Hem

I recently started listening to Hem, probably best known by most people for their song "Half Acre" which is featured in a Liberty Mutual ad that started airing earlier this year.  I normally cringe when I hear music I have already found and like used in ads (especially, for example, the horrible Of Montreal shill for Outback Steakhouse that you have undoubtedly herad recently.  Yuck.), but I have to admit *sometimes* ads introduce me to new music that is good. 

The album that "Half Acre" is on (Rabbit Songs) is a few years old, but Hem actually now also has a new album out "Funnel Cloud" which is really good.  (They also have a few other albums which I have not yet listened to).  I highly recommend it.  Hem is one of those groups that is really difficult to categorize, but they are sort of country, folksy, and pop/rock all at the same time.  Their singer, Sally Ellyson, has a *fantastic* floaty voice.  Anyways, most people I know would like this band, so you might want to check them out.

Grad School and Misc other topics

I have not posted in an obscenely long time.  All I can say is that my Ph.D program has been kicking my butt - in a good way.  I have been pretty busy with that.  It is a lot more work than I expected, but I guess that is a good thing. 

I've also been playing a lot of poker.  I found a good weekly home game (1/2 NLHE), and I've also been playing at my weekly department NLHE tournament.  My tournament play still sucks.  I am a much better cash game player.  I think my problem is still the patience thing.  Tournaments require too much patience that I don't have.  Oh well - I'm working on it.  In good news, my cash game is becoming much improved.  I've also started to seriously try to learn some other games and I've been playing a lot of HORSE (that would be Hold Em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud Hi, and Stud 8 or better) tournaments online.  I really need to get around to reading up on those games.  There is a local HOE cash game I would like to play in, but I don't feel like I am up to the challenge of a cash game in Omaha or Stud 8 quite yet. 

Jeff and I are going to New Orleans for our 5th anniversary.  It was between NOLA or Montreal and warmer wethare and a casino that spreads poker won out.  Several people I have talked to think we are crazy, but I have talked to a lot of locals and they have all said that the tourist areas are fine.  Considering we are only there for a long weekend, I doubt we will find time to make it out of the tourist areas.  This will also be the first time in awhile that we are going somewhere that I have never been that Jeff has been to before.  That should be interesting.

We also just got back from a wedding in Alabama.  (Congrats Chris and Ali).  It was actually a Jewish wedding in Alabama...with a lot of non-English speaking Germans.  LOL  We had a great time, and me and a couple people from work managed to do the electric slide to some big band music.  Quite entertaining.  Since the wedding was in Huntsville, we had planned to go to the Space Museum (our hotel was literally next door), but we missed a connection in Detroit (yes, we had to fly through Detroit!) and ended up spending 8 hours in the Detroit airport.  At least now it has been renovated, plus I had two papers to write that weekend, so it wasn't horrible for me.  It was probably worse for Jeff who didn't have a laptop or me to entertain him.  :)

This weekend we are going to our first UMD sports event - I got tickets to the homecoming football game against UNC.  Should be a good time.