Wednesday, December 28, 2005

KidPoker vs Dreamclown

At Fullcontactpoker.com, Daniel Negraneau's poker room, He's (KidPoker) been playing heads-up against some high-limit online player (Dreamclown) at the $500-$1000 blind limit table and the battle is getting pretty heated.
Last night they played for about four hours and Daniel had Dreamclown stuck $67,000 after the session. Tonight they played four hours and Dreamclown eventually lost $5000 in the exchange.
I'd give KidPoker props for being the legit keeper of the throne for the session, but Dreamclown was poised to take Daniel for some duckets at one point.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Caradiru

I'm recommending Caradiru for your holiday week viewing pleasure.

This Brazilian gem is a rich portrait of prison culture unlike what American's are used to. The story is well told and irresistable. The actors are natural and honest in their intensity. This movie IS intense. Much like the colorfully brutal City of God, Carandiru, is a saturated experience. The story is thick. The people are real. The photography is phenomenal.

I'd love to see this film again.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

ORION Skyquest

My GF's Christmas present arrived via FedEx yesterday.

Her new Orion Skyquest XT6 Dobsonian telescope is much, much bigger than I expected. It's quite a monster actually. Originally I had planned on buying her the smaller XT4.5, but it was out of stock. So naturally I thought, "upgrade!"
I'm a real dumbass though. After ordering it, I realized that Orion is located in Cupertino. I could've easily just drove my ass over there and save $40 in shipping.

Oh well. It's always cool having new toys around the house, and this massive contraption should be fun on warm summer evenings, and on car-camping trips in the future.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Cold deck nut barrage

Poker has been very bad to me these last four days. The bastard has taken a damn sledgehammer to my nuts repeatedley and I can't take it anymore.

I've been typing, "Suck it" or "Nice suck" when the fish at Pokerroom.com suck out on me. And I've been typing that a lot.
("Sucking Out" is a term used to describe when a player draws a better hand than yours, when you had the best hand to begin with.)
Fish always suck.

Anyway, I have cashed out of Pokerroom.com for the time being. I'll be depositing to FullContactPoker.com soon. Hopefully to reap the generous bonus FullContactPoker.com charter members get.

Anyway I look at it, maybe my strategery needs reevaluation, I have to change my game in some way to get back on my game and win some money. I've battled through losing streaks in the past, and I intend to make a comeback.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Giving up the finger


Some psycho is wagering his finger to win a million bucks.
If you click on this link, you'll help him in his quest for fortune.

Syriana


Saw Syriana, starring George "bobblehead" Clooney and Matt "hugeteeth" Damon this weekend. It got two thumbs up from Ebert and Roeper, but I give it a thumb down. I love political thrillers, and dialogue driven stuff, but this one falls flat.
The story is convoluted like all good thrillers. It's full of shady characters, betrayal, intrigue. Only there's too many characters. Because of that, and despite excellent performances, it was impossible to get to know any of them.

This story would have worked much better as an HBO mini-series on the same level with The Wire or the British miniseries, Traffik. With more time dedicated to character and plot development this story would be worth telling properly.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

expired

I just got some horrible news.
Due to my expired driver's license, I can't pick up my new gun.
I had to go pay an unpaid parking ticket. Then tomorrow I have to go to the DMV, renew my license, and then wait until the hardcopy arrives in the mail. THEN, I have to wait another ten days, for them to re-run my DL (another $25 fee). Only then will I be able to pick up my firearm.

I'm so pissed, I'm fuming.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Chronicles of Narnia


I took Friday off work last week.
GF and I went to go see Chronicles of Narnia.

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. In the same vein as Lord of the Rings, except it is a bit more upbeat-a-fantasy. Not that it is without tragedy, violence and all that negative stuff. It does have its dark moments. The GF actually cried several seperate times during the movie. Even I felt a tear approach my eyeball at one point.
The movie is beautifully made. The battle scenes are exciting, the costumes exceptional. The acting is also top notch.


This flick is one of the few worth the price of admission.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

From my cold dead hands

I'm really stoked right now.
I just got back from Kerley's.
That's right.
In ten days I will officially be a registered gun owner.

identical to this gun

It is a matter of pride for me to own a gun. I've always appreciated our right to own firearms. As a kid, my dad took me shooting handguns. He had a stailess steel .357 Smith and Wesson revolver. After target shooting, we'd sit around the table together and clean it. The smell of solvent and gun oil still brings back fond memories.

