I'm about to head out to play ball with Isura, Mike, maybe Alex and Vitas - cya all at the party!

Yeah, I basically am not going to retell the following week in Vegas because I got caught in the shuffle in terms of doing things (meaning from the 2nd to 11th, by and large) but it was bubbling a tournament, (the actual bubble boy in the 2500 6m, where Clayton and Alex both FTed and Jay took 9th) and having pretty big swings in cash where I "should" have been up a lot, but wasn't up much at all. Frustrating. I will pickup from the morning of the 11th, where I played a sesh in the Bellagio. I recalled some hands since I only played a few hours (from about 2am until 6am) since I wanted to stay up all night to catch my 11am flight. Also, since I do like maintaining my blog, I hope the rest of Vegas wont get lost in a similar shuffle!

Some action shots of the 3 tourneys I've played so far: (0/3, yet I'm w/3 in terms of making dinner breaks. Don't think this is a good thing... 1/3 on making day 2, but 0/3 on ITM!)

Tournament #1: 1500$ 6max NLH


Tournament #2: 2500$ 6max NLH



Tournament #3: 2000$ Full Ring NLH


Anyway, I had awoken sometime midday, since well, my sleep schedule is basically "sleep when tired, wake up whenever, only adhere to a schedule if I want to play a tournament". Amanda's graduation was exactly on the 11th, so I had to be in California either that night or the following morning. I decided to book a 11:30 AM flight on Virgin America since I wanted to play poker. Boom! Mikech told me to come by the Bellagio, (where I ran into Ashman as well) and I was able to hop into a 10-20 game. This was my 2nd session at the Bellagio, the 1st one went terribly (it was sometime during the 2nd to 10th) so I was determined to fix that!
*Actually, they had about 5 10-20 tables going (just 1 25-50) and it did take a little bit to get on the tables... While waiting I ran into Nate (Neon) and TJ, I hadn't seen them yet, so that was solid. I will say omitting to recount the details of the days prior to this, I met up with a bunch of friends/mutual friends/acquaintances, ran really bad at CCR in 2 expensive dinners, (I'm stuck 2.5k in dinners or so?) and played a bunch of cool hands, none of which I suppose will get reported!

So, I sat down at a must-move, bought in 11.2k, and the game was somewhat shorthanded. The big pots that night:
-3handed about 30 mins in, a young guy who looked competent and probably played online, sitting with about 8k, raised to 80 on the button. I had won a bunch of hands, but the pots had all been small, since a bunch of people had been rotating in/and out... It's important to pick up pots that no one wants, and when the game is changing (people filtering in and out) you get people less focused on the particular action. By extension, when people do show interest, it's better to give them more credit. Anyway, the small blind had about 4 or 5k, was a youngish (but not 20s) asian (who had seemed very willing to gamble, "standard") folded and I called with KTo. Flop came 973r, I checked, he bet 120, I checkraised a bit more than half pot (to 400) and he called. Turn was a K, I thought for a while and then bet 720. He called. River paired the 7, great card, I bet 1520, he called pretty quickly, I tabled my hand and scooped the pot.
-A few more people filtered in, that was the only big pot to speak of, and one of the new played UTG (6handed now) raised to 80. He only had 3k, and the asian called on my right. I overcalled with 8s, and one of the blinds called as well. (~300+ in there) Flop came 8 6 4r, blind checked, pfr bet 240, asian folded, I called, blind folded. Blah blah blah. Turn was a 3, he checked, I bet 440, and he called. River paired the 4, he checked again, I figured I could only valuebet small, so I bet 700ish, and he tanked and agonized and asked if I flopped the straight, finally calling me. I was then moved to the main game upstairs. (Kinda quick)
-9 handed I raised J4dd in MP (The Splasher, ldo) and got called by the guy on my left. He had been flatting me a ton, and I basically had double barreled him 3 times (each time worked, I think I had KT in BvB on 9xx, turn J in one hand, the best hand in the 2nd, like tp or so, and a 3rd time with complete air) so I got the sense he was waiting to take a stand. Flop came a beautiful J 4 2 w/ 2 clubs and 1 diamond (the 2, obv) I cbet 140 and he called. Turn was an offsuit Q, I checked, he bet 320, I made it 1320, and he shoved for 4.3k total - I snapped, and he had KQo. I held.

I'm kicking myself because this was more than a week ago, and I generally don't forget hands, but I literally played 3 big hands (the set is more of a middle hand) and won a ton of small pots, and wrapped up a 10k sesh before leaving, basically putting me in a good mood. But I can't remember that 3rd big hand, which is a shame, because I like posting big hands, heh. (Especially because combining tourneys and expenses I had been down on the trip, that put me in the green) Anyway, around 6am, I was hungry and Mike and Ashman's 50/100 PLO game was breaking up. (Where Ashman was crushing Farha, ofc) So we went to breakfast at the Bellagio.

