| September 21, 2002 |
Web Page Address: http://diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html
Subszines.... we now have the.... well the ``right'' Deny Everything and the latest Houdini Blues, both issue numbers 14. Check them out and this ``once in a lifetime'' cover.
| SPECIAL KATHY BYRNE CARUSO MEMORIAL SECTION - PART II |
The Pictures....
((I want to thank everyone for their comments last issue, for those I'm printing this issue, and any further notes that I get for next issue. John Caruso and Francine both have read it so far and have told me how much they enjoyed hearing what everyone wrote about Kathy and they are passing it along to Kathy's other children, Frank and Phyllis. These pictures on the front page are courtesy of John Caruso and the Caruso family. Thanks, John!! This will hold up the postal production of the szine (the main reason I don't do fancy covers) and so I apologize for that, but it will be a real keepsake, I hope.))
((I also have a major announcement to make. The Hobby Awards Committee has decided to inaugurate a new award in Kathy's memory, The Kathy Byrne Caruso Lifetime Achievement Award. It will be given (not necessarily every year) to someone who has been active in the Diplomacy Hobby in at least three separate decades, with a multidimensional scope of involvement in writing, play of the game, and service to the hobby, but now is in retirement or semi-retirement. They also should have a unique personality that honors the memory of Kathy Byrne Caruso as one of the hobby's greatest and most memorable personalities. There can be a no more appropriate winner of the first award, especially in light of the worldwide expansion of the scope of the hobby and the Hobby Awards, than Richard Sharp. I always knew that Richard was one of the greats in our hobby, but the interview I conducted with him recently for Diplomacy World cemented that opinion and expanded it exponentially. Read that interview with Richard Sharp at:
http://www.diplomacyworld.org/issues/issue88/88interview4.htm
See below for more on this year's Hobby Awards. Congratulations to Richard, who shared with Kathy a vice and himself is battling throat and lung cancer now. We wish Richard the best in his fight.))
((Moving back to the Caruso family, John is now willing to talk to anyone directly, whereas he was a bit overwhelmed right after the event. You can contact John at:
John Caruso, 636 Astor St., Norristown, PA 19401-3745; (610) 272-1678, commishjohn of att.net;
WEBSITE: home.att.net/~ commishjohn/wsb/index.html.
If you want to keep up with the Caruso family, the best way to do so is to join John's baseball league. John just now has decided that he wants to keep the league going and there is need for about four replacements. Among the dipping old timers, we have Dick Martin, Gary Behnen, Randy Ellis and Woody playing in the league, along with lots of other Caruso family members across two generations. I hope some of you will jump in and play, ask me if you want more information, I like this approach of REALLY running your team far better than any Rotisserie league I've ever come across. This is a huge amount of fun!!! Now let's get back to your comments. First off, I'm going to go to Bruce and Krissi Linsey for their best wishes.....))
Bruce and Krissi Linsey (Sat, 31 Aug 2002 14:53:34 EDT)
We were saddened to hear the bad news about Kathy Caruso. We wish to express our heartfelt sympathy to John, to Kathy's kids, to her grandchildren, and to her many friends in the Diplomacy hobby.
| Peace, Bruce and Krissi Linsey, GonzoHQ of aol.com |
((Thanks, Bruce, I know John really appreciates your sincere concern. I tried really hard to get to everyone who needed to know with a personal note first, but I know many of you found out about this when you received issue 263 in the mail, the most egregious of those oversights was missing the man known as ``Toots''. And he has some of the most interesting comments I've heard yet, as should not surprise long time readers of Mos Eisley Spaceport. Prepare to laugh and cry heartily....))
John Michalski (Sun, 01 Sep 2002 10:53:10 -0500)
Yes, the issue today was the first I heard of it. Quite a shock. I guess my card to John will be about two weeks behind most. Still, with my Dip stuff down near absolute zero, my contacts with Kathy in recent years were limited to perhaps an annual note, and a Christmas card, so it isn't surprising I missed the first round of notices. If Olsen or Woody have the obituary, I'd appreciate a copy. ((I actually haven't seen that either.... Woody?))
The section that followed helped a lot. I was the one who gave her the nickname ``Luscious", which at the time I thought was a somewhat forward and outrageous gesture, but compared to her other nickname, ``Bloodsucker" you quote, I see that she was probably glad to latch onto ``Luscious". I really appreciated the assorted PudgeCon notes: I remember them all, although to me they are all one long smear, not the specific dates and people I was (pleasantly) surprised to see Gary Coughlan cite. I remember the great water fight very well: Gary brought a big bag of squirtguns with him, and, due to my reputation in the hobby at the time, Gary gave me a ``Dirty Harry" gun, a plastic ``six-gun" about 20 inches long and 9 or 10 high. It took a gallon to fill, and was not so much a squirt gun as a squirt howitzer: I could fire across a room, over the heads of many, and soak down small regions on the other side. This was magnified from that balcony sort of area outside the bathroom, from which one could fire down onto the main floor below, as I recall the layout. On the other hand, Kathy was furious, because Gary gave her a tiny little palm sized maroon ``derringer" sized squirtgun he said was ``a lady's gun". It worked, but only fired a distance equal to three times its length, or in other words, less than a foot. I told Kathy she could wet her hand with it and then shake or throw off the water further than that gun would shoot: she said she could throw Gary further than that gun would shoot. I think she was right. Anyhow, frustrations such as that no doubt contributed to the rapid escalation to cups, glasses, and then containers of water. Despite all the talk about ``flooding", the actual water damage wasn't all that bad, although for a while there, we were concerned when his wall thermostat got in the way of someone's bulk water toss.
I don't know if it was that Con or another (I suspect it was that one; I'm not sure if she attended one, or two?), but I also recall that I tried setting her sleeping bag in the bedroom right next to mine. I tried to put the zipper halves together into one big one, in view of the message from John to Bob I had been ``warned" of, etc., per the earlier commentaries, but the only way they would mesh would leave our heads at opposite ends, so I had to skip that idea. I do recall she arrived to use it much later than anyone else in the room, and as she started to lay down, a rather nice looking woman from St. Louis or something like that, whose name I forget, had come in and suddenly yanked Kathy's pillow away, feeling it was hers and had been stolen or something. Poor Kathy didn't see it in time, and her head landed with an embarassingly loud Clunk on the hardwood floor, with only the bag itself to pad the impact. I was shocked, but everyone else (including Kathy) seemed to go on like someone had only sneezed or something, so I let it pass too. I would have been ticked, myself.
((Interesting how so many of our memories are about that which we seldom did, which was sleep.... this next memory is equally strong in my thoughts!! I remember the profanity T-shirt really well, but can't recall who was wearing it.... probably Rusnak. And I'm sure you noticed the picture on the cover of this issue??))
I remember a group of us went to a steakhouse south along Rock Road, which started out as my inviting Kathy out, but degenerated as more of the attendees piled in to go along. (For those poor souls who have never attended a game convention, the attendees do not travel wearing ties. Most were so ratty looking, that most decent restaurants wouldn't let that mob in!) Anyhow, we found a Sizzlin' Sirloin, or Sirloin Stockade, or one of those, and were seated. (One guy had opted to turn his profanity T-shirt inside out, which helped, and it was getting pretty dark at the door, so they seated us before they realized their restaurant was in trouble...). I thought my steak was oddly marinated; an hour later, I realized it had spoiled. Kathy insisted we go back and complain, so we did. They were less than gracious about the complaint, but Kathy's New York background meant that we were hardly overwhelmed by their corporate indifference. We got no refund, but I recall we did have the satisfaction of seeing a few customers who overheard the ``discussions" with the manager, get up and leave. I think the many references to the Health Dept. got to them, but, I could be mistaken.
I insisted on paying for Kathy's meal because, as I explained, if I bought it, it counted as a ``date", while if we each paid for our own, it was just a supper. In a rare diplomatic victory for me, she eventually accepted, although she did insist on contributing toward some pizzas I went for another time. Someone else with us thought the ``date" thing was a good idea, and tactlessly offered me a dollar toward the cost of her dinner also, so he could be in on the action. In retrospect, I guess I should have declined, but hey, a buck's a buck, right? (In those days, you could get a steak dinner for $2.50 or so.)
These Cons were a lot like high school reunions, in retrospect. Lots of fun; lots of remembrances now, about girls you should have asked to date but were too afraid to; and little of the play had anything to do with Dip, more often than not. I saw lots of Titan; talked Kathy into taking a break once or twice, and played some 4-way Hearts; learned late at night, how funny it is to hear someone stick their head in a bedroom door, and ask ``Anyone up for a quick game of Civiliation?" (Civ is the only non-miniatures game I've ever found that can actually run longer than a campaign game of Third Reich). Hobbyists have strange senses of humor: I remember Paul Rauterberg drove down from Milwaukee one year, carrying some others I think, and had his engine blow up somewhere along the way. The car was abandoned, and they came on in somehow anyway, but everyone treated it as the funniest thing that had ever happened in their life. Except Paul, anyway. The various PudgeCon attendees -and perhaps one or two that went to whatever those Cons were years later up in Marshall, Missouri- might be interested to know that the old War Wagon, my tan 1976 Thunderbird, survived it all (including some nitwits who broke into it in Wichita, and used it as their motel room one night!), right up until last December! Yep, it was 26 years old, with 377,000 miles on it, when I finally donated it to the Salvation Army. It had gone with me to every Con, and a lot of other stuff too, including a 2800 mile round trip to visit what became my second wife in 1987. Stops along the way were provided by the graciousness of the Ozogs in Flagstaff (half way point), and the Langleys in Sacramento. That big, comfortable old thing saw many a sight, and got us all through safely, including carrying Kathy once, when I was taking her to or from the KC airport I think, and we got lost. Turned out her guess of route was better than mine, even though neither one of us really knew where we were going. But since I don't remember her at a Marshall Con, maybe it was Wichita? She'd once talked about flying into OKC and driving up to Wichita with me, but that plan fell through. Sorry: it's been 20 years, and I've slept since then. The Thunderbird got regular care, and survived it all. The Ozogs visited us once, in Moore, and they were having car trouble all along their route. The place we used, ``Kar Kare", fixed them up when no one else had been able to help. ((Was that the trip with the infamous ``alternator" failure? I remember laughing and laughing about that one, even though it couldn't have been funny to Eric and Cathy at the time!!)) They stayed with us when I lived on an acreage in semi-rural far southeast Oklahoma City then, so it must have been the late 70s. I think they were the only hobbyists who actually met my first wife, the famous ``Claudine" of some of my early ``Notes from the American Steppe" in my old Brutus Bulletin. OOPS! No, there was one kid and his family came through also, can't think of his name now, who met the infamous ``Fluff" Shaffer in person there, too. I think they settled in La Jolla, CA, or somewhere hotsy totsy like that out west in California. They were duly impressed/horrified by ol' Fluff, who made quite an impression with my AR15 in hand. Any of your readers know who I mean? ((I'm not entirely sure, but perhaps someone will flesh that one out!))
Fluff only attended one Con, I don't know which, and didn't stay: he drew England in one game, arrogantly and publicly telling the German ``The North Sea is adjacent to four centers. Which two do you want?" That was his idea of negotiating. He then proceeded to miswrite his opening orders. The GM read them, and a hush fell over the room for a moment, until someone whispered ``My God, he's stood himself out of the North Sea!" That became ``the Shaffer opening" after that! About 1903, he did gain a center, Holland or Belgium, when he retreated into it after a fleet of his was forced to retreat into someone else's empty conquest on a Fall turn. That was it for his FTF career. You can see why he left early. I don't know where Fluff is now. Claudine was killed in the bombing, April 19, 1995. ((Wow, I didn't know that. I'm still sorry to hear that, even after seven years.)) Hers was the second last body discovered, at the very end of April or the start of May, one of the few dates I've forgotten. When someone is feared dead, and the house fills with her relatives in the following days, that's one thing, but after two and a half weeks, well, let's just say the atmosphere changes. At 1.30 that last afternoon, a call to my son said she was one of four who would likely never be found, but then at 4.10 they called back and said everyone had been found. I never asked for details, and her brother, called to identify whatever there was, has never spoken of it. We all appreciate the way local officials concluded the matter.
