tammytoes

I’m sad that it took me this long to discover one of Denver’s finest events, the monthly Tetris tournament at Forest Room 5. Featuring big screen Tetris action, overpriced drinks, super fly folks and the most complex Xcel bracket program on the face of the planet (not to mention the best Tetris players I’ve ever met), the competition was the most awesome entertainment I’ve had in a long time.

Speed Tetris is pure Tetris: it’s all about making the lines. I was unprepared for the lightning speed of the better players, and their ability to make creative and complex choices. I feel like I made a pretty respectable rookie appearance, but I would need to do some serious practice in order to be a contender.

Writing would cheapen the epic magnitude of the event, so I’ll let the tourney web site speak for itself. In addition, you can check out films of the matches here, thanks to Joe. Unfortunately, Joe’s camera battery ran out before the final match between Vinnie and Paul G., which featured a jaw-dropping come-from-behind finish. However, there are some pretty good matches in this set.

My films show spirited, but lackluster play. It’s pretty clear when I choked in both of my last two matches. My favorite part is Joe’s running commentary. And the comments of the crowd. I would study these in detail and track down an old Super Nintendo in anticipation of August’s event if I was staying in Denver, but alas.

Anyone in NYC fancy a game of Tetris?

This article on Higgs boson research, the particle accelerator race, and blogs in the physics universe caught my eye this morning. Mostly because I realized that the last time I thought about the Higgs boson was in 6th grade, and also because the fact that I thought about the Standard Model, heavy matter and the like in 6th grade is really, really bizarre. Over the years, I’ve re-engaged with the physics world as a casual reader and participant in the whole post-posty humanities embrace of quantum-through-the-looking-glass theory gobbledygook, but when I get psyched up by reading an article like this, I realize that I still find hard science pretty sexy.

One of my favorite moments here is science smack talk:

“Now with blogs even string theorists who can’t spell Higgs became immediately aware of inside information about D Zero data.”

Fucking string theorists and their fucking blogs.

Also very interested in this blog noted in the article. Might add it to my regular blog reader.

there are lots and lots and lots of questions that have plagued me over the years, but the one that occurs to me right now is this:

how DO you solve a problem like Maria?

got any ideas?

This was the scene in the dressing room after the season opener. That’s Boo Boo Radly, captain of my beloved Green Barrettes with the juice box. In honor of my last bout experience in Denver, I wore my candy pink Sugar Kill Gang uniform skirt (you gotta be tough when you’re wearing terry cloth). My team honored me by asking me to call line-ups for the bout. This, I’ve realized, is actually a much tougher job than skating in a bout. By the time the third period rolls around, whatever written line-ups you have, you throw out the window due to penalties, injuries and the desire to win the bout. I’m proud to say that the two times I’ve done this (you Denver derby fans might remember Shotgun Betties victory last year that I called when my ankle was still mush) I’ve helped my team win.

This bout was Friction VixXxen’s last bout before she heads down to Austin, where she’s being courted by every Texas team under the sun. It meant a lot to me that my team asked me to be on the bench with them, and listened to me as I pulled them from the line-up, or added them to the track. Jane and Angela passed the star last night, the first time ever for the league. Rockett’s baby is 5 months old (um, yeah, we call him Bottle Rockett). New skaters who I met maybe once or twice before I retired gave me hugs and told me they missed me. That they knew me at all was a surprise.

I miss skating. I haven’t figured out if I’ll return or not. This body of mine seems to enjoy not being injured, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t miss it last night, every muscle and nerve.

I skipped the afterparty in favor of dinner with friends. Then I met up with Tertia and Eric at the Tattered Cover for the release of the last Harry Potter book. The scene was marvelous. A hot night filled with wizards, witches and muggles all bustling about anxiously counting down to 12:01 am. An efficient voucher and distribution process later, I was out on the street clutching my new copy in under 25 minutes. But I’m so glad I went: parents had to practically drag their kids out of the store because they were already reading the first few pages and were glued to their spots, camera flashbulbs everywhere, tweenage girls fighting over book boxes marked “Do not open until 12:01 am!” that bookstore employees were giving away. People were pumped. I’ve seen this much energy at a concert or performance, but never for a book.

I walked the five quiet blocks home, holding my copy. A man walking his poodle stopped to ask me about the book. When I got home, Rick, Margi and Garrett were all watching The Prisoner of Azkaban and I took a shower and stole up to my room to start reading. I was so tired that I could only make it through five pages. But they were delightful, nonetheless.

yesterday was the kind of day i could live on for a good long while.

i met a friend named ed who i haven’t seen since 9th grade in brooklyn for the afternoon. we had a reunion on smith street, ate almond macaroon cookies from his favorite bakery, and then strolled the bastille festival. we ended up at a french bar on the waterfront, getting tipsy and trying to chart the past 18 years.

then it was off to cobble hill park and an evening with ehren (there are so many ‘e’ people here…) and a walk around red hook. this community is fascinating – you can feel the mechanics of gentrification grinding through it even as you walk, but the cultural and economic collision is really quite exciting. our waiter at the dinner joint gave me toothpicks from under the bar. then we hopped a fence to check out the waterfront up close. the statue of liberty was in the distance, the verrazano bridge was lit up and beautiful, and the staten island ferry was sailing. the sky was dark and beautiful.

it started to rain so we ducked into a random bar (something like the “bait and tackle” – i dunno…) there was a poster about shellfish in thailand in the bathroom. we had some serious harry potter conversation with the bartender. then we met boozer and gary, two late-forty-something men who grew up in the neighborhood and had a lot to say about its history, problems facing their community and what needed to be done about it. i learned a tremendous amount from them. we talked about gary’s nonprofit, a books and basketball organization that tries to get both into the hands of kids during the summer. a jazz band played. boozer played awesome music on the jukebox. we stayed late into the night before making the walk back to the subway. i hope i meet these men again.

i can’t quite get my words around the density of experience yesterday, but i will be winding and unwinding memory from it for a long, long time.