the new Orioles Hangout

Welcome to the revamped #1 source for Baltimore Orioles news, discussion, rumors, analysis, and resources on the entire internet.

For absolutely anything related to the Orioles, go here.

Requests for merz

Any chance of getting quick MP3s from the hot new records of ANY of the following bands:

the Strokes
Arctic Monkeys
She Wants Revenge

These babies are so hot right now, I figure that labels are hunting down bloggers to make examples of them... I need more COWBELL, baby!

also, would you be able to post any:

Talking Heads (specifically "Burning Down the House," "Road to Nowhere," "And She Was," or "Once in a Lifetime")
Our Lady Peace (I'm doing a write-up on these guys because I have been listening to them a ton recently, was hoping for 192 kbs versions of "Superman's Dead," "Starseed," "Clumsy," "4am" or "Naveed")
Burning Brides ("Arctic Snow," or any of the "singles" from their last album would rock)

Mars Needs Guitars

One of my blogging brothers is kicking it with his money new blog, Mars Needs Guitars.

merz is some sort of rock and roll genius. He has an extensive library of rock gold, and the MP3's he shares are not only rare and great listens, but they are all of the highest sound quality, which always matters to music geeks like me. But the incredible thing is, he has unmatched great taste. He is constantly picking out great new bands I have never heard of, and every once in a while, when I have heard of the band, he seems to have a knack for showcasing my favorite songs.

Hopefully merz will post some stuff over here, but for now, I am quite honored that he posted a write up of the Who with some MP3 covers for rock fans like yours truly.

Rock on, merz!

$30K Update (Week 4)

by Shaun Poulin

This past week has been relatively uneventful, but the results have been good.

I played pretty much only $2-$4 no-limit and was having a lot of fun doing so. I went up roughly $1,000 this past week, with 1/2 of it coming in one hand. Here's how it went down. I was playing at a six handed table and there were only three of us playing at the time. I had just over $5oo in front of me (Max buy-in is $400). Anyway, one of the players was playing super aggressive. He would put in a standard raise pre-flop, and then move all-in right after the flop with his full $500 to win the $25 in the pot. I definitely wasn't leaving the table, I was looking for a good opportunity to relieve this guy of his chips that he was so desperately trying to give away.

After about 15 minutes of this guy doing the same move, I get dealt AQ offsuit. He puts in his mandatory pre-flop raise, but he raises it a little more then usual making it $23 to go.....I wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but I was sure I wasn't going to lay my hand down pre-flop with only 3 of us. Surprisingly, the third player called as well. The flop was the most beautiful thing ever: KJT - all different suits.

The super aggressive player was the first to act and he did not let me down! He goes all-in after thinking for a fraction of a second after the flop. I delay a couple of seconds 1/2 hoping for a call from the third guy, but for that much money I was fairly confident he wasn't calling unless he had the same hand as me....Anyway I call player 3 folds, and super-aggressive player shows AA. My nuts on the flop are still the nuts by the river and I scooped up my first pot over $1,000 ever. Hopefully the next week goes smoothly; I'll update again next week.

Beg. Balance 2/3/2006: $2,000
2/27/2006: $3142.52 3/7/2006: $4163.26 Weekly ROI%: 32.48% Total ROI: 108.16%

Some Favorite Tunes

by merz


I feel like I have neglected my blogging brother FJ Delgado since I haven't posted up here in awhile. So, here's a few favorite tracks of mine (some older, some newer) that I hope Bro Delgado and other's will enjoy.


Girls Against Boys
You Can't Fight What You Can't See
Jade Tree (2002)

Let It Breathe (mp3)


David Garza
Overdub
Atlantic/Wea (2001)

Soul Custody (mp3)


Film School
S/T
Beggars Banquest (2006)

Breet (mp3)


UHF
All Our Golden Tomorrows
Second Story (2006)

Revolving Door (mp3)


Witness UK
Under A Sun
MCA (2001)

Under A Sun (mp3)


The Stratford 4
The Revolt Against Tired Noises
Jet Set (2002)

All Mistakes Are Mine (mp3)

Hotties: A Tribute to the Gorgeous Jessica Alba

I was watching the Oscars last night, and I just couldn't get over how much I want to do naughty things to Jessica Alba. This Latina honey baby has it going ON!