Speaking of Oklahoma, those articles you printed included a reference to ``a couple from Enid, Oklahoma". Jim, NO ONE is from Enid, Oklahoma! Scott and Frauke lived in Minneapolis for many years before returning to Germany, probably driven there in part by the high school German I used in sometimes writing to them! There was a couple at a PudgeCon, I suspect that first one, who had come up from Texas, perhaps through Enid, but definitely not from Enid. The guy was a tall, thin, long-haired Jesus lookalike, or unreconstructed hippy; his wife or girlfriend was a petite brunette, very quiet. I think he published briefly, but I can't think of their names. Being a couple, they were something of an exception to the crowd in Wichita, and I think they left early, never to return. Maybe Pudge, or Gary, can recall the names. Or I'll add them if it comes to me during the night; I can see this may take a while to finish. (Next day addition: that was Guy and Libby Hale. I remember now that when Dave Pilant and I came up to Bob's front door and someone asked who we were, I said we were Guy and Libby Hale, adding ``Guess which one is Libby?" I guess in today's PC climate, that wouldn't occur anymore. For later Cons, most attendees like me just walked right in anyway.) ((Hahah! Right you are. I remember them now. The ``unusual'' attendees at cons always were the big shocks, especially given how exuberant our get-togethers were at that time in the hobby.))
Kathy was the person who casually referred to me as her ``Toots", which Claudine, being a native Okie, pronounced so as to rhyme with Boots, and facetiously implied that the nickname referred to a string of small farts. Haven't heard that in a long time. Toots, that is. The Brutus Bulletin went to Issue 109, which I do recall, mostly because the unprinted material I had on hand went to Bruce Linsey, who combined it with an unused cover and called it the one and only copy in existence of The Brutus Bulletin ``#110". If he sold it for money, good luck to him. I've gone on into GMing and playing in postal 4th edition Third Reich: I have to spell all that out, because there are three other things calling themselves ``Third Reich", or ``Computer" 3R, or ``Advanced" 3R, and the most recent abortion, ``John Prados' Third Reich". I run, and play in, the only version that works. I recall one year, I tried playing a few games at a PudgeCon: the guy that married Julie Glass -can't think of his name offhand- (Dick Martin) was a good opponent. One guy new to it and I, went up to Eastpark Mall and bought a copy, just to try playing! Sorry, I have no idea who it was anymore. John Caruso tried his hand briefly, the only time I ever met him, but his experience was all with the early versions, so he was pretty much out of his element. Julie was there too, although she forgot most of her clothes, but did not let that stop her. ((Julie and Dick are divorced these days, I saw Dick and their two children at the Baltimore World DipCon when Dick stopped in briefly. They both are as gorgeous as one would expect their children to be. Dick has a website at www.phantomempire.com and a new girlfriend, who I've met there in chat a few times.)) Her husband and I were the only ones so engrossed as to not pay much attention. From later reviews of the Con, I gather that a number of others were not so able to concentrate on some critical year on the Eastern Front as Dick and I were doing, but I thought her presence was rather nice. Definitely exercised the imagination, also. I guess to Dick, it was all ho-hum, the same old nude body draped on him as ever. To me, well, my hobby (my wives would say, my ``life") would become fourth edition Third Reich: whoever the hot bodies are for, they're not interested in ME, that's for sure! Then or now. Whereas, Army Group Center is counting on me, right?
One of your writers mentioned taking certain joke pictures there in Wichita. I think it was Kathy who was going to take a picture of a few of us in the kitchen, when I stopped her with an idea. Someone had brought a bunch of advance copies of a fake Diplomacy Digest to the Con (a zine by Mark Berch at the time), so I grabbed a bunch of them and laid them in and around the overflowing trashbags, others on the floor, and some casually tossed around to look like they had been used as napkins or tissues, and THEN told her to take the picture. The room thought it was terrific! If Mark is alive and reads this, ``It was a staged joke, Mark." I'm sure he saw it: numerous people said they would send him one, or publish it themselves. If any of your readers recognize themselves, or characters or dates or whatever here, feel free to correct or update me. ((Mark is still very much around. See below....))
Yes, like one writer said, this brings to mind a million Kathy stories. At least after the initial blow. I guess this modern idea of ``celebrating life" rather than eulogizing, has a lot to say for it. Makes the whole situation a lot easier to deal with, also.
| John, dr3r4 of worldnet.att.net |
((Speaking of Scott and Frauke, I sent Scott the following note and then told him about Kathy: ``Hi Scott, I hope you, Frauke, and is it ``Christopher Ryan"? That's what memory says, but anyway, your son, all are doing well.'' and got back:))
Scott Hanson (Wed, 28 Aug 2002 06:13:46)
Hello Jim, Thanks for thinking of me. I did in fact see the the notice you sent to the TAP mailing list, but the e-mailed TAP #263 never reached me. I'll make to check out the web version.
We are busy but well. Christopher is now 2-1/2 and a whirlwind. Frauke is now in upper management for McDonald's Deutschland. And my dot.com (actually dot.de) employer has not gone under.
| Thanks again, Scott, shanson of shcon.com |
((And let me stick in a note from John next....))
John Caruso (Mon, 09 Sep 2002 22:23:50)
Jim, You did a wonderful job. Everyone did. It was good reading about the ``good old days".
I believe Kathy and Woody talked me into the 3rd PudgeCon. The drive thru the Kansas desert was miserable. Nothing but sand for and camels for miles. Only the sounds of Woody's and Kathy's voices to keep me company. ((Was that an improvement????))
I wish I had stories to share-I do but they are too numerous. Things like the stab of ``the kid" at Kathy's 1st major gaming convention, Atlanticon I believe. That's when she drew with Bill Thompson and Dan Mathias after stabbing the kid. And rewarded her allies with a kiss. I had to talk her into going to that con too.
The Thanksgiving Byrnecon and the beer can assault-I remember it well. Unfortunately Robert Sacks passed away a while back.
Then there was the Gary Coughlan signing ``bersaglieri" to the Mexican song ``la cucaracha", while clapping his hands in beat.
There was the Mark Berch Dipcon, where Kathy was on ``display" for lack of a better term. Not only did she perform her job, but she all but stole the show.
The numerous guests who frequented our Byrnecons, too numerous to name them all here and forget a name or 2 and be chastised for it.
The Origins and sharing a room with Dick and Julie.
The Clonecons. Meeting our 1st Midwesterners (at some sleezy bar). Our trip out to California where Daf and Steve put on a Dafcon for our benefit. (I wouldn't touch the chili, but I think Kathy did).
Both Kathy and I knowing that after Cathy and Eric met, they would marry. Yeah Eric, Kathy and I both knew you 2 would marry. We could see it in your eyes. (Thats Cunning and Ozog) ((Yeah, a whole bunch of us were matchmaking in that get-together, ME included.....))
Kathy really did make up names for people-like Dippy Don for Don Ditter. Toots Michalski, Honey Olsen, and numerous others. And you are right, the names were because she liked you and thought you should have a fitting nickname. You too Greedy.
I wish to thank all of you for your well wishes. If you want to get or keep in touch, feel free to email me. Jim, your time for blocking for me is past. I will run the gauntlet now for those who wish to seek me out. I just couldn't have handled all the input that may have happened right then. Thanks again Jim.
| John, commishjohn of att.net |
((Wow, and I didn't mind a bit, I considered it an honor. I hope you enjoy this issue as much as the last one. Anything I could do, I wanted to do. Here's Terry Tallman's note, I misplaced the date, but it was about Sept. 8th or so.))
Terry Tallman
Hi Jim-Bob;
Don Williams called me to tell me about Kathy. It really caught me off guard. I always called her ``the old broad" because she was a month older than me. I suspect our next twenty years in the hobby are not going to be QUITE as much fun as our last twenty.
My most significant memory of Kathy is more a montage. In the 80's we were all playing a ton of games and everybody was doing standbys for everyone else. It seemed like Kathy and I were always in a half dozen games together.
We always seemed able to work with one another or blunt someone else's attack on the other. As much as everyone always joked about getting ``Byrned" I never did. We privately kidded that we were mutual toadies.
I was very jealous though, because she obviously held Bob Olsen in much higher esteem than me.
| Terry Tallman |
Warren Goesle (Wed, 28 Aug 2002 10:30:37 -0400)
Of the recent deaths in the Diplomacy hobby, Kathy Byrne Caruso is the only one that I didn't know personally. Apparently I'm the only one who didn't know her. Great writeups last issue.
| Goz, wgoesle of core.com |
((I'm sorry we're at least temporarily losing YOU from the hobby, Goz. I need to announce that Goz has folded his szine I Digress and is looking for assistance in rehousing all of the games. He and his new wife are expecting a baby and he is job hunting for a new job. Hang around and get back with us soon, OK?))
Jody McCullough (Sun, 15 Sep 2002 20:56:36 -0700)
Jim, I never met Kathy, but I was moved to tears by some of the rememberances in TAP 263. It was a sweet and painful reminder that ``the game" is all about people and personalities, and that is what sets it apart. Clearly Kathy was one of a kind, and even though I never met her, I will miss her.
| Jody, jodymc of telocity.com |
Doug Kent (Sun, 8 Sep 2002 21:54:37 -0500)
Sorry to hear of the passing of so many hobby legends in such a short span. Makes me wish I stayed in closer touch with the people I used to hear from at least once a month.
((Yeah, I had been keeping up with Kathy Caruso that way (through John's baseball league) but what was really a shock is that she didn't tell anyone. All I saw was John acting nuttier, and nuttier, and nuttier. [I mean that in the nicest way, John, but you do have to admit that the flurry of midseason trading you presided over was unusual in the history of the league!!] We thought JOHN was the one who was sick! But of course in retrospect it all made sense. ))
Does anyone do the Zine Register anymore? Any info would be appreciated, I'm curious what zines are out there these days. You know I'll be back one of the years...if just to have a reason to make Jack do a subzine again. Any really good zines out there..besides yours?
((Phil Reynolds is doing it and his szine is still out there and is pretty good (but small). Phil though wanted to do ONE last Zine Register, figuring there wasn't much point in it anymore. That probably isn't that far wrong. There are about a dozen szines left, I'd say. John Boardman's and Andy Lischett's are the only ones that are resolutely NOT electronic that I know of. And both haven't changed a bit in a decade. John STILL rails every issue about Dungeons and Dragons and Christian attacks on it. Why, I don't really know. He did get distracted into attacks on Harry Potter from similar directions for awhile, but now is back into straight D&D issues. Warren Goesle has a good szine, though it has been suffering recently as he just got married and now (horrors!) is about to have a baby (or his new wife is... ;-) so that one will soon be history, unfortunately. [See elsewhere in this issue, the answer to how soon is now is obvious!] Steve Koehler's szine steps smartly along and has much better graphics than I do. That's probably the one you should surely start picking up again. Also Tom Howell has an excellent little szine, featuring map variants and he seems to have a lot of your old subbers. So you should see that one too. Conrad finally folded, or folded again, we'll see if he means it this time.))
((The Brits still have LOTS of great szines, at least I like them. Steve Agar has yet another szine, Pete Birks sails along (recently getting into competitive poker which strangely I find fascinating to read about), Mark Wightman has a great szine, and I love Alex Richardson's little szine. Plus Mike Dean is trying the ``hobby takeover" as being the most pushy with a webszine that still feels like a postal szine. He actually is a little TOO pushy for my taste. And I'm not mentioning all of the web szines. The Brits are ahead there too. Keith Thomasson has a massive szine, but not much Dip.))
((Canadians are suffering a bit with the loss of Bob Acheson, but Robert Lesco's szine is back and Cal White has stepped in to continue Bob Acheson's.))
Reading Linda's commentary of zines reminds me of how it was when I folded. If it was just burnout I would have been able to handle things better, but burnout tied with Mara's suicide attempt tied with the months of ICU care and other medical concerns, tied with the realization that the marriage was never going to work after that, tied with the financial disasters that these circumstances thrust upon us sort of knocked the wind out of me. If I could have eliminated a couple of those things, or even just one, maybe I could have run Maniac's Paradise and Grand Hyatt cleanly down to a fold. But I was so miserable and suicidal I just DIDN'T CARE anymore. When you don't eat for 7 days except for black coffee and Cran-Grape, and you spend every waking hour going from a filthy house to work to the hospital, suddenly your long-term view of things gets a little colored.
((No question, we've all been feeling for you, a lot! I'm really glad that you are getting out of the hole finally. Is this part above for print? Your choice, but some of your friends might want to see it. [He then gave me permission, and I thank you...] There's a little movie spoiler below, so readers be careful...))
One Hour Photo - A movie - Not as good as the hype, but still much MUCH better than the usual movie dreck. Robin Williams isn't as creepy as I hoped he would be, but sufficient to keep the audience fascinated. No Oscar-caliber performance, but a very effective one anyway. Go see it.
