The List - #13 completed

#13 (from Esquire). Get a deep tissue massage.

Before this year I had never gotten a massage. My wife loves them, and we went to Las Vegas in January and she thought it would be a great idea to get a couples massage. I wasn't at all opposed to the idea, just generally I can find something else I would rather do with my time and/or my money, especially in Vegas. But we got one and it was great. My back has been bothering me off and on a lot lately, and I've noticed that when I get a massage, it actually makes it a little worse at first, and then it feels great a day or two later. I have no idea if this is standard for everyone.

I was back in Vegas in April and since I arrived before the other guys coming in, I got another one. Another winner. But I had never had a deep tissue massage until a couple of weeks ago, at the Bliss spa at the W Hotel in Scottsdale. My masseuse recommended it and said it would be great for the back issues. I ended up with a big sore spot the next morning, but shortly after that it felt really great and loose. I even sprung for the ridiculously overpriced minty exfoliating stuff she suggested--bag pictured in photo. I tried that at home and it was very tingly, invigorating, and refreshing.

That last sentence is probably the gayest thing I have ever written in this blog.

28 awesome things from 2008

There are always tons of "best of" lists right around New Year's Day. Here is one more. Instead of a Top 10, or a Top 100, or anything so rigid and structured, here are just 28 things from 2008 that were awesome. They are not comprehensive, and they are not in any order. But they are awesome.

• Season four of Lost, especially on Blu-Ray.
• The 2008 World Champion Boston Celtics.
• The Dark Knight, especially Heath Ledger's brilliant performance.
• Season three of Dexter.
• Metallica: Death Magnetic and LIVE at Alltel Arena.
• Dustin Pedroia: Sun Devil, Red Sock, and AL MVP.
• Iron Man.
• Tropic Thunder.
• The Robert Downey Jr. resurgence in general.
• Rock Band 2.
• My second straight Chatham Bluefish Diamond Mind baseball championship.
• Scream Queens on VH1.
• Terra Naomi's acoustic hair band covers.
• The fact that a new GNR album actually came out, and it's good.
• Friday Night Lights, and the fact that it is still on TV at all.
  
• Survivor and The Amazing Race still being fairly entertaining.
• Pretty much everything AJ McC does, including his hilarious exploding vocabulary.
• Sierra Mist Free Cranberry Splash. Try some with vodka and thank me later.
• ZaZa pizza in Little Rock. The huge high heat woodburning oven is the key.
• The fact that a new movie theatre (with an Imax screen) opened right down the street, even if I don't get to go there as often as I'd like.
• That a guy who kind of rocks won American Idol.
• The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly.
• Tina Fey, both on 30 Rock and SNL.
• Van Halen LIVE at Alltel Arena.
• Catching my first Red Sox game in way too long, with a rooftop table under the Budwesier sign.
• Two Vegas trips, an AZ fire up, and a Cape Cod vacation (with the Boston trip in the middle of it).
• Lots of cool shows on the Food Network. Seriously.
• WiiFit.

And eight things that were not so awesome:

• 18-1. Still pisses me off.
• The ASU football season. An entirely different kind of letdown.
• The Sox losing game 7 of the ALCS when they clearly could have been champs again if just a couple of guys stayed healthy.
• Watching shitty teams flounder in the 2008 NFL playoffs while the superior Patriots sit at home. Sickening.
• The economy, including our old house still being on the market.
• The disgusting New York Yankees offseason spending spree.
  
• Heroes. Season one started great, and since then it's been pretty bad. And yet, I continue to watch.
• The complete tabloidization of the American media. Didn't CNN used to be a respected news outlet? Now they are People magazine with some news thrown in. Go ahead, check the website right now. What's on there? A video of Harrison Ford getting his chest waxed, apparently. And network news shows are just as bad. I cannot do it. I basically hate the news, now. I really do. Thankfully technology exists that lets me consume only what I want, for the most part. Okay. Rant over. I hope everyone has a great 2009.
  

2007 Lists

The end of the year seems to prompt everyone to write all sorts of different "best of" and "worst of" lists. I figured I'd do the same thing. However, for many of these, I prefer to use the term "my favorite," since that is really all anyone's list is. Who is to say a movie is "better" than another movie? Anyway...

