Hobo Con Queso proudly endorses Zoe's Place, a non-profit group that operates Zoe's Cupcake Place in Teaneck, NJ. The sister of one of our friends helped to design the menu.
So, if you shop there, you will not only be purchasing delicious treats but also helping people who could use the money.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
"Management Was Restructuring"
(+6 blog points to the first one to identify the reference of the title of this post)
At Hobo Con Queso, we recognize the realities of today's corporate world. Sometimes, in today's world, groups need to expand, restructure, and shift personnel to keep up with the competitive world of blogging.
(Ok, I couldn't think of a funnier introduction. Maybe it's because it's 5:11 AM and my body is keeping me awake despite the fact that somehow, we've had two consecutive snow days down here in South Jersey even though it hasn't snowed since Saturday.)
With this in mind, Hobo Con Queso is proud to announce the addition of several talented Teaneck-bred writers, here to dump their mind whenever they feel like they, umm, have to dump. (HY!) All of them are intelligent, handsome, and unfortunately, all taken - sorry, ladies and gay men.
Of course, you remember that Beer-on-the-Girl, brother of yours truly, was the first added to our staff a few days ago. Here is a picture of Walt Clyde with Beer on the Girl.
Now, allow me to introduce you to the rest of the staff.
From left to right: MMG, Chris Hall, Walt Clyde Frazier, Matt Dabney, Joe Grossberg
MMG: A long-time friend of mine (for 25 years), MMG started a blog a while ago and lost steam some time ago. A Teaneckian who now resides in Brooklyn, MMG divides his time between being an attorney, rooting for the Giants and Mets, and drinking beer. His contributions, while somewhat infrequent, will be worth the wait.
Chris Hall: Fast both with the feet and with his mind (but not in the bedroom HY!), Chris Hall lit up the world as a Highwayman ('94) and as a Lion ('98). Chris is now a school administrator in South Jersey (and only lives a few minutes away from me!) and laments the fate of our New York Knicks, but unlike myself, has remained loyal and has not sold out on them, yet. He also blogs here in a more academic setting.
Matt Dabney: Also known as Daffy, Daphne, that nigga Matt Daffy, Glaffney, Traffney, Draffney, and many other similar names, Matt Dabney occasionally blogs here (and I use the word occasionally liberally) and occasionally lets us know how his house in New York State is shaping up here. Hopefully being part of this team will allow him to write more about fatherhood, the Nets, and Grant Hill.
Joe Grossberg: Joeydidit, the most computer-literate and profilic web writer of the group, used to blog often and has since been more active on Facebook and various niches of the Internet. A web designer (is that your job title, Joey?), talented and creative writer, and somebody who has more friends on Facebook than the rest of us combined, Joey will hopefully bring some spice and substance to our humble blog.
So there's your writers, folks. Hopefully they feel free to write about any random shit that they want to share. Enjoy...
The Hobo Con Queso staff gets down with friends at a HcQ corporate party. This is how we do it!
At Hobo Con Queso, we recognize the realities of today's corporate world. Sometimes, in today's world, groups need to expand, restructure, and shift personnel to keep up with the competitive world of blogging.
(Ok, I couldn't think of a funnier introduction. Maybe it's because it's 5:11 AM and my body is keeping me awake despite the fact that somehow, we've had two consecutive snow days down here in South Jersey even though it hasn't snowed since Saturday.)
With this in mind, Hobo Con Queso is proud to announce the addition of several talented Teaneck-bred writers, here to dump their mind whenever they feel like they, umm, have to dump. (HY!) All of them are intelligent, handsome, and unfortunately, all taken - sorry, ladies and gay men.
Of course, you remember that Beer-on-the-Girl, brother of yours truly, was the first added to our staff a few days ago. Here is a picture of Walt Clyde with Beer on the Girl.
Now, allow me to introduce you to the rest of the staff.
From left to right: MMG, Chris Hall, Walt Clyde Frazier, Matt Dabney, Joe Grossberg
MMG: A long-time friend of mine (for 25 years), MMG started a blog a while ago and lost steam some time ago. A Teaneckian who now resides in Brooklyn, MMG divides his time between being an attorney, rooting for the Giants and Mets, and drinking beer. His contributions, while somewhat infrequent, will be worth the wait.
Chris Hall: Fast both with the feet and with his mind (but not in the bedroom HY!), Chris Hall lit up the world as a Highwayman ('94) and as a Lion ('98). Chris is now a school administrator in South Jersey (and only lives a few minutes away from me!) and laments the fate of our New York Knicks, but unlike myself, has remained loyal and has not sold out on them, yet. He also blogs here in a more academic setting.
Matt Dabney: Also known as Daffy, Daphne, that nigga Matt Daffy, Glaffney, Traffney, Draffney, and many other similar names, Matt Dabney occasionally blogs here (and I use the word occasionally liberally) and occasionally lets us know how his house in New York State is shaping up here. Hopefully being part of this team will allow him to write more about fatherhood, the Nets, and Grant Hill.
Joe Grossberg: Joeydidit, the most computer-literate and profilic web writer of the group, used to blog often and has since been more active on Facebook and various niches of the Internet. A web designer (is that your job title, Joey?), talented and creative writer, and somebody who has more friends on Facebook than the rest of us combined, Joey will hopefully bring some spice and substance to our humble blog.
So there's your writers, folks. Hopefully they feel free to write about any random shit that they want to share. Enjoy...
The Hobo Con Queso staff gets down with friends at a HcQ corporate party. This is how we do it!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Empire State of Mind
When the Yankees beat the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series this year, Lisa and I were in Atlantic City at Game On! (great place to watch a game, by the way). There was a large crowd gathered, roughly split equally between New York and Philadelphia fans. The Jay-Z / Alicia Keys song "Empire State of Mind" was just become big - though I was ahead of the curve since I'd already received the album as a gift from Lisa and received a heads-up from a wise man about the album.
In my mind, I'd been wondering if this song was our generation's "New York, New York" and wondering how truly "good" of a song Empire State of Mind was. I'd been wondering if I was just getting carried away because the album was so catchy, but I'd been thinking that this song specifically would really catch on, and NYC people would love it when they heard it and belt out the chorus. I'd even been wondering if eventually this song would rival or surpass Sinatra's ode to New York that everybody knows (yes, I know Sinatra didn't write it). After all, would most people consider an song an appropriate ode to a city even though it contains gritty lines and images like "corners where we sellin rock" and "I got a gang of niggas walkin with my clique", as opposed to lofty ideas like "if I can make it there, I can make it anywhere"?
Well, the Yankees won and the series was over. Half of the packed crowd in Game On went apeshit. The DJ started blasting the "Empire State of Mind" chorus. A decent percentage of the beer-drinking crowd sang along at the top of their lungs with Alicia Keys, while the rest just hugged and celebrated. The DJ let it run for a minute and then went right into Sinatra's "New York, New York". Now, some of the older people who'd let Alicia Keys and a bunch of drunk strangers sing alone joined in and now everybody sang along and hugged like it was 1:55 at Vinny O's and MMG's run of songs just ended on the jukebox and we just sat through James Taylor and the Allman Brothers to get to Sinatra's closing song.
So, has Empire State of Mind reached the stature of NY, NY? Not yet. Will it? I don't think so. But, it was something that those were the *two* NYC celebratory songs played at that moment, and the song has only gotten bigger since the World Series ended. I wonder if it will get any consideration for awards (Grammys, American Music Awards, etc...)
In my mind, I'd been wondering if this song was our generation's "New York, New York" and wondering how truly "good" of a song Empire State of Mind was. I'd been wondering if I was just getting carried away because the album was so catchy, but I'd been thinking that this song specifically would really catch on, and NYC people would love it when they heard it and belt out the chorus. I'd even been wondering if eventually this song would rival or surpass Sinatra's ode to New York that everybody knows (yes, I know Sinatra didn't write it). After all, would most people consider an song an appropriate ode to a city even though it contains gritty lines and images like "corners where we sellin rock" and "I got a gang of niggas walkin with my clique", as opposed to lofty ideas like "if I can make it there, I can make it anywhere"?
Well, the Yankees won and the series was over. Half of the packed crowd in Game On went apeshit. The DJ started blasting the "Empire State of Mind" chorus. A decent percentage of the beer-drinking crowd sang along at the top of their lungs with Alicia Keys, while the rest just hugged and celebrated. The DJ let it run for a minute and then went right into Sinatra's "New York, New York". Now, some of the older people who'd let Alicia Keys and a bunch of drunk strangers sing alone joined in and now everybody sang along and hugged like it was 1:55 at Vinny O's and MMG's run of songs just ended on the jukebox and we just sat through James Taylor and the Allman Brothers to get to Sinatra's closing song.
So, has Empire State of Mind reached the stature of NY, NY? Not yet. Will it? I don't think so. But, it was something that those were the *two* NYC celebratory songs played at that moment, and the song has only gotten bigger since the World Series ended. I wonder if it will get any consideration for awards (Grammys, American Music Awards, etc...)
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
There are worse things than sucking!
The Nets SUCK! I don’t know of anyone (in the world) other than myself who regularly watches Nets games this season. So, in case you haven’t noticed (and judging by the attendance you haven’t), the Nets suck! I mean there not just bad, they suck! They started the season with 18 straight loses (an NBA record). The currently hold the worst record in the league at 2-24. However, there are worse things than sucking.
I believe the Nets are in good shape! Yes, this is quite a proclamation regarding a team with the above noted statistics. However, you have to look at the big picture in all sports. The Nets have a lot going for them. They have a young very talented team. They have young proven talents Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, and also other young talented players like Chris Douglas-Roberts, Courtney Lee and rookie Terrance Williams. Aside from talent, they have an extremely low payroll and no overpaid players with long term contracts. If they continue to suck they will add a high draft pick next year, and could possibly draw one of the big names, free agent players in 2010. Yeah, they won’t get Lebron or Wade but there are a ton of other big names out there (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Dirk, Bosh, etc…) who could be looking for a big pay day, which, the Nets can afford. Also, the move to Brooklyn could make coming to the Nets more enticing.
If we have learned anything from the Knicks post Ewing era, you need to let go when your team sucks. Sucking is not the worst thing. You have to think about your present state of sucking, more long term. Embrace the year that you suck, like that dude from Wayne’s World said proudly , “It sucks while it cuts!” Rebuild, get young talented guys, don’t overpay mediocre players, and be patient. If only the Knicks and New Yorkers could accept sucking, they could have been good by now. If you don’t except sucking for a little while, you wind up mediocre and just an ordinary team. And, as Mena Suvari said in American Beauty “I don’t think there’s anything worse than being ordinary.”
I believe the Nets are in good shape! Yes, this is quite a proclamation regarding a team with the above noted statistics. However, you have to look at the big picture in all sports. The Nets have a lot going for them. They have a young very talented team. They have young proven talents Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, and also other young talented players like Chris Douglas-Roberts, Courtney Lee and rookie Terrance Williams. Aside from talent, they have an extremely low payroll and no overpaid players with long term contracts. If they continue to suck they will add a high draft pick next year, and could possibly draw one of the big names, free agent players in 2010. Yeah, they won’t get Lebron or Wade but there are a ton of other big names out there (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Dirk, Bosh, etc…) who could be looking for a big pay day, which, the Nets can afford. Also, the move to Brooklyn could make coming to the Nets more enticing.
If we have learned anything from the Knicks post Ewing era, you need to let go when your team sucks. Sucking is not the worst thing. You have to think about your present state of sucking, more long term. Embrace the year that you suck, like that dude from Wayne’s World said proudly , “It sucks while it cuts!” Rebuild, get young talented guys, don’t overpay mediocre players, and be patient. If only the Knicks and New Yorkers could accept sucking, they could have been good by now. If you don’t except sucking for a little while, you wind up mediocre and just an ordinary team. And, as Mena Suvari said in American Beauty “I don’t think there’s anything worse than being ordinary.”
Aunt Li'l Wayne
I'm getting older, dorkier, or funnier. Maybe some combination of the three (or maybe less funny. BTW, I've never written the word "dorkier" until now. It looks weird.)
Anyway, the following occurred this morning as homeroom was ending.
My high school has morning announcements down by the TV Production students here. They make funny skits and the like for students which they show from time to time after they are done doing the morning announcements.
During today's skit, a rap song came on to accompany their skit. I was not familiar with the song. The bell rang, the video was still on, and the next teacher (a young woman in her early 20s, who I mentor and am friendly with) came in getting ready to teach. I say...
"Do you know who this is, singing this song?"
"No."
"Hmm... yeah, I don't know much music that's come out recently."
"Me either."
"Kanye West is probably the most recent person in rap music that I'm familiar with. Maybe this is Little Wayne. That's the only name I know."
"Maybe... I don't think it is."
"... It's not Little Wayne, right? It's Li'l Wayne. Liii-llll Wayne. Like that."
"[chuckle]"
"Li'l Wayne. That's so weird. Why not Little Wayne? I have an aunt named Lil. Aunt Lil. Aunt Lil Wayne. Of course, her name is short for Lillian."
She gave me a confused stare. I started cracking myself up, understanding her confusion - after all, that's not funny at all - and walked out of the room, still laughing.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Vote - Best Facial Dunk!
These two dunks are my top two (and I think I gotta go with KJ by a nose). Consider:
- Both were made by little guys over big guys. (6'3" over 6'9", 6'1" vs. 7'0")
- Both big guys were known at the time as very good / great defensive players.
- Both were in the playoffs.
- In both cases, even though the big guy was not directly guarding the dunker, he was there in plenty of time to help. (In other words, it wasn't some cheap "I dunked on you, even though you weren't really there" like the time Beer-on-the-Girl got dunked on by Biggie Sessoms at Amman Park.)
Anyway, which one is better? Is there another one better than both of these?
And here's a trio of Vince Carter dunking on people, lest anybody think I'm biased against him.
- Both were made by little guys over big guys. (6'3" over 6'9", 6'1" vs. 7'0")
- Both big guys were known at the time as very good / great defensive players.
- Both were in the playoffs.
- In both cases, even though the big guy was not directly guarding the dunker, he was there in plenty of time to help. (In other words, it wasn't some cheap "I dunked on you, even though you weren't really there" like the time Beer-on-the-Girl got dunked on by Biggie Sessoms at Amman Park.)
Anyway, which one is better? Is there another one better than both of these?
