I decided to use some other settings on my camera last night, this time turning the shutter speed way down. What resulted was this fantastic picture. Go ahead, don't act like you're not impressed.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Some loose odds and ends
*Update*
Online poker going extremely well, up about 1000 or so BBs for the weeks time. Casino trip was good last night, 3/6 with a half kill was the game going mostly, didn't have enough for 8/16. Ended +116 for 2.5 hours work. Game was perfect, going back tonight.
*Re-update*
Went back to Agua Caliente last night. Played 3/6 again for 4.5 hours, leaving +$158 winner. We leave for the airport at 6am tomorrow, yet I want to return tonight for a couple hours. I am officially sick...
Here's some other pictures from this week.
Karen outside our hotel on day 1
Cute Little Baby Turtle
A picture of our suite
I forgot the name of this guy. They were playful though...and copulated with one another.
A cougar, presumably looking for Kim Bauer, somewhere in the distance.
Perhaps my favorite picture. They had a miniature train system set up in the middle of the grounds. I took this perspective show under the railing. To me it looks real. I am also a huge dork...
*Update*
Online poker going extremely well, up about 1000 or so BBs for the weeks time. Casino trip was good last night, 3/6 with a half kill was the game going mostly, didn't have enough for 8/16. Ended +116 for 2.5 hours work. Game was perfect, going back tonight.
*Re-update*
Went back to Agua Caliente last night. Played 3/6 again for 4.5 hours, leaving +$158 winner. We leave for the airport at 6am tomorrow, yet I want to return tonight for a couple hours. I am officially sick...
Here's some other pictures from this week.
Karen outside our hotel on day 1
Cute Little Baby Turtle
A picture of our suite
I forgot the name of this guy. They were playful though...and copulated with one another.
A cougar, presumably looking for Kim Bauer, somewhere in the distance.
Perhaps my favorite picture. They had a miniature train system set up in the middle of the grounds. I took this perspective show under the railing. To me it looks real. I am also a huge dork...
Friday, March 24, 2006
California...Where have you been all my life?
Well, where to begin. Our travel day on sunday turned out to be a huge nightmare. We were flying from Madison, WI to Palm Springs, CA with a connection through Dallas. When we arrived at the airport, they informed us that due to mechanical failure, the flight never took off from Dallas, and our flight was therefore cancelled. It didn't look promising to get out of there that day, but they managed to squeeze the 24 of us (the others were flying on a flight through Chicago which turned out fine) on a flight OUT of Chicago to Orange County, CA. Our bus was still there, and our driver Jim agreed to take us to Chicago, 2.5 hours away.
We made it there and then the terminal people couldn't find our reservation. Once they did, they couldn't pull individual people from the list because we were labeled as a group. They finally figured it out, and we relaxed in the Chilis lounge and had beers and fatty foods. Yum. I then went to the other airport bar, watched some of the Bulls game, and had a very rarely found Bud Light Pint-Sized bottle. Delicious.
Once we landed, there was to be a bus to take us to the hotel in Palm Desert, a 2 hour or so drive. One of my regular roomates Jeff got a rental car there and offered me a ride, so I didn't have to take the bus. It's a good thing I did because it didn't come for another hour after we left. They accidently went to LAX and had to turn around and come to Orange County. DOH!
I arrived at the hotel around 11PM or 1am Central time, making the day about 15 hours worth of travel. Karen would then come around midnight, ironically she flew into LAX where the bus was. I upgraded for the week and got a suite at the hotel which was really nice.
Monday we went to a massage place and got hour long massages. I have a hard time enjoying massages afterwards, like the next day. They're usually just momentary release and relaxation, but I feel no long term effects. Still great nonetheless.
Tuesday we went to The Living Desert, a zoo in the area. I got some really nice pics there like these ones:
Wednesday we went to a waterpark called Soak City. A bit overpriced and not that many rides leads to a so so experience. Overall at the end of the day it was a fun day, but you don't get alot for your money.
This morning sadly, Karen had to leave and cut short our mini vacation. I couldn't have asked for a better time though, the weather was beautiful, the company was amazing, and I'll never forget this week in my life. Only 6 more weeks and I'll be home guys!
