Unpaid Bill

vapros

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Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
Beautiful day today, 82 degrees and dry and breezy, a great time of year – even an election year. One day last week I saw that it was 12 degrees at Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. Does anyone here know where Steve goes in the winter? Lots of lovely, bright-colored flyers in my mail box, sent by the people who are hoping for something on election day. One caught my eye today, as it noted that we are losing our tax dollars to Mississippi and Arkansas. I’ve been wondering where our money was going. It was from the folks hoping the sports-wagering bill will finally pass.

A lady called me on the phone this morning and asked me to send in some money to help get President Trump re-elected. That was quite an eye-opener – I thought ol’ Donald had his own money – so I mailed ‘em a check for a hundred grand, just so I could feel that I was involved. Sure I did.

I saw a flashy Lamborghini one day last week and a big, shiny Maserati the very next day. Both were at WalMart – I’m not sure if that proves anything. Probably not. Being a fan of true crime reporting, I followed a story about a school bus that was stolen and taken for a ride Sunday morning. The chase, probably at about the same speed as OJ’s Bronco parade, went on for some 13 miles, ending after the bus hit three other vehicles and finally a tree in somebody’s yard.

I saw a picture of the hijacker in handcuffs with seven police officers standing by in case he made a break for it. He was eleven years old and stood maybe four feet and a few inches tall. Too small to sit and drive, he stood the whole time and occasionally stuck his little arm out the window and flipped off his pursuers. A good time was had by all. Then, nobody wanted to claim the school bus, no mystery there. They finally decided it was privately-owned, by a guy who was already dead. Six feet under and still holding the bag. And of course, someone recorded it all on a cell phone. That’s why I like true crime - true criminals are so interesting and often pretty funny.

Here’s another true crime – more bizarre and not nearly as funny – but it’s news. Up on the North Shore someone noted that the lights were on in the church and looked in to see what was happening. Well, it was a priest, half-undressed, and a pair of exotic ladies in corsets and high heels, having a threesome on the altar with lights and cameras on tripods to record it all. So the witness recorded it, also, on a cell phone (what else?) and ratted ‘em out to the police, who came around and arrested all three. There seems to be some confusion as to which laws were broken, but I believe they all made bail and got out.

Not such a big deal to the ladies, who seemed to be in that business, more or less. Not so with the priest and his employers, who were more upset than somewhat. I don’t know what will become of the priest, but they dealt harshly with the altar. First it was purified to make it suitable for future use and later it was taken out and burned, to be replaced by a new one. A local media rep reported ‘how it went down’ and I am going to leave it right there. There’s a lot I don’t understand about religion. People, too.

For one-pocket viewing, I believe you would enjoy seeing the match between Chris Melling and Billy Thorpe, from the 2019 Derby City Classic. It’s on YouTube. Have I mentioned it before? See how Chris came from 7-1 down to win the fourth game, scratching twice along the way, and the hill/hill game was lost when an outrageous combination wasn’t hit quite hard enough and stopped short in front of the pocket. I like to watch both these guys.

Indian summer the rest of the week. LSU – Florida, scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed until December 12. Bunch of Gators tested positive for Corona Virus this week. Seems like this thing might dog us forever. At least the Tigers will get an extra week to re-invent a defense which has stunk up three ballparks in the SEC already this year. Want a chuckle? Look in on SEC Shorts on YouTube. Little guy doesn’t pull any punches, holding everyone responsible for their foibles. He dresses up in the appropriate jerseys and works hard at it. Almost slapstick.

Got a foible or two of my own. Wash up and wear your mask and I’ll see you later.

P.S. Nick Saban at Alabama has the virus also.
 
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vapros

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
Wednesday again – the weather is beautiful and the price of gas hasn’t moved enough to notice in maybe six months – still about $1.75. The quarantine remains and Louisiana continues to find several hundred new virus cases and several more deaths every day. I don’t even know what the latest totals are. There’s not much to indicate that this thing is getting better, but what do I know?

I will be the very last member to get lonesome – I live alone anyway – but I can imagine how bad it might be for other people. The folks keeping score have noted that domestic violence is up, as are murders and other violent crimes, and some are concerned about the kids becoming obese from the lack of exercise. Thinking of all the workers laid off from their jobs, and the failure of the employers who used to hire them, and landlords who can’t collect the rent and the lenders who aren’t being paid back. This is an epic illness for the country.

YouTube is still my companion, more than any other, with local news running second. In this state, a lawsuit that has gone on for ten years has finally been decided, and it is of interest because it was racial in character. A football coach was awarded a four-year contract at a state university. At the end of three years his record was 6-27 and they decided to run him off and paid him for the remaining year. He claimed racial discrimination and filed suit. After all the court action his suit was finally declared a loser. I believe he is a preacher now – I don’t know what his record is around the church.

A fraternity on the LSU campus has been barred for an indefinite period, over the practice of hazing the new pledges. A couple of years ago there was a death and this time a young man would up in the hospital. That needed to be done – long time coming. There’s a new law, named after the pledge who died from being required to drink 190 proof whiskey. There are brutal things done around the frats in the fall.

I watched a video about the execution of Private Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier executed for desertion in WWII. Strange case – Private Slovik was never in action! Sent to France with his outfit, he decided he didn’t want to go to war and outlined his objection in a letter to the army. Not knowing what to do with the letter, he turned it over to a cook at the chow hall who gave it to his CO, and it was all downhill from there. It was a problem for the Army, and they offered to let Eddie tear up the letter, but he refused and eventually went before a firing squad. A very sad story, developed by the House of History. Lots of good stuff from them, if you are into history.

I saw a commercial for a new gadget to get us into shape. The Power Fit Elite is a small platform that rests on the floor. Stand on it and turn it on and it vibrates, toning all your muscles and jiggling away your fat. Shades of the old Stauffer Table and Relaxicisor.

The second and final debate between the President and Joe Biden is scheduled for Thursday nite. Might be pretty exciting. We know what Donald Trump will want to talk about, but no clue about Biden’s response. I think he will stonewall and refuse to talk about his son at all. We will see. In two weeks it will be over – maybe. The year 2020 will make its mark in history in several different ways, most of them bad, including the current political campaign.

I’m excited to see the new Aramith Black balls. The striped balls will have the white area replaced by solid black. I have seen the picture, and I think they will appear at the next Derby City Classic, and with the old classic colors back on the table – that’s good news. By the way, recently I heard a commentator struggling with the colors, pointing out that the 12 ball seemed to be the same color as the 4 ball. Duhh, pal, it’s always been that way. The color sequence repeats – just add eight. Who doesn’t know that?