MY FIVE FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2007

I need to preface this by saying that since the little addition to our family came along in March, my movie attendance rate has plummeted a staggering amount. I almost never get to the theatre anymore, which means that I have not seen most of the late-year awards bait flicks that will grace most other "best of" lists. Netflix is now my dear friend. So...

5. Ratatouille. It's smart, it's cute, it's fun, and, as all Pixar movies do, it looks phenomenal. I've only watched it once so far and my only quibble is that it feels about 10-15 minutes too long. However, it's already in the collection and I eagerly look forward to watching this with A.J. in the not-too-distant future.

4. Live Free or Die Hard. Maybe it's because I was able to keep my expectations low, but this flick totally delivered on every level. If you're going to see a Diehard movie in 2007, this is exactly what you're looking for. Sure, some of the action set pieces go ridiculously over the top in the third act (*cough* JET *cough*) but it didn't detract from my enjoyment at all. Thank you, John McClane.

3. Superbad. And this actually might be #1, but I need to see it a few more times and see how its rewatchability compares to the top choice on my list. But this is a hilarious movie. Absolutely genius. I'm just happy that we live in a world where a movie like this can make $100 million. There's not enough good I can say about Judd Apatow and the movies he is involved with right now. He is making the world a better, funnier, more enjoyable place.

2. The Bourne Ultimatum. This is potentially the only trilogy in which each subsequent movie is better than the last one. Despite not getting to see it in the theatre, my expectations were really high and it came through on all levels. The story is compelling, the direction and editing is flawless, and Matt Damon is just so great it's ridiculous. His Jason Bourne is truly one of the great characters of the new millennium. Bourne would kick Jack Bauer's ass before that CTU flunky had a chance to whip out his uber-PDA and text for help. Bourne would pummel James Bond, to answer a question that apparently was posed to Damon frequently on the press junket circuit. Hell, Bourne could even take Batman. I see him ripping off the Dark Knight's cowl and beating him senseless before he knew what hit him. This is a guy who kicks ass with a rolled-up magazine, for god's sake, and completely makes you buy it. Long live Jason Bourne.

1. Knocked Up. Apatow again, naturally. I love this movie. I love that Seth Rogen can be the leading man in a huge box office success. I love Apatow's entire stable of go-to guys, including Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill. I love Katherine Heigl, although I love her a little bit less after her ridiculous negative comments about her experience on this blockbuster smash movie. I give this one the #1 slot because I think it will hold up and remain a movie that I revisit again and again.

NOT IN MY FIVE FAVORITE MOVIES:

300. Yeah, it looks cool. That's it. Tepid script, cardboard characters, and terrible acting-slash-horrible direction choices. Thoroughly underwhelming.

Ocean's 13. They're killing me with these sequels. It's not as atrocious as 12, thank god, but it comes nowhere near the perfection of the original. I had high hopes for this--Julia Roberts thankfully gone, Pacino as a baddie, a screenplay by the "Rounders" guys...and yet it falls painfully flat. Either this franchise is done, or 14 will have to be something incredible. I don't know which I want at this point.

Ghost Rider. AWFUL. Yes, I am complaining about the quality of a movie in which Nic Cage plays a comic book character who rides a motorcycle while his head bursts into a flaming skull. Somehow, they managed to cock this up enough to make it boring. This was a Netflix rental and I almost couldn't get through it. I think I watched an "extended" edition, and that only made matters worse. This was my worst movie watching experience of 2007.

MY FIVE FAVORITE HOUR LONG SCRIPTED TV SHOWS OF 2007

5. Lost. Season three was a vast improvement over the maddening season two. I just re-watched season three again (thanks, Netflix) and I really enjoyed it the second time around...maybe even more than through the first run. I picked up little bits and pieces I may have missed and it also looks absolutely gorgeous on Blu-Ray. The big twist in the season finale is brilliant and I really can't wait to see what they have in store for season four.

4. The Sopranos. I loved the ending. I also think that Tony survived. I think I'm in the minority on both counts.

3. Chuck. I raved about this show pretty early on and I'm sticking with that call, as it is easily my favorite new show. I love everything about it, actually. I really hope that the strike doesn't do anything to mess this up, as NBC really needs to keep this one around.