Regular readers and friends know of my love for this incredible hottie, but just in case, I will do the male gender a favor and post some photographic evidence... enjoy! (ps - apparently Alba loves taking pictures at the beach and beach-in-the-background shoot sets... fine by me).

Bands I Hate With an Unnatural Disdain

by F.J. Delgado

Let's get something straight here: I don't love every rock and roll band that has experienced success and that has talent. Quite the contrary; I actually think most rock music I listen to sucks big time.

I happen to review a bunch of albums on this site because it's what I know, and because I like it. But, I need to be a fair critic, and I don't want to look like a pushover. Sometimes I honestly wish that all the guys in these horrible bands would do us all a favor and pull a Kurt Cobain on themselves... then, somehow bring Kurt back from the dead, because his band really did fucking rock.

Or, at least, I wish these bands would just stop recording and go back to their previous jobs as porn store peep show jizz-moppers or broke ass skateboarders (no offense to skateboarders, I'm trying hard not to offend too many people here, just because I hate these bands with a passion doesn't mean I have to go out there and offend innocent bystanders).

All of the bands I hate get NO stars, and I promise to try and punch them in the nose if I ever meet them for ruining rock and roll and forcing my lazy ass to change the radio station whenever their shitty songs are played.

So I present you with a list of bands that really make my blood boil... Enjoy!!!

Creed
- their first album was pretty fucking sweet, then Scott Stapp went insane and it became obvious that their principle song writers were mildly retarded and could only use a grande total of three power chords...

dude in Creed: "Hey! How about we have a part after the badass guitar solo where the song gets really quiet and where in the video Scott is on top of a mythical landmark singing his heart out, then we bust back into the chorus really fucking loud!

rest of band: "Yeah that would fucking rock, dude!!!"

Scott Stapp (barely coherent due to his hangover caused by drinking 5 handles of cheap vodka the night before): "Whatever guys, as long as it has a fundamentalist Christian message, I have a leather jacket on in the video, and it really sucks, I'll sign off on it. Where the fuck did I put my flask??"

Linkin Park

- I can't wait until a tragic bus accident derails their recording career. I hear that the guys in the band are actually nice, but I don't give a rat's ass. Go the fuck away!

Good Charlotte

- These guys are a fucking disgrace to real punk rock. They also are an embarrassment to their home state of Maryland, and they will probably be dead broke in 8 months. Good riddance.

the Click 5

- I sure hope these guys are getting plenty of ass from impressionable 18 year-old girls, because in about 2 years these dudes will be back at the local Walmart greeting Grandma Smith after a depressed night of drinking and reminiscing about the good old days when they were in that awful band that actually made people pay money for utter crap.

Nickelback

- Sometimes I can't tell if Chad Kroeger is laughing all the way to the bank, or if, in reality, he's a cool dude and he's just enjoying the ride, banging hot broads, and drinking himself silly. I'm not quite sure, but his band definitely blows hard and makes ridiculously cheesy videos.

Limp Bizkit

Don't even get me started. Go fuck yourself, Fred Durst. Hope you enjoyed banging Britney Spears and that you picked up chlamydia when you did.

Korn

- I hated these guys from the beginning. Their freak lead singer is probably a pansy who got molested by his stepdad and then decided to mask his insecurity by dressing up all weird and projecting his inner disturbances in the form of the goth-nu metal look which almost no one thinks is cool in any way whatsoever.

Five for Fighting

- Sensitive music for pussies.

