The experiment begins...

So I've been thinking a lot lately about the random nature of the universe, even in the midst of getting back into fighting weight on issues of faith (thanks, Jim!), and I thought to myself, "Self, how can you best experiment with such randomness in a fun, blog-worthy, and potentially profitable way?"

Enter the Tennessee Lottery. Specifically, the scratch-off games that have become a ubiquitous part of convenience store counters since January 20, 2004, the day the first ticket was sold in Tennessee.

So here’s my methodology: 31 days in July (at least that’s what my fourth knuckle on my left hand says…anybody else remember that trick?), $60 allocated for scratch-off tickets (broken down into 20 $1, 10 $2 and 4 $5…yeah, there’s a couple extra days there, just for fun), purchased at various locations around the Midstate, and let’s see what kind of randomness will ensue.

My prediction? I don’t think I’ll break even, I think I’ll get somewhere around 12 free tickets, and I’ll occasionally feel like a chump walking in to buy a handful of tickets. But it's all in the name of science and philosophy, right? If you want to weigh in on what you think the total outcome will be, feel free…

Here goes nothin’…

"This is a job for..."

Just so's you don't think I get all my fodder from Olbermann...

100 Words On…Blaming The Media

Well, we’re firmly in an era of “blaming the media” as contact sport. A ridiculously overhyped/ underperforming Olympic athlete thinks it’s OK. And of course, the starboard side of the aisle of the House of Representatives thinks its fine to make political hay by attacking one of this country’s most venerable media institutions. But isn’t there more than a little bit of hypocrisy going on here? Didn't the media (be it news organizations or advertising mechanisms) make these people public figures/officials in the first place? Perhaps it’d be better to look in the mirror for the source of their problems.

"Three words...Keep it up!"

K.O. offers his Fox News counterpart some friendly advice.



Hee, hee, hee...

100 Words On..."Superman Returns"

I was 10 years old when “Superman The Movie” came out, with its famous tagline of “You’ll believe a man can fly.” And I did. However, no amount of CGI will ever make me think this guy -----> is Superman. Not only did Christopher Reeve do such a great job as the Man of Steel (well, twice anyway), Brandon Routh seems to have about as much charisma as a piece of steel. But at least I’ll be watching it tonight at an honest-to-god drive-in theater, so if it gets too bad, I can always look, up in the sky…

Six minutes...

Got angry at a guy right behind me who was calling all-in on every hand. I finally got a hand (pocket queens)...I called. He had bullets. I'm out in six minutes.

100 Words On…Bill Gates

Hey, I’m gonna try a new feature every once in a while called “100 Words On…,” where I’ll opine on a topic for exactly 100 words. Might as well kick it off with Bill Gates’ announcement that he’ll step away Microsoft in 2008. Nothing like giving the stockholders a chance to slowly devalue your retirement fund, eh, Bill? I had a feeling Gates was heading this way when his Time “Person of the Year” election came up last year. But he needn’t worry about his fortunes…Windows Vista won’t even be out by then. That’s when the stock will really tumble.

Shameless, indeed...

To use Olby's phrase, I usually have nothing more to add that is either relevant or true. However...I have prayed for Ann Coulter to see the error of her ways, that the bastardization of one's convictions for the purposes of bolstering one's bank account will eventually catch up with you. But if this is truly what she believes and not just what she writes to get a rise out of observers and ergo, sell a bunch of books, then I fear no amount of prayer will help her.

Billy Preston

Billy Preston, one of the most influential funk keyboard players of all time, has passed away.

Here's a guy who played on hits for everybody from Sly & The Family Stone to The Beatles, and yet has toiled away from the spotlight he deserved, mainly due to personal issues and, recently, illness.

But, good lord, the cat could play.

My one Billy Preston story comes from a few years ago, when my friends Chris Rodriguez and Tommy Sims were in the infant stages of their band 1World (which, sadly, went nowhere), but because of their individual statuses (statii?) as great session players were asked to put together a band for a charity show at the late, lamented 328 Performance Hall.

1World played, and a bunch of friends like Judson Spence and Owsley showed up to do short solo sets. But about halfway through the show, a gentleman appeared and stood quietly at the end of the bar. It was Preston, who was in town for rehearsals with that year's edition of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band.

He wasn't on the bill, he only knew a handful of people in this half-full bar in Nashville, but he showed up because there was music there. Tommy found out he was in the room, and asked him to come up on stage. And they pulled together an impromptu version of Preston's hit "Will It Go Round In Circles" that absolutely levelled the room. The place went nuts, and the smiles on the faces of those supremely talented musicians will be forever etched in my mind. There's nothing quite like watching talented people interact with their heroes.

CMT invades Belmont...again...

Oh, joy. CMT has announced a date and location for the 2007 CMT Music Awards: Monday, April 16, 2007, again at our lovely Curb Event Center.

Belmont denizens: Start trying to find parking right...about...now.

Oh, well...at least we won't have to deal with a semi-shirtless Jeff Foxworthy doing interpretive dance with "Dancing With The Stars" castoff Lisa Rinna to the tune of "Honkytonk Badonkadonk." Sure, Foxworthy will be back to host, but we think he's learned his lesson about dancing in public.

Hey, just thought I'd give it a try...

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker....

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 9891526

"Just because you're paranoid..."

...say it with me, "it doesn't mean they're not out to get you."

This will be discounted by the starboard side for many reasons: the publication in which it appears, the last name of the author of the article, that it's "old news" and "we need to move on for the good of the country."

But this intricately researched article concerning the 2004 presidential election and questions of voter fraud scared the bejeebers out of me.

Do I have any solutions? No...although getting Diebold out of the process might be a good start. Having verifiable paper trails might not be a bad idea. Standardized ballots wouldn't be out of the question. Independent election officials, rather than political appointees such as secretaries of state, running the process might be a way to go. Shoot, any thinking person sitting down for five minutes could think of a dozen logical ways the process could be more fair and allow every vote to be counted.

But that wouldn't be very expedient to the political process, now would it?

Just in case you were wondering...

T Bone Burnett was great, thanks for asking...