in the mind of a cat?

Anyhow, Phil is mildly allergic to cats, so the cat now belongs to Pat's REAL daughter. Yes, Pat has a real daughter and a real son. I should mention that Pat and Phil intend to sell their house in the future, and I will be required to move on. I am not sure what I will do. Home of my own? Townhouse? Condo? Rent or lease? In any case, rest assured that I intend to have at least one cat and spoil them rotten.

Now about Sara's cats. I have a lot of friends who have cats. If YOU have a lot of friends who have cats, you know that those friends like to tell cute stories about their cute cats. So I recycled their cute stories about their cute cats as Sara's cute stories about her cute cats. Only the names were changed to protect the guilty. They made her letters and e-mail more convincing. To make things easier, I based her cat, Whisky, on a cat I lived with back in 1956-1958, when I was living with my Grandparents in Sladegreen, Erith, Kent, England, UK.

(BUD-SARA): I still think you are cute. My last girl friend was named ``G-L-O-R-I-A." Maybe you knew each other. Seems my current new girl friend knows all my ex-girl friends and my ex-wife as well. Sheesh. So much for being anonymous in a metropolitan area.

(AUSTRIA-HEATHEN GARDEN): Ever hear that old phrase, ``Blow up or shut up!" That's what I'm telling you. Either blow me up (no, not the way Sara does)as you promised, or shut up. Go Ahead. Blast my trap shut. If you did, I think you wasted some of your explosions, but man, I like the rocking.

(SWEET SARA-CALCUTTA): Too bad none of your lawyers knew the difference between a copyright and a trademark. Copyrights lapse after a certain number of years, and any copyrights for the phrase ``Black Hole of Calcutta" have long since lapsed. I doubt if you could have trademarked the term ``Black Hole" all by itself, but ``Black Hole of Calcutta" would have made it and still be in force. I suggest you execute all those lawyers who gave you bad advice. Do not worry about world reaction to this slaughter, most will regard it as ``a good start".

(RICHARD-JODY): Next issue of TAP and you will be reporting that you are really a woman after all. And all without benefit of the East German steroid treatment regime.

(JODY to ALL): Most of the recent press from ``Jody" was not from me. Everyone who got me last time got a nuke from me this time. Revenge isn't quite as much fun as winning, but it's close!

(SENSITIVE MAN to BARNOBOY): I realize that my press to you has been too abusive and that your feelings have been hurt. Therefore I am intentionally NMR'ing this turn, to heal my wounded id, to make amends and to show that I am really a nice guy after all. Besides, I wouldn't have been able to get more than 5 points this time.

(RACOUNTER to SADDAM): In the far desert, far over the fourth sand dune, there are three camels staked next to a small tent. The camels are facing East, for the winds are from the West, and the sand grains are snapping into their faces and hair. With such force that the middle camel does not want to lift it's tail to defecate. But, the story about the middle camel is for tomorrow night.

Tonight, Saddie Boy, the story focuses inside the small tent, next to the three camels, far over the fourth sand dune from here. Inside the tent all is calm. The only sounds are an occassional muffle from the third camel, the flap flap flip-flap of the tent, and the song from the six canaries. The sheik is letting his turban down, relaxing for the night, preparing to open the camel skin bags containing the only slightly soured cheeses from the last WebVan delivery, the wine and the bird seed for his canaries.

Ah, but you are already sleeping, Saddie. I will tell you about the canary cages and the songs they sing another night.



COME AND HAVE A GO (If You Think You're Hard Enough): 1998V, Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1906 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1906 IS SEPTEMBER 2ND, 2000

Spring 1906

AUSTRIA (Pollard): a WAR S a ukr-mos, a ukr-MOS, a SER h and contemplates

``when will we see some action?", a bud-GAL, f bul(sc)-con (d r:gre,otb),

a LVN S a ukr-mos, a RUM-sev.

ENGLAND (Tallman): f HEL-nth, f SWE S f nwy, f NWY S f hel-nth.

FRANCE (Morris): a MAR-bur, f ENG S f hol-nth, a SIL S ITALIAN a boh-mun (nso),

f LON S f hol-nth, a BEL S a bur-ruh, f hol-NTH, a BUR-ruh, a PIC S a mar-bur.

GERMANY (Sayers): a RUH-bur, a MUN S a ruh-bur, a kie-BER.

ITALY (Munson): a rom-VEN, f eas-SMY, f AEG S f eas-smy, f EDI S f cly-nwg, f cly-NWG,

a ven-TYO, a BOH S AUSTRIAN a bud-gal.

RUSSIA (Reynolds): a mos-fin (imp; d r:stp,otb), a stp-FIN.

TURKEY (Barno): f smy-aeg (d r:con,otb), a con-BUL, f BLA S a con-bul, a SEV-rum.



Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Kent Pollard, PO Box 5726, Fresno, CA 93755-5726 ($4)

ENGLAND: Terry Tallman, 3805 SW Lake Flora Road, Port Orchard, WA 98367, (360) 874-0384 ($3)

terryt of sinclair.net

FRANCE: Scott Morris, 12110 Shelbyville Rd., Louisville, KY 40243, (502) 893-8260 ($5)

Scottm221 of aol.com

GERMANY: Jim Sayers, 15 Holdsworth Street, Woollahra 2025, AUSTRALIA ($10)

100233.513 of compuserve.com

ITALY: Scott Munson, P.O. Box 1042, Gardiner, MT 59030 ($5)

samunson71 of hotmail.com

RUSSIA: Phil Reynolds, 2896 Oak Street, Sarasota, FL 34237, (813) 953-6952

preyno of yahoo.com

TURKEY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883 ($5)

mpbarno of lightlink.com



Game Notes:

1) The concession to Austria fails. Someone wants it to be recorded that they vote ``screw Austria'', but this cannot be verified by the GM and it gets recorded as an abstention in any case ;-) This time a concession to Germany is proposed. Please vote with your Summer orders.



Press:

(RUSSIA to AUSTRIA): Here, take Mos without a fight! No go away!

(I to F): Not what we planned. Call me.

(ABOARD THE BRANTSCHPOHL, ADMIRAL PAUL VON SHERRHODT GIVES THE ORDER TO OPEN FIRE): ``Let the Fuzzyheaded Turks and Cossacks feel the iron and steel rain down upon them. Let this Great War continue!"

(RUSSIA to ENGLAND): Howdy again, neighbor!

(SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF AUSTRIA): A hustle and bustle began as the keel of the Dreadnought class ship was being laid. The workmen seemed to be in a frenzy and they were very excited.This particular ship was going to be Admiral Sherrhodt's new flagship. Her launching as yet is unknown but that would not stop her production...

(ANKARA): Whatever. Wake me up when the pizza gets here.

(REPORTING FROM WARSAW): It would appear that at first light a horrendous artillery barrage had started. Reports are coming in that a simultaneous offensive has begun stretching from the gates of Moscow all the way down to the Med. Unconfirmed reports are that Italian Fleets have also joined in on the murderous shelling...General Flashman commanding the 15.Lancers has been in the middle of the fray coordinating the attack along with Field Marshal Jon Rhodehamel. His units are supporting a heavily armed set of battalions which are at this moment trying to take the fortified city of Moscow... Further news shall follow as the day wears on...

(ITALY to BOOB): OK, funny guy! So you like printing all the errors in spelling, grammar and context when it comes to GM abuse, eh? ((Of course, I want to make my attackers look as silly as they allow themselves to look - spell check your mail if you want! ;-) - as well as give them ammo for more juicy GM abuse.....)) Especially when it comes to the mighty, drunk, stumbling fingers of the Pope! A HEX on you!!! And what about deadlines?!?! Did you send my issue of TAP out late, just out of spite!?!? ((No, I really didn't, but you weren't the only one to have this problem.... the USPS seems to have trouble with domestic mail. You could move to England, my mail gets there in 2-3 days like clockwork.)) I got it on July 10th! A mere 5 days to get my holy-ASS in gear! ((And a wholly prodigious ass it is....)) Bad MOJO is a'cummin to you, my friend... Better get the little yellow slicker out... ((I am not afeared.))

(SCOTT to THE PERSON/PEOPLE IT CONCERNS): The plan is still in place. It is now just a matter of following it through. ((Hmmmm, you'll forgive me if I attach a measure of doubt to the plan's execution? Then again, I have no idea what it is, so perhaps appearances are mistaken.))

(POPE ``SPEEDICUT" to GERMAN AMBASSADOR): Fuck'em all. I'm your bud. No one can tell you how to run the affairs of the German people. I suggest you go into `turtle mode' until we can straighten everything out.