Barenaked Ladies

- Alright, I have to admit, I used to like these guys... then they decided to really suck and I disowned them as a cool band. They are now widely celebrated by people with really bad taste in music.

Godsmack

- I really wish God would just get it over with and follow through on the band name and send these bastards straight to Hell. Their music is painfully unoriginal, and this is coming from a guy that will be the first to admit to you that all rock and roll these days is pretty much painfully unoriginal. I liked your guys' band the first time I heard it, when you dudes were called Stone Temple Pilots. Wait... that's not you guys? You just wish you could hold a candle to STP?? Stop making music and get the fuck out of here.

Train

- See Five for Fighting.


I'll be back with more soon, including a brutal, savage write-up about Maroon 5!

The Rivalry: #15 North Carolina @ #1 Duke

by F.J. Delgado

Good luck to Duke tonight against archrivals North Carolina... it will be a great game regardless of the rankings.

What most sports fans don't objectively realize is that UNC/Duke is bar none the best and most prolific rivalry in all of American sports. ESPN might tell you that the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is the most popular or best rivalry, but that's straight up bullshit.

The Red Sox, historically, have been a losing franchise, especially to the Yankees. "26 to 6" or "SCOREBOARD" is all you need to say to a Red Sox fan to get him to shut up about what a great rivalry they have. Once Red Sox fans mention their special little World Series Championship in 2004, all you have to do is remind them that they weren't alive for the last one 80+ years ago, and if they were, point to the cemetary across the street and politely ask them if they have investigated purchasing a plot there, because surely the fan in question will be dead in a few months.

Just because one team thinks two teams have a rivalry, doesn't make it a rivalry. And again, just because the greedy corporate pigs (I'm looking in your general direction, ESPN) make millions off of advertising it as such, doesn't make it a rivalry, either.

Duke and UNC in college basketball, however, is a PURE rivalry. It goes so much further than the game itself, for fans of both schools, and it is steeped in tradition, history, and true competetitiveness. The schools also produce some of the most amazing games ever played on a basketball court - year in, and year out.

when: 9:00 PM
where: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU

Jay Bilas previews tonight's game (ESPN)

joining the club: Gene Wojciechowski goes from Duke hater to Duke fan (ESPN)

UPDATE: congrats to the Tar Heels and especially Tyler Hansbrough for fucking up Duke on Senior Night. J.J. Redick had the worst game of his entire career on his most important night, and Duke was embarrassed by their archnemesis.

Roy Williams should - hands down - be the National Coach of the Year.

The last time the Duke Men's Basketball team lost a big game on a Senior Night, they won a National Championship.

Let's see if history repeats itself... Duke is angry now, and heads will roll - hopefully.

ALSO: my post/reply to an idiot on the Duke Basketball Report Message Board (which won't be posted because I go off on a rant on them):

Jumbo:

I have been reading these boards almost as long as you have been posting.

You are right about many things, but dead wrong on a few key points.

First of all, it is SICK that Marty Pocius hasn't gotten more time to develop his blatantly obvious offensive skills. He would be a great option on a Roy Williams squad, but on a Coach K squad, he wastes on the bench. Recruits will start seeing this, and they will stop coming to Duke (remember Kris Humphries, anyone?)

And the DBR better stop crying about "hey dude, watch what you say on these boards, recruits and parents read this!" Great for you DBR, here's a cookie. The last time I checked, this country was founded on the basic right of freedom of speech, and you guys abuse your power to no end. Get the hell out of here and go to France, Cuba, or Nazi Germany, you guys are missed in those places.

Anyway, Coach K is a an excellent recruiter and motivator. He is severely overrated as a tactician and developer of players. Having him as our Coach is a double-edged sword at times: without him, we would have 0 national championships. With a better tactical coach, Duke should easily have 6.

I also disagree about the UConn game in 2004. We were the better team that year, with more talent, with a dominant lead with few minutes to go, but we lost.... why is that?

