An invitation, Drago 2.0 & KGS statistics

Well, now. I can't turn that invitation down.

Caroline Young's "Timeless"

Back in September, I had expressed a wish that Caroline Young might someday depict the game of Go in one of her works. A schedule conflict kept me from attending her Fall exhibit.

Well, just a few days ago, I decided to send her an email to express my admiration for her work and suggest the idea. She responded and invited me to her Chinese New Year exhibition in the San Francisco Bay Area next month. I guess I'm definitely going this time and I'm thinking of getting an autographed artbook from her.

She told me that she had once rendered a picture of a little girl and a panda playing the game of Go as a miniature on silk paper. I couldn't find it in the originals section of her gallery though.


Drago 2.0 now in beta

I'm guessing that a few of you are also beta-testing Gilles Arcas's Version 2.0 of his versatile SGF tool, Drago (currently at V1.46).

I just installed it this morning. I don't want to steal Gilles's thunder so I'll let him speak to the new version's features when he's ready to release his update.


Examining my record on KGS

Table of Monthly Statistics

Chart of Monthly Activity
January, April, July and October will always be the worst
months for "Average Games Per Day".

I learned from nannyogg's latest post that joncol's KGS statistics calculator is working again.

I tabulated and charted my monthly activity but I don't know that these can give me much feedback to improve my game. Unlike manufacturing operations, learning Go probably can't be improved with statistical process controls.

All that I can read from my chart right now is the cycle of how playing Go cedes to the higher priorities of family and work.


shygost's lessons are going well

Transcription of the first lesson as viewed via Drago.

shygost's first two lessons on KGS were well-attended. The Tuesday morning session had more than 80 participants; probably because folks in Europe were able to attend. The Friday evening session had more than 50 participants.

Sadly, I'll be missing this Tuesday's session as I need to host a conference call on behalf of one of my coworkers. I'm hoping that the lesson will quickly be posted to tengen.bur.st so I can review it.


Re-oiled my Yunzi stones

Felt sheets (available at most craft stores) line the inside of the
bowls and cover the stones. These help protect the stones during transport.
The top sheets double as coasters for the lids. This was a suggestion that I
shared with LaTomate at the bottom of a Sensei's Library discussion.

My Yunzi stones from Yellow Mountain Imports finally lost their oil scent and that made playing with them a little less invigorating. All I could smell was the scent of the wood laquer.

I re-oiled them with a new, slightly more floral, scent from the Body Shop: Green Tea. For some reason, it brings back memories of Hua-Hin, Thailand, where I briefly worked as an expatriate.


Wolvie gets hers

Samarkand's jitsuyo stones
(Photo courtesy of Samarkand)

Late last night, I learned that Wolvie got an Agathis table board, Shin-kaya bowls, and 7mm jitsuyo clam stones from Samarkand. Not sure if they gave her a package deal but I'm guessing that everything probably cost about $350 out the door. Samarkand's prices for these are:

• Agathis table board ($89)
• Shin-Kaya bowls ($59)
• 7.0mm jitsuyo shell stones ($179)

It's a very nice set and you should have a look if you're in the market at about that price-range.