I then went home, packed/did laundry, 2p2ed for a while, then drove myself - exhausted - to the airport. I upgraded to 1st class, because hey, it was only 50 more, and I was finally up on the trip after a bunch of frustrating sessions. (I literally have been swinging session to session up 10k, down 6k net, up 7k, even, etc. Games have been great though!) there was a weather delay (no joke - fog in San Fran means they have to shut down some runways!) Which meant there wouldn't be anyone to pick me up, since Amanda's graduation was at 4. My plane was initially slated to arrive at 1, but the delay meant I'd get in at 2 or 230. Regardless, I passed out on the plane though, very infrequently do I sleep on planes, but I was just so tired. The planeride was actually really enjoyable, when I woke up I was in San Francisco.

So, I had to take a taxi to Marin, which is an hour taxi. Apparently anything over 50 mins they charge 150% too. All along the way I was checking the 2p2 NBA auction:
http://auction.f2f2s.com/index.php
which has kept me occupied. Anyway, I arrived with my big bag, exhausted, 30 minutes early (330) and no one was there yet from my family. Hmm, cool guys. The taxi ride was 140$ including tip fwiw, which is not fun.

The graduation ceremony was fine; I sat next to my sister Martina, it was held outside, was a beautiful day, etc etc... I fell asleep actually, so I only remember bits and pieces. Next thing I knew, she had her diploma, and we were heading back to the house.

There was a graduation party of sorts for Amanda, but I was pretty exhausted - and it was Lakers-Magic game 4. So, I socialized very briefly, having to answer retarded questions about poker and Vegas, and then retreated downstairs, where Martina and I would be sleeping. I turned on the game, made it through the entire 4th Q until the last few seconds, and passed out on the floor. (In my defense, I had been up for about 30 hours, only sleeping on the plane and during graduation) At some point I was moved...

I'm in Vegas! Got here a few hours ago, I *should* sleep (I'm starting to write this at 4:15 AM, late checkout at 1 PM... Getting into the house at 3 PM tomorrow) but I want to get all these pictures out when everything is fresh. A few quickies:
-I'm not going to play the 10k HU event. I need to be in Norcal for my sister's graduation (Amanda) the 11th-14th (I believe are those dates) so the decision is "made for me". I was iffy on playing it anyway, so this works out.
-It looks like Ariel (foxwoodsfiend) is going to be the last roommate. He needed a place to stay, and we had an opening, so match made in heaven. So to speak. I'm happy about that, since he's a sorta friend that I've known for a while but haven't really gotten a chance to get to know him all that well.
-My place in Cambridge has been packed and moved out! What an ordeal that was. Teddy helped me immensely, and I had movers come and put my belongings (minus what I brought with me) into storage. They will be there for the summer, possibly longer.
-If people have tried to contact me the past ~week, keep in mind I have had my hands FULL with packing, moving, driving, arriving, etc. But, I'm here, and once I settle in tomorrow, I'll be able to finish some business matters. (I think someone randomly sent me 750$ for a book - note that this is NOT THE WAY TO DO THINGS - but that has been in flux for a few days... Will get dealt with)

So, here's the trip:



Some raw stats... (Yeah, I kept this information, when you have a long drive, you are able to keep track of this stuff!)
2,835 total miles driven, 40.5 hours driven.
-I drove 1459.9 miles in 21 hours (~69.5 mph)
-Travis drove 1375.1 miles in 19.5 hours (~70.5 mph)
-We went through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and finally Nevada. (13 States) I loved Colorado and Utah, Arizona was quick and a fun drive, but really disliked Nebraska and Iowa. Way too many bugs. And horrible drivers. I also don't like Ohio.
The CDs we listened to along the way:
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief x2
Weezer - Blue Album x2
James Blunt - Back to Bedlam x2
Radiohead - OK Computer x2
Keane - Hopes and Fears
Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory
Radiohead - The Bends
Weird Al Yankovic - Bad Hair Day
Matisyahu - Live at STUBB'S
Maroon5 - Songs about Jane
Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Soundtrack from Romeo and Juliet
Weezer - Black Album
CD-R "Epics"
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Disc 1 and 2)
Dave Matthews Band - The Central Park Concert (Disc 1, 2, & 3)
Eagle Eye Cherry - Desireless
Dave Matthews - Live at Luther College (with Tim Reynolds) Disc 1 & 2
Dave Matthews Band - Listener Supported Disc 1 & 2
Bob Seger - Greatest Hits
The Grateful Dead - Greatest Hits
Jamiroquai - Traveling Without Moving
Radiohead - In Rainbows
U2 - 18 Singles
Green Day - American Idiot
Savage Garden
Elton John - Greatest Hits (Disc 1 & 2)
Matisyahu - Youth
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Radiohead - Kid A
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales


The 1st Leg: Boston, MA to Holyoke, MA... to West Hartford, CT.

The trip began with me driving Teddy home. I didn't bring him all the way to Northampton, I was able to drop him off in Holyoke, which was a relief. I bid my adieu to Neil (his dad, who picked him up) and Teddy and was off on my home. I made it to my mom's house at night (just after the start of Lakers/Nuggets game 5) and essentially ate a late dinner, watched the game, and waited for Travis to get there. Nothing too difficult about this, I had done this drive plenty of time. But anyway, we left late at night (after the game) as to avoid traffic.

The 1st real Leg... but the 2nd for the trip: West Hartford, CT to some random PA town (Mill Town? Lamar?)

