Just a drop in the Bucket...

At Long Last

2007-06-05T00:00:00.001-04:00

I've been using spare time recently to work on a new project.

http://hangingcurves.blogspot.com will be a place to find some articles on baseball that should prove to have some occasional unique value. It also will have some great links to other baseball sights that any fan should know about.

PS - Congrats to my Wolverines. Super-Regional Bound.

My Message Regarding Sports

2007-04-27T13:05:00.003-04:00

I have a simple message regarding sports: it comes in two forms.

Message #1: If you call in a sports talk show, you not are bringing to light anything new that someone who is actually playing or coaching the team hasn't already noticed or addressed 10 times over. Simply put, if you do not like what you see, it is simply a difference of opinion between you and the coach/player. You may not like the athlete/coach's decisions or rationale, and you may be correct in second guessing it, but it never has to do with you discovering something that hasn't been addressed already. If you think you are coming up with a new idea or grand theory involving your favorite sports team, it is only new and grand to you. In reality, all that means is that it is terribly stupid - so stupid, in fact, that no other person on earth has been dense enough to offer it up as a thought. No, your suggestion of a 7 man pitching rotation to save the arms of your best pitchers is not a good idea. No, your idea of starting Kyle Orton over Rex Grossman is not a good one. No, the Cubs should not bat Carlos Zambrano in the #4 hole when he pitches. Listen, I hate to say it, but the reason why I have a hard time following sports coverage and sports talk isn't because I have low interest in the subject matter; I have a boundless interest. What I cannot listen to is people who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about proclaiming things like they are gospel when they haven't a clue what they are saying. Sadly, this isn't just addressed to the average dumb sports fan. This extends to media members who have been in the business for 30+ years. I once heard a favorite radio host of mine bet his life, on the air, that when there are runners on the corners and less than 2 out, that the correct play ISN'T to run for home plate immediately when the ball hits the ground off the bat (for those who played baseball, we know it is a contact play). Anyway, he mocked a caller who suggested that you WERE supposed to run, and then when the host had the audacity to call up the Sox third base coach Joey Cora to ask if running on contact was the right play, Cora made him eat crow when he told him "of course you go on contact, every team in the MLB does that - its not even a question." The host then tried to backpedal for 20 minutes, saying in his 20 years of covering baseball, he has never seen teams do that.

News flash for you buddy. They all do that. They have - forever. This isn't some new baseball thing - this is how the game is played, and the average fan has NO IDEA that things like that go on during the game, thats why he never noticed in 20 years. All the average fan does is see a guy score or get tagged out, and then say "what a great play" or "what a stupid play". The average fan couldn't even tell you why something like the contact play exists, and why it is the correct baseball play. In fact, I bet the average person reading this diatribe doesn't even follow what I am talking about.

This totally proves my point again. If you can't follow this, do not offer your sports knowledge. Ever. Please. Just cheer, be happy when there is a win, and sad when there is a loss. I am not saying you can't become an expert in a certain sport, but it takes some actual studying and some actual time.

Message # 2:
If you are an athlete or your kid is an athlete, and you think you are good and will become a big time pro one day, ask yourself a few questions:

1. Am I the best player I know at this sport?
2. Am I clearly more athletic than everyone else around me?
3. Do I do more than excel, do I utterly dominate?

If you are below the major college sports level and cannot answer yes to these three questions, I have some news for you. You are not as good as you think you are. In fact, you might not even be good. You MAY, if you work hard, have the potential to make it, and by that I mean a 1/10000th chance. But do not for a second think you are God's gift to a sport. Have fun, play hard. Laugh and have a good time. But please, understand the level of play you think you are one day aspiring to. Sports on TV look a lot easier than they really are, because the best 20-30 in the world at what they do are going at each other at any given event, and the skill levels tend to nullify each other. Are you a big, powerful hitter that can hit a homerun? Cool. Does that make you Alex Rodriguez? Not exactly. Think hitting 10 homeruns in a row in batting practice means you have skills? Can you do the same thing...off of a batting tee? Didn't think so. Again, let me reiterate, tens of millions of people end up competing for the spots you see on TV in your favorite sport(s). Many of these people are so physically gifted that it is borderline in-human.

I hope everyone achieves their playing dreams, lord knows I loved following mine. I do hope that everyone has some perspective on those things, however, and do not lose focus of what makes sports so great and so important - the lessons in life and the fun we derive from them.

The following clips cover a variety of sports and many do not even showcase the world's best talent at their sport (except for the soccer clips, which come from Premier League and World Cup caliber players). As you will see, these clips will bring to light a small portion of these athlete's outrageous athletic abilities. It will also clearly illustrate the point that there are not only a couple hundred people in each major sport that have ability well beyond the normal person's wildest fantasies, but also there are usually another 500-1000 or so right behind them that have the same ridiculous ability, but just can't put it to practice consistently enough to be the best in the world at what they do. Anyway, enjoy the videos. Next time you think you are athletic or think you are good at a sport, take a long, hard look at one of these and humble down.

Another One - I can't get enough of these

2007-04-26T11:17:00.000-04:00

My Favorite Onion Article of All Time - I Cannot Express How Much I've Always Agreed With This Article

2007-04-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

Even CEO Can't Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business

FORT WORTH, TX—After a thorough review of the its operations, RadioShack CEO Julian Day could provide no real explanation for the analog-riddled company's staying power.

Starlight - Muse -- A very special tutorial

2007-04-15T11:42:00.000-04:00

$56.34

2007-04-10T02:50:00.001-04:00

Update.

1:50 a.m.

26th place.

$56.34

Turnabout.

2007-04-10T02:34:00.000-04:00

So, it's 1:34 a.m.

I'm sitting at one of four tables left in a $25 tourney. Multi-table.

For the majority of the evening, I had nothing really going. I was hardly even playing, just blinding away as I got crap hand after crap hand.

I somehow caught QQ before the last break, and made it up to $6000 in chips, about 1/3-1/2 of the avg stack.

I then hit A9 over AQ.

A9 over A10.

AQ over KK.

Suddenly, I was up to 29000 in chips, in the money, and possibly on my way.

Then, I decided to start an entry.

I got KK. one raiser to me, I call.

Flopped J 8 6. I bet, get raised. I push.

He is all in. He calls. Flips.

QQ.

The turn is a Q.

Changes

2007-04-09T13:02:00.000-04:00

For a reason to use the internet on a daily basis, I have to refer to you to SLATE.

Until then, I can't claim to be a good reason. Changes coming.

King-sized Folds

2007-04-02T15:20:00.000-04:00

So after taking down another $100 in sit-n-go's last night after a brief pull-back a few nights ago, I have a few observations:

I don't think I've played in one tournament, big or small, where I moneyed and I didn't lay down at least one huge hand. For example, this past evening, I lead out with about 1/8th of my stack with KK, and got one caller. The flop hit A 8 5, and my bet on the flop was immediately raised. It was pretty obvious I was up against Aces, and when the A came on the turn, my check and eventual fold came as a bit of a disappointment. I was stuck with only 60% of my original stack, and I felt a little gypped.

45 minutes later, I took 3rd out of 18 and took home a little cash to soothe my ego.

Point being? I might have gotten bluffed out of that pot from a smaller PP, but that was the ONLY hand that could have bluffed me. QQ or JJ was a possibility, but every other hand that would've called me, typically A2-AJ, was more than likely what i was up against. Even though it would have been a "bad beat", there was more sense in swallowing a small defeat than trying to be macho and go down in flames.

The most common sign of an idiot player (and/or new player) is their insistence on playing cards that cannot win, just because pre-flop they had a monster. Listen, you may have gotten a caller and started a hand at an 80% favorite, but after the flop, you could be a 15% underdog. There's no glory in proudly emptying your pockets out trying to win on that 15%, just because you "should've won", and the guy that called you is "such a donkey".

It doesn't make a difference, you still lost all your money. Now who's the donkey?

Poker:Music:Goodwill:Fitness:Humor:Me

2007-03-29T09:47:00.000-04:00

Poker:
I won 4 straight single-table tournaments at the 20/2 level a couple of weeks ago. Talk about a crazy run. All in all, there was a stretch of 8 of 10 placed in the money. To be fair, I got some real lucky turns and rivers along the way - as well as one game in particular where I couldn't avoid getting dealt PP after PP. Sometimes the gods smile.

Music:
Songs Ive recently learned (piano):

Boston - Augustana
Brick - Ben Folds Five
A Message - Coldplay

Songs I want to learn:

Good -Better Than Ezra
Mad World - Gary Jules
Come and Go - Virginia Coalition

Songs I already know:

The Scientist
Clocks
Fix You (half)
Lightning Crashes (half)
1000 Miles

Goodwill:

I recently gave blood the other day, and they have this crazy machine that can separate your platlets from your red blood cells. THEN, it spits the platelets back into your arm! What I didn't understand is 1. Why does that count for 2 pints of blood instead of 1, and 2. Why do I need the platelets back in the first place? Wouldn't that make really runny?

Fitness:

I pulled my calf doing sprints the other day. I'm old. I can do 35 pullups in a row, but apparently can't make it through 8 sprints anymore without needing an ice pack and a rub down.

Humor:
Gaffigan, Silverman, Curb's 6th Season?

"Oh Rocco, I hope you die in your sleep tonight." (as she pets her dog in bed) - possibly the best line I heard over the past few months.

"Good Morning! You're about to call in sick." - possibly the best standup skit I've seen.

Me: Status Quo. Sickening.

Such Great Heights: Ben Folds

2007-03-29T09:34:00.001-04:00

Mercy Me

2007-03-29T09:14:00.000-04:00

No Idea What I Just Posted

2007-03-29T09:08:00.000-04:00

Not Welcome!

2007-03-28T13:49:00.000-04:00

I've found some great websites where I am definitely not welcome.

Tallpeople.org
It says right in the description: TALL PEOPLE ONLY. Priceless.

Compassion over Killing
It's for people who don't eat meat. It's for people who stand for animal rights and the end of animal cruelty. It's a website aimed at educating others on social issues. I am totally against all of that.

Sparrow Airlines: Update

2007-03-21T09:03:00.001-04:00

Sparrow Aviation Administration Blames Collision On Failure To Detect Pane Of Glass

Klosterman's Insights

2007-03-20T09:59:00.000-04:00

Finally, something decent from the Boo-yah! network.

Football, Steriods, and Us

A Beautiful Mind

2007-03-20T09:28:00.000-04:00

A Study of the Genius Mind.

A very fascinating read - kudos to Crossfit, AGAIN.

Hot Pockets!!

2007-03-12T23:38:00.000-04:00

Deep Depression

2007-03-05T13:19:00.000-05:00

So I haven't posted in a while - mostly because of one reason.

Internet poker is pretty much dead right now here in the U.S. And, quite frankly, it leaves me with the task of putting together little pieces on other topics -- and I'm struggling to find the inspiration. What is this without having good bad beat stories to vent about once in a while, or a story about a crazy tournament hand or priceless character at the table?

Personally, I'm dejected. I might have to take this in a different direction. UGH. CMON, U.S., this is a tired act. Since when is online poker morally reprehensible? How is this now illegal and fantasy football isn't? Just come up with some tax, and get it over with already. I want to play!

The "Cooler"

2007-02-25T12:50:00.000-05:00

Poker tips for future Reno-goers:

* You'll find a preponderance of "2/4" games -- they are basically the same as slot machines. It might be "hold'em", but get serious.

* The morning tournaments at the casinos aren't serious either.

* When you are "the cooler", just stand up and cut your losses -- no matter how tempting it is that this is the only city anyone's ever seen "one-deck" blackjack.

* More later...

Destination: RNO

2007-02-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

A little taste of the flavor of where I'll be...

Incidentally, should be the funniest movie since Borat - no question.

Journalism rule: do not make yourself part of the story

2007-02-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

ESPN Sportscenter feature #1 today: the fact that the production crew lost track of who was winning the 1979 Daytona 500 on the final lap.

ESPN Sportscenter most cited fact of broadcast: Southern Illinois vs. Butler was first ever Bracketbuster game between two ranked teams. 'Bracketbuster' is an arbitrary term coined by ESPN themselves.

Keep it up, dickheads.

College Baseball 2007

2007-02-15T11:45:00.002-05:00

Reprinted from Collegebaseballinsider.com.
Feb. 15

Up All Night

By Ritch Price

Kansas Head Coach

Editor's Note: Kansas and South Dakota State faced bad weather in Lawrence, Kan., over the weekend. Cancel the series? Not a chance. The Jayhawks and Jackrabbits rented out the Metrodome and played through the night - rather morning - on Saturday and Sunday to get the games in. CBI asked KU coach Ritch Price to share some thoughts...

Our starting pitcher, Andy Marks, may have made the greatest 4:30 a.m. start in the history of college baseball. He held South Dakota State to just one run on four hits... he was absolutely special...

rest of the story.

What an awesome story to kick off this year's college baseball season.

For those of you who aren't familiar with college baseball, I'm sorry. You're missing out on baseball's secret little pearl. At the major college level (Division I), there are about 260+ teams battling for 64 NCAA tournament spots, which are then divided into 16 regionals, which are then paired down to a "Sweet 16" if you will, who then battle to play in the greatest event in amateur athletics, the College World Series.

A little background on the sport:
There are some low-quality Division I programs that are seriously short on talent. They are like the 16-seeds in the NCAA tournament for basketball - often times playing at a lower class than their counterparts, even though technically they are still classified as "Division I". However, for the remaining 150 or so schools (all of the BCS conference schools, with additions of Big West, MVC, Big South, Southland, WCC, to some extent the Mountain West, and some indys) the level of play is around the "High Class A" level - teams are well coached, fundamental, and play hard-nosed team-oriented baseball. Raw talent level is sometimes slightly below an average minor league team, but you won't see a minor league team come close to a good Div. I college team when it comes to team-baseball, competitive nature, and spirit. Good Div. I college teams will ususally produce 1-3 major leaguers before they are said and done, which is about on par with a Class "A" affiliate. In a four-year span at a good college program, I've had the honor of playing with 19 professional baseball players and probably 4 who will end up having major league careers.

The funny thing about college baseball is the vast disparity in its popularity according to geography. At SEC, ACC, Big South, Big West, and some Southland Con. schools, baseball is often times viewed as the biggest sport behind football and basketball, and at many of these schools, ahead of basketball. In the north, schools in the Big Ten, MAC, A-10, Big East and others often times struggle to even gain major notoriety from their own universities, let alone make much revenue/attendance wise. Where the disparity between the two regions arises, interestingly enough, has little or nothing to do with the quality of play or talent level, but instead the time of the year that the sport is on the calendar.

A large chasm between the way southern schools are treated and the way northern schools are treated has developed ever since the sport became much more regimented in the late 70s - early 80s. When "regional" tournament bids no longer held any geographical connection, southern schools began to earn more and more bids to the NCAA tournament based on better winning percentages. These percentages are directly tied to the ability to play much more home games than a northern school can play, and also the fact that a southern school can start it's season whenever it wants to after Jan. 1st. A northern school must travel in order to play at any time before mid-March because of weather.

This has lead to two distinct injustices: One, southern schools are allowed to inflate winning percentages by playing more home games, and then in turn playing each other later in the season (often 'conference season' games), which is a good way to inflate their "strength of schedule" and have a disproportionally strong impact on the "objective" statistical measurement of the quality of an NCAA team, its Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). This index is used to justify the selection of NCAA baseball tournament teams, and often times seen on ESPN when they are showing a "resume" for an NCAA basketball team. (basketball has a similar RPI index, except in basketball it is much much harder to say that the number is skewed). The second injustice, which has perplexed many for a while, is that NCAA baseball is the only NCAA sport without a uniform starting date. This is equivalent to MLB teams just starting their seasons whenever they want. With a clear competitive advantage to be had by starting earlier, southern teams often take advantage of playing northern teams that are not only on the road, but usually playing for the first time outdoors all year.

Thus, records of good southern baseball teams often turn out to be 40-16, 35-21, etc.

The records of good northern baseball teams often end up being 34-22, 29-27..etc.

Then, for decades, selections for the NCAA tournament have included one representative from each conference, and 30+ "at large" bids that are awarded based upon record, conference record, and RPI-type statistics. With 2 of those 3 factors being clearly skewed in favor of southern schools, they have dominated the college baseball landscape for some time now.
Landing strong recruiting classes.
Getting undeserved NCAA bids.
In general, making northern schools hate them.

The time of change has begun, however. One of the two injustices, the non-uniform start date, has been altered and will take effect next season. Everyone has to start on March 1. Oregon St. (in the northern part of the country) is the defending national champion. Norte Dame, Ohio St., Michigan, and St. John's have began to establish themselves as NCAA tournament regulars, whether or not they win their conference.

But, in the end, the northern schools still hate the south. The southern schools don't like having their empire being taken apart slowly. There are 56 regular season games, 32 conference tournament titles, 16 regional titles, 8 College World Series spots, and one national champion. In baseball terms, its a drag race with some civil-war type hostility brought into it. NOT TO MENTION the various rivalries and amazing major-league lineages that so many of the schools bring to the table.

Oh, and did I mention there are still metal bats (although SERIOUSLY toned down from what they used to be - think restrictor-plate racing in NASCAR times 5)?

It's too bad college baseball isn't more popular - it's alot cooler than arena league football that's for sure. Maybe we can convince the NHL to go on another strike? One or two more years of major TV coverage of this sport, and there will be more to it than the college world series in the eyes of many. Heck, one day there might even be a video game (-;.

blinktwice4y, MIDI, and the Internet

2007-02-13T14:36:00.000-05:00

So you'll need to read the whole story for you to participate.

An average dude who likes to check out new music on the Internet is using a day off to surf around YouTube. While trying to find a piano tutorial for Ben Folds' songs, he stumbles upon a great cover of...
The Luckiest.

Impressed by the cover so much, he gets totally distracted from finding tutorials. He clicks on the user's name in the corner of the screen to find out more about him.

He finds another great cover...

Everlong

And unlike "The Luckiest", everyone who reads this page has probably heard Everlong. Just about everyone that clicked on the video probably thought the guy was awesome now, too.

Back to the story, the guy then does some research and finds all of the stuff out he can on the musician, and that's when we really get to meet "blinktwice4y".

blinktwice4y isn't just talented - he's also aspiring.

Many of the videos posted on his page aren't covers. They are original work. So the guy clicks on one of the songs to check it out, and finds..

Sentimental

At this point, the random dude thinks this guy is no joke. In fact, the random dude is not the only one who thinks so. Far from it.

Enter Dwight Mallory.

Otherwise known as "dustypuppy" on YouTube, Dwight is a musician, piano expert and technician. He's also good with production and technology, and he decides to take Sentimental and give it a band to play with...

Sentimental with backup..

And there you have it, the random dude is sold. Not just on blinktwice4y, but also on the amazingness of the Internet. The dude then decides to post a video on the internet of the music, because he likes to share. However, he can't decide which one to pick.

So he puts them up in order, and he hopes that people listen to them in order. And then he hopes that people like it, and pass it along to their friends to listen. He also wants people to check out the direct link to the artist's page, and he hopes people can keep the word going and going.

And maybe someone else will come along and rip the YouTube video onto an mp3. And maybe it will surface on myspace or limewire. And maybe then people start googling the song, or the artist, or Dwight, or whatever. Or maybe someone will pass this link along to someone else, and then onto someone else, and then onto someone who works for a label. And that person's boss eventually sees it.

And then a star is born.

And then blinktwice4y will be rich.
And everyone here can say they saw him 'way back when'.