Kind of a disjointed post for the journal tonite – been that kind of week. Check my note in the Classified Section, there are pool books for sale, including a brand-new S,M&S. Take good care, especially if any of you are over fifty. Wear the mask. See you later.
 

vapros

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
It’s a great afternoon to be inside, and I am. Outside my big window the sky is a dark slate-gray, the wind is beginning to blow and it’s been raining for hours now. If you haven’t had hurricane rain, I think it’s unique. Imagine when your rotary lawn sprinkler is in action, and periodically it is rattling on the glass and then suddenly it’s gone. That’s how it rains in hurricanes. A record year for such as that. So far, they have all gone either east or west of the Red Stick, and this one will go ashore in Grand Isle, where they are under their seventh evacuation order this year. Gotta get out before the water covers the road. Most of my descendants live in Lafourche Parish. That’s pretty close, but they are all veterans of this kind of weather.

It’s not only the weather that’s bad in this town today. We are having a record year for killings, also, with a couple more months to go. Two shot dead over the weekend and two last week and one before lunch today – not counting two dead in a car crash running from the deputies – and two others killed with a machete! That’s a fearsome thing to swing, folks. I guess there are towns losing more citizens than we are, but per-capita we might be at the top.

Slim pickings on YouTube this week. I noted a football game played in the snow in Denver and I watched an 8-ball match from the AccuStats Invitational tournament in 2001. Efren Reyes and Roger Griffis, neither at their very best – Bata scratched on one of his break shots and jumped the table on another one – but Griffis is a solid player who has not been a regular on the tournament scene. I believe I saw him win an event at Buffalo’s old place on the River Road, maybe even farther back than this one.

The Daily Woo is a series I have seen before. A guy with a camera travels around shooting at sights not usually featured. I don’t know whether he has a job, or has money, or if there is some other excuse for his leisure. This time I caught him in Louisiana, one of his subjects in a nine-day trip thru nine southern states, taking pictures of small towns no longer on major highways. I suppose it’s nostalgia or slice-of-life or some quirk in his head that moves him to photograph deserted streets and boarded-up store fronts and abandoned vehicles. We seldom get to see that the town is still alive in any way, tho it can’t be as bad as he makes it look. I saw Ferriday, from whence Jerry Lee Lewis sprouted. (Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On) Just down the road I saw Gilbert, home of Gen. Claire Chennault, whose Flying Tigers fought the Japanese Air Force in China, even before WWII began for our country. Old guys can be interested in such recollections.

Hot in the news as we stumble toward election day is the shameful tactic of the top two social media platforms, as they sort and cull the traffic. The New York Post aired a series of stories of great national interest, but Twitter and FaceBook refused to offer links for the convenience of their subscribers, citing some concerns about possible harm or inadequate verification. Not the first time they have censored conservative material, but the most odious, by far. Will they alter the outcome of the election? Probably not – but they might, if they can. Who are the beneficiaries of their grubby maneuver? Joe Biden and the Democrats. Who are the injured parties? Donald Trump and the Republicans and all the Americans who have missed seeing something important. Something very important. Ptui!

I didn’t include that as political commentary and it’s not directed at any politicians or party. The dirtiest tricks you can imagine are SOP for either party in political campaigns, but that’s not where I’m aiming this brickbat. This is about disguising yourself a couple of weeks before Halloween and pretending to be something you’re not. I don’t suppose they have broken the law, unless maybe they get some sort of support or special consideration from our government. But they have pulled a sh_tty and it stinks.

The sun will shine tomorrow, or the day after, for sure. Wash your hands and wear your mask and I’ll see you later.

8:00 PM Gusts of more than 150 mph, 50-foot waves recorded at an offshore oil platform. More than expected.
 
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vapros

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
Another beautiful day in Baton Rouge, except for the election. Gasoline is going for $1.53 per gallon and my electric bill for the past thirty-five days is just $39.48. There is another named storm down south of here, a rainy day on Monday, a raging hurricane on Tuesday and back to just a rain storm again today. Tomorrow is anybody’s guess, but the weather people are saying probably southern Florida. Strange year in so many, many ways and not over yet.

Officially, the election isn’t over, with lots of votes still to be counted, but it’s a bleak outlook for my guy, the President. Being the incumbent is a great advantage in a political campaign, especially when the opposition is without a major-league candidate, but Trump let it get away from him, anyway, unwilling to do what he needed to do. As it turned out, the campaign this time was largely away from policy and issues – more that way than usual.

Trump suffered from his response to the Covid19 pandemic – it was late getting started and then not very effective, although without much to compare it to. The challenger beat him over the head with it at every turn, and the President – apparently unaware that contrition is a very marketable commodity – refused to own up. The disease kept coming back after he pronounced that he had taken care of it, and it didn’t set well with the people. It’s one of the things for which he will be remembered, and noted by history.

Joe Biden, on the other hand, had an albatross of his own – his black-sheep son. Hunter Biden is a drug addict and a wheeler-dealer on the other side of the world, trading on his father’s influence and including him in some pretty shady deals, as evidenced by the emails on a laptop that he left in a shop for service and never came back to get. The Republican campaign tried to hold his feet to the fire with accusations of wrong-doing, but Joe had a better game plan than Trump’s. He didn’t deny the charges – he just refused to talk about them. He pretty much stayed off the street in the late days and it appears he will get the win.

Any record of the ugly 2020 campaign must make mention of the actions of social media giants Twitter and FaceBook, both of which struck the links to the laptop matter, preventing access to incriminating information through their platforms. The record must show that they took a very active part in support of the Democratic ticket, forfeiting any claim to objective service to their members. And it’s unlikely they will be held accountable for what they did, assuming Biden wins the election.

I’m tired of it and I will be glad to see the end of it, whenever that might be. I hate the way it turned out – California and the big cities always elect our presidents. Donald Trump should quit whining and go out and make some money, so Ivana can trade in her Toyota. Me, I will spend a few days enjoying some laughs. I’m a big fan of the British comedy shows – my favorite is ‘Are You Being Served?’ It has the very best cast of funny characters and is the only sitcom of any kind that is hilarious every time. No other show can do that. Also, I like ‘The Two Ronnies’ a pair of off-center comics who will do just about anything to entertain me. Both shows are long gone, but living on YouTube. I hope they outlive me. The local poolroom is open again, and I stopped in one day last week – even played a couple of games with the only other guy in the joint. But I’m not ready to start going back yet. Still pretty cautious – no, I guess I’m scared.

A lot of members here will be eating some crow for a while. It’s bitter to swallow, but not too bad if it’s fixed right. Wear your mask and be safe. See you later.
 

vapros

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
Quarter to eight on Wednesday evening in Baton Rouge. The gasoline and the weather are reasonable, as these things go. There are still three systems here and there in the ocean that somebody is keeping an eye on and one of them has become a hurricane today and is in the Gulf, but this one isn’t ours. Looks like it will take a funny route and hit Larry and my sister in Lakeland. That’s in Florida. But you can’t trust hurricanes.

