Ok so two posts in a row...crazy...but I also remember last time we rode to the Giants game we asked about our top 10 songs. I went through my playlists, my CDs and came up with this....

10. New Edition - I'm Still in Love With You - This was one of my favorites from high school and it's been able to stay atop as one of my favorite R&B/Love songs.
9. Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - it was a tough choice between this song and Unchained Melody, but this song has a lot of nostalgic value to it.
8. Boyz II Men - In the Still of the Night - Old school song done better by a newer group. This song has a lot of nostalgic value to it as well. Simple yet powerful.
7. Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby - This is one of my favorite songs and it took me some time to figure out where this really should be. Anytime I'm feeling down, I listen to this song to cheer me up.
6. Jon B. - Someone to Love - Bad Boys soundtrack, slow dances in school, this reminds me of what I want to hear from R&B songs. Too many songs these days are going to hip-hop influences where beats and bitches are more important then vocals and lyrics.
5. Bush - Glycerine - A little alternative flavor, but this is a song I always love belting when driving in my car. It reminds me a lot of car rides taken and road trips made where this song came up.
4. Live - Lightning Crashes - A sad song, but somehow it has a calming sense to it. I like it towards the end when it has a very climatic feel to the song. Another song from back in the day that I used to sing along with all the time.
3. Boyz II Men - End of the Road - I didn't think that 2 of these songs would make my top 10, but this is another song that reminds me of the type of R&B I like. This is more special because it's a group that harmonizes so well together and each one knows their role. When Wanya is belting out tunes at the end, it's just makes you realize just how talented people are.
2. Ben E. King - Stand By Me - Old school song, great message, simple lyrics. I love it.
1. Jodeci - Lately - This was a tough one to choose, but I just remember the good times Derek and I use to have singing this around the place in high school. All is needed is a little piano in the background and Kci and Jojo just let their souls take control.

I know a lot of these songs are favorites because of nostalgic reasons, but those are the best types of songs to remember. Songs that spark memories will be the ones we remember for the rest of our lives.

Runner ups - Counting Crows - Mr. Jones, Kci-Jojo - All My Life, DMB - Crash, Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer, Yaz - Only You, 112 - Nowhere, Michelle Branch - One of These Days, The Temptations - My Girl, Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody

This was a tough list, I'm sure if you asked me the same question in 2 weeks this list would change depending on my mood. =)

Brendan, I've said it once and I'll say it again, you're one of the few friends I don't ever really worry about when it comes to you succeeding in life. You may not have the motivation now, but it will come. One day you will ask yourself that question of when you're going to be fed up and you'll take action. Keep sleeping on it. =)

As for me and I'm sure with others there is a huge amount of routine in my life. My typical weekday goes like this:

-Wake up @ 7am or 8am depending on when I have a meeting.
-Get to the office at 8 or 9 and call into a meeting and check email for about an hour.
-Web surf for another hour while I'm responding back to emails. Check ESPN, email, blogs, gamespot, foxsports, some web comics, and now myspace.
-Maybe do something productive for an hour. It's either a meeting or I'm talking online w/ a bunch o' work people to get their ish done.
-Lunch by myself because I don't know that many people and I am not comfortable enough to eat lunch with most. This means grabbing something and coming back to my office and surfing the web some more.
-Web surf while my food settles.
-Usually in another meeting @ 2.
- Chat online, write emails, and wrap my day up by about 5-6 ish.
-Go to the gym.
-Eat dinner and watch a Giants game until about 10pm.
-Come online - talk to nobody on AIM but sign on anyway, listen to music, read the same sites as above.
-Go to bed by midnight. Repeat Sunday night - Thursday.

So far this is two years and still running. Next thing I know this will be 40 years from now and I'll still be doing the same shit. Thank god for the weekends where I can break the monotony for at least a couple days. I hope we keep playing football, basketball, or whatever the next sport so that I have something ultimately to look forward to. I realized the weekends can be spent in any number of ways to BBQing, clubbing, going to Monterey, lounging, doing chores, poker, videogames, etc. It sucks that during the week I don't really have this luxury because I am too damn tired.

And the fun parts in between all the chaos I think about what I've lost and how I'm supposed to move on. My thoughts are a lot of "I really hate myself for feeling this way." I can't stand it and I don't think I've ever been more frustrated at myself. I hope everyone knows that I am trying to move on. I hope no one feels that I'm crying about my problems constantly and not wanting to better myself or improve my situation (this is coincidence to your blog Brendan haha). This has become a bigger challenge then I could ever imagine, but I know I will pull through. Bear with me and be patient. I just want everyone to know I am trying my best, but I may need a vent session just to get my frustrations out.

We all deal with problems/issues differently and I'm trying to be proactive in conquering mine. Parts of me think I'm forcing things and not letting things happen naturally, but I refuse to accept that I can't try and get out of my funk.

Sorry I didn't mean to post that last part, but just came out naturally. I think there are things that I want to put on my blog, but I know she reads it. Even though I shouldn't care, I don't want her to see me in a weak state.

No more weddings for me for a while, that shit made these things crawl back in mind. haha.

As for great memories that always seem to make me smile:
-College graduation - who could ask for any better day then being able to stand tall with my best friends at graduation.
-High school graduation - walking w/ Brendan, felt like we went full circle.
-Playing football at Payne School (elementary -> middle school -> some high school -> now)
-Playing Hockey at Payne everyday during the summers. I never felt so confident in my ability at a sport. The first time I ever felt like I could succeed.
-Playing Track n Field at my house and Eric crying because the other dudes were cheating.
-Playing Tecmo Bowl every chance I could against friends.
-Playing NHL against Brendan online and Andy calling Mr. H a bitch without knowing it.
-Pink Taco, Casper, Maniac Cop, Sushi Boy, Flaming Bovine playing Duke Nuke Em everyday.
-Singing in the car in high school.
-Proms, dances -> my form of sad, pathetic dating in high school haha.
-The "no pants" night, "kent's naked", gay movie title game, breakfast burritos, "Rob Lowe" night
-Obons - Fuji -> giving out rings -> andy's hamburger story -> andy hittin on old ladies -> "you got it" -> and now Bingo and Batman.
-Jonathan's 22nd -> Jillians -> cleaning shoes -> head hitting window -> video tape -> Pho -> fingers that don't move.
-Old Navy and getting that coupon from the old lady in front of me and brendan and I putting on a show for the cashier.

We have lots o' stories and memories, hopefully they don't stop......

Yo. I think I've always been more mentally mature than my age. I think what I'm going through right now is a mid-life crisis! Haha!

Sleep. Sleep makes me lazy. Sleep makes my life boring. I do it soooooo much. It's not my fault really, but rather the universe of bagels and cards. Once again I know that my opinion is mute compared to you working stiffs. I ain't complaining, just telling you what you might have to deal with if you ever worked at a bagel shop and liked poker too much...Everyone of you might think I like to sleep and I like being lazy. Well since we are on the topic of sleep, let me show you what sleep means to me.

Scenario A

I get up at 5:00 am to go to work. Unfortunately I just got to bed at around 2:00 in the morning watching dumb shit on television. The cool thing is that I get out of there at 1:00 pm and my whole day is free. While I drive down Hamilton I seriously think of all the things I could do today. I think of stuff like organizing all the DVD's that haven't been transfered to the logic, I could go to Garden City and play for a good 4-6 hours, I could paint something on my computer, find my sidedrawer for my room so I can get a new fish tank, work on Ricki's business card...and when I get home my room is hot and stuffy...and I take off my shoes that have been stabbing into my feet like needles and I sit down on my bed that wasn't made yet because I had to wake up too early. Next thing I know I am waking up at around 7:00 pm wondering if anyone wants to go get Miyagi's burgers. then the thought of having to work at 5:00 am the next morning goes through my head. Another wasted day. If I'm off the next day then skip down to Scenario B2.

Scenario B

I get to sleep in! I am closing today and that means I get up at around 9-10 depending on when I work. I'm usually refreshed since it seems I can at least work a full shift at Noahs on 3 hours of sleep. I close the store and get out of there at around 5:30 pm. Wow. Again I have the whole night to do something and I'm not that tired! Until I go home. Again my bed is inviting me to take a little nap. However, I finally take a stand and decide I'm going to do something tonight! I think maybe I'll go to Bay 101 (I like that place better than Garden at night...I dunno, personal preference I guess.), maybe I'll start coding MA.com ver. 2.0., yada yada. While sitting on my bed I realize that I'm a lot more tired than I thought and it took the feathery blanket's persuasion to realize it. Now one of two things can happen...

Scenario B1

I have to work again tomorrow morning at 5:00 am. The thought of dealing with those fucking customers (who aren't even that fucking bad) get to my head and I lose all motivation to do anything. I mean what's the fucking point? I'm just gonna have to wake up hella early anyway. This takes us back to Scenario A.

Scenario B2

I have the day off tomorrow. Fuck yeah. I'm tired of bagels and that shop already and I haven't even been back for 5 days. I'm tired but I'm feeling good that I can stay up tonight and have the whole day tomorrow to do whatever I want! So instead of being a strong willed person I think to myself, "Man, I can go to bed now and wake up early tomorrow morning and go to Bay, work on Ricki's card, paint something..." Slowly this drifts me off to my dreams where the workstation humming and fan rotating invite my inner thoughts to haunt me. This takes us to Scenario C.

