Got this message today:

On your newest video...did you notice the extra practice strokes before the miss at the end...looks like the money ball was treated differently in the setup. I hate it when that happens.

Watched the "foiled again" video again. You're absolutely right - I took an extra practice stroke.

Looks to me like I did it (subconsciously) to try to convince myself that I was lined up correctly when I wasn't. You can tell that I wasn't lined up correctly because I missed the shot by 73 miles.

Also, the stupid cueball had just rolled four feet further than I'd expected it to. I was actually planning to bank that last ball cross-corner. So that may have thrown me off a little too. I should have taken more time before I bent over the shot.

Anyway, thanks for pointing that out!

Just a follow-up to the last fascinating entry.

LoL, sorry, I ment a rack of 9-ball at your movies page!

A rack of 9-Ball would be pretty boring I think.

Now if I can ever capture myself stringing several racks together, and then somehow compress the movie down to a reasonable size, I'd definitely publish that.

Of course before that can happen I have to actually (a)not suck, (b)turn my stupid camera on, and (c)be fully-dressed.

Got this message via my form thing on my main page:

Ey dude nice site maby you should put a movie of you running a rack up here I would love that

I'm not sure what the suggestion is.

(cross-posted to the main 'blog)

Every now and then I do a search for "barenada" just to see what comes up.

Occasionally I'm pleasantly surprised with what I find.

Take these Gems from the Billiards Digest community board:

UWPoolGod

You guys ever go to http://www.barenada.com/index2.shtml
and check out his daily banter on which beer he tried last night. Pretty funny. And some good pool vids.

Aboo

That's a very cool site I've never seen anyone bank like that in my life... and he says he can't compete on the upper level in the DCC. Wow. That's all I've got to say. Wow.

I appreciated your e-mail, and tried to respond, but my response bounced several times. I decided that it would be less rude to post my response here than to seemingly ignore it.

> Dear Mr. Siltz,

Mr. Siltz was my father. I'm just Dave.

> I've just spent an enjoyable, and humbling, half hour perusing
> your pages dedicated to billiards. I've added your site to
> my list of favorite links and look forward to reading the rest
> of them soon.

Well thank you very much for the site feedback.

> We are at opposite ends of the pool spectrum. I'm 52 and just
> starting to play. Oh, I've swung a stick at a ball from time
> to time over the years, but I doubt I've averaged more than an
> hour a week over the last decade, even though I have my own
> table. Recently I've discovered that I derive more satisfaction
> from shooting than I do almost anything else and have decided
> to make a commitment to this noble sport. At least I'd planned
> to until watching some of your shot making. I can't believe
> I'll ever be able to do anything close to what you've
> demonstrated.

Until a couple of years ago I couldn't bank a ball to save my life.
Amazingly, all it took was practice, practice and more practice. I'f
back then I'd seen a movie of somebody banking nine in a row I'd have
bet anything that I'd never be able to do that.

> I've recently read a debate in a billiard forum about which
> is the best chalk. What surprised me was that no one mentioned
> how humidity effects a chalk's performance. Someone finding
> Master's Blue to feel muddy in Florida's humidity might discover
> it's quite dry and, well, chalky in my extremely dry location
> in Southern California's high desert. It seemed to me that much
> of the disagreement might be the result of the chalks being
> effected by environmental conditions. When you have the time,
> I would appreciate hearing your thoughts about this. Is there
> a best chalk for humid conditions? A better one in dry?

When I was in New Orleans I switched to Triangle chalk, reasoning that
the harder chalk would not absorb moisture as readily. I don't know
if it really did any good though it does seem to make sense.

> Thank you for putting together a first rate site. I'll forward
> it to my friends and, with your permission, add a link to it on
> the modest pool page I plan to add to my own site.

Thanks again.