Wow, already a third of the way through April, and I haven't made a post. That's pretty bad.
Looks like Winter is finally done. Which is good because it makes taking the dog out less unpleasant. I used to love the cold weather, but I think that was mainly because I wasn't out in it too often. I do still believe it's easier to warm up than to cool down. But now that I'm more "outdoorsy" by necessity, I've learned to appreciate warm weather a bit more.
Poker
This month for me in poker has been break-even at best. Really, it's been pretty swingy. I was hoping to carry that solid momentum from last month forward into this month, but it wasn't in the cards. No pun intended, although after writing that I can see how it is actually a bad pun.
Games
Haven't been playing all that much. Still muddling through my replay of the first SAINTS ROW.
I'm looking forward to LA NOIRE. I'm just trying to decide if I want to get it at launch or try to wait for a price drop. In addition to looking like it's an awesome game, I'm a sucker for film noir. (I've been watching a ton of Bogart, Robinson, and Cagney movies lately.)
Showing posts with label daily life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daily life. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Mid-Month Check-In
Movies
I finally got around to seeing both AVATAR and INCEPTION. I thought INCEPTION was alright, but I felt it tried a bit too hard to be complex. I thought AVATAR had some nice visuals in parts, but I don't see why it was such a big hit. I dozed off at one point, and I didn't bother to rewind.
I also borrowed RED on DVD, and gave that a watch. Nothing like the original comic whatsoever. In fact, they could've easily gotten away with calling it something else and saved themselves the money they used on getting the film rights to the original story.
Other than that I've mostly been watching old movies. (Even more now that we final got Turner Classic Movies when we upgraded our cable package recently.)
TV
I'm happy that COMMUNITY got renewed for a third season. It’s the only bubble show I was really worried about this year. Hopefully we’ll get another great season. I figure we've got at least one more good season before the statistical likelyhood of a decline in quality (I’ve come to expect a quality decline for any show that runs longer that 2-3 years, with a few exceptions.)
I suppose I'd like one more season of V, given that season finale. It's probably not very likely to happen though.
Internet
It seems that every few weeks I have a few days where my connection does a combo of having lots of packet loss or constantly dropping off completely. Even when my signal levels look fine. This is one of those weeks. It started late at night on Wednesday, where it went out for about 45 minutes. Then it was fine until Friday afternoon. Since then it's been spotty. Like it was fine all day on Saturday then between 9pm and now it's been dropping in and out like crazy. So frustrating.
Cable TV works fine. It happens at different times of day, so it doesn't seem like they're doing maintance or something (which I could see them doing at like 2-3 am or whatever). The signal level on the modem is fine, and the same as it is when everything's working fine. There's no bad weather, or downed lines or anything. It also never seems to last long enough to justify a service call. 2-3 days often.
I'd think that it was because on Friday we ugraded our cable package, and got a new Docsis 3 modem. But the problem started before the package and equipment switch. (Plus our internet supposedly isn't getting the upgrade until our phone service starts, which is next week once Verizon releases our old phone number to Comcast.)
Poker
I was doing pretty well, then on Friday things went bad. Within my first few orbits, I dropped around three buy-ins. Then the disconnects started, which just tilted me even more. Playing with an unreliable connection is pretty much impossible, since it sucks putting a bunch of money into a pot with a good hand and then losing because you get disconnected and somebody raises and you get timed out and they take it down.
Video Games
Only thing I've played in the last few days is the first SAINTS ROW. It's a good game, but the second one is better.
I finally got around to seeing both AVATAR and INCEPTION. I thought INCEPTION was alright, but I felt it tried a bit too hard to be complex. I thought AVATAR had some nice visuals in parts, but I don't see why it was such a big hit. I dozed off at one point, and I didn't bother to rewind.
I also borrowed RED on DVD, and gave that a watch. Nothing like the original comic whatsoever. In fact, they could've easily gotten away with calling it something else and saved themselves the money they used on getting the film rights to the original story.
Other than that I've mostly been watching old movies. (Even more now that we final got Turner Classic Movies when we upgraded our cable package recently.)
TV
I'm happy that COMMUNITY got renewed for a third season. It’s the only bubble show I was really worried about this year. Hopefully we’ll get another great season. I figure we've got at least one more good season before the statistical likelyhood of a decline in quality (I’ve come to expect a quality decline for any show that runs longer that 2-3 years, with a few exceptions.)
I suppose I'd like one more season of V, given that season finale. It's probably not very likely to happen though.
Internet
It seems that every few weeks I have a few days where my connection does a combo of having lots of packet loss or constantly dropping off completely. Even when my signal levels look fine. This is one of those weeks. It started late at night on Wednesday, where it went out for about 45 minutes. Then it was fine until Friday afternoon. Since then it's been spotty. Like it was fine all day on Saturday then between 9pm and now it's been dropping in and out like crazy. So frustrating.
Cable TV works fine. It happens at different times of day, so it doesn't seem like they're doing maintance or something (which I could see them doing at like 2-3 am or whatever). The signal level on the modem is fine, and the same as it is when everything's working fine. There's no bad weather, or downed lines or anything. It also never seems to last long enough to justify a service call. 2-3 days often.
I'd think that it was because on Friday we ugraded our cable package, and got a new Docsis 3 modem. But the problem started before the package and equipment switch. (Plus our internet supposedly isn't getting the upgrade until our phone service starts, which is next week once Verizon releases our old phone number to Comcast.)
Poker
I was doing pretty well, then on Friday things went bad. Within my first few orbits, I dropped around three buy-ins. Then the disconnects started, which just tilted me even more. Playing with an unreliable connection is pretty much impossible, since it sucks putting a bunch of money into a pot with a good hand and then losing because you get disconnected and somebody raises and you get timed out and they take it down.
Video Games
Only thing I've played in the last few days is the first SAINTS ROW. It's a good game, but the second one is better.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Random Bits
Firefox 4
Since Firefox 4's release candidate came out, I finally made the leap and installed it on my main machine. I've been running it on my spare machine for months now, so it didn't take me long to get it tricked out the way I like it. (With the aid of some custom Stylish scripts (like making my bookmarks toolbar appear as favicons only. As well as ones made by others including one to auto-hide the new add-on bar and another to put the tabs in the titlebar even when Firefox isn't maximized.)
Anyway, I think 4 is pretty cool. I like the streamlined interface, which does take some getting used to. I'm even starting to use the new tab groups feature a little bit.
Poker
Business as usual. I've really been slacking off on the studying. A lot of times I'll sit down to watch a video and decide to just play another session instead. I really do need to do both.
Games
I went back through MODERN WARFARE 2 again and beat it on Veteran. Now I just need to complete all the various challenge maps. (I particularly hate the timed snowmobile map.)
The announcement of SAINTS ROW 3 means that I'll probably replay SAINTS ROW 2 next. A few weeks back I was trying to replay one and it kind of lost my attention. While I liked the first one, I liked the second one a lot more. I don't know, maybe I'll replay both.
Music
Sort of eerie that in my last post I mentioned how I had recently re-discovered* Alice In Chains and then their original bassist died this week.
* Not that I ever stopped listening to them. I'd throw one or two songs into a mix playlist. It's just been a long time since I had listened to a full album.
TV And Movies
A good chunk of the shows seem to be on a little break, so that's given me time to watch some stuff on OnDemand and on DVD instead. Mostly really old movies. (I don't know if it's because I'm getting old, or just because it seems to be an endless flood of remakes and just crappy movies, but lately I don't seem to have any interest in movies made after the 80's.)
Since Firefox 4's release candidate came out, I finally made the leap and installed it on my main machine. I've been running it on my spare machine for months now, so it didn't take me long to get it tricked out the way I like it. (With the aid of some custom Stylish scripts (like making my bookmarks toolbar appear as favicons only. As well as ones made by others including one to auto-hide the new add-on bar and another to put the tabs in the titlebar even when Firefox isn't maximized.)
Anyway, I think 4 is pretty cool. I like the streamlined interface, which does take some getting used to. I'm even starting to use the new tab groups feature a little bit.
Poker
Business as usual. I've really been slacking off on the studying. A lot of times I'll sit down to watch a video and decide to just play another session instead. I really do need to do both.