Signs - A movie - Once again, not as good as the hype. I enjoyed the tone of the movie, the cinematography. The plot had its obvious points, some of the foreshadowing I found horrendously overscripted. I also disagreed with the decision to EVER show the aliens. I think it would have played better if they were never on camera.
Cherry Marmalade - A new CD by Kay Hanley - Admittedly I've been in love with Kay Hanley since I met her in Boston years ago after a Letters to Cleo performace. Her first solo project is a real delight. Some of the more hardcore LTC fans seem to find it a bit too ``poppy" but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Aside from Wholesale Meats and Fish, Kay has never let me down. Check out your local cut-out or used CD bin for Aurora Gory Alice if you forget what LTC originally sounded like, or if you're lucky you'll find a copy of Go! which was totally ignored my press and radio alike.
((They've always gotten pretty good radio play around here, but I haven't heard this new record, I'll have to pick it up!))
Oh, by the way, Joe Jackson is reuniting with his original band, releasing a new CD, and then going on tour. If you don't care you should.
| Doug, dipworld of ix.netcom.com |
((I do, I do, I do.))
Doug Kent (Mon, 9 Sep 2002 21:19:35 -0500)
Geez, I didn't realize we were down to maybe a dozen North American zines...for whatever reason, I just prefer paper to ezine, both in content and attitude...but maybe that's changed these days..to be honest, for some reason a zine in the mailbox feels different than even the same zine printed on my printer. I'll have to drop a few of those publishers notices, just to see what's what...maybe the landscape is so barren even *I* can't come back anymore...
((NOOOOOO, NOOO, don't say that. You're right. I'm convinced that 95 percent of the problem is that us szine pubbers can't find the time to do good szines. I'd actually include myself in that. This thing isn't anything like what I would *like* it to be. So, if you can find the time to do a szine, you can find people to be in it. Believe me!))
Yeah, I'm finally getting myself together, working hard, not so depressed (most of the time), in love again...life has been much worse to be sure than it is now.
You can keep updated on JJ at joejackson.com...they announce most of his stuff there..I found Big World on CD last month for $3 at a used store...
I really think its funny that Compuserve still has my old Dip World website up there...I hope you and Steve have pulled all the articles from it in case they ever wise up and delete everything.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/DiplomacyWorld/
| Doug, dipworld of ix.netcom.com |
((I certainly know it's there and send people to pages there too, but that's a good point, Stephen, have you pulled everything from that old Compuserve site?? I know I haven't except for the articles of mine from that period.))
Stephen Agar (Saturday, September 07, 2002 6:26 PM)
Well, it's just taken me two hours, but I have pulled everything off and put it in www.diplomacy-archive.com
((With Kathy Caruso's passing, and lots of other things, I've been pretty out of it lately and we are VERY late with what we seem to be trying to make a Biannual (twice a year) Diplomacy World. I'll be talking to Stephen about that and other things shortly, perhaps as soon as today. I do have at least two articles sitting around somewhere waiting for print.))
Yes, we must get a move on. It would be nice to have a proper appreciation of Kathy for the next issue.
| Regards - Stephen Agar, stephen of meurglys.com |
((A Comment From Doug Kent: ``great, thanks, I would have hated to see all those articles disappear...'' This is it for TAP on large remembrances, but if anyone wants to write something longer especially, as Mark Berch suggests below, that highlights Kathy's contributions to the hobby, please get it to us for DW publication.))
Gary Coughlan (Mon, 26 Aug 2002 12:44:20 -0500)
Jim-Bob, I found another item about Kathy's past. In one of the EEs, James Woodson asked ``Who is Ieapo Stabo?"
My answer was: ``Ieapo Stabo is an extraterrestial who came to Earth in 1980 and lives with Kathy Byrne whom he calls his mother."
I vaguely remember that Kathy would write humor articles under this byline in different zines but nothing else and nothing more concrete than that.
In the ``All About Kathy" article, that was written in early 1982. I know she went on to do other things in the hobby , after that, like be the Boardman Number Custodian (BNC) for about a year, and she was a Diplomacy World editor with Rod Walker. I'm also thinking that she probably increased her wins in the years following 1982 so this article shouldn't be taken as the end-all and be-all of her gaming career........
| Til later....Gary, bamboopnuts of msn.com |
((A VERY special heartfelt thanks to you, Gary, I don't think these two issues would have been what they became without you, and you in particular. You have stimulated a large portion of this outpouring of memories. I'm glad you're back in the fold!))
Mike Mazzer (Wed, 28 Aug 2002 13:16:26 -0500)
It's funny what people remember - I vividly remember the restaurant but have no recollections at all about water gun fights. I remember the first PudgeCon when she blew in with Woody and friends (drove from Kansas City I believe) and basically took over. I remember we all decided that there was nothing edible in Bob's refrigerator and Kathy decided we had to go to an Italian restaurant - a fairly nice one I recall - and so a dozen of us or so, all looking like the cast of Animal House after the toga party arrived and Kathy talked the management into letting us in. Anyone who saw her operate there knows how she could win at Dip. Her triumphs as Italy were purely on the force of her personality - she wasn't any more skilled tactically than anyone else - she could just simply convince anyone to do anything. It is impossible to imagine her gone.
| MM, MMazzer of goalonline.com |
Tom Swider (Tue, 27 Aug 2002 22:37:20 -0400)
Jim-Bob, Thanks for sending me the link for TAP. Just a few personal words that I'd like to share with your readership on Kathy.
To me, the Diplomacy hobby encapsulated the majority of the good things about the internet before there was an internet culture. There were certainly a lot of interesting people when I was involved. My first encounter with Kathy was when I held MediocreCon I, with Kathy and John calling to tell me ``Please don't laugh when you see how fat we are ... each of us weighs about 250 pounds." Of course, Kathy was as skinny as a rail when I opened our front door to greet her. The friendship started off with outrageous lies from the very beginning...my parents who were never gamers did enjoy a game of Trivial Pursuit with the Carusos and some other MediocreCon attendees.
Trips to Byrnecons were a big deal for Mike Barno, Jeff Bohner and myself. Kids from upstate New York getting their first exposure to NYC (well, Queens). The Dutch gunboat game Gary Coughlan described came to mind as one of the most memorable moments, along with ``The Beercan Incident", picking up Eric Kane, Rheingold Light, are all priceless memories. Of course, any game of gunboat always degenerated into out and out board talk, with Kathy scolding those who spoke out loud against her country with righteous indignation! I also enjoyed her Ieapo Stabo stories, the wily alien who would visit fellow Dippers and tell the KK readership about their home lives in a most unflattering but funny manner.
Kathy's abuses at DipCons were legendary. Stabbing a 12 year old kid at Chester PA Origins in 1981 < ? > was the first I heard. The most outrageous was her starvation tactics at Detroit Origins. She was leading a defensive alliance against an alliance running over their side of the board, and Kathy's side firmly supported DIAS, including Dave Perlmutter's 1 center power. Suppertime came around and the other alliance requested a dinner break. Kathy refused, and Robert Sacks as tournament director agreed, stating dinner breaks only if all players agree. Steve Arnawoodian brought Kentucky Fried Chicken back, and Kathy and Woody shamelessly waived chicken legs at the other side. The enemy alliance sold out for a DIAS draw in order to have some of their chicken! ((hahahahhh!!!! I had never heard THAT one before!))
Sometime after I relocated to the Philadelphia area, my interest in the hobby waned. The Carusos and the Courtemanches also relocated to the Delaware Valley. It figures that after ``The East Coast Clique" unites, it died with a whimper rather than a bang. It's just the inevitable as people's lives, families and interests change. Even though my contact with Kathy and John had diminished, she was the type of person who would welcome you with open arms and heart whenever we met.
| All the best, Tom Swider, 1810 Rittenhouse Square #1210, Philadelphia, PA 19103, 215-545-3216, tswider of voicenet.com |
Rod Walker (Sunday, September 08, 2002 8:48 PM)
I was really sorry to hear this. I always liked Kathy, even when we were fighting ... she was always honest and forthright (except when playing Dip, of course).
Edi Birsan (Sun, 01 Sep 2002 22:45:11 -0700)
Sad times recently. The last time and the only time I played a game with Kathy was the last Diplomacy World invitational game that I played. ((Really? I remember that game very, very well, but I'm surprised to know that it was your only game together where you had that brilliant GR alliance going and it seemed like your phone negotiation preferences and Kathy's were matched perfectly!)) In that game I had a lot of wonderful conversations and plots with Kathy as her Germany and my Russia rolled over the board. There had been two 1901 NMRs and we wanted the players to simply call the game right there and then as this was not what a demonstration game was suppose to be. There were some rather intense people there who refused so we crushed everyone and forced them to accept a two way draw between us. She was a fun person to game with and a kindred spirit for myself out of the City ((New York)). She was a gracious host the one time I met her and her family and the hobby will certainly miss her sense of humor and balance in knowing that it was game that could be played to win, but was still always a game.
| Edi Birsan, Edi of mgames.com |
((Edi would definitely be on my all-time top board along with Kathy, Toby Harris, Mark Fassio, and Gary Behnen (I intentionally leave two spots vacant because I'm sure that I am leaving some people out that I later would demand to include and adding more to that list conjures up lots and lots of names). Edi perhaps is unique among these five people in his complete ability to ``rise above the fray" and really embody that idea of how the game must be played ruthlessly to win if it is to be played well - but also remembering that it is still just a game. Kathy, at times, perhaps did get herself in trouble ``outside the game'' and I add one final note from Mark Berch that captures some of that schizophrenia. I think Mark needs to tell his story as well, though surely some of you might wish to skip over some of it that highlights Kathy's fierce loyalty when it sometimes caused problems. I do think Mark's account is balanced, while also very clearly from his point of view.))
Mark Berch (Thu, 12 Sep 2002 10:43:39 -0400)
Dear Jim,
I was very sorry to hear about the death of Kathy Caruso. I greatly appreciate you publishing those reminiscences, which brought back many memories and I learned some new things too. I want to write first on something that wasn't much touched on, Kathy's immense impact on the hobby.
Kathy gave generously of her time to the hobby. She was for over a year a co-Director of the Orphan games Service, which can be an unpleasant job if you encounter people at their worst (failing GMs, angry players). Kathy's marvelous social skills were surely of value there. She was the Boardman Number Custodian for well over a year, which can be a great deal of work. She made the crucial, and difficult decision to give Boardman Numbers to electronic mail games (then called PBEM), which had started up in Dot Happy!, meaning that these games would be rated along with regular postal games. This somewhat controversial decision prevented hobby fragmentation, and in my opinion, she was right on the issue and was acting for the best interest of the hobby. She also agreed to take over at DW when Walker could not handle it any longer, tho that lasted for only a few issues.
Kathy also contributed to a good number of zine fakes (including one done of my own zine) a popular form of hobby humor in the late 70s and early 80s. ((Which careful readers of last issue ALSO will have seen reborn, if only as a one shot idea.)) She sent many, many letters for publications and wrote a fair amount of press, so she helped many zines in this way.
Special mention should be made of Kathy's Korner. This was the most lively ``personalities" column the hobby had ever had (I speak here as an archivist who was quite familiar with the hobby's literature both here and in Britain). It focused largely on her friends, but that was a pretty big category! But there was never a sense of ``in group" about it. Even if you were new to the hobby, if you crossed paths with Kathy, you could figure on getting teased or whatever in Kathy's Korner. Her column was one of the true focal points of the hobby's personalities. It did a particularly entertaining job describing various cons, formal and informal that she had been at, and gave people who couldn't possibly go a real sense of what happened there. It's entirely possible that people were encouraged to host one of their own after reading about them in KK.
Your writers, one after another, spoke of many positive interactions with Kathy, and that was certainly the hobby norm. My interactions with her were for the most part negative. One of the first contacts that I had with her was when I learned that Kathy was saying I was accusing her of rigging the 1980 Zine Poll. I finally got her on the phone. She was very pleasant to talk to, but she would not back down. I asked her who it was that I was supposedly telling this to, but she would not say, citing confidentiality! She insisted that I had made calls to people, which was so peculiar because I rarely used the phone for hobby business (I had only called her because she hadn't answered my letter).