(ITALY to FRANCE): Now, what we have here, sir, is a FAILURE, to CO-MYUN-EEE-KATE. Keep a cool hand, my boy, and everything will play out fine.

(F to WORLD): Insults....INSULTS!! it's almost like that rat bastard Jim O'Kelley is in the game. ((While O'K is a rat bastard, out-insulting him is child's play. You were following the game in Pete Gaughan's subszine, weren't you???)) And as for insults to the GM, now that you are editor of Dip World does that mean we can award you with the biggest ego in the hobby? :) DOH. You looked good in that Hat I put on you, but Edi looked better. Did you download that? ((Yes, I did, and you're right, Edi looked better. I NEVER look good in hats.....))

(FRANCE): Anyone who wants to insult me to my face can find me at WDC. Look for a buff 6-5 muscle bound stud with pecs the side of Kentucky. I will be the skinny frail looking coward next to him with my running shoes on.

(AMBASSADOR POLLARD to THE VORLD): It has begun again...You must understand...My people are vorlike! It is difficult to negotiate peace vhen all my nation vishes is za complete control of za continent! The Emperor himself has dictated zat za Turkish people must get "Dead"!!! As for za Russians,I must quote za old saying, ``Whomever does not make use of za pen, shall Die by za sword!"...

(RUSSIA to TURKEY): It was a good standoff while it lasted....



SO GOOD IT HURTS: 1998 P, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1906 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

Summer 1906

AUSTRIA (K. Ozog): R a rom-APU; has f ALB, a SER, a BUD, a RUM, a GAL, f AEG,

a APU, a GRE.

ENGLAND (James): has a BRE, f ENG, f MID, f NWY, f TYH, f SKA, a SPA.

FRANCE (Kinney): has f MAR, a GAS.

GERMANY (Goesle): has f HOL, f BAL, a VEN, a BUR, a TUS, f DEN, f NTH, a EDI, a BEL.

ITALY (Rauterberg): has f ROM, a NAP.

RUSSIA (Rusnak): has a MOS, a SMY, a SEV, f BLA, a CON.

TURKEY (Emmert): has f ION.



Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Kurt Ozog, 391 Wilmington Drive, Bartlett, IL 60103, (630) 837-2813

heyday6 of yahoo.com

ENGLAND: Drew James, 8356 Radian Path, Baldwinsville, NY 13027-9357, (315) 652-1956 ($5)

kjames01 of twcny.rr.com

FRANCE: Mark Kinney, 4820 Westmar Terrace #6, Louisville, KY 40222, (502) 412-3079

alberich of iglou.com

GERMANY: Warren Goesle, 3907 Cedar Ridge, #1B, Indianapolis, IN 46235 ($5)

gozcorp of iquest.net

ITALY: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 ($5)

prosit of execpc.com

RUSSIA: Russ Rusnak, 1551 Highridge Avenue, Westchester, IL 60154-3428 ($5)

RRRRRUSNAK of aol.com

TURKEY: Steve Emmert, 1752 Grey Friars Chase, Virginia Beach, VA 23456-5436, (757) 471-1842 ($4)

Lse of SykesCarnes.com or semmert of mindspring.com



Game Notes:

1) Not much happening at the moment.



Press:

(AUSTRIA - ENGLAND): You're ever so right. But that's the predicament I've gotten myself into so everything is just. Thanks for the heads up. If and when that happens, you can bet I'll be calling you!



RACE FOR MILLENNIAL APOCALYPSE: Breaking Away, V2.3

THE DUE DATE FOR TURN 9 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000



Turn 8

69 (replenish with a 4): Mark
68 (no replenishment): None
67 (no replenishment): None
66 (no replenishment): None
65 (replenish with a 3): Will Shakespeare, Mad Hatter
64 (no replenishment): None
63 (replenish with a 3): Mock Turtle
62 (no replenishment): None
61 (no replenishment): None
60 (replenish with a 3): Chasin' Jason, Darrell B, Shane the Chain, War
59 (replenish with a 7): John, Sir Isaac Newton
58 (replenish with a 9): Broke Leg Meg, Luke, Alfred the Great
57 (replenish with a 12): Darrell C, Barkin' Larkin', White Rabbit, Matthew, Pestilence
56 (replenish with a 15): March Hare, John Logie-Baird, Pollution
55 (no replenishment): None
54 (replenish with a 3): Darrell A
53 (no replenishment): None
52 (replenish with a 3): Famine
51 (no replenishment): None
50 (no replenishment): None
49 (no replenishment): None
48 (no replenishment): None
47 (replenish with a 3): Buhrt



