Easiest Bonus Ever

I started the month with $0.40.

I ended the month with $1.85.

Bonus won: $50.00. I think the highest I ever got, with limited play, was $5.

Easiest...clearing...ever. Thanks for the freebie.

Props to Cox after all

I've written a whole lot this year about how I expected 90 losses.

I've written about expecting a bottoming out and that the team should be blown up.

I've written it's time to start the rebuilding effort and time for old stalwarts (and managers) to go.

Time to write it....

I was wrong.

The Braves won their 82nd game Wednesday night, clinching a winning season due to a three-game sweep of the hapless, actual 90-loss Mets (well, 88 at the moment, but I don't think they're winning 9 of 11 to end the year and avoid 90 losses). I would have written this during the day yesterday, but got caught up and, well, stuff happens.

So, it's time for to admit that I was absolutely, completely wrong in my assessment. Not just a little wrong, but completely wrong in the preseason prediction of powerlessness.

As it stands now, the Braves sit 3.5 games out of the wild card, having jumped over Florida and San Francisco and trailing only Colorado.

I had thought, after two crushing defeats to the Marlins a couple weeks ago and the following five-game slide, that there was no chance at postseason play.

Apparently, the Braves players did not agree, having now won eight of their last ten.

It is possible that the Braves squeak into the postseason. Their remaining schedule has three games in Washington, three games at home against Florida, and four more at home against Washington.

They should win the series in Washington and may even sweep, since they do a lot better on the road and the Nationals are even more atrocious than the Mets.

I'm not sure if they will pull it off at home - especially in front of a fan base as quiet as a Sunday picnic - but the fact that they are still in it after tons of injuries and many, many rookies means I actually have to give Bobby Cox credit for a well-done job.

That sentence still makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

Tickets are probably still available - I might just pick up a couple.

We'll see what happens - but at least it's become a close race to enjoy instead of mind-numbing defeat night after night - but again, enough about the Mets.

What's a cubit?

Wow, original content!

And so it was that the waters engulfed Atlanta for ten days and ten nights, and Michael rode the flood out with son and daughter and fish and computer.

Upon the eleventh day, Michael awoke to see the sun shining overhead and the waters receded.

Then the LORD spake to Michael "Cometh out of thine ark, made of brick and wood and stucco, and see all that I have given to you. This lawn shall be yours to make of it, and I shine the sun in the heavens as a sign to you that the waters have receded.

"For about two hours.

"Now, go forth, and mow thine grass so that it doth not grow so high from the mighty floodgates of heaven."

And Michael obeyed the LORD and did what he was told, for he knew the work must be done. With his mighty faith in the RAS connection which would allow him to work from home, he set out to fulfill the LORD's work.

And the LORD smiled upon him when the grass was cut, and spared him from the mighty plague of hay fever.

Not enough, however, to build the reservoir to hold all the rain. That would be foolish.

So let it be written...so let it be done.

Stand by for smiting in 3....2.....1......

(Bonus points for anyone who gets the title reference and the comedian who used it)

Truckin' Pimpin'

Read, enjoy, subscribe yourself. I'm taking off for the weekend. Peace.

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Truckin' -- http://mcgtruckin.blogspot.com

September 2009, Vol. 8, Issue 9
Welcome back to the September issue of Truckin'.

1. Tangerine Rockets by Paul McGuire
Lennie was an international legend. His father walked away from a plane crash and passed along some of those good luck genes over to Lennie.... More

2. The Red Pill by Sigge S. Amdal
She dropped the face and began to cry, as tensions rose around me. The waiters stopped waiting tables, people stopped talking; they were just exchanging knowing glances and judgmental comments... More

3. Fine Tuning by Milton T. Burton
He looked perplexed. I slipped my hand beneath my coat, came out with the little silenced .22 Magnum auto, and shot him right in the center of the forehead. The hollow-point bullet exited the back of his skull, making a colorful little jet of blood and brains as it went... More

4. On Scoring by Human Head
One look at the eyeliner, eyebrows, gold hoops and herringbone chains, and I knew this was the Angel we were supposed to see. As she drew closer to the door, the tattoo's left little doubt. She didn't say anything. She just looked at me... More

5. The Joys of Gambling by Johnny Hughes
Saratoga Springs, New York in August was the gambling capital of America in the 1920s, with the horses, the spa waters, large and ornate casinos, and America's wealthiest citizens in a gilded age, when money and wine were treated like water... More


What a Long Strange Trip It's Been...
From the Editor's Laptop:

The September edition of Truckin' marks the return of the Human Head after a four year hiatus. I'm enthralled to have him back in the mix. Everyone's favorite Norwegian word wanker, Sigge, returns for a second month in a row. We also have a couple of Texan scribes in Johnny Hughes and Milton T. Burton. And of course, I have a story inspired by a recent trip to Colorado.

