THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #284

September 25, 2004

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

Accessible through Internet at burgess of world.std.com (all E-Mail addresses are reported in this format, replace the " of " with "@"; if you bounce try sending to me from another account or FAX to (401) 277-9904. For Faxing, most of the time you have to call me to tell me it's coming so I can set up the FAX.
Web Page Address: http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html


We're going to do a dedication of this issue to Phil Reynolds. As most of you know, Phil's gone through a tough time with illnesses over the last few years. Here's to hoping I feel less alone and he gets enough strength to go back to more of life, and more of publishing. Hang in there and get better, Phil!!!


I'm late again this time mostly because of Diplomacy World as I put a big push around the time of the original deadline here to get DW out the door. Issue #91, Fall 2004, is at www.diplomacyworld.org in an Adobe PDF download format. Go look at it NOW!!!! It is clearly the best issue of the recent era, under Tim Haffey's hand. In particular, the interview I did with World DipCon Champion Yann Clouet is a real page turner!!! But I am going to hold off on all the end-game things for ONE more issue, since I don't want to hold this up any longer.
It's time for another Jim-Bob plea.... you all know that John Caruso continues to run his baseball league for all of us who REALLY hate Rotisserie style Baseball Leagues because they don't actually PLAY any games, but really like the competition and comradery of that type of league. Also, for all of you who are United fans, this league has some similar characteristics. Finally, the actual PLAYERS are the real players in baseball, and they stay in our league until they are out of baseball, then they retire. This also makes it fun that as you plan your team, you have to plan how long players in baseball will remain active. We are short SIX players and John says no one cares about him or his style of league any more. While this is just John being John, prove him wrong, join up. I think we will need to get ALL six willing to join since John is going to put one ünowned" team in each division and he wants it to be fair. We're entirely an E-Mail league now, so there are not the high game fees that scared people off in the past. I know some former league members are out there, and I'm also sure that new league members are out there. Just ask me, and I'll E-Mail you the kind of information you get during the season to track your teams. Please, we must have SIX people out there who are interested!! I can threaten to shut down TAP if people don't volunteer. That usually wakes people up. I've had at least ONE response to this....


The postal sub price is still $1.50 per issue in the US and Canada, with double that for other foreign subbers(or $3.00 per issue sent airmail). 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. Or you can play in subszines for free and just jack up the issue page count. See the revised game start announcements below!
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/
I also have taken over the Postal portion of the Pouch: http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/
and TAP on the web is there at: http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html
where 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 Agar's more extensive efforts at: http://www.diplomacy-archive.com and http://www.diplomacy.co.uk
David Wang still has the HIGHLY prized name: www.szine.com!! BUT, the site has not been updated in recent times. If you want to follow me and others in John Caruso's Baseball League, THE place to follow the league now is DICKIE-P Martin's website: http://www.phantomempire.com where in the "files" section, "baseball" sub-section, you can see all of the individual and team level stats. Use the Telnet button in the upper left corner, that's the easiest way to do it these days. You need to sign up as a "member" to see all of the files. You, too, can chat with John Caruso there, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings, once he gets back from the vacation that he's on right now. Really, you can. And Dick himself is lonely and he hangs out there even more than John does, make Dick Martin's day, go to phantomempire! John's E-Mail address also is commishjohn of att.net if you want to send him E-Mail after all that. John still has openings, you can start RIGHT NOW to pick up one of the unclaimed teams and play it this year! My team is still heading toward the playoffs, continuing to lead my division over the likes of Dicko's Baltimore Oriole team. Contact John at commishjohn of att.net if you're interested in joining us or ask me for more details, this REALLY IS THE most fun thing I do in the hobby at the moment, find out why!!! See the new announcement for next year's teams up top.
Peter Sullivan's subszine remains "in stasis", although all the back issues can be accessed via :
http://www.burdonvale.co.uk/octopus/index.html.
Peter was saying that he would be unlikely to be starting any new games in the Octopus until "at least the start of 2002." He is now hereby declared to be in official indeterminate stasis and that date is now a "whenever". In the meantime, Rip Gooch and Dave Partridge are picking up the choo-choo game slack in TAP. Contact Rip at xyropedes of canada.com or Dave at rebhuhn of rocketmail.com for more info.
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 SYLVAIN LAROSE
Sylvain played a LOT of FTF all up and down the East Coast back in the late 1990's and then disappeared, I think he lived in Montreal at that time. John Quarto in particular keeps bugging me about finding Sylvain, so I thought I'd toss him in here. He shouldn't be THAT hard to find, but I've looked and failed. Now it's up to you. You have until issue 285 to do it for the fifty buck prize.
Feel free to spend the time looking for some of the backlog. Let's get Steve, Ed, Tom, Bill, Gregory, and ESPECIALLY Kevin found too!!! 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 Steve Heinowski, Ed Henry or Tom Hurst or Bill Quinn or Gregory Stewart or Kevin Tighe 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, GO TO A DIPLOMACY CONVENTION 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.


