Warmer days and qualifier woes.

The sudden infusion of warm...nay, HOT...weather into the Bay Area this last weekend and week got me out of the house and helped me get over a cold.

Piggy and I went to see a great game with the Phillies and Giants where the Pil'delfia batboys trounced the streaking SF Giants and really showed off their skills. I'll let her post the pics, but we were really pretty close to the action. No foul balls (darn it) but some GREAT batsmanship out of the Phils and the Barry-less Giants. You see, Barry does not play a day game after a night game, cause he might get a boo-boo on his syringe thumb or something and not be able to juice properly without a full 24 hours rest...or some crap like that. Anyway, the Bond-ster is at 745 as we speak, just 10 shy of Hammering Hank (who mysteriously -- along with the commissioner of baseball -- don't seem to want to be near Bonds when he breaks his record.) and a much debated place in baseball history. Right up there is Babe Ruth being one of the best starting pitcher the Sox ever had. Seriously...where did those guys go? If we are all bigger, stronger, faster, etc. where is the pitcher with the .347 average and 30+ dingers to go with a sub 3 ERA?

Worked the techno-glitzy Software 2007 conference this week in Santa Clara. I think it was good all around. Now back to sorting out the new place. Which, when the fog is out, had a great view from the back deck.

Poker, poker, how 'bout the poker. With the WSOP fast approaching, I have been on a bender (live and online) of attempting to qualify. Unfortunately, I have nothing great to report right now. The busted live qualifiers and a bevy of online tries that have sapped my bankroll have made me think I may have to raise the cash the old fashioned way and just win it. Or at least win enough to play some satellites while I'm there if I roll up a starting stake. Wish me luck, patience and clarity.

The otter finds the otters! Well, this weekend I "cashed in" my Valentines Day gift from the piggy and we motored on over to the Monterray Bay Aquarium to see their new 'Wild About Otters' exhibit and the rest of the place too. Here are some pictures. I promise we'll get some of the house too when, we'll when someone reminds me at an opportune time. Details below.

Me and the statue of an Asian Small Clawed Otter. Those guys are crazy! Kinda like this dude.

The biggest female liked to hog all the toys in the tub in the middle of the tank.Big, cute, fuzzy faces.
This is the position that Sea Otters spend most of their time in. They sleep like this wrapped in kelp.The caged fuzzy furry of a horde of river otter pups!
The BIG saltwater tank!
Woo Hoo!!

My road has s'plode! (www.homestarrunner.com reference...deal.) So, much to the chagrin of Rosie O'Donnell and her 9-11 conspiracy ilk, the accident that pretty much melted the overpass in the MacArthur maze has caused traffic havoc here in San Francisco. Apparently though, pretty much everyone is over it in 24 hours with a free commuter pass and a pat on the back. It did flood the trains for one day as everyone jumped on the 'freebie' ride to work on Monday, but congestion was down by about half today, showing that it must have been worth about $5 of inconvenience. I don't take that road (I-80 and 880) anymore since I moved onto the peninsula but I can only imagine what it did to the auto traffic. Probably looks like LA now. I'm really cheesed off about something else that happened on the BART today. I'll post again after I follow up with that. Just thought I'd let everyone know that the exploding truck and resulting transit mess has left me unscathed and unscarred.

The Brit Bus Tour has stopped in San Francisco. All Aboard Mate!

Pretty fun time and a great group of folks putting things together. CLICK HERE! to see more about it! Anyway, Julia Jones, The Crave and the Jyrojets are on this tour and I got to see them do an acoustic bit on Thursday at the King George Hotel and a "Pub Crawl" Tour today with three stops and a sudden FREE PASS to see the Kaiser Chiefs perform at thw Warfield . AMAZING stuff. Sometimes its good to be me. "My Favorite Thing About Jane" by the Jyrojets sounds clean, ready, and catchy. My bet for the hit song of the tour! Look for these guys on a radio near you soon.

Touring around San Fran in a double decker will get you some looks, but I think the best thing was easily the people and the music. The PR team, event guys and the bands were all solid people and great folks to go on a Pub Crawl with. Cheers fellas! And "The Crave" owe me a pint when I get back to the UK.

Beer Glorious Beer. For those of you in my circle that do not appreciate fine micro-brewing or beer in general, go put on your worry-wart hats and sit in the corner for a while. This post is not for you. For those that do, wellll....

Yesterday I attended a 'Tion' for the Russian River Brewery at The Toronado in the Lower Haight here in San Francisco. Two things:

First: The Toronado should be on any beer lover Haj. (Yes I'm trying to be ironic, not bigoted.) In the midst of so many fine breweries in the NW US, this bar continues to stand out as the home of great, craft brewed and non- traditional beer. It looks like a biker bar/dive from the outside but when you enter and get an order in past the surley, tatto laden barkeep, you will have a world of fermented fabulousness at your fingertips. It serves NO FOOD! It is a beer bar. But it is perfect happy to allow you to toddle in with baskets or paper plates from the almost equally as locally legenday Mythic Pizza or Sausage Parlor that flank it. What more could you ask for? www.toronado.com

Second: The Russian River brewery produces some brew that PACKED the house all night for this event. They weren't giving it away, they were selling it on a Wednesday and the result was an elbow-to-elbow-buy-4-at-a-time event. The Pleny the Elder (an IPA) and Lap Dance win the 'keepin' it realz' beer name award. Most of the catalog is very religious. Links below:

• Little White Lie
• Redemption
• Perdition
• Benediction
• Damnation
• Deification
• Erudition
• Rejection
• Salvation
• Sanctification
• all at www.russianriverbrewing.com

Go ye forth and find one to enjoy. You will thank me for it.

Cheers Big Ears!!

14 innings end in disappointment! Outside of the fact that I was hanging out with a ton of great people from work, Philly Piggy, Mo-Piggy and leading the band when it came to cheering the Cardinals Wednesday at AT&T/Pac-Bell/Cingular/Nextsponsorplease Park I felt a bit of a pang of regret when the game ended. After 14 innings of hard fought baseball, the Cards inability to keep up a steady batting average and some blunders with coaching and communication ultimately cost the Red Birds the win against the very sucky San Francisco Giants. Maybe its just karmic revenge for getting a mass of people together to go to a game where I was rooting against the home team. Bah, who knows. At least we saw Pujols pop a dinger and Bonds put number 738 into McCovy Cove.

Good luck to Frank Frisina of www.lifesabluff.com as he heads off to Vegas hoping to build his business, play in a ASPCA celebrity pro-am charity tournament and hopefully fleece some WPT tourists at the poker tables all in one trip. Killer Flops and Suckas' Drawing Dead, Franky Bones. Don't pop a lung...again. Seriously.

This last weekend was the little otter's 4th birthday party and we got her a big ol' back yard swing set. Her backyard 'park' as she put it, was an instant hit and will probably be the source of a lot of "time for dinner" fits from her mother. Everyone had a great time and I'll be sending out some photo CDs to family soon. If you don't get one, email me.

Also, the move is complete and we have a new home number! Yep, no more cell-phone only for Waldo, I have been shoved into the world of land lines yet again. Mass email to friends and family coming soon.

PS -- I hate parking enforcement and community bureaucracy.

We be moved in!! The new Palcio de Otter y Piggy has all our stuff in it. Still some unpacking and sorting to do and TV etc. to hook up, but we are now officially there! If you don't have the new address call or email me.

