It just keeps getting more and more extreeeeeeeme

Interesting trivia - the four oldest competitors at this year's XMT are the four British competitors: Marlo, Clay, me and Katie. The complete and total failure of anybody to do anything to get young British people into memory competitions is really getting embarrassing. Meanwhile, the young Americans and Mongolians continued to give the thirty-something Germans a run for their money today! So much drama to write about, but the full recap will have to wait till I'm back home, sorry.

Keep tuning in to that live streaming video, by the way! Third-place playoff and grand final tomorrow morning! Germany vs Mongolia, twice over! Now, have some updated numbers after today's excitement:

ALL	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	91	1687
2	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	31	1627
3	Alex Mullen	62	1560
4	Katie Kermode	51	1528
5	Johannes Mallow	104	1513
6	Jonas von Essen	54	1509
7	Johannes Zhou	42	1497
8	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	33	1485
9	Enkhjin Tumur	25	1470
10	Boris Konrad	75	1458
11	Lance Tschirhart	34	1453
12	Marwin Wallonius	60	1452
13	Christian Schäfer	66	1451
14	Everett Chew	22	1431
15	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	20	1430
16	Marlo Knight	40	1420
17	James Paterson	12	1399
18	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	19	1398
19	Gunther Karsten	12	1395
20	Andi Bell	12	1385
21	Mark Anthony Castaneda	45	1381
22	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	19	1375
23	Erwin Balines	12	1369
24	Yanjaa Altansuh	41	1364
25	Melanie Höllein	15	1363
26	Anudari Adiyasuren	15	1363
27	Ola Kåre Risa	37	1354
28	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	15	1337
29	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	15	1320
30	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	15	1315
31	Annalena Fischer	31	1314
32	Ben Pridmore	53	1314
33	Anne Reulke	15	1313
34	Norbert Reulke	15	1306
35	Clay Knight	15	1305
36	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	12	1293
37	Wessel Sandtke	15	1279
38	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	15	1279
39	Johnny Briones	15	1270
40	Johann Randall Abrina	42	1240

CARDS	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	16	1566
2	Johannes Mallow	21	1514
3	Alex Mullen	14	1514
4	Mark Anthony Castaneda	10	1478
5	Ben Pridmore	11	1463
6	Marlo Knight	8	1434
7	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	6	1429
8	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1420
9	Everett Chew	5	1417
10	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1416
11	Gunther Karsten	3	1416
12	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1416
13	Melanie Höllein	3	1414
14	Lance Tschirhart	7	1413
15	Jonas von Essen	11	1409
16	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	4	1404
17	Johannes Zhou	8	1402
18	Enkhjin Tumur	4	1401
19	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	7	1398
20	Ola Kåre Risa	9	1388
21	Anne Reulke	3	1387
22	Andi Bell	3	1387
23	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	3	1385
24	Erwin Balines	3	1384
25	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1384
26	Boris Konrad	14	1383
27	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	4	1382
28	Norbert Reulke	3	1382
29	Marwin Wallonius	11	1367
30	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1366
31	Johnny Briones	3	1356
32	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1356
33	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1356
34	James Paterson	3	1355
35	Clay Knight	3	1355
36	Wessel Sandtke	3	1352
37	Annalena Fischer	7	1352
38	Christian Schäfer	11	1351
39	Yanjaa Altansuh	9	1337
40	Katie Kermode	9	1315

IMAGES	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	6	1470
2	Christian Schäfer	9	1467
3	Johannes Mallow	14	1464
4	Simon Reinhard	10	1461
5	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	8	1457
6	Boris Konrad	10	1457
7	Marwin Wallonius	9	1451
8	Johannes Zhou	7	1444
9	Katie Kermode	9	1442
10	Alex Mullen	11	1418
11	Wessel Sandtke	3	1416
12	Enkhjin Tumur	5	1415
13	Mark Anthony Castaneda	3	1415
14	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	4	1405
15	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	4	1403
16	Annalena Fischer	4	1397
17	Jonas von Essen	4	1397
18	Ben Pridmore	7	1391
19	Yanjaa Altansuh	7	1390
20	Everett Chew	5	1386
21	Johnny Briones	3	1386
22	Lance Tschirhart	7	1386
23	Norbert Reulke	3	1385
24	Clay Knight	3	1385
25	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1384
26	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1384
27	Marlo Knight	9	1364
28	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1355
29	Ola Kåre Risa	3	1355
30	Melanie Höllein	3	1355
31	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1353
32	Anne Reulke	3	1353
33	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1353
34	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	4	1341
35	Johann Randall Abrina	6	1315

