Where feminine hygiene is no laughing matter ...Rick's Cafe Americain

(1) to unseat a dictator (with a little revenge for daddy); (2) to bring democracy to the Middle East; (3) to combat (how is not clear) terrorism; (4) because a higher calling told Bush to; and (5) an amorphous belief it would make things safer and more stable.

Here is why I disagree with those reasons.

(1) A great a noble idea. Problem is that (a) there are lots of dictators and Saddam is not the worst, why Iraq?, (b) one nation going around doing regime change and “nation” building is scary, if it is done, it should be a coalition effort and LEADERSHIP is building that coalition (FYI - England does not a coalition make); (c) it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(2) Easier said than done, as this experience has shown. Why is invading a country the best way to bring democracy to it? Certain institutions usually need to be in place for a democracy to work and be practical, many of those were lacking and they are not so easy to impose. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(3) Invading a muslim country would appear to create more terrorists, not less. No evidence that Iraq was solidly behind any substantial anti-U.S. terrorism. AND troops and $$ was diverted from Afghanistan, which is where the terrorists (and some guy named Osama) are. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(4) Ummm....that is just fucking scary. I mean really scary. Also the same motivation (if a different god) as Muslim extremists—at least the intellectually honest ones. Religion and politics don’t mix well, having a President who mixes them more than, perhaps, any President in history—not a good thing. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(5) I thought it would destabilize the region. However, I never thought it would be this bad. Bush, et al, apparently believed we would be hailed as heroes ... the naivete of this view alone (read any history books, pay any attention to the Middle East) should disqualify Bush from being President. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

Will someone please wake up and notice the fact that the U.S. is no longer the unquestioned economic super power (see also previous comments on this here). Our education is subpar. HIGH TECH jobs are being exported. Other, leaner nations, are spending essentially no money on war and much more money on educating their populace for the high tech future. I am not saying we get rid of our military, or even decrease (pre-Iraq war) spending. But going around the world trying to impose our ideals is a damn good way to drain away Americans hard earned money (and lives). But, of course, according to the far right, we should also cut taxes at the same time.  A recipe for disaster in my humble opinion.

(1) to unseat a dictator (with a little revenge for daddy); (2) to bring democracy to the Middle East; (3) to combat (how is not clear) terrorism; (4) because a higher calling told Bush to; and (5) an amorphous belief it would make things safer and more stable.

Here is why I disagree with those reasons.

(1) A great a noble idea. Problem is that (a) there are lots of dictators and Saddam is not the worst, why Iraq?, (b) one nation going around doing regime change and “nation” building is scary, if it is done, it should be a coalition effort and LEADERSHIP is building that coalition (FYI - England does not a coalition make); (c) it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(2) Easier said than done, as this experience has shown. Why is invading a country the best way to bring democracy to it? Certain institutions usually need to be in place for a democracy to work and be practical, many of those were lacking and they are not so easy to impose. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(3) Invading a muslim country would appear to create more terrorists, not less. No evidence that Iraq was solidly behind any substantial anti-U.S. terrorism. AND troops and $$ was diverted from Afghanistan, which is where the terrorists (and some guy named Osama) are. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(4) Ummm....that is just fucking scary. I mean really scary. Also the same motivation (if a different god) as Muslim extremists—at least the intellectually honest ones. Religion and politics don’t mix well, having a President who mixes them more than, perhaps, any President in history—not a good thing. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

(5) I thought it would destabilize the region. However, I never thought it would be this bad. Bush, et al, apparently believed we would be hailed as heroes ... the naivete of this view alone (read any history books, pay any attention to the Middle East) should disqualify Bush from being President. And it will create a huge economic drain on the U.S.

Will someone please wake up and notice the fact that the U.S. is no longer the unquestioned economic super power (see also previous comments on this here). Our education is subpar. HIGH TECH jobs are being exported. Other, leaner nations, are spending essentially no money on war and much more money on educating their populace for the high tech future. I am not saying we get rid of our military, or even decrease (pre-Iraq war) spending. But going around the world trying to impose our ideals is a damn good way to drain away Americans hard earned money (and lives). But, of course, according to the far right, we should also cut taxes at the same time.  A recipe for disaster in my humble opinion.