Games
I went back through MODERN WARFARE 2 again and beat it on Veteran. Now I just need to complete all the various challenge maps. (I particularly hate the timed snowmobile map.)
The announcement of SAINTS ROW 3 means that I'll probably replay SAINTS ROW 2 next. A few weeks back I was trying to replay one and it kind of lost my attention. While I liked the first one, I liked the second one a lot more. I don't know, maybe I'll replay both.
Music
Sort of eerie that in my last post I mentioned how I had recently re-discovered* Alice In Chains and then their original bassist died this week.
* Not that I ever stopped listening to them. I'd throw one or two songs into a mix playlist. It's just been a long time since I had listened to a full album.
TV And Movies
A good chunk of the shows seem to be on a little break, so that's given me time to watch some stuff on OnDemand and on DVD instead. Mostly really old movies. (I don't know if it's because I'm getting old, or just because it seems to be an endless flood of remakes and just crappy movies, but lately I don't seem to have any interest in movies made after the 80's.)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Kicking Off March
I'm so lazy with my posting these days. I used to update multiple times a day. Now it's a minor miracle if I post multiple times in a month.
I'd like to redo the look of the blog a bit, but I can't get all that motivated to do it.
Games
I’ve been re-playing MODERN WARFARE 2 quite a bit. (This time on the 360.) I breezed through single-player on regular. Now I’m doing the challenge maps. (That sniper level drives me up the wall.) At some point I’ll go through SP again in hard mode to unlock those achievements.
I’ve kinda had an itch to replay FINAL FANTASY XII lately. I suppose it’d give me an excuse to use my PS3, which I don't even have hooked up to the TV at the moment.
Poker
March is off to a rough start. Lost just under a buy-in in the first session of the month. I was up by a nice amount before I got it in vs a player who kept min 3betting me pre and then shoving the flop or turn. I decided to call him with TPGK (top pair being Kings in this case) and he showed AA. Figures. Just goes to show, they're not bluffing as often as you might think and sometimes it's better to just say, "if he's bluffing, good for him" and let them have it. But maybe that's just being too results oriented, I don't know.
I think I might have ADD, since sometimes I have a hell of time paying attention to coaching videos. I take notes, but I find my mind wandering during some of the power-point style videos. I prefer live play videos where the best method of learning is pausing and trying to predict what the coach will do and seeing if your thought process is close to theirs.
Music
I recently dug out and re-ripped all of my Alice In Chains CDs (remember CDs?) to MP3. I ripped the stuff I liked best a few years ago, but 160 bitrate MP3s sort of suck compared to nice VBR files. I skipped all the duplicate tracks in MUSIC BANK since I did all of the albums and EPs already. One of my favorite bands, but I sort of forgot about them (and didn’t warm to their newest album with the replacement singer). Rediscovered them when I stumbled across a downloaded bootleg of the Dirt demos.
TV
I was going to write about (or more accurately, complain about) some TV shows that I watch. Then I realized it's sort of dumb to watch shows that I don't quite enjoy and probably even dumber to then write about them. That's not to say that I won't stick to being dumb enough to watch shows with concepts I like that fall short that I keep hoping will get better (V, NO ORDINARY FAMILY) or that used to be among my favorites that have gone downhill (CHUCK, THE OFFICE). It just means I'm too lazy to write about them.
I'd like to redo the look of the blog a bit, but I can't get all that motivated to do it.
Games
I’ve been re-playing MODERN WARFARE 2 quite a bit. (This time on the 360.) I breezed through single-player on regular. Now I’m doing the challenge maps. (That sniper level drives me up the wall.) At some point I’ll go through SP again in hard mode to unlock those achievements.
I’ve kinda had an itch to replay FINAL FANTASY XII lately. I suppose it’d give me an excuse to use my PS3, which I don't even have hooked up to the TV at the moment.
Poker
March is off to a rough start. Lost just under a buy-in in the first session of the month. I was up by a nice amount before I got it in vs a player who kept min 3betting me pre and then shoving the flop or turn. I decided to call him with TPGK (top pair being Kings in this case) and he showed AA. Figures. Just goes to show, they're not bluffing as often as you might think and sometimes it's better to just say, "if he's bluffing, good for him" and let them have it. But maybe that's just being too results oriented, I don't know.
I think I might have ADD, since sometimes I have a hell of time paying attention to coaching videos. I take notes, but I find my mind wandering during some of the power-point style videos. I prefer live play videos where the best method of learning is pausing and trying to predict what the coach will do and seeing if your thought process is close to theirs.
Music
I recently dug out and re-ripped all of my Alice In Chains CDs (remember CDs?) to MP3. I ripped the stuff I liked best a few years ago, but 160 bitrate MP3s sort of suck compared to nice VBR files. I skipped all the duplicate tracks in MUSIC BANK since I did all of the albums and EPs already. One of my favorite bands, but I sort of forgot about them (and didn’t warm to their newest album with the replacement singer). Rediscovered them when I stumbled across a downloaded bootleg of the Dirt demos.
TV
I was going to write about (or more accurately, complain about) some TV shows that I watch. Then I realized it's sort of dumb to watch shows that I don't quite enjoy and probably even dumber to then write about them. That's not to say that I won't stick to being dumb enough to watch shows with concepts I like that fall short that I keep hoping will get better (V, NO ORDINARY FAMILY) or that used to be among my favorites that have gone downhill (CHUCK, THE OFFICE). It just means I'm too lazy to write about them.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Late Month Thought Dump
Wow, I've only made one post so far this year. That's pretty terrible.
Right now, as I write this, it's ridiculously cold here...
That's kind of unacceptable.
Firefox 4
Firefox 4 is supposed to come out at the end of next month. I've been messing with it a bit on my USB thumbdrive on my main computer. I also made it the main browser on my spare computer, which is an older, slower machine. It seems to run a lot better on the old PC than 3.x ever did. Messing with the beta has let me figure out how to get some of the customizations I'll want to add to my installation when the final version comes out. (Like adding the RSS icon back into the "awesomebar", some menu cleanups (I like my bookmarks toolbar to be icons only), etc. Anyway, I think it's a nice upgrade.
Video Games
DEAD SPACE 2 comes out this week. As much as I liked the first game, which I played through a few times, I think I'm going to hold off on this one. It's not an, "I must get this at launch!!!" title for me. I definitely want to pick it up. I figure if I wait the price will drop.
I've been replaying some older titles in my 360 library. I replayed BIOSHOCK, and I was annoyed I missed a few achievements. I was hoping to nail 100% on my first play-through. Right now I'm playing through SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT. When I finish that I'm deciding between the first DEAD RISING or SAINTS ROW.
Poker
I went on a downswing and decided that I should move down a level in stakes. I'm hoping to move back up again before the end of the month. If I don't then I don't. I'm not going to force it. I need to be comfortably rolled for that stake, where I'm not worried about the money. While I still had enough in my bankroll to not have to move down, I think for my peace of mind it was the right move.
I've also been watching a training video a day every single day. I take notes on everything, pausing and predicting, especially noting instances where I would've made a wrong move if I were the one in the coach's shoes. I note my reasoning for why I'd make a certain move vs why the coach wouldn't have. It's a great way to improve your thought process. (Admittedly, watching videos this way takes a long time, so a one hour video can take three pluss hours to watch. That's why I usually do them in halves or thirds. Watching the first portion early in the day, the rest later on, or sometimes starting a video on one day and finsihing it the next.) I've only missed one day, and that was because I opted to play an extra session instead. (I set out to play a short session and then watch a video, but then after 1k hands, I just was burned out on poker for the rest of the night.)
TV
THE CAPE isn't winning me over. I saw the plot twist coming withOracle, I mean Summer Glau's character from the first episode. At first I thought midget was one of those midget wrestlers, but then I remembered he was on SCRUBS. Anyway, it's just a bad knock off of Batman so far.
Since CASTLE wasn't on, I gave that new Kathy Bates show's pilot a watch. It wasn't too bad. A bit cliche and obvious in some parts, but she's such a good actress you can kind of overlook the flaws.
I also wasn't nuts about what little I saw of Olivia Munn's new show. Right now the only good show NBC has on Thursdays is COMMUNITY (loved the Theo Huxtable nod in the latest episode). THE OFFICE has been downhill since season four, and 30 ROCK has been losing me since last year.
