This post officially NOT for children

Well, I'm upset. A family member sent me the following "joke"...

Osama bin Laden was being guarded by two American army reservists, one an
Indiana farmer, and one an engineer. They come across a lantern and a Genie
popped out of it. "I will give each of you one wish, which is three wishes
total," says the Genie.


The Hoosier said, "I am a farmer, my dad was a farmer, and my son will also
farm. I want the land to be forever fertile in Indiana." Pooooof! With the
blink of the Genie's eye, the land in Indiana was forever made fertile for
farming.

Osama bin Ladin was amazed, so he said, "I want a wall around Afghanistan,
Iraq and Iran so that no infidels, Jews or Americans can come into our
precious states." Pooooof! Again, with the blink of the Genie's eye, there
was a huge wall around those countries.

The American engineer says, "I am very curious. Please, tell me more about
this wall." The Genie explained, "Well, it's about 500 feet high, 50 ft
thick and completely surrounds the countries. Nothing can get in or out --
it's virtually impenetrable."

The American engineer says, "Fill it with water"

Here is my question. When did genocide become fucking funny?
Now I know that de-humanization is a military and imperialist teaching to make it easier to fight the battles that one has to fight. But if the above "joke" was done with an Englishman, A Jew, and Hitler... is it fucking funny? No it's genocidal insanity. WTF???

We are in a "war" in which the de-humanization of the CIVILIANS has reached a point that the only casualty numbers we care about in this country are American soliders. They aren't even COUNTING the number of Iraqis that have been killed. Conservative estimates are around 10K... and that's the low side. Gods damn it all, that's over 3 times the number killed on 9-11... when is enough enough?

And then to advocate genocide of the Iraqi, Iranian, and Afghani people as a fucking joke is too much. It's shit like this that DOES embarras me to be American. I support our troops completely... I support the idea of them getting to come home. This is a fucked up war engineered by a group of fucked up little men. I cannot even FATHOM the real reasons we are there. We've been told so many stories as to why we must respond to Saudi terrorists by killing Iraqi civilians. Logic has no place here... begone.

I love this country... but like a mature partner, I can be embarrased and ashamed at the same time. Daddy isn't always right.

You know what... this joke that set me off could be 100x better by changing the punchline. Instead of "Fill it with water" (fucking genocidal asshole), how does "Make Osama a woman" work? It both draws attention to the plight of women in fundamentalist Islamic nations and has a touch of irony at the same time... oh, and it's not mass murder, always a plus.

I once postulated that we could better spend the money we are pouring into KILLING Iraqis, to help people around the globe. To this, I had a fundamentalist x-tian friend tell me that "It's not America's job to feed the world." Is it our job to kill it? We seem to be pretty damn good at that. How very chistlike a concept. I'm sure Jesus would have said the same thing... "Not my job to feed them... suffer the children to bugger the fuck off?" Sounds like the christ I've read about... how about you?

The concept of terrorism is not a concept that can be fought with guns. For every person you kill (or torture... ) you just cement the concept further into the minds of those who hold it. If a bomb accidentally kills a persons mother, or wife, or child, he will be more likely to take up arms against you. We are making our "enemies" stronger through our policies, not weaker. Sun Tzu would be shitting a giant purple twinkie at the current situation.

And all this came from a "joke". Well, I'm not laughing!

Weekend tournament

Well, I had a blast at the tournament on Sat night. (sorry about the late update... work is still pretty balls to the wall). To use Tour de France terminology, I finished with the pelloton (middle of the pack). I was very happy with my play, building a decent stack at my first table. I was 2nd at the table with about 8K in chips, with another stack around 10K if I have my estimates right.

I had a couple of good hands, one where I had TT and the flop came out 565. Got a good amount of money in the pot on the flop. then the Turn came up 5 and my dance partner bet, I raised to a midling level... hoping he had the lesser boat and he thought for a long time and folded.

But after the 3rd level, we got down to 2 tables, and with the worst luck possible, I had the tourney chip leader sit to my left. From what I was able to glean, he is a very good big stack player. Very aggressive, very courageous. He ended up re-raising almost every move I made. I admit, I was intimidated by his 20K+ stack and ended up out of my game plan. But it's a lesson I can learn from. I got involved in 1 major hand with him, and ended up with a chopped pot where we both had AQ and missed our flushes.

The hand I went out on, I had my stack whittled down to 5600 and got dealt AK. The player to my right raised to 4xBB, I pushed all-in. Table folded around and he called. Turned up JJ. Classic race... gotta win with AK and got to beat AK if your going to win a tournament. I didn't improve and that was my night.

