Ellen and I went to see "Beatlemania Now" at the Claremont Opera House two weeks ago. The show, which was the penultimate offering in the Opera House's 2010-2011 season, billed itself as a "Multimedia tribute to the Beatles." I'm a big Beatles fan and I always enjoy hearing their songs performed live. Unfortunately, the impersonators just weren't very good. They didn't look much like the actual band members (which is hard to blame them for, but still, the realism wasn't there) and they didn't sound much like them, either. "John" actually came pretty close, at least with the songs from the early period, but the rest of the band was underwhelming. Still, it was an energetic show and I enjoyed getting to go out with Ellen and see it.

On Saturday I played in the White River Open, a one-day, four-round tournament held in White River Junction, VT. The tournament was small but surprisingly strong; the Open section featured a Grandmaster, a Senior Master, an International Master, a National Master and two Experts. In fact, of the nine players in the section, five were rated above 2180! I took a first-round bye so I could sleep after getting off work in the morning, and I defeated southern New Hampshire Expert Clay Bradley in my second-round game. Unfortunately I faltered at a key moment against IM Danny Kopec in Round 3 before getting blown off the board by SM Denys Shmelov (rated 2529!) in the final round. My final tournament score was +1 -2 =0, which was good for a sixth-place tie. It's hard to be disappointed by my result, but I can't help wishing I'd been able to keep up the pressure in my game against Kopec. Regardless, it was a lot of fun to play, and I'm looking forward to my next rated event (which at this point is looking like a match in June against top-rated Vermonter Dave Carter).

Living in New Hampshire, I've come to accept the fact that many of my neighbors are (for some reason) Red Sox fans. My sports affiliations have, consequently, caused some good-natured friction at work. And after the Yankees were swept by the Red Sox over the weekend, I knew I was going to be in for it on Monday. And sure enough, when I returned to the station following an early-morning emergency call, I was met at the ambulance door by a coworker brandishing a broom.

In other news, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 opens on Friday. Apparently they are starting a new trilogy featuring some but not all of the old characters (Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rusch are back; Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are not). I'm looking forward to seeing it soon.

A new APOLOGIA hits newsstands

The Spring 2011 issue of The Dartmouth Apologia was just released. I just picked up a copy yesterday and have not had an opportunity to read it at any length yet, but I am very much looking forward to doing so! Watch back here for a review of the issue, probably to come in installments starting next week. Incidentally, this is the first issue since the journal's inception in 2006 in which I have not played any role whatsoever, either as an author or an editor. The official website is www.dartmouthapologia.org , but the new issue does not appear to have been put online yet.

Last Saturday saw the second Wheelock Conference on Faith and Vocation, sponsored by the Eleazar Wheelock Society and hosted by Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. As with last year's edition, the conference brought together current students, alumni and others for a series of lectures and panel discussion on the convergence of faith and career. It sounded fantastic, but I was once again unfortunately unable to attend. Perhaps next year! In the meantime, if anyone has any notes/materials from the conference, please let me know; I'd be interested in taking a gander at them.

Excitingly, the church softball league schedule was rumored to have been distributed to captains last night. I haven't seen it yet (my role is, at the most generous, that of bench coach), but I'm raring to get out on the softball field. My glove is just sitting in the closet, yearning to be let free!

In other news, I have recently rediscovered how awesome jellybeans are. Just one more reason I love springtime.

Change is in the wind

Dartmouth College announced on Tuesday that beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year, the fall term would be moved up so that classes start earlier in September and end by Thanksgiving. Currently, the first day of class is often as late as the fourth week of September and students return to campus following the Thanksgiving holiday for another week of classes followed by reading period and exams. I enthusiastically support this change, although neither Ellen nor I will be affected by it. Sending students home for five days only to recall them for a week and a half and then send them home again for three more weeks just doesn't make sense, and all the more so when you have as geographically diverse a population as Dartmouth does. The only potential downside is the overlap between Sophomore Summer final exams and the early sections of First-Year Trips, but that has always been an issue anyway and I doubt it'll be difficult to procure sufficient numbers of non-sophomore trip leaders.

As far as weird sporting happenings go, this one is right up there. The Rockies-Mets baseball game on Tuesday featured a rain delay, which is in and of itself relatively unremarkable, but the at-bat that was underway when the rain delay was called was a bit less pedestrian. Due to injury and fatigue (once pitchers cool down--as during a rain delay--they almost never go back out to pitch when play resumes), there were two pitchers and two hitters in a single at-bat! I'm with the sportswriter on this one; I doubt this was a precedented occurrence!

In other news, Gata Kamsky defeated Veselin Topalov in their quarterfinal Candidates match. His next opponent is Boris Gelfand of Israel; their first game today was a draw. Good luck Gata!

Trauma season is here

Now that warmer temperatures and longer days are here, people are taking full advantage of the nice weather. Bicycles and motorcycles are now common sights, and with the resurgence of outdoor activities begins what the emergency medicine community calls "trauma season." So please remember to always wear your helmet and/or seatbelt when on the roads and trails and make sure your passengers do the same.

While I'm making public service announcements, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the World Championship Candidates' Matches that begin tomorrow. These are, in essence, the "quarterfinals" of the cycle to determine a challenger for current World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India. Participants play a series of knockout-style mini-matches until there is only one player left standing. Russia and Azerbaijan are the best-represented countries with two players each (Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk from Russia; Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan); the other competitors are Levon Aronian (Armenia), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Boris Gelfand (Israel) and last but not least recently-crowned U.S. Champion Gata Kamsky. Notably absent is former world number-one ranked player Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who withdrew a few months ago in protest of administrative decisions that had been made surrounding the matches. Good luck to all the participants and go Kamsky!

As I reluctantly predicted last week, the New York Knicks were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs. I'm disappointed but not surprised by the result. As for the rest of my predictions, the Bulls are not off to a good start in their matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, and it looks like the Miami Heat will continue their manhandling of the Celtics. I had predicted the Bulls over the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, and I remain confident that Chicago will come through against Atlanta, but it seems that I misjudged the Celtics-Heat series.

In other news, The New York Times published an amusing article about the ploys people have tried in order to sidestep receiving parking tickets. Ever tried any of these? How'd they work for you?