Flogging Franklstein

WOW - It's Been Over a Year

2007-11-15T00:39:00.000-07:00

Over a year since I last posted, that is.

Stolen Idea

2006-11-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, this has been done over and over and over and over again. But Roger asked "what else do you have on your iPod?", so I thought I would throw down a random 10 (in the order that they appeared.) Plus, it's an excuse to give Roger another hottie picture.

So, without further ado - Frankl's Random iPod 10!

1. Bugle Call Rag - Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
2. Vice - Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five
3. Death Letter Blues - Mickey & the Heartbeats
4. Speak My Language - The Cure
5. I Know My Baby Loves Me - Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers
6. New Speedway Boogie (studio) - Grateful Dead
7. Second That Emotion - Grateful Dead
8. The Big V - Big Audio Dynamite
9. Hurt - New Order
10. Truly Alone - Insane Clown Posse

Hottie pic:

Florida Trip

2006-10-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

I waited to blog about my trip to Florida to visit da_Pickl at the end of September because I wanted to publish my photos using iWeb on my Mac. I wanted to see the possibilities of the program.

So, here it is. There is a photos page and a blog page. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Florida on iWeb

UPDATE: OK Roger. Here's your hottie picture...

40

2006-09-21T05:41:00.000-06:00

UGH

I always start out my birthday listening to "Birthday" by the Beatles from the White Album. I have been doing that since freshman year in college. It might be stupid, but I like it.

I look out the window to confirm what I already know: It's raining. The weather always turns on my birthday. In the past, it would frequently be the first signs of snow of the season. Now that the climate is growing warmerm, I have been getting mostly rain. My mom says it is because I was born in a Nor'Easter. She also says she can always tell it is my birthday by looking out the window.

I sit at 40 twice divorced with no girlfriend. I guess I'm OK with that. I also have a 'roid that is still bothering me and frequent back problems. And I am a big fat piece of crap. I guess I'm OK with that too. My job is starting to really suck ass - I'm not really OK with that. If I had more money, I might have decided go through a mid-life crisis. As I don't, I'll just keep truckin' on.

I'm going to Florida next week to visit my friend Da_Pickl. We'll be seeing George Clinton one night, seeing Son-of-Hender, her husband Todd, and baby Kate another, and Florida hotties the rest of the time. There WILL BE NO hurricanes. I can't wait.

That's it. Here is a hottie picture for Roger (and me):

OW! (Or How I Celebrated Colorado's Birthday)

2006-08-26T12:58:00.000-06:00

So at the beginning of the month I had this medical problem. I know Roger wants to know about it, so I will explain what happened. My apologies to my other reader. Just scroll to the end for what you are really here for.

It all started on August 1st. I went to work all constipated - didn't crap a bit. sometime around 10:00 I got that "Here comes a fever" feeling. I went home at about 11:30. Just after I changed my clothes, the chills hit me like a scorned trailer-trash fat chick on The Jerry Springer Show. I laid down and tried to sleep between alternating fits of uncontrolled shivering and mind-numbing sweating. I checked my temperature after a few hours of sleep. It was 101.8 degrees. My bad fever broke at about 6:00, and I just lay vegging on the couch, watching TV and searching the internets.

The next morning I still was having on and off minor fevers. I was also finding it incredibly painful to take a shit. Only a little bit of thin, whispy craplets were coming out. I called work and told them I was going to work from home. I worked at my kitchen counter because it was painful to sit down. I slept on and off while working and throughout the night.

The next day I was still crapping poorly and getting a fever on and off, so I went to the doctor. Of course, being a butt problem, I had to get the finger probe. He thought it might be my prostate that was causing my problems. Of course, to determine that, he had to poke it repeatedly. "Does that hurt?" he asked. "Only because you keep poking it!" I replied.

I had to pee in a cup so he could rule out my prostate. Well, I couldn't pee in a cup. Nothing was flowing, probably because my prostate gave me the big "fuck you!" after being poked repeatedly.

Anyway, with no piss evidence to rule out my now angry prostate, the doctor consulted his father (They are a father/son office. The doctors are great - tons better than going to a freakin' HMO.) They both concluded that I either had a prostate infection or a bowel infection. I was prescribed Cipro.

It turns out that while I may have had some kind of infection, I for sure had an internal hemorrhoid (which would explain all that anal bleeding I would get periodically for the last 10 months.) How do I know this? I know this because the next day my internal hemorrhoid became a strangulated hemorrhoid. I gleaned this from doing some research on Wikipedia:

* (I84.3-I84.5) External hemorrhoids are those that occur outside of the anal verge (the distal end of the anal canal). They are sometimes painful, and can be accompanied by swelling and irritation. Itching, although often thought to be a symptom from external hemorrhoids, is more commonly due to skin irritation.
o (I84.3) If the vein ruptures and a blood clot develops, the hemorrhoid becomes a thrombosed hemorrhoid.

* (I84.0-I84.2) Internal hemorrhoids are those that occur inside the rectum. As this area lacks pain receptors, internal hemorrhoids are usually not painful and most people are not aware that they have them. Internal hemorrhoids, however, may bleed when irritated.

* (I84.1) Untreated internal hemorrhoids can lead to two severe forms of hemorrhoids: prolapsed and strangulated hemorrhoids.
o Prolapsed hemorrhoids are internal hemorrhoids that are so distended that they are pushed outside of the anus.
o If the anal sphincter muscle goes into spasm and traps a prolapsed hemorrhoid outside of the anal opening, the supply of blood is cut off, and the hemorrhoid becomes a strangulated hemorrhoid.

For some great hemorrhoid pictures, go here

I think the REAL clue, though, was the fact that there was a little nub outside my asshole and it hurt REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD!!!!!!!!!!