Corona virus still rules the atmosphere. No less than four football games, so far, have been cancelled in the SEC this week, all for reasons related to the disease. League rules require a team to have at least 53 scholarship players on the field, including a quarterback, three defensive linemen and four offensive linemen. If you want to play in this circuit, you’d better comply, pal. And if you can’t field a team, I guess you can go to class or something. Like in the Ivy League, or . . . well, never mind.

We get almost daily reports on Covid19, and we are told that Louisiana is performing well, compared to other states in this area. Come on, man! One day this week we had 1031 new cases reported and 32 new deaths. Joe Biden assures us that he knows what to do about it, if we can hang on until he gets here. Maybe he does. Maybe there really is a vaccine coming. Some of the young men locally are getting tired of waiting and are busting a few caps but they generally don’t shoot straight. Often, but not straight. All the accidental casualties, we are told, were just before getting their stuff together and going back to school. Where ya been, Dad? Twenty years AWOL – shame on you – what the hell did you think was going to happen?

Tomorrow morning at 8:45 I will report to an OR for some surgery on an eye that hasn’t seen anything for many years and never will again. The guy says he can help with the glaucoma, which is at an intolerable level. Doc, I say, why do we keep fighting such a worthless eye? Bill, he says, we have to do what we can to keep it available, in case anything happens to the good eye. (I have one really good eye) If it ever gets to that, I point out to him, I won’t be able to read or write or drive or see my monitor. That’s true he admits, but you won’t be totally blind. Where the hell does he draw the line, you know? That’s a lot blinder than I’m willing to get, and after about twenty years of struggling with it together – we’re really good friends – I can imagine giving him up one day.

One of the several new medications I have had to take on in the past week to get ready for this dinky little surgery is a truly rotten pill that I’m taking four times per day. It will make you feel pretty bad, said the doctor. That’s okay. No, he says, you better be prepared to feel really, really bad. As usual, he was right. Man, I feel lousy – short of breath and weak and my joints ache. I’ll take one more before I go to bed, hopefully the last one I will ever have to take. Acetazolamide. Ptui!

As I sat around moaning and groaning last night, I came across an excellent match on YouTube. It was an AccuStats video, featuring Darren Appleton and Josh Filler, and was taken from the 2019 International 9 Ball Open. Filler entertained us with numerous money matches from Roy’s Basement that year, but is still in Europe, where he’s been for most of 2020. Appleton’s name was familiar – he’s British – but I don’t recall actually seeing him until a few days ago when he turned up in one of Larry’s WWYD problems, playing one-pocket.

Anyway, it was good watching. Filler shoots straight and plays fast and runs a table as quick as anyone in the business. In this race to eleven, at one point he won five games without leaving the table. Appleton played a great match, as well, coming from 7-3 behind to run Filler down to a hill-hill final game. He broke the last rack and made a ball, but had no shot and his safety was done badly and Filler ran out for the win.

Not all the YouTube matches are that good. I thought I had picked out a good one the other day, with Melling and vanBoening, but they disappointed me. It happens. But Filler and Appleton put on a show.

Be safe. Wear the mask. Look both ways. Snap the chin strap. See you later.
 

vapros

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
Not a good week for me – not worth a damn. I’m in one of those periods of being unable to sleep, and the debt gets pretty heavy after a few days. It began with a morning appointment, which means setting my alarm clock, and I have a sort of terminal insomnia when I’m waiting for the clock to go off. After that it builds on itself and becomes incapacitating and I’m suffering.

The virus pandemic continues to be at the top of the front page. It has us by the throat again, with about 3500 new cases in Louisiana in the past two days and an ugly number of deaths. The local poolroom, open for a brief time, is closed again, and maybe for quite a while. When the governor’s restrictions are eased, Covid19 surges again – a vicious circle. He can make people wear their masks to enter any kind of public building, but outside is another matter. Still lots of bare-faced citizens to be seen on any street.

Mardi Gras has been called off in New Orleans, for all practical purposes, and to appreciate such a move you would have to know New Orleans. That’s a serious move. Not much different here in Baton Rouge – one by one the krewes are cancelling the parades and Carnival balls. Not much of a party, limited to fifty people but some folks will think of something, believe me. Anyway, bad news.

We are hearing that the House of Billiards in Santa Monica may close, although it is not yet a done deal. That’s a serious move, also, the possible demise of a long-established and popular room. Helluva thing if we survive the quarantine, only to find the rooms could not endure and there’s no place to play. Up in West Virginia a few days ago, a tournament that looked very promising was called off with one day’s notice – for the safety of players and staff. More than a few players had fiddled their calendars and packed their bags when they got the news. I hope none of them actually made the trip – for nothing.

Will there be a Derby City Classic this year? Looks shaky right now, but no announcement yet. I suppose it will be a no-go, and a number of our members who are annual attendees are having second thoughts already. Likely another victim of the virus.

Here on the web site, we are without any currently-active WWYD features today. When the Ghost bowed out, Larry filled the gap very well, but he has other concerns on his plate right now and is taking a break. Nobody contributes more than he does, so we will wait for him. Maybe someone else will come through in the clutch. Until then, it’s pretty quiet, except for a little dust-up from a familiar source in recent days.

Fortunately, AccuStats has flooded YouTube with re-worked videos of matches featuring big-name players. Now and then, a link will be posted here. I can recommend a couple of big-table encounters, like Bustamante/Ko Pin-Yi from the 2016 DCC. Big league stuff with performances of more than .900, and another just as good, also on the ten-foot table, between Lee Van Corteza and Josh Filler in the 2020 event. No one-pocket, but worth watching. Incredible accuracy on nearly every shot on a mammoth playing field. I don’t really care for 9 ball or 10 ball, when I have a choice, but I watch wide-eyed.

Tomorrow I will get my last haircut from the barber I’ve been visiting for quite a few years. He and his brother are closing their shop and leaving the state to start something else. Coincidence? Maybe. How much longer will this deadly disease keep us up against the wall? Take a guess – you might be right. The over-and-under would be high and don’t risk anything you can’t afford to lose.

Bah, humbug! I told you I was having a bad week. See you later.
 

vapros

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Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
Lots of good pool viewing on YouTube at the moment, and much of it is in one-pocket action. Following the link provided by the Cincy Kid to the Danny Smith and Skyler Woodward match, we had a good WWYD exercise. Then, because it was a blue-ribbon contest, I had to follow it thru to the end, and it left me wondering how many players are tougher than Skyler. Not many. When the show was over, my monitor offered two one-pocket matchups from the 2020 Derby City Classic. AccuStats and YouTube, good watching.