And here's a trio of Vince Carter dunking on people, lest anybody think I'm biased against him.
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Great Wallet Scam of 2009
The following was a forwarded email I got from a colleague on my hotmail account.
Women often receive warnings about protecting themselves at the mall
and in dark parking lots, etc. This is the first warning I have
seen for men. I wanted to pass it on in case you haven't heard about
it. This will only become more commonplace.
A 'heads up' for those men who may be regular Lowe's, Home Depot, or
Costco customers.
This one caught me by surprise. Ladies, please let your husband /
boyfriend know of this scam.
Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping.
Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic.
Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends.
Here's how the scam works:
Two seriously good-looking 20-something girls come over to your car
as you are packing your shopping into the trunk.
They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with
their tops almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is almost
impossible not to look.
When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead
ask you for a ride to McDonalds.
If you agree, they get into the back seat. On the way, they start
undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts
crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.
I had my wallet stolen June 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th,17th,
20th, 24th, & 29th. Also July 1st & 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th,
23rd, 26th & 28th, three times last Monday and very likely again
this upcoming weekend.
So tell your friends to be careful. What a horrible way to take
advantage of older men. Warn your friends to be vigilant.
Wal-Mart has wallets on sale for $2.99 each. I found cheaper ones
for$1.99 at K- Mart and bought them out.
Also, you never will get to eat at McDonalds. I've already lost 11
pounds just running back and forth to Lowe's, Home Depot, and Costco.
Be careful out there.
My response was:
Umm... what?!? Clearly this can't be true, but is this meant as a joke?
"I had my wallet stolen June 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th,17th,
20th, 24th, & 29th. Also July 1st & 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th,
23rd, 26th & 28th, three times last Monday and very likely again
this upcoming weekend."
LOL! If this is satire, it's brilliant. If this is real, it's hilarious anyway.
A quick Snopes search didn't yield anything, so technically I can't immediately disprove this. However, while this clearly cannot be true, I don't know what to make of it. It may just be some goofy shit. Or, it may be satire so brilliant of forwarded emails that I can't even comprehend how funny / creative / clever it is.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Torch to Bear (another math question)
Here's another fun math question, and I believe Side Bar may have posed this question some time ago in another context at a Margaret Street BBQ but anyway...
Four people have to get through a dark tunnel with a torch. A maximum of two people can go through at a time, with the torch always being needed to see where you are going (so the carrier of the torch must go each way). The four people have different rates of getting through the tunnel - 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute. What is the minimum number of minutes needed to get all 4 people through the tunnel?
Four people have to get through a dark tunnel with a torch. A maximum of two people can go through at a time, with the torch always being needed to see where you are going (so the carrier of the torch must go each way). The four people have different rates of getting through the tunnel - 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute. What is the minimum number of minutes needed to get all 4 people through the tunnel?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Hot Chicks with Douchebags - The Douchies
If you are bored, check out the website http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com. It's a fun time waster and every December people vote for the Douchiest Douchebags in different categories.
Sound weird? Just go check it out.
Sound weird? Just go check it out.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Math Fact of the Day
A fellow teacher told me this today and it struck me as being interesting. Therefore, I wanted to share it.
Suppose you leave your house and walk a path to some other destination at 8 A.M. on Monday. You can walk at any speed you want, you can even stop your walk and stand still for a while, and you can even backtrack your path and then walk forward again. But, at some point on Monday, you reach your destination and sleep over.
Then, on Tuesday morning, you leave your destination at 8 A.M. and return home again. You walk with your speed being totally random and independent of your speed from Monday. Infact, for the sake of argument, you do something totally different (like, you sprint all the way home on Tuesday when on Monday you crawled, stood still, went back and forth, etc...)
So, here's the fact: There will be a location between your home and the destination that you passed both going to the destination and returning home at the exact same instant on both days.
Weird...
Suppose you leave your house and walk a path to some other destination at 8 A.M. on Monday. You can walk at any speed you want, you can even stop your walk and stand still for a while, and you can even backtrack your path and then walk forward again. But, at some point on Monday, you reach your destination and sleep over.
Then, on Tuesday morning, you leave your destination at 8 A.M. and return home again. You walk with your speed being totally random and independent of your speed from Monday. Infact, for the sake of argument, you do something totally different (like, you sprint all the way home on Tuesday when on Monday you crawled, stood still, went back and forth, etc...)
So, here's the fact: There will be a location between your home and the destination that you passed both going to the destination and returning home at the exact same instant on both days.
Weird...
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Shakira, Shakira!
As you can clearly read in the article above which recently appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Shakira is an intellectual, a philanthropist, and an admirable human being who just happens to sing catchy pop music.
That is why I am interested in her. It's not for any other reason.
And by the way, click here if you've never seen one of her videos incase you've never seen her. Apparently, her hips don't lie... whatever that means.
P.S. Wyclef Jean is still a fucking douchebag.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
BotG Ivey (aka Evan Hellmuth Jr.)
| When I first started playing Texas hold ‘em I used to hold Poker Pro’s in the highest regard. I believed that Poker Pro’s could know what everyone’s cards were at the table, based on “reads.” I also thought that based on those “reads” they would be able to inevitably beat everyone who was not a pro. I watched the movie Rounder’s and believed the scene that showed Mike McDermott read the entire professor’s hands blind. So, after watching this year’s World Series of Poker, I realized something, I was wrong about all my beliefs about Poker. The clowns at the final table (minus Phil Ivey) had no idea what the other person had and just basically bet (sometimes) when they have a good hand. If you break down the play at this year’s final table, you see many times when players did the right thing, statically, and lost. Players were going “all in” on great hands versus bad hands and losing, like having hands such as Pocket Queens versus Pocket Threes. The guy, who won, Joe Cada, did so many “wrong” plays and still won. On the other hand, Phil Ivey always did the statically best move and went out in 6th. As a guy who’s played a lot of poker it’s frustrating to think that you no matter how much you play, you can’t really get much better past a certain point. This years World Series made me realize something true about the book Outliers. If you haven’t read it, the book is basically about, with anything, you need to be somewhat gifted, have lots of practice, but what separates the “best” in any field is chance, not being the most gifted. You just have to be good enough and fall into the right circumstance. So, at this point I realize I should either: a) Not play poker anymore, due to the fact that at my skill level it’s basically luck versus other guy’s who play as much as me. b) Play poker all the time, because no one is that much better than me. What to do, what to do… |
Monday, November 30, 2009
Happy Holiday's
Apparently we're invited to a "Happy Holiday's" party at our clubhouse.
Jeez... I don't know why this misuse of apostrophes pisses me off so much.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Walt "Clyde" Frazier's Stream of Consciousness...
... will now feature contributions from none other than Walt Clyde's brother, Beer-on-the-Girl. Stay tuned!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Potential
As I've become an adult, I've had this persistent, nagging worry that somehow I'm "not living up to my potential" or "not using my talents". That would be certainly be a shame. A wiser man than myself once said, "The saddest thing in life is wasted talent". (What's that, some kind of Eastern thing? Far from it.) And that certainly would be a reason for concern and re-evaluation of what I'm doing with myself, it is was true.
But I'm starting to re-evaluate the whole thing. How does one objectively measure potential? Maybe I don't have as much "potential" (whatever that means) as I've always thought I had for certain facets of my life. It seems like it's much more complex than just saying that person x has "talent" or "potential" to do whatever it is that they do, and wondering why or how much they're "using it".
I'm wondering: when other people get introspective about their lives and what they're doing and what will make them happy, etc... do they wonder about this whole "using my potential" thing?
But I'm starting to re-evaluate the whole thing. How does one objectively measure potential? Maybe I don't have as much "potential" (whatever that means) as I've always thought I had for certain facets of my life. It seems like it's much more complex than just saying that person x has "talent" or "potential" to do whatever it is that they do, and wondering why or how much they're "using it".
I'm wondering: when other people get introspective about their lives and what they're doing and what will make them happy, etc... do they wonder about this whole "using my potential" thing?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Teaneck Represent
From this past Sunday's (11/8/2009) Philadelphia Inquirer...
Check out 59 Across and the solution in the puzzle.
Teaneck, baby!
Check out 59 Across and the solution in the puzzle.
Teaneck, baby!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Beer-on-the-Girl turns 30
Walt Clyde's brother, Beer-on-the-Girl, turned 30 on Halloween. We rocked it out in style for his birthday. Halloween night - NYC. Then, to Atlantic City for debauchery. (Though, I must say, I am vowing NEVER to go to Manhattan on Halloween in the future, especially the next time Halloween falls on a Friday or Saturday. It was absolutely insane.)
Happy 30th, BotG.
Happy 30th, BotG.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Vinsanity
Good job, Vince. Keep shrugging, you apathetic hack.
First, to my handful of readers, I apologize for neglecting you for so long. I can't say it won't happen again.
For years now, I've been railing against Vince Carter. I've always pointed out to anybody who will listen that he is a cancer for every team he's been on. When the Nets teamed him up with Jason Kidd, I predicted that it was a sentence of mediocrity until they got rid of him. And now, without him, I predict that the Nets will improve this year (the whole addition by subtraction thing). But I digress.
Now that Vince Carter has been traded to the Magic, I am predicting a decline from relevance for the once-promising young Magic team (and by once, I mean a few months ago before they got Vince Carter).
I'll say things like this often:
"If the Lakers kept their same team and added Vince Carter for free, they would have no chance of repeating."
"I think that he honestly makes every team worse that he's been on."
"Any team that he is on has no chance of contending for a championship."
and state the reasons (no defense, pussy, chemistry killer, subtracts from other players' effectiveness because he holds on to the ball for too long,...) people chuckle and half-heartedly agree or disagree with me. But I don't think I've ever stated it well enough to express how passionately I feel about this joke of a NBA star.
Until now. Bill Simmons has done it for me.
Here is Simmons' take on why Vince is the 4th most intriguing player leading into this NBA season, and I couldn't agree more:
Forget everything you know about him. Forget how he quit on Toronto, forget how Jason Kidd pushed for a trade to Dallas just to get away from him, forget that the most memorable moments of his career were a slam dunk contest and the time he dunked on Fred Weis. Forget that you're disappointed in him, that you don't trust him, that you wouldn't want to go to war with him. Forget that he's played 42 games TOTAL in 11 years, or that he hasn't made an All-NBA team since the first year of Dubya's presidency. Forget that he's the active league leader in "most willing to never drive to the basket again if you knock him down once" and "most times rolling around underneath the rim like he's been shot" categories. Forget all of these things. And ask yourself this question:
Has Vince Carter ever played for a good team?
His two best teams simply in terms of win totals:
2006 Nets (49 wins): Vince, a past-his-prime Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic, Cliff Robinson, Jacque Vaughn, Scott Padgett.
2001 Raptors (47 wins): Vince, Antonio Davis (Vince's only teammate to average 10-plus points or 10-plus rebounds), Alvin Williams, Corliss Williamson, Mo Peterson, Keon Clark, and a just-about-washed-up Charles Oakley/Mark Jackson combo.
Fact: He's never had a teammate make an All-NBA team.
Fact: He's never played with an elite guy in his prime.
Fact: The best coaches he ever had were Lawrence Frank and an almost-done Lenny Wilkens.
Fact: He's teaming up with a former Coach of the Year (Stan Van Jeremy), the league's best center (Dwight Howard), the league's best 3-point shooting forward (Rashard Lewis), an All-Star point guard (Jameer Nelson) and 4-5 solid role players on a team that desperately needs his ability to create his own shot and shoot threes. He's also going to be protected defensively for the first time in his career.
Put it this way: If Vince Carter is a great basketball player, if he has ANY greatness in him, then it's going to surface this season. Or else it wasn't there in the first place. Either way, we will have an answer. Which makes him pretty damned intriguing.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Daffy Renovation Project
Daffy, friend of Walt Clyde's, has moved from Northern New Jersey to New York State. He is chronicling the move here:
The Daffy Renovation Project
His new place will undergo many renovations over the upcoming months, and since Daffy is handy as a fixer-upper you might find it interesting. So check there periodically.
The Daffy Renovation Project
His new place will undergo many renovations over the upcoming months, and since Daffy is handy as a fixer-upper you might find it interesting. So check there periodically.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
How kids feel about going back to school
"Conversation" at rehabilitation session for my knee yesterday...
Situation: the room has one physical therapist and several patients of both genders and all ages scattered around going through their exercises. An 8-year-old kid comes in with his mother, and the therapist, who is an outgoing woman in her late 20s, is leaning over talking to him the way you'd imagine one talks to a little kid.
Therapist: "So, are you excited to be going back to school?"
Kid: (shy shrug)
T: "Are you sad that school is starting again?"
K: (shy shrug)
T: "Or do you just show up when they tell you?"
K: (shy shrug)
T: (laughing) "Ok, well, let's get started..."
Inside, I laughed at the concept "You just show up when they tell you" and thought ahead to school about to start back up. That seems to summarize the attitude of a large number of the high school kids I've seen in the past 9 years. They just show up when we tell them. Not excited, not sad. Just there.
Here's hoping that we can get some of them more motivated to do more than just show up when they are told...
Situation: the room has one physical therapist and several patients of both genders and all ages scattered around going through their exercises. An 8-year-old kid comes in with his mother, and the therapist, who is an outgoing woman in her late 20s, is leaning over talking to him the way you'd imagine one talks to a little kid.
Therapist: "So, are you excited to be going back to school?"
Kid: (shy shrug)
T: "Are you sad that school is starting again?"
K: (shy shrug)
T: "Or do you just show up when they tell you?"
K: (shy shrug)
T: (laughing) "Ok, well, let's get started..."
Inside, I laughed at the concept "You just show up when they tell you" and thought ahead to school about to start back up. That seems to summarize the attitude of a large number of the high school kids I've seen in the past 9 years. They just show up when we tell them. Not excited, not sad. Just there.
Here's hoping that we can get some of them more motivated to do more than just show up when they are told...
Monday, August 24, 2009
Pineapple Express
Pineapple Express is an underrated movie. I remember seeing it as soon as it came out, as it is an Apatow movie, and feeling underwhelmed. However, after many re-viewings on DVD, I have appreciated it more and more with each showing.
Yes, it is a stoner movie, but is much more than that. The stoner dialogue is hilarious, and gets funnier with each viewing. James Franco's character, Saul, is the greatest stoner character ever on film. His acting is subtle, organic, and hilarious. The 70s vibe and the over-the-top plot with Bill Lumberg as Ted Jones and Rosie Perez as the bad guys is awesome also.