Scenario C

The fan is blowing a steady stream of air into my face. My eyes are slightly dry and I have no motivation of turning it off. The room is stuffy and I have nothing to do but think. I think how the very smell of a bagel eats away my insides. Every time I hear, "Do you have lox and cream cheese?" makes me realize that my life is filled with nothing but false hope of doing something better with my life. The sound of the cashier register opening makes me realize that I am stuck in a job that I hate and it is the realization that I am doing nothing to better my situation that ultimately makes me sick. I feel that I am a loser that has no talent whatsoever. If I was such a good cardplayer why am I working at Noahs where the schedule prevents me from going to the cardroom. (That and my low energy level) If I was such a talented director why am I not making anything? Fuck it. For that matter if I say I love it so much why am I not writing anything to direct? Why am I not making contacts in the real world? All my insecurities slowly cover me as if it were in quicksand. I then drift off to sleep where I welcome a new day where perhaps someone will hand success to me.

Of course I know this won't happen. Right before I go to sleep I ask myself, "Brendan, how long is it going to take before you are fed up?" In fact I then ask the question, "Why do I need to be fed up to make something of my life?" I then think of all the people that I was frustrated with because they didn't do anything about their personal situations when it was bugging them. I apologize to them in my head and realize that I am sick of myself because I am doing the same thing. Why am I doing the same thing? I decide I'll answer it tomorrow and drift off to a happier place.

What a retarded post. Haha!

Don't worry about being sleepy at work. What's the worst that could happen?

Well, I got fired. So there's that.

Lesson learned? Perhaps. At the least, my mildly tragic history with the old work-sleep conflict has given me much time and reason to think on this subject.

Fortunately for me, LM managers seem to allow scheduling flexibility to a contortionistic degree. So I consistently get about 8 hours of sleep before work (which I declare the minimum for some and the maximum for all), and my homecoming times reach deep into the night.

But I still get tired. Most often this occurs mid-afternoon, when lunch has had time to settle, but not so much time that the excitement of day's end stirs the soul once more. Frustrating indeed, given my above declaration. I refuse to sleep more than a third of my day; if I'm going to be tired anyway, might I as well sleep less? I have sampled such reduced durations of slumber, deliberately and otherwise, often to disastrous effect: namely, even more severe and inescapable tiredness.

However, there are some tricks I use to help me survive the day with slitty eyes still imperceptibly open. Maybe they will help you too...

(1) Avoid heavy meals. A big lunch is suicide for the waking mind. Back in Palo Alto, Eric and I would enjoy many plates at an Indian buffet, and agree that no more work needed to be done that day.

(2) Eat an apple. I once read that apples wake you up more than coffee. I don't drink coffee, so my comparative research may be found lacking, but apples are certainly refreshing, especially when kept chilled. I have even experimented with smelling my apple as a waker-upper. Try it. Then wink like a madman at whoever witnessed your bizarre freakshow.

(3) Snack throughout the day. I am known for using one of the large drawers of my desk as a massive snack stash, and eating almost constantly. I think there are several basic bodily functions: work, consumption (eat, drink), expulsion of waste (peepee, poopoo), reproduction, and sleep. Since you will naturally perform one task more efficiently than two, snacking forces your body to turn your dial from sleep mode to eat-drink mode. Winner.

(4) Drink water. A lot. This follows the same theory as (3), but adds another element: You will have to pee. And you won't pee while you're asleep. And if I'm wrong, I don't want to hear about it.

(5) Go for a walk. Maybe this doesn't apply, but I'm pretty much free to wander the room/building/campus during the day. I try to go for a walk at least once a day, to get some fresh air and sun as a minimum. And leave my cell block to hide under one of the satellite dishes as a maximum.

(6) Dance. In the bathroom. You know it.

Work nights I aim for 7 hours, but at bare minimum 6. If I get less then this I become totally not functional for the day. I might as well tell my boss I am going to sit and my desk and not think for 8 hours. I had a little less then that on Monday and Tuesday night and last night I made up for it going to bed at 930pm.

I get tired in the afternoon. I try to have meetings in the morning where my mind is still sharp. Once I start hitting 2 - 3, my mind starts shutting down.

I just follow certain grammar rules because it just seems natural to me. I don't really pay attention to it all that much.

Hey Everyone,
Thanks for coming out this weekend, I had an absolute blast. From poker to Football to even going to mall w/ Kevin in his pink shorts -> Obon to the after party. I hope you all had fun, you know I definitely did. I haven't had a weekend like that in a long long time. Pictures will be on my Xanga soon, Web site as well but need more time on that. I'm working on a football picture section, so I'm hoping that'll be done sometime soon.

Thanks Shannon, Lindz, and friends for helping to clean up and making mini burritos. =)
Thanks Brendan for the lights.
Thanks Marcy and Kevin for coming down, that was awesome.
Thanks to everyone who brought something and for just coming out.

Hopefully we'll get to do this again sometime soon.

Brendan, those memories are awesome and they were great for each age group. The point is I don't want to stop the memories from coming and though there are good memories that come from playing poker, videogames, etc., I don't want those to limit us from doing other things outside of the house. Not just w/ drinking either...bowling, mini golf, we can go play hockey, ice skating, go snowboarding/skiing, camping, Vegas (for Steve), go the beach, etc. Football is great, paint-balling is another one, etc. To have great memories from just sitting around sounds great for when we're like 40+ when we definitely cannot move like we used to, though Mr. H is proving me quite wrong when I think about it. =)

Bottom line, I love playing poker, I love hanging out with all you guys, I just don't want to limit ourselves to doing the same ol' things week in and week out. I have enough routine at work as is. Being drunk isn't my excuse for wanting us to do something crazy, it's just a time to let loose and just forget your worries for a while.

When I have more time, I'll try and think up some more goofy shit that we've done through the ages. I got some stored in the memory bank.

Oh yeah real quick. I know that a lot of you scoff at online poker. I know some of you guys gave it a run but the cards screwed you over. Well I felt it was very hard to win at Pokerroom. I might have played the hands in the long run wrong, but I was on there for about 3 years or so and saw too many wierd things going on there.

So I moved to Paradise poker. I can't explain it and some of you (Jonathan haha) will probably say I'm a little paranoid or something, but the cards seem to fall more realistically...like they would at Bay 101. I'm sure it is all in my head, but I just don't see as many strange things...and not even with the board, but also with people chasing crazy stuff as if they have pokerbots or something on Pokerroom. Again probably all in my head.

Just wanted to let you know that I have been playing Paradise for about 2 weeks now for a total of about 40-50 hours (yeah I didn't keep records, but a lot of times were just some hit and runs where I sat for only 20 minutes or so) and I just surpassed the 1K mark after deposting 200.00 and playing at 2/4. So if you ever give online poker a try, I would suggest getting your money out of Pokerroom.

Again it is probably in my head, but a change in scenery can be nice! =)

This is kind of on the topic of Penis, but also a tangent so don't worry...

Yeah I hear you Steve. I wasn't judgemental. And I know you probably think we are making too much of a big deal about it. All I was making clear to Bryant (and hopefully you agree with me on this) is that Obon is something that we have been going to as kids and even though it seems that it is just a social festival...more importantly it is a festival to celebrate the passing of people we love. Now this might not seem how it comes off...I mean even I was eating while people were dancing outside...but I know to some people this is a very important time.

Now I understand that people don't watch what they say around kids. But just because someone else does it doesn't mean that I personally should do it. In fact I choose not to do it. Perfect example is Disneyland. Those who have been to Disneyland with me multiple times probably don't notice it, but I do watch what I say or at least don't shout out certain things because I respect the fact that it is a family oriented place AND because I remember going there as a kid and not seeing or hearing certain things.

Another example is going over to Bryant's house, drinking some beers before I go and going to his house and yelling penis. I wouldn't do that out of respect to Bryant's parents since I know they don't appreciate that sort of thing in their household. And we also can't compare SJ Obon to Mt. View's Obon. Sure Mt. View is more popular, but I still like SJ better. I think it is because I see more families around than I do at Mt. View, which is usually swamped with old fucks like us...and they put the beer tent way off...practically in the street so some of us will get run over. At the SJ one the beer is around little kids mainly cuz SJ's is so fucking small.

So what is the tangent here? This is in response to Bryant's little ranty rant. He said things along the lines that he likes to be the center of the stories and wishes he had some cool stories to tell like some other people he knows...I just wanted to let him know that I personally think that the crazy shit that happens to you or the crazy stuff you do when sober is much more valuable than the stuff you do if your drunk. Sure I laugh a little when we look back on these stories, but the ones that I think are better are...for example...

Our hockey games every single night and how we used to make fun of Tom. CARS CARS CARS CARS!

Us sitting in the bitch Dean's office with the black guy running out and seeing the response of the faculty to his daring escape.

Playing baseball on the four square with the rubber ball and you falling down and landing on a bee. Okay so you probably hate that story but I love it.

Playing Perfect Dark with you and Andy and laughing how stupid the Perfect bots are to keep coming up the ramp...and them killing us without hesitation. That shit never got old.

Anyway I don't wanna make the other Pooky peepz have to read the million more I got in my head. These stories might seem fucking boring to all you who get down and boogie woogie but these are the ones I'm proud of and the ones I'll look back on. I just wanted to let you know that I don't mind it when you are drunk. I don't think anyone was really saying that we can't hang around you when you are drunk...we just wanted you to know so that next time you might think where you are at and choose your action accordingly. And don't worry...Tony is half to blame...he basically treated you like a drugged up slut and he raped your innocence! HAHA!

