FYI

If there is actually anyone out there reading these please consider yourself warned. I will write things and save them as drafts; only to post them a few days later once the cobwebs have cleared and I can edit my thoughts. I'm too type-A / anal retentive not to.

Expect to see this more often as time passes.

That is all.

Good night.

Another Sleepless Night

Although this one is, admittedly, a bit different. We had a funeral to go to this morning in Trenton and it pretty much messed up my sleep pattern for the rest of the day; owing to the two-hour nap we took when we got home as much as anything else.

But, since I was up (and my dear pregnant wife, since about nine tonight) is not; I thought it would be a good time to list some of the things I've learned so far about what pregnancy can do.

A brief list:

• Morning sickness: It's easy to record everything your wife eats when you get to see it twice. I think, as much as anything, guilty would be the best way to describe how I feel about this phenomenon. I know I did this to her- the little stick she pee'd on said as much. I just hope the joy of the moment can soon replace the feelings of nausea that have overwhelmed her (and consequently me) for the last few weeks.

• Sleep debt/ depravation: And this is where it kinda gets made up. As much sleep as I'm missing she's getting it back two-fold it would appear-- and I'm more than fine with that. After all, I'm eating chips and she's growing our baby's limbs.

• "Mothering effects": Who said you have to hold the child in your arms for the first time before you can worry about them? Just worrying about their development right now is enough to prove to me that parenting can begin now- just not with groundings, and play-time, and lectures, and hugs the way it will later.
  

And through all of this I see our relationship getting stronger every day. We each have parts of this we have to do on our own, and parts we can do together. Seeing how she handles herself day-in and day-out impresses me to no end. If anything, it's reinforced my feelings for her. It's made them differnet, and stronger.

Now, if I could only get to sleep...

Life Imitates Art: Part Deux

I guess none of the guards at this prision ever read or watched "The Shawshank Redemption".
(Yes, it was a book first):

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20071217_Jailbreaks__Pa__fence-hopper__N_J__bikini-pics_breakout.html

Life Imitates Art

My wife and I watched "Knocked Up" over the weekend for the first time. Between the nasuea and morning sickness jokes, comments about being an un-fit father, and the half-dozen hormone-instigated, insult-laden shouting matches fit into those two hours, I tend to believe the directors (both fathers themselves by the way) had a pretty good idea going in what they wanted to accomplish in the making of this film.

I probably would have found it way funnier about 3 months ago.

In reading my books and talking to other fathers I've yet to meet one that hasn't been thrilled that I'm going to be a dad. Most of the time this involves a handshake and the old "welcome to the club" speech. For the un-initiated this could presumably be translated into something along the lines of "misery loves company"; and I could certaintly understand how one might be apt to treat it that way.

Now into the ninth week of this however, I think I'm beginning to understand a bit better what they mean by "the club". Sure, there are countless nights, already, spent sleepless and wondering about things like "Am I going to be a good father?", "What about the midnight feedings and infinite diaper changes?", and my persoanl favorite: "How will I be able to pay for all of this?". But above and beyond all of that I'm so excited. For my wife and I to have a child that we can raise and share our love with is, next to my marriage itself, easily the most positively overwhelming feeling I've ever experienced.

And I think that's what fathers mean by "The Club"... they simply want others to understand how it's possible for them to be so happy/ excited/ terrified all at the same time.

You can't get that watching a movie.

Mitchell Report Retort

I guess the biggest question I had after reading the Mitchell report on Steroids and other peformance-enhancing substance abuse in Major League Baseball (and yes, I read the whole damned 400+ pages of it--- but it was like a college term paper: triple spaced and 13-point font) was: so what?

For a league that has seen scandals ranging from cheating, throwing games, racisim, and gambling absorbed as part of it's history am I truly expected to believe that a few players taking performance-enhancing drugs is the biggest crisis this sport has ever faced? That it's a crisis so large that with everything else going on in our country Congress still feels the need to intervene? (and don't try arguing with me about what a "few" players means when the report itself estimates that the numbers of "users" over the time frame reported did not exceed 7% of the MLBPA union... I'd be willing to bet a true survey of at least casual marajuana users would clobber that number easily.)

