On Feb 22, 9:35 pm, samsloan <
samhsl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > As you know by now, I won the Silver Medal in the world Memory
> > > championships.
>
> > How could you possibly remember this? It happened over two weeks
> > ago.
>
> I have been trying to think of jokes about winning the Silver Medal in
> the World Memory Championship.
>
> Something about I cannot remember how I did it.
>
> However, the best one so far comes from Al Lawrence, who wrote that he
> had been planning to compete in the World Memory Championship, but he
> forgot about it.
Well, not everyone has the ability to get around the entire world
'at will' in order to compete. In fact, I know a few people who
cannot well afford to enter certain 'big money' events even when they
come to town, as the U.S. Open did to Indianapolis a few of years ago,
let alone go galavanting around Asia on a whim. In fact, perhaps only
two players who have ever competed in one local club do galavant
'round like that: Ms. Yun Fan from China and a grandmaster from the
Phillipines... whose name slips my mind. Mark Paragua.
My own powers of recall are generally superb. For example, I still
remember that John Nunn and a crack team of famous grandmasters found
numerous 'improvements' on Bobby Fischer's original analysis,
publishing them in a 'new and improved' version of the old classic, My
60 Unforgettable Games', converted to algebraic notation. It goes
without saying that all these 'improvements' annoyed Bobby to no end,
and he complained bitterly in the press despite promises that he would
be paid royalties on the vastly superior published chess analysis of
his brilliant successors from Brittania.
But that was nothing when compared to my ability to recall how to
install ancient operating systems on dusty old PCs I still have lying
around. No CD-rom driver? No problem. Just insert the floppy disk
(5.25" or 3.5") and type 'dir\' (granted, I have forgotten how to make
the darn thing stop before the text scrolls off-screen). I even
remember how to insert and play an 8-track tape, how to change
channels on a TV set that has no remote control, and how to pedal a
'Big Wheel' plastic tricycle. (Before that things get a little
fuzzy.) To swing forward, you extend your legs, and to swing back,
you pull them under you, I think. The best ride at Disneyland?
Pirates of the Caribbean. About four spoonfuls of cane sugar will
make that nasty tasting grown-up breakfast cereal --Cheerios or Corn
Flakes-- edible.
But all these ideas were vital for daily living. I'm not sure I could
recall trivia fed to me under conditions in which I am competing
against the world's best.