If you think we got beat by the better team, you're dumber than I had previously thought. Coach K has constantly cost his teams with two incredibly obvious shortcomings: failure to manage the last 10 minutes of games with sizeable leads, and an absolutely arrogant and stubborn refusal to develop a freaking bench.

Tonight's loss was embarrassing to everyone associated with Duke University. And the only person to blame is none other than Coach K.

J.J. Redick has had a wonderful career for the ages. To blame anyone else BUT Coach K for how this team has imploded would be a travesty.

Oriole Way

Letter Never Sent Random Sports Minute

The Mildly Bad News: College basketball

Duke gets outgunned by athletic FSU, loses first ACC game.


The Good News: U.S. Soccer

U.S. National Soccer team defeats Poland 1-0 in World Cup tuneup.

Bruce Arena happy with win over Poles.

Michael Lewis: win over Poland a good sign for U.S.




eat it, Poland! Clint Dempsey scored the game winner.

The Best News: Major League Baseball

Kevin Millar hopeful the day before Spring Training starts.

Mars Needs Guitars: Mojo Magazine - The Who Covered

The Top 11 Tennis Hotties

by Whitney

Welcome to a special post in light of the new year. We (FJDelgado and Whitney) have decided to collaborate to offer an accurate ranking of tennis females who grunt and split their way to masturbatory stardom. The criteria is composed of a variety of factors of beauty, body, brains, boobies, and tennis skill. Please sit back, grab a tissue, and enjoy the view.

#11. Karolina Sprem
We played anagrams with her name and came to the revelation that when you switch the "r" and the "e" you get the best name in tennis.

T#10. Jennifer Capriati and Amanda Coetzer
We grouped these 2 retired tennis stars because they are still boneable. JCap was the Drew Barrymore of tennis. She came out strong as as teenager and then snorted enough coke to kill a whole kindergarten class. But, all of a sudden she rose out of oblivion, stopped eating Ho-Hos and became the Comeback Kid. You would think JCap's burly arms would make us abstain in fright, but we, in fact, don't mind a girl who can spank...........the hell out of the tennis ball.

Amanda Coetzer was known as the one of the best counterpunchers on the circuit. She was like a little dust buster bunny at a dimunitive 5 feet that would not give up. I give her where credit is due: her stamina.










#9. Daniela Hantuchova
She suffered the Anna Kournikova syndrome. She started winning, people thought she was hot, and then started losing. Despite the fact she needs a couple Big Macs in her, with a cute face, long legs, daddy puts you in the at #9.

Hmm..yes we also agree, Daniela, you are a hottie

#8. Tatiana Golovin This young woman (1988! SHIT!) brings a new meaning to the low rider. She does not fuck around when it comes to sagging her shorts.

Question of the Day: Where does the tennis ball go? Seriously.. ...imagine throwing a hot dog in a hallway....now take the exact opposite.




#7. Ashley Harkleroad
Unfortunately American Ashley faded from the tennis scene. She is probably working at Panera bread as far as we know it. In her heyday, she was infamous for her extremely loud grunting and risque tennis-ware, pushing the bar as far as possible in terms of nudity. We give her #7 because we think that loud grunting has other applications off the court...

Damn Ashley you are a cutie. Now go make me a BLT sandwich. **Correction** she is still currently on the tour playing, so I overestimated the longevity of her career. I apologize for this mistake, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook with the BLT.


#6. Serena Williams
Much to most people's disgust we have placed a William sister on our hot list. After she got Punk'd, we immediately fell in love with her. She has something alluring with that sweet charming personality, which we believe mostly stems from those gnimorous buttocks. She probably pays exorbitant property tax on that fine piece of real estate. You keep on fighting the good fight, Serena

I think someone gave JLo run for her money. Anyone who can play tennis with that type of padding in a catsuit deserves some kind of props. *Warning: Spanking that baby will apparently cause the next biggest earthquake.