I strongly encourage you to watch this a couple of times, and pay close attention to every part the dialogue the way you would with Lebowski or GoodFellas. You will not be disappointed.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Teaneck Fighting Championship
The first rule about the "Teaneck Fight Club"? Tyler Durden would probably kick all of our asses.
My brother Beer-on-the-Girl and I were having a beer this summer at the Cottage Bar prior to one of our July Poker League games. We starting discussing who would win in a fight between two of our friends, and we started laughing about the idea, as our group of friends are fairly self-effacing and none of us are big fighters. Later that night, we played poker. After the game, the two of us went with ChuckJerry to Dairy Queen and told him about our conversation, which he also found funny.
The exact question was, "Who would win in a bar fight, right now: Person x or Person y?" The fight has no rules: beer glasses, pool sticks etc.. are allowed to be used, and current physical shape and mentality are to be considered (i.e. the LJT of right now is fighting, not the LJT of 5 years ago).
We listed 15 people that were in our group of Teaneck friends and started to speculate about where people would rank on the list. We came up with a semi-conclusive ordered list of who would kick whose ass.
A few days later, ChuckJerry, LJT, and myself found ourselves at LJT's crib in Jersey City thinking about the list again. We had many laughs and, over much deliberation, made our power rankings of the 14 people (minus Jay K).
Here are the people that were involved in the ranking (full names are not used in order to preserve Internet anonymity, and nicknames are used where appropriate).
Class of 1994:
1) Walt Clyde Frazier
2) MMG
3) Chris H.
4) Andy B.
5) Daffy
6) Joeydidit
Class of 1996:
7) Side Bar
8) Open Bar
9) ChuckJerry
10) LJT
11) Winit
12) Diesal
Class of 1997:
13) Beer-on-the-Girl
14) Jay K.
15) Gold
It helped the committee of 3 at LJT's place to first rank the 1994 people 1 through 6, then the 1996 people 1-6, then kind of shuffle everybody in together.
I don't want to share the list we came up with, so as not to sway anybody's opinion. The question is open, then, to the group:
What would be the power rankings, #1 - 15, of who would kick whose ass in a bar fight?
(Afterthought: Is it a definitive list of 1 through 15? In other words, could person 3 beat person 4, and person 4 beat person 5, but through some mental or physical edge, person 5 could take number 3?)
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Sports Squads Sellout?
As at least three-quarters of you readers know (which I'm confident is at least 6 people), I grew up in North Jersey, which is part of the New York City media market. As such, myself and most of the people I grew up with became fans of the New York-area teams. With all of the major sports, you had your option of two or three teams. Fun debates then arise: Mets vs. Yankees, Giants vs. Jets, Knicks vs. Nets, Rangers vs. Devils vs. Islanders. In each of the major sports, I find myself aligning myself as such:
Baseball: Personally, I found myself preferring the Yankees over the Mets, though I never truly thought of myself as a die-hard "Yankees fan". I've found it hard to be a die-hard fan of a sport where there is a 162 game regular season. Furthermore, I find it hard to get behind a team who buys success by outspending all the other teams. Now, I don't blame the Yankees for doing so - they should use their resources - it's just hard to get enthusiastic about a system where one team has all-star level talent at every position while others are forced to continuously auction off all of their promising young players for economic reasons. But I digress.
The biggest my level of fandom got for the Yankees probably came during my senior year of high school (1993-1994). My friend Chahifquoy would come by from time to time, we'd order a pizza and watch the Yankees play. This was when they were becoming resurgent again after years of being mediocre. I even had a Matt Nokes replica jersey (though, in retrospect, this was really random, I had to be the only guy who had a Matt Nokes jersey, and nobody but hardcore Yankees fans would even know who that is, as the Yankees didn't but names on their jerseys then (and still don't). He was the catcher
The aforementioned Matt Nokes. How many people could possibly have a Matt Nokes card? He caught for the Yankees during the early 90s.
Anyway...
Football: I was never really a "fan" of either NYC team, though if pressed on the issue, I probably slightly preferred the Giants over the Jets. Most Sundays if I sat down to watch football growing up, I would watch the Jets at 1 and the Giants at 4 (or vice-versa), and would want both teams to do well. My father grew up in Chicago and thus was indoctrinated as a Bears fan. Thus, whenever the Bears came on TV, and especially when they were good in the mid 80s, I'd watch them play and root for them. I still have my Walter Payton replica jersey in the closet somewhere. But I was pretty open about football, and just liked the games in general regardless of who was playing.
Hockey: I didn't know dick about hockey. I do wonder how people that we grew up with were Rangers fans, as opposed to Devils fans, when the Devils were good all of our lives, and were in our backyard. Though, I suppose somebody from another part of the country would ask the same thing about the Nets. Speaking of those Nets...
Basketball: This was the one sport I was very passionate about. In high school I became a die-hard Knicks fan. I taped many of their games from 1992 - 1995 or so when I wasn't home watching them. This was back in the days of Ewing and Oak, Mase, Starks, SWISH! Those gritty Knicks fighting against Jordan every year, finally making it in 1994 only to lose to Hakeem and the Rockets.
1994 did seem like the year, though, until the end. Check out this video:
Wow, haven't the 90s become dated quickly?
Anyway, it is interesting how people in North Jersey and NYC pick their teams to be loyal to. Most people who are, say, Yankees fans can justify it to you, can tell you when they became a fan and why, and why they prefer the Yankees over the Mets.
But, I think that it's generally accepted that people choose a team in their local media market to become a fan of. After all, the local team is the one that has all of their games aired and is discussed in one's immediate surroundings. And, if you choose to be a "fan" of a team that is not shown and covered locally, you almost have to have some other reason, like a family member who grew up a hardcore fan of some other team.
(Side note: Has that changed with the introduction of the major sports having sports packages where you can view any team's game in any part of the country? In other words, let's say you're a kid who grows up being able to watch any NBA team play because you have the direct access cable package, and you elect to watch Lebron James instead of your local team and you consequently become a Cavaliers fan, is that somehow less valid than being a fan of your local team? Does this need to be justified to one's peers?)
Ok, so what's the point of all this? Well, you see, I've been getting a lot of shit for switching allegiance in my sports teams. I lived in Northern New Jersey for the first 23 years of my life, then lived in the New Brunswick area, which I would describe as somewhere between Northern and Central New Jersey, for the next 6 years, and have spent the last 4 years living near Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey. Since I've set up shop down here, I've gotten into the local professional teams as follows:
Baseball: I'm still not a huge fan of the sport, but I do find myself now rooting for the Phillies, feeling sorry for the Mets, and having disdain for the Yankees and their ridiculous payroll. I don't feel like this is selling out in any way. I find the Phillies to be an easy team to root for.
Football: South Jersey is crazy for their Eagles. I have gotten swept on in this and watch a decent percentage of the Eagles games, hoping (futilely, so far) for their success and for an eventual championship.
Hockey: Still don't know dick about hockey.
Basketball: This is the big issue. I have completely lost my loyalty for the Knicks and thus, almost by default, have found myself lightly rooting for the Sixers. The Knicks have become a joke of an organization, and I found myself having no problem ditching them and moving on, especially when my local media covers the Sixers and they have become more interesting. I would say that I'm a bigger fan of the NBA, in general, than any one team, though it used to be I would say that I was a "Knicks Fan".
The point of this long post, though, is not to inform you of the history of which teams I like and don't like. Here is the question that I do want a serious answer to:
If you move from one city to another, how much time has to pass before you are allowed to switch your sports allegiance to the new city's teams? Are you ever allowed? Does it depend on other factors other than time passing? If so, what are these factors?
Baseball: Personally, I found myself preferring the Yankees over the Mets, though I never truly thought of myself as a die-hard "Yankees fan". I've found it hard to be a die-hard fan of a sport where there is a 162 game regular season. Furthermore, I find it hard to get behind a team who buys success by outspending all the other teams. Now, I don't blame the Yankees for doing so - they should use their resources - it's just hard to get enthusiastic about a system where one team has all-star level talent at every position while others are forced to continuously auction off all of their promising young players for economic reasons. But I digress.
The biggest my level of fandom got for the Yankees probably came during my senior year of high school (1993-1994). My friend Chahifquoy would come by from time to time, we'd order a pizza and watch the Yankees play. This was when they were becoming resurgent again after years of being mediocre. I even had a Matt Nokes replica jersey (though, in retrospect, this was really random, I had to be the only guy who had a Matt Nokes jersey, and nobody but hardcore Yankees fans would even know who that is, as the Yankees didn't but names on their jerseys then (and still don't). He was the catcher
The aforementioned Matt Nokes. How many people could possibly have a Matt Nokes card? He caught for the Yankees during the early 90s.
Anyway...
Football: I was never really a "fan" of either NYC team, though if pressed on the issue, I probably slightly preferred the Giants over the Jets. Most Sundays if I sat down to watch football growing up, I would watch the Jets at 1 and the Giants at 4 (or vice-versa), and would want both teams to do well. My father grew up in Chicago and thus was indoctrinated as a Bears fan. Thus, whenever the Bears came on TV, and especially when they were good in the mid 80s, I'd watch them play and root for them. I still have my Walter Payton replica jersey in the closet somewhere. But I was pretty open about football, and just liked the games in general regardless of who was playing.
Hockey: I didn't know dick about hockey. I do wonder how people that we grew up with were Rangers fans, as opposed to Devils fans, when the Devils were good all of our lives, and were in our backyard. Though, I suppose somebody from another part of the country would ask the same thing about the Nets. Speaking of those Nets...
Basketball: This was the one sport I was very passionate about. In high school I became a die-hard Knicks fan. I taped many of their games from 1992 - 1995 or so when I wasn't home watching them. This was back in the days of Ewing and Oak, Mase, Starks, SWISH! Those gritty Knicks fighting against Jordan every year, finally making it in 1994 only to lose to Hakeem and the Rockets.
1994 did seem like the year, though, until the end. Check out this video:
Wow, haven't the 90s become dated quickly?
Anyway, it is interesting how people in North Jersey and NYC pick their teams to be loyal to. Most people who are, say, Yankees fans can justify it to you, can tell you when they became a fan and why, and why they prefer the Yankees over the Mets.
But, I think that it's generally accepted that people choose a team in their local media market to become a fan of. After all, the local team is the one that has all of their games aired and is discussed in one's immediate surroundings. And, if you choose to be a "fan" of a team that is not shown and covered locally, you almost have to have some other reason, like a family member who grew up a hardcore fan of some other team.
(Side note: Has that changed with the introduction of the major sports having sports packages where you can view any team's game in any part of the country? In other words, let's say you're a kid who grows up being able to watch any NBA team play because you have the direct access cable package, and you elect to watch Lebron James instead of your local team and you consequently become a Cavaliers fan, is that somehow less valid than being a fan of your local team? Does this need to be justified to one's peers?)
Ok, so what's the point of all this? Well, you see, I've been getting a lot of shit for switching allegiance in my sports teams. I lived in Northern New Jersey for the first 23 years of my life, then lived in the New Brunswick area, which I would describe as somewhere between Northern and Central New Jersey, for the next 6 years, and have spent the last 4 years living near Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey. Since I've set up shop down here, I've gotten into the local professional teams as follows:
Baseball: I'm still not a huge fan of the sport, but I do find myself now rooting for the Phillies, feeling sorry for the Mets, and having disdain for the Yankees and their ridiculous payroll. I don't feel like this is selling out in any way. I find the Phillies to be an easy team to root for.
Football: South Jersey is crazy for their Eagles. I have gotten swept on in this and watch a decent percentage of the Eagles games, hoping (futilely, so far) for their success and for an eventual championship.
Hockey: Still don't know dick about hockey.
Basketball: This is the big issue. I have completely lost my loyalty for the Knicks and thus, almost by default, have found myself lightly rooting for the Sixers. The Knicks have become a joke of an organization, and I found myself having no problem ditching them and moving on, especially when my local media covers the Sixers and they have become more interesting. I would say that I'm a bigger fan of the NBA, in general, than any one team, though it used to be I would say that I was a "Knicks Fan".
The point of this long post, though, is not to inform you of the history of which teams I like and don't like. Here is the question that I do want a serious answer to:
If you move from one city to another, how much time has to pass before you are allowed to switch your sports allegiance to the new city's teams? Are you ever allowed? Does it depend on other factors other than time passing? If so, what are these factors?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Change... please!
I am requesting a change in the way change is given.
Most times I pay for something in cash, here's what happens:
- I take out my wallet and hand over the bills, so I'm holding my wallet in one hand
- They hand me back all the bills, the change, and the receipt in a bundle in my other hand.
- I have two choices: stuff it all in my pocket and sort it out later, or slide my bag over so the next customer can be dealt with, while I place the bundle down, put the bills away, then put the receipt in the bag, then put the coins in my pocket.
Why is this? Are clerks trained to give change in any particular way? It is so annoying. I worked behind a counter for a while, and I would try to see what would make the most sense as far as handing over the money. If a customer's wallet is out, they should hand over just the bills first, let the customer put them in the wallet and put the wallet away, then hand over the other stuff. Having one hand occupied with the wallet is what causes the confusion.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Classic Post: "One Cent Poorer"
Here is a post about a story that happened when I was in 4th grade. The key players are my teacher, "Mrs. S.", and the worst kid in the class, "Dick". This was on my previous blog, and I saved it for retelling, which I will do now. Enjoy.
I didn't know much about Dick, my fourth grade classmate, except that in 4th grade, kids really aren't BAD kids yet. Even the "bad kids" are just a bit rowdy, but they still have a healthy fear of incurring their teacher's wrath. Not Dick though. He was a bad kid even then. Had he demonstrated an identical affect, attitude, lack of participation, and sullen attitude at age 16 in high school, it would have labeled him a "bad" kid in high school, but not one that would have raised eyebrows. But in 4th grade, it definitely stood out.
(As an aside, it was rumored later that Dick was left back a time or two in middle school - and since most people turn 14 either during or at the end of 8th grade, if he was left back twice he may have turned 16 during 8th grade - which would have meant that he could have been the first kid, albeit with a learner's permit in NJ, to drive to middle school. Who knows if this was true. Kids like Dick tend to be the kind of kids that exaggerated gossip circulates about anyway.)