I'm just thinking that when your older and after you have many more memories lived...you will look back and be proud of the memories that you did...not the memories that the alcohol in you did. I know that whatever you keep with you is your own personal choice...its just a thought.

haha To be honest, I can't believe that game caused such a ruckus. I will say this to anyone, I'm not going to promise that I won't do it again. Unfortunately when I drink, I like many others lose certain inhibitions and shit happens. There are shit load of things that other people do that bug me, but I choose to hang out with them anyway. We hang out with our friends with their pluses and minuses. If we really couldn't handle it then we wouldn't hang out with them. At least I wouldn't. And for the record if we hit someone everytime we thought they were being stupid, acting inappropriately, etc, we would all be covered in bruises and saying "I fell down the stairs" to people at work.

Brendan's right, there's part of me that is DAMN proud of what I did. Not because I offended people , not because I embarassed others, because I did whatever I felt like doing at that point in time. Believe it or not, I could've not played that game if I really didn't want to, but I did and I wanted to win and get some laughs. Plus two for accomplishing both goals. There aren't many times in life where we lose all inhibition and just don't give a crap what anyone thinks, this was one of those times and it felt good. Unless I drink an absolutely ludicrous amount, I feel like I can control most my actions and this was one of those times where I chose not to. Plain and simple. I'm sorry to sound a little upset, but I think some of us would be hypocritcal to think what I did was really that terrible. It's not like any of us our perfect citizens and I'm sure if I thought hard enough I could think of times where others slipped in judgement. Is it different because I'm 25 and should know better? Possibly...

I apologize again if I embarassed anyone, but if you cannot handle being around me when I drink, don't. Drunk or not, I am not going to apologize week in and week out for things that I do. If there are consequences I will face them head on. Out of most of us, I think I'm capable of doing the most random things in a public place, especially while drinking and my actions aren't any different from any other Obon. True, I've never yelled penis but I've spilled beer on someone, punched Kevin, sang at some random dude on a bike, gave a girl a ring, and danced on the damn Bingo table. Are any of the above showing any better of an influence to a little kid? Probably not - haha.

So if anyone didn't know any of the above, there's your warning and I will not be offended if you don't hang out w/ me at Mtn. View. The main reason I apologize for last weeks apparent debacle was because in hind sight it really was a stupid thing to do, especially for a few laughs. Reward wasn't worth reading:

• "Bryant your antics except the PENIS was second in line" - I'm sorry, bad timing. I know your humor/antics/comments/overall dialogue isn't any cleaner, but the better person doesn't do it in front of Sydnie and Stitch. I love them as if they were my cousins and I wouldn't intend to corrupt their minds so early in life. Innocence is a treasured asset that I'm sure some of us miss.
  
• "If The Penis Game gets started again this week, someone is getting hit. I'm generally a pretty fun guy, but if I saw a bunch of drunk bastards yelling "Penis" at a family oriented event which used to have some sort of sentimental value and meaning (I know they dance at the SJ Obon), I would want to crack some skulls. There's a time and place for everything and I don't think an event like this is either. Next time you find yourselves ready to do something that has you questioning your actions, imagine yourself 5 tables away with your family and re-think your actions." See comment above about hitting. I expect you to crack skulls in Mtn. View if you see inappropriate non-family like behavior. This isn't a Disney movie and a kid could watch/hear much worse listening to MTV.
  
• "If that was someone else I'd want to hit him also. -.5 points." See comment above about hitting. Actually, next time, hit me. Or nudge me and say that wasn't cool. This definitely didn't have to be a debateable topic and I'm really more embarassed about having to post.
  
• "who gives a fuck may be right, but if it was someone else doing it at obon we might be talking about how retarded they were" I don't know who this was, but just because it was me doesn't mean it wasn't retarded. This comment tells me that you thought what I did was just that. And I'm ok with that, minus that i don't know who you are, the rest of us are all friends and though we may not like what we hear, we can talk things out among ourselves. I trust everyone on this blog and consider everyone to be at least a good friend to my best friends. If you feel I am acting retarded and you're embarassed let me know and we can talk that through.
• "Bryant's still gonna get slapped around. He needs it." Misunderstanding here, but I hope everyone understands that what I'm going through after my break up with Tiff has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through. Things are easier said then done especially when you're bored at work and think a lot. I am doing my best to take in everyone's advice. Baby steps are comin...I accept that I will feel shitty if I don't do the little things and if you don't want to hear about it because you don't think I'm trying then I'm really sorry to hear that. I think I've made huge leaps from where I was a month ago and if you can't see that then I must be doing something wrong.
• "Imagine YOU were the parent trying to have dinner with your kids." Once again, sorry sorry sorry! To be honest, this IS going to happen to us in our lives and people around us are going to say things that aren't appropriate for our kids. I'm sorry that I'm the one that forces parents to teach their kids that a. it's not ok to drink b. don't even think about saying penis or you will be on timeout.
  

For the good of Pooky, I will try and be on best PG-13 behavior for now on. I'm pretty much a gentleman at clubs, at bars, etc. Why is Obon different? Because I am with ALL my friends. Not just a subset, all of them. I get really jealous sometimes when I hear about how guys go out and have crazy/wild stories. We don't have a whole lot of those and not that we have to, it would be nice to have some stories come outside the poker table. I'm really happy that a lot of our "crazy" stories involve me in some way. When I look back I don't want any regrets or say that I didn't go out and try to have fun. And "fun" is uniquely defined for each and every one of us, I know, but for me going out and making other laugh is what I live for. Unfortunately not everyone shared in my amusement this time.

Ok, so with that said, I really really really hope to not have to hear about this again, unless it's one of those "Remember the time when..." hahah good laughs and we move on...situations. If someone wants to discuss my behavior further, my AIM is dmai27, email - bhlee27@yahoo, or you have my cell.

Football will be sweet, Mtn View is going to be awesome and our after party even better. I hope to see everyone there!

Quite a lot of response to Bryant's Penis. However, truth be told it is small.

My 2 cents then I'll shut up. Here we go, real quick like.

- Tony apologized. And he was serious. Score one for the Koreans.
- Bryant was a little off balance. Perhaps he wanted attention. Either way he is also sorry for what he did. Score one point, minus half a point for drinking 4 shots of Sake in 2 minutes. Minus half a point because deep down I know Bryant is proud of what he did. =)
- "Seriously, who gives a fuck." Well it might seem harmless Steve. However, with my cousins there...one who knows who Bryant is might find what he did funny. Not because of the word, but because he shouted it. Sure it's cute and I wouldn't mind my kids running around saying "penis" but I'm not anyone's parent yet. Therefore even when I talk in public and I see kids around I'll at least try to keep it down for the sake of the kids. Minus half a point for Steve. +1 point for Steve smiling at Obon.
- If that was someone else I'd want to hit him also. -.5 points.
- Koreans aren't as smart as the Japanese. While this would seem like negative points, in this poll it actually adds points because they need the handicap. +1 point.
- We are older than shit and playing games like Penis. -2 points.
- So that brings our total up to...ZERO. That means it's a wash. In my mind that means that...YES it was idiotic. NO it isn't a huge deal, but it is a small deal. YES it was embarrassing. NO I don't hate Koreans. Well...YES I do.

Congrats guys you sneak by! =)

DISCLAIMER: SERIOUS BLOG AHEAD. AS USUAL...NOTHING ORGANIZED...

ILS was originally created as a way to share thoughts and to keep in touch with people who went away to school. Mainly it was a way that the founding members could keep up to date with one another without having to tell the same story over and over again. (This also prevented rumors from happening…not that we’ve ever had that problem or anything) With that in mind I decided to post a long one so Jonathan would have something to do at work.

The reason I brought the above up was because at Obon I noticed that my Prospect friends and my YBA friends really do get along. Now this isn’t something new of course, but it got me thinking about those crazy poker games that we used to play and it was akward in that I was putting friends of separate groups together. I had no clue how each group would react to each other. Yet just as Pooky has grown in members and have one place in which to speak to everyone (even though it seems some have retired from posting and/or people who have been given the fucking privilege to be on this blogger still don’t take advantage of it) I have been lucky enough to consolidate my closest friends into one group as well.

I’m also not saying that you all have me to thank for introducing you or anything like that. We all know that everyone had to make efforts to build on that initial introduction so I thank all of you for making it easy for me. (Of course I realize that some of you have tried multiple times to introduce me to other groups of friends that you have to which I can admit that I have never put full energy into building upon those introductions. We all know I’m an ass.) So what exactly is the point of all this? Nothing much except that when I was sitting down at a different table in the gym at the Obon…I was able to look over and see all of you guys laughing and having a good time. That moment right there made my Obon. (Bryant your antics except the PENIS was second in line) This also kind of has a hint of what Jonathan was saying about having friends that share your interests or wanting to be a kid at heart. I’m glad none of us take things to seriously and I hope we can continue to be that way. Some adults tend to lose their imaginations and their hopes and I hope we never get that way. I’m sure being surrounded by the idiots that we are will help retard the transition to adulthood.

So again…is there a bigger point here? Well I was thinking about what Jonathan was saying about how he is a kid at heart and I think I finally figured out why I haven’t backed up what I have said about going to Vegas and playing cards. You can go ahead and say that I’m scared of living on my own or crack jokes about how I don’t know what the real world is yet and I’ll somewhat agree with that, but the truth of the matter is that I am very scared of the idea that I might be able to do it. Can I do it? Who knows for sure. I can’t say that I am 100 percent confident that I could move up to higher and higher stakes poker. I’m a realist and I understand that about 2 percent of poker players can do it as a fulltime job. I’ve read a bunch of articles on “How to become a professional” and shit like that…but I am very scared of committing myself to the game of poker. Why you ask? Why am I being overdramatic about this?

