Geoff Fox: My Permanent Record
Back when I was in school teachers would always scare me with stories of how my exploits would end up in my permanent record. I believe this is it! – Geoff Fox
Rick Springfield was on Good Morning America today and the ‘stalker tour’, featuring Helaine and Stef, followed along. There were better shots of them standing near Tony Perkins during the weather segment, but I forgot to capture the video on the computer until the very end.
Tomorrow it’s Helaine and Stef with Regis and Kelly. That Springfield guy’s there too, I suppose.
When you’re a fan… a rabid fan… you will move heaven and Earth. I guess that’s the best way to put Helaine and Stef’s trip to Rockford, Illinois into perspective. They are rabid Rick Springfield fans. You remember, the Jessie’s Girl, Don’t Talk to Strangers guy?
I’m not sure I would travel to Rockford for the ‘cup of coffee and danish’ period of time they were there. On the other hand, I don’t hang out online with people who decided to call it “Rickford” or “The Rickdom.” They do.
Tonight they’re back home.
For Rick Springfield, the venues are no longer giant stadiums and arenas. However, a dedicated. screaming crowd – mainly women – is still there and as Helaine’s license plate frame says, “Rick Rocks.” He has moved into the retail world of rock and roll where the contact with fans is a little more manageable and the touring a little less frenetic.
I’m not sure how Rockford got involved in this, but the classic and freshly refurbished Coronado Theater was chosen to be the site of a concert/DVD taping. Steffie and Helaine could not resist.
I have asked them in the past how many of the attendees of a Rick Springfield concert have been to see him before? Most. How many have seen him a dozen times or more? Lots.
I know for this concert, women were traveling from all across the US and parts of Europe. That’s rabid fans!
Over the past few years Helaine has gotten more involved in the infrastructure of his fan base, becoming a “Street Team” manager who helped in the promotion of his last CD. For this concert, Helaine and Amy, the Street Team national manager, organized a charity luncheon for 150 guests.
I watched over the last few weeks as faxes and emails and phone calls moved back and forth from the hotel in Rockford¹ to our house in Connecticut. The fact that Helaine is extremely organized and probably could visualize what she wanted, didn’t hurt.
It was a thing of beauty. Helaine is modest and very talented in this regard. I’m not quite sure how she did it, but I’m proud she did.
Stef pitched in, helping register the attendees as they came in… and finally associating faces with some of the names she’s seen online.
From what I hear, the luncheon went off without a hitch and with the money collected through raffles and auctions of Rick Springfield oriented ‘stuff,’ around $18,000 was raised for the Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross.
Helaine says Rick, who came to the luncheon for a few minutes and ended up spending around an hour, was taken aback by some of the prices paid for tickets and ‘meet and greet’ access.
They said the concert was great — but they always do! The proof will be in the DVD, whenever that’s issued, and the HDTV concert that will also be broadcast.
I think ‘being’ Rick Springfield is a good and lucrative business. He has to look at it differently than he did when he was a soap star and avoiding having his clothes torn off. He understands what his product is and who is buying, and he delivers. In the few times that I’ve been around, he seemed to genuinely enjoy what he’s doing.
When people find out Helaine and Stef are big fans, they are often surprised. Rick Springfield is no longer a household word. Who would expect a 21st century fan base? In fact, in this morning’s New York Times his name was used as a contrast the modernity of today’s MTV.
It was not meant to be complimentary.
The problem is, even without the hits, he’s a talented guy who was a musician before he was a soap opera star. His success is now different, but there’s no denying, it’s still success.
¹ – You would think a hotel in Rockford would be thrilled to get what amounts to convention-like business, on a weekend, in the dead of winter. They did and I’m told it showed.
Helaine and Steffie have gone to Boston for the night so I am alone. The house gets very quiet.
I’ve spoken with both of them on the phone. They saw the concert and had a great time. I know there’s a filthy anology I could use… but the worst Rick Springfield concert they’ve seen has been amazing. They’re rabid fans.
Steffie seems to think the camera worked well. She only has the small LCD on the back to look at, so she can’t be sure. She commented on the clearer, crisper viewfinder on the new Canon. I’m glad she likes the camera.
There’s a certain comfort I get when they’re here – even when I’m awake and they’re not. That’s missing.
