Sunday, November 28, 2010

Broke

Some of you know from face book or from talking to me since my birthday (11/23) about my receiving a book from my son and daughter-in-law as one of my gifts, the book entitled Broke by Glenn Beck. Wow........I can see the hair standing up on some of your necks already just hearing or reading the name Glenn Beck! Well too bad for you is all I can say about that, because I for one don't feel all that ill towards Mr. Beck that some do and I hope you continue to read why.

Did you enjoy History class while in school? Do we as a country still teach History in our schools? Is it the same History I was taught or the history of the past century and not beyond? This is something I'm not sure of and would really enjoy hearing from someone that knows the answers. I know I have scholars out there reading this, so please feel free to drop me an e-mail bringing me up to date on the schools of today.

Anyway, my point is this, Glenn Beck has become my history teacher now that I'm in my 60's and in my opinion a fine one at that. I do not watch Glenn Beck's show religiously by any means, but I do occasionally like his "History Friday" shows. I never was much of a reader and do remember some of what I was taught in my history classes but there is so much more to know and learn about our fore fathers and our Nation. Beck has me reading things like "George Washington's Sacred Fire", "Adams, Jefferson and Monroe", "The Constitution" and the "Declaration of Independence", and it helped visiting the Philadelphia area this past summer for a week or so during Independence Day celebrations.

I have an ex-son-in-law ranting about Beck being "one of the rich" extorting money from the poor somehow and on and on because I showed a picture of his book "Broke" on facebook as one of my birthday gifts. In case you haven't seen it the book cover show Glenn Beck in white T-shirt with Uncle Sam on the front all dressed in red, white and blue and pockets pulled out empty and palms up depicting the fact that our Nation is Broke! And so Glenn himself has a bewildered look on his face, palms up and pockets pulled out empty as Uncle Sam does on his T-shirt. So I get this long ass e-mail and facebook message and comment on facebook telling me that Glenn Beck wants me to think he's broke as if I should buy his book to help him get out of debt or something.....................wrong! This is a good example of looking at the pictures and not reading content, no where does he say he's broke or even talks about his financial status. I've only read the first three chapters so far and let me tell you it reads like a history book plain and simple. It's a hard read for me because it reads like a history book and I'm not sure I was expecting that when I first opened it.

Bottom line is all you history buffs out there would really enjoy the book and I'm drudging my way through it as I did in school and trying to retain a small portion of what I'm reading. For some reason if you weren't a reader growing up it even gets harder when your 64 trying to learn to do this all over again. One thing all of us must keep in mind is that our Nation is in trouble right now financially and we need jobs to get things going once more along with less spending and debt reduction. One line is seems the far left (and the book really isn't about left vs. right or Rep vs. Dem.......especially since Beck blames Bush and his admin. as much as anyone) does believe or understand is this, "When was the last time a poor person created a job?" We want to tax the wealthy and give to the poor via the government..............and the jobs the government creates are government jobs that require more tax dollars to pay those employees! Is it too hard to understand that we don't need more government jobs that we can't pay for, we need private sector jobs creating more jobs and so on................sorry, anyway the book is not about Beck or his wealth or beating down the left, it's some good history lessons so far and I plan on reading on. I'll give more book reports as I go along like it or not!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Face to Face

"This question game everyone is doing is kind of funny... If you can't ask this person the questions normally face to face then why ask them on here (face book) when they want you to? This is a prime example of what face book and texting is doing to the world, it's eliminating the whole face to face honest conversation between people....... That's kind of sad!"
The above quote came from a friend, college student, football player, pretty sharp guy and actually 2nd cousin and Senior at Emery Henry college I met for the first time this past summer. I read this and said to myself this guy has something here and he's definitely right, it's kind of sad, yes very sad.
It's probably always been easier for most to say things via a letter like a Dear John for example or over the phone and now via texting or face book or any other type of "social networking" medium. E-mail might have been the most used "question game" for a long time now until face book and my space or even twitter. I know and some of you probably know that even I have maybe said or stated things or asked questions I might hesitate to ask in a face to face meeting and yes I know that's wrong. I'm sure there are many out there who have said something in an e-mail or on face book the might not normally said in conversation and wished you could bring it back after hitting the send key! I'd also be willing to bet there have been many relationships changed, ended or put on thin ice due to a comment or question asked via a social network or e-mail that might have been otherwise suppressed.