Its a tight street but we've managed to work out a couple parking spots. The neighbors are plentiful but fairly friendly. Some issues with very few power outlets, but that is about it. I'll edit up some photos soon.

The UK wrap up post...a week late.

OK, so here we have a slightly late but entertaining bit. Two days after the train jumper-offer, we had a train jump in-fronter. Ewww. Needless to say it caused a delay as the driver was to shocked to carry on. I got into London OK that weekend and met up with some Welsh friends to have a night out before heading off to the SW for my last few days. Many, many drinks in many bars in the "interesting" SoHo area later, we saw Fergie (or formerly/kinda with the Black Eyed Peas chick) come on stage for all of three numbers. Not sure if it was worth the wait, but it was a bit more remarkable than sitting on my butt all night.

Did a little wandering around the Covent Garden area and its ritzy shops and old pubs the next day and afternoon. Did you know it actually was named in a spelling error. "Convent Garden" was the original name. Funny. Hopped yet another train for Taunton in Somerset. We did not have anyone climb on or jump off in irregular ways, but we were late anyway.

Somerset, Exeter and Wochester we all great little bits of the smaller city/countryside in England. Beautiful little places with lots of charm. Its always stunning how much the country changes from region to region in the UK. Many times very distinctly in the time it would take you to drive across a medium sized US state. Met with several interesting businesses but each day was punctuated by a brewery. Darwin's Brewery, Cotleigh Brewery and the Weston's Cider Brewery. Perry. That is all I have to say. Yum.

Just for posterity, I'd like to point out that I'm not a complete lush. Its just hard NOT to drink when out with the British and when you job revolves around helping Food & Drink Companies in the UK (including breweries) make it to the US...you get in a situation or two where there will be drinks. Fabulous breweries though, most at least 100 years old (two much more) in their history with a mix of "ancient" technology and very modern process.

The flight home was the Premium Economy that I was SUPPOSED to have the first time. The big seats UPSTAIRS in the Virgin Atlantic Airliner. Very posh. I had to bounce through LA to get home a little earlier. Ya' see, Piggy and I are moving up to Daly City. It should cut down on both of our commutes and cut out the tolls as we will be on the peninsula. So, rent goes up but costs go down...and I can have more of my day that is NOT a commute. Hard to put a price on that. BUT, we now have an actual HOUSE so all of you wishing to visit have a place to stay and you don't have to worry about condo rules, neighbors, etc. Email me if you want the new address, etc.

I'm thinking about getting a dog.

UK Trip Report: Bag thief jumps off train.
OK, well, I'll lead with the interesting story. I'm on a GNER train heading for London and somewhere between York and Duncaster, the train slows to a halt and a "attention, customer has pulled the emergency handle" sounder comes on. Turns out some jackass (I think it was a drunken sot walking up and down the aisles for a while before) grabbed a couple of plastic bags and JUMPED OFF THE FRIGGING TRAIN. Yes, while it was moving. The train was already an hour behind due to switching problems up north and this wasn't too much of a delay. They calmly explained the issue to us and started rolling again, adding in, while he may have avoided oncoming train traffic, if he got hit it was probably what he deserved." I love these folks in the northern side of the island.

So, back to the semi-boring stuff. I started out in London at a big food trade show and met a lot of great people. Made about £120 at the Pot Limit Hold Em game at the Gutshot Club (still holding on as it fights for appeal to the rather BS sentence passed in London. All poker players, please go to www.Gutshot.com and click the banner to help.) and they were PACKED on Saturday night. I was jetlagged and had crashed for 8-9 hours when I landed so found myself wide awake at 11:30 in London. Nothing to do but go play some poker. From there I traveled the Northwest region, past the midlands and near Wales and saw the outskirts of the Lakes district. So damn picturesque you could just stare at it for hours.

Fast forward a couple of days to Newcastle in the North East. Just off the border to Scotland, this town has dragged itself out of an industrial malaise and really jumped forward to be a part of the modern economy. They also have a Grovesnor Casino that hosts a nightly poker tournament and game. This was a lil' £10 pot limit rebuy, but we generated about £1300 in the prize pool and I took down my first pot limit hold 'em tournament and got a nifty card protector and some new card buddies out of the rather late night. Got to see a ton of the city walking about (in the rain.) and saw the revitalized Quay-side district (pronounced KEY-side) and had a pint in a pub over 200 years old and some FANTASTIC authentic Chinese food at Hei Hei. Its nice to have a job where its my "duty" to do these things. I think I'll miss Newcastle. I'll have to come back longer next time. Hopefully with better weather. Aye. That's it, n'dt it?

Well, I am blogging from a moving train (huzzah!) and this brings us almost up to the moment on our train jumper and my time out and about. Busy little otter here lately. Almost time for some very important birthday parties and the stretch towards winning my way into the World Series of Poker.

Cheers Big Ears!

BUSTED! Well, the excitement is over. One misstep and I bit it. I think this pic will say everything I could. for more www.cardplayer.com

Day 1b. Stopped in for a peek and to "flex" that Lifesabluff.com media street cred.

The nightmare scenario! 5 bounties, 6 total pros, 3 other guys that could get rich if they weren't scared to death. Chip Reese elminated Jen harmon and Gus Hanson in one hand catching a flush against Hanson's KK and Harmon's set of Tens. Total players: Seat 1 Gus Hanson, 3 "Miami" John Cernuto, 5 Amir Vahedi, 7 Jen Harmon, 8 Nedad Menic, 9 Chip Reese.

MiMi Tran and Joe Pelton. MiMi got knocked out...when I left, lil' Joe remained!

John Juanda and Ted Forest...neighbors.

Tough Table again...The Grinder and Patrick Antonius.

Eric Sidel is F'N TALL!

Mr. Chan is not amused.

Lloyd and Sam! The guys that REALLY run tournaments at the Bay 101.

Tod Brunson lets his hair down! Fresh off a 3rd in the 2k event, bust out level 8, Day 1b.

I SURVIVED!! And then some! The first day of the Bay 101 Shooting Star is over and not only did I survive Phil Helmuth Jr. at my table (well, three hours late Phil Helmuth) but I finished with 66k in chips putting me somewhere in the Day 1 top 25 (bottom end) unofficially between Scotty Nguyen and Allen Cunningham. Because I'm not a pro...no online listing yet. here are some pictures though! Enjoy.

The Bay 101 -- SHOOTING STARS! (Day 1) www.bay101.com

Behind me, David Williams, Eric Lindgren and Phil Helmuth Jr. Chat it up. To big fat heads.
The owner of the Bay 101, then Eli Elesra, Daniel Negranue (sporting the local hockey jersey) and Scotty Ngyuen.

The poker side of the Bay 101...fat dealer scratching his head.

Tod Bruson on his way to finishing 3rd in the 2k event with a first prize of 100k. Get the results at www.carplayer.com!

(above) and me! Hey look! I have chips!

Strangaties. I noticed today that I know people at work, and I know my old friend (who I don't see enough) but I don't know anyone outside of work. My social network is an issue. I've started making friends with select people at card rooms but that rarely does anything more than "where was that home game?" and "good to see you, let me by you a drink to celebrate your win, etc." I'm trying to do more, but I'm getting sidetracked to the journal post for today.

