Have I embedded this song before? Probably. Nice Dream is the nuts. I had a whole blog post planned but I'm sincerely blanking.

I played bball w/ my friend Eddie and Pete today in Dorchester. I expected the level of competition to be strong, but I was one of the best players. Slight letdown. My ankle has been bothering me. Hmm. I've been hanging out a ton w/ Eddie; he's actually going to China tomorrow (taught me some Chinese... "Beijing" means "northern capital". Bei is north, jing is capital!) so that's a bummer. Last night we went to a friend of a friend's music show @ a place called "All Asia" in central. The music was, well, similar to a poor man's version of dispatch. I love dispatch. I did not love this band.

Before we went to the show, the 3 of us (Pete didn't end up going to the show w/ us, but had dinner) went to Cafe Andala, which is a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED middle eastern cafe that serves food. They're stronger for lunch, but are OK for dinner. The place is super cozy and basically has board games you can play while waiting. I played Pete in a game of chess and just destroyed him. I think I've gotten much better; I'm at a point where I can recite the game back for the most part. I wanted to whip out the Danish gambit, but he declined it. So I pozzed center control. Checkmated him. He wasn't too happy about that.

Anyway, the show was weak; there was 1 pool table (4quarters for a game!) so Eddie and I played 2 games of 8 ball. I got destroyed - I'm not good, Eddie is very good - so we switched to 9 ball to give me a little more of a chance. I actually "should" have won, but I flubbed the shot for the win. Oh well. The fun part though was Eddie and I left after the show was over - ended at 10:30 or whatever - and went across the street to "Middlesex". Middlesex is sorta a club, I suppose, basically it's a giant dancefloor. Eddie is asian and a sick dancer - dancing, to me, is work and difficult. It felt a little like the scene from "swingers" where Jon Favreau dances and Vince Vaughn just watches. I ended up having a solid time though, doing a bit of dancing. Oh yeah.

-----

I'm going to be doing standup. Yeah, I hope it goes well! I'll upload and share the youtube when I do this. I have some material written and I think it's funny... But the emphasis is on the "I". I'm not really sure if others find it funny, but the good thing is I'm not sure I care. Dunno if that makes for a stronger act or not!

BBall leagues start in 2.5 weeks. I'm V pumped - obviously I'll have recaps/updates in the blog! I have 3 teams; a 5on5 coed not really competitive league, a 5on5 semi competitive league where I think everyone is a 2p2er? Largely? And a 4on4 competitive league with friends, which should be the strongest team.

As far as real basketball, I did a few season forecasts for certain teams in TZ (2p2 "threadzilla"), but frankly they're each a lot of work and not really worth it. Suffice to say I'm unsure if I'll post an entire slew of projections. BUT, the Jazz and Celtics both appear equally strong as last year (a slight dip for the Jazz, slight uptick for the Cs) so yay bball.

Poker... Ugh. I've played 2 sessions this month. Both went awfully. Not even that much $ lost, just everything blew up in my face. (1 of those sessions included a tournament day, which is why the $ lost wasn't bad, but just totally frustrating. Everytime I have a tournament day, this tends to happen, which is why I only have a tournament day about once/year!)

Not really making progress on the house search. I've found a TON of places that are OK. Places that "could" work, but have a glaring problem. So, I can do better. But nothing that I really wanted... Except one place, which of course was too much money! Boo. I have narrowed my search to focus on Cambridge and Brookline, not exclusively, but most likely.

The main video wouldn't let me embed. Found a different youtube user w/ what appears to be the original music video, so here goes.



For whatever reason, this song has spurned not one, not two, but I believe three separate discussions in the HSNL cheese thread. RBK is particular is turned off to it. I really like the song - and music video - so here I am, jumping to its defense. Without further ado...

Ok, so we all brushed up on our definition of irony and what it means to be ironic.