I think this guy has a future, no?
Check it out.
Pass it on.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=blinktwice4y

Sentimental

rest your head a little while
and I will try to explain of love
and all of that
see we were young and cavalier
and we have scars and tears to smile at now

we both knew what had to be done
but it turns out I'm not that brave or strong
so you had to be the one
because you had courage all along

we were lost and never found
you were hurt and i was proud
i was never there for you
and we forgot the things we knew

sentimental though it seems
you were mine love
though I tell you I'm alright
I lie love

sweetheart this is killing me
is it killing you?
but I know that things will work out fine
so I show my teeth when I laugh out loud
and pretend that wounds will heal in time

chorus bridge chorus chorus

the end

While I am on the subject...

2007-02-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

I would say that there's nothing more nauseating than hearing some dumb douchebag oggle and gush about a hot chick on TV(except, of course, hearing a woman go on and on about Matthew McConaughey). For me, I do not see the difference between noticing an attractive woman on TV and noticing one in person. Both of which happen all of the time, but overall unless you have some action planned, I don't see the point of bringing it up repeatedly.

That being said, I must now totally defeat my own opinion.

Ladies and gentlemen, the two celebrity women that cannot be on TV enough:

Jill, the Mercury Milan Girl

and Elliott from Scrubs

I will pay you to agree with me

2007-02-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

AEI Will Pay Scientists to Dispute Global Warming

I just want to say that the more I dive into this internet thing - the cooler it becomes.

Comments?

PS - Check out the correspondent who has filed this report. As us thugs like to say, she is a "dime". WOW.

A stick save, and a beauty

2007-02-12T00:51:00.000-05:00

The NHL All-Star Game.

Please click on the above for exclusive video of the NHL all-star game. Honestly, its pretty can't miss stuff and you can't find this on Youtube. Great work Guerreso, or should I call you "angry T"...

Tips from the pros

2007-02-10T13:14:00.000-05:00

I can't quite figure out how this video hasn't gotten more circulation.

This is just an amazingly insightful guide to playing poker, and I wanted to share with you.

Enjoy.

Insight into today - "Signing Day", "XML", and "Iraq"

2007-02-07T20:45:00.000-05:00

Most of the time its a better idea to check out stuff you can learn about/argue about/ponder about from other people than from me. Today is a great example.

Some good places to check out...

Absolute must watch on technology and information – How our lives are changing

A brief insight into the world of college athletics and recruiting. Must read. Not gospel, and not the whole story….

Recruiting is a sick business

Best Critique of Comedy Movies – degenerates as the article realizes its more of a history lesson on the evolution of comedies than actually saying something meaningful about them

Emotion Porn

Political article on Iraq intelligence, etc. Marginally important read. Not terribly great but good link to check out to see a gateway into political intelligence sources online and also a vast array of political opinion pieces.

Rawstory.com

Please, let me teach your children to swear

2007-02-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

Signed,

Bobby Knight

Smokin' Aces, Sun Valley Martinis, and Sushi Buffets: a trip to the biggest little city in the world.

2007-02-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

It's almost that time of year for my annual trip to Reno, NV.

Before you out and out just ask "why?", know these important facts:

1. I won't get a chance to ski at Lake Tahoe.

2. I won't get a chance to hang with any friend(s) who even enjoy spending time outdoors.

3. There's a chance everything I own will smell like cigarettes + wet dog.

4. I'm gauranteed at least an 8 hour flight layover there and back.

Now we have that established, why in the world would I make such a trip?

***

The best way to describe the city of Reno, Nevada is to offer up a compare/contrast example. Everyone has probably heard about the Drive-Thru Wedding Chapels in Las Vegas, right? Some are "drive-thru", some are walk-in, all of them are used for haphazard legal unions that join two overserved individuals as one -- at least for the night. These are often times the oases that scared, excited young couples who run from home use to celebrate matrimony away from disapproving loved ones...etc.

Well, in Reno, they have these very same chapels. However, in the three days on earth that I have spent in that city, I never saw a couple stumble out of there giggling or laughing. I never saw two wild-eyed, lust-filled teens scamper in.

No. I saw groomsen. Bridesmaids. Half-dress/half-jean combos, cowboy hats with tuxedo pants and t-shirts with buttons. I saw best men and maids of honor. I saw family pictures and wedding vails galore.

You see, the walk-in chapels aren't used for that many exceedingly bad decisions made in haste.

They are home to exceedingly bad decisions made in earnest.

This fact is by far the best way I can characterize the city.

If that description doesn't sell you on why I can't wait to get back, than maybe knowing my extensive poker plans there will be enough.

I am set up to play in a nice home "bar" game the day I land in this paradise city. It is quite different in Nevada than it is back here in Chicago, as you can imagine. The bars out there are allowed to host their own poker tournaments without having to worry about anything. From what I hear it is a nice, low-limit game that is sure to lead to lots of laughs, smoke-filled eyes, and more than two or three stories to tell in the morning -- and that's if I don't happen to be lucky enough to win.

This will be immediately followed up by three days of touring the card-rooms of Reno -- something I haven't had the privilege of doing up until this point. If it is anything like the rest of the city, I am sure it is bound to be a little bleary-eyed, confused, and lookin' for a good ole time.

Still not convinced it would be a good trip? Well, then let me tell you about the real gems of Reno - the dive bars.

We've all been to dive bars. I would say they have an appeal to most anyone who enjoys a good time relaxing and hanging out, right? The dingy appearance, the cheap food, the regulars and the characters -- who doesn't love them?

I hate to say it - but until I went to Reno, I never truly understood the meaning of "dive bar". You see, what I was familiar with, what you remember, what the world pictures when it thinks of a dive bar has nothing on one in Reno.

First of all, they are on every corner in Reno. They are between every corner in Reno. They are under every burning lightbulb in the town. They are everywhere. They really don't have names. They are signified by an open door. You can smell them coming.

Carding? Please, no one inside one of these places even knows what a Nevada license looks like, much less all of the other states that someone who works 10 minutes in the bar industry would see in the state of Nevada.

The bar stools? Resplendid creations complete with broken legs, torn padding, and video poker for every station.

The bartenders? Typically people who couldn't balance a cash register if they tried, make up the drinks as they go along, and don't know a shot glass from a glass pitcher.

The entertainment? Pool tables, darts, etc. All of which are used as props. Props? Well, you see, you never really get to use the equipment -- its more to aid and abet the current bar fight or wild-eyed ballyhoo that is going on at the time. My two memories of a Reno pool table were 1. playing 9-ball on it for 15 minutes, and 2. watching 6 Australian soccer hooligans scream, dance, hug and glom while standing atop it until one of them wasn't wearing pants and two of them were making out with a giddy 65 year-old bachelorette in the corner. Put that on the tourist brochure.

Wait, did I mention most of the customers come in through the back door?

Wait, did I mention that these bars are open 24 hours?

Wait, did I mention that day and night blend together in these places worse than in Alaska?

I didn't think so.

Wait, did I mention half the town is "tweaking"?

IS THAT NOT ENOUGH? Well then, do this. Google "sun-valley martini" until you find out what it is. You will be in awe.

Well, that's it. I know I have done enough to justify this trip. I'm sure there are going to be requests for people to come with me. I can imagine the emails flooding in.

Nevertheless, if any of you need me to list any other reason why to visit this place, I guess I would be remiss if I didn't mention my oldest friend lives out that way. And, no it isn't this guy. . This guy isn't as creepy. Not to say he isn't creepy looking. Which isn't necessarily something I look forward to saying, because it has been suggested that we look alike. I doubt it - my nose is 1/10th his size. And I don't think I am going as grey.

Actually, people might say that because we pretty much share a sense of humor and perspective on the world that is hard to explain. Maybe we formed it throwing pillows at his grandpa's bedroom door during sleepovers - just to see what hilarity could ensue. Maybe we formed it grilling out and throwing snowballs at Kevin Vogt. Maybe we formed it during Sachs family vacations, where I was the "other son". Maybe we formed it discussing politics all night long after randomly awkward social encounters with varying groups of friends in high school. Maybe because we both always felt a little out of place, we ran in completely different social circles, went to different schools, and sometimes didn't share one single life choice for years at a time. But all that said, we never forgot our latest joke or our earliest. We never thought there was a bad time to call - or a bad time to drop in. If I had to bail him out of jail and give up my house in the process, I would demand that he at least buy me a beer once I did. If I needed a wingman or an accomplice in crunch time, he would take the fall quicker than a Niagra canoe. He would be the first person to call that a gay analogy, and then the first person to offer up a self-directed insult of his own.

When "hey I gotta go I'm busy" means that you are actually in the middle taking customer service calls while doing a double shift after school, you know that's a good friend. When that phrase doesn't come out until 20 minutes into the story, then that's a different level. We all have friends that find it tough to squeeze time for you into their hectic lives, and they will tell you all about it. I say cheers to those few people who never say that. It's because the last thing on earth they are going to let get in the way of a friendship is time.

With that being said, on with the festivities. In slightly over two weeks, I will be living it up in the biggest little city. Remember, google sun-valley martinis.

What a way to go out - Colts 29 Bears 17

2007-02-04T23:30:00.000-05:00

Well, at least the Bears played one of their worst games of the year.

At least they didn't have a chance to get up by 3 scores early in the game without making stupid miscues.

At least Manning didn't try to spot us 14.

At least we weren't still in the game with 11:00 to play, down 5 points with the ball, having only gained 120 yards of offense on 30+ plays.

At least we didn't almost go into the lead at halftime somehow.

2 dropped snaps. 2 deep throws slipping out of our quarterback's hand. I know from experience, if you have a smaller hand, the ball is ridiculously slippery when wet. My hands were so small the ball would slip out on the backswing everytime I tried to throw back in the day if it was wet/muddy. It's probably one of the most overlooked parts of football that can totally change the fate of a team. Teams should really have a plan for when their QB can't grip the ball. Ours clearly couldn't.

BEARS: 37 COLTS: 21

2007-02-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

I have nothing more to say.

Bear Down.

Another Piano Vid: Brand New

2007-02-01T14:28:00.000-05:00

A week goes by without a piano vid? Crazy.

An excellent job by this dude. Also, may I say I love how he plays like I do, right off the floor like Schroeder.

Brand New: All the quiet things no one knows

Also, some great weblinks to check out.

Beast Skills. Seriously.

Also, for those of you who love to understand the way the world works, here is some great science/math discussion blogs that are fascinating.

fascinating write-up on normal distributions

http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/

Obituary: Nokia 6610

2007-01-30T22:12:00.000-05:00

Not to get all personal with a post here, but amongst the 1000 things I wanted to get posted up here but haven't had the time is a story.

It is a story of a cell phone.

Saturday I took the plunge and went about buying a new phone. Some of you may or may not know what my cell phone looks like, but rest assured its at least 3 years old and in cell-phone terms, a total relic.

And with the new phone on the way from "corporate" (note: there is a total sidebar story here on the strange and completely counter-productive business practices of cell-phone companies, but anyway), there's a few days in here where my phone is sort of in this life-support stage, where I know and it knows its about to be put to sleep for good, but together we hang on for a little while longer.

You see, cell phones mean nothing to me, and I have no real reason to have an attachment to this one at all. Its ugly, awkward, the buttons rarely work, has a cracked screen, the battery is shot and it never got decent reception on a consistent basis the entire time I owned it.

Despite all of this, I admit I have some strange sentimental attachment to the thing.

It has bowling and parachute on it as games - games that I know shouldn't keep a 4 year old's attention for 5 minutes, but for some reason actually had enticed me to learn how to not just figure out the controls of each game, but how to beat it entirely.

It has the memory capacity for like 3 text messages at a time before it crashes. It wasn't something I ever really cared about until one day no one called each other - they only IMed each other using phones (i.e. texted). Still, I almost grew to like having to figure out how to text people without using the "r" "s" or "t" letters because the number 7 didn't work.

I'll also never forget the time that it wouldn't hang up - the end button stopped working - and I contemplated the notion that I could, theoretically, be on the phone forever one day unless the key decided to cooperate once again. I had secretly hoped one day I would call someone who had the same problem, and then we could keep our phone call going forever and see if those unlimited nights and weekends really were unlimited.

But that doesn't really match the time I lost the phone in school, and eventually found it laying in a corner of the ole' baseball house up on S. Fifth. Next to it was an empty dip-spit bottle, usually the most disgusting thing in the world. This time though, it was second. That's because I found the contents of that dip-spit bottle spilled all over the face of the phone.

Or how about the time I needed to put together furniture in my new apartment, and I had nails, I had wood, but I didn't have a hammer? I thought the phone doubled as an extremely useful one.

Could I count the number of times it had hit the ground? Heck, I couldn't even count the number of times I found it in a puddle.

And was there a trip I took with it where I actually remembered the charger? Was there anything funnier than coming home with another one, just to put it in a pile of chargers I had that all barely worked right and never actually made me remember to bring them with me the next time?

I guess some of these questions lead me to somewhat of an understanding. As bad as it was, the thing had been through a lot with me. I treated it terribly, but I couldn't shake it - like a bad habit. I needed that thing.

And so I guess someone could understand why I care. It was a trooper. It sucked, but it had been through a lot. That was worth a little something.

But really though, gimme a break. It's a cell phone. Why write about it, above 1000s of other topics? Respect is one thing, but why am I suddenly misty-eyed and sentimental? (tongue, meet cheek)

I guess, as they say, we have to go back to the start.

It was born the day I took the "phone that came before" it in hand while stuffing clothes into a gym bag. The "phone that came before" was in the hand with my gym towel, and after I managed to get all the clothes in the bag, it was time to stuff the towel in, too. As I typically do, I like to fit too many things in too small of a holder, and this was no different. There was no room for the towel unless I stuffed it in there. And stuff is what I did. As I swung my arm back for one last stuff, the "phone that came before" accidentally slipped from my grasp on the upswing. I felt "the phone that came before" release - and I turned my head and saw it sail through the air. It sailed gracefully through the open doorway and across the hall. The arc was magnificent, and so must have been the velocity, because it continued to sail all the way across the hall and through another open door - the bathroom door. Well, almost through the bathroom door. You see, had it gone cleanly through, the phone I am eulogizing today would never have been mine. Instead, "the phone that came before" gently glanced off the bathroom door and changed direction as it began its descent to the ground.

It would never meet the ground, however. The glance was enough to hurdle it towards the toilet, where it would find one final open door. The toilet seat was up, and provided no resistance to the "phone that came before"'s impending progress to a liquid doom.

SPLOOSH. It was in one sense horrific, in another sense immaculate.
The "phone that came before" never worked again, and it was buried with the honor of having the most tragic and fantastical death ever to strike a cell phone.

Until the phone we remember today. You see, this phone didn't just take a beating and keep on ticking, this phone took a deathlike plunge even more catastrophic and impossible.

It came the day after Halloween, and again there were many things to carry and not enough hands to hold them. Our heroic phone was joined by its late-brother, an equally heroic and memorable mega-wallet that held every business card, ID card, credit card and gift card a person could ever imagine all at the same time. The phone and the wallet were joined by some keys, and they were on a journey to watch the beloved Bears at a young rogue's abode. As harmless as this sounds, terror would strike the situation before anyone could even realize what had happened.

You see, two more elements were present on this journey of death. One was a half-filled case of Miller Light long necks. It was agreed that they would make the trip back to the young rogue's abode, and because of the state of it's fluid contents needed utmost care in its transportation - it required a whole index finger to carry it with.

In the other hand, a California Raisin costume that was donned by yours truly the night before was placed on a hanger and resting within a palm. It was requested by the merchant that loaned it to me - and because of the oppressive time restraints of our agreement required that the costume make the trip - and consequently take up much needed hand space.

So here we were, one costume, one beer case, one wallet, my keys, and our tragic hero. 11 floors up, no pockets to work with and time at a premium, there was no way to make two trips for this - this had to be taken care of in one mission. How to do it?

Evil is born. The idea of using the space in the half-empty case comes to me. I place the mega-wallet and our hero inside the space. Genius. Now the hanger is picked up with my left hand. The keys in my right palm, and the beer case in the steady crook of my right index finger. I open the door, lock it carefully and am on my way.

To doom. I hit the elevator button. The door opens - I get in and JUST as it is about to close, I hear a rustle and a hustle, and I lean forward quickly to try to stop the door from shutting.

Crash. The beer case has slipped free from its iron-like shackles.

Panic. Beer is spilling everywhere. Glass is strewn about the elevator floor. More mess is to come and something needs to be done - and fast.

Open the door, pick up the case. Panic. What to do? The beer is getting everywhere.

Eureka. I run to the left, down the hall. Full sprint now, I throw open the utility door and pull open the garbage chute.

I fire the case down the chute.
Relief.

As I walk back to the elevator, I begin to think about how I will clean up the beer, and how a small mess almost turned into a big one.

And that is the point when it hit me. Tragedy. Despair. Catastrophe.

The beer, the mega-wallet, and our hero - all plunged eleven floors, drowning in suds, helplessly to their doom.

Like a mourner in denial, I coerced management to look for the bodies. I somehow obtained a carcass removal device, and dug threw the disgusting wreckage until I found the physical remains of my beloved.

The mega-wallet and the tragic hero recovered, I cleaned up and took the costume and the keys to my car. I was a shell of a man, shocked and horrified, but somehow reluctantly glad that I got to see my friends one last time.

I started my car, and began to drive away. A few minutes passed, and I grabbed our hero to try to begin cleaning and grooming it for a proper burial.

Then it happened.

Remember how I said "deathlike"?

You see, "the phone that came before" has still taken the most fantastical and impossible death plunge in the history of phones.

That is because this phone, our hero, the one that I mourn today, SURVIVED.

Cracked screen and hops-coated, it miraculously lit up. With some intensive care and prayers - it plodded on.

And it was that moment, that miraculous second that I realized I didn't just respect this phone. I loved this thing.

Rest In Peace, NOKIA 6610. You have given me more than just crappy reception, poor battery life and complete lack of status with women and friends. You have given me inspiration - and for that I will never forget.

So Sorry

2007-01-29T12:50:00.000-05:00

I haven't gotten to posting lately - so this really hasn't even been worth checking. Stuff is coming, though. Good links, tidbits, and even original (!) work.

Until then, Go Bears. Also, check out this awesome article on city politics. As you read, play this game: How many employees of the city of Chicago are currently on disability? How many are related to city politicians? My guess is a lot, and my second guess is the overwhelming majority.

Who signed the alderman's papers?

Who signed alderman's papers?
Rival claims forgery, Solis denies it

January 29, 2007
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Staff Reporter
The charge is serious: Ald. Danny Solis (25th), the president pro tempore of the Chicago City Council, had someone forge his notarized signatures on his statements of candidacy and economic interest while he was on a fact-finding trip to Israel with other Hispanic aldermen.

He was back from the trip before the final deadline, but they had to be filed while he was away to make him eligible for the lottery for top ballot spot for the Southwest Side ward that includes Pilsen.

Solis' attorneys have said he signed the documents himself before he left, and they expect the lawsuit filed against him Friday will be thrown out just as the electoral board threw out the charge earlier.

But Solis reportedly was seen talking angrily to his Chicago staff on his BlackBerry while in Israel, and handwriting expert Diana Marsh says whoever signed "Danny Solis" to the statement of candidacy and economic interest is not the same person who signed "Danny Solis" on all of Solis' other documents.

Solis has his own handwriting expert, Jack Calvert, who says the same person signed all of the documents. Solis has the high-powered law firm of Shefsky & Froelich as well as election law expert Burt Odelson representing him.

At least until Mayor Daley named Miguel del Valle city clerk last year, Solis was regarded as Daley's top Hispanic ally and perhaps even Daley's heir apparent -- or at least the mayor's choice to succeed Luis Gutierrez as congressman if Gutierrez retires.

