Snake and skull

Snake and skull, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

I've uploaded a couple new drawings to my Flickr site.
Check'm out and let me know what you think.
Constructive critisim is always welcome.


BTW, I'm on vacation right now.

:)

HabitForming's book

My buddy Rob aka HabitForming, who has spent the last couple years cataloging Bay Area grafitti and stickers, has self-published a book of his photographs.
His exhaustive efforts which borders on obsession is a true reflection of the grafitti and sticker scene. It includes work from such prolific street artists as, Girafa, Logo, Pi, and AKO.
He intends to publish a new version every couple months or so.

buy it!

Ridiculous Burger

Ridiculous Burger, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

Luke came over the other night and we decided to make some burgers.
So we bought 1.13 lbs of burger and split it in half to make two huge meatballs. A bit more poking and smashing and we had "Ridiculous Patties"...
A few moments on the grill, some seeded and toasted Kaiser buns, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, mustard and ketchup and voila: The Ridiculous Burger.

.56 lbs of pure deliciousness.

Skull and Roses

SkullsnRoses-1-sm, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

I had a tough time thinking of something to draw.
Skulls have been an ongoing theme, and I love drawing them, so I started there. I love drawing roses too. They're actually quite hard to draw. I'm not sure how well I've done them, but when skulls and roses are drawn together, it always looks dramatic.

I started using Faber-Castell PITT artist pens with a nice fine brush tip. ...much easier than using an actual brush and I think it gives the lines a bit more life.

Bad run

Oh my god am I running bad in sit&gos lately.
I was killing the $20 games easily last month, and suddenly I can't win one to save my life. I've not been hit any of my draws, lost every coin flip, and put my money in outkicked, or dominated, everytime. It is truly getting frustrating. It's been a while since I've seen such poor results.

The main changes to my game:
I moved up to the $30 s&gs. They seem to be tougher, tighter.
I'm probably playing less aggressively. Due to running bad.
I'm making dumber all-in moves, especially over playing top pair.

also, the dreaded cold deck as been hitting me:
Second nuts running into the nuts.
Less of my big draws are hitting.
Losing coin flips.
Bad Beat City!

I intend to keep up my normal game. I've seen bad beat city before, and I have been able to weather the storms of bad beats and sick coolers. Plugging the tangible leaks will be essential, and hopefully the intangible cold-deck will go away for a while.

Shotguns de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo:
Evan, Luke and I went out to shoot some clays at Coyote early in the morning. I hit my best score yet in skeet scoring 20, and then hit my worst round of trap ever on my last round of shells scoring something like 9 out of 25. Bad concentration, but I'll blame the wind.
After cleaning our guns, we picked up a few cervezas to begin our Cinco de Mayo celebration. Not that we are Mexican American in the least, but since we live in downtown San Jose, that pretty much makes us honorary Mexicans right? OK, perhaps not, but we decided to go get Margaritas and Mexican food anyway.
Two pitchers of 'ritas and a shot of Patron Silver later, we headed back to the pad to watch the DeLaHoya vs. Mayweather fight.

Let me say this. I WAS a huge boxing fan. WAS. I will officially NEVER purchase boxing on PPV ever again. First of all, this fight was nothing more than a glorified sparring match. 12 rounds of lollygagging, light jabbing and dancing around each other made for a seriously uneventful fight. After 12 rounds, not only were they not even breathing hard, they didn't have as much as a scratch. Typically after 3 rounds of freaking jumping-some-godamn-rope, they'd be breathing harder. This shit was a joke. Furthermore after losing the fight to a decision, DeLaHoya still took home $25 million. What kind of incentive does he have to win, if he still gets $25 million when he fucking LOSES?!
$55 down the freaking drain.

Bottom line: FUCK BOXING, FUCK DELAHOYA, and FUCK MAYWEATHER. They just lost a boxing fan.

Long Live MMA.

