This quote is not mine, but when I heard it, I knew that it would be perfect for the blog. I was at a presentation a few weeks ago and the keynote speaker mentioned the topic ignorance and had this to say about it. “The more books you read, the more ignorant you become as you realize how little of life and this world you actually know”. This is so illogical its logical. It’s illogical because one would believe that reading books would make you LESS ignorant as opposed to more ignorant. But yet it’s logical because nobody knows everything and once you open a book, you become aware of your ignorance to all of the world you didn’t realize you knew.
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Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
"Sorry"
Sorry for the long pause in blogs guys. I will try and be more consistent. It has not been from a lack of topics, rather just pure laziness on my part. Anyways, as most of you probably well know, I am not a parent and I don't imagine being one either for a long time. But, I still believe I have the right to comment on certain matters, but take my opinion for what it is... an opinion.
As a parent, if you want to see if your child is going to grow up and be a sore loser, gracious winner, or a loser who takes it with pride, play the game "Sorry" with them. For all of those who have never played this game, Sorry is a game of luck where the objective is to get all of your team into a safe zone, while there are cards in the deck in which other players can send their opponents back to the start of the board. The interesting part of this whole experiment is to watch and observe how your kid responds just as he is about to get into the safe zone while you draw a card that sends him all the way back to the start. There are quite a few responses, but the most natural for a little kid is to whine, cry, and complain. If any of these actions occur, be prepared for when your kid reaches puberty. On the other hand, if your kid goes with the flow of the game and is just ready to draw his next card so he can get you, then your kid is on the path to greatness. This is what every parent should want from their kid when playing the boardgame "Sorry". It is so illogical, it's. logical. It is so illogical for a child not to be upset/angry when losing a game. But at the same time, it is logical because if your kid does react in a positive manner as opposed to whining, he/she has a much better chance of surviving in the real world, because people get screwed all the time in life, just like in "Sorry".
As a parent, if you want to see if your child is going to grow up and be a sore loser, gracious winner, or a loser who takes it with pride, play the game "Sorry" with them. For all of those who have never played this game, Sorry is a game of luck where the objective is to get all of your team into a safe zone, while there are cards in the deck in which other players can send their opponents back to the start of the board. The interesting part of this whole experiment is to watch and observe how your kid responds just as he is about to get into the safe zone while you draw a card that sends him all the way back to the start. There are quite a few responses, but the most natural for a little kid is to whine, cry, and complain. If any of these actions occur, be prepared for when your kid reaches puberty. On the other hand, if your kid goes with the flow of the game and is just ready to draw his next card so he can get you, then your kid is on the path to greatness. This is what every parent should want from their kid when playing the boardgame "Sorry". It is so illogical, it's. logical. It is so illogical for a child not to be upset/angry when losing a game. But at the same time, it is logical because if your kid does react in a positive manner as opposed to whining, he/she has a much better chance of surviving in the real world, because people get screwed all the time in life, just like in "Sorry".
Sunday, March 27, 2011
March Madness
If VCU & Kentucky both win on Saturday (Kentucky is favored by 2 over UConn, while VCU is a 2.5pt underdog to Butler), my girlfriend will win the first place prize (large flat screen television) at the March Madness Pool within her apartment complex. (It was also free to join). Even if this does not happen, she is guaranteed to place in the top 5 for entire complex and most importantly, she placed in the top 5% overall for the 6 million entries placed on ESPN beating experts across the country. If you’re a cynic, like myself, then you think these so-called “experts” are a bunch of schmucks (Yiddish for fools/idiot) to begin with, but this is way besides the point. A girl who has absolutely no knowledge of the game of basketball, its rules, or any one player on any team, picked games better than 95% of the nation. Not only this, but this is her first time ever filling out a bracket. This is so illogical, it’s logical. It’s logical because it goes to show you that when March Madness comes around you never know what the hell is going to happen and your knowledge of teams can strongly misguide you.
Yes this is a small sampling (1) and probably the results probably won’t be the same next time she fills out a bracket. But who is betting against her? Not I.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Gambling
Now that I have covered two personal stories that I consider to be “so illogical, its logical”, I want to very broadly delve into a series of topics that I also consider to be “so illogical, its logical.” This one is a lot longer than the other two and not as funny, but I still think it is an enjoyable read and fits the topic perfectly. The first topic of this multi-part series is gambling; something I grew up around and been around my entire life.