So anyway, one day the class was doing some kind of activity. I forget what it was, but I remember that Dick was not participating. He was slouched down in his chair staring at his desk. Other kids noticed but it was not out of the ordinary. While we were doing whatever we were doing, Dick pulled a penny out of his pocket, procured a bottle of Wite-Out, and started to Wite-Out the penny. As kids noticed and watched him doing this, Mrs. S realized that Dick was doing this. She went over to his desk. The wheels turning in her head, the teacher tried to think of something to do or say that would presumably surprise Dick and let him know how bad he was being.
She leans over so her face is about a foot from Dick's, takes the Wited-Out penny demonstratively, and says loudly to him, "Do you know that because of you, this country is one cent poorer?"
Dick doesn't look up, looks at his desk, and says "Oooh" and makes a mocking face as if to say sarcastically "Oh, wow, that is just SO terrible."
Mrs. S. is obviously shocked. She stares at Dick for about 5 seconds and realizes that Dick is a lost cause. She takes the now useless penny and walks away. Dick sits there, left to continue to mope and stare at his desk. When she turns and looks back to the rest of us, we all immediately turn back to our work and get started again, kind of like the scene in "Shawshank Redemption" where Andy is about to get thrown off the roof and talks his way into doing the guard's taxes and then the guard turns and looks and all the inmates are staring and he yells "Get back to work" and they immediately start again.
Now, I wonder if I've invented or distorted any of this in my head, but as I remember, that's how it happened.
I didn't know much about Dick, my fourth grade classmate, except that in 4th grade, kids really aren't BAD kids yet. Even the "bad kids" are just a bit rowdy, but they still have a healthy fear of incurring their teacher's wrath. Not Dick though. He was a bad kid even then. Had he demonstrated an identical affect, attitude, lack of participation, and sullen attitude at age 16 in high school, it would have labeled him a "bad" kid in high school, but not one that would have raised eyebrows. But in 4th grade, it definitely stood out.
(As an aside, it was rumored later that Dick was left back a time or two in middle school - and since most people turn 14 either during or at the end of 8th grade, if he was left back twice he may have turned 16 during 8th grade - which would have meant that he could have been the first kid, albeit with a learner's permit in NJ, to drive to middle school. Who knows if this was true. Kids like Dick tend to be the kind of kids that exaggerated gossip circulates about anyway.)
So anyway, one day the class was doing some kind of activity. I forget what it was, but I remember that Dick was not participating. He was slouched down in his chair staring at his desk. Other kids noticed but it was not out of the ordinary. While we were doing whatever we were doing, Dick pulled a penny out of his pocket, procured a bottle of Wite-Out, and started to Wite-Out the penny. As kids noticed and watched him doing this, Mrs. S realized that Dick was doing this. She went over to his desk. The wheels turning in her head, the teacher tried to think of something to do or say that would presumably surprise Dick and let him know how bad he was being.
She leans over so her face is about a foot from Dick's, takes the Wited-Out penny demonstratively, and says loudly to him, "Do you know that because of you, this country is one cent poorer?"
Dick doesn't look up, looks at his desk, and says "Oooh" and makes a mocking face as if to say sarcastically "Oh, wow, that is just SO terrible."
Mrs. S. is obviously shocked. She stares at Dick for about 5 seconds and realizes that Dick is a lost cause. She takes the now useless penny and walks away. Dick sits there, left to continue to mope and stare at his desk. When she turns and looks back to the rest of us, we all immediately turn back to our work and get started again, kind of like the scene in "Shawshank Redemption" where Andy is about to get thrown off the roof and talks his way into doing the guard's taxes and then the guard turns and looks and all the inmates are staring and he yells "Get back to work" and they immediately start again.
Now, I wonder if I've invented or distorted any of this in my head, but as I remember, that's how it happened.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #10 (PRELIMINARY)
Preliminary reports on Game #10 indicate that Hoboken finished first, .com finished second, and Zeus finished third. Myself (Pads) was not there. Therefore, the co-champions of the league are Zeus and Pads.
When a report comes in about the game itself, I will post it.
When a report comes in about the game itself, I will post it.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #9
Game #9, the penultimate poker game of the July Poker League 2009, concluded in a way that set up a potentially dramatic conclusion in Game #10 which will take place on Thursday, July 30, at My Choice's Hackensack flat.
But first things first, summary of...
July Poker League 2009 - Game #9
7 players were in attendance. Chick was notably absent for the tournament (though she did show up at cash games to get posted on a $40 acey-deucey bet... a story for another time), but Daffy, Hoboken, Lady Luck, Pads, Zeus, My Choice were in attendance. The players were joined by an old friend of My Choice's, Gamer Z. With all the players in attendance, the game got off to an early start.
Gamer Z was hot out of the gate, winning a couple of a big hands early on. However, his hot play did not continue. He lost several decent-size pots and went out first in 7th place. It was a noble effort for Gamer Z in his first showing at the tough league.
Shortly thereafter, Hoboken lost a big pot to Lady Luck, who called Hoboken's all-in bet, turned a straight, and knocked out Hoboken in 6th place.
Daffy played his usual tight poker, making a number of laydowns after the flop, but could not accumulate chips and finished in 5th place, earning 1 point.
Pads, the league leader, was running low on chips and had to push all-in. He was called by My Choice, who knocked him out earning 2 bonus points for knocking out both the league leader and the last game champion simultaneously. Pads earned 3 points for his 4th place finish.
Lady Luck, who had accumulated many chips earlier, found his chip stack quickly dwindling as the blinds escalated. He went out in 3rd place, leaving Zeus and My Choice to battle for the money.
My Choice had a chip lead heads up and went all-in twice. However, both times Zeus' cards were slightly better and Zeus called. Both times, Zeus prevailed and knocked out My Choice to take the victory.
Points (Total):
Pads: 3 (56)
Zeus: 10 (51)
My Choice: 9 (46)
Chick: 0 (39)
Daffy: 1 (19)
Hoboken: 0 (15)
Lady Luck: 5 (11)
.com: 0 (3)
With one game left, it is time to consider the prizes for the league. The top two spots will be paid in a 75/25 ratio.
Chick, Daffy, Hoboken, Lady Luck, and .com cannot finish in the top two. The only three players in contention are Pads, Zeus and My Choice (a.k.a. the Fraziers).
Stay tuned to see who emerges victorious!!!
But first things first, summary of...
July Poker League 2009 - Game #9
7 players were in attendance. Chick was notably absent for the tournament (though she did show up at cash games to get posted on a $40 acey-deucey bet... a story for another time), but Daffy, Hoboken, Lady Luck, Pads, Zeus, My Choice were in attendance. The players were joined by an old friend of My Choice's, Gamer Z. With all the players in attendance, the game got off to an early start.
Gamer Z was hot out of the gate, winning a couple of a big hands early on. However, his hot play did not continue. He lost several decent-size pots and went out first in 7th place. It was a noble effort for Gamer Z in his first showing at the tough league.
Shortly thereafter, Hoboken lost a big pot to Lady Luck, who called Hoboken's all-in bet, turned a straight, and knocked out Hoboken in 6th place.
Daffy played his usual tight poker, making a number of laydowns after the flop, but could not accumulate chips and finished in 5th place, earning 1 point.
Pads, the league leader, was running low on chips and had to push all-in. He was called by My Choice, who knocked him out earning 2 bonus points for knocking out both the league leader and the last game champion simultaneously. Pads earned 3 points for his 4th place finish.
Lady Luck, who had accumulated many chips earlier, found his chip stack quickly dwindling as the blinds escalated. He went out in 3rd place, leaving Zeus and My Choice to battle for the money.
My Choice had a chip lead heads up and went all-in twice. However, both times Zeus' cards were slightly better and Zeus called. Both times, Zeus prevailed and knocked out My Choice to take the victory.
Points (Total):
Pads: 3 (56)
Zeus: 10 (51)
My Choice: 9 (46)
Chick: 0 (39)
Daffy: 1 (19)
Hoboken: 0 (15)
Lady Luck: 5 (11)
.com: 0 (3)
With one game left, it is time to consider the prizes for the league. The top two spots will be paid in a 75/25 ratio.
Chick, Daffy, Hoboken, Lady Luck, and .com cannot finish in the top two. The only three players in contention are Pads, Zeus and My Choice (a.k.a. the Fraziers).
Stay tuned to see who emerges victorious!!!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
New Jersey Highway Driving
From the New Jersey Driver's Manual:
On a multi-lane roadway, motorists must drive in the lane nearest to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway when the lane is available for travel, except when overtaking another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn.
(from N.J.S.A. 39:4-88, which elaborates:
"Upon a highway which is divided into 3 lanes, a vehicle shall not be driven in the center lane except when overtaking or passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or unless the center lane is at the time allocated for traffic moving in the direction the vehicle is proceeding and is signposted to give notice of that allocation.")
Now, any of you who have ever driven on the New Jersey Turnpike know that what the law says and what people do in this regard are very, very different. Troopers who are parked on the side of the turnpike, watching for traffic violators, do not stop people strictly for unnecessarily driving in the left lane.
Infact, I would argue that there seems to be an written but widely accepted set of rules for driving on the Turnpike (and the Parkway, 295, 80, etc...) that most motorists seem to abide by. They go something like this:
- The right lane is the "slow lane". If you feel like actually obeying the speed limit (i.e. driving slower than it) you go to the right lane. You also go here when you are getting ready to exit the highway. If you are in the right lane and you want to pass somebody, it is expected that you will go to the middle lane to do so.
- The middle lane is the "cruising lane". People in the middle lane should be going either at the speed limit or slightly above it. You don't feel like going slow to the right. If you are on a 65-mph highway, the accepted speed for the middle line is probably something between 62 and 72 miles per hour. If you are in this speed range, and somebody wants to go faster than you, it is expected that they will go to the left to pass you.
- The left lane is the "fast lane". People in the left lane are in a constant state of passing people in the middle lane, and are taking the risk of getting a speeding ticket. If you are in the left lane you should be doing at least 75 on a 65-mph highway. Also, even if you are doing 75, if somebody comes up behind you and wants to go faster, it is expected that you will go over to the middle lane at the next opportunity to let them by. Then, you are allowed to return to the left lane.
So, let us posit that I am more or less accurate about these unwritten rules. Furthermore, let us agree that these are not the actual driving laws. I do not abide by one of these rules. And consequently, I receive glares, middle fingers, etc... by irate drivers (and almost always, in North Jersey. Don't get me started on the vast difference between the human beings that drive south of Trenton and the stress-inducing lunatics that drive north of New Brunswick. I should have elaborated on this difference more the last time I meditated on this topic.)
Here's the way I usually drive: I am ok with the unwritten rules about the right and middle lanes. When I cruise in the middle lane, I drive at about 65 (or 55 if that's the speed limit) or slightly below that speed. However, when I'm too impatient to cruise in the middle lane (usually when the driver in front of me is not doing 60 (or 55)), I cruise in the left lane. However, I obviously want to minimize my chances of getting a ticket. Therefore, I obey another unwritten rule of driving - which is you should never go more than 10 mph over the speed limit. The thought process behind this, I suppose, is that police won't bother writing you a ticket for speeding by under 10 mph over the limit, as you can plead down in traffic court.
So, anyway, when I cruise the left lane, I do so at about 72 mph (in a 65) or 62 mph (in a 55).
When I do this, before long, somebody is inevitably riding right up my ass. I don't move over for them, nor do I speed up or slow down. Essentially, I pretend that they aren't there. This usually leads to them getting dangerously close to me and high-beaming me. Finally, they give up, swerve around me to the right, match my speed to glare at me, give me the finger, and yell at me. Then, they swerve in front of me, dangerously close, go slow for a couple of seconds (I suppose to show me the size of their dick), then peel away.
Now, Walt, why don't you obey rule #3 about the left lane? Is it passive-aggressive behavior which is a form of road rage? Are you trying to prove a point? No, none of the above. I feel that this is an appropriate way to drive. I do not want to let the behavior of maniacs alter or dictate the way I drive. I understand that when I'm in the left lane, I technically shouldn't be there. However, neither should any of the other drivers. Therefore, their rules are no more valid than mine. We are all breaking the law by being there at all. If you need to go 85 or 90 miles per hour, the onus is on you to swerve through the lanes as you feel necessary, not on me to placate you and implicitly condone your insanity by moving for you.
Ironically, I brought this up at a dinner in North Jersey with my North Jersey family a few months ago, and asked them how they felt. Every single one of them, including my own mother and brother, said that I was being a dick for not moving out of the way in the left-hand lane. I concluded that living in North Jersey makes one a maniacal driver and warps one's otherwise rational perspective on the driving issue. Then again, if I had to fight the crazy traffic up there for the past four years in addition to the previous 11 that I already had done, I'd have lost my fucking mind too.
On a multi-lane roadway, motorists must drive in the lane nearest to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway when the lane is available for travel, except when overtaking another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn.
(from N.J.S.A. 39:4-88, which elaborates:
"Upon a highway which is divided into 3 lanes, a vehicle shall not be driven in the center lane except when overtaking or passing another vehicle or in preparation for a left turn or unless the center lane is at the time allocated for traffic moving in the direction the vehicle is proceeding and is signposted to give notice of that allocation.")
Now, any of you who have ever driven on the New Jersey Turnpike know that what the law says and what people do in this regard are very, very different. Troopers who are parked on the side of the turnpike, watching for traffic violators, do not stop people strictly for unnecessarily driving in the left lane.
Infact, I would argue that there seems to be an written but widely accepted set of rules for driving on the Turnpike (and the Parkway, 295, 80, etc...) that most motorists seem to abide by. They go something like this:
- The right lane is the "slow lane". If you feel like actually obeying the speed limit (i.e. driving slower than it) you go to the right lane. You also go here when you are getting ready to exit the highway. If you are in the right lane and you want to pass somebody, it is expected that you will go to the middle lane to do so.
- The middle lane is the "cruising lane". People in the middle lane should be going either at the speed limit or slightly above it. You don't feel like going slow to the right. If you are on a 65-mph highway, the accepted speed for the middle line is probably something between 62 and 72 miles per hour. If you are in this speed range, and somebody wants to go faster than you, it is expected that they will go to the left to pass you.
