Entries in " general "  

1408 - I Hate You

So, I know a lot the reviews were pretty bad but my wife and I wanted to catch a flick and we had seen everything that we wanted to already. We decided to watch 1408 because it had one thing going for it, which was that it is based on a Stephen King short story. I guess the fact that John Cusack was the lead should have sent red flags up. We sat through it none the less.

Well... It sucked. I could go on about the predictable dialogue, the boring (not scary) hotel room, the horrible acting in the movie or the worst ending ever... But I won't. I will simply leave it at -- It sucked.

Tomorrow night I will be watching the Transformers Movie in Hollywood. More to follow...

Technorati Tags: 1408, john cusack, movies, review

Paris Hilton - World Class Idiot

Anyone else catch her Larry King Live interview? Neither did I. I just caught the snippets being passed around the web. Really, all I can say is.. Wow. Really though, need I say more?

The best was when Larry asked if she read the bible in jail. She said she read it daily. The following ensued:

Larry: What is your favorite verse?
Paris: Umm ... *sigh* ... hrmm ... Well ... I don't have a favorite.

Classic!

Technorati Tags: idiot, larry king, paris hilton

Texas Hold'Em - Bad Beats

You can see in the blurb to the right, that I am a horrible poker player. Thing is, I don't know if I am THAT bad of a player, or if I make smart plays at the wrong times. I prefer to think that I am just cursed with bad luck at the table. I feel I have a good understanding of the game and the strategies used by most players. I have played for nearly 5 years and have read a few books, including Super System, Super System II and Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players. Still, I find myself in bad spots or making bad plays constantly.

I admit, there are times when I try to trap an opponent too often. This usually ends with him/her catching up and beating me. I can't seem to remember the "little pot" philosophy. Take lots of little pots, or one big pot every hour. Also, I will take a huge bad beat and play too aggressive to try and recover the money I just lost. In other words, I go on tilt. I was playing in the $1/$2 No Limit game (high roller over here) at the Hawaiian Gardens Casino last night and had 3 brutal bad beats. For your reading pleasure:

1. - I was dealt A-J off suit in the big blind. A pretty tight player raised it to $12 and everyone folded to me. I didn't like my position, but put him on a middle pair 7-9's (6x the big blind is a large raise which usually means he doesn't want any callers). I call. Flop comes J-10-J. I check so I can trap him, and he bets out $6. Very small bet considering he raised to $12 pre-flop. I raise to $18 and he thinks for a good minute and finally calls. This SHOULD have sent a red alert in my mind but I still felt I had the best hand. Turn is a blank, 4d, so I push my remaining $32 in the pot and he quickly calls. He had pocket 10's and flopped a boat. I guess this isn't so much a bad beat, as he just out played me. Figure it belongs here anyways =)

2. - I bought back in the game and slowly started building my stack to a breaking even point. I'm about $15 away from being even when I am dealt A-Q off suit on the button. I raise to $8 and get one caller from the person who was under the gun. Flop comes 2-Q-5. Awesome flop. He bets $20, which is basically the pot size. I raised to $60 hoping to end it right there. He goes all in and he has about $75 in front of him, so its only another $15 for me to call, which I did. Turn comes Q and he gets all excited and shows his cards, Q-6 off suit. Out of position, he called my pre-flop raise with Q-6 off suit! I turn over A-Q and he lets out a "Awww!!" Next card? Of course, a 6. He made a boat on the river. Lady luck, why do you hate me?

3. - Now I am left with about $25 left. I am dealt Q-Q on the next hand. Guy directly to my right raises to $10. I push all in and only he calls. Of course, he has A-A. To make it worse, the guy across from me says "Ohh, I threw away A-Q" which realistically leaves me with 1 out. Now, I catch a huge break on the flop. It comes as 6-K-Q! Woah, the case queen! I couldn't believe it. The guy with the rockets says "Hey, you deserve it after your beats tonight!" and I couldn't agree more. Turn is a 2, so there is only 1 card left in the deck that can beat me and that is the case Ace. River? Ace of fucking spades!! Hah, I can laugh about it now, but I promptly shook the guys hand and wished everyone luck and left. Needless to say, I was fuming!

