Brandon appreciation poem (not gay, but like back in the day when it wasnt gay to write poems about people)

Brandon, PimpDrexel, BMG,
Coolest guy living near UNLV,
Out in Vegas living free,
Gettin' chicks, all pretty.

Poker player who dabbles in real estate,
what a bud, the guy is great,
On NWP Radio he's never late.

Real chill dude, he'll drink a brew,
Originally from Florida, went to FSU,
Prob got a cool shoe.

We salute you, you're the man,
Like Hannibal from the A Team, you got a plan,
as a mod, you can even ban,
Yes Brandon is def the man

Macon and star gazers, meteor shower tonight

from nasa.gov

October 19, 2009: The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.

"Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."

The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream. Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate, go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.


Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual.


"Since 2006, the Orionids have been one of the best showers of the year, with counts of 60 or more meteors per hour," says Cooke.

According to Japanese meteor scientists Mikiya Sato and Jun-ichi Watanabe, 2006 marked Earth's first encounter with some very old debris. "We have found that the [elevated activity of 2006] was caused by dust trails ejected from 1P/Halley in 1266 BC, 1198 BC, and 911 BC," they wrote in the August 2007 edition of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. In their paper "Origin of the 2006 Orionid Outburst," Sato and Watanabe used a computer to model the structure and evolution of Halley's many debris streams stretching back in time as far as 3400 years. The debris that hit Earth in 2006 was among the oldest they studied and was rich in large fireball-producing meteoroids.

Repeat encounters produced good displays in 2007 and 2008—and "the meteoroids are expected to approach Earth [again] in 2009," say Sato and Watanabe. They note that these old broad streams tend to produce equally broad showers, lasting several nights around the peak. So, if clouds interfere on the 21st, try again on the 22nd or 23rd.

Official Happy Bday Jewdonk thread

Happy bday Marty!

NWP IS SAVED!~ HES BAAAAAACK!

The man!!!

Nick the Greek

from wiki

Nicholas Andreas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos (born in Rethymnon, Crete April 27, 1883-December 25, 1966) was a professional gambler and high roller.

Dandolos was the son of wealthy parents. He attended the Greek Evangelical College and earned a degree in philosophy. When he was 18 years old his grandfather sent him to the U.S.A. with an allowance of $150 per week. Although Dandolos settled down in Chicago he eventually moved to Montreal where he began gambling on horse races.

Dandolos was known throughout his life for winning and losing large sums of money. After winning over $500,000 on horse racing, he moved back to Chicago where he lost it all on card and dice games. He quickly became a master of these games, however, and became a prime attraction at casinos when he would play in them.

From January 1951 to May 1951, Dandolos played a two-person "heads up" poker match against Johnny Moss where the two played virtually every variation of the game that existed at the time. The game, set up by Benny Binion as a tourist attraction, is widely credited as being the inspiration for the modern day World Series of Poker.

At the end of this five month poker marathon, down an estimated $2-4 million dollars, Dandolos uttered what has become one of the most famous poker quotes ever: "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go." Fatigue was a major factor for Dandolos' loss as he was 24 years older than Moss.

One urban legend claims that Dandolos once had the opportunity to escort Albert Einstein around Las Vegas. Thinking that his gambling friends may not be familiar with him, Dandolos allegedly introduced Einstein as "Little Al from Princeton" and stated that he "controlled a lot of the action around Jersey."

Another urban legend has him winning one million dollars against a Texan. In the early hours of the morning, Nick felt tired and called an end to the game. The Texan accused him of chickening out while the going was good. Nick the Greek then called for a new deck of cards, shuffled them and asked the Texan if he wanted to play double or quit. The Texan declined and they went home.

Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman also met Nick the Greek, according to the autobiographical Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!. Nick explains how he wins big not by playing the tables, but by knowing the odds at the tables and betting against others who have superstitious beliefs about the outcome. He then relies on his reputation to bet against others.

Near the end of his life Dandolos was near broke and playing $5 limit Draw poker games in Gardena, California. When asked by a fellow player how he could once play for millions and now be playing for such small stakes, Dandolos supposedly replied "Hey, it's action, isn't it?"

He died on Christmas Day in 1966 and was a charter inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

It's estimated that he won and lost over $500 million in his lifetime. He himself claimed that he went from rags to riches over 73 times. A man who never respected money, he donated over $20 million (about $500 million adjusted for 2009 inflation) to education and charity.