I’m not very different when they’re gone, but I am different. I leave lots of lights on, and wait much longer before changing my clothes after work. I watch TV in bed, often showing no willpower in keeping it on long after it should be off.
Tomorrow, as they’re on their way home, I’ll move through the house trying to undo anything I’ve done, putting things back in place.
Over the past few years one of the major uses of my digital camera was to accompany Helaine and Steffie (aka – the cult members) when they went to Rick Springfield concerts. The Fuji S602Z has taken hundreds… maybe thousands of photos at his concerts.
Some of Steffie’s best were published in his calendar and tour program. She has developed a very good photographic eye.
Before they leave for the show I set the camera manually so its shutter is fast enough to reduce any motion (of picture taker or subject). Then I set the film speed equivalent. The camera looks at the light as the pictures are taken and decides how wide to open the lens.
Now they are going with my new Canon Digital Rebel and a Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6 lens. The camera and lens are much better than those on the Fuji, but the lens is ‘slower.’ That means I need more light with this camera than with the Fuji.
I can make up some of the difference by increasing the equivalent film speed from 400, where it was with the Fuji, to 800 or even 1,600. I’m afraid if I up it too much there will be too much noise (though the Canon is known as a very quiet camera).
It is a quandary.
I went to the Canon Rebel forum on dpreview.com, a great photo site and was told to buy a different lens. Others there said there wouldn’t be enough light. I’m worried, but I think it will be OK.
The concert is Friday night. Sometime Saturday afternoon I’ll know.
I’m writing this midday Sunday. There hasn’t been any sun or even the glimpse of the nighttime sky since we’ve been here. Sort of depressing.
As opposed to Las Vegas, this isn’t a good place for Steffie. The hotel, beautiful as it is, is very kid unfriendly. We are removed from the Boardwalk and midtown Atlantic City, though that would make little difference.
Helaine took Steffie to the Boardwalk yesterday, but they stayed only a short time. She was disappointed by the whole honky tonk, sleazy, scene. Of course that’s what Helaine and I like about it. More than anything, we enjoy the people watching, because there are characters of every sort.
We had dinner at the buffet at The Borgata with my friend Peter. I first met him in the early 70’s when I was working in Cleveland. He was the first person I ever met who owned a calculator! He still has it. Later, Peter became my boss – the program director at WPEN radio in Philadelphia. We have been very good friends for 30 years.
The buffet is definitely a Las Vegas contender. There were carving stations and lots of interesting, well prepared, dishes.
A chef was making some spaghetti sauce, I believe using vodka. I tried to take a photo, but was too late. So she put some vodka in a pan so I could have a photo op. Very appreciated.
Unfortunately, she was on the high end of service employees who don’t reach the same level as in Vegas. I’m sorry to do all these comparisons, but it’s only natural. And, time-wise, from where I live in Connecticut, Las Vegas isn’t that much farther away.
We had tickets to the comedy show at the hotel for 9:00 PM. I figured, since it was crowded, that I’d go down and register for poker before we went. That way I wouldn’t have to wait as long. As it turned out, my name wasn’t called until 11:30!
The comedy show, in the same room that Helaine and Steffie saw Rick Springfield the night before, was pretty good. There were three comics, “The Coach,” Jack Fontana, and Pete Correalle.
We all agreed Pete Correalle was the best. In some ways he was reminiscent of Seinfeld. He was in control and laid back.
I thought Jack Fontana, an ‘old school’ joke teller ,was better than “The Coach,” but I was alone in that impression. Either way, both were worse than great, better than bad. Entertaining, but not special.
Last night, the casino was as crowded as any casino I had ever seen. And the crowd was younger than any casino crowd I’d ever seen. Many of the women were dressed in that tawdry, slutty way that’s OK for women, as long as they’re not in your family.
I headed down to the poker room to wait out my table. When I say down, I really mean it, since the room is in the basement.
Like the main casino floor, the poker room was astoundingly crowded. I did get a chance to see what the floor people were carrying. They each have some sort of HP PDA with 802.11b access to the poker room system. So they can work the lists and do nearly everything that can be done from the podium.
I sat at a $6/$12 Hold’em table and slowly began to lose money. It wasn’t long before I was down $100. But I was playing decently (though not as tight as I’d like)¹, so I figured I’d be OK.