Objections were tossed out
Rich Means, the election attorney who filed the case against Solis, said he was initially skeptical that the signatures were forged. A brief glance with the naked eye finds them pretty close. But after going over them with Marsh, Means said he became convinced they were "skillful forgeries."
Means said he became more convinced "by the fact that Solis has consistently refused to swear under oath that the signatures are valid and he has also refused to voluntarily give proper samples of his handwriting under supervision."

But no hearing officer has ordered Solis to do that yet, and he may never have to. So far, the objection against Solis' candidacy keeps getting tossed on procedural grounds because it was filed in two parts, each part incomplete.

Anthony Sutor, a political operative for Solis rival Ambrosio Medrano, filed the objection but forgot to include Sutor's address. Sutor is a city Transportation Department employee who has taken extensive disability leaves over the years, his current one due to stress and panic attacks caused by his divorce, he told the Chicago Sun-Times last summer.

Medrano was allowed to stay on the ballot by a Cook County judge Friday despite his conviction for taking bribes when he was alderman.

Sutor filed an amendment including his address. But the election board docketed it as a new complaint. Means argues they should be joined together since both were filed before deadline. But Solis persuaded the electoral board to keep them separate.

Medrano is also trying to bounce former Ald. Juan Soliz from the race, saying Soliz actually lives in Orland Park. Soliz says that while his wife and children live there, he spends most of his time at his home in the ward.

Lawmaker's brother running
Also in the race is Cuahutemoc "Temo" Morfin, a juvenile probation officer who owns a gym and who has been active in immigration reform demonstrations. Candidate Joe Acevedo, like Sutor, is on disability leave from his job as a city sewer worker. Acevedo is a brother of state Rep. Edward Acevedo.
Candidate Aaron del Valle is a police officer. Both del Valle and Acevedo were active in the Hispanic Democratic Organization, which used to support Solis. City Clerk Miguel del Valle has accused Aaron Del Valle of using the same style campaign posters and trying to piggyback on his campaign. Candidate Martha Padilla is an attorney.

apallasch@suntimes.com

Too much of a good thing

2007-01-22T23:30:00.000-05:00

It's almost too perfect of a situation to frame this particular rant.

The Bears just demolished the Saints, 39-14. They are headed to the Superbowl, as underdogs, against the Indianapolis Colts.

Bookies had the Bears as 2 1/2 point favorites, and made a ton of money as people continually took their money and put them on the Saints.

What some people may not know is that in the span of 3 days, the line fell 3 POINTS from 5 1/2 to 2 1/2. What the hell happened in that amount of time that almost completely altered the line of the NFC Championship game?

No one was injured on the Bears - no one. The Saints, in fact, were the only team to lose a guy during the week when they declared Joe Horn officially unable to play sometime on Thursday. What did the bookies learn over those two days that made them think that the Saints could pull this thing off?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not one football thought or fact actually played into the line of the game moving. It moved because everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, put money on the Saints. I don't know how they would have covered those losses had the Saints actually covered the spread, because 3 people on earth would have lost.

The bookies moved the line because they were scared shitless. When the money is almost even, the bookies do okay and don't really have to worry about who wins or covers the spread. However, when everyone and their mother takes a certain team, its panic time. Everyone winning = them losing, and they can't have that.

With the line lowered to 2 1/2, the action was still all Saints. My guess is that a bunch of odds makers actually, for the first time in playoff football history, considered actually changing who was the favorite of the game midweek (at least the first time when someone was almost a touchdown favorite).

But last second, someone said something logical. "If you look at this game honestly, I think the Bears are actually the real favorite to win this thing. Let's stick it out." I'm guessing a "if we lose this its your legs, buddy" type of deal amongst them all, and they decided to give football logic the benefit of the doubt ahead of mass football hysteria.

And wow, did that decision pay off. Congrats bookies. You didn't buy the story.

What story?

The sports story that was being sold to American people on a daily basis, courtesy of ABC/ESPN. You see, ESPN actually had every single one of it's "experts" pick against the Bears. They ran features on the Saints. They routinely played them up as "unstoppable", "poised"; a team of destiny. The Bears were continually portrayed as lucky and clumsy; their QB presented not as a first year starter being the central difference in his team making the Superbowl this year, but as a man so terrible at his job, they routinely called on faulty AP reports that he was going to be benched, and even had the audacity to frame his 282 yard performance against the Seahawks as sub-par.

What resulted is a real story. 100,000s of people are out big money, and look pretty stupid right now taking a dome-team road-dog in the NFC title game. People ate up this "analysis" like it was gospel, and they are all paying for it now.

You see, no one with a hint of football logic could be that shocked the Bears won. In fact, looking back on the game now, its almost ridiculous to see how the Bears weren't at least a 7 point favorite. A 5 1/2 point line was pretty tight considering all of the shortcomings of the Saints team.

But no one heard about those. It wasn't in the storyline. You see, ESPN is the network that changed the world as we know it. The fact is, almost everyone has an affinity for some sport or another (if not all). People use it as a way to come together, to converse, to celebrate, and most of all to get away. Humans will always love to have fun, and sports are just that - fun. We pay too much money to watch, we invest too much energy and time caring, we lose perspective on its real role in the world, and yet, this all being the case, it doesn't seem that evil after all. When the idea of televising sporting events on a daily basis, 24/hrs a day came into being, we ate it up. We watched sportscenter to see the scores, we watched ESPN2 to see stuff we never saw before. But then it became uncool to watch weird sports (when nothing else was on to televise), not universal enough to televise obscure collegiate sports or other semi-pro type events, and so ESPN eventually realized they had more airtime than they could conceivably fill with live sports or highlights of those sports.

But instead of staying true to the mission, and keeping the idea of ESPN an enjoyable experience for everyone - they took it in a different direction. Instead of covering the actual sporting events, they decided to talk about them, using opinion-based shows and interview-style highlight segments. While the connection between the sports world and the real world was one that they did originally try to cover (and did so pretty well), they eventually found that taking on real issues and real stories wasn't always exciting on a daily basis, so they decided they had to invent story lines. Suddenly it began to grow: The homerun chase of '98 was really the baptism of this type of sports coverage. Sosa and McGwire, crowned by the same network that is now out to tarnish them, were used to "save baseball" - and also save Sportscenter from actually covering sports news thoroughly and accurately. Later, Kobe vs. Shaq was one of the storylines that the network covered ahead of actual sports. Once that ended, there was Phil Jackson insanity, followed by Belicheck being crowned a genius, followed by the birth of the T.O. phenomena, which went right alongside the obsession they had with a certain sports agent, followed by an obsession with Bill Parcells, followed by all things Barry Bonds, followed by T.O..the Red Sox..Bartman...etc...

But stories are, although often untrue, usually popular. They become gossipy. They are debatable, mainly because so much opinion can be used and so little fact needs to be presented. And this, apparently, appeals to viewers and proves to be some form of satisfying entertainment for many. Although, for me it seems a lot more like Entertainment Tonight than an actual sports broadcast.

This isn't to say that sports doesn't ever produce storylines. But there's a difference between covering sports and seeing a story develop naturally, and trying to plant one where one just refuses to grow. Apparently, people want to hear these finely crafted stories more than ever - because ESPN is clearly a healthy corporate entity. But what if reality just flat out refuses to cooperate with the script?

Today, Bill Parcells, a huge ESPN character for many years, retired and an honest reporter was covering it for the "boo-yah"s. The story was presented, the facts were read, but before the guy could get off the air, the host of the show asked "Did he retire because of T.O.?"

One last try to squeeze this event into the world of an invented ESPN storyline. Simply stunning. To the guy's credit, the reporter completely dismissed the comment as strange and ridiculous and signed off. The dumbass anchor went on with his moronic monologue.

Which takes me back to the Bears/Saints game, as it compares to the Bears/Saints invented storyline.

The article currently on ESPN's NFL Tab, AFTER THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES ON MONDAY. Yes, this is what is on the website. I joked with a friend that we would have to listen to two weeks of Saints coverage before the Superbowl (even though they aren't in it). So far, I am right for the first day of week 1. No joke.

Once again, reality and the story just don't match, and the network that has created it cannot admit to being the spoon stirring the pot. There will continue to be a lack of resources and energy spent on covering the actual game this week as we head to Superbowl XVI. No doubt about it, the wrong teams won the game as far as ESPN is concerned, but they aren't going to let it stop them from jotting down a few more lines in their scripts.

And why not? Everyone loves ESPN. They are the worldwide leader.

Although, can we now safely ask them, "the worldwide leader of what?". It sure isn't sports.

Level on the Inside

2007-01-18T23:59:00.000-05:00

My schedule the last few weeks has been like this:

Work.
Work.
Work.
Work.
Eat.
Work.
Repeat.

Right after I find some time to sleep, I will find some time to post. I've got some stories saved up too - plus, a Bears thing to write. Anyway.

Two recommendations:

One, 97.9 The Loop(chicago) in the mornings. A longtime Chicago radio DJ, Johnny B (Brandmeier), has a morning show that has totally grown on me over the last few weeks. Check it out, it's clever, laid back, and damn funny. It reminds me of being a kid and loving Kevin Matthews - one of two kids on earth who listened to that DJ religiously.

Two: this hard-to-find video is of a song that is clearly pretty 'up there' on my personal all-time favorite songs. You might even find a line from this song in my "about me". Anyway, its a great jam, it has a great message. The band isn't really around anymore, and the video leaves something to be desired (still only like 43 views on YouTube), but as far as music goes - its top shelf baby.

Divisional Playoff Review

2007-01-16T21:51:00.000-05:00

And...

The Bears won.

Rex was good.

And I went 1-3 vs. the spread.

Ha. Oh well, I totally called the Indy game.

By the end of the week, I will have another article on why the Bears will be going to the Superbowl.

Until then, its back to working every hour of every day, forever.

Clocks

2007-01-14T11:49:00.000-05:00

Okay. Two Comments.

First, I will send this man a donation for such a great tutorial.

Second, I have been screwing up a note when I play this song for like 3 months now.
So happy this guy came along.

Another Reason to Hate ESPN

2007-01-12T15:06:00.000-05:00

They've actually created an archive of articles written by Linda Cohn.

http://sports.espn.go.com/keyword/search?searchString=linda_cohn&rT=sports

Oh for the love of elevation!

What a disaster.

Newsbreakers - When News Breaks...

2007-01-12T00:08:00.000-05:00

It is my great joy to bring this to many of you for the first time.

This is a video from "Newsbreakers". What they do - basically - is have some fun with the news broadcasts that folks watch every evening over dinner, or every morning before work. In case many of you didn't know, there are varying degrees of quality journalism in news broadcasts across the country. Sometimes what is framed as news isn't what you think it is.

These people aim to let you know that.

I hope you like this video. I hope you get this video. If you wanna learn more, go to www.newsbreakers.org -- it gets explained...a little more.

Once done viewing, I recommend googling the term "Video News Releases" -- it might open your eyes to some of the things you didn't know about what is given to people as "news".

A quick word on endgame

2007-01-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

Last night's $25/2 NL/Hold-Em $12,000 Gauranteed Tourney on Bodog was a delightful experience - I played with some "proper villians" who really could play some cards. There were about 1 or 2 wrong moves over the course of 200 + hands, which is very impressive.

I was fortunate enough to get 18th place, one out of the $150 payout, ending up only with $81.00 to show for my efforts.

The hand that essentially eliminated me was K10. Blinds were at 1000/2000 + 350 ante, I had about 26,000 in chips, and everyone at the table was somewhere between 45,000 and 10,000. The cards folded around to me, and I was in the classic "boy this is a bad hand to lose chips on, but its good enough that you have to play with position" type of deals.

Anyway, flop comes As Js 7c, two spades showing. I'm holding none. It costs me only 2,000 to see the turn so I pay it, and sure enough make my straight with a Qs of spades. There's three spades on the table, but I'm sure that if my opponent made a flush, he'd have either checked the flop on a draw, or bet it strong. Therefore, its pretty obvious to me that at this point I'm holding the nuts - albeit in a precarious position nonetheless. I bet half the remaining stack, about 10,000. To my demise, I get called. Had the odds swung in my favor, the call would have been huge -- I would've ended up aronnd 60,000 chips at the end of the hand. However, the river comes 10 of spades.

At this point, you know its over. No one would have called that without at least holding one spade to make the best possible hand (flush).

Checked down. Guy shows. 7 of spades, (pocket 7s).

The reason I tell this story?

For those who've never done online tournaments, they not only feature a lot of good players who make money playing (at the higher dollar levels), but they also feature some tough blind structures at the end that really make decisions tough. Did I make a mistake playing JQ to begin with?

Who knows.
Until next time...

Why the Bears will end up in Miami

2007-01-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

The unanimous decision by the national media to proclaim the Bears team as totally inept and their situation completely hopeless is like nothing I have ever seen, and I'd like to quote Lee Corso with a "not so fast my friend."

This week, the NFL playoffs really kick into high gear. The best teams from the NFL finally get to suit up and show why they earned home field advantage, and usually one team officially establishes itself as the darkhorse candidate for the Superbowl crown as well. This pattern doesn't vary a great deal from year to year: home teams in the divisional playoff round win 79% of the time, and it isn't hard to recall past Wild Card round darlings, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers of 2005-06.

Typically, no one settles on a sure-thing to upset in this round because of the home teams' amazing win/loss record, but this year, the media has decided the Bears are sure to blow another playoff game to the Seahawks.

Let's point out the fallacy in this argument. The number one reason people say the Bears will lose is because of Rex Grossman. They cite his horrible games with ratings of 1.3 and 0.0, and proclaim that he will find some way to blow the game for the Bears.

What they don't happen to mention, though, is that Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck has had just as sketchy a season as Rex Grossman has. Hasselbeck, in fewer games, has been sacked more times and thrown for less yards per game. His rating is a whole 2 points higher than Rex's. (Both QBs ratings are lower than HB Thomas Jones', which only accounts for one pass for -3 yards.) So why is one QB going to blow the game, and the other one won't? That argument isn't logical - the QBs are a wash.

AND, on top of that, even when Grossman has blown it, he has only cost his team the game half the time!! The Bears are so good in the other phases of the game, that his failure to perform has not cost the team as many games as it could have (think Vikings, Cardinals victories). On the other hand, without a strong performance from Hasselbeck, the Seahawks' 7 regular season losses point out that the have no ability to cover up for a signal-caller's mistakes.

Debunking the hype over that popular argument then leads us to the question: of the other players on both teams, which would you have?

The Seahawks that you would rather have: LT Walter Jones, without question. WLB Julian Peterson, definitely. WR Deion Branch, possibly. HB Shaun Alexander, questionably, considering his recent performances, and K Josh Brown, only because he has made some huge pressure kicks this year.

However, 2 of those choices are clearly debatable (K Robbie Gould was the NFL's leading kicker for the majority of the regular season, making his share of pressure kicks, and the HB combo of Jones/Benson seems to be at least equal to the combo of HB Alexander/Morris in Seattle). The rest of the picks, you would absolutely be lying if you didn't say the Bears' guys. The CBs of Vasher and Tillman aren't even comparable to the random scrubs the Hawks have to throw out there this weekend. Though safeties Johnson and Harris aren't necessarily All-Pro caliber, you would still take them over Hamlin and Boulware, who have a reputation of not covering anyone.

LBs Urlacher and Briggs would be taken over any two LBs in the entire NFL, much less the combo of Hill and Tatupu. As for the D-line, yikes, the Bears DE's are far outperforming Grant Wistrom and co. (save Ogunleye, who has actuall come on of late) up in Seattle, and the Bears have much more depth there than the Hawks do.

On offense, we covered the backs. As far as the OL goes, you'd have to go with the unit that has given up fewer sacks (much fewer) and has paved the way for a more effective ground game throughout the season. That unit would be the Bears'. At wideout, WR Muhammad could be said to be less of a threat than WR Branch, but not by much. Neither are true #1 options, and as far as the second wideout goes, WR Berrian of Chicago has been a premier deep threat all year for the Bears, while WR Jackson is out for Seattle and his replacement (Burelson) is not an NFL starter.
At tight end, two former Pro-Bowl TE's are pitted against each other, where TE Stevens has a little more name recognition, but TE Desmond Clark of Chicago leads the way in catches, yards, and touchdowns.

As far as the rest of special teams goes, the Bears have the best returner (Hester), a far better punter (Maynard) and some of the best special teams coverage units in the league (rank 1st-3rd in almost every special teams category).

So, how exactly has this matchup been so celebrated as the upset special?

Previous meetings? Bears won 37-6, so there's no evidence there.

Previous home playoff losses for Bears? Though no one will ever seem to get this through their head, there is absolutely no correlation between what a team does one year and what they do the next. The Bears will not be thinking about last year's game while in the middle of playing this year's game. The Bears are no more prone to make playoff mistakes than any other team out there.

So, how can you say that the Seahawks are a great pick this coming Sunday?

You can only amount it to a hunch, one that is rooted in misinformation, speculation, and imagination.

This doesn't mean the Bears will win. But if they don't, it will be an upset, pure and simple. The Hawks could win, but a betting man wouldn't count on it.

MY NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF PICKS

Winners vs. the spread in bold.

Date & Time Favorite Spread Underdog
1/13 4:30 ET At Baltimore -4 Indianapolis
1/13 8:00 ET At New Orleans -5 Philadelphia
1/14 1:00 ET At Chicago -8.5 Seattle
1/14 4:30 ET At San Diego -5 New England

A Big Thank You

2007-01-08T17:22:00.000-05:00

Before I do my mandatory Bears preview post, I wanted to give a big shout out to the folks that have featured some small drops in the bucket so far.

Big thanks to Iggy! Below is a great link he posted of a classic Phil Hellmuth meltdown caught on TV. For poker fans, and for people who love to watch others make a total ass of themselves, this is for you.

Great video with Phil Hellmuth blowing up on the air.

Car Prank thanks to Iggy.

Also big thanks to The Postmen! They are fellow Bear fans and always have some great tidbits to check out that will make you...well, giggle. Here is a great shot of another hobby I want to take up...pogo-flipping!
Messy Breakups Through Facebook Groups

So, once again, thanks fellas!

Check back in real soon to see the only necessary bit of information anyone needs to know about why the Bears are going to the SuperBowl.

Completely braindead individuals make up 1/4th the world's population. They also make up the entire population of Alabama.

2007-01-04T13:16:00.000-05:00

In case you did not hear, noted scholar, orator, and football genius Nick Saban has accepted the Head Coaching Position at the University of Alabama.

This followed the typical course of completely ridiculous events: A school that is in a bad spot and needs a big-name solution quickly is throwing a hysterical sum of money ($32 Mil) at a coach that loves being wanted (think Larry Brown), is extremely overvalued thanks to his incessant insistence of his own importance, and ultimately proves once again he stands for nothing. Nick Saban is another coach that ironically is coming back to the "college game" - a place where he can "affect young people", "play a team-first style of game", and really "plant his roots" in a college town because his "heart loves this kind of lifestyle."

What a total joke. For once, I actually agree with someone who writes for ESPN. (However, realize that someone at ESPN only feels this way because they were being "disrespected", not because they actually stand for much of anything themselves.)

Before I continue about this, however, I want to show you a great video.

Okay, where to begin? First, I feel horrible for the children in this video. This is child abuse. Secondly, in case you can't figure out what this is, this is a home video of someone who actually drove out to the longest strip of pavement they could find in Tuscaloosa, AL (a.k.a. their regional airport) and waited until Nick Saban's plane landed. They then cheered the landing of the plane, and proceeded to waste valuable energy on stroking Nick Saban's inflated ego even more, by making him feel like a great guy.

Forget football for a second. There's probably over 100 people in this video. Possibly much more. They cheered for Saban's plane landing. These people are all "touched", I think. Of course, then I realized that in Tuscaloosa, behavior like this isn't even considered weird. I would bet 2000 people in Alabama went home that night cursing the fact that they couldn't make this landmark event. Who would really want to live in a place where they could be surrounded by these morons?