For a sport that has labeled itself in the past as being the Great American Past-time; and has seen a growth in revenue and popularity that few expected after the strike in 1994 I ask what is really so truly horrible; so un-American about what these people are doing to themselves; if they understand the ultimate consequences. Trust me-- I would have never considered using HGH or any other performance-enhancing drug. But then again, I was raised differently; and some might say, better than that. But, for Congressional intervention to be deemed necessary? It's almost comical if it weren't so damned expensive to Joe Q. Taxpayer.

The suggestions that allowing this is akin to encouraging the same kind of use in teenagers is vaild to a point; but I've got to believe the soon-to-be exponential increase in tragic and early athlete deaths will put a curb to this. It will only take time- the same way we've finally seen a decrease in alcohol-related deaths in teenagers; albeit 20 years after M.A.D.D. was created.

Gooooooooal? -- NO

For someone who has played soccer since I was 8 years old you would think the idea of a professional soccer team coming to Philadelphia would thrill me to no end.

Well, kinda.

AEG sports management group, a nationally recogonized sports/ business entity has plans for a new MLS team: soccer-only stadium, and all... for the Chester Waterfront.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20071210_Daring_to_dream_of_soccer_stadium.html

My problem isn't with the location, as much as it is the reasoning. AEG envisions new shops, restaurants, and residences/ condos; providing an economic shot-in-the-arm to the city of Chester.

I don't see it.

Ask anyone who goes to Campbell's Field, or the Aquarium, or the E-Center in Camden if they live there; the answer is always the same. No. They come in, enjoy the event while secluded from the "real" city, and then they leave.

You don't revive a struggling area by disenfrachising the people who live there even more than they already are. The number of jobs that will be created are insignificant, and those jobs are usually part-time at best. Any long-lasting changes to the city need to occur with financial and political support of the people who already live and work there. Establish rec. fields, supplement local businesses with reduced taxes, and provide better infrastructure (this does not include monitored/ gated parking garages at the base of new condo buildings). This is where the $30 to $45 million in State subsidies should go- not into construction of a Stadium that would host approx. 20 matches a year. Only after a city is capable of supporting it's own should it have to face the challenge of supporting others coming in. If you don't, then you end up with one of two things happening:

• The "new city" can not sustain itself and ultimately fails.
• The "new city" works, but at the expense of the people already living there; usually by pricing them out of the neighborhood they have grown up in. In that case you have not solved anything-- you've simply relocated it.

Believe me-- right now the last thing someone living in downtown Chester needs coming in is another place to get some A&F and a Starbucks coffee.

Did I say August?

Saw the doctor... make that July 29th.

My bad ;)

Know Your Opponent

Money Game -- Black had been forced into playing an ace point game. Two rolls ago was able to hit a lone white blot and is now again on roll.

Cube Decision?

It is a No Double / Take. In fact, Black is barely a favorite at this point. There are very few rolls that cover the open 4-point and Black needs to consider using any of the threes he rolls to start extracting his rear checkers. Also against Black is the fact that once White gets in there are very few rolls that keep him back and/or open up another shot for Black on the ace point.

I was Black. However, in this case I knew my opponent very well and knew he was the kind of player to go on "tilt" rather easily. After he danced a second time I doubled, and he dropped without hesitation. The (27.7%) value next to the results show the percentage sure I have to be that he will drop to make this an effective double, regardless of what the "true" play is.

Part of what counts here too is that White cannot be gammoned. Even if we modify the position so White would have to enter on the ace point, it is still a No Double / Take -- though the decision is much closer now.

Drexel Looniversity

I feel like my degree is slowly being de-valued...

For those who haven't heard, a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde have been fleecing their friends, local businesses, and even neighbors out of hundereds of thousands of dollars here in Philadelphia.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20071205_THE_PARTYS_OVER.html

Apparently the thievery ran the gamut from stealing out of neighbor's mailboxes (including possible/ likely identity theft), and falsifying checks and credit cards, to shoplifting and plain old dine-and-dash style bill-skipping.

