Sorry about that.

Sorry for the heavy topic last post. It was just something that I saw and had strong feelings about. I promise that this post will be lite and lively. Not to mentioned filled with Buckeye goodness!

Ok, this week, OSU went to IOWA and blasted the Hawkeyes 38-17. Tate for Heisman? Not anymore! He was picked off more than a and sacked repeatedly. The Ohio State offense was able to move through the Iowa defense like a warm knife moves through butter. Iowa's crowd tried to intimidate the Buckeyes by wearing all yellow and were being rowdy. It worked last year at Penn State (OSU's last loss) but the Buckeyes were able to make the crowd sit down and shut up by taking their first possession and driving for a touchdown. "Troy Smith to Anthony Gonzalez." seemed like the catch phrase of the day, seeing as how Gonzo always seemed to be open at the right time and always seemed to get either a first down or a touchdown. The best play of the game was when Smith hooked up for Gonzo and Gonzo was able to weave through the Iowa defense and make it to the endzone. Probably the best part of the play was the blocking that the other receivers were throwing for Gonzo down field. This OSU team is really living up to the word 'team'. They are unselfish when playing and give each other the credit for their success when interviewed.

Most people agree that Iowa was the last real challenge for the Buckeyes until November 18th when the team from up north comes to the 'Shoe for the last game of the regular season. The remaining games are against Bowling Green, Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern. These games aren't garunteed wins, but all of the teams mentioned have lost several games and none are ranked in the top 25. As long as the Buckeyes don't fall asleep, they should be 11-0 when M*ch*g*n rolls into town. On the other side of the coin, M*ch*g*n will more than lakely be undefeated as well. Depending on what happens around the country, OSU and scUM could be #1 and #2 when they meet in November. If that is the case, OSU will be playing their second 1 vs 2 game of the season (having won the first one against Texas). Wow. I am pretty excited about where this season is going.

Dumb Ass Creeps

Jessica and I were going to watch a movie last Friday after the kids got into bed. It was a bad TV night (but it will be the best TV night when BSG starts 10/06) so I just left the TV on whatever channel it was on until Jessica came back down after putting Alydia to bed. The show that came on was Date Line (or Night Line, something like that) and they were having one of their "To Catch a Predator" specials. It's probably not so much of a 'special' anymore since they have these episodes almost every week. Anyway, if you don't know the premise of this show, they have undercover people in chat rooms posing as under-aged girls and setting up meetings with sick fucks that want to have sex with children. (Pardon the f-bomb, but that is all I can think to call these creeps.) Basically they set traps for sexual predators. They have a house somewhere and the undercover cops set up meetings with these sick fucks so that they can catch them in the act. To add insult to injury, these sick fucks are taped and televised on national TV. As a father of a little girl, I say they are getting exactly what they deserve. Although this sounds like trash TV, I was riveted. It was amazing how some of these men reacted when the cameras came out. Some ran (only to be tackeled by the police waiting outside.), some cried, and most of them lied. The reporter would ask why they came to the house with a teenaged girl and they would say stuff like, "just to talk." or "I wanted to be friends." COME ON!!! One guy said that he came to talk, but brought a bottle of whiskey and a box of condoms. Right. Talk. There were even some military guys that showed up to the house. (One of the criers was a Sargent or something.) The best was the guy that had seen the Date Line specials in the past and knew that the cops were setting up stings like the one he walked in to. Dumb ass. Anyway, watching this show made a few questions pop into my mind:

1. How does a grown man think that it is OK to have sexual chats with a teen aged girl and then set up meeting to initiate sex? I guess I can understand how men can see teen aged girls as attractive. It seems like young girls are in a huge hurry to grow up and become sexual creatures. Look at some of the outfits that teens wear these days. It's not uncommon to see a teen aged girl with a thong popping up out the back of her too-tight jeans or in a top that is cut too low and too tight. I get that it's the fashion, but it is no wonder that some men can look at these little girls in a sexual manner. Parents need to put their foot down and try to tone down their girl's outfits. I know, that is easier said than done. Also, it seems like girls are getting physically mature at a younger age. There are sixth grade girls in Noah's class (11 or 12 years old) that look like they are 16 or 17. Still, you can't cross that line as an adult male.

2. In this day and age of technonogy where anyone can access your computer with spyware and knowing that there are police stings out there to catch on line predators, how do men get up the balls to try something like that? I'll admit it, I have had some dark thoughts at one time or other in my life, but I could never cross that line to act upon them because 1. I know it's wrong and am not a sicko. and 2. I have a fear of jail and know that it would destroy my life and my family. Not to mention the mental scars that the girl would have. I am getting away from the point. It just seems too easy to get caught. How can you risk something like that? I guess if you are sick enough to try to have sex with a teen, you don't care about the risk that you take. But seriously, don't these guys see the Date Line show catching guys? Don't they see the set up?

Something else that throws me is how much kiddie porn is out on the internet. I saw a show last night that said there is a ton of kiddie porn out there and more is being added daily. Again, how does it get out there with all of the laws and spyware out there? I guess there are proxy servers overseas that throw off investigators and most of it is probably posted in different countries, but there is still a huge risk just by viewing a site with kiddie porn. Besides, how would you even find these sites? I doubt that you could do a Google search. I guess there would have to be chat rooms whee people share links. It's all a bit sick if you ask me.

Now, I hope that you did not read this post a think that I am a perve because I'm not. I'm not researching ways to get around the laws so that I can meet a teen. I just don't understand what these guys are thinking. I know I have probably checked out a girl that is too young, but looking is one thing. Doing something about it is entirely different. Besides, I am perfectly happy with my wife. Honestly, knowing that there are people out there that try to have sex with girls scares the crap out of me. If anyone tried to do anything like that to my little girl, I would end them. I wouldn't care if I went to jail. It would be slow and it would be painful.

Well, I'm sorry that I was a bit heavy with my topic today. It's just something that I thought was worth sharing. It is a scary world out there.

As Promised, Woodrow's Words of Wisdom

I mentioned a whiles ago that Jessica, my wife, was lucky enough to be gifted a booklet full of Woodrow's Words of Wisdom. In case you haven't know Woody as long as I have, he's basically the same guy now that he was back in highschool. We had some study halls together that we used to create some funny stories with Herb called The Bat Notes. OK, maybe they weren't too funny, but they were creative and Moe seemed to like them. It was perverse stories about Batman (written by Woody) Robin (written by Herb) and The Wolverine (me). It's not important how Wolvie got stuck with the Dynamic Duo, it just happened. Anyway, I am getting away from the topic at hand. I mention the Bat Notes because they had the same type of comedy and the WWWs. It's about 15 to 20 pages of witty advice to help Jessica "be as successful as Jay Leno and not as successful as Bob Craig." Anyway, enough talk up, here are some words of wisdom from Woodrow (aka Woody). I won't write them all down because there ae over 50 and I just don't have the time.

WWW#1 Don't Drown
WWW#13 There is no WWW#13 because 13 is an unlucky number.
WWW#32 50 Watts per channel!
WWW#33 It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing Milk bone underwear
WWW#63 What if... everyone in the world farted at once?
WWW#69 Ha Ha Ha ZEX!!
WWW#72 Life is hazardous to your health
WWW#75 What if someone actually laughed at these jokes?
WWW#83 Kinky sex toy!
WWW#89 At BASF, we don't make alot of the WWW's that you read. We make alot of the WWWs that you read stupider.
WWW#110 This is a test. This is only a test. This is not a quiz. This is a test of the Emergency Comedy Broadcast System. If in the event that this was a real joke, you'd be laughing.
WWW#111 Word or the day: Weinerschnitzel. (don't aks me. It's Rinnert's word.)
WWW#125 WOMAN!!!!!
WWW#137 WAH! (another Rinnert word)
WWW#169 One Hundred and HA HA Ha ZEX!!!
WWW#175 Pain don't hurt.
WWW#194 If you show these WWWs to anyone, I will find you and I will kill you.
WWW#206 Hello, I'm Woody. But in a way, aren't we all?
WWW#227 I was an Etch-A-Sketch artist until I realized women had better knobs.

Well, I think that is a large enough dose of Woody for today. I will post a few more WWWs on a later date. I hope that #194 is not true or else Woody may find me and kill me (my wife too). For more of Woody's brand of Tim foolery, check out his blog. It's quick, it's easy, and it's FREE!

Oh yeah OSU beat Penn State. Good game.

Fun Playing With My Balls

So, my bowling league is started last night. That balls did you think I was playing with? Sick-os. As you may or may not know, I have been bowling almost all my life. I started out pretty well with a 201, followed up with a 191, and ended the night with a 160 (I was getting tired). Since I haven't bowled for almost five months, I am happy with the performance. I think it turned out to be a 180 average, or something like that. It's about normal form me. I'd like to push it up to about a 190 or 195, but after all of these years of bowling, I don't see it happening. I did have a good pick up though: the 3-6-7-10 split. That's three pins on the right side of the lane and one in the back left corner of the lane. Of course, no one was watching.

One thing that is convenient about my bowling league on Thursdays is that the poker game I like to play in on Thursdays is just down the road from the bowling ally. I will be able to get out to play card a little more often now that I will be in the area. I played for a few hours last night and only won $10. I see it as a good night though because I was getting terrible cards all night, but still left with more money than I came with. I made a few calls that I won the hand on the river (when the last community card is turned up) and some of the players (the ones I beat in the hand) were like "How can you call that?" In other words, they felt I should have folded since I didn't have the best hand until the last card came up. Well, it is called gambling, right? Besides, if I am already invested in a hand, I am usually going to see it to the end, unless I know I have no chance. So, I say to the haters, "Screw you! I won some cash!!" I have three goals when I play poker with these guys:

1. Win as much money as possible.
2. Don't lose any money. I usually only buy in with one $20, like last night, where other players buy in with up to $80 or $100. If I leave with as much money as I came with, I am happy.
3. Have fun. I like playing with most of these guys. There are just a few babies some nights that are sore losers. These punks are just lucky that I wasn't getting cards or I would have cashed in. I was on my game last night. I folded when I knew I was beat and bet when I knew I was in the hand. The one bad call I made was when I had two pair and knew that the other guy in the hand had a straight. I called him though, because I was already invested in the hand and thought he may be bluffing. Oh well. Honestly, I like when people get angry at the way I play. It means that I am getting under their skin and they won't play as well against me.

