A Note on Gamesmanship

I don't play games much, just the odd card or pool game. And frankly, I don't like to loose. Against a reasonably competent opponent in cards, I stand a reasonable chance of loosing. In pool where I am less competent, I only have the possiblity of luck going for me. But, I really hate playing against people who are not trying to kick my ass. Particularly in pool. It's condescending. It's insulting. If I suspect someone of padding their shots, I won't play them anymore. A run on the tables shows more respect than acting a missed shot. To me, that is. Perhaps I'm just a hard ass, but if you are going to handicap me do it upfront and I don't want one. How can you get better if people just mess around? And its so great to make those few shots, and make them on your own ability.

That's why I think the problem is not the incredible scores the Patriots are running up, but that they need a better PR department. People are ready to fault the Pats, vs think about it. Do you want a fake game? I mean really. I don't. I don't like blow outs but I really don't like seeing an elite team not perform well. I think the Redskins defense has some work to do. Even when Cassel came in for Brady it was like the Redskins defense was eating popcorn in the stands. And another thing. Belichick does not do things for grins and giggles. He's a topnotch coach and I doubt the score was the result of some personal snit. He is very task oriented, and I would suspect a reason. Was he trying to psyche the Colts out? Belichick loves an edge. Were there offensive or defensive plays or combos he wanted to try before this week?

Bottom line for me is, blow outs hurt but condescension is a pisser. I also copied the following from a blog..(forget which):

Note from the football blog to those consumed with loathing of the Patriots for their latest transgression; scoring too many points...what a despicable team Some other game scores from the past - •The 49ers beat Denver in the SB 55-10. They were called dominant. •The Bears beat the Pats 46-10. They were called dominant. •The Cowboys beat the Bills 52-17. They were called dominant. •The Giants beat the 49ers in the playoffs 49-3. They were called dominant. •Gibbs and his Redskins beat the Rams in the playoffs 51-7. They were called dominant. •The Bears won the title 73-0. They were called dominant. •The Pats win 52-7 and they receive criticism? Only from those with no historical perspective on the game. Thanks to source for posting this in football blog

Tree Ring

Molding this Tree Ring might be a bit of a problem... Jewelry molds are 2 part molds. But. Will see. Thought I'd show off the poor baby as it heads into an uncertain future....

Mystery Musings and Brandy Bombast

Okay. I must take a moment to discuss psychology, a discilpline I am profoundly unqualified to discuss. Which brings up another point. The specialization in a culture that exposes so many ineptitudes. Like. Before Psychology became a discipline it was a late night tilt of a wine bottle filling a glass while the question "what the hell was she thinking" was asked. Or was it brandy. I forget. (You know, those scenes of Charles Dickens are so wonderfully flexible. Read Tale of Two Cities, listen to a couple of BBC newscasts, and your life will never be unscripted.)

Back to Psychology. A funny thing happened on the way to a lottery ticket. Today I scooped 51 cents off the streets, which gave me a buck to buy a powerball ticket. Immediately I felt accomplished. Well, I do have a crow's eye. But. Intellectually I am totally aware that the vast overwhelming likelyhood that I'd win is less than zilch. One in a million ten billion whatever. The idea of paying off debts, going to the dentist, and buying fine wine is a fantasy. I know that. I know also that the whole reason the lottery exists is Americans do not want to pay taxes. They do not want to pay for roads or schools, and definitely not healthcare. So they call the lottery a "stupid tax." I've heard that so many times and it really is not cute. The lottery is a tax on the poor. Pure and simple. It is a regressive tax. A tax on those that think a one in a million ten billion chance is better than none. It is an easy tax to levy. A tax on dreams.

The reason I buy lottery tickets with the change I find on the streets is in part protest. (see the 22 cent entry.) And in part.... what the hey. I find the money anyway. I could never countenance paying for a lottery ticket from earned money. If it were within my power, I would organize a nationwide boycott of all lottery sales. The politicians would then have to find a way to raise the money elsewhere in a more equitable manner. They would have to stop grubbing THE MONEY OFF THE STREETS. I am litterally doing what the politicians are doing and what americans are doing.