Addresses of the Participants - Their Team and Their Cards (x) is played card this turn

TEAM 1 (The Wrecking Crew): Harry Andruschak, PO Box 5309, Torrance, CA 90510-5309, (310) 835-9202

(0 points) sarareichert of aol.com

Team Leader: Thanatos
A: War 15 3 3 (15)
B: Pollution 9 7 15 (13)
C: Pestilence 7 7 12 (14)
D: Famine 3 3 12 (15)

TEAM 2 (The Evangelists): Eric Brosius, 53 Bird Street, Needham MA 02492

(8 points) 72060.1540 of CompuServe.COM

A: Matthew 15 3 3 12 (6)
B: Mark 6 13 4 (15)
C: Luke 6 9 15 (4)
D: John 11 7 12 (6)

TEAM 3 (Brit Pack): John Harrington, 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 3UW UK

(10 points) johnh of fiendishgames.demon.co.uk, fiendish of operamail.com

A: Alfred the Great 3 9 11 3 (13)
B: Sir Isaac Newton 12 6 7 (6)
C: Will Shakespeare 6 11 3 (11)
D: John Logie-Baird 13 3 15 (11)

TEAM 4 (Amateur League Inciting Cycle Exchange): Tom Howell, 1011 West 18th Street #1,

(14 points) Port Angeles, WA 98363-7413; off-the-shelf of olympus.net

A: White Rabbit 14 7 15 12 (6)
B: March Hare 15 15 15 (6)
C: Mad Hatter 13 14 3 (12)
D: Mock Turtle 10 15 3 (11)

TEAM 5 (The Mainiacs): David Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033

(7 points) rebhuhn of rocketmail.com

A: Darrell A 15 6 3 3 (3)
B: Darrell B 3 12 9 (4)
C: Darrell C 12 15 6 (3)
D: Buhrt 3 3 6 (3)

TEAM 6 (The Flat Wheel Society): John Schultz, PO Box 1322, Valparaiso, IN 46384, (219) 462-0474

(0 points)

A: Broke Leg Meg 15 9 10 5 (3)
B: Shane the Chain 15 6 3 (6)
C: Barkin' Larkin' 15 6 12 (3)
D: Chasin' Jason 3 3 3 (3)



Game Notes:

1) Buhrt looks cooked! And the March Hare looks like he'll be cookin' for awhile - three of those cards in a row would take him past 100.



Press:

(BUHRT - BOOB): Well, there's no point in sprinting up to 50, won't be anyone around, so I might as well take it easy. This old codger still thinks he's heading for the pub soon.

(BRIT PACK): Looks like the millennial apocalypse will be a fin de cycle for Buhrt.

(DARRELL - WHITE RABBIT): You don't want to be around when buddy Buhrt starts displaying his wind. Why do you think we're all up here?

(FIELD to BUHRT): If you wanted to stay in this race till the end, you should have been named ``Darrell D''.

(BRIT PACK): What sort of name is Buhrt anyway? Sounds like the noise I make after glugging down a Pepsi.

(BOOB to BRIT PACK): I asked Buhrt to explain himself, but he'd kinda slow. He'll get around to it eventually.

(MARK to LONGER BOOKS): I can't wait around here all day playing single-digit cards! When you only have sixteen chapters you have to make every one count! I'm going to scout up ahead and gather some information.

(LUKE to MARK): You sound like Martha. She was always in a rush, too. Sit down for a while and rest.

(OBSERVATION): Mr. Howell is starting to look pretty hard to beat. We're taking applications from anyone who wants to do something about it.

(MARK to ISAAC): If you put that apple in the fridge, it could make for some mighty fine eating this round. Assuming Meg didn't go with me, that is.

ALICE to FIELD: I can't tell a whole lot of difference from over here... The rain keeps obscuring the view!

(RABBIT - HARE): Thanks for the 'shrooms!

