I had occasion today to reflect on just how out of control crime has gotten in my neighborhood.
I wasn't able to sleep this morning, so I ventured out into the cold, crisp winter air for a warm, soothing Starbucks coffee. On the way out, I found a note tacked to my door from the homeowners association. It seems that all of the sprinkler heads from every acre of the property had been stolen. Apparantly, brass sprinkler heads are worth a good bit of money as scrap metal. The ones stolen from our property alone will cost more than $10,000 to replace. I suppose that kind of cash will buy plenty of crack, or Mad Dog or whatever addiction these thieves needed to feed.
My own need for coffee now sated, I stopped by the local convenience store for some sundries on the way home from Starbucks. Pulling into the parking lot, I decided to sit there for a few moments, idly enjoying the warmth of the car and the Outkast song on the radio. No need to hurry out into the cold. Apparently one of my fellow men had no such compunction. A rather large man who appeared to be jogging... in his boxer shorts... ran into the store. "What a fruitcake," I thought.
Once the song ended, I bustled into the store. The cashier was on the phone notifying the police that there had just been a beer run. It seemed quite clear that the half-naked fruitcake jogger was the culprit. The police shouldn't have much trouble finding the guy: he was probably the most scantily clothed man in town on this wintry morning.
It's New Years Eve tonight, so I have been playing Old Scottish Air on my piano while reflecting on all of this. It seems to me that even above beer runs and sprinkler head thefts, the biggest crime in my neighborhood will occur tonight... if I don't get a New Year's Kiss.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Voyaged to the Local Psychic Bookshop Yesterday
Disturbed by recurring dreams I have, particularly involving grotesque and angry birds I set out to find out what my dreams may mean on the internet , where Every question in the universe has an answer.
So I took my dream to a dream interpratation forum sleeps.com where my dream was interpreted by a prophet of Iran who has interpreted over 5000 dreams.
I dreamed that this aquarium in Long Beach California had a new exhibit. It was a seabird sanctuary and it was made of glass on all four sides. On the opposite side ocean waves were crashing hard against the glass.
There was a large bird inside peacefully perched on a tree in the center of the aviary. Next to this bird were seagulls scaveging on the ground restlessly for food. On the other side of the peacefully bird were large beautiful white cranes with long necks and long legs and webbed orange feet jumping up and down about 10 feet high.
I turned to my father and said "look there at those beautiful cranes jumping up and down gracefully and without effort."Then he pointed out that I was mistaken, the cranes were not inside the aviary but rather they were a reflection in the glass. The seagulls were also only a reflection and these birds were really all around us. The only bird inside the aviary was the restful one on his perch surrounded by all the chaos of the other birds and crashing waves.
I noticed that I had also been mistaken that the tall birds were cranes. A closer look proved that they were really ugly geese with large ugly geese teeth and big adams apples in their necks. They were still jumping up and down in my dream with there long beaks turned up to the sky.
In my lucidity, i realized I was also capable of jumping up high and to humor the little children that were there on the beach, I also began jumping up and down like these birds. This really angered the geese, and they began chasing me. As they pursued me, I could feel one nipping at my neck, and I just remembered thinking that I would have to stand up to this bird or he would go after the children. So I turned and whacked the goose as hard as I could, and as the goose collapsed I woke up.
To Which the Dream Prophet replied:
"If one dreamt leapt from a place to another means his situation will be better, if his leap was long means will go to a travel.If dreamt leapt with a long stick or a lance means he will trust to a powerful man to help him for achieving a wish.If dreamt Jumped from a wall and rode a horse or an ass means there is a death danger.If dreamt leapt from a roof and the house collapsed under his feet but he didn't die means his wife will separate but will turn back.If dreamt when walking leapt into the sky and then saw himself in the Mecca or Medina means will go to Hadj pilgrimage.If dreamt leapt from an unknown house to another unknown house means there is a death danger.If dreamt was leaping and was overturned and somersaulted means his life will spoil.If dreamt leapt into the sky and took a bird means he will separate his wife for another woman.Crane is interpreted as a poor stranger man.If dreamt he hunted a crane means will get acquainted to an stranger unknown man and will have benefits.If dreamt had many cranes means will be director of many unknown people.If dreamt was riding a crane means will go to a travel.If dreamt had a crane egg means his wife will get poor.If one dreamt about ducks , means he/she will receive money as many ducks he dreamt specially if they were in his house.If dreamt many ducks were making noise in his house or his place means there will be a disaster at that place.If dreamt ducks were speaking to him means he will go to a travel for a rich woman and will have benefits.If dreamt he had a piece of duck means he will receive something froma rich person.White duck means a rich woman/man , or some money.If dreamt he killed a duck and had its meat , means he will receive some heritage and will spend it.Running away from some animal or bird means you will overcome someone with such charactristics.