Shotguns

Went to the shotgun facilities this weekend with my cousin Evan, my brother and our old friend JoeC. After shooting a bunch of rounds of Wobble Trap, we moved over to the skeet range.
Skeet is FUN.
While Trap is more of a solitary discipline, skeet has much more group dynamic. You move through the stations as a group, so shooters can interact with each other a lot more easily. Also, the game itself is more exciting. The dual houses, and different stations give you a different look at each station.

I need a couple more shooters and we'll have a full squad to shoot with on a hopefully regular basis.

Beach house weekend

Took a day off last week to relax at the beach house last weekend. Despite bleak weather forecasts, the weather was quite bearable. Friday evening was only partly cloudy and nice enough for a excellent sunset accompanied by a nice bonfire on the beach. Plenty of beer kept our brains warm, and an action packed game of Jenga kept us entertained when the weather got too nipply.
Saturday was a lazy one. We power-lounged all day.
The rain started up and did not relent. No bonfire. But I did BBQ a nice tri-tip, with rice-pilaf and roasted veggies. Someone made a bet with JoeO to drink an entire bottle of Chianti while standing on a stool within 30 minutes. We all threw in a ten spot. So for $60 he drained the bottle in 15 minutes.
With beers and wine coursing through our veins, we took in a movie, but didn't last 15 minutes before crashing out.
I awoke groggily to a gorgeous morning. An utterly cloud-free day.

Someone suggested a game of poker. So of course, poker was on.
I took second-place in the first one. After being thick stacked and ultra-aggressive, we get down to two. Me and Chad. Heads-up, it went like this. I held QQ. He bet. I raise (big)... he calls. Flop comes an ugly Axx. He raises all-in. I go in the tank. I should be able to toss this in the muck. But it's Chad afterall. Rain Man. Luckbox, Calling Station. He'd make this move with any two cards. Of course in my gut, I knew he had me. Another look at my cards, two ugly queens begged me to call and end this misery. So I did. Turn and River do not help. I take second.
Game two: It lasted a bit longer. I made a couple choice semi-bluffs and got thick-stacked again. Eventually, JoeO and I went heads-up. 2 hands later I crown myself King of the World with my victory.

Then I get bamboozled to stay and help Chad paint the laundry room. But despite being worked like a slave, getting paint on my new hoodie, it was worth it just to behold this: before going back to reality.

Cards Dead

Cold decks have hit me hard in live games lately. Last night, nine players at Dylan's house. We started shortstacked with only 3,000 in chips, 12 minute blinds, and blinds starting at 25-25. In my opinion, not nearly enough chips for any real poker play. After the 4th level, I chased a flush draw which missed, leaving me in push & pray mode. I saw a chance and pushed with 77. A loose call behind me led to one of many lost races for the evening.
We played a couple more, and I lost all of them. Not necessarily due to bad play, but I couldn't hit a flop or win a race to save my life. I didn' t play great, but ultimately I was truly card dead.
A bad streak for sure. I've been doing so well online, but my live game has certainly suffered. So I'm going to need to step it up a notch and weather the storm. I know that the cards will turn for me eventually.
In tournament poker, winning coin-flips is crucial. It helps being big stacked where a lost coing flip doesn't mean going broke. But when you are playing shortstacked, usually a coin-flip is MUST WIN. I chose moments where I had the best chance of doubling up. Unless you are playing total donkeys (last night was not one of those games) the majority of those situations are at best 60-40, but usually 50-50. If you never win a single coin-flip, which I did not last night, you will not go deep in the tournament.