I spent all day Friday and all day Saturday in severe pain. I felt I had to shit constantly, and when I would attempt to, I would break out is bad sweats and whine as I attempted to crap in mid-air.

I wasn't eating, and had no desire to eat. My body probably didn't want any more pressure down there. I was sleeping on and off those two days. Every time I would cough or sneeze I would tense up from the searing pain from my ass. You don't realize how much work you asshole puts in preventing you from shitting yourself every time your body is busy doing something until you have the kind of hemorrhoid I did. Three Cheers to the healthy asshole! You do a great job.

I think my pain can best be described in song:

My Asshole Was a Burning Ring Of Fire
I'd Sit Down, Down, Down
And The Pain Would Flame Higher

And It Hurts, Hurts, Hurts
That Ring Of Fire
That Ring Of Fire

--With apologies to the late great Johnny Cash and June Carter

Sunday morning I was laying down watching TV. I had to fart, so I tried. That is when the hemorrhoid burst. There was blood and goo everywhere (YAY couch covers!) but the pain was gone. And it was a HUGE relief that the pain was gone. I can't explain how much of a relief it was. I am sure it doesn't compare to the relief experienced when your torturer stops giving you electric shocks on your balls, but I imagine it's close.

I bled into the toilet the rest of the day while spending the rest of the time with toilet paper shoved into my ass crack. I didn't care, though, because I could shit at will. I could sit down. I stopped having fevers. Life was good.

I went back to the doctor Monday. He pretty much said "Yep, that's a hemorrhoid." He prescribed some foam stuff that I needed to inject into my ass with a syringe. (Not with a needle - a syringe doesn't require a needle. This is the Hip Fact of the Day.)

I worked the rest of the week with toilet paper up my asscrack, and returned to work the following Monday with toilet paper up my asscrack. I think it is finally healed now.

And that's the story, Roger.

I would like to thank Dr. Pauly and Wil Wheaton for keeping me sane during this process. Ya see, the Main Event at the World Series of Poker was going on during my adventure. When I would wake up in the middle of the night (several times each night) I would check Pauly on his poker blog and Wil (and the other writers - including CJ) on the PokerStars blog for updates and entertainment. I have to say they did a wonderful job. And I would like to thank Steve Jobs for my MacBook Pro - which I kept on my coffee table so I could surf the internets tubes without having to sit.

I Owe Roger (Or - Other Reasons Why I Have Been Missing)

2006-07-09T18:55:00.000-06:00

I blame World of Warcraft. It is all that game's fault.

Anyways, I bought a new car Friday. It was my first new one in nine years. Here are a couple pictures of it:

It is a chevy Malibu 3.5 V6. Nicest car i've ever owned. And I got vendor price and 0% interest. Not bad. If only my insurance would go down soon (stupid DUI.)

Anyway... I have three show reviews to do: The moe. and Umphrey's McGee show, the WSP show where I met Pauly, and the Taj Majal, Ratdog, String Cheese Incident show. I got stuck on the moe. show with writer's block (and freakin' life crap) and have been in writing hell since. Look for those reviews soon.
>Here is a hottie picture for Roger, and an additional one because I am so pathetic my mom even calls me Frankl.

My Day Up the Hill

2006-05-30T14:06:00.000-06:00

I was playing poker online Saturday (yes, with a few beers in me) and decided to see if my mom and step father wanted to go up the hill to Blackhawk and hit the casinos on Memorial Day. They are dedicated gamblers who try to to to the Riv in Blackhawk at least once a month. They only play the penny slots with the lines (up to 20, I am lead to believe.)

So, not having seen my parents in a while, I thought it would be cool to head up there. I haven't been there since I got into poker, so I wanted to check out the poker rooms.

After they agreed, I called my friend Ramsey. Before he moved to Phoenix Ramsey would frequently head to Blackhawk to play poker. I decided to ask his advice. He said that the Gilpin was the place to play tournaments, as they had a regular tournament schedule. I also asked him about playing cash games up there. They only play either 2-5 or 5-5 poker games - Hold-Em, Omaha and Stud (from what I saw.) I was told that things can get crazy up there, and to play conservatively, as more people call with crap that in a Vegas poker room.

I then went and checked the sebsite of the Gilpin Casino. As it was Monday, the tournament was a $40 shoot-out. My parents were scheduled to pick me up at my place at 8:00 (what did they think this was - a work day?) and that fit neatly into my plans of getting up there early enough to enter the tournament.

The pickup went smoothly, and we arrived at the Riv at about 9:20. My parents being "special people" or whatever they call it at the Riviera, took me to have breakfast at the buffet. I had sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, a half-rind of honeydew, and some toast. It wasn't too bad. I then took the shuttle up to the Gilpin.

I was told over the phone that I could sign up at 10:00, when the poker room opened. It turns out that this was incorrect information. Sign-up would begin at 11:00 or so. However, if you sat down and played a cash game, you would get first dibs on signing up for the tourney. I passed because there were only 3 people in the room, so I left and walked over to the sister casino the Lodge to check out there poker room. They had a couple 2-5 tables going there, but they were talking of bumping them to 5-5. So I headed back to the Gilpin, sat at the bar, ordered a beer and water, and pissed away $30 playing video poker. I then went back upstairs.

I decided to sit down and play the 2-5 game. I had never played a ring game in a casino (and only a few times online), so I was a bit nervous. I bought $100 in chips (Ramsey advised me to do that) and sat down. Everyone at the table was nice, and the dude to the right was very helpful. After a couple of initial mistakes (like folding instead of checking on my first hand after posting the blind) I settled down. I got signed up for the tournament, and played until it was time to start. I ended up $22 before stoping to play the tourney.

I didn't do very well in the tournament. I wasn't getting any cards, and the couple times I did, I lost to the 30+ blonde with the pressed together boobs who would play A-Anything. The structure was really fast too. We started out with T4000, with the blinds 25-50. Every 15 minutes the blinds would go up. I made it to the break, but was out three hands after I returned.