- The left lane is the "fast lane". People in the left lane are in a constant state of passing people in the middle lane, and are taking the risk of getting a speeding ticket. If you are in the left lane you should be doing at least 75 on a 65-mph highway. Also, even if you are doing 75, if somebody comes up behind you and wants to go faster, it is expected that you will go over to the middle lane at the next opportunity to let them by. Then, you are allowed to return to the left lane.
So, let us posit that I am more or less accurate about these unwritten rules. Furthermore, let us agree that these are not the actual driving laws. I do not abide by one of these rules. And consequently, I receive glares, middle fingers, etc... by irate drivers (and almost always, in North Jersey. Don't get me started on the vast difference between the human beings that drive south of Trenton and the stress-inducing lunatics that drive north of New Brunswick. I should have elaborated on this difference more the last time I meditated on this topic.)
Here's the way I usually drive: I am ok with the unwritten rules about the right and middle lanes. When I cruise in the middle lane, I drive at about 65 (or 55 if that's the speed limit) or slightly below that speed. However, when I'm too impatient to cruise in the middle lane (usually when the driver in front of me is not doing 60 (or 55)), I cruise in the left lane. However, I obviously want to minimize my chances of getting a ticket. Therefore, I obey another unwritten rule of driving - which is you should never go more than 10 mph over the speed limit. The thought process behind this, I suppose, is that police won't bother writing you a ticket for speeding by under 10 mph over the limit, as you can plead down in traffic court.
So, anyway, when I cruise the left lane, I do so at about 72 mph (in a 65) or 62 mph (in a 55).
When I do this, before long, somebody is inevitably riding right up my ass. I don't move over for them, nor do I speed up or slow down. Essentially, I pretend that they aren't there. This usually leads to them getting dangerously close to me and high-beaming me. Finally, they give up, swerve around me to the right, match my speed to glare at me, give me the finger, and yell at me. Then, they swerve in front of me, dangerously close, go slow for a couple of seconds (I suppose to show me the size of their dick), then peel away.
Now, Walt, why don't you obey rule #3 about the left lane? Is it passive-aggressive behavior which is a form of road rage? Are you trying to prove a point? No, none of the above. I feel that this is an appropriate way to drive. I do not want to let the behavior of maniacs alter or dictate the way I drive. I understand that when I'm in the left lane, I technically shouldn't be there. However, neither should any of the other drivers. Therefore, their rules are no more valid than mine. We are all breaking the law by being there at all. If you need to go 85 or 90 miles per hour, the onus is on you to swerve through the lanes as you feel necessary, not on me to placate you and implicitly condone your insanity by moving for you.
Ironically, I brought this up at a dinner in North Jersey with my North Jersey family a few months ago, and asked them how they felt. Every single one of them, including my own mother and brother, said that I was being a dick for not moving out of the way in the left-hand lane. I concluded that living in North Jersey makes one a maniacal driver and warps one's otherwise rational perspective on the driving issue. Then again, if I had to fight the crazy traffic up there for the past four years in addition to the previous 11 that I already had done, I'd have lost my fucking mind too.
Incompetent Police and the Blue Code of Silence
Anyone who is squeamish about hearing details of Jeffrey Dahmer's crimes against children, please do not read on.
From the Wikipedia article on Jeffrey Dahmer:
[Dahmer] found an apartment on Milwaukee's West side, closer to his job at the Ambrosia Chocolate Factory. On September 26, 1988, one day after moving into his apartment, he was arrested for drugging and sexually fondling a 13-year-old boy in Milwaukee named Somsack Sinthasomphone. He was sentenced to five years probation and one year in a work release camp. He was required to register as a sex offender. Dahmer was paroled from the work release camp two months early, and he soon moved into a new apartment. Shortly thereafter, he began a string of murders that ended with his arrest in 1991...
In the early morning hours of May 30, 1991, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone (by chance, the younger brother of the boy whom Dahmer had molested) was discovered on the street, wandering naked, heavily under the influence of drugs and bleeding from his rectum. Two young women from the neighborhood found the dazed boy and called 911. Dahmer chased his victim down and tried to take him away, but the women stopped him. Dahmer told police that Sinthasomphone was his 19-year-old boyfriend, and that they had an argument while drinking. Against the protests of the two women who had called 911, police turned him over to Dahmer. They later reported smelling a strange scent while inside Dahmer's apartment, but did not investigate it. The smell was the body of Tony Hughes, Dahmer's previous victim, decomposing in the bedroom. The two policemen failed to run a background check that would have revealed that Dahmer was a convicted sex offender and child molester still under probation. The officers laughed about the incident, one joking that his partner was "going to get deloused." Later that night, Dahmer killed and dismembered Sinthasomphone, keeping his skull as a souvenir.
John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish, two of the three police officers who returned Sinthasomphone to Dahmer, were fired from the Milwaukee Police Department after their actions were widely publicized, including an audiotape of the officers making homophobic statements to their dispatcher and cracking jokes about having reunited the "lovers". The two officers appealed their termination and were reinstated with back pay. They were named officers of the year by the police union for fighting a "righteous" battle to regain their jobs. Balcerzak was later elected president of the Milwaukee Police Association in May 2005.
Now, I know there's unwritten rules that cops abide by, and a cursory search of the Internet reveals little about how these cops managed this career turnaround, but I find it hard to conceive of a series of events that starts with two cops fucking up a case this badly (and being blatantly biased against homosexuals, though attitudes against that have changed somewhat since 1991) and ends with one of them being president of Milwaukee's Police Association. It's not like Milwaukee is Wazoo, Alabama.
And what about the Sinthasomphone family? How could they possibly feel about this series of events? What set of crazy circumstances led to both of their 13 / 14 year old kids having chance encounters with Jeffrey Dahmer?
Should I have done more research before posting this? Probably. And why was I reading about Jeffrey Dahmer on Wikipedia? Not entirely sure. I was reading the article and read they were "Officers of the Year" and such and it stopped me and made me re-read it.
From the Wikipedia article on Jeffrey Dahmer:
[Dahmer] found an apartment on Milwaukee's West side, closer to his job at the Ambrosia Chocolate Factory. On September 26, 1988, one day after moving into his apartment, he was arrested for drugging and sexually fondling a 13-year-old boy in Milwaukee named Somsack Sinthasomphone. He was sentenced to five years probation and one year in a work release camp. He was required to register as a sex offender. Dahmer was paroled from the work release camp two months early, and he soon moved into a new apartment. Shortly thereafter, he began a string of murders that ended with his arrest in 1991...
In the early morning hours of May 30, 1991, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone (by chance, the younger brother of the boy whom Dahmer had molested) was discovered on the street, wandering naked, heavily under the influence of drugs and bleeding from his rectum. Two young women from the neighborhood found the dazed boy and called 911. Dahmer chased his victim down and tried to take him away, but the women stopped him. Dahmer told police that Sinthasomphone was his 19-year-old boyfriend, and that they had an argument while drinking. Against the protests of the two women who had called 911, police turned him over to Dahmer. They later reported smelling a strange scent while inside Dahmer's apartment, but did not investigate it. The smell was the body of Tony Hughes, Dahmer's previous victim, decomposing in the bedroom. The two policemen failed to run a background check that would have revealed that Dahmer was a convicted sex offender and child molester still under probation. The officers laughed about the incident, one joking that his partner was "going to get deloused." Later that night, Dahmer killed and dismembered Sinthasomphone, keeping his skull as a souvenir.
John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish, two of the three police officers who returned Sinthasomphone to Dahmer, were fired from the Milwaukee Police Department after their actions were widely publicized, including an audiotape of the officers making homophobic statements to their dispatcher and cracking jokes about having reunited the "lovers". The two officers appealed their termination and were reinstated with back pay. They were named officers of the year by the police union for fighting a "righteous" battle to regain their jobs. Balcerzak was later elected president of the Milwaukee Police Association in May 2005.
Now, I know there's unwritten rules that cops abide by, and a cursory search of the Internet reveals little about how these cops managed this career turnaround, but I find it hard to conceive of a series of events that starts with two cops fucking up a case this badly (and being blatantly biased against homosexuals, though attitudes against that have changed somewhat since 1991) and ends with one of them being president of Milwaukee's Police Association. It's not like Milwaukee is Wazoo, Alabama.
And what about the Sinthasomphone family? How could they possibly feel about this series of events? What set of crazy circumstances led to both of their 13 / 14 year old kids having chance encounters with Jeffrey Dahmer?
Should I have done more research before posting this? Probably. And why was I reading about Jeffrey Dahmer on Wikipedia? Not entirely sure. I was reading the article and read they were "Officers of the Year" and such and it stopped me and made me re-read it.
Friday, July 24, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #8
Game #8 took place at My Choice's condo in Hackensack, NJ. Seven players were in attendance: Zeus, Pads, My Choice, Chick, Daffy, Hoboken, and Lady Luck. After debate about the bitchiness (or "immorality", according to Zeus) of players not in the point hunt contributing to the league pool, all seven players agreed to throw in the extra money and the game was underway!
Game #8 Summary
Hoboken's aggressive style backfired early as he called a minimal raise from Zeus pre-flop with J-7. The flop had a J and two undercards. Hoboken attempted to act weak and followed up the flop with an all-in bet, but was quickly called by Zeus with A-A. Zeus' slowroll worked to perfection as he knocked Hoboken in 7th place. Hoboken, indeed, did not seem to mind as he had to go to Hoboken - it is, after all, Thursday night!
Lady Luck found himself going all-in preflop with A-K and was called by My Choice's 8-8. The board ended up with an A on the turn and a K on the river... but the flop contained an 8. Lady Luck finished in 6th place.
Daffy once again played tight poker, made tough laydowns, but found his chips dwindling. He eventually went out in 5th place earning 1 point.
My Choice, fueled on Jack Daniels, watched his chips go up and down erraticly. Eventually, he went out in 4th place earning 3 points for the evening.
Chick, Zeus, and Pads found themselves almost even. Blinds escalated and Chick pushed pre-flop with A-6 suited. Pads debated and finally called with J-K suited. Pads caught a flush and Chick went out shortly thereafter in third place.
Heads up with a two to one chip lead, Pads took out Zeus when Zeus attempted to buy the chips with a 5-9-A flop. Pads called with Q-9 and took down the pot and the game.
Two games remain, and Pads has built a lead. Will anybody catch him in the last week of play? Stay tuned!
Points (Total):
Pads: 10 (53)
Zeus: 7 (41)
Chick: 5 (39)
My Choice: 3 (37)
Daffy: 1 (18)
Hoboken: 0 (15)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Game #8 Summary
Hoboken's aggressive style backfired early as he called a minimal raise from Zeus pre-flop with J-7. The flop had a J and two undercards. Hoboken attempted to act weak and followed up the flop with an all-in bet, but was quickly called by Zeus with A-A. Zeus' slowroll worked to perfection as he knocked Hoboken in 7th place. Hoboken, indeed, did not seem to mind as he had to go to Hoboken - it is, after all, Thursday night!
Lady Luck found himself going all-in preflop with A-K and was called by My Choice's 8-8. The board ended up with an A on the turn and a K on the river... but the flop contained an 8. Lady Luck finished in 6th place.
Daffy once again played tight poker, made tough laydowns, but found his chips dwindling. He eventually went out in 5th place earning 1 point.
My Choice, fueled on Jack Daniels, watched his chips go up and down erraticly. Eventually, he went out in 4th place earning 3 points for the evening.
Chick, Zeus, and Pads found themselves almost even. Blinds escalated and Chick pushed pre-flop with A-6 suited. Pads debated and finally called with J-K suited. Pads caught a flush and Chick went out shortly thereafter in third place.
Heads up with a two to one chip lead, Pads took out Zeus when Zeus attempted to buy the chips with a 5-9-A flop. Pads called with Q-9 and took down the pot and the game.
Two games remain, and Pads has built a lead. Will anybody catch him in the last week of play? Stay tuned!
Points (Total):
Pads: 10 (53)
Zeus: 7 (41)
Chick: 5 (39)
My Choice: 3 (37)
Daffy: 1 (18)
Hoboken: 0 (15)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #7
Seven pretty poker pugilists punched the poker platform at the Daffy house on Howard Street on Monday, July 20th. The new addition to the game, J-Boy, did not disappoint, playing solid, discplined poker and fighting admirably to a 2nd place finish. J-boy was accompanied by Zeus, Pads, My Choice, Chick, Hoboken, and Lady Luck. Daffy could not play due to a sinus infection.
Game #7 Summary
Lady Luck had a rough game, hanging tough (or, "hhhhhhhhhhanging around, kid's got alligator blood") for a while but finishing in 7th place. Shortly thereafter, Chick went out in a surprising 6th place finish and earned no points. Since My Choice knocked her out, he received a bonus point.
Hoboken played his usual aggressive style, but it was not in the cards this evening and Hoboken went out quietly in 5th place, earning one point.
My Choice had been shortstacked for a while but earned many chips calling an all-in with Q-8 suited and pulled close to the field. However, he had a couple of tough big hands against Zeus and J-boy and ultimately went out in 4th place. He earned 3 points plus one bonus for the evening.
Now down to three players, and with escalating blinds, Zeus pushed with 10-7 against the healthy chip stack of Pads who had overcards. Zeus' 10-7 did not hold and he finished in 3rd place, earning 5 points.
After Zeus' exit, J-boy and Pads found themselves about even. With about 3500 chips each, they agreed to chop the money but they had to play it out to see who would get the points. Ultimately, Pads got the better cards in the heads-up duel and finished in first place. J-boy is not in the point standings, but earned respect from the group for his solid play.
Points (Total):
Pads: 10 (43)
Chick: 0 (34)
My Choice: 4 (34)
Zeus: 5 (34)
Daffy: 0 (17)
Hoboken: 1 (15)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
A crucial game #8 will happen on Thursday, July 23.
Game #7 Summary
Lady Luck had a rough game, hanging tough (or, "hhhhhhhhhhanging around, kid's got alligator blood") for a while but finishing in 7th place. Shortly thereafter, Chick went out in a surprising 6th place finish and earned no points. Since My Choice knocked her out, he received a bonus point.
Hoboken played his usual aggressive style, but it was not in the cards this evening and Hoboken went out quietly in 5th place, earning one point.
My Choice had been shortstacked for a while but earned many chips calling an all-in with Q-8 suited and pulled close to the field. However, he had a couple of tough big hands against Zeus and J-boy and ultimately went out in 4th place. He earned 3 points plus one bonus for the evening.