Big Game tomorrow: OSU vs Penn State. Ohio Stateis looking for some payback after losing to PSU last year. It should be a good game. Starts ar 3:30.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, it's not Christmas time. It's New TV Show Week!!! For months we have been subjected to reruns and bad reality TV. To be honest, we have been watching alot of old shows on DVD that we didn't see the first time around. For example, the 4400, which is suprisingly good. Anyway, that time is over and now is the time that our DVR will be working overtime. No longer will we need to think about which show we should watch when there are two good shows on at the same time. Tonight, for example, CSI and Grey's Anatomy both start at 9:00. We can watch CSI and record Grey's Anatomy for a later date. Well, I'm sure that most of you know of the wonders of DVR and TiVo, so I won't get into it too much. Here's a list of shows that we are excited about:

1. Battle Star Galactica - Season 3 starts 10/06/2006 and if you've ever read my blog, you know that this is my favorite show.

2. Heroes - I have never seen this show, and it could be a big flop, but the commercials look pretty good. It looks like a bunch of regular people wake up one day with super powers. One can fly, one is invincible (a hot cheerleader who saves people in her cheerleader outfit. Nice.) and one can see the future in his paintings. They are marketing this show alot. I hope it's worth the hype. I think it starts this Sunday. It may be a rip off of M. Knight Shamalan's Unbreakable, but it looks good.

3. Desperate Housewives - Yes, it's basically a soap opera, but the stories are engrossing and the housewives are hot. Eva Longoria, enough said.

4. CSI - Not Miami, not NY (which I think was cancelled), I'm talking about the original. This show has been on for a long time and is still very good. They definitely have not jumped the shark yet.

5. Grey's Anatomy - I like this show alot, but I think they are starting to recycle content. If you watch this show, aren't you tired of the whole Merideth-Dr. McDreamy sexual tension? It can only go on for so many seasons, can't it? Plus, it looks like they got rid of Izzy (Catherine Heigel). They killed off her love interest and the last episode of the season shows her telling the chief that she is done. Izzy is an interesting character and HOT HOT HOT!!! Not that that's important. Anyway, the show is interesting and pretty funny.

Other shows that we watch and are new this season are:

1. Vanished, about a US senator's wife gone missing. It's not my fav, but it's OK.
2. Criminal Minds, about an FBI profiling team. Another one that is OK.
3. Justice, about a legal firm that defends murderers. You get a behind the scene look at all of the tricks and stunts that lawyers use to get their clients off. Plus, at the end of the show they show you what really happened (if they did it or not). So far they have gotten off all of their clients who have proven to all be innocent. The ones we are looking forward to are the when they get off a guilty guy or can't get off an innocent one.
4. Deal, or no Deal, ok, it's not new, but it's like video crack to me. It amazes me that people are so ready to risk thousands of dollars in order to win more. Some times it works out for them but mostly it does not. Monday I saw an episode where the guy playing could have won $3mil, but he took the deal after the money got up to $650,000. When they opened his case, it was the $3mil case. Throw in Howie Mandel and HOT HOT models (not that that's important) and you get video crack.
5. Eureka, about a US Marshal that stumbles into a high tech research town and becomes the new sheriff. It is pretty interesting and worth the watch.

Any more shows out there that I should watch?

A good weekend

So, I took Friday off and Jessica took the weekend off, and we took a trip north to Put-In-Bay. For those of you that don't know, Put-In-Bay is the tourist name for South Bass Island in Lake Erie. We drove up to Port Clinton and rode the Jet Express (a fast ferry boat) to the island (about a 25 minuted ride). South Bass Island is one island in a cluster of several islands in the middle of Lake Erie. For you historians, South Bass Island is where Commadore Perry docked his fleet during the war of 1812. His victory over the Brittish fleet is why we (those of us born in Toledo, Ohio) are Americans instead of Canadians. Something else I found interesting is that Lake Erie has the highest (or maybe second highest) number of ship wrecks on a body of fresh water. We took a tour of the island, which included stops at Heineman's Winery, which has some GOOOOD wine and a cool tour of a Crystal Cave, the largest geode in the world. We also say Perry's Cave, which was kinda interesting. There was an underground lake which was crystal clear water from Lake Erie that was naturally filtered by the limestone rock in the cave. Native Americans living on the island showed the lake to Commadore Perry who used the water for his troops since the water out of Lake Erie was unsafe to drink. Just a bit of history for you all. The tour also had a stop at the "War of 18 Holes" which was a mini-golf course (notice the name-spoof: War of 18 Holes, War of 1812. Those island folk are clever.) The historical information from the tour guide was kinda funny. We learned about all of these grand hotels that were built in the 1800's that could hold so many people, and then burned down. At least 8 historical buildings on the island (mostly hotels) where burned to the ground. It was funny because the tour guide would tell us that we were approaching the site of a historical hotel or other building, "However, it was burned to the ground in....." The main street on the Island (Delaware Ave. I think) was kind of like a mix of Cedar Point's shopping area the French Quarter in New Orleans. It was a long line of shops, resturants, and bars. The crown that wandered the streets resembled a mix of the crowds of Cedar Point (families that go for the touring and family activities) and the crowds in the French Quarter (drunks guys that make fools of themselves and drunker girls that want to show everyone their boobies). since Jessica and I were in the previous group of people, we hung out in our room after we went to see all of the things we wanted to see. We had a jaccuzzi tub, candles, and plenty of wine, so we were able to entertain ourselves. All in all, it was a good time. I will post some pictures later. Oh, and if the pictures we took came out OK, I have a game of WOW for you all to play. WWW is a game that I invented called "Which One in the Woman". On the tram we took for the tour, there was a man and a woman sitting next to each other and from behind, it was tough to tell which one was the woman. I hope the pics come out OK.

In football news, OSU beat Cincinnati 37-7 and M*ch*g*n stomped Notre Dame by some rediculous score of, like 976 to 24. Ok, it wasn't that bad, but it made me gain a bit of fear for the OSU vs UM game at the end of the season.

Lone Star Ass Kickin'

#1 Ohio State rolled into Austin Texas this weekend to take on the #2 ranked (and defending National Champions) Texas Longhorns. I think is it pretty safe to say that this is probably the most looked forward to game of the college football season. #1 meets #2 in the second week of the season. It is the first time that #1 played #2 in the last ten years in a non conference match (other than in the Title game, of course). After Texas beat OSU last year in the Shoe, OSU fans have been looking forward to this rematch hoping for some payback. Well, we got it. Ohio State defeated Texas 24 to 7. It was great watching the Buckeyes live up to their hype as the #1 rated team in the country. The offense was stellar and the defense was able to shut down the Texas offense when it counted by forcing a fumble and an interception. The Longhorns only touchdown came after a questionable 'roughing the passer' penalty that gave Texas a first down inside the OSU ten yard line. By 'questionable' I mean bullshit. Anyway, I think the playeer of the game had to be Anthony Gonzalez, OSU wide receiver. IT seemed like every time OSU needed a completion to keep the drive alive, 'Gonzo' was the go to guy. Well, I won't go into too many details of the game,but it was awesome to watch and I could not hope for a better outcome. There were also some other interesting games this past Saturday:

Notre Dame stomped Penn State 41 to 17. I really thought that this game would have been closer than it was. Man, what a shocker.

Iowa had to go to OT to barely beat Syracuse. Another suprise since Iowa is expecting a good year. In their defense, they were missing their starting QB due to injury.

The other Big Ten teams that OSU will face this year did about as I expected. I must say that I really like how this OSU team is not looking beyond any opponent. The first week, all they talked about was NIU. The second week, they would only talk about Texas. When asked about the upcoming Big Ten season, the responses were all geared toward this coming week's game against Cincinnati. Concidering the problems that the Bearcats have given OSU, I am glad they the Buckeyes aren't over looking UC.

The Resistance

Scifi.com is webcasting a little mini series called The Resistance. It is updated every Tuesday and Thursday and is based on Battlesta Galactica, the best show on television. The webcasts are little two minute bits telling the story of the humans on New Caprica, now occupied by the Cylons. I watched the second clip today, but I missed the first one that aired Tuesday. Since I couldn't figure out how to watch the first episode today, my guess is that you can only watch the webcast on the day that it premires. I'm hoping that changes since I'd like to see all of the episodes. Apparently, it is about how some of the humans start to fight back against the Cylons and their occupation of New Caprica. Anyway, after the episode, there were some clips of the new BSG season that starts in LESS THAN A MONTH!!!! (Oct 6th, if you didn't know) I was hoping that the second half of season two would be released on DVD before the new season starts, but it doesn't look like that will happen. However, thanks to the incredible invention called DVR, I can record the back episodes of BSG (airing on Scifi at, like, 2:00 am on Saturday) so that I can refresh my memory of how season 2 ended. It's not as good as a DVD, since there are commercials, but at least I can fast forward through them. I'll probably DVR all of the new season so that I can go back and watch the episodes over and over and over. You may think that a bit extreme, but I think that I've watched the first season seven or eight times. Yes, the show is that good. Buy the DVDs, get caught up, get hooked.

1 and 0 and Ready To Go!