What's next job interviews over face book or texting.......hell I'm sure that has happen already somewhere with someone. If you don't have video conferencing you may never have to see anyone face to face other than the goofy pictures we post of ourselves on these mediums. The sad side of all this is more and more folks are spending more and more time locked in a room all day doing this sort of thing and asking those tough questions they might not normally ask. How about more and more parents and their children only communicate in this manner, no that is very sad and not bringing us closer as families. When young people would rather hold conversations with their fingers on a keyboard rather than actually talking on the phone in their hands, how unperson-able we've become.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Playing Cards...........

If anyone knows me they also know that I enjoy gambling and playing poker, sometimes to a fault I must admit. But the story line behind this blog is poker and in particular Texas Hold Em, not whether I play or not.

I read this morning where this young 23 year old Canadian named Jonathan Duhamel beat out 7300 other players for the $8.9 million dollar prize! Sporting flip-flops, plaid shorts and a sweatshirt at the final table Monday night, he looked more like someone who just rolled out of bed than the guy who just won $8.9 million in the World Series of Poker. The kid was a Strawberry picker not that long ago and the computer age got him into poker, online poker, online Texas Hold Em.

Remember when a few good old boys would get together at Binion's in Las Vegas for a card game and could win up to 1 million dollars? A few professional poker players and professional gamblers played a game of cards for a trophy (bracelet) plus a cash prize taken from the $10,000 entry fee charged. Do you or did you ever stop to think with 7300 entries now days at an entry fee of $10K that's $73 million dollars someone is taking in plus TV rights from ESPN and others..............it's not a game with a few good old boys from Vegas any longer!

I personally remember being a person standing in the back round watching what at the time was big poker games in Las Vegas at Binion's and at the Golden Nugget, and now in order to fit all the players in the so called tournament is being played in the largest conventions centers of the largest hotels in Las Vegas and other places. Now the so called good players of which they add one or two each year are playing on obscure TV channels amongst themselves and starting new games so as not to allow all these online jokers a seat in the exclusive rooms with no crowds what so ever.

Now to my point of this entire blog..................Texas Hold Em, no skill involved what so ever and a game of totally luck if you have the cash to hang in until the last card. Yea, don't give me that "read" or "tell" crap and feed the rest of us that for the most part garbage of being able to pick up on "tells" the other players have to give you an edge. Sure now and then you'll be able to see by a persons nervous moves or blinks that a card helped his hand but until the dreaded "river card" hits the table it could be anyone's game to win, even the dude with a bunch of money hanging around with a 3 of diamonds and a 7 of spades. Back in the day I'm sure a pair of "pocket rockets" (aces) or "big slick" (ace and king) would win quite a few pots, but today the way everyone stays until the last dog dies to see the river or the flop the only ones you can beat with those cards are the dudes with scared money!

No not even back in the day was Texas Hold Em much of a game of skill, in my humble or not so humbler opinion, it's totally a poker game of more luck than anything...............the strategy if you decide to play a hand is to have enough money to call the other players that might raise the pot. If you got the cash in front of you the hand you hold just may be a winner. When I played with the boys back home on poker nights we played a game called "gut" now and again and that's what Hold Em takes, more money and more guts to hang around with literally shit cards until the end. Sure there is still some bluffing but I'd venture to say not near as much as there used to be when real men played poker!

Just like a whole lot of other things, technology is good but not good for everything!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Chili's resturant

Do you all have a Chili's restaurant you've patronized in your area, if so you'll know where I'm coming from if not you missing out a some pretty good food for the most part. Not just good food, but good Margarita's and Beer and a lot of rustic tile and decor to look at.
I've ate at Chili's more times that I can count, many a lunch at Chili's with co-workers and clients alike. Chili's has always been a favorite of a lot of business lunches and friends getting together for a quick bite to eat during a busy day, as well as meeting with old friends.

