Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County

Years ago, Mark Twain wrote a short story titled "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."  From what I understand, this was the work that made him famous initially.

Anyway, the annual fair in Calaveras County pays tribute to his story by hosting frog jumping competitions.  After thinking about checking it out for years, I finally got the chance to go see it in person.  I thought it was fun and quite silly, but most importantly, it was entertaining.  I think this event is a great one for families with kids.

The world record of 21' 5.75" was set in 1986.  This year's winner jumped an impressive 20'10".  The jumps are measured from origin to the landing spot of the 3rd hop (or step).  So, if a frog decides to u-turn, you are pretty much screwed.

Okay, here are pictures of the frogs.  There was a lot more to see there, but I find these frog pictures hilarious.

Enjoy.

Edgar Allen Poker Poe-try

This is just too good not to share. Before you can fully appreciate the awesomeness contained in this poem and its reading, you need to know a bit about the history of Bing Blan Blaow. Some time earlier this year, some online poker player named ch3ckraise created a song that he would copy-and-paste into the chat box whenever he took his opponent's money in a head-up match.

It went like this, and somehow it got popular (a Google search gets over 400,000 hits on the exact search phrase). Just a silly, silly thing to say.

ch3ckraise: BING BLANG BLAOW
ch3ckraise: CH3CK RAISE IN THA HOUSE
ch3ckraise: I JUST WON $50.00 FROM YOU
ch3ckraise: U COULD HAVE USED IT TO BUY SOME FOOD
ch3ckraise: BUT YOU CANT NOW
ch3ckraise: CUZ IMMA CASH IT OUT
ch3ckraise: AND RUB IT ON MY TITT1ES

The original song can be found on YouTube here: Bing Blang Blaow.

But, this poetic interpretation is pure genius.

New Words For My Vocabulary

So, JC's been reading The Ambassadors by Henry James. Let's just say that it's not light reading. James's sheer wordiness and his penchant for incredibly complex sentence structures is mostly to blame. JC is an incredibly fast reader, but upon tackling this book, she has found that her reading rate was roughly halved. She's hopeful that over time, she might be able to adapt to his writing style, and regain the lost speed. In any case, I don't think I have any inclination to read the book after she's done. Ha ha.

However, I started flipping through the book some only to find tough words after reading a few daunting passages. I figured what better way to expand my vocabulary. After some skimming, which resulted in near zero comprehension of the text, here were a few words where neither of us knew the definitions. We both guessed at their meanings using the context, but we were never quite right.

fuliginous - Sooty; dark colored. [Haha, Blogger spellchecker doesn't even know this word.]

physiognomy - Art or science of discovering temperament and character from outward appearance.

efflorescence - The process of flowering; period of blossoming.

interlocutor - Someone who takes part in a dialogue or conversation.

animadvert - To make harsh criticism; censure.

And, here's another word I learned recently from an entirely different book.

profligate - Completely given up to self-indulgence and licentiousness; wildly extravagant.

I Know It When I Read It

First, I'm going to say that this is NSFW, but it's pretty tame. Anyway, JC and I were just feeling kind of goofy while chilling over at her place in LA. And, I'm not even sure how it started, but we got to talking about how sometimes adult film companies create titles based on famous works. Titles like Forrest Hump or Intercourse with a Vampire are some examples.

Well, we ended up coming up with a list for the literary aficionado. We decided that we'd start with the Charles Dickens collection for obvious reasons, and here's the list that we came up with. Some are pretty bad, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them have actually been used before.

• A Tale of Two Titties
• David Cop-a-Feel
• Oliver Fist
• Great Sexpectations
• A XXX-mas Carol

And, there's one Dickens' work that needs no alteration at all... Hard Times -- For These Times. Okay, that's it for now... maybe next time we'll tackle the works of James Joyce or maybe Oscar Wilde.

The Mind and Interpretation

I read this not long ago on another forum, but I thought it was interesting, so I'm going to share it here.

Take the following sentence: No head injury is too small to ignore.

Now, think about what the literal interpretation of that sentence implies... does it imply that we should treat all head injuries, or that we should be ignoring all head injuries?

Most people, including myself, think the above statement says that we should treat all head injuries. But, that is actually not what that statement is telling us to do at all. Re-read it carefully to see if you can see why. I think it is neat how our mind is quick to correct syntactical errors if we have some formulated opinion as to what is the most reasonable interpretation.

Had the sentence been: No head injury is X to Y.

We would interpret it as it is written, since we have no bias. Anyway, I find all of this interesting.

If you still aren't quite seeing the error in the first sentence, take a look at the following sentence.