Ohio State won their opener against Northern Illinois yesterday 35 to 12. I won't bore you with all of the details, since you can click on the link and check out ESPN.com. I will touch on a few things though:

Good:

Troy Smith looked GREAT as he passed for over 72%, almost 300 yards, and for 3 TDs.
Ted Ginn Jr. like he could get open at will. He had 4 catches for 123 yards and 2 TD
Antonio Pittman ran for over 100 yards.

Bad:

The offense lost the ball twice inside the red zone, costing two scoring opportunites
The kicking team missed two field goal attempts that, in the past, would have been a sure thing

All in all, I was happy with the offense and the defense. The defense gave up a few big plays, but was able to rally and hold NIU to 12 points. Next Saturday is the Big One doen in Austin Texas. It should be another good game and hopfully the Buckeyes will be able to come out on top this year. If the defense can improove a little bit and the offense can hold on to the ball, I think they have a good chance of winning.

Poker Dreams

I've been doing pretty well with my poker playing lately. In six of the last four games that I have played in, I have won money. I have come in second in two tournaments and I have won money in four cash games. I guess the point I am trying to make, is that I am becoming pretty confident in my poker playing. Lately I have been thinking about trying to take my game up to the next level. I'm sure that many of you have seen World Series of Poker tournaments on ESPN or the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel, but what you may not know is that there are regional tournaments throughout the country. In fact, there are WSOP tournaments as close to me as Ceasars Casino in Indiana. My worry is that I am either just getting lucky lately, or the people I play cards with just aren't too good. Maybe it's just a combination of the two. No disrespect if you've ever played with me, of course. Honestly, I think I have just been lucky lately. Still, I would like to have the chance to play in a big tourney to see how I fare. In all likelyhood, I will be one of many who think they are good at poker, but they get their asses handed to them by the real pros. I am amazed at times by some of the play I see from the pros in the WSOP games I see on ESPN. One of my favorite pros, Daniel Nagranu (probably spelled wrong, sorry) was on the other night and he was nailing every call. It's like he could see everyone elses cards. It's a little scary. I guess I can always give it a go and see what happens. I have plenty of time to think about it. The next game in Indiana that I would probably be able to make would be in 2007.

Something Funny (I think)

While going through the Sunday paper coupons, Jessica found something that I thought was kinda funny: A coupon for Vagasil. Now, I don't think it's funny that there was a yeast infection treatment coupon in the paper. I know it is a reality for some women and it's good that there is a product out there to take care of the situation. What I found funny is that there was a September 29th expiration date on the coupon. I guess if a woman is prone to getting yeast infestions on a regular basis, she may buy a supply to have on hand just in case, but the first thing that I tought of was a coupon crazed woman seeing that coupon and thinking, "Boy, I hope I get a yeast infection before this coupon expires." Maybe it's not as funny as I think it is, but I had a good chuckle. To be honest, I really don't see the need for these types of products to advertise. If you need vagasil, you know about it. It's like those commercials for medications perscribed by doctors. If you have herpes, you've gone to your doctor (hopfully) and he gave you (hopfully) the correct medication. If you have high blood pressure, your doctor should know about the different treatments. Sorry, I don't mean to get off track. I just don't see why some medications need commercials.

It's about that time again.

It's time for most of my female readers to look at the title of my post, see that it is OSU football related, and them move on to a different web site. Well, sorry ladies, but the Buckeyes kick off the 2006 season in six days against Northern Ilinois University. At first, I wasn't too concerned about this game. But then, I saw some clips of the NIU running back out running entire defensive squads, including a 70 or 80 yard run against M*ch*g*n. I mean, this guy was FAST. With Ohio State's line backer corps depleated by the NFL, a fast running back could really cause some issues this coming Saturday. Something else that causes me some concern is that ESPN 'experts' have picked Ohio State to win the National Title. Add that to the pre-season #1 ranking and you might as well draw a big bullseye on the Buckeye football team this year. I liked it better when we started out low in the national rankings and OSU fans had to listen to all of the commentators talk about how badly Miami was going to kick Ohio State's ass in the title game. Well, I will remain optimistic, but will try not to get my hopes up too high. The game in Austin Texas in two weeks will probably be the best gauge as to whether or not the Buckeyes can reclaim the National Title this year.

Galactica vs. a Star Destroyer

I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask the question: If Adama and the Galactica crew were to stumble into the Star Wars 'verse and run into an Emperial Star Destroyer, who would win? As you know, I have been collecting both Star Wars and Battle Star Galactica miniatures. Yesterday I found a Viper Mark VII to complete my BSG collection (there were only three ships: The Galactica, the Viper Merk VII, and a Cylon Riader) and this morning I put the ships on my desk. I have an A-Wing and a Star Destoryer up there too. Seeing the Star Destoryer and the Galactica next to each other, the previously mentioned question popped into my head. I have to admit, I am a bit stumped by the question. Here are my thoughts:

1. A Star Destroyer has energy weapons. Galactica has projectile based weapons. Advantage Star Destroyer

2. A Star Destroyer has energy shields that can be taken out if you hit the shield generator. Galactica has an outer hull that can withstand a nuclear blast. Advantage Galactica

3. The Star Destroyer has squadrons of TIE Fighters. Galactica has squadrons of Vipers. In my opinion, the Vipers are much more manuverable and the pilots are better (TIE fighter pilots always seem to fly right into an X-Wing's line of fire). Also, the Viper can perform a 180 turn in a split second. Advantage Galactica.

4. If this battle were to take place in the Star Wars 'verse, the Star Destroyer would have all sorts of back up, considering there are hundreds of Star Destroyers. So, if the Star Destroyer would get into trouble, they could call for help and several more Destroyers, or the Executor, Vader's Super Star Destroyer, could come in and mop up the Galactica. Not to mention the Death Star. However, if this battle were to take place on neutral ground, I like Galactica's chances. They have been up against the odds many times. In a neutral setting, advantage Galactica.

5. The commanders of Star Destroyers always seemsed to be cocky and stupid. Whenever they'd fail (which was often) they would go apologise to Vader thinking that he would forgive them and respect the fact that they took responsibility for thier screw ups. Come on! Vader force-choaked more Star Destroyer commanders than I can count. Adama, on the other hand, is smart and daring. He took two to the chest and was too stubborn to know that he should have died. Advantage Galactica.

Having never seen a Star Destoryer and the Galactica next to each other, I can't really judge the size differences. I tend to think that the Star Destroyer is bigger (the Emperor seems like the kind of guy that would buy big, fancy rides to compensate for some short comings) but I think that the Galactica is built sturdier and could be functional after taking more punishment. So, my verdict is this: If the Battlestar Galactica went one on one against an Emperial Star Destroyer, I think that the Galactica would come out on top after a long drawn out battle. Yes, the Galactica would be severly damaged, but Adama would pull out all of the stops in order to insure a victory, where as an Empirial commander would pee himself and worry too much about getting force choaked by Vader. The winner: Galactica

The 4400....a Pleasant Suprise.

So, lately I have been getting Star Trek, Voyager on my NetFlix. I have viewed seasons 1 through 6 and have started on the seventh (and final) season. However, like in some previous weeks, NetFlix has sent me some DVDs that were not at the top of my list. This is an irritant to me, but at least I get DVDs that are on my list. Yesterday, instead of getting discs 3, 4, and 5 of Voyager, I got discs one and two of The 4400 season one and Disk one of the new Dr. Who series. The 4400 was a request from my wife. She had seen a few episodes and wanted to watch it from the beginning. I never really had any interest in the show, but was pleased after watching the first disc. If you don't know, The 4400 is a series about 4400 people fro mall around the world that were taken throughout the years by some entity (aliens, a higher power, the government, we don't know who. Maybe Woody took them). They are all returned at the same time in Seattle. It doesn't matter that they were returned in Seattle, they could have been returned in NYC, Houston, or Po-dunk Ohio (I madeup that town). It is a little sad in some respects, because some of these people have been missig for several years and their families have either died or moved on with their lives (the people were returned without aging and it was like time did not pass for them). As the show goes along, we discover that someof the 'returnees' came back with powers. It's all very X-Files like. So far, the story is very interesting. Thee are two government agents (a Skully and a Mulder) who are investigating where the 4400 went and how they came back. I won't get into it too much because I highly recommend that you go out and rent this series. So far, it's been pretty good. I was fairly rivetted by disc one.

360 Update

As you may know, I recently bought an Xbox 360. For games, I bought Kameo and Prey. I have played both games now, and can give you my two cents on each.

Kameo is a game where you are an elf princess (please don't read into that.) who needs to go around the elf world and collect powers so that you can fight trolls. It was pretty fun. The graphics were pretty good, but there were times when the point of view would get a little out of control. What I mean is, if I would stand in a patch of grass and look up high, it would look like I laid down in the grass so that it would cover my head and block my view. I hope that makes sense. Really, that is the only glitch though. It was kinda fun because you would need to switch up your powers regularly in order to be successful in the game. Each power would make you morph into a different creature with specific abilities. For example, there was a dragon named Ash, a snow creature names 40 Below, and my favorite: Thermite, a small ant-like insect that hauled a huge, lava/mortar cannon on it's back. All in all, it was a fun game, but was definately a kid-geared game. I found that it was pretty easy to beat.

I haven't beaten Prey yet. I've only been able to put a few hours into it so far since it is rated M for mature, has foul language, and isn't appropriate for children. In this game, you are a Cherokee that is abducted by aliens. The goal for the game is to find your girlfriend (also abducted) and escape the ship. You find alien weapons as you go and need to find different ways to get through the ship. There are anti-gravity walkways that let you walk up-side down and on the walls in order to navigate the alien vessle. It's a little disorienting at times, but so far it's been pretty fun. Honestly, it's just making me want Halo 3.

