NBC's Going Green...AGAIN

Once again, NBC is sending correspondents all over the world to promote their network "Going Green" and doing their bit for the environment.

It seems to me that they would do a lot more for the environment if they announced that for one week, all of their talking heads were going to stay put at their desks for a week.

Just how much fuel do you think it takes to send, not only the faces, but all of the camera and techical crew to these ends of the earth? And keep them there for a week?

Hypocrites.

Update

I see I have not posted in awhile.

I also have not watched No Country for Old Men.

Haven't Quite Figured Out This Whole NETFLIX Thing...

I joined NetFlix in March of '07. I have always hated Blockbuster for a variety of reasons, but earlier that day, I had gone to my local Blockbuster without my card, to get a movie for Kaitlyn. The Blockbuster is next to the grocery store, and it was not in the plans when we walked out the door. But, when we got there, I guess Kaitlyn saw a movie she wanted to see, so we went in to rent it.

The last movie I had rented for my own entertainment, was on July 1, 2001. Yes, I remember for a reason, but that can be told some other time. Anyway, I know I have rented a few here and there for Kaitlyn in the meantime, but suffice it to say it had been awhile.

I did not have my card with me, but that is usually not a problem. This time, it was. The clerk said I had never rented there before. Of course I had. But, if you guys at Blockbuster are not smart enough to keep a record of ALL of your customers, not just the recent ones, then forget it.

I came home and thought that this would be the perfect time to try Netflix, so I signed up, and got my first movie...the original version of The Manchurian Candidate, which I had never seen.

I watched The Manchurian Candidate on my laptop during a flight from here to Vegas in January of '08. However, my laptop battery when kaput during the most crucial scene of the movie! ( I was able to finish it in the hotel when I was able to plug in...awsome movie!)

Anyway, when I got home I promptly returned the movie for the next in line....the new Bond movie, Casino Royale.

I watched in a couple of weekends ago...on Showtime!

Next in line...No Country for Old Men. It is sitting right here, just begging to be watched. I shoud start a pool on when I will watch it....

Friday Night $5 Knockout Touney on FullTilt

I like playing in the Knockouts, where you get $$$$$ for everyone you knockout, on top of any prize money that might be won. Tonight, it's $1 for a knockout with the $5 buy in. People tend to play a little more loose, which can frequently result in people making really dumb calls. The downside, of course, is that they make a dumb call and suck out. Yes, yes, I sometimes make a bad call of my own, but, it is, of course, rare.

A couple of months ago, there were, consistently, over 1000 people playing, but lately the fields have been much smaller, as is tonight.

I am through the first hour, and sit in 120th place, with 181 left in the tourney. We started with 477, and, coincidentally, that is what first place is paying tonight. Don't know how that happened! Of course, I havn't knocked anyone out yet!

The highlight of the evening was getting my 6x bet in early position w KK called and flopping a set. Unfortunately, the DA that called such a large bet didn't even have an A as the flop came A 6 K. I tried to trap, but with two diamonds on board, I didn't want to get too tricky. I bet out, and my calling station friend folded like a pup tent.

9:16.. AK...let's see what happens....raise 3.5x, and I get 2 callers and I flop 2 pair...but two diamonds again, and I don't have any of those. I have to go all in to chase them away...and they do go away. I win a decent pot, and it moves me up to 99th place out of 144. Gotta stick around until 45 are left to get paid.

9:21..AJo..in first pos..raise min to 200...2 callers, nothing materializes...player to my left bets out, I go away. Drops me to 103rd out of 136.

9:23..a round of 60/120 blinds knocks me down to 108th place....

9:25..havnt' played a hand, but have moved up to 100th place!

9:28 AKo in first pos...raise min to 240..two callers, flop an A, bet the pot..player to my left is thinking.....he goes all in! Wow...he has me covered...if he flopped a set..what the hell is he thinking about? I think I have him...other player folds.....I call..he has AQ!!!! WOO HOO HOLD ON...YES!!!! Puts me at 4800 chips, and in 65th out of 118. AK has been pretty good to me tonight.

9:39...the 80/160 blinds have passed me and I sit at 4500, 66th out of 105.

9:40. I elect to not play KQo out of positon, and now I am presented with QJo. El Foldo.