I had the thought today as I was parking to jump on the train that I am really familiar with my fellow commuter's cars. I see the same ones almost daily. When I am running on time, we park in almost the same places and, I assume, they are sitting somewhere near me on the train but I don't know them. Its weird being lonely and yet surrounded by people. If it wasn't for my friends occasionally touching base electronically or Philly Piggy at home, I think that kind of thing is enough to drive someone nuts. Maybe this techno-isolation we all fall into in the modern world is what is causing some people to snap. Reality fades and loneliness and a need for meaning, place and purpose warp into something sinister. Meh. Who knows. All I know is that the dog lover in the blue Mazda 3 hatchback needs to fill her right read tire and I don't know how to tell her.

Quake N' Shake Part One!

WooHoo! My first California earthquake. I've been out here for YEARS and this is the first one that I felt. It was a bit like the furnace kicking on in an old apartment/house and then a couch giggle no stronger than your neighbor shaking their leg...but I FELT it. There have been 3 or 4 in the Bay Area since I've been here but I have been driving or sleeping and they have been pretty small. It was about a 4.0 centered in Laffayette, which is a bit north of me. Some of my co-workers actually had a house shaker, so bully for me on not moving yet. Anyway, that seemed significant enough to blog.

Big Vist, Big Win, Big Weekend to come.

I have recently been away from the blog for a while and I have been getting no end in grief, so allow me to recount a great weekend with my little otter in St. Louis. She is going to be 4 in April and in a snowed in environment, she is her own entertainment center. We did too much paling around to recount everything but I'll highlight a few things. We built our first snowman while we were playing at the Rabbit Run park. It was great watching her play on the playground and explore with another three year old that was there. We have VIDEO and photos that need to be put on disk and mailed out to the family. So, now you can bother me about that! ;) We had an interesting nap time where she insited on putting ME to bed and then reading me the story I read her. Of course, then she was tired and tossed me out so she could sleep. Hilarious really. She is so stubbon and independant that I hope I can hone it into a plus in her later life so she can chase things down that she really wants. Her Mom and stepdad need a lot of support and prayers now so please drop them a line and include them daily. They have been through a ton and have been great parents and role models for the little otter. These aren't the kind of things that you get paid for in life, but they should be. Bless them. Bless them big.

On a complete flip side of my life, your boy may finally hit it big. A huge tournament win this past weekend (and a horrible beat, but lets focus on the positive) I have won my way into the $10,000 WPT (World Poker Tour) Bay 101 Shooting Star here in San Jose. That means I will be playing for the 1.5 million dollar first prize with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negranue and more. I'm am completely nervous and pumped at the same time. I am hoping that my friends in the poker world can talk me though this and get my head straigh because I am fairly sure I can take home some cash with my "A" game and with some luck, some life changing money. This has been a dream of mine since I started playing tournament poker right before the 2003 Chris Moneymaker led poker boom and next to the main event of the World Series of Poker, this is about as big of a stage as you get. Its wierd to have people rooting for you in a poker room. Strange, because it tends to be such a selfish environment. Stange because you are afraid they want something but they are legitimately happy for you in many cases. Well, this is going to be my shot on March 12th. That reminds me, I need to put in for leave.

I know many of you might not understand my poker 'hobbie' or the fact that it has paid for many things I would not have otherwise been able to afford or kept me afloat when I was jobless. Know that this is not taken lightly, but is something I have put years of study and practice into and is something I know how to do. And yes, I am taking all precautions necessary, but as I stand on the edge of playing with the pros, I have to ask for your support and understanding. Who knows, your boy might be on TV soon.


This is the Otter, aka RuntCake, aka The Waldo Brother 2, out.

Super Bowl Sunday. At least they have commercials.

Funny note from NFL.com. In a fan poll, the LEAST popular option for "who would you like to see in the Super Bowl" was Colts v. Bears. Most popular Saints v. Patriots. I couldn't agree more. I hope I'm wrong but I can only think its either going to be a Manning led blowout for the Colts. Or a defense dominated, low scoring yawn fest for the Bears. But! Record setting ad spend, so that should get funny.

I'm heading to VEGAS tomorrow. Yes, for work. I think I'll sneak in some time at the Venetian poker tables as well since I'll be working there most of the days. I might even get to see Jerry Lee Lewis play. Something that will make my Dad wildly jealous, but I'm sure Old Killer is more Old than Killer now-a-days. I don't care, BB King still rocked the house, I'm sure Jerry Lee will make it work too. Look for an update and a new article on www.lifesabluff.com afterward.

Work is killing me lately, thus the lack of posts. Please forgive my lack of communication. Its not you, its me. Really, I should see other selves because I'm probably holding me back from real happiness.

On the born and breeding front! Mr. & Mrs. Schmucke have brough beautiful Ms. Addison into the world and Mr. & Mrs. Tuck have announced they are expecting another bundle of joy. Beautiful people that deserve beautiful children. Congratulations!

D Day for the Saints!

Sunday at 11am Pacific I will walk OUT of wherever I am an into the "fan zone". Truly, I have waited 22 years for this day...and we are not into the Super Bowl yet. I know they are playing uphill...In Chicago, Outdoors in cold weather, against a killer defense...but I know they can do it.

Manning or Brady in the Superbowl and I think the Saints, playing a such a super-team, can take them down. There is just one hurdle between the Saints and the longest SuperBowl dry streak ever.

I have never felt this freaked out about an upcoming sporting event. Even if you count some of my biggest poker tournaments or games as sports. Roll Saints! Lets knock em dead.

London on Ice...with a Bar too!

Basically, I have promised and promised an update on London and have failed. This is just a highlight of the trip and a way to let some of the fellow travelers on that trip have a way to download the pics as they appear to be to big to email. So, without further adue, the Ice Bar London, a room where you have to dress in a special thermal parka (great for the fashion challenged like me) and EVERYTHING is ice, right down to the glasses.

Stupid f*£%^g fortune cookies.

Well, it was a mildly unfortunate weekend. It started off when I brought home some take out Chinese coming home from work. Food was ok, but I was eating "healthy" so, no MSG bliss (or post meal hyper-bowel evacuation...but that isn't what you tuned in for is it?). Even non-superstitious people hate getting weird vibes/omens. We'll our two fortunes were something along the lines of "Your Luck Will Return in the Autumn" and "The best throw of the dice is to throw them away." At least one was a fortune and not a piece of wisdom, but that weekend the Chiefs stunk up the joint and the Eagles will now be playing the Saints next week. I can't hide my fervor for the Saints this year (or any year...just something to cheer about this year) and Piggy's favoritest team is the Eagles, so I might be sleeping on the couch soon. This is not the situation you want with your GF. Well, I guess that is the price you pay for having a tall, sexy, sports-loving, gas-tolerating lady in your life.

Anyway, went out on the bubble of a WPT satellite/tournament and came within 8 of 10K. It tough to deal with, but I thought I played really well on a short stack with cold cards for the longest time. Lost a race and there was one call I could have made with no guarantees, but I have to like the fact that I play one decent tournament live a week (most weeks, not counting the holiday tourney-fest between Christmas and New Years) and I've been finishing in the top 18 consistently, that is something to be proud of. The cash games actually made the whole thing to a positive day by fraction, but a positive none the less. Yeah bankroll stabilization!


Working the online angle a bit. Cashed in one for $891 during Christmas and while that is not that big, I was happy to survive the insane play that accompanies the holiday/break time tournaments. Also, since the online frontier is one that I've been hacking away at, this years positive growth and "chunk-o-cash" deposit in the bank makes it feel worthwhile. Now I just have to get my earning-per-hour up to speed and we will be talking about viable "earned from home" income that will keep me off the road hunting for good games.