__________________Dreams are scenes of daily day happenings in real life when interpreted will come and pass.This may happen in the near future in a few days to a month.Please let me know when something like that happened.People are asleep, when die they will wake up. "
I found this reply to be quite unsatisfactory and can recognize a Charlatan when I see one. It appeared as though a robot had replied to my post because this interpretation read like it was generated from a computer and I am quite sure that I would not be Pigramaging to Medina anytime soon!!!
I decided I would consult with a real professional here at a local psychic bookshop. I really believed I would find my true mystic here ,,, one with supersensory cerebral skills who would clear out my mental cobwebs.
Before employing my meta-physician his modest sum of only 99.00 I made inquiries trying to ascertain if he really had a psychogenic mind.
I presented the fradulants interpretation of my dream and he was also very dissapointed with its interpretation As to the symbology of the dream interpretation the psychic replied:
"Honestly nothing against the guy, But I think symbology is going to be different in dreams from place to place.. supposing it has any meaning at all."
"You are so wise ," I told him. "you must interpret its meaning for me".
He began ,, "My dear child, it is obvious that the seabird sanctuary represents you. The large bird in the middle represents your peaceful inner self.But I see an unrest in your spirit there it is in the form of the seagulls "
So far the clairvoyant seemed correct ,,,I don't know why I sought out help in internet forum when the answers were right around the corner from my house.
He continued : " The cranes represent your desires for your future and the ocean slapping against is just environemental factors. So, you've got the turmoil in the the seagulls and the future in the cranes.. And while they appear to be inside, part and parcel of you.. They're actually on the outside.. now disturbing the inner peaceful you.. At least they shouldn't be..They shouldn't be bothering your present peaceful self, since they aren't inside..Even though they appear so . So, once you go to look closer at your future (the cranes).. things turn ugly.. The future isn't coming as you envisioned it from afar....
So, you start trying to jump up and down looking, mimicking what you want for your future.. just like the cranes..
But the geese see you trying to pursue the vision of the future you had for yourself.. and come after you..
I don't really know what to make of the children, it is becoming fuzzy. exactly..
But you are able to protect both them and yourself from the seemingly inevitable future..with the smacking of the goose.. taking control back of your future.
The fact that the geese were male, with the adams apples?
Oh.... it is getting so fuzzzy I am getting a headache.....oh my head hurts.,,,,
I may for an extra 99.00 buy some aspirins next door at the convenience store,,,,rest my head and sort the rest of this out for you. "
It seemed as though my bad dream that had troubled me so much was now troubling this wise visionary.
I didn't want to trouble the good prophet any further.
"Tis Ok,,,I answered,,,, You have been so kind to me"
So I took my dream to a dream interpratation forum sleeps.com where my dream was interpreted by a prophet of Iran who has interpreted over 5000 dreams.
I dreamed that this aquarium in Long Beach California had a new exhibit. It was a seabird sanctuary and it was made of glass on all four sides. On the opposite side ocean waves were crashing hard against the glass.
There was a large bird inside peacefully perched on a tree in the center of the aviary. Next to this bird were seagulls scaveging on the ground restlessly for food. On the other side of the peacefully bird were large beautiful white cranes with long necks and long legs and webbed orange feet jumping up and down about 10 feet high.
I turned to my father and said "look there at those beautiful cranes jumping up and down gracefully and without effort."Then he pointed out that I was mistaken, the cranes were not inside the aviary but rather they were a reflection in the glass. The seagulls were also only a reflection and these birds were really all around us. The only bird inside the aviary was the restful one on his perch surrounded by all the chaos of the other birds and crashing waves.
I noticed that I had also been mistaken that the tall birds were cranes. A closer look proved that they were really ugly geese with large ugly geese teeth and big adams apples in their necks. They were still jumping up and down in my dream with there long beaks turned up to the sky.