But at least that one she never put into print; other times she did. In the summer of 1982, Kathy resigned as co-Director of the Orphan service, and in a letter published in Appalling Greed, she blasted me for opposing her efforts to place the failing games of Glenn Overby. I was astounded by the accusation. In a Whitestonia editorial, she complained that I was someone trying to prevent her from naming Lee Kendter, Sr as the new BNC. I had no idea why she was publishing these things. Strangely, while she never retracted the accusations, a few months would pass and I would suddenly be back in her good graces. It was the most tempestuous and difficult relationship I had in the hobby. When things were going well, she would publish my humor items in Whitestonia. When she got pissed off at me, she would go and publish in Whitestonia some letter of mine which was Off The Record. Sometimes other people got caught up in this. For example, at one ByrneCon she passed around some Off The Record letters written to her by me and Mark Larzelere told me about it. When I wrote to Kathy about this to complain and at least find out which letters these were, she got pissed off at poor Larzelere. It was very odd. She'd go editorializing in her column about how terrible it was to be labeling letters as DNQ, and yet she wrote DNQ letters to me.
((I cannot help but editorialize a bit here about how I finally rid myself of the ``Off the Record" plague. I declared (and still hold to) the idea that ANYTHING written to me by or about the hobby is written to me ON the record. If you want it to be off the record or do not quote, don't write it to me. This has served The Abyssinian Prince extremely well over the years, and may be a major reason why I am the sole surviving major personality oriented publisher from that period of the hobby. This of course does not mean that I publish everything I receive, but you have to work with my judgment and that fact. The second thing that I thought of and still use today is the requirement that in these pages I must be abused at least as much as any other player or person is abused. Technically, I could be forcing Mark Berch to abuse me as well... ;-) but let him go on. This next part I thought long and hard about whether to print at all, but I did in the end decide that Mark presented what he wanted to say about it in a way that does not bring others into the story. That seems fair, but please, let's all not dredge that singularly destructive event back up in any extensive way. If you want to do it, you need to attack me at least as much as you attack anyone else.))
All that changed with the ``sick letter" affair. This was the most sensational accusation that the hobby had ever seen, and it triggered the most pervasive and damaging feud in hobby history. I investigated the best I could. Kathy's flyer had said that ``proof is available to anyone". I wrote Kathy 3 times asking for the proofs (the flyer had several other charges, but the ``sick letter" was the most poisonous accusation). None was ever provided - I offered $50 for a copy of the letter - and the last of the letters was returned to me marked ``refused", a tactic that Kathy was to use sporadically throughout our relationship. Kathy never described what the letter actually said, but a number of her friends did, and their descriptions greatly differed. When Don Del Grande asked Kathy point blank (in July 1985) where the letter was, she told him that she had already answered that question to me in February 1984, which was an absolute falsehood, and fairly bizarre, since Kathy didn't even make this charge public till summer of 1984. Another hobbyist, whose name I no longer remember, told me that Kathy had informed him that she had told me all about the letter in a phone call. This too was false, although I think that the hobbyist believed Kathy rather than me. She also told Del Grande that she had contacted the New York Postal Authorities about me! I published updates on this story when I could get new information. The bottom line was, once I initially published the results of my investigation, my relationship with her was destroyed, never to recover.
More conflicts between Kathy and myself were to follow. With one exception, there actually wasn't much she could do to me. She castigated my zine, but I ran no games, and only lost a handful of subbers.
The one exception was Diplomacy World. Rod Walker could not put the zine out any longer, and turned the editorship over to Kathy. I thought this was a very good choice for DW, and said so in print. I was the Strategy and Tactics editor of DW at the time, but Kathy refused to send me anything to edit. And my own submissions for DW were returned to me unopened. I told Rod I was going to have to resign my post because I couldn't actually do anything in such circumstances, and Rod was able to patch this up.
But not other things. By the late fall of 1984, I became the subject of an intense stream of accusations, invectives, and bizarre analysis of my thought processes in Kathy's Korner/Whitestonia by Kathy (and John). By the winter I was barred from responding to any of this - in fact, I was under strict instructions not to write to either Kathy or John (except on DW matters). There was nothing I could do about this, and in fact, Kathy did this in some other zines like Politesse where I wasn't always permitted to reply either.
I was not able to get any resolution in my conflicts with Kathy. For example, Kathy ordinarily delighted in fakes. But when the fake DW #40 came out, Kathy was enraged at me because I had contributed a piece to the fake. I tried to point out that the piece was a story which she had already rejected for the real DW. To no avail: Kathy began refusing my DW mail again, which I had to get Larry Peery to fix, although Kathy left DW soon afterward. Other irritants were to follow. With the generally improved tone in the hobby by mid-1987, I put out a feeler via a hobbyist who happened to be on good terms with both of us (I still wasn't allowed to write her directly), to find out if Kathy wanted to either try to resolve some the old conflicts, or just officially bury them without resolution and start afresh. The poor guy was angrily told that if he ever mentioned my name to her again that she'd cut off his Whitestonia sub.
It just wouldn't go away. For example, what should appear in the Spring of 1989 in Everything, the official journal of the BNC, but a letter from Kathy, complete with nasty name calling and labeling me as one of the two biggest problems in the hobby. I never was able to do anything to fix matters with her, and now I never will be able to.
Finally, note that Kathy was a consummate diplomat at both postal and over the board play. If someone could magically reach across the decades, across the living and the dead, and assemble a dream game of the 7 best diplomats of all time, there, along with the likes of Walt Buchanan and Edi Birsan, would be, playing Italy, Kathy Caruso.
| - Mark L. Berch mberch of mac.com |
((Thanks, Mark, I really do appreciate all of the effort you made to write this fair and balanced letter from your point of view. I'm glad to have you back in touch with a hobby that continues to expand. Show up at a face-to-face tournament in your area (there are a lot of them these days), you might find you like it! Now, I need to finish off this section with the announcement of another hobby obituary. Our dear friend John Schultz had a very unlucky Friday, the 13th of September, after a week of hunting I finally tracked down a newspaper with the full story at (Sunday, September 15, 2002):
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/yrtwn/south/157syt3.htm
The quote from the story in the Daily Southtown by Alice Hohl: ``Friday afternoon, a Valparaiso man died after cargo he was carrying on his motorcycle became caught in the motorcycle, police said. John Schultz, 51, of the 600 block of Crest Drive, was riding his 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle southeast on Interstate 80 near Halsted Street, police said. Schultz had a bag and a sleeping bag tied to the passenger seat of his motorcycle, police said, and the load shifted while he was riding, police said. Some of the items became entangled in the rear wheel or the belt drive system, causing Schultz to lose control and be thrown from the motorcycle, police said. Schultz was not wearing a helmet, police said. An autopsy conducted Saturday concluded Schultz died of multiple injuries from the accident.'' Please send condolences to his wife Rose Schultz at 692 Crest Dr., Valparaiso, IN 46383.))
Phil Reynolds (Mon, 16 Sep 2002 13:20:46 -0700 (PDT))
Jim - John Schultz, our endearing ex-con? Wow. I just got orders from him a few days ago - he was switching to a Yahoo account. (I'll have to check my downloaded files.) DEFINITELY KEEP ME INFORMED, PLEASE. I think I was one of the first hobby people contacted by John - I think he got my first issue of Dipadeedoodah! back in January 1989, and I've corresponded with him ever since (though usually dictated by deadlines or different things happening to him in prison or getting paroled). We even talked about him coming down to Florida to see my in the next year or two. Hard to believe.... How did you find out about this?
| - Phil, preyno of yahoo.com |
((His wife Rose called Paul Milewski, just because it was a name she didn't recognize in his address book and was relatively close geographically. Paul told me and I told all of you. Here's two brief undated comments from two of my closest friends to finish this off.... Don being serious and Steve Emmert reminding me that life is all about the living and the risk taking, but we all hope we can take risks AND live a long time....let me end with a favorite quote of the economist and hero of mine, Friedrich Hayek, ``Man is not and never will be the master of his fate: his very reason always progresses by leading him into the unknown and unforeseen where he learns new things.''))
Don Williams:
I knew John better a few years back when he was still in prison. This is
unbelievable. And tragic. I don't know if I want to know more or not. I
hope the obits stop soon.
Steve Emmert's Future Obituary: ``Steve Emmert, aged 114, of Virginia Beach, died yesterday, shot by a jealous husband."
And now I finally get to the usual header stuff.
I decided to can the sub price increase, the postal rate increase
really is peanuts, or it seems so at the 3-5 ounce level that I live it.
So, no problem, let's keep selling subs when I can at this price.
You all know that I'm an incredible softie anyway.
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).
NOTE: 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://diplom.org/DipPouch/
I also have taken over the Postal portion of the Pouch: http://diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/
and TAP on the web is there at: http://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 has grabbed and reserved the HIGHLY prized name: www.szine.com!! David Wang's site used to be the best place to follow John Caruso's postal baseball league that I am in. BUT, the site has not been updated as well in recent times. THE place to follow the league now is DICKIE-POO 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. Really, you can. John's E-Mail address also is commishjohn of att.net if you want to send him E-Mail after all that. But as I said, he would prefer if most of the tributes and notes get published here. The future of the League of course is a bit up in the air, though it looks like we will finish the season. Last week John demanded (and we obey ALL his demands) that we attempt to behave ``normally'', so we resumed our puffed up touting of our teams in E-Mail chat. But I was telling Kathy all season that I wanted to face her in the World Series, and of course that will no longer be possible. Kathy won three World Series in this league over the years, most recently just last year.
Peter Sullivan's subszine is currently ``in stasis", although all the back issues can be accessed via :
http://www.manorcon.demon.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 BERRY RENKEN |
Find him and win the fifty buck prize!! You have until Issue number 265 - that's NEXT issue boys and girls!
Feel free to spend the time looking for some of the backlog. Let's get Tom, Bill, Gregory, Kevin, Al, and Jerry found too!!! Note that Brenton Ver Ploeg 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 Tom Hurst or Bill Quinn or Gregory Stewart or 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, 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 b.whyte of pgrad.unimelb.edu.au (same university where John Cain works!) or by mail to send checks at: Geography Dept., University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, AUSTRALIA. This should help out my Australian subbers!!
| WORLDMASTERS00 SECTION (with other Tournament Info) |
Worldmasters 2000 Email Diplomacy Tournament Finals Underway!!
This is possibly the most prestigious and hard fought E-Mail tournament around (only challenged by Doug Massey's Vermont Group Tournaments or the Australian E-Mail Tournament), now with FOUR full rounds. The final players (with current SC standing, which is what counts in a C-Diplo based tournament) are:
AUSTRIA: Jack Brawner - Find Jack at TrojanOwl of aol.com, and he is not doing very well as I see it, but he still is hanging on to 5 centers at the end of 1909. What happens to him next??
ENGLAND: Mike Weinzimer - Find Mike at mweinzimer of yahoo.com, and he continues his amazing comeback back to 4 centers at the end of 1909, but is he out of trouble?
FRANCE: Erlend ``Joe'' Janbu - Find Joe at janbu of online.no, and he is still hanging on to 6 centers at the end of 1909 and it looks like he is teetering between waiting to make a final surge and collapsing under multiple attacks. We'll find out which soon!
GERMANY: Douglas Vaughan - Find Douglas at vaughan4 of mindspring.com, and after his surge to seven he now is collapsing down to 5 centers at this point, at the end of 1909, did his being really, really sneaky catch up to him??
ITALY: Egbert ``Egg'' Ferreira - You can find Egg at egbert of salavip.com.br, and he was eliminated at the end of 1907, poor, poor Egg....
RUSSIA: Darren Koch - You can find the Aussie Darren at koch_family of bigpond.com, and he still is holding strong at 7 centers at the end of 1909, and he finally has his second fleet back.
TURKEY: Frank Johansen - Find Frank at frank.johansen of diplomacy.no, and he continues his strong move up, back to 7 centers at the end of 1909, as his comeback continues.
The wondrous Peter Richardson pjrich of ntlworld.com is the GM. If you want to follow the game, send an E-Mail to mailserver of cat23.com with the following message:
subscribe wm00-results
The history of the WorldMasters tournament is that it is not necessarily THE best player who wins, but the format and style seem to reward effort. The player who works the hardest likely will win. Jack, Joe, and Douglas all look good at this point, with Egg out and Mike struggling to survive. I know lots of you can't stand C-Diplo, but that's the way it works.... I think the game goes until 1912, so there is lots more play in it, though France looks quite strong.
| 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.