We made it to a random Amish Pennsylvanian town. It was pretty late (530 AM EST) and both of us had gotten up at a reasonable time. (I had done a ton of moving and packing) We initially wanted to make it to Cleveland, but frankly that wasn't happening, so we stopped at a Hampton Inn. The sign said "welcome to Lamar," which I thought funny, but apparently that wasn't/isn't the actual name of the town. Who knows, outside smelled like manure and there were a bunch of cows everywhere.




The woman behind the counter was pretty nice, we got a late checkout time, slept, woke up to eat Subway, and we were off!

The 3rd Leg: Mill Town, PA to random Ohio rest stop

I had to throw this in here... I don't overtly dislike Ohio, but I really hate the Cavs. And I don't like LeBron. There is a funny "Cleveland Tourism" youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY
found that fast, there are actually 2 of them, both are funny.. But a line is "our economy is based on LeBron James!" I saw a bunch of people wearing LBJ jerseys as well as some for sale. In a random small Ohio stop. I will say the Ohio rest stops were the best. Didn't take a picture but the 'bucks barrister was vvv cute, so again, have to point out the Ohio positives when possible.


random LBJ jerseys.


me posing in front of a handicap spot. and the ohio reststop. thought it was funny.




The 4th Leg: Somewhere in Ohio to Des Moines, Iowa

We were trying to push the pace to get to Denver in time for the Nugget/Laker game. Didn't happen. Stopped in Des Moines, Iowa at another Hampton Inn. Funny enough:



Apparently Barker's mom works for that company. We just thought it was somewhat coincidental.

This is what the place looked like: Whee.



Standard Iowa roads: (Notice how long and straight they are... It's literally hours of this. No joke)



Along the way saw a bunch (not just 1 or 2, but probably 7 to 10) windmill propellers. Neat sight. We couldn't get a good picture, but here is 1 we sorta caught (they are HUGE!) as well as a "completed" wind energy station as near as we could get.



We passed "mall of the bluffs". Got a picture of the sign, but it's really not that cool. Basically, it says "Mall of the Bluffs". Would've been cooler if it was an actual bluff and wasn't a mall.


The 5th Leg: Des Moines, Iowa to North...

I have been working on my XC Drive TR, there are LOTS of pictures, but in the meantime wanted to post a blog entry about my time in Vegas thus far. I've been here since the night of the 30th, (this is basically the 3rd day) and:

-The night of the 30th got in very late and stayed in the Luxor. I've stayed there before, and frankly, I just slept a ton.
-Woke up and left the Luxor around 2pm. Went to check in to the house (which is OK... Not as good as last year, but serviceable. A little further out than I wanted, but oh well)
-House wasn't ready (they were cleaning) so went to get my car completely cleaned/basically detailed/get gas, killed time.
-That night (the 31st) I went to Nobu with Mikech. Mike is a good friend of mine, so it felt right to begin the Vegas trip out to dinner with him. We ordered a ton of food (it was awesome) and I treated-this is slightly important for one reason...
-We ran into LEGGOPOKER PRO Peter "Apathy" Jetten, Phil Galfond, Chuddo, and a few other guys - I think I semi-drunkenly stumbled into Raptor, but I dont fully recall (I had ordered a bunch of Assani Fishers) at Nobu. Although Vegas is not my home, there are many familiar people/places/sights, so it feels good to run into people I know / am friendly with right off the bat.
-We were going to sweat Ansky's final table (40k WSOP) but he had busted by the time we got out of Nobu (we ate late/took our time, so it was late) so instead I managed to get myself home and played Guitar Hero for about 4 hours.

-The following day I slept in again (love sleep!) and met up with LEGGOPOKER PRO Aaron "Aejones" Jones to play basketball. Starkey was also there - I really like Starkey, he's also pretty good at basketball. I sorta got punched in the face, my eye actually hurts me a little bit today, and although I was shooting well warming up, the heat just totally drained me. It was 100 degrees at 6oclock! I hadn't played for almost a week (the XC drive) and coupled with the heat meant I was burnt out in the middle of the 1st game.
-About that, was going to play bball today (I think Aaron is playing as I write this) but I need to go get groceries (and unpack! I still haven't done that!) so I may pass today.
-I got a call from Ryan (Sleepy Hippo, friend/housemate from last year) that he had JUST arrived, so we decided to go to dinner. We twisted plans a bit, switching from going to the Rio, to the Wynn, to deciding on the Venetian (I guess Craig wouldn't have been able to attend!)
-We ate at "Del Monicos" (I think that's the name) which I think was OK, but it doesn't hold a candle to Craft Steak. (It's a steakhouse). The group was Ryan "Sleepy Hippo," LEGGOPOKER PRO Aaron "Aejones" Jones, LEGGOPOKER PRO Andrew "Luckychewy" I have no idea how to spell his last name, Starkey, Travis "Barker" Barker, and me. In lieu of CCR, we decided to switch to a skill game. I'm bad at these skill games: We all guessed the price of the meal (input in our phones) and the furthest off had to pay. That person was me! So, just 3 days into Vegas, I've nearly racked up a 1k food bill. Awesome.
-Ryan, Travis, and I decided to actually play poker (yes, there will a be live poker recap below!) but first we headed off to the Rio to register for tomorrow's 1500$ 6max event. Then, we went to the Wynn - even though the Bellagio had a bunch of action, I feel comfortable in the Wynn, so had to play a sesh there.
-Spoke with the floorstaff into setting up a new 10-20 table... One guy I've played a fair amount with named Arsenio (no idea how to spell it) who is an OK live player (very tight and uncreative but does not payoff with inferior hands) at first was going to jump into the new table - I'm searching for the right words to put this without sounding egotistical, but hey, it was an ego boost... Basically, he saw me, we spoke a bit, he laughed then picked up from the new table to go back to a limit game or something, claiming he just didn't want to play with me. "You're too good" (In fairness it would've been 4 handed with him, a donk, Ryan, and me, which is kinda tough) Regardless, this was a very nice confidence builder, given I haven't played live poker in quite some time.
-Saw Jimmy (gobboboy) at the Wynn, he told me some funny PLO stories.

