My birthday month is going to be a strange one this year as the corona-virus Covid-19 rages on, and I continue social distancing, working from home, and pretty much staying put for the most part until something changes.
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| 3/30 - I started the first week of April off with a nice bang as I got my signature hand, quad treys, on the Poker Stars home game tonight. The dude betting into me eventually won the $25 tournament despite his stumble here, and I got second place for a nice $100 profit. |
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| 3/31 - I rented Light from Light today, newly available off of I-Tunes. It's a small, quiet, independent film with two of my favorite people in it: Marin Ireland, who I really like from the Amazon TV show, "Sneaky Pete"; and Jim Gaffigan, one of my favorite comedians, in an powerful dramatic performance here. It's a quaint little ghost story filmed around the Great Smoky Mountains, so what's not to love! |
Here's a running list of some other movies I have rented, or watched on streaming services, during this strange time stuck at home:
Spenser Confidential on Netflix - decent
Saint Frances - rented via The Belcourt Theater - very good
The Jesus Rolls - rented off cable - total dog shit
Blow the Man Down on Amazon - pretty good
Rewatched
A Quiet Place on Amazon - a modern masterpiece
What If (aka The F Word) - a delightful 2013 rom-com on Amazon
Troop Zero on Amazon - a sweet and funny little new film with Jim Gaffigan...again!
Coffee and Kareem on Netflix -a dumb, somewhat funny and raunchy action-comedy
Good Time - an odd and pointless "story about worthless people" just like
Uncut Gems on Netflix
Poker Queens - a decent documentary about professional female poker players that I rented off Amazon
High Flying Bird - a great new film about an NBA lockout on Netflix. Very Aaron-Sorkin like writing.
White Sands - an old (and kind of stupid) 1992 thriller with a great cast that I rented off Amazon.
Support the Girls - a pretty good indie dramedy from 2018 that I rented off of Amazon.
The Great War - a cheap rip-off of
Saving Private Ryan set in WW I that I rented of I-Tunes - didn't even finish it.
The Sisters Brothers - a well-done and weird western, kind of like the novel. I missed seeing it in the theaters back in 2018, so I rented it off I-Tunes
Buffaloed - a pretty fun dramedy about debt collectors that I rented off of our Spectrum cable
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| 4/1 - Besides watching a lot of movies, a TV show based on a true story that I have enjoyed watching in its first season this year is "For Life" on ABC. I watched the latest episode on demand tonight as I sipped a can of hoppy and delicious Nomad wheat beer from Yazoo Brewing here in Nashville. It was good to see that one of the empty shelves at the Publix supermarket today was not on the craft beer aisle! |
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| 4/3 - I signed up for Beer Drop today. It's a craft beer delivery system that brings different craft beers to your door each month. Thought I would give it a try since this virus issue doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon and I easily drop $50 a month on craft beer anyway. My first shipment will be here in a couple weeks. Looking forward to it!! |
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| 4/4 - What better way to celebrate [the upcoming] National Beer Day than with a variety 6-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits. After some yard work, I cooled off with a can of Berliner Weisse called Summertrip from Braxton Brewing (KY). Pretty good for a sour beer. A pool float came next and a can of the excellent Deep Ellum IPA from Deep Ellum Brewing (Dallas) came with me. |
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| I finished off another nice, but, mandatory day at home with a great steak off the grill, some fresh collard greens and a baked potato with a tasty Spring IPA from Abita Brewing (LA) to wash it all down. I also won a small online poker tournament (basically a sit-n-go) in the Poker Stars Home Games for $35 in profit. |
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| 4/5 - Another day at home doing yard work got a little brighter today with a "secret" visit from some of our friends as we hung out in the back yard with safe distancing between us, of course. My friend, Charly, needed to borrow our pool pump and in return he gave me an excellent Arubian hand-rolled cigar. Since there are no sports to watch, a cigar-ash competition can get pretty lively! We also did some beer-swapping and sipping also. Charly brought over a bomber bottle of Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S., a gold-medal-winning imperial oatmeal stout from Hoppin' Frog Brewing (OH). It was outstanding! |
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| My pal, Wayne, came over also (along with his adorable new puppy, Carter) and gave me this cool Star Wars face-mask that he made for me to survive the pandemic. Thanks, Boo!! I had to take it off to sip on a can of Expatriate, a bold and tasty IPA from Three Weavers Brewing (CA) out of my aforementioned variety six-pack |
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| I capped off a fun day with a huge online poker tournament win on Global Poker. They have started a new nightly Crazy Pineapple Rebuy tournament that attracted 74 other players last night. I came out on top after one rebuy and an add-on that netted me over $250 in profit!! |
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| 4/6 - Another great gift from our secret friend visit yesterday was this fresh beer bread that Wendy made. I had a big hunk slathered with butter for breakfast this morning. Nothing like starting your Monday off with some beer!! For the record, she used Wernesgruner Dark Lager (Germany) from the 2020 Aldi Beer Advent Calendar. |
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| I made a huge final table tonight on Global Poker's nightly Mini Melee Tournament ultimately finishing 3rd vs. 256 other players with rebuys. I turned my initial $22 investment into over $650 in profit for one of my biggest cashes on Global to date! |