Overall, I think I played a solid game. I think I freaked out for a bit with this LAG on my left and that REALLY hurt my chances. I'm going to have to take some time and post on the boards to see what recomendations are made at having that situation occur. My instinct is to tighten up to an insane degree and pull a rope-a-dope. But I never got the cards and lost my patience. Definately a lesson learned.

I can beat this game. I now know a lot more about some of the players and what they will do in certain situations. Some names to watch for are Art, JC, Doug, and Ryan. It's a beautiful game.

Quick update

I'm not a lazy git. Workout was done last night. I'm on schedule still. No time to post more due to work. Later.

I love the smell of victory before bed

OK, I'm still a little high. I won the Avanade poker tournament last night (just a $10 buy in, but I won $55).
I got up early by picking my battles and doing pretty well. I ended up behind the pack when the two tables combined because I got tangled up with AJ against QQ (and a Q had hit on the flop). At least I didn't go broke there.
The best hand of the night, by far, was the move I was forced to put on a co-worker. (who I will be playing in a live tournament this weeked... so I hope he was taking notes)
I was in Early-Mid position, and was dealt T6o. I've got 1905 in chips and I needed to get some more if I was going to make any waves at the final table... Blinds are at 50/100, So I made an attempt to steal the blinds. Raise to 300. Fold around to bigslickwilly (we'll just call him BSW for now) in the BB he calls. Another player had been stealing his blinds regularly and I think he was fed up with it.
So flop comes 5h Jc 4s... Hmmmm, probably missed him. If he's got the J he'll bet. Sure enough BSW bets 370 into a 650 pot. Perfect sized bet. Let's try and represent the over pair and see what happens (this is NOT a recommended play... I was out of my mind to try this). I raise to 900.
At this point the chat window starts going a little crazy. Tshak writes : SNAP. (still not certain what he meant, but I think it was a admiration for the big raise )
Then BSW writes "your AK no good" and CALLS my 530 raise. SHIT.
Turn comes up 3d. And here's the rub... BSW blinks. This is something that I have problems with myself. I'll make a move and then not follow through... but I'm more likely to blink on the river. In addition, it's human phsycology to check to the raiser. So I check and take the free card. (I thought he was trying to induce me to bet more in here... I AM down to 705)
River comes up the Ad. Tshaks comment was : "It is now" - refereing to the AK comment earlier. And get this... BSW Checks AGAIN. I'm SURE he's got that J now. I shove all my chips into the middle. looooong thought. I've already typed "good call" into the chat window and am ready to conceed defeat. When he lays it down. It was one of the most interesting bluffs I've been involved in. I went on to ride the bluffer image to get all the action I wanted... but only WHEN I wanted it. Ended up knocking out the other heads up player when she hit a pair of K on the flop and I was holding AA.

Overall... I had a GREAT time and am looking forward to next Saturday's tournament. It'll be interesting to try and control my emotions and manipulate the tables of people I don't know. Wish me luck, cause the poker gods can be bitches!

I am NOT a lazy git

At least not today. I caught up on my weekly workout last night, doing both Monday and Tuesdays routine. I'm not terribly sore either. I've got that nice warm (you worked out) feeling all over (calfs are little angry, but that will fade)

Today is now a rest day and I'll do my normal Thursday routine on time. I'm feeling pretty good with taking the first step.

Donkey Challenge update

I played a .50/$1 ring game for about :45 minutes tonight to clear my head after work. I was at a table with some real winners (sarcasm) .I made $15.50 in 45 minutes, which puts my donkey challenge in the plus!!! Bankroll at $62.75 or +12.75 (+25.5%) I'm on pace... got to keep it up.

with god (or my blog readers) as my witness

Allright, I'm not willful enough to do this on my own. I've been eating better lately, once again watching my portion sizes and eating smarter (except the desert orgy at Bennigans the other day :) ) . I've actually dropped 5 pounds in the last month and a half just from mildly paying attention.

But... I've been trying to start my weight routine and just can't get started. I use a routine out of the book Top Shape that has really worked for me in the past, but I just can't seem to get started. So... I'm making a pledge to my reading audience (all 2 or you ) to start tonight. My schedule is to work out Chest, Biceps, Triceps on Mon and Thurs and work my Back, Shoulders, and Legs on Tues and Fri.

