The Black Horse of the Blog World

So, I know our local sports team won’t be in the big game, but the commercials will still be there! And we’re getting a new comfy sectional delivered tomorrow. So who wants to come over and only sort of watch the game on the 3rd?

I recently came across a great article about the first time the US went over a ‘fiscal cliff’, back in 1893. I found it, of all places, in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

It’s a fascinating look at revenues through tariffs, unanticipated consequences, perverting incentives, inducing the overthrow of an island monarchy in favor of annexation by a foreign power, accidentally destabilizing a second island with echoes through to today, and some -very- clever pamphleteering! I wonder if 100 years from now we’l be able to see similar ripples and consequences from this ‘fiscal cliff’.

We lost power Monday around 1pm. It still isn’t back, 54+ hours later, and NStar has categorically refuse to give us anything more helpful than ‘we aim to have everyone restored by Thursday at 11:30pm’. We’ve rounded up the cats and have taken refuge at my inlaws place in Needham, but this is throwing some serious wrenchery into my daily machinery, which is already pretty wonky for being the primary parent of a 3 month old.
I am so not looking forward to cleaning out the (prestorm well stocked) fridge when power does come back and we move back in to our own house….

At least this happened though: We dressed JM as one of Disney’s newest characters….

UPDATE: I want to make it clear that I do not play single deck pinochle. The app reviewed is a single deck app. Please bear this in mind when reading my critiques of the game’s capabilities and offerings. But I stand by the other parts of my review.

A lot of people find my blog because of the pages I have up on Pinochle (see the tabs at the top on my main page). So recently I was asked to review a Pinochle App on the iPad. I’m afraid this isn’t going to be a good review. For starters, this app doesn’t allow for the pinochle variation I actually know and play, the double deck, no nines variant. There is no way to turn off certain things, like passing of cards, a rule that is optional even in single deck games. And the artwork is right out of MS Paint, although, admittedly, artwork has little impact on gameplay. On top of that, the AI seems broken, always opting to pass. Or maybe because that’s because I tried to adjust the settings to be those for double deck. The app is called Pinochle Pro, but the icon is of an old man holding a card, so it may not be obvious what the game is. And for $3, there are better options, or at least cheaper options (including ad supported free options that actually do double deck) available in the App Store.

That said, no app will ever be better than teaching your friends and family and playing the real deal.