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, John.Harrington of tfeurope.com
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.
We have added a European continental representative, most of this traffic likely will occur between Ronald Camstra (in the Netherlands) and John Harrington, but if anyone here in the US wants to get money into Euros, we'll try to help you out. Ronald Camstra can be contacted at siedler of zonnet.nl and his home address is: Wielingenplein 48, 3522 PE Utrecht, the Netherlands. But in Holland it is most common not to send checks but to transfer money by bank. Dutch people can pay directly to Postbankaccount 4652247 of Ronald Camstra in Utrecht. Since he can see the name and address of the sender in his bankreceipt, people only have to mention the name of the zine and the editorial address along with their bank order. Ronald is obviously a huge Settlers of Catan fan. If you're interested in playing that game internationally by mail, I think Ronald can help you out.
We also have reopened a branch office of the International Subscription Exchange in Australia!! Brendan Whyte, the publisher of the excellent szine Damn the Consequences will be doing the honors, taking over in some sense from John Cain, who was the Australian rep for many years. You can contact Brendan to sub to Australian szines from the US or to sub to US szines from Australia, converting Australian dollars into American ones. We are now maneuvering deals to Europe from the other reps as well. You can find Brendan Whyte at bwhyte of unimelb.edu.au (note that this is a new E-Mail address for Brendan) or by mail to send checks at: Map Collection, ERC Library, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, AUSTRALIA. That's a relatively new address adjustment.


WORLDMASTERS02 SECTION
WorldMasters 2002 Email Diplomacy Tournament Semi-Finals are on-going. Adam Silverman is looking for a chance to win Game 1, Ray Setzer is playing an interesting risky game as Germany in Game 3, Steve Emmert is getting crunched in Game 5, and Toby Harris is continuing his passionate shrinking defense in Game 7, among prominent Americans and subbers to this szine. This Final Board game always is VERY exciting to watch. I'll let you all know where you can find it when the group is set. The big stuff going on right now is a lot of crossgame dirty dealing that seems to be aimed mostly at getting certain people into eighth place. Eighth place really means nothing, but it is the FIRST alternate for the finals, and I'm sure people have been pointing out that the first alternate HAS made it into the finals before and done well (Lee Simpson). There also is lots of handwringing about crossgaming in the semis which wasn't "supposed to be able to happen". Just shows you, if there is a Diplomacy tournament and a rule, SOMEONE will find a way to twist it into the game.
See http://www.cat23.com/wm02/ for full details. Since I didn't get sufficient interest to get a team in, I am back on the WorldMasters Tournament Management Committee again, not much is going on there, only a rollback issue or two.


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.
Stephen Agar has matched the Hasbro rule lists and more with some of the even older rulebooks. Check these out if you like:
http://www.hasbro.com/default.asp?xcc_gameandtoyinstructions
http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy.PDF
http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy(OlderVers).PDF
Nice of them to make BOTH of these available. And all seven different US rulebooks for Diplomacy can now be found here courtesy of Stephen Agar (relatively new address for this):
http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/diplomacy_rules.htm


Check out current and back issues of Diplomacy World - www.diplomacyworld.org
We are back on solid track, Tim Haffey has agreed to be the Production Editor that I needed. We always need more articles, Issue #91 is out NOW and #92 will be out in December. If you think you should have been on that list and weren't, let me or Dave Partridge know. Help us out, write an article for a future issue!


Upcoming Diplomacy World Issue Deadlines:
Deadline Winter 2004, Issue #92: December 1, 2004
Editorial Board for Diplomacy World:
Tim Haffey, 810 53rd Ave., Oakland, CA 94601 USA; trhaffey of aol.com - Lead-Editor, Demo Game GM, and Publisher
Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, USA; burgess of world.std.com - Co-Editor
Stephen Agar, 4 Cedars Gardens, Brighton, UNITED KINGDOM BN1 6YD; stephen of stephenagar.com - Webmaster and Non-US Postal
Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852, USA; rick_desper of yahoo.com - Demo Games
Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033, USA; rebhuhn of rocketmail.com - US Postal


Adam Silverman (Wednesday, September 01, 2004 2:31 PM)
Hi everyone,
Announcing: The 1st annual B.A.D.Ass. Whipping Diplomacy Tournament November 13-14. Two rounds on Saturday, one on Sunday.
To be held at Scenario Games & Hobby Shoppe 37120 Fremont Blvd. Fremont, CA 94536. (510) 792-9333 (Fremont is on the east side of the south bay, less than 45 minutes from SF or Santa Cruz.)
This is our first try at a big stand-alone Diplomacy tournament in Northern California. The hobby has been gradually building here over the past few years, and we're now ready to show the rest of the world what we've got! We'd love to have any and all of you who would like to support our burgeoning hobby and play some fun and competitive Diplomacy. Come get whipped, or show us a whipping at our Bay Area Whipping Dip Tourney.
Out of towners info: You can fly into any of 3 airports: San Jose, San Francisco, or Oakland. Flights are cheap from the northwest, as many airlines are now offering specials (I've seen as low as $59 each way from Portland or Seattle). We'll help take care of other arrangements. Jake Mannix is offering free crash space to out of towners at his "mansion" in San Francisco. No registration fee for out of towners.
For more info, contact Adam Silverman (agman of stanford.edu) or Edi Birsan (edi of mgames.com)
((Yes, this is another growth event, there is a Dip tournament somewhere in the US pretty much every month now. If you haven't attended one yet, why NOT??? I expect at a minimum to hear that Pete Gaughan, Jody McCullough, Tim Haffey, and Smiley Woo have attended from TAP's postal list.... put it on your calendar.))