Ok, so an old man gets very lucky - a once in a lifetime, perhaps once-in-a-bunch-of-people-lifetimes, then dies of said old age. It doesn't really fit the 2nd definition of ironic, since it's neither a difference (luck vs age, I suppose) nor incongruity (these things happen). That said, it is humorously mocking. It's thin, but I think this works. 1/1

Well, Alanis didn't mention the cost of the wine. But my understanding of this - if we stretch it - is an expensive drink is ruined by a flying insect. (Becomes no longer drinkable) This is an incongruity, and therefore, it's ironic. 2/2

Well, this is the near-definition of "difference between what is expected (man being freed from prison) and what actually is (2 minutes too late = executed)". This one works without stretching it, nice Alanis. 3/3

This one is a stretch, and unfortunately it's in the chorus, so we get to hear it several times in the song. I suppose on a wedding day, it's "supposed" to be a perfect day. Perfect entails sunshine. Again, somewhat fits the difference between what is expected and what is. 4/4

[x] humorous mocking (5/5, for those counting)

People don't take good advice all the time, so we can't expect advice to be taken in the first place. Also, this is not humorous. Even stretching it, I think it's safe to say this is the first truly weak example of irony. 5/6

So a man is afraid to fly because of plane crashes - and then it crashes. This is both mocking as well as a poignant difference between what is expected (not crashing) and what happens (crash). 6/7

I'm not sure this is supposed to be another example of irony, or if it just sounds pretty when Alanis sings it. I suppose this is funny, but it's not ironic. (When everything is going wrong, and then... Continues to go wrong) 6/8

Well, you're already late, so I suppose what's the difference in being even later? Here, it's not really mocking or sarcastic, AND the extension/belief of said traffic jam is that you WILL be late. So that actually happens. So, 6/9. (If you really wanted it to work, it would be a traffic jam but you make it there on time. But that's super weak + doesn't sound good)

Somewhat hinges on whether you're a smoker or not. If you're not, you're not expected to smoke nor is it mocking in any way, since you weren't going to smoke. (So the fact you cant, in the 5 minutes or so in an hour during work you have off, is totally irrelevant) That said, if you're craving a cig, and it's the only time you can smoke, and then... You can't smoke... That is irony. 7/10.

Having spoons is somewhat irrelevant here. Had Alanis specified "looking in the utensil drawer, and finding everything but a knife, when you really need a knife", well, that's irony. The fact you're apparently in a spoon factory seeking a knife, well, that's just bad judgment. Look elsewhere, not ironic. 7/11

Technically, this is mocking/sarcastic. Since Alanis "found the perfect man" only to find out he's off the market. 8/12.

Ok, enough with that. Anyway, 67% success ratio, I think that's solid!

I got a call from Bill (Snowbank) yesterday asking if I wanted to be on "the Hot Seat". Wasn't quite sure what that was, but I agreed! Unfortunately this meant missing pickup soccer, but you can find the interview below:

http://www.pokerstatic.com/hot-seat/...tos-interview/

Mainly talk about poker. About 25% is basketball talk (cover the Heat and Wizards). I'm pretty happy with how it went, it's not super exciting but hopefully it's somewhat entertaining! I also shout out Vitas (well deserved IMO), Aaron, and Keith.

*Oh, I went out to dinner w/ Moussa tonight, and told him about the interview. (It was posted midday today) Apparently, I was a replacement for him, lol. Bill didn't tell me that

So, I'm here in Medford. Ugh. To bring all of you up to speed, essentially I decided to rent a short term apartment. That's not too difficult, but I needed:
-Furnished (all of my things are in storage, and the expense is moving them in/out)
-Pet-friendly (I have cats, after all)
-I like space (can't be a studio)
-Well, wanted to be close to Boston (specifically in Cambridge)

As it turns out, if all of those conditions are met, it costs a lot more then it should. So I had to take my pick, and ended out with nailing all of them at a reasonable price, except for location. I am staying in Medford -if it was next to Tufts, that would be great (since I'd be walking distance to the gym/Alex's house!) but instead this is by the Fellsview (sp?) reservoir, which is essentially a higher exit off the highway. This is pretty brutal, since now I'm susceptible to traffic (ughhhhh) AND I can't walk to anything.

