connoisseur series500

Sold my entire collection of French Indochina banknotes in Thailand before I moved back to the States. Sold most of my buddha collection there as well. I do have one Buddha in the Toledo museum of art. Sold my entire complete collection of uncirculated banknotes of South Vietnam and put some of the money into ceramics. Sold a lot of rare art. Had my share of money woes. I never regret selling any of my collections. When they are gone; they are gone.

Pats sucked up the joint with their backup quarterbacks for their first two preseason games. Defense looked soft as well. We'll have to see if BB takes any of the final two preaseason games seriously. It's been ugly so far for Pat fans.

...but do they play chess? refer Agg to chess babes thread.

Yes, I noticed that too. The coverage has been a little more rounded.

Women's all around gymnastics final was terrific. Nastya was beautiful. Shawn was a terrific second. Wow!

Happy Birthday Soulstream!

Glad you're back Goldie!

The 100 m freestyle final is still to come, but I'll say it now. Aussie Eamon Sullivan is a bad mofo!

four so far: me, Noj, Van B, and Big Al. Where's Agg? We might as well have a bunch of Cowboy fans.

I'm getting tired of all the Michael Phelps coverage. They chatter on about him endlessly. The Olympics consists of many events involving many athletes. It's more than just one athlete. Looking forward to women's gymnastics this evening.

We traditionally haven't been giving out anything. Wanted to keep this pool a pure one. Bragging rights not enough?

Cool! Where's Van B?

This is the correct updated thread. Who is signing up this year?

I just put this on a new thread. See the NFL 2008 thread.

Sign up now for the traditional NFL weekly pool for 2008! Noj won last year. Edward won in 2006; and I won in 2005. We just pick winners each week and tab them up after the Super Bowl. No fancy stuff here: over/unders, points, etc. If we get too complicated, people drop out over the course of the season. Hope we get our regulars back again. Van B? SS1? Noj? Edward? Newcomers welcome of course. Somebody's got to stop Noj!

Sign up now for the traditional NFL weekly pool for 2008! Noj won last year. Edward won in 2006; and I won in 2005. We just pick winners each week and tab them up after the Super Bowl. No fancy stuff here: over/unders, points, etc. If we get too complicated, people drop out over the course of the season. Hope we get our regulars back again. Van B? SS1? Noj? Edward? Newcomers welcome of course. Somebody's got to stop Noj!

Kind of a big weakness. LaDainlian is slowing down, and Michael Turner is gone. The team drafts well and they've got good depth. They'll be in the hunt for sure, but I don't think they are ready to knock off the Pats yet. Maybe one more year.

Thrilling victory for the US relay swimmers over the favored French team. I love the winners from small countries. Zimbabwe has a dynamite female swimmer by the name of Corigan (I think.) She's awesome to watch. I hate that our coverage is limited to the events where the US is strong. I miss the chance to see outstanding foreign athletes in other sports.

Cribbs wants more money in Cleveland. Seeks comparable deal that Hester got in Chicago. Browns in trouble....

Happy Birthday Shawn!

And who is to say that he was wrong in reporting that? I'm sure the Russian population did view it that way, whether correct or not. I've always maintained that people waste their time by taking seriously the political or even social views of artists. Many of them are quacks in that area, from Ezra Pound to DH Lawrence to TS Eliot to Joseph Conrad to Henry David Thoreau to....you name it! I am not defending artists in that regard, but art and politics are almost contrary realms. It seems almost impossible in some ways for an artist to have normal or sane political views. But I do not judge artists by their political or social views. Shakespeare was anti semitic too, you know. I just assume that they are very ignorant in that area. For that matter, I am not interested in the political views of sports stars or movie stars either, but maybe that's just me! Fair enough, but there is almost nothing to Solzhenitsyn apart from his political views. He is far more a historian/political scientist than an "artist," in which case I think political views are totally fair game. Actually One Day is a good piece of literature, but that is less than 5% of his output. I slogged through the Gulag books (all three volumes) and they are heavy going. Yes, I will have to go along with you on this. Solzhenitsyn's art was often focused on historical and political themes. I actually enjoyed the Gulag series, but his masterpiece is "First Circle," which I don't believe deals much with politics or history. It deals with humanity. Maybe Solzhenitsyn was great only for one book? It's possible. "First Circle" stands squarely within the tradition of the great Russian novels. I don't believe any of his other output compares at all. I haven't yet read his historical novels on WWI.

And who is to say that he was wrong in reporting that? I'm sure the Russian population did view it that way, whether correct or not. I've always maintained that people waste their time by taking seriously the political or even social views of artists. Many of them are quacks in that area, from Ezra Pound to DH Lawrence to TS Eliot to Joseph Conrad to Henry David Thoreau to....you name it! I am not defending artists in that regard, but art and politics are almost contrary realms. It seems almost impossible in some ways for an artist to have normal or sane political views. But I do not judge artists by their political or social views. Shakespeare was anti semitic too, you know. I just assume that they are very ignorant in that area. For that matter, I am not interested in the political views of sports stars or movie stars either, but maybe that's just me!

Great writer in the old Russian tradition. Read "One Day," "First Circle," and the three volumes of "Gulag." He goes down as one of the greats.

Happy Birthday guys!

Practices are rough in Patriot Land.