NAMES	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	19	1560
2	Jonas von Essen	14	1512
3	Katie Kermode	10	1500
4	Alex Mullen	9	1464
5	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	3	1446
6	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	4	1430
7	Ola Kåre Risa	9	1428
8	Johannes Zhou	10	1426
9	Christian Schäfer	12	1426
10	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	3	1421
11	Yanjaa Altansuh	8	1420
12	Enkhjin Tumur	5	1417
13	Andi Bell	3	1416
14	Erwin Balines	3	1416
15	James Paterson	3	1415
16	Lance Tschirhart	6	1408
17	Anne Reulke	3	1404
18	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	4	1402
19	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1398
20	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	4	1396
21	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1388
22	Marlo Knight	7	1386
23	Everett Chew	3	1385
24	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1384
25	Melanie Höllein	3	1384
26	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1383
27	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1382
28	Boris Konrad	15	1375
29	Johannes Mallow	19	1373
30	Annalena Fischer	6	1373
31	Marwin Wallonius	10	1369
32	Mark Anthony Castaneda	11	1365
33	Johnny Briones	3	1359
34	Wessel Sandtke	3	1355
35	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1353
36	Gunther Karsten	3	1353
37	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1353
38	Norbert Reulke	3	1352
39	Clay Knight	3	1350
40	Ben Pridmore	12	1271

NUMBERS	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Johannes Mallow	18	1497
2	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	6	1493
3	Christian Schäfer	15	1451
4	Enkhjin Tumur	5	1447
5	Marwin Wallonius	13	1440
6	Katie Kermode	9	1440
7	Lance Tschirhart	6	1432
8	Alex Mullen	10	1428
9	Simon Reinhard	19	1420
10	Andi Bell	3	1416
11	Gunther Karsten	3	1416
12	Clay Knight	3	1416
13	James Paterson	3	1415
14	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	3	1413
15	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1411
16	Ola Kåre Risa	7	1409
17	Jonas von Essen	9	1409
18	Johannes Zhou	8	1408
19	Everett Chew	4	1402
20	Annalena Fischer	6	1401
21	Yanjaa Altansuh	8	1401
22	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	4	1397
23	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1387
24	Melanie Höllein	3	1387
25	Ben Pridmore	11	1386
26	Norbert Reulke	3	1385
27	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1384
28	Erwin Balines	3	1384
29	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1384
30	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1384
31	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1383
32	Marlo Knight	6	1375
33	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	4	1370
34	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1357
35	Wessel Sandtke	3	1355
36	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	5	1354
37	Anne Reulke	3	1353
38	Johnny Briones	3	1351
39	Boris Konrad	16	1349
40	Mark Anthony Castaneda	9	1310

WORDS	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	16	1597
2	Johannes Mallow	20	1526
3	Jonas von Essen	11	1520
4	Boris Konrad	13	1495
5	Christian Schäfer	15	1480
6	Katie Kermode	10	1468
7	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	6	1467
8	Johannes Zhou	7	1443
9	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	6	1441
10	Everett Chew	4	1428
11	Lance Tschirhart	7	1422
12	James Paterson	3	1416
13	Alex Mullen	12	1409
14	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	4	1403
15	Gunther Karsten	3	1400
16	Mark Anthony Castaneda	8	1391
17	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	3	1389
18	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1388
19	Ola Kåre Risa	7	1387
20	Melanie Höllein	3	1386
21	Annalena Fischer	7	1385
22	Erwin Balines	3	1384
23	Norbert Reulke	3	1382
24	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1381
25	Marlo Knight	8	1379
26	Enkhjin Tumur	4	1377
27	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	4	1370
28	Yanjaa Altansuh	7	1361
29	Anne Reulke	3	1358
30	Johnny Briones	3	1358
31	Clay Knight	3	1356
32	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1356
33	Andi Bell	3	1355
34	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1355
35	Wessel Sandtke	3	1354
36	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1353
37	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1353
38	Ben Pridmore	10	1323
39	Marwin Wallonius	14	1322
40	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1280