My losses stabilized for a while and then I went down again. I had lost $130 or so when things began to turn. I won a few small pots. At least two times everyone laid down their cards to my bet on the river. I think I won because of my earlier semi-tight play. Then I won a few bigs hands.
By the time I went to cash in my chips, I had won $176. So, three sessions for $96, $5, $176. I’m happy.
As I walked through the casino, after 2:00 AM, things were still jumping. In the elevator, yesterday’s Rear Window had given way to Lost in Translation.
¹ – It’s reasonable to ask, if you know you’re not playing right, why not just do it? The brief answer is, while you’re at a table, you’re always looking at the hands and evaluating them. But you’re also there to play, which is what you don’t do when you lay your cards down. This is less a problem on-line. Even though I can intellectualize the problem, I don’t always act with my intellect.
The Borgata is a beautiful hotel. It is Las Vegas like. Unfortunately, it’s not in Las Vegas. Looking out my window, seeing the marshes surrounding Atlantic City and the gray, threatening skies, you know it can’t be Las Vegas.
Like the newest of the Vegas Strip hotels, The Borgata has a huge grand entrance. The lobby is bright and oversized, too. I’m surprised by how close the casino is to the common areas. I remember, in the original Atlantic City casino hotels, it was more segregated.
Unlike Nevada, in New Jersey minors cannot walk through the casino.
Our room is on the 35th floor with a view north toward Harrah’s, Trump Marina, and Brigantine. The room itself is very nice with two very comfortable beds. The bathroom has an oversized glass walled stall shower and nicely designed sink. The porcelain stuff is behind a door in a miniature room within the room – if you get my drift.
The common areas, like the hallways, are modern and bright in appearance. The elevator (at least yesterday) had one very strange quirk. At the rear of the car is a video screen. All day yesterday it was playing scenes from “Rear Window,” Hitchcock’s thriller with James Stewart.
We had dinner at Metropolitan, the 24/7 coffee shop. I had a very good, very large bowl of clam chowder. My Chicken Caesar wrap was dry. I didn’t think the actual wrap was particularly tasty.
Helaine and Steffie went to see Rick Springfield at the Music Box. They said his show was great – though they’ve never said otherwise, and probably never will. They were able to finagle their tickets to 2nd row, center.
While they watched, I played poker. Actually, I played twice – before and after dinner. In the early session, playing $6/$12 Hold’em, I won $96. After dinner I won $5. So far, so good.
The players seemed younger than any casino poker room I’d ever played in. This might be as much due to poker on TV than anything else, though I believe Borgata aims for a younger crowd.
The poker room, in a basement area, but nicely designed and appointed, was very computer dependent. That’s really unusual. The lists for each level of game were displayed on huge plasma screen TVs (and, unfortunately, plasma suffers from burn-in). The floor people walked around the room with some sort of wireless PDA and wireless microphones. On the corner of the podium where table sign ups took place were 4 802.11b antennas with the name TELEX in them.
As the night wore on, the disco upstairs opened. As soon as it did the poker room vibrated to the bass line from upstairs. It was really loud. But, other than that, the room was very nice with lots of drink service and decent action.
On a more somber note, while Helaine and Steffie went out for a while this early afternoon, I settled in and took a test in my Radar Meteorology class. Not the way I want to spend a vacation day, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
Helaine and Steffie went to Westbury, on Long Island, last night. Rick Springfield was playing. Actually, it was a double dip, with the concert and an invitation to the sound check that precedes the show.¹
Helaine has been very active on his “Street Team,” promoting his current album. It’s good to have fans so dedicated – and he has hundreds at this level and probably thousands more without quite as much zeal or free time.
I can’t begin to count how many times Helaine and Steffie have driven (or flown) to see him, but it’s a lot. It was good to see them go together. It was better to see them return afterward, still speaking to one another.
Steffie has taken to borrowing my camera when she goes to shows and shooting as many photos as are humanly possible. Her technique is excellent. Like most photographers she tends to center the subject instead of filling the screen with it. But she’s learning with every picture she takes.
The one that heads this entry is hers, though I played around with Photoshop to make it a little more ‘artsy’.
This afternoon after the sound check was over they called to tell me Rick had asked if I was there. Last time through Connecticut, I had interviewed him for our weekend show. I guess he remembered.
He was either being friendly or trying to pick up my wife. Since Steffie was there to chaperon, I’m guessing friendly.