Oh yeah, I just bought NCAA Football 07. I've played a few games and so far it is pretty difficult. You have a 25 second play clock, like in real life, but that means that you have to scroll though all the plays, pick one, get to the line and hike the ball in 25 seconds. It's a hard at times. I have picked a few favorites that I use, but it's still hard to play. I know that it's something that I need to get used to. The graphics are incredible. The game has all of the NCAA division 1 teams, all of their stadiums, all of their mascotts, and bands. It's pretty cool. I need to practice some more and figure out how to play a season.

V. Not Just a Mini-Series About Lizard Aliens Anymore

As you may or may not know, I am a fan of The Matrix Trilogy. Three movies about Neo and Morphius and their fight to stop the machines that took over the earth. If you've seen the movies, you know what I'm talking about. If you have not, go to the video store and check them out. When I saw the first film, I was blown away. I didn't know much about it, as I think that the story was kept under wraps, so when the 'suprise' was revealed, it was pretty intense. The two following movies weren't as shocking (since you knew the secret) but they wrapped up the story, had stellar special effects, and great action sequences. If fact, I think tomorrow I may have a Matrix film fest.

Ok, the point. The makers of the Matrix movies have put out another film, called 'V for Vendetta'. It is based off of a comic (DC comics, I think) of the same name. I'd never read the comic or heard of the story before, but I was such a fan of the Matrix that I bought the DVD when it came out last week. I was not disappointed. The story is gripping and, like the Matrix, there are great action sequences and special effects. It is quite like 1984 (A GREAT book about a dystopic future). England is ruled by a strong government that keeps a tight reign on the populace. A masked figure rises up and starts a rebellion of sorts against the government. It's really quite interesting how everything plays out. Natalie Portman is in the film and plays a bit of a love interest for the main character know as V. I won't go into it too much because it is a good movie and worth a viewing. I don't know that I like it more than the Matrix, but I am working on watching this movie a second time as I type.

Gone 360

I was in a grumpy mood earlier this week. It happens to all of us at one point or other. So, I listened to my feminine side and went shopping. I suppose I should go back a little bit and say that, in the past week or two, I played and beat Halo and Halo 2 (yet again). The Halo games are by far the best first person shooters that I have ever played. Doom 3 is pretty kick ass too, but Halo has a great mulit player function that puts it on top. Needless to say, playing these two games got me to thinking about Halo 3. It's not out yet and I understand that it will only be released for the Xbox 360. So, I decided to break down and get the 360 now, since I needed new games to play. Yes, I could have gove the cheap route and bought some new Xbox games, but I went a little crazy. Grumpy moods tend to make me want to spend money. I bought two games with it, Kameo and Prey. I'd seen Kameo commercials and it looked good, so I went with it. It's pretty fun. Prey is a first person shooter and the graphics looked sweet, so I thought what the heck. Now, when Halo 3 is out, I will be good to go. Plus Fable 2 will be out on the 360 and I really liked Fable. So, anyone know any good 360 games?

T-minus 29 days and counting

I heard on the radio today that my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked #1 in the pre-season polls. I'm not too sure how I feel about that. Yes, it's great that the Bucks are getting some pre-season respect, but being #1 is like painting a bullseye on your chest and going to a firing range. Yes, we are returning almost all of the starters on the offensive squad, but we lost about half of the defensive starters. I have faith in the coaching staff and think that the offense is going to put up some mad numbers this year, I am just a little bit nervous about the defense. Then there is the schedule. The second week of the season, the Buckeyes get to go play Texas. The only silver lining is that Vince Young is no longer playing for the Longhorns. Still, it is going to be a nerve wracking game to watch. Two weeks later, Penn State rolls into Columbus. All of the Big Ten games are going to be tough this year. Probably the toughest game of the year is going to be The Big One, when M*ch*g*n defiles the OSU campus on the 18th of November. A wierd thing that I noticed is that OSU doesn't have a bye week this season. The silver lining is that every rough game is followed by a game that should be not-so-tough. No game is a given, the MAC teams thrown in the schedule will take the edge off the rough Big Ten season this year. Something else to be excited about are the two Heisman Trophy candidates on the Buckeye offense, Ted Ginn Jr and Troy Smith. I have to admit, I wasn't always a fan of Mr. Smith, but by the end of last season, he showed everyone that he can lead the team to victory in tough games. Had he been the started all year, OSU could have won the National Title. Well, I look to this season with a great amount of enthusiasm.

Northern Illinois Sept. 2, 3:30 pm
@ Texas Sept. 9, 8:00 pm
Cincinnati Sept. 16, Noon
Penn State Sept. 23, TBA
@ Iowa Sept. 30, 8:00pm
Bowling Green Oct. 7, TBA
@ Michigan St. Oct. 14, TBA
Indiana Oct. 21, TBA
Minnesota Oct. 28, 3:30
@ Illinois Nov. 4, TBA
@ Northwestern Nov. 11, TBA
M*ch*g*n Nov. 18, 3:30

Cookout....mmmmmm....

Well, our cookout went pretty well this past Saturday. We kicked off at 2:00, but the main crowd didn't show up until later in the afternoon. It was a good turnout with several of my highschool chums showing up, including Woody, Moe, Amy K, Betsy, and Herb. Herb showed up with his wife and three little girls (all cute) and Amy showed up with her husband and daughter (also cute). My bowling buddies showed up with their ladies and kids, and several of Jessica's work friends came with spouses and kids in tow. I think everyone had a pretty good time. The beers were flowin' and I mixed up several drinks throughout the evening. I still have a ton of alcohol, but thankfully most of the food is gone. We stil have some cookies, which could be a threat to getting back on out diet. I have to say, it was really great to see my highschool friends. We don't get together nearly as much as I'd like. It will be even harder now with Moe, Bryan and Gretchen, Amy and Johnny, and Tonya and Jay all moving out of Columbus (not to mention out of the state). I will do my part and try to have a cookout every year. Check out Woody's site if you want to see some pictures of the party.

New Star Trek Flick

I bought a TV guide this week. Not because I need a television guide, but because it was a 'Sci-Fi Preview' and had articles about BSG and a new Star Trek movie in the works. There wasn't much information regarding BSG, just that there are a lot of changes and someone will die in episode three (a substantial character). The big news to me was that there will be a new Star Trek movie. Yes, I've stated that twice already, once in the title and then in my first sentence, but I found this information very interesting. I've seen all of the previous Star Trek and TNG movies to date. The best Star Trek movie, in my opinion, is The Wrath of Kahn and the best TNG movie, in my opinion, was First Contact. There have also some real stinkers in the Star Trek movie line, including Generations (Kirk in a Next Generation flick? Come on.) and The Final Frontier (the one where they go looking for God). Anyway, the next movie in the Star Terk line is going to be based in the Kirk and Spock era, back when they were in the Academy together. The article didn't go into too much detail, but the creator of Lost is going to be at the helm of the project. I don't watch Lost, but I hear it's pretty good. I'm not too sure how thrilled I am about the general idea of the movie. It seems like a step back. I guess that a Voyager movie is out of the question, since the crew made it back to Earth, and a Deep Space nine movie would be dumb too since that series wrapped up too. I guess the only options are Enterprise, which wasn't that great of a show, TNG, or the original crew. If it were me, I would create a whole new crew for future Trek movies. I really see no need to use Kirk and Spock or Picard and Riker for every movie. At least they are changing up things a bit by putting Spock and Kirk in their Academy days. I just hope that they don't try to squeeze William Shattner or Leonard Nemoy into cadet uniforms.

The Drink Menu

For our cook out this weekend, I thought I'd go through my drink book and come up with a list of drinks that I can make with the ingredients that I have on hand. Ok, so I went and got a few extra supplies so that I could make a few different drinks that sounded good to me, but that doesn't make me an alcoholic, does it? Well, here's the list. If you can't find a drink that you like, you need to bring your own drinks. Yes, we will have soda and lemonade for the kiddies and for those of you that would rather stay sober.

ADULT

Blue Hawaiian
Bay Breeze
Blue Margarita
Cape Cod
Margarita
Long Beach Tea
Long Island Iced Tea
Lynchburg Lemonade
Madras
Manhattan
Appletini
Orange Crush
Pink Lemonade
Rum & Coke
Screw Driver
Stone Sour
Kamikaze
Nuclear Kamikaze
Lemon Drop
Sangria
Beer

I started making some food this weekend. I want to get a jump on things so that I don't have alot of cooking to do Saturday.

Eureka

So, I watched the premire of this new show on Sci Fi the other day, called Eureka. It was prety good. Not great, but it didn't suck. It's about a US Marshall that stumbles into a small town (called Eureka) full of geniuses working on top secret experiments. Security is tight and the town sheriff tries to keep the marshall in the dark, but there are too many strange side effects that are effecting the town and the marshall finds out the town's secret. An interesting idea. Really though, the most exciting part of watching Eureka was a five minute teaser of the third season of Battlestar Gallactica. IT LOOKS GREAT!!! I got excited just watching that few minutes. I am still angry that we need to wait until October for new episodes of the greatest show on TV. Anyway, Eureka was pretty interesting. If you are bored and it's on, I'd watch it.