Pregame

Ferrari circulated a proposed structure for the acceleration of the blinds for comment to the regulars at the game.  Rick, Pauly, Coach, and I were unanimous in telling him that the levels should all be shorter than he envisioned them.  So he kept the levels as he had set them on his own.  He did take Pauly’s suggestion to distribute T100 in chips to each player instead of complicating things by using a proxy amount of T10,000.

It turns out that both of these were good decisions.  Most of the night was 30 minute levels.  During levels one and two, when there were still 10 players in the game, one level would barely take us through a single loop and the levels seemed too short. But as people busted out and the blinds increased half hour levels felt just fine.  Using “real” denominations also made it a lot easier to quickly review the stacks around the table.  I spend a lot of time and energy disagreeing with Ferrari, so I’ll give him credit where it is due.  The game flow was smooth as Lagavulin.

With 10 players, places one through four paid 500/250/150/100 respectively.

The Cast

In addition to the core of the regulars (Rick’s staff + Coach + Pauly), Swish made a return appearance from his new home in DC.  Joe College, Casual Mike and Top Gun had all played before in a game I couldn’t attend. Business Mike is a friend of Casual Mike’s.  (Note: “Rick” and “Swish” are also actually Mike. Our tournament was 40% Mike.)

As for the players that didn’t make it ... 

Christian tells us about no limit games that he plays in, but as Pauly notes, he loses everything he wins elsewhere at our games. (Though he has won.) I thought this would be an opportunity to see Christian’s no limit game in action but it wasn’t to be.
Helmut took Sous Chef out for her birthday. 
Ilsa still refuses to play with us.
Marie came late and played in the ring game that grew as people busted out of the tourney. So, let’s see ... didn’t play in the tournament but sat at a table of people who had lost and were looking for blood.
Sam is chicken.

Casino de Coach

Apparently underutilized at work, Coach came up with odds for the tournament. Coach really hadn’t played much with most of the table so this was more a collection of hunches than anything else.  He also wasn’t actually taking action on the game, so odds were for entertainment purposes only. Straight from Coach’s email, here is the tote board:

Odds              to win --- first out --- first all-in

Ugarte              9:5  ---     3:1     ---    20:1
Joe College          3:1   ---   25:1     ---     6:1
Ferrari              5:1   ---   50:1     ---     9:5
Pauly                6:1   ---   50:1    ---      3:1
Rick                  6:1   ---   40:1    ---      3:1
Coach                 6:1   ---     8:1    ---    50:1
Swish                6:1   ---     4:1*   ---      3:1
Top Gun            12:1*  ---     5:1    ---    10:1
Business Mike       20:1   ---     5:1    ---     20:1
Casual Mike        20:1   ---     5:1     ---    10:1*

Game time

On the first hand of the night I found myself in the cutoff with JJ. With one or two limpers ahead of me, I limped in myself.  At .25/.50 I decided that the dollar in the pot wasn’t worth a raise to steal the blinds and JJ wasn’t worth the risk of a flop with an overcard on the first hand of the game if I did get a caller.  Business Mike bet $5 out of the small blind, got two callers and I grudgingly laid down my hand.  A shame, because the flop came J-4-4.  Business Mike threw another $5 into the pot and got the rest of the table to fold.

I didn’t know Mike well enough to know that he was a bluffer.  I know now.  There is a good chance that if we had played out the hand I would have busted him out on the first hand of the night. I think it was for the best, though.  A big stack early probably would have been a bad influence on my temperament.

Pauly posted the first game report, so you can see what he has to say. He has the skinny on the first two to go down (Swish and Pauly himself) and follows with a report on the side game in the Losers Lounge. Because he got cracked early it is up to me to report on the real game.

