For those of you who missed out on the blog of the Pogonip… ummm…. okay, sorry.  Flip around a few days ago and you’ll find it.  Maybe a couple of weeks ago.

Anywhere, here are some pictures of that terribly rare natural phenomenon.

And a random pic of a little girl shooting a machine gun.

Well, before I left for parts unknown, I had a goodbye bash at my place.  There are some very attractive photos flying around the internut of this event, and maybe more to follow.  But I’m going to be displaying the worst of the worst.  Apparently, Kristy ran around like a madw… like a Kristy, really, and snapped some photos at the party.  All of these (except the one of me) are from her adventure (the other was taken by Ed with a real camera).  She sure knows how to capture them.

Tomorrow will be pics of the pogonip, and then Saturday maybe the rest of the people shots.  Sounds like a plan to me.

The Boston contingent.  Not saying they’re not photogenic, but Boston beat Cleveland, so this picture is all sorts of ugly.

S******e (name withheld)

M**k (name withheld)

J**f (name withheld)

J*y (dude, that’s seriously scary)

Me (crap, that name is too short to withhold)

Is it any wonder I moved away?

Here are some more pics of what I see from my complex in Reno.  First, some nifty clouds from in front of my apt.

Next, two moonrises from the hill behind my complex.

Then came the snow.  Here are two shots of my backyard (the first from my apartment itself, and the second from the front of my complex)

And finally, two shots from that first hill overlooking the complex, showing the Stead area blanketed in the snow Reno never gets.

Tomorrow, maybe batch 1 of the farewell party pics.

So finally, I got some photos developed.  Here are just the inside shots from my apartment.  It’s only four pictures, but really I got almost everything except the kitchen (visible in the background), the bathroom (visible in the background), the washer/dryer, and the water heater.  I figured those could be saved so there’s SOME surprise when you all come to visit me.

And now, my living room:  a view from the front door

Living room, a view from where my many dinner guests would sit

And my bedroom, as seen from the hallway:

And finally, my bedroom from the Bed O’ Wonder (read: I wonder why I’m in this bed)

Tomorrow, more pics of my backyard and front yard.  Stay tuned.  (What a great movie that was.  John Ritter’s a mouse.)

Holy crap!  A disc golf post!  Having not thrown a single hole of golf since September 30, I headed down to Rutgers (at 6 AM!) to do a tournament with the Devils.  It’s an interesting format – the first round is normal tournament play.  In the second round, they pair the highest score with the lowest score, and the second highest and the second lowest, and you play a round of doubles.

I brought three discs with me – a CFR wraith, a Z Buzzz, and a hard JK Aviar.  I ended up not using the putter (I don’t like it), and borrowed a SSS Wizard from Doot.  I’ve never touched a Wizard in my life.  The first round was solid – totally good.  I made three killer putts from outside 40′ (and bought a wizard at lunch because of that).  My drives were erratic but still salvageable.  I ended up with a 52, putting me in fourth place, behind B.O.B.’s 49, and Mattie LaCourte’s 51.  And another score.

After a chilly lunchtime break (it was about 36 today at its highest), I went back out with Rutgers’ local Ania.  She did very well, and helped us solidify another 52.  We were actually shooting better than that, but on the third to last hole we took a circle 5.  (We opted not to pay $5 for a couple of mulligans, a decision I later rued).  But I made another two killer putts, and am convinced I like the SSS Wizard.  With my 104, the good news was that I tied for second (IN THE CASH!)  The bad news is that I tied three other guys.  I did manage to pocket $21, and we raised a crapton for charity.

Thanks Doot and the Devils.  You’d make a great ska band.

So last night we played a 30-round game of Mario Party. I was the party star. Today, we’re going for FIFTY ROUNDS! Susan, Craig, Max and I. After 20 rounds, it’s a tight game, and my reigning Party Star-ness is at stake. I must go, I must triumph. And Yoshi’s going DOWN!

Edit:  5 hours later, I am STILL the undisputed PARTY STAR!  Woof.

Something tells me that, among the things I should not have forgotten on a two-week trip to NYC in January, a heavy coat would perhaps be at the top of the list.  D’oh!

So I’ve gone on record as saying I had good luck with flights.  I’ve made some flights when I had no actual right making it (waking up in Astoria 35 mins before my flight and still making it).  I usually get good seats.  These flights were no exception – two flights.  On the first, there was a 45 minute delay but we still made it on time, I had nobody in my entire row, and I even found free headphones in the seat in front of me which I purloined for future flights.  The second flight, I had nobody in the seat immediately next to me, and I got into LGA about 10 mins late.  Not shabby.

Ashley, conversely, has rotten luck.  The last time she came to NYC, she flew Delta (Don’t Expect Luggage To Arrive).  She did, and it didn’t.  5 days she spent on the phone with Delta, who informed her for the first three that her bags were in Salt Lake City, informed her on the fourth that they were kidding and they had NO idea where her bags were, and informed her on the fifth that they were in JFK.  She understandably wrote a nasty letter to the airline.   Now she is convinced that she is on a wanted-list.  Every flight she’s had since that letter, she’s been pulled aside and frisked, and her tickets seem to have some indication that she’s high-risk.

We fly to Mitch’s wedding together.  I wonder who’s luck will cancel the other.

“Don’t bring a shovel.  We don’t get snow here, and if we do, it’ll melt by lunch.” – Ashley Wade

I leave tomorrow for NY.  I gotta get away from this snow!

So I’ve been on Full Tilt for a while, a pay poker site.  Before I get into my rant, I have to say that I signed on yesterday to find out that, at 5 in the morning over the weekend, someone had mysteriously put $25 into my account.  BONUS!

Anyway, the stereotype of that site is that it is notorious for suckouts (whoever has the stronger hand will get screwed by the turn and/or the river and lose)   I don’t agree with that.  I mean, it happens, but not across the boards.  So I made a theory that it only happens to those who don’t have alot of chips.  So I started keeping track of every all-in I was a part of (whether mine or me calling someone else’s) after playing a tourney where I busted out with the best hand.

In the many games that followed, I charted every all-in I was a part of, also taking note if I had the better hand, and if I was the chipleader or if I was all in.  (I define better hand as being the better hand if nothing were to match – for instance, AK suited is *technically* a stronger hand than 22, but 22 would win if nothing matched, so it’s the high hand)  Anyway, I think I proved my point, but I might have proved something else.

- When someone else went all in and I had the stronger hand, I was 26-15.

- When I went all in and had the stronger hand, I was 27 – 17.  Not much disparity there, actually, but I had a few good games lately that balanced it out, because a few weeks ago the numbers were VERY skewed.

When someone else went all in and I had the weaker hand, I was 13-19.

When I went all in with the weaker hand, I was a whopping 4 – 29.

So my point is proved pretty readily.  The site definitely seems to favor the bigstack, no matter if they have the strong hand or not.  When I was the bigstack, I was 39 – 34, and when I was shortstacked, I went 31 – 46.

But then I think I accidentally might have proved something else entirely with this experiment.  I have terrible luck in general.  I had the better hand when someone’s tournament was on the line 85 times out of 150 hands (57%), yet my overall winning percentage was 70/150 (47%).  I’m still ahead on the site (ignoring the random extra $25), so when I win, I win bigger than when I lose, but c’mon!

Anyway, I’m a stat nerd.  Ash says it’s because I like baseball.  Makes sense to me.