SURPRISE	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	11	1455
2	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	3	1446
3	Marwin Wallonius	3	1442
4	Boris Konrad	7	1440
5	Marlo Knight	2	1431
6	Alex Mullen	6	1428
7	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	1	1419
8	Everett Chew	1	1416
9	Jonas von Essen	5	1414
10	Enkhjin Tumur	2	1403
11	Johannes Zhou	2	1400
12	Ben Pridmore	2	1399
13	Katie Kermode	4	1398
14	Yanjaa Altansuh	2	1396
15	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	3	1390
16	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	1	1385
17	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	1	1384
18	Annalena Fischer	1	1384
19	Lance Tschirhart	1	1384
20	Mark Anthony Castaneda	4	1371
21	Ola Kåre Risa	2	1369
22	Christian Schäfer	4	1369
23	Johannes Mallow	12	1279

Number-crunching!

I'm sure you've been following all the results on xmtlive.com, right? Head over there straight away to see what's been going on! I'll write about all the fun of the XMT when I'm less tired and less dejected about getting knocked out in the group stage... but if there's one thing that always cheers me up, it's processing data on complicated Excel spreadsheets, and people* have asked me to update that Elo-style ranking with this year's results, so here we go!

*(okay, just one person, but when it comes to number-crunching you don't have to ask me twice...)

So, after day one, here's my calculation of 100-points-for-the-best-score-in-each-discipline. In previous years, this has been a pretty good indicator of who's in contention to win the title. Alex, Lance and Katie all managed between them to produce some mind-boggling new records - incidentally, my figurative 'side bet' on Katie being the first to register a perfect 50 words and 30 names came good; I must try to find someone who'll actually take my bets on this kind of thing in future!

I did manage some half-way acceptable scores here and there, it's just that everyone's now so much better than I've ever been...

Anyway, let's do some Elo - the same health warnings apply as before; there are hugely too few matches for this to make any sense, it harshly penalises people who've lost their most recent couple of matches (say, because they'd already qualified for the knockout stage and were chasing the records) and over-inflates the scores of people who've only had a very small number of matches... but I think it still makes for some fun reading! First off, an overall ranking, then one for each of the five disciplines:

ALL	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	76	1631
2	Johannes Mallow	88	1563
3	Alex Mullen	51	1540
4	Lance Tschirhart	30	1534
5	Johannes Zhou	36	1532
6	Katie Kermode	40	1520
7	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	15	1514
8	Jonas von Essen	54	1509
9	Boris Konrad	70	1492
10	Enkhjin Tumur	25	1470
11	Christian Schäfer	59	1468
12	Everett Chew	15	1452
13	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	15	1452
14	Marwin Wallonius	47	1449
15	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	15	1443
16	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	15	1440
17	James Paterson	12	1399
18	Gunther Karsten	12	1395
19	Andi Bell	12	1385
20	Mark Anthony Castaneda	45	1381
21	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	19	1375
22	Erwin Balines	12	1369
23	Marlo Knight	30	1366
24	Melanie Höllein	15	1363
25	Anudari Adiyasuren	15	1363
26	Yanjaa Altansuh	35	1356
27	Ola Kåre Risa	37	1354
28	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	15	1337
29	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	15	1320
30	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	15	1315
31	Annalena Fischer	31	1314
32	Ben Pridmore	53	1314
33	Anne Reulke	15	1313
34	Norbert Reulke	15	1306
35	Clay Knight	15	1305
36	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	12	1293
37	Wessel Sandtke	15	1279
38	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	15	1279
39	Johnny Briones	15	1270
40	Johann Randall Abrina	42	1240