Thanks for telling your friends about Truckin'. May you will increase your karma ten fold! The contibutors here write for free and you'll be doing me a huge favor by helping get the some publicity.

If anyone is interested in being added to the mailing list, or perhaps you are interested in writing for a future issue, then feel free to contact me.

I have to sincerely thank the writers for sharing their bloodwork. Thanks for taking this leap of faith with me. And a special thanks goes out to you, the reader, for your loyalty and support over the years.

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Allez Cuisine

I went to a cooking club event on Sunday, and decided to make several dishes after going shopping for the rest of the family and for the club gathering. So, let's report the details a bit differently...

Apologies for crappy pictures - I took them with my phone, so they didn't come out too good.

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台所競技場の今日の戦いのための主題はコショウである。 鉄のシェフは私達の裁判官のために3枚の皿を準備した。 私達の皿がいかになったか見直そう。

(No? Ok, back to English.)

The theme for today's battle in Kitchen Stadium is peppers. The Iron Chef has prepared three dishes for our judges - let's review how our dishes turned out.

The first dish prepared is a plate habanero/pineapple wings.

I combined habanero peppers, serrano peppers, cayenne pepper, and fresh garlic with balsamic vinegar, molasses, and pineapple juice. It allows for a nice, smooth, sweet taste at first which eventually gives way to the spice of the peppers, but is not too overwhelming. I didn't want anyone to be breathing fire, and wanted the taste of the peppers to really come through with the dish.

The second dish prepared by the Iron Chef is italian stuffed peppers with pancetta.

I took fresh pancetta and cooked it with finely chopped onion. I then combined this with freshly sliced chopped provolone, ricotta, and parmesan cheese, and added fresh green peas to the mix. I used this mix with some red bell peppers to really bring out some color and, well, you can't go wrong when adding bacon (which is essentially what pancetta is.)

The third and final dish prepared is a traditional common French dish,
ratatouille.

The kids found it funny when I removed the eggplant from the bag of groceries, as they had never had it before. It's traditionally a stewed dish, very common and not requiring many exotic ingredients. After the kids "helped" me chop the eggplant and season it with salt and spices, I added fresh garlic, basil, parsley, carmelized white onions, yellow and orange bell peppers, zucchini, and diced tomatoes while cooking it up with some wine and black pepper. I served it with rice and the kids definitely seemed to enjoy eating it.

Thank you, Iron Chef, We judge these dishes to be quite good, and tasty. But
could you explain your presentation to us?

Well, I had to drive for 40 minutes to bring the dishes. These exotic plating devices are called "aluminum foil" and "tupperware".

ありがとう。(Thank you.)

Get your degeneracy on

I'm just doing a straight re-post on this from Dr. Pauly, but some folks here who enjoy gambling (check) and fantasy football (check) might be interested.

Sundays with Dr. Pauly returns next Sunday on Fantasy Sports Live.

FantasySportsLive.com is proud to announce our annual Sunday's With Dr. Pauly promotion with $750 in free bonus cash added. Compete at fantasy football against one of the top gaming bloggers in the country, Dr. Pauly, and earn some free cash for your efforts. Last year Dr. Pauly had a rough time and it was pretty easy to get bonus cash with about 25 different winners. This year we expect him to snap back, and make it a bit more profitable for those out there who can consistently beat his score. Simply enter weekly $11 fantasy football leagues named "Sundays w/Dr Pauly" and compete for all of the free bonus cash shown below in addition to our normal 91% and higher cash prize payouts.


$500 in Free Bonus Cash Available to all FSL Users


1) Beat Dr. Pauly's fantasy football score for three straight weeks at any point in weeks 1-15 and gain entry into a season ending tournament of champions in week 16. $125 in bonus cash will be added to the TOC and anyone who beats Dr. Pauly's score in the TOC will get a prorated share based on the number of points above Dr. Pauly's score.