I'm still trying to figure out why I watch NO ORDINARY FAMILY (I keep waiting for something to happen) and V (it's bad, but compelling enough to keep me coming back) on Tuesdays.
I'll probably disappear for another month now.
Right now, as I write this, it's ridiculously cold here...
That's kind of unacceptable.
Firefox 4
Firefox 4 is supposed to come out at the end of next month. I've been messing with it a bit on my USB thumbdrive on my main computer. I also made it the main browser on my spare computer, which is an older, slower machine. It seems to run a lot better on the old PC than 3.x ever did. Messing with the beta has let me figure out how to get some of the customizations I'll want to add to my installation when the final version comes out. (Like adding the RSS icon back into the "awesomebar", some menu cleanups (I like my bookmarks toolbar to be icons only), etc. Anyway, I think it's a nice upgrade.
Video Games
DEAD SPACE 2 comes out this week. As much as I liked the first game, which I played through a few times, I think I'm going to hold off on this one. It's not an, "I must get this at launch!!!" title for me. I definitely want to pick it up. I figure if I wait the price will drop.
I've been replaying some older titles in my 360 library. I replayed BIOSHOCK, and I was annoyed I missed a few achievements. I was hoping to nail 100% on my first play-through. Right now I'm playing through SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT. When I finish that I'm deciding between the first DEAD RISING or SAINTS ROW.
Poker
I went on a downswing and decided that I should move down a level in stakes. I'm hoping to move back up again before the end of the month. If I don't then I don't. I'm not going to force it. I need to be comfortably rolled for that stake, where I'm not worried about the money. While I still had enough in my bankroll to not have to move down, I think for my peace of mind it was the right move.
I've also been watching a training video a day every single day. I take notes on everything, pausing and predicting, especially noting instances where I would've made a wrong move if I were the one in the coach's shoes. I note my reasoning for why I'd make a certain move vs why the coach wouldn't have. It's a great way to improve your thought process. (Admittedly, watching videos this way takes a long time, so a one hour video can take three pluss hours to watch. That's why I usually do them in halves or thirds. Watching the first portion early in the day, the rest later on, or sometimes starting a video on one day and finsihing it the next.) I've only missed one day, and that was because I opted to play an extra session instead. (I set out to play a short session and then watch a video, but then after 1k hands, I just was burned out on poker for the rest of the night.)
TV
THE CAPE isn't winning me over. I saw the plot twist coming with
Since CASTLE wasn't on, I gave that new Kathy Bates show's pilot a watch. It wasn't too bad. A bit cliche and obvious in some parts, but she's such a good actress you can kind of overlook the flaws.
I also wasn't nuts about what little I saw of Olivia Munn's new show. Right now the only good show NBC has on Thursdays is COMMUNITY (loved the Theo Huxtable nod in the latest episode). THE OFFICE has been downhill since season four, and 30 ROCK has been losing me since last year.
I'm still trying to figure out why I watch NO ORDINARY FAMILY (I keep waiting for something to happen) and V (it's bad, but compelling enough to keep me coming back) on Tuesdays.
I'll probably disappear for another month now.
Friday, January 7, 2011
First One Of 2011
A week into the new year, and I haven't gotten around to posting until now.
Games
I blazed through DEAD RISING 2 (Xbox 360) and BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM (PS3). I have to say I enjoyed DR2 more. The Batman game was surprisingly good for a Batman game, but the boss fights were pretty repetitious. Now I'm replaying some of the older games in my 360 library. Currently, I'm playing the GTA IV: EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY disc. I just finished LOST AND DAMNED.
Any opinions out there on BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2? I'm not interested in multiplayer, so I'm primarily interested in the the single player campaign. Quality and length are my biggest concerns.
Poker
So far, I've managed to watch one or more videos a day, every day. My plan is to really study my ass off.
At the tables, I've been working on tilt management. I've also been limiting how long I play. I generally set a 60-90 minute cut-off for my sessions now, and just quit, winning or losing. If things are going bad, the plan is to just stop within my stop loss. I'm really hoping to stick to quitting when things go bad. I found that I played the longest when losing, trying to chase my losses.
My results so far have been fairly up and down. I'm trying to remain emotionally neutral to either outcome and just concentrating on making the best decisions I can while playing. That coupled with working on my game by studying hopefully will give me the results I'd like to have.
TV, Movies
I don't know how or why, but I started watching BONES reruns on TNT. Sort of like how in 2008 I managed to watch pretty much the entirety of NCIS in reruns on USA in like three months, given how frequently they run the show. Anyway, I got a good deal on season 1, so I picked it up on DVD.
I've also been rewatching some old BLAKES 7 DVDs. They seem to be good late night bedtime viewing for me.
Regular TV, aside from a few shows seems like it's still on winter break for another week or two. V started it's new season, but it's still pretty mediocre.
Games
I blazed through DEAD RISING 2 (Xbox 360) and BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM (PS3). I have to say I enjoyed DR2 more. The Batman game was surprisingly good for a Batman game, but the boss fights were pretty repetitious. Now I'm replaying some of the older games in my 360 library. Currently, I'm playing the GTA IV: EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY disc. I just finished LOST AND DAMNED.
Any opinions out there on BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2? I'm not interested in multiplayer, so I'm primarily interested in the the single player campaign. Quality and length are my biggest concerns.
Poker
So far, I've managed to watch one or more videos a day, every day. My plan is to really study my ass off.
At the tables, I've been working on tilt management. I've also been limiting how long I play. I generally set a 60-90 minute cut-off for my sessions now, and just quit, winning or losing. If things are going bad, the plan is to just stop within my stop loss. I'm really hoping to stick to quitting when things go bad. I found that I played the longest when losing, trying to chase my losses.
My results so far have been fairly up and down. I'm trying to remain emotionally neutral to either outcome and just concentrating on making the best decisions I can while playing. That coupled with working on my game by studying hopefully will give me the results I'd like to have.
TV, Movies
I don't know how or why, but I started watching BONES reruns on TNT. Sort of like how in 2008 I managed to watch pretty much the entirety of NCIS in reruns on USA in like three months, given how frequently they run the show. Anyway, I got a good deal on season 1, so I picked it up on DVD.
I've also been rewatching some old BLAKES 7 DVDs. They seem to be good late night bedtime viewing for me.
Regular TV, aside from a few shows seems like it's still on winter break for another week or two. V started it's new season, but it's still pretty mediocre.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Closing Out 2010
Instead of doing a best/worst, like I originally thought I would, I'm just going to concentrate on the good stuff from 2010. Overall, it was a pretty decent year.
No major disasters (not even a single hospital trip) this year in my family. All of my friends healthy and doing fine as well.
The arrival of Lucy, the puppy, was a huge change for 2010. I spent more time outdoors this year than I probably have in at least a decade. (I mean going for car to building and vice versa was generally all the time I ever spent outdoors.) In fact, being outside so much during the summer actually increased my tolerance for the heat. I normally prefer colder weather, but this year I'm not so psyched now that it's cold out.
Upgrading to Windows 7 was a good move. I was worried about it and put if off, and now I'm happy that I did.
Even the bad had some good in it. Like my old Xbox 360 dying (and briefly regaining life by my fixing it myself), was disappointing. Then I got a better, improved Elite Slim 360.
Even though my poker results for the latter portion of the year weren't good, I still can say that I learned even more about the game. Even though I lost a lot of money, I didn't go busto. I also cleared bonuses, which is good.
Good Games Released In 2010
Alan Wake
Bioshock 2
Call Of Duty: Black Ops
Dead Rising 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Splinter Cell Conviction
Movies
Easy A
Hot Tub Time Machine
Piranha (dumb fun)
The Expendables
The Town
TV (New Shows)
Community (really late 2009, but I didn't start watching until 2010)
Doctor Who (old show... but new Doctor, new showrunner, huge improvements!)
Terriers
Walking Dead
I'm probably leaving out some movies and TV shows (I didn't list any older shows that were good this year, like SONS OF ANARCHY.)
No major disasters (not even a single hospital trip) this year in my family. All of my friends healthy and doing fine as well.
The arrival of Lucy, the puppy, was a huge change for 2010. I spent more time outdoors this year than I probably have in at least a decade. (I mean going for car to building and vice versa was generally all the time I ever spent outdoors.) In fact, being outside so much during the summer actually increased my tolerance for the heat. I normally prefer colder weather, but this year I'm not so psyched now that it's cold out.