Piggy did some great cooking over the Holidays including a Christmas spread I haven't had since I was living at home and the grandparents were alive! Plus super-duper baked goods. They are gone now and the road to a slimmer, trimmer, more aero (aqua?) dynamic otter begins!

Peace and luck in the New Year...and ignore your fortune cookies.

The new year starts off with a COUGH!
"So that is how the world ends, with a whimper, not a bang."

Well, its 2007 now. I've been sick since Christmas and I'm still getting over it now. I went ahead and took a day off work today to rest up as I have a TON going on this month with travel, events and a backlog of pre-end of year housekeeping...taxes, insurance, and maintenance junk. Ugh! One of my goals (resolutions) is to get back to the positive outlook I had on things pre-2000, but its gonna be hard. Oh well, that is the choice you make getting out of bed in the morning.

My New Years Resolutions:
1. Make an impact at my job and become a key player in the system during my first year.
2. Get down to 200lbs. by June.
3. Bet that poker bankroll up to $20,000 by the end of next year! (Sub goals to this I won't bother you with now.)
4. Move closer to the city and my job, get more time for a life.
5. Send more pictures to my family. Yeah, it could be on this blog!

Anyway, just wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone. I was miserable the whole weekend so thanks to those that called me and sorry if I missed you otherwise.

Check out the new interviews and articles I've done at www.lifesabluff.com

(Yes mom, its about poker)

Chiefs nail the Raiders and I'm still alive!!!

Well, to all of you who thought I would die in the black hole, sorry to disapoint ya. The Chiefs took it to the Raiders and have a chance to drop into the playoffs a little bckwards with a win against Jacksonville. Scratch that. Jets won and they got nadda of a shot. I think if the Jets loose to the Raiders (pfft, right) the Chiefs might have a shot to win in, but I won't cross my fingers too hard. HOWEVER!! The Saints have locked up a spot for the first time in years!! What a GREAT year for my boys! Hell yes. This will be the year someone gets decked for calling me a bandwagon fan...I'm fairly sure of it. Saints v. Charger Superbowl. You heard it here first!!


Pics from the Raider/Chief beating. Hint: They ain't friendly or happy with a 2-fer team!

Its the Thanksgiving Travel marathon!!! Well, I am off to the following states: PA, NY, NJ, MO and possibly KS. Now go play Scrabble with those.

Its a run to do the Holiday Hello thing and catch up with my family which is scattered all about. I'll be meeting my brothers up in NYC for dinner and maybe a show after meeting Philly Piggy's parents and seeing her old stomping ground (rooting grounds? Who knows...) with a trip to Atlantic City with her Mom worked in there. The its off to Missouri to meet up with my Mom, visit my little otter and maybe get down to see dad or over to see the crew in KC. I try to stay flexible on these things as holiday travel can be anything but predictable most times.

I know I owe a London write up, I'll try to work on it on the plane. I'm backed up on real work so that will take precedence. Hope this helps everyone keep up with Waldo.

Well its been a fun, challenging and enlightening experience the last couple weeks. I head home tomorrow morning and then immediately proceed to bounce out across the country on holiday travels. I think those should be fun too.

London has been great but I am a little to tire to get into it now so expect and update soon with pictures (I took a lot!). Don't forget to check out the WPT Website The guys from Life's A Bluff have been made their official web comic! Go do the clicky-clicky thing and make sure that they stay on! Its in the lower right hand corner...go now!

CARDS WIN!! ...and I'm leaving the country.

So the World Series news is old but I've had some busy days recently and havn't had time to update the old BLOG. Great news for St. Louis on the tail of being voted the most dangerous place to live. yeah murderers from East SI-EEED.

I'll be hopping a plane to London on business soon. I'll be gone a couple of weeks so I expect the Piggy to be happy and partying with her friends in the mud hole. I'm snaking in some pleasure and sightseeing along with the business as it is my first time there. Wheeee! Rack up another country for old Uncle Traveling Matt.

'Pine Tar' Rodgers ties up the series.

I try not to get too worked up...I really do. I usually fail as I am little too passionate about things. I was willing to get past the pine tarring accusations until I heard KR's response that it was just "a big ole clump of dirt...I washed it off". What kind of dirt is shit and caramel colored and leaves a visible yellow residue after being washed off? Either admit to it or tell us you didn't wash you hands after the bathroom ran out of TP. Man.

OK, I have to get back to work but this had to get out there.

GO CARDS! ROLL SAINTS!!

PS -- I am in two outter hell. Knockouts both days on the incredible 3% turn cards. But again, I think I'm handling it well. Nothing is broken in my car, house or card room! ;)

Molina comes up to bat, YADDA YADDA YADDA, Cards are going to the World Series.


Old news as of today, but I have been a little busy. I could not, however, resist this Seinfeld reference. Tonight's win makes me feel GREAT! (Tiger pun attended) Still a soft spot for D-roit as to my years on the T-ball and little league team of same name, but screw that, CARDS IN '06 BABY!

The Bay 101 Open 1K Spread Limit Hold 'Em event was today. I played with JJ Lieu, last years top female points finisher (Card Player Magazine) for most of the event but was busted in 87th place when my Aces were cracked by Kings when the two-outer hit on the turn. (For the un-initiated, that means there were two cards left to help him and the 4th card out of 5 was one of them.) Big 2K is tomorrow so off to bed and victory for me now.

MOB OF WALDOS TO ATTACK SAN FRANCISCO!! Some believed to be ZOMBIES!

Ninjas and Pirates of the Bay Area are planning a retaliation.

My brothers, now is the time for every WALDO' of the world to UNITE!! From the fabled book character to that poor nerd in the Van Halen Video "Hot for Teacher." November 11, 2006!!

http://waldo.castlepeakstudios.com/

Saints Win, Chiefs Lose, Go Cards and a Poker Update.

Well, the Chiefs embarrassed themselves in Pittsburgh this weekend. As a friend of mine put it "they found out that the Steelers could wake up and remember they were a SuperBowl team and take it out on someone." Why not last week in San Diego then? Damn. But, I am happy to note that my new pick for NFC Champion...the New Orleans Saints, are now 5-1 after beating a formidable opponent in the Philadelphia Eagles. Since this is Piggy's team, it made for some cold conversation, but I can woot and cheer all I want on my blog! WOOT! CHEER! ...ah, who am I kidding.

The Bay 101 Open Players Points freeroll kicked off the Bay 101 Open Tournament series this Sunday. Yours truly finished 6th taking home a nice prize package but falling a few short of my goal of a big win or at least a seat in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star in March. But, I still have a few months to shoot for that. Big games this Saturday or Sunday so if you have any lucky objects, rub them for me. If you have any voodoo dolls, please take the pins out!

GO CARDS! by the way. If last night's shellacking ties it up, the Cards have a LOT to prove as they head back to New York to stomp down the Mets shot at the World Series. I will admit to having a secret hope for the Detroit Tigers after my years of suffrage on jr. teams of the same name. Rawr.

I....Bluffed...JamesWoods! (Sung to the Family Guy tune of "I love James Woods")

While it only happened once, it did give me a chance to write that headline. To be honest, I think he was on to me, but had no hand whatsoever and had to fold. But James is so good, you can't tell when he's acting, on screen or at the table. (Yes, that is a complement.) What....OH! You want an explanation. Geez.

OK, so last weekend I shot down to LA to play in a few of the Big Poker Oktober tournaments and interview some of the regular players in the Live At The Bike webcast high stakes game for www.lifesabluff.com while I was there. This was also a warm up for a few big tournaments I have won my way into locally, the Bay 101 Open Player's Points Freeroll, the Oct. 21st 1K event and the Oct. 22nd 2K event. How the hell else can I afford to fly everywhere, visit everyone and send out Christmas gifts to all you wonderful people?