2) Win a 5 week mini-series (W1-W5, W6-W10, W11-W15) and get $25 in bonus cash and entry into the Super TOC with $125 in bonus cash added. Highest cumulative fantasy points over any 5 week series gets the immediate $25 bonus and entry into the Super TOC with Dr. Pauly (automatic entry). $125 in bonus cash will be added to the 4 player Super TOC and anyone who beats Dr. Pauly's score in the TOC will get a prorated share based on the number of points above Dr. Pauly's score.


3) Score a top three highest individual fantasy football score at any point in the series and win free bonus cash. The top three scores will earn a free bonus of $100/$50/$25.


$250 in Bonus Cash Available to FSL Users with a Sports or Gaming Blog for 1 Year


Eligible bloggers can compete for all of the prizes shown above and are also eligible for the for $250 in additional bonus cash.


1) Score a top three highest blogger individual fantasy football score at any point in the series and win free bonus cash. The top three scores will earn a free bonus of $75/$50/$25.


2) Gain entry into the Blogger Battle TOC and compete for $100 in added cash with $75 for first place and $25 for second place. Beating Dr. Pauly's score for three straight weeks, having the highest blogger score in a five week series, having the top individual blogger weekly score over the entire series, or ending in the top 5 in blogger points overall for the 15 weeks gets you in the the Blogger Battle TOC.


Bonus Cash Summary


All Users


TOC - $125 Added Cash
Super TOC $125 Added Cash
Highest weekly score $100 Added Cash
2nd highest weekly score $50 Added Cash
3rd highest weekly score $25 Added Cash
Week 1 Series Winner $25 Added Cash
Week 2 Series Winner $25 Added Cash
Week 3 Series Winner $25 Added Cash


$500 in total added cash


Bloggers


Blogger Battle TOC $100 Added Cash
Highest weekly blogger score $75 Added Cash
2nd highest weekly blogger score $50 Added Cash
3rd highest weekly blogger score $25 Added Cash


$250 in total added cash


Results and standings will be updated weekly here at the FSL blog. OK, now that I have explained all this, go out and get yourself some free cash already. .

Happy New Year

With Labor Day comes another football season filled with crushing disappointment and agony for all but a few football fans across the country.

Professionally, I'm looking forward to the Falcons season, and I'm hoping they can at least get to their bye week at 2-1, with their first three games against the Dolphins, Panthers, and at the Patriots. I think they might be able to post another 11-5 season, and most people are expecting more than just a winning season - something which the Falcons have never done in consecutive years.

I haven't gotten too much back into the college game yet, and I'm not expecting much from Georgia this year after the loss of so many key players through the draft - Stafford, Moreno, etc. I'm interested to see what Florida can do but I'm obviously not rooting for them very much.

As we do every year, we have our fantasy league too - and this was an odd year drafting for me. I could have a five-win team or an undefeated team, it is really hard to tell. Hell, you tell me what you think.

My keepers were Anquan Boldin, Michael Turner, and Tomlinson. Here's how it ended up:

QB: Donovan McNabb (Rd. 6, which I chose over Matt Ryan, and might haunt me all year)
Backup: Carson Palmer (Rd. 8)
Backup: Chad Pennington (Round 16)

RB: Tomlinson (Keeper, Round 3)
RB: Michael Turner (Keeper, Round 1)
Backup: Jamal Lewis (Round 9)
Backup: Leon Washington (Round 12)
Backup: Ricky Williams (Round 13)

WR: Anquan Bolden (Keeper, Round 2)
WR: Roy Williams (Round 7)
WR: Wes Welker (Round 4)
Backup: Laverneaus Coles (Round 10)
Backup: Nate Washington (Round 17)

TE: Tony Gonzalez (Round 5, yay, another Falcon)
Backup: Tony Scheffler (Round 18, meh, it was the last pick of the draft)

Defense: New England (Round 11)
Backup: Dallas (Round 15)

Kicker: Adam Vinatieri (Round 14)

It might not be the best team, but it is probably the oldest. If healthy, it could be the best, who knows.

Considering there were two or three other teams that drafted horribly, it could have been worse. At least I have a sporting chance to defend my title.

Oh, and.....GO FALCONS.