One of the two pitted Billy Thorpe against Richie Richeson, and the youngster proved too strong for Richie, but it provided a now-and-yesterday comparison. I’ve got several DVDs with Richeson, who has been a hard place in the road for a lot of marquis names for quite a few years. He never seemed to win any titles, but he didn’t seem to mind. I always think of him coming out of the back room with his tee shirt untucked, looking like he might have been laying bricks, in time to claim his place on the schedule. They knew him well on the action tables. That was yesterday, I guess. Thorpe is today.

Woodward again, this time against Fedor Gorst in the 2019 World Pool Masters – this pairing looking like today and tomorrow – pair of strong youngsters. Skyler won that one, also, refusing to give Gorst any air. All the kids shoot like Dick Tracy, it’s not just Josh Filler. Then I went along to another such video, where I saw Eklent Kaci doing something brutal to Alex Pagulayan, who was much less impressive than usual. As I watched, a banner ad appeared across the bottom of the screen, announcing that all the coastal casinos in Mississippi are open for business. The ad said that masks would be required and social distancing would be the rule. Fat chance – in a casino. Your money wouldn’t be the worst thing you might lose.

Just across the line, on my side, we have discovered 4,300 new Covid cases in the last two days, and another sixty people have died. The governor has announced again that the clamps are on until some improvement can be proven, but there are still many who think he should back up and shut up. Thanksgiving tomorrow, and the clans will gather and dine and socialize, and Black Friday in the stores the next day. There will be buyers forming up in lines long before the sun is up – masks optional until you go into the store. My own family will feast handsomely down in Thibodaux, but I’m going to pass this year. They will have to understand – they said they would. We’re told that two weeks later the stats figure to get even worse, and with Christmas coming. It will be a hard winter across this country. These virus spikes seem to be predictable, but not preventable. People continue to infect one another. It’s worse than a war – in time of war you can get a job.

I will wear my mask, even though I generally forget and have to walk back to the car to get it. I wear it out of concern for you, in case I might be a carrier, and I expect you to wear yours for the same damn reason. If you don’t fear the Covid and don’t believe you should have to wear a mask, do me a favor and stay away from me. I am not afraid of dying, but please, not on a ventilator with my eyeballs sticking out as I try to get one more breath. And if I meet you on the street, bare-faced, don’t bother to grin at me, pal – I don’t want to see it.

Catkins reported that his favorite poolroom is selling off most of the tables. Here in Baton Rouge I can’t even guess about what’s in store for us. The local room has a bar, but doesn’t serve food, and will be the last to get any kind of green light. I wonder about the daytime warriors – the retired guys like me. In the face of the pandemic, whatever that is, maybe this seems like a minor concern, doesn’t it? On the other hand, maybe it’s not. Thank God and Greyhound and YouTube, you know?

Happy Thanksgiving. Count your blessings. See you later.
 

vapros

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Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
A pretty narrow menu today, as I wind up this journal – at least for now. Here in Louisiana 3370 new Covid-19 cases were reported today, and 37 more deaths. I can’t post without commenting on the pandemic, it seems. People are perhaps a little more attentive to their masking now, but still spreading disease daily. Down in New Orleans the annual Swingers Convention in mid-November attracted only about 300 swingers this year and so far has produced 41 cases of the virus. The head swinger has noted that he never would have issued the call, had he only known. What’s to say about that?

On YouTube I called up the Josh Filler/Mika Immonen one-pocket match from the 2020 Derby City Classic. Should have been a good choice, but it wasn’t. Both should have played with their masks on. They carried on for two and a half hours before Filler was able to win it. In game two they played nearly twenty-five minutes after reaching a tie score at 6-6.

From the Make It Happen event in 2017 the match between Reyes and Bustamante was featured mostly by the subtitles in real time on the screen. Always good for a chuckle or two, at one time Bustamante appeared as ‘bust the money’.

I turned to a tournament contest among the ladies in China, to get a look at the lovely Pan Xiaoting. They really know how to produce an event there and it resembled a beauty pageant more than a pool tournament. Both players wore elaborate costumes, and big screens displayed multiple glamor poses of both. Then, just for the contrast, I watched part of a match between Jasmin Ouschan and Kelly Fisher.

As always, I am drawn back to the Efren Challenge matches from 2016, in which he gives up spots of 9-6 or 10-7 to any takers who desire to play him for $100 per race to three. I recommend the study of my hero, Bata, to all the members and lurkers here who would enjoy one-pocket at the local level and learn to out-move the rest of the regulars in your poolroom (if it ever opens again). Efren doesn’t choose the shots most of us find, and he gets great mileage from Jojo, the white ball. Take some time to see him play Fach Garcia, George Teyechea, John Lassek and especially Bobby Emmons.

This will be the final installment of my journal, for the time being at the very least. I’ve told all my stories, and they weren’t pool stories anyway. With the current pandemic there’s little to write about except disease and YouTube and local gun battles. Also, I have some issues of my own which may be straightened out shortly. I will continue to lurk here and to speak up now and then. Those readers who have followed my posts and indicated their approval are greatly appreciated. They have sustained my efforts.

Be safe, wear the masks, and I will see you later.
 

vapros

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Joined
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Messages
4,806
From
baton rouge, la
It’s Tuesday and chilly in Baton Rouge, gas is going for $2.90 per gallon and I have not posted in this journal for more than a year. Mardi Gras is still six weeks away, but King Cake season is already upon us. Not as big a deal as the fruitcakes shipped from the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, but still in great demand around the country and maybe farther. But then a King Cake is just cinnamon bread dough baked into a ring and liberally sprinkled with granulated sugar in green, yellow and purple. Tasty old tradition but no comparison.

Frequent gunfire locally, becoming traditional also, four assaults with six wounds reported just today. I believe the killings total six so far – quite a bunch for a town of some 224K people. Last year 149 citizens were lost. No apparent shortage of ammunition here. Drug deals gone bad and fierce rappers, it says in the paper. The major says we must do something – the editorial ‘we’ no doubt. Sure, ‘nuff said.

College football is in the books – the SEC again, and Cincinnati has demonstrated that a dozen wins is not enough to join the big teams – not hardly. Ed Orgeron is gone from LSU and we have hired the guy from Notre Dame. Great days coming. The airlines are full of players who have entered the transfer portal and are moving, bright-eyed, to other places to play. Overt salaries for college athletes are just around the corner, too.

Lawrence Brooks is dead at age 112 in New Orleans. He was the oldest WW II vet and oldest citizen of this country. Great ceremony held at the WW II Museum in the Crescent City. We are fast running out of warriors from that conflict and failing to make proper note as they pass.

Reading what I have written, it’s plain this post will not be a prize winner for the journal, what with somber news items and nothing funny at all, but maybe it’s a start. I am not making any commitments, though. Future installments will appear when they appear – best I can do. Remember, if it ain’t funny, it ain’t much.