Before I jump into ANY analysis or stories, let me first state that I believe all of us can mostly agree that the idea of gambling is completely illogical. The house always has the advantage on ANY bet you can name. With sports betting, the casino/online bookmaker charges “juice or vig” on each bet. In laymen’s terms: there are no straight bets. Betting a team straight up to win varies drastically on the payout and depends on how much they are favored to win by. For example a team that is favored to win by 5 for every $100 you bet, you would receive an additional $42 on top of your $100. As you can guess, getting only 42% on your team to outright win, when the true odds of a team winning a game are really 50/50 in the long run, it’s a pretty bad idea. The other popular sports bet is called betting the “spread”. You are betting on a team to win by a certain amount of points and you bet $110 to win $100 on top of your $110. The casino’s goal is for the sportsbook to get equal action on both sides of the games in order to earn riskless profit.
On table games (i.e. BlackJack, Craps, Roulette, Paigow Poker) they don’t pay you true odds (for the exception of 1 bet which is explained later). Any and all slots are a complete rip off. The Casino’s LOVE when someone wins a big slot because it only drives more suckers to the slots because they think that they are going to be that winner.
So lets give the benefit of the doubt that Gambling fits the first part of the phrase. Now I have to convince you of the reasons why Gambling is so illogical its logical (very difficult task)
Why do people gamble?
-Way to Make/Lose Money
-Started off as a hobby
-Addiction (Some/Most people are addicted to gambling and are ADDICTED to losing money. This is so illogical its logical)
-Grew up around it
The instances in which I will try to prove Gambling as logical are EXTREME cases and should be magnified under a lens because these are not normal cases. But my point is that if a person is able to exercise extreme control and has the ability to walk away when they are down and understand to leave the table when they are up, they have a chance of winning in the long-term. And even if they don’t win, read my story below in the losers section.
Winners:
The movie 21 comes to my mind as the math genius’s from MIT did card counting at certain Blackjack tables and made millions. The bad news is that the casino has a black list and all of them are on it. The casino has the right not to serve you based on whatever reason they want.
My friend, Walter Cherpinsky, has a great website where he dedicates a lot of his time to a niche area. He bets the bulk of his money on Football games. This guy has a track record of 8 years of winning seasons. He has been able to make money based on his knowledge of trends, football analysis, and general betting knowledge. Visit his website at www.walterfootball.com and check out his stuff if you’re interested
Poker: Let me categorize poker players into certain animals. There is the owl. The owl is extremely conservative and he is watching his prey constantly. When he senses a weakness he will take advantage. If he spots a shark, he will back off. Donkey’s, the next character to be described, can sometimes scare the owl at first, but the owl will eventually steal the donkey’s fuel. Unfortunately, the Owl’s way too conservative play won’t win him in heads up against the “Shark”. The Shark loves donkeys and can spot them in a second. The saying goes “If you can’t spot the donkey when you sit down at the poker table, you’re the donkey!” (donkey instead of fish). The Donkey sometime gets lucky and draws out a card on someone, which only temporarily boosts his ego as he brags to everyone. But in the long run, the Donkey will lose all of his fuel. My point is that the “Shark” will always win in the long run. He makes his plays based on the kind of player he is betting against and is putting his money to pressure you.
As for an extreme case for the loser:
My father told me that he lost approximately $250,000 gambling in his life time and I believe him and for the sake of this argument, let’s just say he was telling the truth. (For those who did not know my father, if there was one thing you could surely never believe him on, it was his gambling winnings/losses. Not that he would hide his problem, but he had a way of messing with your mind so that you didn’t know up from down and left from right).
Most children have fathers who take them to Disney Land, Kings Island/Six Flags, cruises (etc etc) but my father took me on approximately 15 Vegas trips between the ages of (6-16). How in the world could a teenager have fun in Vegas without alcohol or being able to gamble you say? Well… on every one of these trips, we ate at the finest steak restaurants and my father enjoyed only the finest bottles of wine ($200 per bottle and up). When he would take us there, we ate at 5 star restaurants like they were buffets. We would order salads, appetizers, the biggest and most expensive steaks and a dessert. The total bill would be around 400-500 dollars on an average night. His tips were never free, but all food/alcohol/beverages were free. Just as a side note, Vegas will NOT “comp”/pay your tips to its waitresses for any high rollers; No matter what action you give them.