(RABBIT - BOOB): You forget wh(o)ere we are: 'Shrooms do just what we want them to... (apologies to Lewis Carroll)

(BOOB to RABBIT): No need to apologize, what did the Red Queen say to Alice about that??? And even worse, remember what happened to Alice when she kept trying to apologize to the Mouse!

(ALICE - MANIACS): What accounting system you using? I've got you down for last in cards for the last 4 turns.

(MOCK TURTLE - DARRELL): Nope! No one went for it. Think anyone will charge out there this turn?

(WHITE RABBIT - ISAAC): May I have a bite of your apple? I lost ten bucks on his pokey lack of speed last turn. He lost 3 points - serves him right.

(BRIT PACK): The Flat Wheel Society look like they will finally get some points in a game of Breaking Away? Next you'll be telling me the world is round.

(HATTER to TFWS): 45, ... 76 ... Sounds like you guys are spinning in circles. No wonder you're slower - the track is oval not vinyl.

(RABBIT - TURTLE): Keep your feets spinning round...

(THE DESIGNER SPEAKS): So, by my calculation, I've only got to score 23 points more than ALICE in the last sprint stage to have any chance of winning.

(BRIT PACK): Art, Drama, Science, Mathematics - the four horsemen of the Acropolis.

(DARRELL - THE ONE WHO MAKES FUN OF REPTILES): This ain't Deliverance boy, up heah we just shoot folks cleanly.

(ANDRUSCHAK-WORLD): I have canceled the AOL screen name of tapmdfrance of aol.com, so in the future all e-mail should go to sarareichert of aol.com, which I am retaining for several reasons. AOL allows users up to 7 screen names, and I have a need for a new screen name for other interests of mine. The ``Sara" screen name is being retained since that is the name that matches her credit card that I have been using to buy things on-line. For example, I have taken an interest to railroad games published by MAYFAIR GAMES INC,, whose web site is http://www.coolgames.com/, and used the credit card to buy IRON DRAGON. Even better, MAYFAIR has licensed EDEN STUDIOS to produce a computer game version of IRON DRAGON, and I have used her credit card to advance order it. This is a fun game for those of you who like choo-choo games. Visit http://www.irondragon.org/ for more information, updates, and to download a demo version..



FEAR AND WHISKEY: 1998Ers31, Modern Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 2003 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

Autumn and Winter 2002

BRITAIN (Schultz): has f NTH, f NOR, a MUR, f NWG, f STP, f ENG, f MAO.

EGYPT (J. O'Donnell): R f sao otb; bld f ale; has f ALE, f CAI, a SYR, a LIB, f GOL,

a IRN, a URA, f AEG.

GERMANY (Rauterberg): bld f ham; has f HAM, f SWE, f HOL, a SAX, a BEL, a BRI,

f DEN, a LIT, a CZE, a WAR, a PAR, a MUN, f HEL, a LYO, f SKA, a KRA.

ITALY (Ozog): has f TYS, f MAL, a TUN, a CRO, a AUS, f LIG, a MIL,

f LBS, a MON, f MAR, a TUS, f IZM.

SPAIN (S. O'Donnell): rem a por; has f SAO, a BAR, a AUV, f WME, a BOR, a NAV.

UKRAINE (Partridge): bld a kha, f ode, a sev; has a KHA, f ODE, a SEV, a ADA, a KAZ, a MOS,

a POD, a LAT, f EBS, a GOR, a BIE, f GRE, a ARM, a BOS, a SLO.



Supply Center Chart - corrected and complete

BRITAIN (Schultz): EDI,LIV,LON,ire,nor,mur,stp (has 7)
EGYPT (J. O'Donnell): ALE,ASW,CAI,isr,sau,lib,mor, (has 8)
irn
GERMANY (Rauterberg): BER,FRA,HAM,MUN,den,hol,cze (has 16)
swi,par,lyo,gda,kra,war,lit,swe,bel
ITALY (Ozog): NAP,ROM,VEN,cro,ser,mon, (has 12)
mar,izm,aus,mil,ist,tun
RUSSIA (Ellis): none (out)
SPAIN (S. O'Donnell): SVE,MAD,BAR,gib,por,bor (has 6))
UKRAINE (Partridge): KHA,KIE,ODE,SEV,ros,rum,bul, (has 15)
geo,ank,mos,bie,hun,gre,gor,ada
Neutral: none (Total=64)



