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Completing my Mt. Rushmore of favorite Hollywood babes is the stunning and talented Marisa Tomei. Still "gettin' it done" at 50+! |
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2/1 - The month of February opened in fine fashion today with a total stomp-down on the UNC Tar Holes by my beloved Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Never was close and I watched every second of it happily on the couch!! |
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The winning continued tonight as I took down Event # 8-H of the Grizzly Games VIII Poker Tournament Series on Global Poker. I bested 182 other players with rebuys and add-ons also. While it was only for play-money, it still should earn me another trophy on the bookshelf and some more GP swag. And it helps keep me in the hunt for the Top 10 on the series points leaderboard. |
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2/2- I entered the Nashville Charity Poker Challenge at Fat Bottom Brewing over in West Nashville today for four good reasons: First, it's a poker tournament! Second, it's held at a brewery! Third, it's for a good cause!! And, last, the tournament director was none other than my friend and Poker Barn host, Zack. You could choose the charity you played for, so I represented our own beloved Mighty Miracles Kitten Rescue. From FBBC I had their |
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Big check time!! I got second place in the tournament vs. 70 other people and lots of rebuys. I even knocked out the mayor of Nashville (and defending champion of this tournament), Freddie O'Connell. With one rebuy and an add-on, my ROI was just over 1,100%!! That's $3,500+ for the kitties!!! |
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2/3 - I was back on the road for work this week and took my nice Chevy Malibu rental car east a little way today to Gordonsville and Carthage for school meetings. Not much to do in my down time between meetings, but I did spy the "Carthage Lighthouse" down by the Cumberland River there in town. It was actually built as a pumping station back in the 40's or 50's and has no light in it and never has. It stands at 36' and I guess it's better than nothing this far from the ocean. |
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Speaking of poker winnings, I finally got some swag today for a Gold Coin (play money) tournament win and another final table a good while back. I had to email Global Poker to remind them of these finishes and told them what's the point of playing in their GC tournaments if they aren't going to honor the winners with what was promised. So, a week later, two hats, a hoodie, a sticker, a pair of socks, a T-shirt, a pin and a banner flag show up at my door. That's more like it! I already have a note in my calendar to bitch at them if I don't have my trophy and swag that I won the other night sent to me within a couple months. Slackers!! Ashlee and I met our friends, Curtis and Kate, out at East Nashville Beer Works tonight over off Hwy. 109 and had a few brews and a very tasty batch of beer cheese nachos for dinner. With my meal and comradery, I had their new and excellent Another Beer on the Wall pale ale (see photo of cool Pink Floyd inspired beer label artwork above). I finished with the also new Tear Down This Pils German pilsner which was solid as well. |
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2/4 - Not a lot of fun places are open on Tuesdays, but Calfkiller Brewing in Sparta surprisingly is!! I killed some time in between school meetings in Cannon and DeKalb County with a stop not too far out of the way there today. Outside in the warm sunshine I enjoyed their Schwarzbier called The Blackened Calf (photo above) which was excellent. I finished up with their very nice Pear Harvest Smokey Treat which I had a taste of before, but not a whole pint. ($4 pints BTW!!) Smoked and fruity. Nice combo! |
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2/5 - Work took me to my alma mater, Whitwell High School, today. It was cool to finally see my personalized brick in The Tiger Wall that was paid for by poker winnings a couple years ago. I stopped at the new and nice Redpoint Inn Restaurant in Jasper for a tasty lunch with my friend since kindergarten, Mick. Like Thoreau said "live deep" every day!! |
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On the way home, I swung through Beersheba Springs to catch a look at the circa 1908 stone arch bridge over Firescald Creek. It's in pretty good shape despite being pretty much neglected now. My next stop was down off the plateau to Manchester at Common John Brewing where I had their very nice lager called The Rice is Right! I finished with their excellent NEIPA called Slow Down, Easy (Chapter XVI). It was a great mild evening to sit out on their spacious patio. |
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2/6 - I had my last day of TN Promise meetings today and in between visits to Van Buren and White County schools, I did a little waterfall scouting in the Spencer area and marked a good roadside wet-weather one to keep in mind this spring hopefully. I also stopped at Happy Trails Brewing in Sparta and had a couple brews including their very good I Think I Pecan brown ale, and then a full pint of a guest tap from nearby Calfkiller Brewing: their excellent smoked beer called The Beacon which I have only had a sample of before today. |
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2/7 thru 2/9 - I was back on the lake house/dog-sitting this weekend. The neighbors seem unconcerned (photo above). 2/7 - I played in a $99 tournament on Global Poker tonight that I won entry into per a Facebook giveaway by the site. No way I would ever risk that much of my own dough (even won on here) on this crazy site. And nothing great to report from the tournament itself unfortunately. Womp, womp. BUT - I continue to do pretty darn good in the baby tournaments with a win tonight on Global Poker in a small buy-in NLHE bounty tournament vs. 146 other players. With my 11 knockouts, I got a grand total of 3,400% ROI!! |
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2/8 - I "won" a NLHE satellite tournament on Global Poker today. I did finish first out of 56 players, but all of the top ten finishers got tickets to a larger buy-in tournament worth an ROI of right at 800%. The other tournament went about as bad as usual for bigger buy-ins for me lately on this site. Oh, well... 2/9 - I "won" another satellite today on Global Poker by finishing first vs. 38 other players in PLO for a micro buy-in amount, but the ticket which went to the top six players was worth a 1,000% ROI!! The target tournament did not go well...what a surprise. I also was able to snag a satellite ticket into another larger tournament with a huge field that I almost made the money in... progress, progress! |
2/10 - I got another small buy-in NLCP tournament win tonight on Global Poker vs. just 18 other players. First place gave me an ROI of right at 900%! Then, weirdly, I won the same exact tournament a few hours later with same exact number of people in it again for the same exact payout. Damn poker is weird sometimes!