Fernando will round up the top 5 in a later post. Sorry to give you guys blue balls. Stay tuned.

More blogs about hotties.

college basketball: J.J. Redick article, favorite athletes

ESPN has a good column on J.J. Redick, one of my all time favorite players. It does a decent job of looking at the evolution of his whole career thus far, comparing and contrasting his game at its current state to how it was his freshman and sophomore years at Duke.

My favorite players tend to be confident and cocky, the kind of players that frustrate and rile up their opponents, often bringing out the best and worst in their competitors. Kobe Bryant would be a huge exception, as I am biased against dumb people, and, even more so, rapists.

In many ways, Redick is a microcosm for the entire Duke basketball program: frequently the best, and always hated and respected by all.

Also, Redick - this past Sunday evening against Miami - surpassed the legendary Johnny Dawkins to become the #1 all-time leading scorer at Duke. He is set to break the all-time ACC scoring record against Temple this Saturday, barring catastrophe... the kid is just sick, and one of the best college players of all time.

a Washington Post article: Tony Kornheiser shows J.J. Redick some love.

UPDATE: Meet the ACC's new all time leading scorer:



top 5 NBA basketball players of all time
1. Michael Jordan
2. Larry Bird
3. Magic Johnson
4. Shaquille O'Neal
5. LeBron James


top 5 Duke players of all time
1. Johnny Dawkins
2. Elton Brand
3. Bobby Hurley
4. J.J. Redick
5. Christian Laettner (I hated him and rooted for Kentucky during the best tournament game ever played in 1992).


top 5 MLB baseball players of all time
1. Willie Mays
2. Brooks Robinson
3. Frank Robinson
4. Ty Cobb
5. Alex Rodriguez


top 5 NFL football players of all time
1. Johnny Unitas (you could set a watch to his haircut, sorry, Simpsons reference)
2. Gale Sayers
3. Joe Montana
4. Tony Siragusa (more because he's hilarious)
5. Todd Heap (he's a badass, and he's sort of a hero due to how ridiculously hot his wife is)

$30K Update (week 3)

by Shaun Poulin

So this past week hasn't gone as smoothly as the first week. I went downhill and my quest to 30k has been delayed as I have gone from just over $4k to just over $3k. A number of things contributed to me going downhill, not going to blame bad beats or anything like that because for the most part I didn't play my A game. Sure there were definitely a couple of hands that hurt along the way (AA vs. QQ in an $800 pot to see a Queen spike on river). Mostly though I just wasn't at 100%.

The biggest mistake I made this past week was playing over my bankroll's capacity. I played a plethora of games ranging from $1-$2 no-limit, to $20-$40 limit, and a couple of $500 sit-n-go's where I broke even. Anyway, I'll go back to staying within my bankrolls limits since I took a shot this past week and fell short.

I'll update again in about a week.

Bankroll at different dates: 2/13 $2,000 2/20 $4,044.08 2/27 $3,142.52
Total ROI%: 57.13% This past weeks ROI%: -22.29%

By Request

By Request from my blogging boss FJ Delgado, here is Hurricane #1:

Step Into My World (mp3)


And this one is for this post





"If you have a racist friend
Now is the time, now is the time for your friendship to end
Be it your sister
Be it your brother
Be it your cousin or your uncle or your lover
If you have a racist friend
now is the time, now is the time for your friendship to end"

Racist Friend (mp3-The Special AKA)


Tags:music,mp3,download

The D Post Archive

D is a rock and roll Master, and you are all privileged to read his stuff. All hail the D!

Peace Is Always The Word

By Request

I Am A Shoegazer

Mars Volta Were At The Drive In

You Know The One

Rock & Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

Fraternity Update

UPDATE: I have made a couple of additions and subtractions to the rush list as we gear up for the 2006 WSOP.

Great strideshave been made in scouting out future brothers for the Anti-Crew, better known as The Fraternity.

