Apple dishes new iPad details on 3G, iBooks, more
Posted on by Dan Moren , Macworld.com The availability of pre-orders isn’t the only new development in iPad-land. Apple also updated its site with a plethora of new details about its latest and greatest device, from information on the 3G networking capabilities to a more in-depth description of ... — full article at macworld.com
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GUEST BLOG #81: Diane Holloway feels 'Justified'
[Bianculli here: The FX network has another raw, standout series on its hands, featuring a modern lawman with the most imposing Stetson since McCloud. For me, Justified is love at first sight. For contributing critic Diane Holloway, it's love at second and third sight -- but she's smitten, too...]
Enjoying the latest FX drama is entirely 'Justified'
By Diane Holloway
If FX had sent only the pilot episode of Justified for preview, this would have been an entirely different review. The pilot, premiering Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET, was good, but not great. Not even close to great. The guest villain was so much more interesting than the alleged hero that it was pathetic.
But the network wisely sent three episodes of the new series based on an Elmore Leonard short story, and the quality and enjoyment soared by the third hour. There's really no excuse these days for starting slow, but cable apparently has more tolerance for slow starts than the broadcast networks. If you enjoy the debut episode of this new FX offering (even a little bit), you're going to really like it in a week or two.
Justified is something of an odd duck -- a modern-day crime drama with a cowboy-style lead character. Tim Olyphant, who played old-west lawman Seth Bullock in HBO's Deadwood, stars as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a guy whose fabulous Stetson is almost as legendary as his propensity for shooting first and asking questions later. (Honestly, I'll be glad when the hat isn't such an object of on-screen comment.)
In the opening scene of Tuesday night's pilot, Raylan blasts a bad dude out of his chair in Miami, quickly earning a demotion that sends him back to his hometown of Harlan, Kentucky. His excuse for such deadly snap judgments, past and present, is the show's title. In Raylan's mind, just about any action that gets rid of bad guys is justified.
When the maverick marshal returns to Harlan, he faces all kinds of ghosts and demons, including Boyd Crowder, a former coal-mining friend turned juicy villain. Boyd, played to gritty perfection by Walton Goggins, is the highlight of the pilot -- all evil, toothy grin and grimy gristle. Besides robbing banks, Boyd is a wild-eyed white supremacist whose home decor includes big swastikas. Goggins, you may recall, played the tortured Det. Shane Vendrell on The Shield, in one of TV's most remarkable character evolutions. Typecast here? Maybe. Probably. But he's so darn good, it just doesn't matter.
The promise of similarly serpentine character and story developments is what keeps Justified interesting. Details about Raylan's past begin to emerge by the third episode, and the marshal, who is practically mute in the pilot, begins to open up as he rediscovers his old hometown.
I'm a longtime and unapologetic fan of FX original series. The cable network has a distinguished list of originals that I've spent years praising. The Shield remains a top contender for all-time best cop drama in my mind, and I deeply admire the twisted dramas Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me and Sons of Anarchy, as well as the clever mystery of Damages.
Based on Leonard's short story Fire in the Hole, Justified is steered to TV by Graham Yost, whose impressive credits include creating NBC's Boomtown and writing for HBO's Band of Brothers. Leonard [pictured on-set with Olyphant] is another executive producer of the FX series.
Good pedigree doesn't always result in good product, but Justified looks better than promising. Check it out -- but hold off on final judgment until you've seen more than the premiere.
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UKIPT Manchester: Day 3 level 24 (blinds 12000-24000, ante 3000)
9.06pm: End of level
That's it for this level. Another 60 minutes and they'll be a 15-minute break. Lyall appears to be getting restless and is likely to scoop all the chips in the next couple of hours or dump them all off. Time, as they say, will tell.
9.05pm: Someone call an ambulance, Zandvliet's head has exploded
Joeri Zandvliet has just exploded in a monster hand against Dean Lyall. Lyall raised to 50,000 from the button and Zandvliet 3-bet to 146,000, which Lyall, in no mood to fold, called. The Dutchman then check-called 75,000 on a [6d][6c][9c] board before both players checked a third six [6s] on the turn. Zandvliet checked the river before Lyall made a huge 430,000 bet on the river into the 323,000 pot and then started baiting (see post below) Zandvliet to call. He told Zandvliet, 'You can go home now - at least you stacked off to the best player in the world.' (Phil Ivey? Where?). Zandvliet eventually called and mucked as Lyall showed [ac][th] for a 1.183m pot.