Tim Snyder (tsnyder of opii point mccombs point utexas point edu) is starting up Zine Register again. He thinks this next issue will be #30, I think that might be right. Write to Tim at 12001 Dessau Road, #825, Austin, TX 78754 by November 30, so he can finish by the end of the year. I always salute someone picking up a languishing project. It will be good to see how many szines he counts out there, I'm not sure how many really are left, I am trading with less than half a dozen in the US that are regularly producing issues, plus Northern Flame in Canada.


MUSIC AND MOVIES SECTION (WITH COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTS AND SOCIETY)
Tell me anything you like about the recent past in music. List a top two, a top ten, or a top 100, I don't care, just tell me something!!


Alexander (Smiley) Woo (Wed, 08 Sep 2004 13:22:11 -0700)
A's - Sox comment:
I've just started following baseball again in the last couple of years, and I'm somewhat surprised it's considered perfectly acceptable for players to claim catches they didn't take. A fielder CAN feel through the glove whether the ball is coming up or down at him.
The press considers it perfectly acceptable; I've seen several instances over the last two days about how the umpire made a mistake, and even learned that he was a minor-league umpire stepping in for an umpire stranded by Hurricane Frances, but I haven't seen a word about the lack of sportsmanship in claiming the catch. The A's seem to consider it perfectly acceptable too; Ramirez (the fielder involved) was intentionally walked in the 9th rather than beaned, and I don't think they were short on bullpen arms.
-Smiley, awoo of Math.Berkeley.EDU
((Among Diplomacy players, that is an interesting discussion to have, isn't it. As the nephew of an umpire, with that perspective, I think the umpire does have the responsibility to get the call right, he doesn't need or want help from the players in making the call, even if they were going to "call the foul" on themselves. The only sport that comes to mind where this happens (and notably it also is the only sport I can think of without some kind of conspicuous referee) is golf. There you are expected to call double hits on yourself, for example, and you regularly see golfers doing just that, even when no one but themselves would know. I think in other sports there are certain standards of sportsmanship that evolve, just as we have in Diplomacy, and after that you do whatever you can to try to win. In some cases, like basketball fouls, I think it would affect the playability and style of the game if you called fouls on yourself. I think it is good for the game that the players are aggressive, and play aggressively, and then the referees are the ones who work to reign it in. Again, with golf as the example, golf is not that kind of aggressive game. But, with issues like "claiming the catch" in baseball, it's a tough gray area. Another one that is related is the "phantom second base tag". Here, the baseball player tries to make the "true play" and may run close to the edge if he is worried about getting hurt (on the outfield catch by diving on the ground, or in the infield by the runner taking the fielder out) to do the play and get the out, with the least danger to themselves. I do think that the umpire making the call is completely appropriate here. Being a professional referee is not simply a matter of making the mathematical/physics best call, it is a matter of being the arbiter of the game. Sometimes umpires and other referees go too far with this. And certainly any umpire is going to want to get the outfield catch call RIGHT more than they are with the "phantom second base tag" where their goal is to see whether the second baseman has gone over the "imaginary line" around the base and timing. But I don't think you need or want the players calling things on themselves in baseball. Blame the umpire for not getting the call right if you want, but don't bring instant replay into baseball. Recognize that the debate and the play is part of the game. Really.))
((As the major league baseball season nears its end, just for fun, let's look at the picks that Goz and I made and see who came closer to getting things right.... I think we're both in a bit of trouble with our WS predictions other than him liking the Yankees and me liking the Red Sox, as I picked the Red Sox to beat the Giants and he picked the Yankees to beat the Astros. But let's just look at the divisions....))
((NL East: Goz nailed the Braves winning the 13th title in a row. That gives him props period as I predicted the Braves would finish last. Early on, I looked like I might have something, but GOZ overwhelmingly wins this one. The only part I had right was that I predicted that there would be no way that the NL East would produce the wild card, and they won't now that Florida is mired in a losing streak.))
((NL Central: Goz said that Cubs, Cards, and Astros were the class, but that the Cardinals were the worst of those three, where they're clearly the best. But I also had the Cards finishing third and thought that the Brewers would make a run and it looks like they're finishing last. So Goz takes this division too.))
((NL West: Finally one that Jim-Bob has a decent prediction.... I had the Padres making a run, but so did Goz. We both picked the Giants to win it and the Dodgers for third, so this one's a push.))
((AL East: Sigh, it doesn't look like the Red Sox will make it and the Yankees will win the division again, Goz takes this one too, also he predicted that Baltimore would be the next best team in the division.))
((AL Central: Tough one here, neither of us had Minnesota winning again. Goz thought Chicago and then Cleveland (who are going to finish second and third) while I had more faith in Tony Pena than he deserved, and the Royals are dead last, so give this one to Goz too.))
((AL West: Finally, I win one going away... Goz thought that Seattle would win the WILD CARD, while I correctly predicted that they would fall way down to the VERY bottom of the division. I also predicted that Texas would be right there with the A's and Angels to the end. I predicted the final order of finish would be Angels, A's, Rangers. It might finish that way, though Oakland is ahead as I write.))
((Playoffs: So now the real question is whether the Red Sox will beat the Yankees in the playoffs. If they do, I get to laugh a bit at Goz. If the Yankees win and get to the World Series, well then, he gets it. Right now, I think that the Yankees and the Red Sox are the two best teams out there, yes, even better than the Cardinals, but there could be some surprises in the playoffs. We'll see..... but at least I faced the music, congrats Goz, you got me again!!! But I have another chance in the playoffs.))