I was sitting immediately to Coach’s left.  I liked the position because Coach is more aggressive than I am, and playing behind him allowed me to choose the pots I played in without the risk of him coming over the top of me.  Since Ferrari doesn’t have a poker table, I was parallel to Coach, so with a slight body turn, he was staring at my back.  Obviously I couldn’t see him either, but since I don’t think I can read body language anyway I don’t think that is a problem.  I only tangled with him once, but that was enough.

In middle/late position, I looked down to see KK.  As I sat there thinking about whether I should slowplay or steal or ... “$40 to go,” says Coach - effectively making my decision for me.  I hadn’t played a single hand to that point. Sure, I had limped a few times and when nobody raised the blinds I saw a flop or two with junk - but I hadn’t played at all.  It was time to play.  All-in for T87.  The table ran to the hills, Coach thought for a little while and, deciding that it was time to see if I was going to live up to his odds (first out or all the way), called with TT for his last T32.  Because of the long rectangular table, the people sitting on the ends of the table couldn’t deal their own buttons; I had taken the dealing duties for the hand and started turning cards.  With hands shaking like late-stage Parkinson’s, I dealt the burn ... the flop ... the burn ... the turn ... the burn ... the river.  Nothing helpful for either of us (though Coach developed a nerve-jangling gutshot draw).  Coach was out in 7th and I moved into a comfortable chip position.

I promptly shifted back into neutral.  I didn’t play any hands for a long time. Somewhere along the way Business Mike busted out, but I only remember that he actually wanted to lose and go home. (I think he realized that he was dead money anyway and it was already 11:30 on a school night.) The only hand I remember playing is a tight-weak play when the blinds were 5-10.  I raised to 20 before the flop and got called by (at least) Ferrari. Regardless of the turn, I had to lay down when Ferrari bet into me.  As Ferrari was raking the cards I realized that the T20 bet - a bet that would have had the table’s respect three levels ago - was the minimum bet and practically begged for a caller.  Back to neutral.

The blinds had been chewing up my stack, so with the blinds now sitting at 10-20, I decided it was time to take a stand and play some poker.  With A♥4♥ I raised all-in for T105.  Ferrari did a “bullshit” cough, which may or may not have induced Casual Mike to call.  Regardless, he called with a pair of deuces.  I caught an A on the flop and a bonus 4 on the river.  I was up to ~T250 and Mike (the last remaining Mike) was down to T30.  On the next hand, Ferrari made his worst play of the night. (Maybe second worst, but I don’t remember the details of the other one.  I do know that he folded away a significant amount of his stack.)

Ferrari was on the button, I was in the BB.  Top Gun folded and Mike went all in for his last 30.  Ferrari misread the table and somehow thought that Joe College was in the BB with 10, when it was actually only the small blind. Ferrari flat called, Joe College folded and I knew, without looking at my cards, that I was going to toss in the T10 I needed to see the flop. I almost laid it down anyway when I saw J7o, but the additional investment was just too small to run from the pot.  When I called, Ferrari knew that he had let me in cheap.  The main pot was T100 and Ferrari and I were alone to create a side pot after the flop. 

The flop was 6-7-9.  I checked my middle pair, weak kicker and Ferrari checked back.  The turn was a K (I think) and I checked again. Ferrari thought about it for a little while and bet T40 (about half of his stack).  Ferrari wouldn’t play Kx against an all-in and his betting to that point didn’t suggest that this was anything other than an attempted steal. So I called to see the river - a beautiful J!  I was confident that I had the best hand for the side pot so I put Ferrari all-in.  After thinking about it for a while - and considering that he was down to only T45 if he folded - he called.  He had misplayed his A♦6♦ before the flop and allowed me to chase down two pair and bust out Ferrari and Casual Mike on the same hand.

It turns out, though, that the river J was both good and bad news for Ferrari.  Casual Mike had gone all-in with TT.  My sevens had Ferrari beat before I got the second pair, but if I hadn’t caught the J, Casual Mike would have won the main pot and Ferrari would have bubbled out.  As it stood, since Ferrari had more chips going into the hand, Ferrari took back his buy-in and Mike ended up on the bubble.