In my lucidity, i realized I was also capable of jumping up high and to humor the little children that were there on the beach, I also began jumping up and down like these birds. This really angered the geese, and they began chasing me. As they pursued me, I could feel one nipping at my neck, and I just remembered thinking that I would have to stand up to this bird or he would go after the children. So I turned and whacked the goose as hard as I could, and as the goose collapsed I woke up.
To Which the Dream Prophet replied:
"If one dreamt leapt from a place to another means his situation will be better, if his leap was long means will go to a travel.If dreamt leapt with a long stick or a lance means he will trust to a powerful man to help him for achieving a wish.If dreamt Jumped from a wall and rode a horse or an ass means there is a death danger.If dreamt leapt from a roof and the house collapsed under his feet but he didn't die means his wife will separate but will turn back.If dreamt when walking leapt into the sky and then saw himself in the Mecca or Medina means will go to Hadj pilgrimage.If dreamt leapt from an unknown house to another unknown house means there is a death danger.If dreamt was leaping and was overturned and somersaulted means his life will spoil.If dreamt leapt into the sky and took a bird means he will separate his wife for another woman.Crane is interpreted as a poor stranger man.If dreamt he hunted a crane means will get acquainted to an stranger unknown man and will have benefits.If dreamt had many cranes means will be director of many unknown people.If dreamt was riding a crane means will go to a travel.If dreamt had a crane egg means his wife will get poor.If one dreamt about ducks , means he/she will receive money as many ducks he dreamt specially if they were in his house.If dreamt many ducks were making noise in his house or his place means there will be a disaster at that place.If dreamt ducks were speaking to him means he will go to a travel for a rich woman and will have benefits.If dreamt he had a piece of duck means he will receive something froma rich person.White duck means a rich woman/man , or some money.If dreamt he killed a duck and had its meat , means he will receive some heritage and will spend it.Running away from some animal or bird means you will overcome someone with such charactristics.
__________________Dreams are scenes of daily day happenings in real life when interpreted will come and pass.This may happen in the near future in a few days to a month.Please let me know when something like that happened.People are asleep, when die they will wake up. "
I found this reply to be quite unsatisfactory and can recognize a Charlatan when I see one. It appeared as though a robot had replied to my post because this interpretation read like it was generated from a computer and I am quite sure that I would not be Pigramaging to Medina anytime soon!!!
I decided I would consult with a real professional here at a local psychic bookshop. I really believed I would find my true mystic here ,,, one with supersensory cerebral skills who would clear out my mental cobwebs.
Before employing my meta-physician his modest sum of only 99.00 I made inquiries trying to ascertain if he really had a psychogenic mind.
I presented the fradulants interpretation of my dream and he was also very dissapointed with its interpretation As to the symbology of the dream interpretation the psychic replied:
"Honestly nothing against the guy, But I think symbology is going to be different in dreams from place to place.. supposing it has any meaning at all."
"You are so wise ," I told him. "you must interpret its meaning for me".
He began ,, "My dear child, it is obvious that the seabird sanctuary represents you. The large bird in the middle represents your peaceful inner self.But I see an unrest in your spirit there it is in the form of the seagulls "
So far the clairvoyant seemed correct ,,,I don't know why I sought out help in internet forum when the answers were right around the corner from my house.
He continued : " The cranes represent your desires for your future and the ocean slapping against is just environemental factors. So, you've got the turmoil in the the seagulls and the future in the cranes.. And while they appear to be inside, part and parcel of you.. They're actually on the outside.. now disturbing the inner peaceful you.. At least they shouldn't be..They shouldn't be bothering your present peaceful self, since they aren't inside..Even though they appear so . So, once you go to look closer at your future (the cranes).. things turn ugly.. The future isn't coming as you envisioned it from afar....
So, you start trying to jump up and down looking, mimicking what you want for your future.. just like the cranes..
But the geese see you trying to pursue the vision of the future you had for yourself.. and come after you..
I don't really know what to make of the children, it is becoming fuzzy. exactly..
But you are able to protect both them and yourself from the seemingly inevitable future..with the smacking of the goose.. taking control back of your future.
The fact that the geese were male, with the adams apples?