Douglas Kent (9-04-04 with update on 9-13-04)
Dear Jim, On Sept. 9th I'll be transferred to the Federal Prison Camp in McKean, PA. I'm told that's in the northwestern part of the state, near the Ohio border. The process could take one day, or it could take four weeks. ((See new address below.))
My DW letter may have come across slightly in the tone of patting myself on the back. That was not my intention. ((Nah, not really, just frustrated that it is so hard to keep DW going properly and you being where you are.)) I was just mentioning some of what I liked seeing in DW and elsewhere.... obviously if I liked something, I made an effort to include it in the zines I published. I'll try to give you a longer letter after my move is complete, with any news or information I think is of interest.
My favorite albums of 2003 (geez, I still call them albums) ((No problem, so do I.)) continue to be "Volume 4" from Joe Jackson and the Tori Amos album whose name escapes me, Charlotte's Red or some other takeoff on Charlotte's Web... something web I think. I'm at a disadvantage because they don't seem very interested in letting me go to Dallas on a furlough to look through my CD collection. ((No, indeed, but I'm happy to assist. I really like that Joe Jackson album too, he is growing into such a wide ranging mature musician, I still remember the first time I heard Look Sharp! and was stunned by its freshness. And Tori Amos' CD is called Scarlet's Walk and I've seen it in stores with weird web packaging, which is why you are thinking Web, beyond the links to Charlotte's Web. Tori also has a live DVD that has just come out with a lot of fanfare, it's her live in sunny Florida, which is a bit unfortunate right now as Florida prepares for its fourth hurricane of the season!))
Volume 4 was so-named because it's the fourth album Joe did with his original quartet. Anyone who held an appreciation for Joe's lyrics or musical ability in the past owes it to themselves to check it out. At some point this was the natural progression nof his music. From "new wave" to produced pop to modern thematic to Symphony #1 (another great album and a Grammy winner)... back to square one. But Volume 4, while reminiscent of his early work, is tighter, more sophisticated, and (for lack of a better term) more grown-up than the rebellious work of Look Sharp! or I'm the Man. Instead of looking at the future with disdain, Joe looks at the present with an experienced eye or even back at the past with some melancholy and some embarrassment. ((Yes, do you know his earlier song "Hometown"? This is a favorite of mine from him middle period and is one of the most sensitive songs of that type I've ever heard. It moves me nearly to tears every time I hear it. On this one, he has that song that goes something like "For just a moment I almost believe in love at first light" which reminds me of that sensibility. And "Thugs R'Us" is laugh out loud hilarious!! (it's about those wimpy suburban kids listening to hip-hop))) Even though it has been a year since I've heard the album, I can still listen to all of it (or almost all of it) in my head.
"Take It Like a Man" teases for 15 or 20 seconds, until the unmistakable sounds of Joe's keyboards appear. An upbeat song, it chides the subject to get ready to be looked down on the way he has been looking down on his newly-empowered woman. "Still Alive", my personal favorite, is merely a tuneful ode to surviving a break-up. "Awkward Age" is elder Joe, trying to explain to a sixteen-year-old that things will get better - but that she shouldn't expect to have anything figured out by the time she reaches Joe's age - lyrics reminiscent of "Flying" in "Night Music". (The older I get the more stupid I feel) ((Damned straight, it is amazing, isn't it. I had much more confidence back then that I really knew what I was doing.))
Really from start to finish it's an immensely enjoyable ride. "Chrome" sings to a now-famous friend and how cold they've become. "Love at First Light" explores that cloudy feeling when you're trying to decide if a one-night stand has anything further to offer. ((That's it, that's the song I was thinking about above. Just as an aside, you know, when I do these, I read the letters as I'm typing them into the szine, so I don't "read ahead". It keeps my comments fresher, I think.)) "A Little Bit Stupid" celebrates the glam-rock age in foot-stomping fashion. "Dirty Martini" - Joe's tribute to his obsession with New Orleans. And then it closes with "A Touch of Gray" which is a song I mentally link with "Got the Time" if for no other reason than the steaming speed of the tempo.
I think I left a few songs off the list but you get the idea. And they all translated wonderfully to live performance, as the CD remains just the four-piece band with no heavy production. The weekend of March 15, 2003 remains the best I ever had - I saw Joe Jackson live in Dallas after waiting 20 years to do so, and met Heather with whom I hope 20 years is but a small fraction of our time together.