Upgrading to Windows 7 was a good move. I was worried about it and put if off, and now I'm happy that I did.
Even the bad had some good in it. Like my old Xbox 360 dying (and briefly regaining life by my fixing it myself), was disappointing. Then I got a better, improved Elite Slim 360.
Even though my poker results for the latter portion of the year weren't good, I still can say that I learned even more about the game. Even though I lost a lot of money, I didn't go busto. I also cleared bonuses, which is good.
Good Games Released In 2010
Alan Wake
Bioshock 2
Call Of Duty: Black Ops
Dead Rising 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Splinter Cell Conviction
Movies
Easy A
Hot Tub Time Machine
Piranha (dumb fun)
The Expendables
The Town
TV (New Shows)
Community (really late 2009, but I didn't start watching until 2010)
Doctor Who (old show... but new Doctor, new showrunner, huge improvements!)
Terriers
Walking Dead
I'm probably leaving out some movies and TV shows (I didn't list any older shows that were good this year, like SONS OF ANARCHY.)
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Mid-Month Update For December
Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. Hard to believe Christmas is just a few days away, and then the year is almost over.
I've been sick since the weekend, and today's the first day that I've felt kinda okay. I was invited to a birthday party, but didn't feel well enough to go. (On top of that my email reply saying I couldn't make it bounced back to me.)
TV
At least once the holidays are over with, there will be stuff to watch at night. Right now there's nothing on, and nothing worth watching (that I haven't seen) on OnDemand.
Games
I wound up getting my big Christmas present early, the new Xbox 360 Slim Holiday Bundle. I've been replaying some of my older games, like SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION and RESIDENT EVIL 5. For new games, I finished off ALAN WAKE, which came in the bundle, and played the two DLC chapters for RE5 and the DEAD RISING 2 prologue DLC. I've still got something to look forward to on Christmas day, since I'm getting some games (and some DVDs and Blu-rays, among other things).
I decided to start over, completely fresh, with a new gamer tag. So I'll have to unlock all the achievements all over again, etc.
ALAN WAKE was really good. I may have to get more MS points so I can get the DLC, even though it seems pricier than the DLC for RE5 and DR2. I hope there will be a second game.
After playing the DEAD RISING 2 prologue, I'm looking forward to the main game. Of course, I liked the first game, so I was already looking forward to the sequel. I just didn't get it before now because I wanted the Xbox version for the DLC and didn't have a working Xbox when it came out.
I can't decide if I want to download the DEAD SPACE 2 demo. The full game comes out next month, and I might want to play it completely unspoiled. (Even if I don't get it right away.)
Poker
I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this, but things have been going okay. Of course, now that I've said that I'll probably go on a huge downswing. After all, I've still got over a week left to ruin the month!
I haven't put in as much volume this month. In fact, I'll be surprised if I even crack 10k hands. I've also really been slacking on studying. I think I've watched two, maybe three coaching videos since my last post. I blame that on the Xbox.
At least it looks like that bill that would blackout online poker in the US didn't pass. I'm in favor of it being more legal (it really isn't illegal to play in the US, even though the vaguely worded law makes people think it is), and easier for US players to deposit. But I think that that last bill wasn't a good thing. At least, for the time being, I don't have to seek out another site to play on.
Etc
Anyway, I kind of doubt that I'll post again before Christmas, so I hope everybody has a good one.
I've been sick since the weekend, and today's the first day that I've felt kinda okay. I was invited to a birthday party, but didn't feel well enough to go. (On top of that my email reply saying I couldn't make it bounced back to me.)
TV
At least once the holidays are over with, there will be stuff to watch at night. Right now there's nothing on, and nothing worth watching (that I haven't seen) on OnDemand.
Games
I wound up getting my big Christmas present early, the new Xbox 360 Slim Holiday Bundle. I've been replaying some of my older games, like SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION and RESIDENT EVIL 5. For new games, I finished off ALAN WAKE, which came in the bundle, and played the two DLC chapters for RE5 and the DEAD RISING 2 prologue DLC. I've still got something to look forward to on Christmas day, since I'm getting some games (and some DVDs and Blu-rays, among other things).
I decided to start over, completely fresh, with a new gamer tag. So I'll have to unlock all the achievements all over again, etc.
ALAN WAKE was really good. I may have to get more MS points so I can get the DLC, even though it seems pricier than the DLC for RE5 and DR2. I hope there will be a second game.
After playing the DEAD RISING 2 prologue, I'm looking forward to the main game. Of course, I liked the first game, so I was already looking forward to the sequel. I just didn't get it before now because I wanted the Xbox version for the DLC and didn't have a working Xbox when it came out.
I can't decide if I want to download the DEAD SPACE 2 demo. The full game comes out next month, and I might want to play it completely unspoiled. (Even if I don't get it right away.)
Poker
I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this, but things have been going okay. Of course, now that I've said that I'll probably go on a huge downswing. After all, I've still got over a week left to ruin the month!
I haven't put in as much volume this month. In fact, I'll be surprised if I even crack 10k hands. I've also really been slacking on studying. I think I've watched two, maybe three coaching videos since my last post. I blame that on the Xbox.
At least it looks like that bill that would blackout online poker in the US didn't pass. I'm in favor of it being more legal (it really isn't illegal to play in the US, even though the vaguely worded law makes people think it is), and easier for US players to deposit. But I think that that last bill wasn't a good thing. At least, for the time being, I don't have to seek out another site to play on.
Etc
Anyway, I kind of doubt that I'll post again before Christmas, so I hope everybody has a good one.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Just Some Stuff
I Need The Only Drug I Regularly Take
My sleep schedule has been all sorts of messed up lately. I think it's because they were out of regular Diet Coke and I've been working through a case of caffeine free.
Amusing Dog Anecdote
(Not that anybody really cares about other people's pets.) On Saturday I was walking my dog and one of the neighbors on the next street over has some Christmas stuff out on their front law. They have a see-saw with Santa and some elves, which immediately got Lucy's attention and she stared at it for a minute. I was worried she was going to try Santa or an elf. Then she spotted their inflatable Santa. I guess she doesn't like Santa because she backed up and started growling and barking. Eventually I had to pick her up and carry her to the end of the street because she kept trying to go back and intimidate the blow up Santa. I can't imagine how she'd react at one of those things they do at malls where you can bring your dog in and have it get a picture with Santa. Between the huge crowds and Santa himself it'd probably be an amusing catastrophe.
TV
Looks like December will be a quiet TV month. A lot of the cable network shows have wrapped up their seasons or are about to. The majors usually only air one-two weeks of new programming at most during the holidays. Other than some new episodes of LEVERAGE, and the Thursday shows this week, I'm pretty sure there's nothing on this month. (I'm not counting downloading new episodes of PEEP SHOW and the DOCTOR WHO Christmas special.) I'd like to think I'll put that extra time to good use, but I probably won't.
Christmas Shopping
I'd like to get my shopping over with. I just don't know what I'm getting for anybody. I don't even know what I want for myself besides an Xbox 360 slim. Actually, I should rephrase that. I don't even know what I want for myself that's realisitc and affordable.
Poker
Things are going relatively decent so far this month. Not amazing or anything, but not terrible. I don't want to say more than that, since every time I talk about running well, things go flying off of the rails.
Meanwhile, I'm sweating the new possible legislation that would allow the Vegas casinos (and I assume Native Amerian casinos) to run online poker rooms here in the US. This would likely mean a lengthy (I've read up to fifteen month) gap before those online rooms could be up and running. It also means that any offshore site hoping to get a US license (i.e. Pokerstars and Full Tilt) would probably have to stop serving US customers during that time. If that happens a lot of online pros and even semi-pros are going to be screwed. That's their job. So not being able to work for 15 months is pretty bad... plus it's not like this is a great time for anybody out there to have to go out and find a job. I imagine some smaller sites that aren't concerned with getting a US license will move into fill the void, so I'll probably have to move my roll to them. Who knows, if all this does happen, I might prefer the unlicensed sites to ones that the government meddles with.
My sleep schedule has been all sorts of messed up lately. I think it's because they were out of regular Diet Coke and I've been working through a case of caffeine free.
Amusing Dog Anecdote
(Not that anybody really cares about other people's pets.) On Saturday I was walking my dog and one of the neighbors on the next street over has some Christmas stuff out on their front law. They have a see-saw with Santa and some elves, which immediately got Lucy's attention and she stared at it for a minute. I was worried she was going to try Santa or an elf. Then she spotted their inflatable Santa. I guess she doesn't like Santa because she backed up and started growling and barking. Eventually I had to pick her up and carry her to the end of the street because she kept trying to go back and intimidate the blow up Santa. I can't imagine how she'd react at one of those things they do at malls where you can bring your dog in and have it get a picture with Santa. Between the huge crowds and Santa himself it'd probably be an amusing catastrophe.
TV
Looks like December will be a quiet TV month. A lot of the cable network shows have wrapped up their seasons or are about to. The majors usually only air one-two weeks of new programming at most during the holidays. Other than some new episodes of LEVERAGE, and the Thursday shows this week, I'm pretty sure there's nothing on this month. (I'm not counting downloading new episodes of PEEP SHOW and the DOCTOR WHO Christmas special.) I'd like to think I'll put that extra time to good use, but I probably won't.
Christmas Shopping
I'd like to get my shopping over with. I just don't know what I'm getting for anybody. I don't even know what I want for myself besides an Xbox 360 slim. Actually, I should rephrase that. I don't even know what I want for myself that's realisitc and affordable.
Poker
Things are going relatively decent so far this month. Not amazing or anything, but not terrible. I don't want to say more than that, since every time I talk about running well, things go flying off of the rails.
Meanwhile, I'm sweating the new possible legislation that would allow the Vegas casinos (and I assume Native Amerian casinos) to run online poker rooms here in the US. This would likely mean a lengthy (I've read up to fifteen month) gap before those online rooms could be up and running. It also means that any offshore site hoping to get a US license (i.e. Pokerstars and Full Tilt) would probably have to stop serving US customers during that time. If that happens a lot of online pros and even semi-pros are going to be screwed. That's their job. So not being able to work for 15 months is pretty bad... plus it's not like this is a great time for anybody out there to have to go out and find a job. I imagine some smaller sites that aren't concerned with getting a US license will move into fill the void, so I'll probably have to move my roll to them. Who knows, if all this does happen, I might prefer the unlicensed sites to ones that the government meddles with.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Kicking Off December
Welcome to a new month. The last one of the year. There's not a whole lot going on lately.
Poker
Scraping along. Still running below EV vs luckboxes.
TV
Both SONS OF ANARCHY and TERRIERS had their season finales. So that frees up two hours of my week. This week WALKING DEAD has it's finale, and CHUCK is off the air until the middle of January. Guess that'll give me time to watch the COMMUNITY season 1 DVDs with commentary on and the extras. (I hate how the subtitles on the DVD have a black box around them instead of just a black outline with maybe a drop shadow.)
Video Games
In between games at the moment. Been playing a little DEAD SPACE on the PS3. Hopefully I get a new 360 for Christmas.
Poker
Scraping along. Still running below EV vs luckboxes.
TV
Both SONS OF ANARCHY and TERRIERS had their season finales. So that frees up two hours of my week. This week WALKING DEAD has it's finale, and CHUCK is off the air until the middle of January. Guess that'll give me time to watch the COMMUNITY season 1 DVDs with commentary on and the extras. (I hate how the subtitles on the DVD have a black box around them instead of just a black outline with maybe a drop shadow.)
Video Games
In between games at the moment. Been playing a little DEAD SPACE on the PS3. Hopefully I get a new 360 for Christmas.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
I Still Can't Think Of A Title
Mocking The Dog
It's been pretty warm (relatively speaking) the last few days, but a few days ago it was so cold that we had to bundle the dog up in her sweater to take her out. After that I kept calling her Dr Huxtable, so I wonder if that's a form of animal cruelty?
The League
Aside from watching a few minutes of the pilot, I never watched THE LEAGUE. For whatever reason, I caught reruns the first two episodes on Saturday night, and now I've watched all but the last episode of the first season. After that I plan on catching up on season 2. Funny stuff. I didn't expect to like it because I'm not into football at all, but you don't have to be to enjoy the show.
Games
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS ran horribly on my PC. Looks like I'll have to go with the console version. I may wait until I get another 360 since I hear the 360 version looks a bit better than the PS3 version. BLACK OPS is the first PC game in years that hasn't run on my machine. Guess I need some upgrades. Oh well, back to FALLOUT NEW VEGAS for me.
Poker
Ran really well for five days up until Wednesday afternoon. Then I had a bad session, hit my stoploss and quit. (My two biggest losing hands were having a big pocket pair that ran into a better pocket pair. JJ vs KK and KK vs AA.) Then about fiften minutes after I quit, I saw on 2+2 that the new Stars update was out and it added configurable bet-sizing buttons, so I played a short one table session to config the buttons and test them out. They work really well, it's about time Stars caught up to Full Title on that sort of simple functionality. As a bonus, I made a small fraction of my losses back.
It's been pretty warm (relatively speaking) the last few days, but a few days ago it was so cold that we had to bundle the dog up in her sweater to take her out. After that I kept calling her Dr Huxtable, so I wonder if that's a form of animal cruelty?
The League
Aside from watching a few minutes of the pilot, I never watched THE LEAGUE. For whatever reason, I caught reruns the first two episodes on Saturday night, and now I've watched all but the last episode of the first season. After that I plan on catching up on season 2. Funny stuff. I didn't expect to like it because I'm not into football at all, but you don't have to be to enjoy the show.
Games
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS ran horribly on my PC. Looks like I'll have to go with the console version. I may wait until I get another 360 since I hear the 360 version looks a bit better than the PS3 version. BLACK OPS is the first PC game in years that hasn't run on my machine. Guess I need some upgrades. Oh well, back to FALLOUT NEW VEGAS for me.
Poker
Ran really well for five days up until Wednesday afternoon. Then I had a bad session, hit my stoploss and quit. (My two biggest losing hands were having a big pocket pair that ran into a better pocket pair. JJ vs KK and KK vs AA.) Then about fiften minutes after I quit, I saw on 2+2 that the new Stars update was out and it added configurable bet-sizing buttons, so I played a short one table session to config the buttons and test them out. They work really well, it's about time Stars caught up to Full Title on that sort of simple functionality. As a bonus, I made a small fraction of my losses back.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
I Can't Think Of A Title
Okay, took a few days off. I still plan to post more than I have been.
Daylight Savings Time
I'm sure this will screw up my already incredibly screwed up body clock even more. Awesome.
Poker
Been running well the last few days. I'm sure mentioning that on here will wind up with me getting doomswitched, but I'm used to things going from good to horribad. I've also been kind of lazy the last day or two with the studying, which is bad.
Games
Still immersed in FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Did a few side quests that I missed on my first play-through. It's such a long game.
I've also been entering that current Burger King contest for the Xbox 360 daily. It comes with the Kinect, which I imagine would sit completely unused if I were to win.
Getting psyched for COD: BLACK OPS. I hear it's kinda mediocre from people that got the leaked 360 version, but I'll still give it a whirl on the PC. Hopefully it'll run okay with my ancient video card.
Daylight Savings Time
I'm sure this will screw up my already incredibly screwed up body clock even more. Awesome.
Poker
Been running well the last few days. I'm sure mentioning that on here will wind up with me getting doomswitched, but I'm used to things going from good to horribad. I've also been kind of lazy the last day or two with the studying, which is bad.
Games
Still immersed in FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Did a few side quests that I missed on my first play-through. It's such a long game.
I've also been entering that current Burger King contest for the Xbox 360 daily. It comes with the Kinect, which I imagine would sit completely unused if I were to win.
Getting psyched for COD: BLACK OPS. I hear it's kinda mediocre from people that got the leaked 360 version, but I'll still give it a whirl on the PC. Hopefully it'll run okay with my ancient video card.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Random Life Junk 10-2-2010
I don't know how long I'll stick to it, but I'm going to try to update more frequently this month. That's not to say every day, but more often than I have been.
Internet
My internet keeps crapping out on me. It'll be fine for weeks at a time, and then for a few days it'll just randomly keep dropping in and out. It's pretty frustrating, and not consistent enough or lasts long enough to bother with calling anybody out to the house. Especially since it seems to happen more often in the wee hours of the morning (like 3:30 AM) than in the afternoon.
TV
I wish they'd make up their minds about whether Linda Hamilton's character is good or evil on CHUCK. Nice usage of Timothy Dalton, and I like how the producers were less than truthful about his character to the press. The rest of Monday night TV was adequate.
Poker
First session of the month was a losing one. It was a mild loser until my last hand where I got it in vs a short stack with AK and he KK. Then it went from being down about 1/2 a buy-in to being down just over a full buy-in. Not that big of a deal, and I'm glad I stuck to my guns and quit. I had planned to quit, I had already turned off my auto post blinds and that was my last hand. In the past, I would've rechecked post and stuck around until I dropped another few buy-ins.
Anyway, the only bad thing to this first tiny losing session is that I've found that I'm semi-superstitious about these things. So I sort of feel that the first session of the month sets the tone for the whole month.
After that, I spent a good chunk of the late afternoon and early evening studying (2+2 forums posts). And I did some more studying (a video) after TV time was over. I only watched 1/2 of the video, which is something I do more often than when I first started watching coaching videos. This is because I find I absorb more info by just watching a chunk and saving the rest for the next day. Plus the way I watch videos: taking tons of notes, pausing during videos trying to predict what the coach is going to do, etc makes a 1 hour video take anywhere from 2-4 hours sometimes. So, trying to watch an entire video is rough on my very short attention span.
Weather
It got cold fast here in New England. I went from just a sweatshit to the sweatshirt + jacket combo when taking the dog out for her last trip out for the night. I probably could've even done with the jacket on the earlier walk before the sun went down.
Internet
My internet keeps crapping out on me. It'll be fine for weeks at a time, and then for a few days it'll just randomly keep dropping in and out. It's pretty frustrating, and not consistent enough or lasts long enough to bother with calling anybody out to the house. Especially since it seems to happen more often in the wee hours of the morning (like 3:30 AM) than in the afternoon.
TV
I wish they'd make up their minds about whether Linda Hamilton's character is good or evil on CHUCK. Nice usage of Timothy Dalton, and I like how the producers were less than truthful about his character to the press. The rest of Monday night TV was adequate.
Poker
First session of the month was a losing one. It was a mild loser until my last hand where I got it in vs a short stack with AK and he KK. Then it went from being down about 1/2 a buy-in to being down just over a full buy-in. Not that big of a deal, and I'm glad I stuck to my guns and quit. I had planned to quit, I had already turned off my auto post blinds and that was my last hand. In the past, I would've rechecked post and stuck around until I dropped another few buy-ins.
Anyway, the only bad thing to this first tiny losing session is that I've found that I'm semi-superstitious about these things. So I sort of feel that the first session of the month sets the tone for the whole month.
After that, I spent a good chunk of the late afternoon and early evening studying (2+2 forums posts). And I did some more studying (a video) after TV time was over. I only watched 1/2 of the video, which is something I do more often than when I first started watching coaching videos. This is because I find I absorb more info by just watching a chunk and saving the rest for the next day. Plus the way I watch videos: taking tons of notes, pausing during videos trying to predict what the coach is going to do, etc makes a 1 hour video take anywhere from 2-4 hours sometimes. So, trying to watch an entire video is rough on my very short attention span.
Weather
It got cold fast here in New England. I went from just a sweatshit to the sweatshirt + jacket combo when taking the dog out for her last trip out for the night. I probably could've even done with the jacket on the earlier walk before the sun went down.
Monday, November 1, 2010
First One Of November
I can't believe it's November already. This year seems to be flying right along.
Halloween
Do kids trick or treat anymore? Or do they just go to Halloween parties now? I ask because I can't remember the last Halloween where we got trick or treaters (not that I'm complaining). At least I wasn't dumb enough to try and put the dog in a costume.
The Walking Dead
I thought the first episode of THE WALKING DEAD was pretty good. It's been so long since I read those original issues, probably not long after they first came out. I've never gone back and re-read the early stuff, so while I know generally where things are headed if they follow the comic, but it's been so long and the few characters from the beginning that are still around are pretty different from when they started out. I also still have a hard time seeing Andrew Lincoln as anybody but Simon from TEACHERS, especially since they had him riding a bike in TWD, something he did on nearly every episode of TEACHERS. That having been said, he did a pretty good job as Rick.
New Vegas
Re-started FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Not sure how I'm going to play it this time, aside from trying to do more/all of the side quests. Last time I was a good guy. Maybe I'll be a little less good this time around, pick different factions to side with and such. I figure I can keep going with NV until COD: BLACK OPS hits.
Halloween
Do kids trick or treat anymore? Or do they just go to Halloween parties now? I ask because I can't remember the last Halloween where we got trick or treaters (not that I'm complaining). At least I wasn't dumb enough to try and put the dog in a costume.
The Walking Dead
I thought the first episode of THE WALKING DEAD was pretty good. It's been so long since I read those original issues, probably not long after they first came out. I've never gone back and re-read the early stuff, so while I know generally where things are headed if they follow the comic, but it's been so long and the few characters from the beginning that are still around are pretty different from when they started out. I also still have a hard time seeing Andrew Lincoln as anybody but Simon from TEACHERS, especially since they had him riding a bike in TWD, something he did on nearly every episode of TEACHERS. That having been said, he did a pretty good job as Rick.
New Vegas
Re-started FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Not sure how I'm going to play it this time, aside from trying to do more/all of the side quests. Last time I was a good guy. Maybe I'll be a little less good this time around, pick different factions to side with and such. I figure I can keep going with NV until COD: BLACK OPS hits.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Life Junk - Early Oct 2010
Video Games
I'm replaying GRAND THEFT AUTO IV again. Shocker. I love that game, which is obvious given how many times I've played it start to finish. As for new games coming out, I plan on grabbing FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS for the PC, and I'll hold off on MEDAL OF HONOR until I see what word of mouth on that one is like. I want to pick up DEAD RISING 2, but I'm waiting until I get a replacement 360 to get it. The exclusive downloadable content for the 360 swayed me away from getting it for the PS3.
Poker
I've been playing fairly breakeven so far this month. This beats losing, but given my massive downswing over the last few months, it's a bit discouraging. On the upside, I cleared one bonus, and used some FPPs on Stars for another. This has helped pad my bankroll a bit. I've been slacking off on the studying side of poker. So many videos (downloaded a few new ones this week) and eBooks to get through.
Guitar
Earlier this week I changed the strings on my 7-string since they were getting old. What I didn't remember was that the only set of 7-string strings that I had in my little guitar toolbox were a lighter gauge (.009's) than what I had been using (.010's). So now when I play the strings feel like rubber bands. I don't want to waste a set of strings, so once these wear out I'll go back to .010's. I just hope I don't get used to the feel of the lighter strings. (The heavier strings also sound better.)
TV
With the fall season I've been watching tons of TV. Instead of going into detail, I figured I'd just provide quick raitings for each show, based on what I've seen so far.
Monday
Chuck 4/5
The Event 2/5
Castle 3/5
How I Met Your Mother 2/5
The Inbetweeners (UK) 3/5
Tuesday
No Ordinary Family 2/5 (not quite sold on this one yet)
Sons Of Anarchy 5/5
Wednesday
Modern Family 3/5
Terriers 3/5
Thursday
Community 5/5
30 Rock 2/5
The Office 1/5 (seriously, I need to just quit)
The Big Bang Theory 3/5
It's Always Sunny 4/5
Shit My Dad says 0/5 (gave up after the pilot, love Shatner, but it's shit.)
Outsourced 0/5 (crap)
Sunday
Venture Bros 5/5
I'm replaying GRAND THEFT AUTO IV again. Shocker. I love that game, which is obvious given how many times I've played it start to finish. As for new games coming out, I plan on grabbing FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS for the PC, and I'll hold off on MEDAL OF HONOR until I see what word of mouth on that one is like. I want to pick up DEAD RISING 2, but I'm waiting until I get a replacement 360 to get it. The exclusive downloadable content for the 360 swayed me away from getting it for the PS3.
