Dark of the Moon Postcard Tournament!

[don]

The lunar eclipse of 20-21 February will be the last lunar eclipse until 2010 and will be visible for Europe in the AM of the 21st, North America in the PM of the 20th.  The NASA link for this event is:  http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html or thanks to tinyurl.com, http://tinyurl.com/2cgawu.

To celebrate, I'm running the Dark of the Moon Postcard Tourney (TourneyBot #2300) which will begin when the partial eclipse begins:

EST	CST	MST	PST	AST	GMT	GMT+1h	GMT+2h
08:43 pm	07:43 pm	06:43 pm	05:43 pm	04:43 pm	01:43 am	02:43 am	03:43 am

This is a postcard tourney:  I'm hoping losers will send a postcard to winners, potentially resulting in 6 postcards for the tourney-winner!  But this is voluntary, and winners may choose whether to give their snail-mail addresses to the losers or not.

• Matches will be 5-pt (main) and 7-pt (finals).
• 'tell TourneyBot register 2300' to sign up!

Enjoy!

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don

[don]

I have decided that the tourney winner will receive a genuine porcelein Buddha statue, more than 50 years old!, if I'm told the address to send it too.

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don

[webrunner]

I have decided that the tourney winner will receive a genuine porcelein Buddha statue, more than 50 years old!, if I'm told the address to send it too.

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don

Picture?

[don]

No Webby, an actual statue, not a picture of it.  It's about 4 inches tall with a hole in the bottom so you can set it on an incense cone.

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don

[webrunner]

No Webby, an actual statue, not a picture of it.  It's about 4 inches tall with a hole in the bottom so you can set it on an incense cone.

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don

LOL, i mean.. it may help if you post a picture of the statue

[don]

Here he is, guaranteed to improve your dice!  He'll actually fit in a regular-size BG board.  Placed harmoniously near your computer monitor he will turn FIBS' dice into Backwoods' dice!

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don

[Tomawaky]

Oh please remove me from this tournament. I don't want to see this at home 
I would make some nightmares

[sixty_something]

October 2004 eclipse

great idea for a tourney, don .. 'twas a double pleasure playing and winning it .. the Buddha power even worked in an Grunge match with Backwoods (at 40/70 odds for nacci points) .. gammoned him with the cube at 2 for a remarkable comeback when he rolled back to back 55's with two on the bar and i closed my board .. so, it was triple fun

for any that may wonder why a lunar eclipse is a big deal, see this USA Today story, or this Wiki article .. for all anyone might want to know about this, future, and past eclipses see NASA's excellent article .. for any who, like me, may have not seen last night's eclipse firsthand see Wired Science blog posts for photos from all over the world

for me, the eclipse was hidden in clouds on a rainy night on the upper Texas gulf coast .. at best i could detect a dimming in the moon light visible only through clouds .. my mind's eye imagined a reddish tint during the maximum eclipse, but probably only because i was looking for it .. eclipses have always been important seasonal and lifetime benchmarks for me .. i remember being very depressed and missing most of the October 28, 2004, eclipse even though it was very visible here .. i looked at it only for a few minutes, but it did cheer me up .. the one on September 27, 1996 was my favorite .. it was awe inspiring

i remember leaving E. L. Furr High School in Houston after preparing my first six weeks exam teaching math, the moon that night looked a lot like the image above .. i still use that image as an avatar on the Kerrville Staff Council message board where i was a very active member when first joining FIBS in July of 2006 .. i haven't posted much there since last summer when i got serious about finally learning a little about backgammon .. my next post will be a long overdue hello to other staffers and friends at Kerrville

so, Don's Dark of the Moon Post Card Tourney!!! has provided not only a lot of fun and satisfaction, it has been a nice little trip down memory lane and re-united me with some old Kerrville friends where our motto is

Kerrville Folk Festival
May 22 - June 8, 2008
see you in Kerrville

the image below is for a cool guy i know in Washington state who once owned a happy little porcelain Buddha that bears with it the blessings of the dice gods and is now mine!
go Coogs!


2004 eclipse in Seattle

sixty

Life is short. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly.
-- Robert Doisneau (1912-1994)
French photographer noted for his frank and often humorous depictions of Parisian street life.
Doisneau's work gives unusual prominence and dignity to children's street culture;
returning again and again to the theme of children at play in the city, unfettered by parents.
His work treats their play with seriousness and respect.
(play is a good thing)

[don]

I actually was going to post the winner of my Dark of the Moon tourney but sixty's done pretty good taking care of that.  In case you don't know, sixty beat signine in the finals and won the Buddha.

I will message participants regarding their postcard debts, but thanks to all who played.

Regarding the Buddha, I'm looking into having it engraved, if it's possible.  Also, since Tomawaky seems to love it so, perhaps sixty would consent to Tomawaky holding the trophy?

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don

[Tomawaky]

 

[don]

Unfortunately, the little Buddha did not survive my efforts at at inscribing sixty's nic, so I sent this little guy on its way to Texas instead.

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don

[sixty_something]

cool picture, dono .. the sleepy Buddha looks great .. too bad about the happy little fellow .. hope you can repair it, but wonder whether you're just trying to avoid giving away the happy Buddha dice blessings .. lol

at first glance i thought the picture was one of the Conquistadors conquering the Aztecs .. on second glance i noticed details that contradict that .. here's my guess

Spoiler

William Armstrong Custer at Little Big Horn .. the tell was the empty pistol in his left hand and raised cavalry saber in his right .. confirmed it by noting the coup stick in the hand of the fellow about to count his coup .. and of course the dice can be arranged in two ways to make 7, for Custer's 7th Cavalry .. i hope the globe positioned the way it is is a hint that this little sleepy Buddha may see a sunrise at Stonehenge

[close]

way cool way of awarding the trophy .. let's have another trophy tourney soon - anybody got a trophy?

[spielberg]

There was a knock at my door this week and when I opened it I found a strange little fat guy sitting on my doorstep. As he made me feel better about my own chubbyness I decided to treat him to a little sight-seeing.

"What a heap of rocks"

(Stonehenge is around 5,000 years old. To this day no-one really knows what it was for tho' there are LOTS of theories!)

"Paaahh - modern architecture"

(Salisbury cathedral is officially 750 years old this year. The spire was added c. 1330AD.)

Then , like a flash, he was gone muttering something about Our Lady, Sacred Heart and "j'aime Paris en le printemps".

[don]

Wow!

I don't know how Buddha wound up in England!  Perhaps he got mixed up in SeaTac airport on his way to Texas.  But, as mentioned elsewhere, he may have been attracted to stellar happenings in the Netherlands!  Buddha is a lover of life, particularly new life!

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don

[Tomawaky]

Here who is knocking at door this morning ....
The fat guy was hurry to get out of his box and we decided to play a little game.
Then I put him, nearby my indian on the chimney waiting our journey to see Notre Dame de Paris

[don]

Tomawaky!

How in the world did my Buddha get to France?  I thought he was headed for Texas!

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don

[Tomawaky]

  Think the little man is on the road to see Madelien 
Are you ok Webby to host the fat Guy at home for couple of days  ?

[webrunner]

Sure.. but i don't have much time to entertain it
Madelien demands a lot of attantion

[Tomawaky]

Our Buddha met today the hunchback

Here is some pictures of the day

[don]

Hey Tomawaky!

I know Buddha enjoyed his discussion on physical angst with Quasimodo, but I should have let you guys know, Buddha has taken no vows of celibacy.  Or is there some other reason you haven't introduced him to any women?  Some women go for little fat guys!

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don