If I do not post that I completed these workouts on these days... please call me a lazy git the next time you talk to me. I'll know what you mean. My guess is that just the pressure of having told people that I'm doing this, will push me to do it. In the past it's taken about 3 weeks for me to start into this routine in earnest... but when I was in the groove of it I was in love with the way I felt and started to look. I'm taking that back, damnit!!

Thanks.

Teamwork defined

When one of your idiot co-workers (namely... myself) leaves their laptops power cable at home (ooops) and everyone takes turns loaning him their power cable so everyone stays running. I feel so silly. But it does show that my co-workers would be fine people to go Scuba diving with.

Dead Donkeys, edged Mammoth, Norse mythology and Poker

Well, the Broncos got their proverbial asses handed to them... Not lacrosse. Don't care.
The Mammoth lost on Sat night to the expansion Portland Luberjax. This doesn't bother me as much as it could. And my reasons are as such.

1. It was a VERY exciting game (12-11 game that wasn't decided until the last minute :30) . I was doing my on the floor, knees tucked up into my chest, rocking back and forth going 'oh god, oh god, oh god'. I haven't done that since the Avs were in the Stanley cup finals.
2. Portland pulled 9,900. Nice job guys. It was the 'Jax first home game EVER. For them to win the way they did in their first home game leaves a great impression on 9,900 lacrosse fans. And that will grow the game. I can take one on the chin for the greater good.
3. The Mammoth are 2-3. Not great. But I'd rather take a close loss like this that was hard fought early in the season and be able to take some lessons from it (like put the game away when you get the chance) than late in the season when it's too late to correct the issues.
4. The Defense still looks fantastic... But the offense really needs to get it in gear. I think it's the addition of the expansion teams, but this seems to be league wide. Scoring seems down. Which is fine, it's still not the 1-0 hockey games of old. But it does make each goal even more magnified.

I'm went to a Runic Workshop last week with two of my friends that was just fantastic. Some REALLY fantastic insight on the histories and the meanings of several Norse runes, both from a modern and historical context. The teacher apparently knows a few Scandinavian languages and pulls a lot of his material from original texts. The next one is in February. I'm really looking forward to it.

On my poker playing... I feel a little sheepish, but I was a bit gunshy this weekend. I had a few hours on Sunday night to kill and thought about playing poker. My heart just wasn't in it. So I played WoW for a few hours and went to bed. I just didn't feel like interacting with humans in any way. Didn't even chat with anyone in WoW. Just grinding up a new character. My Donkey challenge remains unchanged (which puts me ahead of Colombo who is at -17%)

I'm looking forward to the Bad Beats poker tournament this weekend. (more info on http://www.badbeats.org/ ) I'll post how I do. I'm hoping to get an Avanade tournament in this week as well to get a good warm up.

L8R - Voodoo

Random ramblings of a tired mind

Well, I'm on day 3 of a mild bout of insomnia. no more than 4 hours sleep a night for the last 3 has started to make me a little wierd(er). 1 or 2 REM cycles a night are NOT enough for me. C'est la vie.

I'm angry at Reebok. They have been promising the Mammoth that they would have jersys to the store since the begning of the season... and they still have not really delivered. I spoke with the Altitude Authentic store and they are thinking maybe by February... The season is half OVER at the end of February. Assholes. I did find RBK's number... it's 1.800.934.3566 . I spoke with a lady named Diane about it and they don't even know what sub-contractor makes the jersys for them. My guess is it's some singapari sweatshop... now I feel like shit because I STILL want the jersy. If anyone else calls... make sure to ask for or refer to Diane. That could be fun for a while. She said she'd call me back with the info today or tomorrow. I'll post what I hear.

I have too much to do and not enough awake brain cells to do it. Maybe I'll go nap in the car at lunch.

What a rush

This weekend started on a good note and then moved up from there.
First, the Mammoth had a fantastic defensive effort on Firday night to take a 9-7 win. We (the Tar Pit) also got interviewed after the game by Fox 31. So if you're in the Denver area, check out channel 31 News at 9pm on Jan 28th for a feature about the Mammoth and their insane (yours truly) fans.

Then the Broncos won last night... I do so enjoy playoff football. I had to be home and code this load anyhow, so it really worked out that I could be a productive couch potato. And with the Pittsburg Steelers winning this afternoon, Denver hosts another playoff game next week. I bet there are going to be some great parties next Sunday.