In what I believe is a RECENT change, Hasbro also has been putting the rules to Diplomacy up on their web page along with rules for most of their other games. Not only that, but they have the ``current'' as well as an older version of the rules there. Stephen Agar has matched that and more with some of the even older rulebooks. Check these out if you like:
http://www.hasbro.com/default.asp?x=cc_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:
http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/old_rulebooks.htm
| Check out the new Diplomacy World - www.diplomacyworld.org |
The Spring issue is out!!! For future issues, I'm also still looking for WRITERS!!! Please!!! You don't want me to turn into Larry Peery, do you?? But thanks to Larry for an article that appears in this latest issue.
If you want to subscribe in paper form at $3 per issue, North American subs should be sent to David Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033, USA. Stephen Agar is handling international postal subscriptions and you can write to him at: 47 Preston Drove, Brighton, BN1 6LA, UK. Issues from Stephen will cost you 2 GBP in the UK and 3 GBP for the rest of the world. Or subscribe electronically at diplomacyworld at Yahoo Groups!
The Hobby Awards balloting is completed. See the ballot at:
http://diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/BALLOT02.html
We had around 75 voters again this year, most of whom expended quite a bit of effort researching nominees to make informed votes. I want to be sure I have notified all of the winners personally before I announce them here and want to do so at the top of the szine, so I will hold off until next issue.
rec.games.diplomacy exchange (Mon, 2 Sep 2002 18:27:48 -0400 (EDT))
Stephen Agar (stephenagar of hotmail.com):
Allan, Could you spare the time to give your view on how to adjudicate the following situations - as you can see they all depend on how you treat the coast designations in each situation.
Turkey: F Con-Bul(ec)
Russia: A Rum S Turkish F Con-Bul(sc)
Austria: A Bul Holds
Turkey: F Con-Bul(ec)
Russia: A Rum S Turkish F Con-Bul
Austria: A Bul Holds
Turkey: F Con-Bul(ec); A Rum S F Con-Bul
Austria: A Bul Holds
| Many thanks. Regards, Stephen |
Allan Calhamer:
Dear Stephen:� I would consider the supports in the first two cases no good, since I think allies should be in evident agreement on the moves.� The support in the third case I would consider good.
| Best regards,�Allan |
Doug Massey (29 Aug 2002 15:38:26 GMT)
| Boston FtF Diplomacy, October 19-20 |
Hi everyone, The Diplomatic Incident is taking a break this autumn, so we're arranging a Boston-area Diplomacy get-together to satisfy the area players' addictions. If you're interested, please join the Yahoo Mailing list ``MADip-L" by going to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MADip-L
We plan on playing at least two boards of Diplomacy on Saturday, October 19, and Sunday, October 20. The location is currently scheduled to be Avi Pfeffer's home, near the Alewife MBTA station in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Signed up to play so far: Avi Pfeffer, Chris Campbell, David Maletsky, David Norman, Doug Massey, Ian Caines, Jay Furr, Melissa Nicholson, Mike Boutot, Robert Rouse, Taylor Hayward, Tim Goodwin, Tony Vila, Jim Burgess, and Travis Wiebe. ((I know this list already is out of date by at least three people, so we likely will have three boards or MORE! Come play with MEEEEEEE!!!!))
The more the merrier - join the mailing list and sign up to play! Spread the word! Tell your friends! Bring some newbies!
| Doug, http://doug.obscurestuff.com |
Jay Furr (Sun, 01 Sep 2002 00:43:47)
It is also worth mentioning that Doug Massey will be arriving at the game (Boston FtF Diplomacy, October 19-20) duct-taped to the hood of my 1992 Oldsmobile and will remain there throughout the game(s), issuing his orders through a bullhorn or megaphone of some kind, TBD.
The things some folks do to prove how ``hardcore" they can be. I tell you.
| Jay, jfurr of furrs.org |
Don Greenwood (Tue, 17 Sep 02 09:40:41 -0400)
BPA PBeM NEWS from BPA September News
PBeM DIPLOMACY: Manus Hand (manus of diplom.org) will be running the 2003 BPA PBEM Diplomacy tournament. Sign up by 19 December 2002. Players will be involved in three games simultaneously. Games will proceed at one movement phase per week, with the tournament ending on or before 4 July 2003. For more information and to sign up, go to: http://www.diplom.org/manus/bpa.
All BPA PBeM tournaments require BPA membership when the event starts. Associate yearly memberships enabling play in PBeM events cost only $10. You need not keep your membership current in order to finish the event.
Visit the BPA website at http://www.boardgamers.org
| Don, doncon99 of pop.toad.net |
bf Jamie McQuinn (Tue, 10 Sep 2002 09:34:30 -0400)
Rubicon Games VI will be October 11-13 at my home in Dayton, Ohio; Friday 8:00pm till Sunday 7:00pm
Email : jamie4home of hotmail.com
We play any sort of board games, however, we have not played Dip in the last couple years, as there don't seem to be enough Dip players in the Dayton area. Crash space available, so, if enough Dipsters show up, I'd love to get a game going.
Games played in previous years: Diplomacy, Colonial Diplomacy, Empire Builder, History of the World, Shogun, Settlers of Catan, Cheapass Card Games, Kremlin, Civlization, Murphy's Magic Island, Robo Rally, ... and more!
| Hope to see you there! Jamie, jamie4home of hotmail.com |
| MUSIC AND MOVIES SECTION (WITH COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTS AND SOCIETY) |
Tell me anything you like about the year of 2000 or 2001 in music. List a top two, a top ten, or a top 100, I don't care, just tell me something!! Mine will continue soon!!! Really, it will. And it will continue to be a joint 2000 and 2001 issue.
Steve Langley (Mon, 2 Sep 2002 18:49:52 EDT)
``My Big Fat Greek Wedding" - a movie
Nia Vardalos wrote and created the role of Toula Portokalos. She is brilliant. The writing is so funny and her acting is so perfect that she has crafted a really sweet funny fine movie. What is really remarkable is that she did it without a key plot element. There is no real conflict here. We expect protagonist and antagonist to make a plot work. Forget it. See it!
((The father and the Greek culture itself were the antagonist.... the Greeks invented drama, don't you think they know the rules? And my it took you a long time to see this one. I've seen it twice already!))
You are right about who the antagonist was meant to be, but he took a dive in the first and was never seen again. There was really no conflict. Papa was destroyed for about 15 seconds, and then he got over it. Really?
My work schedule conspired against me, what can I say?
| Steve, Steflan of aol.com |
Steve Langley (Mon, 2 Sep 2002 18:59:34 EDT)
``S1m0ne" - a movie
The premise that a digitally created actor can be made so real that she becomes a star isn't that hard to believe. There is a whole lot of digital work being done now to make actors a bit more buff, a bit more attractive, appear to do their own stunts. How hard is it to go to the next step? The computers are there. Can the programs be far behind?
The story is a bit thin. They chose a drop dead gorgeous person for `Simone' and Al Pacino always delivers an excellent role, but I really never saw why `Simone' was such a popular phenomenon. Because the script said so has never carried a whole lot of weight.
Still, funny at times, and Al Pacino... Worth a look.
| Steve, Steflan of aol.com |
Steve Langley (Sun, 15 Sep 2002 20:03:36 EDT)
``One Hour Photo" - a movie
Mark Romanek as writer and director gets all the credit for as fine a bit of audience manipulation as I have ever seen.
The movie starts with Sy Parrish (Robin Williams) under arrest and awaiting questioning. The audience knows that he has done something but there is no clue exactly as to what, except that he took photos, and the photos are now evidence.
Sy's lawyer hasn't arrived yet, and the detective cautions him that he doesn't have to answer, but that he has just one question. ``Why?"
The rest of the movie is Sy's explanation. Sy is a little nebbish of a man. He has no life beyond the photo lab he runs in a Savemart. His boss doesn't like him because Sy costs Savemart too much in his attempts at the perfect print. Sy has no family, no friends, no interests other than his hobby.
His hobby? He is a stalker. He has been stalking one family from a great distance. He stalks them through their family photos. One entire wall of his apartment is dedicated to all of their photos down through the years.
He loves these people. He imagines himself as part of their family. He's `Uncle Sy'. Then almost at the same moment he loses his job and he discovers that the husband in his perfect family has been cheating on his wife.
Sy goes a little more insane at that point.
Really outstanding visual presentation throughout. If I have to pick a weakness it is in the photos taken by young Jake (Dylan Smith). They didn't look like pictures taken by a nine year old. They looked like pictures taken by a professional photographer who knew that they would all appear in a feature film, and who wanted every shot to be imaginative, colorful, and perfectly composed.
| Steve, Steflan of aol.com |
Steve Langley (Sun, 22 Sep 2002 18:44:43 EDT)
``Ballistic : Ecks vs Sever" - a movie
Definitely a `B' movie. Long on action, short on plot. In fact the stories have such huge holes that you just have to ignore them and let the action carry the show.
I have no idea where the title came from. ``Postal: Ecks and Sever against the bad guys" was probably too long, but lots closer to what it was about.
Gregg Henry as `Robert Gant' the villainous super agent shadow government guy who pulls all the strings from NSA through FBI down to local law enforcement was lots of fun. He sneers and smiles so evilly. The character was such a terrible person you have to wonder why his faithful gang didn't just blow him away, first. He certainly didn't mind getting any of them killed.
Antonio Banderas as `Jeremiah Ecks' tried to make more of the role than was really there. He can actually act. But it doesn't matter in this case.
Lucy Liu as `Sever' was most of the show. She is fantastic whether knocking down the bad guys with her martial arts, or taking them out with her trusty grenade launcher.
Best line in the movie. She is showing Ecks her arsenal and he asks where she got all the ordinance. ``Some women buy shoes," was her response.
She was a trained assassin, raised from infancy to be a weapon, without compassion or morality (at least that's what the movie claimed). She was Gant's tool to remove obstacles. When she took time out to have a baby he decided that the child would be a distraction, and so had it killed.
Just how intelligent is it to piss off a killing machine?
Still, great action.
| Steve, Steflan of aol.com |
Warren T. Goesle (Wed, 28 Aug 2002 10:30:37 -0400)
Jim-Bob, As I write it is 48 hours before the MLB strike deadline. From here it looks like: 1) There will be a strike. 2) It will be short. 3) It won't solve a darned thing.
Oh, maybe they'll address drug/steroid use, and maybe there will be a luxury tax, but there won't be any major changes. The Yankees will still be able to buy all the free agents they want, and all the free agents that the Red Sox want too. They're talking about a revenue sharing plan that will be in the $250M range. If so, that's still over $1B short of what it needs to be. And my plan just sits on a shelf collecting dust. Sigh.
| Goz, wgoesle of core.com |
((I thought the same thing, that there might be a very short strike, but then we didn't. And I disagree with you, I think the move is significant, more significant than you do.... it may not stop the Yankees, but even a billion wouldn't have stopped the Yankees and it would have bankrupted the Red Sox.))
Warren T. Goesle (Thu, 29 Aug 2002 11:27:23 -0400)
Jim-Bob, I just found this on ESPN's Useless Information Dept:
``Kip Wells just became the Pirates' first 12-game winner in three years (since Todd Ritchie did it in 1999). In that period in which the Pirates had no 12-game winners, the Yankees had eight."
Feel free to comment on baseball's inequities.
((Goz, I will..... strike settled.... let's see what it does, it will have SOME effect. Pirates front office stinks.... see Oakland that has three pitchers with more than 12 wins with the same size payroll....))
Of COURSE it will have SOME effect. Joe Torre will get to earn another job managing next year's AL All-Stars.
| Goz, wgoesle of core.com |
((That's not an ``effect'', and Joe Torre ain't managin' no 2003 All Stars.... Go, Oakland, you will note I predicted THEM to win the West and I think get into the World Series.... may they win 30 straight!!! The Yankees are badly flawed without Rivera and with those starting pitchers. Admittedly, when they retool the pitching staff next year they will do it faster than anyone else can, but who'd a thunk that they'd go belly up for lack of middle relief. Torre doesn't think he has ANY help in the middle innings and he's gonna kill his starters. Did you see what he did to Mussina yesterday? Made him come back after 100 pitchers and a 1.5 hour rain delay!!!))
Harold Reynolds (Thu, 12 Sep 2002 07:22:36 -0400)
I actually have a contribution to the music sections. As usual, it's rather different from your usual offering. 8-) ((Maybe reading it will help convince Goz and his new wife and baby to stick around the szine....))
The Wiggles, Live! is the name of the show, which my wife, kids and I took in. For those readers without small children, The Wiggles is a group of four Australian children's entertainers, along with various sidekicks, and is apparently wildly popular in Oz. (Loath as I am to admit it, I enjoy their TV show and tapes too...)