2. Dexter. I had my concerns about season two, but the show completely delivered, taking the story in unpredictable directions and making the lead character even more interesting in the process. If you have never watched the show, start with the season one DVD. I hear that CBS is going to run an edited version of season one and I just cannot see how this show has any chance to succeed under those circumstances, on network TV. Clearly the strike is making people desperate, but I see no good coming of this. Don't watch that version, and don't let anyone else do it either. Hold out for the real thing.

1. Studio 60 (RIP). It's still hard for me to come to grips with the fact that this got canned after one season. Look around at some of the stuff that's on right now. And I don't even mean the reality shows, although those are getting more ridiculous than ever, and we're seemingly just weeks away from seeing some of the stuff in "The Running Man" come true. Climbing for Dollars, anyone? But honestly, this show was just too good. It got better in the spring, and ended on a beautiful roll...and NBC still bagged it. Smart writing, an amazing cast, great acting, compelling characters, engrossing stories...I just don't get it. How did this "fail?" I'm pained.

MY FIVE FAVORITE SCRIPTED HALF HOUR TV SHOWS OF 2007

5. Curb Your Enthusiasm. All told, this was probably Curb's weakest season and it still ranks as one of the funniest shows on TV. Larry hosted a family of hurricane survivors (named the Black family, of course) and while I wasn't sure if this was a device that could last a whole season, it worked very well. The season finale was especially solid.

4. Entourage. Once again, not its best season. But still thoroughly entertaining. The premiere was shot like a behind-the-scenes documentary during the making of Medellin and I really thought that was a cool idea done well. However, there were way too many side plots about Ari's family. Nobody tuning in wants a B story about his kids' private school, sorry.

3. Californication. Wildly entertaining. Duchovny really goes for it and he is incredibly fun to watch. I have no idea what they have planned for a second season, but I'm just happy that there is going to be one.

2. The Office. In hindsight, starting off this fall with a series of super-sized episodes was a terrible choice. First, they could have done regular half hours and had more fresh shows ready with the strike looming. Secondly, and more importantly, the hour-longs were just bloated and not as funny. It's still a brilliant show, but a couple of missteps knock it down to #2.

1. 30 Rock. I didn't watch this from the start, but once I picked up season one on DVD I was absolutely hooked. Tina Fey is great and Alec Baldwin is ridiculously funny. This show is great and it keeps getting better.

MY FIVE FAVORITE UNSCRIPTED SHOWS OF 2007

5. Survivor
4. The Biggest Loser
3. Rock of Love With Bret Michaels (maybe the most ridiculous show on TV)
2. Dinner: Impossible
1. The Amazing Race
honorable mention, since it is a game show: Duel. Loved it.

MY FAVORITE POKER ACHIEVEMENTS OF 2007

I didn't really play a lot of serious poker in 2007, so I only have two even worth mentioning: I won a 90 man No Limit tournament on Full Tilt early in the year, and I made the final table and cashed in the only live tourney I played all year, at the Gold Strike in Tunica.

MY FIVE FAVORITE SPORTS MOMENTS OF 2007

5. The Chatham Bluefish win the SWBA. Okay, you probably missed this one, since the team and the league aren't actually real. So here's the story (geek alert): it is a computer simulation baseball league that I'm in using software called Diamond Mind, which is an incredibly realistic baseball sim program. I joined the league five years ago, taking over a mediocre team and rebuilding it entirely. This is a hardcore league, with tough rules for bad teams since every team gets to keep their entire roster from one year to the next. So for five years, I have been building this team through the draft, selecting rookies such as Kevin Youkilis and Jonathan Papelbon. This year it all came to fruition, as my hand-crafted club stormed through the regular season with 110 wins, and then fought through three epic postseason series to claim the crown. It was awesome.

4. ASU football wins ten games under new coach Dennis Erickson. I really think he can take us to the next level, and this was a great first step.

3. The Boston Celtics become relevant again and roar out to the best start in the league.

2. The Red Sox win the World Series. Wow. How can this possibly only be number two?

1. The New England Patriots have the greatest season and the best football team OF ALL TIME. 16 down, three to go.

MY THREE FAVORITE ROAD TRIPS OF 2007

3. Arizona in September for ASU-CU. I was there for about 36 hours but I had a blast.

2. Las Vegas in October for Kev's surprise wedding. A great time with great friends.

1. The Whiffleball shoot in Chatham, May-June. One of the best months of my life.

That's probably enough lists. 2007 was quite a year.