Oh.... it is getting so fuzzzy I am getting a headache.....oh my head hurts.,,,,
I may for an extra 99.00 buy some aspirins next door at the convenience store,,,,rest my head and sort the rest of this out for you. "
It seemed as though my bad dream that had troubled me so much was now troubling this wise visionary.
I didn't want to trouble the good prophet any further.
"Tis Ok,,,I answered,,,, You have been so kind to me"
Friday, December 21, 2007
It has been my experience that most poker players are very shallow and selfish people. Sometimes I wonder if I should even follow the path at all,,, what contributions will I make to the world. With the exception of /Barry Greenstein and mabye a few other Robin hooods of poker who have dedicated some of their winnings to worthy cause, most all poker players are just only out for themselves only.The more experience players pray on the innocent and vulnerable. They lurk about the card rooms w olves in sheeps clothing waiting to exploit their victims weaknesses. Sometimes thiss is done and necessary for their survival.. Other times you wonder why what they do was ever necessary at all.
You wonder why, when you have a legitamate hand(KK) the big blind (K5) had to call your raise at all. You wanted him to call, if it was favorable for you but not if the end result came to destruction. The flop comes 7 4 K and the raising affairs begin. He thinks his hand is the best and you think things are looking pretty promising. It looks really good. Turn is 8. . still what do you have to fear. The board is full of promises . You have top set,why should you lose? Then the river is a 6 and you get check raised. He was chasing you all along,,ready to snap your head off. You're thinking to your self.... why did he have to pursue me,, with those bad cards when he could have just folded. its his fault. He should have just left you alone, your plays were always strong,,,your raises always honest. His intentions were bad alll along,,, yet he happily takes the money with his case king ,,,, back door gutshot straight draw and has no regrets about stealing your pot. Right away you think of him as a bad poker player. It seems injust,,,it seems so evil. You show your cards, he can care less, in fact,, he takes joy in beating your good hand. He was thinking in his mind "I gave her the action she wanted" and all the while charming and entertaining while he did it.
Then you realize,,, as gamblers come to realize,,, that you ulimately are responsible for your own actions. And that you chose to gamble. Even if you played the game correctly,,,you stood to lose,,, and that you made that choice. You took a gamble. You like the game. And that while it may not be ethical for one to enjoy profiting off anothers losses,,, it was the loser's choice and theirs alone to risk that loss.,,,,,and that if you can't except those consequences,,then you shouldnt play the game.
PokerStars Game #13978802561: Hold'em Limit ($30/$60) - 2007/12/20 - 04:06:28 (ET)Table 'Piazzia' 6-max Seat #1 is the buttonSeat 1: gingery_baby ($1233 in chips) Seat 2: NYC99 ($1653 in chips) Seat 3: oj_pimpson ($1095 in chips) Seat 4: CRossiter ($1267 in chips) Seat 5: TWG8186 ($1077 in chips) Seat 6: Dr_Olson ($1759 in chips) NYC99: posts small blind $15oj_pimpson: posts big blind $30*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to gingery_baby [Ks Kc]CRossiter: folds TWG8186: folds Dr_Olson: folds gingery_baby: raises $30 to $60NYC99: folds oj_pimpson: calls $30*** FLOP *** [7h 4d Kh]oj_pimpson: checks gingery_baby: bets $30oj_pimpson: raises $30 to $60gingery_baby: calls $30*** TURN *** [7h 4d Kh] [6h]oj_pimpson: bets $60gingery_baby: raises $60 to $120oj_pimpson: calls $60*** RIVER *** [7h 4d Kh 6h] [8d]oj_pimpson: bets $60gingery_baby: calls $60*** SHOW DOWN ***oj_pimpson: shows [5d Kd] (a straight, Four to Eight)gingery_baby: shows [Ks Kc] (three of a kind, Kings)oj_pimpson collected $612 from pot*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $615 Rake $3 Board [7h 4d Kh 6h 8d]Seat 1: gingery_baby (button) showed [Ks Kc] and lost with three of a kind, KingsSeat 2: NYC99 (small blind) folded before FlopSeat 3: oj_pimpson (big blind) showed [5d Kd] and won ($612) with a straight, Four to EightSeat 4: CRossiter folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 5: TWG8186 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 6: Dr_Olson folded before Flop (didn't bet)
My favorite Twilight Episode (which might be relevant to this blog)
The Fever
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, please see Fever (disambiguation).
