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.

193 Hours

2006-01-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

With my carryover of vacation from last year, I have 193 hours to use this year (or a little over 24 days.) I have no idea how to use it. I had 20 days of vacation in 2005, and I didn't use all that time, even after traveling to Vegas, Hawaii, and Florida. Now I have even more, and no clue what to use it on.

I would like to go on a road trip this year. Perhaps to the High Sierra Music Festival. It's been a few years since I've been on a good road trip.

I also want to go back to Las Vegas and have a Vegas experience vs. a concert festival experience.

And maybe I can go back to Florida to visit Kelly.

That's it. And I know I will have a bunch of time left if I do all three.

Oh, what to do....

I've Been Tagged

2006-01-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it appears I've been tagged. So now I have to post five weird habits I have. Thanks Cosmic. I was wondering what I was going to post next.

Five Weird Habits I Have

I sleep on the couch, every night, with the TV on. I have been doing this for five years, ever since I wracked my back in early 2001. I was trapped in the bedroom the next morning - it took me an hour to get out of bed and out of the room (the door was shut) - and I laid up on the couch. I have been sleeping there ever since.

I pick the hairs out of my fingers with tweezers. All of them.

I eat four spoonfuls of cottage cheese out of the carton every night when I get home from work.

It takes me two hours to get ready for work. I get up, go to the bathroom. Then I veg with coffee. Then I shave. Then I veg with coffee. Then I shower, Then I veg with coffee. Then I iron my clothes. Then I veg with coffee. Then I brush my teeth and other final bathroom preparations. Then I veg with coffee. Then I get dressed and leave.

I keep all my work clothes in the hall closet and my socks and underwear on shelves by the laundry room because I almost never go into the bedroom

I think I will tag Dr. Pauly, Mene Gene, Wil Wheaton, and Shane Nickerson. I hope they don't mind.

One 2006 Goal Completed Early

2006-01-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!

One of my goals for 2006 was to win the weekly WWdN Tuesday poker tournament. (That's Wil Wheaton's tourney, for you rabble out there.) I have been playing in almost all of these since Wil started them. I made it a goal, because the competition is fierce! Poker bloggers everywhere - all much better than I am at the game. And I did it the first Tuesday I could. Wow!

I also did it sober as January is sober month. (Hmmmmm - maybe...naw...really?...well maybe...)

I guess I should put up the rest of my goals (or should I....)

It's HAMMER Time

2005-12-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Doom doo-doo doot doo-doot doo-doot "U Can't Touch This"

Wednesday, Da Pickl and I were playing the freeroll tourney at the Rockyard Brewery in Castle Rock. There were about 50 people playing that night. After getting reduced down from T700 to T200 in a hand where I my QQ lost to a set of Jacks, I was in a position where I needed to go all in and win, or get knocked out. After a few hands where I got nothing to work with, I looked down and found 72 off-suit. It was time to drop The HAMMER!

The Hammer (image from 7and2offsuit.com)

The HAMMER was coined from poker blogger Grubby's home game, and is used by all the poker bloggers. Here is the story behind it. This is the first time I tried it.

I went all-in when it came my turn. There were two callers - one of them also went it all-in to create a tiny side pot. When I turned over my cards, I got the usual reaction of "ooh - what?". The flop came with a 7 and two cards that didn't help anyone. I ended up winning the hand with a big smile on my face after saying "HAMMER!" Da Pickl says to me across the table "You've been waiting for that hand, haven't you?" To which I say, with a grin on my face, "Yup."

After a couple more lucky all-ins I made it to the final table, only to bust out right away with my tiny stack. Da Pickl was the chip leader. I happened to sit behind him on a bar stool while he continued to play. Occasionally I could see his hand when he looked at it. He had lost a bunch of chips when the dude sitting next to him goaded him into calling a large pot. I should have said "Don't do it!". Anyway, a couple of hands later, I look down when he looks at his cards and see that he has 72 off-suit. I think to myself, "Do it dude! Drop the Hammer!" Sure enough, he went all in. One guy called him and Da Pickl flipped his cards. "WHOOOOA!' was the reaction at the table. I yelled out "HAMMER!!!" The flop came with a 7 and there was a 2 on the turn. He crippled the other guy.

Da Pickl went on to get 2nd place in the tournament, going all-in with his pocket 10s only to lose to pocket Aces. He won $15 off of the bar tab. W00T!

Florida Part 2 and Picture Dump

2005-12-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday, and we are heading to the Keys. DaddyT was kind enough to allow us to use his Mini Cooper S (that's the sports model, rubes.) Here is a picture of a similar car. DaddyT's was blue.
Mini

I want one of these cars. Despite their small appearance, there is plenty of leg room in them - more than my Saturn. And the S model is really fast. Da Pickl did all the driving (I didn't want to drive in South Florida traffic in someone else's nice car.) and he put the car to its limits. Apparently on the interstates in FL, 82mph is no problem, as several cops would cruise by going about 90mph. One of the neatest features of the car was the sensored wind shield wipers. They could adjust speed to match how hard it was raining. If I didn't enjoy so much not having a car payment, I would go out and buy one of these.

Back to the story. We picked up some provisions at the local Pubix and headed south. After getting lost briefly, we managed to hit Highway 1 and we were in Keys. We made one stop to smoke and catch up with the football scores at a bar on Key Largo before we continued on to Marathon Key. We were staying at the Banana Bay Resort on Marathon Key. The hotel was really a two and a half star hotel - the rooms were small, and there wasn't any room service or anything. As it was a stopping point, it didn't really matter. Here are two views from the room. Notice the hurricane damage:
Marathon Hotel View

marathon view

We actually picked quite a good place to stay. We were hungry and thirsty, and we were right next to the Hurricane Bar and Grille on Marathon. We went into the place, and sat down at a table in the center. There were TVs everywhere, all showing the football games that were going on. Our waitress Emily was really cool - even doing Jager and Red Bull shots with us. She pointed out the sliders on the menu. They have chicken wing sliders, crab cake sliders, traditional sliders, and a few other flavors - I can't remember. They tasted excellent! What a great local hangout.

The next day we headed to Key West for some fun and debauchery. I thought the keys were all spread out, with huge bridges connecting the islands. In fact, the keys are really close together with small bridges connecting them. There are only two big bridges on the whole drove along the keys. One two miles long and, of course, the 7 Mile Bridge.
7 Mile Bridge

The Keys

Route 1 takes you down Truman Street (where is Teasers?) to Duval Street. We drove up the length of Duval and parked near Mallory Square. Once parked, the first thing we had to do was go to my favorite hangout on Key West, the Hog's Breath Saloon.
Hog's Breath Saloon

We sat at the bar, ate some lunch, had some beers, and watch the live music. The music was two dudes - one on guitar and one one bongo/drum player. It turns out that the percussionist had been a member of Sanatana and was at Woodstock. They were good. Da Pickl even got on the web cam while he was talking to his friend Jenny - I'm not sure if I made it on there or not.

Now it was time to stroll along Duval. Apparently not a lot of people go to Key West on Thanksgiving weekend, because there weren't a whole lot of people there. I bought some coozies and a Crazy Shirt (best t-shirt in the world) called "The Road to Key West", which I thought was appropriate, as we drove the entire length. I actually had to buy the shirt at another store down Duval, as the first store didn't have my size (fat). Along the was, lo and behold, there was Teasers! It was upstairs where another "dancing establishment" had been the last time I was on the island. We knew where we were heading after the shopping.

We dropped our stuff at the car and went out to Mallory Square. It was practically empty (of course, that would probably change when sunset time came). There was some dude fishing and teasing a pelican with his catches. There was also a large cruise liner about to depart.
Big Boat

Island Across the Way

Da Pickl in Mallory Square

After watching the ship depart, we headed to Teasers. It was almost deserted. There were two dancers - Michaela and Stripper #2. Michaela was from the Czech Republic, was tall, and had quite a nice body on her. Stripper #2 not so nice. Because there were only two dancers, there were times that the stage was empty. Both Da Pickl and I got lap dances from both girls. (For those of you that don't know Florida's stripper laws, there is only a small triangle of body you can't touch during a lap dance. I think you can figure that one out. The first time I was at Teasers, when Kelly and DaddyT got married on the island, I sat on my hands like I was "trained" to do in Colorado. I was quickly showed my error by the dancer - showed, not told.) Michaela was really nice (and really soft). It turns out that she is in the US because some guy visited the Czech Republic, saw her, and asked her to move. I should try that. Stripper #2 was only OK. She flirted with Da Pickl during his lap dance. I wish I had avoided Stripper #2 and spent my other $40 on Michaela.

We left Teasers to go get some dinner. After we turned the corner from the stairs, we suddenly had a companion. That was Caroline. She had responded to something Da Pickl said to me - I don't remember what - and now she was walking along with us to the Hog's Breath. She joined us at the bar and we bought her a Key Lime shot (YUMMY!) She flashed her breast at me in response to conversation about Teasers. She apparently stays in the Keys about two months a year, selling artwork. She is also famous (well sort of.) She was on Insomniac with Dave Attell when he was in Key West during Fantasy Fest. She appears topless with her breasts painted in Rasta colors and covered in beads. If you want to see it, get the Best of Insomniac Vol 2. She appears at 12:03 in the Key West episode standing between Dave and this nude dude he was interviewing.

Anyway, she was good company, so we allowed her to accompany us to the Cuban restaurant Casa Cayo Hueso. Man, what a meal that was. I don't remember what I ate, but it was really good. (I am kicking myself for not getting a trip notebook for my Florida trip. I do it for all my other trips.) We had found out that Caroline was staying on Marathon Key as well, so we told her to hook up with us at the Hurricane Bar. We actually ended up following her the whole way there. (She was driving one of those new Chevy HHR's - an ugly vehicle in my opinion - so it was obviously her.) We caught up to her at the parking lot and said we were going to the room first, and that we would meet her inside. She was afraid we were going to abandon her. The reality was I needed to take a dump. We assured her we would be there. When we did arrive, she was at the bar talking to two men sitting there. Like we didn't know that was going to happen. She actually spent a majority of the time there, so we sat at the same table and talked it up with Emily. Pictures:
World Famous Caroline

Us and Caroline

The next morning we checked out, but not before we walked around the Banana Bay grounds. There was quite a bit of hurricane damage. The tiki bar down by the water, which was closed, actually had a few older women wrapping Christmas presents. I guess when Santa Claus is vacationing in the Keys, he outsources some of his work. Here are some pictures:
Banana Bay

Banana Bay Damage

We then got some breakfast at a local breakfast spot, stopped by KMart to buy some travelling music (the music in the car was not to our liking, so we bought some Beastie Boys and Bob Marley), and headed out. On a gas and smoke stop, we saw this crane hanging out by the pumps.
Crane at Gas Station

We also saw tons of cops along the route back home. The love to nab speeders on Route 1 (but not on the interstates, apparently.) And the only rain of our vacation happened on the way back. Florida downpours.