There was still plenty of time until I had to meet my parents, so I went back to the 2-5 ring game. This time I bought in for $60 - since the $100 seemed excessive in my tight-conservative style. I ended up $57 that session.

All things considered, I ended up about $18 (which is more than I can say for my parents.) I think next time I go up there I will just play the ring games. While tournaments are always -EV, I think I will stick to playing the tournaments in Vegas and the bars and the home games. When I am in Blackhawk, I will just play ring games, now that I am comfortable with them.

And now here's a hottie picture for Roger:

2nd Annual Poker Stars Blogger Tournament

2006-05-25T19:47:00.000-06:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

Last year when I played this tournament, I sucked ass. This was a prison tossed-salad type of sucking ass. It was brutal. But it was fun. I look forward to sucking a little less ass this year. Maybe sucking hottie ass will be my fate.

Speaking of hotties, here is a hottie picture for Roger:

George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars - 5/13/06 - Fillmore Auditorium, Denver

2006-05-17T20:44:00.000-06:00

(I originally posted this over at Coventry: A Phish Blog. I am posting this here as well because Roger needs a hottie picture.)

It's hard writing the first sentence, so I made it easy by typing this particular sentence. Now it is time to talk about the show. Joining me and Da Pickl at the show were Dan and Janet Baker from off of Exit 420 on Route 69. For this reason, Molly couldn't attend the show.

After a stop at Sancho's Da Pickl and I left Dan and Janet behind to go find spots on the rail. We entered the Fillmore, and were pissed to see that they brought the tables back out. That little shit lied to us last time! I was tempted to hunt him down, but opted instead for a Fat Tire. We did get lucky and find four spots in the corner of the rail nearest the stage just above the floor. Standing next to me was this guy wearing a blue blazer with a crest. He had this cheesy little mustache. He was a nice enough guy, but more than a bit odd. Who the hell wears a blue blazer with a crest to a George Clinton show? He ended up standing next to us the whole show - not leaving even once, even to piss. At least he kept quiet.

Opening the show was a local band called Yo Flaco. Their website says they are a Colorado based Hip Hop / Acid Jazz band. I guess that is what we got. I am not a fan of a lot of hip hop, and this band really didn't do it for me. The drummer was good, as were the horns. I was just not impressed with the white guys rappin'. At least there was a beat, which kept me from having to talk to Cresty.

The Bakers had shown up by the time the main event started. The lights went up, and Garry "Starchild" Shider came out. He was wearing a red sparkly jacket with matching red sparkly Huggy Bear hat and white diaper. The band started up, the jacket and hat were set aside, and we were off. After about six minutes, George came out. He was wearing a big white t-shirt for this show. He was all smiles.

I don't know what songs were played or the order they were played (I do remember "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On") I am pretty sure they played a good hunk of these (scroll to the bottom). George spent a good portion of his time just directing the action and grooving along, with periodic (OK, more than periodic) taking of the singing lead. This was alright, as the men and women who were singing when George wasn't are great.

One of the back up singers was a white chick dressed almost exactly like Madonna in her early years. The only thing missing was the 95 rubber bracelets. She was a butter face, but she had nice legs in those fish net stockings. We got some good ol' GWBush slamming when the half naked dude decked out in a white feather pimp hat and white feather boa (he was way more cut that Garry Shider - it was apparent because he was much younger and didn't have his pot belly hanging over a diaper.) yelled out "Fuck George Bush" during one of the later songs. That got a big cheer from the crowd (though I don't know how Cresty felt about that - I didn't ask him.)

The band didn't stop the entire time they were on the stage. It was high energy all the way. The place was hot. Shows in May at the Fillmore are hard to attend because the room get really warm. George was showing this as the top half of his t-shirt was soaked in sweat. But he kept going. Toward the end of the show about 20 young hotties from the audience were invited on stage. I put the binoculars to good use.

At midnight, the lights came on mid song, and the power to the stage was cut. All you would hear was the drums, a couple of horns, and the singing. The band quickly finished the song, and the show was over. This bothered me quite a bit. i've seen several shows at the Fillmore, and I have never seen this happen. Usually they just fine the band for each extra minute they play. The only reason I can think for this happening is the make-up of the crowd. I am only speculating here, but I suspect it is because there were a good number of black people in the crowd (as there should be.) The crowd was good the entire time. Nothing outrageous happened. I don't think it would have happened if it was a crowd full of hippies, like I usually see. At any rate, it was quite disappointing.

The show was awesome. Everyone had a great time and were glad I suggested it. Now comes the quest for a copy of the show.

(I inadvertently posted a picture of George Clinton, the first Governor of New York and 4th Vice President. Here is the picture I should have posted. It would have been interesting to see 18th century George Clinton get his funk on.)

And here is a hottie picture for Roger:

OW!

2006-05-03T17:51:00.000-06:00

I hurt my back Saturday. I hurt it bad. Almost as bad as when I originally threw it out in 2001.

How did I do it? I bent over to empty an ashtray. This was just about an hour before my buddy Rick was supposed to pick me up for the Mammoth playoff game. I almost didn't go to the game, because I knew that it would get worse than the normal tweaking I occasionally get.

"So why did you go, dumbass?" Good question. Da_Pickl, the person of account for our six season tickets was out of town. He had mailed Andy and DJ their tickets before he left. Unfortunately, they didn't arrive in time for the game. Da_Pickl and his password was unreachable, so Plan D was for Andy and DJ to buy the crappiest tickets possible, and then I would stub them up into club level. Unbeknownst to me, plan C ended up working, and I didn't need to go.

(Well that was a good ramble.) Anyway, my back didn't hurt that bad until I started walking from the parking lot to the arena. The standing and walking caused my back to go into spasm. I had to lean on Rick a few times as we approached the arena. I barely made it to my seat.