9:41. The Poker Gods are tempting me..now I have KQ Soooooted out of position. NAAA. I play way to tight.

9:43...33 in the big blind, and the button went all in for 1600. I just cannot call that with 33. I play way too tight! Currently 75th out of 102.

9:49...here come the 100/200 blinds.....BB: K8o...I will have to fold to any raise...5x raise and I am gone. Down to 4000. 66 out of 94. SB-lol..K7o..I cant even call the BB with 4 limpers with that gunk. Fold. Flop is QQ4. Good fold. 3900 left, 71 of 90. Button: 35os. Ick. Fold. Things are gonna be ugly soon...and as the blinds pass, its 120/240 with a $25 ante each hand. Great. Now I can't just sit here and not lose money. Each orbit cost me $610. In the real world, my tight table image would give me the opportunity to steal some pots with raises. In this nutso tourney, everyone calls so it would be useless to raise unless I have some sort of decent hand.


9:58 AJsooooted in the BB...this could be it. I dont raise and everyone checks it down. Caller also had AJ. I split a pot for $460. Woo hoo! 66 of 79. The end is near....

10:05. Here come the 150/300 blinds...next hand....3600 left...63 of 70. BB Q4 suited. Maybe Ill get lucky and see a free flop. And I do, and it is AQ7. Player bets, I cannot call. OH NO, a four on the turn! Oh well, I couldnt call that. SB. J8o. I call the BB, and hope BB doesn t rais..I flop two pair! I win the pot..gets me back to 3725. Moves me up to 60 of 88. Looks like I might make it to the 2nd break.

10:10. Made it to the 2nd break. I have $3625 left, and that puts me 62 out of 66. Chip leader has over 45K. Im just trying to hang on for the money. Not looking good, though. Blinds and antes will be 200/400/50 when we get back. Ugh. I need a monster hand real quick...

10:16...here we go. Blinds will be on me next hand....BB-77. Hmm...could be it. If anyone raises, I am going all in. I have an all in.. I am going to call....unless someone calls fist. nope..here we go...AK..what I put him on...and I flop trip 7! I win a big one and double up to 7400!

10:20..I have KK on the button...this should be good...I raise big and win an 1800 pot..now I have 8425. 34th of 64! Coming back!

1026..AK in the BB..lets see how I play this...A raise..im going all in over the top...she calls..she has QQ..a race! I don't catch anything and I am out in 58th place. Bummer.

Great way to kill an evening for $5!

And meanwhile, the lights came back on at Nats stadium and they are losing 11-4 in the 8th. Ugh. I think I will just go to bed. Gotta get up early for a yard sale tomorrow.

The Lights Are Out...

Johnnie Holliday and Don Sutton are working overtime filling empty airtime as a bank of lights have gone out over the first base stands at Nats Park. I'm sure that Pepco would let the Lerners slide another few days on the electric bill, so this has to be a glitch.

The power is also out on the Nats, who are down to the Bucaroos 7-1. Looks like the lights are starting to come back on.....

Coming to Life

Zimm was three for four, with 3 RBI tonight against the Braves. This after some tool (can I say that here?) mentioned in the parking garage elevator how is batting avg was in free fall, and his three strikeout game vs the Cubs on Sunday was evidence that he needed to sit awhile to gain perspective. I politely (although in my head, I was rejoicing in ripping his lungs out, Jim), reminded him of his stellar defensive plays that probably saved two runs, which was the winning margin of victory.

So tonight, as if on cue, Zimm belted a homerun that clearly inspired Nick Johnson as Nick followed with one of his own, for the 'Nats first back to back homers of the season. Zimm also provided a two run double, which was nice.

Then, some other tool (can I say that here?) who was sitting one section over and a couple of rows closer to the field, chose to, very loudly, encourage young Lastings Milledge with an extremely polite "MILLEDGE, YOU SUCK!" I guess "Edge" took it to heart, because he followed later with a two-run double of his own, and a pretty good looking over-the-shoulder catch (although I think right before the ball fell into the glove he was saying to himself "OH CRAP, I ****** UP!). And, by the way, said TOOL GUY #2 was wearing an Astros hat.

So the Nats win, 6-3, and have are now 4-2 on the current homestand to get to 10 up and 17 down for the year.

Coming next: Dimitri Young Bobbleheads on Thursday!!!