The Fraternity was founded on December 22nd, 2005 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its founders were DisciplinedRobert and yours truly, pictured above.

I have the task of being the Godfather and Rush Chair for the Fraternity. What this means is that I identify talented players, and I encourage them to get initiated by the other brothers and ultimately join the fraternal organization.

Current brothers must be impressed by the rushees, and a unanimous vote is necessary for admission into The Fraternity.

Current Roster of Brothers

President (Number I): DisciplinedRobert

BIO:
skilled cash game limit Hold Em player and tournament player.
Geography: Akron, OH
alma mater: Ohio State University

Vice President (Number II) and Rush Chair: F.J. Delgado

BIO:
best cash game limit player known to mankind.
Geography: Baltimore, MD
alma mater: Duke University

List of Rushees

Prince Ivan the Great (possible Secretary of Defense and Press Secretary for Shit-Talking)

















Intellectual Steve

Shaun Poulin ----> Glimpse Into My Head

Ed Moulton ----> Ed Moulton's Journal

Joey R.


Whitney----> Meandering Endlessly (possible Social Chair)

CoolHand Luke----> Life of a Poker Player (this guy claims he wants no part of the fraternity but we are rushing him hard anyway)

SickAshok
DukeStrasser
HopkinsJay

Keith ----> Caught Up in the Craze
ThrillHouse

Drew

Rules for Rushing The Fraternity

The only rules we have currently include the following:

1. absolutely no player who attended to University of Maryland - College Park, may gain admittance. exceptions could be made, but these exceptions will demand the worshiping of an idol in the likeness of J.J. Redick and embarrassing photography documenting the event.

2. you have to drink alcohol and love to have a good time. otherwise we don't need you and don't want you.

3. you have to love women. sorry, but we discriminate against switch-hitters and fudgepackers.

By Request

I am sorry brother FJ Delgado. I have been feeling sorry for myself and have neglected my responsibility to you as my blogging brother. D ain't nobody, just a lonely old guy trying to get by in this messed up world and not succeeding well at it.

Thanks for being my friend bro....

Caesars - Paper Tigers

Soul Chaser (mp3)

My Heart Is Breaking Down (mp3)

Paper Tigers (mp3)

Neil Young - Silver & Gold

Good To See You (mp3)

$30k Update (week 2) and Other Poker News

by Shaun Poulin

I’ll get to the 30k progress, but first I want to address a couple of things about Party Poker that took place this week. The first is that Party Poker completely overhauled their site. The look is different, starting chips for tournaments have been increased, blind structures have been altered - basically it’s a whole new site. This definitely caught me by surprise and initially sent me into a panic since I’ve developed a successful formula for how to beat the SNG’s (Single Table Tournaments) on here, and altering the starting chips/blinds would directly effect my strategy.

The biggest downfall of the switch is that the SNG’s take so damn long to complete now. I used to be able to multi-table four SNG’s at once and have all four done within 30 minutes. Now completing one takes over an hour. The change will increase the ROI%(Return on Investment) for good players, but it may cut down on the hourly rate since fewer SNG’s will be played in any given hour. The new structure has definitely improved the late stages of the SNG’s. Upon getting down to 3 handed, players can comfortably play poker and not get impatient and be forced to push all their chips in on a prayer. Previous structure allowed for solid players to get into the top 5 only to rely on luck once the blinds got too big in correlation to the chip stacks. Definitely an improvement since the better players will win more often now once making it to the late stages. Previous SNG’s started with 800 or 1,000 in chips; new structure has players starting with 2,000 in chips.

The second thing that happened on Party this week probably happened without any of you knowing, unless you are a regular visitor of http://www.pocketfives.com/. Last Sunday Party hosted a million dollar guaranteed tournament with first place getting around $212,000. Anyway, JJProdigy - one of the ranked players on pocketfives - won the tournament and took home the huge cash prize. Upon JJ winning, one of his friends posted a thread on pocketfives congratulating him on the win. A lot of the readers of the thread logged into Party to verify the victory and couldn’t understand why JJProdigy finished in 2000th place and someone with the name “ablackcar” finished in 1st. This prompted a lot of the readers to be inquisitive and apparently this started a chain of events that led to Party Poker hearing about this and doing investigative work of their own.

