Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The 800 Words or Elegance in 19x19

Harry Nilsson's voice talks at them, in that wavery way, from the small speakers on the table. Two little bowls sit by their right hands, one full of black one full of white. There's a small plate by the white bowl covered with orange capsules relaxing like dynamite. He picks one up and opens it carefully, tiny beads spill onto the plate. He pushes them close to each other and places a spoon down on them, crushing each one, little cracking sounds on the glass plate. The powder is fine now and he uses an empty pen to suck it all up.

     "I feel like that's cheating, you know, I should have had more stones."

     "I guess it could be cheating." He holds one nostril at a time, breathing in hard with the other.

     "It's definitely cheating, I am only hopped up on fast food and soda...that's the opposite of beneficial."

     "You can have some of this if you want."

     "I don't, thanks though." He places a black stone.

     "You know, Ayn Rand wrote that book, Atlas Shrugged. And it's all about the wealthy and intelligent and elite, 'shrugging off the world' and not creating new shit anymore." He places a white stone. "I feel like maybe I'll write about what would happen if the poor shrugged the rich off, because the working class is fucking Atlas. God damn, I hate that fucking bitch."

     "Start it with that, let your reader know what they're getting into." He sips his beer and places a black stone, eye straining down at the board. He places a white stone and gets up from the table, walking to the refrigerator. It squawks at him as he opens it. He opens the beer as a black stone is placed. He sits back down thinking, drinking the PBR.

     "So I walked around the hood with that young girl the other night." He places a white stone.

     "Pretty odd, how'd it turn out?" He places a black stone.

     "Surprisingly well, she's got wisdom beyond her years, she played piano for me at her house. I was sitting at the bench, and I heard her changing behind me, and I should have just turned around. I mean, when you meet a girl, then are in her room and she's half naked behind you, you kinda are supposed to do something about it, right?" He places a white stone.

     "Hmmm, maybe you should have, can't worry about it now."

     "I know, I know, it's just...bleh, I am an idiot sometimes."

     "Always, tomorrow." He places a black stone.

     "Unless your dead. You know there are more possible games of Go than there are atoms in the known universe."

     "Same with connections in the human brain."

     "Pretty fascinating stuff, computers suck at Go because of the number of possibilities." He places a white stone. "I read something about Go and Chess showing the difference between Western and Eastern thought. In chess you and your army start equally and each try to kill one specific piece. In Go, you and your opponent start on a blank landscape and try to build up from there, trying to win by even one point.

     "It's like each stone is like a word being said by the two players. They have a conversation, where at different times one player starts a new topic or continues one, moving back and forth, bringing up new and old ideas for discussion. It is like a living thing."

     "I imagine when computers can have a full conversation with humans without seeming as a computer, they will be able to play Go." He places a black stone.

     "A Turing thing, maybe." He places a white stone and opens another capsule, crushing the beads with the spoon, and snorting it up. He places a black stone.

     "So I think, I'm going to try to hang out with that girl again." He sniffs hard with both nostrils. He places a white stone.

     "Good shit, 18 year olds, such an enigma." He places a black stone and goes to the fridge for another beer. He places a white stone and begins removing black stones from the board.

     "Shit...I, fucking, fucked myself." He opens the beer and sits back down, shaking his head.

     "It's the Adderall, that's all."

     "I told you it was cheating. I am so fucking far behind."

     "Should have taken two more handicap stones, by my estimate."

     "Two more, jesus, I don't even know what to do now.” He notices the song playing from the small speakers. And while hearing the words, sees his best move. A smile moves his lips as he places a black stone. He points at a large group of white stones, quoting the song,

     "Everybody wants heaven but nobody wants...dead