He’s appearing this weekend in Atlantic City and, amazingly enough, we’ll be there. While Steffie and Helaine see the show, I’ll be trying out the poker room at the Borgata. Both the hotel and poker room are supposed to be “Vegas-like.” I’ll let you know.
Meanwhile, if Rick asks for me Friday night, I’ll be available.
¹ – Since a sound check is a technical rehearsal, you are likely to hear things like the steady, slow, Roman slave ship speed, beat of the drum. It’s possible to hear 10 – 15 minutes worth of that single boom… boom… boom.
As a married man, I understand there are certain things I should do for my wife (just as there are certain things she should do for me). A marriage is a partnership and you want your partner happy.
That’s why I scheduled a vacation day for Thursday, the date of the WTIC-FM Second Chance Prom. It’s not that either of us wanted to go to a prom (neither of us did the first time around – though only one of us was a social misfit while in high school… guess which of us it was). It had more to do with the entertainment – Rick Springfield.
If you’re a regular reader of the blog you know Helaine is a bit obsessed (though in a perfectly fine way) with him. A fan for 30 years, she is the leader of his New York City Area Street Team – a grassroots promotional organization that’s probably more responsible than any paid promotion for whatever success his latest CD and single have had.
I consider Rick Springfield a dot-com success story. With little airplay or promotion he is still able to sell out midsized venues across the country. His fan websites, run by the fans themselves, have an incredibly loyal base of users. Many of them think nothing of driving hundreds of miles to see him again and again.
From my perspective, it’s fascinating. And, it’s a method of success (and make no mistake about it – he is a success today) that didn’t exist until the advent of the Internet.
As long as I was going, and to make my wife a little happier, I offered to produce a story for the station. We’ll run on our Sunday morning news show which has a slot for celebrity interviews. Of course I was upfront in my reasons for wanting to do the story.
Thursday afternoon, Helaine, Steffie and I headed out to the Radisson in Cromwell (nice hotel – good sized room – plenty of towels). Since the prom was 21+, and Steffie is 17+, we got a room and checked in. I met up with Ronnie, Rick’s road manager, setting up the specifics of the interview. In many ways, Ronnie reminds me of Arthur (Rip Torn’s character) from the Larry Sanders Show.
By 3:30 PM Andy, my photographer, had arrived. We scouted out a vacant meeting room, borrowed a few balloon arrangements from the prom, and set up. The background wouldn’t look so sparse with the balloons.
Rick came down and we were ready to go. We talked about 15 minutes. I tried to avoid asking him about Jessie’s Girl – only because I had heard it asked every time I’d heard him interviewed… and every interviewer misunderstood the actual meaning of the song – how he wished that he had Jessie’s girl. But we talked about the Internet fans and Street Team and his new CD.
The interview went well. He opened up and answered thoughtfully. I couldn’t have asked for more.
As we got up to walk into the main room for the sound check, Helaine turned to Rick and recounted a story about how, while working in radio in 1981, she had picked up his dinner tab and he had told her the next dinner was on him. Though the statute of limitations on dinner had surely run out, Ronnie asked us to join their group for dinner.
I’m sure I’ve been to band sound checks before, but I never really thought about the tedium for the band. Each room is different. Often, a different city means different equipment. It always means different acoustics. But a sound check isn’t really music as much as it’s repetitive note playing.
Dinner was nice. The band was like any bunch of guys, on the road, away from home. Helaine sat between Rick and me. He and I spoke through most of dinner. We talked politics and Iraq. He told us about his sons, one a recent high school graduate on his way to college. Steffie soaked up the conversation. Helaine was in heaven.
We went upstairs and changed to our evening wear. Everything went fine, except putting on the studs! I’m not sure who designed them but they were murder to get in place. Of course without them, the shirt was buttonless – there was no choice.
We made the prom around 7:30 PM. I knew some of the folks from WTIC-FM and said hello. Rick came on at 8:30.
Of course a significant portion of the audience was his loyal supporters – and they crowded the stage. But, I sensed the people who were there as prom attendees were also getting into it. Yes, he was a soap opera pretty boy – but that doesn’t mean he can’t play.
The concert was as loud as any I’ve ever heard. The fact that we were inches from the speakers probably didn’t help.
He played the hits, and the new stuff and we went upstairs happy.