“The Fever”
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no.
Season 1Episode 17
Written by
Rod Serling
Directed by
Robert Florey
Guest stars
Everett Sloane : Franklin GibbsVivi Janiss : Flora Gibbs
Production no.
173-3627
Original airdate
January 29, 1960
Episode chronology
← Previous
Next →
"The Hitch-Hiker"
"The Last Flight"
List of Twilight Zone episodes
"The Fever" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Contents[hide]
1 Rod Serling's opening narration
2 Synopsis
3 Rod Serling's closing narration
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External links
//
[edit] Rod Serling's opening narration
"Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Gibbs, three days and two nights, all expenses paid, at a Las Vegas hotel, won by virtue of Mrs. Gibbs' knack with a phrase. But unbeknownst to either Mr. or Mrs. Gibbs is the fact that there's a prize in their package neither expected nor bargained for. In just a moment, one of them will succumb to an illness worse than any virus can produce, a most inoperative, deadly, life-shattering affliction known as The Fever."
[edit] Synopsis
Franklin and his wife Flora go to Las Vegas, Nevada because she won a competition. He detests gambling, but his wife is excited about their vacation. Franklin is given a coin by a drunk man at the casino, who makes Franklin use it in a slot machine. He wins and tells his wife that they should keep the money and not lose it back like the other people.
As they depart, Franklin believes he hears someone calling his name. He continues to hear his name being spoken as he tries to sleep. Disturbed, he decides he cannot keep "tainted" money, and that he is going to get rid of it by putting it back in the machine. Later, Flora goes to the casino and finds him playing the machine obsessively. Addicted, Franklin has lost a great deal of their money. When Flora tries to coax him to stop, Franklin declares that he has lost so much, that he has to try to win some of it back. He becomes enraged when she presses for him to leave, declaring that the machine is "inhuman", that it "teases you, sucks you in." Others observe that he has been playing the machine for hours.
Eventually, the slot machine takes his last dollar and breaks down. Franklin begins yelling and attacking the machine to give him back his "last dollar." He is taken out of the casino screaming. Later in bed, Franklin tells Flora that the machine was about to pay off, but deliberately broke down so that it wouldn't have to. He then hears the machine again calling his name. He sees it coming down the hallway to their room, "chasing" him, but Flora cannot see it and believes that he is going crazy. When the machine continues to follow him, repeating his name over and over, "Franklin, Franklin, Franklin!", he backs up towards the window, his hands over his ears, finally crashing through the glass and falling to his death. The police stand over his body, noting that his wife had stated that he had not slept in 24 hours. The last scene shows the slot machine rolling up to the dead body and spitting out Franklin's last dollar onto his dead hand.
[edit] Rod Serling's closing narration
"Mr. Franklin Gibbs, visitor to Las Vegas, who lost his money, his reason, and finally, his life to an inanimate metal machine variously described as a one-armed bandit, a slot machine, or in Mr. Franklin Gibbs' words, 'a monster with a will all its own'. For our purposes, we'll stick with the latter definition, because… we're in the Twilight Zone."
[edit] Trivia
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
"Serling celebrated the signing of his new show, The Twilight Zone by spending a weekend in Las Vegas. While Carol Serling was having good luck nearby, he became enslaved by a merciless one-armed bandit, an incident he would turn into one of his first Twilight Zone episodes, “The Fever”... —Gordon F. Sander, excerpt from Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man.
Serling wrote an expanded ending to this episode when he adapted it to short story form. The addition read:
Flora Gibbs flew back to Elgin, Kansas, to pick up the broken crockery of her life. She lived a silent, patient life from then on and gave no one any trouble. Only once did anything unusual happen and that was a year later. The church had a bazaar and someone brought in an old used one-armed bandit. It had taken three of her friends from the Women's Alliance to stop her screaming and get her back home to bed. It had cast rather a pall over the evening." —Excerpt from “The Fever”, published in Stories From the Twilight Zone in April 1960.
The "voice" of the slot machine was created by recording the sound of many quarters and dimes running down a metal chute. Then, small speakers playing the sound of the coins in the chute were attached to an actor's throat. The actor then whispered his dialog, making the words with his mouth and larynx...but the metallic sound of the clinking coins came out of his mouth.
