Canterbury card club

John John and I went to Canterbury this past sunday.  I had never been there before, but heard it was a nice place to play.  I was a bit intimidated as there is only limit hold-em, which I had never played, and with any new place, it sometimes can be difficult to gain some solid ground.  I decided to play 3-6 limit which means the ante's are 1 and 3 dollars, one can raise 3 pre-flop and post flop.  6 is the raise on the turn and river.  It was a fun day to go as all the NFL games were up on the screens.  I felt like I played pretty well.  I won a couple pretty big pots and some small ones and came home 200+ to the good.

A little less stress now

Jury awards $130 million to Twin Cities dentists

A jury has awarded a group of Twin Cities dental clinics more than $130 million over charges that a Massachusetts company had overstepped its legal authority by interfering with patient care.

Link to startribune article

Turtle Lake Casino

John John, Brian and I went off to Turtle Lake Wisconsin to play some no-limit poker on saturday.  JJ wanted to get in on a tournament they have every sat.  100+15 tourney.  The casino was no where near as nice as the Cherokee in Tulsa.  It was kind of like a huge trailer house from the outside.  Inside, the decor was similar to a lodge.  We went to the poker room which was kind of a loft area and bought into the tourney.  They had some nice flat screen tv's to watch the college games and a complementary hot dog/ brat area that also had beverages..all serve yourself.  (ironically, one could purchase a brat or hotdog directly down the stairs for 2 bucks..)  The tourney went pretty fast for me... I hit decent cards at bad times and got wounded, then knocked out on pocket kings....John and Brian were still playing, so I sat at a 1-2 no-limit table (which is what I wanted to play from the start).  There were heavy betters on this table.  The table was extremely loose and aggressive, so I played extremely tight and waited for my chance.  It took quite a while.  I kept watching this guy to my left just put tons of chips in on questionable hands.....he couldn't be bluffed out.  I only won two or three hands, but they were all big and all to this guy.  I came out ok overall.  winning over 100 at the cash game and losing 115 in the tourney.  Interesting people....at one point, Brian and I go downstairs to see about eats....we ask this lady working around the slots where a restaurant would be....  she asks which one?  there are 2... one is the mi ki wa (or something) and one is the buffet...which one do we want to go to?  We say not the buffet... ok, she says, go to the very far end of the casino, past the craps tables.  So we do... throught the haze of cigarette smoke to find that both restaurants are right there next to each other.  Anyway, it was a bit of a drive from the cities... I think I want to check out the 2-10 table at treasure island next.

Gearing up for nationals

I haven't been to Sarasota for a couple of years, so it feels weird going back to play natties.   Masters is a bit of a crapshoot... hard to tell how good the field will be or who the best teams will be year in and year out.  

Hold-em

I had my first foray into playing poker at a casino this weekend......it is way different than sitting around a table at home.  Cy and I went over to the Cherokee Casino in Tulsa.  We each pulled out 100 bucks, and sat down an a 1-2 no-limit table.  Next to me was a young dealer wearing heaps of OSU apparel and CY to my right.  The dealer asked us a question which I didn't understand, but Chris said no, so then I did too.  We posted blinds and were away.  The betting is fast, the dealing is fast, and it was very disorienting.  I couldn't get a feel for how to play at all.  I folded a couple of hands, then got an AJ in position.....hmmmm.  One other person in after the flop and I flop top pair...keep in mind I am still not able to concentrate very well or feel comfortable.  I bet 5 on the flop and she just calls.  The turn was no help, I bet 10, she calls.....the river...another J.  Now I am thinking a value bet and only was trying to figure out how pulling in a bunch of chips goes..I bet 15, she calls.  I turn over trip j's, she turns her cards over and I wait for the chips.  Except she has a straight.  I didn't even see it on the board..man just out of it.   I lose out on big slick a few hands later to a flush when I had to 2 pair.  100 bucks went fast.  

Luckily (or unluckily) we got stuck one more night in the Tulsa area and I went back to the 1-2 table with John John.  I was feeling way better about things today.  Bet small play tight.  When I sat down, the dealer asked if I had a player card(most regulars have these to pay and play with)  no, I said.  Do you want to post now, or wait for the blinds...I'll wait.  This day went far better.  I played a few hands, only losing a bet of 6 bucks one time.  I won on top pair, Q's in the hole and a big win flopping the high straight.  I felt very comfortable at this table.  This time I came out 140 bucks ahead!(thank you JJ for making me stay one more round)  John John also came out about the same....so, all in all, I came out 40bucks ahead.