Addresses of the Participants

BRITAIN: John Schultz, PO Box 1322, Valparaiso, IN 46384, (219) 462-0474

EGYPT: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728, (440) 322-2920 ($4)

FRANCE: Harry Andruschak, PO Box 5309, Torrance, CA 90510-5309, (310) 835-9202 ($5)

Tapmdfrance of aol.com

GERMANY: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)

prosit of execpc.com

ITALY: Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138, (360) 691-4264 ($4)

ElfEric of Juno.com

POLAND: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 722-4029 ($5)

roland6 of home.com and ICQ: 40565030

RUSSIA: Randy Ellis, 3116 McGee, Apt. 1N, Kansas City, MO 64111, (816) 931-8406

surfeit of swbell.net

SPAIN: Sean O'Donnell, 2219 Grafton Road, Grafton, OH 44044 ($5)

sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com, seanside of snap.com

TURKEY: Kent Pollard, 1541 W. San Jose, Fresno, CA 93711, (209) 225-0957 ($10)

UKRAINE: Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033 ($8)

rebhuhn of rocketmail.com



Game Notes:

1) Check out the Modern Dip web page at: http://www.modernhof.webprovider.com/

2) I missed that Ukraine had moved to Ada, which formerly belonged to Egypt. Thus, Ukraine builds one more and Egypt has one less than what was reported last time. Given that, and the Egyptian retreat that could have affected the SC chart, I reprint the augmented and corrected one here.



Press:

(THE MEKONS QUOTE OF THE MONTH): ``Give me dark and give me greed; give me power that I can hold; buzzin' wires it's icy cold; you taught us well, now feel the dread; in your nerves and in your beds; coming down all round your heads.'' an excerpt from the title track of The Curse of the Mekons.

(JEFF to JIM): I got the call on ADA, I did notice (really). ((I believe you!)) I disagree with your rule interpretation; I don't think that a unit in retreat ought to be able to take a supply center... your game, your rules... your interpretation. ((It's not just MY interpretation, it IS the standard interpretation. Ask anyone else in the game who has been a GM. Comments, Dave, Paul, Eric??? Oh and John has been a GM too!))

(SPAIN-GERMANY): Off to the east we go, hey it'll be easier for you to not support Italy he is my target all forces gunward hooo!

(SPAIN-BRITAIN): I think now would be a good time to move your fleet in Mao and Eng to actually do something other then hold the Atlantic this game. Looks to be going a U/G/I alliance, nice one. We just got cut into three Jeff and I are split, our forces are not longer that much capable of supporting each other, while Ukraine and Italy attack Jeff he won't last long. Germany vs you and I with Italy splitting his forces, hey perfect for German stab in the middle. Or Ukrainian stab in the east, perfect. I think the endgame will be between Germany and Ukraine while we get slaughtered, the only option you have without Germany taking you out quickly is to move Mao into a defensive position, otherwise it'll only be a matter of time before German armies invade your homeland. I need my fleets to move east to hold back the Italian this will be an interesting war indeed.

(EGYPT - UKRAINE): Stupid is as stupid does; I hate to admit this but I thought your unit in ANK was a fleet. Think about it. He's been sitting there, a small u for about a year in real time and somehow in my attention deficit ridden brain I read the map with you having a fleet in ANK and more importantly no way to move into any of my supply centers. I ws pretty confident that if you and Italy attacked that I could put up enough of a fight maybe to survive. I was actually looking forward to a little combat. The battle now is going to be more like a cross between a skirmish and a mop up operation. Too bad! To add insult to injury I suspected that stab. That's why I duped you into moving to Greece. I figured Italy would move IZM-EME, but then I didn't think to move to IZM unsupported. I didn't see it even though I saw his move coming. I guessed wrong on Tunis. I didn't think you'd believe Sean when he told you that I was going to Libya. So much for reverse psychology. Suddenly I feel very old....

(UKRAINE - BRITAIN): What to do? Answer your mail ( < :. I hope some of the letters have gotten through, and that you'll return to Milk and Cookies in Tinamou. I certainly understand that there are other priorities right now!

(SPAIN-BRITAIN): I agree, decisions decisions and more decisions. We shall fight on.

(EGYPT - TURKEY): Kent, my old friend. It was great to hear from you. Quite frankly I've been worried about you. I was afraid you may have taken our ``little'' stab personal. I'm glad to see you're doing well and that you've gotten over it.

