A Chess Movie I'd Like To See

"Chess Movie" is about WFM Elizabeth Vicary & the gang at the IS-318 middle school pictured above. It looks like they'll be creating a documentary about this notoriously competitive team during this coming school year but they need to purchase a decent video camera to do so. It's definitely a movie I'd like to see, & it'll probably stand as both a valuable historical document & a practical model for years following. This kind of publicity would be a great boost to promoting chess in schools & beyond. The pledge drive goes through most of July, & that should be enough time to get the project rolling, so pledge what you can because this is really an important opportunity.

Chess on MTV

GM Var Akobian showed up on, of all places, that venerable bastion of contemporary intellectual accomplishments, MTV "True Life" in the "I'm A Genius" episode. For now you'll just have to trust me on this because even MTV hasn't posted the actual clip on their own official web site yet. (To be fair, the stars of the "I Have Acne" & "I'm a Southern Belle" episodes most likely were as claimed.)
There seems to be a considerable firestorm of controversy already concerning the use of the word "genius" in connection with the "5th best chess player in the US" (see link below) & his costar who looks to be a fairly bright high school senior (runner up at Teen Jeopardy, yadda, yadda, yadda...) though somewhat less deserving of the term by virtue of his NOT getting accepted at Stamford University.
While Akobian's published rating is 2659, his rating history graph shows him currently at his peak of 2695. He's also listed as #10 on the top US players' list (based 2659), which may or may not qualify him as a "genius" depending on your definition. I know that he's been playing very good chess in the US for some time now & he's making his presence felt in international arenas as well.
I'll add some of his notable games later.

Lots of Rhododendrons, No Bumble Bees

Apparently the worldwide Colony Collapse Disorder that's wiping out honey bees has affected other species as well. As far back as I can remember, every year the blooming rhododendrons have always been accompanied by hordes of bumble bees. That is until the spring of 2009. Maybe it's just some kind of regional cyclic die-off, but it's a little scary that it just so happens to be taking place at the exact same time as the global honey bee blight.
There doesn't seem to be anything particularly gradual about it either. Last year there were plenty of bees; this year so far, I've seen none!