July 18, 2016 at 03:50AM

Today I Learned: 1) Ever wonder how stomach cells don't just get digested like everything else in the stomach? Part of the answer is a mucus membrane, but I think there must be more at play, since the stomach lining can somehow secrete enzymes and acid *into* the stomach, so those must also be able to get *out* to some degree. Today I learned that part of how the stomach keeps its cells alive is by having the stomach lining cell reproduce really quickly. 2) There are soups (including some gazpacho recipes) that include blended bread, digested with a bit of vinegar. Mengsha Gong seemed nonplussed by this fact, so I'm guessing it's well-known among people who *really* cook. 3) ...how to play shogi, the Japanese version of chess. The major differences between chess and shogi: you can place captured pieces (almost) anywhere onto the board as a move; almost all pieces can be upgraded if they reach the other side of the board; the game is played on a 9x9 board instead of an 8x8 board, with the king smack dab in the middle of the first rank. Shogi pieces are surprisingly similar to the pieces of western chess. The king is basically identical in the two games. There are pawns, which can only move forward by one (and capture the same way). There are rooks and bishops, one per side, which move just like their western counterparts. There are knights, which move two spaces forward and one to the left or right (only forward, note!). Then there are a couple of pieces that have no obvious equivalent in western chess. Lances sit on the outermost columns, and can only move forward, but can move any amount forward. Gold generals can move one space in any direction except the reverse diagonals. Silver generals can move on the backwards diagonals and any direction forward by one space. Thanks to Robert Johnson for teaching me shogi! I hope to play enough sometime to get a feel for how the game really works.