Poker
I've been playing fairly breakeven so far this month. This beats losing, but given my massive downswing over the last few months, it's a bit discouraging. On the upside, I cleared one bonus, and used some FPPs on Stars for another. This has helped pad my bankroll a bit. I've been slacking off on the studying side of poker. So many videos (downloaded a few new ones this week) and eBooks to get through.
Guitar
Earlier this week I changed the strings on my 7-string since they were getting old. What I didn't remember was that the only set of 7-string strings that I had in my little guitar toolbox were a lighter gauge (.009's) than what I had been using (.010's). So now when I play the strings feel like rubber bands. I don't want to waste a set of strings, so once these wear out I'll go back to .010's. I just hope I don't get used to the feel of the lighter strings. (The heavier strings also sound better.)
TV
With the fall season I've been watching tons of TV. Instead of going into detail, I figured I'd just provide quick raitings for each show, based on what I've seen so far.
Monday
Chuck 4/5
The Event 2/5
Castle 3/5
How I Met Your Mother 2/5
The Inbetweeners (UK) 3/5
Tuesday
No Ordinary Family 2/5 (not quite sold on this one yet)
Sons Of Anarchy 5/5
Wednesday
Modern Family 3/5
Terriers 3/5
Thursday
Community 5/5
30 Rock 2/5
The Office 1/5 (seriously, I need to just quit)
The Big Bang Theory 3/5
It's Always Sunny 4/5
Shit My Dad says 0/5 (gave up after the pilot, love Shatner, but it's shit.)
Outsourced 0/5 (crap)
Sunday
Venture Bros 5/5
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Two Years On
Yesterday marks two years since my brother died. Depending on when you ask me, sometimes it either feels much longer or much shorter than that. The actual week or so between the death and the funeral was all a blur really.
I took one of my rare trips to the cemetery. I feel bad about it, but I hate going to the cemetery. It depresses me. So, that means that I only go a few times a year. I think he'd understand.
Not a single day has gone by where I don't think about Dave or wish he was still here. I miss the hell out of him. Still, I don't mope around too much, because he probably wouldn't want that (or do that if our situations were reversed). When I do think of him, I just think about the stuff that made us get along so well. (I catch myself wondering what he would've thought of this movie or game, or what he would've thought of something that happened on an episode of the TV show.)
If nothing else, this has taught me that everybody should appreciate the people that matter to them. You never know when their time or your time will be up. I hope that doesn't sound too morbid. It wasn't meant to be that way.
I took one of my rare trips to the cemetery. I feel bad about it, but I hate going to the cemetery. It depresses me. So, that means that I only go a few times a year. I think he'd understand.
Not a single day has gone by where I don't think about Dave or wish he was still here. I miss the hell out of him. Still, I don't mope around too much, because he probably wouldn't want that (or do that if our situations were reversed). When I do think of him, I just think about the stuff that made us get along so well. (I catch myself wondering what he would've thought of this movie or game, or what he would've thought of something that happened on an episode of the TV show.)
If nothing else, this has taught me that everybody should appreciate the people that matter to them. You never know when their time or your time will be up. I hope that doesn't sound too morbid. It wasn't meant to be that way.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Daily Life Stuff - Late Sept
I've been feeling sick the last few days. I'm still not 100%. So most of my time has been spent laying (or lying?) down. I did manage to watch a bunch of TV, although I've got stuff on the DVR (and downloaded) that I haven't gotten around to yet.
Since I haven't been feeling well, most of my poker sessions this week were around 30-40 minutes, once a day, which isn't as much or as long as I normally like to play. However, I have been winning, so if I find that when I'm back to 100% health-wise, that playing longer sessions is a loser for me, I'll start playing shorter sessions more times a day. Of course, playing less and dropping down in stakes this month means that I won't be clearing my VIP level. Sigh.
I also got a replacement for the missing headphone foam cushion for my Sennheisers that I lost a few weeks back. So I was pretty psyched about that. I thought I was going to have to order a pack of six, just to get one.
On Tuesday I had to fix my grandmother's new laptop. I must be getting rusty in the ol' tech support department, because it took me a lot longer than I thought it would. To be fair, it was a problem that I had never encountered before, and in a section of Windows' control panel I don't think I've ever even opened. I cheated and Googled, even though that didn't give me the right answer. Eventually I figured it out.
This week coming up Lucy (the dog) turns one year old. So I guess that means, she's not a puppy anymore. Time really flies.
Since I haven't been feeling well, most of my poker sessions this week were around 30-40 minutes, once a day, which isn't as much or as long as I normally like to play. However, I have been winning, so if I find that when I'm back to 100% health-wise, that playing longer sessions is a loser for me, I'll start playing shorter sessions more times a day. Of course, playing less and dropping down in stakes this month means that I won't be clearing my VIP level. Sigh.
I also got a replacement for the missing headphone foam cushion for my Sennheisers that I lost a few weeks back. So I was pretty psyched about that. I thought I was going to have to order a pack of six, just to get one.
On Tuesday I had to fix my grandmother's new laptop. I must be getting rusty in the ol' tech support department, because it took me a lot longer than I thought it would. To be fair, it was a problem that I had never encountered before, and in a section of Windows' control panel I don't think I've ever even opened. I cheated and Googled, even though that didn't give me the right answer. Eventually I figured it out.
This week coming up Lucy (the dog) turns one year old. So I guess that means, she's not a puppy anymore. Time really flies.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Life In September 2010 So Far
At the beginning of the month I remember saying to myself that I was going to update the blog more often. Well, we see how that turned out. More than halfway through the month and this is only my fourth post. So much for that, huh?
I'm glad the fall TV season has begun. So far only the FX shows are back. SONS OF ANARCHY has been really good (that season opener had a nice sucker punch of an ending!). TERRIERS is alright, I'm not totally hooked, but I'm giving it a show. IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY was pretty funny. Oh, and VENTURE BROS was awesome as usual. This week coming up the shows really start rolling in, starting with CHUCK on Monday.
Poker is just meh. I did manage to stop the bleeding, but I still have to climb back up out of the deep hole I dug myself into. At least I've started quitting when I'm losing or not playing my A-game. That and just breaking even are huge after losing so badly. I still catch myself making mistakes like calling down light with marginal hands vs players who I think are full of shit when they've actually got a hand. I'm trying to get more disciplined about that leak in my game. One of the hugest inspirations in that department is watching the Durrr vs Antonius heads up at the '09 Aussie Millions. Tom keeps getting good hands but Patrick gets something better, and Tom keeps folding when he knows he's beat. He doesn't lose his cool and makes the right play consistently over and over. It's an incredibly impressive display. It's rare you can learn anything useful and applicable to online poker from televised poker, which is usually centered on people playing crappy cards and sucking out. But watching this really can teach a player something. Too bad I didn't watch it and learn from it about a month or two ago!
I wish I had counted how many times I've played through GRAND THEFT AUTO IV so far. I say that because I think I'm going to start a new game of that again. I just replayed through BIOSHOCK 2 again earlier this week. I'm still going back and forth between old original Xbox games and my tiny PS3 library until I can replace my dead 360. (Which I had more than enough money for from poker before my massive downswing.)
Speaking of video games, the other day, while I was playing BIOSHOCK 2 my dog surprised me. She was indicating she wanted to go out, and I wanted her to wait a few minutes while I was playing. The next thing I know, the screen goes black and the PS3 said something about "please wait". I look and see the disc sticking out of the front of the PS3. Lucy (the dog) had hit the eject button on the front of the PS3. Guess I should have it up higher... or take the dog out when immediately when she asks me to unless I want to lose my progress in a game.
I'm glad the fall TV season has begun. So far only the FX shows are back. SONS OF ANARCHY has been really good (that season opener had a nice sucker punch of an ending!). TERRIERS is alright, I'm not totally hooked, but I'm giving it a show. IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY was pretty funny. Oh, and VENTURE BROS was awesome as usual. This week coming up the shows really start rolling in, starting with CHUCK on Monday.
Poker is just meh. I did manage to stop the bleeding, but I still have to climb back up out of the deep hole I dug myself into. At least I've started quitting when I'm losing or not playing my A-game. That and just breaking even are huge after losing so badly. I still catch myself making mistakes like calling down light with marginal hands vs players who I think are full of shit when they've actually got a hand. I'm trying to get more disciplined about that leak in my game. One of the hugest inspirations in that department is watching the Durrr vs Antonius heads up at the '09 Aussie Millions. Tom keeps getting good hands but Patrick gets something better, and Tom keeps folding when he knows he's beat. He doesn't lose his cool and makes the right play consistently over and over. It's an incredibly impressive display. It's rare you can learn anything useful and applicable to online poker from televised poker, which is usually centered on people playing crappy cards and sucking out. But watching this really can teach a player something. Too bad I didn't watch it and learn from it about a month or two ago!
I wish I had counted how many times I've played through GRAND THEFT AUTO IV so far. I say that because I think I'm going to start a new game of that again. I just replayed through BIOSHOCK 2 again earlier this week. I'm still going back and forth between old original Xbox games and my tiny PS3 library until I can replace my dead 360. (Which I had more than enough money for from poker before my massive downswing.)
Speaking of video games, the other day, while I was playing BIOSHOCK 2 my dog surprised me. She was indicating she wanted to go out, and I wanted her to wait a few minutes while I was playing. The next thing I know, the screen goes black and the PS3 said something about "please wait". I look and see the disc sticking out of the front of the PS3. Lucy (the dog) had hit the eject button on the front of the PS3. Guess I should have it up higher... or take the dog out when immediately when she asks me to unless I want to lose my progress in a game.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A Fifth For August
Wow, I only made four posts on here in August. That's pretty bad. Overall, August sucked for reasons I won't get into on here.
After squeezing a little more service out of it, I think the 360 is "for reals" dead this time. I'm just going to save up and get a new slim Elite at some point. (Getting a new arcade and then a hard drive would cost just about the same, if not more than just splashing out the $300 for the Elite.) With the built-in WiFi the slim has, I might even decide to splash out for a live account, even though I normally don't do any gaming online.
In the meantime, I dug out my original Xbox, which is still running after seven years, and I've been replaying some old games. The graphics, and running at 480p only looks so so on an HDTV. It's also been a bit of a readjustment getting used to a wired controller again. Still, I've got a pretty big library for the original Xbox, and I'm sure there are bunch of games in it that I forgot about or never got around to beating. Right now I'm replaying the under-rated PSI-OPS: THE MINDGATE CONSPIRACY. I also plan on going through my PS2 library and seeing if there's anything there that I feel like replaying via the PS3.
Since upgrading to Windows 7, I haven't gotten around to re-installing any of my old PC games. I may have to remedy that, since I've had an urge to play some FPS titles.
The other day I decided to use my iPod, which has been gathering dust, while walking the dog. I forgot how horrible the iPod earbuds are. I plugged in my Sennheisers that I use for my computer and they sound a zillion times better. I'll have to get a second pair so I can ditch the earbuds completely.
I'll cover poker in the monthly results post, not that anybody really cares.
I can't wait until the new TV season starts. I like having something to do in the evenings.
After squeezing a little more service out of it, I think the 360 is "for reals" dead this time. I'm just going to save up and get a new slim Elite at some point. (Getting a new arcade and then a hard drive would cost just about the same, if not more than just splashing out the $300 for the Elite.) With the built-in WiFi the slim has, I might even decide to splash out for a live account, even though I normally don't do any gaming online.
In the meantime, I dug out my original Xbox, which is still running after seven years, and I've been replaying some old games. The graphics, and running at 480p only looks so so on an HDTV. It's also been a bit of a readjustment getting used to a wired controller again. Still, I've got a pretty big library for the original Xbox, and I'm sure there are bunch of games in it that I forgot about or never got around to beating. Right now I'm replaying the under-rated PSI-OPS: THE MINDGATE CONSPIRACY. I also plan on going through my PS2 library and seeing if there's anything there that I feel like replaying via the PS3.
Since upgrading to Windows 7, I haven't gotten around to re-installing any of my old PC games. I may have to remedy that, since I've had an urge to play some FPS titles.
The other day I decided to use my iPod, which has been gathering dust, while walking the dog. I forgot how horrible the iPod earbuds are. I plugged in my Sennheisers that I use for my computer and they sound a zillion times better. I'll have to get a second pair so I can ditch the earbuds completely.
I'll cover poker in the monthly results post, not that anybody really cares.
I can't wait until the new TV season starts. I like having something to do in the evenings.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Is July Over Yet?
July has been kinda meh.
THE IT CROWD aside, I haven't been watching much TV. I do catch LEVERAGE if I can remember it's on. I've pretty much given up on ENTOURAGE. I'm still trying to watch PERSONS UNKNOWN, although I don't know why. I haven't given that new ALIAS clone on USA a chance yet, maybe once a few are stockpiled on OnDemand. Still about two months away from the fall season as of this writing. (Most shows start the week of the 20th in September.)
Poker was going awesome the first part of the month, and then I lost a ridiculous amount. I was (and still am) a bit scared that I'd have to drop back down a level in stakes. Maybe if I followed some sort of actual stop loss, like 3 buy-ins, I'd be able to avoid massive 16 buy-in downswings. But usually if I'm down in a session I can get it back up and either come close to break even, or even make a tiny profit after being down something like four buy-ins. Then again, every so often, I have days where I lose and it gets worse and worse. Fortunately, the lose a bunch and win it back quick days outnumber the lose big and keep losing days. So, I just have to concentrate on playing a little less aggressively and let marginal spots go. Try to play breakeven and avoid big pots without super monsters for a bit. It's frustrating, but all I can do is ride it out.
I've run out of Playstation 3 games that I want to replay. So my choices are to either find some old Playstation 2 games (I've got an older PS3 with the backwards compatibility), try to re-repair my 360 until I can scrape up the dough for a new one, or maybe replay something in my PC game library. I'm kind of thinking about restarting FALLOUT 3. A friend of mine I recommended the game to stopped by about two weeks ago and was asking me a bunch of questions about it that I couldn't remember the answers to.
The upgrade from XP to Windows 7 is something I'm still putting off. I started backing up some of my data to my 2TB external hard drive, but since I don't have an eSATA interface and am doing it via USB 2.0, it takes a long time to backup large amounts of files. Reformatting and starting from scratch is the real daunting part of the whole thing, since I've got everything set the way I want and working fine on XP. Times have changed from when I'd get my hands on an OS early and jump on installing it as soon as I could (98, ME, 2000, XP).
THE IT CROWD aside, I haven't been watching much TV. I do catch LEVERAGE if I can remember it's on. I've pretty much given up on ENTOURAGE. I'm still trying to watch PERSONS UNKNOWN, although I don't know why. I haven't given that new ALIAS clone on USA a chance yet, maybe once a few are stockpiled on OnDemand. Still about two months away from the fall season as of this writing. (Most shows start the week of the 20th in September.)
Poker was going awesome the first part of the month, and then I lost a ridiculous amount. I was (and still am) a bit scared that I'd have to drop back down a level in stakes. Maybe if I followed some sort of actual stop loss, like 3 buy-ins, I'd be able to avoid massive 16 buy-in downswings. But usually if I'm down in a session I can get it back up and either come close to break even, or even make a tiny profit after being down something like four buy-ins. Then again, every so often, I have days where I lose and it gets worse and worse. Fortunately, the lose a bunch and win it back quick days outnumber the lose big and keep losing days. So, I just have to concentrate on playing a little less aggressively and let marginal spots go. Try to play breakeven and avoid big pots without super monsters for a bit. It's frustrating, but all I can do is ride it out.
I've run out of Playstation 3 games that I want to replay. So my choices are to either find some old Playstation 2 games (I've got an older PS3 with the backwards compatibility), try to re-repair my 360 until I can scrape up the dough for a new one, or maybe replay something in my PC game library. I'm kind of thinking about restarting FALLOUT 3. A friend of mine I recommended the game to stopped by about two weeks ago and was asking me a bunch of questions about it that I couldn't remember the answers to.
The upgrade from XP to Windows 7 is something I'm still putting off. I started backing up some of my data to my 2TB external hard drive, but since I don't have an eSATA interface and am doing it via USB 2.0, it takes a long time to backup large amounts of files. Reformatting and starting from scratch is the real daunting part of the whole thing, since I've got everything set the way I want and working fine on XP. Times have changed from when I'd get my hands on an OS early and jump on installing it as soon as I could (98, ME, 2000, XP).
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