In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Skill Crane", Mr. Krabs buys a crane game machine (in which you insert money to move a claw and get a prize). Squidward can't seem to win at it whereas SpongeBob does so easily, and the losing drives Squidward crazy; he even believes the creaking of the swinging claw is saying his name, much like the slot machine coin sound.
In Disney's The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure, after leaving the elevator you are directed down a hall. In one of the areas before you get to the hall leading to the exit is the slot machine from this episode.
There is a scene in Darren Aronofsky's adaptation of Requiem for a Dream which involves the character Sara Goldfarb being haunted by her refrigerator. The scene is very similar to one in this episode, when Franklin is haunted by his slot machine nemesis.
A music video from the band The Chemical Brothers features a man that is on the run from a machine from the car factory where he works. It chases him throughout the city where the picture finally scrolls away from him sitting in the middle of the road laughing and crying, obviously insane, as numerous machines surround him.
[edit] References
You wonder why, when you have a legitamate hand(KK) the big blind (K5) had to call your raise at all. You wanted him to call, if it was favorable for you but not if the end result came to destruction. The flop comes 7 4 K and the raising affairs begin. He thinks his hand is the best and you think things are looking pretty promising. It looks really good. Turn is 8. . still what do you have to fear. The board is full of promises . You have top set,why should you lose? Then the river is a 6 and you get check raised. He was chasing you all along,,ready to snap your head off. You're thinking to your self.... why did he have to pursue me,, with those bad cards when he could have just folded. its his fault. He should have just left you alone, your plays were always strong,,,your raises always honest. His intentions were bad alll along,,, yet he happily takes the money with his case king ,,,, back door gutshot straight draw and has no regrets about stealing your pot. Right away you think of him as a bad poker player. It seems injust,,,it seems so evil. You show your cards, he can care less, in fact,, he takes joy in beating your good hand. He was thinking in his mind "I gave her the action she wanted" and all the while charming and entertaining while he did it.
Then you realize,,, as gamblers come to realize,,, that you ulimately are responsible for your own actions. And that you chose to gamble. Even if you played the game correctly,,,you stood to lose,,, and that you made that choice. You took a gamble. You like the game. And that while it may not be ethical for one to enjoy profiting off anothers losses,,, it was the loser's choice and theirs alone to risk that loss.,,,,,and that if you can't except those consequences,,then you shouldnt play the game.
PokerStars Game #13978802561: Hold'em Limit ($30/$60) - 2007/12/20 - 04:06:28 (ET)Table 'Piazzia' 6-max Seat #1 is the buttonSeat 1: gingery_baby ($1233 in chips) Seat 2: NYC99 ($1653 in chips) Seat 3: oj_pimpson ($1095 in chips) Seat 4: CRossiter ($1267 in chips) Seat 5: TWG8186 ($1077 in chips) Seat 6: Dr_Olson ($1759 in chips) NYC99: posts small blind $15oj_pimpson: posts big blind $30*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to gingery_baby [Ks Kc]CRossiter: folds TWG8186: folds Dr_Olson: folds gingery_baby: raises $30 to $60NYC99: folds oj_pimpson: calls $30*** FLOP *** [7h 4d Kh]oj_pimpson: checks gingery_baby: bets $30oj_pimpson: raises $30 to $60gingery_baby: calls $30*** TURN *** [7h 4d Kh] [6h]oj_pimpson: bets $60gingery_baby: raises $60 to $120oj_pimpson: calls $60*** RIVER *** [7h 4d Kh 6h] [8d]oj_pimpson: bets $60gingery_baby: calls $60*** SHOW DOWN ***oj_pimpson: shows [5d Kd] (a straight, Four to Eight)gingery_baby: shows [Ks Kc] (three of a kind, Kings)oj_pimpson collected $612 from pot*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $615 Rake $3 Board [7h 4d Kh 6h 8d]Seat 1: gingery_baby (button) showed [Ks Kc] and lost with three of a kind, KingsSeat 2: NYC99 (small blind) folded before FlopSeat 3: oj_pimpson (big blind) showed [5d Kd] and won ($612) with a straight, Four to EightSeat 4: CRossiter folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 5: TWG8186 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 6: Dr_Olson folded before Flop (didn't bet)
My favorite Twilight Episode (which might be relevant to this blog)
The Fever
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, please see Fever (disambiguation).