The web site could use some action, for sure. I see evidence that the membership is growing, but they won’t stay involved if we don’t show them something. The game of one-pocket is what we are all about and WWYDs are lacking. Somebody needs to put up a couple, tables with lots of balls and material for lively discussion.

See you later.
 

vapros

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It reached 56 degrees on this sunny day in Baton Rouge, Louisiana crab meat is available for $70 per pound in the market, Ken Shuman has a ponytail and I wonder where is the lowlife who killed Mike Surber.

Other than that, well, I did a couple days in the hospital this week, having blacked out and hit the floor. Woke up to the EMS crew who whisked me away to the ER – they reported that I had been totally unresponsive, heart rate in the 30s. After checking all my parts the medics decided they had no idea why it happened, as everything seemed to be in good working order. A syncope they said, meaning a sort of minor mystery. At least, they tested for COVID and flu, both negative. Bit of good news.

I recently bought a new exercise bike, a Yosuda which I ordered online from Walmart. Just $294, marked down from $499. Pretty impressive-looking machine, as it stands here in front of my monitor. The saddle was okay, but hard on my behind, which has become pretty bony in my old age so I bought a lambs wool saddle pad, which helped considerably. It looks a lot like Harpo Marx’s wig. My butt is appreciative.

What’s on YouTube? Well, I watched a guy butcher an 840# bluefin tuna fish. The knives he used looked like a cross between a meat cleaver and a ping pong paddle, and they cut like razors. The owner had paid $10,000 for it – the fish, not the knife. I don’t understand all I know about that, but seemingly that’s not too unusual. A monster tuna is valuable, so if you catch one, don’t eat it.

I can’t load up my ‘puter or look at TV without seeing at least one new medication I had never heard of before, and the names are not very encouraging. And they generally tell you to ask your doctor if this stuff is right for you. I’ve really got an image of me asking Dr. Guarisco if I should be taking Imbruvica. If he says no than I will bounce a couple more off him – well, Doc, how about Imbrezza or Ubrelvy? Are you sure?

A local politician is running for the US Senate and he is running a TV ad of himself, smoking a joint. I guess it doesn’t matter, unless he gets elected.

The Derby City Classic is winding down and the reports are mixed, as they always are. High prices for everything and a lot of bad food. I think we had a lot of members at the event and some of them played quite well. Along the way we got to see some action from the action room (where else?) I just finished watching Justin Hall and Jason Shaw playing one-pocket. Great match, but too short. Today’s players do it quickly and do it well. I sit here with my jaw hanging open.

That’s it – but Ken, what possessed you to grow a ponytail, at your age? See you later.
 

vapros

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It’s Friday evening and the temperature is 33 degrees and gasoline has gone to $3.09 per gallon. I had occasion to speak to a lady in Michigan today and she reported that the temperature there was 8 degrees. I hadn’t the heart to inquire about the price of gas. Bad enough to be in Michigan in the winter. It snows there.

Couple of brothers here were busted this week with 101 catalytic converters they had stolen. That’s manual labor – got to get under the vehicle and probably in the dark, too. If my information is good, those things will bring more than a thousand dollars each for the precious metals they contain – at least the big ones. Grand theft auto.

Here in Baton Rouge Southern University reported that five of their football players had gone into the transfer portal and jumped to Grambling, their main rival. The big attraction at Grambling is the NIL program, set up to let college athletes get money for their Name, Image and Likeness. They used to have jobs around the school for spending money, now they have become celebrities. No doubt everyone will follow. At LSU the players will get a portion of the sale of jerseys bearing their names, for starters. Autographs for sure. Is it better for being out in the open? You tell me.

One-pocket, pool and streaming took a hit this week, leaving some unhappy customers for the match between Justin Hall and Chip Compton. They claim the stream was not real good on the first day, and much worse the second day. Now the streamer will have to hump it for his reputation. Good luck wi’ that. No good news here.

Saw a great promotion this week on YouTube. Opening Day in Dodger Stadium – don’t know which season. At game time nine really gorgeous long-legged young ladies surrounded the mound, in the uniforms of flight attendants from Emirate Airlines. They spent maybe a minute doing warm-up type exercises and smiling beautiful smiles for the crowd and then they stood by while Hall-of-Famer Orel Hershiser took the field to toss the first pitch. Didn’t happen. One of the girls elbowed him off the mound and took the ball and fired a strike to the catcher and then gave Hershiser a big hug. The gal could hum it pretty good, too. Then came a nice pitch over the PA system for the airline, and I have to give a blue ribbon for a winning idea. The crowd loved it and them Arabs at the UAR should be proud.

Found a video from the archives on YouTube this week – Cliff Joyner and Santos Sambajon at the World One Pocket Tournament in 2000. I didn’t post the link here on the site, because it was such a slow match – seven games in 2 hours 18 minutes – longer than many members would sit thru. Both players would have suffered many times at the hands of the time clock, had there been one. (are there hands on a time clock?) In between long periods of cogitation and calculation there was some fine old-style one-pocket played and I enjoyed it. Race to four. I have more spare time than most people.

Speaking of Joyner and YouTube, in a DCC match last month (with Bustamante) he shot a cross-corner bank that got air-borne off the rail and jumped clear over his pocket and off the table. How long since you’ve seen such as that? Good to see him playing again and looking better than last year. He lasted into the fourth round. Good on him.

See you later.
 
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vapros

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Sunday nite in Baton Rouge. The temperature and the price of gasoline both went up a bit in recent days. Two killings so far this weekend, and a flesh wound. The Super Bowl just finished up and the Rams won it with a late drive. They knocked Joe Burrow on his butt much too often – Joe has a tremendous following here, as he was the star of the fantastic championship team at LSU in 2019. Maybe next year, Joe.

Jennifer Aniston turned 53 yesterday. 1969 was a memorable year, as I recall. I opened a one-man sign shop in a cavernous and dark old foundry building that had soft brick walls eighteen inches thick and a sixteen-foot ceiling. I shot 737 on the day after my birthday. Made the acquaintance of a dark-eyed lady who read palms in a gypsy-style trailer on the Chacahoula Road. Customers could get as favorable a prediction as they could afford. A very good year? No, but not bad.

The politician I mentioned recently who made a video while smoking pot in his bid for Congress, has now made another video in which he burns a Confederate flag - probably a wrong turn for him. That is not how you get from Louisiana to Washington.

A ball carrier named John Riggins went from the Washington Redskins to the NFL Hall of Fame when he retired. The Redskins have now become the Commanders and Big John is furious about it, and I don’t blame him. Apparently some Indians took offense and brought some pressure to bear. I don’t understand about that, not being a p/c guy myself. Can the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves be far behind? Anyway, Riggins sounded off loudly and publicly, and now the Washington club has pulled his jerseys out of their fan store. That will show him. Washington is not a real place, anyway.

