Hodgepodge of things...

Poker Update:

Gulf Coast Poker Tournaments: I never finished up my part 1 of 2. Not sure where I left off, I may circle back around to that if I do but spoiler alert... Made the money of two of the Harrahs weeklies and ran like dirt at the IP. There I literally played a couple of tournaments where I didn't have a playable hand. Whenever I got creative with a crappy hand I got abused. I last played Wednesday at Harrahs and it felt a bit like the IP. Painful. Looking forward to reversing that trend as soon as tomorrow.

aPOKERlypse:

My lack of blogging has a lot to do with tracking the maelstrom of online poker that is all over GCP's front page. My apologies. I will likely do an opinion piece on here soon. Started to a couple of times and new information came out that would have made me reverse course anyway, so once the dust clears a little more I'll opine.

Cell Phone Idiots while Driving:

Louisiana has a lot of potential new laws that may be on the books sooner rather than later. Essentially, all you morons that text will get pulled over. Surfing the internet? Pulled over. On the phone: pulled over. Thank God. Recently, I've seen this spread to the elderly, most of whom had trouble keeping their buicks in the right lane in the first place, now they are chit-chatting as they try and make it home without a new scuff on their bumpers. It's not like their conversation consists of anything but "WHAT?!!? WHAT?!!?"

Sidenote: can somebody please design a car just for old people with huge inflated bumbers all around the car? They want, because you know the material in the outerbody of your car is purposefully dentable and bumpers have gone from helpful, in the seventies when everybody was driving boats, to harmful. Just a thought that maybe we should go back to cars that can handle mild collisions rather than require 1k worth of repairs for any tap.

Okay back to you cell phone idiots. Twice, in the last week, I've almost been hit in parking lots because people are pulling out while f'ing with their phones. Okay, if you are just parked why don't you finish your f'ing business before pulling out blind? Number two, my wife is ready to kill me because both times it happens I point to the morons, who are always shocked and horrified that there was a car where they weren't looking, and tell them to get off the phone so they can drive. Both times they are too wrapped up in their phone call to even pull the device off their ears. Got to tell whoever the f they are talking to they almost got in an accident because some huge fricking gold MiniVan came out of nowhere.

The problem is epidemic, next time your are driving count how many people you pass that are on their phone... everyone? There should be guidelines where the fines double or triple. Over 50? You already lost 25% of your coordination, you shouldn't be messing with a cell phone--double the fine. Over 70? Loss of liscense for a month and triple the fine. After your kids get so fed up of driving you around to all your doctor's appointments no way you do that again. Idiot teenagers loss of liscense for six months.

In Germany, they barely have any drunk driving. They do two things different than we do. First they have the reverse of our laws. They allow kids to drink at 16 and start driving at 18. Genuis. Learn how to drink in controlled legal environments. Once you mastered that learn how to drive. In the U.S. everybody starts illegally, experimenting with alcohol at around 16 or later. In many states, not neccessary laid back louisiana, you gotta drive somewhere hidden to do that. Drinking and driving go hand in hand. You are also tacitly taught it is okay to disobey one drinking law, why not another.

Second: they throw the book at you for your first offense of drinking while driving. Louisiana's upping their laws, as well they should. Still nowhere near as harsh as other parts of the world with no drunk driving problems. You need to tipple when you go out, arrange for a driver or a cab. Or just don't drink. Granted cities or states that change the laws should subsidize transportation for people who drink on the weekends--before you get hung up on that word subsidize--understand it would be less than we are paying now in dealing with the aftermath of drunk driving accidents. One of the biggest hurdles for drinking and driving is a lack of cabs. Start making it easy for people to do the right thing and they will.

Why does drunk driving come up in this rant? Studies show that people are just as bad behind the wheel talking on a cell phone as they are drunk. Texting is the equivalent of being bombed. Cell phones are already the number one cause of accidents and on the rise for deaths and injuries. I get it, sometimes on open highway you get in the slow lane and putter and talk with minimal risk, so maybe a concession should be that you can be on the phone but you have to be in the right lane, with your hazards on. I know this sounds draconian but until cars can avoid accidents by themselves, I'd rather not dodge two or three distracted idiots a day.

GAME OF THRONES:

Started the new HBO series even though I haven't really been interested in fantasy since I was a kid. As good as the Lord of the Rings triology was... it was just a little too long for me. I think a serial format would have been a better way to produce it and Game of Thrones after a slow start in episode one (with a fantastic climax by the way) has found it's pace and probably the right format for a book series come alive. I decided to take it on because I enjoyed Boardwalk Empire so much. I love Curb Your Enthusiasm, and used to enjoy the Sopranos. HBO really has cornered the market on adult television and one particular slot. I need one hour of good TV on Sunday night to wrap up the weekend, it's like once last fun experience before tackling the work week.

My wife could care less about this type of stuff, and I told her, to just forget about the swords and costumes and focus on the characters. Boardwalk Empire is so solid because it doesn't matter where or when the story played out, I imagine, the same will be true (perhaps better in that it's a ficitonal realm with even more room to play) of Game of Thrones. I got her a cheat sheet I printed off the LA Times website because there are so many characters. I think that got her to really enjoy the episode last night. Of course they scaled back the beheadings, the incest, prostitution, and borderline rape of the first episode. Which is a plus for a good girl like her.

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