We spent the rest of the day and evening hanging out with Kelly, DaddyT, and Katie. It was nice and relaxing. The next day I went out and snapped some pictures of their neighborhood before Kelly took us to the airport. Getting into the airport was as smooth as our arrival. I love that airport.

It was sad to go, but it was great seeing my awesome friend Kelly and her family. It was probably the most relaxing vacation I have ever had.

Thanks again Kelly and DaddyT for a great time! I love you guys!

And now, as promised the rest of the pictures. I wish I had taken more, but I am still learning to do the Japanese tourist thing. Perhaps I should start eating sushi and drinking sake.

One result of Wilma was one of the trees behind Kelly's house lost most of its leaves. In this tree lived three iguanas. The biggest one was this huge old man with a 4 foot tail. He didn't like it when the dog, Beukabeum (sp?) was sniffing around.
Old Man 1

Old Man 2

Old Man Reacting to Beuk

Old Man Reacting 2

And here are some of the neighborhood:
Banyan Tree 1

Banyan Tree 2

Damage on Street

Damage on Street 2

Here is a picture of one of the many crab spiders that were hanging from the screen over the pool. I looked at one close up, and the pattern on its back looks like a skull. We actually saw a hatching whle we were sitting on the patio. I wanted to spray them, but Kelly would have none of it. About 30 minutes later, they were all on their way. DaddyT wasn't happy about that when he heard about it. I even saw one in the family room the next day, setting up it's little nest.
Crab Spider

And here are the remaining three. It figures that Kelly would have her eyes shut in MY picture with her.
Da Pickl Doing Something

Kelly and Da Pickl

me and kelly

Florida - Part 1 (Finally!)

2005-12-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

(Note: I was going to make this one long post. I decided to make it two, since there is a natural break in the vacation.)

Florida. It was a long time coming, but I was finally going to visit my friends Kelly and Todd and their baby daughter Katie in Boca Raton. Todd was also going down for a visit, as he is the one who married them in Key West. (OK – this is going to get ridiculous. There are two people named Todd in this post. And I can’t call them by their first name and last initial because both would be “Todd G”. And I refuse to call one “Denver Todd” and the other “Boca Todd”. So, the Denver Todd will be called “Da Pickl”, and the Boca Todd will be called “DaddyT”, since he is a father.)

If you are going to visit family or friends for Thanksgiving, I highly recommend traveling on Thanksgiving morning. Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale on Frontier left at 8:10 in the morning, with a scheduled arrival time of 1:50 in the afternoon. So, we got up early and Da Pickl’s dad, John drove us to the airport. Once we were dropped off, it took us 10 minutes to get our seats, get through security, and arrive onto the B Concourse. The poor saps who traveled the day before probably spent at least 50 minutes in the same process.

Anyway, a quick yet shitty breakfast at the McDonalds (I only seem to eat at McDonalds when I am on vacation. It is not by choice – it just always ends up that way. I normally avoid the place like the plague.) and we ended up at the smoking lounge for a quick cocktail and smoke or two before we had to be in Concourse A to board our flight. It’s a ritual. We also ordered cokes with lids on them so we could mix our own cocktails before getting on the plane (that is where those shooters of Jack Daniels come in handy.) One shot in my coke, and two in Da Pickl’s, and we were ready to go.

The flight was pretty uneventful, except for one event involving Da Pickl. Da Pickl got chastised for mixing his own cocktails using his (our) own alcohol. Apparently it is against FAA regulations. The stewardess either smelled it on his breath when while he waited outside the lav, or she smelled the empty Diet Pepsi can he threw away right in front of her. At any rate, we were lucky not to get our asses tossed in jail. It is a good thing that Da Pickl is not an asshole, or we would have. From now on, we are going to follow what I initially suggested, which was to buy one cocktail from the flying waitresses in order to hide the further drinking of our own booze the rest of the flight.

DaddyT picked us up from the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. It was a nice, balmy 80 degrees. Da Pickl sat in the front seat, and I got to sit in the back seat, right next to a sleeping baby. A few minutes into the journey, Katie woke up and began looking around. Eventually she turned her head and noticed I was sitting there. She must have been surprised to see me sitting there, because she stared and stared at me, as if asking herself, “Who is this freak?” Then she started crying. I guess she thought I was ugly (which I am.)

Kelly and DaddyT's House

Patio

Pool and Fence Damage

Anyway, after a nice drive along I-95, where I got to see a lot of the devastation of Hurricane Wilma, we arrived. The house smelled just like Thanksgiving. Kelly was in the kitchen cookin' it up. The early football game was on the wide screen. Dave (a friend of Kelly and DaddyT's) was there as well. We settled in, had some snacks, and watched some football. Finally the meal was ready, and with Tivo recording the Bronco game, we sat down to eat. Kelly did a great job with her first Thanksgiving meal. All the traditional food was there, and it tasted awesome.

Kelly and Katie

DaddyT

Cutie Katie

After the cleanup, or some of the cleanup, we finished off watching the Bronco game. Actually, Kelly and I sat out on the patio and watched a bit of it in real-time while the rest of the guys watched the taped version (SHHH – don't tell anyone). Eventually we stopped when the game became tied toward the end. We didn't want to totally spoil it. Some Tivo issues aside (such as the game running over the time limit for the recorder) we got to see the great run by Ron Dayne and the game-winning field goal. WOO HOO!

Afterward, Alex and Diane came over for some poker. I guess everyone has the poker bug now. We played out on the patio – with everyone but me and Da Pickl wearing long sleeves or jackets. Man, these south Floridians are temperature pussies. (OK, I admit to putting on my fleece around 3:00 in the morning. It was getting down to around 62.) Anyway, I sucked at both tournaments – even after we discovered the extra 2 of hearts in one of the Rio decks I brought.

Friday Da Pickl and I went to visit our friend Mike, who moved from Colorado down to Jupiter to work for Florida Power and Light. He was doing well. His new townhouse didn't suffer any hurricane damage. He took us out to lunch and we hit the beach (because you have to hit the beach when you are in South Florida – not a lot of hotties out though. But there was this one who stopped me, commenting on my Yonder Mountain String Band shirt. It turns out she went to CU, but had never seen the band.) Then he took us for some Cuban Coffee (because you have to have Cuban Coffee when you are in South Florida.) It was a good afternoon.

After getting back, it was time to head to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino. Kelly, DaddyT, Da Pickl, and I all piled into the car (Katie was being baby sat) and headed out. The place was pretty big, and there were a ton of people there. Florida only allows slots and poker in the casinos, so there were no regular casino games, just row after row of slots, plus the poker room. We waited in line to get on the list to play $1/$2, and headed out to the grouping of restaurants. We decided on a Mexican place, and got on the waiting list. We got off the list quickly, though, because we were fortunate enough to find 4 seats in a row at the outside bar. I don't know why they called it Mexican food, because it was about as Mexican as bread pudding. I ordered some chicken soft tacos, which had no flavor at all. At least I was able to soften up our bartender so we could get stronger drinks. (When the salsa and chips came out, Kelly asked what the flavors were. I said “Hot, medium, and pussy.” The bartender thought that was hilarious.)

When we were done eating, the water show started. It started out with the usual water tricks (similar to the Bellagio). But it got really cool when they used the sheet of water as a screen and began showing “movies”. It was similar to how a rear-projection TV works. They were showing a lot of Seminole traditional dancing and other rituals. Like I said, it was really cool.

Finally we were ready to see if we were close to the beginning of the line to get seated at the poker tables. It appeared our number came up(although we weren't buzzed), but apparently it did not. Something about the letter at the end of the number. Or was it they had put us down for two players instead of four? At any rate, DaddyT was pissed. He talked to the jack-ass, trying to find out our status, didn't get a satisfactory answer, and was told that we were still in line. So, we decided to go to the high bar and wait it out. I got in line at the bar to get me and Da Pickl some drinks. After like a half-hour, I finally got our drinks. Some dude in a muscle shirt and a cowboy had cut in line in front of me. The chick behind the bar must have known him, because he got his drinks right away. I wanted to squeeze his nuts with some channel-locks. And, to make matters worse, as I turned around to take the drinks back, the waitress finally showed up, took Kelly and DaddyT's order, and was back in five minutes. I was beginning to hate the Seminole Hard Rock. After another hour of waiting, we decided to bag the poker and head home.

Saturday, Kelly and DaddyT packed up the baby and took us all to the beach. We didn't actually go on the beach, but we had lunch at a hotel restaurant across from the beach. This time there were plenty of hotties around. I'm glad I had my sunglasses. WE then strolled over to a tiki bar on the beach to have a few more cocktails and chill. It was a nice afternoon.

That night, Kelly, Da Pickl and I were going to meet Mike and his wife Christina for dinner at Brewzzis brew pub in City Place. I was cranky on the way over there because we were lost and the City Center was packed. We finally made it though, and hooked up with Mike, Christina, and a couple whom they know. The food at Brewzzis was really good – and really huge. I had a meatball sandwich, and couldn't finish it. Da Pickl had the beer sampler, which was six 8-ounce beers. (Oh yeah, he had some food too.) It was a nice evening out, but Mike and gang had to leave early. Mike's friend had to go to work (he is an EMT.) While it was nice to meet them, I wonder why Mike brought them if he couldn't drink and he had to leave. Hmmmm.

Mike and Christina

The Gang

Da Pickl

Kelly's Cocktail and Da Pickl's "Sampler"

Anyway, we left City Place and went back to the house to chill out for the rest of the evening.

