Babblog

Poker Tournament
Analysis: Slytdog, 2/26/05
by Martell

Martell analyzes one player's key hands in a real-life no-limit holdem tournament, in order to shed light on the logic behind poker decisions.
Read more.

If you would like Martell to analyze your play in an upcoming Babblog article, send the transcript from a single table tournament to martell@babblog.com. The best submissions may be used in a future column.

South America, Day 7: Aguas Calientes, Peru
by Oliver Butterick

In which the author experiences discord, shares some water and takes in a marvelous view.
Read more.

Green Thumb, Guaranteed: Brilliant Gardening Advice From an Amateur
by Jeff Lewis

Would you like to be a great gardener? The author assures us that this revolutionary article will turn even the blackest thumb a pretty shade of apple green.
Read more.

The List: Tournament Favorites, As Predicted by Participants in a Pool That Includes Several Babblog Contributors and Readers
by The Pool People

Falafel in Paradise
by Kristin Franklin

Is it a sacrilege to eat at a
falafel stand three times on
a nine-day trip to Paris? Do
seared lamb chops combat the effects of jet-lag?

Kristin Franklin ponders these
and other pressing matters in
this reflection on Parisian
cuisine. Read more.

Other Links
The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, plays Spot the Future All Star during the NCAA Tournament (aka the final piece in the Golden State Warriors championship puzzle).

David Rakoff delivers his incomparable wit in Before and After Science.

Want to know if your favorite movie classic is slated for DVD? Read the Onion A.V. Club interview of George Feltenstein, the Senior Vice President in charge of Warner Home Video's classic catalog.

Ever draw the Van Halen logo on your Pee-Chee folder or scrawl The Exploited on your pants? Tom Vanderbilt laments the lost art of rock n' roll graphic design.

More for the geeks: Hitcherhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in cinemas soon. Check out the official and unofficial movie websites.

Want more knowledge? The NewScientist.com discusses thirteen things that don't make sense.

Say it ain't so: Beck is now a scientologist.

Gardening Quick Tip: Lady Bugs
by Jeff Lewis

Many garden centers offer packages of lady bugs that supposedly will eat aphids and other pests. Here are my tips if you plan to buy these cute little gardeners:

Shake the package; a rattle
is not good. Dead lady
bugs rattle.

Don’t bother to read the release instructions because no matter what you do, the bugs will leave your yard within 48 hours.

The lady bugs’ sole value is in the enjoyment of letting a hundred of them crawl up
your arm.

Consider the environmental impact—you are releasing non-local bugs into the environment. Perhaps instead, release a bunny in your yard (only one please).

It’ll be even cuter than lady bugs and after a coyote gets it, it’ll biodegrade into a lovely fertilizer.