Preparing for The Southern Congress

I'm currently preparing for the 36th Annual Southern Congress, or is it the 35th? They called last year's the 35th, and they're calling this year's the 35th, but I'm going out on a limb and calling this year's the 36th. Has it been a year already? Last year in this tournament I was rated 1689 and managed to lose 11 rating points with a 2½ score (out of 5), and one of those match points was a full-point bye in the last round. Now I'm unofficially rated 1840 (gained another point last night -- woohoo!), and I've survived tactics boot camp.

I've adopted more of a GM Michael Adams approach to preparation (when he was an early Grandmaster). Mickey's idea of good preparation was watching a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie and having a beer. I don't really like Van-Damme movies (I mean if you want to watch a martial arts movie starring someone who can't act, at least go for Steven Seagal, who could take out Van-Damme in a heartbeat). So I watched Underworld last night instead. And I'm not a big fan of beer either, so instead I sipped on my Starbucks Coffee. Yum. But hey, it's kinda like Mickey's approach, don't you think?