Le blog de la Batgirl

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Which Side Are You On?

Which Side Are You On?

batgirl
| Jul 27, 2021

Several points:1. This blog is about music, not chess so there's no need to mention this in the comments. It's featured because I have Top Blogger status. If you find this offensive, I'm sorry but I have no control over it.  Just contact the power...

Nothing Could Be Finer

Nothing Could Be Finer

batgirl
| Jan 27, 2021

     Possibly the strongest American player for a time during his peak years Reuben Fine gave up the life of a chess player for that of a psychoanalyst.  The old adage went that this career move was “a great loss for ches...

Steiner

Steiner

batgirl
| Jan 24, 2021

Herman Steiner's immense love for the game lit a spark which brought chess to life in California. He made chess alive for thousands of school children; he created a woman's field for chess in this part of the country. He taught; several of today's...

Birth of Protest Songs

Birth of Protest Songs

batgirl
| Jan 18, 2021

A few months ago I dipped my toes into the waters of a new blog but could never work up the nerve to dive right in.  The blog was/is-to-be about socially minded folk songs of the 20th century and different ways these songs were circulated and...

Iron Tigran

Iron Tigran

batgirl
| Jan 11, 2021

Recently I've read several nice blog postings, such as this one, featuring Tigran Petrosian. They reminded me of an interview published in "Chess Life and Review," May 1976  (pp. 271-273) after Petrosian won the famous Lone Pine tournament. ...

Tevis —May 1983

Tevis —May 1983

batgirl
| Dec 25, 2020

After Walter Tevis's "Queen's Gambit" was published, "Chess Life" jumped on the publication of a chess novel and devoted much of its May 1983 issue to the book.   It occurred to me that some people might like to take a look at some of th...

Collins

Collins

batgirl
| Oct 18, 2020

     Such a title bodes the unraveling of a mysterious plot.  There is no maudlin 007 mystery here; nevertheless there is a plot. Didn't your grade-school marm teach you that every story fact or fiction must reveal a plot?...

Evolution in a Musical Microcosm

Evolution in a Musical Microcosm

batgirl
| Oct 16, 2020

John Sebastian was born in 1944.   This fact is relevant because, along with fellow Lovin' Spoonful bandmember, Zally Yanovsky who was born later that same year, John is the youngest person in this story.   In the pivotal year 1964 John was 20, ju...

Mack the Knife (and chess)

Mack the Knife (and chess)

batgirl
| Oct 7, 2020

Most pop music aficionados know Bobby Darin.  Although he died just two weeks after I was born in 1973, I could easily name a handful of his recordings off the top of my head, the most famous of which was "Mack the Knife."  It may not ...

This May Be a Trap

This May Be a Trap

batgirl
| Oct 5, 2020

Why study traps?      There are several good reasons why studying traps might be considered important. First, of course, to avoid becoming a victim of one.  Second is to recognize when the opportunity of gaining a quick...

Combinations

Combinations

batgirl
| Oct 4, 2020

Another once-an-article-now-a-blog      A combination might be defined as a series of moves, forced, or at least the best in the situation, most often involving a sacrifice, that makes use of some inherent weakness and tha...

Greenwich Village Gambit

Greenwich Village Gambit

batgirl
| Oct 2, 2020

    I had published this article (in the Article Section) in a somewhat different form many years ago. The advent of V3 completely destroyed it.  I decided, rather than trying to recreate it as it was, I'd simply post the scan...

Ads: Tobacco

Ads: Tobacco

batgirl
| Sep 29, 2020

Chess in Vintage Print Advertising      Although Chess isn't a common theme in advertising non-chess products, the practice goes back at least a century and a half when in 1859* Kaichen & Rothschild of Detroit usurped Morp...

Ads: Alcohol

Ads: Alcohol

batgirl
| Sep 28, 2020

Beer: 1942   Miller Beer  ... 1957  Miller Beer  ... 1967  Schlitz Beer  ... 1971  Rheingold Beer  ... The Hard Stuff:   1936&nbs...

Ads:  Food

Ads: Food

batgirl
| Sep 27, 2020

Food: 1909  Ely-Gillmore Fruit Co. ... 1909  Ely-Gillmore Fruit Co. ... 1909  Ely-Gillmore Fruit Co. ... 1909  Ely-Gillmore Fruit Co. ... 1909  Ely-Gillmore Fruit Co. ... ...

Ads: Soft Drinks

Ads: Soft Drinks

batgirl
| Sep 27, 2020

The Softer Drinks: 1945  Canadia Dry Water ... 1945  Coca Cola ... 1957  Pepsi Cola ... 1964  Tab Cola ... 1968  Coca Cola ...

Ads: Apparel and Accessories

Ads: Apparel and Accessories

batgirl
| Sep 26, 2020

Apparel and Accessories:  ... 1920  Emery Shirts ... 1945  Trifari Jewelry ... 1947  Hamilton watches ... 1949  Maidenform Bra ... 1953  Van Heusen Shirts...... 1963   Botany ...

Ads: Business and Miscellaneous

Ads: Business and Miscellaneous

batgirl
| Sep 25, 2020

Business and Miscellaneous:... . 1952  Sanforized Cotton ... 1953  Ladies' Home Journal ... 1956  Consolidated Electrodynamcs Corp. ... 1957  Pan Am ... 1957  Women's Day Magazine ... ...

Scarborough Fair

Scarborough Fair

batgirl
| Sep 25, 2020

From the first time I heard Art Garfunkel's angelic voice singing the opening lines Scarborough Fair/Canticle, my take on the old English ballad was a mistaken one.   I thought the term "Scarborough Fair" was a poetic expression of "fair Scarbor...

Chess Brilliancies III

Chess Brilliancies III

batgirl
| Sep 15, 2020

Francis Percival Wenman Percy Wenman (1892-1972), born in England.  In 1911 he moved to Scotland where he began his amateur chess career, married Elizabeth Thompson, had a son, Marcus Heathcote and a daughter Alice Elizabeth and started h...

Chess Brilliancies II

Chess Brilliancies II

batgirl
| Sep 15, 2020

Francis Percival Wenman Percy Wenman (1892-1972), born in England.  In 1911 he moved to Scotland where he began his amateur chess career, married Elizabeth Thompson, had a son, Marcus Heathcote and a daughter Alice Elizabeth and started h...

Chess Brilliancies I

Chess Brilliancies I

batgirl
| Sep 15, 2020

Francis Percival Wenman Percy Wenman (1892-1972) was born in England.  In 1911 he moved to Scotland where he married Elizabeth Thompson, had a son, Marcus Heathcote and a daughter Alice Elizabeth and started his amateur chess career. ...

Hang Your Head and Cry

Hang Your Head and Cry

batgirl
| Sep 6, 2020

"...it was merely two uprights, with a space between them of about ten feet and a cross piece on top..."N.Y. Herald, May 2, 1868                                                                                                                      ...

Social Progress

Social Progress

batgirl
| Aug 20, 2020

Here in the good ol' US of A., as in most places I suspect, the Covid-19 virus has created havoc. While mask-wearing, sanitizing and keeping our distance has become as common as it's become annoying, it's mainly an inconvenience most of us can end...

Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier

Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier

batgirl
| Aug 5, 2020

Siúil a Rún is an Irish song, most likely from the late 17th century, in which a lass is heartbroken because the lover is joining the military and going to war and will do anything to assure his safe return. Women and war is a theme ...

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