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2/11 - I was back on the road with work again today. This time NE up to Clay County. On the way I did some waterfall scouting in Monterey at the Spacious Skies RV Park at Belle Ridge which has a cataract on their property called Bridal Veil Falls. The office was closed for the season, but I was able to poke around a bit and took a look at this great overlook into the Collins River Valley (Bee Rock Overlook is over to the left). Definitely worth coming back and at least getting a day pass, if not staying the night in their awesome North Star Guesthouse with this view. |
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I spied this little beauty on the way between Monterey and Celina on Hwy. 84 in what looks to be Walker Hollow on the map. |
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On the way back I had just enough time to stop at Cookeville Pizza and Pub to grab a pizza to go (thanks CU!) and a couple of pints while I waited thanks to a Two-fer Tuesday promotion going on. I started with the decent, albeit a bit too sweet, Soul Craft Coffee Cream Ale from Red Silo Brewing there in Cookeville. I finished with another RSBC pint called MIA Bock that was a little better. This was my first visit here, but it won't be the last! Great beer selection and the pizza was on point!! I won the same NLCP tournament tonight that I won twice last night on Global Poker with a few more people in it (22 other players) and just under 1,000% ROI. |
2/12 - Oops, I did it again! I won the same NLCP tournament tonight that I won twice the night before and once last night on Global Poker with 18 other players this time and just over 900% ROI!
Later on, I got another win in a small NLHE bounty tournament with 5 knockouts vs. 19 other players for an ROI of over 700%
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2/13 thru 2/16 - I was Watertown dog-sitting again this weekend and had to come in for the first time to the house without the owners here, and I was a little worried, but big boy Sampson pictured here remembered me (and that I had treats) for him and his little sis, Stella. I love these guys a lot, surprisingly, since I've never been around pit bulls, but they have the sweetest natural dispositions. It's only asshole humans who make them mean and ruin their reputations. They are also the easiest of the regulars that I sit with. Zero maintenance or annoyances. Easiest $150 I've ever made! |
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2/14 - Happy Valentine's Day! Ashlee and I celebrated Heart Day in downtown Nashville tonight along with our friends, Curtis and Kate. We had a great dinner at Bricktops/The River House and then went to see a production of the hit Broadway musical "And Juliet" at TPAC. We had great seats just a few rows from the stage (thanks, Ashlee), and the show was a lot of fun. And I was also able to enjoy a pint can of the Marquee Crisp pilsner from Southern Grist Brewing here in Nashville that was made in conjunction with TPAC itself. Kinda cool! |
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2/16 - After a weekend of bad beats, coolers and other sorts of Global Poker voodoo, I finally got a win tonight in a small buy-in NLHE bounty tournament vs. 155 other players with an ROI of a whopping 3,000%!! I also got third in a little larger buy-in PLO tournament that doubled my bankroll, and my screen name got a shout-out on Twitch by the tournament's GP streamer. And then I completed the evening with another NLCP small buy-in tournament win vs. 30 other players for an ROI of right at 1100%. I promptly cashed out $75.00. A nice night's work! |
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2/18 - Despite a lot of lukewarm reviews, I went to see Captain America: Brave New World (not in IMAX) at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) with my pal, Toney, tonight. We at least waited until $6 Discount Night to see it just in case it sucked. But I thought the film was pretty darn good. Great story and a fresh take on the whole Captain America/Avengers theme with more vulnerable, more human, characters this go around. |
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2/19 - I was selected to participate in the Superfan Challenge on the "Poker in the Ears" podcast today with hosts Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan of PokerStars. I challenged Joe to a movie trivia contest with the topic being one of my favorite movies ever, Good Morning Vietnam. It was conducted via Zoom and was a lot of fun. I did very well, getting all my answers correct, and beating Joe by one point when he had to use the multiple-choice option on one of his questions. The guys looked nothing like I thought they would! The broadcast should come out later this week or the next. (Editor's note: The podcast dropped the very next day actually (# 331) and I thought I sounded pretty good. They even kept in my Guam joke! LOL) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poker-in-the-ears/id970248920?i=1000694306136 |
