MBT

On Thursday we saw Meadowbrook Theatre production of Moonlight and Magnolias, a play about writing the screenplay for the movie Gone with the Wind. It was interesting how the screenplay came about and the time it took. In addition, the director and writer had little confidence in its success.

I know little about the story GWTW--from the book or the movie--except for some character names and the famous line. If I would have watched the movie or read the book before I saw the play, I would have appreciated it more.

Great acting and another great set. One actor, who played Ben Hecht who wrote the script for the movie, is Tom Whalen, who James knows from his summer work while in college. We have seen him in a number of productions but I believe this one is his biggest part. We look forward to seeing him again.

Great Minds

I just finished a fascinating account of Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich. This is the basis for the movie 21.

A group of MIT students, some undergrads and some graduate students, implement a systematic team-oriented card counting system that increases chances of beating the dealer in blackjack. As cards come out of the "shoe", team members count cards in lower third (roughly) as positive one, cards in the middle third as zero, and cards in the upper third as negative one. The greater the positive count, the greater chance a player has of beating the dealer. A computer simulation in the mid-60s produced results suggesting greater positive shoes give about 7-20% advantage to the player over the dealer, depending on the size of the positive count. As the shoe is dealt a team member keeps a running total and signals teammates to enter the play at their table and also gives verbal signals as to the positive count of the shoe. After long periods of time spent in practices, the team goes to Las Vegas and other casinos and earns tens of thousands each day of their play. Their escapades is the main theme of the book. A secondary theme is their interactions among themselves and with casino "security".

Though I have never played blackjack at a casino, I found the book interesting, informative, and entertaining. A good read. I look forward to seeing the movie.

Doubt

We went to Ann Arbor last week to see Molly Thomas in the Performance Network production of Doubt. A play set in 1964 at a Catholic school and focuses on the principal who confronts a priest about his abuse of a young student. In addition the principal confronts a young teacher (Molly) about her teaching and her support of the priest, actually disbelieving the principal. Eventually the priest, under pressure, moves to another parish, and about the suspicions of the principal? We are left with doubt.

About a dozen of us went, some retired collegues of Jane Thomas and some family friends, and had dinner before. A fine production with great acting in this small venue. The set was terrific. And we found out after the performance that the production is extended for an additional week.

National Champion

I must have had a brain cramp. Let me rephrase that.

Kansas, in overtime.

Final Game

Now that I've done so well, LOL, let me pick the National Champion...

Memphis. Just because.

My Picks...

For the Final Four games.

I'll take North Carolina over Kansas.  Too much power.

And UCLA over Memphis.  Too consistent.

With NC as national champion.

Shut Out Already?

We had a great day for baseball at Comerica Park.  Tigers vs KC Royals for an afternoon game.  Cloudless skies, temps in the low 50s, not even a breeze.  Cap and gloves came off when we took our seats.

Smiths went with us and we had lunch at Leo's Coney Island at the ball park (our first choice, Cheli's Bar, had a 45 minute wait 50 minutes before game time).

Seats were behind the visitors dugout, about 20 rows up, and we stayed warm in the sunshine until the ninth inning when the shadows of the upper deck finally covered us.

Kenny Rogers started for the Tigers and pitched quite well.  As did relievers.  They gave up four runs.  But the well-paid offense produced nothing.  Three hits--all by Edgar Renteria who was eliminated twice by ground ball double plays.  So Royals pitchers faced on one batter more than the minimum--great pitching.

But it's always a treat for  us to see the Tigers play in person.