Bad Beat Story

Yes yes, I know, everyone hates a bad beat story. But too bad, you're going to get my share of them here.

This one is for those who saw my set of threes (flopped) lose to the set of nines (also flopped).

The chances of flopping set over set? Less than 1%.

It was that kinda weekend......

How to Make a Baseball Fan, Part 29

I took Kaitlyn with me to Spring Training in Florida this year. We basically just followed the Nats around for a week. Tuesday in Lakeland vs the Tigers, Thursday in Viera against the Astros, Friday in Port St. Lucie vs the Mets and finally Saturday, back in Viera, against the Braves.

Last year, my brother and his family took in an O's game at Camden Yards (yes, sacrilege, but I'm working on them, too!) Anyway, they were sitting near the front of the first row, or maybe they were in the first row, of the upper deck and caught a foul ball hit by Miguel Tejada. In the offseason, he was traded to the Astros, so the mission was clear....get his John Hancock on the ball!

Now, I'm as geeky as the next guy when it comes to getting autographs, and certainly not afraid to mix it up, but I fail sometimea because deep down I know that the right thing to do is to let the kids have the autograph before I get mine. I also realize that a cute 16 year old has a much better chance that a fat 40 year old man. So, I dispatch my soldier to take the hill!

The shock of the matter is how into it she was. She was not, by any means, shy. Tejada did not exactly make himself available during the pregame warmups. He ran directly out of the dugout to left-center field for some stretching, then right back in the dugout.

Moments before the game was to begin, and the ushers were ushiering the autograph hounds back to thier proper seats, Tejada decided to sprint down the 3rd base line one last time, which brought the rush of hounds back to the edge.

It did my heart good to watch Kaitlyn elbow a few boys both older, taller, younger and shorter than she in order to get in the proper position to toss Miggy the magic 8 ball, which he caught, signed and tossed back to her!

She took the hill! I'm such a proud father!

How to Make a Baseball Fan, Part 34

Okay, so this is going backwards. Eh, I'm new to this and I'm just trying to make it look like I've been doing this awhile....

The hard work must be paying off. I've been taking Kaitlyn to games for as long as I can remember. For the past 3 years, I have been dragging her along to the Nats games at RFK. There were times during the first 2 years that I could tell she was starting to catch on. Year 2 brought the announcement that her two favorite players were Nick Johnson and Brian Schneider. Of course, Year 2 ended with Johnson's leg being snapped in half by Austin Kearn's noggin and completely missing Year 3. Year 3 endend with Schneider being traded to the Mets for one of the best prospects in baseball, Lasting Milledge. Predictably, she didn't take to the news of the trade very well. But that's a good thing. At least she cares a little!

So it's opening night at Nat's stadium, and I could not bring her along because our group only allowed us to take one ticket so that we could spread the wealth.

As happy as I was that the face of the franchise, Ryan Zimmerman, belted a walk-off homer to win the first game in the beautiful new stadium, it made me even happier to receive a text message from Kaitlyn, just seconds after the ball cleared the wall in centerfield that said "WAY TO GO ZIMM!!!!!!!"!

Yep, it's paying off....!

How to Make a Baseball Fan, Part 37

I took my 16 year old daughter, Kaitlyn, to see the Nats play the Cubs on Friday night. We were supposed to go on Thursday, but she decided that she should leave school early rather than face the wrath of her science teacher for not turning in her project on time. No school, no ballgame.

I can understand that. Surely. It was a good excuse, too. "I just wrote down the wrong due date!" Doesn't everyone?

So having missed her chance to sit in our regular seats for the Thursday game against the Mets, which featured Felipe Lopez, who suddenly is becoming a fan favorite, belting a grand salami, I figured I would reward her ingenuity and slick thinking by taking her to the game on Friday against the Cubbies. I thought I would really reward her by getting club seats. Okay, fine, you caught me...I was rewarding myself. For what? Nothing. I just wanted to check out the club seats.

In the 8th inning of a 3-3 ball game, she looks at me and says..."kinda boring game, dad." "Kaitlyn, it's 3-3 in the 8th inning....I'd say that is fairly interesting, no"? "Not really", she says.

The 'Nats proceed to hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to win 5-3. Sometimes it's just too easy to make a baseball fan...