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| 4/7 - I rented the new documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band from our local independent Belcourt Theater today. Half of the $12 cost goes back to The Belcourt which is the start of my "10% giving-back" from my recent poker success. It was an interesting and well-done doc. I have always liked The Band and they were mentioned as the "fathers of Americana music" and I can see that now. That's probably what I liked about them. I especially like Robbie Robertson including his solo work. I think his 1987 self-titled album is a masterpiece. |
So I got some conflicting information
that today is actually National Beer Day instead of April 4th. To play it safe, I cracked opened a bottle of
Daddy-O Pilsner from Yazoo that was in my variety-pack just to cover all my bases. I thought this was a new check-in, but evidently I have had it before and the UNTAPPD app wasn't working correctly when I checked before buying it...again. And looks like UNTAPPD was a little premature on their NBD Badge ejaculation also....[smirk]
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I closed out the day with another sizable win on Global Poker. I took down the late-evening nightly crazy pineapple tournament vs. 45 other players with rebuys and add-ons. I didn't do either, so my initial $11 investment turned into $289 of profit!
I sent $20 to the Seacrest Wolf Preserve down in Florida as part of "10% giving-back" from my recent poker success . They look to be doing great work there and I hope to visit sometime soon. |
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| 4/9 - I picked up my delicious free birthday burger and fries today at the Red Robin in Mt. Juliet for lunch. I went ahead and tipped $20 to the gal who brought me the food out since I know those folks working there could use it. I included $17 (beyond the standard 20% tip) of it as some of my "10% giving back" from my recent poker success. |
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| I decided the last $75 of my 10% giving back from my recent poker success should go to GiveDirectly and the Double UP Drive with Run It Once Poker where they will match my donation and give cash directly to those who need it during the virus crisis we are in. |
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| 4/10 - My first order from Beer Drop has shipped!! To celebrate (and make room in the fridge) I had the last of my variety six-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits. It was a bottle of the excellent imperial oatmeal stout by 3 Floyds Brewing (IN) called the Wigsplitter. |
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| I got fourth place tonight out of a huge field of 296 other players with rebuys and add-ons on Global Poker turning my $10.50 investment into over $250 in profit! |
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| I final-tabled again in my next Crazy Pineapple tournament on Global and then won it defeating 56 other players with rebuys and add-ons and turning my $6.30 investment into a profit of $143.70! This was a good Friday night stuck at home!! |
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4/11 - It was Saturday and we needed to get out of the house a little. We headed west toward Nashville for the first time in a couple months. My destination was Nashville's newest brewery, TennFold Brewing, in Donelson. This now beats Various Artists Brewing by 3 miles as being the closest craft brewery to my house! Salute!!
And it's also King Gambrinus Day! Cheers to the King of Beers! |
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| We couldn't actually stop in because of the ongoing pandemic, but TennFold Brewing was doing curbside pickup, so we got a large pepperoni and banana pepper pizza along with two mason jars of their beer to go. Back home on the patio, Ashlee and I enjoyed the tasty pie and cracked open their Howling Winds Scottish Ale which was really, really good. |
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| I got 2nd place in a Poker Stars Home Game tonight for $75 in profit. I should have won the thing twice as I had my opponent calling all-in on draws of which he miraculously hit both....whatcha gonna do? #gettingitingood |
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| 4/12 - I cashed in this tournament on Global Poker, but it was nothing to brag about, but a funny thing that happened after we were in the money was a brilliant play (I thought at least) by me to steal a pot from two other players and a small all-in player with just a pocket pair of twos. The flop came Q9? and since the all-in main pot was so small, I decided to shove with my twos representing the queen on the board to win the large side pot. It worked as I got even one of the players with a pair of nines to fold. I even won the small main pot as what the all-in player's held didn't at least pair. Well, I had to reveal my cards due to the showdown with the small all-in player and the table went nuts! Especially the guy with the pair of nines. Another player piped in saying it was a foolish bet. Was it though? I like when my play gets under the skin of others because I know it's the right play. You gotta be creative in this game. |
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| Hey, it's Easter and look at this big, beautiful egg I found! I cracked open my second mason jar of beer-to-go from TennFold Brewing today. This is their session Curbside IPA and it was fresh and tasty as could be. Welcome to the new kids on the local craft-brew block! |
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| 4/13 - I chopped a $30 turbo tournament on PokerStars tonight with 5 others out of 19 players (our host, Rob (John) Grace played for free). That's $70 in profit and 7 more bucks more toward my 10% Give Back to Charity funds. |
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| 4/15 - My first Beer Drop order has arrived! I got a total of 5 unique beers (three 12 oz. cans x 2; one pair of pint cans; and one crowler). In celebration, I cracked open the crowler for dinner and shared it with Ashlee. It was a very nice medal-winning Belgian blonde table beer called Sugarfoot from Spangalang Brewing (Denver). I am not sure who ordered the cat, but we named her Doris. I look forward to trying the rest of my delivery over the weekend around the pool and patio as the temps are supposed to warm up nicely. |
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4/16 - You don't have much choice but to earn this badge on UNTAPPD these days. I cracked open my second new-to-me beer from my Beer Drop delivery this afternoon. I had a can of Deez Nuts, an English mild ale with hazelnut and peanut butter from 105 West Brewing (CO). It was terrific!