How many times must I say "I will never play poker again!"? My wife thinks I have a problem, but the tables always call me back. Damn that poker muse and her voluptuous body that keeps me coming back for more abuse. So, I'll probably stroll into the HG or Commerce tonight. See ya there!

Technorati Tags: bad beat, casino, gambling, hold em, poker

Sopranos - Jip or Genius?

I am not quite sure how to feel about the series finale episode last night. I absolutely feel ripped off, in the sense that I just want to KNOW the outcome! Then again, I feel it was the best ending because it really lets us use our imaginations. There were so many clues put in this episode leading to the demise of Tony Soprano in one way or another. I have a big interest in organized crime in America, and there were many lines, or details, in this episode that actually happened in real life mafia situations.

This is what I picked up on. Some of it may be me reading to much into the situation, but I felt it relevant.

1. Black

The show ends with a black screen and credits without any music. This is the first time no music has been played on a show famous for the music selection played during the credits.

A few episodes back there was a scene where Tony & Bobby were in a row boat together. They were chatting it up and the subject of being "hit" came up. "You probably don't even see it coming" (para phrasing here) was used. Tony even said something about "Just goes black".

When Meadow was coming into the restaurant, there were 2 black guys who came in before her. Tony & Christopher tried to use 2 black guys to kill Carmine back when Johnny Sack was trying a take over. Only to back out on the hit, double cross the black guys (kill them) and piss off Johnny Sack.

Remember the attempt by Junior and Livia to kill Tony? They used 2 black guys for the failed attempt.

2. Restaurant

A popular place for mob hits, in both movies and real life, have been restaurants. Of course, the Michael Corleone scene where he shoots Sirlotzo (spelling?) and McClusky the dirty cop. Then there are the real life mob hits. John Gotti had "Big" Paul Castellano killed in front of Sparks Steakhouse on a very crowded Manhattan street. Carmine Galante was also shot gunned to death while dining at an Italian restaurant.

Now what about the guy who walked in right before AJ? He was at the bar and repeatedly looked towards Tony. Then he goes into the restroom? Sound familiar? Very similar to the scene in the Godfather (referenced above). Also, in the episode credits, that man was listed as NICK LEOTARDO? Phil's brother/cousin/son possibly?

3. FBI

When told about Phil Leotardo being executed, FBI Agent Harris said "We're gonna win this thing!" and slapped his hand on the desk. Remember that agent Harris had given Tony information about where he could find Phil Leotardo! In effect, he was an accomplice to the murder. Why is this important? Because real life agent R. Lindley DeVecchio had said the exact same words "We're gonna win this thing!" (with the slap on the desk) when told by a colleague about a mob hit. DeVicchio passed on information on the whereabouts of the victim of that hit. He had given information to "top echelon" informant Gregory Scarpa. Scarpa also happened to be a psycho and mass murderer for the Columbo crime family. Greg eventually died of AIDS and DeVicchio is currently under indictment for wrong doing during the Columbo family war of the early 90's. He is said to have assisted in multiple murders, commited by Greg Scarpa.

4. Snitch

So it was confirmed that Carlo flipped and will be testifying against Tony. Being that Carlo was a top guy, he most likely would be able to put Tony away. A RICO conviction would probably mean 20+ years for someone like Tony. Basically a death sentence in my eyes. Even though Tony is a younger guy (mid 40's) he is obviously very unhealthy and I would assume he would die in prison.

5. STOP

While Tony was at the restaurant waiting for his family to show up he played "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. As the music played his family showed up one at a time. In the last split second of the episode, tony looks up and the screen goes black. I don't know why this stuck with me but the last word played of the song before going black was "stop". Stuck with me from the look on Tony's face. This is one of those "reading to much into it" moments, but I just feel like it had some importance.