They have been making a North American tour for most of the summer, with sold- out shows everywhere they go. On August 27 they had two shows at the Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place in Toronto. The one-hour show had masses of toddlers dancing in their seats to all of their favourite songs and banter. The audience gleefully participated in helping to ``wake up" Jeff (the purple- shirted one) and Captain Feathersword.
The group also had something for the parents, in which the Captain had to sing his signature tune, which goes like ``Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack-cock-a- doodle-doo", to various songs like ``Bohemian Rhapsody", Celine Dion's Titanic song, ``Start Me Up", Teletubbies, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a few others. All in all, it was an enjoyable show for all. The ``stroller park" employees are the unsung heros, as they managed to safely store and extract about 900 strollers for each show.
| Harold, harold of generation5.net |
Harry Andruschak (Fri, 30 Aug 2002 07:42:38 EDT)
Well, after 15 years of renting a bedroom from my landlady for $500/month, I am moving. She has sold the 3 bedroom house, and I am required to be out by Sunday 15 September. The new owners arrive Monday 16 September. I paid my new apartment manager, Martha Buls, $720 for the first month's rent. I will be paying all utilities. She showed me the apartment. It was a mess, courtesy of the previous tenants. She assured me that it would be cleaned up by Saturday 14 September so that I could start moving in. I would prefer not to have such a tight deadline, but there it is.
But it is a comfortable apartment. Not fancy, but neither a hovel. I've already met some of my new neighbors, they seem a sedate bunch. Some have been living here for over 30 years. The apartment manager likes quiet stability, the tenants like quiet stability, and I like quiet stability. If all goes well, this is where Pearly and I will live together, and die. End of the line. Even if I get out of Chapter 13 in three years, my credit is ruined forever, and I will never be able to finance a home, condo, or even a mobile home. So this is the end.
It has a large bedroom, larger then what I am living in now. Small kitchen, ideal for a bachelor like myself. A substantial living room, a small but fully equipped bathroom, and a small room that could be a den or a guest bedroom. For now it will be Pearly's ``safe room", where she will stay while the rest of the move is in progress, and maybe for a few days afterwards as she settles down.
Harry Andruschak, 734 W. 214th Street, Apartment 12-A, Carson, CA 90745.
yes, the apartment complex has apartments 12, 12-A, and 14. No 13. Of course, Apartment 12-A should really have been 13, but you know how superstitious some people are. I'm not, so I asked Chuck Nimitz, the guy who cleans and maintains the apartment complex, if I could have the number changed to 13. He said he would check with Martha about that.
My brother and my nieces will help with the move on 14/15 September, which is after all only a few blocks from where I currently live. My landlady decided to sell me some of the leftover furniture. It is quite shabby, but she made me an offer of $250 for a sofa, a few chairs, several lamps, tables, microwave oven, and other assorted stuff. Shabby but functional, and I hope the Chapter 13 Trustee and Judge will both find this an acceptable use of funds.
Shabby but functional seems to sum up my current Chapter 13 lifestyle anyhow. And of course I will still be able to attend all the AA meetings I have established myself at for the last 15 years.
| Harryandruschak of aol.com |
| LAWYERS: THE AMATEUR DIVISION - 2000G - GUEST GM: RUSS RUSNAK |
2000G, No Lawyers Welcome, Spring 1913
Austrian/ Russian draw defeated
Austria Bob Osuch ROsuch4082 of aol.com A Smyrna - ANKARA A Greece - CONSTANTINOPLE F AEGEAN SEA Convoy A Greece - Constantinople A BURGUNDY - Munich fails, bounces off Russian A Munich A Trieste -VIENNA A ALBANIA -Serbia bounces off Army Serbia A Bohemia - GALICIA A RUMANIA Support A Bohemia - Galicia A TYROLIA - Bohemia bounces with Russian A Silisia A SERBIA unordered
France Paul Rauterberg trauterberg of wi.rr.com A Paris - GASCONY F Picardy - BREST F North Atlantic (dislodged) - Mid Atlantic bounces off Russian F Mid Atlantic F English Channel(dislodged) Support F North Atlantic - Mid Atlantic cut by F London
Italy Jim Burgess burgess of TheWorld.com F Ionian Sea - EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA F WESTERM MEDITTERANEAN - Mid-Atlantic , bounces off Russian F Mid Atlantic F Adriatic Sea - IONIAN SEA A VENICE - Tyrolia bounces off Austrian A Tyrolia F Tyrrhenian Sea - GULF OF LYON A SPAIN Support French A Paris-Gascony cut by Russian F Mid Atlantic
Russia Brendan Mooney bkmooney of comcast.net F Norwegian - NOTH ATLANTIC F CLYDE Support F Norwegian - North Atlantic F London - ENGLISH CHANNEL F NORTH SEA Support F London -English Channel, A Holland -RUHR A BELGIUM Support A Holland -Ruhr, A SILISIA -Bohemia, bounces with Austrian a Tyrolia A MUNICH Support Army Silisia -Bohemia, cut by Austrian A Burgundy A BERLIN Support Army Munich, A WARSAW -Galicia, bounced By Austrian A Vienna supported by A Rumania F Sevastopol - BLACK SEA A Edinburgh - LIVERPOOL F MID ATLANTIC -Spain (sc), bounces off Italian A Spain A ARMENIA Hold.
Summer 1913 Retreats are due on Thursday, September 5th
2000G, No Lawyers Welcome, Summer 1913
Austria Bob Osuch ROsuch4082 of aol.com
Has A Ankara, A Constantinople, F Aegean Sea, A Burgundy, A Vienna,
A Albania, A Galicia, A Rumania, A Tyrolia, A Serbia
France Paul Rauterberg trauterberg of wi.rr.com Retreat F English Channel - Picardy Retreat F North Atlantic Ocean - Irish Sea Has A Paris, F Brest, F Irish Sea, F Picardy
Italy Jim Burgess burgess of TheWorld.com Has F Eastern Mediterranean Sea, F Western Mediterranean Sea, F Ionian Sea A Venice, F Gulf of Lyon, A Spain
Russia Brendan Mooney bkmooney of comcast.net Has F North Atlantic Ocean, F English Channel, F Clyde, F North Sea, A Ruhr A Belgium, A Silisia, A Munich, A Berlin, A Warsaw, F Black Sea, A Armenia F Mid Atlantic Ocean, A Liverpool
Fall 1913 orders are due on Wednesday, September 25th
Winter 1912 supply center chart
Austria 10 Smyrna, Constantinople, Vienna, Budapest, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ankara, Trieste, Rumania,
France 4 Brest, Paris, Marseilles, Liverpool
Italy 6 even Rome, Naples, Venice, Tunis, Spain, Portugal
Russia 14 Berlin, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Sweden, Denmark, Warsaw, Norway, Moscow, Edinburgh, Kiel, Holland, Belgium, Munich, Rome
Russ Rusnak 1551 High Ridge Parkway Westchester, Il 60154
GM 708 409-0718 RRRRRUSNAK of AOL.com
Bob Osuch 19137 Midland Ave. Mokena, Il. 60448 AUSTRIA 708 478-3885 ROsuch4082 of aol.com
Bruce Linsey PO Box 234 Kinderhook, NY 12106 ENGLAND GonzoHQ of aol.com
Paul Rauterberg 3116 W. Amer. Dr. Greenfield, WI 53221 FRANCE 414-691-4264 trauterberg of wi.rr.com
Mike Barno 634 Dawson Hill Road Spencer, NY 14883 GERMANY 607 589-4906 mpbarno of lightlink.com
Jim Burgess 664 Smith Street Providence, RI 02908 ITALY 401 351-0287 burgess of world.std.com
Brendan Mooney bkmooney of comcast.net RUSSIA
| 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:
Bruce Linsey, 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, Kevin Wilson, Heath Gardner, Phil Reynolds, Paul Kenny, and Dan Gorham stand by for regular Diplomacy.
Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Jim Sayers, and Kurt Ozog 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 as the following maps are available. Following each in parenthesis is the suggested number of players: Isle of Wight (3 or 4); Netherlands (3 or 4); Northern Italy Map P (4 to 8); Spain Map SP (4 to 7); China Mk. I (6 to 8); Austria (3 or 4); Belgium and Luxembourg (3 or 4); Southern Italy Map Q (4); South Sweden Map SWE (3 or 4); Switzerland (3 or 4). Ripping Yarns Mk III will take the form of a tiny subszine in Word as soon as Rip gets some people interested. Come on, help me out!!! Contact Rip Gooch directly at xyropedes of canada.com.
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. You also can sign up for the next Breaking Away game, which is starting now. Tom Howell currently is signed up, knock off the superstar, come on, you can do it!! So far, Eric Brosius wants to challenge Tom.
John Harrington is offering to guest GM a game of Office Politics. Any interest in that?? Let me or John know! Jody McCullough is still interested, anyone else?
Harold Reynolds is willing to start a game of Colonia and one of Aberration. I think the signup list for Colonia includes me, David Hood, Paul Rauterberg, David Partridge, and (Yes, really!!) Konrad Baumeister. That means we only need four more. In the meantime, Konrad, Paul, and David are playing a ``demo game''. I'll try to get a web address for it in here next time.
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, 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..... Eoghan is getting tired of waiting....
Right now, the other thing I am contemplating getting going is the Modern Diplomacy game with Wings. Rick Desper is the only one signed up for that.
Stephen Agar runs a British Diplomacy mailing list at: http://www.diplomacy.co.uk
and if you are interested, contact Stephen Agar at stephen of meurglys.com or join the Brit hobby mailing list at (aw, you guessed it, another new address): http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/
| I CAN'T FIND MY MONEY!: 2001F, Regular Diplomacy |
THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1903 IS OCTOBER 5TH, 2002
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1904 IS OCTOBER 26TH, 2002
Fall 1903
AUSTRIA (Lockheardt): a TRI h, a BOH S ITALIAN a mun, a gal-SIL,
a RUM S a ukr-sev, a SER S a bul, a BUL s f gre, a UKR-sev,
f GRE s ITALIAN f ion-aeg (nso).
ENGLAND (Heikkinen): f MID s gas-spa(nc), f NTH-bel, f eng-PIC, f gas-spa(nc) (d ann).
FRANCE (Kent): a MAR S a par-gas, a pic-PAR, f BRE-mid, f POR-spa(sc),
a par-GAS, a BEL-bur.
GERMANY (Sayers): a KIE-mun, f den-BAL, a HOL-bel, a BUR s a kie-mun.
ITALY (Méhkeri): a VEN keeps a stiff upper lip (h), f ION S f eas-aeg,
f eas-AEG, a MUN s RUSSIAN f ber-kie (nso), a TUN keeps a stiff upper lip (h).
RUSSIA (Desper): f BER fiddles..no, it diddles (in memory of Johnny Most) (h),
a MOS S TURKISH a sev, a WAR S a mos.
TURKEY (Miller): a SMY-con, f aeg s f con-bul(sc) (d ann),
f CON-bul(sc), a SEV h.
Supply Center Chart
| AUSTRIA (Lockheardt): | TRI,BUD,VIE,ser,gre,rum,bul | (has 8, rem 1) |
| ENGLAND (Heikkinen): | LON,LVP,EDI,nwy | (has 3, bld 1) |
| FRANCE (Kent): | BRE,PAR,MAR,spa,por,bel | (has 6, even) |
| GERMANY (Sayers): | KIE,swe,hol,den | (has 4, even) |
| ITALY (Méhkeri): | ROM,VEN,NAP,tun,mun | (has 5, even) |
| RUSSIA (Desper): | MOS,STP,WAR,ber | (has 3, bld 1) |
| TURKEY (Miller): | ANK,SMY,CON,sev | (has 3, bld 1) |
| Neutral: | none | (Total=34) |
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Chris Lockheardt, 54 Butler Avenue, Maynard, MA 01754, +1 978-897-1547
clockheardt of yahoo.com
ENGLAND: Allan Heikkinen, c/o S.HELEY, 7 / 77 Phillip Street, Waterloo, NSW 2017, AUSTRALIA
aheikkin of ram.net.au
FRANCE: Doug Kent, 1404 E. Lamar Blvd #106, Arlington, TX 76011
dipworld of ix.netcom.com
GERMANY: Jim Sayers, 15 Holdsworth Street, Woollahra 2025, AUSTRALIA
jimp of magna.com.au
ITALY: Dan Méhkeri, 26 DeQuincy Blvd, North York, Ontario, M3H 1Y5, CANADA, +1 416-631-0492
mehkeri of neon.polkaroo.net
RUSSIA: Rick Desper, 319 West Side Dr., #102 Gaithersburg, MD 20878
(301) 977-7691, rick_desper of yahoo.com
TURKEY: Tim Miller, 5454 South Shore Drive, Apt. 222, Chicago, IL 60615, +1 773-834-4597
btmiller of uchicago.edu
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, +1 401-351-0287
burgess of world.std.com
Game Notes:
1) Note Dan/Fool's new E-Mail address.