The day is near

T-minus nine days until our big cookout. It looks like we will have a pretty good turnout. I went to Sam's to get some party suppies yesterday. I am concerned about having enough food, but it seems like the last few cookouts that we've had, I made entirely too much food. After the last cookout, we had to eat left overs for almost a week to get rid of everything. Of course, this one looks to be bigger than the last. I'm predicting about 30 people. It looks like almost all of the AWHS grads I;ve invited will be able to make it. There will also be several people from my work and several people from Jessica's work. All in all, it should be a pretty good crowd. If you read my posts and are interested in attending (if I accidentally forgot to invite you) peave me a comment and I can email you the info. Anyway, the menu will include burgers, brats, hot dogs, and chicken. Also, baked beans (for the tooting), salads, chips and dips, and some other appetizers. I am planning on making monster cookies and a chocolate peanut butter bar thing. Yum. We will also have plenty of yummy drinks if you are planning on imbibing alcohol. I'll be able to mix margaritas, Long Island Iced Teas, Appletinis, Manhattans, well, basically anything that you could ask for, even beer! For the kiddies, we will have a variety of sodas. I was thinking about getting one of those Corn Hole games, thinking that they'd cost only a few bucks ($40 or $50) but they are on sale online for over $100 plus shipping. I guess I could look locally, but I doubt that I'll be able to find them much cheaper. I think that we should have enough going on since there will be people that haven't seen each other for ten years or so. Lots of catching up. I guess if people get bored, I have some board games and cards, plus the Xbox. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.

Pirates and Racism at Toys R Us

I may have mentioned previously, but we recently found a pair of sisters that are of babysitting age. This means that Jessica and I can get out of the house every once in a while to escape the kids. Last night was one of those occasions for us. I was going to have a poker game, but I cancelled it because no one could make it. So, I suggested a night on the town. It was a pretty good time. We started out with dinner as BD Mongolian BBQ. It's like a buffet (we took a night off of our diet) where you put together your meal (they have a large variety of fresh meats, veggies, and sauces) and they cook it in front of you. You can go back as many times as you want. It was pretty good stuff. We were then going to go see Pirates of the Carribbean 2, but had about 45 minutes to kill before we needed to be at the theater. So, we decided to go to Toys R Us to check out the latest in toys and games. I was looking for one of those BSG Colonial Vipers and and Xbox games while Jessica was looking at dolls. After I was through looking, I met Jessica at the girly toy area and she said that she was a little offended. I naturally asked why and she pointed to two dolls marked for clearance. They were the same size, had the same clothes, were made by the same company, and were vertually identical in every way. Only, one was a black doll and one was a white doll. The white doll was $19.95 and the black doll was $9.95. Is that crazy or what? Granted, there were, like seven or eight black baby dolls and ony one white one, but how can you sell the same toy for different prices just because the skin pigmentation is different? If I were a black man, I think I would have been really pissed off. I know we were in Dublin, which is a predominantly white community, but what kind of message does it send to little girls who see that a black baby doll is worth half as much as the white baby doll? It wasn't just this model either. There was a smaller doll on clearance and the white ones were $9.95 and the black ones were $2.95. I think that Toys R Us is really risking some serious PR issues with this. Get Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson in here and Toys R Us is in a world of racial troubles. I understand the concept of supply and demand, there were more black baby dolls than white ones, but you can sell the same toy, or any product, for different prices just because the colors are different. Can you? I'm still a bit floored by that. I wsh I had my camera with me for documentation.

We finally made it to the movie. It was pretty good. Some of the scenes were a bit over the top for my taste, but there were some good funny parts and good action sequences. The effects were good too. It was sorta like The Empire Strikes Back in that it leaves you hanging at the end. I won't go into details, but this is the first part of a two part movie story. You definately get a 'Han is frozen in carbonite and things don't look good for the rebellion' feeling at the end of this movie. You need to have seen the first movie to get all of the jokes and dramatic character appearances. Almost everyone is back from the first flick. If you were a fan of the first movie, you should go see this one too.

Don't They Care?

As you may or may not know, I enjoy playing poker. Texas Hold'em is my game. I've been playing for a year or two and like to think that I am an OK player. I'd say that I win money about 50% of the times that I play. I started out playing in tournaments where all of the entry money goes into a prize pool and the winner of the game gets most of the money, depending on the pay-outs. You may get $2000 in chips for a $20 entry fee. When you lose your chips, you're out. If you watch poker on TV, you are watching a tournament. Lately, I have been playing in a cash game every once in a while. What a cash game means is that if you put in $20 as an entry fee, you get $20 in chips. If you lose your chips, you can buy more. I have played in this cash game three times now. Needless to say, I think I have the players figured out, but maybe not. I say that I think I have them figured out because, the first time I played with them I put in $73 and left with $138, the second time I played with them I put in $40 and left with $148, and last night I put in $20 and left with $200. This is why I am starting to think that I have gotten pretty OK at this poker thing. Doing the math shows that I am up about $350 on these people. I don't think that I am overly aggressive when I play or extremely lucky. If I get a hand, I play it. If I miss a hand, I can usually tell if I can bluff a person out of the hand or not. I also think my success is because the other players can't really figure me out. I have most of them pegged and know most of their tendancies. I ask 'Do they care?' because it just seems like they are ok with betting, losing, and buying back into the game. One of the guys lost all of his money and went to the ATM to get more. TWICE!!! Me, I took out $60 because that is what I'd be willing to lose. Thankfully, I did not need the whole $60. I guess it's good that they are willing to put in more money because the more they put in, the more I can win. I guess I just don't get the mind set of the poker player that is willing to keep throwing money into a game when they are constantly losing. It must be nice to be able to afford losing a ton of money playing cards. Actually, I think I am happy in the role of the person that collects.

DVR, Worth the $7 per month

I just got the greatest piece of technology on Tuesday. DVR. It's like TiVo, but you don't need to buy a special box for $100 or so. All I did was call Time Warner and say, "Hey, I want DVR." The set up a time for us to get a new box, sent out a tech and I had DVR after a five minute installation. If you don't know, DVR adds the availability to your cable box to record TV shows. You can watch one show while taping another, or you can tape two shows at once (if you are out of the house. The only thing is that you haev to be tuned into one of the shows.) We can also pause live televisions and then rewind and fast forward accordingly. Want to watch that touchdown pass again? Rewind and replay. Want to pause commercials? Hit pause for a few minutes and then hit 'live' and the show will continue in real time. It also has a picture in picture feature. I can watch the OSU game on one channel and another game in the PIP. AWESOME!!!! The coolest thing is that we can tape the shows and then fast forward through the commercials and boring parts. Fo example, we watched Nightmares and Dreamscapes on TNT (shows based on Stephen King stories) but weanted to watch the last hour of America's got Talent. We pressed record for America's got Talent and tuned in TNT. After the Stephen Kind shows, we went to the recorded America's got Talent (an hour was left in the show) and fast forwarded through the commercials and BS parts and just watched the acts in 25 minutes. IT WAS GREAT!!! The thing that drives me nuts about reality TV is the waisted minutes on BS things. Cut to the chase. Get to the good parts of the show. Now, I can do that. I highly recommend the DVR feature it it is available in your area.

Goofy New Dog

I am sure I have mentioned that we have a new dog. His name is Moose and was Jessica's mom's dog. There was much drama getting him away from the guy that Jessica's mom lived with, but we knew that Sue would not have wanted us to leave Moose with that jerk. Long story. Anyway, He is pretty well behaved. He was spoiled like crazy, so it's taking him a little while to be treated like a dog again. He likes to crap upstairs, so we don't let him up there anymore. Maybe in a while when he is used to going outside all of the time (he's getting alot better about that) we may let him have the run or the house. Personally, I don't mind having a space that is dog-free. Lexie gets along with him alright. There are a few times when she gets irritated and has to let Moose know that she is the boss-dog of the house. Oh by the way, Moose is a French Bulldog. Goofy looking thing.

BSG collectables

As you may know, I have been collecting Star Wars die cast ships for Gabriel. I decorated his room in a Star Wars motiff and used the ships as decoration. It looks pretty cool. Anyway, I was checking Target for any new ships that I may not have already (I saw a Millenium Falcon there, ut I already had a Millenium Falcon with battle damage. Didn't think I needed both) and I came across a cool discovery. My favorite show, Battle Star Galactica, has some die cast ships out too! I think there are only three, the Battlestar, a Cylon Raider, and a Colonial Viper. I only saw the Battlestar and the Raider, so I am keeping my eyes peeled for a Viper. I am not one of those obsessive collectors that keep the ships in their protective cases, I actually get them out to look at and display. I don't care about resale value. They're toys for crying out loud. Anyway, I just thought these were cool.

Signs of Summer

Do you know how I know it's Summer? I have had a sever allergic reaction to something growing in my back yard, not once, but twice this year. I think it's poison sumac. I know what poison ivy looks like and would never touch it, but I've never really seen poison sumac or poison oak before. I guess it could be poison oak, but does it really matter? The point is I am itchy and miserable and have been sine the weekend. I finally broke down and called our doctor. He's great. He works with Jessica sometimes (some of her nursing home residents are his patients) and he knows that she is a good nurse, so she can just call him and request a perscription and he'll write it for her. No, he won't give us morphine or anything serious, but he wrote me a perscription for something to help with my rash. We also got some soap that helps and an anti itch spray. I am feeling a bit less crazy now. When I touch one of the 'poison' plants mentioned, I get the bad reaction on the point of contact (itchy blisters) but it also travels thoughout my system and makes me break out in a rash everywhere. That's what makes this so unbearable. I can deal with an itchy hand, but throw in my arms, legs, and body, I go a little crazy. Anyway, it's clearing up a bit, so I should be ok in a few days. Needless to say, I am spraying any weeds that I cannot identify myself.

Sign number two of summer, this pretty butterfly that flitted around out backyard for a while. We think is may be a Buckeye, but are not sure.

