Patrick425

The one part about the Jesse/Walt final scene that I have not seen discussed anywhere (other than Aaron Paul talking about it in the link I just posted above), is when Walt basically tells Jesse to go ahead and shoot him, they cut to Walt's bullet wound and that's when Jesse drops the gun. So, my thought was that Jesse saw that and thought that he would much rather have Walt die a slower, more painful death from the shot he already took than to help speed up the process with an additional gun shot(s). Anyone else interpret that scene that way?

Huh, I had a different take. I don't think he was planning to kill Jesse. He was making amends for his mistakes like telling Skyler it was for him and not about making money for the family. I saw his goal of rescuing Jesse as an extension of that. He knew he was alive, and Walt is smart enough to know there was no way Jesse was just working for them out of kindness or to make money. The whole "partner" thing was him expertly playing uncle Jack's sense of pride to give him time to get the remote and find out where Jesse was being kept prisoner. At least, thats my interpretation. On "Talking Bad" it may have been someone else but I think it was Vince Gilligan that pretty much summed up that scene as Walt having a change of heart about killing Jesse. It may have been someone else that threw that out there but, if so, Gilligan did not "correct" that interpretation of that scene. Edit: Found this - http://www.vulture.com/2013/09/breaking-bad-finale-facts-learned-on-talking-bad.html Gilligan explained that The Searchers heavily influenced the final standoff between Walt and Jesse. Gilligan believes that Walt was intending to kill Jesse, but when he saw the state his former partner was in, Walt couldn’t do it. He still cared about Jesse.

I'll never listen to that song the same way again. Also, who would have ever thought that Tim Whatley/Hal could be such a bad dude?

I'll never listen to that song the same way again. Also, who would have ever thought that Tim Whatley/Hal could be such a bad dude?

We ended up eating lunch at Harry Caray's on Navy Pier. Good hamburgers, but it was really more of a convenience thing than anything else.

I had no idea the Metra went all the way up to Kenosha. I'll keep that in mind the next time we go.

Bucknor's strike zone was really weird that game as well. One strike he called was so obviously low it was unbelievable. Must have been a different game in the series...he was at 1B when he made the safe call on Halton.

Bucknor's strike zone was really weird that game as well. One strike he called was so obviously low it was unbelievable. Must have been a different game in the series...he was at 1B when he made the safe call on Halton.

So, went yesterday, had a great time. My son brought a friend so there was 4 of us. Did Willis Tower, Shed Aquarium, Navy Pier, and the Architecture boat river tour. Had perfect weather for it. If anyone else out there might be thinking about doing this and needs some thoughts, these were my observations: - If you decide to take the train down there, take it from Milwaukee (especially on a weekday). We took it from the Airport and it was so crowded that none of us could sit together. My son sat across the aisle from his friend and I sat across the aisle from my wife (we were all in the same car, but the 4 of us were not all together). So many single riders who put there stuff on the seats next to them as if to say "don't sit next to me". Also made the mistake of not getting to our gate at Union Station early enough and had the same situation on the way home. It actually would have probably made more sense just to drive down there. Other than the hassle of traffic and finding parking it would have been cheaper. For some reason I was thinking the train was cheaper. - If you want to go to the Willis tower and avoid lines, go on a weekday and get there 15 or 20 minutes before the doors open. We were the first in line and pretty much took the elevator's right up to the top. Had one of the glass "boxes" all to ourselves for a good 10 minutes or so. - Using public transportation in Chicago can be a little tricky. Buy your card well ahead of time online. I waited until the night before (thinking I could just print it at home - but they have to mail you a card), and realized that I was unable to do this, then had to find a kiosk at one of the stations. Wanted to get a one day pass. The kiosk we were at did not have this option so we just purchased fare for one trip and then realized if we went up one more flight of stairs, there was a kiosk with a 1-day fare option. - The Chicago Go card was worth it for the flexibility it offered us. I'm not sure if we got "value" out of it (maybe a little..or possibly "broke even"), but it was nice to have options. - Shed aquarium is nice...but there are only so many fish I can look at before it gets a bit "boring". I'm sure we'll do it again sometime. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Yeah, also mentioned this in the recent Brewer's in game thread, but if anyone happened to watch the Brewers/Mets last game they would have seen an unbelievable bad call by CB Bucknor (who has been involved in several bad calls, including one recently at first between the Phils/Marlins - I think? - where the guy tagged the runner with his bare hand and the runner was called out). What was worse than the fact that he got the call wrong at first by calling Halton safe when he was out, was the fact that he then completely gave away that he knew he missed the call by immediately putting his hands on his head as if to say "Oh...I missed that one" (I have never seen an ump do this). Terry Collins came out and just berated him and all he could do was stand there and take it.