(SPAIN-ITALY): I bet the German loves the fact you're going to be leaving your back door open. And don't count Jeff and I out just yet, including the fact I've proved more then once to be most troublesome in this situation.

(SPAIN-FRANCE): Hey, do You, Kent and Roland want company in the eliminated box because there some of us will be there soon.

(SPAIN-GM): The first one sets the rules, the second one bends the rules, and in the third one all bets are off.

(BOOB to SEAN): RIIIIGHT! Gotcha.

(SPAIN-UKRAINE): Are you going to attack Jeff and Paul or Jeff and John at the sametime??

(EGYPT to WORLD): Italians and Ukrainians and Krauts, ``Oh my!''

(UKRAINE - BOOB): Ooeey GUI, rich and chewy, .... name that product.

(SPAIN-EGYPT): Nice one, did you open up thinking you were with a girlfriend instead of a room full of backstabbers or was it nice to think you had a life?? Well, don't feel bad I don't got a life either??

(UKRAINE - EGYPT): Like most people, when we hear someone yell Help!, we run towards the sound. I'll be there shortly and you can tell me what the problem is.

(EGYPTIAN MILITARY ACADEMY TRAINING DRILL): Write on the blackboard 100 times, a big U is a Ukrainian fleet, a small u is a Ukrainian army, a big U....

(SPAIN-THE DEPARTED): Ashes to ashes dust to dust when you see me coming let it rust.

(SPAIN-THE POPE): Last respects, please.

(SPAIN-GERMANY, UKRAINE, ITALY): You may take our home you may take our hope, you may take our life, but you will never take our freedom!

(SPAIN-ITALY): Sorry, our women and children under 16 have been sent overseas to a remote continent called the United States that is the only nuclear power that can kick your beep!

(SPAIN-GERMANY): Nice one, predictable, but a nice one all the same.

(EGYPT to STARFLEET): Mayday, Mayday.... Romulan attack army group disguised as a Vulcan transport fleet has invaded and overwhelmed our forces at our forward ``intelligence'' listening post. Ferengi forces have cut us off from our Klingon allies.... situation desperate... request immediate assistance....

(SPAIN-EGYPT): Way to go, stosh. Not only did you get caught with your pants down you got caught with them off. On the up side I couldn't have been caught with them down, I've been fighting wars since this game started. It's about time this is starting to end, concerning I have already lost 49% of Spain's male population.

(SPAIN-ITALY): Nice move, didn't see it coming. Suspected it, but didn't see it, but then again it's rare to see a diplomat with two rear ends. (You all have seen Aladdin, the Walt Disney movie with the Genie, with Robin Williams as the voice).

(SPAIN-FRANCE): Well, I guess I'll be seeing you soon.

(SPAIN-BRITAIN): Hey John, Jonas are you aware that Italy, Germany and Ukraine are going to try for a three way probably.

(SPAIN-SPAIN): SHUT UP!

(BOOB to SPAIN): Yes, it was a nice run, but I hope you have some more help next time!



SHOW ME THE MONEY: 1997Mea04, Colonial Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1910 IS AUGUST 12TH, 2000

Autumn and Winter 1909

BRITAIN (York): R f ara(nc)-OMAN a pun-NEP; has a DEL, a MAD, f ADEN,

f ERI, f HK, f BAN(EC), f OMAN, a NEP.

FRANCE (Sasseville): PLAYS ONE SHORT; has a TON, a HYD, f CAN, a MAY,

a RAN, a BOM, a U.BUR.

HOLLAND (Desper): has a ANN, f SUL.S, f WIO, f COC, f BOB, f FOR, f RS, f MP,

a CAM, f GOS, f SCS.

JAPAN (K. Ozog): bld f kyo, a kyu; has f KYO, a KYU, f VLA, a SHA, a IRK, f ECS, f NAN,

a PEK, f UP, f YS, f SOJ, a MAC.

RUSSIA (Williams): has a TAS, f MED, a KRA, a PUN, a KAR, a MON, a KAM,

a NAG, a SIK, a PER, f EGY, a ARA, a YUN, a TAB, a LAN, a TIB, a CHU.

TURKEY (Tallman): has a BAG, f SUD.