The bottom line comes down to what Jonathan said about being a kid at heart. When you are a kid you have no care in the world. You have so much time to experiment, to kick back and relax and to try different things at your own pace. I’m scared because poker takes years of dedication and years of study to become good enough to make a living out of it. So to help you understand I put these scenarios that I constantly see in my head about my future.

Mission: Professional Gambler

I build up my bankroll steadily. I treat it as a job and therefore I try to spend 40 hrs or more not only trying to win overall, but also to study the game even more. I try to make it up to the higher levels where not only 2.5 - 3 Big Blinds an hour are an acceptable hourly wage, but make enough money to also buy into the larger tournaments where I can continue to work on my skill of poker. I am happy that I have made it. I love the game and everything about it. Yet in the back of my mind sits the creative part of me. I don’t get to paint much anymore and I sure as hell don’t get to direct films, however because I can make my own hours and make good money I can budget my own films Also my cholesterol is off the fucking charts.

Mission: Winner for Best Director…

I become a director. I actually sit the fuck down and start to practice my craft. I am constantly writing and I move to Los Angeles to pay my dues. I get a job as a fucking slave and do shit around the set. I don’t get any say in creative work, but I get valuable experience on the set. I sit around and believe it or not…I work hard and endure the hardships of making it in Hollywood. By some fucking miracle I make it as a director…however, because I worked so hard to make it a director…I lost my willingness to learn poker. Sure I can play it at higher stakes because I can afford it, but a piece of me will always wonder whether I could have made it at a poker player. Just like I said in the past, yes I take poker that seriously.

Mission: Rotoscoping Monkey

I go into Special FX with the emphasis on film. I take online classes for the next year and try to build up my demo reel. Hopefully I can come up with some solid work where I can go into a special FX company up in San Francisco since that is the place to be. I get to stay close to San Jose where it seems a lot of my friends are planting their roots. One of the added bonuses is that this can act as a side door into directing. Perhaps I make some contacts with other people who like to make films and there we can work on a smaller project that might lead to bigger things. Special FX uses my creativity even though not as much as directing. I don’t think I want to stay here for the rest of my life…but who knows.

Mission: Noah’s Manager

Shortly after being promoted I slit my wrists. No one misses me.

So those are what I see in my head. No one can tell me what I should or should not do because all of us are different in how we want to live our lives. Some of you might think that poker is a hobby and not a job. Some of you might think that I can’t direct worth shit and all that saved a project was Jonathan dancing.

The reality is that I have to choose one of these to become awesome at them. I have to choose one to dedicate years to accomplish what I want to accomplish in each field. And whichever one I choose will put the others on the back burner for an indefinite amount of time. Perhaps longer than I would want.

Well this problem doesn’t need to be solved or anything. I just posted this because the kid at heart thing kind of got me thinking and to explain why I haven’t gone to Vegas yet. So to all those who ask what am I going to do after I graduate…I honestly don’t know yet. In the meantime I’ll keep floating around…making nothing of my life and wasting what little talent I have on lox and bagels. =) G’nite.

Obon

Good and fun times indeed.

On four hours of sleep, I got the donor sign done with a record-breaking high number of errors and low amount of design. Steve showed up an hour later than promised and offered a lot of laughs and very little help.

The taiko performance was cool. The rhythm, smiles and showmanship made me want to give it a try. Hmmm. And I realized that a girl keeping a fast beat on a big drum is quite a turn-on.

Considering the dire circumstances in which his bank account finds itself, I would start a Feed Ryan Sakamoto fund, but it's become clear that he would spend his last few dollars on sake shots for himself and everyone he knows.

I can't believe I missed the bulk of Bryant's bingo victory and Steve's red-faced response to maternal concern. And I can't believe I did NOT miss "the penis game."

More fun this coming weekend with Mountain View and our first official house party. Be there or be somewhere cooler.

The child within

The other day Tony and I were talking about how we still appreciate simple childish fun... goofing around and being silly... and we're glad that our friends share that and don't seem like they'll be taking life TOO seriously any time soon.

I wish you all could have come to the BBQ in El Cerrito on Sunday with Bryant and me. To my semi-surprise, we only knew a few people there, but I had a very good time lounging outside with fresh hot food and conversation with friends. But most importantly... they had a big trampoline in the backyard! After I got used to bouncing around on that thing (at first it looked like I had zero control and was going to hurt myself badly), I was trying to get as high as possible and come up with various poses to photo. I think I heard the others laugh and say "Look how happy he is!" I surely looked like a fool, but I couldn't stop smiling. My back is all achy today, but it was worth it.

There will be many more opportunities to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, and I hope to be surrounded by those who can appreciate them with me. I may have a job and a house, but I'll always be a kid.

I've seen bits and pieces of American Psycho, but never really sat down and watched it all the way through. Anyhoo, I bought it last week and just got around to watching it tonight and just finished it right now at 7:30 in the morning. Let me first say that Bale is fucking awesome. Blah blah blah Batman blah blah blah...don't get me wrong. I like Batman. You all read how I said all of you would jock Batman. I like how he is crazy and dark just as Batman should be. Yet after seeing American Psycho...if I could chose to be any character that Christian Bale has portrayed I would choose Patrick Bateman of American Psycho. In fact I would rather see him fuck the Batman role and go back to Patrick Bateman.

To put it short, I want to kill people just like Patrick Bateman. He truly is a smooth serial killer...the axe to the face paired with Huey Lewis and the News was an especially nice touch. I heard the murders in the novel that the film was based on is described in an even more graphical way...looks like I got some reading to do.

Bye bye and have a nice day.

To add to Steve's sentiments, Obon was a great time! I had lots o' fun and I hope you did too. This just adds to another year of memories at a fun place. I know it may feel like we're getting too old, but damn, just look at how I acted and we're still just kids. I saw/met so many people, it was really fun to be in that type of environment again. I really got to rehash the past with some and it was a time where I could just be me. And with what I've been going through, this is exactly what I needed, that break away from my thoughts.

The Penis game may have been over the top, so I apologize for that one. Koreans, we have NO shame. hahaha Talking about this one more, I really feel bad about this one. My intention is not to totally offend others with spoken word, lewd dancing and the running man are fine. There are kids around and I have to watch the language and have good clean, drunken fun. (PG - 13)

Thanks for everyone coming out and I can't wait to see everyone again for Mtn. View. Pics from Saturday are on my Xanga and Shannon you better believe Batman is meeting IBM!!!!

So I'm not sure if you care so much as to know who has been knocked out of the WSOP, but the Main Event has started and I won't give you chip counts or anything like that in case you wanted to watch in on ESPN, but here are some players that have been knocked out so you don't feel so bad when you get knocked out of our tournaments. Of course they have to dodge a field of like 5600 players, but still...sometimes even pros might do everything right, but the cards screw them over. I'll quit these updates when the field starts to narrow down so all of us can watch it unfold on television.

People that are out on the Day 1 (Heat 1 and 2)

Daniel Negreanu (sob...)
Chris Ferguson
Barry Greenstien
Jennifer Harmon (my faves aren't doing so well...but wait till you see the hand she lost on ESPN...guarantee they will show it.)
Ted Forrest
Josh Arieh
Scott Fischman
Humberto Brenes
David Grey
Steve Zolotow

My god...I just read that the final payout has yet to be decided...but there is a good chance that it could be somewhere in the 9-10 million mark for 1st place and even 1 million for ninth. This is fuck'n nuts.

Okay, so the movie quote posts aren't even up on the front blog page anymore. But I spent quite some precious LM time thinking about it, and at one point at least Tony wanted to see my picks, so here are some (from memory, so some may be mis-quotes)...

Rounders (surprise!)
"All right, gimme 2000... You heard Mike, he's good for it. Look I'm gonna triple that in a half hour, princess, let's go!"
"Guys, guys, English only at the table, no Russian... If you wanna see this seventh card, you're gonna stop speaking fucking Sputnik... I'm sure you're just talking about perogies and snow and shit, but cut it out."
"It's just like the saying says, 'In the poker game of life, women are the rake.' They are the fucking rake." "What the fuck are you talking about, what--what saying?" "I don't know... there oughta be one."
"Lays down a monster. Should have paid me off on that. The fuck did you lay that down?!" "Not hungry?" "Mister Son of a Bitch, let's play some cards."
"You are on a draw, Mike? Go away, this one. Is not good for you. And in my club I will splash the pot whenever the fuck I please."
"Motherfucker! Motherfucker! You bugumat! That is it!" "What are you talking about, that's it? Take him down, Teddy!" "Nyet! No more! Not tonight! This son of bitch all night he check, check, check--he trapped me!"

Tombstone (Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday is probably my all-time favorite performance)
"If I thought you weren't my friend... I just don't think I could bear it."
"You gonna do something, or you just gonna stand there and bleed?"
"Johnny, I apologize, I forgot you were there. You may go now."
"Forgive me if I don't shake hands."
"Maybe poker's not your game. Let's have a spelling contest!"
"I don't think I'll let you arrest us today, Behan."

Back to the Future, Part II
"Get the hell outta my car old man!"
"Why don't you make like a tree... and get outta here."