PS. On a side note, and I swear to the poker people who read this, I have some interesting hand histories to share with you. I've been absolutly killing the NL games on FCP lately. Everytime I say this I always run into a bad streak, but I haven't had a losing session at all since Friday, and playing .50/1 NL, I'm up about 850 BBs. I think I'm really getting into the "zone" and playing the best poker of my life.
Going to the Aqua Caliente Casino tonight. Results will be posted soon!
Well, where to begin. Our travel day on sunday turned out to be a huge nightmare. We were flying from Madison, WI to Palm Springs, CA with a connection through Dallas. When we arrived at the airport, they informed us that due to mechanical failure, the flight never took off from Dallas, and our flight was therefore cancelled. It didn't look promising to get out of there that day, but they managed to squeeze the 24 of us (the others were flying on a flight through Chicago which turned out fine) on a flight OUT of Chicago to Orange County, CA. Our bus was still there, and our driver Jim agreed to take us to Chicago, 2.5 hours away.
We made it there and then the terminal people couldn't find our reservation. Once they did, they couldn't pull individual people from the list because we were labeled as a group. They finally figured it out, and we relaxed in the Chilis lounge and had beers and fatty foods. Yum. I then went to the other airport bar, watched some of the Bulls game, and had a very rarely found Bud Light Pint-Sized bottle. Delicious.
Once we landed, there was to be a bus to take us to the hotel in Palm Desert, a 2 hour or so drive. One of my regular roomates Jeff got a rental car there and offered me a ride, so I didn't have to take the bus. It's a good thing I did because it didn't come for another hour after we left. They accidently went to LAX and had to turn around and come to Orange County. DOH!
I arrived at the hotel around 11PM or 1am Central time, making the day about 15 hours worth of travel. Karen would then come around midnight, ironically she flew into LAX where the bus was. I upgraded for the week and got a suite at the hotel which was really nice.
Monday we went to a massage place and got hour long massages. I have a hard time enjoying massages afterwards, like the next day. They're usually just momentary release and relaxation, but I feel no long term effects. Still great nonetheless.
Tuesday we went to The Living Desert, a zoo in the area. I got some really nice pics there like these ones:
Wednesday we went to a waterpark called Soak City. A bit overpriced and not that many rides leads to a so so experience. Overall at the end of the day it was a fun day, but you don't get alot for your money.
This morning sadly, Karen had to leave and cut short our mini vacation. I couldn't have asked for a better time though, the weather was beautiful, the company was amazing, and I'll never forget this week in my life. Only 6 more weeks and I'll be home guys!
PS. On a side note, and I swear to the poker people who read this, I have some interesting hand histories to share with you. I've been absolutly killing the NL games on FCP lately. Everytime I say this I always run into a bad streak, but I haven't had a losing session at all since Friday, and playing .50/1 NL, I'm up about 850 BBs. I think I'm really getting into the "zone" and playing the best poker of my life.
Going to the Aqua Caliente Casino tonight. Results will be posted soon!
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Greetings from Cedar Rapids, Iowa!
Not much really to report out here in Oklahoma Land. Just workin hard finishing up a rough patch in the schedule. Tomorrow we're in Wasau, WI, and Thurs-Sat we're in Madison, WI. On Sunday, it's the day everyone's been waiting for. Flying to Palm Springs CA for 8 days. So far I've found 4 casinos within 12 miles of our hotel. Also there's a massage-spa place very close to where we're staying, which Karen and I will be partaking.
Other than that, nothing real crazy happening. Been having weird stomach aches lately but I can't really pinpoint anything bad I may have ate. Haven't been working out as much due to how I've been feeling. My roomate Jeff has watched all the Lost DVDs from season 1 and just recently bought all of the eps from Season 2 thus far on ITunes. I've been re-watching them with him the past couple days and we're up to ep 5 where Sun loses her ring. It's cool to see them again with all the information you have now and seeing how consistent the writing is, let alone things you may have missed. (Never picked up on Libby saying there were 23 of them in the tail section)
On another note, it appears as though I'll be leaving again for another tour in September. I'll be home for the summer, and as it appears now, I won't return until July 2007. What show you ask? Either The Producers or Hairspray.