Best, Doug
Douglas Kent - Unit F, #30694-177, Federal Correctional Institution McKean,
PO Box 8000, Bradford, PA 16701
((First, note there Doug's new address, anything sent to his old address after he left WILL be returned, he is told. It's so frustrating. Anyone know what has happened to Bob Belle? I'm also getting his mail returned.))
((Anyway, let's talk about more fun stuff, very interesting, I wonder why you waited so long. I've seen Joe Jackson a number of times, but one extremely memorable one was just about 20 years precisely before you saw him - and also in Dallas!!! I didn't have a car and had to ride my bike and I very distinctly remember that this club Joe was playing in was on the west side of town somewhere and I had to ride over the long dark passage across the dry river bed to get there. I also saw the Talking Heads in the same club somewhere around the same time. But I'm pretty sure Joe's concert was in March. It was the tour for Night and Day as I recall clearly him playing all of those songs. I think I reviewed it in one of the early Boob Report's too, but I don't have very good electronic records of that time, does anyone else remember? (teehehehe) But I recall writing about Sue Hadjopoulas' brilliant percussion (who has been on everything since but most definitely is NOT one of the original four - the previous three albums, the first three, were Look Sharp!, I'm the Man, and Beat Crazy. Graham Maby is the only one of the other three that went along with most of the rest of Joe's albums. Anyway, that was fun, I'm going to dig out some Joe Jackson albums as soon as the Red Sox lose to the Yankees again..... no wait, as I write, on the date on the header, the Red Sox have come back and gotten to Tanyon Sturtze in the Yankees bullpen and are ahead, maybe they're not dead yet, can they still win the division.... am I a fan or what....))
THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE 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 if you let me know in advance to be sure the fax machine is set up.
I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine.
Standby lists:
Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Bob Osuch, Doug Kent, Sean O'Donnell, Vern Parker, Heath Gardner, Phil Reynolds, Paul Kenny, and Dan Gorham stand by for regular Diplomacy.
Brad Wilson and Jack McHugh stand by for the Modern Diplomacy game.
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
We've got lots of openings in the subszines, check them out!!! Especially, contact Rip Gooch for Railway Rivals, see Rip's subszine elsewhere in most issues of TAP. Come on, help me out!!! Contact Rip Gooch directly at xyropedes of canada.com.
A NEW game of regular Diplomacy. The original, the best, play it here! Buddy Tretick, Fred Wiedemeyer, and Matt Sundstrom for sure already are signed up, I think a couple more of you requested in for this one. Please remind me. I am willing to open TWO new games if there is enough interest!!! Also, is there any interest in another game of Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire 7x7 Dip? I know it may be getting tired, but I really like it.
I also am starting a game of the variant I designed, Spy Diplomacy. Signups for that are now open. I'll publish the rules shortly or you can look at them at www.variantbank.com. Bruce Edwards is signed up.
John Harrington is offering to guest GM a game of Office Politics. Any interest in that?? Let me or John know! Jody McCullough and Bruce Edwards are interested, anyone else?
Harold Reynolds is running the game of Colonia (see elsewhere in this issue) and is interested in guest-GMing a game of Aberration. Sean O'Donnell and Brendan Whyte are interested in Aberration. Brendan and Sean BOTH need rules from Harold Reynolds.
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 two more players. Bruce Edwards and Eoghan Barry are signed up. Postal rules from me will be forthcoming shortly, on my never ending to-do list. I will get them in SOON! I'm more likely to get these things started if I see some interest..... it takes four and Eoghan is getting tired of waiting....
Right now, the other thing going is the Modern Diplomacy game with Wings. Bob Holt, Rick Desper, Alexander Woo, Dave Partridge, and Eric Ozog are signed up for that. I will start it when I get a full complement of players, the other Modern game is now done!
Mike Barno and Edi Birsan run a great web site at http://www.diplomaticcorps.org! Please check it out as they prepare to pass it along to the Germans and Sascha Hingst/Frank Bacher this fall. We're going to try to get everything updated on that site soon. Get ready for German World DipCon...... it should be fun. World DipCon will be going to Berlin after it goes to the Baltimore/DC area next summer. This fall the German team is running EuroDipCon at Darmstadt, Germany from Sept. 23 to Sept. 26 to practice running a big con. Get out there and support them if you can. E-Mail Frank Bacher for more info at: bacchusno1 of web.de


