Football pick

I'm going to try to make one football pick per week for the rest of the season. If I do, I can get a new set of poker chips.

My pick for this week is the Raiders -3. I think Randy Moss is going to kill the Cowboys. I happen to have Moss on two of my three fantasy teams, too.

Tomorrow, my school (University of Michigan) is playing Michigan State. I don't ever remember Michigan State being favored to win over Michigan. State is currently ranked #11, and they are playing in East Lansing. But, I still think Michigan is going to win. Michigan State just has too much practice losing to us.

GO BLUE!

Hottest Actresses

I saw a site the other day that listed the "hottest actresses". It was awful. I hardly agreed with any of the picks.

So, I was thinking that something this important shouldn't be left up to someone ignorant. If I want it done right, I should do it myself. But, this isn't something you can just throw up off the top of your head. It requires careful consideration. I'll just start by listing all the nominees. Even that will probably take a couple tries, so here is version 1 of the nominees (any acting counts):

Joey Lauren Adams, Madchen Amick, Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Christina Applegate, Kim Basinger, Kate Beckinsdale, Monica Bellucci, Halle Berry, Thora Birch, Selma Blair, Kate Bosworth, Amanda Bynes, Brooke Burke, Neve Campbell, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Connelly, Nikki Cox, Penelope Cruz, Elisha Cuthbert, Claire Danes, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Carmen Electra, Shannon Elizabeth, Anna Faris, Sherilyn Fenn, Jennifer Garner, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Gina Gershon, Maggie Grace, Heather Graham, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Laura Harring, Salma Hayek, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Katie Holmes, Liz Hurley, Famke Jannsen, Scarlett Johnansson, Angelina Jolie, Ahsley Judd, Nicole Kidman, Monica Keena, Moira Kelly, Keira Knightley, Ali Larter, Lindsay Lohan, Evangeline Lily, Lucy Liu, Virginia Madsen, Vanessa Marcil, Jenny McCarthy, Rose McGowan, Mandy Moore, Carrie-Ann Moss, Gwentyth Paltrow, Anna Paquin, Kelly Preston, Lindsay Price, Tara Reid, Christina Ricci, Denise Richards, Julia Roberts, Kathleen Robertson, Rebecca Romjin, Elisabeth Shue, Molly Sims, Chloe Sevigny, Mira Sorvino, Tori Spelling, Julia Stiles, Dominique Swain, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Marsha Thomason, Uma Thurman, Jennifer Tilly, LIv Tyler, Gabrielle Union, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslett, Reese Witherspoon, Kari Wuhrer, Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Lost

Last night I watched the second episode of the second season of Lost. What a great show. At the end of each show, I just wish it could keep going. I want to know what happens next.

The best part about the beginning of this season is that they didn't draw out the discovery of what was in the hatch. At least we know what is down there now, if not why or how. Here are my observations and questions:

1. The guy, Desmond, who is in the hatch .. he said he was preparing for a race around the world. Did he also crash on the island? Was anyone with him?
2. Most of the stuff in the hatch seems old (70s/early 80sish), but some of it seems new.
3. There is some kind of huge magnet. Did the magnet have anything to do with the plane crashing, or the French woman being shipwrecked? How did it get there?
4. Does the magnet and/or the computer control the noises and trees that make it look like there is a big monster?
5. The number sequence (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) add up to 108. When Locke types the numbers into the computer, the "clock" on the wall resets to 108:00. Before that, it appears to be counting down by the second. So, does that mean every 108 minutes, the numbers have to be entered into the computer? What will happen if they aren't?

All that stuff is more interesting to me than the "Others". There are obviously other people on the island from before the Oceanic flight crashed. And there are also obviously other people from the back of the same plane on the island that we haven't seen yet. They may or may not have some illness that makes them crazy. Which is all well and good.. but I want to know about the numbers and the hatch and Desmond. Where did all that food and equipment come from? It seemed like he had a few NEW appliances, and fruit and stuff that would indicate he is receiving new things. Is that true? What is that logo that was on the wall? It looked like it said Dharma on it. The fact that Desmond was expecting Locke to know some kind of code and has all those weapons, and that military style logo.. it seems like there is some kind of military experiment involved here.

Anyway.. great show. I can't wait for next week.

Time to buy Alcoa

I enjoy investing money in the stock market. It is a challenge, but if you're good, it can be pretty rewarding. I try to stick mostly to investing, as opposed to speculating, by looking for companies that provide good value. Sometimes I'll put some money into something because I think some short term event is going to drive up the price, but that is really just a form of gambling (another thing I like to do!). Anyway, if you want to learn about the discipline of investing (keyword: discipline), you should read The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham. If, however, you want to be mildly entertained (or extremely annoyed) by a complete fool, and flush your money down the toilet, listen to Jim Cramer. He's the idiot who has the ridiculous show on CNBC, I believe, where all he does is scream at the top of his lungs about any company for five seconds. He has no idea what he is talking about most of the time, and I can't imagine who would buy something just based on his (retarded) BOO-YA! Today I saw an article where he says that Alcoa is the worst big-cap stock in America. Considering I think he's a raging idiot, I almost want to buy it without even bothering to look at the fundamentals. Someone this stupid is just bound to be wrong. Of course, I won't actually do it. But as of right now, the stock is at $24.11. I wouldn't be surprised to see it hit $40 in 12 months, just based on my lack of faith in this clown. For what it's worth, I have my own stock picks listed here if you want to see them. I've only picked two losers in the last few years, and one was just one of those gambles on a buyout rumor. If I had just kept some of the ones I did pick (ELBO/GME, HCSG) for longer periods, I could have made a lot more. But I'm happy with how I've done so far.

The beginning

I'm going to restart this blog, because I have so much to say.

Basically it will just contain my commentary on things that matter - poker, movies, money, music, politics, tv, the news, and life in general. I doubt anybody will read it, but some people probably should.

What this blog won't contain is too much about my personal life, any disgusting girls I may work with, or anything about the company I work for. That stuff only gets you in trouble.