Not much really to report out here in Oklahoma Land. Just workin hard finishing up a rough patch in the schedule. Tomorrow we're in Wasau, WI, and Thurs-Sat we're in Madison, WI. On Sunday, it's the day everyone's been waiting for. Flying to Palm Springs CA for 8 days. So far I've found 4 casinos within 12 miles of our hotel. Also there's a massage-spa place very close to where we're staying, which Karen and I will be partaking.
Other than that, nothing real crazy happening. Been having weird stomach aches lately but I can't really pinpoint anything bad I may have ate. Haven't been working out as much due to how I've been feeling. My roomate Jeff has watched all the Lost DVDs from season 1 and just recently bought all of the eps from Season 2 thus far on ITunes. I've been re-watching them with him the past couple days and we're up to ep 5 where Sun loses her ring. It's cool to see them again with all the information you have now and seeing how consistent the writing is, let alone things you may have missed. (Never picked up on Libby saying there were 23 of them in the tail section)
On another note, it appears as though I'll be leaving again for another tour in September. I'll be home for the summer, and as it appears now, I won't return until July 2007. What show you ask? Either The Producers or Hairspray.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Casino in Evansville, and a drive to Columbia, MO
We had a good show last night in Evansville, IN. Beautiful theater, ok neighborhood, not much to do really. UNLESS, you take the shuttle from the hotel and go 14 blocks to the Aztar Casino. It wasn't hopping at 1130PM on a Monday night, but there were 4 tables of poker open in their room.
The back table was a 2/5 PLO game. My friend Ira, who is one of the reed players on the tour, plays Omaha almost exclusively. He sat down with the minimum buy in of $100. He ended up with $170 and went upstairs to play Carribean Stud where he hit a full house and the dealer qualified for another $175. Good job man!
There were 2 1-5 7 Stud tables open and 1 5-10 HE table. I sat down in a stud game while I waited for a seat to open up at 5-10. My first hand I got rolled up Aces. Kid to my right raised on 3rd street, I reraised to isolate. Heads up we got 2 bets in on 4th, 3 bets in on 5th, and 1 bet on the last 2 streets each. He had split 4's to start and picked up 2 pair. Later in that game we were joined by a drunk man who was drinking Dramboui straight. He decided to raise every hand on every street. I picked up split Aces one hand and finally slowed him down and got him to fold on 6th street when he had 2 diamonds showing. I made about $55 in that game and went over to the 5/10 game.
I got into a disagreement with the biggest hick you've ever seen at the game. It's too long to type about here, but he basically called me a "stupid internet kid who doesn't know how to play real cards. He likes to gamble." He got mad at me because I had the best hand on every street and got him to fold on the river with a worse hand. Why would he be mad at me then? I'm not even exaggerating either. It was ridiculous. He then proceeded to spit out percantages which were completely bogus about how far behind I was in the hand blah blah blah, when I was the clear favorite. I layed into him a little bit at the table and got most of the people there to laugh a little bit about how ridiculous this guy was being. He then proceeded to go broke soon after this. Vindication, one time!
We left Evansville today and drove 300 miles to Columbia, MO. Stopped over in St. Louis for lunch at Union Station, a "mall" of sorts that looks like an old train station. It was alright, I wasn't that impressed with anything there. After lunch I watched half on "Deus Ex Machina" from Lost with Jeff, one of our trumpet players. That's the ep that ends with Boone falling down with the plane and Locke over the hatch. Good stuff, makes me remember how good the show is when it's good. This past week was an awesome ep, which makes me also realize how filler the show gets inbetween the "HOLY CRAP" moments. But I digress....
While driving, I saw a billboard for something I never thought that I would see. Apparently Pheasant hunting is big here. Big enough to have a billboard with an advertisement for their website.
I especially like this pic. I'd like to see this kid in 20 years.
We had no show tonight which was a welcome change, as we now go for quite a few days without another day off. Till March 19th to be exact. Unfortunatly, I got a little sick during this time and had a fever and aches and chills and everything. Lot of people went to the bar and the gym while I stayed in and watched Scrubs and The Amazing Race. Whew, this was a long one, if you made it this far, congratulations. You win....nothing
We had a good show last night in Evansville, IN. Beautiful theater, ok neighborhood, not much to do really. UNLESS, you take the shuttle from the hotel and go 14 blocks to the Aztar Casino. It wasn't hopping at 1130PM on a Monday night, but there were 4 tables of poker open in their room.