Before the three way play, a side note.  I haven’t mentioned either Joe College or Top Gun except to introduce them, but that is only because I didn’t go head to head with either of them until we were the last players at the table.  Both played very well.  Top Gun got creamed a few times early - down to less than T10!!! - but he was the living representation of the chip-and-a-chair philosophy. He played very well from the short stack.  He kept going all-in and nobody pushed back. By stealing blinds - and busting out Rick - he slowly built his hand back.  (He did catch one lucky break when his 57s beat Joe College’s AKo, as Pauly reported over at Tao.) Joe College was aggressive with good hands all night and, since he was Ferrari’s favorite to win the tournament, he had me nervous as we started three-handed play with the blinds at 15-30.

My nerves got the best of me when College put a move on me early.  I called a medium-sized raise with A8o.  When the flop came T-T-2, College threw T100 into the pot and I mucked my cards.  He later claimed to have raised with nothing.

We stole blinds back and forth for a while and then, on a hand I don’t recall, Top Gun busted Joe College out of the tournament.

After we dealt the first heads-up hand, there was a debate started by the railbirds about the betting order in heads-up play. The debate was resolved by consulting rule 11 of the tournament rules at Party Poker. I confess that the rule still doesn’t make any sense to me. It didn’t matter, though.

For the duration of the debate, my cards had been sitting there.  Top Gun had looked at his cards, but I didn’t see any evidence of anything.  He just sat there waiting for the debate to be resolved.  When I finally looked at my hand, A♥9♣ was staring back at me.  The blinds were now at 25/50 and I raised to T100; Top Gun called.  The flop was 5♣7♣J♣.  Top Gun was visibly uncomfortable about the flop, so when he went all in, I called.  I had an ace and I decided that Top Gun didn’t have a flush draw.  What he did have, however, was A♠K♠.  I didn’t get a 9 or a club and was crippled - down to T100.  With the blinds at 25/50 - and hitting me every hand - after a few steals back and forth I went all-in with 97o.  Top Gun called with QJo and caught a jack and a queen to thoroughly thrash my measly hand and win the tournament.

I was happy with second here.  I played fewer than 10 hands before the table got seriously shorthanded and tight play worked out very well.  It was a damn good night.

Thanks to Ferrari for hosting and congratulations to Top Gun and Joe College for joining me in the money.  (Ferrari also, if a refund of your entry fee counts as “in the money.")

HAND     BOARD                  WINNER
7♠ J♥     9♣ 8♦ 3♣ T♠ 2♦     J♦ T♦
K♠ 4♥     Q♠ T♣ A♥ J♥           The guy who bet small on the turn
T♥ K♠     9♦ 5♥ 9♥ J♣ Q♠     K♣ 5♦
4♣ Q♣     2♦ J♠ 8♥ 9♣ T♦      The guy who bet small on the river
5♥ 3♠     6♣ 7♠ J♦ 4♦ Q♥     Q♣ J♥
Aaarrrgghhh!!!  Actually, it’s ok.  I went on to win the sit-n-go.

Hasan Habib (5; T859,000)
Richard Grijalva (8; T722,000) (NemoD, a friend of Ricky’s, is a regular at Tao - take a look at Pauly’s comments.)
Matt Matros (9; T714,000)
Martin Deknijff (10; T690,000) (No, you pronounce it. sic, would be my guess.)
Russell Rosenbloom (15; T567,000)
Steve Brecher (17; T479,000)

Day 4 started with 31 players and Mike Matusow in the chip lead with T1,328,000.  He busted out in 15th.  David Pham, in second place with T1,130,000 must have had a very rough morning: he busted out in 26th!

Good luck to all of the players at the final table.

As the left has hysteria, so does the right have willful ignorance. 