Separated at birth?

Learning to scoot

Van Halen re-unites!

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Mudi

Well, I played in my first ulti-tournament since nationals of 2004 and it felt like it.  It is a similar idea to playing tennis for the first time in a long while.  Everything is a bit out of step.  Sometimes things feel familiar and actually work, and others....lets just say that I had probably more turns than any other tournament I have ever played.  The team was, minus a few players, feeling about the same.  We have a bunch of guys that were and still can be very good players, but need to knock a ton of rust off the cleats.  That being said, we didn't go out there to win, just have a good time, so goal achieved.  It was good to see all the boys again and toss the disc about.  Pelicans??  I think not.

Finally...now on to 1000

500 miles!

Holiday

A much needed break from work.....The dentistry and the patients are easy.  I really don't mind any of the procedures that I do.  I just needed a break from all the tension around the office....with the big lawsuit between the docs and the management group finally going to court on the 9th of July, it has been a madhouse of letters, threats, offers of cash..you name it.  I just need to get away and clear my head.  Both sides have said they will win the lawsuit, but I guess now we will see.  Anyway, don't bug me about work, I am on a holiday. 

480 miles.

Heat of the morning

So I went out to run this morning at 7:00 am. As soon as I walked out the door, I knew it would be a difficult 4 miles.  It was about 80 degrees and a dew point of 70.  I crashed at about mile 3.  If I had run the opposite direction, I would have hit some U of M sprinklers along the way, but the way I went, I only hit the long unshaded area all the way down Larpenteur.  My legs were dragging for the last mile up-hill on Cleveland. 460 miles....40 to go for 500 since December.

Went over to Cy's to play some poker last night.  A bunch of the usual suspects were there...John John and bro, Dikeberg, Cy, TY..anyway, I finished tied for 3rd among 12.  I definately could have done better given the nice flops I saw.  I sort of went in with the plan of seeing as many flops as possible and going from there.  I hit some very nice cards and built an early lead, but in the end, kind of squandered what I had and went out in a bad play to tie for 3rd.  I am quite sure a better player would have probably won with the same cards I saw, but oh well.  It was a good time all in all.

Hot Week

Today, it is hot. We went to como zoo yesterday morning before it got way too hot. We love our new deck with the lattice above. It gives a nice amount of shade.

Track workout

Did Dave B's track workout today at the dirt track by my house.......arg. I have been putting in many miles running for cardio in the past few months...400+ miles. I am certain that helped prepare me, but it still kicked my ass. The 6 sets of 200 meters is a killer. Thank goodness someone posted this sign, or I may have.

Weekend

Well, it was a festive weekend in Saint Paul. Friday kicked it off with an icecream and pie social on the seminary grounds. It was a fundraiser for the local 4H club. I had myself a pumkin pie while Anita went for the blueberry. We hung out a bit and then strolled home. It threatened to rain the whole time, but there was nary a drop. Saturday was the St. Anthony art fair. I went last year after my near death experience and could barely walk down to muffuletta, but this year, I went for a 4.5 mile run early in the morning and hit the fair. Again, it looked stormy, but no rain fell on us. Anita bought a housewarming gift for Josh and Jeannie. Finally, to wrap up the weekend, we went to Grand old day. This is one of my favorite events. It is a bit like the fair without all the big fat people. I think it is because the whole thing is walking up and down Grand ave. I mapped it out and one will probably walk an average of 3 miles. Next year we will bring the Bug. Yesterday, the boys got to play together. It is funny, they don't even take the time to greet, they just have at each other.

lazy day

Easy like a sunday morning

Bella laugh

one of her first laughing fits.....

Where in Minnesota?

these photos were all taken at the same place....can you guess where? Get it right and I will send you a beer.
B

bug baby pic

Heather and Andy sent us a pic of our Bug as a pup with three of his siblings. Byron is second from the left. The two black dogs are female and the one to the far right is Parker. He was adopted by one of Anita's cousins.