CARDS	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	13	1538
2	Johannes Mallow	18	1482
3	Mark Anthony Castaneda	10	1478
4	Alex Mullen	11	1472
5	Ben Pridmore	11	1463
6	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	3	1443
7	Lance Tschirhart	6	1430
8	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	3	1424
9	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1420
10	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	3	1418
11	Everett Chew	3	1417
12	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1416
13	Gunther Karsten	3	1416
14	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1416
15	Melanie Höllein	3	1414
16	Jonas von Essen	11	1409
17	Enkhjin Tumur	4	1401
18	Marlo Knight	6	1400
19	Boris Konrad	13	1397
20	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	3	1392
21	Johannes Zhou	7	1388
22	Ola Kåre Risa	9	1388
23	Anne Reulke	3	1387
24	Andi Bell	3	1387
25	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	3	1385
26	Erwin Balines	3	1384
27	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1384
28	Norbert Reulke	3	1382
29	Christian Schäfer	10	1367
30	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1366
31	Marwin Wallonius	9	1362
32	Yanjaa Altansuh	7	1358
33	Johnny Briones	3	1356
34	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1356
35	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1356
36	James Paterson	3	1355
37	Clay Knight	3	1355
38	Wessel Sandtke	3	1352
39	Annalena Fischer	7	1352
40	Katie Kermode	7	1336

IMAGES	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Johannes Mallow	11	1487
2	Boris Konrad	9	1475
3	Christian Schäfer	8	1452
4	Marwin Wallonius	7	1448
5	Johannes Zhou	7	1444
6	Katie Kermode	9	1442
7	Simon Reinhard	8	1428
8	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	3	1421
9	Alex Mullen	9	1420
10	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	3	1419
11	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	3	1418
12	Everett Chew	3	1417
13	Wessel Sandtke	3	1416
14	Enkhjin Tumur	5	1415
15	Mark Anthony Castaneda	3	1415
16	Lance Tschirhart	6	1403
17	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	4	1403
18	Yanjaa Altansuh	6	1402
19	Annalena Fischer	4	1397
20	Jonas von Essen	4	1397
21	Ben Pridmore	7	1391
22	Johnny Briones	3	1386
23	Norbert Reulke	3	1385
24	Clay Knight	3	1385
25	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1384
26	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1384
27	Marlo Knight	6	1372
28	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1355
29	Ola Kåre Risa	3	1355
30	Melanie Höllein	3	1355
31	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	3	1354
32	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1353
33	Anne Reulke	3	1353
34	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1353
35	Johann Randall Abrina	6	1315

NAMES	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	17	1570
2	Jonas von Essen	14	1512
3	Johannes Zhou	8	1458
4	Alex Mullen	8	1450
5	Katie Kermode	7	1448
6	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	3	1446
7	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	3	1441
8	Ola Kåre Risa	9	1428
9	Christian Schäfer	12	1426
10	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	3	1421
11	Enkhjin Tumur	5	1417
12	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	3	1416
13	Andi Bell	3	1416
14	Erwin Balines	3	1416
15	James Paterson	3	1415
16	Lance Tschirhart	6	1408
17	Yanjaa Altansuh	7	1405
18	Anne Reulke	3	1404
19	Marlo Knight	6	1403
20	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1398
21	Johannes Mallow	18	1389
22	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1388
23	Everett Chew	3	1385
24	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1384
25	Melanie Höllein	3	1384
26	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1383
27	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1382
28	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	3	1379
29	Boris Konrad	15	1375
30	Annalena Fischer	6	1373
31	Marwin Wallonius	10	1369
32	Mark Anthony Castaneda	11	1365
33	Johnny Briones	3	1359
34	Wessel Sandtke	3	1355
35	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1353
36	Gunther Karsten	3	1353
37	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1353
38	Norbert Reulke	3	1352
39	Clay Knight	3	1350
40	Ben Pridmore	12	1271

NUMBERS	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Johannes Mallow	15	1488
2	Christian Schäfer	13	1488
3	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	3	1448
4	Enkhjin Tumur	5	1447
5	Katie Kermode	7	1444
6	Alex Mullen	9	1443
7	Lance Tschirhart	6	1432
8	Johannes Zhou	7	1423
9	Marwin Wallonius	10	1418
10	Andi Bell	3	1416
11	Gunther Karsten	3	1416
12	Clay Knight	3	1416
13	James Paterson	3	1415
14	Yanjaa Altansuh	7	1414
15	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	3	1413
16	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1411
17	Ola Kåre Risa	7	1409
18	Jonas von Essen	9	1409
19	Annalena Fischer	6	1401
20	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	4	1397
21	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	3	1387
22	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1387
23	Melanie Höllein	3	1387
24	Everett Chew	3	1386
25	Ben Pridmore	11	1386
26	Norbert Reulke	3	1385
27	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	3	1385
28	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1384
29	Erwin Balines	3	1384
30	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1384
31	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1384
32	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1383
33	Marlo Knight	6	1375
34	Simon Reinhard	16	1370
35	Boris Konrad	15	1361
36	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1357
37	Wessel Sandtke	3	1355
38	Anne Reulke	3	1353
39	Johnny Briones	3	1351
40	Mark Anthony Castaneda	9	1310