A few bonuses happened along the way, unfortunately, one of them was not me winning the tournament. I only played one tournament. It was an expensive one and the bad luck that kicked me out was palpable for about a 3 table radius. But, I kept my chin up and kept it fun and light. Brooding leads to bad play and besides, ya can't win them all. What this DID do is end up putting me in a cash gam on the casino floor with none other than James Woods and his darling girlfriend. Both quite excellent players. I left the game up 150% from my buy in, so I was a happy man at 3 a.m. but not nearly as happy as the fellow who left up about 5K or Mr. Woods who was probably sitting on a couple extra grand. I'll have to tune into his new TV drama "Shark" (sleazy defense lawyer turned tricky prosecutor) to see how he does there. He's planning to appear at the Bay Area's big event, the Bay 101 Shooting Star and we joked that we'd see each other at the final table. At least he did. He can watch me in reruns on TV next year.

I got an interview not only with the team of Live @ the Bike fame (all of these faithfully transcribed by Piggy, the darling) but also poker pro and fast rising star Kenna James. What most impressed me was his work with the Wounded Warrior Project and I knew that I had to get him on tape for an interview. Kenna is pleasant, jocular and took time for an AMAZING amount of people from pros and well knows (Jerry Bus, James Woods etc.) to people from his old playing days in LA. A class act. Look for those write ups.

Well, fast forward to me surviving a late night drive back up the state and you get to where I am now. Itching for this weekend and the Bay 101 Open freeroll and next weekend and the big events.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about this little poker romp. Cheers big ears!!

A Saintly Chief's Performance but Not a Chiefly Saint performance....

OK, so that intro line sucked. Pardon me I'm mostly deaf and tired from a late night rock concert last night with Shine Down, Rob Zombie and Godsmack. For those of you who don't know them, just skip down a paragraph. I had a GREAT time at the show and Piggy concurs (http://phillypiggy.blogspot.com/) that Uncle Rob stole the show. Godsmack did a hell of a job, but the Zombie Army isn't one yo want to compete with for stage presence. I don't know why the hell I waited this long to go to a real hard rock show. THROW A GOAT UP AND SAY HELL YEAH!!

So, the Chiefs awoke from a slumber and went spare on the lowly 49ers, fresh off their beating by Philly (I witnessed it and put an old-man-stomach-punch-hoodoo-curse on the Niners apparently) and they get Arizona and fresh faced rookie QB and Hilton Boy-Toy Matt Linert next week. Ahhhh, the joys of finally having a soft scheudle and a concious QB. Look for them to go big again next week. Also, look for me to die somewhere around December 23rd as I will be at the "Black Hole" in Oakland in full Chief Gear for that ass kicking as well. More details later.

The Saints played a hell of a game Sunday but could not stop a recently re-gelled Panther's squad at home. One escape and run by DeShaun Foster and a slow 3rd quarter left the Crecent City Boys huslting to the end. They did it with some beautiful play (Colston will be a home town hero), guts (beautiful 2 pt. conversion) and gaul (A deep onside kick they failed to recover) but I still expect them to remain on top of the NFC South all year, just cause I said so! ;)

Hope everyone has a great week. Wish me luck as I sojurn to LA to push my luck at the Bicycle Casino's "Big Poker October" event. It is running along side the start of a big event in Vegas so I'm hoping the overlay will be nice and the competition thinned out! More money for the "bail me out of college loans" fund.

Monday Night Football...best game EVER!!

Well, until the Saints arrive at the Super Bowl at least. Anyway, last night's 23-3 victory by the Saint's in their return to the Superdome may not have been an offensive clinic, but I won't argue with the results. The Crescent City Crew eliminated the advantage of the most prolific athalete in the NFL and his crew with crushing defense and a non-stop, sprit filled effort from every team memeber. I have no doubt that Atlanta will do well this year, but the Saint's showed that when they are playing at the top of their game that they will be VERY difficult to shut down this year.

3-0!!! Can you believe it! I watched the whole thing at a place called the Royal Exchange on the Embarcadero here in the Financial District. There were a couple other Saints fans in attendance, but it was mostly me, Piggy and two aquantinces from work chowing down, drinking up and roaring for the team. Man, it was amazing from the first series to the final gun.

Congratz Saints! And roll on!!!!!

EDIT NOTE: Apparently, it was the best game ever in a sense. ESPN reports that it is the most watched cable show of all time. 11.8 share and 10.8 million homes watching!

Eagles win! ...and geriatric violence.

So it was a really good weekend. I started off by getting up WAY to early on a Saturday for my sojourn down to the Bay 101 Casino to play in the poker tournament that they hold there on Saturday. Its now the only one in town and starts at OH MY GOD o'clock so it keeps the pretty hardcore in attendance. But hey, as a workin' man, I have no options. Well, luck was with me as well as some crappy cards (how is that good you ask? well, trust me, it can be) and I ended up splitting the first place prize and heading home quite a bit heavier in the wallet. Even though I had the chip lead I gave up a $50 jacket for the chance to to loose a couple thousand. I thought it was smart. My usual style was stunted as I saw almost zero decent hands and played only 2 before the first break (won them both) and 5 after that break (before the final table) that weren't my unraised big blind. Thankfully, I won them all due to a tight table image and not getting run over. At the final table I took my only bad beat and was left literally with a single $5K chip and a chair and battled my way back to have the chip lead at the finish. As usual, it was noted I was having "too much fun" being happy and generally good natured about the whole experience, but I figure if you aren't having fun, you shouldn't be there. Besides, smiling scares people a lot more than frowning most days. (I could go in depth here but since my audience is mostly family and friends you probably either get it or don't care.)

Sunday was more fun as we went to Monster Park to watch the Eagles and the Niners as mentioned below. Besides being fairly ghetto, this was a great place to watch the game and it was nice and sunny in our seats so I got some late summer sun and generally had a good time. Most of the fans were cool as we discussed how much better the Niners were getting even though they were loosing from the starting whistle (almost literally, the Eagles scored in their first three plays from scrimmage) except for one old crotchety bastard that happened to be sitting right in front of us. He seemed to take offense at every cheer for the Eagles and every comment from "good play" to "ow! you have to catch those" and was spending most of his time calling his home team "pukes" and "losers" and being pretty damn negative. Not that I didn't participate ein a little tet a tet with our grumpy old Niner fan, but I'd have to say the initiation of violent behavior was all on him. In the second half, Frank Gore fumbled on the goal line and a 330 lb. lineman scooped up the ball and ran the length of the field for an impressive touchdown. Needless to say, Piggy and I and every other Eagle fan in the pace (of which there were many) went absolutely nuts! During this process, a little beer splashed on old growly and I immediately offered him some napkins ans to buy him a beer with my apologies, but he seemed to take it as intentional and stood up demanding that I move, shut up, go to hell and fuck off in no real order. I tried to laugh it off, dissuade him, get his friends to corral him and ignore him and finally told him to shut his geriatric ass up and watch the game before he got us both thrown out. His response, apparently was to punch me in the stomach when I was looking at his seatmates for a little help. It didn't hurt, I laughed "did you just hit me?" and that didn't make him much happier. By this time his buddy returned and sat him down and about the whole section apologized for him being a jackass. If it wasn't so surreal, it might have put a severe damper on the day, but as it stood, I still had a great time. This did not stop him from getting off a "menacing" final message to me as he left with him team down about 30 points eluding to "meeting me in the parking lot" and "showing me just how geriatric his ass was". I waved him on and later thought it funny that he wanted to show me his ass in a parking lot...but it is San Francisco. (OK, I'm going to hell for that.) Perhaps the "geriatric" comment was out of line but he was half my size and weight and I don't think he realized how close he was to taking a trip over the top rail if he started anything. I get in the wierdest situations.