My First Big Win!

2005-12-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!!

$3.30 + 5 Hours = $$$

This was actually my third MTT of the night. I played a $3 one and a $1 and didn't make the money. It was only 8:30 and I thought I would play one more. Five hours and 1198 people later and I won my first large tourney. Needless to say, I was freakin' out.

Of course, no tournament winner can make it without a couple of suckouts. Here is one I really liked:

PokerStars Game #3282702755: Tournament #16033342, Hold'em No Limit - Level XVIII (6000/12000) - 2005/12/09 - 03:09:00 (ET)
Table '16033342 77' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Frankl66 (679077 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: FriedTomato (144871 in chips)
Seat 3: Ivey_Fan20 (120128 in chips)
Seat 4: Brul (4244 in chips)
Seat 5: Conman II (79938 in chips)
Seat 6: TypeAman (175644 in chips)
Seat 7: Hajii (235316 in chips)
Seat 8: Balloon Dog (220084 in chips)
Seat 9: Blarrgh (139198 in chips)
Frankl66: posts the ante 600
FriedTomato: posts the ante 600
Ivey_Fan20: posts the ante 600
Brul: posts the ante 600
Conman II: posts the ante 600
TypeAman: posts the ante 600
Hajii: posts the ante 600
Balloon Dog: posts the ante 600
Blarrgh: posts the ante 600
FriedTomato: posts small blind 6000
Ivey_Fan20: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Frankl66 [7d 7s]
Brul: calls 3644 and is all-in
Conman II: folds
Frankl66 has returned
TypeAman: folds
Hajii: folds
Balloon Dog: folds
Blarrgh: folds
Frankl66: raises 12000 to 24000
FriedTomato: folds
Ivey_Fan20: calls 12000
*** FLOP *** [4s 5d Qc]
Ivey_Fan20: checks
Frankl66: bets 36000
Ivey_Fan20: raises 59528 to 95528 and is all-in
Frankl66: calls 59528
*** TURN *** [4s 5d Qc] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [4s 5d Qc Th] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Ivey_Fan20: shows [Ks Qs] (a pair of Queens)
Frankl66: shows [7d 7s] (three of a kind, Sevens)
FriedTomato said, "lol"
Frankl66 collected 234124 from side pot
Brul: shows [5s Ah] (a pair of Fives)
Frankl66 said, "wow - no way!"
Frankl66 collected 19976 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 254100 Main pot 19976. Side pot 234124. | Rake 0
Board [4s 5d Qc Th 7c]
Seat 1: Frankl66 (button) showed [7d 7s] and won (254100) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 2: FriedTomato (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Ivey_Fan20 (big blind) showed [Ks Qs] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: Brul showed [5s Ah] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 5: Conman II folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: TypeAman folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Hajii folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Balloon Dog folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Blarrgh folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I felt a little bad about that one - but just a little.

Superman or canis lupus familiaris?

2005-12-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

All men have seen this. Women, ask your gay friends. And recently, I have seen this repeatedly. I call it the "Pissing Like Superman" syndrome.

Here is the scenario: You walk into the bathroom, and at one of the urinals, there is this dude taking a piss. He either has both hands on his hips in "superman mode", or he has his fingers weaved behind his head. Either way, this man is proud of the fact that he can piss without touching his dick.

It is a good thing that women can't see this guy piss, because he is basically advertising that his penis is the size of a pink, squishy, dog dick.

Ratdog - 12/2/05 - Fillmore Auditorium - Denver

2005-12-03T10:55:00.001-07:00

It's about fuckin' time Ratdog played the Fillmore...

The original plan was to take Todd and my brother Eric to the show as a Christmas present. Well, that didn't work out as planned, as Todd went to South Dakota for some kind of family thing. Who would have thought that he would turn around and head north right after getting back from Florida? (Did I mention that I got back from Florida Wednesday? More on that later.)

Anyway, instead of selling the ticket, I decided to take my ex-wife. The original plan was to get wasted at the show and crash at her teeny-tiny studio apartment a couple blocks away from the Fillmore. So, since I was going to crash there (without getting any booty, sadly), I decided to take her to the show. She hadn't been to a concert in years, so I thought it would be a good treat.

Well, that didn't work out too well. She is not very social anymore, and she became uncomfortable as we were standing in line outside the building. Of course, it didn't help that some waste-oid was sitting next to the building, pissing in a big ol' arc toward the line (thankfully we were not in range). Also, she didn't understand why everyone was searched entering the building.

I entered first and found a table in the back of the side-tables - with about an hour and a quarter 'til the show started.. Stephanie eventually found me, sat down, and looked totally miserable. I did my best to cheer her up, but it wasn't really working. Jerry and his fiancee Jen came by and introduced themselves. They later commented during a smoke break that she didn't look too happy. I did my best to explain. The show eventually started, and I hoped that she would begin to enjoy the music, especially when Shakedown started after the opening jam. No such luck. I had a feeling that she was waiting for my brother to show up so she could go home.

Eric eventually did show up on the 5th song. He sat and chatted with Stephanie while I went to have a cig and a good pee. When I came back, Steph said she was going home, and that was that.

I: Jam > Shakedown Street > Minglewood Blues > She Belongs To Me, Row Jimmy, Walkin' Blues*, Lucky Enough, Big Boss Man*, Lazy River Road, Big Railroad Blues
II: El Paso@3, Masters Of War@, Corrina > West L.A. Fadeaway > Silvio > Tequila > Silvio > Tequila > Silvio > Iko Iko* > Stuff, Sugaree > St. Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven
E: Ripple
*-w/ Boots (harmonica)

Eric came it after Row Jimmy. He was bummed that he missed Shakedown and Minglewood. (Those are short names for the songs in the setlist, non-Dead fans. If you want the full names and lyrics, go here for the Dead songs - I don't know where to find the Ratdog originals.) We chatted it up for a bit and had a few beers. I like seeing shows with my brother.

The show was pretty good for a Ratdog show. Not as good as the ones I saw at the Boulder Theater in March, 2004, but good none the less. The venue was nice and packed - but not too packed - and everyone was having a good time. The highlights for me were Big Railroad Blues and the Silvio > Tequila > Silvio > Tequila > Silvio > Iko Iko* sequence. That was really cool. Once the show was over, we went outside to a nice little snow storm.

It was good to see Jerry and Jen. Jen's voice was back to normal after her Vegas illness, and she was looking hot. Jerry is lucky to have such a nice woman with good cleavage. I found out while out on the smoke break mentioned above that they are getting married in Vegas in two weeks. That was the first I heard that they were even engaged, and was quite a "shock", knowing Jerry as I do. I wish them all the best, he has a real winner in Jen.

That's it for this post. Roger requested that I post a picture of a hottie.

Click to Enlarge, Roger

That Was a Surprise...

2005-12-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I go back to work today after vacationing a week in Florida (more on that later), when I found out that I was given one of the "Employee of the Month" awards. I get an up-close parking spot and a $50 gift card. SWEET!

Vegoose Day 3

2005-12-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Ramsey and Todd Chillin' at the Rio
With the festival over with, there was only one thing left to do: See Widespread Panic at the Thomas and Mack Arena at UNLV. But first, we played poker. This time I busted out either 20th or 19th. No money made, but it was fun.

After eating and hanging out a bit, we headed to the show. The DJ group Crystal Method was the opener. They "played" right into WSP's first song. I don't know Panic's repertoire well enough, but it was a sweet show. They had the Dirty Dozen Brass Band brass playing along with them. The highlight for me was the beginning of the 2nd set. Crystal Method "played" the set break, and ended it with Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". Their DJ'd version went right into Panic playing "Superstition". The transition was way cool.

Since the show was on campus, there were a lot of college hotties in costume. No need to describe them. Let's just say "YUMMY!"

The next morning we flew home.

THE END.

Vegoose Day 2b - the SMOOTH Day

2005-11-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

After the tourney and some lunch, Ramsey drove us out to Sam Boyd. It was in the neighborhood of 5:00, so we again missed most of the festival. We took the highway, so we got to see the city lit up, including the downtown area. It was rather cool. Ramsey dropped us off right in front of the gate, and we went right in, after “paying” Ramsey with some poker chips Todd had found in a drawer in the hotel room.

This time, we walked into the festival grounds that were set up behind the stadium. We got a beer and then began checking out the Jack Johnson show. The music was good, but not exactly right for the mood. So we walked around a bit, checking out the costumes. There was one particular hottie that caught our eye (especially Todd's eye). A young blond chick was dressed up as Alice from Wonderland fame. Her dress was really short, and her lovely legs were clad in these white stockings. I think Todd was actually drooling. The sad thing was Alice was hanging all over this wookie. What a waste of a hottie. I figured that he was either a trustifarian, or he had some really good drugs. Either way, it was quite the disappointment.

Having our fill of eye candy, it was time to get into the stadium and find Jerry and see the Widespread Panic show. Jerry was sitting in the same corner as before, with his same group of friends. So we hung out and listened to a really cool show. Trey Anastasio even came out and played with the band.

10/30/05 (Sun) VeGoose - Sam Boyd Stadium - Las Vegas, NV
Set 1: Disco > Space Wrangler > Henry Parsons Died, Don't Wanna Lose You > Last Dance > Sleeping Man, I'm Not Alone > North, Ribs And Whiskey, Solid Rock > Give, Slippin' Into Darkness* > Thin Air (Smells Like Mississippi)** > Jam** > Drums*** > Hatfield > Fixin' To Die****, Tall Boy > Chilly Water E: Goin' Out West, None of Us Are Free

There was only one person missing, Jerry's girlfriend Jen. She was back at the Excalibur, sick. Because of this, Jerry wasn't going to the Phil Lesh and Friends show at the Joint at the Hard Rock Casino. Being the nice guy that he is, he sold us the tickets. As he was heading back to the strip with his friends, we had to follow. So we left before Widespread was finished.

We went out into the lot, and saw the exact opposite as the day before (remember I said this was the SMOOTH day.) There were buses, limos and cabs lined up in the parking lot. As we approached the lot, there were limo/town car drivers standing there trying to get fares. We ended up grabbing a town car with two other dudes and we were on our way.