I am George Lucas's Bitch

I am sure that you all know by reading this blog that I like sci fi. I've always been a fan of the Star Trek shows, and LOVE Battle Star Galactica. What you may not know is that this sci fi streak in me was born when I saw Star Wars. Back then, it was just called Star Wars, not Star Wars, Episode Four, A New Hope. I own three copies of the the original trilogy. Mr. Lucas, or as I like to call him, Mr. Marketing Genius, sold the movies on VHS, which I bought. Then sold the Special Edition movies on VHS, which I bought. And then released the films on DVD, which I was gifted on Christmas. I also have two copies of Episode One, the Phantom Menace. VHS and DVD. At my parent's house, there is a huge box of old figures and vehicles from my childhood. I own several Star Wars Lego sets, Star Wars Xbox games, Star Wars Nintendo games, Star Wars Pez dispensers, and Gabriel's room is decked out in Star Wars decor. Needless to say, I've lined George Lucas's pockets a bit. This was done yet again yesterday when the family and I went to COSI, the science center here in Columbus, to see the Star Wars exhibit. It was pretty cool, but we had to wait two hours before we could get into the exihibit. No, we weren't in a line that long. We bought our entry tickets to Cosi at 2:00, but were not allowed into the Star Wars area until 4:15. They obviously know that they everyone wants to see the Star Wars stuff. So, we went around to the other exhibits to pass the time. Oddly enough, we ran into the Hogg girls (Tonya, Terry, and Tammy) and Doug Sheridan. They were a bit distracted though since all of their children (between the three Hogg girls, they have 8) ran into the Space exhibit as we were exiting. By the way, the Space exhibit and Ocean exhibit freaked out Gabriel and Alydia a bit. They are a bit loud. When we finally got into the Star Wars exhibit, it was pretty cool. There were several scale models, lots of costumes, and other attractions. It was pretty cool. We took lots of pictures of the boys in front of things. Alydia wasn't so impressed. She was a pretty good girl though for being in a stroller so long. If you are interested in Star Wars, I recommend that you check out the COSI exhibit.

Season Four. The Best Season of Voyager to Date.

As you know I have been geting old TV series on DVD through my Netflix subscription. This has been a little frustrating to me because, lately, I have been getting a lot of DVDs out of order. If you don't know, with Netflix, you make a list of DVDs to be sent to you. They are supposed to send the movie at the top of your list. I have Been getting Star Trek Voyager lately. It is probably my favorite Star Trek series. Deep Space nine may be a close second. Anyway, I guess someone else in the general area is getting Voyager too, because there have been a few times that I get movies further down on my list. I am glad that Netflix doesn't just send me disk one of season five if I am waiting to receve disk two of season four. They have the brains to know that I have all seven Voyager seasons on my queue and want to watch them in order. Well, let me bet back to the point.

The reasons that Voyager is my favorite it because:

1. The story is compelling. A Star Fleet ship is flung across the galaxy my a powerful entity and are stranded 70 years from home. The crew meets all sorts of hostile aliens that want to steal their technology or just plain kill them. They spend the next seven seasons trying to get back to Federation space.

2. Kinda connected to reason 1, there is all sorts of special effects and space battles. This probable raises me up on the geek factor, but I could watch hours of space battles with good special effects. I think that a great Star Trek Series would be full of space battles, like the Federation is being invaded by a superior force. Kinda like Deep Space Nine when the Dominion invaded, but at a larger scale. Similar to Battle Star Galactica, only based in the Trekkie universe. They'd have to create new technology to defend themselves against a superior force.

3. Finally, three words - Seven of Nine (See picture). As a teen, The addition of Seven of Nine to the Voyager crew (in season four) put a smile on my face and a funny feeling in my trousers. I saw an interview with the actress, Jeri Ryan, who said that her uniform was so tight that she almost passed out once. She was added to the show to try to perk the interest of the viewers in an attempt to stimulate the dropping ratings. I'd say it worked since the series went another four seasons.

Anyway, season four is the best Voyager season to date. I have disk one at home and already watched it once. I think I will try to watch it again this morning before the mail is picked up. It is just full of non stop action (and Seven of Nine). Seasons one through three are deffinately worth the watch, but I may have to go out ane buy season four.

Poker Pet Peeves

As you all know, I enjoy playing Texas Hold'em. If I were granted a 'Make a Wish' type thing, my wish would be to be flown out to Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker's big game. It's, like, $10000 to get into that game, but it's huge. Lots of celebs and pokers best players get together for a gianormous tourney that usually lasts days. I'd get my ass kicked, but at least I'd know if I was as good as I think I may be. A few weeks ago I turned $13 into $130 and last night I turned $20 into $144. Am I that good, or are the people I played just that bad? I think it's a combination, but mostly the latter applies. Needless to say, I am happy that the past few games I've played have put me in the plus in the money department. The best feeling in the world is when you know that you have the best hand and someone else initiates the betting. I swear that I could hear the opening cash register sound inside my head. Anyway, I have several pet peeves when I play poker, and I experienced some of them last night:

Loud Players. I can't stand being at a table with someone that thinks that they will get a read off of me by talking loud being irritating. Not to sound racist, but this tactict is usually is a black thing. One game I played in, there was a guy that would literally talk (loudly) for five to ten minutes before making a bet or a call. You aren't going to read me, just play your fucking cards. I was thankful when he was taken out of the game.

Table Talkers. This is slightly different from Loud Players. Table talkers are people who show their cards to other players that have already folded in order to get their opinion, people that encourage other players to make a call, or that give playing advice in the middle of a hand. They'd kick you out of a game in Vegas for pulling that kind of crap. A memorable case of this is a game I played when I bet big on a bluff (I knew the other guy in the hand had nothing and was going to fold) and someone talked the other player into calling me. I lost.

Chasers. A chaser is someone who has an OK hand, but stay in the hand all the way to the river card to try to catch a hand. This is acceptable sometimes, (like if you already have a lot of money in the pot and don't want to throw it away by folding) but there are some players that start out with crap, the flop gives them more crap, and instead of folding, they stay in the hand until the end. The worst part is when they get the one card that helps them on the river.

Criers. Now, this doesn't actually mean that people break down and cry. A crier is someone that gets beat and then whines about it. Usually, they whine because of a bad beat (which means that they had the best hand going in, but get beat by a lucky card coming up.) but I feel that, if you are willing to bet money on a game of chance, you shouldn't whine when the cards don't fall your way. For example, last night one of the players was talking about someone else whining about a bad beat and he said something like, "It's happened to everyone before. Don't play if you aren't prepared to lose. So play or go home." After saying that, this guy started losing and then whining almost every time. He'd get angry, he'd get sarcastic about the best hand losing, and sarcastic about "the best players always win". When he said that, I wanted to say, "Yes, the best players DO win. You just aren't one of them." What irritated me the most wasn't that he was whining, he was getting bad beats all night, I was irritated that he complained about whiners earlier in the night and then was the whiner. Don't play if you aren't willing to lose. I don't feel sorry for him at all.

A few things...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I guess there hasn't been too much going on lately. I've mostly been working and hangin with the fam. There are a few things to report though:

We are going to proceed with out 'reunion' cookout. In case you are unaware, I am inviting all of the people I know from high school (at least the ones I like) for a cook out before everyone moves their own directions. We will kick things off at 2:00 so that out of town people can come early and leave at a decent time (unless they want to find somewhere to crash). We'll keep going until everyone wants to leave. I'm also going to invite local friends, so we should have a good crowd.

I am really looking forward to Jessica's birthday this year. In lieu of our crappy past few months, we have decided to go on a weekend trip to celebrate Jessica's birthday. We have booked two nights in a hotel at Put-In-Bay. It should be a good time. We're going to go on a tour of some wineries and other attractions and I guess that weekend there will be a casino type party going on. We'll be able to get shnockered and lose some money. I am already excited. We will drop the kids off at my parent's house and have some adult fun. Anyone been to Put-In-Bay lately? Any suggestions on what we should do?

Lawyers are scum

Well, I should ammend the title by stating that SOME lawyers are scum. There are some lawyers that devote their lives to helping others. The lawyers that I am talking about are the ambulance chasers that have been sending us mail daily regarding the accident that Jessica's mom was in last month. Now, I understand that they need to make their money somehow, but you'd think that they would have a little bit of tack when it comes to stuff like this. We've gotten at least twenty letters and packages from lawyers trying to get our business. Don't these people think that accident victems and their families are smart enough to use Google or the phone book to find their own lawyers? There have been letters, folders with sales materials, and even a video tape. Each claiming that the soliciting lawyer will get us the maximum amount of money. The biggest ass of them all was the one that sent to letter to Jessica's mom that started, "I understand that you may have been injured in an automobile accident." Well, I'm afraid that it was a little more serious than that. READ THE WHOLE NEWS ARTICLE DICK HEAD!!! We now just throw away anything that we get from law offices. We do have a lawyer that is going to help us get everything taken care of. My mom knows a lawyer who knew another lawyer that handles accidental death cases. We're meeting with him this week to get some issues ironed out. I really can't wait for this whole mess to be done and over with. This situation is rough enough without needing to worry about the legal aspect.

Thank You!

I just wanted to send a quick 'thank you' to To all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and cards that you have sent to my family during the past few weeks. As you all know, it has been a really rough time for us over the past month. Your support and well wishes are greatly appreciated. Also, thanks for all of the cards and gifts for Alydia's birthday. The party was exactly what we needed to get our minds off of things for a little while. I am thankful to have so many good friends that would come help us celebrate on such short notice. Alydia is having fun with her toys and Jessica is having fun with the cute outfits. I'll send more personal thank you cards when I get the time. If any of you need anything from us at any time, don't hesitate to ask.