I also found a place for my remaining 10% of recent poker success funds to go today (plus a little more). An elementary thru high school classmate of mine, Terry Birdwell, passed away earlier this week from a sudden heart attack, so I gave $50 toward his funeral expenses. I also gave $50 to our high school class account which had also made a donation for Terry. Rest in peace, brother. |
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| 4/17 - It's National Saison Day and since I didn't have any in the house or in my Beer Drop order this month, we swung by Lebanon Wine and Spirits and picked up a few beers of choice including a bottle of Tank 7 from Boulevard Brewing. This farmhouse ale/saison is a dandy, and I have had it before in a flight at Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City, but I was hoping for an UNTAPPD badge celebrating the day, but to no avail. I split it with Ashlee and just enjoyed it anyway. |
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| 4/18 - My signature hand of pocket threes were at it again on Global Poker today and I was sure hoping someone made their flush on that turn. I got paid off a little on this hand and did cash in the tournament, but nothing to write home (or to this blog) about... |
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| 4/19 - According to Ashlee today is Cat Lady Day and so this silly, but tasty, little wheat brew from Whiner Beer Company (Chicago) called Miaou seemed like a perfect way to celebrate it. Good job by own crazy cat lady in spotting this unique can art at Lebanon Wine and Spirits the other day. |
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| 4/20 - Since the weather was beautiful, I just had to take my Birthday Monday off from work. And since we really couldn't travel very far, I decided on a short regional driving tour. Thanks to Ashlee, and my friends,Charly and Wendy, for tagging along. |
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| Our first stop was pretty Waterloo Falls up north of Cookeville. I wanted to see some waterfalls on my birthday, but had to be selective since all the state-run areas are closed due to the virus. Waterloo remains privately-owned, but still accessible, although I don't know for how long since more new houses keep springing up around it. I brought along a beer for each waterfall I planned on visiting today and cracked open this can of Vladislav Baby Don't Hurt Me Bourbon Barrel Aged stout from Diebolt Brewing (CO). It came in my fist Beer Drop order and it was fantastic. |
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| We continued back west and stopped at Union Camp Falls just outside Lafayette. Here I sat on the rocks, kicked back and enjoyed a can of Blueberry Wheat from High Hops Brewing (CO) which was also in my recent Beer Drop delivery. It was light and tasty and perfect for this kind of outing. |
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| Our next stop was westward in Westmoreland to check out one of the shortest train tunnels ever built. At only 45' long, the tiny tunnel (possibly the shortest in the world, and definitely the U.S.) was built by the L & N Railroad in 1886 so as to not split the landowner's parcel in half and he could cross his cows over the top of it. The little canyon its in is pretty cool as well. |
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| I gathered in my Birthday UNTAPPD Badge as well today. Salute!! We had a couple other brief stops at Taylor Hollow Natural Area in Westmoreland (closed since it is now state-owned) and Joel Hollow in Gallatin which is privately-owned but the gate was locked barring access. |
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| Our last stop continuing west before heading home was the East Nashville location of Southern Grist Brewing where I had an online order of three crowlers waiting on me for curbside pick-up. Thanks to SGBC for being one of the few local breweries to be open on a Monday! |
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Back home on our patio with some take-out smoked wings from our local Town Square Social restaurant, I cracked open my first Southern Grist crowler. Open for Suggestion, a terrific DNEIPA collaboration with Deciduous Brewing up in New Hampshire. I almost gave away both of my empty Mason jar growlers from TennFold Brewing, but I am definitely going to keep one since it's perfect for open-crowler remains!
It was a great birthday despite all the restrictions. |
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| TRUTH!! |
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