Press:
(BOOB to WORLD): Looks like everyone is complaining and no one is coordinating. Shall we just declare a seven way draw or are you guys planning to play?? ;-) We'll let you all have your say next....
(FOOL): Sorry, this has just been a lousy week, beginning with illness which resulted in me writing various bits of Diplomacy while drugged, followed by the first round of layoffs at my company (as it turns out I survived), and finished off by a good friend winding up in the hospital.
(BOOB to FOOL): Would it be too low a blow to ask whether anyone can tell the difference between the regular you and the drugged you?? ;-0
(RUSSIA): I am overwhelmed by the non-entity that is Turkish diplomacy. Perhaps I'm secretly hoping that Tim will NMR...?
(FOOL): Oh, and please remember to use mehkeri of neon.polkaroo.net; alternately I've also got a yahoo account fool1901 of yahoo.ca if you don't want to remember how to spell my last name or if the word ``Polkaroo" brings back bad memories.
(BARON to MY PET ROCKS): That's it. I'm done. No more wracking my brains trying to entertain you bunch. When's the last time someone tried to entertain me in this game?
Actually, Tim used to entertain me regularly with his always earnest promises to write me a real letter, ``just as soon as I finish studying for this mid-term." Little did I realize that Tim is majoring in Mid-Term. And it's an eight-year program. Silly me to stab him right before his break. Heck, I bet he cut down his class load to 18 credits or so this summer. But he probably used up all that extra free time by teaching himself how to blink again.
I had to blink back the tears of joy when Dan sent me an actual letter at the start of the game. But since then, all I've gotten from him is, ``Sorry I didn't write you at all this season. I was swamped at work/had a cold/forgot what country I was playing." But hell, I can just read that one letter over and over again. It's due back from the frame shop on Monday. I think it was worth the extra money to spring for the gilt edging.
I'm going to hang it over my computer so I have something to read when my e-mail is empty. Though sometimes when I see I have an e-mail from Rick, I wish it had stayed empty. An e-mail from Rick is like a knock on the door by a Jehovah Witness. You think, ``Gee, it sure is considerate of him to show my welfare such concern," but you know if you open the door and let him in, he's going to be staying a long time.
Of course, not as long as it takes a posted letter to make it from Australia. Closing in on eight months now. I guess mail tends to get lost in the Dreaming. Maybe I should hire an aboriginal guide to lead me to Waterloo and Woollahra. He'd probably laugh at me. For all I know, Waterloo and Woollahra are the Australian equivalent of a Snipe Hunt.
It didn't take the Archbishop long to hunt up a new France. Thank God for Doug. I was beginning to worry that every other game in TAP would have someone sharing morbid accounts of death and dying except for good ol' ICFMM. After reading Doug's first e-mail, my worries were no more. Now we finally fit in!
I just hope I can fit in this shell I just bought. You guys all look so comfy in yours, I had to get one for myself. Have the Archbishop knock on it when we call the EG draw. And if I don't see my shadow when I poke my head out, I might even take a moment to mutter, ``So long, and thanks for the fun game."
(FRANCE - ALL): Diplomacy is a remarkable game. Seven powers, each with their own regional positives and negatives, grapple for supremacy over Europe having only their tactical and diplomatic skills as weapons. That is, unless two of the powers are in bed with each other before they even sign up for the game. Then the game becomes less like a battle of wits and skill, and more like cheating at solitaire.
| SOMETHING TO BE SCARED OF: 2001D, Regular Diplomacy |
THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1905 IS OCTOBER 5TH, 2002
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1906 IS OCTOBER 26TH, 2002
Fall 1905
ENGLAND (Sundstrom): f NWG-nwy, f HOL-kie, f NTH S f hel-den, f hel-DEN, a bel-RUH,
f NWY-swe, f NAO S FRENCH f mid.
FRANCE (Tretick): f spa(sc) s f mid (d r:mar,por,otb), a bur-BEL,
f MID s f spa(sc), a BRE h.
GERMANY (Williams): a KIE s RUSSIAN f den, a BER S a kie, a MUN h.
ITALY (McCullough): a pie-TYO, a VIE-gal, f GOL S f wes-spa(sc), f NAF-mid,
a TRI S TURKISH a ser-bud, f wes-SPA(SC).
RUSSIA (McHugh): NMR, KEVIN WILSON CALLED AS STANDBY; f STP(NC) h, a SWE h, a GAL h,
f den h (d r:ska,bal,otb), a bud h (d ann), a BOH h, f RUM h.
TURKEY (Goesle): a GRE S a alb-ser, a BUL-rum, f tyh-WES, a ser-BUD, f con-BLA, a alb-SER.
Supply Center Chart
| ENGLAND (Sundstrom): | EDI,LVP,LON,nwy,hol,den | (has 7, rem 1) |
| FRANCE (Tretick): | PAR,MAR,BRE,por,bel | (has 3 or 4, bld 2(r:otb) or 1) |
| GERMANY (Williams): | BER,KIE,MUN | (has 3, even) |
| ITALY (McCullough): | ROM,VEN,NAP,tun,tri,vie,spa | (has 6, bld 1) |
| RUSSIA (McHugh): | MOS,STP,SEV,WAR,rum,swe | (has 5 or 6, bld 1(r:otb) or even) |
| TURKEY (O'Donnell): | ANK,SMY,CON,bul,gre,ser,bud | (has 6, bld 1) |
| Neutral: | none | (Total=34) |
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Doug Kent, 1404 E. Lamar Blvd #106, Arlington, TX 76011
dipworld of ix.netcom.com
ENGLAND: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882 ($5)
Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of directvinternet.com
FRANCE: James Alan (Jim) Tretick, 13267 Coppermill Drive, Herndon, VA 20171, (703) 713-1328 ($4)
JTretickGames of aol.com
GERMANY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947 ($3)
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net
ITALY: Jody McCullough, 1071 Brown Avenue, Lafayette, CA 94549-3153
jodymc of telocity.com
RUSSIA: Jack McHugh, P.O. Box 427, Claymont, DE 19703, (302) 792-1998
flapjack of comcast.net
RUSSIA: Standby is Kevin Wilson, 373 Gateford Dr., Ballwin, MO 63021,
ckevinw of aol.com
TURKEY: New is Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com or talonstalkingprey of yahoo.com
Game Notes:
1) Goz resigns with these orders. See Goz's statement in the press, he actually writes the most press and then resigns. Sean O'Donnell is appointed to replace him. Thank you, Sean, for volunteering to standby!!
2) Jack also NMR's and I'm calling Kevin Wilson as a standby. Jack has to get back to me BEFORE the Winter deadline with tentative Spring orders or the standby replaces him. Thanks, Kevin, I know you just asked to go on the list. I hope we don't actually have to use you. I don't think I have your phone number, do I? If so, I cannot find it.
Press:
(EDINBURGH-MOSCOW): This move might not have been smart, but it was just a lot more interesting. If it bombed, I'll be out of your way anyway.
(THE BRUCE-POPE): Poor choice of words on my part. My apologies.
(EDINBURGH-PARIS): Back on track?
(BOOB to EDINBURGH): Perhaps a bit TOO much back on track? Or maybe that was the plan to shift resources.
(TURKEY to RUSSIA): Ok, I wrote, twice in fact, in between job searches. And what thanks do I get? No phone call, no post card, no email, no carrier pigeon. Nada. Zip. Zilch. And you gave my seat at the poker table to Kent for what?
(ITALY to ENGLAND): You got your ``no-lose" situation. But I think it may end up being a ``no-win" situation for you in the end.
(TURKEY to FRANCE): I can't get much out of you, so I thought I'd visit in person. Need a friend?
(ITALY to FRANCE): Don't worry, I'm not ``attacking" you. We're just having a ``staring contest" in Spain.
(TURKEY to ENGLAND): Need a friend?
(ITALY to RUSSIA): I'll be really surprised if you didn't attack me this time. Let's see if you can keep those gains.
(BOOB to JODY): He didn't attack ANYONE this time.
(EDINBURGH CASTLE-MOSQUE HIGH ATOP CONSTANTINOPLE): Your patience is starting to look really smart. You can sweep in behind either of two fights. Completely Useless By September yet again.
(AUSTRIA - ENGLAND): Jack ``Sack" McHugh and I wrote an article for issue 85 of Diplomacy World (www.diplomacyworld.org) entitled ``How To Lose Friends and Irritate People''. I suggest you go read it, and then apply that strategy to Sackiepoo. Write him a letter explaining that you worship the Philadelphia Eagles and you have 4 children all named McNabb. Send him a bottle of the most obscure micro-brew beer you can find. Send him an anonymous email revealing that Warren Goesle is really Garret Schenck with a decent shave. If that doesn't work, try threats - tell Sackie that if he doesn't agree to a 2-way with you, you'll set up a 1-800 line attached to his home number and let Tretick think its the toll free hotline for the Bernie Oaklyn fan club. Now, as Homer Simpson says, let's give toast to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
(BOOB to DOUGIEPOO): Hahahahah!!!! Absolutely, I'll drink to that!!!
(GOZ to BOOB): You're not STILL holding out hope for the Red Sox, are you? What am I saying? Of COURSE you are. You still think they'll beat Cincinnati in '75, and the Mets in '86. You still believe that people other than Joe Torre might manage the AL All-Stars next year. You still think that teams like the Royals have a fair shot at a pennant. That's what I admire in you Jim: blind loyalty. Oh, to have you as an ally in a Dip game... ((You might not say that if you actually experienced it.... but yes, I am a fan and that is the definition. Fans live and die on Yogi Berra's famous words ``It ain't over til the fat lady sings.'' As I write, the Red Sox have been eliminated from the East Division race, so yes the Yankees win that again. But the magic number for the wild card remains at one, which means they have to win them all and the Angels have to lose them all. The Red Sox won again today on Saturday and have Pedro going tomorrow. It ain't over yet.... and finally after all that other press comes Goz's resignation speech....))
(GOZ to BOOB): My life is moving on again, and so must I. I'm still unemployed, but I now have a job offer in the works, and it requires me to move again. I now have to do that with a wife who is due to give birth soon, and who wants me to spend my time on pursuits other than Diplomacy. As such, I must resign from the game. Too bad, as I was enjoying it immensely. But I'm sure you can find someone equally sarcastic to take over the spot. Don't think that I won't still write you every year and tell you that the Yankees will win the World Series though. Take care. ((Take care to you too. We'll miss you! I do need some help to rehouse Goz's games.... since he also is folding his szine. I'd be willing to take some of them.))
| FANTASTIC VOYAGE: 1999K, Regular Diplomacy |
THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1910 IS OCTOBER 5TH, 2002
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1910 IS OCTOBER 26TH, 2002
Spring 1910
AUSTRIA (Rauterberg): a TRI S a bud, a VEN S a rom, a ROM h, a BUD s a tri.
ENGLAND (Biehl): f nth-HEL, f eng-NTH, f wes-MID, a lon-YOR.
GERMANY (Emmert): f kie-HOL, a mun-KIE, a BOH S a gal, a BUR S a hol-bel,
a GAL S a vie, a TYO S a vie, a VIE S AUSTRIAN a bud, a hol-BEL, f lvp-CLY,
a spa-GAS, a mar-SPA.
RUSSIA (Tretick): a stp-LVN, f nwy-NWG, a DEN-nth (imp), a WAR S TURKISH a rum-ukr (nso),
a sev-MOS, f NAO S f nwy-nwg, a fin-NWY.
TURKEY (Lutterbie): f BLA S a rum, a RUM S a ser-bud, f ion-TUN,
a apu-NAP, f nap-TYH, a SER-bud, a BUL-ser, f gre-ION.
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, 8809 Delwood Drive, Delta, BRITISH COLUMBIA, V4C 4A1 CANADA,
(604) 589-9124 ($7); jeen of telus.net
FRANCE: Rick Davis, 2420 West Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, (707) 544-5201,
redavis914 of aol.com
GERMANY: Steve Emmert, 3317 Hershridge Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
steve.emmert of cox.net
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)
buddytretick of earthlink.net
TURKEY: Vince Lutterbie, 1021 Stonehaven, Marshall, MO 65340-2837
melvin of cdsinet.net
Game Notes:
1) Note Buddy's change of E-Mail address to buddytretick of earthlink.net. He is trying to get out from under the weight of spam that way, which unfortunately probably won't work, but I do wish him all the luck!!
