PATRIOTISM

I know it's been a while since my last post.. Oh well.

I was listening to NPR this afternoon and patriotism (P)was the crux of the talk. It got me to thinking about it and I believe that nothing good ever comes out of P. When thousands of people at a baseball game sing our National anthem... what good does it do? Nothing as far as I can see.
Who are they singing to? Non-Americans in the stands to show them we're Americans? They already know that. P can cause a fight.
Don't get me wrong. I am extremely happy that I was born here. But I didn't have a choice.
We are who we are. Being P doesn't proove a thing. Iranians and Darfurians are happy they were born there. So what?
Pride in your favorite team or political party is a form of P and many a physical confrontation has broken out over it.
So, if you can enlighten me as to any positive act that P has caused I'll be surprised.

"GOD DOES IT AGAIN"

10,000 + dead in Myanmar...... 2,000 in Louisiana.........100,000 in another South Sea island.
Why doesn't anyone blame god? Apparently it's just fine to praise the lord when good things happen to someone or some group. So why not blame him/her when bad things happen?
Why is he only given credit for positive outcomes? Does anyone else have that luxury?

It's obvious I'm not religeous........ I just use logic.

GOLF STORY

Inspired by my friend B G's golf story involving wind I decided to tell one of my own.
While on my honeymoon with wife number two, (a huge 3-1/2 year mistake) in Bermuda I decided to play a round of golf. She didn't play but walked along. As anyone who has ever been to an island nation knows, the wind blows 24/7. Well... I arrived at this Par 3 facing the mighty Atlantic. The tee box was elevated at least 100 feet. I cannot remember the distance but I pulled out my 5 Wood. (I am left-handed by the way) There was an extremely strong cross wind from left to right.
Now I have fought a slice from day one of my golfing career and can generally keep it under control. This time, however, I chose to just let it loose. (It's just her and I on the tee and no one else in sight) I caught it flush and sliced that fucker about 50 yards + to the left. The aforementioned "mighty wind" grabbed it and pushed it toward the green. My mouth fell open as it gently landed on the green and rolled within 6 feet of the cup. "Oh My God, I exclaimed.... DID YOU SEE THAT?" She turned around, as she was looking at the beautiful flora, and said no, what happened? I pointed excitedly to the green and said "look where my ball is"!
She said, somewhat disinterested, "oh, that's nice".
I looked around in the faint hope that a group was behind me and saw that shot. No such luck.
Oh well..... I divorced her ass 3 years later.

Wishing a Proper Fate for burglers

My dear friend in England (I'll be visiting him next month) had his home burgled last week.
They took the TV, jewelry, watches, cell phones and his wife's fairly new Mini-Cooper convertable. His insurance claim is for approx. $35,000.
What I loved about his e-mail telling me about it was his final statement. He said:

"I hope they die in a car crash with the Mini OR overdose on the drugs they buy with the proceeds of their handiwork. I don't care which."

Ya gotta love the Brits...

Bad Bloods Tourney

I haven't written in a while, however, several links to this blog have recently been mentioned so I thought I had better say something.
Finishing 2nd at BB's tourney was a thrill. I feel that I played pretty good poker overall. Yes, I donked a few hands but "doesn't everybody?" When we hit the final table (10 of the 21 players) I was one of 4 short stacks. I honestly didn't like my chances to cash at that point. After a few folded hands (the button was no where near me) I shoved 2 hands in a row and picked up (un-called) a much needed 1200 chips. Otis politely asked me to "stop that". So I did. LOL
Two of the other SStacks dropped quickly. Ms. All In hung in there longer. I won a few hands and had a decent stack when we got to 5 players. Falstaff, however, was a veritable card rack and had a "fuck ton" of chips (his words) at this point. I thought, shit, I can cash now. I believe Ms. All In went out on the bubble but am not positive. Boy was I happy. Then it was me, Otis, and Falstaff. Otis and I were close in stacks. Falstaff knocked him out and there we were, never having played heads-up before. (I almost forgot, prior to that, Falstaff doubled me up TWICE which put me in great position)
So we played H U for about 9 hands with nothing remarkable happening. He had me at least 3 to 1 in chips. Then came hand 10. Limped flop comes Q-T-6 rainbow. I had T-6 and checked.
Falstaff had a Q and made a modest bet. I raised, he re-raised..... I shoved... he calls and hits a 2nd pair on the turn. The end of me....... but what a blast.

IRONY & OH WELL......

I am a "West Wing" nut. It was the best thing to hit television, ever. I own the entire series on DVD and watch it once or twice a year. What is most interesting is how some things never change. The West Wing covered issues (better explained then any polititian or media outlet ever does) that remain prevalent today. Public education; gay marriage; health care; budget deficets; pork or ear-marks; social security; stem cell research; National security; and on and on.
The West Wing has been off the air for over 3 years and it is ironic that these subjects remain "political footballs" and absolutely NOTHING has been done about any of them. Oh, there is plenty of talk, especially during election time, however, no resolutions take place.
Oh well........ business as usual.

AARON SORKIN FOR PRESIDENT

"To Blog or To Read Blogs"

I got to thinking about Poker Blogers. When visiting their sites I find that they rarely blog about poker. Their kids, their job, their opinion on the state of the country or world dominate the blogisphere. One even told the world his entire financial situation. So I thought why and how did this happen? The answer is obvious to me: Playing poker is a form of entertainment & socialization that carries a potential of winning money. Most attractive to us humans isn't it?
BUT, there are only so many bad-beat stories to tell so bloggers began writing about themselves or giving opinions about situations that interest them.

I love sitting at our home game and playing poker and talking to my friends about any subject. Reading blogs about it has become uninteresting. I prefer to read a good book.

This past December I played in the Poker Blogers tourney in Vegas. I met a ton of fantastic and interesting individuals. The blogisphere is responsible for these strangers from across the country to have met and got to know one another. That is wonderful in my book and I look forward to next year. But, reading poker blogs shall now be a low priority in my daily life.

I'm still not sure why I chose to write this...... Just had a few minutes to kill this morning.