But here I am. I don't have internet (I was at Alex's house all day so I could use the internet; IF I'm able to post this before I sleep, it's only because I'm pirating a very flaky connection) so I need to decide if I'm going to buy a wireless card (I probably should) or call Comcast. (If I do that, it'll be done tomorrow)

So, I'm staying in JCmoussa's mom's friend's apartment. She is in the process of moving to Dubai, and it fits all the conditions - it's very large, it's furnished beautifully, etc. (JC's mom is a real estate agent, who hopefully will help me find something to buy!) Anyway, I got in here 2 days ago, and I'm already flustered at the driving. Also, it's a 3bedroom condo, but ~2 of the bedrooms are essentially lopped off. (So is the office) The condo is 2k sq. ft, so it would be huge just for me, but about half the space is not usable for me. (Her belongings are squared away in those rooms)

Also, for the next ~2 weeks, JC's mom is staying here too. JC's mom (named Claudette) is incredibly nice, but frankly I just don't like living with anyone, period.* I'll feel a little more comfortable when the space "is all mine". Funny enough, the women who owns the condo (her name is Monica) seems to love a few things that I (admittedly) love too - cats, candles, and honey. (Yeah, letting all my guilty pleasures out) Reason I bring this up is the condo is literally flooded with candles, and the kitchen has tons of various types of honey. (I've already tried 2 different types, vvv good) As far as the cat thing, she has a cat, so there are a few cat toys/scratchers around. So, that's good. (Note, my cats are still in northampton, MA - I'm picking them up later this week, wanted to get settled in first before bringing them over)

*Living in the Vegas house is an exception and quite different then full-time living. In fact, the camaraderie of a Vegas house is very fun.

Now that I'm back in Boston, what have been I up to?
Aug 1st - Went to Cafe Rustica (saw 2 of my friendly acquaintances who work there, Amare and Farook), then went to Dubby's for the entire day.

July 31st - Went to brunch w/ my friend Dianna; played basketball w/ Dub.& Ross. Pretty much just
dominated the streetball court. (We didn't lose) Came back and unpacked most of my stuff from my car. Very uneventful Saturday, go me.

July 30th - Drove in. Dianna has a band (2 women singers w/ guitars) that I wanted to see, so that's why I chose Friday to leave Western MA. I got there in the afternoon, which was enough time to play basketball w/ Dub, and met a new housemate of his named Ross, who seems like a nice guy. I dominated the court.

Afterward... I didn't realize they (dianna and her friend) were performing in the basement. (The venue was the Cantab, in Central sq... had never been there before, despite living 3 mins from it 2 years ago) I couldn't convince anyone to go (since poker players are such active, social, busy people) so I went solo. Again, didn't realize there was a downstairs, so stayed upstairs drinking coronas. A jazz band came and played. (I would say I hate jazz, but that's disingenuous. I had to listen to some jazz while in the car w/ Ryan over the summer, and it has grown on me slightly. I now only mildly dislike jazz!) They weren't bad, but it wasn't my thing. Left after an hour and a half or so. Keith (kbfc) is in town because, sadly, his grandfather passed away. He was staying in Woburn with family, so I drove to his hotel and drank a bit with him, his dad, and his uncle. (small note here - I had a gin & tonic. I rarely get gin & tonics, but they're growing on me. Or rather, I'm trying to force them on myself) That was alright.

This blog was supposed to be about western MA, and frankly ran over what I intended. So, I'll sum up with:
-Western MA was cool.
-Stayed w/ my best friend, DB. So, +FE.
-Went swimming in a river 4-5 times (it's called "Puffer's Pond," but that's actually a misnomer, since it's an offshoot of a river) and also hiked one day (pictures below - was very rainy that day but it made the short hike much better)

View from the top of Sugarloaf "mountain"


DB


Me


-Hung out with TB (DB's younger brother, also a very close friend of mine - he's still @ Umass Amherst)
-Spent a day w/ his family (Neil and Joan - again, I'm very close with them. haha)
-Played a fair amount of bball
-Played soccer! This was pretty awesome actually. I had to buy cleats since I didn't have a pair, but it felt good. I hadn't played in a long time. I actually quit, technically, after 9th grade... The reasoning for it was in 10th grade I really wanted to try football since I felt I'd never have the chance to play, and soccer would always be there for 11th and 12th. However, I got very serious about wrestling, so chose to run cross country in 11th grade since that's the best conditioning training for wrestling. That worked well and I loved being on the team, so I did it again in 12th. That kinda spelled the end of my soccer career. Anyway, I surprised myself. I felt I was one of the better players there - my first touch was pretty sound, I still have some ball fake moves, and my field vision wasn't bad. Obviously I can improve tremendously, but I just expected the worst (especially when some kids showed up in Netherlands jerseys/were juggling up and down the field/etc) but when it came to actually kicking the ball around the field I wasn't intimated. The main observation I have about soccer is conditioning is 90%+ of the game. The kids that ran out of energy early were just so useless.