Jocelyn Kirsch, the "Bonnie" of this story, is an apparently high-maintainence, 22-year old Senior at Drexel University (my alma mater) and was in cahoots (love that word) with 25-year old Penn graduate Edward Anderton. Anderton had recently been let go from his job; one that somehow involved property management (he was apparently in posession of keys for every apartment mailbox in the building the two were living in).

I'd like to think a crime of such crass unsophistication was more the brain-child of the Penn grad than of Kirsch. Besides, when Drexel grads committ major felonies we do it with a high-tech level of sophistication...

http://www.columbiachronicle.com/back/2002_fall/2002-11-18/sports2.html

Now that's the kind of white-collar crime this Dragon can be proud of!

Telling the Family

We're preparing to tell our families in the next few weeks that we're pregnant. We thought if we could hold off in letting anyone know for a few more weeks that it would be a great part of our holiday celebrations with them (I don't have to worry about them finding out this way- none of them are that computer-savvy). I can only imagine the range of recations/ emotions we're going to see...

I'm the oldest of four and for my mom (a widow of 15 years) it will be her first grandchild.

My wife is the youngest of 11 and for her parents (who just celebrated their 5oth wedding anniversary) it will be grandchild number 30.

Think the reactions will be any different?

Backgammon Links

I plan on making this a permanent attachment along the right side of this page; but for now, a simple list of a few of my favorite backgammon- related sites:

The United States Backgammon League:

http://www.usbackgammon.org/

A startup of Eric Barr and Kathleen Davis, in an attempt to draw more people to this fascinating game by organizing no-cost tournaments and leagues around the United States. Look for the Chestnut Hill (PA) Backgammon Club to be included in the organization list in the Summer of 2008.

Backgammon.org:

http://www.backgammon.org/

A site dedicated to monthly articles and a live forum. I've posted on here frequently under the moniker "LuvChild". The most prominent poster on this site is a gentlemen by the name of Phil Simborg. An excellent player and teacher who is also a member of...

Chicago Bar Point:

http://www.chicagopoint.com/

The Chicago Bar Point Backgammon Club. A great resource for all things backgammon and the model by which I will hopefully develop the CHBC.

Play 65.com:

www.play65.com

One of the few pay-for-play sites out there. I haven't used it much lately (finances being what they are I've stuck with yahoo msnZone and FIBS lately) but have found it a rather well-organized site for anyone looking for some semi-serious play.

Blot Blog:

http://www.blotblog.com/

Maybe my favorite- A German-based site with some excellent articles and reference positions. In the coming months look for something similar to be included as a sub-topic here as well.

GammonLife:

http://www.gammonlife.com/

The premier online backgammon magazine; with news, articles and tournament results. A really excellent site.

If anyone knows of any others that are really good I'd love to hear about them too.
Sharing is good.

Conception

I thought it as good a title as any for my first post in this blog...

There are a few things, when I decided to start this, that I hoped to accomplish. A short list:

1. Provide a portal for backgammon players living in the Philadelphia area.
   
   

   Sometime soon (Summer '08?) I hope to be starting the Chestnut Hill Backgammon Club. It will be a fairly informal group that will be associated with the United States Backgammon League. You can get information about the USBL here: http://www.usbackgammon.org/ This page will ideally have a section devoted to the Club and will address meetings, tournaments, and lectures at, and for, the CHBC.

   Anyone reading this who would be interested in additional information may send me an e-mail at nuttyhillbackgammon@yahoo.com. As the day approaches, and more details are finalized, I will update this section accordingly.

2. Provide an outlet for my semi-random musings on the City of Philadelphia and what it's been like to be someone living here since my days at Drexel University in the late 90's.


3. Have Fun.

At one point not long ago I assumed that would be plenty. However, as we all know, life is "subject to change". For me that happened a few weeks ago when I found out that I was going to be a father for the first time.

We're due in August (and yes, I know it takes guts to say "we" when I am fully aware of who will be doing most of the work for the next eight and a half months), and over the past few weeks I've slowly come to the decision that; perhaps for future book-writing purposes, it would be a good idea to chronicle the many changes our lives will go through in that short time. I will do my best to keep topics seperate, as backgammon and babies obviously do not mix (for most people, of course).

Read some of them, all of them, or skip me completely on your search across the hinterlands.

I'm writing them anyway.