My most memorable christmas gift ever was a toy gun.
My dad had gotten home late from work Christmas night when I was 6-7 y/o. I remember it being dark in our house, only the light from the christmas tree illuminated his face as he handed me my christmas gift. It was a police revolver cap gun, with a fake black silencer. I loved it.

As a matter of fact, I still have it somewhere.

Rome

Last weekend while recovering from the hangover, surfing the channels proved unfruitful. I decided on checking out the first couple episodes of HBO's 'Rome' miniseries" on Comcast ON Demand.
What a treat.
I found myself completely addicted to it. 6 hours later, I was only halfway through the season and itching for more. The next day, I finished watching the final 6 episodes in a marathon session.
What can I say about the series except that it blew my mind. The characters are well developed and dynamic. The sets, intricately detailed, realistic, and alive. The storyline is taut and captivating.
If you've got 12 hours plus a couple hours to watch the worthwhile extras, take advantage of your ON Demand and watch Rome.

Lucious Verenus and Titus Pullo, two of the baddest mother*ckers on the planet.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

NEWS-Weed


NEWS-Weed-3
Originally uploaded by Joe_13.
Los Altos police busted some dudes on a drug sting and reaped more than a pound of green buds.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Duplex

Got to hit up the city this weekend. My brother was throwing a big holiday bash at a club called Duplex, near Mission and 11th St. It was a swanky joint; narrow, dual level, illuminated dark red and pumping old school hip-hop jams.
I even heard the dopest parachute-pants-doing-the-running-man-song ever, Bell Biv Devo's "That girl is PPOOOOIIISSSOOON!"
That song makes you instantly want to do the running man.
The last time I heard that song, I was at my brother's wedding, shitfaced, doing the running man with the bride in the middle of the dancefloor.
Unfortunately, there is video of that.

So let's count my beverages for Saturday.
First, Luke and I split a 16oz soda bottle of 7&7 like hobos on the walk to the bar.
At the first Bar, a StoliSoda, a shot of Patron Silver, and a stoliRocks. From there we hopped on a bus instead of walking the 8 blocks to get to Duplex.
At Duplex, a stoliSoda, a shot of "tequila", followed by another Stolisoda. Bootie bought me a vodka redbull. And then I poured myself a thick double GreyGoose on the rocks from the bottle in the booth. ... and then I may or may not have had another shot.

Loaded.

I had a really good night though. Kinda sucked not having the ol'lady to get my groove on with. But, I still had fun talking with a bunch of my brother's buddies. One dude I met told me about all the crazy guns he has. He busted out his digital camera and showed me video of some guy unloading a full clip full auto from an AK-47.
I also got to relive our epic road trip through Costa Rica for his bachelor party.

Walsh was kind enough to let Luke, JoeO and me crash on his couches.
I woke up hungover and hungry, so we headed over to St. Francis Fountain for breakfast. I quickly pounded back a strawberry milkshake and labored to finish my bacon and eggs. They were delicious, perfectly crispied herbaceous homefries and eggs over-medium. But, I just couldn't manage to eat em all.

I spent the rest of the morning lying around at Stroker's pad. By the time I got home I was dead.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Card Dead

I went completely card dead last night during my home poker game. I tried to make a few moves here and there, but my opponents kept me honest with huge re-raises. Furthermore, anytime I actually caught a hand, I either got zero action, or was outflopped.
I can't say I played poorly, but I just couldn't put a hand together to save my life.

Mel ended up winning both games last night. She's been killin' it at our home game finishing consistently in the money almost every time I've played with her. She is significantly more studied than most of our opponents and knows the numbers better than most of our players. Not only that, but as a female, she is often underestimated, which giver her a huge advantage. The guys tend to soft play her, call more than raise her.
So, she's taken 3 in a row at my house.

I'm positive I have a bead on her though. If I could only win a couple races, and get some halfway decent cards, I'll take her down.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Re: The Cat


> Bro,
>
> How's your cat? I was reading your blog the other
> day and saw he was in need of maintenance...
>
> Cheers,
>Capt Mark




My reply:
Yeah,

He seems to be doing a lot better.
Which is great because now I can't afford a shotgun.
Great for Amy, not so much me.

Morgan's plumbing needed to be plunged. Or snaked
rather.

It was disgusting because he was pissing blood for the
first couple days. It made my dick hurt seeing it.

Thanks for asking about Morgan. I'll kick him for you.

j/k,
no I'm not, yes I am, no I'm not.

Joe