Anyway, besides a rabid nearly 60 year old half-badger half-fair weather fan it was a killer day and Piggy and I really enjoyed it. The old fantasy football league and KCoL Pick 'Em Football is going great too, so if you are playing, keep up the good work!

Cheesesteak Birds of Prey versus Gold Rush Mining Enthusiasts: This Weekend Only!!

Well, as a half-birthday suprise for my favorite Piggy I Craig'slisted (I think that is how they write it out here) a pair of upper level tickets to this weekend's Niners/Eagles game. While she is the Philly superfan (The sudden prospect of Philly in double playoffs does my job for me at home, let me assure you.) I am pretty enthusiastic about this game A) Because its Pro Football and B) Because both of these teams that were duds last year are looking like equally matched STUDS this year. It will be interesting to see if Alex Smith, Antonio Bryant and Frank Gore can penetrate the defense of the Eagles and if McNabb, Westbrook and Stahlworth (Ex-N.O. WR) can nail it down on the road. The NFC East will be a tough one this year, so I know every win counts for them.

Lets see, other updates:
1. The IRS will try to charge you twice. I paid a refigured tax estimate for 2004 a year or so back and the IRS decided I needed to be tracked town aobut it today. It caught me on a bad day and I really blew up (scaring my entire apartment complex I'm sure) but I had just finished paying quarterly tax estimates on the lines of about 7 grand that week and did not want to see my meager bank account depleted further by our "screw the middle class" tax system. When I calmed down and called them a few days later, they noted they had "researched further" and found that it had been taken care of. Real confidence inspiring huh? What if you sent that stuff to someone that was broke and suicidal? A shame you didn't look in the "paid" or "unpaid" checkbox before sending out more forms to validate your job's exisitance. On another note, a parential "oopsie" still haunts me as the SS Admin dosen't want to help me change my birthday back to its correct year. Crazy guys think I want to be older.
2. Vegas again. Nice corporate meeting in Las Vegas. Henderson, actually, at the lovely Green Valley Ranch property. If you havn't seen Vegas lately, this is part of the new face. Its not 3.99 prime rib and cheap glam. They are world class and they expect you to pay for it. Sure, there are a some old standard "trailer park" properties but revamps like Green Valley are showing of massive pool complexes, multiple tiers of top end resturants and lounges and entertainment that is no longer "where it goes to die" but people making serious fiscal decisions to set up regular gigs in Lost Wages. They are a Station Casino property, known for middle of the road places that were "acceptable" on most levels but have taken a Wal-Mart-esque approach to setting up bigger and better ourside of the city limits. GVR and Red Rock being their top spots. 3. Ah poker. Love to love it and hate to hate it and I do both some days. Still net positive but some ugly beats lately have me squirming. Grrr. That hasn't stopped people from wanting my opinion however, check out the community section of "Life's A Bluff" for my article on why massive changes to the WSOP would be wrong. www.lifesabluff.com

That is all my short term memory will divulge for now. Back to work.

Fat men are funny. I'm getting funnier by the day.

So this past weekend, with out of town friends of the dear Piggy in tow, we went to see John Pinette at the San Jose Improv. Very...VERY...funny. Beer out the nose funny. Changed my mood completely for 2 or 3 days funny. So, yeah, funny. You might know him from his infamous "Chinese Buffett" bit or various bit film and TV parts. His new act is very funny and all that crap is right here on everyone's favorite free online encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pinette

On another note, I really like San Jose. Living between the two big Bay Area cities is odd in that -- A) about 4 million of the 5 million people in the area do. B) 90% of us wish we lived where everyone else is. Locks in the 'Prozac-nation' feel of the place.

The problem is, San Jose still rolls up the streets on most nights. The area around San Jose state stays bumping occassionally, but the whole downtown area really shuts down at about 10pm. It has been a much lamented fact that after a show or event in SJ, you just go home. You can't go hit the town. Much to the chagrin of the local economy. And horrible in the fact that so many great resturants (Original Joes, Hawg's Seafood, etc.) and potential nightspots are tucked into this clean, quirky metro-stop in Silicon Valley. If anyone is randomly reading this out in cyberspace and wants to fill me in on how to get around this little bump -- PLEASE DO! It is, logistically, a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to get to SJ than SF from just about anywhere. Not to mention that parking thing.

Other notable events:
1> Piggy and her tourist companions have seen many sites in the area this week:
-- Winchester Mystery House in Santa Clara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House
Shows what $20 million and a screw loose could buy you in 1913.
-- Monopoly in the Park, the world's largest Monopoly Board!
http://www.monopolyinthepark.com/
-- Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
http://www.beachboardwalk.com/
-- Golden Gate Park, Japanese Tea Garden, Haight-Ashbury District in San Fancisco.
www.youlookitupyoulazybastard.com

2> I'm sitting on my butt at work and wishing I was out with them to see all this. To that point, more people need to come visit so I can be a tourist too! (sic. I did get to buy them dinner at In-n'-Out Burger, that is just the kind of guy I am.)

So, the door to heaven is guarded by 7 or so elderly, somewhat portly, black gentlemen with shining instruments. They dress in co-ordinated colors and play some mean blues. About 8 o'clock, they start a fanfare that eventually brings god out on stage, dressed in a purple tinged tuxedo. He is a roughly 80 year old, smiling, portly black man with a guitar forged of purified Hell's Onyx and the power of creation dims to his power to control emotion with his music.

I got photos, here are a couple:

BB's ability to still move an entire audience with performance and stage presence far outweighs any slight nicks in his game that come with being 80, diabetic and playing a 30+ city road show. The consummate showman, any slight glitches (from a late entry pick up to getting a little out of breath on a 15 minuet set) were done tongue in cheek and added to the flavor of the show. All in all, they were a plus for him and his band of road show veterans that exuded power and jubilation while practicing their craft with a living legend. No one was putting it through the paces that night, not even ones that might have an excuse. I feel truly blessed to have seen this. It really was on my list of "things to do before I die" and I found it truly inspiring. Object lesson: You are only done when you say you are done. Only finished when you say you quit.

God, I wish everyone could have seen this. I was transported to a blissful Utopia for almost 2 hours that night. Thank you and God bless you BB King.

Waldo.

BB King tonight at the Mountain Winery. That is about all I think I need to say.

(pics and updates later)

Vegas, Vegas...eh, more Vegas.

So this past week has seen me in oh-so-sunny and unseasonably HUMID Las Vegas. While I'm the first person to enjoy a trip to Vegas, its no secret that in my pseudo-crippled blind ass state, poker has proved to be one of the few hobbies I have left that I have any level of proficiency at. However, this proves the saying that you can have too much of a good thing. BUT! Most importantly, another key piece fell into place on the "stuff to do before I die list" so there is a big silver lining to dealing with furniture and shoe conventioneers from across the pond.