As most of you know my younger brother has been visiting and we've had a few lunches out at different places where he might now have dined while in Iowa, and today Chili's was one of those stops. We neither were all that hungry, but a bite thirsty so we ordered off the appetizer side of the menu and had a couple of draft beers to accompany our choices. I'm a sucker for Chili's classic nacho's which really aren't anything like your typical nacho's but cleaner and easier to eat in my opinion, so that's what I ordered. Dave just had the Queso dip and chips and it came with salsa. Now like I said it had been a while, but not that long since my last visit with the boys and I was indeed surprised that chips and salsa was no longer complimentary! Our waitress claimed to have worked there for 3 years and also claimed they had charged for them ($2.99) for at least that long....................bull puckie! Maybe me and the boys had a great waiter or waitress last time in and just gave use the chips and salsa, but I'm here to tell you we did not get charged. The waitress also added that it was due to the current recession per Chili's nationally, wow it's even hit the chips in the Mexican restaurants.

Now like I said we also had a couple of draft beers and while we were waiting for our apps we drank a draft to get started. Now as the appetizers came out my glass was just getting empty and a fresh one was needed, but as I took that last swallow I noticed the condensation dripping on my shirt. Wait a minute, how could that be since Chili's had those nice coasters to sit your drinks on, usually quite a few on each table...........................where was mine? I took a quick glance at a couple of tables around me and the same, no coasters! I asked the waitress "what gives, no coasters" to which she replied "same thing, the recession! I said you mean to tell me a Chili's trade mark has been discontinued due to the recession.............yes she said, then she said let me get you some extra napkins to set your drinks on. In what seemed like an eternity she appeared with a stack of napkins you could wipe a horse with, I mean the cost of this stack of napkins would have bought me 3 coasters.

If your like me and lot of folks I know you've swiped a coaster or two in your past trips to Chili's (their usually neat) and if your like me you'll grab a few of them and stick them in the glove box so you can take then into Chili's on your next visit.

What can I say, it's been a slow week for me and the current events and this is what I came up with. Don't tell me you all haven't been there or in some similar situation in the past. And besides as you can see the "recession" hurts in more ways than you can imagine!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Snopes...............

Something was brought to light this morning via an e-mail from an old friend. Sure who can say where the e-mail originated or from whom it originally came but the fact is it got me thinking about Snopes.
We've all no doubt heard of snopes or the website snopes.com "rumor has it" an urban legend and pretty much a majority of folks out there use snopes as gospel when it comes to finding out if an article, e-mail, quote, you name it is in fact the truth or just a misleading lie. I know early on a good friend of mine threw snopes in my face a number of times as I forwarded e-mails which snopes believes to be untrue or misleading or misconstrued in someway or another. Oh sure as it turns out a lot of those e-mails where false, wrong, misleading etc., but now I'm starting to wonder if our socialist friends have infiltrated snopes!
Some folks are now not just taking snopes word for it but doing more diligent research and finding some of what snopes spews is not always the truth either or at least slanted towards the liberal direction more often than not.
I'm sending an e-mail to a lot of my friends that will read it and asking for a more reputable website for finding out the whole truth on matters like this that come up in e-mails or conversations. At the time of this writing I'm not sure how many other sites are out there but I'm sure there must be a few so that will be a project for today (you know us retire folks don't have shit to do other than crap like this) but it's my job to keep you informed.

One last thing that has been bothering me and maybe some of you intellectuals can give me an answer via an e-mail or FB as to how and why. I'm just going to take a couple of words but we know there are many more, but why all of a sudden we're or at least the media is changing the pronunciation of words we grew up with and were taught in school. Let's take the first that comes to mine, Jaguar (jag'war') I've notice and bear with me that some commercials now call the vehicle jag'u'waaa. Did I miss something in school, is this car named for a large cat the jaguar now ending with a long waaaaaaa? Also in the news now is another one, the country of Chile (chili), we grew up with everyone pronouncing it Chili but now especially the media has to work their asses off to pronounce it "Cheeelay"and it's getting to the point there's a new one every week. My kids are too old and my grand kids are too young but it would be interesting to know if our geography teachers or literature teachers or reading teachers are in fact teaching these and other words to our children different that we were taught and why! Was my geography teach a dumb dumb, because I'm sure he taught me exactly how he was taught so we literally have had generations of children being taught wrong.........................if these folks in the media are in fact correct in telling me these miners in Cheeeelay are having a tough go of it.
Just some more of what I like to call "food for thought".

Monday, September 27, 2010

NFL or is it......No Football Left.