8.55pm: Red bull gives you wings
Dean Lyall has been double-fisting double vodka and red bulls all day and his aggressiveness and speech play have been going up in steady correlation with his consumption. In his latest hand he raised from the hijack and was called by Mike Hill on the button to go to a [6h][tc][ah] flop. He check-called a 100,000 bet before both players checked the [jd] river. After the river came [6d] Lyall picked up a pile of chips and threw them in the middle. When Hill asked how it was Lyall said "A handful."
The dealer confirmed it was 400,00 and Lyall responded with "Oh, that's quite a lot" and then went into full on speech play mode where he was goding Hill into calling. The trick, if it was one, worked as Hill called with A-Q but he was out-kicked by the Scot's [ac][kd].
With that, Lyall is the new chip leader on 1,770,000. Hill drops to 1,100,000.
8.45pm: Brammer plays three on the bounce
1) Brammer three-bets Ellwood from the button and wins the hand pre-flop.
2) Brammer calls Ellwood's 55k raise for the second time but check folds to a 76,000 c-bet on a [8d][kd][qc] flop.
3) Brammer raises 55,000 and is called on the button by Lyall who he check-calls on a [js][8d][9s] flop. They check down on the [ks][9h] turn and river and Brammer wins showing [jh][qs].
Dan Owston eliminated in 7th place (£6500)
The first part of this elimination story saw Chris Brummer raise to 55,000 before Dan Owston moved all-in from the small blind for another 220,000. Brummer made the call with [qs][9c] and soon saw he was dominating Owston's [js][9s].
The board came a swingy [7c][9h][ts][jh][kd]. Brummer made a straight by the river to eliminate the jovial Welshman in 7th.
Back to Cardiff boyo
8.38pm: Owston out in 7th for£6500
Dan Owston has been knocked out by Chris Brammer. Details to come.
8.32pm: Value bets good and bad
Dean Lyall is tucking into Vodka Red Bulls with aplomb and it's, as of yet, not having too bad an effect. He's made a sweet 150,000 value bet into Zandvliet with top pair and a not-so-sweet value bet for 24,000 into Mike Hill on a four-club board. Hill called with two-pair no flush.
8.30pm: Tim Brown eliminated in 8th place (£4,800)
Tim Brown open shoved from second position for 487,000 before Joeri Zandvlient moved all in from the next seat. Everyone else folded to leave it as a heads-up showdown:
Brown: [jc][jh]
Zandvilient: [kd][kh]
The board came [8d][7h][9s][2s][6h] to eliminate Brown in 8th place. He leaves to a generous round of applause. The Dutchman's up to 1,150,000 now.
Brown finished in 8th place
8.18pm: Power poker
Dan Owston is getting dangerously low again after being forced off a pot by Dean Lyall. The former made it 56,000 to go from second position and was only called by his neighbor. Owston led out for 85,000 on the [td][3d][7c] and was snap-called by Lyall to go to the [kh] turn. Owston checked this time to face a quick all in move from Lyall. After some table talk between the two Owston folded to leave him self on 360,000 chips. Lyall up to 1,200,000. Lyall allowed Owston to see one card and the card that was revealed was [kc]. Owston claimed to have had an over-pair to the board.
8.07pm: Raise does the trick
Ellwood raises to 56,000 and is called by Millan on the button. A [2s][qc][8s] flop is enough for Ellwood to fire again, some 68,000 into the 148,000 pot. Millan instantly raises to 200,000 and takes the pot down flashing [ah][qh] for his troubles.
8.03pm: Play resumes
The players are back in their seats and play is under-way after an extended dinner break. It took a bit longer than expected for the final table players to receive their complimentary meal from the restaurant so we were away for a little more than an hour. That might've had some thing to do with the valentines special they're running.
Chip counts:
1. Mike Hill - 1,430,000
2. Tim Brown - 202,000
3. Joeri Zandvlient - 961,000
4. Jack Ellwood - 1,404.000
5. Chris Brammer - 957,000
6. Dan Owston - 502,000
7. Julian Hasse - 0
8. Dean Lyall - 1,049,000
9. Tony Millan - 861,000
Current chip leader Mike Hill
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Hot Clicks: Alice Eve; Chad Ochocinco gets VH-1 dating show
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