Tourneys vs. Cash Games

Last night I played in a cash game (poker). Basically, what tham means is if you take $20, you play with $20. The chip amounts are based on the money you brought ($.25 $.50 $1.00 etc.). I usually play in tournaments ($20 gets you a specified amount of chips, like $2000) so the cash game experience was a bit different for me. The big difference is that, in tournaments, when you are out of chips, you are out of the game. In cash games, you can play until your wallet is empty. So, if you put in $20 and lose it all, you can buy another $20 of chips and keep going. Ideally, you want to win money without needing to buy in more than once. Another big difference in the cash games is the mentality of the players. People are more likely to overbet their hand or try to chase a hand when they know that they can get more chips if they lose. I can't tell you how many games I had won early, but I'd get called by someone chasing a hand. Then they's hit their had on the river. I started with $73, went down to under $10, and ended up with $130. I almost left, but am glad I didn't. Hand I played of note:

1. I hit a flush when I had less than $10 to get back into the game.
2. I had Ace six of clubs, hit the flush on the flop and slow played two players for about $50
3. The best play of the night: I had 6 3 of clubs and tried to buy the pot (I was on a flush draw). I was raised, and then I went over the top with an all in. I had nothing, but I could tell that the other guy had nothing too. I was able to scare him out of the hand (or else I would have been broke). To add insult to injury, I showed my cards. He was not happy about folding to a six high. I love poker.

X-Men 3..... I liked it.

This Memorial Day, I took the boys to see the latest (and last?) installment of the X-Men movie series. I was a little nervous about this movie. In general, as a movie, I really liked X3. It was full of action and the story was good. Plus, this film added two of my favs to the X-Men movie mix: The Juggernaut and Kitty Pryde. I always liked the Juggernaut as a bad guy. The unstoppable force. It was a great book when they put Juggernaut up against the Blog (the immovable object). Kitty Pryde was a bit of a highschool crush for me. I know she's a comic book character, but I didn't get much play back in my comic reading day. Also, Kelsey Grammer play the Beast very well. They did a good job with that character. Another thing that I liked about all of the X-Men movies, is that they all kept a certain distance from the comic books. Yes, there are some similarities in the plot lines, but the movie makers never completely stole whole stories from the pages of the Marvel Comics. Now, as a fan of the comic book, there are a few things about X3 that did NOT like (If you have not seen thios movie, you may not want to read the following ...SPOILERS!!!:

1. Magneto and Mystique were made human. If they killed them it would be one thing, but to strip these two bad ass mutants of their powers is criminal.
2. Cyclops was killed in the first half hour of the movie. He was an original member of the X-Men. How can you just kill him off like that?
3. Mr. Multiple (Multiple Man?) was a bad guy. If memory serves, he was one of the good guys on the X-Factor team.
4. Rogue took the cure. She is one of my favs from the comic book. Of course, the movie makers took alot of liberties with this character throughout the films, but she was such a powerful mutant and they never really scratched the surface of her potential.
5. Professor X was killed. Yeah, he died in the comic books, and he was brought back, but to see him get killed so easily kinda bothered me. I guess the movie makers were pulling out all of the stops trying to make this film shocking and dark.

As I said, all in all this was a good movie to watch. I'm sure that comic book purists may have several problems with it, but I will definately buy the DVD.

We're gonna have a party....or try at least

In light of all of the shitty things that have been going on this month: Jessica's grandma and mom passed away and my grandma is expected to pass at any time now, we have decided that it is more important than ever to celebrate something good this month. If you are not aware, my sweet little girl is turning one this Thursday. We've been planning a party for her on this Sunday for months. Rather than cancelling or postponing the event, we feel it is important that we celebrate something happy. Anyone that knows us and reads this post is welcome. The more the merrier is what I feel. We are kicking the party off at 12:00 this Sunday. We'll have food and drink. Come make merry with us.

Thank you to everyone that has kept us in their thoughts during this difficult time. We are doing OK and will make it through this. We have great friends and family. Thanks.

Call your mom. Tell her that you love her.

I'm sure that most of you are unaware, but Thursday morning on her way to work, Jessica's mom, Sue, was killed in a car accident. We are doing as well as is expected, but it is rough going. I don't tell you this because I want sympathy. I tell you all this because it is important that your loved ones know that they are loved. Thankfully, Jess had just talked to her mom Wednesday night and told her that she loved her. Sue was on her way to work when the other driver ran a red light. Your thoughts and prayers are welcome. Please, call you mom, dad, brother, spouse, kids, whatever, and tell them that you love them. You never know when something like this could happen. To all my friends reading this, I love you all.

Things To Look Forward To

there's lots of things for me to look forward to in the next few weeks. This Saturday, I am hosting a poker game (starts at 7:00 if you are interested). I enjoy poker quite a bit. I wish I could play it more often than I do. Maybe now that my bowling league is done, I can get into more games. I'm also taking the weekend off so that I can get my garden started. Sure, that's alot of work, but it's more fun than sitting at my computer all day. Next weekend, We will celebrate Alydia's first birthday. Her actual birthday is Thursday the 25th, but the party will be Sunday the 28th (at noon if you're interested). It should be pretty fun. We're going to have brats, burgers, and Tony Paco's dogs. If you've never had a Paco's dog, you're really missing out. It's a Toledo based resturant. YUM. Of course we'll have cake and other bad for you foods. (We're taking a break from our diet.)

In theaters, there are three movies coming up in the next few weeks. This weekend, The Davinci Code will be in theaters. I've read the book and it was pretty good. It should make a good movie. If you've never read the book, it's got all of the elements to make a good movie: action, intrigue, sexual undertones, and it's got Tom Hanks as the star and Ron Howard as the director. That alone should make the movie worth the time. I'm not sure if we will be able to make it out though. Memorial weekend, X-Men 3 will be coming out. It looks pretty good. All of the original cast is returning in the third installment of the X-Men movie series. I've seen a few commercials, but have not seen the trailer yet. Finally, Cars is going to be out in early June. It is a Disney/Pixar movie about cars that are alive. I've seen a few commercials and think that Gabriel will LOVE it. He likes cars and he lokes cartoons. It's really a sure thing that he will want to see this. I may wait for the DVD for this one too. Gabe's attention span is that of a four year old's. Oh year...he IS four. Makes sense.

I was also thinking of having a just friends cookout/poker/Xbox/whatever party sometime in the near future. I'd like to invite my highschool, college, and work friends. That's alot of people, but I think we have enough room with the new house. The patio will help, just so long as the weather is nice. Of course, all of my faithful readers would be invited. I'm thinking, probably Late June or sometime in July. Of course, it could be hotter than heck by then. We'll see. Maybe I should wait until September..... When could y'all make it?

NetFlix screw up

As you may know, I use NetFlix for my DVD rental needs. Lately, I have been getting Star Trek Voyager DVDs. They generally include four episodes per DVD. That means that I have four hours of background noise while I work. Well, instead of sending the next three Voyager DVDs, as listed on my queue, NetFLEX sent me three cinema movies. They were on my list, but we not at the top of the list. They sent The Devil's Rejects, Hostle, and The Incredibles is on the way. I need to check the web site to see if there is a way I can complain. The problem is, if I get a movie that Jessica wants to see, I need to wait until she watches it before I send it back. I need to send movies back in order to get new movies. Since we've been watching back episodes of the Sopranos together, I've been getting Star Trek DVDs for while I work. Now, I need to hold on to Hostle and The Incredibles until the weekend we that we can all watch them. Oh well. This is the first screw up I can report in regards to NetFlix. I've been thrilled with the service.

I figured that Jessica wouldn't want to watch The Devil's Rejects, so I watched it yesterday. It's Rob Zombie's second movie, a sequil to House of 1000 Corpses. We didn't like 1000 Corpses too much, but I had heard that The Devil's Rejects was better. It was, but not too much. Basically, House of 1000 Corpses is about a bass-ackwards, hill-jack family that lifes in BFE Texas, and the capture people and kill them. It was pretty gruesome, but also a bit silly and wierd. The highlight of the film was Zombie's wife, who is hot. She plays one of the crazy psych killers. Picture Jessica Simpson's Daisy Duke, only mean. She's in The Devil's Rejects too. The movie continues the story from the end of 1000 Corpses. There is more plot and action, and less sillyness. It's a pretty gross film and is definately NOT one to watch with the kiddies. I made sure that Alydia was napping and Gabriel was playing in the basement when I watched it. The first hour is good, then it gets a little stupid for about a half hour, but the end is OK, if not predictable. If you are into slasher films, with realistic effects, this is a pretty good film to watch. I was grossed out a few times.

Is 127 good?

I took an IQ test through TickleTest.com (I think that's what the site was called) and I scored a 127. I guess that's about average. Not too sure though. I think anything less than 80 is 'mentally challenged'. It was a free test, but it asked for money after you took the test so that you could get your 'full IQ results'. I didn't pay, but had fun taking the test. It said that I am good with problem solving.

Diet Update....The Incredible Shrinking Eric

It's been a while since I've posted about the diet that I'm on. If you don't remember, I am doing the South Beach Diet. For two weeks, you go carb-free so that your body can flush out the sugars in your system. It rough the first few days, I'm not going to lie, but after that, it gets easier. After the first two weeks, you get to start adding 'good' carbs to your meals. This means whole grains. What you cannot eat is sugar and anything made with white flour. That means pasta, bread, potatoes, and grain alcohol (beer). After a while, you really don't miss those foods too much. What you do eat is alot of protein and fiber. You can have eggs, bacon, any meat, almost any veggies (no corn).... So, I have alot of salads, steaks, chicken, and then throw in some grain rice and such. It's not too bad. There are South Beach foods sold in the stores, including crackers and cookies. Nuts are also fine. For your sweet tooth, you can have sugar free pudding and jello. It's similar to the Adkins diet, but not quite as strict. One thing that is good is that after the first week or so, you drop about five pounds from water retention. Junk food and sugars make your body hold more water, so you pee it all out once you start eating the right foods.

