Back home.

Sorry for the lack of blogs recently. As you all know, I was in Florida for the last 8 days with the family. It was Samantha's first vacation and she met a lot of new friends and family. It was a great time and I have a couple blogs to post about the trip. However, here is quick overview of a few things that happened.

1. Michelle's dad started off hot on the golf course. Then the rain came in. Think Caddyshack and the priest going for the course record. Luckily after hte 6th hole we talked him into stopping.
2. I saw Star Trek and Terminator Salvation. Star Trek was amazing. It was so good. I was never a big trek fan but I loved this movie. It is no surpise that the rotten tomatoes rating is so high. Just a great movie. Terminator was good too but not in the same league as Star Trek. I would recommend seeing both in the theater.
3. Vic and I went to game 4 of the Eastern conference finals . WHAT. A. GAME. That place was rocking! I will blog more about this later.
4. Samantha liked hanging out in the hottub. She had a little floatie that she would sit in and chill. It helped that the water temp was 92-94 degrees.
5. Food. I am pretty sure I gained more weigh down there than if I was on a cruise. Man, there was a lot of food.
6. I finally beat Super Mario Galaxy on Wii. This is no easy feat. Collecting 120 stars takes a long time. Now I opened up Luigi and have to do it all over again...yikes.
7. It was a fun and relaxing time down there but I am sure glad to be home.

Preakness Win

So another horse race and another win for me at the Preakness. I made a few exacta bets for the race. Lucky me because one of them was 13/2. The funny thing was I also bet 13/1 and at the beginning of the race, this was looking really good. Once I saw 1 fall behind, I was bummed out and then when they showed 13/2, someone yelled at me "Hey, you won." $2 bet was turned into $40. Nothing too special but fun none the less.

Have a great week!

Thank you Turf Paradise

I am a little behind on my blogging. I apologize. Let me tell you about one of my great gambling moments. They are few and far between so I have to bask in them when I can.

The day of the Kentucky Derby, the Fedeas were having a few people over to watch the race. Well, without gambling, how interesting is the race? Really? So, Steve already made a few bets for us but we wanted to make a few more. So, we headed to the OTB across from Joe's bar.

Now we got there about 3.5 hours before the derby. However, the place was filling up. That place was hopping. I was shocked at how many women were dressed up walking around an OTB!!!

Anyway, we make our bets but of course we do not leave right away. There is too much action going on. Steve asks me for $4. He then makes a exacta bet on a random race. We watch it. One of the horses he bets comes in last.

We decide I need to pick one and then we will leave. I see a course is named "Turf Paradise" and there is a race in 4 minutes. Is there really a course names Turf Paradise? I was thinking maybe I misread it. Turf Paradise...really. Anyway, it is race 2 and I decide on two horses that are middle of the pack (3 and 7). The odds for both of them are floating around 10-1.

I walk up with $8 dollars and say "Turf Paradise, race 2". I paused thinking there is no way Turf Paradise is the correct name. The guy looked at me and said "what do you want to bet". I bet an exacta box on 3-7. That means we need 3 and 7 to come in first and 2nd. We don't care who gets which one just as long as they are 1st and 2nd.

The race starts and 8 jumps out to a big lead. #8 is 50 to 1. 3 and 7 are in 2nd/3rd. We are just hoping that #8 will slow down. After the 2nd turn, both the 3 and 7 start gaining on the #8 horse. AS they come into the final turn 3 and 7 are in the lead but now #5 horse is starting to pick up. Steve says it looks like 3 and 7 are wearing ankle weights. 3 and 7 hold off #5 and finished in 1st and 2nd. Steve and I are freaking out a little. The race is still unofficial. 5 minutes go by...still unofficial. If one of those horses get disqualified I was going to fly off the handle. Finally, it was official. We had won!

How much? $372 dollars on a $4 bet. We got our money and bolted out of there like we just robbed the place.

Not a bad way to start the Kentucky derby day.

Biggest Loser Finale

Let me explain a exacta bet. In horse racing, this means that you pick what two horses you think will finish first and 2nd. That is it. Usually the payoff is pretty good because picking the two horses in the right order is no small feat.

Anyway, at the beginnning of this season of biggest loser, if you were to make an exacta bet on who would win the 250k and 100k and you bet Helen and Jerry, well, on a $2 bet, you would have made thousands. On this note, is there a place where we can bet on the biggest loser? I feel like there should be.

I digress. My math a couple weeks ago was spot on. My predicitons were not. I thought Mike would be down to 180. He was at 181. I thought Tara needed to be 135 but could not make it. She didn't. She was at 135. I thought Helen needed to be 118 to have a chance. She was 117. I thought there was no way a 5'6" 48 year old would make it down to 117. Well, she did and congrats to her. Shame on Mike. All he had to do was make it to 176 and he wins everything.

