The Mentalist is CBS's new spin on the detective/crime scene genre of TV shows.  It is like a modern day Sherlock Holmes and it is amazingly popular.  The characters are fun, quirky, and interesting.  The "mystery" part of the plot captures the ellusive aspect of making sense while not being obvious. Watching the "mentalist" do his stuff is intriguing as well.  This is definitely one of the better shows on TV right now. One of our favorite things to do during the show is to try and figure out who the guilty party is.  In most cases it is a surprise but after the fact you can see how all of the pieces fit together.  It is tantalizing to think that there is enough information to figure it out during the show but it is still not obvious.  This is a part of the fun of the show.

While watching the show recently, and trying to figure it out, I realized that we could make a fun game out of it.  And so the "Mentalist Betting Game" was born.  Here is how it works.

Yesterday I read the following article: Past Debates Show a Confident Palin.  With the opening sentence I realized that someone isn't on the same planet as nearly everyone else I speak with.  The Palin-Biden debate has got to be the most anticipated debate surrounding the presidential election in a couple decades.  Everyone I know is talking about it.  Most people, Palin supporters and detractors both, are saying that Biden is in big trouble and is likely to get totally decimated.  So I couldn't figure out why the author of that article said that tonight's debate is so under anticipated.  I can only guess that it's wishful thinking or a pre-emptive strike.  But, since I'm a conservative I'm rather open minded.  I was willing to acknowledge that the scope of my contacts is somewhat limited.  Maybe I was lucky and only ran into those few people who were interested in the debate.  That was until I read the news today.