The ride was rather amusing. The dude that was riding in the front seat was completely wasted. His head kept lolling back and forth and he would mumble responses to his buddy. At one point, we had to tell his friend to try to get him awake, because he was almost falling into the driver. Plus, the smoothness factor was continuing. There was some construction on Tropicana (Didn't they know there were thousands of people seeing a show at Sam Boyd? I guess construction planning idiots are everywhere.), so the driver found a side road and avoided the whole mess. We beat Jerry and his friends (who were driving) to the Excalibur by a good 20 minutes. We got a drink at the bar and watched the costumed hookers and normal hotties walk by.

I disliked the Excalibur. It was kind of dumpy. The lighting was low, and it very depressing. When Jerry arrived, we went up to his room to get the tickets. The dumpiness factor continued. The room was tiny – even with two queen beds (which is why my friends always stay at the suites at the Rio – I am a convert.) Jen was in bed sick – she could barely speak. We got our tickets and a cookie, and caught a cab back to the Rio to freshen up.

One of the problems I found with the Casinos is the ATM fees. If you wanted $100, it would cost you $9.90. If you wanted $200, it cost you $19.90. I knew that there were branches of my bank in town, but the problem was how to get to them. We really needed the cash. We asked our cab driver if he knew where one of our two banks were. Fortunately, he eventually did remember, and we were set for cash for the rest of the trip.

Entering the Hard Rock, we found the place to be jam packed with activity. There were more hot women in costume there than anywhere else we had been. Boobs and legs everywhere! We walked around the outer perimeter (the place is a big round room) and found our way to the Joint. We actually cut in line, although we didn't realize it at first.

The Joint is standing-room only concert venue. I t holds about 1400 people, and it was filled to capacity that night. We got a beer and waited for the show to start.

The first set was absolutely killer! The whole band was tight and crisp.. Joan Armstrong sounded great, and Phil was on fire. Here is the first set:

Set 1: Good Times (there is that Good Times theme again), Friend Of The Devil, Brown Eyed Women, Pride of Cucamonga, Hardest Part, Peggy-O, Viola Lee Blues > Next Time You See Me > Viola Lee Blues

Every single song was tight. And the sound in the Joint is awesome: crisp, clear and LOUD!

At set break, we headed outside for a smoke and some fresh air. Afterward, we headed down one of the side corridors to the bathroom. Casinos usually have great bathrooms. The Hard Rock was the exception to that rule. The lines were long and the bathroom not the very clean. Upon urination completion, we headed back up the long corridor. We passed a dude wearing a great costume. He was dressed up as Napoleon Dynamite, and was crouched over like he was just kicked in the junk. Great stuff. Just after that, we heard some shouting “Make a hole! Make a hole!” And four security guards came rushing down the crowded corridor. When we got to the end of the corridor, there were another five or so guards heading the same way – one with a German Shepard. I just couldn't get out of the way. Eventually we got back to the Joint (after a brief detour by the line to the VIP room – I was drooling over this oriental hottie's big boobies.) Just as we were re-entering the door, I heard a shout of “Make Way!” One of the security guards was dragging out this normal looking dude by his armpits. I nearly got crushed as he was dragged by, yelling out in panic. That was an inauspicious start to the second set, which was:

Set 2: Cumberland Blues, Loser, Sweet Carolina, Uncle John's Band, Turn On Your Lovelight, The Wheel > Jam > No More Do I, Let It Ride, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider

We returned just as Cumberland was starting. That song was really good, and it looked like the great music was going to continue. And it did, until The Wheel. Phil repeated the second verse and never did the third verse. The jam coming out was discombobulated, and No More Do I was performed really slow. The China Cat>Rider sucked. By this time, Todd's back was killing him, and my legs and feet were in pain. I thought that the show was over – odd without an encore – and I was ready for it to be over. Todd later said he thought there would be a third one, and there was:

Set 3: Birdsong, Everything I Do, St. Stephen > Death Don't Have No Mercy > Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One, China Doll, Unbroken Chain, What Sin Replaces Love, Gimmer Shelter, E: Box of Rain

From what I read when I got home, the third set must have been pretty good, because no one mentioned anything about the ugly end to the 2nd set. Sometime during the show between sets, Phil told Jimmy that he was overplaying (if anyone was overplaying, it was Phil in the 2nd set.) Jimmy basically or literally – not sure which – said “Fuck You!” and now he is out of the Fall tour.

Anyway, we went outside to wait for a cab. The line was quite long, and there were hotties and hookers everywhere – all slutted up in costume. So, at least there was some eye candy to look at. (Especially that Dorothy who was sitting near the beginning of the cab line. OMG!!!) Finally we were back in the room, and I was asleep soon after.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I Know

2005-11-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

I still owe you the rest of Day 2 and Day 3. I've been sick, so don't get your panties in a wad. Try a pink thong - it wads a lot less.

Vegoose - Day 2A

2005-11-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

I get it now.

8:30 rolls around and the alarm goes off. I didn’t realize it was even set. When I tried to un-set it for the next morning (I thought I would do it while sober) I couldn’t figure out how. Todd finally accidentally got it turned off. Hotel alarm clocks really should come with clear instructions.

Anyway, we got up and got a hold of our buddy Ramsey, who came to town from Phoenix to hang with us and gamble. He wasn’t going to the shows. We all decided to register for the Rio’s 12:00 poker tournament and get some breakfast. The tourney was $40 with a re-buy – which means you could get a second set of T1500 chips before the first hour was out for another 40 bucks. Once we paid, we drew cards for table position. Todd and I ended up at table 7 and Ramsey at table 5.

Breakfast was done, the board at the sports book explained to me by Ramsey, and we were ready to play some poker. 83 people had signed up to play – 70 people playing at seven tables and 13 alternates. I was sitting two places to the left of Todd in 7th position.

This was my first time in a real casino tournament (vs. home tourneys or freerolls in the bars) and I was really nervous. One of the most obvious tells in poker is the hands shaking – it is the body’s natural way of releasing tension. At first, when I had a hand or was stacking the chips from winning a pot, I was shaking like a madman. I got better as time went on, mostly from having beers and resting my chin on my hands almost all the time when the cards were out.

I’m not good at remembering hands like the poker bloggers are, so I don’t have any hand details to provide. So, I will just summarize what happened. I was playing tight/moderate the whole tournament. This means I was playing only good hands and playing them semi-aggressively. I was pretty good at throwing “good” hands away when I felt they were beat, rather than playing them to the end because they were “good”. I busted Todd out after the first break – which I also believe is the first time I ever bested Todd in a heads-up hand. I mostly stayed out of all-in conflicts for the rest of the tourney – taking in big pots here and there to increase my stack.

Eventually I made it to the final table (10 players left). The dealer told us about one of the deals that usually happens at the final table in the daily tournament. The tournament structure says that the top seven places pay. Many times, the table makes a deal were the 8, 9 and 10 positions get $100 for making the final table – taking the money from the top three places. I liked this idea because I was one of the short stacks (either 7th or 8th in chips.) It was an all-or-nothing vote for the deal. At first I was worried that the deal wouldn’t go through. The chip leader was from somewhere in east-Asia. English was obviously not her forte. I was worried that she wouldn’t understand the deal and say “No”. Fortunately, everyone agreed to the deal, and we were set to go. It turns out I didn’t need the deal anyway, as – with the help of an all-in blind (not looking at my cards) when I was on the bubble helped me to secure 7th place and a $202 payout. WOOHOO!!!

Vegoose Day One - The Complicated Day

2005-11-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

Vegas gave me a cold. It came on Thursday noon and was full-blown on Friday. I guess that is what I get when I abuse my body for four days.

Todd picks me up at about 6:30 in the morning Saturday. On the way to the airport he reveals to me that he has already been up 24 hours. "What?" He said he spent all night working and packing. I try not to take it as a bad omen.

We are running late, so we don't get a chance to stop at the smoking lounge for a dirty screw and a smoke. It's right to the gate. We make up for it by having a couple of "illegal" cocktails on the flight (I had brought with me a 10-pack of Jack Daniels shooters).

Upon our arrival in Vegas, I was amused to see slot machines along the concourse (did I mention that it was my first time in Vegas?) After we pick up our bags, Todd's friend Lisa picks us up and takes us out to breakfast, where we meet up with her husband and daughter. She then drops us off at the Rio.

This is where the day started to go wrong. It was about noon when we arrived at the hotel. Our plan was to get our room, get changed, and head out to the festival. Well, the hotel messed up Todd's reservation and gave us a non-smoking room instead of a smoking room. We could fix the reservation, but had to wait until a smoking room became available (was cleaned). So, we had to wait. Todd showed me around the casino, and got me set up with a total rewards card.

After a couple of beers at the iBAR, we checked to see if our room was ready. Again, we had to wait, so we went and sat at video poker machines so we could get some "free" drinks. We slowly played (and lost) while we drank our beers and watched the hot waitresses dance during their occasional podium dances. Finally, after checking two more times, our rooms were ready. It was now about 3:00.

We quickly got settled in our room (a nice suite - which is all the Rio has) and glanced at the Vegoose shuttle schedule. We decided to take the free shuttle over to Harrah's and then walk to one of the Vegoose shuttle pick-up spots. Unfortunately, we forgot our paper with the pick-up locations. There were three guys that we knew were going to Vegoose, so we followed them. Apparently they decided to eat first, so we were left on our own. We decided to ask someone in the Flamingo if they knew about the shuttles. No luck. Same with the Barbary Coast. Finally, as we are approaching the Paris, we see a nondescript shuttle pull in along side the casino. It was the shuttle we were looking for.

We got on the shuttle for $10 (and were told it would be $15 to return). Unfortunately, we made the mistake of sitting in the front row of the bus. We had the talking-ist bus driver I had ever seen. He said he wasn't supposed to be on that route. This was his last trip out there. He told us about how Las Vegas was built on natural spring land, and as a result was not very stable. We heard about how the Luxor had sunk a uniform 13 inches after completion, and how the Mandalay Bay had also sunk (so you could roll a bowling ball down the hall.) We learned that the latest thing in Vegas is building condos. Michael Jordon and George Cloony are building condos. Then we were asked if we had Dunkin Donuts in Denver - because they have good coffee and as a bus driver he wants good coffee. Plus we heard about the bad water in Vegas due to the drought. Lake Mead is low, so the bad water on the top of the lake is now being drawn out. His doctor, his wife's doctor and his kid's pediatrician said not to drink the water.