The game was awesome. The Mammoth are now in the finals (WOO HOO!!!) Afterward, I was sitting out in the smoking area, waiting for the crowd to disperse. I was talking to one of the employees at the Pepsi Center, and she said that I could get wheelchaired out of there. I knew it would be embarrassing, but the pain was so bad that I readily agreed. And that is what happened. They were really nice about it.

Anyway, I finally saw the doctor yesterday. He gave me a prescription for Vicodin and a soma muscle relaxer. The Doc also put me on the massage table. That was awesome. I may have to go back and get that done again.

I am walking around like the old man from scene 24. I can't stand up straight, and when I sorta of try to, my upper body is like two inches to the right of my hips. Fortunately it doesn't hurt to drive. I was able to drive to work and retrieve my laptop so I could work from home.

Big BIG thanks to Da_Pickl who drove me to the doctor, to the grocery store, and then to the bar yesterday. I am good to go here at home for the rest of the week.

(I just re-read what I wrote above. God it's ugly. It must be the muscle relaxants talking.)

Anyway, here is a hottie picture for Roger.

Vacation

2006-04-17T14:08:00.001-06:00

(Dammit. I have to type this all over again. I was almost done, too.)

OK. So I am on vacation. Work can bite my shiny metal ass for a week. “Are you going anywhere?” I heard that all last week. The answer is “no”. This is a mental break vacation. I haven’t had any significant time off since I was in Florida (1, 2) last year.

I am going to be quite busy this vacation, though. Along with playing poker and World of Warcraft, I am going to be filling up the iPod for Da_Pickl’s road trip to a wedding in Texas, burning Dead shows for Caleb, and cleaning my apartment.

Da_Pickl volunteered me for a bar poker tournament Wednesday night. That day will be a sober one for me (but not a sober night) as I have to drive to Castle Rock during rush hour. Still, it is always a good time, and I get to sleep in the next morning.

And, I get to go to visit Roger in Boulder Thursday or Friday. The plan is to have a couple of beers at the bar patio of Roger’s choice, shoot the shit, and ogle hotties.

I had also planned to do one practical task a day – to seem a bit productive. So far I am failing. Perhaps I’ll do a load of laundry.

So I decided to check Dr. Pauly’s poker blog this morning. Pauly had been on a blogging hiatus due to burnout, but with his 2nd place finish last night (which is the best he’s done in a tourney in a ling time), I figured he would post something about it. In his entry he had a link to the WPBT POY standings (that means World Poker Blogger Tour Player Of the Year, Roger). I clicked on it to see the list and this is what I found:

Yup. That is me in 6th place. It came as quite a surprise. I had heard about the WPBT POY through Pauly’ blog and other blogs I read. I thought you had to sign up. I didn’t because the tournaments included games I don’t play, such as HORSE and Omaha. Plus, I really don’t have a poker blog. So, I guess that the two tournaments I entered that were part of the race entered me. (Did you notice that? TWO tournaments and I am in 6th. Did you notice? Did ya?) I’ll be dropping as more tourneys are played, but it is cool to capture the moment.

Speaking yet again of Dr. Pauly, I have a new “job”. You’ll dig this, Roger. He asked me to contribute to his Phish blog : Coventry: A Phish Blog. All I did was tell him that I posted a review of Galactic (he is a Galactic fan). I don’t know if he read that review, but he did read my Keller Williams review. I guess that did it. I am tasked to write concert reviews and music musings. I am excited and nervous about this. It is one thing to write a review for Roger (and the other .25 people that read this blog). It is completely different writing for the Dr. Pauly blogging empire. I just hope that I can contribute in a positive way. In will still try to be me, don’t worry.

Here is a hottie picture for Roger - aka Anonymous: The Picky One:

WOW!!!

2006-04-16T22:02:00.000-06:00

Not only did I win this tourney (and help a good cause), I was heads up with Dr. Pauly!

I got lucky very early on, and was chip leader for 95% of the tournament. Then I was down to 3rd or 4th. But I made the final table, and I was happy to see Pauly there. I thought, "How cool would it be if I was in the last two and Pauly was the other one?" And sure enough, it happened. I screen captured the two of us at the table, but open Photoworks instead of Paint Shop Pro. So when I drunkenly couldn't paste the image, I screen captured the sreen you are seeing now. Then I realized I was in the wrong program. I am such a dumbass.

This is my 2nd win on Full Tilt in two days. I won a satellite to the $200,000 weekly last night, but blew it because Da_Pickl was over giving me my new iPod. I was distracted. Enough said.

Anyway, I am really diggin' the Full Tilt Poker site. You don't get nearly as many brutal suckouts there.

And here is Roger's hottie pic:

Keller Williams Concert

2006-04-12T14:18:00.000-06:00

OK. Enough goofing off. Time for a post.

Last Saturday Da-Pickl and I went to the Keller Williams show at the Fillmore. Actually, while Keller is cool, the real reason for going was to see Grateful Grass (Jeff Austin from Yonder Mountain String Band, Keith Moseley from String Cheese Incident, and Keller Williams) play bluegrass versions of Dead songs. Here is the setlist:

One More Saturday Night
Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo
Eyes Of The World >
Resume Man (SCI)
Candyman
Loose Lucy
Black Peter
St. Stephen
Casey Jones
Brown Eyed Women
New Horizons (YMSB)
Bird Song
Crater In The Backyard (KW)
Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain

The set was on fire. These guys should tour.

A bonus I wasn't expecting was Jerry Joseph & Dave Schools. They opened the show. Here is that setlist:

Suppers Ready, Jacobs Ladder, White Dirt, Henry*> Lick The Tears*, North*

* w/ Keller Williams (percussion)

With just the guitar and bass, you could really hear Schools' riffs. And Jerry Joseph sounded great. His voice reminds me of Jake Schroeder's from Opie Gone Bad.