Party soon found out that JJProdigy entered the tournament with 2 different accounts, and while his 2 screennames never were at the same table, they still played in the same tourney at the same time. Party promptly locked up JJ’s accounts while they were sorting it all out. Party eventually decided that they were going to take JJ’s $212,000 prize from him as well as another $40,000 that was in his account. You can read JJ’s response to this as well as the letter he received from Party Poker here: JJ's story.

His excuse was that it was his grandmother’s account.

The most disturbing part of the story is that JJ claims that he knows lots of players that often enter tournaments multiple times, sometimes as many as 10 in one tourney! I’m glad that I don’t play Multi-Table Tournaments often, as this would definitely bother me a lot more.

Alright, now I’ll get to the part that you guys are really interested in, the progress of the 30k project. Well, for my first week I devised a game plan that had me playing primarily the Mini-Steps SNG’s. For those that don’t know, the Mini-Steps are a series of step tournaments with 5 steps that culminate in Step 5 with cash prizes ranging from $200 to $2,000. The premise of it is real easy. You can buy in directly at any step you wish, and the top 2 finishers in that particular step advance to the next higher step. Buy-In for step 1 is $6, and buy in for step 5 is $430. Anyway, since I’m limited on the amount of time I can play since I have a job, I decided to risk almost my whole 2k and buy in for 10 entries at mini-step 4. Mini 4 costs $165, so I spent $1,650 in entry fees. My goal was to have 5 out of the10 entries advance to Mini 5. The average return on an entry in step 5 based on all players being equal would be $400 ($4,000/10). Obviously if you are better then half the players in step 5 your return will be greater, but I’m being conservative and assuming that we are all players on a level playing field.

I fell a little short of my goal of gaining 5 entries into Step 5, as I was only able to obtain 4 entries. This bothered me a little since my expected return per entry of $400 wouldn’t even net me back the $1,650 I invested. Anyway the first entry I played poorly and finished in 8th place. My next entry faired better with me taking home 2nd place for a cool $1k payout. I actually cost myself $500 in the second entry. I got down to heads up and was a big favorite with a $14k to $6k chip advantage, and blinds at $100/$200. Anyway we battle for about 10 minutes, and my opponent was outplaying me as well as me going completely card dead. About 10 minutes into it we are even in chip stacks with $10k a piece. I get dealt A5, and I proceed to ask my opponent if he wanted to chop the $3,000 in prize money and each of us take home $1,500. I tried to wait for an answer before betting, but I didn’t wait long enough. I proceeded to move all-in pre-flop at the same time he was typing “sure” in the chat box. Anyway once I moved all-in prematurely he typed, well now I can’t chop. He proceeded to call with 66 and it held up and I took home 2nd.

