August 30, 2022

Tips of the Week
Here are the Tips I put up during my 24 days in Texas and Mexico, plus this week's.

Texas and Mexico
I returned Sunday night from a week in Texas and 17 days in Mexico. (Yeah, I'm exhausted – I've been walking seemingly non-stop the last three weeks.) Here's a short rundown.

The week in Texas could be divided into three parts. I was in Missouri City, TX (just outside Houston) from Aug. 4-7 for the 2022 Classic Hardbat World Championships – see segment below with my ten articles. I spent Monday, Aug. 8 touring Houston, with a tour of Space Center Houston the highlight. I spent Aug. 9-11 in San Antonio, touring The Alamo, the Riverwalk, the San Antonio Zoo, the Sea Life Aquarium, and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (I've now been to four of them, in San Antonio, New York City, Santa Monica, CA, and Galveston, TX.) As always, I buy souvenir magnets when I sightsee – here's the six from Texas.

On Aug. 11, I flew to Mexico City for a 17-day tour. Fifteen were as part of the Mexico Unplugged guided tour with superguide Mark Bobich. I could write a book on that trip, like I did in 2019 – see Larry's Adventures in Europe and Egypt: Seven Weeks Following Tour Guides with Little Flags and Funny Hats, and the Quest for the Elusive Dr Pepper. Instead, I was inspired to write a new science fiction story that involves a time traveler going back to 1519 to stop Hernán Cortés and the Spaniards from conquering the Aztecs. (On a side note, I sold three more science fiction stories while I was away. The stories are called "You Are President, Madam President"; "The Whaler and the Whale"; and "War Around the Clock." The last one's title can have two literal meanings – and both describe the story.)

During those fifteen days we toured the sights of Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, San Cristobel de Las Casas, Palenque, Merida, Chichen Itza, Playa del Carmen, and Cancun. I saw lots of archeological sites (i.e. ruins) of Aztecs, Mayans, and others. (Note that their descendants are alive and well, and still speaking their languages!) Some of the best were the ruins of Chichen Itza, Mayan ruins from roughly 600-1200 AD – though much of it was in pretty good shape. I also spent a lot of time just walking about these cities, exploring. I ate lots of Mexican food – alas, I came down with food poisoning of some sort and spent one day rather sick, and after that ate mostly "American" food. I've now been to 21 countries, all 50 US states, and 10 of the 32 Mexican states. Here's the 19 souvenir magnets I picked up in Mexico.

As always when I'm out of town for a time, my todo list is longer than an unexpedited match between two passive  and extremely patient choppers. I've got seven requests for letters of recommendation, a zillion emails with various questions and requests, plus I've got to watch videos of a number of our top junior players and other preparations for coaching at the upcoming 2022 ITTF Pan American U11 & U13 Championships (Sept. 17-24 in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic). I've also got to prepare for a one-day trip to Chicago this Friday for the World Science Ficton Convention, where I'm meeting with publishers. Plus four group sessions I'll be doing this weekend at MDTTC. 

Meanwhile, I'm currently involved in various stages of six (6!) different books - you might say I'm "booked" for the forseeable future. They are:

    • First Galactic Table Tennis Championships (a novelette that I'm self-publishing)
    • Yet Still More Table Tennis Tips (fourth in the series, likely coming out this fall, see first three here)
    • Yet Still More Pings and Pongs (fourth in the series, likely coming out this fall, see first three here)
    • Campaign 2100: Game of Scorpions (it's being republished by Arc Manor Publishers, with some changes, including a new cover – and it has a number of table tennis scenes!)
    • Campaign 2110 (the sequel to the above)
    • I Can Do Anything (political humor book I've outlined and started writing)

2022 Classic Hardbat World Championships
The event took place Aug. 6-7 in Missouri City, TX, just outside Houston. I won bronze in Over 60 Men's Singles! But I was mostly there to do coverage. Here are the ten articles I wrote.

2022 ITTF Pan American Cadet Championships (U15)
Here's the ITTF home page with complete results. The event took place Aug. 23-28 in Cuenca, Ecuador. USA swept everything! Here's video coverage from Jimmy Butler (3:31). Here are articles:

=>USATT articles by Joshua Dyke:

=>Butterfly articles by Steve Hopkins:

Sally Moyland GoFundMe Page for Worlds
Here's the page. "Sally is currently the Number 5 player on the 2022 national team, she has been told that she must be self-funded if she wishes to attend the Worlds Team Championships. She needs 7000 dollars for the trip to China." How good is 15-year-old Sally? At the Nationals in July, Sally made the final of Women's Singles, won Under 15 Girls' Singles and Doubles, Under 19 Mixed Doubles, and made the semifinals of Under 21 and Under 19 Girls' Singles.

European Championships
Here's the home page with results for the event held Aug. 13-21 in Munich, GER.

I'm a Longevity Doctor, and I Always Recommend This Game for a Longer, Healthier Life
Here's the article from Well and Good. "Volleying a ping-pong ball back and forth may not seem like much of a sport. After all, it usually doesn’t require any real athletic prowess, excepting the occasional lunge after a rogue hit. But when you delve into the mechanics of the activity, there’s far more than meets the eye (or hand). As you step from side to side, strategize your next shot, and reach to hit the ball, a whole bunch of systems fire in the brain and body, making regular table tennis sessions a secret boon for longevity."

Table Tennis Older Prevents Dementia, Let’s Play Ping Pong
Here's the article from Nation World News.

"Hard Work Beats Talent:" Meet the 20-year-old Orthodox table tennis phenom battling discrimination and aiming for the Olympics
Here's the article from Forward.com, featuring Estee Ackerman.

How Nigerian Paddler Quadri Aruna is Reinventing Table Tennis for a Whole Continent
Here's the article from Olympic.com.

'We Are Faster In Observing Things Than Chinese'- G Sathiyan Reveals How Indian TT Can Reach New Heights
Here's the article from Cricket Country.

News from All Over
Since I've been away for about a month, rather than try to list every interesting article, I'll just link to some of the main news and coaching pages, and you can pick and choose.

Smurf Pong
Here's the cartoon! (Translation: "Game, set and match.")  

Win 1 POINT, Win $10 (Beat Me, Win $100)
Here's the video (14:23) from Adam Bobrow! Here's another (12:29), Beat Me, Win $100 (Sunset Edition)

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