-Finished the episodes S2/S3 of Arrested Development I missed in Vegas. (DB had the set)
-Started watching S7 of CYE. Started very slowly (below average) but has picked up immensely - I actually have 2 episodes left.
-Ended up eating at this BBQ place ("Bub's BBQ") twice. VERY good. I was shocked a Massachusetts BBQ place was good, but this place blew my expectations away....

IH posed a pretty cool question in the sporting events forum. I took a bit of time to write out a reply, so figured I'd repost it on my blog, since I haven't done an NBA post in a while. (And besides, it's the offseason, so it's the one thing I can really write about!)

You guys need to realize this is an exercise in a vacuum. Joe Johnson, this year to the hawks, was simply irreplaceable; they were able to offer him a lot of money (that they couldn't offer to anyone else) to get a player of a skill level (that they couldn't get anywhere else). To a team w/ no players, however, Johnson is the epitome of a bad max. And that's just in year 1!

With that forward, here is what I view as the best to worst deals: (Essentially, any contract is "skill level now," "age year 1", "skill level at the end of the contract").

Big Money
F Paul Pierce, 61M/4 Pierce is a top-rate wing who brings it on both sides of the ball. His skill set figures to age well, since he gets to the line due to ball fakes, not aggressive takes. He has a wide/strong body and defends using position and angles, not sheer athleticism. He's a max player who will be making less then that; he can be the 2nd best player on a championship team.

F David Lee, 80M/6 Dude has been playing out of position, and people are right, he's a turnstile defensively. Although he's not NEARLY the stud David Berri make him out to be ("lol"), he's a net positive player. Although I don't agree with how much the Woyas gave up to acquire him (Azu, Ronny, AND Randolph!? Why don't you just empty the cupboard) he's being paid fair value. To boot, he has no injury problems and even in the last year of his deal, he should be just leaving his prime. In other words, I expect him to either get better then this year or at worst stay at this production, even in the 6th year.

F Amar'e Stoudamire, 100M/5 Amare is basically David Lee, except a little older, more injury concerns (even if they're flukish, the fact is, he gets hit in the eye and his career is over) and has a larger mainstream reputation which is based on his scoring. (So he's overrated) Is he worth a max year 1? Meh. Is he worth it in year 5? He's still youngish, so only the 4th and 5th year may look bad. For those wondering, Amare vs Lee is basically even but I give the edge to Amare in skil. But when you factor in injuries and age and more dollar/year, Lee's contract in a vacuum is flatout better.

F Carlos Boozer, 80M/5 The 3rd guy in the "I like to score" PF trifecta. Keep in mind I feel all 3 players are basically even. The reason Boozer is last of the 3 though is last year was a contract year; I have seen (WITH MY OWN EYES!) the difference between "playing for a max Carlos Boozer" and "cut the check Carlos Boozer". When he's in the "I don't care" mode, well, Victor once said I care more about the Jazz winning then he does. He's correct. Regardless, I feel next year he probably is the best of the 3, but he figures to age the worst (based on athleticism/finishing around the rim/strength, none of which age well) so year 4 and 5 have the potential to be bad. Regardless, like the 2 guys above him, he's a net positive player that is way overvalued by the mainstream media.