FLIP FLOP: 2003G, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1902 IS OCTOBER 9TH, 2004
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1903 IS OCTOBER 30TH, 2004
Fall 1902
AUSTRIA (Wiedemeyer): a TRI h, a bud-RUM, a vie-GAL, a SER S a bud-rum, f GRE h.
ENGLAND (Schmit): f ENG S f nth, f STP(NC) s ITALIAN f tun (imp), f NTH S f eng, a NWY S f stp.
FRANCE (Jeff O'Donnell): f bre-MID, f BEL s ENGLISH f nth-hol (nso), a BUR-ruh, a spa-POR.
GERMANY (Sundstrom): a BER-sil, a HOL-bel, a RUH-bur, f DEN-swe.
ITALY (Williams): f TUN h (unordered), a VEN-tyo, a MUN-tyo, f tyh-ion (nsu).
RUSSIA (Sean O'Donnell): a FIN-swe, f gob-BAL, f rum s TURKISH a bul (otm; d r:sev,otb),
a SIL s ITALIAN a mun-ber (nso), a mos-LVN.
TURKEY (Levinson): f eas-AEG, f con-BLA, a smy-ARM, a BUL-gre.


Supply Center Chart
AUSTRIA (Wiedemeyer): TRI,VIE,BUD,ser,gre,rum (has 5, bld 1)
ENGLAND (Schmit): EDI,LVP,LON,nwy,stp (has 4, bld 1)
FRANCE (Jeff O'Donnell): PAR,MAR,BRE,spa,bel,por (has 4, bld 2)
GERMANY (Sundstrom): KIE,BER,hol,den (has 4, even)
ITALY (Williams): ROM,VEN,NAP,tun,mun (has 3, bld 2)
RUSSIA (Sean O'Donnell): MOS,WAR,SEV (has 4 or 5, rem 1(r:otb) or 2)
TURKEY (Levinson): ANK,SMY,CON,bul (has 4, even)
Neutral: swe (Total=34)


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA CANADA T6T 1N1,
(780) 465-6432, wiedem of planet.eon.net
ENGLAND: Karl Schmit, 1452 Seville Dr. #3, Green Bay, WI 54302-5559, (920) 469-5981,
diplomacy of new.rr.com ($5)
FRANCE: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728,
(440) 322-2920 or (440) 225-9203 (cell)
GERMANY: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,
Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net
ITALY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947,
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org
RUSSIA: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230,
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com
TURKEY: Alexandre Levinson, 1, allee des Marniquets, 78430 Louveciennes FRANCE, don't need phone,
levinson7 of hotmail.com ($5)


Game Notes:
1)


Press:
(KARL to DON): Did I pull off the not-going-anywhere strategy ok?
(BOOB to KARL): About as well as Don did himself....
(KARL to BOARD): Apologizes for the silence. Between vacation, wisdom teeth removal, working like crazy and, egads, fantasy football there has been little time for Dip. England is out of the haze of general anesthesia now and ready for a solid food diet now! Shall it be Pelmeni, Quiche Lorraine or Schnitzel?
(BOOB to KARL): I don't know, but yikes! I remember MY wisdom teeth and their coming out party. Have a good one!!


I CAN'T FIND MY MONEY!: 2001F, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1908 IS OCTOBER 9TH, 2004
Summer 1908
AUSTRIA (Parker): has f ADR, a TYO, a SEV, a TUS, a PIE, a MOS, a SER, a RUM,
a STP, f ALB.
ENGLAND (Kinney): has a LON, a EDI, f NTH.
FRANCE (Kent): has a MAR, a BUR, a PIC, f ENG, f GAS.
GERMANY (Wilson): has f HOL, a BEL, a DEN, a MUN, f NWY, a RUH.
ITALY (Gardner): has a ROM, f ION, f GRE, a VEN.
RUSSIA (Desper): R a nwy-FIN; has a FIN.
TURKEY (Miller): has f AEG, a ARM, a CON, f BUL(SC).


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Vern Parker, 337 Winter Hill Place, Powell, OH 43065, (614) 402-5139
VernDip of aol.com is preferred
ENGLAND: Mark Kinney, 4830 Westport Road, Apt D, Louisville KY 40222
alberich of iglou.com
FRANCE: Douglas Kent - Unit F, #30694-177, Federal Correctional Institution McKean,
PO Box 8000, Bradford, PA 16701
GERMANY: Kevin Wilson, 7250 Perkins Rd., #838, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, 225-751-3857,
ckevinw of aol.com
ITALY: Heath Gardner, 1510 W. Friendly Ave., Greensboro, NC 27403-1207
metaphorman of gmail.com
RUSSIA: Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 977-7691, rick_desper of yahoo.com
TURKEY: Tim Miller, 258 New Mark Esplanade, Rockville, MD 20850,
tim of webjudge.net
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, +1 401-351-0287
burgess of world.std.com


Game Notes:
1) The RAG and AEFGIRT draws are rejected, so the game goes on. But now we have a proposal for an AFGI and a proposal for an AFGIT. Please vote on those with your Fall orders, if you fail to vote they cannot pass.
2) Note Doug Kent's new address!!


Press:


SOMETHING TO BE SCARED OF: 2001D, Regular Diplomacy
THE GAME IS OVER - EFG DRAW AGREED TO BY ALL PARTIES
EXTENSION FOR ENDGAME STATEMENTS IS OCTOBER 9TH, 2004


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Doug Kent
ENGLAND: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882 ($5)
Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net
FRANCE: James Alan (Jim) Tretick, 1383 Canterbury Way Potomac, MD 20854, (301) 279-0803 ($4)
jatretick of comcast.net
GERMANY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947 ($3)
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org
ITALY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883
mpbarno of lightlink.com
RUSSIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221,
(414) 281-2339 (E-Mail) trauterberg of wi.rr.com
TURKEY: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com or seanfodonnell of yahoo.com


Game Notes:
1)




FANTASTIC VOYAGE: 1999K, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR END GAME STATEMENTS EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 9TH, 2004
Five Way AEGRT Draw Declared!