This month is the World Series of Poker and yours truly was dropped right into the middle of it. I did play an event, I'll get to that later, but one of the most interesting things was seeing it as a true measure of the growth and legitimacy of the industry. The Gaming Lifestyle Show (interesting name) filled a huge convention room at the Rio and was packed side to side with all manner of businesses plying their wares. While it was dominated by the online cardrooms/casinos, there were several other small businesses and media groups pimping themselves as well. While touring as the unofficial spokesperson and promo-pimp for the guys at "Life’s A Bluff" (www.lifesabluff.com) I was able to meet dozens of famous poker pros and World Series Bracelet winners and media magnates. (Get ready for the name dropping) Including:

Greg Raymer (cut him off in the buffet line and then he ate off my used plate...interesting story, but a hell of a down to earth guy to mix with us all at the PPA event -- keepin' poker legal.)
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Doyle Brunson
Todd Brunson
Jennifer Harmon
Phil Laak
Mike Sexton
Joe Sebok, Gavin Smith and Scott Huff ('The Circuit' Poker Radio Hosts on Sirrius and at CardPlayer.com, fun show with great tips)
Bart Hanson (of 'Live at the Bike' fame. A special hello to former LA tournament grinder Ronnie McMillan who is doing the website graphics for L@tB.)
Humberto Brenes
Antonio Esphandiari
Joe Hachem
Max Pescatori (Congrats on your first bracelet Max)
Jhonny Chan (Twice. Sorry if I bothered you Mr. Chan.)
Phil Gordon (Thanks for the tournament advice Mr. Gordon, it helped me do well, see below)
Howard Lederer (Best “who the hell are you” stare, and then friendly handshake)
David Williamson III (I still think he looks like the guy from Night Court)
Byron Liggett (Columnist for the NW for Poker Player and a guy that was cool enough to share a couple of drinks with a bunch of 30 something web-heads that enjoyed all his stories.)
Mhin "the Master"
Scotty Nguyen

And above all, the Life's A Bluff Crew. (Quack Quack)

Vegas got me thinking and I decided that if I could pop my little chunk of my bankroll into something substantial, I would try to enter the last braceleted event in the world series, Event #40, the $1000 NL Hold 'Em "Donkey Rodeo". Short stacked, fast blinds (compared to other events) and low buy-in it is known to be a fast action, Russian Roulette style game. Actually, very similar to the dozens of events that I've played so I figured I had an edge. Well, they (strongly) cut off the entries at 1100 and 100 alternates due to a chip shortage (WTF??) and lil' old me got in. It was because I won a night tournament that I entered with the LaB team and split a 3 way win for first and $1,100 plus some cash from a few side games and, well, that went right into Event #40 with some cash back. Well, about 1200 people and I finished around 120 in. So, top 10% and on a hell of a run till a bad beat on a perfect move chunked out half my chips, I finished in view of the money, but not quite there. I call it a heck of a virgin WSOP attempt.


Note, I'm tired, the spelling could suck, and I may have left some people out, but here is the story and I hope you loved it. I'm happy to be home and ready to do it again next year.

Want to know who the players are? www.cardplayer.com and find the profiles.

Cheers!

Two of the people I swore to see before I die, in a one two punch!

So, late in posting this experience, but July 16th on top of a hill in the San Jose area wine country, one of my "must do" concert experiences occured, and the other opened its doors to me. July 16th was Blue Travler in concert and trust me, every positive thing that you have heard about them in concert is true, naysayers can bite me. They were rocking out until the city pulled the plug! That was a dule edged event to be sure, on one hand we were all pissed that the show was cut off -- on the other hand, we got to rebel against the man as we made as much noise as the concert for the next 10 minuets cheering for the guys.

Here is a shot of the hills around the venue! GREAT for someone cut off from "the wilds" of Missouri for so long...you should see the homes.

How close were we to the stage? Well, Marie took this from our seats:

And here is John Popper and the Boys Rocking out!!

Key moments in the concert:

1. John Popper "Oh, you guys love the OLD shit, huh?" And switching the set list (saw it later) to NAIL a bunch of stuff from the first album (self title) and Traveler's and Thieves. Why is this amazing? Well, going from Dropping Some NYC, inset Optimistic Thought and I Have My Moments, and then finish the Jam on Dropping Some NYC. 18 mins of AWESOME.

2. What I like to call the "whoa-ly shit how is he still standing set!" Hook, Run Around, Brother John, All-In the Groove in one high speed mash-up set. His only breaks were to take a drag off what COULD have been a cigerette during the instrumental Jams that weren't him.

3. "No Woman No Cry" cover. Apparent he did this with Ziggy Marley at some point, but it sounded better solo, I can't describe the energy. Obviously, a bunch of 30-40 yr olds need something in common to jam on, this was it. I have the Marley-Popper track if anyone is interested.

So yeah, I was rocking out:

Loved the new stuff from 'Bastardos' (and the art too, check it out). Had an awesome time there with Piggy and it was cool from front to back. The cherry on this Awesome Pie came right after we arrived. I was looking through the concert event calender while we were milling around the front area and BAM, there was B.B. King heading there for the 80th Birthday tour! Sick cause I knew as close as we were, it had to be sold out, I tried my luck at the box-office. Turns out, he was about to free up four handicapped spaces that hadn't sold yet out of 8 available. I bought two. Now I'm 10th row center for the greatest living blues man's 80th birthday celbration/concert! I am sooooo pumped.

Did you know the zip code for United baggage claim is 60-666!? Well, I do now and I know why.

As I mentioned on my previous post, I flew into St. Louis for a visit and then was tuning up for a trip to NY to meet my team's boss and the rest of the network there. Let me point out that the show, the event and the subsequent meetings went great! I got to see my older brother, ate a terrific (if expensive) meal at Smith & Wolenski's in Manhattan and stayed in a pretty nice hotel. However, it wasn't the case for the whole flight. It all started with a conversation with a snippy united clerk that went something like this:

"You need to go now and get on an earlier plan, the next one might be delayed." Said Mr. Clerk, brusquely without eye contact.
"Oh great, thanks for the heads up," I cautiously state "this won't affect the baggage that you just check in under my original flight will it?"
"No. You are meeting the same flight so even if it goes on the wrong plane, it will get there." Said looking over my shoulder at the people behind me.
"OK, but won't that mean that the luggage would be late it the second plane was/" I seriously queried.
"No, you'll be fine but you have to go now." He bluntly stated.
"OK, if you are SURE my bag will make it, I will need everything first thing in the morning?"
"Yes. You are fine. Hurry along. Next Please." he said dismissively.