Our website here has suffered thru some dry spells recently – long periods in which there was hardly any traffic at all. No politics, no new rule-making, no major disagreements, few links to recorded contests and none of the old favorites, WWYDs. I thought it was an alarming trend, but with one redeeming feature, that being the number of new threads originated by people I never heard of before. Good on ‘em, we need ‘em, and we should make special efforts to support them as they post. How well do they play one-pocket? I have no idea, but they are as welcome here as the hustlers and other veterans. If they are a bit inept then I am at home among ‘em.

Another fine player left us this week. I believe it was a heart ailment that took Larry Nevel, who was known for his powerful stroke. His widow has appealed for some money for Nevel’s funeral. He had only recently asked for similar help for his bucket list, and it’s not uncommon to find insolvent pool players – they are all around us, and some of them die that way.

I’m not recommending that you contribute, or that you don’t, but here’s my take on this sad situation. If you do ante up, don’t do it because Larry played pool – he wasn’t even a member here, and now he’s gone. We can’t help him. But there is a bereaved lady left holding the bag, who probably wishes she didn’t have to ask. See you later.
 

vapros

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It’s 82 degrees and rainy today in Baton Rouge. Gas is going for $3.13 per gallon, I just watched Dennis Orcollo win a race to three in less than 18 minutes, and Dog the Bounty Hunter will turn sixty-nine years old tomorrow.

On this website there is a bunch of members who post often, such as me, whose opinions only occasionally are of any moment, and an even bigger bunch who never post at all. (for shame) In between there is a handful who appear here less often, but whose entries we have learned to read, as they might be important.

From the latter group, Baby Huey posted today with his recent impressions on matters of pocket billiards. Under the title ‘Predator Tour’ his words can be found in the One Pocket Forum, and I recommend them to all members. Jerry is a proprietor and thus more concerned with such things than most of us. Also, if bullshit were band music nobody would call him John Philip Sousa. I always read Baby Huey and today I will borrow from him for this journal.

He advises (news to me) that Predator is poised to make a run at the billiard industry, and is vending much more than pool sticks. Going to the internet, I found a distributor who offers a nine-foot Predator table for 7,450 Euros. (Why Euros? Think about it.) I don’t have the necessary symbol on my keyboard, but in U.S. dollars it would be $8,418. Going up against Brunswick, Diamond and Rasson there is now greater competition. Further along, a different merchant is selling an eight-foot Predator table for $43,000. That seems like a lot, but it is what it is.

Jerry has been viewing recent tournament events from Predator and Matchroom Sports, on the internet I’m certain, and now believes that the American players and promoters are no longer the best in the world. Not hard to agree, if in other locales they are selling a much superior product. I have seen impressive promotions staged in Japan for women’s pro billiards – go to YouTube. Pool, especially one-pocket at the very highest level is the favorite topic of my friend Joe Long, and I hope he will speak up here.

Bewailing the sad state of pocket billiards, players, events, prize funds, sharing payouts and coverage in the media has long been a pastime of those who claim it can never get any better because sponsors won’t come forth. Can it be that the end of this rainbow is just over the horizon and across some oceans? Baby Huey says it has already started, and as I noted, he’s not here to just bump his gums. (no offense intended, Bata) Read his post today.

Steve and Chris have moved this journals forum a bit farther up on the menu. Good news for me, any other journalists and all who might be interested. See you later.
 
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vapros

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Today is Ash Wednesday, if you are a Catholic – or even if you aren’t. I don’t know the price of gas, but there‘s a new WWYD from Chris, Lent begins today and the Russian ruble is worth less than a penny. And falling. Fast.

There has been no land war in Europe for seventy-seven years, dating back to the end of World War II - by far, the longest such dry spell in recorded history. Well, so much for that, as Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin has formed up his Russian soldiers and invaded Ukraine and there’s hell to pay. This is a current event of great interest to just about everyone in the world. I am fascinated, and being the fan of YouTube that I am, I have watched and read a great many related interviews in the last couple of days. The people who seem to know the most about it are showing up daily on multiple news programs, thus being obliged to say the same things over and over. I can’t leave it alone.

When you shake it all out and divide by seventy-seven, there are a couple of critical features that are pretty generally agreed upon. First, they all agree that Putin has made a bad assessment of just how big and strong he is. He has torn his shorts, or he has crapped in his mess kit or he has stepped on his pecker – take your choice. Second, although he will not get away with what he is trying to do, there’s a real danger that before he gives it up he will destroy some Ukrainian cities and kill a lot of civilians.

Putin actually is Russia and has been for quite a long time. Today, having turned over just about all Russia’s friends, he is bankrupting the country. The free world has shut down access to their money, closed off their air space and frozen out their sports figures and their programs. There is hardly anyone left who loves the Russians, and it’s all because of Putin. He makes all the decisions.

So how will it all go? One thing is certain – it will be different. He can’t just call it off and say ‘Scusa me. His best Russian buddies are losing billions, and will be heard from before they see it all gone. Putin’s future is pretty foggy, but it will be different, and maybe very different.

Having a journal and a few readers is mighty handy. When the website is too quiet you can write about war and politics. Cabbages and kings, so to speak.

See you later.
 
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vapros

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It was 75 degrees here today, gas is $4.19 per gallon, the vice-president is in Poland on a state visit about some jet fighters and I never know whether I’m about to get a fistbump or a handshake and I generally guess wrong.

World news today continues to be about the Ukrainian war, and I wish I could tell you all about it, except that I don’t know any more about it than you do. Vladimir Putin is as crazy as a waterbug and as vicious as a snake and he figures to come to a bad end, but probably not soon enough. I could write a lot more about the veep’s press conference today in Krakow, but I won’t. It’s on the internet and you can see for yourself.

Here's something that’s all over YouTube, and it’s worth seeing if you have missed it so far. Here and there around Europe, or even farther, Putin’s fatcat buddies are losing their yachts. Just as economic sanctions are crippling the Russians, in many places it extends past the beach. They are being seized and locked up. We’re not talking large watercraft here where you could wet a line off the fantail, but vessels that could be right out of Star Wars.

I have seen one named Dilbar that is 512 feet long, draws thirty-six feet of water and cost 800 million U.S. dollars, and I’m not certain it is the biggest, either. This baby has a 17-million-dollar helicopter for if you want to go ashore. Crews of eighty and more are being laid off in the ports of Europe.