Poker at Sam's

Sam had a couple of us over to his place for some poker action this weekend. It was shorthanded, so we started a cash game. It was a ridiculously one-sided affair. Chad (aka Chizz aka Chestnut aka RAIN MAN) was catching cards like you wouldn't freaking believe. He caught pocket rockets literally five times during the evening. He won all five. He was also showing awesome hands regularly: flushes, straights, trips, fool houses... you name it, he had 'em. He was nice enough to show his cards despite my HUGE laydowns. Luckily I read him right most of the night, so I didn't pay him off THAT much. Near the end of our cash game session, I finally caught him on one big hand and managed to finish the session up a few bucks.
The tournament that followed demonstrated how horribly I am capable of playing. To my own defense, I was legitimately card dead. But I found myself chasing a flush with Sam betting into me. I caught it. Unfortunately.
I made a raise on the river, thinking it was a value bet. But really, Sam's hollywood-ass all-in re-raise was the actual value bet. I insta-call and he flips up the rivered Fool House. I go home coolered by the motherfucking ace on the river.
I know I didn't deserve to win by any stretch of the imagination, cause I just played so damn bad. But I'll have plenty of chances to redeem myself. And I can keep telling myself that losing a little is good in the long run, so that I may win big against my opponents later. Soon, I'll start believing it.

Everyday is a Good Day

I've recently found Japanese/Brazilian tattooist Jun Matsui's blog, Life Under Zen. It chronicles his tattooing and travelling exotic destinations that is his day to day life. From the first post, his blog maintains a sense of peace, tranquilty and perfection which is a pleasure to read. It's sort of a vacation unto itself.
His tattoo work, which combines japanese, somoan and maori styles of tattooing, is thoughtful and significant. The linework is immaculate.
Matsui's life seems to be filled with peace, party, art, travel and good food.
I envy his experiences, skill and lifestyle. We should all be so blessed.

Dogs in a jeep

Dogs in a jeep, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

Final table at the Mookie

77 players/bloggers played in the Mookie last night. I knocked out and crippled several players early, putting me fat stacked for much of the tournament. I played super duper tight for a long time seeing very little playable cards. I did manage to drop the hammer twice winning blinds, which is always a bonus.
At the final table, the action was swift until we got down to four players. Me, TFG, JoeSpeaker and BoneDaddy shuffled stacks for a while when JoeSpeaker finally falls to BoneDaddy when his A3 is outkicked. Soon thereafter, I push all-in with KTo, get called by TFG with QJo. Four clubs on the flop and one on the river give TFG a flush and gives me third place money.
Final two didn't take long. BoneDaddy gets taken out by TFG's nut flush five minutes into heads-up play.
And there we have it.

The joys of motherhood

The joys of motherhood, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

Any funny captions?

Best caption gets $5 in their Fulltilt poker account.

Shotgun Fun

Took the shotgun out Sunday and last night with my cousin Evan. He recently became the proud new owner of a Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun, and wanted to get some shooting time in.
Sunday we hit up Coyote Valley Sporting Clays and shot a few rounds of trap. I shot mediocre. But I did have quite a good time. Some sun, about a hundred rounds and a nice Romeo y Julietta to go along with the fresh scent of gunpowder.
A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Last night I went out to County of Santa Clara Field Sports Park, aka "Metcalf" with Evan to get a few more rounds in. We ended up shooting Skeet for the first time. It was a blast, and now that we've learned how to play properly, I get a new game to try and master. It'll be great, because as fun as trap is, skeet is more fun with a group. Hopefully I can get a couple more buddies to get guns and come with me to blow some shit up.
Plus, not only is it fun, but we'll be better prepared for armageddon.

YEEEEEEEE HHHHUUUUUUUU !!!!

Poker at Eric's

Last week's poker action was at Eric's house. $40 buy-in, Me, EricN, Bootie, SamD, Hideki, ScottO, JoeO, Irwin, Chad and Greg played for several hours with the final three being Hideki, Sam and Me. In the end, Hideki held the big stack and took first place money, while Sam and I split 2nd and third place money.
With a faster structure for the second game, we flew through players pretty quick. I fought my way up to chip leader early on when I rivered a flush against Irwin. But, not long after, I totally blew my stack when I fully overplayed JJ into ScottO's flopped trip sevens. For some reason, I completely brain farted. I knew I had him beat pre-flop. But when he checked the flop, I checked behind him too quickly. And then inexplicably, I heard myself say "all-in" when the ace hit the turn. The minute I saw the ace, I knew I was beat. But it was too late. ScottO instantly called with pocket sevens. There was a seven on the flop. I was suddenly crippled. A couple hands later, I pushed with QQ, only to run into Bootie's KK, and I was done.