I only saw a few songs from Keller's set. Da_Pickl had gone outside to puke his guts out, and I stuck it out for about three or four songs. And really, when you hear Mr. one-man-band play a few songs, you have heard them all.

I don't know who is in charge of the Fillmore now (OK, I do know - it's Clear Channel - I meant the manager making all the decisions) but he or she or whoever is ruining the place. For my thousand of readers who have never been to the Fillmore in Denver, I will describe the place.

The Denver Fillmore is an old roller skating rink from the early 1900's. Clear Channel bought the place in the 90's and converted it into a nice concert hall based on the Fillmore in San Francisco (including the purple chandelliers and the apples by the door.) The Denver Fillmore is a much bigger venue, though. The large wood floor down the steps from the entrance. On the right side, as you face the stage, is a large area where all the pictures of bands that have played the Fillmore are displayed. This is also the main area where you could sit down. They had chairs and tables about three deep all along the right side. On the narrower left side there bar stool like chairs along the railing. To get a seat, you had to get to the venue early.

This has now changed since Roger was last there a couple of months ago. Now there are now tables or chairs. The only seating available is now in the newly built VIP section or in the balcony in the far back of the room. I asked one of the staff dudes standing by the entrance to the VIP section why there were no tables and chairs. He said that they sold them all. "They want to make it more like the Fillmore in San Diego." Yes, he said San Diego.

Of course this pisses me off. That was one of the beauties of the place - it was much bigger than the one in San Francisco. That was why they could put the tables and chairs on the side for us old folks who have bad backs. Now the only recourse is to sit WAY in the back on the steps of the balcony, or suck some cock and get VIP seats. Bastards!

(There are other changes I don't like, but I won't go into them here. For an idea what it used to be like, check here.

We also got to see our buddy Jerry and his wife Jen. Da_Pickl had gone out for a smoke, and it suddenly occurred to me that they might be at the show. I gave Jerry a call, and after trying to tell him where I was, he mentioned to me he was in VIP. I turned my head, looked up, and there he was, right above me. They wandered down and shot the shit with us during setbreak. I got a nice hug from Jen (she is such a cutie - how the hell did JERRY get her?)

(If you are a reader who retains information, you may be wondering why I mentioned Jerry and Jen sitting in VIP when I had just mentioned the seats in relation to sucking cock. I am in no way implying that Jerry or Jen had to suck cock to sit up there. Jerry is in the ticket biz, and he knows a lot of people. The guy who invited him to sit there is probably the one who sucked the cock.)

And now a hottie picture for Roger (click to enlarge, in case you forgot):

Full Tilt Poker on an Intel Mac

2006-03-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

I downloaded the Mac client, and I am playing a SNG right now. It is working great on the Intel setup (yes, I know - it is only one sample. But I am playing wirelessly...)

So what are you waiting for? Get Full Tilt Poker!!!

(Roger couldn't give five flying rat ass-fucks about this post. So here is a hottie picture for Roger:)

I Love My New MacBook

2006-03-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

I finally received my MacBook Pro. It's all nice, big and shiny. It shipped two weeks sooner than I thought Apple said it would, and I received it Monday morning.

I am still working to figure out what it can do. This is my first Mac experience, and the switch from Windows to OS X is a little weird. I am getting the hang of it though. The hardest part is converting all the keyboard shortcuts I am used to using on Windows. Fortunately Jimmy is an old Mac pro, and had been helping me out.

My new laptop is fast and works great. The day I received it I was working from home on the piece-of-shit ThinkPad Sprint provides me. I was able to hook up to my wireless effortlessly with the MacBook (The initial setup on the ThinkPad was a bitch to get working.) And, while the wireless connection would periodically drop on the ThinkPad, I have yet to have a problem with the MacBook. And at work the next day, I was able to just plug into the network and go. No configuration required. It is just as my friends told me it would be.

The next step is to see what I can do with it. I can't play on Poker Stars, but Full Tilt has a Mac client I want to test. I can't find anywhere on the internets whether Full Tilt runs well on the Intel chips, so I guess I will have to be the guinea pig. Microsoft has no current plans to create Virtual PC for the new Intel Macs, so until Poker Stars makes a Mac client, I guess I will have to play there on my old computer.

Now I need to buy some toys to go with my baby. I need to buy a carrying case. I am going to look for a good backpack style of bag. I also want to get a keyboard cover (which is actually a screen protector that goes over the keyboard before you close the cover.) I want to get a couple of games for it, perhaps jumping on the World of Warcraft bandwagon now that I have a computer that will run it.

I have been a bit remiss in posting lately. I never gave my review of the latest DSO show. And I didn't rant about the new smoking ban. Maybe later (or maybe not.)

I also got pink eye last week. That sort of sucked.

Here is a hottie picture for Roger: (I hope it turns out. I had been using Hello to post my photos because they would post a little bigger, and you could click on them for an even larger version. Hello doesn't work on the Mac.)

St. Patty’s Day (Or So what? I’d be going to this concert anyway.)

2006-03-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the Dark Star Orchestra concert at Cervante’s (although Da Pickl will need to be in the venue with water in hand before he believes that the show isn’t at Quixote’s.) Also appearing (and this will be cool) is the Dead’s old time touring mates the New Riders of the Purple Sage. I hope DSO performs a recreation instead of a free form show. I always like guessing what the show is (or what the year is, at least.) I will be taking a notebook with me so I can take copious notes.