In addition to all the free food, we stayed in luxurious high-roller suites with Jacuzzis and beautiful views of the entire Las Vegas strip. The room along with spa trips, and tickets to the hottest and best shows Vegas had to offer were free. I saw David Copperfield, Jay Leno’s Standup, Siegfriend & Roy just to name a few. The problem was that I was not old enough to see the good shows (I missed out on all the VIP nudie shows & people like my favorite comedian George Carlin). Not only did he get tickets to the best show for free, but he also received amazing seats as a bonus. Yes, as I alluded to earlier he lost $250,000 dollars gambling over the course of 35 years of Las Vegas trips. But once you amortize that cost over all those years with all the free meals/entertainment that he received from the casinos, if he didn’t come out ahead, he sure the hell was close to it! And even if he wasn’t ahead, factor in the opportunity cost he would have paid taking us to Disneyland and spending all that money on bullshit. Nothing is free there except the toilets. This is so illogical, its logical.
Side note: Many gamblers have not been as fortunate as this and have lost every single dime of their money and everything else they could get their hands on while not receiving these benefits. I am just sharing my story. I am not promoting/demoting any gambling. Do whatever the hell you like. I am merely pointing out the irony.
The next section is about craps and I am anticipating that most of you will tune out hear. Please STOP reading if you are not interested in this ( ha ha as I ramble and ramble) and I think I have made my point so far. The
Craps sections just takes my argument one level further
Craps: For those gamblers who play Craps, I’d wager a guess that nearly 90-99% of them are superstitious as hell. After the come-out roll (which is the first roll of the dice when its NOT a 2,3,7,11,or 12) if the shooter throws a 2, 3, or 12, (especially two times in a row) there is a mighty good chance a 7 is coming. Yes, I know the odds for the 7 still have not changed (they are 6:1 every roll NO matter what; it’s the most commonly rolled number). But, for those who have played the game, they understand that when a shooter gets cold and starts rolling ugly numbers (2,3,12) and there are long pauses between each roll, the mojo has exited the building and the “machomovitz” has been placed and is ready in action. The 7 is coming out on the next roll which means that the casino takes all bets placed on the table. For the non-jewish readers, machomovitz is a Yiddish phrase for “putting the jinx on/a.k.a. the devil”. Craps superstitions are so illogical, its logical.
Finally, here are some random Craps superstitions that are so illogical its logical
-Betting on the ‘Yo ‘Yo ‘Yo (11) or Boxcars (12) after a 2 or a 3. The casino pays 15:1 on 11 and 30:1 on 12 when the true odds are 18:1 and 36:1 respectively. But for some reason the 11 & 12 loves to come after a 2 or 3. No reason. It’s just the way it goes
-Betting maximum odds below the line when the point is 6 or 8. These are the 2nd highest rolled numbers behind the 7, and the casinos pay true odds below the line. This is the only bet in the world where a gambler gets true odds. The only reason the house has any advantage is because your pass line bet (the only way you can make a below the line bet) only pays even money on any number. Factor in that rolling a 7 before hitting that 6 or 8 also loses. My point is that with a person taking full odds at (10X up to 100X odds) this is the best bet they can make and it can be profitable. With all this being said, you can’t just stand at the Craps table for 8 hours straight. You have to ride the waves with the ebbs and flows and have the ability to walk away. This is where most/many/everyone has the problem with. Where do you draw that line at? Walking that line is like walking on a broken sheet of ice covering a lake. Being as delicate and fragile as possible is the only long term strategy.
I would love to hear comments!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Lost Wallet Story
As I alluded to on my Facebook page and my last blog, I lost my wallet and received most of my items back, but here is the detailed story...
So last Friday afternoon (March 11th), I left in a hurry to meet my favorite champion for a business lunch/discussion at the library. Anyways, I wasn't sure that I left with my wallet, but by the time I got on the bus I was 100% positive that I did not have it on there. So calling the IU bus department did absolutely no good (of course hindsight is 20/20). I was almost positive that my wallet was somewhere in my apartment when I was eating at the library that day (by the way, the Champion covered my meal, which is hence forth why he is called the Champion). I just felt as if I did not drop it anywhere, even though I was kind of running to the bus.
I had to leave later that night for Indianapolis and I had torn my 400 square foot apartment apart and my wallet was no where to be found. There are only so many places that you can leave things in my tiny ass apartment that I live in. Before I left that night, I left a note on my front door written in permanent sharpie with big black bold letters saying "If you are trying to return my wallet, call me at my number (which was listed), and I will give you a cash reward". Even though this scenario never happened, it kind of would have been a weird situation if this would have happened. How much would I give for this wallet? Below are the items in the wallet.