Oh wait. I know who. Someone who would love to be worshipped by stupid people.

Which takes me back to Saban. Which goes along with the Forde article that I linked to. Which goes along with my feelings on the state of sports and business, laws of contract and everything that probably goes along with it. I can't take this anymore. I hate how people can just stop honoring contracts they sign. If you are performing your duties as an employee, your employer cannot terminate your contract (unless you signed something that allows that, you dumbass). This is the whole idea of a contract: you are making an agreement with another party, you are exchanging services, and the contract is the binding element that allows both parties to be assured that they will not be violated in said agreement, because doing so would result in punitive action. However, people just seem to just be able to leave their end of the contract whenever they want, and there is nothing that can be done about it!

Coaches leave in the middle of a contract.
Players stop performing (holdouts) until they "get a better contract".

But it doesn't stop there. The same crap happens in the board room, director's office, sometimes even the sales floor. And it isn't just the fault of the employees - Unions strike, but employers also lockout, infringe, and (in sports at least) try to make up "diminishing value" clauses in contracts, etc.

It's all a sad, pathetic farce. You know what? I am so tired of sports setting this example. Coaches and players getting signed to contracts that are too long for either party's interests, just to stroke the ego of the player/coach or make them feel they are being compensated for his/her "true value". Sure, you want to be paid fairly, and an employer doesn't want to waste money paying someone who doesn't deserve it. But hey, tough. It should be that if you sign a contract, that it is actually binding. If you are paid to play professional baseball for $350,000 a year, and you signed a contract to be paid that for 3 more years, you should be paid that, period - no matter how good you get. Even if you "should" be getting $5 million in two years. You signed the contract. Wait until it ends, and then only sign something that is to your liking. And teams/organizations: if you tender an offer of 5 years to a player that will probably only be good for 3, I hope the player never lets you buy out of that thing. I also think that "diminishing returns" should be illegal. If a business violates the terms of its contract, it should be held legally responsible to exceed the terms of the contract sevenfold. If a player/employee tries to strong-arm his/her way to a better deal, while under contract, they should have to pay a penalty and go back to work under the terms of their agreement. You shouldn't be allowed to hold out, because it should be illegal for any other team within a professional league/identical profession to hire a player/coach who has violated the terms of his/her contract.

But, no. Unions negotiate "salary arbitration" as a part of "collective bargaining agreements". Ownership negotiates "franchise player" rules, initial contract length requirements and other ways to legally retain the services of an employee without just compensation. Now, you can't quite relate the sports world to the rest of the real world (because of the concept of trading), but other than that, there's not a big difference.

And what do we see? A bunch of people looking for workers, but publicly deny pursuing any (Check every time there is a free-agency/coaching vacancy issue with a team in sports, the General Manager/Pres. never will admit to talking to anyone about filling the position. So strange!) - many people looking for better contracts, but never admitting to it (See Saban, Brown, Francione, Butch Davis, Dennis Erickson, Gary Barnett, Phil Jackson, etc. etc. etc. - all of which were "not going to be coaching" at the places they ended up coaching at), ownership ponying up huge sums of money and time to appease fans, only to wish they hadn't done so later (Think Frank Thomas' "diminishing returns" stipulation, Manny Ramirez being pedalled constantly, etc.) and players deciding to go back on their word because they feel slighted (think T.O., T.O., T.O., oh wait, I can't think of another example as big as that douchebag's).

Oh well, legally I know nothing will change to end this insanity. Until then, all we can do is know this:

People who want out of their contracts do not value their own word. They should not be trusted to come through, and lack integrity and commitment. No matter what they say, nothing is more important to them than themselves. Words mean nothing to them, and you can only judge them on their actions. There are very real, very serious reasons why contracts can be terminated: Sickness, family tragedy, crime, business failure, a call to duty, or even unthinkable circumstances like death. Every person who has to leave a duty they agreed to perform for one of these various reasons should feel insulted every time some slime ball decides to blow smoke up everyone's collective ass when he opens his mouth, then goes ahead and does whatever he wants to do because the law is forgiving enough to allow it - and cross-eyed half-wits from Alabama and boo-ya's from Bristol are "touched" enough to celebrate it.

The Video - 2007 Fiesta Bowl Miracles

2007-01-02T22:42:00.000-05:00

More to come. I am posting this courtesy of YouTube again. I don't think this video can be on enough websites. It should be on more.

Oh My God: Boise State Fan For Life?

2007-01-02T02:01:00.000-05:00

For those of you who went to bed early, were working, or plain just turned off the Boise State vs. Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl, I am so so sorry.

You will hear all about the actual happenings of the game - I hope - very soon. Read the link for all of the specifics. I really don't believe it all just happened -I am still having a hard time processing all of the events. To go from a game that I really didn't care that much about to a "where was I when that happened" status is, well, staggering.

To be honest, the best way I can describe it is this: it was like some sort of strange collision of fiction and reality meeting in an alternate universe. This game was a wild combination of the 1994 movie Little Giants and the 2000 movie The Replacements. Bob Stoops became Ed O'Neill tonight (think Al Bundy. Yep, that's Ed). Jared Zabransky and Ian Johnson together morphed into Shane Falco, being both the goat(s) and then suddenly the hero(es). If you think that comparison is ridiculous, realize that right after the game, during the postgame interview, Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, who was BSU's head cheerleader in front of national television and 1000's of screaming Boise State fans. Seem too strange to believe? Well, don't worry, because BSU also won the game on the statue of liberty. I think Little Giants was actually viewed in the BSU film room all week long, that's the only way to explain this.

To be honest, I could be a bigger college sports fan. I like the atmosphere, but I don't root for anybody ever usually except my Maize and Blue, who wore it again in the Rose Bowl. I would be the kind of person who likes pro sports and college about equally, which I know to some people is pretty sacrilege. But this game was rediculous - this wasn't even just a good football game. This was like the best football game I've ever seen, the best movie I've ever seen, and potentially the most amazing reality-TV thing I've ever seen all rolled into one. I have a feeling I wasn't the only person who saw this happening, with nothing more than typical football-fan passing interest, and left actually shaking and wondering where to go with the rest of life. Seriously, what the hell just happened?

And I haven't even gotten into the part where BSU dominates most of the game, then pisses away a 18-point lead, then TOTALLY blows the game and breaks everyone's hearts. Wait, how is that possible? That happened, too??

This was a comedy, a tragedy, a nightmare and an inspirational tale all rolled into one. This game will inspire a book someday very soon. This story will be a bestseller. I would say there will also be a movie about this game one day, but the weirdest thing -- there are actually already two of them, and they don't do it justice at all.

Cheers to 2006

2006-12-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

As everyone in Chicago gets ready for the Bears/New Year's Simultaneous Party Fiasco, I wanted to wish you all a wonderful new year - hope 2007 is twice as good as 2006.

For my hometown, here are a couple of interesting stories from 2006.

For myself, a couple of brief images I remember from 2006:

- Getting a bottle of "The Admiral" as a cruel present down at ISU.

- "You wanna McWrestle?" - I had a funny sense of confidence confronting an intruder, on my birthday at Durty Nellie's.

- Hearing "clam-jacked" on the radio

- Walking 3 miles from the United Center before realizing we were a LONG way from Kingston Mines.

- Playing tour guide, host, and friend for a visitor over the summer.

- Taking the DC boys downstate for baseball - and goin' "out on the town" in beautiful Joliet, IL with a high-class bunch of baseball coaches.

- "I don't even KNOOW what you're talking about." - another birthday treasure that came during the confrontation with the stranger. Apparently he thought we were dissin' his lady. This phrase ended up living on for like, oh, how many months after?

- Seeing Australian Soccer hooligans for the first time - at a dive bar in Reno, Nevada with Sachs.

- Seeing the same hooligans dancing around on top of pool tables in the same bar - sans pants, moments later.

- Being the only person on earth to soak their phone and wallet in beer, then run as fast as possible and throw them both down 11 stories into a trash chute. If you don't know the story behind that - I'm sure I'll eventually publish it.

- Playing a round of golf with a man who was legally blind, had a block foot, and wore a rainbow pinwheel hat. For 3 hours. For only 8 holes.

- Watching another man try to save his clubs from rolling into a lake, and subsequently slipping and falling ass first into the lake.

- Hitting my best 4-iron of my life, 198 yards just short and right of the pin in the fringe, but was especially amazing considering it was on a hole with all sand to the right of the green, all lake in front of the green, and a graveyard right behind the green. It was my first and only successful attempt at navigating ghosts on the course.

- a rockin' show at LPZoo.

- 3 folding tables, one turkey, 6 family members, one studio apt. = thanksgiving dinner

- deciding it would be a good idea to try to get 4 jobs in one year.

- getting trucked playing pickup hoops before work, and leaving the emergency room 2 hours later with 8 stitches and a rediculous scar.

- doing about 10 public speaking engagements looking like frankenstein with those damn stitches

- michigan football weekend - family's first game and seeing us whup the badgers

- 6 hilarious hours of freezin cold baseball alumni weekend golf. Seeing Ali Husain slioe a shot 50 yards away from the hole, then look back at everyone laughing and saying "Hey I know, lets have a pizza making contest!" - possibly the funniest line of the year.

- The kid, Rosey, Leif, Zach, Lentz, Dooch, and a whole loaf of "Holla" - or however its spelled

- First year of life where I wasn't a baseball player. I didn't turn into a pumpkin.

Stupid 8

2006-12-30T20:27:00.000-05:00

It wasn't so much that I was upset about the 8 on the river busting my KK, I was more upset that the 8 on the river decided to pick up my chair in a fit of furious rage, spin rapidly around like a wild-eyed centrifuge and fling my office chair halfway across the apartment!

Trust me, this is the REAL danger of online poker. The cards sometimes get up and start throwing your belongings willy nilly around neighboring empty spaces, without first assuming any inherent consequences!

Aside from this, though, it was a good day.

In case I never mentioned this - I started a brand new bankroll like 2 weeks ago.

Initial Down Payment - $60.

% +/- for December = + 432%

Method: strict aherence to a sit-n-go program.
buy-in levels < or = %15 of opening daily bankroll or less.

Moment of the month: After hitting a very very cold string, having a jerk make fun of me for raising 2X the pot after the flop and taking a small pot down. Already twitching with anger to begin with, I began a verbal vendetta against him at the table, trying to make him seem as stupid as possible, all the while check-raise trapping him with a set, getting him to push, and eliminating him on the way to winning the table.

ANYWAY. Have a wonderful New Year's Eve! Check out some of the new sports blogs I threw down the roll. There's a classic Bobby Knight video that I think I will re-post here eventually - until then, it is on one of the new blogs I've listed, so you can check it out for yourself.

Helium Blinds, Lose-Lose Calls, and Major Suckage.

2006-12-28T09:49:00.000-05:00

So, if you can open up your imagination for a second. Join me at "a table"? You know where to find me, on the button. I'm seated here with a tough decision, and I don't really know how to play this one. I'm kinda middle-stacked, but these blinds are out of control. I don't think I can wait around much longer, and everytime someone else goes to make a move, what happens? Of course, split-pot. The guy over in the corner has just pushed all in. The look on his face says it all - you can almost smell the A-7 on him -- he's thinking to himself, "this garbage is the best thing I've seen all night". You'd think he was trying to lose these last few chips, just to make a point. The guy next to him, the chip leader by like, .002 chips, he's looking at his cards right now. Oh man, he's got a hand. This guy has been getting hands all night. Interestingly enough, I don't think he's doubled up one time yet. Not willing to blow it all on one hand, which I really don't understand. He's made like 3 sets and a pair of flushes in the past 30 minutes! He's reaching for his chips...wow. What's he thinking about? I'd bet everything I had that he had at least JJ right now. At least I would win ONE bet tonight. Oh man. I can't believe this. He's fiddling, fiddling. Muck. Wow. I don't understand, this was the time to take command. I wonder if he realizes that all it will take is 1 time around the blinds and 1 all-in showdown between two players to take him from 1st place to borderline 5th. The decision goes around. The next guy, how is he even still in this thing? He's got a little less chips than me, but he's split like 5 pots tonight with some lucky rivers. He's had worse kickers than a MAC football team and seems to think we are playing Hi/Lo Omaha half the time. Does he know we are only using 7 cards? Oh man, I can't believe it, he PUSHED. Jesus. There's no way he's got a hand, he wouldn't know what to do. He would probably ask to double down if he had a pocket pair. I take a quick glance to my left - the SB is going to be mucking faster than Richard Simmons without his ritalin. No way he can take this burden off of me. At this point, I'm prayin' the last guy to act before me has a hand. Please. He looks down at his cards. He's been pretty close to the vest all night, but its clear he can sniff out what's going on at this table. He's been re-raising and taking down pots from Capt. Wired-but-Nervous all night, and he's gleefully called a couple of retard bets from Mr. "Is this 5-card draw" to his right. For some reason, we've never been in a hand together, and I don't know why he doesn't have more chips than he does. Of course, he does have this lady next to him, giving him stern glares every once in a while, even occasionally telling him when to fold. Did I just see her steal a chip off the stack? Wait, did she just take two? I see him look down and begin to pu--wait, he's stopped. She just whispered something to him. He looks up- expressionless. Muck.

So then, its to me, and I look down to see what glorious two cards I might have this time.

First card. You know what it has to be - Ace of spades.

Exhale, a mini-novena. One time, please, one time!

Second card. 6 of clubs.

Wow.

No rockets, no suited, no connector or even a reasonable shot at anything other than two pair or a flopped set.

Fold - and I know what will happen. I won't see another two face cards till the blinds have raced past me like Princess Diana's chauffeur. But at least he would have the common courtesy to just kill me outright, instead of chopping off my arms and watching me bleed.

Call the push, and even in the 10% chance that the flop, turn and river actually help me for once, it would be like stealing from a blind kid and a leper and then joining Medinah CC with the money. Sure, I'd be golfing, but you could bet I wouldn't be able to get a foursome together there to play with "my kind."

Time's ticking. What to do? Either way ya go, you know it's lose/lose.
************************************************************************************

So I took a few on the chin the other night, and it kind of set me back to where I started a few weeks ago in my bankroll. There's nothing like losing with 10 10 and 9 9 over and over and over and over and over. And if that wasn't painful enough, I was consistently raising 4-7X the big blind when I had premium hands, trying to shake it down to at least 3 to the flop, and everytime I would somehow take 6 guys with me. It was like every table had 5 people that didn't care about their money, but were hellbent on making every starting hand I held essentially worthless everytime I bet, EXCEPT when I would catch trips or make a set on the turn. Then where did that aggressive play go? Completely would vanish. Heck, I would freakin' check to the river and people would just fold. It was one of those days where even when you won, you swear your stack got smaller. Heck, it was one of those days where every bad break someone ELSE got actually really screwed you in the end. One particular moment I recall was a poor fellow who was down to 60 chips with 4 people left at this particular table, and the wild-eyed loon who was chip leader (I was second at the time, with about half his stack) kept pushing this guy in with garbage, and the guy kept calling with KK and QQ or something premium, and before you knew it he was up to like 800 chips. Then, when I would get a hand like an 88 or a 77 that I could put this pesky small stack all-in with, big-stacked loon would PUSH ahead of me, forcing me to fold a marginally good hand, only to watch him blow it with 64 offsuit up against a 10J or something. THEN, when the 3rd biggest stack decided to push this lowstack in, after cursing out big-stacked loon for a while, he managed to somehow get rivered with QQ up against low stacked 44. It was another brutal beat, and the worst part was is that it essentially screwed me the most. I ended up pushing with AQ, of course got a caller with 10J, and after the second 10 fell on the turn, I decided it wasn't my day.

But anyway, such is the life. Who doesn't love sharing their "punch me" stories every once in a while? It's more fun to complain than to recall that $600 dollar suck-out I pulled in my first ever huge MT/NLT on Pacific Poker like 5000 years ago.

So yea, the mood was somber today until I found this little gem. Very funny - and dedicated to a cause that I couldn't agree more with. I wonder if they have old Morgan quotes stashed on there. Maybe the best is his claim about not knowing which direction the sun sets at Wrigley Field, because he "wasn't fimiliar with that park".

Please - Let Me Teach Your Children to Swear

2006-12-28T00:52:00.000-05:00

Signed,

Bobby Knight

Like Comin' Home

2006-12-27T09:06:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Christmas weekend with the family. I will synthesize something here soon. Until then, please accept my sincere wishes for a merry Christmas! Also, please enjoy this little number. It is from the same guy who did the "Mr. Brightside" video I posted a bit ago. If you like his stuff, his name is "quiksilverboy" on YouTube - I highly recommend him - great stuff. I hope he appreciates this shameless plug.

Anyway, enjoy!

More Soon.

Lightning Crashes - Live

A Curious Problem

2006-12-24T12:07:00.000-05:00

Every unique thought you have ever had?

It's already been thought of 100 times over.

As I wish you all a merry Christmas Eve from Indiana, I wanted to link up to the blog that currently still holds the name that I was hoping to have for this one.

The fact that there could be two drops in the bucket on the internet isn't terribly remarkable, but man o man, does he have to have that URL? I mean, it clearly hasn't been used in a while - Sept. 20th was the last post.

So...maybe for Christmas, I could get a lovely present from a fellow bucketdropper? A URL present if you will?

Coincidentally, its a pretty cool little page - lots of interesting stuff and posts that make you ponder. I encourage everyone to click on the link and check it out!

Gato No Tsukai (Silent Library) : The Funniest Videos You Should See Before 2007

2006-12-21T13:46:00.000-05:00

Boo - not many comments about the tunes! I have to hold true to my word: no comments, no list.

Instead, I'll only do one. Well, its like 10, but really, its all one idea.

So, instead of a #1-23 like I had planned, I will give you the following videos, all under the rank, #1.

#1. Silent Library, or Gato No Tsukai

This isn't new to people overseas most likely, but I can tell you that this hasn't ever caught on in America. My God, if I can accomplish one thing with this page, I hope it is spread the popularity of this entirely genius and altogether hysterical game.

"Silent Library", or Gato No Tsukai, as it is known in Japan, is a simple little game. The following are some of the episodes that you can find (if you search hard) on YouTube. How nice of me to collect them all right here!

Enjoy.

Silent Library

Silent Library – 2001

Silent Library – 2002

If the 200,000 + hits on the original video on YouTube wasn't enough of a clue, the following videos are evidence that we aren't the first Americans to have the privilege of seeing this stuff. However, I feel that the number is tragically low. More people watch an average NHL game than that - and thats just wrong. Do what's right for humanity, and spread the word!!!

Who is interested in starting our own local chapter??

Silent Library - Reno

Silent Library - Dorm

Silent Library - Birthday

Silent Library - Arizona

Silent Library – Kids Version

A Bonus Extra Video - with a Silent Library Star.

And so, that is it. I hope you enjoyed these. Have an absolutely spectacular Christmas. May your yule log burn brightly.

23 Videos You Should Check out Before the End of 2006

2006-12-19T00:22:00.000-05:00

This post could have taken on many titles, the first of which that came to mind being, "This Blog's First Post that I would Actually Check out if I were You". Instead, though, I decided to go with the title above. When I was putting this together, I was trying to decide, "Should I do, like, 23 songs I love from 2006?" or "Should I do my favorite 23 songs of all-time?". While that was probably the line of thinking that inspired this post, those ideas are something that I fear are beyond my abilities. Instead, what follows are 23 videos, pretty much all music, that I feel you should check out. Some of the titles that are in this list aren't new to anybody - and I guess there's a good reason for that -- if something is well known, it has a chance of being pretty good. However, known or not, many of the following videos are pretty unique, and you probably haven't seen most of these before or heard many of the versions of these songs before. At least I hadn't, before I went out on my hunt to put this all together.