“The Fever”
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no.
Season 1Episode 17
Written by
Rod Serling
Directed by
Robert Florey
Guest stars
Everett Sloane : Franklin GibbsVivi Janiss : Flora Gibbs
Production no.
173-3627
Original airdate
January 29, 1960
Episode chronology
← Previous
Next →
"The Hitch-Hiker"
"The Last Flight"
List of Twilight Zone episodes
"The Fever" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Contents[hide]
1 Rod Serling's opening narration
2 Synopsis
3 Rod Serling's closing narration
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External links
//
[edit] Rod Serling's opening narration
"Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Gibbs, three days and two nights, all expenses paid, at a Las Vegas hotel, won by virtue of Mrs. Gibbs' knack with a phrase. But unbeknownst to either Mr. or Mrs. Gibbs is the fact that there's a prize in their package neither expected nor bargained for. In just a moment, one of them will succumb to an illness worse than any virus can produce, a most inoperative, deadly, life-shattering affliction known as The Fever."
[edit] Synopsis
Franklin and his wife Flora go to Las Vegas, Nevada because she won a competition. He detests gambling, but his wife is excited about their vacation. Franklin is given a coin by a drunk man at the casino, who makes Franklin use it in a slot machine. He wins and tells his wife that they should keep the money and not lose it back like the other people.
As they depart, Franklin believes he hears someone calling his name. He continues to hear his name being spoken as he tries to sleep. Disturbed, he decides he cannot keep "tainted" money, and that he is going to get rid of it by putting it back in the machine. Later, Flora goes to the casino and finds him playing the machine obsessively. Addicted, Franklin has lost a great deal of their money. When Flora tries to coax him to stop, Franklin declares that he has lost so much, that he has to try to win some of it back. He becomes enraged when she presses for him to leave, declaring that the machine is "inhuman", that it "teases you, sucks you in." Others observe that he has been playing the machine for hours.
Eventually, the slot machine takes his last dollar and breaks down. Franklin begins yelling and attacking the machine to give him back his "last dollar." He is taken out of the casino screaming. Later in bed, Franklin tells Flora that the machine was about to pay off, but deliberately broke down so that it wouldn't have to. He then hears the machine again calling his name. He sees it coming down the hallway to their room, "chasing" him, but Flora cannot see it and believes that he is going crazy. When the machine continues to follow him, repeating his name over and over, "Franklin, Franklin, Franklin!", he backs up towards the window, his hands over his ears, finally crashing through the glass and falling to his death. The police stand over his body, noting that his wife had stated that he had not slept in 24 hours. The last scene shows the slot machine rolling up to the dead body and spitting out Franklin's last dollar onto his dead hand.
[edit] Rod Serling's closing narration
"Mr. Franklin Gibbs, visitor to Las Vegas, who lost his money, his reason, and finally, his life to an inanimate metal machine variously described as a one-armed bandit, a slot machine, or in Mr. Franklin Gibbs' words, 'a monster with a will all its own'. For our purposes, we'll stick with the latter definition, because… we're in the Twilight Zone."
[edit] Trivia
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
"Serling celebrated the signing of his new show, The Twilight Zone by spending a weekend in Las Vegas. While Carol Serling was having good luck nearby, he became enslaved by a merciless one-armed bandit, an incident he would turn into one of his first Twilight Zone episodes, “The Fever”... —Gordon F. Sander, excerpt from Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man.
Serling wrote an expanded ending to this episode when he adapted it to short story form. The addition read:
Flora Gibbs flew back to Elgin, Kansas, to pick up the broken crockery of her life. She lived a silent, patient life from then on and gave no one any trouble. Only once did anything unusual happen and that was a year later. The church had a bazaar and someone brought in an old used one-armed bandit. It had taken three of her friends from the Women's Alliance to stop her screaming and get her back home to bed. It had cast rather a pall over the evening." —Excerpt from “The Fever”, published in Stories From the Twilight Zone in April 1960.
