When termites attack

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Andrew Zigmond
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Andrew Zigmond » Tue Nov 29, 2011 1:45 pm

I've just discovered the blog in question myself and since I feature quite prominently in the 17 pages referred to I am sure I have already acquired termite status in Mr Giddins eyes. The irony is that in the thread in question 99% of posters quite clearly agree with him in the matter under discussion. Indeed in his blog he actually says similar things to the comment that got me into trouble midway through the debate.

And I also agree with his comments on amateurism in chess and over reliance on volunteers. I speak as a club secretary trying to get my club out of its occasionally parochial way of thinking. Which might make me an upwardly mobile termite.

I did think his attack on Ernie Lazenby was out of order. Most termites and volunteers did not design the system they work in. They do their best to work within it.
Controller - Yorkshire League
Chairman - Harrogate Chess Club
All views expressed entirely my own

Paul Cooksey

Re: When termites attack

Post by Paul Cooksey » Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:43 pm

I imagine Ernie was somewhat hurt by the post. In truth I had to restrain my self a few times, when arguing with Ernie on content, from picking on his style. But it would have been cheap. Mr Giddins enhances his reputation for cleverness, but at the expense of something more important.

Still, Ernie can console himself that being classed a termite is nothing to be ashamed of:
Lewis Thomas in Seven Wonders wrote:Sixth on my list is, I hesitate to say, another insect, the termite. This time, though, it is not the single insect that is the Wonder, it is the collectivity. There is nothing at all wonderful about a single, solitary termite, indeed there is really no such creature, functionally speaking, as a lone termite, any more than we can imagine a genuinely solitary human being; no such thing. Two or three termites gathered together on a dish are not much better; they may move about and touch each other nervously, but nothing happens. But keep adding more termites until they reach a critical mass, and then the miracle begins. As though they had suddenly received a piece of extraordinary news, they organize in platoons and begin stacking up pellets to precisely the right height, then turning the arches to connect the columns, constructing the cathedral and its chambers in which the colony will live out its life for the decades ahead, air-conditioned and humidity-controlled, following the chemical blueprint coded in their genes, flawlessly, stone-blind. They are not the dense mass of individual insects they appear to be; they are an organism, a thoughtful, meditative brain on a million legs. All we really know about this new thing is that it does its architecture and engineering by a complex system of chemical signals.
I'm not happy calling Mr Giddins's the anteater. It suggests something higher than a termite, and worse he seems to like it. I toyed with Giddiness blog, but that implies frivolity where I think there is mean spiritedness. I pointed out before he meets all the criteria for a termite, but as above there is no such thing as a "no comments" termite

How about Mr Toad? If he improves, I'll claim the name is for the A A Milne character, an arrogant but lovable eccentric. If he doesn't, well the Isacis Migrans Nematode is a parasite that lives off termites. A lesser man might also claim a physical resemblance, but as I said at the beginning, I am above such cheap attacks.

Paul Cooksey

Re: When termites attack

Post by Paul Cooksey » Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:05 am

An afterthought, I occasionally see Mr Giddins words on Facebook when others comment on them. In response to some undignified gloating...

Hello Steve! I am more used to translating the sentiment of Nemo me impune lacessit to "come and have a go if you thing you're hard enough"; Legio mihi nomen est, quia multi sumus.

Ian Kingston
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Ian Kingston » Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:12 am

Paul Cooksey wrote:I'm not happy calling Mr Giddins's the anteater. It suggests something higher than a termite, and worse he seems to like it. I toyed with Giddiness blog, but that implies frivolity where I think there is mean spiritedness. I pointed out before he meets all the criteria for a termite, but as above there is no such thing as a "no comments" termite

How about Mr Toad? If he improves, I'll claim the name is for the A A Milne character, an arrogant but lovable eccentric. If he doesn't, well the Isacis Migrans Nematode is a parasite that lives off termites. A lesser man might also claim a physical resemblance, but as I said at the beginning, I am above such cheap attacks.
Jon D'Souza Eva came up with the name 'Dissident Veg' earlier in this thread, which is an anagram - not sure how many people caught that.