Now down to three players, and with escalating blinds, Zeus pushed with 10-7 against the healthy chip stack of Pads who had overcards. Zeus' 10-7 did not hold and he finished in 3rd place, earning 5 points.
After Zeus' exit, J-boy and Pads found themselves about even. With about 3500 chips each, they agreed to chop the money but they had to play it out to see who would get the points. Ultimately, Pads got the better cards in the heads-up duel and finished in first place. J-boy is not in the point standings, but earned respect from the group for his solid play.
Points (Total):
Pads: 10 (43)
Chick: 0 (34)
My Choice: 4 (34)
Zeus: 5 (34)
Daffy: 0 (17)
Hoboken: 1 (15)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
A crucial game #8 will happen on Thursday, July 23.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Dab-KNEE? Gui-KNEE? Hi-KNEE? No, my knee. (Follow-up).
On June 24, 2009, I had surgery on my left knee to:
- re-re-do the ACL in my left knee. It had been surgically repaired in May 2000, and at some point(s) since then had been rendered torn, stretched and useless.
- clean up meniscal tearing which had developed at some point.
- try to deal with some of the arthritis that had been developing in the knee.
This photo was taken Monday, July 13, almost 3 weeks after the surgery.
As you can see, it is still swollen - but is getting better every day. It was much more swollen until recently, and unfortunately, I did not chronicle the progress with a series of photographs. I wish I had done so, as watching the knee and leg change every couple of days has been interesting. I have been wearing the brace you see under my leg until about now (today is Sunday, July 19, about 3.5 weeks after surgery). The brace was kept locked and my knee was forced to be straight until recently, as my quads have been growing strong enough to support regular walking. It is amazing how quickly muscles atrophy when you don't use them regularly!
I have been doing physical therapy in Teaneck, which has been a very encouraging process. Each time I have gone these past two weeks, I find my leg more flexible and stronger. Four weeks post-surgery, which is Wednesday, July 22, the physical therapy will take an aggressive turn and I will incorporating much more to get myself back to normalcy in terms of walking around and general physical activities. Another month after that, eight weeks post-op, the therapy will become more aggressive still, as my goals are to be able to run and exercise normally. If I was older and willing to not run and exercise, they could tone down what I'll be doing in the months to come.
Eventually, I will be able to play my beloved game of basketball, but truth be told, it will always be slightly risky for me to do so - even though I will be technically medically cleared to do it. I will be setting more short-term physical goals as these next few months unfold, and take things one day at a time.
- re-re-do the ACL in my left knee. It had been surgically repaired in May 2000, and at some point(s) since then had been rendered torn, stretched and useless.
- clean up meniscal tearing which had developed at some point.
- try to deal with some of the arthritis that had been developing in the knee.
This photo was taken Monday, July 13, almost 3 weeks after the surgery.
As you can see, it is still swollen - but is getting better every day. It was much more swollen until recently, and unfortunately, I did not chronicle the progress with a series of photographs. I wish I had done so, as watching the knee and leg change every couple of days has been interesting. I have been wearing the brace you see under my leg until about now (today is Sunday, July 19, about 3.5 weeks after surgery). The brace was kept locked and my knee was forced to be straight until recently, as my quads have been growing strong enough to support regular walking. It is amazing how quickly muscles atrophy when you don't use them regularly!
I have been doing physical therapy in Teaneck, which has been a very encouraging process. Each time I have gone these past two weeks, I find my leg more flexible and stronger. Four weeks post-surgery, which is Wednesday, July 22, the physical therapy will take an aggressive turn and I will incorporating much more to get myself back to normalcy in terms of walking around and general physical activities. Another month after that, eight weeks post-op, the therapy will become more aggressive still, as my goals are to be able to run and exercise normally. If I was older and willing to not run and exercise, they could tone down what I'll be doing in the months to come.
Eventually, I will be able to play my beloved game of basketball, but truth be told, it will always be slightly risky for me to do so - even though I will be technically medically cleared to do it. I will be setting more short-term physical goals as these next few months unfold, and take things one day at a time.
July Poker League 2009 - Game #6
Game #6 took place at the House of Zeus in Teaneck, NJ on Thursday, July 16. Eight excellent poker enthusiasts played: Hoboken, Chick, Daffy, My Choice, Pads, Zeus, Lady Luck, and .com, and these eight regulars did not disappoint. With the laptop computer and speakers near the table, a few viewings of the press conferences that led to this excellent video took place before poker commenced.
July Poker League 2009 - Game #6
Shortly after play commenced, Hoboken's aggressive play got him into trouble. A flop of 9-10-10 led to betting between Hoboken and Zeus. A blank turn and an 8 on the river induced Hoboken to check-raise Zeus all-in. Zeus quickly turned over 10-10 to show quad 10s. Hoboken did not show, went out in an unceremonious 8th place but did stick around for some cash games.
.com, who once again found himself uncharacteristically short-stacked and card-dead, pushed all-in with 4-4. My Choice made a gutsy call with 5-5 to knock out .com in 7th place. Like Brad Lidge, .com is left to figure out how to return to last season's form in his next appearance.
Lady Luck played solidly but found himself unable to take down pots and finished in 6th, to be followed by Daffy, who once again played tight poker but was unable to translate that into much point success. Daffy did earn one point for finishing 5th. My Choice found himself short-stacked and eventually went out in 4th place, earning 3 points.
Three players remained: Chick, Zeus, and Pads. Chick went all-in shortstacked. Pads contemplated for a while and folded his A-7. Zeus, however, made the call with A-5 and found himself facing Chick's A-K. When a 5 hit the flop, though, Chick was crippled. After a scare of going all-in with A-7 against Zeus' 9-7 and seeing a 8-10-J flop but hitting a 9 to chop the pot, she eventually fell to Zeus to go out in 3rd place. Zeus earned a bonus point for knocking out then-chip-leader Chick, while Chick earned 7 points.
Pads had gotten his chip stack close to even with aggressive play when the game was 3-handed. Now heads-up against Zeus, and with blinds hitting 500-1000 (with only 8000 total chips in play), Pads won the big hands heads-up to take down the victory and 10 points plus one for knocking last week's winner Zeus out, while Zeus earned himself 7 more points.
Points (Total):
Chick: 5 (34)
Pads: 11 (33)
My Choice: 3 (30)
Zeus: 8 (29)
Daffy: 1 (17)
Hoboken: 0 (14)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Game 7 will take place in the Ed Daffy basement on Monday, July 20th.
July Poker League 2009 - Game #6
Shortly after play commenced, Hoboken's aggressive play got him into trouble. A flop of 9-10-10 led to betting between Hoboken and Zeus. A blank turn and an 8 on the river induced Hoboken to check-raise Zeus all-in. Zeus quickly turned over 10-10 to show quad 10s. Hoboken did not show, went out in an unceremonious 8th place but did stick around for some cash games.
.com, who once again found himself uncharacteristically short-stacked and card-dead, pushed all-in with 4-4. My Choice made a gutsy call with 5-5 to knock out .com in 7th place. Like Brad Lidge, .com is left to figure out how to return to last season's form in his next appearance.
Lady Luck played solidly but found himself unable to take down pots and finished in 6th, to be followed by Daffy, who once again played tight poker but was unable to translate that into much point success. Daffy did earn one point for finishing 5th. My Choice found himself short-stacked and eventually went out in 4th place, earning 3 points.
Three players remained: Chick, Zeus, and Pads. Chick went all-in shortstacked. Pads contemplated for a while and folded his A-7. Zeus, however, made the call with A-5 and found himself facing Chick's A-K. When a 5 hit the flop, though, Chick was crippled. After a scare of going all-in with A-7 against Zeus' 9-7 and seeing a 8-10-J flop but hitting a 9 to chop the pot, she eventually fell to Zeus to go out in 3rd place. Zeus earned a bonus point for knocking out then-chip-leader Chick, while Chick earned 7 points.
Pads had gotten his chip stack close to even with aggressive play when the game was 3-handed. Now heads-up against Zeus, and with blinds hitting 500-1000 (with only 8000 total chips in play), Pads won the big hands heads-up to take down the victory and 10 points plus one for knocking last week's winner Zeus out, while Zeus earned himself 7 more points.
Points (Total):
Chick: 5 (34)
Pads: 11 (33)
My Choice: 3 (30)
Zeus: 8 (29)
Daffy: 1 (17)
Hoboken: 0 (14)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Game 7 will take place in the Ed Daffy basement on Monday, July 20th.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
July Poker League - Game #5
Game #5 took place at the Daffy house in Bergenfield, NJ.
Only six people were in attendance - the three Daffys and the three "Fraziers": Zeus, My Choice, Pads, Hoboken, Chick, and Daffy.
Since these six seem to be the regular six players, a quick discussion was held and it was decided that since paying for the point standings is optional at this point, this game should also count for points. The six poker pugilists played some cash games before a tournament happened.
The play of the night occurred not in the tournament, but in Screw Your Neighbor, the traditional cash game -> tournament transition - the last game of the cash games before the tournament starts. Zeus exchanged cards with Pads, Pads looked at his card and decided to stay. My Choice, the dealer of the hand, was left with the option of keeping his card or flipping off of the deck. He eyed down Zeus and Pads, who were both giggling like a couple of schoolgirls at a Jonas Brothers concert. He declared, "I not only think you both bumped, but I think you both have 2s. I'm going to stay." He turned over a 2. Lo and behold, Zeus and Pads both turned over a 2 for a triple bump.
Who said there's no strategy in Screw Your Neighbor? And while Chick went on to win the game, it was quite a play.
On to the tournament - it was a no nonsense kind of tournament. Nobody took down any pots with 7-2. The theme of the night was Pads and his whiny tirade after he was knocked out.
July Poker League - Game #5
The six players battled it out for a quite a while. Hoboken built a slight chip lead though all six players remained remarkably close to even for a while. Blinds escalated quickly. Finally, Hoboken attempted to make some moves that didn't pay off and he went out in 6th place, knocked out by Zeus. As Hoboken won the last game, Zeus earned himself a quick bonus point.
Daffy and My Choice both found themselves with short stacked and not many cards to make moves with. They both played disciplined poker but the escalating blinds took their toll. Daffy went out in 5th place, earning 1 point, while My Choice went out in 4th place, earning 3 points. Chick took out My Choice, earning herself a bonus point.
Now down to three players, Chick eventually found herself with hardly any chips left. Zeus' chip stack was climbing steadily and healthily, while Pads' once healthy chip stack was dwindling. The blinds were at 150-300, and Chick put in 150 of her remaining 160 chips, leaving her with (literally) a chip and a chair. On the big blind, Zeus attempted to fold until he realized that he was the big blind, so he checked. Looking down, Pads saw 2-2 and saw a chance to buy Zeus' big blind. Pads went all in for 650 chips or so. Chick saw a chance to fold her way into the money and into second place and folded. Zeus called with 3-6 suited. He zeused a 3 on the flop and took out Pads in third place. Chick forfeited her one remaining chip (as Zeus now had 5990 chips to her 10) to go out in 2nd place and in the money. Zeus took first place, 11 points, and a well-deserved win.
After the game, despite the fact that he made a poor decision to push with 2-2 (Zeus would call with any two cards, and would be 50-50 against Pads), Pads rued his decision to take a chance - he should've let Chick go out in third place - he took out his frustration by whining about the hand for 15 minutes or so, whining like a 9th grade girl standing on the track in gym class, whose friends are talking shit about her and she has no recourse but to stand around and bitch about her friends who are bitching about her. That's as bitchy as Pads got. He expressed his apologies to the table, and cash games ensued.
Points (Total): - only players with points will be listed from now on
Chick: 8 (29)
My Choice: 3 (27)
Pads: 5 (22)
Zeus: 11 (21)
Daffy: 1 (16)
Hoboken: 0 (14)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Game #6 will take place Thursday, July 16 at the house of Zeus!
Only six people were in attendance - the three Daffys and the three "Fraziers": Zeus, My Choice, Pads, Hoboken, Chick, and Daffy.
Since these six seem to be the regular six players, a quick discussion was held and it was decided that since paying for the point standings is optional at this point, this game should also count for points. The six poker pugilists played some cash games before a tournament happened.
The play of the night occurred not in the tournament, but in Screw Your Neighbor, the traditional cash game -> tournament transition - the last game of the cash games before the tournament starts. Zeus exchanged cards with Pads, Pads looked at his card and decided to stay. My Choice, the dealer of the hand, was left with the option of keeping his card or flipping off of the deck. He eyed down Zeus and Pads, who were both giggling like a couple of schoolgirls at a Jonas Brothers concert. He declared, "I not only think you both bumped, but I think you both have 2s. I'm going to stay." He turned over a 2. Lo and behold, Zeus and Pads both turned over a 2 for a triple bump.
Who said there's no strategy in Screw Your Neighbor? And while Chick went on to win the game, it was quite a play.
On to the tournament - it was a no nonsense kind of tournament. Nobody took down any pots with 7-2. The theme of the night was Pads and his whiny tirade after he was knocked out.
July Poker League - Game #5
The six players battled it out for a quite a while. Hoboken built a slight chip lead though all six players remained remarkably close to even for a while. Blinds escalated quickly. Finally, Hoboken attempted to make some moves that didn't pay off and he went out in 6th place, knocked out by Zeus. As Hoboken won the last game, Zeus earned himself a quick bonus point.
Daffy and My Choice both found themselves with short stacked and not many cards to make moves with. They both played disciplined poker but the escalating blinds took their toll. Daffy went out in 5th place, earning 1 point, while My Choice went out in 4th place, earning 3 points. Chick took out My Choice, earning herself a bonus point.
Now down to three players, Chick eventually found herself with hardly any chips left. Zeus' chip stack was climbing steadily and healthily, while Pads' once healthy chip stack was dwindling. The blinds were at 150-300, and Chick put in 150 of her remaining 160 chips, leaving her with (literally) a chip and a chair. On the big blind, Zeus attempted to fold until he realized that he was the big blind, so he checked. Looking down, Pads saw 2-2 and saw a chance to buy Zeus' big blind. Pads went all in for 650 chips or so. Chick saw a chance to fold her way into the money and into second place and folded. Zeus called with 3-6 suited. He zeused a 3 on the flop and took out Pads in third place. Chick forfeited her one remaining chip (as Zeus now had 5990 chips to her 10) to go out in 2nd place and in the money. Zeus took first place, 11 points, and a well-deserved win.