Bad Boys
"That was a living, breathing animal, it probably had a name." "It's just bologna... 'My bologna has a first name'."
"Don't be alarmed, we're negros."
"You look very handsome today, Marcus." "I ain't in the mood. Leave ME the fuck ALONE." "What's wrong man? PMS?" "Nah, damn the jokes. Damn 'em!"
"Uh, you don't want that. Cause when I come, I come with the thunder!"
"You better sit your lanky ass down... cause bottom line, I'll knock you the fuck out!"
"I love you, man." "Fuck you Marcus." "... I do. You my boy." "Shut up, just shut up... Slow ass driver. Driving like a bitch." "Why it got to be all that? I'll drive us off this fuckin cliff, you keep fuckin with me. Then what, we'll just be two bitches in the sea..."

Braveheart
"My hate will die... with you."
"Every man dies. Not every man really lives."

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
"What are you doing?" "Stealing your woman." "... Take her."

Chasing Amy
"Hey Flo! Tell Mel to whip me up a toasted bagel with cream cheese--hey you want one too?--Make that two, and kiss my grits! Nooch!"

Clerks
"Yeah he knows some English, but he cannot speak it good like we do."
"Hey Olaf, girl nice?" "Skrilnik." "Man that's fucked up." "What did he say?" "I don't know but this guy's a character."
"There's a million fine looking girls in the world, but not many of 'em will bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em will just cheat on you."

Enter the Dragon
"Don't think! Feeeeeel!"
"Guns! Why doesn't someone take a .45 and 'bang!', settle it?"
"Boards... don't hit back."

G.I. Joe
"Either we all go home, or nobody goes home."
"Who ever heard of being shot down by salad?!"

Goldmember
"You're very toite. I can see that from your toite pants."
"You're not going to put that in your mouth are you--oookay you did. That's just gross."
"It's a power struggle... he does not understand, he is small."

The Hustler
"You're not a loser, Eddie, you're a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything."

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
"I should've mailed it to the Marx Brothers!"

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
"You get the fucking guns. I drive the car!... Mehmehmeh!"

Made
"Surprise me. I don't know what I'm feeling today... There's a nice way to do that."
"I'll defend myself."
"It's fucking embarrassing. We're riding around on a motorcycle, and he doesn't have a shirt on!"
"Why don't you try the China Club? Fuck you, asshole! It's probably a fucking fag bar, don't you think?"

Nothing to Lose
"What the fuck?! You ain't one of those psycho freaky jason desert hack killer motherfuckers are you?... Oh shit... we're in the desert!... Please don't kill me freaky jason. I said please don't kill me, freaky jason!"
"Freeze... sucker... bitch!"
"I bet you sold more Girl Scout cookies than anyone else in your troop, didn't you? What were you calling yourself back then, Yolanda, you little bitch?"

Pee Wee's Big Adventure
"Pee Wee, where are you gonna get the money to pay the reward?" "Whoever BRINGS me the bike is OBVIOUSLY the one who STOLE it, so they don't DESERVE a reward!"

Poolhall Junkies
"You said it Joe, shoot it all."
"Every so often, the lion has to remind the jackals... who he is."

Seven
"Fuckin Dante... poetry writing faggot..."

Snatch
"What would I want with a caravan that's got no fuckin wheels?!"

Star Wars
"You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down now, I will become more powerful than you can possible imagine."
"Let go of me." "All right, don't get excited." "It would take more to excite me than being held by you." "Sorry, we don't have time for anything else."

Swingers
"I'm the asshole in the ba--the place, right? I'm the asshole? I wouldn't eat here--I would never eat here anyway!"

Training Day
"To protect the sheep, you have to catch the wolf. And it takes a wolf to catch a wolf."
"You have the right to be bitch-slapped."

The Transformers
"You cannot... destroy... my destinyyyyyyyyyy!"

The Usual Suspects
"I said he'll flip ya. Flip ya for real."


...

That was a good use of my time. Yup.

So Jonathan and I finally got our shit together and landed some bullseyes to defeat Tony and Derek. Now I'm not making any assumptions or anything, but if I had to guess I'd say you guys like darts.

That is not to say that you guys have to go out and buy darts, but I'm glad I was able to find yet another thing to keep us in healthy competition. So now all of you on Pooky are probably wondering why the shit are we playing darts...and what is so special about these recent session of darts than from when I first bought the darts. Well here are some feelings/observations of things I have seen in our two nights of darts.

1. Tony who has been under pressure in soccer games numerous times says he feels like he is taking a penalty kick and waiting for the outcome when he is playing darts.

2. Jonathan who thought darts was about throwing the dart and hoping for the best got a little advice from me on how to throw the dart...and now he sees that it is a skill game and you can actually aim the dart.

3. Derek who is DEAD tired and even sleeping in my room before we actually start playing, comes alive like I've never seen him before. I haven't seen him so awake at 3:30 in the morning.

4. The game we play, Cricket, is almost an equalizer of sorts. No matter how many points one team scores...you are never out of it until you take yourself out of it. Tonight I saw a rally by Jonathan and Tony to win over a 242 point defecit. There is also a sort of offense/defense wave that flows up and down throughout the game.

5. There is nothing like one team hitting three darts into the 20 spot...then someone else coming in and hitting the triple 20 with one dart to accomplish the same thing. The competition gets so crazy between teams...that I have seen Tony get frustrated. Now Tony can lose multiple dollars in poker...but I haven't seen him frustrated like that in a while...that shows you how awesome darts are.

So before you dismiss this post as bullshit and even though you tried playing darts before, but might write it off...you need to play with a team and as a team in the game of Cricket to truly understand how crazy this game is. As of right now..the team to beat is Jonathan and I...but Tony and Derek won't let that last for very long. So what'dya say? Steve and Bryant? Andy and Bryant? Andy and Steve? Don't knock it until you've tried it! =)

In the meantime I think it is time I ordered my Pirahna's!

Haha tarnished aluminum... The guys winning those races can rock gold, if you know what I mean.

And yes, Steve, I regrettably must admit I was turned to the dart side for one night. Like Mario Party, it turns out to be fun when you add competition and realize that you actually have some control over those things. Unless you are Derek, and somehow your wild rapid-fire throws end up hitting more bullseyes than anyone could have thought possible. That kind of luck can NEVER happen again. NOT EVER. Now I'm all upset; I'm going to lunch.

Let me be the first to say that my win yesterday had nothing to do with skill. I picked up AA twice in 3 rounds of cards when it was 4 handed. And even worse yet, when I picked up AA someone always had something to play back at with me (ie. Jonathan's KK). I'm just a lucky bitch.

Tony5Aces, Dmai27 and Derek 88's, I know I said this on your MySpace, but I wanted to reassure you guys that all of you have made ridiculous strides in our tournaments. I'm pretty sure Jonathan will agree with me. To prove my point...you can tell that I go into the "tank" a lot more than I did. I always prided myself on quick decisions, but it seems that lately this isn't the case. This of course means that I need to really think about what you guys are holding and think about how you guys play it now. Sometimes I'm right and more often than not I am wrong. Look, I don't want to make it seem like I'm candy coating shit just because I've won lately. Bottom line: You guys are kicking ass even though the wins just aren't there. Keep it up because you know that we will play a bunch more tournaments that have your names on it!

Jonathan...what can I say. Just like the top paragraph...I have been getting extremely lucky to the point where it is sickening. Don't worry I know this and I'm not getting cocky or anything! =) It's always a pleasure to play against you when the limits are eating us up...it really is a reading game and lately it has just panned out with the luck on my side. I can't wait for our next battle!

A quick quote for the recent poker etiquette discussion, that I should have remembered almost immediately:

"Yeah, I'm gonna go all in 'cause I don't think you got the spades."

If this somehow isn't familiar, it's from the start of Rounders. Mike is up against Teddy KGB in a no-limit hold'em cash game. Mike has a full house and thinks KGB made a flush on the river. KGB bets $15,000 and Mike raises him all-in for another $33,000 and says the above line. He deliberately misrepresents his hand because he wants as much money as possible. The relevance should be clear enough.

Of course, it turns out that Mike was wrong, KGB quickly calls with a higher full house, and Mike ends up delivering stuff in a truck owned by a guy known as Knish. So say what you want, but make sure you've got the nuts or else you just might get chumped.

Also my post repsonding to everyone's opinions does sound abrasive. I didn't mean it like that really. When you have contrasting POV then it will sound abrasive to anyone who doesn't agree with you 100 percent. Now to kick Andy down the stairs of knowledge.

"I don't think you have it" puts the man, your opponent to the test. It makes them think, "fuck...maybe he does have me beat" or "shit, I'm going to win this pot". It puts them in doubt and even if they fold then they will be questioning it for the next 20 minutes.

Andy, Andy, Andy. It's all part of the game. I can easily say that anyone with half a brain should have said, "wait a minute...I don't have the nuts...I can't re-raise him in this spot". Like I said...lying about one's hand is what poker is all about, especially in no limit.

NO LIMIT is a people game where the cards are insurance in case you read things wrong.

And I will lie straight to his face any day of the week to make sure he never knows what I am doing. Last I checked, lies = bluffs in poker and I'm pretty sure bluffing whether verbal or with chips is part of the game.

Again though, I was a punk. Just because it was a bitch thing to do does not mean that it is beneath me to do so since it is part of the game. Maybe it was overkill, but I needed to 100 percent guarantee that I got paid off for this hand because I NEED TO REPAIR MY XBOX AND I NEED CASH TO DO SO. So after hearing that you should say, "Anthony should play with you more often = Maybe we can finally get on Forza as a club." Hehe.