The third entry was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in a step 5. One guy at the table named WildBill lived up to his name in a big way. He went through the tournament playing all-in poker. WildBill either was going all-in pre-flop or folding. I love it when someone is doing this and I’ll usually take my chances of doubling up against them when I feel that I have the advantage. In the first 10 minutes of play 4 different players called all-in bets by WildBill pre-flop and all 4 of them went down in flames. I was loving it. Top 5 get paid and WildBill single handedly got us down to 6 left without me even playing a hand. My first confrontation with WildBill took place once 6 of us were left. WildBill followed his usual MO, and moved in pre-flop. I’m holding AK which was an insta-call in my mind against him. He flips over AT, and we are going to the flop. The flop sucked ass! A dreaded Ten came on the flop and I was already planning on my next entry in step 5, but fortunately good prevailed and a beautiful king came on the turn. My next confrontation came when I was holding 77. Again same thing, WildBill moves in pre-flop and I call, not thrilled with 77 but calling anyway. WildBill held two overs and luckily my 77 held up and I was taking the chips that Bill was taking from others. I was loving life. WildBill was bulletproof against everyone at the table except me! It was great. Anyway, I had one more big confrontation with WildBill. By the time the third confrontation happened we were down to 3 players. I had 55 this time, and same sequence of events pre-flop. WildBill shows A5 with the Ace of clubs. I’m ecstatic as I only have to fade 3 aces and a combination 2,3,4 for a wheel and a plethora of clubs. Well the flop comes three clubs giving WildBill a lot of outs. Fortunately the fourth club never showed up to the party and I move up to $16k in chips verses $2k and $2k for the other players. I used my chip stack the remainder of the way to smother my opponents and I took home 1st place for $2k in my third entry. The fourth entry was rather uneventful as I didn’t finish in the money but in 7th.

So, although I didn’t reach my goal of obtaining 5 entries in step 5, I made up for it with a 1st and 2nd place finish with the four entries that I did have. Total investment in the Mini-Steps was $1,650 with a return of $3,000. My ROI was 81.82%.

I also entered one Multi-Table Tournament for the week for $11, and out of a field of 1,420 I managed to get 30th place for a whopping $72.

I also made approximately $600 playing a little bit of 6 handed $1/$2 no limit poker.

I am extremely pleased with my first week and I’ll keep you updated about my progress.

Starting Bankroll Feb. 13: $2,000
Ending Bankroll Feb. 20: $4,044.08
Net Gain/Loss: $2,044.08
Growth %: 102.20%

Peace Is Always The Word

Mr. Blog sez:

yo D, we miss you, Dawg...

Requests

I hope you start posting up again... I could definitely use MP3s from the Caesars - "My Heart Is Breaking Down", "Soulchaser", and "Paper Tigers" especially ... some a-hole stole my Paper Tigers CD,and I can't find the MP3's anywhere... any chance you have this baby?.

Also, I could definitely use Neil Young's "Good to See You" off of the Silver + Gold LP... I met up with a girl I have a crush on last night, and it was good to see her again... and I wish I could have the song again (again, CD was stolen.. I suck!).
-----------


Peace is the right way, sometimes not easy to achieve, and something we should keep in the forefront of our minds. Life is too short and is wasted fighting with your brothers and sisters.

My brother Fernando has been the most gracious host and hopefully will still let me guest on his cool poker writing music playing blog. I had to try again on my own since in the past I have felt that I could never get it right. So, Indie Point Source was born. Let me know what you think and please visit both blogs often. We love you all....

Peace Attack (mp3-Sonic Youth-Sonic Nurse)

Devoured In Peace (mp3-The Cloud Room-S/T)

Love And Peace Or Else (mp3-U2-How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb)

Tags:music,mp3,download

essential MP3s: a shout out to all of my Jewish friends - Matisyahu Update

update:

It looks like Matisyahu, as I predicted, will continue to blow up and be a smash hit, and a well-deserved one, at that.

the following is a recent Rolling Stone write up on Matisyahu:

Matisyahu is blowin' up

originally posted 1/4/04

this first song is VERY hot right now, if you don't listen to it, listen to it now, and you will immediately increase your coolness level:

Matisyahu - King Without a Crown (live) (MP3)

Matisyahu is a proud, motivated musician. I could be mistaken, but if I remember correctly, he has strong Jewish roots, and is a very purpose-driven, religious man. These are the kinds of people I respect most in life. He mixes his own style of singing with reggae and powerful lyrics. Very nice guitar work as well.

Badass.

also....

much thanks to the rock and roll Master: D, from Grey Will Fade for:

The High Dials - Soul in Lust (MP3)

The High Dials freaking rock hard, but they do it in a very melodic way. Think a happier Interpol.

More blogs about MP3s.