So, onto the session: (Ended up playing just over 3 hours, a decent amount was HU with Ryan, since the donk only bought in 1k, then got up to leave for a while... a 4th guy came to play, was kinda short, but I busted him kinda soon... And then we got moved to the main game) Keep in mind I annotate hands in my phone to keep track, and my memory is pretty solid, so the details should be spot on. Here goes:

I bought in 12.5k.
3handed, early on Ryan opened the button to 80 (he varies 60 or 80 and is incredibly loose on the button, he bought in about 7 or 8k, and the donk bought in ~1200 and had maybe 1400 at the time of this pot? This was probably the 2nd orbit) I called with A3dd and the BB overcalled. I led the flop 3way for 140 into 240 on q43 w 2h 1d, and they both folded. This was the 1st pot won in Vegas, WOOOOOO.

A 4th guy sat down (a young asian guy) - I straddle 4handed 100% of the time unless the guy on my left is abusing the straddles... Maybe I'll detail the strategy of "why" at some point, but with Ryan in the SB, the positions were great for me to essentially put in an extra blind w/ the button and last action). I had 53hh, and btn/sb folded, asian called, I made it 1 more chip. Haha, sometimes it's ok to steal initiative when people are just calling the straddle with a trash hand. 53hh also happens to have some playability, but since the guy only had about 2k, maybe less, with less than 50bb stacks a real raise is awkward. Anyway, I hit yahtzee - QT7 w 2hh, he cc my near pot bet of120. The 4h fell on turn, he had perhaps ~1200 so I bet 360 and he folded. Obviously I want to bet an amount that can make PSR acceptable for me to shove the river. Always good to hit flushes.

The next orbit, in my straddle I had q4o, he completed and this time I checked. The flop came KK9r, and he led for 40. He led in a hurky jerky fashion and very quickly, and on this texture unless he's the type to "see where he is" with a 9, I have the best hand often, so I value called. I'd probably bluff raise any non gutter ball, slowplay (not even kidding, it's a genuine slowplay in a limped pot with the psr of this nature) a 9 or better, and lump my marginal high cards (Q or A high that I didn't pop up in the straddle) into that range. Turn came a 6, and he checked, so I felt pretty good - I didn't need to float (essentially bluffing, but nothing else better folds, it's moreso protecting your equity in a small pot - had 240 in there?) but I lost when the river came another 6, he bet 100, he never has a K, rarely a 9, and I'm never getting merged by an ace, but as was the case he had T6o. So, right read on the flop, but I don't mind the payoff.

That said, the next orbit, in the BB, I pickup AKo... Ryan raises the button to 80, he calls, I made it 340, ryan folded, and he shoved. I snapped - he had lost a pot prior to this, so he only had about 1k total, and he ended up having a legit hand. (8s) I won though, and he left. At this point, the donk decided to leave, so I was playing Ryan HU. We have played some HU last...

It's certifiably spring time. And with Spring, well, this time of spring, many friends, mutual friends, acquaintances, and obviously strangers are finishing up school. A lot of colleges have their finals/exams this week (or have them next week) which puts closure on a semester. I haven't put too much history in my blogs, I think, but I wanted to talk about my springtime experiences.

Also, I've been playing pickup outside. When the weather is nice (~70!) although the rims are brutal, playing outside is a lot of fun. Fresh air and all. My sleep schedule has been wacky (I've been on a 30hr type day the past week where I sleep until 5pm, stay up all night, go to bed early, wake up at 3am or so, stay up late, then wake up at 5pm the following day - basically this has gone on for 2 cycles) but I've been able to play outside.

