When we were in Vegas, Dan played in his first WSOP event, a $1500 No Limit Hold'em tournament. (A few days earlier, he won a tournament in Seattle that, interestingly, paid $1500 for first!) Although he did not cash in the WSOP event, he did outlast over 2000 players, finishing around 300th.

The whole experience was a blast for both of us. Anyone can wander around the Rio and watch the tournaments. I spent part of the day watching Dan and part of the day star-gazing. I saw the following pros: Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth, Sean "Sheiky" Sheikan, Barry "Robin Hood" Greenstein, "The Professor" Howard Lederer, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, Hassan Habib, Daniel Negraneau, Kristy Gazes, Kenna James, Andrew Black, Eli Elezra (who won his first bracelet while playing in another tournament on the other side of the room), Lee Watkinson (who played at Dan's table for quite a while), David "the Dragon" Phan (who also played at Dan's table), Men "The Master" Nguyen, Vanessa Rousseau, Chad Brown, Paul Wolfe, Nam Le, John Juanda, Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier, Erick Lindgren, Dutch Boyd, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and Ted Forrest. Dan also saw: Mike Sexton, Gavin Smith, Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, John Phan, Marcel Luske, David Williams, Chau Giang, David Benyamine, and Phil Ivey. Next time around I hope to see Sammy Farha, who is one of my faves.

They have a lot of rules about photography (no cameras with interchangeable lenses, no lenses longer than 2 inches, no flash) so it was hard to get decent pics, but here are a few that didn't come out too bad.



Dan gets off to a great start at his first WSOP event.



Barry Greenstein, the "Robin Hood of Poker", gives all his tournament winnings to charity.



Annie Duke's brother, Howard Lederer (aka "The Professor"), ponders his next move.



Former world champ and class act, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, plays without his goofy sunglasses.



Sean "Sheiky" Sheikan gives no hint of how annoying he can be in this picture.

iTunes is currently playing: Take Me To The River from the album Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads.

iTunes is currently playing: Move It On Over from the album 24 Greatest Hits by Hank Williams.

... and you want to tell the world that someone is a jerk.

This message appears on a telephone pole on Rt. 9 in Lanoka Harbor, NJ.

Who is Steve and what did he do (and to whom??)



iTunes is currently playing: Everybody Loves A Clown from the album Greatest Hits by Gary Lewis & The Playboys.

EU aims to criminalise Holocaust denial

Laws that make denying or trivialising the Holocaust a criminal offence punishable by jail sentences will be introduced across the European Union, according to a proposal expecting to win backing from ministers Thursday. Offenders will face up to three years in jail under the proposed legislation, which will also apply to inciting violence against ethnic, religious or national groups.

...

Diplomats stressed the provision had been carefully worded to include only denial of the Holocaust – the Nazi mass murder of Jews during the second world war – and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

...

Holocaust denial is already a criminal offence in several European countries, including Germany and Austria. It is not a specific crime in Britain, though UK officials said it could already be tackled under existing legislation.

...

In an attempt to assuage Turkish fears, several EU diplomats said the provisions would not penalise the denial of mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman troops in the aftermath of the 1915 collapse of the Ottoman empire. Turkey strongly rejects claims that this episode amounted to genocide.

iTunes is currently playing: No Such Thing from the album Any Given Thursday by John Mayer.

I came across this video of the self-described "anarchists" in Portland who burned a U.S. soldier in effigy during the recent anti-war protest discussed below.  Note that the brave anarchists are all wearing masks.  (Maybe they are afraid if their parents see what they are doing, they will be cut off financially and have to get a job or something.)  Note, too, the OH SO CLEVER lyrics they are singing:

"Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, put the soldiers on the top. Put the fascists in the middle and we'll burn the fucking lot."

But don't forget. They support the troops. They just don't support the war.



iTunes is currently playing: You're Just A No Account from the album Billie Holiday - CD2 The Man I Love - Past Perfect, Disc 7 by Billie Holiday.

An AP story describes an anti-war protest that took place in Portland, Oregon, on March 19th. Interestingly, the article makes no mention of the fact that these protestors burned a U.S. soldier in effigy.

Yet we are to believe that the anti-war folks support the troops, they just don't support the war. (I'm sure that any member of our military who saw these pictures truly feels the love!!)

Oh, and the mainstream media is balanced and objective, of course.

(Click here for more pics.)





iTunes is currently playing: Life During Wartime from the album Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads.

From the [Hammond] Times Online:


Yes, I am embarrassed.

iTunes is currently playing: Cold, Cold Heart from the album 24 Greatest Hits by Hank Williams.

... and they all blame the Republican Party for the stupid anti-gambling legislation that was attached to the port security bill signed by Bush a few months ago.

Poker  players, unite!

iTunes is currently playing: History Repeating from the album Decksandrumsandrockandroll by Propellerheads & Miss Shirley Bassey.

... here is Jennifer Holiday singing "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from the pre-Oscar festivities on E!



iTunes is currently playing: Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight from the album Best Live by James Taylor.

... that there is nothing wrong with being mentally retarded (along the same lines as deaf "activists" who argue against cochlear implants for hearing-impaired children).

Down syndrome researchers see promise in PTZ, or pentylenetetrazole.
By Denise Gellene, L.A. Times Staff Writer

Lab mice with the mental retardation of Down syndrome got smarter after being fed a drug that strengthened brain circuits involved in learning and memory, researchers reported Sunday.

After receiving once-daily doses of pentylenetetrazole, or PTZ, for 17 days, the mice could recognize objects and navigate mazes as well as normal mice did, researchers said. The improvements lasted up to two months after the drug was discontinued, according to the report in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Scientists said the study opened a promising avenue for research in a field that had seen little success.

"These mice are essentially restored to normal, which I haven't seen before," said David Patterson, a Down syndrome researcher at the University of Denver, who was not involved in the study. "And the treatment seems to be long-lasting, which is a pretty surprising observation all by itself."

Senior study author Craig C. Garner, a Stanford School of Medicine professor, said his lab was preparing to conduct human trials of the drug, although he said it would take time to complete more preliminary studies and procure a supply of purified PTZ.

People with Down syndrome should not be given the drug until it has been studied further, he cautioned, because PTZ can induce seizures at high doses and might have other serious side effects.

More than 300,000 Americans have Down syndrome, making it the leading cause of mental retardation. There is no approved drug to improve cognition in people with Down syndrome.

iTunes is currently playing: Things We've Handed Down from the album The Rainy Season by Marc Cohn.