Driving to work today, as I was going over I-25 on Yosemite, some lady who was slightly ahead of me in the right lane began swerving into my lane as we were rounding the curve. I hit my breaks to avoid being hit and the lady corrected her course. Driving along, I noticed that this dude in my rearview mirror was flipping me off. He was tailgating me so I would be sure to see that middle stink finger. Unfortunately he turned off, because I was ready to pull over, grab my Club, and start wailing on him while yelling “Pay attention on your fucking surroundings, asshole! Didn’t you see that lady swerve and nearly hit me? And STOP TAILGATING, you stupid shit-and-sperm-incrusted dickhole!” And then I would put the u-shaped part of the Club on his throat and push down.

Do you think the "U" part would crush someone's windpipe?

OK, maybe I wouldn’t have done all that. But it made me feel good to imagine it. The happy bluegrass of Cosmic Bowling League calmed me down, and I wished the dude a shitty weekend. I really hope Karma bitch-slaps the dude hard.

On to lighter stuff: I did buy the MacBook Pro (2.0 Ghz Intel Duo Core). And I did it exactly as I said I would. I got drunk, called up Da Pickl, and had him order it for me using his work discount. I saved about $200. The only downside is I have to wait until the second week of April to get it. I think the delay is worth saving two hundred bucks, though. Plus, my nipples will be even harder once the package finally arrives. The thing cost more than my bonus, but I cashed in some options to cover some of that. Now I can buy software and accessories.

The ex will be paying me a visit this weekend so she can update her resume. “Will you be getting a hummer?” you might ask. The answer is no. (Stupid Mormons)

BONUS DAY!!!

2006-03-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

Yup. Today I got my bonus. My plan this year is (was?) to jump the Windows ship and buy the new MacBook Pro with the bonus money.

As is usual when it comes time to make a big purchase, I get all nervous, depressed, and jittery. In this case, the MacBook will be taking all of my bonus. Giving up my bonus in one fell swoop is not an easy thing for me to do. Granted, the bonus money goes away eventually. (A trip to Hawaii and a new stereo have been bonus purchases in the past. But those didn't take my whole bonus.)

I guess I need to do what I always end up doing: get drunk, make the purchase, and then regret it. Yeah. That's what I am going to do.

Here are three thoughts I had last night while playing poker:

--Stop limping into pots, idiot. RAISE!!!

--Stop not betting because you don't want to drop from 9100 to 8100. 9000 is just a number, and not enough to win the tournament. THINK you jackass.

--Is it me, or do aces show up in the flop and after more often at Poker Stars than should be possible? I have been playing Full Tilt lately, and I don't see nearly the Aces I do at Poker Stars. Does anyone know what the odds (or percentage) of an Ace showing up in the flop and after?

And finally, for my only regular reader, here is a hottie pic for Roger:

Whew

2006-02-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Please don't pull me over, Mr Squirrel.

As I was driving to work today, I had a close encounter with Johnny Law. I was stopped at a light near the mall. I look in my rearview mirror, and there is a Lone Tree motorcycle cop right behind me. Immediately, my heart decided that the beat on the radio wasn't fast enough. I had only crossed into city and county limits a quarter mile back, and the cop wasn't behind me at the light on County Line Road, so I had only a limited time to do something wrong. I thought I went through the construction zone with the appropriate caution; I didn't run the previous red light; and I wasn't speeding. So everything was OK in my mind.

The light turned, and about 50 yards down the road, the cop turned on his lights. I slow down. He pulls into the left turn lane and then pulls in front of me and procedes to pull over the car ahead of me at the light. I don't know what he did wrong either, but I am sure glad it was him and not me.

I am awake now!

This Was Neat

2006-02-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this after it happened. I was in a $3 re-buy tournament and I got my first royal flush. Unfortunately I was too slow on the print-screen trigger, so I don't have the cards out there. But I do have the text.

Click to enlarge

That's Not Taken???

2006-02-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

So I went to my local liquor store today to buy some - um - liquor. As I was driving back to my apartment, I noticed this white van parked at the place next door to the liquor store. On the side and back of the van was a sign that said "Put On Your O-Face" with www.oface.com underneath the slogan.

Now, the van and the slogan were no surprise. The big surprise was the web address. I thought to myself, "How the hell did they get THAT IP address? It HAS to be already owned!" (if you are a maroon and don't know where "o-face" comes from, go here or here or here (the best!).)

Anyway, I had to see the web address to see what was truly up. Sure enough, it was the new address for the porn shop. Again: HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET THAT ADDRESS???" I think it is hilarious the own it. SWEET!!! (I may have to visit now - or should I order on-line from a place that is a quarter mile away?)

Anyway, they have a "Show Us Your O-Face" page, It starts out with some of the local strippers (here's one),

O-Face

then shows real people O-Facing.

C'mon Everyone - Put On Your O-Face!!!!!

P.S. I will update with a picture of the store-front (if I can remember to take my camera to my next liquor store visit.)

(OK, I've decided. I'm off to get my O-Face on...)

A Tiny Taste of Mardi Gras – Galactic at the Fillmore – 2/18/06

2006-02-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

It was Saturday and time to party to the New Orleans funk stylin’s of Galactic. Da Pickl picked me up and we headed to Sancho’s for a few pre-show beers. Believe it or not, Roger went to the show. I owe you a hottie pic, Roger, so here it is:

If you are in Denver and like jam band music, you have to hit Sancho’s. The beer is cheap (but it’s not cheap beer), the music constantly playing, and plenty of Dead and other jam band pictures and artwork all over the place. It’s a great place to hang out before a Fillmore show.

After getting a good buzz on and catching up with Roger, we headed over to the Fillmore. The Rebirth Brass Band was playing their set as we went in, and there was hardly anyone in the place. Da Pickl managed to find a table all by its lonesome, and close to one of the bars. If you have been to the Fillmore before, this table was actually on the left side as you walk in. It is the only table on the left side, and we got it.