Yesterday I played for 2.5 hrs straight, wore my ankle guard (ankle feels much stronger and better with it, although it looks a little goofy) and the highlight of the day took place when I was running 5s w/ 3 guys I had never played before (one guy was a good shooter, other 2 guys were ball stoppers/bad athletes/probably a 2 or 3 out of 10 in terms of overall ability) and Alex. We were matched up against a bunch of guys I play with routinely, including a kid named Justin. Justin is a very athletic kid, a bit stronger, faster, and about my height/size than me. He is a decent shooter, but he's able to explode to the rim and his handle is very good. Skipping ahead a bit, (then will come an adjacent story) we played to 15 and fell down like 11-5. Alex was guarding Justin because Justin was bringing the ball up, and I was matched with Jordan (Jordan is 6'3 w/ incredibly long Kirilenko type arms, finishes around the rim well; he was one of the bigs on my IM team, really nice guy). I don't like guarding the post, and I had to cheat off Jordan to help Alex contain Justin. (I was hedging in the paint, Jordan was able to nail a wide open 3 since I couldn't rotate) For the record, my teammates aside from Alex were pretty brutal defensively, although one (the good shooter who was a positive impact player for sure) had height, so I would've been better served to switch off.

Where am I going with all this? Oh, minor digression, I hate playing with people who are ball stoppers on offense and also don't play solid defense. It's just not fun. So, I tell Alex we should switch (and have the tall kid guard Jordan, Alex would rotate to "the Hammer", another IM teammate who was probably the best shooter on the floor - he has size but cannot create a shot) not because Alex isn't a good defender - I think he is - but he was just getting overwhelmed a bit by Justin. So, all this buildup of the story, and I'm going to rush the gist of it: I locked him down. I forced a couple of steals by attacking him when he held the ball at the top of the key (leading to a layup) and aside from 1 really tough turn around fall away he rimmed in and 1 quasi travel where he was able to get on the low block and work an up-and-under, he wasn't able to produce at all. He was the lifeblood of their team, and we ended up winning 16-14. Needless to say, I was proud of myself. Defense wins championships, imo.

One play, I stripped the ball and it caromed to the sideline; I raced after it, and another kid on their team darted towards it too. We cracked heads, but I didn't let it phase me as I was able to retrieve the ball and pushed it to one of our cherry pickers. My head hurts me now (I have a big bump on it) and they kept asking if I was ok (I really am fine) and this is the side story: I like contact. Well, I play through it well. I miss the wrestling aspects of enduring pain and turning a sport into a contest of wills. Let's face it: I am a good athlete but I was never a great one. (Hell, I wish I was) But with certain things, I am incredibly intense. (See: Poker) Anytime I could turn an instance into a contest of wills, either enduring pain, a stamina match, whatever, I really like my chances. It's just the best way for me to win at various games.

I do like team sports. My favorite sport not to play but also watch is obviously basketball. Nothing comes close. But of the sports I played, throughout highschool (and a little bit of college) were all individual sports. I don't know if it's coincidence or by design, well, I didn't play basketball because the team was too good ("so I'd give wrestling a shot"). I did play football for a year, but that was mainly because I had never played before and always wanted to try it. (Conclusion: Incredibly fun sport, but, the ratio of practice time to game time is so minuscule it really is frustrating) I ran XC (was a key contributor of our senior year team, we placed 2nd in our sectionals, funny enough losing to Alex's alma mater Hopkins - by a wide margin... How are they so good at running?..), Wrestled, and played Tennis. Obviously none of these sports involve holding teammates accountable. (Well, in doubles for tennis you do, but whatever)

Let's get back to Spring. I suppose this is almost a slightly painful time for me, because it is a reminder: 1. I have not graduated from college 2. I probably wont for some time. About #1, I've come to peace with this a while ago, mainly because I've been doing (what I deem) more important things with my life. Everyone in my family range from VERY accomplished academically to at least college finished, but frankly, I don't feel "having a diploma" or so really matters. The unfortunate thing is there is a stigma I suppose socially that perhaps is deserving "of the masses," but when broken to the individual, no longer really holds true. Tricky wording and perhaps I'll break that down further... later though.

About #2, I don't even know how many credits I have. Every (nearly every, I suppose) person has some issue or issues that the cliche "ignorance is bliss" is attached. Or, they'd rather not face the cold facts. Denial, I guess. For ME, I don't know how much of this is due to denial and how much is laziness, or, just understanding finding out is irrelevant, so it's wasted effort. (I cannot stand wasted effort) Certainly the denial % is greater than zero, though. So, why is spring somewhat of a painful time? Well, for 3 years in a row I pretty much flaked on college during the spring. Before last year, the previous 3 years I had continual epiphanies, pretty much saying "what is the purpose of doing this work?" It was a cycle that led (me) to the conclusion of: "Do well in middle school so that you can do well in high school. Do well in high school so you can do well in college. Do well in college so that you..." etc. what if one was to say, the cycle ends now?

So, playing basketball w/ Jordan and Hammer yesterday, Jordan made a joke that he has all this free time now that his last final just ended. I can relate to that! but I love free time. I used to love alone time (I still...

As the subject said, it's been about 2 weeks since my last blog post. This may be the longest break from blogging I've gone since the inception! And actually, a ton has happened. To knock things off, it's Mother's day, so when I finish writing this, I am going to drive to see my mom in West Hartford.