For the evening, I was still up $40, so the horrible play didn't get my mood down too much. It bites that I lost to ScottO when I know I should've been able to get away from JJ. The ace on the turn should've saved my ass, but instead I Matusow'd and blew the fuck up.

Online, I recouped the steep loss I took earlier in the week, and my Sharkscope graph is finally back to where it ought to be.

BTW, Eric's new nickname is: Titties.

ugh

Sheesh,
Been getting killed at the Sit-n-Gos. Lost like 5 in a row.
So much for the ROI, dammit.
Running bad and playing bad.
My Sharkscope graph is taking a major shit right now. But, that's to be expected while going up in limits. One loss moves the line twice as far.
I'll just have to dig in, and play good. A bit of luck would be nice too.

Well I just delivered a horrendous beat to some poor dude. I'll take it as a good omen.

Sharkscope

Sharkscope, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

My Sit-n-Go graph at Full Tilt via Sharkscope.

As you can see, my performance in my last 100 games has been decent. Maybe I was just running bad in the first 100 games, but now I have an average return on investment (in sit-n-goes) of +28%. Not too shabby.
Let's hope it stays this way.

Poker

When half of my players flaked on my home game last night, Sam, Dylan, Chad and I decided played a heads-up tourney.
Me vs. Dylan, Sam vs Chad. Winners battle for all the money.
Dylan had me on the ropes for most of the match. But I fought back a couple times and finally eliminated him. Chad lost to Sam, so I was to take on Sam D for the money.
It didn't take long.
I held KTo. There was a bet and a call.
Flop: KTJ
I bet, he raises, I go all-in, he insta-calls.
I show KT for two pair.
He shows KJ for a bigger two pair.
I say, "damn, I need a ten"
Turn: blank.
River: Ten.

I had him by one chip.

He promised to never tell this bad beat story EVER.
And since for me it was a GOOD BEAT story, I reserve the right to say it as many times as I want. This would be the 4th time since last night. :)

Cash game followed; Irwin and Christian show up for some no-limit $.25-$.50. I played wildly, calling with shit, raising with shit. Having fun. But Sam was having no fun. Dylan just rubs him the wrong way, so basically every word out of Dylan's mouth was followed by a disdainful comment or at least rolled eyes from Sam.
That sort of sucked, but I understand. Some people just can't play poker well with others. Especially after taking a bad beat like he had earlier, it just leaves bad tastes in the mouth.
Chad played his usual hyper-aggro, kill-Joe game. He came after me with a flush draw and pushed all-in when I held trip-sixes. We got it all in on the turn and sweated his nut-flush draw. My set held up, and he was felted.
"God, I was hoping to see the diamond and see you on tilt." He says.
Fucking bastard.

He deserved it a felting by me. It was about friggin' time.

Poker is fun for me lately. I've been doing well on Full-Tilt, my bankroll is slowly building. My game has improved. I'm confident I can beat the spread limit game at Garden City, and am ready to climb the poker ladder some more. I'm certain I can be a bigger winner in some of the larger games (relatively), but the roll needs to fatten to do that. So with some determination and a little luck, I know I can accomplish that.

Peace in the Middle East.

The Watchmen

The guy who directed 300 is going to be making The Watchmen.
The Watchmen is the godfather of adult graphic novels. Not "adult" in the XXX sense, but adult as-in: complex story, gritty flawed hero characters, brutal violence, compelling plot and dialog.
If you've never read The Watchmen, and have any interest in reading a genuine comic classic. Get it.