The man is too tall to drive a Lotus. This says that the man can't drive a Lotus, because he's too tall. This sentence makes sense... a Lotus is a small car, so if you're too tall you probably would have difficulty driving it.

Now, let's replace the with no.

No man is too tall to drive a Lotus. This clearly means that all men are short enough to drive a Lotus, since there does not exist a man that is too tall to drive one.

Finally, let's go back to the original sentence.

No head injury is too small to ignore. This must mean that all head injuries are big enough to ignore, since no head injury is too small to be ignored. It is clear that this sentence is nonsensical; it implies that we prefer to ignore large head injuries over small ones. Additionally, it tells us that all head injuries are of a size that grants them admission into the 'large' category.

Apparently, this nonsensical sentence comes from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I assume that Carrol did this on purpose, after all, he is known for literary nonsense.

Wall Street and Its Poker Face

Let me just quickly say that today was one heck of a day for the markets... even the energy sector participated in today's rally. Tommorow will be an important day, as the portfolio's fifth largest position, Constellation Brands (STZ) announces its earnings. We should hopefully start hearing about the synergistic benefits resulting from the Vincor acquisition. Anyway, I will be up bright and early for the news.

On a different note, I recently finished The Poker Face of Wall Street by Aaron Brown. While the book does talk about poker and some concepts of the game, it is not a book about poker. Instead, this book is about risk (in gambling and other financial forms), and why, with proper management, it should be embraced. The book also covered a lot of history behind gambling and its importance in the development of today's financial industry. It's definitely an interesting read, and although I grasped only a portion of what Aaron tried to convey, I learned quite a bit. If you're looking for a book on poker, skip this one. But, if you want to convince someone why gambling is good for you, this is your book.

I know Norwegian Alex reads this blog only for the poker highlights, and since the title of this post does contain the word poker, I might as well write a bit about my latest session. So, anyway, last night I played my usual low-limit ($6/12) poker at Bay101. Right off the bat I was hurt in a nasty flush over flush hand. I had 97d in the big blind, and I turned a flush, only to be check-raised on the river by the small blind who was holding the Q-high flush.

So after a few more hands, I pick up QQ. This is just weird, because in my previous session I got a ton of pocket queens. Unfortunately for me, we see the flop 7 handed, and I check-fold the A-high flop. A few more orbits of nothing, and things started to turn around. I picked up a few good hands, and made the most of my cards. I played really solidly throughout the night, but there were a few spots where I felt I played like a sucker.

Here's a hand where I felt I played poorly... I have AJh and I open-raise it in early position. There are two cold-callers, and the blinds fold. Flop comes Qh Jx Tx. I bet, the next guy folds, and the other guy raises. I call, and the turn brings another T (not a heart). I am pretty sure this guy's got a good hand, and I'm quite sure if I bet here I'm going to get popped. So, the sane person probably check-folds here. I ended up check-calling, and since I'm a luckbox, I spiked the J. I lead on the river and get called by AK who had flopped the nuts. So ya, I'm a runner-runner rat.

As you can tell, luck trumped skill this session. Anyway, I finished up a whopping 50 bets in less than 5 hours. I think some of that luck came from Rowr via an SMS text message. Rumor has it that her luck has been responsible in part for over $1MM in poker winnings. Maybe she can bottle her luck and auction it off on eBay.

The Weekend and Drinks

The weekend was fun and pretty relaxing.

On Friday, we went to get some Japanese food over at Minato in San Jose. They aren't really a sushi place, but their tuna and yellowtail sashimi is always very fresh. We had plenty of that plus terriyaki chicken and shrimp and veggie tempura. Can't go wrong at Minato, assuming you're not specifically in search of sushi.

Saturday, we went to watch Cars. I enjoyed it. Definitely a feel good movie. There were a few references that were definitely more adult... like 'whore' tattoos and 60's drug use. I was a moron and forgot to bring the free popcorn coupon I had, and so we didn't get to up our heart attack probability at all. Later that night, we went to the Blue Monkey Lounge. I'd never been there, but it was a nice little place. The biggest complaint I had was that there was a SINGLE bathroom for BOTH men and women. We were there for a double birthday party, and so there were two tables reserved with plenty to drink. Good times.

Sunday was a day for rest, except for hitting the gym... I'm so out of shape, it sucks.

Oh, so a book I ordered came today... full of useful information: Drinks by Vincent Gasnier. But, if you are interested in buying it, get it from Overstock. Just a shade cheaper, but the shipping is far less, since it doesn't qualify for Amazon's Super Saver Shipping.