Finally, after seemingly hitting every red light on Tropicana Avenue, we arrive at the Sam Boyd Stadium (around 5:20). We had already missed Govt. Mule (which we really wanted to see) and Phil Lesh and Friends had already started (and we REALLY wanted to see Phil). As we got into the stadium, Todd had gotten a hold of our buddy Jerry and found out where he was sitting. We made our way across the field over to the far corner where Jerry and his friends were sitting. Playin' in the Band was just getting done.

Phil Lesh and Friends:
Playin' In The Band (JO)>Truckin' (RB)>The Eleven (RB, PL)>Reuben & Cherise (JO)>^Magnolia Mountain (JO),Unbroken Chain (PL),*Shakedown Street (WH),*You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (WH),*Sugaree (JO, WH),*Help On The Way (RB)>*Slipknot>*Casey Jones (RB) E: Donor Rap, Franklin's Tower (PL)>Playin' Reprise (all)
*with Warren Haynes, Barry Sless on pedal steel
^Ryan Adams song

The set was sweet. I like Joan Osbourne with Phil much better than with The Dead. And the Sugaree duet with Warren was amazing.

After Phil, we decided to head back to the hotel. We still had a moe. show to see at the Alladin. We went out into the lot not knowing whether we were going to take a shuttle or a cab back to the Rio. I talked Todd into taking a cab, and we proceeded to try. The staff in the lot was incredibly unorganized. We had thought we had hailed a cab, but one of the staff dudes started yelling at the cab driver about how he had to go to the cab line. "What cab line?" We only saw a group of six people at the end of a rope talking amongst themselves. We started to wandered over there when a "foreign born" man asked if we wanted a ride in his mini-bus to the strip for $10 each. It looked sort of promising, so we and a couple of other people followed him to his bus. Fortunately, we were the last ones to fill the bus. We were on our way.

The driver wasn't very communicative. We had no idea where on the strip we were going to end up. Most of the other passengers were drunk, and they began shouting to the driver various destinations they needed to get to. It didn't work. About two miles up Tropicana, the driver pulls over into a Chevron station. Why? To collect our money, of course. This caused some confusion with the drunker passengers, and prompted another round of shouting destinations. After all that, we still weren't sure where we were going to be dropped off. Finally, it looked like one of the drop off spots was going to be Ceasar's, so we took our chance and got off the bus. It was a simple cab ride from there over to the Rio.

After having some dinner, we freshened up and caught a cab over to the Alladin. It was an interesting site in the casino, as there were hippies wandering around amongst the regular players. I wonder what the grey-hairs were thinking. Todd was wearing his Patrick Roy jersey, and was seemingly getting a comment about it every five minutes. There was even one dude who what doing butterfly kicks and chanting "Roy, Roy, Roy" every time he would kick out. We couldn't tell if he was a fan, or mocking Roy (turns out he was a fan, but it was a weird way to show it).

Moe. finally started around 12:45. All the band was in costume. The coolest costume was Al Schnier. He was dressed up as Angel-Elvis. The show was divided up into a "Good" set and an "Evil" set:

Set 1: Let The Good Times Roll, Good Trip > She, St. Augustine, Good Times Bad Times > Moth

Set 2: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, The Pit > Meat > Shoot First > Kids, Evil Woman > Karma Police > Meat E: The Ghost Of Ralph's Mom, The Devil Went Down To Georgia

"Let the Good Times Roll" - the Cars song - was really cool. That song would end up following us around Vegas. On "Good Times, Bad Times" Al sang the third verse "Elvis Style".

By the time "Moth" came about, Todd was falling asleep in his chair. Not sleeping for 40 hours will do that to you. We decided at set break to head back to the hotel. Now that I see the second set list, I wish we had stayed. Back at the Rio, we decided to get a cocktail before heading up to get some sleep. We sat at one of the bars playing video poker and chatting it up with a couple of girls from Philly and looking at all the costumes. There were some hot costumes going on. Both the hookers and the non-hookers looked SWEET!!! We got to sleep around 4:00.

The complicated day was now over.

Back from Vegoose

2005-11-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

I had an exhaustive blast. There is a lot to tell, and I will be posting those details later.

For now, to bed...

VEGOOSE!!!

2005-10-28T15:47:00.000-06:00

It's time for three days of music in Las Vegas. The Vegoose festival is running Saturday and Sunday. Saturday the bands I really want to see are Phil Lesh and Friends, Govt Mule, The String Cheese Incident, and Primus. Sunday I am looking forward to .moe, Widespread Panic, and the Meters. I'll be seeing two late night shows - .moe on Saturday, and Widespread Panic on Monday. It's gonna be great!

I also am going to do as much of the Vegas thing as possible, including losing some of my money at Poker. (I have never been to Vegas, so I am putting my Vegas-virgin soul into the hands of my buddy, Todd.) I also hope to meet up with Dr. Pauly, as well as many of my friends I have met in my travels. I can't wait to see who I bump into.

I don't have a laptop, so I won't be able to blog from there. All my readers in the Horse's Ass Nebula are just going to have to wait to find out how it went.

365

2005-10-24T12:44:00.001-06:00

That is where I placed in the Online Blogger Championship on Pokerstars, out of 1473 entrants. It was a blast, and I hope they do it more often.

I would have placed higher, but Al jinxed me.

Wil Wheaton placed 328. I'll beat you one day, Wil Wheaton!! (Shakes fist vigorously in the air.)

Jean-Luc Picard???

2005-10-20T17:58:00.000-06:00

I took this "Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?" test, and the results came up with JLP - Captain (read leader) of the Enterprise. Here is what it says:

An accomplished diplomat who can virtually do no wrong, you sometimes know it is best to rely on the council of others while holding the reins.

There are some words which I have known since I was a schoolboy. "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." These words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie -- as a wisdom, and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged.

While I agree with the quote about freedom, I couldn't lead a bum to a free case of Mad Dog 20/20. Oh well - I guess I'm off to shave my head.

Hockey's Back!

2005-10-12T12:39:00.000-06:00

Yes, I am a hockey fan. Hockey ranks even with football as my favorite sport. With the dearth of quality television lately, it is good to be able to switch on a game again. And with ticket prices dropped this year in order to keep the fans going to the games, I hope to catch one or two of them in person.

The Avalanche are my team. Hockey "purists" will claim that I was a bandwagon jumper who only got into hockey because the Avs won the Stanley Cup in the first year after moving from Quebec. Well, you can bite my shiny metal ass. I was into hockey long before that. I knew the rules when the Avs came to town, and I could follow the game. The only thing missing was a team that I could see and follow on a regular basis.

Anyway, while the lockout seems to have helped knock hockey out of the "Top 4" sports echelon in the US, we fans are still here to cheer our teams on. ESPN is no longer carrying the games, but OLN (Outdoor Life Network) has picked them up, and will be showing select games every Monday and Tuesday nights. Plus, the Altitude Network (owned by Stan Kroenke - owner of the Avs and the Nuggets) will be showing all of the games except eleven. Those eleven will either be aired by OLN or NBC. In other words, I can watch all 82 games the Avs play this season. WOO HOO!!!

The New Rules: I like just about all the new rules. Hopefully they will continue to increase scoring. I also like the new overtime rules - a shootout after a 5 minute overtime period. There are no longer tie games in hockey.

Now here is a rule that bugs me: If a team makes it to overtime and loses, they get a point. This is leftover from the rule change from a few years ago, when they added the overtime loss point in an attempt to cut down on the amount of ties and make overtime more exciting. I didn't think it made sense back then. It rewarded failure, in my view. And for sure it doesn't make sense now. With no ties at all, you are now giving a team a point JUST FOR MAKING IT TO OVERTIME. Win in overtime:2 pts. Lose in overtime: 1 pt. It makes no sense. I hope they change that rule before the next year. Maybe my complaining will help.

OK - enough of this rambling post.

GO AVS!!!!

Taking a Break

2005-10-07T12:07:00.000-06:00

No, not from blogging (though you would think I already do that as it is). I am taking a break from drinking. From this past Monday 'til I leave for Vegas on the 29th to go to Vegoose I will not have any alcohol.

Why? Because I feel that I have been hitting the beers a bit too much lately. I want to cleanse my system and hopefully lose some weight. This is not new to me. I have been without the past two Januarys (along with my friend Todd, who takes it to the extreme - only drinking water and bean curd shakes and eating tofu head cheese).

The hardest part is the weekends. I want that beer that should accompany the end of the workweek. I will be playing alot of poker to distract me - which will be interesting, because I usually drink when I play poker. Let's see if I do better without.

Bloggers! Come and Play! It's Free

2005-09-30T17:40:00.000-06:00

Follow the link for details:

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

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 5762564

See ya there!

Jerry Goes Wild

2005-09-30T17:21:00.000-06:00

So I was listening to the Grateful Dead 4/28/71 this morning (The Fillmore East run - part of which made it to "Ladies and Gentlemen".) Hard to Handle came on. I think that Jerry was a little looped that night, because it was a very interesting version.

They were in the middle part, where Jerry solos. He started out a little slow, and then kept building it up. After a while the rest of the band tried to come out of the jam, as they usually do, and Jer kept going. After another round, they tried again and stuck with it, but Jerry kept going. The man did not want to give it up. I suspect Pig finally walking up to the microphone snapped him out of it (though I don't know this for sure) because they dropped right into his vocals. Wild stuff!!!

I love the sound of the early '70s Dead. The whole band sounds tight, and Bobby's rhythm guitar sounded great (this was before Bobby figured out how to make his guitar sound like a fly tweakin' on Meth.)

What Would You Pick??

2005-09-28T17:10:00.000-06:00

If you could learn one skill or art, what would it be? You would be attached to a machine, and as the Matrix portrayed it, you would completely learn that skill.

Me? I would choose to drum, like John Molo or Neal Peart. When I was in 6th grade, I joined beginning band with the hopes of learning to drum. Unfortunately, there were "too many drummers", and I had to choose something else. I chose trombone. I have always regretted that I didn't persist and learn the drums.