So without further ado, starting with #23 and going to #1, enjoy the following videos! I plan on doing a list of 23 funniest things I've seen on Youtube, too, but only if I get 5 comments/emails about this list. So if you like this, pass this on to someone you know to check it out, and if there's interest, I'd love to post the next list.

Enjoy!

Starting with a regular music video, this is a simply great song by a band that isn't too well known outside of Chicago. If you've never seen the video, though, check it out and get hooked.
#23. Time to Waste - Alkaline Trio

This isn't the last song I have in here from these guys. A very cool live cut.

# 22. A Message - Coldplay

Rolling Meadows, IL, is the hometown of these guys. There isn't much great audio in this clip, but I love seeing those few moments of live energy.
#21. Attention Attention - The Academy Is

"Oh you're reputation's so golden, you're never lonely, and you're never home"..A catchy lyric that for some reason always sticks with me. Enjoy.
#20 Leaving Town - Dexter Freebish

This clip should be way higher than #19. However, I am afraid you'll stop scrolling if you don't see the goods soon. Awesome live version.
#19.The Remedy - Jason Mraz

My favorite song by these guys - played very chill and acoustic.
#18. Hands Open - Snow Patrol

In honor of Christmas, one of the classic arrangements ever written.
#17. Canon - Pachabel

Remember this song? Nothing amazing musically maybe, but great video.
#16. Kick Some Ass - Stroke 9

Another pick that could be so much higher, but I can't wait. Listen to this arrangement - Dave Grohl is definitely a top 5 all-time musician.
#15. Everlong (New Arrangement) - Foo Fighters

You don't have to be a hip-hop fan to know something great when you hear it. One of my favorite songs of the year.
#14. Kick Push - Lupe Fiasco

Just the regular music video, but still a great song.
#13. A Lifetime - Better Than Ezra

Seeing this guy live is the only real way to see how good he really is.
#12. Chariot - Gavin DeGraw

Rarely do covers turn out better than the original. Shinedown does this better than Lynyrd, no question. Just a rediculously great live version.
#11. Simple Man - Shinedown

Note: I don't like this video. I like this song so much, that I put it in a list of videos, just so you could hear it if you never have before.
#10. Needs - Collective Soul

If there was a federal case made about why I wanted to learn piano, this would be my "Exhibit A". You'll love this song 100 times more after hearing it like this. #9. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

100's of people in this crowd realized that this song wasn't by Blues Traveler after all! Great live version.
#8. All For You - Sister Hazel

Weird ass video of an old song that's kick ass. Maybe its good this band broke up, because are a little out there, but hey, good stuff.
#7. Never Say Never - That Dog

This is for the ladies. Enjoy.
#6. Almost Honest - Josh Kelley

Great live version of another old, forgotten song that should be a classic. #5. Seeing Red - Unwritten Law

I'm dedicating this to the U-M hockey girls of 2004-05. You guys could sure party, and this song pretty much reminds me of those times every single time.
#4. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus

I was sitting on my couch, sometime in summer of 2005. I had nothing going on and I was flipping through the channels and came upon this -- I didn't like Coldplay that much before I saw this exact video. It took me about 1 second after listening to this to realize I was about to become a huge fan.
#3. Fix You - Coldplay

#2. Come and Go - Virginia Coalition - I cannot find a good video of this particular song. I have tried to attach an MP3 to this, however, that I hope you click on and can download. I don't know much else to say other than this song is brilliant. If the link doesn't work, immediately download this song on your own.

If you know me well, you are not the least bit surprised to see this at #1. In fact, if you thought I was putting anyone else at #1, you just haven't been paying attention the last 12 years.
#1. Say it Ain't So - Weezer

Post-Game Notes

2006-12-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

(Picture courtesy of Crossfit)

I can't seem to get this shot to appear bigger on the site. Go to Crossfit.com and click on the picture (its on the front page) - it will enlarge. The expressions on the two girls' faces are priceless. Oh, if only every kid could have such awesome influences around them - goodbye, diabetes, hello, life!

So, the card game I played on Friday turned out to be a fun-filled event, but it didn't really resemble cards. Oh well, its not like it wasn't a great time. I don't care how serious you are about playing, if you can't enjoy an old-fashioned BS-fest for $10, with all the beer and pizza you can handle for 6 hours, than you my friend, are not a man.

I will be out of town starting Saturday, and there is a lot of stuff I want to get up here before I go. I've been trying to get links up the side of here with many of the bands I like (or I've been told out), but I'm still seriously lacking in content right now. It would be nice to have enough up by New Year's to allow anyone who stopped to check out the page to find a new band that they haven't heard of before.

I plan on getting a few end-of-year lists up here, too. I'm thinkin' a YouTube Top 23, a mp3/video (not sure which yet) Top 23, a Top 23 things to do in 2007, and another list that will be a surprise- but I think it could be a hit. We will see. I want to do it to help someone I used to know pretty well, but I am not entirely sure how to go about doing it. I'll explain what the hell I'm talking about when I begin that list. Anyway, until then, enjoy another plug from me for Crossfit, and see ya in a day.

Three things to leave you with

2006-12-15T18:52:00.000-05:00

So, I decided I can write on a few things after all. I am about to engage in a live poker night for the first time in so so long. I'm beyond content. Anyway, before I go, let me share with you three things that I just can't stand anymore.

1. Credit cards for people with bad credit. I am seeing these ads everywhere.

Here's an example of one. Asses.
http://www.creditcards.com/bad-credit.php

First of all, if you sell these things, you're probably going to hell. Let's see, who should we make money off of.. I know! People who desperately need money! It is as bad as camping out overnight at the Goodwill Store in your finest, most expensive suit, the day before you know a bunch of needy individuals are going to be there shopping, and then once the place opens, breaking out $2,000, and buying every piece of clothing in the place. Then, you proceed walking the bags out, one by one into your SUV, as you pass the needy folks staring in disbelief and disappointment
2. Drive-thru people always taking precendent over me, standing in line to pick-up my to-go order from a fast-food place.

Okay, fast-food jagbags. I took the time to get out of my car and place an order from you inside, thus avoiding any confusion over the details of the food/currency transaction we are about undertake. I have done you a favor by not helping clog your drive-thru line even more than it already is, and I have also grace your interior with my presence, revealing myself as a patron to any and all citizens that I, yes, am a supporter of this business. I see that as great advertising. Why, then, do you proceed to serve the next 5 cars in line their rediculously large orders ahead of my simple, pre-numbered, no-special-ingredient-needed value menu purchase? I HATE this. I hate how when you go inside to get your order, they wait on the next 20 people inside vehicles, and then get to you, as if staying in your car made you some sort of first-class citizen that deserved special treatment and advanced service. Are they giving them special treatment because surrounding a fast-food place in a steady stream of carbon emissions and engine exhaust is somehow beneficial to the food inside, and therefore a service I could provide them?
If you go inside to get your order, you should get priority ahead of people in drive thru, if anything. Screw that. And if your car line gets too long to process the orders that way, then tough, hire someone smarter who can organize pre-made sandwiches and pre-timed fried foods in a more efficient fashion.

3. People spending 10 minutes circling the parking lot, looking for a close space to park next to the gym.

Someone agrees with me.

I'm not sure if I need to explain this one. You are attempting to pay money to use a facility that will increase your physical conditioning and well-being by engaging in activity. If you are trying to park as close as possible to this place of business, you might be getting a workout, but you are definitely not getting the POINT.

If anyone out there is about to circle the parking lot at their gym for 10 minutes, then give up and go through a McDonald's drive-thru with their bad-credit credit card, and they get their food ahead of me, I will end you.

Fighting back after a bad beat

2006-12-15T17:33:00.000-05:00

So I was all about to get started putting together some random things for the weekend, when I ended up getting a call telling me some very sad news. To my friend and his family, my thoughts are with you - I pray that this will lead to a truly inspirational story of triumph and recovery.

I had also planned on posting a couple of very funny videos I found on the Internet, including some a new invention that I think should hit the market sometime very soon. I then noticed that they all had a common theme in them, though, that in light of the incident that happened I really don't feel comfortable posting about this stuff yet.

The only thing I had planned on posting that I think I will is this link: http://www.jackdaniels.com/bottlechoose.asp

Why? Not because I like Jack Daniel's.

As all alcoholic beverage advertisement and information pieces have, this particular page also notes that those that imbibe should "always drink responsibly."

Drink Jack Daniel's responsibly?

Has anyone, EVER, in the history of alcohol, drunk Jack Daniel's responsibly? Is that even possible? Is there a tracable amount of JD that someone could consciously digest that would leave them in a state that they could effectively navigate a go-kart, much less a vehicle?

I have an idea to help solve this issue, but I'm going to hold off on it for now. All I'll say is...

It's isn't that drinking and driving can be tragic. It is always tragic.

Mini-Charities and Forward Thinking

2006-12-14T11:06:00.000-05:00

A different kind of charitable auction

Quite an interesting angle on charitable giving, don't you think?

Aside from the headline story in this little article/blog, I think this is an interesting post I found on two topics that are dear to me: The Freakonomics book that I enjoyed so thoroughly and highly recommend, and innovative and creative charities. Check out the comments left by some of the readers.

I will be harvesting many of the links you can find on this page for my own, so I hope you find something that piques your interest.

A wide variety of stuff to come - this is all for now.

Christmas Gift Ideas

2006-12-12T18:09:00.000-05:00

Anyone you know tough to buy for this Christmas season? Here is a couple of ideas - Looking for someone to go on the Proffitt Sandwich run this month - anyone interested, let me know. If you don't know what it is, there's a link along the side of this page somewhere.

Thanks to a friend, who I totally stole this video link from.

Some rules for us to live by

2006-12-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

So I've spent the last few posts having a little fun - teasing those of you who call raises looking for runner-runners, aces on the river, and other various suck-out specials. and I think most of us every once in a while feel like screaming when we see some of that harry-high-school BS take the money right out of our hands.

If you've never gotten into playing online, and had taken some impressions of the whole matter from my last few rants, I'd have to guess that I wouldn't exactly be doing much of a sales job on the whole thing. If you can blow 60 bucks on one day of bad beats and goofy card-god screw jobs, why is it worth risking anything on it at all?

But know that in the long haul, I've made a little extra spending CAYSH (as well as some sentimental purchases, i.e. first car) through the whole process, and typically you can do the same if you have the ability to do so.

Bankroll

There are a lot of ideas already out there on this matter. This is my feeling:

Don't buy in with $50 bucks and expect to cash out $500 by the end of the week.

Sometimes I think back to my $10 bucks to $850 buck run of a couple of years ago. You can't really think about that kind of stuff with any realistic expectation of it happening. These rediculous goals will get you into games that are too high limit for your bankroll (entering a $20 buck tourney with $50 bucks to work with).

Listen, only play with what you can afford to lose. Make it a goal to never put money in more than once. (I haven't put any in in almost a year). If you want to start out with $50, thats cool, but play with the expectation of winning 5-10 bucks in a week. Seriously, thats almost a %20 return, and that beats the hell out of any stock or bond, so look at it that way!

Also, a word on what type of games to play:

I will say this:

1. I hate cash games where buy in is $50 or less. This money means little to most of the people playing and it shows. You will either be up $100 in an hour, or out your whole $50. At least in my experience.

2. I never play re-buy/add-ons. Ever.

As for the rest? I am not sure, I think you can safely do about anything else. The low limit games will be wild, and bad beats will get you from time to time. But hey, it is also the 'easiest money', so there ya go.

Oh, and I would never ever get into this stuff without at least 15X20 banked in the limit you are playing. What I mean is this:

If you play $20 NL sit and go's, I'd think you should start with a minimum of $300-400. That way, ifyou lose 6-7 in a row, you can still win 3 and be right where you started. If you lose 6-7 in a row startin with $200-100, than, well, goodbye money.

As far as cash, if you have $400, than I'd get into cash games. If not, I personally wouldn't start getting involved at all, because no limit is small enough to be adequately backed by $100 or less.

Strategy: What to play

Determine what you are good at. Try to stick to it. I love tournaments. I think it was born from beginning my play with no real bankroll, without the ability to win any big stakes unless I won a HUGE tournament. So, my style is suited to knocking out bad players, winning a few big hands, trying to stay afloat long enough to make a run and becoming a factor to win the whole thing in the end. My style isn't that loose, so if I don't get cards I can lose a good deal of money from the blinds and loose calls in a cash game. Also, I rarely feel that much satisfaction winning 1%-10% of my starting bankroll at a table, which you need to learn to do in order to make consistent money in ring games. To steal a line from the Boo-yah! king, "Bulls make money, Bears make money, Hogs get slaughtered." So if you like to make steady cash and have the skill to handle big swings, be a cash game guy. If you like the challenge of bearing down to win the big prize, I'd suggest learning tournament play.

More on picking your games...

Once you realize what you are good at, I would suggest sticking to it. Let me give you a common mistake I make:

10$ NL sit-n-go, 3rd place

10$ NL sit-n-go, 2nd place

10$ NL sit-n-go, DNF

10$ NL sit-n-go, 1st place

30$ NL sit-n-go, DNF

so lets see, we won %60 that day. Took home a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place all within one day, and what is there to show for it?

Less than 25 bucks. Wanna see how?

(10+1)4 = 44

(30 +3) = 33

total spent = 77

$20 win

$30 win

$50 win

total winning = 100

+/- = $23

$23?? demoralizing!!! You just won %60 of your matches and only walked away with 30% profit.

True, one 1st place in the $30 game using the winnings from the other games would have been a BIG BIG gain. And once in a while, (if you are playing with winnings on the day) you can go ahead and do this, BUT, statistically, you're not likely to cash in %80 your tourneys in a day. The best guys are somewhere around %50 of them.

Had I stuck with the gameplan for the day:

$10 NL sit-n-go = 3rd place

$10 NL sit-n-go = 2nd place

$10 NL sit-n-go = DNF

$10 NL sit-n-go = 1st place

$10 NL sit-n-go = DNF

Winnings = $100

Spent = $55

+/- = $45

Almost %90 profit!

Again, you can try to cash in on a good day by increasing the limits you are playing sometimes, but realize its BAD ODDS. You're prowess at playing DOES make you a good contender to win at any level, but the laws of statistics can't be ignored, and no matter who you are, winning a big streak of games in a row isn't likely. All it is likely to do is make you angry you did all that winning and ended up with little to show for it. This could lead to going on tilt next time, trying to get back all that "imagined profit" you "should have had".

Anyway, any ideas of your own, feel free to comment and I will post them. I would continue, but I gotta run and see if I find any good Christmas presents for the family.....

If you are good at poker, you can make some money. If you think it's the lotto, it will end up being the lotto. And how many of your friends have won the lotto?

Cheat at Poker. 100% Legal!

2006-12-07T15:52:00.001-05:00

I am about to reveal to you a foolproof way to cheat at online poker. It's totally legal and can be used at a variety of sites, such as absolute, bodog..etc. Its been working now for too long, and I feel like I must finally put a kabash to this once and for all. This is no poker scam or computer program, this is most effective form of cheating available, and I trust that you all will use this information for the greater good, instead of evil (riiiiiiggghhhht hah).

What is this?

Its so simple, its painful.

Ready?

Yes. that's right. People are putting up pictures of hot girls as their "player faces" or "player pics" or whatever you call them. They are the images that show up around the table on the sites that allow for images.

How is this cheating? What are you suggesting? Are you suggesting that people will intentionally lose their money to players who they think are hot girls?

I am not suggesting that. I am telling you that. This is a fact.

I have many stories that completely prove this to be true, but my favorite is from a Multi-Table $50 NL/Hold-Em tourney I played a while ago. There were somewhere around 300 players in the tournament, and I ended up at a table with one player who had a picture up of a pretty attractive woman. Regardless of whether or not it was really her was besides the point.

This player, we will call her {pokergirl} - had about 1/10th the average stack with around 100 players left to go. She pushed a couple of times, even out of position, in a desperate attempt to hang around. Something kept happening.

Everyone would fold.
"NH {pokergirl}"
"{pokergirl}, where in TX are you from?"
"I'd like to see ya stick around {pokergirl}".

At first I didn't believe what I was seeing. People were folding in situations you HAD to call. People with big blinds out that were about 7/8ths the size of her whole stack. No matter what, she NEVER had to go all-in against more than one person.

Everytime someone would call her all-in, everyone after would fold religiously.

"Go {pokergirl}!"
"You are on one heckuva run baby!"
"VNH {pokergirl}"
"way to go!"

It was insane. After about an hour of this I realized, these people weren't even playing poker. I was sitting at a table of 9 (probably 10) grown men, all flirting with the photograph they saw on the screen.

"Aw thanks u guys!" she would say.
"u guyz are sweet!~@"
"nh {dumbass cracker} - ure quite a playa!"

{Pokergirl} was playing right into it, too. And loving every second of it. She/He stayed at around 1/10th - 1/15th the average stack, for WAY longer than humanly possible in a card game. Everytime someone had a chance to knock her out, it was folded. Everytime she was on the big blind, everyone became as active as Dan Harrington in a coma.

Not only were people acting directly into the interests of this {pokergirl}, but the dudes around the table even decided to have contests of manliness every 2 or 3 hands, where big stacks were going at each other with the ferocity of a wolverine, and the intelligence of a donkey.

I know poker players are often big dumb idiots. But even I never thought it would get to be this bad.

{pokergirl} never once had more chips than me at the table except once. She ended up finishing in 8th place -- not bad considering she should've been gone 3 hours before that. I ended up making a little coin as well, taking 12th place. But I left with a taste of injustice in my mouth, for I had seen the best con-job ever pulled at a poker table, and I hated {pokergirl} for it.

Why? Well, again, simple. I was mad that I didn't think of it first.

Giving your money away to a hot girl at the poker table will not help your chances of sleeping with her. Especially if the girl is 12,301 miles away, and also happens to be a 45 year-old balding man.

An Ode to the Skill of Online Poker Players: A Tale of 60 Dollars.

2006-12-05T14:10:00.000-05:00

To those who recieved a portion of my 60 dollars last night, I bid you congratulations!

You, who called me with 10 4 offsuit, against my AQ suited, you stole the last 5 dollars from the gold rush bonanza that was my small bankroll yesterday evening. You got the last lucky buck from my brimming plethora of cowboy coin! You especially had me when that A 10 5 flop came, you knew exactly how to push my buttons! Whether it was the re-raise you called on the turn, where an 8 of clubs quietly clouded my visions of victory, or the mastery in which you called my 400 chip raise on the river, I can say little more than bravo. You never forgot that old mantra, "Call the pre-flop raise with any two, and wait for the 10 on the river save you."

But you, sir, were but a small winner in yesterday's who's who of poker genius and skill last evening. Others made off with much more of my foolish bounty! For instance, how about the owner of the K5 that hit on the river against my JJ! Whoever that savy smithy of cardsmanship was, you my friend, are an idol and an inspiration! The poise you showed when calling those lowly JJ preflop, 7 handed, was only surpassed by the ferocity you showed in your finishing "All-in" after the K on the river! Alas! I have forgotten your budda-like wisdom and grace while making the substantial blind calls on the turn and 4th street! Surely knowing I held top pair until the very end, you baited me and baited me until I couldn't help but fall for your irresistible K5 beartrap.