Speaking of betting, I just took a 2 hour break from my work and played a little .50/$1 (10 handed) poker. I'm determined to beat this game. I WAY tightend my game. Playing pretty much "by the book" from Small Stakes Hold'em (by Ed Miller) for tight games. I lost several pots early and found my Donkey Challenge money down to $6... which was all in the pot. Conveniently I had put it in there due to me having a set of Kings and doubled up to $12. Then my patience paid off. I was dealt 88, and the flop came 777. I figured, odds were good that I was ahead here. (figuring if someone had a 7 they deserved to kick my ass anyhow.). The turn came an 8, giving me a higher boat than someone holding a pocket pair. Now the only card I'm even remotely worrying about is the 4th 7. When the River comes up that last 8 I'm practically doing a little jig. I have the dyed in the wool nuts and they keep betting into me to raise them. I knocked down a VERY nice pot.
The NEXT hand, I'm dealt KK. Long story short. I boat up on the turn and the flush possibilities on the river pay off handsomely.
After 2 hours of play, I'm back up to $47.25 of my starting $50. Or an EV of -$2.75 (-5.5%). I felt good and I think I'm back on my limit play patience.
The only downer is that the Mammoth lost last night to go to 2-2 on the season.

Mammoth vs San Jose tonight.

Tonight at the Pepsi center. 7pm. The Colorado Mammoth are taking on the San Jose Stealth. Frankly, looking at the Stealth roster, this should not be too hard a game. they don't have any truly stellar players. But that's on paper. Levis looked fantastic in relief in goal last game. So, I'm very optimistic.

This is actually a home at home series. So the two teams will play in SJ tomorrow night. I'd HIGHLY recomend to anyone not allready going to spend the $5 and get in the can tonight and scream your fool head off. (I swear it'll be a good warm up for the Bronco's game tomorrow).

Workin' 5 to 9 (what a way to make a living)

Soooo tired. We're in yet another push with this conversion at work that has me working silly hours. That and I didn't sleep well last night do not add up to me being a happy boy.

I did get a chance to play in a poker tournament last night. The Avanade tourney ended up voiding 'cause only 7 people showed up. So I played a little .50/1 limit and got my ass handed to me. In the donkey challenge (see PokerWannabe.blogspot.com) I'm WAY behind. The goal is to triple up your stake. I have started with $50 and am now down to $12 after 3 pretty dismal sessions. So my report would look like -$38 (-76% EV).

Here's what I'm thinking has been happening. I've been reading Harrington and listening to Phil Gordon. Everything has been related to tournament play and it's messing up my cash game play. To test the theory, I played in a quick $1.50 buy in 18 seat tournament. It felt perfect. I was scooping pots, switching gears appropriately, making moves and laydowns when it was appropriate and I ended up with a monster chip lead in a heads up situation. 17K to 5K in chips. I ended up losing two races from opposite sides. I had AQ beaten by 44 and my 88 got cracked by A7... and then I was behind. I tried to catch up when I caught A9, but he had 66 and made a boat... game over. I ended up winning $8.50 and now my Donkey challenge is at -$30 (-60%EV).

From here, I don't know where to proceed. I'm used to grinding a profit in the limit cash games in vegas... but I'm just not winning on-line. (plus I'm playing .50/1 rather than 2/4) I think I'm rushing it. I need to calm down and take more time at the ring games and be patient. I'll keep posting my DC stats.

As promised

Here's a shot of the new ink. (Which I failed to mention I got a Peter Tattoo on Colfax)

OW OW OW

At this exact moment... The left side of my chest feels like it's got a SERIOUS case of road rash. But it's a really pretty case of road rash.

I just got a new tattoo tonight. I abolutely LOVE the way it looks (it's under a bandage right now, so no photos), it's a celtic tree of life that gradiates from a brown to a green. For those of you who don't know what the tree of life is, ii's a style of knotwork that is a tree with it's roots stretching upward to connect with the branches to form a complete representation of the cycle of life.

Right now it feels like it's a little burny (is that even a word?), but it's worth it. The artist is VERY good and has won a bunch of awards around Denver. I'll post a photo once it's healed a bit.

My poker playing is getting serious

Well, I just made a commitment to join a poker league. It's running very similar to a fantasy football league and should be a lot of fun. I'll be playing in no fewer than 1 tournament a month with at least 24 people. This will last for 6 months. Then there is a final table championship at the end of the league and a heads up championship to close it out.

I will definately keep updating the blog to let everyone know how I do.

Mammoth Advocacy continues

One of my project leads at work bowed to my almost constant peer pressure and went to the Mammoth game last night!!!
Perfect game to go to if one wants to get hooked.