Tonight, I finished my end of the deal. I screened, wrote and then voiced the Sunday morning package. Later today an editor will look at my notes and try and cut it as I wrote it. I’ll see it the first time Sunday at about 8:50 AM.
I took Helaine and Steffie to see Rick Springfield last night. It was all part of the WTIC-FM Second Chance Prom. We had a chance to dress up and go out.
By the time we got home, I was already half asleep. Now, I’ve got to rush to work to produce the package we shot last night. Least it to say, I do have some stories to tell. Still, I’m feeling guilty that I missed a day on the blog and will have to wait until late today to post a meaningful entry.
Helaine said it was the 4th best day of her life (dinner with Rick and band).
Tonight, between shows, I’ll try and get it into the blog – honest I will.
OK – it’s not the Oscar for Best Picture, but this is the ground on which I compete. I was thrilled to, again, win the “Best of” readers’ poll from the New Haven Advocate in the “Local TV Personality” category.
Geoff Fox
WTNH-TV, 8 Elm St., New Haven, (203) 784-8888
It’s raining, it’s pouring, Geoff Fox is winning the “Best Of” award for
Local TV Personality again. And why not? He’s been “local” for two
decades. He’s on TV, and he’s so damned personable. Whenever he walks
into a room, people want to chat with him, and not just about the
weather. Maybe about his incessant poker-playing, or his wife’s
obsession with soap-rocker Rick Springfield, or the computer he built
himself, or how he looks like he’s lost weight (He has–15 pounds, with
the goal of dropping 10 more).
Most of the time, Fox is the one starting the conversations, and he’s
out and about constantly–at charity events, school programs or holiday
gatherings. “I’ve probably spoken individually to every schoolchild in
Connecticut,” he grins. And they constantly come up to him to remind him
of those fleeting, yet important, encounters. Amid all this, he still
finds time to report the weather on Channel 8 weekdays at 5, 6, 10 and
11 p.m. , which makes his nice-guy-ness all the more amazing. (He
doesn’t go to bed until 3 or 4 a.m.)
This month marks Fox’s 20th anniversary with Channel 8. Before that he
worked in Buffalo, N.Y. a market where it’s pretty easy to predict the
weather, at least in the winter: SNOW. Geoff Fox is a guy who just keeps
shining and is never partly cloudy.
2nd: Dr. Mel (WTNH-TV)
8 Elm St., New Haven, (203) 784-8888
3rd: Ann Nyberg (WTNH-TV)
8 Elm St., New Haven, (203) 784-8888
Before anyone who was passed over, in any category, gets bent out of shape, let me point out that Quinnipiac University beat out Yale University for “Best Local 4-Year College.”
Blogger’s note: I am now down about 23.5 pounds and hoping to lose another 5 or 6 by July.
We spent yesterday, and a significant part of today at Foxwoods. Helaine and Steffie both wanted to see Rick Springfield perform. I wanted to play poker with real people.
Though Foxwoods is only about 1:15 away, we decided to spend the night. The hotels on-premises are beautiful and quite pricey. This isn’t Vegas. Still, it was a good idea because we weren’t under the restrictions a drive home would require.
Check-in was a breeze and we ended up on the 21st floor of the Grand Pequot Tower, overlooking the woods of Eastern Connecticut. The room was spacious by hotel standards and the bathroom immense, with big towels and strong water pressure (the two criteria by which I judge all hotel rooms). There is no high speed Internet access and the dial-up connection wasn’t very good, and quickly disconnected.
Though Foxwoods is the largest casino in the world, it is in a part of Connecticut that had languished in obscurity for deades. If you think of Connecticut as the “Gold Coast” of Fairfield County, you are not thinking of Eastern Connecticut. If it weren’t for the casinos, Fairfield County residents wouldn’t know this area existed.
Near Bozrah and Occum, not far from Uncasville, Foxwoods is surrounded by the town of Ledyard (Foxwoods itself is in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation) . Without Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, I’m not sure what the economic state of Eastern Connecticut would be. I do know, with these two casinos, people working in service industries can have jobs with benefits… including insurance. In Eastern Connecticut, a working family can own a home.
I headed to the poker room and got on a list to play, then joined Helaine and Stefanie in the coffee shop. Again, this is a beautiful place, but not Vegas. It was a little more expensive for similar food.
