gcreptile

Well, I've said here before that I was a bit obsessed with chess about two years ago. At that time I miraculously made a jump in "score" from 1600 to 2000. I also played more - and still do! But the returns have severely diminished. I think you can only get significantly above 2000 (the ranks of a master start at roughly 2200) if you get more academic with it, i.e. trying to learn from mistakes, but I mostly just want to play. I think I have quite a few talents, but never focusses enough on just one. Another thing I regularly do is karaoke, roughly once every two weeks. I almost never sing the same song twice and like to think that I've become good at it. Reading and learning have suffered by the above hobbies, which is why I need that chess break. I also travel and have a vague long-term goal to visit all UNESCO world heritage sites. I think my next trip will be to Belgium in August. There are a couple ones in a very dense area.

Gerald is cancer-free now: https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/clarkson-s-farm-star-gerald-cooper-shares-cancer-update-b1166444.html

Former World kickboxing champion Billy Murray has stage 4 bowel cancer: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9978z7yjzo

Alan Alda, the Oscar-nominated actor and star of M*A*S*H has Parkinson's at 82, and was diagnosed 3 years ago: https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/mash-star-alan-alda-reveals-13009189 Likely future deathlist entry, but he says it's not affecting his life yet.

Taylor Wily, UFC fighter with a TV role on Hawaii-Five-O dead at 56: https://www.unilad.com/celebrity/news/taylor-wily-hawaii-five0-dies-56-529954-20240621

Technically, the submission period for the final teams is open from today on, so you may submit ;).

Roberto Baggio was robbed and knocked in the head with a gun: https://punchng.com/just-in-ex-italy-footballer-roberto-baggio-hospitalised-after-robbery-attack/ Happened during the SPA-ITA game.

Auto-translated from: https://www.aciprensa.com/amp/noticias/104933/muere-mons-luckert-columna-de-la-fe-y-de-la-democracia-en-venezuela

Emma Heatherington, just been an author of a no. 1 hit book on the UK e-book charts, now diagnosed with incurable cancer: https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/family-support-invaluable-bestselling-co-29340041?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

Had two dreams I had to share. One was that the forum had a thread/poll on who's the most famous person in the world right now. The winner was Meghan Markle with 23 votes. Can't remember who got 2nd though, but "astronaut" received 8 votes. And in the dream I was pretty convinced that this meant Buzz Aldrin. Also, I dreamt that former German national player Arne Friedrich died at 49, he's 45 years old now.

A bottle of Russell Crowe's rancid beer piss.

I hope it all goes well. I hope you have ups and downs, so to say, so that you don't need to stress yourself during the downs because the next up is coming soon.

Louis Van Gaal update, describes his life with cancer: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/28594189/man-utd-louis-van-gaal-cancer/ Nothing dramatic, but it seems terminal.

Stacy Layne Matthews hospitalised for spinal issues: https://ew.com/rupauls-drag-race-star-stacy-layne-matthews-hospitalized-spinal-stenosis-8664335 She's already a DDP pick for several reasons.

Algerian and former Tottenham player Nabil Bentaleb has been hospitalised, for either fainting or having a heart attack. The club just calls it an illness: https://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com/2024/6/19/24182064/tottenham-hotspur-news-nabil-bentaleb-hospitalized-heart-attack

This seems to have changed from "Can Labour win" to "How low can the Tories go". I doubt that there's a Shy Tory vote, those too embarassed for the Tories vote Reform. This is the political world of today. Conservatives either turn Trumpist or they lose (The center-left parties also have the populist problem.). Maybe the populist party will regularly become the main opposition party, whereas the mainstream center-left and center-right parties are on 1st and 3rd.

To be fair, why should he do it? They'll be coming back to him after this.

Well, he has been released from the hospital: https://www.dawn.com/news/1840611/noam-chomsky-discharged-from-brazil-hospital Probably according to his wife's wishes. "The treatment would continue at home". Obviously, he's never going to recover or speak again.

"Not out of the woods yet": https://www.skynews.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity-life/not-out-of-the-woods-sarah-ferguson-having-regular-cancer-check-ups-after-battling-disease-twice-in-one-year/news-story/283ca8df89328e00444683d300d492f4

Kazuko Shiraishi, Japan's version of a beat poet, dies at 93: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/19/shiraishi-poetry-obituary-japan-literature-beat/d42a5680-2e06-11ef-bcdf-31cdebd3022f_story.html

Graham Caveney releases a 3rd memoir, this time, with more cancer: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-diary-of-a-dying-man-graham-caveneys-poignant-cancer-memoir/ He was given 18 months to live with treatment in May 2022. He reluctantly accepted treatment, and it must have worked mostly, or he'd be dead by now. But then, he's still being called "a dying man", so he should definitely stay on the lists.

Popular Kazakh opposition figure Aydos Sadykov being shot and heavily wounded in his Kyiv exile: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/18/popular-kazakh-opposition-figure-in-hospital-after-being-shot-in-kyiv ...probably... a goner.

Rising star and one-time bracelet winner Matthew Parry dies unexpectedly at the WSOP in Las Vegas: https://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/Bracelet-winner-Matthew-Parry-passes-away_131666/

Maybe he is occupying his family by literally dying right now. Another stroke, a coma, his breath is flat, the heartbeat barely perceptible. Bev Stohl has twitter in one hand, Chomsky's arm in the other. We might be knowing more soon.

Chomsky-cide? I deny it, for now. Probably US propaganda.