My First RL Poker Tournament

I played in my first real life (as opposed to online) poker tournament today at Foxwoods.  I was a little nervous going into it and I did make a few blunders, but I ended up having a lot of fun.  About 260 people were in the tournament and I managed to stay in for about 2.5 hours.  I would guess I went out somewhere around the 80's or 90's.  There were about 9 tables left when I went out.  Foxwoods does no limit Hold 'Em tournaments multiple times per week and Jeff always looks forward to going up there whenever we visit my parents.  It's probably a good thing we don't have such a nice casino (with poker) close to where we live.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Went to see this last night.  It was really good.  Unfortunately, it was not quite as good as Lord of the Rings, a movie that it will undoubtedly be compared to.  The LOTR books themselves are probably a little richer than the Chronicles of Narnia, and that shows up on the big screen.  I have to say, I personally enjoyed LWW more than Lord of the Rings, but I know I am biased as the Chronicles of Narnia (specifically LWW) were some of my favorite books growing up. 

Two notable things: Aslan - the CGI was amazing.  In most scenes, I would not have known they were not using a real lion.  There was one part in particular where you could see individual hairs in his mane move - awesome!  The script was also really good.  id odn't remember how many of the one liners came out of the books, but I was snorting (and outright laughing) in several places.

Two things that could have been improved: The score was really lacking.  After seeing LOTR (for example), I rushed out to buy the score on cd.  I don't even remember the music from LWW and this is definitely the kind of movie that could have used some strong musical themes.  Also, one of the most climactic scenes of the book (won't spoil it here) was not as moving as it should have been, imho.

Nonetheless, I definitely think people should go see this movie.

"I just shot John Lennon"

Rolling Stone marks the 25th Anniversary of John Lennon's death with this tribute: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/8898300/johnlennon?rssfeed=musicnews&rnd=1133536183468&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1059

Imagine is still one of the only songs that makes me cry when I listen to it.  RIP, John.

Get a Grip

There is no "war on Christmas".  How absurd.  And if the biggest thing that has your panties in a wad is the White House Christmas card not referencing Christmas, I really think you need to reevaluate your priorities.  I can think of about 769,345,301 other things that should be more important to you.  #1 on the list?  Peace on earth and goodwill to men (and women).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/06/AR2005120601900.html

Stop Yelling At Me...

...you are slowing my healing process?  OK, obviously I'm a fan of research, but I'd really like to know who came up with the idea for this study. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4499080.stm

Holy Crap! Killer Squirrels!

The winner of this week's most ridiculous news story...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm

woot!

One class down, one to go.  I just finished my research paper for my parties class: predicting presidential election outcomes with people's perception of the economy.  Fascinating, I know. 

Late Night Showing of "Walk the Line"

I've come to the conclusion that the best time to see movies is weeknights or Sunday, late at night.  There are generally few people in the theatre so you don't have to get there so early, and the people that do go then don't seem to be as obnoxious.  Or maybe the level of obnoxiousness is the same, it's just less noticeable because there are fewer people.  At any rate, I am a fan of off peak movie watching.

In an attempt to get me out of the house after an entire day sitting in front of my laptop, Jeff took me out to see "Walk the Line" last night.  I had heard lots of good things about the movie so I had high hopes.  My high hopes were mostly realized. 

The acting in "Walk the Line" was truly amazing.  Both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon performed phenomenally.  However, the movie itself could have used some work.  Not that it was bad, it just wasn't on par with the performances.  Some parts could have been edited more effectively and I wish they had been able to focus on the complexities of Johnny Cash rather than the straight up alcohol and drug abuse.  Obviously that was a big part of his life, but at times the movie seemed to reduce it to a stereotypical story of an addict.  It would have been nice to go a little bit deeper.  One scene in particular, where he seems to be inspired to perform in prisons due to letters from inmates could have been explored in a more meaningful way.  (I mean, unless I missed it, they just focused on Folsom prison, when in reality he performed at other prisons, like San Quentin, where interestingly Merle Haggard - then an inmate - heard Cash perform).  At times the movie seemed to reduce Cash to just another addict musician, when he was so much more.

All in all it was good though, and the performances of the two leads are certainly worthy of Oscar nomination.  And hey - if it gets more people to listen to Johnny Cash music, it's all good.

But the Rainbow Has A Beard

Hats off to Ginger Baker.  Every once in awhile I get in the mood to revisit some of the cd's I own that I haven't listened to in awhile.  It's like musical comfort food.  Recently I've been on a rediscovering Cream kick.  I used to listen to them a lot (on vinyl, LOL) in high school.  So this morning I am driving into work and listening to my copy of Disraeli Gears.  Good stuff.  One of my favorite songs on that album is SWLABR (which stands for she was like a bearded rainbow - don't ask me - I have no idea).  I challenge anyone to listen to that song and notw ant to run out and buy a drum kit...or at least start playing air drums.

An Apology to the French

In a follow up to my rant about the French government blaming rappers for the riots, I would like to offer an apology.  I can now see how songs might induce rioting...

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69697,00.html?tw=wn_story_top5

NME News Flash - Lots of Belle and Sebastian Goodness

http://www.nme.com/news/belle-and-sebastian/21552

Belle and Sebastian are releasing an iTunes exclusive live album on 12/6.  All proceeds are going to charity.

B+S are also releasing a studio album on 2/6.  Jeff - you could buy it for me for Valentine's day.  ;)