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Speaking of poker notoriety: my February 2025 Ante-Up Poker Magazine column came out yesterday and it's one of my favorites so far since it involves one of my favorite bands, Lucero. And it's grown to a full page now! My column also got mentioned on the Ante Up Poker Podcast recently in the editor's "One Outer" section that closes the show. And then, Joe, the editor, sucked out on me heads up in the Ante Up Patreon game or I would have won $100 and his bounty. Dang it!! He did acknowledge that he got lucky on the podcast the following day against me per my screen name, DecadeofDuke. I went ahead and bought a year's subscription to the magazine with some of the poker winnings I cashed in earlier in the week. |
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2/20 - Despite the super cold temps and still some snow and ice lurking around, I went to see and hear some bluegrass in Smithville this evening with my work buddy, Todd. I paid for my ticket with poker winnings from earlier in the week. I got there in time to catch most of the set of the Po' Ramblin' Boys who were great. East Nash Grass closed out the night with a shorter, but still very good, set. And we got to meet the band after the show. There were great Calfkiller Brewing beers on tap and I had their classic Brown Recluse brown ale and their tasty J. Henry Original Mild dark ale. I also had a great burger and fries combo from a food truck on site called Dave's Old-Fashioned Burgers. The new Harvester Event Center is a great venue, and I hope to see more shows here in the future. |
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2/22 - I had another night of dog-sitting out on the lake tonight along with Sunny who was having a sleepover with her friend, Maggie. I took the last of my recently won poker winnings and rented September 5 since I didn't get to see it in theaters like I wanted to. It's a powerful film about such a sad event in history. |
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2/23 - I went to see Uncle Lucious again tonight at The Basement East (again) and stayed overnight at The Waymore Guest House (again) thanks to a great rate off the Hotel Tonight app. Beforehand, I stopped by Living Waters Brewing for a couple belts including their new Czech-style pilsner called Tepla. And I finished with their solid IPA called Conrad. From there I moved on to Monday Night Preservation/Brewing Company where I started with their Chef Series: Ford Fry pilsner that was smooth and zesty. I finished with their boozy, but light, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Drafty Kilt Scotch ale. Just before the show I stopped by Smith and Lentz Brewing for a couple more including their excellent IPA called Burnout. I finished with their light and refreshing Czech pilsner called Little Hearts Club. The show was great with a pretty good opener, Cole Phillips. The crowd was a little less than last time being it was a Sunday night, but still a nice turnout. |
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2/24 - Remote Day! at The Waymore! I enjoyed sleeping in today and then walked up to the Snooze Eatery for breakfast (fried rice!!). The rooftop at The Waymore is now open. The bar up there is called Tall Tales, and it is huge! Definitely gotta come back here when the weather's a bit warmer. |
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2/25 - Another tough day on the job at CU. Batter up!! I got a first place "win" tonight in a satellite tournament for a ticket worth about 500%+ ROI vs. 29 other players where the top seven got paid. The larger tournament came down to a sad case of bad beat fever unfortunately. |
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2/26 - Well, the trailer for the upcoming Amazon original movie, Holland, that I was supposed to be in dropped today. Here's a screen grab from the restaurant scene filmed in Nashville that I was selected for, but that I wound up not being in after being sat at a nearby table as a background player, but then the scene got changed before shooting began. I got moved out and never got a chance to be in on the shot again. Never saw Nicole Kidman that day either. Bummer. But I did get paid!! |
2/27 - I had to drive to Johnson City today for work and took a little detour to Sill Branch Falls near Erwin, TN, in the Cherokee National Forest. She is a little beauty and a fairly easy hike off a forest service gravel road that my rental car, a Chrysler Pacifica minivan handled well. I also had this little slice of heaven all to myself thanks to it being a weekday.
I stayed overnight again on the company dime at the nice Carnegie Hotel across from ETSU. I took a much-needed hiatus from poker tonight and decided to go see the new true story flick, Last Breath, and the AMC Theaters in Johnson City (recliners!). What an amazing story. A true modern miracle. Beforehand, I had a couple tasty tacos for dinner at Yee Haw Brewery where I also imbibed in their solid Strawberry Wheat and their nice NEIPA called Astral Glow.
2/28 - The drive back from Johnson City for work left me no time for any fun stops today unfortunately. I got back home in time to at least win a small buy-in NLHE bounty turbo tournament on Global Poker defeating 134 other players with nine knockouts for a total ROI of about 2,800%!! A good way to close out the month.