Who had Tara getting third place? Hahahahaha. Suck it!

The story of the night though was Jerry. Holy crap! Way to go old man. He is 64 but is it just me or does he look a LOT older than that.

America screws over another one. If Ron went to the final three, Mike would have won the 100k. GO USA!

The finale was WAY TOO LONG. Thank you DVR. MVP of the night. We watched the finale in under 60 minutes.

Is it just me or was there a lot of people that did not care about 100k? Kristin - this was yours to lose. I mean Ron came close to winning it!

I can not wait for next season. I love watching fat people!

Under Siege

So, after we brought Samantha home, over the next few days, I quickly showed her my favorite spots to lay in the house. Over the course of the last 6 weeks, she has gotten more and more comfortable in my favorite spots. I can see the writing on the wall and it looks like I may have to find new spots. Too bad one of the is my side of the bed. I mean look below.

This looks like an impersonation of me more than anything else right now to the shirt half up.

Sometimes, in the morning, Samantha likes to join us for a few extra minutes of sleep. I find that she goes to my side and then start elbowing me off. Uh oh...

Well, there is always the floor...

Consider me excited to see a bald and toothless Tara tonight in the biggest loser!

NOOOOOOOOO!

Consider me crushed. Consider me shocked. Odd day has turned truly odd.

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for "performance enhancing drugs" and will be suspended 50 games. The Dodgers are off to an amazing start and have set a new record of most wins at home to start the season.

Manny is one of my favorite players. He comes across so much different than any other star athlete. Plus, I truly think that he is top 5 greatest right handed hitters of all time.

Boston fans love to complain that Manny does not try or does not care enough. Well, I guess that complaint is gone. He is willing to risk his career to be a better player.

It just doesn't make sense. Manny is so aloof. Steroids are not just about popping a pill or shooting yourself. It takes time and patience to cycle these in and out of your body not to mention discipline.

Well, as I write this, we are finding out it is not steroids but some banned substance that was given to him by a doctor. This sounds more like Manny, Manny being an idiot! Check that damn list of banned substances.

Anyway, for the next 50 games, Juan Pierre is going to get more playing time....
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

See you around July 4 Manny. You will be missed!

It's time to Celebrate!

Happy Odd Day!!!!!!!!! (thanks Sue for sending me an email about it)

Today's date 5/7/09 is one of only six this century that will feature three consecutive odd numbers.

New years happens every year. St. Patrick's Day...every year. This is the true time to celebrate!

Have an odd Thursday!

A Marathon...really...stupid.

First off, a 5'11" 18 year old who weighs 224 lbs only lost 10 lbs in 30 days. What? How did this happen? I went on a diet for 31 days which I did not follow 100% and drank alcohol once a week. I lost 13 lbs. I did it without even trying hard. He only lost 10.

I am handing Tara the championship. She is about one nervous push away from turning into a bulimic person. I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up at the finale 105 lbs with no teeth because she has been throwing up every meal.

Now, let me get to the worst idea I have seen on biggest loser since the half marathon. I know this is going to sound crazy because running is a very natural thing BUT here goes.

You should not run to get into shape. You should get into shape to run.

I know that sounds a little crazy. In all actuality, running is a fairly advanced form of exercise. Within any given mile, there are about 1500 foot strikes. Ask any personal trainer or strength coach if they would EVER allow an elite athlete (let alone these BL contestants) to perform a plyometric protocol that calls for 1500 foot strikes on a daily basis consistently, and I am willing to bet you will get some perplexed looks.

Running is very hard on your body when you are in shape. When you have extra weight, trying to run 10-15 miles at a time is putting unwanted stress on your body. Mike hurt his hip. No surprise here. That is number 2 for the show this year in which they have now run 13.1 miles and 26.2 miles.

You want them to do an endurance event. Fine. Have the ride the bike distance of ironman. Or better yet, put them in kayaks and have them race around. Rowing would be a great event. Forcing them to put that many miles on an overweight body is just stupid and it cost Mike more than anyone else. A hurt hip puts you on lockdown.

Tara running it in under 5 hours was impressive but if she would have tried any harder, I think that would have been stupid/dangerous. I have to admit that Ron pushing himself no matter what to finish was inspiring to me. I got caught in the moment. I am a sap like that sometimes.

That challenge should have never happened. That was a terrible decision by NBC.

RIP Captain Chaos!

Dom Deluise died on Monday at the age of 75. He was in many good comedies in his time but he stands more for Cannonball Run than any other movie. I loved the original and actually, I like the 2nd one too. He also played a great Emperor in History of the World Part I and the director in Blazzing Saddles...I digress.

Here is a big chunk from Cannonball Run. RIP Captain Chaos.RIP.



You can also watch Jackie Chan in his first movie kicking some arse during the fight.