Like I did last month, I wanted to mention what my little calendar says as far as inspiration or thought. It's an Aristotle quote...
While I'm waxing philosophy, I want to digress slightly and see what people think of a maxim I've been thinking about lately. This is a hypothetical, but it is drawn from a (much smaller) real life example, so bare with me: If a person murders 5 people, and along the way, somewhere intermittently, he steals a car, in the grand scheme of things, that transgression is completely ignored, right? The reason I thought about this is I had a really bad day a few days ago (which I'll get to in a second) when it seemed like things just were going against me. I mean, it was a bunch of little things:
-I stayed up all night and had breakfast with Dubbie, but while I had breakfast with him (he stayed up all night too) I got a parking ticket.
-The Celtics lost game 3
-The Rockets lost game 3 (and then apparently Yao broke his foot, unfortunately sealing the Lakers berth in the WCF)
-I then got a ticket for parking in a handicap spot* (this is what I'll get to) picking up food
-The food was pretty bad

Anyway, I just thought that all these small little karmic things somehow gained momentum, and in the scheme of life, a misdeed that is "lesser" by comparison gets lost in the shuffle. Or, similar to the example above but in a positive light, if you're having a wonderful day, ie. you go to a circus, get a balloon, whatever, you also get your favorite type of icecream, well, it's a small thing that is probably glossed over because there are "better" things happening immediately.

I dont know, that's what's on my mind. As far as the Aristotle quote, to me it's a very standard Aristotelian quote. If you want to change a part of your life, Aristotle argued you do so by actively changing, not just saying you will be different, and so on and so forth. "actions louder than words" is an Aristotelian idea, essentially. So it's no mystery he would feel that an honor, ie. an award or ribbon or badge or whatever that represents something a person has accomplished is meaningless without the feeling or action that goes along with actually the "doing". I feel the same; in Poker, for example, some people get lauded for things they have not done, or not accomplished. This could be seen as some TV pros, for example. Some possess honors that they perhaps do not deserve. Thing though is that's life. :/

*Ok, I posted this on 2p2, and apparently it makes me "an asshole" (to quote Apathy, heh. Who I hope meant it in jest!) but I thought I was in the right. Actually, he posted a youtube which I'll link underneath this, which actually fit the situation, so I can't really argue it. Perhaps the blog-readers will be a more pro-my side audience. As noted above I parked in a handicap spot, while running in to a restaurant to get food. I mean, who doesn't do this? I do this a lot, fwiw. I spotted a policeman while going into the restaurant, and i just had this *gut feeling* like "oh man I'm going to get a ticket". I was gone for all of 3 minutes, and on my way back, sure enough he started writing a ticket. I said, "hey man I was getting food, I'm here, no need to ticket me!" Now, HERE IS WHERE I GOT BOTHERED. as a display of authority, or whatever, he went ahead and wrote the ticket. There is a difference between having written it, and not having written it and writing it even though you could easily just let the person drive away. I mean, if the situation were reversed, I'd let the poor sap go. Anyway, I tore up the ticket in a rage and threw it on the street.

People thought my reaction was wrong, and they may be right, but I still felt very angry over this. And, as noted, the food was bad and not worth it, so I will never go back to that place (Tavern at Central Square) solely because I associate this negative confrontation with Tavern.



http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...?currentPage=1

That is a Malcolm Gladwell article that was a very good read. So, highly recommend it. I got this link from Tri (slowhabit) and for anyone that likes these sorts of reads (blink, tipping point, etc.) this hits home.

My sister leaves tomorrow for Israel. She is 26, and this is technically the last time she could do a birthright trip. (Where some organization, called Birthright, pays for most of the flight/hotel/I have no idea) She's actually rebounded very well since getting laid off ~6 (?) weeks ago; she's been working with my cousin (who is a TV producer) and apparently has a knack for producing. I have no idea how long she will be there (2 weeks?) but I guess I'll hear from her when she gets back!



Switching topics, I went to Game 1 of the Magic-Celtics series. I was able to get decent tickets through Tbach at an OK price, so I invited Travis (costanza_g) who drove on up. The game itself was frustrating, but worthwhile, sorta; we fell behind by like 26, it seemed disastrous, than the Cs made an epic run. We got to 4 w/ a min left, Ray Allen had a 3 rim out/PP with 30 secs to go drove in the lane and there was an OBV foul to Dwight that the refs no-called, and that was the game. Here's a pic: (Also got another Celtics towel, and got a chance to wear my Rondo jersey and eat hotdogs, so it's a win)


While I'm still on the topic of basketball, ~10 days ago (last Thursday) was my IM playoff tournament. essentially it's single elimination play-until-you-lose all day. I intended (that day) to write a huge recap, but since it's now 10 days in the future, my memory isn't 100%, and the details aren't really even that important. So, I'll leave it at:
-The games are barely a step up from pickup. No ref, no FTs, no TOs, it's sorta stupid.
-I played on 2 different teams (my team w/ Hammertime/some other Tufts friends and another team w/ Xorbie, as well as some other ~sorta friends like Dana and Will, who are V good at Bball).

My 1st team we lost by 1, as we had a chance to win at the end but a guy who shouldn't be taking the last shot took the last shot and airballed. I had a good game, too, but drained a ton of energy.
2nd team (Joel's team) we crushed the 1st team (final margin like 9 or so, but we were just killing them) I didn't do much as I was tired/no longer the best...

