Just like on TV ...

I know from historical evidence that blog stories about poker are unappreciated by my reader base, so I will keep this brief.

However, during the final of the work poker tournament tonight (when I finished a credible but not-quite-good-enough second), there was a brilliant moment right out of a TV or Hollywood poker game.

Down to the last two in a heads-up, I have about 30% of the chips, so am definitely down. I finally get a hand - pocket 7s - that I can put my money on, so I go all in, and am instantly called. I'm facing another pocket pair. 8s.

At this point, I'm hoping for a 7 - nothing else will do. The first two cards on the flop are irrelevant, but the third is a 7! I have three of a kind and am likely to win. I just need to avoid an eight, and nothing can stop me.

So the turn is an eight.

We now both have a three of a kind, but my 7s still are inferior to the 8s. I need a miracle on the river.

The river is a seven.

Unbelieveably, I have four of a kind and win the hand. The way the final three cards were revealed was suitable of a Hollywood script. The only part missing was where my all in would win me the game. It didn't, I recovered to be ahead but couldn't get any decent hands and eventually lost. But it was still a frankly amazing hand.

Season of Misgivings

Is it just me, or is Christmas coming earlier this year than usual. Maybe it's the onset of the Credit Crunch that has caused it - retailers desperate to ge the most out of their peak time.

But the adverts seem to be earlier and more obnoxious than ever.

Holiday

Well, today marks the second day of a two-week holiday. The more perceptive among you won't probably have to work out where I am, it's not much of a surprise!

Yes, I am in America visiting Chrissi again! The weather is lovely and warm, the sun is shining and I've had a lovely lie-in. Overall, all is good!

Positivity

So an odd subject to post on, but I will do so anyway. Positivity.

This is despite the fact that I'm usually a rather upbeat, realistic-through-to-positive person, I seem to have gained a reputation for being a cynical, pessimistic, negative person.

Which isn't really true. I'm usually fairly positive. The main reason this happens - particularly at work - is because I get really pissed off at inequality, injustice and so forth. Ignoring things that are completely out of order just isn't in my nature, so by pointing them out and saying as much, I'm a negative person.

Or so I hear!

Hopes and Fears

So, after all that, it's Obama. Election night reflected an interesting mix in my view.

On the one side, you have the incredible story of progress. It is just fourty years since the year when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, when John Carlos and Tommy Smith made their famous stand on the podium. Yet today we have a black president-elect of America.

On the other side, you have the tale of fear, of the continuation of exclusion and division, as Proposition 8 passed in California to sign into law the banning of gay marriages in the most liberal state of America. You can't help but wonder if this will be the story for the next fourty years.

Decision Time

So after eight years of President George W. Bush, we'll today find out who his successor in the Oval Office will be. Two years of campaigning, a never-ending news cycle dominated by the US election that has gripped the globe in fevered interest.

All the talk for months of change, mavericks, hockey moms, pitbulls with lipstick, moose hunting, terrorist fist jabs (a personal favourite), Joe the Plumber who wasn't called Joe, and wasn't a plumber either, the economic crisis, more change, no talk of George Bush at all, change, pro-Americans, Alaskan independence, Troopergate, and it all comes down to this: millions of Americans casting their vote where they best see fit.

All we know is that when Europeans wake up in the morning it'll be with President-elect Obama or President-elect McCain ready to inherit the keys to the White House in January as the 44th President of the United States of America.

Culinary Wizardry

So, the one thing I often forget about when others in my family disappear on holiday and I have to fend for myself for a while is how much I actually enjoy cooking.

I always complain about it, but I actually quite enjoy cooking as a whole. It's nice, it's relatively relaxing, and it gives you that extra sense of satisfaction while eating. On the menu tonight is lamb chops; fabulous.

Back to the Past

In what is a reminder of my traditional classic blogging style, here is an amusing picture: