Seasons Greeting Leggo! I'll start by saying I wasn't sure if i should post this before getting somebody to look at it and crop it a little bit as I am useless as tits on a bull when it comes to anything productive on a computer. After a few opinions I figured hey, when would be better to release this doozy of a vid than Christmas morning 2am!

Background story was basically a guy walks into a restaurant that I frequent and says "hey I member you from the casino that time," "Oh ok" I said, He goes on in ecstatic fashion how he just went yesterday and left with 320 bucks. And then yep, out come the hero calls and sick play stories. The first 30 seconds I'm more focused on when exactly my jerk chicken is gonna arrive, occasionally nodding and smiling. However after hearing the detail he went into (/ lack there of) and how pumped he was about calling off 30$ with tptk I couldnt help but laugh. My meal hadn't arrived and I dunno what made me do it, but I said to him " hey sick hand bro, would u mind if i record you talking about it." knowing what gold it could be. He said that he had to leave and some other time, I mentioned to him that my friend who blogs pays for story of the week and it sounded like he had a good chance of winning it. He changed his tune and said he'd gimme a taste of another hand he played..... The rest is history. I fired up the video cam on my phone and in no time we're off and rolling in.

Due to a couple phone calls that came in while filming, I had to stop and start a cpl times and my horrible attempt at combining videos and general lack of audio/video knowledge is obvious. BUT this turned out hilarious in its raw form, I laughed my ass off hearing him talk poker and was truly one of the funniest things I've endured. I feel the uncut form, though maybe long - doesn't leave anything out but a cpl seconds and gives you a great idea of who/what I was dealing with from beginning to end.

ENJOY!!
*total run-time of approx 8 min
Part I - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUZMQiDAfRc
Part II - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqgZwzRBt6g
Part III - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTQpK0Maz8

Whatever you do..... Don't call it a comeback, I know it's been a while but I'm gonna start blogging regularly, I promise, so here it goes. After a lazy summer I decided why not go back to school? good call on that..... so since Sept. I've been taking a few gen studies courses while taking my longest break from playing poker seriously since i started back when. As the semester winds down I am now getting ready to return to the poker world in the form of super turbos. I will be taking poker seriously again, getting coaching and talking to some of my friends that have done really well in these games over the last year. Easily my biggest issue will be fighting tilt. spewing isn't so much my problem but I almost wish it was as my laptop bill is getting through the roof! I started with spiking mice and have since progressed to the screen not once , but douce times while "leisurely" playing over the last year. I think I have the right mind frame to do so, as well as people around me. Physically I am feeling better than I have in about 4-5 years, changing my diet significantly, training and ultimately losing 50lb. since the last time I was playing poker seriously. EXCITED!

I have some pretty funny stories that i look forward to sharing over the next few weeks as well as a couple kinda cool experiences I've had of late and to be frank you're not gonna wanna miss them! I'd start to tell them now but hey it's 4:16 am and I have some sleep to catch as I'll be busy cooking up a storm tomorrow!! over and out

note This will be a longer post with pics at bottom.
Okay so snorkeling La Paz is in the books, and may I add it was an incredible time at that. There was six of us that made it out - Crispy, Grandmaster, Saus, Reef, Nuey and myself. Excuse me I almost forgot our beloved tour guide who had the personality of a wet mop. I definitely prefer a guide that keeps his mouth shut for the vast majority of the time and maybe points out different landmarks etc. But we managed to snag the only guide on the Baja who doesn't speak or think to bring bait on a fishing trip. Yes you saw that right. I should have known something was up when he Showed in a winter coat and jeans for a snorkeling adventure. So in total our morning was:
-woke up at 7 am showed up at 7:30
-paid to snorkel/fish (food beer etc. as well)
-2 of us got fishing licenses so that everyone on board could indeed fish
-didn't get out on the boat til 9:30 am or so
and the guide forgot bait. YES BAIT! How does that happen? Like honestly that's like Santa leaving kids I owe you's. No, even worse it's like Santa leaving notes saying "I don't owe you, and you will receive nothing this year kids as Santa has gambled your Christmas away". Well not really but you understand my frustration /rant. Austin and Nuey tried fishing for about 30 minutes or so but apparently bait is a fairly big deal and fish aren't fooled by only hooks. We moved on shortly there after


Afterward, things were as close to livin it up as I have experienced. Six of us on a boat, a few cervesas, some cebiche, couple sandwiches and of course snorkeling gear which our host was kind enough to remember. We were on or merry little way to hang out on a beach and sip our ballenas for a bit first, Crispy was in great form. His first play for the day was dropping his 1 litre beer in the sand FAIL. It was then we were swarmed by killer bees from hell for the next 10 minutes. That really shortened our beach stay and off we went to the snorkel headquarters.

After about an hour of convo from poker to music and how much each of us would spend to own random islands we'd passed along the way( and how wed develop on them). We were there! Nothing disappointing whatsoever. We each suited up and hit the sea. My entrance wasn't all that great. After all I was in a Wetsuit, life jacket, goggles, snorkel and flippers. How great a splash could I possibly make wearing all that you ask (insert weight joke here).Well here it is my mediocre entrance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSO0vfSAck
It should be noted that by mediocre I meant Kick Ass! After my 9.4/10 entrance in to the water ( I leave some room for improvement) our day got truly epic. I swam through schools a fish, and was literally a flippers length from groups of sea lions. Although I wore the life jacket for style mainly, It deserves some credit as it allowed me to last a bit longer than had I gone without. Toward the end we even got some footage of our favorite Sea Lion right near the boat hanging out.
http://www.youtube.com/user/rickyrey.../1/ZOonLj1dbWA
We hopped back in the boat had some sandwiches, some seafood/tuna salsa's of sort called cebiche and we were off to another beach.

Not a ton to report from the other beach other than the fact it was the clearest water I'd ever seen and it was where I got the most sun. All of us hung out in the water around the boat, just shooting the breeze talking about our pasts and what not. Truly a cool group of guys that I will not only keep in touch with but look forward to traveling with again.

From there we were headed back for the shore when the unthinkable happened... Saus overheard the guy over the intercom say there was a Whale Shark in the vicinity. Obviously our cue to track down a shark. I'll be honest I was happy watching Manta ray's fly out of the water, swimming through thousands of fish to get to the Sea Lions, it was all great. However something about asking our guide to take us to a shark that's over 5 meters in length seemed a little bit on the "crazy side" or more like the " Remind me, why the fuck are we doing this side?" But hey, when in La Paz... We ended up seeing three of them and the locals were riding them by the fins, this obviously being Saus and Nuey's cue to go voluntarily swim with a shark. I was totally going to as well but the guys needed a camera man so I reluctantly stayed behind and bit the "proverbial bullet." The guys tried their best to get close to them while swimming, but he was a tough shark to get a hold of! They were absolutely massive and our boat actually went over one of them, I definitely thought we were going for a flip at that point. Link to the bit of the shark I caught on film
http://www.youtube.com/user/rickyrey.../2/tDr12TPeP8E


We then ventured back to the mainland, enjoying the rest of a nice boat ride. Saus and I were getting our Ipods on and of course Austin and Kyle being the party animals they are were counting sheep. All in all it was definitely a cool experience and one that I will never forget. Pound for pound the most fun I have had on this trip!

Shark Watch


Snorkel Destination


Our buddy


Saus


Blue Steel


Party Animals


Crispy Pressing Blankets


Joe Cool


Team Snorkel


Johnny Pylon (tour guide unextraordinaire)


Crispy and I


The Last Beach We Stopped At


Crispy and His Spilled Ballena

Wow!! I have an overload of thoughts to process for this next blog. As most know by now the "Malecon" is the Mexican boardwalk, it is also a coin flip from our house. Well it was also where the carnival has been set up for the last week and the last night was Tuesday and it was truly epic. Things that just shouldn't have happen happened, things that shouldn't be said we're indeed said and..... Well you get the picture.

Crispy and I started our journey with a <2$ ballena (1 litre beer) and didn't look back. The carnival must have been stretched over about 2-3 miles, however there were only about 8 different shops selling the same stuff over and over again. I have never seen so many Puma, Ed Hardy, and Versace leather jackets before (maybe because the respective companies don't make them?) but I'll tell yah the locals just gobble that shit up. Everyone and their dog had a leather jacket, cowboy hat and a fake stache. We met up with Saus, Grandmasta, Nuey and Reefy shortly after and decided to grab a bite at Rancho Viejo. Saus and I shared a ribeye, rice and potatoes. The food was decent and very reasonably priced. However, I hold my steaks to a pretty high standard having an uncle that does them with one hand glued to the lid of his grill and the other holding a stop watch. After our dinner and drinks I got my wallet ready to pay for the ccr which I was obviously about to lose. Then the unthinkable happens Saus and I Fade a bill for once!! At that point I was 3/4 for paying bills (3 losses obvs) and I managed to beat this one bringing my total to a still horrific 3/5.

Along the Malecon there were drummers who were simply amazing, they had 8 different drums form bongo to snare and were truly entertaining to see perform. They had a crowd of about 75 people on the street surrounding them just dancing and givin er hell and they must have went on for about 20 minutes straight before taking a breather, never missing a beat. There were probably 8 bands as well playing at any given time from one end to the next. The "blanket guy" was also a true beauty. He had a black rubber band across his face keeping his mic attached to his mouth which never stopped moving, folding blankets 3x king sizes in record time. I think he left town with more product than he showed up with if that is even possible. Even the locals were laughing the guy off the strip.

We finally went off down the Malecon buying terribly stupid memorabilia. Grandmasta even went as far as a necklace with a king crown (w/ rhinestones) on it for easily the biggest fail of the night. He does however insist the chain as well as his glasses both add character. Him and Crispy went off to try to get any and every girl they possibly could. The Masta easily had the nights most epic lines, "YO, do you like my bling?" and "HEY, do you speak English?" saying both of these While shaking their shoulders uncontrollably. Oddly enough, they weren't exactly the deal sealers you might have thought they'd be (the girls must have got lost in translation cause I am sure they are winners.)

Crispy and I ended up heading back toward the house and grabbing one last beer, and with our luck... We met the "King" of La Paz. We got our pics taken with the crown and the staff and were really enjoying it until after about 3 minutes of dialogue Crispy realized they were inviting us on a cruise.... Also that they were gay. Come to think of it, there was something off about the chubby one with a pencil thin mustache that kept giggling and repeating the word "friendly". We broke for it promptly their afterward!

We made it back to the house where I proceeded to crush Crispy in more FIFA and NHL becoming the first to hoist both the World and Stanley cup at once respectively. After the sound beating it was hot tub time then time to crash as snorkeling was coming up Thursday and we had to be ready for that. All of Wednesday was a super lazy day taking a various array of sleeping pills as we had to be up at 7 am the next morning for what would be the biggest adventure of the trip so far

Sorry! But I had to do it. I mean it's not everyday that I see a chicken up and cross the street like he had a bus to catch. Getting it on camera was simply magic in itself. In typical La Paz fashion, we nearly lost him to a speeding truck with no regard for our feathered friends lives whatsoever. I have no clue what it is here but everyone owns a truck or an SUV (not sure if brakes come stock). Some serve multiple purposes. Yesterday for instance, Austin and I saw a guy who rimmed out his Silverado, blasting Reggaeton music, with a lawn mower in the box of his truck. The options here are truly endless.

ANYHOW, it's been a couple of eventful days for myself. I have been getting comfy with the city and learning bits and pieces of Spanish, more or less enough to order a burger extra spicy with no avacado, or cheese. I wonder, is it weird that I haven't yet touched the Pacific but I know about 80% of the burger vendors by by name? Meh, food for thought. I went to town square on Friday, there was a talent display of sorts being held and I enjoyed myself immensely. To see people so happy was extremely refreshing and with just music and dancing as there only stimulus ( maybe a little alcohol for some). The woman singing had one of the best voices I'd ever heard and I was truly moved. A group of younger girls put on a little dance number in their cowgirl outfits. The vendors were out in full force selling all the usuals ( snow cones, hamburgers, hot dogs, other snacks) there was also a version of bingo being played on the side. Very cool experience. Being around all those naturally happy people couldn't help but make you feel good


I returned home and made some dinner and just hung out, getting ready for the Super Bowl Extravaganza. We had a lot of prep to do for our smasher party we were throwing. We had no running water or working cable, which obvs needed to be addressed. We took care of all of the key issues, Jeff was the guest DJ, we hired a guy to come cook for us, all systems were a go really. Well well well, what a kick to the pouch that idea was. Our high traffic point was about 15 people 7 being the guys from our houses, the hired chef may have been a bit overkill LOL. Meh, we tried. I wound up being a loser and packing it in at around 12. I then headed to bed as the house music thumped til 3:30am for the 3 people on the dance floor who couldn't seem to find the exit. (I definitely found out the hard way there is only the one exit, but still easy to use as long as its not locked, see prev blog). Good times good times! I was pretty tuned into the office anyhow, laughing uncontrollably. Season six is truly remarkable (up til episode 4 anyway).


I should also mention I cannot even get action in fifa or nhl here anymore which kinda sucks. I mean you crush a guy for 1200 pesos and all of a sudden he loses interest, What is the deal with that? I am pretty sure we are hitting the beach tomorrow though, FINALLY and I cannot wait. I hope it is nice out I am looking to get my tan on and it really hasn't been as hot as I hoped. Anyhow the last couple days in a nutshell
over and out

Not a fun day by any means. Well half true, I went on an adventure for a couple hours through the town that was good. I hit a couple random shops, saw what the place had to offer. I took about 50 pics of of basically everything "touristy"... city, shops, beaches and the "malecon" (boardwalk). I will mention, if there is anything they like more than a good taco down here it'd be John Cena. WWE is everywhere, every single shop has an endless supply of the merchandise, it's really quite comical. It should also be noted that I am very close to pulling the trigger on a Rey Mesterio mask or "you cant see me" shirt. It was a nice walk, listening to music, podcasts taking pics. Whether your iphone is in service or not, you never feel alone. The streets here are a little shaky and we have a prop bet between us all - if anyone trips and falls, it's an automatic $20usd paid to everyone. I got back to the house finally and right around there is where things took a turn for the worse. I ran like absolute death in poker, AFTER losing the ccr for the dinner/drinks. I get home and lose one more big hand and decide its time to meet the guys at the club.... Nope, not gonna happen crispy managed to lock me in the house and everyone is gone (double sided deadbolt, key required) they have taken both keys and I'm ready to pretty much kick a puppy. 10 minutes later and I've turned into fuckin' Spiderman scaling the outdoor walls looking for an escape route. Found one, except for I didn't. I am now barefoot on a 15 foot roof - with a lot of rocks. I cannot really say I was pleased with how things panned out at all. 3am passes by and the goof troop rolls back from the club, Yay! I'm through with my grounding, but not really cause they're all loaded! Life is hard.
Anyways done for now

En route to meet crispy and company and I just got to La Paz. I slept til like 5pm today, still super jetlagged but im sure there will be a crazy night coming up in the not so distant future. Cabo was really great, I was fortunate to bump in to a great group of guys at the airport; honesty was a policy they truly lived by.
sidenote: They also happened to be taxi drivers.
Price went from 50 to 150 pecos as soon as I spoke a word of english. " I got it wrong" he said "I forgot where it was you were going, I thought another bus stop,that will be 150". It all seemed legit to me, a very small % of the time this maybe a scam, but I'm a decent judge of character and these guys were sound (rolling eyes). I was considering waiting around for one of the other guys to show up in Cabo, but another 5 hours didnt feel liek the thing to do and the cabbi assuered me if we left now id catch the 11 o clock to La Paz and be there in "douze hours" as he so kindly put it. I gave him 120 and off I went. To my amazement we were there 5 minutes to 11, YESSS! Into the bus stop (one of the nicer stops I've seen in my years, Mexico or otherwise.) You'll never believe it but there was in fact no 11 o clock bus scheduled!! who knew right? well I said okay gimme the 12:30 you have posted on the wall - cancelled, okay then 2:30 it is FML. As you can Imagine it was a sinch killing 5 hours plus in this little piece of paradise.


Couldnt leave, because I had my luggage and i was truly in the middle of nowhere. The bus driver finally shows up and we depart 30 minutes late and it was a little closer to 4 hours than 2. There were cows, goats, chickens, dogs and cats all on the wrong side of their fences graising inches from the road, which I will add is the scariest, narrowest I've seen. It did however put me to ease knowing that the driver, no matter what the reason wouldnt yield to animals, deadly sharp turns or other cars for that matter. I finally made it to La Paz, thinking my worries would be solved, I jumped out in front of this little doozy and guess what this shop in all of it's glory did NOT have?

.
If I were forced to make a list of everything I thought this business tycoon could provide me with, the internet would surely make the top 5 . SURVEY SAYS: X Nope, no Internet. He was so baffled he even stuck a disc into the cd drive to fix the issue, amazingly enough that didn't work. Don't reset the modem or check your router, no way, just stick a good ol' Michael fucking Bolton cd in the tray and all should be well.... GL with the business sir. Now for one more expedition in seek of an internet cafe, only one that can provide internet. I figured hey I'm in Mexico, shouldn't be tough only been flying/laying over with no sleep the past 36hours plus. Just seconds later (sarcasm) I find one, and after hours of trying to get a hold of the guys, my phone had no service, no number to call them on and no address, I get a hold of austin on facebook, they take a couple hours trying to find the cafe due to the ladies terrible directions. Finally I meet them and they let me know I had been wandering the ghettos of La Paz for the last few hours luggage in hand, listening to my iphone FAIL!(no hawaiian shirt or camera around neck). We finally got to the house and had I just waited for two stops the bus would have stopped across the street from our house.... Funny how life works isn't it? Either way I am here now and enjoying it. It's different than I thought it be, but it'll be good I am sure. Once it stops raining (2 days from now) things will pick up, until then we will have the 500$ of groceries/liquor (Wal Marts highest bill of the day) to keep us busy in the house.... Over and out