I love that song. Please listen to that while reading. OK:

A lot of thoughts are pouring through my head. The past 5 days I finished the Wire (before the NBA playoffs) and since the Playoffs began, have watched ~most of the games. Also, I got a stomach-flu or something 3 days ago which literally rendered me bed-ridden, as it felt like I got food poisoning or something. (I may have, I'm not sure) Good news is I feel 99% today, so hopefully that's over.

Some basic NBA thoughts:
-Celts/Bulls series is phenomenal. As a Boston fan, I feel pretty lucky to be tied 1-1. After G1 I thought it would be over soon as the Bulls ran incredibly hot and we ran very badly and yet we still should have won (Pierce missed his FT) but G2 the Bulls continued to play tough, some guys who ran hot in G1 didn't (TT, Rose) and yet we needed Jesus Shuttlesworth to play like a man possessed in the crunch. I thought this would be over in 5 before it started, and actually didn't really waver from that prediction after game 1, but now I think it will go the full 7. Powe's injury is truly tough, as our frontcourt depth is nonexistant. Playing BBD or Mikki for any amount of time is a true leak.

-Philly shocked Orlando by taking game 1. Donyell Marshall! (Pic below) He was on the Jazz during the Stockton/Malone era, went to UConn, and has hung around the league for a while. He has literally given the Sixers such an injection it's uncanny. Anyway, Philly is horrible at taking 3s, Orlando is very good... there is a saying about a 1game sample size in the NBA (or basketball in general I suppose) which is "Make-or-Miss league". Philly ran insanely good on the outside in G1, Orlando ran really bad, but things like this happen. For the record, the Sixers did this to the Pistons last year too; they have a lot of fight in them but they still have no chance to win the series. When everything goes your way (coming back from down 18+) and yet you require Iggy to hit an incredibly contested/difficult shot (good defense by Hedo on the play) then congrats. I initially said 5 games, and I am actually not wavering on that, either.



-The boring series, as expected, are the 1v8 matches. Ofc, this bothers me as a Utah fan, but I wiped my hands clean with Utah ~2 weeks back. I believe I made a blog post, or at least a mention, about it. If I didn't, at some point every fan who is truly emotionally invested in their team goes through a phase or moment when they realize their team is NOT a contender. Mind you, this doesn't happen if they believe their team IS a contender (whether or not the team is actually a contender is another story) but it made me happier to make this realization. I simply lost all expectations, and am at peace with them stealing 1 game in Utah. I just don't want to get swept by the ****ing Lakers.

*For those interested, the true contenders this year are the Cavs and Lakers. I haven't *quite* gone through this as a Boston fan yet, since I'm holding the possibility that as the playoffs go on KG gets healthy, but seeing BBD and Mikki Moore combine for 53 mins in G2 is going to fast track my mental state to one of acceptance.
**As noted, some fans can convince themselves their team IS a contender (until/unless they get knocked out, of course) and those fan bases right now are Houston (they look good), Denver, Portland (although another game like G1 and they will have the same epiphany), Orlando, and Boston. It's also not completely out of the realm of possibility one of these teams actually win, but for the most part "the field" (outside the true contenders) likely represents less than a 1in3 chance of occurring.

-Closing NBA thoughts, as noted above the Rockets truly look good. I did a cover-your-back prediction (I generally don't do this!) since I made 2 separate predictions, (technically in my defense one was a Pre-KG and one was a Post-KG... but that shouldn't change any Western pick!) and had 1 of those Rockets in 7 and the other Trailblazers in 7, but now I think it'll be Rockets in 6. Conditional probabilities! My other predictions looked the same, and for kicks, here they are:
Cavs in 4 (looks good), Magic in 5 (doesn't "look" good but still "feels" right), Celtics in 5 (this wont happen), Hawks in 6 (I really didnt/dont think much of the Heat, and if G1 is a microcosm for the series, I may have even moreso underestimated the Hawks!). Lakers in 5, Nuggets in 5 (wasn't enough love for this), Mavs in 6 (my only "upset," so far looks good), and Tblazers or Rocks in 7 (for full disclosure, I initially said Rockets but then changed my mind to Trailblazers, so this one does NOT look good).

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04172009/watch.html

That's the David Simon interview mentioned in the title. I recommend everyone should listen. For those who have not seen the Wire, it wont reveal much, so it's OK/safe from spoilers. For the most part, I think. Anyway... The Wire is the best show I've ever seen, period. I finished watching it, and it made me really depressed. There are numerous levels to it - it's so incredibly intense that it's easy to get lost in the storyline. It makes you think. One of the things that I took from the show is that change in society is nearly impossible. Nearly impossible.

I figure since I haven't done a "top 10" list in a while, I'll rank my favorite TV shows. As a preamble, I'm able to watch a lot of TV, and although I don't like watching it on TV (I hate commercials) I LOVE TV-on-DVDs. So I have an extensive collection. I also develop an affinity to the characters/etc., it's a nice feeling when you "know" a show. If it's a good one, at least! I'm going to list the shows I own, basically, so anything that has made this list I feel is quality, and therefore, I recommend. Just because a show is ranked last does not mean I dislike it, but rather, don't like it as much as the others. Here goes! (I own 14 unique shows, so will list them... backwards!)