F Dirk Nowitzki, 80M/4 Probably the toughest guy to rate. Fact is he'll always be 7ft (until he shrinks an inch or two) and he'll always be able to stroke it. If you had to name a player who could still play NBA-level basketball in their mid-to-late 40s, Dirk would have to be on the top 3 list. That said, people don't realize just how much his game has slipped. I hate to be the harbinger of bad news (Dallas Fans) but... Dirk is not worth the max. Not in year 1, and especially not in year 4. (Even though he figures to age incredibly well, it doesn't mean he's IMPERVIOUS to aging!) Like the 3 guys above him, he's a score-first PF. He used to be the best of the bunch, and the laughing matter is he's probably the best defender of the 4. But he stopped rebounding and his offense is no longer top-echelon elite. (So year 1 he's simply not as good as the guys above him) For a team starting out, this would be a bad max yr 1, even though yr 4 I prob take Dirk>Booze.

F Rudy Gay, 82M/5 Well, at least he is the only player on this list that has upside! Other people have nailed this, and it's true: Rudy Gay has never been the best player on his team. Truthfully, he probably isn't even the 2nd best player and ARGUABLY isn't even the 3rd best player! It's tough to be competitive when you're giving ~1/4th of your cap to your ~3rd best player. The good news is this takes him throughout his peak, so last year was probably the floor. (Whereas other players above, you're seeing their ceiling) I worry that without playing for a contract you've probably seen the best he has to offer, as well, which is a score first player (who doesn't even do that all that well) with limited secondary statistics and less-than-average defense.

G Joe Johnson, 119M/6 All the deals above are either +EV or borderline (like the Gay deal). This is the one that is sheer -EV every part of the way. First, ask yourself: Is Joe Johnson, aged 29, worth a super max? The answer is maybe. I mean, he's slipped from his peak years (as a 25yr old, 19.5 PER) and his main attributes (health and playing TONS of minutes) have slipped a bit too. He's logged an incredible amount of NBA minutes for someone who didn't come out of high school (over 27k minutes including playoffs). So, year 1 maybe he'll be a fringe all star and maybe is worth the super max. But year 2... and 3... 4, 5, and 6 (You get the idea!) you're paying an awful lot for a scorer who isn't a surefire max.

Next I'll do Mid-Money wings.

*Keep in mind for the Hawks Joe Johnson's deal was alright. It wasn't great, but their options were either: 1. Keep the team together, albeit at a cost 2. Break it apart, don't really get much from JJ, and become incrementally worse next year. In a vacuum though I'd surely pass on this.

Mid Money - Perimeter Guys

Forward - My god, there are a lot of them. The main issue here is my rankings are not contextually based: Remember, IH said to examine...

Meant to write a lot. Had one planned called "leaving Las Vegas," which happened more then 10 days ago. Had a video blog I did with my best friend, Bach. But that got erased before I could host it on youtube. Nuts I haven't done a blog in a month - I really like blogs. Either way, I want to make something clear, although it wont make sense:

I am an incredibly competitive person. I do not take losing well. Some could say I hate to lose. If I am playing a game - be it athletic or academic - and I am going to lose, I go a little berserk. I've become quite numb to a lot of things (desensitized, largely, to losing money for example) but losing just will never become apart of my nature.

Funny, but I've been staying w/ Dave, and he's seen me play Chess. I've flipped out after some losses, and he's told me he has never seen me get upset in that way about poker. He's right; I think I've outgrown my emotional fits with regard to poker. This was how...

I used to rage with regard to tilt. It wasn't so much the cards that fell ("I cannot control what they do, I can only control what I do") but rather when I misplayed something in poker. In many ways, perfectionism is an undoing, since it's hard to come to terms with the fact that in poker, you are going to make mistakes. It's just not a solved game.

4 years ago (wow, has it really been that long?) I lived in California. At the time I was using a T42, which was an IBM laptop. IBM had a great support staff, where if you "broke" your laptop, you could send it back, and they'd ship you a completely new laptop.

This was probably very negative for my growth in the tilt department. I destroyed - yes, destroyed - 5 laptops. If I had a particularly tough poker day, I would smash my keypad first, then shatter my screen, and maybe throw my laptop against the wall. Or, what was left of it. I often cut up my hands on my keys, since I would just punch right through the computer. On the phone with support, I wondered when I told them "I dropped it," and they got this completely unrecognizable metal chunk, what sort of drop must have occurred. Err, a 50 ft. drop from a mountain onto spikes, maybe?

