 it can relax because all is well.
When I face a particularly frustrating listening experience, rather than panic or give up, I try to just breathe. With three mindful breaths, I calm my heartrate and switch my body to a more restful state. Then, I can more easily shift my focus from worrying about what I can’t hear to taking the steps I need to communicate better. I use the HEAR checklist.
Gael Hannan and I introduce HEAR in our book, Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss. The checklist helps you assess a listening situation and evaluate possible solutions. Sometimes you need to repeat the steps if your environment or listening partners change. Possible solutions include asking your communication partners to speak one at a time or using a speech-to-text app on your phone. Or even moving to a different location if that’s what it takes.
But perhaps the real first step is just to breathe.Nigel shows that equal pawn endgames aren’t automatically drawn.
Toby’s play and analysis are beyond his tender years! Even though Black was indeed “winning” at various stages, it is difficult to imagine him ever scoring the full point in the face of such aggression!
Nick describes an exciting encounter.
Two rook sacs in one game. One was a bit speculative, the other clearer cut. I blame the heat; it was boiling there last night.
One of Steve’s wins that took him to the championship – he describes this as a fairly smooth effort at refuting an opening idea.
How does an International Master beat a strong county player? – probably a bit like this.
Ben goes for the king, and gives his opponent lots of problems to solve.
This game was the deciding factor in the Bedford A’s match against Milton Keynes A and was Richard’s sixth straight win for the team.
I had intended to publish Toby’s fine victory against Northampton, but I lost track of the score in the middle, and to be honest the game meandered somewhat.
So here’s a much more direct affair. Toby’s punishment of my dire opening play earlier on in the season.
17. Activity is all!
Sometimes, a few passive moves prove very costly, even as White from a seemingly solid opening.
After a strong opening, Nigel has to withstand a strong attack before prevailing.
I try and publish one of my masterpieces every season, it might as well be this one!
Both the A and B teams were short of a regular player, and since Gerry had committed himself to being swindled by Joe, the top two boards of the D team were called on to do battle.
Sparks were bound to fly!
Tony’s first win for the D team is an interesting and exciting game that could have gone either way.
Mike paves the way for a great Bedford A victory against Milton Keynes A.
An interesting example of how easy it is to not take advantage of a better position and living to regret it.
10. Overwhelming victory to defeat in half a dozen moves!
It can even happen on the top boards in division 1. Steve supplies interesting commentary to an unfortunate turnaround.
Richard targets f7 and never lets go!
Gerry achieves a great result against a very strong opponent.
Sometimes the captain’s job is just to avoid defeat.
Peter gambles and wins!
Ravi’s position goes from slightly worse (with 12.. Qb6) to overwhelmingly winning in about ten moves where White doesn’t appear to do anything too terrible. An impressive positional crush.
“Chess is 99% tactics” is a saying attributed to Richard Teichmann. In the just concluded 10th 4NCL Congress, there were ‘tons’ of tactics both missed and actualized in my games. I managed to end the tournament in 2nd place with 4/5…and some prize money. Here is my game against the top seed of the U2000 FIDE section which I participated.
If you’ve been working on any art projects since the early days of quarantine back in March, you just might be eligible for a new countywide stipend.
The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission is currently accepting submissions for consideration into its newly launched artist awards program. The deadline to enter is Aug. 3, and up to 20 artists will be chosen to receive a stipend of $500.
Visit sbac.ca.gov/artistsrespond for more info on how to apply to the 2020 Awards for Responsive Works. Submissions are due by Aug. 3, and the award winners will be announced sometime in September.
While the Santa Barbara Bowl’s 2020 concert season was inevitably put on hold earlier this year, proceeds from the 2019 season were collected into an arts subsidy fund, which will pay for the 2020 Awards for Responsive Works program.
Dennis Smitherman, chair of the Arts Commission, said the program—titled the 2020 Awards for Responsive Works—was created to help support artists who have suffered financial losses due to COVID-19 closures and cancellations.
Tangible support of Smitherman’s claim can be found in a recent report from the state of California, which indicated that 85 percent of working artists within the state have experienced work cancellations over the course of the coronavirus pandemic.
The former grant cycle benefited organizations specifically, and this awards program is open to individual artists and cultural practitioners of various disciplines, from culinary to literary arts, as long as they reside in Santa Barbara County. Applicants must also be at least 18 years old to enter.
“We hope that these stipends will allow artists to continue to help us create the new ‘normal,’” said Smitherman, who explained his stance on art as essential to society, especially following or during a crisis.
“Artists tend to be one of the first groups to create new ways to reimagine and rebuild the culture and environments after a disaster, relying on each other and viewing the world from a different perspective,” Smitherman said.
The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission has helped host various local arts events and bring traveling exhibits to the Central Coast over the years. The new stipend program was created to support working artists who may have faced severe financial hardship due to COVID-19 cancellations.
Also similar to the pandemic relief program, the new stipends are possible through funding from the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation. While the venue’s 2020 concert season was inevitably put on hold earlier this year, proceeds from the 2019 season were collected into an arts subsidy fund, which will in turn fund the stipend program.
The subsidy fund is part of a lease agreement between the Santa Barbara Bowl and the county, which designates $.50 per ticket sold to benefit arts-related grants.
“Staff and commissioners worked hard to develop the proper protocol and procedures for granting this new avenue of funding,” Smitherman said.
The Arts Commission will evaluate submissions based on artistic merit, uniqueness of perspective, relevance to the current context of the pandemic, and other factors, Smitherman explained.
“This is not an easy process; as with the previous grant cycle, you have to take a lot into account to determine those most eligible,” said Smitherman, who added that representatives from sponsoring agencies will also assist in jurying the submissions.
Another requirement for applicants to the awards program is that their respective art must have been completed after March 13, as the program is intended to help artists who have continued creating art during quarantine, regardless of being paid for their labor or not.
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wants to know what artists have been up to during quarantine. Reach him at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.I ask because I recently moved, and when slowly unpacking four decades worth of boxes (I’m getting old), I discovered what was probably just a handful, but seemed like dozens, of travel souvenirs, tchotchkes, and other knick-knacks picked up during the course of my travels. Some, like a foot-long Maori carving made of wood, are rather nice. A couple, such as a Statue of Liberty paperweight that was given to me by my grandmother and is my only material memory of her, are nostalgic.
And then there’s the crap. A bag of shredded currency from the Denver Federal Reserve Bank that supposedly represents $165. A framed piece of barbed wire fencing from the DMZ between North and South Korea. A collection of drink coasters in the shape of a durian, that famously stinky, spiky fruit of Southeast Asia. An “official” piece of gift shop chalk from England’s White Cliffs of Dover. A plate, with mounting standing, featuring images of San Francisco and purchased during my first visit to the “Paris of the West.” And let’s not even talk about my shot glass collection.
Suffice to say, I couldn’t find room in my new place for all of these collectibles – at least not without the place looking cluttered. The shredded currency and gift shop chalk are on my desk, alongside the Lady Liberty paperweight, but the other items remain packed away in storage. All of this begs the question: Why did I buy this stuff in the first place?
All self-deprecating jokes notwithstanding, I try not be an “ugly American” when I travel. Ever since the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004, I have found myself joking with locals on my travels abroad that I “didn’t vote for him,” or I “want to you that most Americans really are good people,” or something along those lines. I was especially mindful of my verbiage choices when visiting the Middle East, for example a