After lunch, while the girls schmoozed with the cult members (Rick’s fans), I went and played cards. I sat at a $5/$10 fixed limit Texas Hold’em table and bought in for $100. Unlike the tournaments I favor on the computer, I’d be playing live cash. Every bet was real money – win or lose.
Almost immediately, I faced one difference between online and brick and mortar poker – the dealer wasn’t perfect and the players weren’t saints. An older man at the opposite end had ripped into the dealer for a minor transgression which put her on tilt. For the next 15 minutes she was awful; once beginning a deal without shuffling!
Almost immediately I found an inner peace I had never experienced at a poker table before. Everything was crystal clear. I was totally confident. I watched as players went in and out, betting, checking, folding. I knew what they had… or was pretty sure.
My game is very tight. I only play ‘premium’ cards, and only play under specific circumstances. I had no trouble folding hand after hand after hand as the action went on around me. As tight as I was, the players at the table were the opposite. Of the 10 players, often 6 or 7, sometimes more, would see the ‘flop.’
Compared to my online games, things went slowly. But, I wasn’t bored. I had ample opportunity to take in the game and the players. This is something I had never been able to do in the past. I knew how I’d play my cards almost as soon as they were dealt, so I watched them play my opponents play theirs and started to form opinions about their style and technique.
I have been thumbing through poker books for years. The authors always talk about doing things like this, but I had never been savvy enough. At times, it was as if the other players were moving in slow motion with their cards exposed to me.
OK – Hold on a second. Let me stop patting myself on the back. I am going to tell you I won, but make no mistake about it. Just because I won tonight doesn’t mean I will be a consistent winner. But, as I wrote before I went, I thought I’d end up with a pretty good idea of my skill – win or lose. It was fun to realize all the computer games I’d played had sharpened my skills.
I played through the early evening at $5/$10 and won $112. I was beat on a very big hand when my pocket Kings didn’t hold to pocket Aces, or I’d haev won more. Poker players always remember their beats more than their wins.
When my cellphone rang around 10:15 I picked up my chips and cashed in. Steffie had called from the concert, asking me to bring more memory for the camera. She didn’t think the 200+ pictures available would hold her when we went backstage after the show.
I got the memory and headed to the theater. I was lucky enough to see someone who knew me and was let in for the last 20-30 minutes. Helaine and Steffie were out of their seats in the first row, pressed against the stage. Steffie had my camera against her eye and was snapping away.
I moved down to see them, then said hi to Mark Davis, our chief capitol correspondent, who was there with his wife Betsy. From there I moved to the back of the theater. I have seen Rick Springfield before. His fans really are cult-like in their fervor. It is fun to stand back and watch him perform and them react. And, it’s fun to see Steffie and Helaine having such a good time side-by-side.
After the show the three of us and the Davis’s went backstage to say hello and take some photos. It’s really a spectacular theater, with great acoustics and better lighting. Backstage was the perfect spot for the meet and great (last time it had been in a basement stairwell). As he had been in the past, Rick was gracious and took time with those who had come to see him.
It’s obvious he enjoys the adulation his fans give him. How many other rockers will have a career that spans four decades?
We took Steffie upstairs to the room, then joined Mark, Betsy and two friends of theirs in a very nice lounge on the 24th floor. They were driving home, so the night didn’t last long, and Helaine and I were soon back in the casino.
The $5/$10 table I favor wasn’t available, so I tried a weird no limit game with $1/$2 blinds and a buy in limit of $40-$100. If it sounds confusing now, I can assure you it was extremely confusing then!
It didn’t take long to give back $50, and I’m still not quite sure how. I stood up and walked away.
This table is obviously there to cater to folks who’ve watched poker on TV or played on the Internet. The math involved when one player goes all in against another player with less money makes the action unwieldy. On top of that, it’s slow. I could never get into the rhythm of the game, if there even was one.
There were still no seats at the $5/$10 table, so I sat down at $10/$20. This is way over my head. I had never played at stakes like this before. My thought was, even with the $50 I’d just dropped, I was up. I’d take my winnings and another $100. Whatever would happen, would happen.
The $10/$20 games was very similar to the $5/$10 – loose. It didn’t take long to win a pot and I recouped the $50 from no limit and a little more to boot.
This table was expensive to sit at. If you folded an entire round, not playing a card, it would still cost $15 for the blinds!