Haven't been feeling bloggy

I haven't been feeling too bloggy lately because I've been consumed with editing Whiffleball, planning for a Vegas trip, and watching the Sox and Pats dominate. I plan to write long blogs on each of those topics in the near future, but here are some quick hits until then:

ALCS: Sox will win, and win a lot more easily than most people think.

Pats-Cowboys: I don't know if this is a Super Bowl preview, but I do know that watching Tony Romo toss five picks against Buffalo makes me feel pretty good. Pats by double digits.

Vegas was great. Shocking. I'm still catching up on sleep and piecing together some questionable decision making--thankfully, not by me--but, wow...what a great town.

And last but certainly not least, here is a recent shot of AJ modeling something from his fall collection.

Ten Random Things That Annoy Me

Ten Random Things That Annoy Me

People away from home who insist on telling you what time it is “their time.” This is especially obnoxious somewhere such as Las Vegas, where time—in any time zone—has almost no meaning. “I need to go to bed. It’s 4 AM my time.” No, it’s 1 AM and you’re in Vegas for god’s sake. Live a little!

ESPN’s coverage of whatever negative sports story du jour they decide to harp on.

Zayra from “Rock Star: Supernova.” Man, is she awful.

People that quantify their effort with some number exceeding 100%. I know that “giving 110%” has become the new cliché that represents actually giving something your all. But now we get people saying they gave “150%.” Really? You tried as hard as you absolutely could at something, plus half as hard as that?

Anderson Cooper.

The chip leader at the WSOP, who says he is considering dumping his chips because he’d rather come in 2nd place because he “doesn’t want to be famous.” How someone with this attitude ever actually amassed such a chip lead is beyond me.

“Treasure Hunters” on NBC. I tried to give this show a chance but I just couldn’t do it. It was awful.

“Don’t Pass” craps players.

Drivers that hang out in the passing lane when you are right behind them and it is clear that if they would just get over, you would quickly pass them, and everyone could just get on with their lives.

Sarah Jessica Parker.

Back to reality

I didn't win the World Series of Poker. I didn't even win any money.

I'm back home, and it's been long enough that I can finally sit down and write about it all. This will probably be long and rambling, if only to make up for the dearth of posts lately.

So where was I? That's right, I was in Vegas for the WSOP. My friend Shaw B was in town with a bunch of his buddies from Dallas, a rowdy crew of guys that I had never met. I met them at The Palms and we had a blast. They were all sitting at a blackjack table together and Shaw relinquished his third base seat to me. To make a long story short, the session ended after everyone there won a decent amount of cash and we all pounded a round of shots called a Red Headed Slut right there at the table. After that, we headed up to Ghostbar, one of Palms' notoriously cool hipster hangouts. This one happened to be 55 stories up, including a balcony patio with a gorgeous view of all of Las Vegas. Good times.

After several absurdly expensive cocktails, we made our way back downstairs, only to find ourselves all sitting down to play blackjack once again. What ensused was classic Vegas material: we all were feeling good and had had plenty of beverages, so of course that led to even more rowdy behavior at the table, exacerbated by the fact that we hit a tremendous stretch of cards. We had a blast. The details were a little sketchy even the next morning, let alone this long after the fact, so we'll just leave it at that.

I spent the next couple of days scouting out the WSOP and just having fun. Poker legends were everywhere, as were Hollywood celebrities. I saw Antonio Esfandiari at least five times. We saw Jennifer Tilly out and about more than once, wearing her WSOP bracelet, which I thought was great. I caught Tobey Maguire playing some high-limit Hold 'Em at Bellagio. I met Phil Hellmuth at a party and he was great. All in all, it was a fun and crazy week.

I started the tournament on Saturday at 11 AM and I was understandably a little nervous. However, those feelings quickly passed and I settled in to play my best game. For the record, my first hand ever at the WSOP was a glorious 2-8 off suit...glorious in that I didn't even have to think about playing it. I played pretty tight at first and it became evident that almost my entire table was filled with players that weren't very good. The lone exception was the player on my left, a friendly and personable guy about my age who went by the name of Tex. We got to chatting a little bit and really only got involved in two pots against each other. In one, we were the only players to see the flop and although I had no hand at all, I made a token bluff. He raised right back at me and I laid it down. This was very early, so it didn't cost much. In the other hand, I hit a fluky full house and he laid down his hand after I made a sizable bet on the river.