Press:
(RUSSIA to GERMANY): I have to move sensibly. I do not know who you are, so am moving to protect against a stab. After all, John would give his shirt to you to stab me, now, wouldn't you, John?
| (Sometimes I Feel Like) FLETCHER CHRISTIAN: 1999Cgh013, Colonia VIIb Diplomacy |
A CHINA/ENGLAND/SPAIN DRAW IS DECLARED!
THE DUE DATE FOR ENDGAME STATEMENTS IS EXTENDED ONE MORE ISSUE
Supply Center Chart
| AUSTRIA (Prosnitz): | BUD,VIE,TRI,TAH,pps,sav,peru | (has 22) |
| gre,sam,bol,bul,par,MEL,NAP,ven, |
| fij,ist,bav,nwz,ant,izm,tou |
| CHINA (Reynolds): | PEK,WUH,XIA,AMO,tib,NAN, | (has 22) |
| sin,jap,manch,mon,nep,mah,sia, |
| bur,cam,ben,vla,MLA,bor,afg,iwo, |
| oms |
| ENGLAND (Power): | NIG,EDI,LON,kam,ire,gab,sum, | (has 27) |
| uga,arg,togo,SUR,QUE,gha,bel,vol, |
| bah,BRA,DAK,vza,ric,ont,ifn,azo, |
| mor,nwy,ALA,ANG |
| OTTOMAN (Schleinkofer): | jer,yem | (has 2) |
| RUSSIA (Rauterberg): | MOS,KIE,CAP,STP,CRI,pol,moz, | (has 25) |
| swe,mal,zam,den,rom,han,die,GOA, |
| nat,niz,hag,cey,kha,van,jav |
| bag,persia,wak |
| SPAIN (Partridge): | MAD,MEX,SOM,VAL,MANILA, | (has 38) |
| cal,tun,rab,eth,hon,tex,nwg,ken, |
| lis,lag,FLO,lou,num,tau,ohi,vir, |
| gua,tar,tim,cub,tai,bdx,sud,mas, |
| manit,fez,egy,kor,col,ore,HAW,ecu,con |
| Neutral: | none | (Total=136) |
Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Gene Prosnitz ended as player of record
CHINA: Harold Reynolds, 3025 Bridletowne Circle, Scarborough, Ontario, M1W 2C9, (416) 773-0943
hjreynolds1 of rogers.com
ENGLAND: John Power, 18 Tilton Court, Baltimore, MD 21236, (410) 933-8827 ($4)
natjohn2 of comcast.net or jrpower of bechtel.com
FRANCE: Hank Alme, 506 Paige Loop, Los Alamos, NM 87544
almehj of swcp.com
OTTOMAN: Art Schleinkofer, 3120 Holly Road, Philadelphia, PA 19154-1708
Krolart of aol.com
RUSSIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)
trauterberg of wi.rr.com
SPAIN: Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033
rebhuhn of rocketmail.com
Game Notes:
1) The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed draw passed and with all of this with Kathy Byrne Caruso I still didn't have a chance to do the final Endgame chart. You have until then to do Endgame statements.
2) Harold Reynolds has done a lot of work with the maps and would like to volunteer to guest GM a new game of Colonia. This fits with my desire to have Spy Diplomacy be my next ``big'' game to GM, so I accept his offer. I also volunteer to get it started by signing up to play. There are nine players in the variant, could Harold give me an exact count of how many are signed up? Also, Harold is running a test game with Konrad Baumeister, Dave Partridge and Paul Rauterberg that you can watch on his website (I'll give you a link when you get going). It's possible this won't start until the test game is finished.
Press:
| SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy |
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1911 IS OCTOBER 5TH, 2002
Winter 1911
ENGLAND (Sayers): has f LON, a GAS, f NAO, a KIE,
f MID, f ENG, f HOL, f POR.
FRANCE (Sasseville): has f MAR, f SPA(SC), a MUN, a BUR.
GERMANY (Barno): has a VIE.
RUSSIA (Reynolds): has a MOS, a LVN, a BER, f BAL, a STP, a PRU.
TURKEY (Linsey): has f ION, a UKR, a WAR, f WES, a SEV,
f TYH, a SIL, a TYO, f NAF,
f TUN, f TUS, a PIE, f GOL, a GAL, a BOH.
Addresses of the Participants
ENGLAND: Jim Sayers, 15 Holdsworth Street, Woollahra 2025, AUSTRALIA ($10)
jimp of magna.com.au
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 or mbarno of claritas.com
ITALY: John Schultz, 692 Crest Dr., Valparaiso, IN 46383, (219) 614-1406
probo of 695online.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 FRET and FREGT draws are rejected again and both the FRET and FREGT draws are reproposed. Please vote again with your Spring orders. Generally you need to vote again unless you insist to me that a vote you have made wants to be perpetual. A failure to vote may not veto a draw. I have noted that I don't have a specific rule about calling a draw with no movement. You just play on, BUT what I am doing is calling on my rule for allowing failure to vote on the draws counting as a ``yes''. This is done with warning. Starting now, you have to vote EVERY season or your no vote or failure to vote becomes a ``yes''. Initially this will NOT count those of you who have given me perpetual draw votes, but after another period of no movement, everyone will have to vote on the draws every season. At this time, I am not warning you about this. I will do so with at least a few seasons notice.
2) I've had requests about ``speeding up'' the game. This is certainly possible, but it only can be done with the permission of all players. Thus, I'm not sure it matters in this situation, but feel free to tell me that your orders for future seasons are good for a quicker run of seasons. We could sail through a game year every other issue if you want. At this time, I have at least one player who did not give me Spring orders to be used with this deadline.
Press:
| EDWARD TELLER: 2002?rn42, Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy - Black Hole Variant |
THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1903 IS OCTOBER 5TH, 2002
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1903 IS OCTOBER 26TH, 2002
Spring 1903
AUSTRIA (McHugh): NMR; f TRI h, a VIE h, a BUD h; and 5 nukes withheld.
ENGLAND (Kenny): NMR; f EDI h, f LON h, a LVP h; and 5 nukes withheld.
FRANCE (Schultz): f BRE h, a PAR h, a MAR h; and
5 nukes stay in their silos in silent prayer for the passing of a great man.
GERMANY (Rauterberg): f kie-DEN, a ber-PRU, a mun-RUH; and
nukes SIL, LVN, ARM, GAL, GOB.
ITALY (Muller): NMR; f NAP h, a ROM h, a VEN h; and 5 nukes withheld.
RUSSIA (Andruschak): f stp(sc)-FIN, a war-Sil (d ann), a mos-UKR, f Sev-arm (d ann);
and nukes CON, SMY, ANK, GM (abuse!).
TURKEY (Kendter): f ank-BLA, a con-BUL, a Smy-arm (d ann);
and nukes SEV, MOS, WAR, STP, ``The whole frelling game''.
| Current Standings |
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | TOTAL |
| JOHN SCHULTZ | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| PAUL RAUTERBERG | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| KARL MULLER | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| HARRY ANDRUSCHAK | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| LEE KENDTER, JR. | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| JACK MCHUGH | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| SANDY KENNY | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Black Holed | 8 | 14 | 7 | 29 |
| Neutral | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Totals(eventually) | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 238 |
| Times GM Nuked | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Whole Frelling Game | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Addresses of the Participants
John Schultz plays on in our memories....
Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339
trauterberg of wi.rr.com
Karl Muller, 75-17 60 Place, Glendale, NY 11385-6044, (718) 416-1103
karlmuller of alumni.lemoyne.edu or pegandkarl of mindspring.com
Harry Andruschak, 734 West 214th Street, Apartment 12-A Torrance, CA 90502
(Phone number not established yet), harryandruschak of aol.com
Lee Kendter, Jr., 1503 Pilgrim Lane, Quakertown, PA 18951
lkendter of speakeasy.net
Jack McHugh, P.O. Box 427, Claymont, DE 19703, (302) 792-1998
flapjack of comcast.net
Sandy Kenny, 23 East Coulter Avenue, Collingswood, NJ 08108-1208 (609) 869-3160
KennyShire of aol.com
Game Notes:
1) A couple of adjudication notes.... when you guys nuke the same province more than once, I put in parentheses the number of nukes that hit that spot. Also, if your move to a space succeeds and THEN you are annihilated, I capitalize the first letter of that space where you are annihilated. The reverse happens if your move bounces where I capitalize the first letter of the place you started.
2) The rules I have been using for this game have been that there are no replacements or standbies. Nukes for the positions John has will remain unfired in their silos. None of his units will move or support anything. They can be attacked and dislodged and his centers can be nuked. John could win the game this way, conceivably, but likely would not. See the top of the szine at the end of the Kathy Caruso Memorial Section for more details on John's death. This has been a weird year, hasn't it?
3) That goes for the rest of you who NMR'ed as well. Though you all are free to move units in the Fall.
4) Note Harry's new postal address.
Press:
(KARL - HARRY): What threat? I never actually asked anyone to nuke you, or even mentioned it to anyone outside of that press item. I just figured it made sense. And, you see, even I didn't attack any of your centers with my nukes. Is it really that hard being on top? Glad I'm way down here.
(PAUL to HARRY): There. I didn't nuke a single home dot.
(KENDTER to ANDRUSCHAK): Hmmm.... You don't like people to hold grudges, but you announce your plans to screw me over? I am satisfied with my revenge on Kenny for the first year. I WAS going to revenge vs. Schultz for the first year, but you have annoyed me more recently. I hope you enjoy glowing in the dark.
(ITALY - EUROPE): Sadly, we do have nuclear capability. Even sadder, we are forced to use it on those nations more powerful than we. Saddest of all, that's pretty much everyone.
| FEAR AND WHISKEY: 1998Ers31, Modern Diplomacy |
THE NEW DUE DATE FOR SPRING 2010 IS OCTOBER 5TH, 2002
THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 2010 IS OCTOBER 26TH, 2002
Pre-Spring 2010
BRITAIN (K. Ozog): KURT OZOG TAKES OVER FOR JOHN SCHULTZ; has a STP, f NTH,
a LAP, f DEN, f BAL, a EST, f BRN, f GOB.
EGYPT (J. O'Donnell): has f ALE, f CAI, f MOR, f MAL, f APU,
a SYR, a TUN, a IRK, f IZM.
GERMANY (Rauterberg): has a BER, a SAX, a MUN, f PRU, f HAM,
f GDA, f BOR, a VEN, a LYO, f BEL, a AUS, a CZE, a MIL, f HOL, a TUS.
SPAIN (S. O'Donnell): has f GIB, f SAO, a BAR, a NAV, a AUV, f MAO,
a ROM, f GOL, a MON.
UKRAINE (Partridge): has a ODE, a BUL, a SER, a MOS, a GOR, a LAT,
a KRA, a POD, f WBS, f IST, a MUR, a SLO, a WAR, f ION, a ADA,
a URA, a HUN, a BIE, f GRE, a LIT, f ADR, a IRN, a CRO.
Addresses of the Participants
BRITAIN: Kurt Ozog, 391 Wilmington Drive, Bartlett, IL 60103, (630) 837-2813
heyday6 of yahoo.com
EGYPT: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728, (440) 322-2920
or (440) 225-9203 (cell) ($2)
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)
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 talonstalkingprey 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
Game Notes:
1) I'm going to start a quiet interest list down here in the next Modern game. I don't want to start it until this game is done or nearly done, but with ten players it may take awhile, so I'll start now. Rick Desper is in to be one of the players. Any more??? We are going to do it with ``wings''.
2) I delayed the Spring turn of this game. I did have orders from John that I am passing on to Kurt Ozog, who I have asked to take over for John. See above at the end of the Kathy Byrne Caruso memorial section for more on John Schultz. I really hope that is the end of this sequence, like all of you I have had more than enough. Let's end this issue with a quote from the Mekons....
Press:
(THE MEKONS QUOTE OF THE MONTH): ``It makes no difference, all that work and stuff; I know that there's a place, when things start getting rough. Throbbing so hard, like a funeral march.... kick away the chair.'' From ``The Road to Florida" which may be found on the highly anti-Reagan/Thatcher 1987 album So Good It Hurts. John Schultz was planning a road trip to Florida sometime, but he never made it. Bye, John, we'll always remember you....
Personal Note to You (peace and health to all!!):