As we sat there sucking our suds, the Rebirth Brass Band played on. Being an ex-trombone player, I like the sound of horns. These guys were great – along the likes of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band horns. They had a nice little set, and by the time they were done, the hardly-anyone-in-the-place had doubled in size. Da Pickl and I headed out to have a smoke in the sub-zero weather while Roger did Roger things (like calling his wife and ogling women – probably both at the same time.)

We came back in and found that the place was beginning to fill up. I didn’t realize that Galactic attracted a younger crowd. There were college students everywhere. Perhaps it was the whole “almost” Mardi Gras thing. At any rate, this lone table was in a prime spot to do some hottie watching, as it was about three feet above the main thoroughfare on the left side. (You will note here that I am not going by stage direction, as I am not on the freakin’ stage.) (Another note here: If you spell check “hottie” in a Microsoft product, the first suggestion to come back is “hogtie”.) And boy howdy were there a ton of hotties! Roger was having a great ol’ time. (One of the things I love about Roger is his unabashed hottie watching. It is like watching a kid in a toy store before Christmas.)

Unfortunately the Fillmore staff underestimated how many people were attending the show, because they didn’t open all the bars. The Fillmore has 9 or 10 bars scattered around the place: three on the floor, five in the area around the floor, and two (I think) upstairs. Of these 10 bars, they had five opened when the show started. If you are an observant reader, you will recall that I said our lone table was close to an open bar. This translated to a long line at “our bar”, which means we had people standing in line behind us for almost the whole show. Eventually the next closest bar to us opened, but it made no difference to the long ass line right behind us. This is too bad because the bartender looked like a young Dayle Haddon. If the freakin’ line wasn’t in the way I could have looked at her some more.

Dayle Haddon

Anyway, on to the show. I waited for the setlist to write this “review”, because I am not familiar with Galactic’s songs.

SET ONE: Shibuya, Spider Bite, Iko Iko (Wild Mags), We Come to Party (Wild Mags), Doublewide, Whole Lotta Love (Sista Teedy), Break in the Road (Teedy/ Leo Nocentelli) , Funky Miracle (Leo), Cardova (Leo), Look ka Py Py (Leo), When the Levee Breaks (Teedy)
SET TWO: Snowball (Rebirth), It Ain¹t What You Think (Rebirth), Garbage Truck, Metermaid, Two Dots (Bionic Brown), Black Talk, Good Job Brownie, Cabbage Alley (Leo and Wild Mags), Africa (Leo, Teedy)
ENCORE: Reverend Lee (Teedy), Big Chief (Wild Mags, Leo, and Rebirth)
SPECIAL GUESTS:
Leo Nocentelli
Wild Magnolias
Tricia 'Sista Teedy' Boutte
Rebirth Brass Band
Bionic Brown

The Wild Magnolias were a trip. There were two of them, and they came out in these huge feathered costumes. Leo Nocentelli played some sweet guitar throughout.

The Wild Magnolias

When Sista Teedy dedicated “When the Levee Breaks” to the people of New Orleans, there was barely a murmur from the crowd. This rather pissed me off, as it just proves that just about everyone has forgotten the plight of those poor people. The song was sweet, however.

In the second set, there was one of those “walkin’ lines” going through the crowd in costume. There was a dragon, the Wild Magnolias, and a couple of costumes similar to those Milwaukee Brewers sausage racers. That seemed to get the crowd going.

During the second set, Roger befriended this hottie who was standing near us. I didn't think she was an older woman until she turned around. Da Pickl and I had a over/under bet on her age. We put the number at 38, and I took the over. We never did get a chance to ask how old she was.

In all it was an awesome show. The funk was definitely on. And though there were hotties everywhere, and we had beads, no one would show us their tits – not even to Roger.

A Good Thing To Do (and other ramblings...)

2006-02-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Suckout On Leukemia tournament is being held on Full Tilt Poker February 26th. These are the details:

What: Suckout on Luekemia
When: Sun, Feb 26th @ 17:00
How Much: $10 + 16
Password: playforjill

$15 of the 16 dollar fee will go to help pay for medical costs. The last I saw, Eric Seidel will be playing, and they hope to pull in more pros as the tournament approaches. You can find more information HERE. It is for a good cause. Sign up and play!

I used this tournament as an opportunity to deposit some money into Full Tilt again. I had initially signed up to play there because they were holding some Katrina Relief tournaments, and I wanted to help out. I never did clear my deposit bonus, and now I can't because too much time has passed.

I have been wanting to give some of their tournaments a try and really give the software a test drive. I picked a couple of $4+40 tourneys. The first thing I noticed is how different the structure is from your typical Poker Stars MTTs. Instead of 15 minute rounds starting at 10/20 and going to 15/30, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, etc. that Poker Stars has, Full Tilt has 10 minute blinds with smaller increases (15/30, 20/40, 25/50, 30/60, 40/80, etc.) The difference is going to take some getting used to for me. I haven't made my mind up yet whether I like Full Tilt's structure, hate it, or am indifferent.

I kind of hope I at least adapt, as it may well be the deciding factor on whether I buy a Mac or a PC when I buy a laptop. Full Tilt just came out with Mac software, and one of my criteria for buying a laptop is that I can play poker on it when I am not at home. If I find I like to play on Full Tilt (or Poker Stars comes out with a Mac version of their software) I will go with the Mac. If not, I am stuck with a crappy Windows laptop.

I got an interesting suprise Saturday. An old girlfriend, Joyce, who I was seeing long distance from Philadeplhia about a year or so ago called me right out of the blue (I let it go to voicemail, as I was in the middle of a Mammoth game outing.) I haven't talked to her since she told me to never call her again (a result of me jokingly calling her crazy.) I was going to call her back today until I realized that today is St. Valentine's Day. I'll call her tomorrow.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, any man who buys his sig other flowers or takes her out to dinner or anything else because he is EXPECTED TO is a pussy. You should be doing stuff throughout the year. Also, any woman who EXPECTS you to buy flowers on Valentine's Day is more trouble than she is worth. If you both agree to ignore Valentine's Day and celebrate on the spur of the moment some other day, you will be much happier overall.