The back table was a 2/5 PLO game. My friend Ira, who is one of the reed players on the tour, plays Omaha almost exclusively. He sat down with the minimum buy in of $100. He ended up with $170 and went upstairs to play Carribean Stud where he hit a full house and the dealer qualified for another $175. Good job man!
There were 2 1-5 7 Stud tables open and 1 5-10 HE table. I sat down in a stud game while I waited for a seat to open up at 5-10. My first hand I got rolled up Aces. Kid to my right raised on 3rd street, I reraised to isolate. Heads up we got 2 bets in on 4th, 3 bets in on 5th, and 1 bet on the last 2 streets each. He had split 4's to start and picked up 2 pair. Later in that game we were joined by a drunk man who was drinking Dramboui straight. He decided to raise every hand on every street. I picked up split Aces one hand and finally slowed him down and got him to fold on 6th street when he had 2 diamonds showing. I made about $55 in that game and went over to the 5/10 game.
I got into a disagreement with the biggest hick you've ever seen at the game. It's too long to type about here, but he basically called me a "stupid internet kid who doesn't know how to play real cards. He likes to gamble." He got mad at me because I had the best hand on every street and got him to fold on the river with a worse hand. Why would he be mad at me then? I'm not even exaggerating either. It was ridiculous. He then proceeded to spit out percantages which were completely bogus about how far behind I was in the hand blah blah blah, when I was the clear favorite. I layed into him a little bit at the table and got most of the people there to laugh a little bit about how ridiculous this guy was being. He then proceeded to go broke soon after this. Vindication, one time!
We left Evansville today and drove 300 miles to Columbia, MO. Stopped over in St. Louis for lunch at Union Station, a "mall" of sorts that looks like an old train station. It was alright, I wasn't that impressed with anything there. After lunch I watched half on "Deus Ex Machina" from Lost with Jeff, one of our trumpet players. That's the ep that ends with Boone falling down with the plane and Locke over the hatch. Good stuff, makes me remember how good the show is when it's good. This past week was an awesome ep, which makes me also realize how filler the show gets inbetween the "HOLY CRAP" moments. But I digress....
While driving, I saw a billboard for something I never thought that I would see. Apparently Pheasant hunting is big here. Big enough to have a billboard with an advertisement for their website.
I especially like this pic. I'd like to see this kid in 20 years.
We had no show tonight which was a welcome change, as we now go for quite a few days without another day off. Till March 19th to be exact. Unfortunatly, I got a little sick during this time and had a fever and aches and chills and everything. Lot of people went to the bar and the gym while I stayed in and watched Scrubs and The Amazing Race. Whew, this was a long one, if you made it this far, congratulations. You win....nothing
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Livin' On The Edge...in Lexington, KY
We had a nice 4 show weekend here in Lexington, KY. Really nice town with some cool bars in a 2 block radius. Also, the UK arena is right next door and with the UK vs. Florida NCAA game today, the town was hopping. Unfortunatly, UK lost by 14, so the town was dead quiet after our show.
In a weird series of events a man came up to the pit before the show and was talking to Kasey our conductor. I thought nothing of it as people talk to us before the show to see where we were, where we're going, ya know, usual stuff. When we got back to the hotel around 545 or so, we get a call from the same man. Well, it turns out he used to work with some of the higher ups in NETworks (my company) when they were performing or touring like we are now. Except this guy, is now the road manager for Aerosmith!
He invited Kasey and I out to dinner and we took off to a pretty swanky Italian restaurant in downtown Lexington. I had a pan roasted chicken with sundried tomatoes and a garlic mashed potato with some kind of creamy sauce. Yum. We shared stories of being out on the road in the entertainment business, but man, has this guy been around! He told stories about everything, and how life in the rock and roll business really is. It was such a good time just hearing about his experiences.
He's toured with Peter Gabriel, Def Leppard, Hanson, Allman Brothers, Spice Girls, and has been with Aerosmith for the past 5 years. He invited us to their show on Tuesday here at the Rupp Arena, but sadly we'll be in Columbia, MO. But he did give me his card and said to look up their itinerary and if we're ever in the same area again, give him a call and we can hang out. Honestly a nice, down to earth guy if ever there was one.