The 1991 ban instituted by Bush I’s DoD was limited to the Dover base, and was in any event spottily enforced, reinforcing the fact that its purpose was to protect the administration, not mourners.  A total ban was not instituted until after 9/11, and even then not strictly enforced.  The ban was “reinforced” at the outset of the Iraq war.

A GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR fired her and HER HUSBAND for violating a GOVERNMENT REGULATION that is cynical, hypocritical and self-serving.

It saddens me how many intelligent Republicans seem so willing to demean themselves out of a misguided sense of loyalty to a man and an administration that have betrayed them as much as they have betrayed everyone else—more, since one might have expected Bush to at least serve Republican interests.

I was playing a NLHE sit-n-go at Party, and an unfortunate early bad beat had me short-stacked at 370T with an average stack of maybe 1000T.  There are 9 players at the table, and I get 2♥ 7♣ in 8th position (just to the right of the button).  I’m feeling a bit punchy (I think I’m still jetlagged from my trip out West, and it suddenly got unbearably muggy here in NYC), and when I see UTG fold, 4 call (with 15T of his remaining 25T), and 6 call, I think to myself, “this is not a table of callers.” So I raise it 15T, just to see what happens. 

BB and the other two call my raise, which puts 4 all-in (to my chagrin).  The flop trickles down: 2♠ A♦ K♦.  I’m last to act, and I’ve got my finger on the fold button.  ‘cept they all check to me.  Hmmm… I figure now I gotta bet, Except I also figure nobody’s buying this little bluff and I’m just sweetening the pot for somebody else.  I bet 30T, way too little to be an effective bluff with over 100T in the pot, but they both fold anyway.  Go figure.

So now I’m heads-up with lucky number 4, and a serious underdog to boot.  Still, since this guy’s side pot is so small, I’ve already doubled my investment, and I’ve got a free ride to the river.  The turn is a10♣, and there are so many ways he can beat me it would make me dizzy, except I have nothing to lose.  I can’t wait to show my pathetic little hand.

The river is a 7♥.  HAH!  I come back from a 9-1 doghouse to beat poor number 4, who shows A♣ 6♥ before the trap door under his seat opens up.

That bonehead move netted me 95T (a 25% increase), and cemented my table image as a complete jackass.

Which really helped when I got red cowboys the very next time I was behind the button.  Two callers before me (50T each), and I raise it to 225T.  Button and BB fold, but SB, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum all call me, and the flop is a beautiful 3♣ 3♥ Q♣.

Sitting in last position, I watch and hope.  SB checks, Tweedle Dee bets (50T), and Tweedle Dum calls.  Smelling weakness (“. . . smells like victory"), I raise to 250T and—glory of glories—SB check-raises to 450T.  I’ll bet anything he’s got Qx.  Tweedle Dee goes all-in, raising the pot another 95T.  This is too rich for Tweedle Dum, who leaves his 275T in the pot and goes back to sucking his thumb. 

I go all-in, putting another 790T in the pot and praying SB doesn’t have Q3.  SB thinks for a while, no doubt remembering THE HAMMER!!!, and wondering what kind of utter garbage I raised with this time.  If he doesn’t have the 3, I might.  In fact, for all he knows I might have been raising with 38o.  Probably am.  So he calls.

The turn, 4♦ could only help someone who plays hands like 72o, and that guy is sitting pretty with an overpair.  The river (8♦) removes any flush possibilities and—again—probably helped me, if it helped anyone. 

Sure enough, SB had AQo.  Exactly the right hand in exactly the right position.  For me, that is. SB is now short-stacked.  Tweedle-Dee had tens (huh?) and is out of the game.  And I am chip leader.  Delicious.

Not too much later, having pushed a couple of my short-stacked brethren out the door, I find myself heads up.  In the big blind I get dealt A♣ A♥.  I can’t believe my luck when my opponent raises the small blind 450T to 600T, and I think . . . think . . . think . . . call.  That’s right, I’m going to slowplay these babies.