I like the anteater theme: to me it implies a kind of eternal cartoon-like battle between the anteater and the termite colony, in which the former's schemes are constantly thwarted by the latter.

IanDavis
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Re: When termites attack

Post by IanDavis » Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:43 am

Well I thought Steve Gibbons'(sic) Chess Blog was a really fantastic read. I love the way he insults so many chess players in it. There really is nothing I like to read more over breakfast, especially when it's a really lavish breakfast, than a jolly good dose of bile.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:32 am

"I love the way he insults so many chess players in it."

But he doesn't insult everybody...
"Kevin was the arbiter and was very patient. " Nick Grey

Ian Kingston
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Ian Kingston » Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:33 am

After the forum meltdown of the last couple of days I find myself harbouring disturbing pro-anteater sympathies. I fear expulsion from the colony if this continues. Is there a cure?

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:40 pm

"After the forum meltdown of the last couple of days I find myself harbouring disturbing pro-anteater sympathies. I fear expulsion from the colony if this continues. Is there a cure?"

Practise a rook ending three times a day after meals.
"Kevin was the arbiter and was very patient. " Nick Grey

Ian Kingston
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Ian Kingston » Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:44 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:"After the forum meltdown of the last couple of days I find myself harbouring disturbing pro-anteater sympathies. I fear expulsion from the colony if this continues. Is there a cure?"

Practise a rook ending three times a day after meals.
Thanks. I'm starting to feel much better.

Ian Kingston
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Ian Kingston » Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:08 pm

The chief anteater has been enjoying himself in the last couple of days, particularly in this post: http://stevegiddinschessblog.wordpress. ... -the-room/.

The purpose of his post is to make the following claim:
CJ de Mooi did NOT put £15k of his own money into the event.
(the event in question being, of course, the 2011 British Championships; instead, the money is alleged to have come from Darwin Strategic). He further states:
...so far as I am aware, CJ has never publicly claimed to have put the money in out of his own pocket
And yet a very quick search reveals the following post by CJ: http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 899#p64899

To save anyone clicking through, CJ unambiguously states:
The British Championships this year received 2 donations - one of £250 from a private benefactor and one of £16585 from me.
It's not at all clear whether Mr Giddins' claim is based on information received from one or more of the parties involved or whether he's just making up a plausible story. Either way, he's making quite a serious allegation for which it would be nice to see some evidence.

Paul Cooksey

Re: When termites attack

Post by Paul Cooksey » Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:50 pm

Deciding whether to reply to Alex is again difficult. So in the meantime I'll take the easy option and mock the sitting duck that is Mr Giddins.

His most recent article suggests Carl is guilty of a double standard, in suggesting people disclose facts themselves here rather than leaking them anonymously through a third party. Impressed by this deep argument, I decided to leave a message of support. But no matter how many times I pressed the button, the comments box did not open. :)

I also greatly enjoyed his suggestion that SOPA and PIPA might be a good idea, whilst recommending content on youtube. I actually laughed out loud when he embedded a video. Less amusingly, he continues to support Alex without criticising RDK.

If I hadn't met him, I'd think Steve Coogan had moved into chess satire. Mr Giddins truly is the master of doublethink. Since he enjoys a rhetorical question on his blog, I will pose: if Giddins did not exist, would a comedian have to invent him?

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Carl Hibbard » Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:13 pm

Paul Cooksey wrote:His most recent article suggests Carl is guilty of a double standard, in suggesting people disclose facts themselves here rather than leaking them anonymously through a third party.
I felt sending confidential information anonymously to a short arse mouthpiece doing a monologue slightly different to posting your own comments under you own identity here
Cheers
Carl Hibbard

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:12 pm

mmmmm... not so sure. Much as we rightly extol the virtues of posting under own real names here, it is possible here that the public interest whilstle-blower, if that is what he or she is, has a job to maintain. So this may be one occasion - in fact not the only one of late - where SG's column does serve some useful purpose.

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Carl Hibbard » Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:58 pm

I have moderated myself on this occasion :oops:
Cheers
Carl Hibbard

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:04 am

Carl Hibbard wrote:I have moderated myself on this occasion :oops:
I look forward to reading about it through SG's sources! :D

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