In case the 1st song ended, here's the next one to listen to, I love this song too:


#14: Entourage. I only have 1 season (season 3, oddly) and I followed this show religiously for a while. I think I got S3 because I missed them on demand, and obviously wanted to keep things going chronologically. This is basically a comedy that is the equivalent of a male Sex & the City (I'm sure everyone knows this show/all...

Been a little while since a post. My apologies! Did you know apology comes from the Greek "apologia" meaning "a speech in defense"? I recall reading Socrates' "apologia" a while back. It was good stuff. Nowadays it doesn't mean a speech in defense, but common nomenclature it is more akin to expressing regret/make something "right". I don't know if I learned that from a movie, my mother, or from reading that passage a while back, but who knows. Learning can be fun!

Yes, I went to Foxwoods. No joke! I was there for less than 24hrs, including driving there and back though. (No joke) So here's what happened:

Yesterday, I was informed Dub was still in the main event. I had a piece of him, so I figured (since my ankle was KILLING me to the point I could only lay on a couch) I may as well lay on a bed there and watch the Wire. (It was all I was doing here anyway) It was raining and gross, I wasn't going to be able to go outside or visit friends, so it was the sociable thing to do. Further, Dub had elongated his room stay until Monday - he originally was staying with JCmoussa, but JC left because there weren't high enough games. (And I think he busted day 1, not sure if he even bothered to play in the tourney)

I packed a light suitcase (enough for 2 nights), most importantly had my laptop and season 3 of the Wire, hobbled downstairs to my car, and I was off. Listened to Bob Seger on the way down which got me mini-pumped. Of course, I get a phone call about 30 mins away (FW is roughly 1hr30mins away w/ no traffic and fine weather...) from Dub, and sure enough, he busted! KK to AA with a slightly less than average stack. Just sucks, he coolers the opposition and he likely is heading to Day 3. Instead, I was in the middle of an Indian reservation with a hurt ankle/foot driving.

Note that I lingered around the house long enough to watch the Knicks lose to Toronto (I still have a shot at winning a season future for wins, with the under, so I'm rooting for them to lose lose lose - which isn't hard for them to do!) so I THINK I left around 4:30? Regardless, Travis was playing a SCOOP and Dub had retired to the room to watch the Final Four when I got there.

Essentially, my night was: Watch UConn lose (technically Travis, Dub, and I are all UConn fans as we're all from CT. Dub is a legit UConn fan though). Anytime UConn did anything right, Dub would clap about 4x as loud and long as necessary. Luckily they didn't do a lot right. Travis won his 1st table but would end up losing at the 2nd HU. (IIRC) We also had MLG on in the background (halo stuff) and I got through an episode of S3. (Ep1) I made a reservation for the steak place downstairs, David Burke Prime at 9. Ended up pushing it till 930 or so because Travis kept surviving (until his inevitable bust)

Thoughts on David Burke Prime: This place was lousy. Travis had eaten, so basically I told Al I would treat him for the cost of the room tonight. (Didn't work out for me) It was overpriced, food was not good, and service was slow. As Travis commented, they really batted zero. I had some champagne (why not) which was good... and a lemondrop (which was overpoweringly strong). For the main meal, I ordered a 20 oz. Bronx Filet Mignon (never had a "Bronx" filet mignon) and the reason things were bad was that I ordered it medium. It came rare. I requested they cook it again, it came back almost as rare. Basically I gave up, and the only thing they did was treat us to an extra order of "whipped" potatoes. (I hate when people call them whipped, they're MASHED!) Anyway, I was pretty hungry since I didn't/couldn't eat most of my meal, but it was my loss.

2 dinner tidbits:
1. We were discussing how long it would take for Dub and me to jointly beat the Halo campaign on legendary. (yeah, we're really awesome talking about video game stuff!) Travis proposed a prop (that we'll likely do tomorrow) where the line is 6hrs. I think we're going to smoke it, but Travis made me a little nervous that a good team takes about 8hrs (with cinematics) and since cinematics aren't more than an hour, Al and I need to truck. It's a small amount of $, but certainly a pride thing.
2. Travis ordered sorbet. There was a dispute as to what color one sorbet was. (the front one) Obv it's "either" orange or yellow, I thought it was mango, but the rule was it had to be a basic color. Our waitress sided with Dub (orange).



Came back to the room, UNC was crushing so it wasn't a good game. We all decided there was NO POINT in staying another day, so we canceled the final day. I watched another episode of the Wire and went to sleep. (Yeah, what fun) Dub and Travis woke up at 6 (Travis slept on the floor, so I had a bed, which was nice of him) and were SO loud, they ordered room service (left me out of it). I finally completely woke up at 730, as Alex was packing. I told them I was going to play poker before I left (which led to some serious guffaws)

The pokerroom was dead tho, 5-10 was the highest game, just 1 going, and had a 6 person waitlist. I put my name up for 10-20, and lo and behold, I was the only one. **** that, after eating (Travis stayed so that I would have some company, +FE there) I left. Oasis on the ride home, and voila, here I am.