Our deck is done party

The story of our deck is a short one....It was too small and got way to hot in the summer. We decided we needed a new deck to enjoy our time in the summer as Bella keeps us around the house more than we use to be. So....we called Pat Noonan. He designed the deck and put it up with his crew headed by Mike Noonan (who I played tennis with back in highschool) from wed to friday. We then had the crew over for a grill out on that saturday...

Out and About

Out and about is a whole different deal with Bella aboard the cruise ship svert. We have to plan around feedings and nap time. This leaves a bit of time to fit a walk, or a quick outing in the city. Today we went and parked on lexington and Grand, walked to Grand ole creamery and had ourselves a cone. I forget how big of cones they make and got a double. about half of my cone went into the circular file, but it was good. I got a strawberry custard and banana chocolate sugar cone.....yum! Most of our walk, we reminisced about where we use to go as we strolled Grand Ave. One of my favorite restaurants is now closed :( The Italian Pie shoppe. Man, they made good Za, but, I guess, much like my Kung-fu, not good enough. Billy's was looking pretty good to me...I remember only a year ago sitting with a reuben sandwich and a corona beer just soaking in the sun on the patio. Bella made it through the whole extravaganza without getting too cranky, so that was a rousing success.

my little twins fan

Would your car do this for you?

Don't piss of Kit

Practice?

Yeah....practice.

Well, your wolves have done it

Losing by 20 to the Grizzlies. Pathetic. I use to be a season ticket holder, but truly in the last couple of years I couldn't give my $100 per seat tickets away. No one wanted them, and now I don't either. Maybe I will get some gopher tickets next year, or Twins pack when they get the outdoor stadium.

Can Madsen make a 3?

The farce that is your minnesota timberwolves 06-07 season mercifully ends on wed. at the target against the league's worst Memphis Grizzlies. Minnesota, again like last year, is in a "must lose" situation. Last year Mark Madsen fired up 6 three point shot attempts. This year he needs at least that many so they don't blow it and actually win. They say it is hard to win in the NBA, lets see how hard it is to lose.

Fire Billy Packer?

I think not. Fag, just because it is used as a derogatory comment here in the U.S. doesn't mean it is used that way elsewhere. It reminds me of a conversation with a friend of mine who grew up and lives just in Manchester England. Mark, who had just quit smoking, and I were talking of cigarettes to which he said they were called "fags" most commonly. He had to laugh when I told him it basically was only a derogatory gay remark here in the U.S.. He said, so you wouldn't say " I am going to go outside and have a couple of fags?" No, that would be bad. Interesting that it would be a word that one could get fired for in this extremely p.c. world of ours, but I guess that's the deal. He was using it to say "tire, or bail out on him" and it is very clearly in context.

Mike Freeman is an idiot

ATLANTA -- Some people believe I am insane for even suggesting it. They are measuring me for a rubber room. They are laughing hysterically. They are all wrong. They are so wrong and stupid. They could not be more wrong and stupid.

I'm right. I'm right in thinking that the Florida Gators could probably beat five lower echelon NBA teams on a neutral court.

"I don't know, it would be a lot of fun," said Florida's Corey Brewer. "We'd be competitive. I don't know if we'd win, but we'd be competitive.

"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it."

what is fit?

I pretty much only listen to KFAN...I know, a sad declaration, but sometimes it gets me thinking. One radio spot that runs many times a day revolves around Jeff Dubay pontificating about how we should all try this weight loss program. One that you can eat all you want and never excercise and still lose weight. I really don't remember what the stuff is, but a couple of years ago he did the same thing with "body solutions for men."
I get to thinking....he really doesn't want to be healthy. He cannot stop being a glutton or a lazy ass, he just wants to appear more slim.
So I think...what is healthy these days.... Lance Armstrong/Barry Bonds? Both appear very healthy, but what underlying liver malfunction is waiting. Model runway babes...while being very slim, go back stage and hurl while they smoke. Pooh likes to tout how thin is not always meaning healthy, but fat certainly isn't healthy.
I guess it is all about moderation. Eat moderately, exercise moderately and smoke...never.
Our society will always say thin is healthy even if you have to starve yourself and purge your food to do it.....

The first form of Blogging

Bathroom logs

Fatherly advise

Irony

Ever go to Menard's or Home Depot and check out how people park? They are all over the parking lot without much regard to proximity to the store. Now go to the healthclub. Everybody parks as close as possible to the club. People wait minutes to get a better spot. What the heck?!! Drive around the parking lot to get a closer spot so, God forbid, you will have to walk any distance to go "workout."