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)
trauterberg of wi.rr.com
ENGLAND: John Biehl, #8 - 11530 84th Avenue, Delta, BRITISH COLUMBIA, V4C 2M1 CANADA,
(604) 591-1832 ($7); jrb of dccnet.com
FRANCE: Rick Davis, 2420 West Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, (707) 544-5201,
redavis914 of aol.com
GERMANY: Bob Osuch, 19137 Midland Avenue, Mokena, IL 60448, (708) 478-3885
ROsuch4082 of aol.com
ITALY: Terry Tallman, PO Box 782, Clinton, WA 98236, (360) 710 9613, cell (360) 710-9613 ($2)
terryt of whidbey.net
RUSSIA: Buddy Tretick, 9607 Conaty Circle, Spotsylvania, VA 22553, (540) 582-2356 (E-Mail)
batretick of earthlink.net
TURKEY: Vince Lutterbie, 1021 Stonehaven, Marshall, MO 65340-2837, (660) 886-7354
melvin4852 of sbcglobal.net


Game Notes:
1)


End Game Statements:


SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1917 IS OCTOBER 9TH, 2004
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1917 IS OCTOBER 30TH, 2004
Spring 1917
ENGLAND (Brosius): f LON h, a GAS S FRENCH f mar, f NAO S f mid, a KIE S FRENCH a mun,
f MID S FRENCH f spa(sc), f ENG S f mid, f HOL S a kie, f POR S FRENCH f spa(sc).
FRANCE (Sasseville): f MAR S f spa(sc), f SPA(SC) S f mar, a MUN S a bur, a BUR S a mun.
GERMANY (Barno): a con-ANK.
RUSSIA (Reynolds): a MOS h, a LVN S a mos, a BER S FRENCH a mun, f BAL S a pru,
a STP S a mos, a PRU S a ber.
TURKEY (Linsey): a SMY-con, a UKR S a war, a WAR S a sev-mos,
f WES s ENGLISH f por-spa(sc) (nso), a SEV-mos, f GOL s ENGLISH a gas-mar (nso),
a SIL s ENGLISH a kie-mun (nso), a GAL S a sil, f NAF s ENGLISH f mid, f AEG-con,
a TYO s ENGLISH a kie-mun (nso), f PIE s ENGLISH a gas-mar (nso), a BUL-con,
a BOH s ENGLISH a kie-mun (nso).


Addresses of the Participants
ENGLAND: Eric Brosius, 53 Bird Street, Needham, MA 02492
eric.brosius of comcast.net
FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($0)
roland6 of cox.net and ICQ: 40565030
GERMANY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883
mpbarno of lightlink.com
RUSSIA: Phil Reynolds, 2896 Oak Street, Sarasota, FL 34237, (813) 953-6952
preyno of yahoo.com
TURKEY: Bruce Linsey, PO Box 234, Kinderhook, NY 12106
GonzoHQ of aol.com


Game Notes:
1) The FREGT draw is rejected and then reproposed. I had no complaint, so I've granted a request that we go back to where we were on the voting, which was this: (1) Some of you have "perpetual draw votes on this proposal on file", those are still in force; (2) Some of you do not and have been voting every season, for you if you FAIL to vote it counts as a yes vote for this proposal. If we get to a situation where no centers change hands for three game years, then we can go to the next step, which will require everyone to vote every season, no perpetual draw votes. And failure to vote would be a yes. Fall 1916 was two game years by that measure. If Turkey is missing TWO of its home centers in Winter 1917, I think we are still going to advance to the next level of voting, which is that perpetual draw votes will no longer be allowed with failure to vote equalling a yes. If any other significant movement or centers change hands then that will be another story, of course. This does NOT mean the game will just be ended by the GM, it just means someone must veto the draw every turn.


Press:


DR. EDWARD TELLER: 2002?rn42, Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy - Black Hole Variant
GAME OVER - PAUL RAUTERBERG RUNS AWAY WITH IT!!!
This one is done and the game report was in last issue. I'll give one last issue in case anyone wants to make any comments.


FINDING THE COMMUNITY: Breaking Away, Designer's Rules
THE DUE DATE FOR TURN 8 IS OCTOBER 9TH, 2004
Turn 7
68 (replenish with a 3) Lisa
67 (no replenishment) Empty
66 (no replenishment) Empty
65 (no replenishment) Empty
64 (no replenishment) Empty
63 (replenish with a 3) Clubs
62 (no replenishment) Empty
61 (no replenishment) Empty
60 (no replenishment) Empty
59 (no replenishment) Empty
58 (no replenishment) Empty
57 (no replenishment) Empty
56 (no replenishment) Empty
55 (no replenishment) Empty
54 (no replenishment) Empty
53 (replenish with a 3) Marge
52 (replenish with a 4) Homer
51 (no replenishment) Empty
50 (no replenishment) Empty
49 (no replenishment) Empty
48 (replenish with a 3) Edmond
47 (replenish with a 4) Franklin, Geri Lee Lewis
46 (replenish with a 6) Carl Sagan, Zedd, Wade, Spades, Diamonds
45 (replenish with a 11) Bart, Frederick, Paige, Hearts
44 (replenish with a 15) El Vez
43 (no replenishment) Empty
42 (replenish with a 3) Omega, Johnny Peso, Pebble
41 (replenish with a 6) James
-S-P-R-I-N-T- -F-I-N-I-S-H- -L-I-N-E-
40 (no replenishment) Empty
39 (no replenishment) Empty
38 (no replenishment) Empty
37 (no replenishment) Empty
36 (no replenishment) Empty
35 (no replenishment) Empty
34 (no replenishment) Empty
33 (no replenishment) Empty
32 (replenish with a 3) Silt, Clay, Sand