There is so many others, I wish I had the voice to boom my heartfelt praise upon you all from the highest mountain! I can at least take comfort knowing I was not befuddled and confounded by mere fools: you are all masters of your craft. I will take your lessons, oh poker prophets, and with great perseverence and persistence, I hope to one day achieve your levels of enlightenment. I realize this will take time, for I know I don't possess the guile nor the God-given ability to play 84 off-suit all in heads up, short-stacked after having tricked the opponent into thinking they had the match won by letting them call with AQ suited. Boy, when that 84 hit and won the pot, your moxy and grit showed through like no other. Imagine my surprise, however, when I learned that the skill you displayed in that hand was not reserved to a single showing! The 7J off suit seemed small at first against my A10, but as the cards fell down I realized that I was once again part of a plan much too grandiose for my short vision to fully comprehend. I'm guessing I was blessed enough to see a small glimpse of it, though, when later in the match I felt compelled to raise your "call" offering with KQ, only to be outrun to the finish line by K8.

Encore, Encore!!

When my 10 Q hit on the 10 Q 8 flop in the 6 handed $12 game, I was a bit down on my luck and waiting to strike back against the countless cash capers that had confounded me. In this particular case, my 400 chip raise to the man that had out lasted me with such great hands as Q4 suited and 610 of diamonds seemed like a noble effort to return some of the game's chips to their once rightful owner. But like a great poker legend, you knew when to put the hammer down. "J9 is all he can beat me with" I said to myself in a desperate attempt to win the prize, trying to feel a smile coming on inside over what I thought was an impending vict'ry.

The showdown was my instead to my demise, as your skillful CGI hands flipped over the winning hand, J9. My will dashed once again, I thought your play to be childish and reckless, one that relied simply on luck and a prayer. That was, until, I realized that you had called my 4X big blind raise before the flop! Ha, I truly am an apprentice, fine sir, and you, you are the master.

I do have one small crumb of hope however. It is this, though these poker lessons I have been taught are still above my current level of comprehension, another lesson of easier digestion has come to rest alongside. I've learned that when playing for such small fortunes as the ones I play for, card playing even as poorly novice as mine, catches enough lucky twists of fate to return a small profit.

When playing for less than $20 at a time, know that you will have days where you should be up $160, BUT some dickhead had a horseshoe up his ass.

Bally Total Fitness is Run by Cold-Blooded Reptilian Vampire Parasites

2006-11-29T23:51:00.000-05:00

I really hate Bally Total Fitness. I'm going to tell you exactly why.

Before I go on, you should know that I am a member of Bally Total Fitness, unfortunately. I can't stop until next June, because my GYM has me locked into a BS multi-year contract. I am an idiot for having signed it, but never in a million years did I think it could be as big of a joke as it is. And yes, I do have a motivation to insult them on the internet in secret hopes that they will be pissed at me and kick me out of my contract (which would be sweet, sweet relief). Alas, I doubt that this organization could ever do anything so positive for a human being.

First of all, let me delve into how CHEAP Bally Total Fitness is, as a corporation. Over the course of my contract, I will have given Bally Total fitness upwards of $1,100. I will use their often broke-ass treadmills, search for one open bench on a wednesday afternoon because they only have three, and wait 3-4 minutes every time I want to do a simple pull-up, just because they only seem to want to put pull-up/chin-up bars in when they are a part of those rediculous total-gym contraptions that hilarious dudes always do tricep extensions on in the strangest positions known to man. I will try to swim laps in their pool, which is always kept at way too warm a temperature to do much of anything other than float, and even more often than that, isn't clear enough to see through when you are swimming. I would have even frequented their sauna and steam rooms from time to time, but, well, an employee told me about what happened in one of those one week, and then said "that stuff happens here more than you'd ever imagine." OKAY. Case closed already, right? Well just wait.

Again, remember, I'm a $1,100 customer. A while ago I threw my wallet into the trash by accident, freak thing - great story - but the point is, i salvaged everything except my Bally's card. It was gone in the trash. I told a woman working the counter about losing my wallet in the trash, and that I could use another membership card. She found my profile (which says PLATINUM member on it btw) and we laughed about the story. She took my picture, then printed out the card on the .08 cents of plastic that it is printed on.

"Ten dollars please."
"Excuse me?"
"The new card will be $10."
PAUSE. PAUSE.
"Are you putting me on?"
"Er, no sir."

I was baffled. You have a $1,100 customer who pays you guys more than $1.25 a DAY just to use the place (which I couldn't possibly get to everyday even if I tried). Mind you, thats supposed to be a deal to them -- and you are going to charge him $10 for a new card to USE at the gym that you are trying to get him to stay at? Don't you WANT him to extend his bullshit contract another crappy 2-3 years? Why would you needle him, especially since he notices the indignant sneers the "personal trainers" give him when they watch him do exercises and routines that include elements that they have never seen before or tried before. Sometimes, they even say something "Why are you doing that exercise?"
"I learned it at IMG academy when I was in athletics. It's great."
"You could get hurt doing that you should stop."
"I've been doing this for 7 years."
GLARE - Walk away. Way to go, personal trainers. As if I wanted to hire you to run some overpriced workouts for me anyway.

Oh yea, and about these personal trainers. News flash, they charge over 80 BUCKS a workout, at least many of them do. And they try to get everyone to sign up for them, IMMEDIATELY, when you become a member. They pretty much make you do a "free workout" right away, and then you have to sit in a room and listen to a schpiel for 30 minutes, at which the end is them circling you and pressuring you to sign up. NO WONDER i see so many sheepish people who don't know their head from their behind sign up for those things. HOLY COW - "Welcome to Bally Total Fitness! Come in here for your free Spanish Inquisition!!"

And what do you get for 80 BUCKS a lesson (1 hour)?

This is the qualifications for a personal trainer at Bally Total Fitness - right off their website:

Personal Trainer
We are looking for enthusiastic, professional and knowledgeable personal trainers for full and part time personal training positions. As a member of Bally Total Fitness’ personal training team you will assess, motivate, and educate your clients through personalized nutrition and exercise plans that you help create. Flexible work schedules are available.

Job Requirements
A high school diploma or equivalent, plus a company recognized personal training certification (within 90 days of hire) or a bachelor’s or masters’ degree in fitness related field.

OR a college degree in their field? Are you serious!! For 80 bucks an hour you BETTER be an expert. You better not be someone who is good at exercise (or if you've seen some of these people, some that aren't) and took a 90 day training class.

OH YEAH - and this training class doesn't even have to be put on by an outside certification program or an accredited collegiate movement science/kinesiology program.

THEY RUN THE CLASSES THEMSELVES IN THE BUILDING. And how long do you think that the training program lasts? Well I would guess it isn't more than 90 DAYS. People go to college for 4-7 years to earn that kind of money. I'm not saying these people should be paid some money to help people work out: you can learn something in 90 days, but all you can really be at that point is a really educated workout partner. No way can you diagnose correct lifting positions, identify physiological strengths and weaknesses, accurately assess minor injuries and implement rehabilitation routines, recommend flexibility, strength, and cardio-vascular workout regiments and develop explosive power and energy in a wide wide wide range of people in a 90 day class. And yes, that is the service extent that you should expect when you are signing up for upwards of $800-1000 worth of lessons - if not much more!!!

BUT - my hatred doesn't stop there. That isn't even what makes me the most upset. They could have overpriced trainers, bad machines, crowded lockerrooms, and other maladies, and they still wouldn't be that much different than some gyms (aside from being more expensive).

NO NO NO, what really really makes me sick is that they are selling people FOOD and DRINKS in the facility. Yes, you can buy BallyBlast energy bars, energy shakes, and other various (and for 99% of the people in the club TOTALLY WORTHLESS) products. You can even buy body-building compounds and steriod-like products (very shady supplement stuff) for the guys who think they should do that. There ARE SHAKE MENU's over some of the water fountains! (IF you can actually find a water fountain in the club - the Schaumburg, IL Bally's only has ONE that men can access, and it is legitimately RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHOWERS -- real convienient)

What they REFUSE to tell people is this:

This may come as a shock to many of you - but you need to hear this. 85-90% of the people in the gym are NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH to get any benefit out of a shake or an "energy bar". Let me give you the facts: there are good things in those, stuff that is healthy. BUT, they are calorie/energy rich, often times with 300-500 calories in some of those shakes. If you do this at the gym:

ride the eliptical for 30 minutes, or
walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes, or
do about 1/3 of your workout stretching and doing light dumbbell work, or
work up a light sweat and feel winded when you are done for the day...

YOU ARE EXERCISING. YOU ARE NOT TRAINING. Exercise is GREAT! Everyone should do it! HOWEVER, it burns about...300-500 calories an hour, maybe up to 600-700 if you are a bigger person. What you should do when you are done exercising is drink a lot of water, possibly have a SMALL snack (granola bar, 120 calories, apple, 60-80 calories, or a banana ~ 100 calories) and REST. Then, about an hour-2 hours later, when you inevitably get hungry, you should make a healthy meal. THIS WILL RESULT IN MODERATE, CONSISTENT WEIGHT LOSS FOR ALMOST EVERYONE AND PROBABLY HELP THEM ACHIEVE WHAT THEY WANT - WHICH IS LOSE UNWANTED POUNDS.

Protein Bars. Big Energy Bars. Energy/Protein Shakes. Creatine/Supplements. THESE ARE FOR PEOPLE WHO TRAIN.

You can tell people who are TRAINING. They are lifting weights, for at least 45 minutes, anywhere from 1X-3X their body weight depending on the exercises. multiple sets, multiple reps. They are running or biking until they are DRIPPING WET. They are doing sprints, doing squats, stretching in the beginning, stretching at the end, and definitely showering and changing when its all said and done. This is more than exercising. People who are training are usually doing so for some athletic pursuit, personal fitness goal (such as having <7-8%>Also - you can bet people who TRAIN know if they need a protein shake or an energy bar or some other supplement combination. They ALREADY KNOW. They don't need a menu over the water fountain. In fact, they probably already brought their own stuff to the gym anyway.

So Bally's - STOP TAKING ADVANTAGE OF the average guy or girl who walks into your gym. They will spend $4 on your stupid stuff everytime, because you are telling them its healthy and that they should. You might be giving them good nutrition, but you are giving them way too much of it and too many calories, and you are just keeping them from succeeding at what they are setting out to do to begin with.

Okay, one last thing. The company's latest promotion is a "2 Week free membership".

Okay, guys, just stop. This is rediculous. Again, off the website - let's look at the 2 week free membership:

Your free 2-week Bally Membership includes:
Usage of the Bally Total Fitness or Bally Sports Club of your choice.

- DUH!
Access to all Group Exercise classes including Cardiovascular, Resistance Training Toning, and Flexibility workouts and specialty classes such as Pilates, Boxing, and more

- Okay, Duh again.

Access to our new online weight loss program, Built To Fitsm, the perfect balance between nutrition, exercise and support.

A promo for all of the FOOD and DRINK you guys are selling! Let me guess, you are going to design a diet that includes a bunch of stuff you can buy from Bally's !?

A 1-hour one-on-one session with a Ballysm Personal Trainer where they will help you: (oh this should be good...)

Determine your current body composition by measuring your Height, Weight, Body Fat
Percentage and Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR).
The have a scale and a ruler! And they will pinch you, and tell you what you already know, if you are fat or not.

Assess your fitness levels with 3 nationally standardized tests
Cardiovascular Endurance – FIT Test - a treadmill around 5.0 mph. Hard for some I'm sure, but you could tell that just by looking at someone. Not an eye opening experience.
Muscular Fitness – Curl-Up Test - Curl you arms up. Okay, great!
Flexibility – Sit and Reach Test - what you all did in 5th grade

Experience a dynamic workout including High-Intensity Exercise, Calisthenics and Plyometrics,
Your trainer knows some exercises! Actually, this is probably the only thing I can think of so far that actually could potentially benefit a customer in this 2 week trial.

Small Apparatus Exercise and Active Recovery - Fancy terms for being told to keep moving throughout the workout.

Cool down with a relaxing partner-assisted stretch - This sounds creepy.

Gain access to the knowledge you need for your own Total Fitness plan.
You will be shown a pricing sheet for the lessons, then recommended to get them regardless of how in shape or out of shape you are.
*expiration date as it is printed on guest pass

Bally Total Fitness is an organization most interested in sucking every last penny out of the people that work out there. They are taking what could be a great service and making it shady. They don't spend the money they make on keeping the clubs clean or laying them out effectively. They don't have enough space between machines, and they don't make good use of the space they have. They try to hire too many under-qualified people in the business of making huge bucks on mediocre-at-best workout plans, instead of hiring less people who are MUCH more qualified to help people do absolutely anything they want to. They should keep the people they hire, but they should be there for spotting lifts when you need it, or getting you a towel. They are using their powers to actually hinder members' personal goals (again, average member is a person who exercises and just wants to lose weight) instead of help them along as much as they could.

I just want to say, to anyone out there that is a trainer at Bally's - I know I make you sound terrible in this, and I'm sorry. I actually don't have anything against you guys - in that I'm sure given time and a fair business plan, you guys could all be great, adequately compensated trainers some day. However, the situation your company puts you in makes you guys look like nothing more than used-car/fitness-product salespeople.

This is why I hate Bally Total Fitness. God bless humble, local rec-centers.

Refined Food - Unrefined Results

2006-11-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

An interesting program that I found worth mentioning today:

http://urbansprouts.blogspot.com/

In case anyone hasn't noticed, America is fat. I am not sure if we are getting any better on this front of if we are getting worse, but I know that if you look at the stats from the last 20 years, it isn't good.

We have a schizophrenic attitude towards this. We celebrate the consumption of a huge ice-cream sundae, amazing pizza pie, donuts, double-cheeseburgers and my personal favorite, french fries. However, we also shun the results of that activity, and try to promote "looking good" and getting into shape.

My take? If you are willing to use your brain, you can have the best of both worlds. For anyone who isn't an active person, I would say that I am 99.9% sure you are missing out. Simply moving your body around isn't an issue. You have energy on a daily basis. You can breathe better. You sleep better. And hey, you look better. You can go do whatever you want to do - its amazing the everyday things that people miss out on because their bodies physically can't do it.

So, if you do want to treat your body better and feel healthier than ever before, I am telling you that you can do it with two things.

One: Exercise. And yes, it will probably be hard for a while if you aren't active. Do it, regardless of how much at first. Starting small is fine BUT you can't miss it entirely, and once you start, you have to progress to doing more and more each time. Unless you are over 50 or getting over a medical condition, don't count just walking. Once you get into a healthier mindset, walking will no longer be thought of as an "exercise" you did, it will simply be what happens when you want to go somewhere on foot. The only catch-22 about exercise is as the better your body gets at something, the easier it becomes for it (more efficient) and therefore, burns less energy doing it. That's why you have to progress upwards. On the good side, the more strength you build, the more good mass you will have. This extra muscle (less fat too) will consequently burn more energy for you.

If anyone needs any ideas on what exercises could be fun, I've got a million ideas. Also, you can just take up a rec sport you like, or if you want to get serious, check out crossfit.

Two: Eat unrefined foods as your regular routine. What kills people isn't that they eat ice cream on Sunday night, or order a Pizza on Friday night, or drink 6 beers Saturday. Sometimes people actually eat so much bad food in one sitting that the body doesn't absorb a lot of it anyway, and once it passes through the body it doesn't do that much damage. HOWEVER, what people screw up with is drinking 4 cokes a day (me), putting 3 sugar packets in their coffee instead of one, eating fritos or cheetos with lunch instead of a giant pear or banana, eating white bread instead of 7-grain/wheat bread, having donuts for breakfast instead of one bowl of cereal, getting fries with their Big Macs instead of getting a salad, and the biggest, shopping and eating out of boxes, bags, and cans, instead of what is in the produce section and fresh meat section.

Pay attention to this, because you need to understand this concept. Companies refine the sugars in their processed foods. The fiber that fills you up usually and passes through the body gets replaced by simple sugars that the body can digest. Food sometimes tastes better because of it (usually not) but either way, what happens is that what FEELS to your body like 2500 calories of food in a day is actually 4500-5000. This information is out there, but it actually takes a little digging and for some reason this isn't mentioned often at all. This isn't always about avoiding sugars, chocolate, bread and candy. Its much more about avoiding refined"regular" foods in your daily routine.

As for the original link about the school kids (if you haven't clicked it, I'd do so), and getting people to live healthier at an early age, I have to say some of the funniest progress is being made. Recently in Illinois soda-machines were banned. Which I guess is a good step - except that fruit juice boxes/bottles were being substituted in many of the schools I've seen for myself. (Hint: It's usually not real fruit juice, and which one do you think has more refined sugar in it? You guessed it.) Also, the average school lunch I've seen made includes:

white breadsticks and butter glaze (almost gauranteed to be made with refined flour)
fruit snacks (100% refined sugar)
Grilled cheese (POSSIBLY a good choice, except that its pretty likely the cheese and bread are both refined)
pizza (ok)
ice cream bars (sometimes, but everyday?)
frozen fruit popsicles (see fruit juice boxes to understand if that makes you fat or not)
french fries (oh boy)

Now, I understand, bread and cheese and fat are cheap. But so is corn, so are carrots, so are apples, so are baked potatoes - chicken is a pretty inexpensive meat, and bread can be sold and bought with all of the grains, fibers, and minerals still left inside. Don't forget that even fried food wouldn't be 1/2 as bad for you if we always used oils without trans fats and we always used unrefined flours to batter them in.

If we replaced the word and the concept of "dessert" with "refined foods", and treated all other kinds of food as our typical meals, we'd get to keep all the stuff we love, eat until we were filled up, and have the energy to burn and the waistlines to be proud of.

Deal'em

2006-11-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

A quick foreword: I am currently working on updating this place to be more of what its intended to be. With some free time this week, I've made a little progress. Currently, things are still very much under construction. If anyone has any tips for someone teaching themselves html, please let me know. And no, I don't have time to take a course. (Though eventually I might make time)

Anyway, back to the original topic: I happen to be a poker buff. I've been playing casually since I was in the 8th grade, and yes, when Rounders came out years ago, it was the coolest thing I have ever seen.

It's possible that my feelings could be more than just an opinion too; look around the Internet, the television, anywhere, poker has been catching like wildfire ever since the movie's release.

But anyway, a while ago I wrote a quick thing on how the U.S. has basically put the axe on American poker play over the Internet. Being someone who had participated in it for many years, I was heartbroken to say the least.

Doing some research on the law, it turns out that it doesn't affect me as a player - and it is still legal for me to participate. However, sites accepting money for such games have (according to many) been banned from taking American money, and so indirectly its lead to dramatic decline in American play.

However, people have marched on and play seems to have continued on as normal, albeit now in somewhat different clothing.

As for the extent of my pursuits - I have always been what I would call a casual player. I've made money in cards, but we are taking 100s of dollars, not big bucks by any means. I play 10 dollar, 20 dollar sit-and-go tables as a general rule, and I do that usually just to make enough money to enter small-money tournaments, which I find to be by far the most entertaining form of the game.

Beyond the pocket change I've spent or earned on poker over the years, it has endeared me for a lot of sentimental reasons as well. Being a broke-ass college kid, without the time during the day to work (school/athletics), the hobby was a great way to spend time avoiding studying for unwanted exams at 1am - or a good reason to stay in and avoid partying for a night when you just didn't feel like spending the money/brain cells. A certain poker site once offered me 10 free dollars to join - which I managed to turn into 180 dollars without risking a dime. I used almost every penny of that to get Wendy's when I was hungry or chip in 10 bucks when our house needed fixing. Poker also saved me after my senior season was over. I was looking to start finding something to do with my life back in Chicago, but I didn't have much - not even enough money for a train ticket back. Poker bought me a $1000 vehicle which I drove for 6 months. It was my first vehicle purchase of my life - whatever happened to that Cutlass Cierra?

I've finished 4th out of 617 in a tournament once, I've finished first out of 10 an uncountable number of times. I've finished 12th, 10th, and 9th in tournaments that included 2000+ people. I've been up 800 bucks in one day, I've been down 200 in 2 hours. I've beaten AA heads up to stay alive, and I've lost with AA, KK, QQ, and KKoverQQQ in the same day. I am far from experienced enough to consider myself a real guru, but I'd make a great ringer as a guest at a random game.