The flop comes: 2♠ 2♥ Q♦.  Hmmmm.... this looks familiar! He bets 300T, hopefully with Qx, and I call.  The turn is a blank (6♥), and bets 300 again.  I call, trembling with anticipation.

The river is a 6♦.  Definitely NOT a blank.  I put him on one face card, maybe a small pair.  There’s a decent chance he has a 6 or a 2.  I should have re-rasied him pre-flop, when I knew I had him dominated.  Still, if he made his boat, he’ll go all in here, and I’ll fold. 

He bets 300T.  A-hah!  No boat!  I raise 700T to put him all-in, and he thinks. . . . thinks . . . thinks . . . and calls.  Saliva rushes into my mouth, bringing with it the taste of victory.  Then I realize the taste is a bitter one.  He turns over A♠ 2♦ (a 15 to 1 underdog against AA), and I realize it is HIS victory I’m tasting.  I’ve blown my commanding lead, and now we are about even chip-wise.  Crap.

I am able to regain the lead, and on the last hand of the game I have 5925T and he has 2075.  I am SB, and I call (300T) with 9♣ 5♣.  (Hey, they’re suited!).  The flop is 4♣ 9♠ 4♠, and suddenly my hand doesn’t look so bad. Of course, he could have anything.  A 4, even.

He checks, though, and I bet 300T, immediately regretting not betting twice as much.  He calls, and I know I’m going to have to pay to see the river.  The turn is 9♦, and he checks.  Could he be slowplaying fours?  I figure he’s got a high card, and is figuring that I’ve got nothing, since I’m only betting the minimum, so I do it again: I bet 300.  He calls.

The river is a 4♥.  I type into the chat:

I’m not kidding.  And I’m certain he doesn’t have a 4.  So I go all-in. 

This clearly puzzles him, and I can see him wondering if I actually think I’ve won because there’s a full house on the board, or if I’m just trying to scare him off somehow.  I know he has no choice but to call.  Still, he thinks for a while before going all-in with 5♦ K♥, his fours full of nines getting clobbered by my nines full of fours.

Game, set, match.  And I owe it all to the Hammer.

“If objection has been made, the party serving the subpoena may, upon notice to the person commanded to produce, move at any time for an order to compel the production.  Civ.R. 45(c)(2)(B).”

- Federal Civil Judicial Procedure and Rules, 2004 Edition (Thompson/West).

Seriously, I’ve been in the Bay Area for a week, interviewing for a new job and looking for a new home.

Ilse and I had success on the home front (pun intended), and I think the interviews went well.  I have my favorites, and if I get offers from both of them, it will be a tough choice.

In other news, I caught a bit of John Kerry‘s appearance on Meet the Press this weekend.  Although I thought he was too quick to back away from taking strong positions (a common fault among Democratic candidates, who tend to have this odd notion that part of leading a democracy is building consensus and that part of representing a superpower is diplomacy), l liked what he had to say.  Although I am (of course) an ABB guy, I think I may be becoming pro-Kerry.

Also, I read a front page artlicle in the Wall Street Journal (unfortunately I am not a subscriber and could not find it elsewhere online) a couple of days ago that pretty accurately described how the Bushies’ lack of planning and failure to act intelligently in the first days/months of the invasion of Iraq led to the setbacks (it is virtually impossible to find images of the burned bodies on the internet—why?) our troops are now facing.

This just made me angry (TAKE SOME FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY, YOU SMUG LITTLE FUCKER!), but this cheered me up.  Something happened with the hand histories I tried to download, so I can’t offer a detailed write-up, but I will say I got a few strings of really good cards, and that made all the difference.

Anyway, back to the real world.

I bubbled in a $10+1 NLHE sit n’ go over at PokerStars, busting out 4th on a play that can only be described as “Well, here goes nothing.” I raised with AJ from the button before the flop.  BB called.  After the flop was 5-8-T, the BB check-raised me all-in. After taking a lot of time, I called and he turned over T8 (may have been suited).  I got a J on the turn, but the river didn’t help.  I played passively and deserved the short-stack that I had going into the hand.