I am going to see Galactic at the Fillmore this weekend. I expect to see you there, Roger, or no more hottie pictures for you.

Man I Suck at Poker

2006-01-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today is Tuesday, so that means the WWdN Tuesday tournament. I really look forward to these. The conversation is fun and the poker is good. Except for me tonight.

For the longest time I wasn't getting any cards. Then the two times I did, I played them HORRIBLY!!! It was ugly. 108th out of 125. UGH.

At least Nickerson got the last of my T-595. I hope he puts them to good use.

Work Crap

2006-01-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of "interesting" things are happening at work.

First, they are syncing up Nextel's pay dates with Sprint's pay dates. As it stands now, legacy Nextel employees (me) get paid every two weeks - this Friday being one of them - and are paid current. Any adjustments such as overtime will appear in the next check. Legacy Sprint employees get paid every two weeks on the Friday we don't get paid, and they are paid one week behind.

In order to sync up, they are postponing our pay for March 3 to March 10 to match Sprint. That means three weeks between paychecks for legacy Nextel employees. Basically, it would be like we were hired anew and had to wait three weeks for our first paycheck. That in and of itself sucks ass, though we do have the option of taking a "loan" on our pay on the 3rd and "paying it back" either on the 10ths check or over five pay periods. I should be OK, though I know others who are going to take that "loan". What really pisses me off is the timing. They are performing this action on a check that amounts to a "rent check" for a lot of people. Some jackass number cruncher must have decided this would be a good idea. Like the same thing couldn't have been done in the middle of the month? May Mr. number cruncher and cohorts have a shitty 2006!

In other news, they moved our group to the next building today. The new place irritates the hell out of me. When you walk into the area, it is like a morgue. Not a sound can be heard. Our old spot was on a floor with a good amount of background noise, being a call center and all. Our group could be our normal loud selves and no one would complain. Now, we are going to have to deal with some asshole manager saying we are too loud. (The group that we traded spots with confirmed this.) Well, you know what? Too fucking bad. We talk to each other. We laugh out loud. We are a pretty happy bunch. Those bastards had better get used to us, because we aren't changing. Put some earplugs in your side-holes and continue in your pathetic world of blissful, boring silence, ya puss-heads!

Here is a hottie picture for Roger.

Yay! It's Payday Friday!

2006-01-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

But that is not what this post is about. Thinking about titles is hard.

My current bathroom reading fare is Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em. It's format is in honor of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf. Like Penick's book, it had small, easy to read sections culled from the notes Phil Gordon has taken throughout his poker career.

I am reading this book at the same time I am re-reading Dan Harrington's books for the second time. As I go through the Little Green Book, I am finding myself recalling the more detailed discussions that Harrington presents. There is alot of good stuff about tournament play in Phil's book. I think I will find myself reading it over and over again whenever I find my poker thought processes out of whack.

Speaking of poker, I wanted to share with you myfinal hand of last nights WWdN: West Coast Warm-up. If you look at the hand, it appears I played like a total fool. There is some truth to that.

The tournament started at 9:00 Mountain time - aka my bedtime. There were 35 players, and the top five paid. This hand is on the final table, eight players left, and I am the short stack. This hand takes place at about 11:00.

PokerStars Game #3694388879: Tournament #18321964, Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII
(200/400) - 2006/01/20 - 00:55:34 (ET)
Table '18321964 2' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: The_Venetian (6774 in chips)
Seat 2: patrickjst (9081 in chips)
Seat 3: L0K1 (5475 in chips)
Seat 4: Frankl66 (4561 in chips)
Seat 5: darval (9056 in chips)
Seat 7: bedheadmick (9648 in chips)
Seat 9: Darzog (7905 in chips)
The_Venetian: posts the ante 25
patrickjst: posts the ante 25
L0K1: posts the ante 25
Frankl66: posts the ante 25
darval: posts the ante 25
bedheadmick: posts the ante 25
Darzog: posts the ante 25
Frankl66: posts small blind 200
darval: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Frankl66 [Jc 9c]
bedheadmick: folds
Darzog: folds
The_Venetian: folds
patrickjst: folds
L0K1: raises 800 to 1200
Frankl66: calls 1000
darval: folds

LOK1 had been stealing the blinds given the opportunity any chance he got. I thought he was doing it again here (it turns out he was, as you will see), so I called.

*** FLOP *** [4c 2h 8s]
Frankl66: bets 800
L0K1: raises 1200 to 2000
Frankl66: calls 1200

My bet was probably too small there. (Or was it??? - we shall see.)

*** TURN *** [4c 2h 8s] [7s]
Frankl66: checks
L0K1: bets 2250 and is all-in
Frankl66: calls 1336 and is all-in

At this point in the game (not just the hand) I am getting really tired, so I am not thinking straight. I have nothing, yet I called after the flop. Now I have to call all-in because I am pot-committed. At this point I have been up for 20 hours (since 3:00 in the morning - I couldn't get back to sleep.) I am giving up on the game so I can go to bed.

*** RIVER *** [4c 2h 8s 7s] [6c]
Frankl66: shows [Jc 9c] (high card Jack)
L0K1: shows [2c 7d] (two pair, Sevens and Deuces)
L0K1 collected 9647 from pot
Frankl66 said, "hammer@!!!"

LOK1 was bluffing from the start with THE HAMMER!, and he got his two pair on the turn. It was just as I thought initially - though the Hammer never occurred to me. It should have, though, since poker bloggers love to play the Hammer. I told you I was tired.

LOK1 went on to win the tourney. Congratulations, LOK1.