After the game, despite the fact that he made a poor decision to push with 2-2 (Zeus would call with any two cards, and would be 50-50 against Pads), Pads rued his decision to take a chance - he should've let Chick go out in third place - he took out his frustration by whining about the hand for 15 minutes or so, whining like a 9th grade girl standing on the track in gym class, whose friends are talking shit about her and she has no recourse but to stand around and bitch about her friends who are bitching about her. That's as bitchy as Pads got. He expressed his apologies to the table, and cash games ensued.
Points (Total): - only players with points will be listed from now on
Chick: 8 (29)
My Choice: 3 (27)
Pads: 5 (22)
Zeus: 11 (21)
Daffy: 1 (16)
Hoboken: 0 (14)
Lady Luck: 0 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Game #6 will take place Thursday, July 16 at the house of Zeus!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #4
Game #4 took place in the basement of Daffy's father, Ed Daffy. Ten players showed up for the game: Hoboken, Chick, Daffy, .com, Karma, True, Lady Luck, My Choice, Pads, and in a return from her cameo from last season, the Terminator.
Without further ado...
July Poker League 2009 - Game #4 Summary
The ten players squeezed into a tight area around the table in the Ed Daffy basement. .com brought his infamous playlist on an Ipod, while the Mets got slaughtered on a TV in the background. Many jokes were shared as usual, lines from movies were quoted. However, nobody thought to bring beer and several players resorted to drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade. Pretty quickly, though, the night belonged to Hoboken.
After a couple of levels of play, .com found himself shortstacked with A-10 suited and two of his suit came out on the flop. He pushed all-in against Hoboken, who made a gutsy call with an underpair to the board. .com caught neither an A, 10 nor a flush and went out uncharacteristically in 10th place. He did, however, stick around to play cash games after the tournament.
Not long after that, True found himself with 7-2 and tried to push all-in and buy the pot against Hoboken. He was called, however, and went out in 9th place. He was uncomfortable in his seat and was probably fiending for a cigarette, however, so he did not seem to mind the 9th place finish.
Pretty soon, the Terminator found herself needing to go all-in against Hoboken and found herself in 8th place. Karma found herself following the Terminator in 7th place. Both women went home, leaving the table with 6 players.
Blinds escalated quickly, and Hoboken limped into the pot. Pads found himself with only a few big blinds left and 9-9, so he pushed all in only to be called by Hoboken's K-K. Pads went out in 6th place, giving Hoboken a bonus point by knocking out last week's winner.
Daffy held on to a few chips for a while, but eventually went out in fifth place earning himself one point.
Chick went out in 4th place earning herself three points. My Choice did the honors of knocking her out to earn himself a bonus point, as she was the current points leader.
Three players remained: Lady Luck, My Choice, and Hoboken. Lady Luck eventually went out in third place, earning himself 5 points with his highest finish of the season.
My Choice and Hoboken went heads up. Despite having a massive chip lead, Hoboken found himself unable to put Hoboken away for a while. Eventually, My Choice's Q-10 suited lost to Hoboken's KQ. Hoboken took his first victory of the season.
Points (Total):
My Choice: 8 (24)
Chick: 3 (21)
Pads: 0 (17)
Daffy: 1 (15)
Hoboken: 11 (14)
Zeus: 0 (10)
Lady Luck: 5 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Karma: 0 (0)
True: 0 (0)
Without further ado...
July Poker League 2009 - Game #4 Summary
The ten players squeezed into a tight area around the table in the Ed Daffy basement. .com brought his infamous playlist on an Ipod, while the Mets got slaughtered on a TV in the background. Many jokes were shared as usual, lines from movies were quoted. However, nobody thought to bring beer and several players resorted to drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade. Pretty quickly, though, the night belonged to Hoboken.
After a couple of levels of play, .com found himself shortstacked with A-10 suited and two of his suit came out on the flop. He pushed all-in against Hoboken, who made a gutsy call with an underpair to the board. .com caught neither an A, 10 nor a flush and went out uncharacteristically in 10th place. He did, however, stick around to play cash games after the tournament.
Not long after that, True found himself with 7-2 and tried to push all-in and buy the pot against Hoboken. He was called, however, and went out in 9th place. He was uncomfortable in his seat and was probably fiending for a cigarette, however, so he did not seem to mind the 9th place finish.
Pretty soon, the Terminator found herself needing to go all-in against Hoboken and found herself in 8th place. Karma found herself following the Terminator in 7th place. Both women went home, leaving the table with 6 players.
Blinds escalated quickly, and Hoboken limped into the pot. Pads found himself with only a few big blinds left and 9-9, so he pushed all in only to be called by Hoboken's K-K. Pads went out in 6th place, giving Hoboken a bonus point by knocking out last week's winner.
Daffy held on to a few chips for a while, but eventually went out in fifth place earning himself one point.
Chick went out in 4th place earning herself three points. My Choice did the honors of knocking her out to earn himself a bonus point, as she was the current points leader.
Three players remained: Lady Luck, My Choice, and Hoboken. Lady Luck eventually went out in third place, earning himself 5 points with his highest finish of the season.
My Choice and Hoboken went heads up. Despite having a massive chip lead, Hoboken found himself unable to put Hoboken away for a while. Eventually, My Choice's Q-10 suited lost to Hoboken's KQ. Hoboken took his first victory of the season.
Points (Total):
My Choice: 8 (24)
Chick: 3 (21)
Pads: 0 (17)
Daffy: 1 (15)
Hoboken: 11 (14)
Zeus: 0 (10)
Lady Luck: 5 (6)
.com: 0 (3)
Karma: 0 (0)
True: 0 (0)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Saturday Music Videos
For your viewing pleasure, here are three music videos. Two of them I've posted on Facebook recently.
Here is somebody having fun with several recent sports press conference meltdowns and remixing it to a rap video. Funny. I've watched a few times.
Here is Bob Dylan performing "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)". If you haven't heard it, you must listen at least a couple of times to absorb some of the lyrics.
Finally, here's Dylan performing "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" on the Steve Allen show back in the day. While watching this, keep the context in mind that many people probably hadn't heard much like this yet, and how ahead of his time Bob Dylan always was. The story of the song can be found here.
Here is somebody having fun with several recent sports press conference meltdowns and remixing it to a rap video. Funny. I've watched a few times.
Here is Bob Dylan performing "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)". If you haven't heard it, you must listen at least a couple of times to absorb some of the lyrics.
Finally, here's Dylan performing "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" on the Steve Allen show back in the day. While watching this, keep the context in mind that many people probably hadn't heard much like this yet, and how ahead of his time Bob Dylan always was. The story of the song can be found here.
My Stunt Doubles feat. Stunt Double 3
At various points over the past 10 years, I've heard that I resemble various celebrities. The ones I've heard most often, depending on my current hairstyle, level of facial hair, weight, etc... are: John Mayer, Roger Federer, Bam Margera, and Joaquin Phoenix. (I am flattered by all four.)
My brother noticed a specific guy that plays basketball with him at the Jewish Center League in Teaneck that he has stated resemble me so closely that he's called them "Walt's Stunt Double" which has since been shortened to "Stunt Double". He is the same height and build as me, has the same floppy hairstyle that I had most of my life, and is similarly slow-footed (though I claim that I am a better ballplayer). By the way, side note: I can't believe the Teaneck Jewish Center's men's pick-up basketball league has a website! Is this a sign that the Internet has gotten out of control?
Anyway, in recent years a student at my father's high school who also plays basketball for the school's team resembles me as well, especially when comparing him now to me when I was 18. Here is a picture of us together a year or so ago.
He is tall, has a wicked up-and-under move in the post, likes math and chess. Uncanny. He was dubbed "Young Walt" by my brother, and eventually was called "Stunt Double 2" since the aforementioned Jewish Center player was Stunt Double already.
Anyway, a couple of months ago my brother took a vacation to the Dominican Republic with his girlfriend. Boarding the plane, he got a text from me asking "Where r u?" He looked ahead a few rows and saw me sitting there! "What is my brother doing going to the Dominican Republic? Is this a trick? Did my girlfriend set this up?"
He stared ahead a few rows and couldn't determine if this truly was me or not. After the plane landed, he followed this person to the luggage area and determined that no, it was not me, although this person also looked uncannily like me as well. Tall, same shirt and hat style, and... well, those of you that know me, judge for yourself. His girlfriend convinced him not to go up to talk to the guy, but he took some pictures from afar.
This mystery man is now "Stunt Double 3".
My brother noticed a specific guy that plays basketball with him at the Jewish Center League in Teaneck that he has stated resemble me so closely that he's called them "Walt's Stunt Double" which has since been shortened to "Stunt Double". He is the same height and build as me, has the same floppy hairstyle that I had most of my life, and is similarly slow-footed (though I claim that I am a better ballplayer). By the way, side note: I can't believe the Teaneck Jewish Center's men's pick-up basketball league has a website! Is this a sign that the Internet has gotten out of control?
Anyway, in recent years a student at my father's high school who also plays basketball for the school's team resembles me as well, especially when comparing him now to me when I was 18. Here is a picture of us together a year or so ago.
He is tall, has a wicked up-and-under move in the post, likes math and chess. Uncanny. He was dubbed "Young Walt" by my brother, and eventually was called "Stunt Double 2" since the aforementioned Jewish Center player was Stunt Double already.
Anyway, a couple of months ago my brother took a vacation to the Dominican Republic with his girlfriend. Boarding the plane, he got a text from me asking "Where r u?" He looked ahead a few rows and saw me sitting there! "What is my brother doing going to the Dominican Republic? Is this a trick? Did my girlfriend set this up?"
He stared ahead a few rows and couldn't determine if this truly was me or not. After the plane landed, he followed this person to the luggage area and determined that no, it was not me, although this person also looked uncannily like me as well. Tall, same shirt and hat style, and... well, those of you that know me, judge for yourself. His girlfriend convinced him not to go up to talk to the guy, but he took some pictures from afar.
This mystery man is now "Stunt Double 3".
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #3
Before summarizing game #3, The July Poker League 2009 has reached a critical juncture. Before the game, a discussion was held as to which games would count for points and which would not. Several regular players had missed both game #2 and game #3. It was agreed that since some people will be able to attend more games than others, it doesn't seem fair to make everybody pay the extra money each game that will go towards the overall prize for points at the end of the season. There appear to be two general solutions:
A) Make paying the extra money per game optional. Then, if you finish in the top 5, you do not earn those points.
B) Let people divide their total points earned by the number of games they showed up at, so that your ranking is done by average (points per game) rather than total points.
Option B, at first, seemed the best option (kicking YOUR ass, and collecting $200) - however, I realized that there are problems with that as well. Let's suppose .com only shows up to 4 games and winds up having the best average. Should he be entitled to win the entire pot, when he didn't contribute equally to it? Should he only win the percentage of the pot that matches with the percentage of games that he showed up to? The whole thing is confusing. Hopefully, this will be sorted out at Game #4.
Anyway, without further ado, here is the game #3 summary:
July Poker League 2009 - Game #3
7 people were in attendance at the Daffy residence in Bergenfield - Pads, Zeus, Daffy, Chick, Hoboken, Lady Luck, and returning from last season... Donkey!
The first hand of the night was dealt. Donkey raises pre-flop and is called by Hoboken. The flop comes 7-9-7 rainbow. Donkey bets huge and is called by Hoboken. The turn bring a 2 and Donkey goes all in. Hoboken calls. Donkey shows pocket kings and Hoboken shows trip 7's with and 8 kicker. The river was no help to Donkey when a 6 showed up. Living up to his moniker, Donkey goes home extremely early in 7th place, but vows to have a better game the next time.
Lady Luck played well, even check-raising Daffy and making other smart plays, but it was not to be for him tonight as he eventually went out in 6th place.
Daffy patiently waited for cards but did not receive many. He hung tough but eventually went out in 5th place earning one point.
Similar to game #1, Hoboken aggresively built up a big chip stack and then have it deteriorate. He went out in 4th place, when Pads spiked an Ace against his pocket pair. He finished in 4th place earning 3 points.
Chick played quiet, solid poker again and eventually finished in 3rd place. She also was responsible for knocking out Daffy, the previous winner, earning herself 6 points for the night.
Zeus and Pads went heads up. Pads called Zeus down with 3-7 when he paired his 3 and Zeus tried to win the pot betting with two overcards. Zeus came in 2nd, winning 7 points, while Pads took first for 10 points. Pads also won the 2-7 side bet 3 times in the night, twice where everybody else folded to Pads in the blind, but once where he raised with 2-7 and then bet the flop to take it down.
Standings after Game #3:
Chick: 6 (18)
Pads: 10 (17)
My Choice: 0 (16)
Daffy: 1 (14)
Zeus: 7 (10)
.com: 0 (3)
Hoboken: 3 (3)
Lady Luck: 0 (1)
Donkey: 0 (0)
Karma: 0 (0)
True: 0 (0)
A) Make paying the extra money per game optional. Then, if you finish in the top 5, you do not earn those points.
B) Let people divide their total points earned by the number of games they showed up at, so that your ranking is done by average (points per game) rather than total points.
Option B, at first, seemed the best option (kicking YOUR ass, and collecting $200) - however, I realized that there are problems with that as well. Let's suppose .com only shows up to 4 games and winds up having the best average. Should he be entitled to win the entire pot, when he didn't contribute equally to it? Should he only win the percentage of the pot that matches with the percentage of games that he showed up to? The whole thing is confusing. Hopefully, this will be sorted out at Game #4.
Anyway, without further ado, here is the game #3 summary:
July Poker League 2009 - Game #3
7 people were in attendance at the Daffy residence in Bergenfield - Pads, Zeus, Daffy, Chick, Hoboken, Lady Luck, and returning from last season... Donkey!
The first hand of the night was dealt. Donkey raises pre-flop and is called by Hoboken. The flop comes 7-9-7 rainbow. Donkey bets huge and is called by Hoboken. The turn bring a 2 and Donkey goes all in. Hoboken calls. Donkey shows pocket kings and Hoboken shows trip 7's with and 8 kicker. The river was no help to Donkey when a 6 showed up. Living up to his moniker, Donkey goes home extremely early in 7th place, but vows to have a better game the next time.
Lady Luck played well, even check-raising Daffy and making other smart plays, but it was not to be for him tonight as he eventually went out in 6th place.