So what would you choose?

I Loathe Jerry Jones

2005-09-26T20:30:00.000-06:00

But I love that cell-phone commercial he is in. It is succinct, funny, and it shows the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

I guess it is GOOD to be an owner.

Speaking of cheerleaders, check out the Broncos cheerleaders:

Broncos Cheerleaders

And follow the links :)

Productive Day - I Now Have Links

2005-09-23T16:46:00.000-06:00

So, I decided I needed to start some kind of links list. After digging, I found that the template I am using (which I think is hele-cool for now) doesn't have that option. I was forced to start playing with the code. Ahhhh - FINALLY a use for the HTML classes I took years ago, of which I promptly forgot everything I "learned" one minute after the class.

It seems that I figured it out. I had to change all the sidebar headings, because they were GIFs initially. As they didn't have a gif on this template for "Links", I had to modify.

I wanted to call the "links" something else, like: "Check This Shit Out Or You Are A Loser Who Deserves To Watch 'The Simple Life' For Eternity". But that wouldn't fit. Any suggestions for a better word than "Link" would be appreciated.

I guess it is good that my crown didn't fit...

Letting The World Know I Have DSL

2005-09-23T15:29:00.000-06:00

So today, as I enjoy the Vicodan induced haze of having a failed crown and new impressions taken, I decided to tell my old address book that I have a new email address as well as high-speed. (The G-neekians already knew this, because they read my brain-waves before they read my blog.)

And my address book said, "Shit! I gotta tell the world!' So it did. And the results were amazing!

I have heard from people I haven't talked to - either on the phone or via email- in a while. I even got pictures of me. In one fell swoop, I got contact with good friends that temporarily dropped off the life-radar (but not forgotten - that is how life-radar is).

The good news is that my friends miss me. The "bad" news is I miss my friends.

I recommend that if you can't switch email providers occasionally, at least send a blanket email to say "HI". Who knows, you might get invited out for a drink, get news about a new baby, or get an invite for an oily quickie/nooner.

Rats!!!

2005-09-23T11:31:00.000-06:00

My crown didn't fit. I asked Dr. Ruth (not the sex lady - the nice lady dentist I have) what percentage of the time that happens. "Oh, about 3-4% of the time."

At least I have the rest of the day off.

It 's My Birthday

2005-09-21T14:35:00.000-06:00

One more year 'til 40 - or in other words - I am right now starting my 40th year on this planet (outside the womb).

I went out last night with my buddy Steve and some other co-workers. It was a good time. Steve bought all my beers.

Going to dinner and bar poker with my friend Todd tonight. I hope I am able to stay in the tournament for a little while.

Until the last couple of years, my birthday was ALWAYS a day of weather change. It would usually snow a bit (though not stick) or rain alot. It never failed. So global warming must be true, since it hasn't happened for a while. Well, until today. Today was supposed to be about 90 degrees here in Denver. A front was supposed to move in overnight, dropping temperatures and bringing moisture for tomorrow. Jeebus and the other gods must have decided to check their calendar, because the front moved in early and it was raining a bit ago. NOW it feels like my birthday.

Poker For Charity

2005-09-13T14:39:00.000-06:00

I competed in the Katrina Relief charity tournament last night on PokerStars. This was the first of four charity tournaments organized by Wil Wheaton. Of the $5 entry fee, $4.99 went to the relief fund, which was matched by PokerStars. The other 1 cent went to the prize pool. (By the way, does anyone out there miss the old "cent" sign (¢) that were on the old typewriter keyboards?)

Anyway, 2212 people signed up for the tourney, which by my math means that $22,075.76 was raised for this tournament alone. Many of the participants declined to play, so they were "sitting out" at the tables until the blinds took them down. I would estimate anywhere from 500-800 people actually played.

I came in 38th place, which I am damn proud of. I was even sitting at the same table as Mr. Wheaton (aka Wesley Crusher on Star Trek TNG) when I busted out. Wil ended up in 20th place. The tournament was a lot of fun. I will probably play in the $20 charity tourney on Wednesday.

Where Have You Been?

2005-09-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

Good question, Skleerlok. I, like everyone else, has been shocked and appalled at the devastation in New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast. I have been reading alot of the coverage on Kos and other sites.

I have donated to the Red Cross, and encourage you all to do the same. I also have played in one online charity poker tournament, and have another Monday (both sites, PokerStars and Full Tilt matched the entry fees and are sending the money to the Red Cross.)

In other news, I finally went to the dentist. Since then, I have had one root canal (which went well - the guy was good), one temporary crown, and today, an extraction. What did mankind do before Vicodan?

And, finally, I got DSL. I installed it today. "What took you so long?" Well, I had been considering a cable modem for quite a while - mostly because I wanted to play Xbox Live. The problem with a cable modem was I would need to go wireless, since there is no way to wire it to my computer. Well, with the help of my buddy Todd, who works at Qwest (buying DSL equipment is what he does), I pulled my head out of my ass, realized I wasn't going to play Xbox Live, and ordered the DSL. Of course I love it! And to think I could have had it over a year ago.

Santorum's Stupid Idea

2005-08-27T15:32:00.000-06:00

In case my millions of inter-galatic readers aren't aware of this, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania wants to prevent the National Weather Service from providing weather information to the general public link. He believes that private companies, such as AccuWeather.com should be the sole providers of weather information. Keep in mind that we taxpayers are paying for the National Weather Service, and AccuWeather gets their information from the NWS.

AccuWeather is based in Santorum's state, and has contributed money to him link. AccuWeather is a company that provides weather information to many newspapers. And their website is similar to the Weather Channel's site (although the Weather Channel is much better.)

Santorum's argument is the usual "private sector can do better than big government" bullshit that Republicans are constantly spouting. Well let's take a look at that.

Below are two radar images from a storm blowing through the Denver area. I captured both images at roughly 3:00 pm. The first one is the AccuWeather radar image; the second is the NWS image.

Accuweather Image

NWS Image

Looking at these two images, which one would you rather have access to?

Intelligent Design My Ass

2005-08-25T10:06:00.000-06:00

As my millions of fans know, the religious righteous are trying to get "Intelligent Design" taught in our nations public schools. Of course, it is a slam on evolution and a cover for bringing God back into the schools.

The theory of Intelligent Design states that the creatures that inhabit the world are not a result of a series of accidents or mutations. Instead, someone or something designed the whole shebang. The disguised assumption is that God did the designing (although I am sure some people think it was aliens.)

Well, I call bullshit on that. If there is a designer, he/she/it must be a moron. Just look at the human body. Any designer who knew what the hell they were doing would not have designed the human back or teeth. The back can go out at any time (like, when you are spitting out your toothpaste.) And teeth - why the hell do they have nerves? Before the age of dentistry and toothbrushes, our teeth would rot, hurt like crazy, and probably eventually fall out. And if one got an abscess, there were no antibiotics to help. So why have the pain when there was nothing they could do about it? Huh? Answer that one, intelligent designer. (Maybe the designer works at the big Microsoft in the sky - designing just enough to get by.)

So if there is an intelligent designer, I lean toward it being aliens. They designed us poorly so that they could later easily conquer us if we get uppity.

Well, It's Official

2005-08-15T18:22:00.000-06:00

I now officially work for Sprint (or, if you will, Sprint - Together With Nextel.) Needless to say, I am less than enthused.

We had a web cast to "celebrate" the completion of the merger. I didn't go. To me, there is nothing to celebrate. I don't know if I am going to have a job in the future. I don't know if my vacation time (20 days) is going to be reduced. I am going to lose my free phone. I am not going to get any more stock options. What the hell is there to celebrate?

It was cool getting into a company that had an entrepreneurial spirit. I saw the company gradually corporatize as it climbed up the ladder. Yet I didn't lose any of the real benefits. Nextel was the best company I ever worked for. I doubt Sprint will be the same. *SIGH*

They did give us a chocolate waterfall to "celebrate". I dunked some banana chunks. We also got the "casual weeks" bone thrown at us - shorts the rest of the month. (Casual day is much better in the summer. I don't think it is a big deal in the winter, because jeans are actually more uncomfortable than slacks.) And I got a neat pen, a pretty cool portfolio, and a stupid t-shirt that I probably will use to sop up beer I drool over myself.

Ah well. See ya Nextel - it was nice.

First Freeroll

2005-08-12T09:47:00.000-06:00

(Note: I am writing this for my millions of readers on G-neek 4 in the Horse's Ass Nebula. People who play poker here on Earth shouldn't bother to read the following, except for the note at the end.)

I played my first bar freeroll tournament last Wednesday night at the Rockyard brewpup in Castle Rock. Joining me were Chris and Todd. It was only my second time playing hold 'em live. There were about 40 people playing. Todd and I had placed our names in early. Chris put his name in when he showed up at the bar, so he had to wait for an opening as an alternate.

Apparently it was D-cup night at the Rockyard. I counted at least 5 women (playing and not playing) who were showing off their huge boobs in low-cut tops with push-up bras. The best rack belonged to a player at another table, who Chris dubbed Tit-tania.

I only remember three hands. The first one was very early on. I got quad 5s on the river, but didn't have to show my hand. Man I wish I could have showed that hand (though the proper call was not to.)

The second hand was a stupid mistake I made. I had the Hilton Sisters and ended up heads-up before the flop. The flop came up A-x-x, and I stupidly called the guy's all-in bet (which took about half my stack.) The dude had Ax and went on to win the pot. I KNOW I should have folded when I saw the ace in the flop - but being only my second time playing in the presence of people, I wasn't thinking.

The third hand was the one I busted out on. I held the Big Slick offsuit (A-K). The dude Up-The-Gut called all-in for about $600 and I matched, thinking it would just be us two contesting the pot. Then the chip-leader called us both all in. I should have folded. The original all-in dude showed A6o and the chip-leader showed AA. If the last guy hadn't put all in, I would have been a 74%-26% favorite to win. Instead, the AA were a 87% favorite to win, which indeed happened. I ended up in 16th place.

Obviously I have a lot to learn. I need to relax more so I can make better decisions. I also need to learn to watch the chips as they enter the pot, so I know how much is in the pot. Obviously things I don't think about when I am playing at Party Poker. The tournament was fun. Todd and I are going to be doing more of them. After all, we gotta practice for Vegas.