I think what bugs me most is calling a dream or a fantasy stupid. (Which, you know, like, well, where's that leave me?) And what interests me is how I so oddly and knowingly buy into the hope. Eh, think I need to read a Tale of Two Americas.... er... Cities... again.

New Things

I think one has to come to some accommodation with how things get made. You always want a Monet or Carrivagio or Michalangelo... and the fumbling towards the finish has its majical moments. But, sometimes a torn fingernail intrudes. (The British painter Turner grew one fingernail longer to scrape at the paint. Turner rocks. Some folks just teach you lessons in awe.) But back to the making of things... Kitty Karma, a pendant, was my fourth cat pendant. The other 3 didn't quite make it. I wish I were more succinct in making stuff, but I hope that the frustration of failure condenses the final piece and makes it finer. (Failure ought to be good for something. It's the thriftiness in me.)

Here is a bird piece that is undergoing further revision. This one is part way there... I have another sketch I'm currently working on also. (The birdie pictured has not been polished or antiqued. Models don't generally get polished.) I do have some fondness for this piece... which is probably why it has stayed so long on the to do list. However, the frustration with birdie might have helped with the other sketch.

Walkies

I have never been a successful exerciser. While I am fairly active, (rode a bicycle from Arkansas to San Francisco once), to pointedly do something for the production of sweat seems not to be a part of my make up... Recently I purchased an Elipse or Eclipse or whatever (an exercise thing.) It holds my clothes and clotheshangers fairly well. Once or twice a week I bicycle down a bike path, approximately 30 miles total, for coffee. If there wasn't a coffee at the turn around spot and a fun bullshit session on Patriots football, I'm not sure I'd do it. Weelll. probably. But you get the point. However with time and time's lament and saggy baggy gravity and the whole bit... I go walking. The last refuge of this hopeless indolent. Here's 2 pictures from my standard walk to the library...

They are tearing down the old police station for a parking lot. (?) I wish they'd put in a park, but that's just me. If I win the lottery I'll buy that spot and make a park. Okay?

And I can't help it. I covet those bricks. Those old soft looking bricks. I want to bring them home with me. Perhaps I identify.

Small Change

I thought I'd take pictures of my small street change collections... Occassionally, at least. This is for the lottery ticket I bought yesterday. There are certain areas change appears, around the gas station, cars, and the mall. I like the texture of change that has hit the streets... You can see the penny that is hardly recognizable as a penny. At first when I picked it up, out of the middle of the street, I was a bit disappointed 'cause I thought it a dime. Instead, its a hard worn penny.

This is in reference to my 7/18/07 Twenty-Two Cents entry. Though I must admit, I forget to check if I've won or not.

**The fellow where I buy the lottery tickets doesn't seem to know what to make of me and my highly textured change. I'm not sure I could explain... Hope he doesn't loose patience with me!

A Perfect Bird Nest

And here I thought I'd constructed a lightbox. Silly me! My cat Bird shows its real function....

Brews and Self Restraint and Football

I'm not a big fan of self restraint. I think its because it takes so long for the cogs in my brain to mesh into any coherency that when should if they do and action occurrs.... slowing things down with restraint is rather redundant. However. I had too many brews last night. And I really am too old to be a bobble headed doll.

But the Pats game was FUN! I thought the Bengals played pretty well. The Pats... I would say the defense did okay? The score says they did okay. As an inebriated spectator, I wasn't so sure. And the offense looked spectacular occassionally and other times... Isn't the Bengals defense suppose to be not that great? I'd have to look up how many times the Pats punted... only once or twice. It seemed to be more...

The highlights were... Moss' catch. Does that guy play or does that guy play. And the reverse thing that they got 27 yards on. How many times does that happen? So there was some fun stuff... The NFL season is a long one. Hope the Pats continue their winning ways... GO PATS!