I about reached the end of the line with the NFL and the game they call football, it's not football anymore at least not the football anybody over the age of 30 would remember! The next step is to wear flags or just play two hand touch so no one gets a bruise or sore body part.

It's been driving me crazy for a year or so now maybe longer with all the crap players can't do or get penalized for doing these days. I see more yellow hankies being tossed around than footballs and the men in the stripped shirts get more TV time than the players or coaches or cheerleaders! The game has become a real pussy's game if you ask me. Oh sure we don't want to see players get life threatening injures but holy cow can we see someone hit or even touch an offensive player without getting flagged and penalized? Pass interference has become a complete joke, since when is an official charged with controlling the outcome of a game. This happened and almost happened a few times Sunday and Monday too! God even stepped in at the Cardinals game when with time running out an official decided to call a ticky tack pass interference to allow the Raiders to win the game with time expiring by kicking a winning field goal...................not so fast said the football gods, this kicker that can kick one from 62 yards plus and never misses from 30 to 39 yards yanked one left and the referee was foiled once more.

Tell me how a defensive player with the speeds they have today can stop on a dime when some fool in strips decides to blow his whistle, or how does a 6 foot player run straight into another 6 foot player without these big ass helmets possibly touching each other? There you go, a helmet to the head whether it's incidental or not or if it just brushes against the other face guard in passing.................helmet to helmet, personal foul 15 yards and a first down to maybe win the game or at least change the outcome in most circumstances!

And like I said, pass interference is totally bullshit nine out of ten times, are we that worried about scoring that we need to hand offenses touchdowns and new life when the ref feels like changing the game a bit. Is this right out of a "wild buffalo wings" commercial or what?

We need to play a game or two without referees, let the players police themselves and see what a real football game should look like. These young people of today would probably be horrified by the play of the likes of Butkus, or the steel curtain, or Max Magee or Howie Long, or you could go on and on and on with tough guys from the real NFL. Holy cow how many yards would Walter Payton have run for if now one could have touched him in fear of hurting him or getting penalized, how long could Johnny U stayed in the pocket and competed 100's more passes knowing no one could hit him for fear of a personal foul penalty. The game today is for rich pussy's that do drugs and drive fast cars while drinking booze, or sitting on the sidelines with a sore toe rather than playing through pain. No this is not football and don't kid yourself if you think it is, even I played flag for an Air Force team and took more hits that these fat dudes of today's game......and we drank after the game not on the way to the game.

We need to change the name in the NFL, something other that "football" for the F and let the Euro's keep the word football since they actually can hit one another!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

American Idol or What a joke?

American Idol, this is one show on television I must say I don't watch and have really never cared to watch since it's inception. Oh yes I have seen a few episodes when the kids have been over and it was an American Idol night, for some reason a must see for them. I think it's a big joke because the producers, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars behind them could take anyone of 100's of contestants and turn them into recording stars the way they have the past winners. You'll never convince me that out of the thousands of contestants that handful at the end and ultimately one person that wins is and was the best of the rest! The final ten are all groomed for a recording career by the show in my opinion and besides they say that America chooses the winner via their voting................right! Now until H. DeGeneres(ate) came aboard they at least had two supposedly music industry judges and one performer doing the initial cuts and I just read where the only one left is Randy Jackson, the rest of the panel has gone on to other things.

We need two new judges so the search went on and numerous names hit the air-ways and internet and print media but most turned down this opportunity, until now. I heard today that American Idol now has their two judges to accompany Randy Jackson and Wow what the hell are they thinking? Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Jennifer Lopez joining Randy Jackson, yes I'm sure no finer talent scouts out there that wanted to make $12 million dollars for a season of Idol. That's right, $12 million dollars is what "J. Lo" will be making and I'm sure "S. Ty" is making a bunch less but still in the millions I'd bet. So all you fans out there just keep on texting each week over and over again to the tune of millions upon millions of text each show multiplied by $1.00 each text because the likes of "J. Lo" need those dollars more than you do.

I'll work on coming up with something so all you loyal fans can sent me a text and at least one of us will be having a happy ending like those on American Idol and a handful of the final contestants..................................that would be "no joke". The show will most likely be canceled after a season of this trio of clowns as judges because the viewing audience will surely drop like a rock with the departure of Simon, and you all will help "J. Lo" and "S. Ty" smile all the way to the bank!