Daffy patiently waited for cards but did not receive many. He hung tough but eventually went out in 5th place earning one point.
Similar to game #1, Hoboken aggresively built up a big chip stack and then have it deteriorate. He went out in 4th place, when Pads spiked an Ace against his pocket pair. He finished in 4th place earning 3 points.
Chick played quiet, solid poker again and eventually finished in 3rd place. She also was responsible for knocking out Daffy, the previous winner, earning herself 6 points for the night.
Zeus and Pads went heads up. Pads called Zeus down with 3-7 when he paired his 3 and Zeus tried to win the pot betting with two overcards. Zeus came in 2nd, winning 7 points, while Pads took first for 10 points. Pads also won the 2-7 side bet 3 times in the night, twice where everybody else folded to Pads in the blind, but once where he raised with 2-7 and then bet the flop to take it down.
Standings after Game #3:
Chick: 6 (18)
Pads: 10 (17)
My Choice: 0 (16)
Daffy: 1 (14)
Zeus: 7 (10)
.com: 0 (3)
Hoboken: 3 (3)
Lady Luck: 0 (1)
Donkey: 0 (0)
Karma: 0 (0)
True: 0 (0)
Friday, July 3, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #2
Game summary sent in by Daffy:
July Poker League 2009 - Game #2
Only 7 played in game 2. Pads, .com, Karma and True were all unable to attend, with My Choice's coworker Edmund joining the remaining 6.
Based on the cash games prior to the start of the tournament, things did not look good at all for Edmund, however he was not the first to go. Hoboken continued his aggresive play and pushed all in early on and was called by Daffy with the nut flush. Much speculation over what Hoboken held in his hand as he mucked when Daffy called and instantly flipped to show the nut flush. Most likely a straight as there were four to a straight on board, or perhaps trips?
Next to go out was Edmund. Edmund was running low on chips and pushed all in on the turn against My Choice. After a minute or so of deliberation, My Choice made the call with two pair. Edmund showed his dominating position with a made flush, much to everyone's suprise. My Choice then began a long streak of good luck by hitting one of his 4 outs (2 players revealed they had folded one of My Choice's cards) on the river.
The game proceeded for another round or two with My Choice building his stack when a 3-way all occured between Lady Luck (a-q), Chick (10-10), and Zeus (a-k). The flop
gave Chick a dominant hold on the hand when a 10 landed along with a jack and a 6. The turn brought one more out for Lady Luck when a 9 fell on the board. The river was a deuce and Chick ended the tournament for the other two. Lady Luck with the shorter of the stacks finished in 5th earning his first point of the season and Zeus finished in 4th also earning his first 3 points of the season.
The tide had turned for My Choice as Chick took the chip lead. With blinds at 35-70, Daffy called a raise to 300 by Chick and won the prop bet when his 7 paired up on the river and Chick's ace-queen did not hold on to it's dominant position pre-flop. It wasn't long after when My Choice was knocked by Daffy in third place earning 5 points to add to his 11 from game 1.
Heads up play began with Daffy holding a 3:2 chip lead over Chick and ended when Daffy called Chick's all-in. Chick's pocket nines were trumped when Daffy's ace-9 paired up the ace on the flop.
Points this week (total):
My Choice: 5 (16)
Daffy: 12 (13)
Jenna: 7 (12)
Pads: 0 (7)
.com: 0 (3)
Zeus: 3 (3)
Lady Luck: 1 (1)
Edmund: 0
Hoboken: 0
Karma: 0
True: 0
July Poker League 2009 - Game #2
Only 7 played in game 2. Pads, .com, Karma and True were all unable to attend, with My Choice's coworker Edmund joining the remaining 6.
Based on the cash games prior to the start of the tournament, things did not look good at all for Edmund, however he was not the first to go. Hoboken continued his aggresive play and pushed all in early on and was called by Daffy with the nut flush. Much speculation over what Hoboken held in his hand as he mucked when Daffy called and instantly flipped to show the nut flush. Most likely a straight as there were four to a straight on board, or perhaps trips?
Next to go out was Edmund. Edmund was running low on chips and pushed all in on the turn against My Choice. After a minute or so of deliberation, My Choice made the call with two pair. Edmund showed his dominating position with a made flush, much to everyone's suprise. My Choice then began a long streak of good luck by hitting one of his 4 outs (2 players revealed they had folded one of My Choice's cards) on the river.
The game proceeded for another round or two with My Choice building his stack when a 3-way all occured between Lady Luck (a-q), Chick (10-10), and Zeus (a-k). The flop
gave Chick a dominant hold on the hand when a 10 landed along with a jack and a 6. The turn brought one more out for Lady Luck when a 9 fell on the board. The river was a deuce and Chick ended the tournament for the other two. Lady Luck with the shorter of the stacks finished in 5th earning his first point of the season and Zeus finished in 4th also earning his first 3 points of the season.
The tide had turned for My Choice as Chick took the chip lead. With blinds at 35-70, Daffy called a raise to 300 by Chick and won the prop bet when his 7 paired up on the river and Chick's ace-queen did not hold on to it's dominant position pre-flop. It wasn't long after when My Choice was knocked by Daffy in third place earning 5 points to add to his 11 from game 1.
Heads up play began with Daffy holding a 3:2 chip lead over Chick and ended when Daffy called Chick's all-in. Chick's pocket nines were trumped when Daffy's ace-9 paired up the ace on the flop.
Points this week (total):
My Choice: 5 (16)
Daffy: 12 (13)
Jenna: 7 (12)
Pads: 0 (7)
.com: 0 (3)
Zeus: 3 (3)
Lady Luck: 1 (1)
Edmund: 0
Hoboken: 0
Karma: 0
True: 0
Thursday, July 2, 2009
NBA Preview 2009-2010
Some random predictions for the 2009-2010 season... just spouting off at the mouth... intended as food-for-thought or conversation starters...
- The Knicks will suck. Hard. Their record will be among the 5 worst in the NBA.
- Mike D'Antoni will not be the head coach in 2010.
- The Nets will finish over .500 and have a solid year.
- If Cleveland gets Trevor Ariza and has no injuries to any big players, they will dominate the East and make it to the NBA Finals.
- Orlando will be much worse, now that they have Vince Cancer, I mean Carter. They will struggle and not make it out of the 2nd round of the East.
- If the Spurs get Rasheed Wallace and Ginobili and Duncan are healthy, they will come out of the West. They might come out of the West even without Rasheed.
- Blake Griffin will start a little slow but will eventually be averaging close to 20-10. He might even make the All-Star team. He's the real deal.
- Ricky Rubio will not play a minute in a Timberwolves uniform, this year or any other.
- The Knicks will suck. Hard. Their record will be among the 5 worst in the NBA.
- Mike D'Antoni will not be the head coach in 2010.
- The Nets will finish over .500 and have a solid year.
- If Cleveland gets Trevor Ariza and has no injuries to any big players, they will dominate the East and make it to the NBA Finals.
- Orlando will be much worse, now that they have Vince Cancer, I mean Carter. They will struggle and not make it out of the 2nd round of the East.
- If the Spurs get Rasheed Wallace and Ginobili and Duncan are healthy, they will come out of the West. They might come out of the West even without Rasheed.
- Blake Griffin will start a little slow but will eventually be averaging close to 20-10. He might even make the All-Star team. He's the real deal.
- Ricky Rubio will not play a minute in a Timberwolves uniform, this year or any other.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
July Poker League 2009 - Game #1
Last July (2008) a plethora of poker pugilists gathered regularly to test their skills in a semi-weekly contest of skill and luck. The season ended with a solid victory for .com and the summer of 2009 started with another season of the...
... July Poker League!
Without any further ado, here's how things kicked off.
July Poker League 2009 - Game #1
The players convened at Daffy's place. .com, the reigning champion, was originally going to be a no-show but did arrive from Queens. As a result, it was decided that tonight's action would indeed count as game 1.
The rules were reviewed. Each week, the top five finishers would receive 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1 points respectively, and at the end of the season the top finishers will receive bonus money which is built with each event. Two extra bonus points are possible each week: 1 for knocking off the current points leader, and 1 for knocking off last week's winner. So, it was decided that .com would have a 1 point bounty on his head. Finally, winning a hand while holding 2-7 means that anybody who was dealt cards that hand must pay the winner $1 cash.
10 players took the table: True, Karma, Lady Luck, Zeus, .com, Pads, My Choice, Daffy, Chick, and a newcomer to this season: "Hoboken", brother to Chick and Daffy. Hoboken missed all of last season.
Play started in a traditional fashion. The only two things that made tonight notable were that Michael Jackson music was on in the background for a large portion of the game, and Pads had crutches and seating issues to be accommodated because he had knee surgery a week before the game.
Play started and chips shuffled slowly around the table. Hoboken built up a stack with aggressive play. Eventually, True and Karma (who will be married in a couple of months!) went out in 10th and 9th place, respectively.
Lady Luck's luck ran a little short and he finished in 8th. Hoboken, who's aggressive play also cost him some big pots, lost a large number of chips to Zeus and subsequently went out in 7th place.
Zeus lost a couple of tough large pots and finished in 6th place, a large number of his chips going to Pads.
Now down to a tough five, the players had to break from playing. Without getting too graphic, Pads' medication was playing games with his stomach and needed a break.
Finally, play commenced. Daffy, who was running short in chips for a while but managed to stay in the game, finally succumbed and finished in 5th place. He did, however, take down a nice pot with 2-7 earlier to win a few bucks from the table.
.com, who played tight solid poker as usual, looked remarkably awake as he coasted into 4th place, earning his first points of the new season.
Chick, who had quietly stuck around solidly all night and seemed to avoid major fireworks, went out in 3rd place.
Brothers Pads and My Choice went heads up with chip stacks tough to stack and swinging wildly back and forth. Finally, My Choice emerged victorious. He was also responsible for the knockout of .com to earn 11 points for the night. He did lose $1 to Pads though, as Pads won a heads-up hand with 2-7 - a small token for Pads for a 2nd place night.
The schedule of future games seems like it is still being worked out, but Game #2 will commence Thursday night, July 2. Shuffle up and deal!
Standings:
My Choice: 11 (11)
Pads: 7 (7)
Chick: 5 (5)
.com: 3 (3)
Daffy: 1 (1)
Hoboken: 0
Lady Luck: 0
Karma: 0
True: 0
Zeus: 0
... July Poker League!
Without any further ado, here's how things kicked off.
July Poker League 2009 - Game #1
The players convened at Daffy's place. .com, the reigning champion, was originally going to be a no-show but did arrive from Queens. As a result, it was decided that tonight's action would indeed count as game 1.
The rules were reviewed. Each week, the top five finishers would receive 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1 points respectively, and at the end of the season the top finishers will receive bonus money which is built with each event. Two extra bonus points are possible each week: 1 for knocking off the current points leader, and 1 for knocking off last week's winner. So, it was decided that .com would have a 1 point bounty on his head. Finally, winning a hand while holding 2-7 means that anybody who was dealt cards that hand must pay the winner $1 cash.
10 players took the table: True, Karma, Lady Luck, Zeus, .com, Pads, My Choice, Daffy, Chick, and a newcomer to this season: "Hoboken", brother to Chick and Daffy. Hoboken missed all of last season.
Play started in a traditional fashion. The only two things that made tonight notable were that Michael Jackson music was on in the background for a large portion of the game, and Pads had crutches and seating issues to be accommodated because he had knee surgery a week before the game.
Play started and chips shuffled slowly around the table. Hoboken built up a stack with aggressive play. Eventually, True and Karma (who will be married in a couple of months!) went out in 10th and 9th place, respectively.
Lady Luck's luck ran a little short and he finished in 8th. Hoboken, who's aggressive play also cost him some big pots, lost a large number of chips to Zeus and subsequently went out in 7th place.
Zeus lost a couple of tough large pots and finished in 6th place, a large number of his chips going to Pads.
Now down to a tough five, the players had to break from playing. Without getting too graphic, Pads' medication was playing games with his stomach and needed a break.
Finally, play commenced. Daffy, who was running short in chips for a while but managed to stay in the game, finally succumbed and finished in 5th place. He did, however, take down a nice pot with 2-7 earlier to win a few bucks from the table.
.com, who played tight solid poker as usual, looked remarkably awake as he coasted into 4th place, earning his first points of the new season.
Chick, who had quietly stuck around solidly all night and seemed to avoid major fireworks, went out in 3rd place.
Brothers Pads and My Choice went heads up with chip stacks tough to stack and swinging wildly back and forth. Finally, My Choice emerged victorious. He was also responsible for the knockout of .com to earn 11 points for the night. He did lose $1 to Pads though, as Pads won a heads-up hand with 2-7 - a small token for Pads for a 2nd place night.
The schedule of future games seems like it is still being worked out, but Game #2 will commence Thursday night, July 2. Shuffle up and deal!
Standings:
My Choice: 11 (11)
Pads: 7 (7)
Chick: 5 (5)
.com: 3 (3)
Daffy: 1 (1)
Hoboken: 0
Lady Luck: 0
Karma: 0
True: 0
Zeus: 0
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Teaneck Blogs
Occassionally, I think to myself, "What's going on in my magnificent hometown of Teaneck?"
A cursory google search revealed only two that seem to be updated with some regularity: links to these are on the side of my blog:
http://teaneckprogress.blogspot.com/
http://teaneck-talk.blogspot.com/
I only glanced at each. Any Teaneckites follow either blog? Any opinion of them? Any other blogs out there worth reading?
A cursory google search revealed only two that seem to be updated with some regularity: links to these are on the side of my blog:
http://teaneckprogress.blogspot.com/
http://teaneck-talk.blogspot.com/
I only glanced at each. Any Teaneckites follow either blog? Any opinion of them? Any other blogs out there worth reading?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Math Questions VI - A Quick Quiz
Well, not really math, but logic.
Question 1.
The answer to question 2 is:
A. B
B. C
C. A
Question 2.
The first question with correct answer B is:
A. Question 3
B. Question 1
C. Question 2
Question 3.
The only answer you have not chosen yet is:
A. A
B. B
C. C
Question 1.
The answer to question 2 is:
A. B
B. C
C. A
Question 2.
The first question with correct answer B is:
A. Question 3
B. Question 1
C. Question 2
Question 3.
The only answer you have not chosen yet is:
A. A
B. B
C. C
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