I cut this behavior out when the warranty ended. And, I nearly scarred my hands because I punched glass and slit them with deep cuts. Essentially, it was a rational decision when I realized that destroying a laptop would cost me ~700$ or so. Was the release of pent up anger worth spending that much to buy a new computer? No, it wasn't. So I stopped acting in that way.

I went to a sleep away camp when I was little - went there for 7 years. I loved it! (8 to 15) It was in the Adirondacks, which is truly upstate NY. There was this game, of sorts, where every camper was integrated into a "tribe". There were 5 tribes (Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk, Onondaga, and Tuscarora) which were loosely based on the Iroquois tribes. (I believe Tuscarora were actually ~Tennessee or so Indians, but who cares about details when you're 11 years old?) and I was on the Seneca. We wore yellow.

Every ~week there was an indian event. Man, they were fun. (Some, better then others though) After the first event, there would be a tribal council, where you elect officials. There was chieftain, assistant chieftain, medicine man, and treasurer. (Treasurer was called something else) There were also the female equivalents (sages, I believe, although I'm not positive that was the word. Definitely starts with an "S") My final year, I was one of a few seniors, and had been there a while. I had a lot of experience with the strategies for upcoming games, and frankly, deserved to be the chieftain. So I ran for chieftain, of course.

I didn't win. My friend - a person named Chris Reinkeins, probably spelling that poorly, won. He had been there just as long as I had, frankly, and there weren't really any compelling reasons for the random Seneca people (ranging from 8 to 15 in age, I guess, about 40 people) to vote for him over me or vica versa. The main thing I remember about Chris Reinkeins is he had magic cards but didn't play, whereas I used to be into them. Not in the Zeejustin or Polyballer "top 5 in the world" type of way, but in the "I have a bunch and think I'm pretty good at this game" kind of way. He had a mox ruby, which is an incredibly rare, old card. (One of the few that still has value, although I could be wrong about this... I haven't looked at M:TG prices or cards in at least 10 years) At that point, it was worth 150$ or so, and I knew it. I bought it for 10. (To this day, I still have that card)

I was pretty astonished that I lost. Everyone said, "Well, you can just be assistant chief!" That didn't fly. I didn't want to be the assistant. I wanted to be chieftain. I declined. So, a kid named Jacob Itzkawicz won. (Definitely spelling THAT terribly) He was a friend of mine, too. My main memory of him was that he insisted people call him "nature boy". And his gf throughout camp (for like 3 years) was a girl named Zoee. Zoee was OK.

We went on to win that year. I acted like the de facto Chief at every event. I orchestrated who ran which specific legs when there was the race, (forget the name for it, but it was an awesome event) our strategy in the final war game (lots of fun, you throw socks filled with flour at people) etc. But I didn't get any credit for it, because I had lost the actual election.

I like to think I'm over that bit of disappointment. But it took me a while.

Great song.

So the Leggo Party is tonight - starts in a bit. However, I'm stuck in the house waiting on the cleaning lady - she's already 2 hours late.

Yesterday our upstairs AC broke. Can't figure it out. And the landlady's number doesn't work! Hah. Seriously, I call it and I get a message saying she doesn't receive incoming calls. W T F?

Somehow the cleaning lady can get through to our land lady, I believe - so everything is interlocked. In any event my room is pretty hot, I have my fan going but alas I feel like I have a fever.

The past 12? days (since the last blog) I've done a bunch of things...
-Busted from tournaments (got 3h w/ the chip lead in the super turbo 1500 shootout but I can't beat retards! Go figure)
-Have had a few losing live sessions with exactly zero winning sessions. Feels like I've gotten into some really bad spots lately...
-Went to Tryst w/ Assani + the house. Hadn't been there before; it's cool, obviously, but still < Pure and Surrender.
-Karaoked with Mikech (was lots of fun! We've done that before) where we sang a bunch of various songs. Our rendition of "Dream On" was classic.
-Lost a bunch of CCRs (not fun! Luckily we haven't really gone to expensive places so I haven't been burned too bad)
-Saw Toy Story 3D & the Karate Kid. Both were good. Actually, Toy Story was great.
-Ballooned my chess rating up on FICS, only to have it crash the past 2 days. More frustrating then poker because when I lose it really feels like I have no chance to win. Good news is when I win I feel like there's a 0% chance of losing
-Adam arrives tonight; Chris got here a few days ago. So the house is truly full!!!
-In terms of bets/world cup, for Ghana v USA when Ghana scored I gave JC 3:1 on the US. (My 150 to his 50) My thinking was that it's a life hedge, the USA winning would be way worth the 150. However, as soon as the USA scored, I wanted to just root for them, so I bought out for 50. Then, Ghana went ahead and won anyway. ARGH. I also have money against Jeff (lostinthesaus) winning his prop. Just seems impossible to me.