------------

On my first smoke-break today, I saw four of my female co-workers chatting and smoking - two married, one divorced, and one lesbian. I thought to my self, "It would be cool to see them all naked and lovin' each other. Well, all of them but the lesbian..."

A Reminder for Stupid People

2005-08-04T08:28:00.000-06:00

When you are driving in a rain storm, TURN ON YOUR LIGHTS!!!

The point of this is not to see, but to be SEEN! Trust me, this will reduce accidents.

So remember the lights, dumbass!

--(This has been a public service announcement.)

Forgetting to Blog and Poker

2005-08-01T15:27:00.000-06:00

Sorry I have been neglecting this, my loyal readers (all one-half of you.)

OK. I am doing something I never thought I would do - play poker. I got introduced to Texas Hold'em on Memorial Day, when outdoor activities were cancelled due to rain. So I played in a hold'em tourney with nine of the other guests. Todd geve me a brief lesson, and we were off. I ended up winning 2nd place and $30 - which I attribute to beginners luck.

Anyway, I was digging the game because, unlike other poker parties I have been to - where they play all kinds of weird games, this game I can understand. I started reading and playing for free on the internets, and winning (which doesn't mean diddly-squat, since people will do wild things when they aren't losing anything.) The point of playing the free games for me was to see if I could follow what I have learned from the books I have read. So far I think I can do ok OK the real money tables. It is now time to find out.

Oh, and if you want to read a funny blog that centers around poker, you need to read the Tao of Poker.

No More Car Payment!!!

2005-07-12T14:06:00.000-06:00

I just sent off my last car payment. WooHoo!!! And I only have 72,000 miles on it. Now, If I can only avoid getting laid off in the merger, I may be able to start saving some $$$.

Young Republicans...

2005-06-25T08:50:00.000-06:00

What a bunch of fucking pussies.

No wonder Dick "Deferment" Cheney is their hero.

And don't forget George "National Guard" Bush - another hero of theirs.

It's Merger MANIA!!!!

2005-06-23T12:51:00.000-06:00

When Sprint and Nextel announced their merger back in December, Sprint CEO Gary Forsee said it would be a "marriage of equals", though in fact Sprint is buying Nextel for $35 billion dollars.

So today the two companies announced their branding strategy. The new Sprint Nextel Corporation (the official name - for all you Wall Street types) will be called "Sprint" in their branding/advertising while the "Nextel" name will be a key product brand. Here is what the two logos will look like:

The combined company's new name and logo

Nextel as a Sprint "brand"

It's good to know that my old company is still going to have its name in there somewhere after I am laid off in this "merger of equals".

An Iraqi Woman Blogs from Bagdad

2005-06-20T19:14:00.000-06:00

There is a woman in Baghdad who has a blog on Blogger. It is called Baghdad Burning. I don't know anything about the woman who writes the blog. From her writing she seems to be American educated. I also don't know how she is getting to a computer to update her blog. At any rate, it is a fascinating read. Check it out.

A Note from the Social Security Administration

2005-06-12T09:58:00.000-06:00

So I receive my Social Security statement in the mail the other day (describing the status of my social security monies at this point in my life). On the front page , under "What Social Security Means to You" is a section entitled "About Social Security's future..."

Social Security is a compact between generations. For more than 60 years, America has kept the promise of security for its workers and their families. But now, the Social Security system is facing serious future financial problems, and action is needed soon to make sure that the system is sound when today's younger workers are ready for retirement.

Today there are almost 36 million Americans age 65 or older. Their Social Security retirement benefits are funded by today's workers and their employers who jointly pay Social Security taxes - just as the money they paid into Social Security was used to pay benefits to those who retired before them. Unless action is taken soon to strengthen Social Security, in just 12 years we will begin paying more in benefits than we collect in taxes. Without changes, by 2041 the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted. By then, the number of Americans 65 or older is expected to have doubled. There won't be enough younger people working to pay all of the benefits owed to those who are retiring. At that point, there will be enough money to pay only about 74 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits. We will need to resolve these issues soon to make sure Social Security continues to provide a foundation of protection for the future generations as it has done in the past.

(Emphasis mine)

The note was signed by Bush appointee Commissioner Jo Anne B. Barnhart.

Aside from being factually misleading (see Joshua Micah Marshall's Talking Points Memo and There is No Crisis for more on this), I find this bit of propaganda designed to scare the American people on a document sent to the public disgusting. A statement I receive from the government should not be a tool to promote the destruction of SS that Bush and his cronies want to enact.

This is Great!

2005-06-09T14:45:00.000-06:00

Bush, The Spoiled Man-Child
What causes the fall of empires? Why, stubborn leaders who speak like toddlers and never admit mistakes

Did You Remember?

2005-05-31T12:27:00.000-06:00

Memorial Day is over. Did you remember to mourn for the dead, both of this war and of past wars. Did you remember to think good thoughts for our troops who are fighting the unnecessary war in Iraq?

For those of you "Support Our Troops" car-magnet people out there, here is something you can really do to support our troops. Give some money to Army Emergency Relief. The AER funds are made available to commanders to provide emergency financial assistance to soldiers - active & retired - and their dependents when there is a valid need. The AER is a private, non-profit organization - your $$ wont be going to George Bush and his cronys.

This is truly helping to support our troops. So rip that fucking car-magnet ribbon off your SUV and write the AER a check! I gave $100 last Christmas, and I am going to give another $100 soon.

If you are interested in the relief organizations for the other branches, here they are:

The Air Force Aid Society

Navy - Marine Corps Relief Society

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance

Good for Senfronia Thompson!!!

2005-05-26T17:50:00.000-06:00

This is the kind of crap the Colorado Legislature under the Republicans would have passed. Thank God that the Dems took over the legislature.

Senfronia Thompson is a Texas state representative from Houston.

Address to the Texas House of Representatives

by Senfronia Thompson
Apr 29, 2005

I have been a member of this August body for three decades, and today is one of the all-time low points. We are going in the wrong direction, in the direction of hate and fear and discrimination. Members, we all know what this is about, this is the politics of divisiveness at its worst, a wedge issue that is meant to divide.

Members, this issue is a distraction from the real things we need to be working on. At the end of this session, this Legislature, this Leadership will not be able to deliver the people of Texas, fundamental and fair answers to the pressing issues of our day.

Let's look at what this [proposed constitutional] amendment does not do: It does not give one Texas citizen meaningful tax relief. It does not reform or fully fund our education system. It does not restore one child to CHIP, who was cut from health insurance last session. It does not put one dime into raising Texas' Third World access to health care. It does not do one thing to care for or protect one elderly person or one child in this state. In fact, it does not even do anything to protect one marriage.

Members, this bill is about hate and fear and discrimination. I know something about hate and fear and discrimination. When I was a small girl, white folks used to talk about "protecting the institution of marriage" as well. What they meant was if people of my color tried to marry people of Mr.[Wayne] Chisum's [R-Pampa] color, you'd often find the people of my color hanging from a tree. That's what the white folks did back then to "protect marriage."

Fifty years ago, white folks thought inter-racial marriages were a "threat to the institution of marriage." Members, I'm a Christian and a proud Christian. I read the good book, and do my best to live by it. I have never read the verse where it says, "gay people can't marry." I have never read the verse where it says, "though shalt discriminate against those not like me." I have never read the verse where it says, "let's base our public policy on hate and fear and discrimination." Christianity to me is love and hope and faith and forgiveness - not hate and discrimination.

I have served in this body a lot of years - and I have seen a lot of promises broken. I should be up here demanding my 40 acres and a mule because that's another promise you broke. You used a wealthy white minister cloaked in the cloth to ease the stench of that form of discrimination..

So, now that blacks and women can vote, and now that blacks and women have equal rights - you turn your hatred to homosexuals - and you still use your misguided reading of the Bible to justify your hatred. You want to pass this ridiculous amendment so you can go home and brag. Brag about what?

Declare that you saved the people of Texas from what? Persons of the same sex cannot get married in this State now. Texas does not now recognize same-sex marriages, civil unions, religious unions, domestic partnerships, contractual arrangements or Christian blessings entered into in this State - or anywhere else on this planet Earth.

If you want to make your hateful political statements, then that is one thing - the Chisum amendment does real harm. It repeals the contracts that many single people have paid thousands of dollars to purchase to obtain medical powers of attorney, powers of attorney, hospital visitation, joint ownership and support agreements. You have lost your way - this is obscene.

Today, you are playing to the lowest common denominator - you are putting aside the real issues of substance that we need to address so that you can instead play on the public's fears and prejudices to deceive and manipulate voters into thinking that we have done something important.

I realize that gay rights are not the same as civil rights - but I can guarantee you we are going in the wrong direction. I can not hide my skin color. In fact, in most of the South, people as pink as Rep. Wayne Smith were still Black by law if they had a great grandparent who was African. I was unable to attend an integrated and equally funded school until I got my Master of Laws degree. There were separate and unequal facilities for nearly everything.

I got second-hand textbooks even worse than the kind you're trying to pass off on every public school student next year. I had to ride to school on the back of the bus. I had to quench my thirst from filthy coloreds-only drinking fountains. I had to enter restaurants from the kitchen door. I was banned from entering most public accommodations, even from serving on a jury.

I had to live with the fear that getting too uppity could get you killed - or worse. I know what third-class citizenship feels like. In my first term, one of my colleagues walked up and down this aisle muttering about how 'Nigras should be back in the field picking cotton' instead of picking out committees.

So, I have to wonder about Rep. Chisum's 3/5 of a person amendment. Some of you folks hid behind your Bible then, too, to justify your cultural prejudices, your denial of liberty, and your gunpoint robbery of human dignity.

We have worked hard at putting our prejudices against homosexuals into law. We have denied them basic job protections. We have denied them and their children freedom from bullying and harassment at school. We have tried to criminalize their very existence.

But, we have also absolved them of all family duties and responsibilities: to care for and support their spouses and children, to count their family's assets in determining public assistance, to obtain health insurance for dependents, to make end-of-life or necessary medical decisions for their life partners - sometimes even to visit in the hospital, even to defend our own country. And then, we can stand on our two hind legs and proclaim, "See, I told you homosexual families are unstable." And nearly every one of you on this Floor has a homosexual in their extended families.