I thought it was brilliant. I'm not one that is normally critical of series finales anyways (never understood why everyone hated the Seinfeld final...not sure what they expected), but I thought The Breaking Bad finale was exceptionally good. Loved the ending song and scene.

Wow CB Bucknor with another horrible call (not sure if anyone saw the call he made earlier in the week that went a little viral). I have never seen an umpire put there hands on their head after making a call because they knew they made the wrong call!

This is why I will never have a problem trading prospects for proven talent when your team has a realistic shot at the playoffs.

Hmmm..unless you are counting cards or trying to keep a rudimentary tally of how many face cards have been dealt, it really should not change the strategy at all. The only thing, other than keeping the action non-stop, that constantly shuffling the deck does is keep anyone from trying to figure out what cards are "out of play" because there are no cards out of play (other than the other player's cards that you can see on the table during a hand). Whether it's a $5 table or a $100 table, no one will be able to convince me that a person not playing by the "rules of blackjack" will hurt the table more than help it. Sometimes it hurts the table (that's when people get angry), sometimes it helps the table (that's when people mumble words about that person being "lucky" that didn't cost them). In the end it all evens out. Didn't realize that there would be such a lively blackjack discussion. I should have started a seperate thread!

rwa..I definitely agree with the "you can't have any idea what i coming next" thought. I see so many people at blackjack tables get upset because a "novice" is sitting at 3B and takes a hit on something over 11 when the dealer is showing a bust card. They assume that this can only hurt the table and that they are taking the dealers bust card. So, what they are assuming is that the next two cards in the deck are a 10 (or other large card) followed by a small card. How can they possible know this and how do they know that it's not the other way around and by taking a hit 3b actually saved the table? Drives me nuts when people at a blackjack table get so upset about how other people are playing. I saw a guy split 10's once. I thought it was amusing, so did the dealer.

I'm not a big fan of a hitter posing after a home run, especially in the first inning. If it was a walk off or some late inning dramatic HR, then I can maybe see it. Like Lombardi said.."Act like you have been there before". Showboating does not make a sport more enjoyable for me to watch. By the way..congrats BrewCrew Forever!!

Patrick, I think you are being overly conservative as you said. I see where you're coming from, but personally, I think it is better to take a longer-term view than one hand at a time. Yes, you could lost $20 instead of $10, but over time, you are likely to win more than you lose by doubling your bets in the right situations. If you're not capitalizing on the situations where you could (and arguably should) double down or split, then you're only increasing the house edge. My theory is that if I'm not willing to double/split on the hands where it's theoretically advantageous to do so, then I probably shouldn't have bet that $10 in the first place. (Again, just my personal preference.) I have a blackjack reference card that I generally use to determine my strategy on any given hand. It says to not double on 11 if the dealer shows a 10 or A. It says to double on 10 if the dealer shows anything except 9, 10, or A. In terms of splitting 9's, it recommends to usually split them, except when the dealer shows 2, 7, 10, or A (I know, that seems like a pretty random strategy). Your betting strategy does sound interesting though. What are the rules you follow for increasing/decreasing bets? You are probably correct bani, but I have a fear of putting extra money on the table that I did not plan to, especially if I happen to have a larger bet on the table at the time. I've seen similar suggestions for splitting 9's (except what I have seen also suggests splitting when the dealer shows 2). Doesn't seem random and I understand the thought process when you assume that the dealer's hidden card is 10. You would not split them when dealer is showing a 7 because you already have him beat. The rules I follow for increasing and decreasing bets is based on the link I provided in one of my previous posts. There is more detail in that link than I care to go into right now, but the basic strategy is to win one "unit" at a time (you determine the base unit you are playing...$5, $10, $20, etc). Each time you win one unit you start over. You only increase your bet when you A) win a hand and B) you have not completed the goal of winning a unit. You increase it by one (over your previous bet), but you never bet more than what it would take to get you to your goal of winning one unit. Again, this is explained much better in that link.

Why would you never split 9s? It really depends on what the dealer is showing. If they have a weak card (4-6), I would double on anything. I would split 9s the dealer is showing a 7, and maybe even an 8. I could write an app that would allow you to play blackjack. It wouldn't cheat, it would give you realistic odds, you wouldn't know the difference. But why would I do it for free? I'd either want you to pay for the app, or I'd want you to register so I can make ad money. That's why you can't find it. I guess I'm just overly conservative sometimes. I'm sure there are statistical arguments for breaking up 9's in certain circumstances, but I can't bring myself to do it. There are very few times where I double or split (actually, I always split A's and 8's...but that's it). Sometimes I don't even double on an 11 (like if the dealer is showing a 10 - I don't like the fact that I only get one card and it seems like it's always a 4 or something like that). Sometimes I will double on 10 if the dealer has a bust card showing, but even then I'm hesitant to do that. If I place a $10 bet, that's what I want to bet. I realize there are times when the odds are in my favor, but nothing is ever certain. The possible unhappiness of losing $20 when I really only meant to bet $10 outweighs the possible happiness of winning double the amount I was hoping to win. I'd be willing to pay $2-$5 for an app that I know is realistic and has good betting features (did I say somewhere that I wouldn't?). Problem is that I don't know how good the app is until I have paid for it. Also, why would anyone develop any app for free?...but people do. Doesn't seem like it would take that much extra time or effort to make the odds of winning/losing more realistic.