Bunch of random updates. Today was the 5k 6m, but I opted not to play. Possibly a good decision; the NBA finals is going on right now, and I didn't want to miss it. Heh.

Video below is from sometime last week. Just kinda random but possibly some may enjoy it. *Note that the microphone is AWFUL for the first minute. But it gets better, so if you stick it out, you get rewarded.



Other then that:
-Yesterday JC and I went to a cooking class. It... Wasn't really what I thought it would be. I didn't like the main course at all (salted cod) or the desert (some raisin thing) and the wine pairings were "meh". (All whites except 1) But it was a good experience.

*What happened is earlier in the day, Isura Jc and I went to the "Sunrise Cafe", which is close to our house. I went there a lot 2 years ago - very good place for breakfast. In any event, we saw a deli next to Sunrise that we had never been to before. So, we went there for lunch. Lunch was solid, and I saw a sign for a cooking class, which was being held that night. Soooo... We signed up! There were only 2 spots open, but we convinced them to open 3 seats. (For Alex)

You see... JC and I knew Alex would never go to a cooking class. So we concocted a scheme; it was held at 6, and we'd say, around 550, "hmm, we feel like getting some Italian. Want to come Dubby?" 100% he'd go, then we'd wind up at the restaurant with 1 car, we'd have the keys, and bammo, he's stuck there.

However, somehow, (Alex went to bed really late so when we got back from lunch he was still sleeping... Or so we thought) he overheard jc and me explaining our plan to Isura (or whomever was home). I guess my voice carries... So, he didn't go. Yeah, cool story.

The cooking class wasn't what I expected. I thought we'd actually GET to cook. Instead, we just watched the cook do all the preparation etc. Which was OK, but again, I wanted a more hands-on experience.

-I've been playing a lot of chess. Ryan and Morgan are incredibly good - just under "master", as a matter of fact. They've been helping me out, and as a result, I've gotten much better from where I was even just a week ago. For instance, I now know various things like "the perk defense". About this, there was a Las Vegas Chess Tournament that took place a few days ago. Ryan started 3-0-1 (his draw was a result only because he took a bye in order to watch USA's 1st game vs England) so he was actually poised to possibly win. (The prize pool was actually pretty good for chess; Ryan is in the division just under Master, 2000-2200 IIRC, and it's 5k for first) and then he ran into a buzzsaw... He took this picture only because, well, it's funny:


Yes, Ryan fell to a 12 year old. Kid is probably a genius though, so I guess he can't feel too bad!

-The house has been a story of 2 directions. Alex has been dominating; he took 9th in the 1500 6m for 30k, and followed that up with 26th in the 2500 for 15k. So he's keeping the house goal very much alive and well! But... Ryan, JC, and I have not done well. I saved my previous 2 sessions in terms of note keeping on my phone, but I'd rather not post all the hands. The fact is I played well but ran badly - boohoo, I haven't won an allin in either tournament/my equity in cash hasn't been realized.

Because of that, I decided not to play the event today. (Although the C's being on was def a solid secondary reasoning) So, between JC, Ryan, and myself, we've kinda wiped away all of Dub's progress. I think Isura/Morgan/Travis are up a little bit, but I don't think the aggregate is that positive. So basically even though Dub is destroying people, we're below pace.

-I've been playing a fair amount of FF13. It has been a good distraction after a really really really awful live session, and now I want to beat it. I'm ~midway on disc3, so probably 3 more days or so and I'll wrap it up.