Now onto Derek's questions:

1.) Yes. But only if I haven't taken a doody earlier in the day.
2.) The only shoes on this planet are on the white man. Why can't a brother like Denzel get some shoes. (Glory reference for you ignants)
3.) YES. YES AND YES. I have grown up on 2 percent. I love the creaminess of it. That sounds nasty, but it is true. 1 percent feels a bit watered down. When I eat it with cereal I feel like the po' black child. And I want shoes on my feet.
4.) In my dreams once I slept with Pocahantas and she was shreiking like an animal. And yes my genitals look good as an animated caricature. Then I remember the motion got so repetitive that the animator must have just drawn two frames then told the film transfer guy to repeat it for the next 8 hours. You know your typical cartoon sex dream. =)

I wrote a post then I deleted it. If some of you saw it you might have agreed with me that the undertone of that post was a little harsh even though I didn't mean it to be. It is not that I am a censorship advocate, but rather I didn't want to come off harsh. So I will re-write this post while I'm waiting for my 78suited to raise with. Yeah, I'm not kidding.

Honesty

Thank you everyone for giving me some feedback on the situation. I don't have any sort of drama in my life so I need to take anything I can and change it to some sort of moral issue. After reading all of your posts and also dwelling on my own observations after replaying the hand in my head, I have come to terms with what I want to say and what to make of the situation which wasn't a big deal in the first place really.

To help illustrate the conclusions that I have come to, I have organized them into different sections and hopefully you will see how I see the situation. You might agree or not, but this is how it is for me.

How I View Poker

Obviously all of you know that I take the game very seriously. I think it is one of the most perfect games of all time. The reason is because you can win the pot without having the best hand. You have deception, strategy, math and people skills all at your disposal. Even if you aren't awesome at the math part like me, I can rely on my gut instinct which has saved me bets from time to time.

I realize that I play my most serious game whether I am at the card room, online or at home chilling with friends. I know sometimes I get caught up in the moment, but I think I am very good at keeping my play and the number one priority of having some time to chill with friends separate. If one of you were to put a bad beat on me I might be a little ticked at the poker gods, but not you personally since I understand that THE only thing that matters is us chilling.

Saying that, I think we all understand what I am about to say next. Whether or not someone like Anthony who doesn't play with us all the time understands this concept, it is not my place to teach him.

Sitting = Signing A Waiver That Your Money Is No Longer Your Money

If you sit down at ANY poker table and you buy chips then that money is GONE. It is no longer your money. You have chips. These represent markers. These markers represent who is "winning" in the game. Until you or I get up those markers do not have anyone's name on it.

Anthony decided for himself that he felt he could lose 10.00. We told him that you can buy in for as little or as much as you want. He opted for 10.00. He also understood that he could get up whenever he liked especially since he saw Bryant get up after running all of us over.

Sitting = Understanding Poker Is NEVER Fair

This section is to argue Tony's point. If you play any game where money is involved as well as luck, things will never be fair. You said that my play was unneccesary. I don't think it was. The reason is (and I left this out by accident, but realized I left it out after everyone already blogged) Anthony said outloud that he thought I might have QJ even before I announced that he "couldn't have a seven". I was up and down all night and I wanted chips or markers. More markers mean you either had lots of luck on your side or you won with some skill. I'll take either...and I didn't have a lot of markers. I needed to prove to myself that I could be the threat at this table.

Unfortunately for Anthony he had lots of chips because he sucked out on my dad on the river looking for the only 4 cards that could help him. My dad lost about 8 dollars in that pot without Anthony realizing the miracle he recieved. I try not to make it personal, but the only thing I was thinking was, "man...that sucks. But it will be a lot easier getting those chips from Anthony than my dad."

A little off track there...basically I felt I needed to win to prove to myself that I could win over someone with less experience. Sure you can say i've proved it, but it is ONE LONG SESSION. You must always strive to prove to yourself that you are one step ahead of the game. I wanted full value for my hand and unfortunately for Anthony, he had all the chips on the table.

Was the acting unnecessary? Sure if maybe I played Anthony every day and knew that I didn't need to try to win chips that very night. Yet I hardly see Anthony at the poker table so that coupled with the fact that he was well aware of what the nuts were for this particular hand...I needed to extract coin now.

Sitting = Unfair Advantage Part DUEX

This also goes with Tony and Andy's opinions that what I did was questionable. The truth of the matter is that with Tony's soccer argument again, he talks about exploiting something even though he already has an added edge would be wrong. If I just played my cards for what they were with no deception on my part then the game would be the worst game I've ever played. You are at the mercy of the deck. In fact if you were to say that acting was questionable, then you might as well say that I cannot use my gut feeling because I called Tony's bottom pair and was off by one increment. The bottom line is that I will use whatever tools I need to win the chips in the middle. If you see that as exploitation...then at least you are seeing correctly. That is exactly what it is and table talk within the confines of the rules is one of THE pivitol weapons in my game.

Now onto Andy. Andy by me saying that he "cannot have a 7" does imply that my hand is weaker than his. Yet the rules say that I cannot say anything about my hand as long as there are no other players in the pot. I never did. And how can I be punished for guessing what his cards are outloud as long as we are heads up? If implying is the name of the game here, then CHECK RAISING should also be penalized. By check raising you are implying that your hand is shit...then BAMMO...you jump up and smile because you just trapped the fish. Isn't that talking about your hand in an indirect and implied way?

Playing soft even though someone doesn't know the rules ruins the integrity of the game. Yeah...that is how serious I take poker...I'm worried about it's own integrity. To play soft against someone is giving them a handicap. That's all fine and dandy, but I'm tired of not being able to park in the fucking handicap spaces. I see people exploiting that just as much as I exploit other people's weaknesses and lack of knowledge at the poker table.

No Limit Cash = Cruel

I agree with Jonathan on this one. NL will be restricted to tournamanets unless we all decide that we are going to play NL cash. And again, if you sit down at the table regardless who you are or who you bring, it is not my place to play soft in order to accomodate the other players. Bryant thought 5.00 was enough for him to risk and he walked away a winner. We tried our best to limit your losses in case you did lose, but ultimately it was up to the individual.

However, back to the conversation we had way long time ago about me being concerned with other people's enjoyment and time...whatever you guys want to play is fine with me. Shit, I'd rather play Razz than Hold'em. =)

Shearing Sheep

Anthony doesn't play enough with us to be qualified as a sheep. Also I'm not sure who is holding the fucking clippers because I don't think any of us are good enough to even hold those clippers and also Anthony lost 10 whole whopping dollars that was his before he bought in. Last I checked he won a tournament so he is still up on us. He's probably calling us fish.

Brendan Is A Bitchcock

Yes I am. I'll say it. I personally don't think exploiting people on the felt is wrong. I don't think it was questionable at all. But I will say that it was a dirty way to transfer Anthony's marks to my stack. I'll admit that any day of the week. So what is the conclusion here? Where is the Doogie Howswer all powerful diary entry? Right here.

The Line; Bottom Line

A.) I'm sorry to Anthony for taking your stacks in one hit.
B.) He was the one that said "all-in". What am I supposed to do with the nuts? Fold?
C.) Anthony, while not knowing the odds, is underrated I think by those who thought I hustled him. You forget that he has a superpower of knowing when his outs are coming. Give him some credit. Sure he takes a lot of risks, but they are his risks with his chips...and as with anything...big risk usually means big rewards.
D.) The acting was NOT illegal and it never will be no matter who you are or where you are at as long as you are as Jonthan said, headsup. I'm sorry to Anthony again if he or any of you thought it was unnecesary. But come close to the monitor...I'm going to say something...
E.) I'll fucking do it again without hesitation...why?
F.) Because that is the beauty of poker and yesterday I wasn't sure about this...but I am now after thinking it through...me feeling bad will be squashed by my respect for the game and every which way you play it.

The hand at hand

"You can shear a sheep many times, but skin it only once." Brendan's never bothered to learn that. If he scared off dead money I will be very disappointed.

Now THAT would be messed up... so I'm half joking.

Obviously the situation can be argued either way, and you other guys have already made good points. Brendan did what was strategically effective and chose to take advantage of Anthony's lack of experience with poker and our game in particular. Certainly questionable and unnecessary, but not a right-wrong situation, especially since it's poker. Someone should get Anthony's honest opinion.

Etiquette
As I see it, there is one simple rule: Do not discuss anyone's cards unless YOU are heads up.

Examples:
If you folded and the hand is still going, don't say...
- "I keep getting seven two offsuit."
- "Shucks, I woulda hit my gutshot."
- "This pot would've been mine."
- "Fooey."

If you're still in the hand and you are not heads up, don't say...
- "Tony's obviously bluffing, but what do you have?"
- "Jon has top pair but I'm gonna draw out on him."
- "Derek I saw your eights, just fold 'em."

Discussing the cards when you are not involved, or before it is heads up, gives undue information to the players and may affect the play of the hand.

However, once the hand is heads up, I see nothing wrong with the players involved in the hand saying whatever they please. It's all part of the mind game.

Still, it is simpler to have an all-encompassing rule against discussion of cards before the hand is over: Do not discuss anyone's cards until the hand is over. That would avoid any such moral ambiguity.

A "friendly" game
The concept of "friendly" simply does not fit with poker. It's like we've heard before, "There are no friends at the poker table," and "You've gotta think of it as a war." Poker is about taking as much as you can from your opponents, by whatever means necessary (within the confines of the rules and table etiquette). Deception is an important tool and without it the game would be much less interesting.

There are two extremes:

(1) Totally serious: Play your best with any strategies you know, at stakes to make your spouse cry, without apology. Try to gut your friends like the fish they are.

(2) Totally friendly: Goof around, play soft, and give all the money back when it's over. Hugs and s'mores before we tuck each other in.