Shaw B and Erik, my faithful railbirds, also took a liking to Tex's wife, whom they met as they were all watching us. But Tex and I soon parted ways, as our table broke up pretty early. I wouldn't run into him again, although several days later I found out (spoiler warnings for anyone waiting for the ESPN coverage) that Tex went on to make the final table and finish in 3rd place, winning a cool $2.5 million. From all indications, he is a great player and a great guy, so good for him. And I'd bet good money that his wife logs some ESPN camera time.

The rest of Saturday was fairly uneventful. My stack didn't make any huge swings one way or the other. I did knock out a couple of other players and sit next to a couple of other pros, notably Gavin Griffin and Arnold Spee, who were both very nice guys--in 2004, Gavin became the youngest player ever to win a WSOP bracelet; Arnold won a World Poker Tour event in Reno, defeating Phil Ivey, among others. Late that night I went pretty card dead and was basically happy to have survived the day with a bigger stack than I started with. I ended the night with $12,000 and change in chips, which we bagged up at around 2:30 AM. I then went outside to find the longest cab line I've ever seen at a hotel in my life. I got to bed at around 4.

I came back eager and ready to play on Sunday and won a decent pot with AK on the first hand of the day. Shortly after that, former champ Chris Moneymaker busted out three tables away from mine. I got a chance to meet Chris and chat with him a little bit on Thursday and he was incredibly nice and gracious, just a super guy, and accomodating as can be for someone who still gets hounded everywhere by fans.

The cards went dead again and I just hung around, waiting for my shot. It finally came in the afternoon when my stack was down to about $11,000 and I was dealt pocket aces for the first time in the tournament. A very loose player with a big stack two seats to my right raised to $2500, so this was my chance. I wanted to get all of my money in, and I wanted him (and only him) to call me. Thus, it was Hollywood time. With one player sitting between us, I went into full acting mode, leaning out, staring at his stack of chips, then checking my own stack, then looking at him, then at his chips again, then at my cards again...before finally going all in. Everyone else folded, and he called with a suited KQ. I ended up making aces full of tens and my stack went up over $25,000, the highwater mark of the tournament.

Then the cards went dead again. Dan Harrington got knocked out two tables away from me and walked right past me to do an ESPN interview. He got a standing ovation from the whole room, including me. Harrington's two books were a huge help for me, and it felt odd to see him bust out before I did. Apparently I even held up the action at our table for a moment as I was standing and applauding while the action was on me.

Harrington is a tight player and his books preach patience, which had gotten me this far and looked like it would get me to the dinner break again, which was fifteen minutes away when I was dealt pocket kings. I raised to $2500 and got one caller--exactly what you want to happen. He took quite a while to make the call so I thought he had a borderline hand. The flop came 6-8-9. Perfect. I was first to act and bet out $7000. He thought long and hard before calling. He had a ton of chips and clearly was on a draw of some sort. Me, I had about $11,000 left at this point after my two big bets. The turn brought a useless deuce. I thought for a moment, knowing that I had the best hand, and pushed it all in. He eventually called and revealed a 6-7. He had called a $2500 raise pre-flop with a suited 6-7. Absurd. But I was right all along--he was on a draw and I had him beat.

Until a 7 fell on the river. He made two pair, and I was out of the tournament. I was stunned. I made my way out of the tournament area and Erik and I made a beeline to the bar, where we quickly downed several Captain and Diet Cokes and I made a few requisite "I'm out" phone calls and sent a few text messages. I couldn't believe it was over.

After taking some time to get a little distance from everything, I realized that my feelings about everything couldn't be more conflicted. I was completely happy with how I played. I was in the biggest tournament in the history of poker and I finished in the top 20% and outlasted many of my heroes. That felt great. And I went out on a hand that I read right and played right...but it still knocked me out, and that felt terrible. If I had won that hand, I would have been over $50,000 in chips and I would have been looking really good. But it just didn't happen. I had an incredible time and it was a great experience, but I was left with a painful, nagging feeling that I still have been unable to shake: I can play with those guys. They're the best in the world, and I can play with them.