To anyone interested in ever playing, I would definitely recommend it. However, remember these things:

1) It takes some time (about 10,000 hands) to really get a feel for.

2) It's extremely fun and addicting.

3) It takes a good deal of poise. Because, you will get completely screwed about 10000 times. You will also get your fair share of luck along the way.

4) In the end, it's a game of skill. The better you get, the better you will do. You are likely to lose money for a while before you make it.

If this seems like something you would be interested in, go for it man. I think you'll have a great time. How do you go about getting started?

Well, like I said before, depending on where you are from, there are some places that you can, can't and shouldn't go. I will say this:

1) You should be safe and cautious. Start only with sites that are recommended, like PartyPoker, PacificPoker, Bodog, PokerStars, Absolute Poker...etc. If you haven't heard of it from somewhere before, don't use the service.

2) Spend only what you can afford to lose. It isn't gambling, but you gotta treat it like gambling, know what I mean? Don't go in expecting it to be an ATM machine for you, especially if you are new.

3) Keep it entertainment. Play big stakes, small stakes, no stakes - whatever. But always keep it as entertainment. I'm not big on poker professionals. Listen, there are a lot of ways you can make a living in the world and do some constructive good at the same time. Spending 10 hours a day playing cards doesn't seem to me like a great way to do either.

Check out some of the blogs linked on here. You'll read some funny stuff about cards. Like the time I lost 75 bucks with KKK/AA to four of a kind 3's, ran around the room punching myself and doing somersaults around the room in agony.

Finger pointing and Fire bombing.

2006-11-25T15:18:00.000-05:00

A brief smattering of viewpoints on the recent Iraqi sectarian violence. I would encourage everyone to read each story, and notice two things:
1) The languaged used to describe the same events.
2) The main idea that each article is conveying.

http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/3396

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25724169.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401317.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/six-burnt-alive-in-fresh-iraqi-brutality/2006/11/25/1164341454474.html

http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/149069,CST-NWS-iraq25.article

http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=3990

Why read these? Just to point out that 1) The world is a long way from actually seeing an objective, accurate form of news reporting - in fact, its probable that we will never have that; and 2) In the history of resolving conflicts, assigning blame and looking out for your own interests has never resulted in a successful resolution.

Kudos to all people who work to make peace - it is no small mountain to climb.

Thanks, Man.

2006-11-20T20:41:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving dinner. Is there a better moment?

Its the only dinner in my family that we anticipate so much that we actually serve it well before 2pm. It is also one of those days that seems to make everyone think back to when they were a little kid. No, not as much as Christmas, but for instance, who doesn't remember how much they didn't like green bean casserole as a kid, or how much they loved pumpkin pie, and wondered why in the world it wasn't served all year long? Who doesn't remember making handprint turkeys for their parents, and drawing oddly shaped sketches of the pilgrims and Indians?

Of course, for those who are just growing up right now, they might not have all of those memories. I'm guessing today's little ones are learning about Pilgrims and Native Americans, and they are also learning how to navigate their new Nintendo Wii's and Playstation 3's, which are now released right before Thanksgiving instead of right before Christmas shopping season. But then when you think about it, we actually consider pre-Thanksgiving AS the beginning of shopping season. Whatever happened to the official kickoff of that stuff happening the Friday morning after? Now, that's not the kickoff, its just mid-shopping season rush.

But before I start sounding like a "in myyyy day" crotchety old wind bag, lets just say this: just because things are changing doesn't make them any worse. As a kid, I had 1000 things to be thankful for, and the only thing that's changed about that is that today, I'm sure I have even more.

Thank God for On Demand. To even argue that life was better without that is a completely ridiculous argument. And while we are at it, lets just give a giant shout out to computers, my MP3 player, my instant messenger, my cell phone, my automatic door opener-clicker thingy, my favorite radio shows streaming online, and any other forms of technology that I use on a daily basis, such as zippers, doors, appliances, bottle openers, egg-beaters, and even occasionally, hangers.

Thank God we can talk to anyone we want to, almost anytime we want to, about almost anything we want to. Thank God for skyscrapers, cab drivers, and cities that never sleep. Thank God for newswires, .com's and blogs -- and also thank God for the Northwoods, crickets, the Northern Lights, and logs for a campfire.

Thank God for free enterprise, companies, home-owners and a guarantee. Also, thank God for unions, protesters, laws and rights of every man woman and child of our country.

Thank God for free-trade, thank God for java chip, thank God for "original formula" and thank God for longnecks. Thank God for low-fat, rec. centers and WebMD, but also thank God for bratwursts, extra cheese, baskets of fries and frozen custard.

Thank God for movie reviews, preview trailers, and even your friends that have terrible taste in movies.

Thank God for baseball. Thank God that soccer is there to amuse everyone in the world who isn't evolved enough to love baseball.

Thank God my fantasy football team is bad enough to not cause me to waste anymore time on it than I already do.

Thank God for Weezer. Thank God for old school bands that rock. Thank God for music that you never heard of, and you've wondered where its been all your life. But while I'm at it, thank God for JaRule, The Game, Nelly, and all the other players out there. Keep it real fellas, and remember, one day, if you work hard enough, you might be able to put out a track as good as Lupe's.

Thank God for volunteers. As long as there's at least one, the world's better off than it was before.

And thank God there's corporate marketing campaigns. Someone needs to take credit for all that work that the volunteers do (-;

Thank God for our troops. Thank God I haven't lost any friends because of the fighting yet.

Thank God for summer. Thank God for snow.

Thank God for Big Mac's, Big boy clothes, big wheels, and that creepy Big Boy logo.

Thank God for small ball, small favors and small frosties.

Thank God for wrestling, naval engineering, and space exploration - a few things that small guys have a distinct advantage in.

Thank God for long lists, and thank God for short memories.

Thank God for people who mean well but screw up.

Thank God for people who didn't know any better, but ended up totally saving the day.

Thank God for bad stories, good stories, and stories we can't repeat.

Thank God for dark truths and white lies.

Thank God for risks, rewards, taking chances and losing it all.

Thank God most people don't think like me or you, but thank God at least someone does.

Like I said before, there's 1000's of things to be thankful for. Thank God I'm not smart enough to think of them all.

But thank God you all are. I'm sure I forgot more things than I remembered - thanks for reading and thanks for sharing. Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-17T00:44:00.000-05:00

Michigan - Ohio State 2006 (Inches Speech)

Mid-Term Mayhem Baby

2006-11-07T23:51:00.000-05:00

As the dust has settled this evening, there's a significantly simple thing that can be taken from the way things went.

The Democratic party will have their chance to make reforms. There's a significant amount of changes that need to be made.

Before I get into what I think needs to be done in Illinois and in the US, let me make two points:

1) Blagojevich stands for a lot of good things. To be honest, so far he hasnt been that successful at doing what he says he will do. Schools, pension, and our state's position on guns and minimum wage need to improve! Quick.

2) Kudos to Roskam, Kirk, Lahood, and Shimkus, and whoever else was GOP and won their races in Illinois. It was almost a clean sweep, and I would think that this means that the repubilcans that did happen to win must be good candidates - fit to do a great job. (and yes, I know, it reflects that there are a few conservative districts. but if you saw how horribly bad the dems won everything today, I'd say any republican that won anything in illinois as a pretty good candidate.)

Anyway, theres lots of stuff that needs fixing. We will see how well it goes now that we have some changes in govt. Lets see....

1) Troops need to come home.

2) Federal minimum wage needs to be increased, as many states have already acted on this already.

3) Health care systems must find a way to lower the costs of perscription drugs.

4) Our schools spend too much money to not be a world leader in educating kids. We need smaller classes, a more comprehensive school day, increased emphasis on math and foreign languages.

5) Social security must either be protected, or be reinvested in a form that will benefit the most people that will be retired 20-40 years from now.

6) Foriegn policy as a whole must be re-thought to actually benefit human interest, instead of simply American economic interest.

7) Corporate accounting practices must be reformed.

8) Our college educations need to mean more.

For a funnier take on this whole thing, watch last night's Colbert Report on Comedy Central. That guy is hilariously biting, on both sides. Genius.

Anyway, have a good evening. Until the next election, remember to voice your opinion, remember to put others first, and above all, try the best ya can to help the nation and your neighborhood improve. No matter what side you are on, keep your heart in the right place.

2006-10-31T19:00:00.000-05:00

You know how I know your gay?

Uh oh, I like coldplay.

Madden Guide - Lesson 1

2006-10-29T21:45:00.000-05:00

A good game to cover some important points about Madden. This game was never in doubt, and really wasn't close to the 20-13 score it ended up being. A late touchdown from QB Grossman (BUCS) to WR Jurevicius (BUCS) occured because of a blown coverage on a 3rd and 13.
Opening Remarks:
Some things you need to know before you begin. The following are absolutely required in order to become a decent player. These aren't really strategies, so much as the basics of winning that you will need to master in order to have a fighting chance. Remember, EVERY GAME, regardless of the talent level (rating system of the players) on the field, your CPU guys won't block as well as theirs, won't cover as well as theirs, and won't react to the ball as well as theirs, thats three basic tenets of playing the game on All-Madden.
The Basics:
1) You must learn to punt. Must not only be good at it, but must be willing to. If you aren't willing to, forget it and just stop because you will never win in All-Madden without punting. You will be down 30 points before you can blink.
2) You must never force a pass over the middle. Without doing this, YOU WILL STILL throw interceptions. I will go over this in a minute, but it will be hard enough throwing to WIDE OPEN guys in All-Madden, much less guys sort of covered, and even less than that, guys over the middle. Your first try at an All-Madden game will likely yield more than 12-14 INTERCEPTIONS by the other team. This is probably required to fully understand all of the stuff I will be describing to you, and you'll get exactly what I am talking about in the passing game once you see the computer behave yourself.
3) You must be willing to run a variety of plays. The computer will learn quickly and destroy your same old shit. There ARE certain tricks you can take advantage of that I will point out to you in the running game that will make it seem, at times, that you can just run the same play over and over. However, mastering 20-40 plays is really the only way you will score consistently.
4) You must learn to avoid play-action passes. Here's the thing: on All-Madden, very rarely will you actually be able to get off the play-fake, set up, and see your reciever icons come up before a DE or an LB is sacking your QB. The thing is, the CPU always knows what play you are running, and will "paddle-peek" so to speak -- in other words, they will usually call a good pass defense when you are passing, a decent run defense when you are running, and a good blitz when you are play-actioning. DOWN AND DISTANCE DOES affect its play calling, but its clearly only about 50-60 percent of its decision making process.
5) You must learn to knock down passes with DBs, and make the catch with your WR manually. This will require practice in the training camp mode. A good amount of it. You will need to learn when to hit L2 in order to knock down low, hard passes in man coverage, how to use L2 to knock down slow, floating passes to the outside, and how to use L2 to knock down the deep ball. It requires great timing, but luckily, it is the same basic skill as you have to learn in order to catch the ball manually with Y button on offense. The main tip: You have to learn to be the first person in the path of the ball to go up and get the pass, WHILE not going up to get the pass to early. Note that I said in the path of the ball, not the people the pass is intended to. If you go up to early, you will swat at nothing and jump at nothing, and the CPU will either intercept it or if they are on offense, they will catch it, and probably outrun everyone to the endzone. Its kind of intimidating. Don't worry though, there are certain things that will work to make it safer than it sounds.

To me, those 5 things are absolutely required. Without them, you're toast 100 percent of the time.

BUT back to today's game, and today's lessons.
Grossman was their QB, and in Madden he is a QB that will complete 80-90 percent of his passes for 250-350 yards in the game without pressure on him. You could play impecable coverage, but it wouldn't matter. His throws are too fast to react to many times, and often times you are better off NOT trying to swat down his passes if he is throwing to a WR one on one on the outside. You're actually better off letting them take the 8-10 yard catch, then hitting L2 after the catch is made with the CB next to the WR, which will make him do a controlled, sure tackle.
However, Deion Branch and Joe Jurevicius were their WRs - who are OKAY but not FAST - and therefore very controllable. FAST WRs with a dominating QB are the toughest to stop in All-Madden, because they will often beat man coverage deep (even 2 or 3 deep man) and they will routinely be open vs. zones.
So how to stop them? Remember the main rules. No. 1. Punt if you have to. No. 2, VARIETY- even on defense.
Now -- to expound.
We know that you need to put PRESSURE on Grossman. If you look at my stat line, he threw for 226 yards and 2 TDs, but he also was sacked 6 TIMES and lost the ball on downs twice. Also, we shut down a drive on the 5 yard line that could've tied the game in the 2nd quarter.
So Blitz? Yes, occasionally. BUT YOU NEED to learn how to get pressure with your front four.
Rule #1 - the diagrammed pass rush routes will work 2% of the time. You NEED to line audible, and do it routinely. With your linemen in a 4-3, lined up head up over their G and Ts, audible to a WIDE PASS RUSH, which will make both ends SPEED rush around and, and then DTs will take 3 technique speed rushes as well. On All-Madden, the biggest problem in rushing the passer is that when they get a chance to block man up, the OL will ALWAYS nullify your rush - you won't bull rush them, and they can bull rush you. This will work occasionally, and is a good idea on 1st and 10 and 2nd and short, because it is a decent way to pressure the pocket WHILE not totally giving up on the run.
THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO RUSH THE PASSER in Madden, on All-Madden, is to only rush 4 men, audible your line to do wide speed rush, and ALSO presnap align your DTs to 3 techniques and your DE's to 7 techniques. This means that your DEs and DTs will spread wide pre-snap, and you will have NO one over the center, and no one over both A gaps(or 1 holes).
Finally, in these rushes, you have to TRUST your DE's, and NOT be one of them -- let the CPU handle it, and use your LBs to cover the pass. You need your own eyes back there, plus...and this is big...
ONLY be a blitzing LB or a DB, NEVER be a DL on All-Madden. You can really only use speed moves effectively, and the CPU will always direct the players at better speed angles on the line that you as a human can. Trust me on this.
Finally -- The blitz -- how and when?
Good times for it:
when they get inside your own 30. Zones and no rush = giving up a TD once this happens. 2nd and short = you will stuff the run, and its a time when the risk is worth the reward ifyou get to the QB 3rd and moderately long = note i said moderately. If its 3rd and 15+ its ACTUALLY BETTER to RUSH 4, play 3 deep man, and take your chances that you will tackle them before they get to the marker, because you will 75% of the time.
HOW TO BLITZ? Glad you asked. First, lets talk about what not to do.
Blitzing 8 -NEVER. Your guys invariably get in each others way - plus on All-Madden, simply running 8 guys at 6 blockers, though logic would say it couldn't not work, usually ends up having 6 guys getting blocked head up, and the other two blitzers two busy tryin gto get through traffic to actually get to the Qb in time, leading to you getting torched.
Blitzing one LB, and slanting the other linemen away from him - NEVER. Each man ends up getting manned up, and like i said, once you get manned up by an All-Madden OL, you are done, no pressure will come of it.
There's two types of Blitzees that can work:
One man, LB or DB, up the middle STUNTING AWAY from your DE or DT slant rushing, OR
Two men blitzing, if outside, then slanting the line towards the outside rusher - if inside, than slanting the linemen AWAY from the inside rusher.
Does that make sense? So for example, if you want to rush the WLB outside, then slant the WE and the WT towards the WLB, effectively making them speed rush and the OL on that side slide protect to the left - THEN, take the WLB and speed rush AROUND all of that. Chances are, you will beat the C (who will try to slide over and protect) and you will have a shot at the QB.
Practice all of this -- FOR NOW - Just try these rushes out, and don't even BE the CB once the ball is thrown, take your lumps and completions, and rely on sacks to stop them. As you get better at knocking down the ball, you will want to pressur ethe QB with the blitz, then switch guys after the ball is released, and learn to hit l2 at the right time to have your CB (usually in man coverage with blitzes) knock down the passes that are generally thrown slightly short of their intended target (when you blitz).
Anyway, as far as on offense, the Bucs have dominating up front people that will HUNT YOUR SCRAMBLING QB DOWN and MAUL him occasionally. So dont just run out of the pocket.
Tip#1: run on 1st and 10.
Tip#2: Motion away from playside, and watch the computer overcompensate.
Tip#3: use the juke key to juke your way outside, dont just sprint as fast as you can out there, because their LBs will disengage their blockers and tackle your ass for a lot shorter gain than if you are patient, hit juke when behind a lead blocker, which will then throw your HB to the open side of the play without allowing the CPU to pursue yet,then once the opening is in front of you, just sprint ahead and get what you can.
Tip#4: As for passing right now. Motion to check if its a zone or a man. If its a man to man, try quick outs by waiting for the wideout to break, throwing a BULLET to him and then once you release the ball, hitting Y to catch it on the intended WR as soon as possible. This, oddly enough, will get your wideout to catch the ball AND stop the CB from cutting in front and picking it. If you dont do that, the CB will cut in front and knock down/INT routinely. -- IF YOU are up against a zone, try quick slants to SE side of the field. The less traffic in front the better. Again, throw a bullet, switch to intended, hit Y to catch, hope for the best. We will talk about other passes later. Move the ball and take your points, sack the QB and punt when you have to. You might not win yet, but youll be close already.....
Game two coming soon....

2006-10-29T11:57:00.000-05:00

Funny Japanese Show

Encore Presentation

October 27th - Videos of the Week

2006-10-27T12:23:00.000-04:00

Today's weekly collection is a brief break from Borat. Don't worry, he'll be back. This group includes a tribute to Chuck Norris, a little Madden fun, a rediculous display of human ability, and probably one of the funniest 10 minute clips of your life.

We really need to get as creative with TV as they are in Japan.

Lemme know what you all think.

Peace.
#6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F7VCMvTE9g - A Madden 2007 glitch of the week
#5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5KNB0d6M8s - Ocho Cinco!
#4: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2FaBVHPVfWQ - Probably The coolest thing youll ever watch
#3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OW-EFN4pkY&NR - The premise of the video is hilarious enough, but the best part is the helmet and the part at the VERY END. Awesome.
#2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJ7gxpiNvE&NR - What's luckier, this, or winning the lottery?
#1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SXIRZkGD8k&mode=related&search= - if you watch one more video in your whole life, watch this

2006-10-27T11:37:00.000-04:00

Chuck Norris Fighting Video Game

The featured video on today's list is a great new XBOX360 game (haha I wish). Check it out at the end, you won't regret it. (watch closely)

XBOX Madden Strategy Guide, Versions 2005-2007

2006-10-25T18:29:00.000-04:00

Without my poker sanctuary, life has turned back to simpler times.

Madden 2005 times in fact.

It should be known that I have never owned 2007 or 2006 versions of Xbox Madden, primarily for two reasons:

1. the QB vision feature, the main addition to 2006-07 versions, is greatly dismissed by many in human v. human play, and it doesn't really add a great deal of skill to the game other than mastering one more key. Bad QBs just threw bad passes in the old verisions, good QBs threw better ones. The vision feature really isn't that cool.

2. The 2005 version came as close to perfecting Xbox football simulation as possible. It was the first year that they mastered defensive controls and CPU A.I. (to as much a degree as they can allow I guess).

Now, I have never entered a Madden "Bowl" or the official tournament -- although I am quite certain that I could win it given a couple of weeks to re-strategize. My biggest problem with those tournaments?

They are typically always played with game difficulty set on Rookie or the second level (can't even remember the name), rendering the CPU defensive abilities for both teams almost completely useless.

But its HUMAN v. HUMAN you say! It doesn't really matter right?
Well, actually....it greatly affects how well all the other guys on the field perform. The ones you can't always control.
Great for scoring a lot of points, and great for using the same tactics as you could use when playing Super TecmoBowl for NES.