To me, a real-world friendly game of poker means a compromise between the two:
- Serious strategy and the best play we are capable of
- Lighthearted tone and fun conversation
- Stakes low enough that no one really cares about losing their buy-in

The effects of no-limit
This is part of the reason I like the no-limit limit to be limited to no-limit tournaments. Limit. NO. In a tournament you can lose all your chips in one hand, but your buy-in (plus, occasionally, rebuys) is the most money you can lose. When this is no more than $5 or $10, no one has financial reason to get upset. If you can't afford to lose $5, dinner is on me.

When you get busted out of a tournament you probably think back to how much you put in: "Well, $5 gone." But when you play a cash game, buy in $5, win for a while, then lose $20, that last amount sticks with you. "I can't believe I just lost $20 in one hand." Each chip has real money value, which is not the case in tournaments. There was a point you could have stood up, claimed sleepiness, and gone home a big winner. I've had this feeling many times, just with way more money lost.

On the other hand, only in cash games can everyone stay involved all night long. That's fun.

Back on the first hand, only in tournaments is there a set number of people guaranteed to get some money back. It is possible in any cash game for one player to win all the chips and be despised for weeks.

So I would suggest no-limit for tournaments (for excitement with controlled cash risk), and low limit for cash games (for variety and practice, and so no one gets crazy screwed).

Legitimate words & phrases

Always
Almost always
Usually
Sometimes/Occasionally
Rarely
Almost Never
Never

Wow, from a learning stand-point it is very interesting to read the thought process one goes through. I have a ways to go before I can even do that.

Reading your entry, I didn't think it was a dick move. If you were going to say that kind of stuff with regulars, I don't think it's bad that you said it to someone newer to our table. And I don't know if this ever came to mind, but I think as a long term strategy is that it's a good one. You get directly into a players head (assuming he buys in again or plays with you again) and if you play with someone who doesn't have a short memory, you have a total advantage on him. I find it more interesting when you talk aloud on what you think your opponent has. Though if I were in Anthony's position I would be pissed hahaha, but you know me. It would be because of the competitiveness vs. what you said.

I think also that this could have a benefit on Anthony to try and figure out more what you had to raise him that high. I got the feeling after playing with him is that he's definitely a risk taker, but isn't taking them for the right reason. When you're wreckless on every hand, playing every hand, it takes away from the player. To see someone winning in that capacity gets to me at times because when I'm at the table I'm really trying to learn something new and improve my play. But one thing I did learn from last night, in the long run, the player who plays wreckless is going to lose. Hopefully Anthony came out of last night learning a few nuances of the game since I know he doesn't play as much as we do and doesn't have that experience.

Going back to the learning part, I feel like I'm getting a little better at betting and extracting the most that I could out of people. Last night, was good practice for me, though it wasn't a tournament, I think I can take what I tried out and use it in a tournament setting.

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I do, that defines me. "
Batman (Christian Bale) - Batman Begins

**There is a point to this blog besides me talking about Poker AGAIN...besides I'm playing Paradise Poker and have nothing better to do.

So we just played a cash game comprising of No-Limit Hold'em. I honestly didn't think I had the upper hand in this game since Tony and my dad (who I just found out from Tony a couple weeks ago that he plays NL online and not limit) both play on the internet where I tend to hide out in shallow waters and stick to my game of lower than shit limit. Anyway we actually had an awesome turnout for like a 1 hour notice. The game started off with Bryant, Tony, my dad and I. Later on in the game Derek and Anthony joined us.

I'll give Bryant his props right off the get go. He bought in for only five dollars while the rest of us riverboat gamblers bought in for 10.00. After some calls from Anthony and Tony and flush draws that always seemed to come for Bryant (hehe) he walked away with about a nice 20+ dollar profit. Well Bryant had to go and I think Tony also tapped out at about the same time.

Of course Anthony and Derek weren't finished with my dad and I.

So we kept on playing. Now here is where the story gets a little interesting and I honestly want to know what you guys think...

Now I am confident, but I never let my ego get the best of me since I know that egos have been the doom of too many poker players. HOWEVER, I will say that I am a better cardplayer than Anthony. So basically this hand came up...pardon the 3rd person talk...its easier to keep the hand straight when I type it. I wrote what I was thinking in parenthesis.

Blinds .10 - .20

Brendan is on the small blind w/JQ offsuit. Brendan makes it .40 to go.
Anthony calls.
Flop is Ks 8d 9c

(This gives me a gutshot draw. I know Anthony can have any 2 cards in the deck)

Brendan checks.
Anthony checks.
Turn is 10c

(Bingo. I have no clue how I pulled that out of my ass, but hooray for free cards...I now have the absolute nuts and think about how I want to play this. I know Anthony likes to fish and I don't want him to fold just yet...even if he has the club draw. I'll take those odds any day. I'll go with the amount that I feel Anthony has been calling.)

Brendan bets 1.00
Anthony quickly calls and says "I gotta give it a try right?"

(Now I know he's on a draw [obviously] and hope that the board doesn't come with a club that also pairs the board...which the board pairing isn't a huge problem. Anthony would have raised me if he had two pair and who knows...perhaps pairing the board will give him tripps or even make him two pair if he is holding one pair now.)

The river is a 6d

(I was stupid and wasn't looking at Anthony when the river came. I usually always look at people, but this was a clear tell on my part that I wasn't even concerned with what he had. And you probably won't believe me on this...but I think my play coming up will show you that it is at least legitimate. I was shuffling my chips trying to figure out what exactly he had so I can extract full value for the nuts...then I glanced up and saw Anthony looking down at the board with his head microscopically bobbing. I knew it right then and there. He had either a K7 or A7. He made his 10 high straight on the river. Now I knew I was going to get paid off...now I need to make a bet that is small enough for him to come over the top of me. I know from past experiences with Anthony that while he doesn't necessarily take it personally, it seems that he can easily get into a raising war with someone.)

Brendan bets 2.50
Anthony raises to 4.00 total

(This assures me even more. Again I'll make it a small bet to go)

Brendan re-raises to 6.00 total
Anthony re-raises and makes it 14.80 total
Brendan calls.

Anthony shows A7 for 10 high straight
Brendan shows JQ for King high straight

Now here is the question I am going to ask and I want an honest answer. There is one part to this story I am leaving out. While I had the nuts and knew that Anthony was going to get all his all or most of his money in the pot after the river came out I started looking frustrated and confused and also said things like, "You can't have that 7." "There is no way you rivered again." "You just can't have that 7." and put in my bet with a "I don't think you have it."

Is this wrong? Now against any of the regulars I wouldn't think twice about this. However, Anthony doesn't play that often with us and I exploited that during this one hand that tapped him out. Obviously he wasn't happy that I was pretending to be worried about the 7, but he took it well. So what I want all of you who play with us is to answer this question...because even I feel bad at the poker table when I take all of my friends chips in a CASH GAME not a tournament.

WAS THIS FUCKED UP OF ME TO ACT LIKE THE SEVEN BOTHERED ME?

Well I'm not totally feeling bad about this, don't get me wrong. I've studied, talked with Jonathan, logged in a bunch of hours playing cards so I deserve a little something back. I was just wondering what your thoughts on this was...

BTW for those that were there last night but had to leave early. The very next hand my dad wanted to keep playing heads up with his 10 dollars in chips. I called his final all in 5.00 bet with bottom pair and caught him bluffing. (My dad is gonna kill me for telling you that.) So I came out with a 40 dollar profit last night.

To answer Jonathan's questions since I know he will be playing 6/12 soon, there wasn't too much difference. I really tried to watch for nuances throughout the game to see if the texture was the same. It basically is like 3/6 except that your raises do get a little more respect than at a 3/6 or 2/4 game.

For example, UTG I decided to raise with my AA. I past me might have limped in, but we all now know that you must protect your aces...just like Lederer said, "you need to protect your aces like they are your first born." So this pretty much narrowed down the field to 2 other players. In any 3/6 game you might have 5 people seeing the flop with you. Well just like I said in my post below, my aces got cracked, but at least I wasn't losing to some shit J7suited. The hand I believe that beat me at this particular hand was KQ suited that made his flush on the river...but not before I made him pay for his draw. Unfortunately this time he made it.

The other thing I noticed were that people weren't as cry, cry, crying about how they never make hands. There was the occasional blow up but not as much as 3/6 in my past experiences.

Bottom line: I think out of all of us Jonathan has what it takes to win at 6/12. Perhaps even me, but so far I'm down 200 at 6/12. Haha! The rest of you don't worry...you aren't missing much except for 60/70 dollar pots. =)

Bottom, bottom line: Jonathan, not sure if this was much of a factor, but I don't have the bankroll that I want to sit at a 6/12 table. I'm not sure if this in anyway affected how I played, I know in my decisions at the table it didn't, but who knows...maybe on a subconscious level it might have.

Congrats Tony! Since we both finished fourth before I think the winner is the one who made the most money against the larger field. That is me. Haha! Just kidding. I always said that I thought you had just the right amount of gamble...well maybe a just a tad too much...but I think your placing proves it! Seriously, good job.

Now a good poker blog with a shitty poker blog. I'm going to make this short and sweet. I'm sure my dad will be disappointed with this one...