The "voice" of the slot machine was created by recording the sound of many quarters and dimes running down a metal chute. Then, small speakers playing the sound of the coins in the chute were attached to an actor's throat. The actor then whispered his dialog, making the words with his mouth and larynx...but the metallic sound of the clinking coins came out of his mouth.
In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Skill Crane", Mr. Krabs buys a crane game machine (in which you insert money to move a claw and get a prize). Squidward can't seem to win at it whereas SpongeBob does so easily, and the losing drives Squidward crazy; he even believes the creaking of the swinging claw is saying his name, much like the slot machine coin sound.
In Disney's The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure, after leaving the elevator you are directed down a hall. In one of the areas before you get to the hall leading to the exit is the slot machine from this episode.
There is a scene in Darren Aronofsky's adaptation of Requiem for a Dream which involves the character Sara Goldfarb being haunted by her refrigerator. The scene is very similar to one in this episode, when Franklin is haunted by his slot machine nemesis.
A music video from the band The Chemical Brothers features a man that is on the run from a machine from the car factory where he works. It chases him throughout the city where the picture finally scrolls away from him sitting in the middle of the road laughing and crying, obviously insane, as numerous machines surround him.
[edit] References
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Alls I want for christmas is a brand new wireless mouse
then maybe I will stop folding sets
PokerStars Game #13976339990: Hold'em Limit ($15/$30) - 2007/12/20 - 00:13:46 (ET)Table 'Henan' 6-max Seat #2 is the buttonSeat
1: gingery_baby ($773 in chips)
Seat 2: patfitz111 ($397 in chips)
Seat 3: MrTile ($1578 in chips)
Seat 4: Keyser ($1086 in chips)
Seat 5: holleyspirt ($408 in chips)
Seat 6: mirri ($905 in chips)
MrTile: posts small blind $10
Keyser: posts big blind $15
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to gingery_baby [9s 9d]
holleyspirt: folds
mirri: folds
gingery_baby: raises $15 to $30
patfitz111: folds
MrTile: calls $20
Keyser: calls $15
*** FLOP *** [Jc As 9c]
MrTile: bets $15
Keyser: calls $15
gingery_baby: folds
*** TURN *** [Jc As 9c] [Qs]
MrTile: bets $30
Keyser: raises $30 to $60
MrTile: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [Jc As 9c Qs] [Kc]
MrTile: checks
Keyser: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MrTile: shows [Jh Kd] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
Keyser: shows [9h Ah] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
Keyser collected $237 from pot*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $240 Rake $3 Board [Jc As 9c Qs Kc]
Seat 1: gingery_baby folded on the Flop
Seat 2: patfitz111 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: MrTile (small blind) showed [Jh Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 4: Keyser (big blind) showed [9h Ah] and won ($237) with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 5: holleyspirt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: mirri folded before Flop (didn't bet)
PokerStars Game #13976339990: Hold'em Limit ($15/$30) - 2007/12/20 - 00:13:46 (ET)Table 'Henan' 6-max Seat #2 is the buttonSeat
1: gingery_baby ($773 in chips)
Seat 2: patfitz111 ($397 in chips)
Seat 3: MrTile ($1578 in chips)
Seat 4: Keyser ($1086 in chips)
Seat 5: holleyspirt ($408 in chips)
Seat 6: mirri ($905 in chips)
MrTile: posts small blind $10
Keyser: posts big blind $15
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to gingery_baby [9s 9d]
holleyspirt: folds
mirri: folds
gingery_baby: raises $15 to $30
patfitz111: folds
MrTile: calls $20
Keyser: calls $15
*** FLOP *** [Jc As 9c]
MrTile: bets $15
Keyser: calls $15
gingery_baby: folds
*** TURN *** [Jc As 9c] [Qs]
MrTile: bets $30
Keyser: raises $30 to $60
MrTile: calls $30
*** RIVER *** [Jc As 9c Qs] [Kc]
MrTile: checks
Keyser: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MrTile: shows [Jh Kd] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
Keyser: shows [9h Ah] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
Keyser collected $237 from pot*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $240 Rake $3 Board [Jc As 9c Qs Kc]
Seat 1: gingery_baby folded on the Flop
Seat 2: patfitz111 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: MrTile (small blind) showed [Jh Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 4: Keyser (big blind) showed [9h Ah] and won ($237) with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 5: holleyspirt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: mirri folded before Flop (didn't bet)
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