I'll fill in more of what has happened since soon. Nothing earth-shattering, although I have read a couple of good books.

Tuesday - part one

On Tuesday morning, the alarm clock went off at the ungodly hour of 4:10 AM. I had what cannot truly be considered "sleep," but rather a few hours of laying in bed and picturing busting out Phil Hellmuth. But all things considered, I felt surprisingly refreshed and hopped right out of bed.

We arrived at the Little Rock airport shortly before 5 AM. I think that this particular airport has a sum total of 12 gates...which was great. No snags getting to the gate, aside from the woman in front of me who held up the security checkpoint a little bit. Apparently she thought that she'd have no problem clearing the metal detector with her six metal bracelets on.

Once at the gate, I popped on the iPod and tried to catch a quick nap. This prospect was made a little bit tougher by the presence of two young kids, one of whom seemed to be trying to cough up a lung while the other chattered away like a chimp. Naturally, upon boarding, Plauge Girl and Monkey Boy were one row behind me. I debated whether blasting cold air on my face would do anything to combat the germs or just contaminate me quicker. I opted for a light breeze and a cran-apple juice for some much-needed vitamin C.

The plane from Little Rock to Dallas was a puddle-jumper that may or may not have been held together with rubber bands and duct tape. The only thing that could possibly make this flight any less appealing was the captain's announcement that "we've got a couple of things going on." I'm quite sure that during the entire recorded history of air travel, this has never been followed by good news. No pilot ever says "we've got a couple of things going on: surf and turf in coach and free cocktails for everybody!" In this case, the flight was oversold and some weather had come up on our flight route, and we would now be "flying around it." Thus, we took the scenic route over Mississippi and Louisiana. In Dallas, said weather put another kink in the plans, keeping us on the runway for about 90 minutes. I slept the whole time.

In Vegas, I checked into my hotel...at the airport terminal. I cannot explain how brilliant this concept is. The hotel line took 5-10 minutes, after which I was completely checked in, including room keys. Then I walked out to the first baggage carousel, within sight of the hotel line, and immediately grabbed my bag and hopped in a cab. My driver apparently has aspirations of joining the NASCAR circuit, as I'm pretty sure he hit about 200 miles an hour. Fine by me, as he got me there quickly.

I don't want to hog the computer here at the Full Tilt suite for too long, so I'll update again when I can. Juicy content to expect includes my first trip to the Palms, more poker pros than I could shake a stick at, and my official registration for the WSOP (I got Saturday, day three).

Talk to you soon.

Off to Vegas

Well, I leave for the airport in about five hours and tonight, really for the first time, I started to get anxious and excited about everything. I know that it will be a great experience and something I'll remember forever but I don't want to just show up--I want to do well. I guess we'll see how it all turns out.

I'd love to update the blog while I'm out there but I won't have a computer with me so I don't know if it will be possible. But I'll see what I can do. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and I look forward to talking to you soon. World Series, here I come!

Not much happening

I've only got one more physical therapy session scheduled and they moved it from Friday to next Tuesday. Then I see the doc on Wednesday morning, and I really hope for full clearance at that point.

Got the script down to 107 pages with a little tweaking. The problem is that there are a couple of scenes that we want to add, so I haven't decided if we'll just put them in or if we really need to cut something else first.

The Spurs will win tonight. So will ASU in the college World Series.

Started season two of "Alias." Getting full seasons of good TV shows that you've never seen on DVD really is a beautiful thing. I think I might do that with "24" when we finish these. Another supposedly great show that I've never seen.

Sox are red hot. Just wait until we get Schilling back too. Back to back champs? It could happen!

Departure to Vegas countdown: 12 days. I can't wait!

Starting physical therapy

The doctor's appointment went well today. He said that everything looks good and he wants me to start physical therapy right away. My first session will be on Thursday afternoon and then I'll come back three times a week for a month. I let him know that I need to be on a plane the first week of July (Vegas, baby!) and he said it should not be a problem to get the range of motion on my knee up to at least 90 degrees by then. Now, it's at about 50 degrees or so pretty comfortably. I feel great about starting the PT and getting the knee really better but I do feel bad for my poor father-in-law who is going to get stuck taking me every time. But he's completely fine with it.

