Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Salac's tourney

I played in a friend's poker tourney last weekend. The Salac's 2nd annual poker tourney was quite a production for a home game. 32 players battled for a $1280 prize-pool. Four tables were to play down to two players, at that point the final eight would all cash.
Starting with 10,000 in chips I caught pocket rockets on the first hand and nearly doubled up. From there I caught a run of shitty cards until I called two pair into a straight and was back to even. A little while later I defaulted into the final table when the two chip leaders went at it leaving Raul and I standing.
I was severely disadvantaged at the final table with 2nd to last in chips. Last place in chips got knocked out quickly, and though I was able to double up, I was crippled on a bluff, and was eliminated when my pre-flop all-in with A9h was crushed by a straight on the turn. In the end I ended cashing at least, so I can't complain. Plus I had an excellent time, and that's all that really matters.... isn't it?

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Gold digger




Last week I saw something very unusual.

A man, in his mid- late sixties, driving along in his late model Acura,... picking his nose.
That in itself isn't too unusual. I recognize that sometimes one's nose needs picking. On occasion a very annoying little nugget gets up there and it needs to be removed. It's much like getting a stone stuck in your shoe. It's just got to go.

Then there's the problem of what to do with it once it's picked. You can flick it into oblivion. You can wipe it away. Or you can do what this dude did ...

You can eat it.

That's right I saw him eat it. He picked his nose with his index finger. Then he inserted the offending digit into his mouth.
And just to insure that this wasn't a fluke, or a figment of my imagination, he then inserted his pinky into his nose, dug a bit... and then put his pinky into his mouth where,... he ate it.

What in the world would make this guy do such a thing? Does he eat them regularly? Are they tasty? Was he just hungry? Did he store food up there? Maybe a chunk of Snickers Bar he'd been saving? Was he insane?

Seeing this happen in real-life created more questions than it answered.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Metcalf

I went to Metcalf today to shoot a few rounds of trap.
Two other guys were just getting warmed up to shoot too. One guy, Ron?, a middle aged white guy had the same gun as me (a Remington 1100). Another guy, Keith, held a single barrel Ljutic trap gun. Ron tells me Keith's Ljutic is a $10,000 shotgun! Holy shit. Who's got $10,000 to spend on a shotgun?
I ended up shooting 6 rounds of trap scoring: 18, 19, 21, 22, 17, 18. (out of 25) from the 16 yard line.
Not horrible. I could definitely improve.
But the important point is that I had a blast.
It is turning out to be pretty expensive though. After ammo and the range fee, it comes close to being $10 a round. And then there's cleaning supplies and gun maintenance.
Then all the OTHER guns I'll need for my collection.

Ok. Time to go get a lotto ticket.

Poker

Last night, Poker tourney, 11 handed, 2 shorthanded tables. JoeO's buddy's pad. $20 buy-in.
It was a sloppy set up: two rickety table tops, paper cards, miss matched chips.
I played super-tight early on, and finally started hitting cards at the table merge.
SamD hit his Ace on the flop versus my cowboys, to double up, crippling me. Somehow I managed to stay alive to the final 3 where I was basically blinded out. SamD dominated the rest of the game to win it winning $120. I took home $40 for my efforts.
It's a bitter pill, Sam winning it. The other day we played heads-up online and he ended up beating me two games in a row, despite the fact that I was dominating him the entire match. A couple lucky coin flips allowed him to defeat me in the end.
I realize there is a huge hole in my game if I can completely dominate someone, and end up still losing.
"You gotta think Joe, maybe you're being too aggressive," Sam says.
FU you bastard. FU.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Not much

There hasn't been much interesting going on here lately.
I did watch several movies. None of them very noteworthy.
Especially NOT noteworthy is David Duchovny's House of D, which sucked horribly. I recommend you stay away from this "coming-of-age" story gone bad.

Another less than stellar movie which arrived via is Primer, a very independant movie about a couple guys who discover a way to travel through time. Their voyages gradually complicate things to the point that everything pretty much falls apart. The plot becomes too complicated to follow, the story essentially disintegrates.
Though a valiant effort, the filmmakers were simply over their heads with the material.

Alexander. Two words: "Skip it"
Two more words "Sucks balls"
Oliver Stone fucked up royally with this movie. His reputation may never recover.

Red Eye
Wes Craven's latest is essentially a mindless chase movie. There is pretty much no point to this film. The suspense isn't that suspenseful, the thrills are ho-hum. The plot, non-existent.
However there is one redeeming factor: Rachel McAdams. She looked damn good in this movie.
So if you must see it. At least she's worth looking at.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Coyote Clays


shotty
Originally uploaded by Joe_13.
We sent to Coyote Valley Sporting Clays last weekend. Bill thoroughly kicked my ass on the sporting course and trap. But, I'm going back to practice this weekend, so vengeance can be mine.

Tha gun looks good on me don't it?

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins

Since this movie has been on the "wait list" on Netflix for a couple weeks. We decided to watch it on On Demand.

I have to say it was disappointing. There was quite a lot of hype with this one, so I expect that effected my opinion somewhat. And perhaps being an avid documentary watcher also had influence. I have high expectations.
March of the Penguins was overrated. The storytelling was average, mundane and not extraordinary. The photographer is obviously amazingly rugged for enduring the extreme conditions. His shots were also all beautifully composed. However the film as a whole lacked intensity. At no point in the movie did I NOT want to take a nap.

Save this movie for a lazy evening when you want to catch some Z's.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Taking out the new toy

I picked up my shotgun this week from Kerley's Sport Shop. That was the longest ten day waiting period ever. At last, I wield my first firearm.
Immediately I ran home and dismantled the thing. I figure we should sit down a while and get to know each other. Remingtion's website is infinitely useful. It has every piece of information you'd need to know about the Remington guns.
I cleaned it up, put it back together and waved it around for an hour dry-firing it at imaginary targets. It felt good to be excited about something. I'm such a child, I know.

ScottO and I took it out to Santa Clara County Field Sports Park (Metcalf) in South San Jose. They have night trap and skeet shooting there. My first round of trap EVER, I shot 20 out of 25. The gun was a very good fit and fired 100%. On the next round I shot 19. I was pleased.
ScottO didn't do so hot. He hit 6 on his first and 9 on his second 25 targets. The gun also failed to eject several rounds for him. He could easily blame the gun though. He's 8 inches shorter than me, so clearly the shotgun was an ill fit for him.

My experience was very positive. While the staff at Metcalf was very curt on the phone, the puller was a cool dude. He was helpful to us newbies and didn't make us feel like total idiots. Plus, the night shooting is just cool.

I'm planning on shooting a couple more rounds Sunday at Coyote Clays.

Shotguns=fun

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Munich

Caught Munich last week.

Spielberg redeemed himself after the horrendous Tom Cruise travesty War of the Worlds. Munich is everything War of the Worlds wasn't.
I maybe over-hyping it, but I loved this film. As if the story of the Munich Olympics wasn't interesting enough, the aftermath was downright fascinating. I'm positive that the assassinations didn't go down exactly the way Spielberg portrays it, but who cares? The story is as well told as any story told, and as a storyteller, Spielberg is unmatched.
The photography is predictably awesome. The performances, though probably not Oscar worthy, are very good. The violence and action are brutally real and the story is taut and indeed thrilling.
Well told, and worth the full-price of admission.

Monday, January 02, 2006

Mystic and Morgan


Mystic and Morgan
Originally uploaded by Joe_13.
Death and the Fat Boy