WORDS	Name	Matches	Rating
1	Simon Reinhard	14	1574
2	Johannes Mallow	17	1531
3	Jonas von Essen	11	1520
4	Boris Konrad	12	1482
5	Katie Kermode	8	1464
6	Johannes Zhou	6	1459
7	Christian Schäfer	13	1457
8	Tsetsegzul Zorigtbaatar	3	1450
9	Everett Chew	3	1444
10	Lance Tschirhart	6	1441
11	Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag	3	1419
12	James Paterson	3	1416
13	Purevjav Erdenesaikhan	3	1415
14	Alex Mullen	10	1410
15	Gunther Karsten	3	1400
16	Mark Anthony Castaneda	8	1391
17	Jan-Hendrik Büscher	3	1389
18	Anudari Adiyasuren	3	1388
19	Ola Kåre Risa	7	1387
20	Melanie Höllein	3	1386
21	Annalena Fischer	7	1385
22	Erwin Balines	3	1384
23	Norbert Reulke	3	1382
24	Tsogbadrakh Saikhanbayar	3	1381
25	Enkhjin Tumur	4	1377
26	Marlo Knight	6	1373
27	Akjol Syeryekkhaan	4	1370
28	Marwin Wallonius	10	1361
29	Yanjaa Altansuh	7	1361
30	Anne Reulke	3	1358
31	Johnny Briones	3	1358
32	Clay Knight	3	1356
33	Enkhmunkh Erdenebatkhaan	3	1356
34	Andi Bell	3	1355
35	Bat-Erdene Tsogoo	3	1355
36	Wessel Sandtke	3	1354
37	Shijir-Erdene Bat-enkh	3	1353
38	Tuuruul Myagmarsuren	3	1353
39	Ben Pridmore	10	1323
40	Johann Randall Abrina	9	1280

Wow, I'm coming close to the bottom of most of those lists... ah well, it's still fun to crunch those numbers!

Midsummer

This is most definitely the longest day of the year, you know. It's just getting dark outside now, here in San Diego, and the sun came up a good 24 hours ago back in Birmingham. It's like being at the North Pole is probably like! I'm extremely tired after a long and extreme journey, but that's good, because I've got two days to get over the jetlag, and it's practically the right time to be going to sleep now, Pacific time. Good omens are accumulating for the competition - my memory for names is clearly better than ever, judging by the way I know who all four of the people Facebook told me had a birthday today are (memory-men Phil and Phill, recent former work colleague Adam and cousin Andrew; happy birthday one and all!) which compares favourably with the usual daily list of 'friends' who I can't remember befriending. And I'm quite picky about accepting Facebook invitations, too.

Another omen related to Facebook - when I see the five of diamonds followed by the ace of diamonds, in my head it's Richard Dutka, a boy I went to primary school with and don't really remember anything about except that his name helpfully started with the syllable 'dut'. Thirty years since we last communicated, he sent me a message on Facebook last week! If that's not a good omen, I don't know what is.

Well, maybe this is - when I arrived in America and had my passport scrutinized (always a worrying procedure), Border Patrol Officer Lopez was familiar with my name from Moonwalking With Einstein, and had a cheerful friendly chat about memory techniques! It was like being a celebrity welcomed into the country!

It's time to get extreme again!

So here we go - I'm flying out to San Diego tomorrow, for a couple of days settling in before three days of extreme memorising! Well, one day at least, maybe two, improbably three... it depends how early I get knocked out. But the excitement is mounting! Woohoooo! Extreeeeeeme!

One of the world's greatest writers

I'm a month or so late with the obituary, but I'm sorry to hear that Nicholas Fisk has died. As I mentioned in my blog eight years ago, his books really were my favourite thing in the world when I was young. A rare genius.