Well, after last week and all of the 'comfort foods' I at while up in Toledo, I went up a few pounds. Due to the added stress of Jessica's grandma's illness,we were also drinking a bit more (hard alcohol is OK. Like vodka and whiskey) which made me eat too many snacks. After hitting the diet again, I am back to losing more weight. I am also getting outside alot more doing yard work. SO, the number you are all waiting for: I am still not low enough to tell everyone how much I actually weigh, but I have lost somewhere between 40 and 50 pounds. It was like I was carrying Gabriel around all the time. It's amazing how much weight you can gain if you don't really pay attention to what you eat. I'm still heavier than my college weight and much higher than my high school weight. My goal is to get back to my high school weight. I know I'll always be big, but I can't be this big.

Sorry, it's been a while.......

Wow, it's been two weeks since my last post. Sorry to my loyal reader. It's been a busy couple of weeks. We were back and forth to my parent's house in Monvlova (near Toledo) because Jessica's grandma was sick and passed away last week. We went the first weekend because she was in the hospital and the outlook was not good. Last weekend we went up for the funeral. It was a sad time. I'm glad that we were able to get up there though. It was a wierd experience for me. We were all in the hospital room and Jessica's grandma took a serious decline (her blood pressure was low and she was having trouble breathing), so everyone sorta started to urge her into the light, if you catch my meaning. It was a little morbid. I won't get into it too much, because it is sort of a personal time for people and I don't think I should broadcast about it on the net any more than I already have. It was just a strange experience for me. Of course, Jessica's grandma lasted several more days. She was a tough lady. Nice too.

Well, enough of that. I was really busy after we got home Saturday evening. I mowed the grass and started some projects out in the yard. Sunday we bought some flowers to plan in the yard. I planted a few bushes and planned where my garden will be. The biggest project was putting down a stone landing at the foot of my patio steps. I put down about 130 square stones. There were about six inches wide, so it's not like I broke my back carrying the things. It looks good though. Oh, my fence is up around my back yard too. It looks really good. I had grand plans about flower beds all over the place, but time and money constraints will limit what all I do.

The worst part about this time of year is that I ALWAYS get poison something (either ivy, oak, or sumac). I just need to touch it once and I get a rash all over. It get into my system and I get rashes all over the place. It's not too bad this year, but it's irritating. I just don't know where I got it from. I guess I have some in my back yard somewhere. Grrrrr..... Remember, leaves of three, leave it be!

Star Trek Hotties

After my last, totally depressing post, I thought I'd try to lighten things up a bit. I recently added Star Trek Voyager, season 1, to my NetFlix queue and was reminded of two things: 1. the show is excellent 2. Kes is hot. Anyway, I began to think about the women of Star Trek history and thought I'd give you, in my opinion, the top three hotties from each series:

Star Trek (the original)
1. the blonde Yeoman that always brought Kirk things to sign (I forget her name)
2. the green alien seductress (again, I forget the name of the species, but always wondered why they were never in any of the newer series.)
3. Uhura
honorable mention: any female crew member in those short short skirts ("You could almost see the giblets." -Larry the Cable Guy)

TNG
1. Tasha Yar
2. Deanna Troi
3. Dr. Chrusher
honorable mention: the entire species of sex hungry, scantally clad women in that episode where Wesley Crusher was sentenced to death for falling in some flowers.

DS9
1. Jadzia Dax
2. Kira Nerys
3. Dabo Girls!!
honorable mention: Ezri Dax. Cute, but no one can truely replace the original Dax.

Voyager
1. Seven of Nine
2. Kes
3. B'elanna Torres
honorable mention: Captain Janeway

Enterprise
1. T'Pol
2. T'Pol
3. T'Pol (she's really attractive)
honorable mention: Hoshi Sato

Hall of Fame top three:
1. T'Pol
2. Seven of Nine
3. Dax (the original)

Any disagreements or anyone that I forgot to mention?

Sad News

Hey all you AWHS alumni, I got some sad new yesterday. My mom called to wish us a Happy Easter and then followed that right up by telling me that Don Voss (Tim's dad) died last Wednesday. I guess it was ruled that he had a heart attach while driving and then had an accident. I think he ran into a building or something. If you don't know Mr. Voss, he was a really nice guy and helped teach percussion at Anthony Wayne High School. He also came down for alot of the OSU football games and went to all of the OSU Marching Band shows that he could. So, keep his family in your thoughts.

Sorry for bringing everyone down. In the future, I will try to lighten things up a bit.

Good Times

So, I'm in a pretty good mood today. Sure, I have to work ten hours in my basement, but that's OK. The past few days have been very nice outside. 75 degrees and sunny. Spring is definately my favorite time of the year. The weather is nice, trees are turning green, plants are popping up, and there are no bugs yet. I hate bugs. The only negative is all the weeds I have coming up all over the place. Oh well. I bought some bushes: two roses, red and black raspberries, and a blueberry. I also have started some flower and herb seeds (I love fresh herbs. Rosemary, basil, dill, cilantro and chives). I think I need to throttle down though. My plans for my back yard may be exceeding the amount of time I have to actually work in my yard. Plus, my budget is not a big as I'd like. Well, when my fence is finally installed, I was going to put flower beds all around the place. I would need to take a full week off to acomplish what I would want to. So, I will just plant my bushes and put in my vegetable garden in. I'll put off the rest of my plans for next spring. Another part of the problem is that I have no idea what is coming up in my yard. We moved in September 1st last year, so we missed almost all of the plants that are coming up. It looks like we have tulips all over the place. I like tulips, but may have to remove some of them due to their placement. Anyway, I guess my point is I need to wait and see what is going one back there before I plant more stuff. The roses and raspberries were necessities though. They are both favorites of mine. I also bought some strawberries to put in planters on my deck. Mmmmmmm....Berries.

Another part of why I am happy is because I was able to get all of the Sopranos DVDs at a fair price. I got seasons 1 and 2 on Ebay for $30 each. I started bidding on 3 and 4, but noticed that I probably would have to schell out $40 or so for these DVD sets, so I thought I'd check WalMart and see their prices. I'd seen the DVDs at target and Best Buy for about $90 each, but found them at Wally World for $50 (seasons 3 and 4) and $60 (season 5). I snatched them up. Yes, it's more than I'd have paid on Ebay, but I am an instant gratification kind of guy. Impulse buying is the term. Regardless, I now have all of the DVDs and am happy.

Ebay Oops

Somehow I screwed up and bought two copies of the Sopranos season 2 DVD box set on Ebay. I thought I had lost the first box set I bid on, but I guess not. So, now I have two sets, one new one used, on the way. I'm glad that I won at least one of the auctions, but who really needs two sets of the same DVD set? I may re-sell one of the sets on Ebay but thought I'd throw out the offer to my faithful blog reader. If he hasn't stopped reading this pile of dog poo. I know, more than one person reads my blog, I'm just being funny(ish). Anyway, I paid $30 and will gladly sell it to someone for the same price. I'll even give the new set rather than the used one. Let me know if you are interested. Otherwise, I'll just throw it back on Ebay. If you don't watch the Sopranos, I suggest you start. It's pretty good.

Don't call is a come back....

So, I hosted a poker game last night. It wasn't a huge game, but 12 people showed up to play. It was a good amount. We started out with two tables and I was doing well. Things turned ugly when I bet big with two kings and was trounced by three aces. I started to play really tight so that I would be able to stay in the game for as long as possible. Nothing is worse than hosting a poker game and getting knocked out early. We went down to one table when we got down to nine players and I was low stack in the chip category. The blinds were coming around to me and $200 and $400, and I had $365 left. If you don't know poker, blinds are forced bets that are made by the two people to the left of the dealer. So, when the big blind rolled my way (at $400) I was forced to put all of my remaining chips in the pot. I was 'all in'. Everyone was waiting for the enevitable conclusion that I was out. Well, I was dealt two aces and won the hand. I now had over $800 in chips. Still not great, but I was going to be able to hang around for a while. The next hand (I was in the small blind of $200) I was dealt two nines. I played the hand and two other people stayed in with me. When a third nine came up on the flop, I went all in again and won another hand, bumping me up to over $2400 chips. Now I'm in business and I eliminated another player. I'll make a long story short by telling you that I was low stack with nine players left at the table and was able to fight back to take second place. I'd like to say it was skill, but the truth is that I got lucky and hit big hands when I needed to. Still, it was a great game or me and a good time was had by all.

Be sure to check out pictures of Amy and Johnny's baby boy. Congrats to mom and dad.

Don't call is a come back....

So, I hosted a poker game last night. It wasn't a huge game, but 12 people showed up to play. It was a good amount. We started out with two tables and I was doing well. Things turned ugly when I bet big with two kings and was trounced by three aces. I started to play really tight so that I would be able to stay in the game for as long as possible. Nothing is worse than hosting a poker game and getting knocked out early. We went down to one table when we got down to nine players and I was low stack in the chip category. The blinds were coming around to me and $200 and $400, and I had $365 left. If you don't know poker, blinds are forced bets that are made by the two people to the left of the dealer. So, when the big blind rolled my way (at $400) I was forced to put all of my remaining chips in the pot. I was 'all in'. Everyone was waiting for the enevitable conclusion that I was out. Well, I was dealt two aces and won the hand. I now had over $800 in chips. Still not great, but I was going to be able to hang around for a while. The next hand (I was in the small blind of $200) I was dealt two nines. I played the hand and two other people stayed in with me. When a third nine came up on the flop, I went all in again and won another hand, bumping me up to over $2400 chips. Now I'm in business and I eliminated another player. I'll make a long story short by telling you that I was low stack with nine players left at the table and was able to fight back to take second place. I'd like to say it was skill, but the truth is that I got lucky and hit big hands when I needed to. Still, it was a great game or me and a good time was had by all.

Be sure to check out pictures of Amy and Johnny's baby boy. Congrats to mom and dad.