Some of you have shunned and isolated these family members. Some of you, even some of the joint co-authors, have embraced them within your own family, for the essence of Christianity is love. Yet, you are now poised to constitutionalize discrimination against a particular class of people.

I thought we would be debating real issues: education, health care for kids, teacher's health insurance, health care for the elderly, protecting survivors of sexual assault, protecting the pensions of seniors in nursing homes. I thought we would be debating economic development, property tax relief, protecting seniors pensions and stem cell research, to save lives of Texans who are waiting for a more abundant life. Instead we are wasting this body's time with this political stunt that is nothing more than constitutionalizing discrimination. The prejudices exhibited by members of this body disgust me.

Last week, Republicans used a political wedge issue to pull kids - sweet little vulnerable kids - out of the homes of loving parents and put them back in a state orphanage just because those parents are gay. That's disgusting. Today, we are telling homosexuals that just like people of my like, when I was a small child, they too are second class citizens. I have listened to all the arguments. I have listened to all of the crap.

Mr. Chisum is a person who I consider my good friend and revere. But, I want you to know that this amendment is blowing smoke to fuel the hell-fire flames of bigotry. You are trying to protect your constituents from danger.

Sadly, even after this great speech, the bill passed.

Further Proof That Cheney Runs the U.S.

2005-05-25T13:43:00.000-06:00

We all know about the massive amount of time bush takes for vacation. We have also heard of the small plane that flew within three miles of the White House on May 11th, prompting the evacuation of the Capitol and the White House. bush, who was out on a bike ride, was not notified at the time of the evacuations.

And now we have the resumption of the Social Security "town halls" tour, which sends bush around the country, selling his SS shakedown to adoring crowds.

Has any other president in the past traveled and vacationed away from the White House this much? Of course not, as those presidents actually ran the country (yes, even Reagan). bush is able to do all this because Cheney is actually running the country. It's as simple as that.

First Picture From My Vacation

2005-05-21T13:36:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of my time in Hawai'i. It is a picture of Diamond Head taken while walking down the beach in Waikiki.

Republican Shithead Watch

2005-05-19T21:26:00.000-06:00

During the Senate debate about the Shrub nominees that the Democrats find ultra-radical (which may bring about the "nuclear option" (or "nucular" if you are the president)), Rick Santorum (R-PA) said:

"It's the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942." He said Democratic protests over Republican efforts to ensure confirmation votes would be like the Nazi dictator seizing Paris and then saying, "I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me. How dare you bomb my city. It's mine."

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT - that would be a "red state", people) rebutted thusly:

Mr. President, last week, on Wednesday, we evacuated the Capitol. At the instruction of the Capitol Police, more than a few Senators and staff actually ran from this building and the surrounding offices in the very real fear that a plane was carrying a bomb to attack this building, the center of our democracy.

Sadly, Wednesday was not the first time. And Wednesday will likely not be the last time, that we guard against threats to our democracy by plane and bomb.

But there are other threats to our democracy and our freedoms, just as menacing, equally as dangerous.

Abraham Lincoln said: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

Former Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin said: “It is not slogans or bullets, but only institutions, that can make, and keep, people free.”

And Baron Montesquieu wrote in The Spirit of the Laws: “There is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and the executive.” …

Mr. President, in ancient Rome, when the Senate lost its power, and the emperor became a tyrant, it was not because the emperor abolished the Senate. In ancient Rome, when the Senate lost its power, it continued to exist, at least in name. But in ancient Rome, when the Senate lost its power, in the words of the Senate’s historian, Senator Robert Byrd, the Senate became “little more than a name.”

In ancient Rome, when the Senate lost its power, the Roman Senate was complicit in the transfer. The emperor did not have to seize all the honors and powers. The Roman Senate, one after another, conferred greater powers on Caesar.

It was not the abolition of the Senate that made the emperor powerful. It was the Senate’s complete deference.

Like the Roman Senate before us, we risk bringing our diminution upon ourselves. We risk bringing upon ourselves a hollow Senate, a mere shadow of its past self. And we risk bringing upon ourselves a loss of the checks and balances that ensure our American democracy. …

Mr. President:

This is the way democracy ends;
This is the way democracy ends;
This is the way democracy ends;
Not with a bomb, but a gavel.

Would the good people of Pennsylvania please throw this ass-pipe out of office??!!

P.S. In case you were wondering, an ass-pipe is the hollow pole that doctors use to do rectal exams.

Back from Hawai'i !!!

2005-05-17T12:29:00.000-06:00

And boy am I tired. I took the 9:00 PM flight out of Honolulu, and didn't arrive in Denver until 9:45 the next morning. And I didn't have my bag on top of that. The connection I made in LA was too short to get my bag transferred between airlines. LAX SUCKS!!!!!!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find it really hard to sleep on an airplane. I feel like I am only semi-unconscious. When I finally got home, I slept between noon and 6:00, and then went back to sleep at 10:00. They did deliver my bag - thanks for asking.

I will have details of my awesome trip later - along with some photos, if I can figure out how to post them here. I know my millions of fans will be waiting in anticipation...

14%!!!

2005-05-06T19:15:00.000-06:00

I am:
14%
Republican.

"You're a tax-and-spend liberal democrat. People like you are the reason everyone else votes for guys like Reagan or George W."

Are You A Republican?

I Couldn't Have Said It Better...

2005-05-06T18:36:00.000-06:00

The state to the east of mine is full of a bunch of retards.

Children of the Corn

But damn there are a lot of hotties in Kansas!

SIDEWAYS and the Generation Gap

2005-05-04T19:31:00.000-06:00

It's sad, but at 38, I am the second oldest person in my department at work (the oldest co-worker is only 2 years older than I am). The rest of my co-workers are in their early 20's.

I overheard two such co-workers today discussing the movie "Sideways" - starring Paul Giamatti (nominated for an Oscar) as Miles and Thomas Haden Church as Jack, with Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh. The movie is about two friends who are going on a wine tasting vacation before one of them (Jack) gets married. Miles is a school teacher who is still depressed over his divorce and trying to get his novel published. Jack is out to try this wine-tasting "thing" while getting his rocks off before tying the knot. The movie is about each of these characters (especially Miles) and how they are dealing with the isues in their lives. A very funny and thoughtful movie.

Anyway, one of the dudes said, "'Sideways', I heard that was good." The other said that he saw it, and though it sucked. When asked to describe it, he said "These two guys go on this bachelor party trip, and the guy getting married fucks a couple of chicks and then gets married. It was boring."

I just shook my head. Both these "kids" (god that makes me feel old saying that) are smart. The "reviewer" is married, and has a little girl. He is of the video-game generation, and usually talks about nothing else (as do most of the "kids" in my dept.) He doesn't have any of the traditional higher-education (four years of college). He started at my company out of high-school. He is making good money and has never seen unemployment. (And it is the same with the rest of the "kids".) Did I mention that all the "kids" are Republicans?

So I don't know whether it is the life-experience that I have (I have been divorced twice), or my "liberal-arts" ecucation, but I just again have to shake my head. When I was that age, I was a "geek", but I could appreciate a movie like "Sideways". Why can't they?

Go See Fire on the Mountain

2005-04-25T13:08:00.000-06:00

I went to see the musical "Fire on the Mountain" this weekend. I'll let my friend Gary Zeidner of the Boulder Weekly describe it for you:

An astounding array of these traditional tunes are presented in Fire on the Mountain, a tribute to the American coal miner. I was tempted to label this show a "musical tribute," but that would shortchange what is truly a unique and elaborate multimedia performance. True, the hour and a half show includes 36 songs performed live by a group of talented musicians/actors. Between the songs, however, the actors play the parts of coal miners, their wives and their children. Sometimes they engage in mini-scenes with one another. At other times, they speak directly to the audience, telling tales of what a coal miner's life was like years and years ago. The combination of songs and stories weaves a brilliant tapestry of a miner's life: the difficult, often deadly work, the dirty dealings by greedy coal companies, the union busting and the love and concern of a miner's family.

The cast, Molly Andrews, "Mississippi" Charles Bevel, Margaret Bowman, Daniel E. James, David Lutken, Tony Marcus, Mike Regan, Ed Snodderly and Dan Wheetman, become the very subjects of their songs thanks to period costuming by Kevin Copenhaver. The men sport overalls, work boots and hardhats with headlamps while the women wear simple, country dresses. All the action takes place in front of a mine entrance façade with "Be careful today be alive tomorrow" written in whitewash over the opening into the Earth. As good as the costuming, playing, singing and acting are, it is the continuous slide show on two large screens directly behind the actors that really pulls the whole production together. Throughout the show, black and white photographs of miners, their families, dire newspaper headlines of cave-ins and the like fill those screens. These images frame the scenes perfectly and lend a weight and authenticity to the show that it would otherwise lack.

The link for the review is http://www.boulderweekly.com/centerstage.html but I don't know how long the review will be there. It appears that the Boulder Weekly doesn't archive their stories.

I especially liked the blend of music. There was bluegrass, country, blues and even some gospel. The actors/singers/musicians were very versatile, switching between violin, mandolin, guitar, and banjo, among others.

The show is only playing through April 30 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, so if you don't see it before then, keep an eye out for it in the future.

This is a car magnet I WOULD put on my car...

2005-04-21T14:38:00.000-06:00

Lord Help Us Now (this is funny)

2005-04-15T16:25:00.000-06:00

http://www.thehandstand.org/archive/april2005/articles/wdavis.htm

It's Good to Plan Ahead

2005-04-10T09:35:00.000-06:00

The weather people have been predicting a huge snow day for the Colorado Front Range for days now, and here it is.

I am stocked up on beer, food, smokes and everything else I need (well, except a woman to share it all with.) Now I can spend the day watching "Deadwood", playing video games, and watching the snow blow and fall outside my window. Aaaahhhhh........

Now Look What I Did...

2005-04-08T18:11:00.000-06:00

Well, now I have a blog...

All I wanted to do was sign up so I could post on someone else's brand new blog.

I have no clue right now what to post (this wasn't in my Friday plans). I guess I had better get to some thinkin'...