3-4 Pictures of my beautiful girlfriend and I
1 Picture of my deceased father when he was 13 in 1963
$0 Cash (whew)
3 Debit Cards (2 in family members names)
Student ID
YMCA Card
Drivers License
1 Receipt
Honestly, I have no idea what the hell I would have given the person. I did not want to be a cheap ass and give him $5 or be a nice guy and give him $100. Either way is a lose-lose situation in the way that I would pay for something and at the same time I would never be happy with the price.
Back to the story though…
On Sunday afternoon (48 hours after my wallet became suddenly missing and 2 hours before my wisdom teeth surgery), I received a call from the Bloomington police department saying that someone had returned my items. I asked him "what do you mean my items?" He replied "well there was no wallet returned." My initial thought was what the hell? Why would someone want my shitty ass wallet. Seriously, the thing was made in 1975 and was completely worthless and broken to hell. It was hidious, and huge, and really had no benefits. To me, I am completely and utterly baffled as to what the hell this said person was thinking.
Unfortunately, the person also did not return the picture of my father either. To be honest, that was the only thing in there that meant anything to me (as my family and I were not liable for any charges that we did not authorize). What is even weirder is that this picture was in the same compartment as the pictures of my girlfriend which were returned! Why in the hell did this person arbitrarily decide not to give back this picture? I don't believe the theory that the person didn't see it. Bullshit I say. I say this person found everything in my wallet and for some odd reason decided to keep that picture and my wallet, but returned everything else unharmed.
End of story, I got all my stuff back (for the exception of my Dad's picture and my wallet), and nobody charged anything to my debit cards.
This is so illogical, its logical.
So last Friday afternoon (March 11th), I left in a hurry to meet my favorite champion for a business lunch/discussion at the library. Anyways, I wasn't sure that I left with my wallet, but by the time I got on the bus I was 100% positive that I did not have it on there. So calling the IU bus department did absolutely no good (of course hindsight is 20/20). I was almost positive that my wallet was somewhere in my apartment when I was eating at the library that day (by the way, the Champion covered my meal, which is hence forth why he is called the Champion). I just felt as if I did not drop it anywhere, even though I was kind of running to the bus.
I had to leave later that night for Indianapolis and I had torn my 400 square foot apartment apart and my wallet was no where to be found. There are only so many places that you can leave things in my tiny ass apartment that I live in. Before I left that night, I left a note on my front door written in permanent sharpie with big black bold letters saying "If you are trying to return my wallet, call me at my number (which was listed), and I will give you a cash reward". Even though this scenario never happened, it kind of would have been a weird situation if this would have happened. How much would I give for this wallet? Below are the items in the wallet.
3-4 Pictures of my beautiful girlfriend and I
1 Picture of my deceased father when he was 13 in 1963
$0 Cash (whew)
3 Debit Cards (2 in family members names)
Student ID
YMCA Card
Drivers License
1 Receipt
Honestly, I have no idea what the hell I would have given the person. I did not want to be a cheap ass and give him $5 or be a nice guy and give him $100. Either way is a lose-lose situation in the way that I would pay for something and at the same time I would never be happy with the price.
Back to the story though…
On Sunday afternoon (48 hours after my wallet became suddenly missing and 2 hours before my wisdom teeth surgery), I received a call from the Bloomington police department saying that someone had returned my items. I asked him "what do you mean my items?" He replied "well there was no wallet returned." My initial thought was what the hell? Why would someone want my shitty ass wallet. Seriously, the thing was made in 1975 and was completely worthless and broken to hell. It was hidious, and huge, and really had no benefits. To me, I am completely and utterly baffled as to what the hell this said person was thinking.
Unfortunately, the person also did not return the picture of my father either. To be honest, that was the only thing in there that meant anything to me (as my family and I were not liable for any charges that we did not authorize). What is even weirder is that this picture was in the same compartment as the pictures of my girlfriend which were returned! Why in the hell did this person arbitrarily decide not to give back this picture? I don't believe the theory that the person didn't see it. Bullshit I say. I say this person found everything in my wallet and for some odd reason decided to keep that picture and my wallet, but returned everything else unharmed.
End of story, I got all my stuff back (for the exception of my Dad's picture and my wallet), and nobody charged anything to my debit cards.
This is so illogical, its logical.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wisdom Teeth Surgery
Alright guys, so I'm changing up the content on this one and relying on my own experiences.