One-pocket news is in short supply currently. There is one active WWYD that has about run its course, and various posts about the plans for upcoming tournaments, some of which are quite a ways down the line. An event this fall in (I’m not sure – is it to be in The Netherlands?) is drawing interest here, and even several entrants from among our members. This will be a super experience for only a few of us, and those who can go must prepare to record their trips for the rest of us. Over all, this is a tremendously encouraging sign for our sport, as are the new members we have welcomed in recent years. Can’t do without ‘em.

I continue to get my kicks on YouTube, and some days the stuff I pass up is even more fascinating than the videos I pause to view. Today I skipped over one entitled ‘What it’s like to be engaged to a porn star’ and another ‘Why does Vladimir Putin walk that way?’ Yesterday I missed ‘What happens during a colonoscopy?’ and a boast from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, ‘I have the biggest d*** in Chicago.’

It just goes to show one need not leave home. See you later.
 
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vapros

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It was 78 degrees and sunny today and one can buy gas for as little as $4.15 per gallon or as much as $4.99. Don’t know why. Large hail is forecast for the wee hours tonite, Vladimir Putin is looking more and more like Adolf Hitler and I lost three quarters in the cracker machine at a car wash. Gone forever.

The website is quiet tonite, deathly quiet. This may be the calm before the storm, but it feels more like the comma before the coma. Only a couple of threads are active at this time, but I ask you – was active a good word there? Gulfport Doc tells us that he has been to the dark edge and seen what’s down there, and we are all expressing our joy that he is now in recovery. That’s spooky, not funny at all.

Other than that only a short-handed pissing contest is underway to make news and the end of that is not in sight. That’s ugly, not funny at all. Now and then I comment that if it ain’t funny it ain’t much, and that’s how it is this evening.

I watched one of my all-time favorite movies last nite on YouTube – Absence of Malice, with Paul Newman, Sally Field and Wilford Brimley. For my money it’s the very best ‘gettin’ even’ movie ever. Super satisfactory ending.

Also watched several videos this week about sign painting. It’s a subject dear to my heart, having made a living for several years as a sign writer. Never a real master, as I came to it too late in life, but the one-man shop is a wonderful place, and the ideal milieu for people like me. For the most part, brush lettering has given way to the machines that do it better, but there will always be craftsmen and a few customers to support them. Perhaps the ultimate skill is that of the pin-striper. And I recall that every sign man had one of the old wooden Coca Cola boxes. In lettering truck doors, it provides a seat at three different levels. They are indestructible. I had one.

One of the old-timers was a guy who worked full time for more than forty years painting on barns in a seven-state area around the middle of this country. The message was always the same – Chew Mail Pouch tobacco, treat yourself to the best. He claims twenty thousand such jobs, which has to be an outright lie, but some impressive part of his claim is verified by the company. They had eight two-man teams and pretty well covered the country, selling their product. You may not recollect seeing any of those Mail Pouch barns, but if you have spent any real time on the road you have seen somebody’s ads on barns, all done by hand by the old sign guys, and mostly out of sight from the Interstate. Some would say it’s progress, so I guess it is.

Where have all the flowers gone? What about the posters – where have they gone? Tournaments on the horizon and one-pocket news, and none too soon, either. See you later.
 

vapros

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All the leaves are green and the sky is blue and I would for sure go for a walk on this spring day if my walking gear was in better condition. Gasoline is $3.79 a gallon and on I 10 west, where it’s elevated to cross the Henderson Swamp on the way to Lafayette, a big rig hit a tour bus and traffic backed up for seventeen miles. Imagine that – nothing but water and swamp below and no way to get off. Such is not nearly as unusual as it should be, but nobody seems to know why. Traffic jams on the Interstate highways can be mighty ferocious, especially where the exits are few.

Some encouraging stuff on the site at present, including a couple of WWYDs that are drawing good interest. A WWYD is not an automatic winner, but I miss them when there are none at all. My own solutions are generally the best, but there are always a few who disagree. Chris has posted both of these, and today I borrowed a bunch of Larry’s choices. He was quick and concise. Larry’s retired.

A thread under the heading ‘Cochran’s and Palace Billiards’ has me jealous that I’m not an old pool player who can reach into my recollections for good stories. A number of members here are stepping up and recalling players and matches and memorabilia that only the old joints have. Bowling lanes just can’t match the old pool rooms. Golfers and pool players have much better stories (and imaginations) than bowlers and tennis players. I hope this thread can stay live for a while longer. The stories are out there and these guys won’t be among us forever.

I’m no longer alone on the Journals forum. MamboFats has opened a blog – which is really what I’m doing, also – and Fats is in far-away Belgium. He outlined his own experience with pool tournaments, and it’s considerable. He has been the Captain of the Belgian Team in the European Championships. I feel sure he will be on hand for the big one-pocket event in Belgium this fall and will meet some fine people and make some good friends. Maybe he will tell them his real name. Good news for all concerned.

Also, he advises that he is beginning construction of his own pool table. Already on hand are lumber and hardware. Is he qualified to build a table? He didn’t say, but I have no doubt he knows what he’s doing. What about slate? For certain he will need a big flat piece of slate. Surely he would not proceed without it. He indicated that he would provide pictures when he can. Something for us to look forward to.

Here's a local item of general interest, if not to you then maybe when you go home and tell your wife. A Baton Rouge lady is expecting twins very soon. No big deal you might say, but how about if it will be her third set? And how about if it’s her third set in less than two years? She will have six kids under age two around the house. Tell the missus.

Finding myself in need of a four-digit PIN recently, I came up with one that has been lurking in my head for about seventy years. It was the telephone number of a girlfriend in the city of Houma, down in Terrebonne Parish. Anyone here recall the days of four-digit phone numbers? All calls were handled by an operator and I can recollect trying to call my beloved and being told by ‘central’ that she was not at home, having failed to answer a call just a few minutes earlier. I demanded to know who else was trying to call my girl but no dice on that. I distinctly recall not marrying that young lady. No doubt someone did, as she was a fox. By now she would be a very old fox.

See you later.
 

vapros

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It’s Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge, 73 degrees and sunny and it cost me nearly $60 to gas up my old Ranger yesterday, but that’s okay. Putin’s tanks are running out of gas over in Ukraine. He is telling the world that he has won that war, as he never really wanted the whole enchilada in the first place. All he wanted was the little bits around the edge, and surely we can see that he has them. Putin is a short-timer.

I went to the pool room yesterday about lunch time, and there was a chilly wind blowing across the front of the building, but a survey of the parking lot indicated that none of the usual suspects were on hand and I decided to go home. But the sun was warm on my truck, so I rocked the seat back and went to sleep, leaving just enough ventilation to stay alive. I’m not sure how long I slept or how many players may have come and gone on the way to the room – I didn’t even go inside to see. Instead, I cranked up and went to a coffee shop for a café-au-lait and an oatmeal cookie in the sun and in the lee of the little joint. Do we realize, and appreciate, just how few days there are when such indolent deportment is so luxurious? Life’s not all bad.

