It's almost time!

I am so excited! In 36 hours or so I will be killing birds! Dove in the morning, grouse in the evening. Ed and I have this spot that we've gone to the past couple of years where the doves come in fast and furious. We must be between their food and either water or roost, but it's a total expressway. I love it! It's been very productive for us so far.
I'm also excited to shoot a grouse. I've never killed one before, and I really want to. They're big, too. Yum!

All in favor of "intelligent design" can suck it

If I didn't know this was in the Onion, I would believe these people were real.
Personally, I don't care if what you call gravity as long as the doves I kill fall to the ground.
I am so ready for hunting

More 7CS h/l

Played in 2 more SnGs last night, still at the micro buy-ins. I finished 5th in the first one. That table was tough! I wasn't catching many cards, and hadn't managed to build much of a chip stack before the bets and antes were obscene. Also, the chip leader did his job and didn't let anyone get to show down cheap when he was showing decent up cards. That one was painful, but I do the same damn thing when I've got a stack. Now I know what it feels like.
In the 2nd one, I took first. I had a decent stack by the time it got 5 handed, even with 2 others that had 3Kish, and bets were up to 100/200. The little stacks seesawed a bit, then I started catching some cards and knocked them out. Bets are now 200/400, I've got about 6k to their 2K and 1.5K stacks, but the bets are so high and going up so fast that it's more about repping a hand and being aggressive than actually holding something good. 1 of the others went out pretty quick, then I was up and down with the other player, trading the lead a couple of times before taking it down. I don't know if it was good play on my part to take him out, but I'm pretty sure my philosophy was sound. When his stack was low enough that I could potentially put him all in within a couple of rounds of betting, I'd jam the pot with any pair, 1 gapper, exposed face card, or 2 to a suit to start. Bets were so high that it was a bit of a crapshoot, but I did have a significantly larger stack when I was playing like that.
Like I said, don't know if I was playing it right or just caught lucky, but it was fun.

I have the bug now

Ed sent me a gift in the mail. It's a stuffed* quail. It talks, too. It says "chi-CA-go! chi-CA-go!" This came to my work, and sent me on a laughing jag that lasted a good 5 minutes. It was a nice break from a boring day. The only problem now, is, I really want to go hunting. Grrr!
Only 16 days until the dove opener. I'm SOOOOOO ready.

*stuffed like a teddy bear, not like a turkey

Branching out

I started playing 7 card stud hi/lo in the little SnGs. I kept getting pwn3d! in the micro NLHE SnGs, so I thought I should mix it up a little. So far, I'm doing very well. Admittedly, the sample size it small (3 games), but with a 100% ITM rate so far (two 1sts and one 2nd), it looks good so far. I think the big thing that's helping me is that exposure of 7CS h/l is not nearly at the same level as hold 'em, and it's a limit game. All the folks watching poker on TV have little/no experience with 7CS, and the fact that it's a limit game means that they can't come in trying to be like Gus Hansen. Sure, you can push people around when the ante/bet size comes up, but strong conservative play seems like it will carry you until at least two others have busted out.
Also, I like how easy it is to see what people are drawing to. Having the bulk of your opps cards exposed is nice for that. I also don't think that more than 50% of the players are any good at reading a hand, and even fewer at choosing what starting hands to play. It also seems to me that they don't notice when their 'outs' are already in someone else's hand, expecially once they're folded and in the muck.
This game is growing on me.

The best laid plans

So much for wanting to go kill some clays. I didn't do much of anything this weekend, because it was too damn HOT! Okay, I know that there are plenty of folks out there who think an 84 degree day with mid-low humidity is a walk in the park, but for me it was miserable. It was all I could do to fold some laundry and put it away.
I hate this weather and want it to cool down some. Wahhhhh!

Weekend plan

I think I'm going to go kill some clays tomorrow or Sunday. I need to get tuned up for doves. I'll probably shoot continental, they're a lot faster than regular trap. Not that they're really dove like or anything, but the speed matters.

'Cause I'm freeeeeee....

...free-rollin'. And I beat out 1,994 other vampires to take 6th last night on the AP NLHE freeroll. Dammit, 1 place out of an entry into the Sun $1K FR. That's okay, I guess. I was tired, and had been pushing the table around on 3 previous hands going AI on my smallish stack. I wasn't the shortest, but had dipped below 10x the BB. The blinds were brutal, though! 20K for the BB. I should have folded when my blind steal raise (40K) from middle position went south, but fatigue contributed to my stupidity, making me feel like I was pot committed at this point. Dumb dumb dumb. I would have several rotations around the table before being blinded out, and I could probably have found a better spot to push than with A8o.

Lesson learned.

Apologies to Tom Petty

Here birdy birdy birdy

People are funny. If I say that I'm going to go on a dove hunt, they tend to recoil a bit and ask how I can kill such a beutiful bird. Well, after this Explainer from Slate Magazine, I don't have to go on my "Do you eat meat? Do you wear leather?" tirade, since the folks who flip out on me for hunting are generally the type to go for those pretty little dove releases.

At least I kill them quickly (and eat them).

Saw Lupe this weekend

Jenny and I were coming home from my family reunion Saturday afternoon, and we went by Lupe's old house just to see if it was still there, and her car was in the driveway! We weren't sure if she would be, since last we'd heard, her car had broken down, so I went and knocked on the door. It turns out she was there with her kids, packing up her crap before the house gets torn down. She needs to get her ass in gear, since she needs to be out by the 15th. Anyhow, it was nice to see her for a few minutes, and it was good to see Enrique and Fatima. Fatima is a lot bigger than last time I saw her, but as Enrique would say, "Duh"!

She promised to get together with us when things settle down, but we'll see. She's been less than reliable.

Follow the money

So, rates of autism are up, you say? Might it have anything to do with an expanded definition of autism spectrum disorder? Perhaps the greater availability of funding to help those with autism? Check out Slate's analysis of the issue.

Vaccine maker conspiracy my ass. Are vaccinations hugely profitable for the drug companies? NO! Is there a shitload more money available to help care for the autistic? YES! So, like I say. Follow the money.

Dude, let's thumb our noses at the world!

Fucktard did it again, and there's at least one putz in the US Senate supporting him.

So, Furious George doesn't understand "why they hate us"? Jesu Cristo, man, look at yourself, look at the choices you've made that affect everyone around the world. Look at the message you send with the backdoor recess appointment of John Bolton as ambassader to the UN.

Ugh. Just one more fuck-up in a long line of fuck-ups. It's not even close to the most serious one, but I'm still pissed off. Cocksmoker.

I know that looking at oneself would require a bit of an introspective tendency and a smattering of curiosity and self-awareness, things that W does not seem to posess. That choice of phrase was just rhetoric, as I realize that I'm imploring him to do something that he is incapable of doing.
Also, being a "cocksmoker" is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think it's one of the nicest things one person can do for another (in a consensual context). However, I do believe that it is a very effective insult against an alcoholc, homophobic, born again, right-wing uber-repressed wack job. Someone who would deplore BJ Clinton's fun in the oval office, but wants a video of it. Asshat.