Welllll...good news is, I got on the early plane. Bad news is, they kept loading possible "delay" passengers on it until it was 45 minutes late and then we had a lovely half hour sit on the tarmac waiting to take off. Not to be deterred from going farther off course, we make it to Chicago. I hustle down to my connection and after convincing the gate agent she can't give away my seat as I am, in fact, standing in front of her I board up and...after a 30 minute delay. We are ready to take off. Here comes the fun part. Apparently, there is a big storm over the NY-Newark area and we and we need to land at Washington Dull-ass due to the fact that...and here is the kicker...we DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FULE TO CIRCLE IN THE HOLDING PATTERN IN NJ! Great, wonderful, fun. We are assured they will try to turn it around as fast as possible. Note, that right now, I'm looking at getting in after midnight and to my hotel an hour to an hour and a half later. Of course, hurray, this is not quick 20-30 minute turn around...oh, no,...is an hour and a half sit down on the tarmac as they try to find someone to get the FULE HOSE un-stuck from the wing. (Imagine my confidence level at this point folks.) Well, it happens and after a nice stand in line (apparently we aren't the only re-routes in the United army) we are off to Newark. Landing in new was, of course, a conga line to the terminal, but hey -- NOTHING -- compared to the trip so far. Until, of course, the baggage conveyor stops and I'm one of 3 people standing there waiting. I quickly assume the worst and stop in to the claims office and, yep, my bag is still in Chicago. At 2 am with a trade show and embassy meeting the next morning, I'm told that they'll "do their best" to get the bag on the 9:30am flight out to NYC. Oh joy, oh glee, oh happy day. One thing to mention here. The constant in-and-out of A/C and new climate set off my sinuses and had me kicked around and apparently the germ tube air circulation of the flights did not help. At 2:30 am in New Jersey, I know that I am sick and that my voice and head and on the verge of breaking down. Well, I missed the last train into the city thanks to our lovely baggage delay and now I hop a $90 cab right into the city and right to my hotel. Huzzah, I have arrive, sans baggage, but I am here in one piece. It is pushing 4 am, United tells me I am eligible for reimbursement for the lost luggage and cost to me to get things to live on but that means hopping right out of bed at about 7 am, getting a shower, getting out to have a suit fitted ASAP and then off to my trade show. "Screw it" I think "if that is how it has to be, oh well, adapt and overcome."

7 am comes way, way, WAY too early and I beat the snooze mercilessly but eventually submit and wander to the shower. Long story short, a safety device was stuck and no hot water in the shower. They send someone up quickly to fix it, I rinse my fat ass down and I'm out into the streets of Manhattan in yesterday's clothes heading to the nearest Men's Warehouse. I love these guys, really I do. Not only had the team in San Francisco hooked my up with a great light weight set of suits for the summer trip to New York, they had turned it around fast and got me a great deal on just what I wanted. Albeit, the suits are in Chicago, but I know where to go when I need some help. So, in I go and I tell the salesman I need the fastest suit up and turn around in history. One hour later, I have been suited up from Florshiem shoes to "no worry" shirt and it has been altered and I am OUT the door and on my way to the trade show. Score again for Men's Warehouse...plus the will alter the suit if I loose the weight I'm working on, for free. Score two, hell, gold stars all around.

As I mentioned, show/event went great, no news is good news there. My older brother worked the event like a champ even though he was a guest on short notice and I am again amazed on who the guy I grew up with turned out to be. Waldo Sr. on Wall Street...who would have guessed?

And now...the trip home. Welll, of course, stormy weather is approaching and I'm hoping to beat it out of the airport, but the crew at United decides to screw around and delay the baggage load and jetway pull back and 10 minuets after we are supposed to be in the air, they announce that LIGHTNING has been spotted and due to union regs NO ONE will be getting anywhere near the plane to take off the jet way or finish the last THREE bags that need to be loaded. So, there we sit for two hours all in from that delay and the cattle line to take off. Note: I didn’t get the worst of it, a co-worker leaving to visit San Francisco sat on that tarmac for FIVE HOURS waiting to leave and did not make it to her destination until 6 am Pacific time, so this next part is a little more irony that whine. We leave, hit Denver, and since I was able to call United from the plane before we took off, I'm set for the 9:50 flight heading to San Jose. Philly Piggy is hopping to pick me up at around 11 and whisk me home. We take off on time, no delays, beautiful! Gonna finally have a leg make it on time. Nope. Mid-flight it is announced that we will be routing to Salt Lake City for a medical situation. Seems that someone it ill. Turns out it was a panic attack that induced severe hyper-ventilation. Awwww. Anyway, another hour and a half turn around on the refuelling and bag pull-off for our nervous wheezer (what is with these turn around times) and I am heading the San Jose. I get in after midnight, I get home in a half hour, I get to bed by 1:30 am. I'm in to work the next day. I am sick as a dog!

Due to a work overload and this trip, I can't just suck it up and stay home but have gone in diligently the whole time since arriving back. I've probably infected the whole office. But, I am alive, and I know why the zip code for United ends in 666.

St. Louis this weekend and CARS!

So, I'm on my way to New York and was lucky enough to drop in and get a visit with my "little otter" and thanks to the kindness of Mike and Christie (whom I apparently forgot to finalize my travel plans with--aren't I special? I mean short bus kind of special.) had a great HQ to have a good time. Outside of being the captains of the local park playgrounds, we went to see Car's. As much as I originally thought this would be a first for a failure for Disney/Pixar, I was wrong. First off, the artwork is stunning and the use of CGI for reflective lighting and detail effects is unparralelled. In a huge crop of animated features coming out this year (finally making that Oscar catagory a race) I originally thought this would fall flat, but it turns out it will most likely be the juggernaught of the catagory. Great soundtrack, great voicacting, superior story and visuals. YEAH!

So, I'm in the airport posting this, so it will be short. On the way to NY to see my brother (first time in a while) and of course do my thing for work and meet all the heads of the network. A little nervous about keeping up with my workload while doing this, but I think we can make it -- especially with all the work getting done on the plane (kinda).

I'll spellcheck this later, untill then, here is something to make you smile. I call it the Blue Pig of Happiness.

Art and the transformation:

Had a thought that was close to an epiphany today. Might have just been a brain fart, but tell me what you think. It concerns art and the freedom it produces in the mind and how that, in the end, effects the person. By art, as you'll note, I don't just mean squiggly lines with paint and pencil, but also music, theater and dance, etc.

The theme revolves around the outsider's question of "why are artists so weird?" that often comes to mind when we see a green mohawk, off-beat clothes, funky lifestyles, etc. I would put it to this. It comes from the freedom loosed in the subconscious and an artist's want to return there. When you are "in the zone" artistically, you are creating that which does not exist. You are molding reality to fit your format, not the other way around. Your line determines the reality, your interpretation shows the true intention and your poetry or lyrics create the emotional center of thought. In the real world, the thoughts of the masses and harsh realities of life define this and people hide in their small (or large) boxes and create personas that won't attract undue attention or get them "in trouble" in the real world.

However, the artist has tasted this opiate created in his or her own mind. Like an addiction it rewires neural synapses and creates a preferred method of interpreting input and creating output. The euphoria of creation, especially a magnum opus but even a prideful doodle, is like a hit off that pipe or candy from the needle and, after a while, you don't know how to function without it. The day-to-day desk job gets grey and colorless and you long to express yourself, taste that internal drug and show it to the world. You want it to color everyday choices, you want it to flow from you because that connects you with it and lets you know its there. Its comfort when the box closes in and the "fake" persona you wear feels like a straight-jacket. You disregard social norms to wear it on your sleeve so to speak, or incorporate it into your life. So, how does this make an artist "weird?"

You may see it in the green mohawk, the unique indie/vintage clothes, obscure political stances, tics and habits that seem outside of anything remotely necessary for survival, or even in a peaceful, passive mode that inspires people to talk or listen. Isn't that weird? Isn't that STRANGE to go outside the norm, walk uphill, swim upstream, play with Calvin-ball like rules inside a very black & white world? Yes. Yes it is. But when you look at it from this angle, when you see from inside the creation junkie out onto the world, you can understand it. You can appreciate it. You may even take the ultimate real world stance and pass currency off on them for a capitalistic "hell yeah" shout of agreement. And then long to be that weird guy. And wish you could touch that vein of creativity. Remember when you took a dose way back when. Remember when the world turned cold when you turned your back on the creative and chose the stoic, grey, necessary reality of life. When you became normal, and they became weird.Do you understand it now? Or do you feel weird for giving it up?