Best sports comment of the year

Steve Nash on Carmelo "biggest punk loser on a block full of punk losers" Anthony describing the gutless sucker punch and immediate pussy backpedal that earned bploabfopl a 14 game suspension.

“Typical NBA punch,” Nash told the Toronto Globe and Mail. “In hockey, your own team would beat you up for that.”

Top ten most annoying people

Troy Hudson The stress of both worlds....of which you suck at. From Ole defense to his rifleman offensive personality, he annoys the crap out of me.

Charles Schwab (for those commercials) Those partially animated spots where the person is talking about their financial annoying crap. I mean, how could you go from this to stupid animated people.

W: I thought I had GERD, but it was only when W would give that little smug smile after he had "answered" a question.

Kevin Mchale Let's quickly refer back to the place in our minds where we've stored the nightmares that are the Minnesota draft picks during the Kevin Garnett era. Two good picks, three bad picks, one mediocre pick, and one unknown. Let's see one of those drafts had two picks and.........there it is! It's the elephant in the room. What happened to all of those other draft picks? Well, we know that one was traded away in order to acquire Bobby Jackson, but the others are still unaccounted for. Here's what I'm getting at: Joe Smith and "debacle" aren't grouped together because they sound good. Apparently, the Minnesota brass, namely Kevin McHale and Owner, Glen Taylor, thought that it would be wise to put the "secret" illegal contract in writing. Brilliant! About a year later, the league somehow got a copy of the agreement and that was precisely the moment when Joe Smith went from "Ordinary Joe" to "Joe Smith Debacle." The Minnesota organization was fined a large sum of money, Taylor was suspended, McHale involuntarily took a "leave of absence" from his front office post, and the team was forced to forfeit five future first-round picks. So five first rounders for Joe Smith...One for Bobby Jackson (who we just decided not to sign) one for 1/2 a season with Marcus Banks and one for letting the Clippers take all-star Sam Cassell for something called Marco Jaric. So all in all, that is 8 first round draft picks for Bobby, Marco, Joe and 1/2 of Marcus. Now, people say to trade Kevin to rebuild....but I disagree. Not when McHale has control of the ship. We will probably get 1 first rounder and a couple more guards that are decent back-ups.

Chris Hawkey: Anyone who tries to act more dumb than the star on the morning show should be taken out back and beaten.

Bill Walton: enough of bill, please.

Puffy: How many weight loss progams that you "eat all you want and don't exercise" can a guy tout?

Any lifetime achievement award winner at any celeb award show (chewbacca excluded): Those 15 minutes I will never get back. No, I don't think you are a genius, you just try to act like one.

Jack Black: What other character does he play.

Tom Cruise:

In no particular order

dishonorable mention...sam jackson: narcissus

Days that blur

It is about time for me to go back to work again. The last 8-10 days have just been a blur. I usually get up and do the 4:00am feeding time with Bella, change her and then try to get her to calm down again and go to sleep. I am sleeping again, maybe, by 4:45am. It is a strange night now that there is a newborn in the house. I think neither Anita or I may get sleep in patches of about 4 hours at a time. I seem to be o.k. during the day, but mornings are a killer. Never enough things to worry about with the little one as well....is she pooping enough, too much, what is the color....yes most of the worry comes with the amount and color of poop these days.....what a life ey? But I wouldn't change it for anything....fatherhood is amazing!
here she is helping me blog

Bella

Bella's site

We finally got to bring Bella home today. She had been in the level 2 nursery for a few days. first because her white blood cell count was high and the docs were concerned with infection, so they put an IV in her head to give her antibiotics and fluids. Her blood culture was negative after 48 hours (thank goodness as she then would have been in the nursery for 10 more days), but her bilirubin count was up, so she was placed in the photo booth/box to help her with that. She then was weened off of the IV and has been feeding pretty well since. It is late, Anita is sleeping, or trying, and I am watching my little Bella until her 11:00 feeding time. Ta.
Byron is still adjusting.

Happy family

pic of Isabella

BABY!

Isabella Pearl Severt was born today, Jan 6th at 12:03am. She is 6 lbs 6 oz and 19 inches. It was a very long day for mom and baby. I think my jaw will recover from clenching it together on every push. All in all, though, very exciting. More later....