I threw away more money sitting at a shorthanded 2/4 HE table.  Once i got smart enough to realize that I was getting chewed up by the blinds (which took waaaaaay too long), I ran through $20 at a .50/1 HE table, most of the money going on back to back hands when I was dealt AQ and JJ. I don’t remember the AQ hand, but JJ went down after a lot of capped betting.

JJ in the cutoff.  The betting was capped preflop with six people seeing the flop.  The flop comes 8-6-2, with two clubs.  Betting is again crazy, with four callers for three bets.  Turn is a 9.  Why did I just call here? I don’t know.  A raise may have chased MP.  EP was strangely pot committed.  River is a Q.  EP bets, MP calls, I call (another stupid call, but with the Q on the board and at least one chaser, I didn’t think I had a choice).  EP, who capped the betting preflop, turns over A2s (but not clubs. idiot.), but MP flips AQo and so goes the hand.  I saw another flop or two for free, logged off and resisted the strong urge to drink a lot. Alone. At home. In a very dark apartment because I keep forgetting to go buy replacement bulbs.  There is another cheesy metaphor in there just begging to be let out.

So what else is going on in the poker blog world?

Poker blog stuff

Grubby over at Poker Grub has initiated a hand of the week contest. With cash prizes!!!  Check it out and take your chances.

Maudie at Poker Perspectives deserves more traffic - but should be more careful when there is an ace in the flop.

Pauly is more than just poker.  He is a literary auteur, and I encourage you to check out Truckin’.

I hate to say this, but I have deleted Anisotropy, Vagaries and Suited Trash from the blog roll.  Sean from Anisotropy just up and disappeared, and the link to his blog is broken. London Froggy claimed that he was handing off the blog, but nobody is writing.  Liz from Suited Trash doesn’t update (and rarely posted to begin with). I’ll periodically check in on Suited Trash and Vagaries and if they come back to life, they’ll come back to the roll.  If anyone finds Sean at a new location, let me know and I’ll link to his new joint.

First, there were features that I didn’t appreciate from across the street; it is a design best viewed from up close. I wish I could tell you more about the renovations, but the lecturer damn near put me to sleep talking about the history of the building’s architecture, so I didn’t last until the part about the new entrance. Here is what I didn’t notice before yesterday: The walkway above the entrance with a view into the well-lit lobby with the orignal brick support beams.  The tiered grass sitting area in the plaza. The gorgeous cherry trees. The stands to view he fountain and its choreographed spray . 

Mostly, it turns out, what I didn’t see before were people, and people made all the difference (the faces on the kids watching the fountain even softened this surly bastard’s heart).  I still feel that the new facade is a bad match for the preexisting building, but I have to give the new entrance a big thumbs up. (For a differing view of the attractiveness of the combination, see person-who-knows-something-about-architecture Herbert Muschamp.  The New York Times has a great slideshow of the renovation, as well as panoramic views of the inside and outside of the new entrance in a sidebar to Muschamp’s article. Check it out before it ends up in their pay-per-view archives.)

As part of the grand opening festivities I got to see Brian Dewan’s indescribable I-Can-See filmstrips, which range from the hysterical to the utterly inscrutible.  See them if you ever get a chance.  I almost met Dewan after the show while I was talking to Francis and Rose, but the traffic swept him up before Francis could introduce me.  All for the best, I suppose, as I wouldn’t have known what to say to him after I said “Great show!” and I actually wanted to talk to Francis and Rose.  I can’t say it often enough: read Francis’ blog.  Today, in the spirit of his play We’re All Dead, Francis posted a summary of Pericles - you don’t need familiarity with the original to find it hilarious.

As for the rest of my weekend, the weather was fantastic, and the Pirates
did their part to make it worth the trips out to Queens.  That the Red Wings finished off the Predators and the Lakers won game one from the Rockets just made the weekend an embarrassment of riches.