Anyway, that's it. Here's some other random information--my life is so boring right now that I have to actively think about stuff to put in here. Feel free to add your own answers in the comments if you like:

Last movie attended: Revenge of the Sith
Last CD purchased: Revenge of the Sith soundtrack (which is awesome, by the way)
Last DVD purchased: Seinfeld season four...maybe their best season ever
Last book read: The Closers, by Michael Connelly. Reading it right now.
Last pizza toppings: sausage, mushroom, and meatballs...and when I say meatballs, I mean actual meatballs...good stuff!

Bored

I have absolutely nothing going on but I figured I was due for an update anyway. Poker has been frustrating the last few days because I'm just not catching any cards. I played in a tourney with about 100 people today and came in 15th, but they only paid out to the final nine. I saw less than 20 flops the whole time and still managed to last that long so I think I played all right but still had nothing to show for it. At one point early on I was down to less than half my stack but managed a rally. I'm already dreading what it will be like if I get close to the bubble at the WSOP--the "bubble" being the cut-off for payments out to winners. I suspect that with so many people expected, they'll pay out around 500-600 spots, since last year they paid 225 with about 2500 players. Now, for most people, just finishing "in the money" won't be a big deal because it means that the people at the bottom just break even by getting their $10,000 back. But for me, that's all profit! And it goes without saying that I could really use ten grand right now. But if it gets close, how do I play? Super tight just to finish in the money? Some experts advocate getting very aggressive then, specifically because people tighten up their play just to cash and it's a great time to pick up chips. Who knows, but it's something I hope I'll have to think about sometime down the road.

I booked all of my travel plans. I'm arriving on the morning of July 5 and I have a flight scheduled to leave on Monday, July 11. I say "scheduled" because I really hope I have to change it because I'm still alive in the tournament after day two. But if I do bust out early, I figure at least I'll have the rest of the weekend in Vegas to drown my sorrows. Mom and Dad were kind enough to kick me some of their frequent flier miles, so that's awesome. I'll be staying at the Flamingo--it's got a great central location and, much more importantly, is home to Margaritaville. I guess it's also fair to say that the Flamingo has been lucky for me before, because that's where we stayed for my bachelor party when the Patriots won their first Super Bowl. Let's hope my gambling is anywhere near as successful this time around.

The other "highlight of the week" for me is definitely my lightsaber spoon. This thing rules! I'm using it for my Frosted Flakes every morning. Yes, it's true...I have no life.

Brunson, Chan, Moneymaker...McCandless?!?

Something pretty crazy happened on Saturday night. Most of you know that I enjoy playing poker and play a decent amount on-line. Well, one of the sites that I play at, Full Tilt Poker, has a frequent player points program that they use, and after accumulating a certain, very minimal number of points, I was enrolled in a free tournament that took place on 3:30 Saturday afternoon.

Here's how it worked: 1417 people were signed up, and the first prize was a free buy-in to the $10,000 main event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in July. The big one, the main event, the most prestigious poker tournament in the world, the one that determines the World Champion, the one that ESPN plays and replays incessantly. Anyway, in most tournaments, first place gets the biggest prize (obviously) and other places pay out proportionally. But since the web site was putting on this tournament as a freeroll, there was only one prize--the $10,000 seat for free. Coming in second would be worth absolutely nothing but the pain and heartbreak of knowing that you came so close.

And I won. I actually won. I'll get into the specifics of winning at some other point, but the bottom line is that I'm going to be playing in the WSOP. It is, quite literally, a dream come true. More updates on this will follow. Tons of them. You'll be quite sick of hearing about it, I'm sure.

Today, Monday, is Beth's birthday. We went to her parents' house last night for a nice, quiet dinner. Everyone was surprisingly tired and reserved, myself included. I think I was actually still emotionally spent from the tournament the night before. Clearly, I need to practice and get into better "poker shape" before The Big One.

Okay...I'm off to look for Vegas hotel rooms and watch some World Poker Tour episodes on TiVo, looking for tells from my possible opponents. Oh, I forgot to mention that first place at the WSOP this year is estimated to be around $10 million. *gulp*...