My appearance on WCN
Before heading to Holland, I swung through Stockholm to appear on World Chess News, an internet/TV show that has been around since 2004. The crew of five siblings, Adriana, Antonia, Amelia, Alfred and Albert, are responsible for every aspect of the show, and have managed to put together a high caliber presentation on a shoestring budget.
In addition to the clips below, I also interviewed the WCN team for a clip on the Chess.FM blog.
Hotel booking woes
Yeah, this isn’t the “new info on my travels”, but I couldn’t resist.
So I’m trying to book a hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria, right? I found one that is ludicrously cheap, which means there is usually a big catch. Generally in this situation you rely on user reviews. I’ve now read a bunch, and they’re generally favorable. Great. But, at least the ones on venere.com, also seem to be mostly…random.
(Mexico, Oct 2008) The rooms are old, noisy and with and not clean (sic). the personnel very unpolite (sic) and the rooms with no air condition!!. the bed is very unconfortable (sic) and the floor carpet dirty. the only thing not so bad was the breakfast. the personnel does not have a remote idea about service!! I never see a smile or a welcome word.
(United Kingdom, Sep 2008) The hotel room was in a very safe and central location. The room was very clean and good. Toiletries were provided but not tea/coffee. Staff very helpful. Breakfast was taken in an adjacent restaurant and the choice on offer an quality of food was poor.
(Austria, May 2008) The hotel is situated close to the center. We had a room at the backside and therefore it was not very noisy. The room was very large and clean. The personnel was very politely and helpful! Only breakfast was a bit poor.
(United Kingdom, Jul 2008) The staff are under trained, their “double-room” means a “twin” and vica-versa, the carpets (throughout the hotel) REALLY smell, they’re obviously not washed….ever. However…centrally located and 20 minutes walk from any place of interest in downtown Sofia. The hotel rooms are very quiet considering its proximity to the main road.
(Burkina Faso, May 2008) The hotel reception staff were understanding, helpful and courtious. The room was on a ‘no smoking floor – no fumes drifting from other rooms. The maid was excellent: friendly and extremely efficient. The breakfast had 3 choices with no blend or mix – a buffet would have been more to our taste, but it was still a cut above other 3 star hotels we have been to in Bulgaria and Europe. Attention to detail for the little things that matter was the outstanding memory of the stay – very unusual in 3 star hotels.
Now, to book, or not to book? That is the question.
Email to Senator Reid
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here! Mainly that’s due to the launching of the nearly two month old Chess.FM blog.
New info to come on my latest travels soon, but for now, I thought I’d post an email I just sent to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada via his Senate.gov website.
Dear Senator Reid,
I am writing not as a direct constituent, but as a Democrat.
I recently heard your comments on a cable news program in defense of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. You said that Mr. Stevens ought not to receive a jail sentence because he is elderly and “a war hero.”
I was, frankly, appalled that you seem willing to overlook the fact that Mr. Stevens was convicted of seven counts of felony corruption, each carrying a potential five year term in prison.
It is clear from the publicly available FBI wiretaps of Mr. Stevens’ phone, from October, 2006, that he was aware his actions were criminal. He is reported to have said, ‘You know, they’re not going to shoot us. It’s not Iraq. What the hell? The worst that can be done, the worst that can happen to us is we round up a bunch of legal fees and might lose and we might have to pay a fine, might have to serve a little time in jail. I hope to Christ it never gets to that, and I don’t think it will.’
You and your colleagues are in Washington to serve the people. Mr. Stevens willfully violated the public trust, committing criminal acts for his personal gain. He is corrupt, and now a convicted felon. His military service over six decades ago is totally irrelevant.
Your statements this week have seriously undermined my confidence in your leadership of the Democrats in the Senate, and I intended to advise my friends and colleagues in Nevada accordingly.
Sincerely
Macauley Peterson
UPDATE (April 2, 2009): Stevens is free after the Justice Department dropped the charges due to prosecutorial misconduct and will not seek a new trial (NYT story). Still a slimeball, but now he can live out his days a free slimeball.