I got my wisdom teeth removed a little over 24 hours ago and I have literally been in zero pain and it is not from the pain medication. It is due to a variety of factors. One of them being brilliant and shear luck. Why the hell do I deserve this amazing luck? I have heard nothing but horror stories from people getting their wisdom teeth removed and all this talk of dry sockets. Hell, the police officer who somehow ended up with all of my credit cards/information without my wallet, told me "I wouldn't wish a wisdom teeth removal on my worst enemy". Mind you, this was 2 hours before my surgery. Along with my luck, I had one hell of an oral surgeon!
The part to me that is "so illogical, its logical" happened during the surgery. I was put down with a local anesthesia with a needle to my arm. The oral surgeon put enough of this anesthesia in me that would keep down a 300 pound football players. For those of you who don't know me too well, I am 5'7 and I weigh 130 on a fat day. It takes the oral surgeon approximately 15 minutes to remove all 4 teeth, but 5 minutes into the surgery I somehow woke up. In an article by the Washington Post, 20,000-40,000 out of 21 million people who went into general anesthesia somehow woke up (be it by a Doctor's mistake etc...). This is 1/10 of 1 percent, but this number only counts the people who woke up. Not people who were able to carry on a conversation with the doctor. I was conscious for the last 10 minutes of the surgery as he ripped out 2/4 of my wisdom teeth. His first reaction to me waking up was "How are you awake", to which I replied "How the hell should I know?". Although I was awake for the last 10 minutes, I was still drugged up to the point that I did not feel any pain from him removing the teeth. All that I experienced was the discomfort of teeth being removed from my mouth.
My point is that experiences like this can not be explained, but somehow in the end make sense. These things are so illogical, they are logical!
I got my wisdom teeth removed a little over 24 hours ago and I have literally been in zero pain and it is not from the pain medication. It is due to a variety of factors. One of them being brilliant and shear luck. Why the hell do I deserve this amazing luck? I have heard nothing but horror stories from people getting their wisdom teeth removed and all this talk of dry sockets. Hell, the police officer who somehow ended up with all of my credit cards/information without my wallet, told me "I wouldn't wish a wisdom teeth removal on my worst enemy". Mind you, this was 2 hours before my surgery. Along with my luck, I had one hell of an oral surgeon!
The part to me that is "so illogical, its logical" happened during the surgery. I was put down with a local anesthesia with a needle to my arm. The oral surgeon put enough of this anesthesia in me that would keep down a 300 pound football players. For those of you who don't know me too well, I am 5'7 and I weigh 130 on a fat day. It takes the oral surgeon approximately 15 minutes to remove all 4 teeth, but 5 minutes into the surgery I somehow woke up. In an article by the Washington Post, 20,000-40,000 out of 21 million people who went into general anesthesia somehow woke up (be it by a Doctor's mistake etc...). This is 1/10 of 1 percent, but this number only counts the people who woke up. Not people who were able to carry on a conversation with the doctor. I was conscious for the last 10 minutes of the surgery as he ripped out 2/4 of my wisdom teeth. His first reaction to me waking up was "How are you awake", to which I replied "How the hell should I know?". Although I was awake for the last 10 minutes, I was still drugged up to the point that I did not feel any pain from him removing the teeth. All that I experienced was the discomfort of teeth being removed from my mouth.
My point is that experiences like this can not be explained, but somehow in the end make sense. These things are so illogical, they are logical!
Police take two men under custody after violent snowball fight
Snowball fights are not just for 10 year old kids getting the day off school. They are also for angry men who lose their tempers very quickly. It is so illogical, its logical!
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2011-03-14-vermont-snowball-fight_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2011-03-14-vermont-snowball-fight_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Monday, March 14, 2011
Canadian prisoner suing government after cow attacks him
This guy believes that he deserves 500 thousand because he was attacked by a cow while serving his farm duties as an inmate. This is so illogical, its logical!
http://allweirdnews.com/inmate-assualted-by-cow/
http://allweirdnews.com/inmate-assualted-by-cow/
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Racing Lawnmowers Is A Great Idea!
This guy has been racing different forms of motors for 25 years when he started his family! What a family outing! This is so illogical, its logical!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/13/3162629.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/13/3162629.htm
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Doggie Hotels
The price that people will pay for luxuries for their pets is so illogical its logical!
http://allweirdnews.com/stay-in-a-luxury-hotel-for-40/
http://allweirdnews.com/stay-in-a-luxury-hotel-for-40/
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Single-Sex Lunches Benefit School Children
Separating boys and girls at such a young age is so illogical that its logical!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110310/od_nm/us_lunch_sexes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110310/od_nm/us_lunch_sexes
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