Supply Center Chart - Corrected

BRITAIN (York): DEL,HK,SIN,mal,cey,aden,ban,mad (has 8)
FRANCE (Sasseville): TON,may,u.bur,ass,bom, (has 7, PLAYS ONE SHORT)
ben,can,ran
HOLLAND (Desper): BOR,SUM,JAVA,SAR,new,dav, (has 11)
mna,cebu,for,ann,coc
JAPAN (K. Ozog): TOK,KYU,OTA,KYO,vla,fus,sak, (has 12)
p.art,seo,sha,mac,pek
RUSSIA (Williams): MOS,OMSK,ODE,rum,mon,ang,tab, (has 17)
con,chu,shi,egy,per,tas,kag,sik,kar,kam
TURKEY (Tallman): sud,bag (has 2)
Neutral: none (Total=58)



Addresses of the Participants

BRITAIN: Andy York, PO Box 201117, Austin, TX 78720-1117

wandrew of compuserve.com

CHINA: Rich Goranson, 4351 Chestnut Ridge Road, #7 Amherst, NY, 14228-3227 ($5)

ForlornH of aol.com

FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 722-4029 ($5)

roland6 of home.com and ICQ: 40565030

HOLLAND: Rick Desper, Bergheimer Strasse 114, 69115 Heidelberg, GERMANY (E-Mail)

rick_desper of yahoo.com or desper of math.rutgers.edu

JAPAN: Kurt Ozog, 391 Wilmington Drive, Bartlett, IL 60103, 630-837-2813

heyday6 of yahoo.com

RUSSIA: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947 ($4)

wllmsfmly of earthlink.net

TURKEY: Terry Tallman, 3805 SW Lake Flora Road, Port Orchard, WA 98367, (360) 874-0384 ($0)

terryt of sinclair.net

GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, (401) 351-0287



Game Notes:

1) Ummmm.... yeah. I made a small error in the supply center chart, so that Japan has one more build and Russia has no builds. The correction is documented above.



Press:

DIS - THE ELIAN ADDITION

Elian Elian who?
Alien DIS saw one once. No probing, though.
Sara Reichert Sara! Sara! She's a hoax! Fooled a lot of male-type folks!
Harry A Yer a ghod, man ...
Colonial Dip More ain't better. ((Ain't it da truth!))
Japan Old DIS: Inscrutable. New DIS: Unstable.
Socrates Who's he?
WDC We likes it!
R/T Finally busts a move ... yawn ...
CAP PUNISHMENT Three letters - DNA

(RUSSIA to BRITAIN): Well, okay, so your days aren't really numbered any more than anyone else's ... heh, heh, heh, we were just kidding. Oh, sure, I mean we'll keep prosecutin' this little war and all, but it ain't nothin' we should be callin' out like a Babe Ruth homerun ...

(RUSSIA to TURKEY): Did we make it two in a row? Lawdy, Lawdy, I do declayuh! Ain't it a cawshun'!

(SAUGUS to PROVIDENCE): Well, then I concede that I was a complete moron to let you talk me into playing this misbegotten piece of flat-edged crap.

(OZOGSAN - TSAR): Aw gee, and help you win the game so easily and end all this fun stuff? Noooo. You have to endure this like the slow agonizing pain of the Chinese water torture that Jim-Boob mentioned earlier.

(TSAR to KURTUGAWA OZOGSAN): Would it make any difference to you if I told you I'm really a woman masquerading as a man and have been doing so for 18 years and my names is really Dawn? Would you go fall on your sword over me or something?

(BOOB to DAWN): All hail the Rising Sun.....

(TSAR to GM (QUIET ASIDE)): I'm hoping it's genetic ...

(BOOB to TSAR): You mean your ability to stick your foot in your mouth??? Yes, I'm positive it's genetic!!!

(TSAR to FRENCH): Got any LONG-term plans, Roland? It's tough watching you go bit by bit like a leper. Just give me some kind of sign there, guy.

(F-J): The courier has been found and the messages have been sent on their way. Come to find out he was shacked up with a Filipino woman ALL THESE MONTHS.

(RUSSIA to SHOW ME THE MONEY): You know, if you guys vote the concession to me now, all this abusive verbosity could be a thing of the past ...



Personal Note to You:


File translated from TEX by TTH, version 2.70.
On 29 Jul 2000, 19:12.