Well, it's about 1230am now, and although I didn't check the official tally, I'm pretty sure I lost the Oscar pool here on the Oklahoma tour. I mean, c'mon, I didn't pick Wallace and Gromit, and also didn't choose Tsotsis for best foreign language film. Was I high or something?
Also, Crash came out of nowhere. One gay cowboy movie and the entire film industry falls on its head....
We had a nice 4 show weekend here in Lexington, KY. Really nice town with some cool bars in a 2 block radius. Also, the UK arena is right next door and with the UK vs. Florida NCAA game today, the town was hopping. Unfortunatly, UK lost by 14, so the town was dead quiet after our show.
In a weird series of events a man came up to the pit before the show and was talking to Kasey our conductor. I thought nothing of it as people talk to us before the show to see where we were, where we're going, ya know, usual stuff. When we got back to the hotel around 545 or so, we get a call from the same man. Well, it turns out he used to work with some of the higher ups in NETworks (my company) when they were performing or touring like we are now. Except this guy, is now the road manager for Aerosmith!
He invited Kasey and I out to dinner and we took off to a pretty swanky Italian restaurant in downtown Lexington. I had a pan roasted chicken with sundried tomatoes and a garlic mashed potato with some kind of creamy sauce. Yum. We shared stories of being out on the road in the entertainment business, but man, has this guy been around! He told stories about everything, and how life in the rock and roll business really is. It was such a good time just hearing about his experiences.
He's toured with Peter Gabriel, Def Leppard, Hanson, Allman Brothers, Spice Girls, and has been with Aerosmith for the past 5 years. He invited us to their show on Tuesday here at the Rupp Arena, but sadly we'll be in Columbia, MO. But he did give me his card and said to look up their itinerary and if we're ever in the same area again, give him a call and we can hang out. Honestly a nice, down to earth guy if ever there was one.
Well, it's about 1230am now, and although I didn't check the official tally, I'm pretty sure I lost the Oscar pool here on the Oklahoma tour. I mean, c'mon, I didn't pick Wallace and Gromit, and also didn't choose Tsotsis for best foreign language film. Was I high or something?
Also, Crash came out of nowhere. One gay cowboy movie and the entire film industry falls on its head....
Friday, March 03, 2006
Happy March!!
I'm writing this from Muncie, IN on Thursday night. We're off to Lexington KY tomorrow for the weekend, then only 2 more weeks of the midwest, and we're off to sunny California! Karen's coming out on the 19th and staying until Friday for a much needed vacation for the both of us. We've been having some good shows lately, and great audiences too.
Anybody besides Will and Erin watch the Amazing Race? Just watched it on the bus today and damn! I'm glad they're back to their old ways again. I flat out refused to watch the family edition. This is one show that never did anything wacky to change the format before this, (albeit stunt casting last year with Rob and Amber) and they seem to ALWAYS win the Emmy. I'm glad they learned from their mistake and are back with the 2 person teams.
Right now I'm downloading High Stakes Poker and both American Idols this week. Lost will be watched tomorrow and I'm uber excited as everyone that saw it said it was awesome. I'm surprised that more people out here haven't asked me how to download their favorite shows. It's amazing how these little creature comforts can make any day better.
I'm writing this from Muncie, IN on Thursday night. We're off to Lexington KY tomorrow for the weekend, then only 2 more weeks of the midwest, and we're off to sunny California! Karen's coming out on the 19th and staying until Friday for a much needed vacation for the both of us. We've been having some good shows lately, and great audiences too.
Anybody besides Will and Erin watch the Amazing Race? Just watched it on the bus today and damn! I'm glad they're back to their old ways again. I flat out refused to watch the family edition. This is one show that never did anything wacky to change the format before this, (albeit stunt casting last year with Rob and Amber) and they seem to ALWAYS win the Emmy. I'm glad they learned from their mistake and are back with the 2 person teams.
Right now I'm downloading High Stakes Poker and both American Idols this week. Lost will be watched tomorrow and I'm uber excited as everyone that saw it said it was awesome. I'm surprised that more people out here haven't asked me how to download their favorite shows. It's amazing how these little creature comforts can make any day better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
