"The Pen:" Live NLHE Chat Thread

Ass Prof, cool!

Gdowehavetogenuflectnow?G

It's actually Ass Pro. No longer an Ass Amateur.

So in other words, VMI.

Hey guys, hope everyone is happy and healthy!!

I’d love to see what y’all have been up to if anyone would like to drop a photo from their life as of late.

This one’s from a night out at chess club with a childhood friend [emoji169]

Did you tell her that you can dunk?

If not, then what are you waiting for!?!?

Lookin' FRESH with those glasses RTP!

ty sir. you’re the best. congrats!!

can barely hang rim on a great day :(

ty man living the dream

you’re a great friend 😀

Remembering Red and Floyd

Yesterday I bought an old copy of Bill Mauldin’s Book Up Front, as I’ve always been a fan of Mauldin’s Willie and Joe cartoons. I was interested to see the text that Mauldin included in this book, written in the late days of World War II in Europe, but mostly I bought it for the chance to see some of his war cartoons that I had not seen before and to revisit some old friends. The inside cover was inscribed “Red from Floyd, Dec. 25, 1945” in a beautiful cursive hand. As I read farther, an old gift tag which had been used as a bookmark for so long that its silhouette has permanently marked pages 130 and 131 fell out. In a much more basic hand, mostly block printing, it read “To – Red From Floyd.” This told me a story. An incomplete and somewhat conjectural story, but one that made we want to celebrate Red and Floyd.

If you are not familiar with Mauldin’s work, he drew the grimy, tired, unshaven face of war. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his work, exemplified by this cartoon showing the victorious troops as battle-weary as the defeated:

His main characters, Willie and Joe, were infantrymen. American everymen, they were cynical, tired, “dogface” combat soldiers. In his book Up Front, Mauldin was even more overt that his work was about and for the “doggies,” even if it spoke to most soldiers, and the book was written to explain, and even to celebrate, these hard fighters. Among the traits of combat infantrymen, Mauldin argued that they wanted their lost comrades remembered to the point that they “have an overwhelming desire to go back home and yell in everybody’s ear, ‘This guy was killed fighting for you. Don’t forget him–ever. Keep him in your mind when you wake up in the morning and when you go to bed at night.’” Throughout the rest of the book, Mauldin made it clear that the doggies who made it home deserved to be remembered as well. So let’s remember Red and Floyd.

Who were they? I don’t know. But I feel confident that Floyd was a combat soldier and Red was a good buddy. Clearly, Up Front spoke to Floyd, and he either expected it to speak to Red, or at least to make sense. Were they the Willie and Joe of their unit, or did Floyd choose this book as a gift hoping that it would explain to Red how Floyd saw the world now? I don’t know, but given the nickname Red, and the fact that this present came before much demobilization was complete, I suspect the former is more likely. These men were likely literal battle buddies who recognized themselves and their experiences of war in Mauldin’s cartoons, men who knew mud, fear, and exhaustion. As for what they did specifically, or where they fought, I have no clues.

I also have few clues for their lives before the war. I suspect that someone else (perhaps the clerk at the PX where he bought it) wrote the neat inscription inside the cover, and the block printing on the gift tag was Floyd’s own hand. Based on that hand, Floyd’s background didn’t place an emphasis on penmanship, but more than that I cannot say. The book clearly meant a lot to Red, as it had been read enough that they dust jacket was in tatters, but he had saved the front cover portion, carefully tucking it in to pages, and saving the gift tag as mentioned above. I found the book at a used bookstore in Birmingham, Alabama, so perhaps Red was from the area. That might lead folks to speculate that this Red was Medal of Honor recipient Henry "Red" Erwin, who lived in Birmingham after being medically retired following treatment for burns for his heroic action throwing a burning phosphorous bomb from the cabin of a B-29 in April 1945. This is possible, but seems unlikely. Erwin was still undergoing surgeries to, among other injuries, restore his eyesight for 30 months after his injury. A 1945 Christmas present of a book seems premature. This is likely some other Alabama redhead. One who did his fighting on the ground, and whose actions, if not less heroic, were not so widely noted.

If we can’t remember Red and Floyd specifically, let us remember them as everymen. The term “Greatest Generation” is too often thrown about, and often making Superman seem more of an everyman than Willie and Joe. But the memory of those who fought in World War II is built on what they endured as much as what they accomplished. And if they did it without much spit and polish, but with great dedication for the folks in their unit, even while griping about the brass, the politicians, and the war itself, that almost makes it more noble.

Every time I think about world war 2, I come away with the thought that I definitely would not have been up for the challenges and the struggles they went through.

My grandfather was at Omaha beach, and came home. I didn’t know him… he died when I was two, but I did get to meet him. By all accounts, an incredibly impressive person.

Truly the Greatest Generation.

Interesting meditation on the ghosts of the past. Without last names you would likely have to ask "local historians" for resident friends with those names.

Curious what the pen’s WSOP plans are this summer. Anyone planning to be in Vegas?

I was planning a 10 day trip for mid June but played a hand so badly in an mtt last weekend that I rage cancelled

If I’m heading to Vegas at all this year, it’ll be in December.

This years WSOP got scrapped when my kid qualified for worlds in Germany in mid-June. We leave in 15 days.

Heading to Vegas for 19 days starting next Thursday!

I’ll be doing another big live trip report in LVL, hope to see everybody there.

We'll be in Germany for a split second on our way to/from Greece at about the same time.

GcluelessGermanynoobG

There's a thread in LVL with people posting their dates and setting up meetups.

LVL WSOP thread

@squid face,

Tried to do this via DM, but your Inbox is full.

You don't know me, but I've been a long-time reader, occasional poster on the 2+2 forums. I was briefly in SLC/PC last weekend and thought about you and SPC. Any updates on the spring-> summer hard core recreatin' you may be up to? Mostly interested in any grueling bike-related trips SPC has going on. Not stalking, just recalling last summer's epic journey.

Thanks for any updates you care to share with us.

AzO

Hey AZ,

How can I not know someone who refuses to go back to Buttholeville!?

SPC's competition started with an event in your state - The Race across arizona (which is around 620 miles of gravel and dirt). She decided to be a total baller and bike from our house in Park city through the nevada desert into california and to the start in Topac arizona. 10 riders showed up for the grand depart. Unfortunately it rained like a mofo and mud became an issue. By the end of day 2 she was the only one who did not scratch and was the only person to complete from the "grand depart". She then rode home through new mexico and colorado. Total distance for the trip was 2,400 miles.

SPC is home for another month and then has several more events. She will not be going to the 24 hr world championships in november. Instead she hopes to break the 48hr record in the Psycho 48 for her season ending event.

Hope all the Penners are doing well and living their best lives

best
skwid and the street pokerz chick

no vegas/wsop for me this year. too many other vacations. couldnt justify another one

as someone who's been following spc's shenanigans closely, i gotta say how deeply impressed i am

easily one of the toughest people alive - no way i could do what she does and she actually appears to enjoy it

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I saw a video of a guy flying in a squirrel suit yesterday and thought about Squid.

The Tapatalk app is so trash, crashing upon opening 90% of the time, that I’ve pretty much forgotten about this place.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Any wild hands or funny moments recently, Miami, Sabr? Or anyone else?

i'm actually down overall my last 300 hours at 1-3 and it is a humbling experience

New guy gets a Zoltan right off the bat, awesum.

GcluelessZoltannoobG