WOW... I'm STILL tired

Great day of fun and entertainment yesterday.

First, I played in a DPT poker tournament. I had a lot of fun but made a few misreads and ended up busting out only an hour and a half in. The part that does please me is that the two misreads were against a friend who came to the tournament with me.

The one that ended my day left me feeling unlucky, but that I made the right move. I'm short stacked and have to make a move. I'm dealt 77 in late position. I raised to 4x BB (a bet of around 1/3 my stack) and all the limpers folded. Except my friend who was on my right. They called. Now at this point I'm feeling like I'm ahead, or I'm dead. If they have a higher pocket pair... oh well. I make the estimate that they are playing two paint cards or at least an Ax. They know I'm short stacked and getting desperate.

The flop hits T56... I figure I've got the best of it based off the previous read and pushed all-in, wanting to end this right now. They call and flip up QT. The hand holds up and I'm out. I'm not unhappy with my desicion... so I'm pleased.

Now, on to the mammoth game. FANTASTIC game. Mammoth got down 4-0 right off the bat, tried to cut the lead and were still down 6-2 early in the second. This prompted coach Gait (still sounds wierd) to switch goalies, as it was apparent that it wasn't Gee's night. Did Levis ever turn this thing around. He was fantastic, allowing only 4 goals the rest of the way. The Mammoth never lost their composure and stuck with the game plan. Everyone contributed and the rest of the way through it was a MAJOR team effort.

Eventually the Mammoth tied it at 8-8, then 9-9. It was back and forth like this most of the 3rd and 4th with the Mammoth finally taking a 12-11 lead (final score) with a couple minutes left on a great goal by Brian Langtry. Overall, it was one of the best games I've ever been to.

Things I've learned though.

• Ricola is helpful when screaming for 4 hours
• Good Time frozen custard is better ;)
• The refs in lacrosse tend to punish a crowd for getting on their case
• Chanting the Mammoth victory song in the halls of Pepsi Center is one of the coolest things one can experince.
• Plastic skeletons break easily when landed on during goal celebrations
• I STILL sound like Barry White the morning after screaming for 4 hours... Ricola or not.

So overall, yesterday was some of the most fun I've had. I hope next friday goes just as well (only without the 4 goal defecit please).

Western Wear

Allright, here's the question I find myself asking. "Why do I like these boots so much?"

Now, let me elaborate. I have never been a fan of country music or of western sports (rodeo is a bit of a joke to me... I respect the guys who can do it... but it just has never appealed to me). However, I was given a really nice western hat while on my holiday vacation. I got it to support the Denver Outlaws lacrosse team that is starting this summer.
The hat looks great, but I needed a pair of boots to go with it. If we're going to go in outlaw garb, I figure we go all out. Frankly, the face paint could be REAL sweaty at the outdoor game. Anyhow, I bought a nice pair of boots while I was in Vegas with the intention of wearing them only with the hat and to lacrosse games... but I've fallen in love with them. I've been wearing them a lot saying "I'm just breaking them in"... but that's not true anymore. They are just comfy and I am finding myself very fond of the look. That scares me.

On a plus note, wearing the hat, boots, and mirrored shades has a badass look about it. Especially at the poker table. The "Cowboy" persona is one that I could definately play at the table, possibly to an advantage. Most people read a "cowboy" as having a lot more gamble in them than I really have. I like to play a rather tight aggressive game than the slightly wild game the cowboy represents. I think I'll give this a try at my tourney tomorrow and see what transpires.

DPT tournament on Sat

Well, I've decided to play in a Denver Poker Tour tournament on Sat. It's in the afternoon, so I'll be bumping up against my Mammoth prep time if I run long. My objective for the afternoon will be to work on my positional play. I'm going to try using Phil Gordon's method of raising x amount based off position rather than cards. (see his "Little Green Book" for more info.)

I plan to play tight agressive and see how the game flows. DPT can be tough as the starting stacks are fairly small compared to the blinds. I'll post the results.

Welcome to the new home of Voodoo's Vestibule

I'm moving my blog off of MSN spaces because that is linked to my work account and it needs to be just a little more official than I want it to be. I just didn't feel free to TRULY speak my mind there, and as that is the entire purpose of a blog, I moved.

My goal for 2006 is to play poker at least once a week, and to blog about it at least once a week. Now that I've said this publically, I'll have to stick with it... (I hope).

Voodoo