Yeah..unfortunately his lifetime OBP is closer to Yuni than it is to either of those two.

Yeah..I have just been looking at the CTA website and through that discovered on my phone how fairly simple it would be to use google maps to figure out how utilize public transportation to get from place to place. I was not looking at the Chicago Go card to necessarily use for paying for transportation. I was more thinking that it might be more economical to use it if we decide to go to 2 or 3 attractions (Willis Tower, Shed Aquarium, boat tour, etc). A one day pass that includes 25 different attractions is about $75. It also looks like it allows us to get "express" access to some of the attractions. Still debating on whether or not it's worth it to buy this card though.

Wow..that's a scary article. You are right, it sounds like they are trying to give him opportunities to prove himself over the last week in order to keep a job for next year. This is the part that bothers me the most: He spent some time talking with Roenicke, who said the changes were suggested to Francisco. "Well, sometimes you can wait around and wait for the player to come to you, and sometimes you're proactive," he said. "We needed to be proactive. We had talked at the very beginning about it, and it's not just us. He's got his own teammates telling him the same thing. "The guys that he respects and listens to, they're telling him the same thing." A) The fact that they had to go to him and tell him that he needs to change something and B) "The guys that he respects and listens to"....so, does this mean there are guys on the team he does not respect and won't listen to? If so, I wonder how many and who?

Ok, so we are finally doing this trip on Monday and I believe my son has decided he wants to bring a friend along. I was looking at the Grey line "hop on, hop off" option as far as getting around, but I just realized that this does not operate on Mondays and Tuesdays. So, if we may need to take a cab to certain locations. I never rode a cab with more than 3 people...and so this may sound like a dumb question...but is it acceptable to have one rider in the front passenger seat? Or..does anyone know of any other transportation in Chicago that is similar to the Grey line that runs on Mondays? It's not like we will be going to Wrigley or anything like that. I just know that my wife is not really fond of walking distances of more than a mile or so. Also, trying to decide if it would just be worth it to get the "Chicago Go" card. This would have seemed to make a lot of sense if the grey line was running on Monday, but not so sure now.

They did in 2004. They got in trouble not because it's an "icon" but because of safety. I don't really care. The D'Backs were basically asking for it when they said don't do it imo. So...this is the world we are living in? Don't tell people not to do something if you don't want them to do it? What happened to just being courteous and respecting other people's requests? Do people have this much misguided pride?..."%$#& you, no one's going to tell me I can't do something!"

All I know is that I don't want J. Francisco on the team again. I never thought that there would be a player that I disliked watching more than Yuni B, but then Francisco showed up. I can't stand that he seems to lack any type of thought process when he is at the plate. I could be totally wrong, but he seems to be a bit lazy and selfish.

Thanks rondoman and support. However, I'm looking for apps that I can play on my phone or tablet. Also, I'm more concerned about the realistic outcomes of the game than anything else. The dealer shouldn't get blackjack 10 times more than I do or vice-versa. It should be a push 90% of the time when I have a 20 hand, etc. Like I said, most of the games I have tried seem to be slanted way too much either towards the dealer or the player. I did briefly try the site support posted. My first hand I got two 9's and it suggested that I split them. I would never split 9's. I'm not really looking for a site that helps me out with strategy. Blackjack strategy is really not that complicated and no matter how closely you follow "the book of hoyle" rules for playing blackjack, you are still going to lose more hands than you win in the long run. The key to having a chance of winning is using a good betting strategy and knowing when to increase and decrease bets. So, I'm looking more to practice a strategy I have always used in the past called "Oscar's grind". Described here: http://www.fortunepalace.co.uk/grind.html The thing I really like about this is that you can lose more hands than you win and still come out ahead. For example, if you sat down at the table and got this sequence L,L,L,L,W,L,L, W,W,W...you would still win one "unit" even though you had 6 losing hands and only 4 winning hands. The only thing is it takes some focus and concentration to remember what your situation is and what you should bet. Also, you definitly have to set a "session" loss and win limit to have success with this and the loss limit has to be higher than the win limit. For example, if you go to the table willing to lose $100, you have to make sure you stop at $100 and you should not set your win limit higher than $50 (if your loss limit is $100), and again, walk away when you hit this limit.