I held my ground and played tight. I gave back what I’d just won and a little more before winning again. The pots were large – often well over $200. My night was not spectacular. But, I felt really good about how I was playing.
Dealt two 4’s, and with little action before the flop and then a third four with the flop, I quietly sat back and watched my 3-4’s turn into 4-4’s! They had been played so silently, on a table where others could be depended on to do the raising, that when the river came, another player bet into my four of a kind. I gladly bet back.
On the hand I decided would be my last, I took an AK all the way to the river without pairing. The others at the table, having seen me fold hand after hand, respected my final bet enough to let me steal the pot.
Not every hand was played correctly. I slow played two Queens, even after I caught a third one. When I checked, it allowed a player to stay in and make his straight, taking me out. Had I bet the three Queens, he surely would have folded to me.
I cashed out $265 ahead, which with my earlier winnings put me up $377.
Was I lucky? Probably. Will I always win? No. Consistently? I’m not sure, but it’s certainly more likely than ever before.
Before I went to play, I had written in the blog that win or lose, my goal was to judge my competence at poker. I am confident in the fact that my skills have greatly improved thanks to the thousands of games I’ve played on the Internet. I think that will translate to profit… at least I hope it does.
I can’t wait for Vegas this summer.
My Fuji S602z is the best camera I’ve ever owned. It is versatile, and with the help of Photoshop, the pictures can be stunning.
Between Steffie and me (and it’s mostly the obsessive me) nearly 6,000 photos have been snapped with the camera. She mostly takes ‘in concert’ pictures, while I will snap anything moving… or stationary.
My photo gallery now has nearly 1,000 shots online.
It has amazed me to see how much I’ve learned about photography by shooting, and shooting, and shooting. The nearly instantaneous feedback of the camera helps reinforce what will and won’t work. For the first time ever, I can visualize how my shot will look as I’m taking it.
Yes, I’m a royal pain to those around me as I pause and point. Yes, Helaine has said, “All right Ansel, enough already.”
All this is meant as setup to the problem you see on the left. There is a red pixel which is constantly on. I noticed it first when Steffie returned from the Rick Springfield show this weekend. Looking back at pictures, it’s been there for a while.
Each picture is made up of a grid of 6,026,496 pixels. There are 2832 columns and 2128 rows. So, this one pixel is .000016599% of the total in the picture. Yet it’s driving me crazy.
Once you become conscious of it, it shines like a beacon. It’s low and toward the right of the frame, where you wouldn’t normally place subject matter. It makes no difference – it’s driving me crazy.
I went to Circuit City last night, where I bought the camera. They said I purchased it on March 14, 2003. I believe it has a one year warranty, so I’m in luck.
Of course they couldn’t print a duplicate receipt at the store. For that I called Circuit City, which means calling India (where the call center is located).
When I told Helaine I had spoken to someone in India, she said “How cool.” And the technology to do that is very cool. But, that’s a job that used to be performed here in the states. In fact, my dad used to supervise that type of operation right here in Connecticut.
I’m going to Chicago in a few weeks. By that time the receipt should be here. On my return I’ll send the camera to Enfield, CT and wait the 15-20 business days it will take.
Then, it’s bye bye red pixel.
Steffie and Helaine arrived back from Toms River, NJ early Sunday afternoon. They say Rick Springfield was fantastic – but they always do!
Steffie has once again shown a great, creative eye with a series of photos taken at the concert. It is easy to credit good shots to a good camera. A good camera helps, but it’s the artistic eye of the photographer that makes it all come together.
I hope she’ll continue to shoot away. The only way to learn is to take thousands of shots – something digital cameras make almost too easy.
Steffie’s earlier photos from Rick’s Springfield’s Foxwoods and Westbury shows are also online.
Early this morning… well, early for me usually, but I got up… Helaine and Steffie piled into the car and set out for Toms Rivers, NJ to see Rick Springfield. The house is very quiet. I’m seeing how long I’ll stay in pajamas. It could be all day (though the siren song of Dunkin’ Donuts is calling my name).
I told Helaine I’m inviting college girls over. Her thought is, they’ll ask me if I went to school with their dads!
At times like this, I really miss Ivy the dog. Ivy was never a ‘licky’ dog – overly affectionate. Ivy’s charm was her self assured, quiet manner, as she stayed by your side (as long as you didn’t move around too much). Petting a dog is therapeutic.