Addresses of the Participants - Their Team and Their Cards
TEAM 1 (Rick Desper): rick_desper of yahoo.com (29 points)
Team Name: Team Springfield
A: Homer Simpson (3) 8 3 3 4
B: Marge Simpson (5) 8 4 3
C: Bart Simpson (3) 9 6 11
D: Lisa Simpson (3) 4 16 3
Total Replenishments: 22+63+46+13+15+29+21 = 209
TEAM 2 (Bruce Edwards): kactusjak of ntlworld.com (0 points)
Team Name: Last Again
A: Zedd (3) 3 3 6
B: Omega (3) 9 3 3
C: Paige (10) 3 3 11
D: James (3) 21 4 6
Total Replenishments: 16+37+29+25+12+13+26 = 158
TEAM 3 (Tom Howell): off-the-shelf of olympus.net (0 points)
Team Name: The Soils; Manager: Boulder
A: Clay (3) 15 16 15 3
B: Silt (3) 13 9 3
C: Sand (3) 16 20 3
D: Pebble (4) 21 20 3
Total Replenishments: 17+62+63+25+12+13+12 = 204
TEAM 4 (Dennis Menear): dmenear of wirefire.com (0 points)
Team Name: The Firm
A: Edmond (6) 9 3 16 3
B: Franklin (4) 15 3 4
C: Frederick (3) 6 6 11
D: Wade (5) 7 10 6
Total Replenishments: 12+28+32+35+38+25+24 = 194
TEAM 5 (David Partridge): rebhuhn of rocketmail.com (7 points)
Team Name: It's In The Cards; Manager: The Joker
A: Spades (12) 15 9 5 6
B: Hearts (10) 13 3 11
C: Diamonds (5) 16 10 6
D: Clubs (21) 16 6 3
Total Replenishments: 17+55+51+25+30+24+26 = 228
TEAM 6 (Karl Schmit): diplomacy of new.rr.com (3 points)
Team Name: 25 Dollar Quartet
A: Carl Sagan (3) 15 3 3 6
B: El Vez (3) 3 10 15
C: Geri Lee Lewis (6) 9 10 4
D: Johnny Peso (4) 1 16 3
Total Replenishments: 12+37+22+44+16+27+28 = 186


Game Notes:
1) The rules are on the TAP website in the Tinamou section. Ask if you have any questions. Press is VERY welcome!!!
2) Up above in parentheses is the card you played to get to where you are in the field. The replenishment card is the last card in your list. Be careful to note that the card you played (the one in parentheses) is not available for you, for next turn. Just for fun, I'm going to keep track of total replenishment, by turn, which is a rough measure of how the teams are doing. Of course, it is lining up to get across the sprint and final lines in the right places that really counts. We can calculate an "efficiency score" later, which will be the ratio of scoring points per replenishment. If I'm predicting how the future of this will come out, a 10% score will be really tremendous for this measure (note that Rick already is way ahead of this pace).


Press:
(EL VEZ to SAND): I hope your manager figured out his problems and that you made it to 45!
(BOOB to EL VEZ AND JOHNNY PESO): It seems to me that your bigger problem was with not getting anyone who was going to end up on 43, there were lots of people who were likely to end up on 45, and did. I think Dave Partridge's Spades is the only one who could have stopped on 43, and he elected to cut you guys off from the main pack.


FEAR AND WHISKEY: 1998Ers31, Modern Diplomacy
CONCESSION TO UKRAINE PASSES - CONGRATULATIONS TO DAVE!!!


Addresses of the Participants
BRITAIN: Kurt Ozog, 391 Wilmington Drive, Bartlett, IL 60103, (630) 837-2813
ozricozog of yahoo.com
EGYPT: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyri, OH 44035-5728, (440) 322-2920
or (440) 225-9203 (cell) ($2)
FRANCE: Harry Andruschak ($5) Tapmdfrance of aol.com
GERMANY: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)
trauterberg of wi.rr.com
ITALY: Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138, (360) 691-4264 ($3)
ElfEric of Juno.com
POLAND: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($5)
roland6 of home.com and ICQ: 40565030
RUSSIA: Randy Ellis
SPAIN: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230 ($3)
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com or seanfodonnell of yahoo.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




Personal Note to You:


File translated from TEX by TTH, version 3.35.
On 28 Sep 2004, 16:49.