- I go to Bay101 after Stitch's birthday dinner.
- It's about 10:30 by the time I get there. I was feeling a little tired.
- I took out 2 bills from the bank earlier today.
- I see no names on the 3/6 list. Cool shit.
- I sit down for about 45 minutes and I'm up 20 but feel extremely bored. Then I hear...
- Seating now on 6/12. I decide that it is time I grow some balls and try it.
- I sit down. I look around and I see 4 people with sunglasses on.
- All of them are older than me except one guy who looked about my age.
- I sit down and buy 200 dollars worth of chips.
- In 2 hours I am up about a rack (200 dollars)
- Good news is that I felt I could beat the game. I didn't feel intimidated at all.
- Bad news is that I felt I wasn't playing my best game.
- I didn't go on tilt, but after being up 200 bucks I couldn't make a hand.
- My aces got cracked three times. No straight or flushes after being up 200.
- So about 45 mintues later after the above statement happened...I was back to even.
- I KNOW IT IS BAD MONEY MANAGEMENT. I SHOULD HAVE LEFT. PLEASE DON'T LECTURE.
- BUT on the other hand even though I felt I was playing just a little sloppy, I wasn't through with my 6/12 experiment.
- Cut to the chase...I lost my initial buy in. You are going to have to believe me that I was not on tilt, the cards just weren't there tonight...you know after I won.
- So fuck me and my drive to keep playing. But at least I can say I tried it and while writing this I am playing Paradise Poker 3/6 and I'm up 150.00

Again congrats Tony!

So here are my quotes that I could think of. I was super duper bored at work today so I may have more then others. I'll admit I had to look up the Natalie Portman ones because I realized I didn't know any cool quotes by girls, but I thought the one's that I found were awesome.

One that I wanted to put here but I don't remember it verbatim was from Batman Begins, Ducard talks to Bruce Wayne about how sometimes you love someone so much, you wish you had never met them because losing them is too much to bear. The way he delivered the line just stuck in my mind both times I saw the movie. If I see it again I'll try and remember it haha.

Rex - Diedrich Bader - Napoleon Dynamite:
"Take a look at what I'm wearing, people. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it."

Mike Dexter - Peter Facinelli - Can't Hardly Wait:
"I'm a loser. I broke up with the hottest girl in school, my friends all sold me out... and somebody in there just called me a fag!"

Kenny Fisher - Seth Green - Can't Hardly Wait:
"Oh baby please, you are far too fine to be lookin' so sad."

Billy Chapel - Kevin Costner, Jane Aubrey - Kelly Preston For the Love of the Game
Jane Aubrey: What if my face was all scraped off and I was totally disfigured and had no arms and legs and I was completely paralyzed. Would you still love me?
Billy Chapel: No. But we could still be friends.

Van Wilder - Ryan Reynolds - Van Wilder
"Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."

Will - Hugh Grant - About a Boy
"I'd be the worst possible Godfather. I'd probably drop her on her head at her christening. I'd forget all her birthdays until she was 18. Then I'd take her out and get her drunk. And, let's face it, quite possibly try and shag her. "

Alfred - Michael Caine - Batman Begins
"Why do we fall, sir? So that we might better learn to pick ourselves up."

Gaston - Richard White - Beauty and the Beast
"It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting *ideas*, and *thinking*..."

Chuckie - Ben Affleck - Good Will Hunting
"You're sitting on a winning lottery ticket and you're too big of a pussy to cash it in."

Marcus Burnett - Martin Lawrence - Bad Boys
"You damn right it's limited. No cup holder, no back seat. Just a shiny dick with two chairs in it. I guess we the balls just draggin' the fuck along."

Maverick - Tom Cruise - Top Gun
"That's right! Ice... man. I am dangerous."

Bobby - Jon Favreau, Ricky - Vince Vaughn - Made
Bobby: Asshole-ay.
Ricky Slade: Did you hear that? What do ya think of that? Huh?

Peter Gibbons - Ron Livingston - Office Space
"You see Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."

Rob - John Cusak - High Fidelity
"Should I bolt every time I get that feeling in my gut when I meet someone new? Well, I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains."

Martin Blank - John Cusak/Debi - Minnie Driver - Grosse Point Blanke
Marty: You don't know my cat. It's very demanding.
Debi: "It"? You don't know if it's a boy or a girl?
Marty: I respect its privacy.

Sam - Natalie Portman - Garden State
"If you can't laugh at yourself, life's gonna seem a whole lot longer than you like."

Obi-Wan - Ewan McGregor - Star Wars Episode III
Anakin Skywalker: You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them. You were supposed to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.

Alice - Natalie Portman - Closer
"Where is this love? I can't see it, I can't touch it. I can't feel it. I can hear it. I can hear some words, but I can't do anything with your easy words."

Ash - Bruce Campbell - Army of Darkness
"Well hello Mister Fancypants. Well, I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things: Jack and shit... and Jack just left town."

"Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand things with alloys and compositions and things with... molecular structures."

I’m sure none of you working stiffs sat down and watched the 100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time on CBS. Obviously favorite movie quotes are chosen on your own personal preference, but you can at least give a little respect to AFI and their panel of members for a pretty good list. Derek, Tony, my mom and I tried to guess what quotes were coming up next. Every other quote we would have to hear Tony’s rant on how black and white movies = dumb. However, the highlight of the evening was that my mom somehow pulled out of her ass the number 1 and 2 quotes. Actually I think we all chose at least one quote from the Top Ten which was cool. To Derek’s defense, he arrived after about 2/3 of the quotes were already said so he said he couldn’t reserve the good ones because he wasn’t here. I won’t post up the top ones if you want to try to guess them, but I’m willing to put money on the fact that you won’t get them. My mom got them because she’s old. Haha.

So since I haven’t done a list in a while here is my favorite movie quotes. Obviously we can already guess some of them, but I will try to pick a line that sums up the entire character or situation. So everyone get in on this one…it’s better than reading Steve’s blog that makes fun of how I dance. I’m a firm believer that you don’t need to dance on beat! Hell, I don’t even know what a beat is. So here we go…I can’t wait to hear some of your favorite quotes…it might even make me watch some films that you like that I haven’t seen yet!

In no particular order because it is too hard…also I had to look up some of these lines because even though these are some of my favorites, I didn’t want to butcher up the actual line.

SWINGERS - Trent Walker - Vince Vaughn
I’m gonna make Wayne Gretzky’s head bleed for superfan number 99 here.

THE JERK - Navin Johnson - Steve Martin
I was born a poor black child.

ROUNDERS - Teddy KGB - John Malkovich
I am still up twenty grand from the last time I stick it in you.

CHARADE - Regina Lambert - Audrey Hepburn
I'm afraid I already know a great many people. Until one of them dies I couldn't
possibly meet anyone else.

MONTY PYTHON…HOLY GRAIL - Black Knight - John Cleese
Tis but a scratch!

CLERKS - Jay - Jason Mewes
About the biggest pair you’ve ever seen dingleberry!

CHASING AMY - Banky Edwards - Jason Lee
I’ll trace a chalk line around your dead fucking body you fuck!

THE STING - Hooker - Robert Redford
Yeh, Luther said you could teach me something. I already know how to drink.

BUTCH CASSIDY…KID - Sundance - Robert Redford
I can’t swim!

CASABLANCA - Rick - Humphrey Bogart
Here’s looking at you kid.

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - Yoda - Frank Oz
Do or do not. There is no try.

GO - Tiny - Breckin Meyer
Yo, pull yo’ stink’n dink’n out of my ass. I’m just trying to make conversation. Fuck. Why don’t you give a nigga a break?!?

THE USUAL SUSPECTS - Verbal Kint - Kevin Spacey
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was he convinced everyone he didn’t exist.

BATMAN - The Joker - Jack Nicholson
Have you ever danced with the devil in a pale moonlight?

ROMAN HOLIDAY - Princess Ann - Audrey Hepburn
Oh, you can't imagine... I'd, I'd like to do just whatever I'd like, the whole day long!

OFFICE SPACE - Bob Slydel - John C. McGinley
Take for instance Samir Naja..Naga…Na..well, not gonna work here anymore.

BILLY MADISON - Billy Madison - Adam Sandler
T-T-T-T-Today junior!

Alright well these are just some of my favorite lines that I could think of…I know each of us has a bunch of them that when we sit down to write them, its very hard to remember…but do your best. I want to hear ‘em.

I'm only posting this because I said I would and this just proves that Kevin is from a very very white family:

Today @ Fresh Choice:
1st Conversation
Marcy: Bryant, so what are you? Japanese?
Bryant: No
Marcy: Chinese?
Bryant: No
Kyle: Dude, he's Asian! (I think he was serious haha)
Bryant: Very good, but there we can dive deeper into what I specifically am.
Marcy: Korean!
Bryant: Nice work, usually people go Chinese, Japanse, Vietnamese, then I have no clue.

2nd Conversation
Marcy: How do people come up with those fortunes all the time. Bryant, do you eat fortune cookies with every meal?
Bryant: Oh my god. (smacks forehead)

Damn it Kevin, you need to teach your sis about Hapas, FOBs, and other Asian lingo we use here in San Jose!

It was great seeing you, ur sis and Kyle this weekend...can't wait to see you @ obon!

Batman was a great movie. I can't wait to see it again on a normal screen and in extreme comfort.

I knew I bought my PSP for a reason, from imdb.com

Sony Says It Can't Stop Porn Producers From Releasing Films for PSP

Following reports that several Japanese producers of pornographic movies are planning to release them in the UMD format used with Sony's hot-selling PlayStation Portable device, Sony issued a statement Wednesday saying that there was no way that it could legally block distribution and sale of the disks. A public relations official at Sony Computer told the Asahi Shimbun: "It is utterly undesirable, but we cannot stop software makers from selling such videos."