A just heard from Helaine and Steffie on the phone. Though the concert is later tonight, they’re at the hotel, meeting and greeting the other rabid fans (aka the cult members). Some of them are committed beyond any level I can imagine; taking in dozens of shows, across the country, every year.
It’s all mind boggling, and I’m started to come to the realization that Rick Springfield isn’t the only act that gets this kind of adulation. I remember, 25 years ago, a friend working for Barry Manilow who told me similar stories (though at a much smaller numbers). The Grateful Dead was famous for their legion of traveling fans.
As Steffie and Helaine walked toward the lobby, walking in the other direction was Rick and his road manager Ronnie. Helaine and Steffie said hello. Rick complemented Steffie on her necklace. For them the day is off to a good start.
I have given them my Fuji digital camera. Some critical functions of this normally manual camera have been preset. Tonight they will use it to snap photos and document the trip. Steffie has taken great ‘in concert’ pictures before (here and here). I hope she’ll do that again tonight and get a little more confidence as an artistic photographer.
At the same time Helaine will be holding a cell phone up, catching the music for another fan who couldn’t make the trip this time. That is dedication in action.
I kid Helaine, saying she’s in a cult. It sometimes seems that way. This is all because she’s a huge fan of Rick Springfield, and has been for over 30 years.
Rick Springfield had some big hits: Jessie’s Girl, Don’t Talk to Strangers. He’s got enough for a decent ‘hit medley’ in concert. Still, it’s been a long time since he had concentrated airplay.
Over the years, Helaine took me to see his early 80’s movie, “Hard to Hold” and later to see him in concert. After a while he became the ‘house act’ act the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, starring in EFX.
He is talented and charismatic on stage. He’s my age, but in much better shape (damn you Rick Springfield). A few years ago, in Las Vegas, Helaine convinced Steffie to go to see Rick in EFX and now she’s hooked too. After the show she told Helaine, “You never said he was hot.” Since then, Steffie has taken loads of photos at his concerts (here and here) and was even published in his Tour Book and 2004 Calendar.
With the Internet, acts like Springfield have been better able to sustain their careers and maintain a sizable fan base without continuous radio airplay. Helaine subscribes to a Rick Springfield group on Yahoo and receives dozens (sometimes hundreds) of emails daily. Some of these women analyze the nuances of his stage act with the detail of a color commentator going over a touchdown pass on the fifth replay.
Helaine has mostly lurked in the shadows, reading and not writing. She has made some friends through the group and kept current on what Rick’s doing. All that changed a few months ago.
Rick was in the process of finishing a new album and would be promoting it by appearing at concerts, doing interviews and making personal appearances. The fan club members decided they would help. They organized ‘street teams’ in defined geographic areas and set out to spread the word.
Helaine got to be manager for the New York region, though we live about 100 miles from New York City. For the past month or more, I’ve been watching her, amazingly organized, on the laptop, piles of paper at her side, planning strategies. Day-by-day she consulted and cajoled the members of her team.
I was a skeptic. I was wrong.
A few days ago, Rick appeared on WPLJ radio in New York. At street level, unseen by the radio crew, dozens of street team members congregated with signs and pamphlets and a whole lot of genuine spirit. Somehow, word got up to the studio and down came someone with a microphone and recorder.
Today, Rick was on “Fox and Friends” on Fox News Channel (click to watch the interview – high speed access only). Again, the fan club was outside. As I watched the broadcast, it was obvious the hosts were impressed by this show of strength. You could see posters and people through the window behind the interview set. Their presence gave Rick Springfield ‘street cred’ in the present tense.
As it turns out, one of our former technical directors is now a TD at Fox. With a few emails, I was able to get Helaine and Stefanie inside, where they watched the interview and schmoozed a little with Rick, his road manager and personal manager. I’m sure some of the other fans were jealous, but this was my doing – not Helaine’s.
Speaking of jealousy, I would be lying if I didn’t say I was a little jealous of Rick’s fans and their ‘street team’ mentality. How wonderful to have a fan base that is so dedicated that they’ll come and stand outside in the bitter cold or do whatever else is necessary to continue your success. Actually, that in and of itself might be more meaningful success than CD sales figures alone could ever show.
Helaine and Steffie are back on the road tomorrow, seeing Rick in concert in Toms River, NJ. All the other girls in the cult are going too.