-After starting well on CCR, (not paying the first few meals) I've literally lost the past 4 in a row. Luckily they've been on the smaller scale (like breakfast, the 'cooking class' w JC, also a Japanese place off the strip that was recommended called "Sen of Japan" w/ Vanessa, Dub, Jc, and Travis - I do not recommend, it's not better then Naked Fish but a bit more expensive) but regardless it wiped away all my prior built up equity. So, I just hope I don't get completely owned like I did last year.

So... That's about it! Other then that, C's are up 6 right now and I'm feeling a mix of huge uneasiness/worry but also happy we're going into the 3rd up 6. Later all!

So, quite a lot to report! Some good, some not as good. May as well go reverse chronologically, because that's the easiest way to shape my thoughts. So:

It's ~4AM right now. So it's not *really* June 8th. Alex (I swapped 5%) and Ryan (I unfortunately did not swap) both are ITM in the 6m, and are alive for day 2. I, of course, am not.

June 7th
Woke up after about 6 hours of sleep. I was up all night because I couldn't sleep - obviously - and I was listening to random Blink182 songs. (like the one above) Good band. Anyway, Alex knocked on my door at 11:30 and I told him to go away. (Tourney started at 12) He left with Ryan and Morgan. (Our house is finally full BTW! Morgan arrived around 2am June 7th, after his flight from Oregon was delayed ~5! hours)

I grabbed a water, pulled on a leggo shirt, and Barker drove me to the Rio (we left around 11:45) so I only missed 1 or 2 hands. I'm going to just copy + paste the notes I took on my blackberry notepad about the tournament... If anyone cares about specific hands, ask away I guess. I just have a real sour taste in my mouth from this one.

Random notes as I preview this blog: The dude when I had QQ later told me he had KK, so, cool. I saved money not getting it in pre and I made the right river fold. Feels nice I guess. And, the one hand I had a question about, which I did some homework when I came home, was I made a bad raise/fold. I essentially minraised the button w. KTdd and I should have called the 15bb push - it's at worst break even and at best slightly +EV. Not really a bad fold but not a good fold. Oh well!



The bustout hand probably deserves a little bit of elaboration, so:
-I was at Anksy's table for all of 5 hands
-I had come to the table with 8k, but lost 2k of it in the 88 hand (and when I raise/folded my SB v BB) so I was sitting on under 6k, or about 26bbs
-The table was playing 5handed; either someone was sitting out or they just didn't fill a seat

With that said, Anksy opened in the CO to 550, and I had 66. I mean, I don't think I'm supposed to fold there and I'm not going to flat, so it's reraise or just flat out shove. Figured an awkward amount probably meant the same to him but it's more fun to not just bland ship it in, so I raised to like 1825. The SB behind me, the guy who won the 88 hand and who shipped on me in blind combat, jammed, and well, I obviously called and lost to AA aipf.

*About my AIPFs; I went 1-4, winning the smallest. But, my equity was poor in all my all in hands. (KQhh to 22 win, KJhh to 22 loss, 22 to KK loss, 66 to AA loss) So I think I was just a little under expectation, but nothing too awful to talk about.

Anyway, GO ALEX! (And Ryan, of course, but to a lesser extent, bc of fiduciary reasons LDO) After busting, I went to Ceasers because I needed a car to drive home. (And Travis was playing cash games there) Obviously, ferrying back and forth by means of a taxi kinda invalidates the purpose of the car, but what can you do. I came home and played FF13 for several hours, ignoring my phone, and basking in the house alone. I probably should have written this blog then, hmm. Oh well!

June 6th

This was Sunday, the day of G2 Bos/Lal. A bunch of people went to 24hr fitness around 3pm or whatnot, but I missed it, since I was up all night playing poker. (Will talk about that shortly) Alex and I decided to take it easy in preparation of the game, which was a brilliant plan.

We watched it at home - and wow, what a sick game! Ray & Rondo came through. (And Pierce, to an extent) After that, we went to register for the 1500. Some guy sold Dub and me 3000 in chip vouchers for 2800 (we both bought 1500 for 1400) but for the life of me I can't figure out if I paid him 1500 or 1400. Hmm.

Played basketball, there was some pretty intense balling that apparently takes place Sundays Tuesdays and Thursdays at ~9pm+. Then came home and chilled for a while. Ended up watching Ryan play chess for a while, and wow,...