Author: rlh

Poker Super Sunday

I’m playing in five $5000 NL Hold’em tournaments today. First at Noon, then at 2:00, 4:00, 7:00, and 10:00. This is the culmination of the the First Time Depositor freerolls for December at PokerStars.

Noon results:  1622 of 7400.  Thank you Time Warner. My internet connection crapped out for an hour at 12:45. I had built up a better than average stack, but when I was reconnected I only had about three times the BB. Went all in with a pair of 10s. Busted out.

2:00 results:  Off to a slow start. No cards to work with. Finally made a little headway. Finished in the money (barely) at 1166 of 7084.

4:00 results:  Overlapped the 2:00 for about 20 minutes. I’ve got to get a bigger screen if I’m going to multi-table. 1169 of 6671 and barely in the money again. At least I’ve got an hour break before the next one.

7:00 results:  Made a stupid call. He had to have a higher straight. Everyone at the table knew it, including me. 2884 of 5934. Stupid call. Stupid.

10:00 results:  486 of 5192 and another cash to wrap up the day.

Lyle to John to Zoe to Amanda to Neil to …

I don’t think that most people would naturally link Lyle Lovett to Neil Gaiman.  I’m not saying that they have anything directly in common, but they are my example of how one artist can lead to another who leads to another.

A couple of years ago, I went to see Lyle Lovett and His Large Band.  One of the highlights of the show is an extended cello solo by John Hagen.  This renewed my interest in the use of classical strings in modern music.  I did some googling and found Zoe Keating.  Amazing music.  Exactly what I was hoping to find.  I bought the EP, I bought the CD, I signed up for the email list, I told my friends.

A few months later, Zoe’s email posting recommends that everyone check out the new solo CD from Amanda Palmer.  Zoe had played on a few tracks and was going to join Amanda on tour. Amanda is also one half of The Dresden Dolls.  I wasn’t familiar with the music but I remembered the name.  I had looked at their website after seeing them on the schedule for the Lincoln Theatre. I don’t know exactly what punk cabaret is, but it sounds interesting.  So I bought the Who Killed Amanda Palmer CD.

WKAP has dominated my music listening ever since.  Great lyrics, great music, great vocals. Awesome.  Highly recommended.  I want more.  

That leads to Neil Gaiman.  He and Amanda are collaborating on a companion book for WKAP.  I google again to find out more about Neil.  Now I’m reading American Gods with Anasi Boys in the queue and I picked up a copy of Neverwhere this week.

I guess that talented artists attract talented artists and I’m fortunate enough to get to enjoy their work.

Murphy

So I’m sending an email to someone that I’ve never met.  Don’t want to give the impression of being a dork or a stalker.  I’m semi-satisfied with the content so I click send and look away for a minute.  I look back and my email client is checking for incoming mail and the little wheels spin.  And spin.  And spin.  Timeout.  WTF?  After a brief examination, I find that my hosting service had a brief hiccup in the server. Unfortunately I have no way of knowing if my email was sent successfully.  

So now I’m in limbo. If I don’t get a reply, did a) my email never get sent, or b) the target never checks that email account, or c) the target blew me off.   I just have to wait and wonder.  

Aargh.

Poker tip

Don’t start a large tournament at 10:00 on a work night.  While you always hope to win, with a field of nearly 1800 it’s likely that you won’t.  You’ll probably play an hour or so and be out, hopefully you’ll even cash.  Last night was good news, bad news.  

First the bad.  I played for nearly five hours and didn’t get in bed until 3:00 in the morning, then up at 6:45 to face a typical Monday.

The good news… I actually won the tournament.  That’s my first multi-table tournament win.  As a bonus, it was a freeroll.

PokerStars Tournament #124183229, No Limit Hold’em
Freeroll Super Satellite
1768 players
$500.00 added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $500.00
Target Tournament #124176348
360 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started 2008/12/14 22:00:00 ET
Tournament finished 2008/12/15 2:44:06 ET
1: rlh268 (Cary), $79.00 (qualified for the target tournament)
2: DC751 (Bolingbrook), $57.50 (qualified for the target tournament)
3: tuscano (Shelby), $41.00 (qualified for the target tournament)

…

1766: xalesana (Monterrey), 
1767: okipost (???? ????), 
1768: szogo89 (Siemianowice Slaskie), 

You finished in 1st place (eliminated at hand #22932898326).

HoA meeting

I’m writing this from my annual Homeowners Association meeting and it’s going just as I expected. The usual suspects ramble on about issues that the group can’t do anything about. Speeding, parking in the street, kids ringing doorbells, blah, blah, blah. I’m an hour into the meeting and we haven’t accomplished squat.

Then you have the people that complain because they got a letter notifying them of a problem. They’re complaining that the letter hurt their feelings over a minor issue. It’s just a piece of paper.

Now Mrs. Cozolino just went on a high-pitched rant. And we haven’t even gotten to the real issues yet.

Now they’re debating the future price of natural gas. Just when it couldn’t get worse… the awkward speeches from the candidates for the open board seat. I voted for the person who wasn’t present.

ALMS race coverage

Tilting at windmills, sent this to NBC:

After watching the NBC coverage of this weekend’s ALMS race at Laguna Seca, I have to write you to express my disappointment.  I believe that was the worst presentation of a major race that I have ever seen. I am well aware that presenting this type of event on television is a significant challenge.  The combination of a two hour time slot for a four hour event, multiple car classes (i.e. five simultaneous races), and a road course venue necessitate that what is eventually broadcast will be a compromise.  On the other hand, the broadcast was delayed until Sunday, so you had the benefit of knowing exactly what was going to happen when.   

That being said, I have two areas to criticize and both are significant.  The first is the presentation of multi-class racing.  With four car classes there are five races on the track.  I can understand ignoring the GT1 Corvettes since that are alone in their class.  However, your broadcast focused only on the Acuras, Penske Porsches, and the Audis.  All the other cars were virtually ignored.  The GT2 racing is just as exciting the prototypes and the fans that take the time to watch the broadcast want to see the best racing on the track at any given time.  Spending five minutes to run through the entire field should be a requirement.
The second problem area concerns following the flow of the race.  The broadcast was edited so that the viewer was watching a battle on the track, go to commercial break, come back to the safety car leading the field and the green flag is about to wave.  The viewer has no idea what caused the full-course caution, the running order is now completely different, and we didn’t see any of the action in the pits.  The announcers just keep plugging along as if nothing has changed.
If time constraints force an edited broadcast, I would prefer that you spend the first 15 minutes or so recapping in detail the first portion of the race.  Then show the remainder of the race in its entirety.

I just don’t understand…

… the Sarah Palin effect.  A news story today from Reuters notes a poll that show white women voters shifting their support from Obama to McCain as a result of the nomination of Sarah Palin.  WTF?  Do these people have any clue whatsoever about Palin’s position on any issue of significance?  She is the polar opposite of Obama, Clinton (either one), Biden, or any other prominent Democrat.  So how could anyone who previously supported (or even seriously considered supporting) Obama or Clinton now shift their support to McCain due to the addition of Palin.  I just can’t imagine a rational line of thought that would yield that result.

The strap

What’s the deal with guys wearing their sunglasses on a strap?  At lunch today, I saw a group of five guys wearing their uniform.  Khakis, collared shirt, and sunglasses with strap.  Mind you, this was outside a restaurant in a shopping center and not at a camp site beside some raging rapids.  They did have to walk a good fifty feet from the sidewalk to their cars, but I’ve worn glasses for thirty years and I’ve never had my glasses jump off my face while walking in a parking lot.