Saturday Morning Walkers - March 23, 2008

Hi everyone!

Happy Spring! There were only 3 of us walking yesterday - Jan, Laila and me - Mary met us for coffee later. Lots of people away for the weekend. We walked out on the South Boulder Creek Trail from the East Boulder Rec Center - brought back memories of training days!

Jackie sent an email out a couple of weeks ago letting some of us know about an upcoming event, Earth Hour 2008 that would be great and easy for all of us to participate in. Here's her message:

"Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.
This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, at 8pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv will unite and switch off for Earth Hour.
It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?
The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.
On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year.
With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.
To support this event visit www.earthhour.org and sign up as an individual or a business and turn off your lights on the 29th of March. (text taken from the earthhour.org website)"

Book Report:

Mary read The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lillian Jackson Braun. This is one of a series of books that Mary has enjoyed reading.

From Publishers Weekly
Like other recent books in Braun's best-selling series that began with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966), this loosely plotted novel, the 26th to feature Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum and Moose County journalist Jim Qwilleran, isn't quite up to the standard of earlier entries, but it still provides plenty of escapist fun. The shooting death of a well-dressed gentleman in the woods on Qwill's property is nearly neglected in the fuss and excitement engendered by the neighboring town of Brrr's bicentennial. On the trail of a story for the celebration, Qwill interviews Edythe Carroll, a wealthy widow who has retired to Ittibittiwassee Estates from the magnificent mansion she plans to leave to her granddaughter, Lish (short for Alicia). Little does Edythe know that Lish and her boyfriend, Lush, have already trashed the place. After dozing off in his gazebo after a busy day, Qwill is startled awake by strange noises, including some coming from Koko. Enter an entire family of wild turkeys. If this all sounds like a bit of a ramble, it's quite in keeping with the story, which wanders pleasantly around Moose County, surveying its eccentric citizens as they go about their idiosyncratic business. In spite of two murders and a pair of villains, the tale is as cozy as an hour spent cuddling your favorite cat.

I recently started The Small Island by Andrea Levy. Rae recommended this several months ago and I have just gotten down to that in my stack. I'll let you know when I've finished it.

Laila, Janet, Chris, Gaye and I are all working our way through Eckhard Tolle's book, A New Earth. I am finding that the Oprah webcasts are very helpful and keep me engaged in the book. I haven't been able to watch these webcasts live but am able to download the podcasts. Anyone else reading this?

Website of the Week - suggested by Jan who got to hear Mia Farrow speak in Denver this past week. She was very impressed with her and thought we might be interested in her website - www.miafarrow.org - which offers humanitarian and advocacy information.

Podcast of the Week - Just The Facts from www.factcheck.org - this is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. They are a nonpartisan,nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters. They monitor the accuracy of what is said by all the current political players.

Vocabulary Word of the Week - suggested by Jan - vigorish
Vigorish, or simply "the vig", also known as "juice" or "the take", is the amount charged by a bookmaker for his services. In the United States it also means the interest on a shark's loan. The term is Yiddish slang originating from the Russian word for "winnings", vyigrysh. Bookmakers use this concept to make money on their wagers regardless of the outcome. Because of the vigorish concept, bookmakers should not have an interest in either side winning in a given sporting event. They are interested, instead, in getting equal action on each side of the event. In this way, the bookmaker minimizes their risk and always collects a small commission from the vigorish. The bookmaker will normally adjust the odds (or "line") to attract equal action on each side of an event.

The concept is also sometimes referred to as the overround, although this is technically different, being the percentage the event book is above 100% whereas the vigorish is the bookmaker's percentage profit on the total stakes made on the event. For example, 20% overround is vigorish of 16 2/3%. The connecting formulae are V = OR/(1 + OR) and OR = V/(1 - V).

It is simplest to assume that vigorish is factored in proportionally to the true odds, although this need not be the case. Under proportional vigorish, a moneyline odds bet listed at -100 vs -100 without vigorish (fair odds) could become -110 vs -110 with vigorish factored in. Under disproportional vigorish, it could become -120 vs +100.

Common misconceptions about vigorish are that it is paid by only the "loser", only the "winner", or both in all circumstances. A claim on when and to what extent a gambler pays vigorish fees, however, cannot be abstracted from an individual gambler's behavior. A gambler's behavior with respect to different odds on an event must first be defined and only then can a determination be made on how the vigorish affects him when he wins and loses.

Food and Dining Report:

Two winners this week - I may have included one of these before but it is worth repeating!

Memphis Dry Rub Ribs from Dave Lieberman on the Food Network - so easy and delicious - I do serve this with a jarred barbecue sauce. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_36115,00.html

Buttermilk Baked Chicken from none other than Martha Stewart - I recommend that if you do used chicken breasts that you chop each whole breast in quarters so that you're not dealing with huge hunks. The butcher in the grocery store can do that easily for you.
http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/Buttermilk_Baked_Chicken.html

I'm hosting book group tomorrow evening and hope to share some of those recipes with you next week.

Have a great week and don't forget to observe Earth Hour 2008 on Saturday night, March 29!

Love,

Susan