Not much for realism, or challenge -- IMHO.

So anyway, I believe this has lead to a lot of people around who think they are really good at Madden....yikes. But they aren't.

I've known people who claim to be the best they know, yet, have never a) had to EVER control the reciever for catching the pass, b) have ever had to worry about the CPU pass rush, c) throw late over the middle, past DL and LBs, all of the time without repurcussion d) have never been anyone on the defense other than the DL, 5) have never knocked down a pass, 6) have never played their responsibility in a zone coverage scheme, 7) have never modified plays pre-snap 8)....

could go on.

So anyway, I am embarking on my first ever full season of Madden 2005 on All-Madden, all the way through, no resets, with my 2008 Chicago Bears, fresh off the SuperBowl victory on All-Pro level.

I am currently 7-1, leading the division by a healthy 3 games.
Over the next two weeks, I will start take notes of the games this season, and try to establish a couple of important pointers for Madden Players each and every game. There are a lot of different things you should know.

But in the end, hopefully I can spread my nerdly knowledge to many of you - and after some practice, maybe I can actually find a good opponent to play.

(NOTE -- I really can't claim that all of these tactics would work for NCAA 2005 - 07 players. I've never gotten into that game, mainly because you can QB sneak every time on the highest level for 10-15 yards a pop with a moose playing QB, and because you can just throw the ball up in the air like an air balloon and no one knocks it down, in fact, your reciever, without aiding him, catches it most of the time -- oh, and when you try to knock down passes with DBs in that game, they dont even pretend to try or have even an idea of what that button is supposed to do -- that would explain why some of you who are used to NCAA Football were confused when I talked about that -- its technically something supposed to be available in that game, but none of the players actually respond to that key)

I am pretty sure I will hear about this from an NCAA lover. I know many. PS - you guys, lets start an NCAA 2007 season, I am willing to take my lumps for a few games.

LESSON ONE - WEEK 11 GAME (8-1) VS. BUCS (5-4)

2006-10-24T20:08:00.000-04:00

Borat Mtv

I know people are clamoring about the release of the first 4 minutes of the movie...but we must be patient. Until then, some more clips that you might not have caught here in good old U S and A.

Breaking News!

2006-10-22T13:49:00.000-04:00

A 30 minute segment from A Dutch talk show.

You look?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xivb1_borat-bij-jensen

Kazak Chamber of Commerce Memo

2006-10-22T01:27:00.000-04:00

This is a great contribution from a friend. Today's post on the "13 days of Borat" impromptu blog tribute includes another real-life news story. I just want to thank this government for making my comedic life complete. Can it really be this good? The fact that this is real is definitely a gift from God.

God bless comedy.

Here it is. You'll cry with joy.

2006-10-21T03:48:00.000-04:00

Borat - Guide to Hobbies

Everybody Dance Now!

2006-10-18T22:32:00.000-04:00

I INOCENT!

A bonus for everyone - ENJOY

Borat - Sexytime Explosion

2006-10-18T19:36:00.000-04:00

Nothing really brightens my day quite like the breathless anticipation I feel when I think about seeing the Borat movie.

For those of you who are not familiar with the TV star from Kazak, please, acquaint yourself with his latest legal battle.

Has humor ever been so life-alteringly good that the comedian has actually been sued by an entire people, and threatened with military force from an entire nation? And has a comedian ever actually created a potentially hostile situation between rival nations before - all the while using their sovereign misconceptions as fuel for the joke?

November 3rd will be the best day of the year. And if you know me, you better be at the theatre with me or it might come to blows.

A Team of Destiny?

2006-10-17T18:38:00.000-04:00

And I had to go open my mouth about how sports isn't real news.

You didn't have to be a Bears fan, a Cards fan, or even more than a casual sports observer to not notice how rediculous last night's MNF game was, and how miraculous it was that the Bears won.

Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune beat me to it, but I thought it would be interesting to get a quick take on this game from three perspectives: the Chicago angle, the Arizona angle, and the "national media" angle...

For those of you who DIDN'T the game or don't care about football, here is what happened in a nutshell:
Statistically, the Cardinals dominated the Bears in many aspects of Monday's 24-23 loss:

Category Cardinals Bears
First downs 17 9
Total yards 286 168
Possession time 39:43 20:17
Turnovers forced 6 2

No offensive touchdowns scored by the Bears the whole game. Cardinals up by 20 points, with the ball, on the last play of the 3rd quarter.

To read exactly what happened (if you beleive what you are reading), check out the facts in Chicago's Mike Downey article.

The Bears moved onto 6-0, broke many NFL records in futility along the way, and the Cardinals went to 1-5, in a weird way doing much, much worse.

And not just because they lost. But because they caused one of those events that makes you seriously consider the intangible, the fantastical, and the hands of fate. It went to confirm the feeling and the notion of many people that "of course the Cardinals blew it, the Cardinals are forever doomed."

In the opposite way, it went to fuel the same type of conclusions on the other side -- "the Bears somehow won this game, they MUST be a team of destiny."

When reality is too rediculous to be believed, we often fall for such things. We think God or a mystic power is punishing a team, a person, a people, or whatever -- and God or another power is annointing another team, person, a people, or whatever. We place all credit or blame on something that seems to be obvious, seems to be the best solution to our confusion, but in reality....

is an illusion. The real reasons the Cardinals lost the game? Couldn't run out the clock, because they couldn't run the ball -- they blew assignments on the line, and they can't cover a punt. Looking for the real reason the Cardinals have lost historically?

Dan Bickley says it best, at the very end of his article out of Arizona.

Why did the Bears win? Lucky bounces, yes. More importantly, good timing and a better team, top to bottom. The Bears on their worst day still had enough against a worse team on a good day.

I am not trying to say there are no such thing as miracles. I am also not denying that there are things in the world that cannot be explained logically.

And I'm not saying that the world of sports isn't important. It can inspire people to do things they never thought possible - can give people emotions they've never felt before. Sporting events captivate us and entertain us in a way that other things cannot: they let us enjoy a daily drama, cheer and have fun, boo and be angry, and let us relax about life and just be fans.

But God does not care who wins. Curses are not held over professional sports franchises or their imagined communities of supporters. Fate is not taunting the Arizona Cardinals. The Bears of this year are no more a team of destiny than the '03 Cubs were "cursed" by a goat or by Steve Bartman.

The Bears might not be good enough to win the SuperBowl, or they might be. Clearly, they, like every other team in the NFL, will need to play well, and need to be a little lucky. The Cards are definitely good enough to play with anyone in the NFL, and they are not leaps and bounds behind the notion of being a respectable team.

Games like last night's make that pretty hard to see, though.

Bears pummeling to ensue: slow news day saved.

2006-10-16T18:13:00.000-04:00

I hate saying that the two biggest stories in the news today actually came from the world of sports, which in and of itself is great, but in the context of "sports news", is often times nothing more than contrived drivel. Today, the Bears are on MNF and should dismantle a hapless Arizona Cardinals team. News item #1. Also, today the Cubs confirmed the signing of Lou Pinella as their new manager for the 07 season. News item #2. A particular quote from a known analyst in baseball should get your attention if you are a sports fan, in regards to predictions on how the Cubs will do under this new skipper.

The only other thing I saw of any note at all today was a random posting on a website concerning getting out of bad cell phone contracts. Its a Wiki-post, so it could be all complete nonsense, but the part on saying you are moving to a remote location I have heard works wonders. I am not only involved in a crappy cell phone contract, but more importantly, my phone and the service it gets is rediculous. I find it funny that they try to phase out phones that are over 9-10 months old by screwing with your reception to try to get you to buy a new phone. Its an industry that has totally taken over the world and would've dominated every man woman and child's life and pocketbook regardless, why do they feel the need to squeeze every last penny out of people when all they have to do is keep people happy and people will provide them with a steady stream of rediculous profits for a long time to come? So goes it, though. Feel free to share your cell phone horror stories here.

Legislation Gone Wrong - Another Feather in the Cap of a Useless Congress

2006-10-15T11:39:00.000-04:00

I always knew Friday the 13th meant strange and scary things were about to happen.

This year is no different.
This past Friday, the US officially passed a law making playing poker online (for money) illegal.

My Xbox will be re-introduced to me more than ever now...

As if my personal feelings on this issue aren't clear already, let me give you a quick tour of my personal experience.

I played poker online for money. I have been doing so for a number of years. It wasn't illegal, it wasn't against my religion, and quite frankly, it was a pretty harmless way to pass a few hours or earn a little money to go out on the weekends with. I never gambled with anything important - ten, twenty dollars was usually what I played with, and it was usually what I ended up winning or losing at the end of the day. It beat blowing my money on other things, and for the entertainment value, it was the only one I could think of that I could interact with new people from the comfort of my room after a long day of being a worker, being a student, whatever.

The game particularly endeared me when college ended. I was at a particular crossroads, where the MLB draft didn't work out for me as planned, I had no plane ticket to a random city to play ball in, I was graduated but I had no job yet, and I knew I wanted to live in Chicago. Problem was, I was still in Ann Arbor. I had NO money. Really, completely none. It all went towards my education up until that point.
My choices included:
-sitting there with no money, looking for work in Ann Arbor, and having to find someplace to stay once my lease ended (about a month later).
-getting home somehow, living with my grandparents, and pursuing much more permanent positions in the place I wanted to be.

So in my quest to figure out how I would accept the second choice, I sat on my computer and played poker to take my mind off of things. I ended up winning. And winning a pretty considerable amount of money for me at the time, over the course of 2 weeks. I started shopping for cars online ---
I found something that I could buy - with the money I won with online poker.
1100 dollars later, I was in a '90 Cutlass Cierra, a car I should've probably never purchased for reasons of health and safety, but nonetheless, I got it, drove home to Chicago, and life has been a wonderful journey ever since.

With work, social life stuff, and other pursuits, I didn't have a lot of chances to play much online poker anymore. Once or twice a week was frequent, and a couple of times a month was typical.
It was fun, it was harmless, and most of all, it let me tell some funny stories to my friends.

However, now this is all gone (at least for now). I am not sure if it is a question of the government trying to dictate our morality ( btw how could this be an immoral behavior? - I can think of a lot worse things in life that are routinely celebrated in our culture) , trying to enforce its rules on "gambling" regulations (which seems ridiculous, in light of almost every 'riverboat' casino now being brought to land, chicago's push for its own casino, and the rules of Indian casinos being about as loose as loose can be), or an issue in a larger economic agenda (ding ding ding?!) - but I cannot help but think that this is sketchy legislation at best.

Think about this:

pharmaceutical companies with virtual monopolies on specific prescription drugs will continue to sell them at extremely inflated prices - allowing them to pay entry-level employee's upwards of 80,000 a year or more, and near-bankrupting elderly people throughout the country and forcing companies to scale back retirement and health benefits at an alarming rate - and no important legislation controlling the prices of these products, sometimes necessary for life itself, has gotten close to being passed through our Congress. Who benefits from this? Certain American companies.

In a country built upon the backs of people who didn't belong here, clamor is being heard from certain political entities and members of our government (and sadly, our populace), that we need to close our borders to illegal immigrants AND ARM them more than they already are. Nevermind the fact that the only jobs these people are taking when they come over are the jobs that no one wants, the jobs that actually benefit American companies because these workers will take substandard wages, no-no, we are hell-bent on keeping these people out. Why? I see two reasons: one, a lot of people are too dumb and too lazy to understand and/or accept that illegal immigrants aren't taking anything from current citizens, unless you are the type that aspires to be the pseudo-servants of our society - and, people are just plain afraid of learning/dealing with new cultures aka racist, and two: arming the borders and increasing the manpower to enforce these laws means even MORE government spending on the military than we are already, which is almost impossible. Where does all that money go? To Certain AMERICAN companies.

On this topic, we are currently spending a ridiculous amount of money on a war that originally centered on one man, and mushroomed into a all-out attempt at forcing an American model on a people of whom a significant portion of want nothing to do with. Do I think that is smart? ON our part, NOOOO. On their part? No. I think that a free democracy is a great, great thing -- but try as we might, sometimes you have to let countries figure it out on their own. We aren't forcing China to become capitalist anytime soon, why are we trying so hard right now? Well, hmmm lets see. Who benefits from military spending out the asshole? Parents of American soldiers? No no no. Certain American Companies? YES YES YES.

So anyway, while we spend too much on a war we may never win, we allow certain aspects of our society to run wild with exploitation in certain sectors, and we focus on changing the entire attitude that our country was built on, know that we are keeping your internet safe from 10 dollar poker games, and people blowing a little steam and a few bucks here or there playing a card game that they will probably play with their friends on the weekend sometime now anyway. Seem a little ridiculous? Well, think of it in terms of this -- Can American companies profit off of internet poker? Its has been (for a while now) illegal for an American company to host such a site, therefore these sites (like Partypoker, Paradise Poker..etc) are profiting companies overseas or in the Caribbean. Hmmmm, not profiting certain American companies, law gets passed to regulate.

Makes you think?

Friday the 13th -- its a lot scarier than full moons and werewolves.

PS - A LONE REBEL FIGHTS ON (-; -- Everything is up to interpretation I guess..

FROM THE ARCHIVES - September 3rd

2006-10-14T14:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday, September 03, 2006
The greatest .19 ever, Robin Yount
My apologies beforehand to Bill Simmons, because he just got done writing about a trip to Wisconsin and that included a Brewer game:

So I want to share this experience with everyone who hasnt seen it for themselves firsthand. A Milwaukee Brewer game is possibly the absolute holy land of tailgating. Where else on earth can you find 20000 people tailgating hours and hours before A BASEBALL GAME. Granted, Ive sort od tailgated before some other events, Sox, Cubs...minimally --- and usually I was one of like a couple hundred peoples in that regard. These people tailgate like its a Michigan Football game before a BREWERS GAME. Its just beautiful.
After walking through rows and rows of tailgates, we eventually got to our "standing room" seats that were sweet ass -- behind the left field fair pole - and we also got our Robin Yount bobble heads. For those of you who dont know who Robin Yount is, he is like part baseball hero, part chuck norris. He's southern pride meets Cal Ripken. In other words, he is a perfect folk hero - the best part is, the early 80s brewers were good, but not good enough to the point of being legendary - so he always gets passed over as great players of his era - despite being a hall of famer.
Anyway, we (JP Stevo JB) made the journey up to this mecca
I got the rookie jersey bobble head - there were 3 kinds. I was dying to get the powder blue one, and they were the "limted edition" ones- and it became apparent that 44000 people came to a meaningless Brewers game because of the bobbleheads. So, I enjoyed the rest of the game from my seats, chatting with a cute little 1 year old toddler in front of me, either playing hide and seek with him, or batting around a giant inflatable baseball for innings ata time. Thats another great thing I noticed - the ushers dont run to steal the bouncing balls like they do at cubs sox games. These guys encouraged it. Our section actually played with the ball for 3 innings, until we lost it over the edge into the lower deck -- at which point a lone soldier went into their section and reclaimed the ball and brought it back up. How sweet is that.
Oh - and then there was the drunk frat guy behind us who was pretty cool - and pretty drunk - and the big girl next to me. I dont have it in me to ruin someone's meaningless good time by yelling at someone for putting their hands all over me during the course of a sporting event. but let me just say this -- its once again proven: big girls love me. They absolutely cannot get enough of me.

Another favorite thing to do this week is to find another funny way my elbow makes me look like an alien. IF you roll your arms inward, like pointg your elbows away from your body, then straighten your arms, thats probably where it looks the funniest. The arm literally not only cant get straight, it can barely get past 45 degrees.
BACK to the Brewers thing -- this is another thing I love about these games: NO ONE hates the brewers. Its just not possible. No one does! Find someone who HATES the brewers, and Ill give you 50 bucks cash. I saw cubs, brewers, sox, yankees, red sox, marlins, braves, and astros fans at this game. If you asked any of them, they would all say "yeaah, i kinda like the brewers!" Really, i think it could be a unifying force nationally - now all we need to do is convert this energy into full fledged fandom. FACT: They have drawn over 2 MILLION in fans this year at that park already, which is INSANE for a team under 500 and not very good. THATS CUBS FANS insane. I think its taking on a whole new meaning to "wrigley north", no?

FROM THE ARCHIVES - August 31st.

2006-10-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

Summing up a great day.
Ok, today I completely figured out my golf swing, accomplished more at work than 15 of my co-workers combined, and found a great polo shirt at target. what a day. the perfect cap to it, came at the end of the tonight as i got home from Public House...

(the following conversation happened at 11:12pm on thursday evening with *****)
******: yo tell me you are watching this tennis
PAbat623: ah man no hold on
******: very few times will you ever hear me say that but this is ridiculous
******: its a rock concert taking place on a tennis court
PAbat623: jesus what channel
******: USAA
******: USA
PAbat623: crazy
******: they have been this loud for every point the last 30 minutes ive been watching
PAbat623: who knew andre aggasi is the country's favorite hero
******: pkaying rock music during the breaks
******: great use of the word "shit" on national tv right there
PAbat623: is this really happening
******: im telling you dude
PAbat623: are they interviewing the loser and applauding him like he is axel rose
******: wait until they play the rock music
******: haha
******: i watched the first match and it was ridiculous
PAbat623: "just wanted to thank you for being a part of the best match ive ever seen"
PAbat623: love the hyperboleBab617: yup
******: i love the anderson cooper attire alsoBab617: oh by the way
******: did i tell you im now a weekend anchor
PAbat623: FUCK ya
PAbat623: dude nice
PAbat623: wow
PAbat623: that was fucking fast
******: im now.....
PAbat623: what are you ghandi
******: nope....
******: im an....
******: ANCHORMAN
PAbat623: fact or fiction: everyone at the match is sporting their retro "canon: rebel"
PAbat623: WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON OH MY GOD
******: fact times three
******: im telling you dude
******: you gotta watch the next match
PAbat623: EVERYONE AT THIS MATCH HAS REFRESHED MY BELIEF IN THE HUMAN SPIRIT
******: eevry single point he wins they'r eon their feet
******: john mcenroe is displaying how he lost his CNBC show after three months
******: this is his fourth "final question"
PAbat623: this has completely -- in my five minutes watching it - completely lost all concept of reality and perspective on the event thats actually happening
******: its like regis philbin out there "is that your final answer"
PAbat623: "thank you, man!"
******: haha yeh
PAbat623: that deserved a parting man embrace
PAbat623: "i think we all dreamed a dream tonight. and its one of those dreams you hope you never wake up from?"
******: haha
******: aight im out
PAbat623: congrats man
PAbat623: thats awesome
******: yeh
******: im kind fo a big deal
PAbat623: such a big deal
PAbat623: peace man
******: people know me
******: hahaha
PAbat623: take care
******: later man
******: im going to miami saturday morn
******: i'll call you wasted from miami-fsu
PAbat623: have a great time -- awesome so jealous
PAbat623: ill answer drunk from milwaukee, with my robin yount
PAbat623: bobble head doll
******: hahahaha

To
a great day, and to my friends.
BTW when I am done with this book I am reading i will explain what its all about. intense.

I'm Moving!

2006-10-14T11:01:00.000-04:00

As fun as the myspace blogging is, and for as easy as it is, I really don't understand much about that website. I can't figure out how to modify much of anything - and besides, with every single student on the site at the school I work for, I dont really think its the best place for anything. I intend on continuing to annoy people on their profiles however. That mainly applies to Vic and Deirdre - profile posting all stars.

More later - right now I'm debating either heading to the gym or finishing an entire home run inn pizza thats in my refrigerator. Home Run Inn pizza is like pizza + english muffin with a little too much butter. I'm not sure if its officially known as the best Chicago pizza or not - but news for you - it isn't.