Traffic on the web site is brisker than we have seen it for a while, and that always makes it easier for me to post on this journal. Jim the pilot is playing, as I write, on the stream table at the US Open One Pocket Tournament, and we are wishing him well. John Henderson has fallen down and broken his hip, gone to the hospital and had surgery to get it fixed, returned home to recover and is now on the mike for Jim’s match. Not much grass growing under John’s busted butt.

Even better, for the general membership, are a couple of WWYD projects that are getting good participation. The cincy_kid has come through for us again, as of lunch time yesterday. Chris is filling the void left by the Ghost. His player is up against the wall trying to hold off an opponent who needs just one more. Strange ending to that game – Rafael Martinez made a brilliant billiard shot but lost the game anyway. Chris has furnished a link to the conclusion.

Mitch had one on the board at the crack of dawn, also on Friday. Maybe he has a paper route, who knows? How many reasons can there be to be up so early on a week day? His presentation had a full lineup of balls, well scattered on the south end of the table and with multiple options for the shooter. This is usually a running start for a WWYD – lots of options among lots of balls. Plenty of solutions have been offered and plenty of comments about them – including a few testy posts from you-know-who. Today Mitch revealed what he really did, the poser being from his own action. He went the extra mile with this one, putting up a dozen posts in response to responders, and then displaying a picture of the original offering and then a picture of the table as he left it. Couple of new features. Not only that, but Mitch was the only one to spot Martinez’ shot in Chris’ WWYD. Looking forward to his next move.

Glad I decided not to go to The Masters this year. They tell me the weather was miserable out there today. I probably wouldn’t have made the cut anyway. See you later.
 

vapros

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It’s cool and sunny today in Baton Rouge, gas has gotten a little cheaper and I sure thought I saw some bird poop fall on Joe Biden when he was in Iowa, but they are saying I didn’t. Terrible traffic jams are still happening on those parts of the interstate highways where exits are scarce, like over the water. Various types of personal emergencies occur out there while waiting and I am drawing plans for some narrow Porta Potties that will stand between the traffic lanes and the railings. If you can’t fit, that’s tough s__t. Think of something else.

Wandering around yesteryear, April 21 will mark the anniversary of a much-anticipated event from the Lexington Hotel in Chicago in 1986, and the start of Geraldo Rivera’s career as a celebrity. With a lot of promotion and loud promises for a two-hour TV special, Geraldo opened Al Capone’s vault, in view of thirty million viewers who held their collective breaths. If you can’t recall seeing it, you can guess. The vault was empty. That should have been the end of him, but it wasn’t.

Swamp People is still around and without much updating. Someone certainly grabbed a brass ring with this show. Many of the same gator hunters are still working the same bits of swamp and marsh and Troy Landry is still peddling an accent as thick as molasses. How many ways can you show a man in a small boat grappling an alligator for money? I have to marvel at the way all things Cajun have seized the public fancy since I left lower Terrebonne Parish. Crawfish, zydeco music and the swamp people, none of which were familiar to me, are riding a wave. Go ‘head on.

Good recent traffic on the site, with some excellent matches to watch and a number of discussions. How good was Artie Bodendorfer? He has some great fans here, especially the Chicago people, but how far did he venture from his home venue, and how did he rank among the better-known players of his era? Was he just a super-shortstop or was he much better than that? Even the guys who say he was near unbeatable don’t claim that he was the very best. So, how good was Artie Bodendorfer?

Great stuff from the thread on the great rooms of California. Demonrho started that thread several years ago, and today he submitted a roster of several dozen of the regulars from back in the day – a real feat of recollection and a real poser to all those who crave stories. He has been on the site almost as long as I have, back to the first year, and suddenly I’m getting the feeling that he has a world of stuff for us, if only he would let us have some tales.

One-pocket junior varsity can still be seen on YouTube for the asking, as the Bayarea Pool Masters post their matches for our entertainment. I have recently seen The General v Diablo, as well as Kevin Lucky Dog, J Sizzle and Mike the Lawyer (is this someone we know?) I’m always on the lookout for players I might beat, but not having much luck with the Bayarea guys. Why the monikers – trying to stay under the radar?

See you later.
 

vapros

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It was 82 degrees and sunny today, we can’t decide whether Eddie Robin is dead or alive, and Jose Parica will be in New Orleans next month for the one-pocket event at Buffalo’s. The part about Parica (Amang) is great news, as far as I’m concerned. He has been my little hero for many years – the eye of a turkey buzzard, the nerve of a house burglar and the grin of a cub scout. If he is playing at anywhere near his old speed, there should be some good encounters when he goes up against the current quick-draw players. I don’t suppose he will be a favorite in any match, but I hate that I won’t be there to see him. Amang is an old man, by any standards, but he is way cool.

Funny his name should come up today, because he always responded, when asked, that he generally beat Efren Reyes when they played money matches, and as we speak there is a thread on this site about the knowledge of Efren. I have looked for an excuse to write about him. Before last year’s flood I had many videos of tournament matches involving either or both of these Filippino warriors.

Online, at YouTube, few people have spent the hours that I have, watching Efren play. At Hard Times in California he routinely gave 9-6 to anyone who wanted to play and gamble a bit. There were many takers – pretty good players. $100 for a race to three, three matches guaranteed. I especially recall the matches against Bobby Emmons, a nineball player from Arizona, but for substantially higher stakes. I have watched them many times. Emmons is a fine shotmaker and a tough competitor, but 9-6 against Efren was not nearly enough weight. I viewed the contests, over and over.

At the monitor I tried to understand what he was doing, why he made a particular move, why he passed up what I thought was the obvious. He made preemptive shots, designed to rob you of the chance to retaliate. All his victims went away happy to have had the experience, for a reasonable tax.

How much did he learn from Freddy Bentivegna – who knows? I believe he was a blue-collar player from humble beginnings, a little man who recognized early on that pool was the sum total of what he had going for him and he seized on it, determined to wring it out. Whatever else he was, he was an expert learner. If you have ever taught classes of any sort, you have seen learners. They snatch up what is put before them, more so than the others in the group. Maybe that’s why he prefers to stand when in a contest. He is determined to see, in case there is something to see, and to learn.

In his middle sixties he is on the downside of the mountain he has defended for so many years. Back in the islands he plays 10 ball with the young guys, sometimes getting a game or two on the wire, or a ball. He seems contented just to be playing. You can see him still, on YouTube, in primitive venues, but before standing-room-only crowds of his fans.

We may have seen him in major one-pocket action for the last time. Nobody goes on forever. Maybe he really does think he has been lucky. Well Bata, I’ve been lucky, too.
 
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