I'm sure i'll come up with some more ideas once I watch the episode again. So is the final episode a jip or genius? A little from column A, little from column B.

Technorati Tags: finale, hbo, sopranos

Asking A Silly Question

OK, I know I have a warped sense of humor, but come on! Even YOU find this funny...

From Craigslist:

I have 2 dogs & I was buying a large bag of Pal at Big W and standing inline at the check out.

A woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Pal Diet again although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV's in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Pal nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry & that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.

I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a guy who was behind her.

Horrified, she asked if I'd ended up in the hospital in that condition because I had been poisoned. I told her no; it was because I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me.

I thought one guy was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard as he staggered out the door.

Stupid b*tch...why else would I buy dog food??

Technorati Tags: funny, joke, life, story

500 Internal Server Errors

Woooooops =) In my haste last night, I accidently added a change that wasn't completed yet, and it effected individual post views. The result was an Internal Server Error, it was related to the comment form. Sorry about that, and thanks for the emails letting me know there was an issue.

Just need to remember to test as much as possible before taking newer code live. I mean it really isn't that big of a deal as this is just a personal site, but still the habit should be in place.

Technorati Tags: blog, development, geek, oops

Boom! More Software Updates

Just a quick post to update the status of the CMS software that is running this site now. I have added a few new features to it.

Tagging - I wrote some quick stuff to parse the Technorati tags from each post, and tag the actual entry on the back end as well. I used a simple method, just 2 models named Tag and Tagmap. Tag is the tag name itself and Tagmap is a map that puts the actual database blog entry to the Tag and vise versa. Pretty simple really, but I will write up a blog post about it when I have the time. FYI: There is also an awesome app called Django-Tagging that would probably be best for most situations.

Amazon S3 - I added support for the Amazon S3 service via the metaWeblog API code. When my blogging client uploads an attachment, the blog software itself will take the data and store it on the Amazon S3 servers. This has the advantage of keeping static media off the Django server. Plus, it's super cheap storage! I plan on writing up a post for this as well very soon.

[Update] Oops. You can view the tag cloud here.

Technorati Tags: blog, development, django, geek, python

Kings Canyon Wrap Up

I spent the last 4 days sleeping in a tent, swatting mosquitos and dodging an over active black bear population. I also did a little river wading, hiking and of course some drinking. A few friends joined us up there and everyone had a good time. We did an easy hike up the Wolf Creek Trail, mainly because we had too many small kids with us and a pregnant chick. Kings river was higher than I remember it being, so the old swimming holes were perfect for an icy cold dip. Even though it was pretty hot outside, that water was painful to get into. Didn't stop me though (ignore the stupid look on my face. second example).

One big downside was missing the Chuck Liddell loss on Saturday night. That is a fight I had been looking forward to, but I wasn't going to move my plans around it. That's a lie, I would have but we planned this camping trip way before the fight date was announced!

The saddest part was on the drive home. I couldn't stop checking my cell phone for signal. Once I got a single bar, my email poured in and I checked my voicemail. I was connected to the world again. Jeez!

Of course, this wouldn't be complete without photos. Here you go.

Technorati Tags: camping, friends, hiking, kings canyon, ufc

Kings Canyon, Here I Come

Tomorrow morning I am taking off for a Memorial Day camping trip. I will be back on Monday, the 28th. We will be at the Sheep Creek campground in Kings Canyon national park. This is the 2nd time we would have camped at this site and probably won't be the last.

I will update my flickr account when I return. Hopefully someone will get a kick out of the photos.

Technorati Tags: camping, hiking, life, kings canyon

New Django CMS System Is Live!

Well, here it is. My Django blog/cms software is alive and kicking. I spent about 3 weeks getting this together, off and on. I finally decided to bring it live, even though there is a small list of features I want to add. It currently has all the basic features a normal blog should support. Here is a TODO of what I would like to add.

• Trackback/Ping Support


• Better Post Tagging


• Multiple Client Blogging API's

I also have to give credit where it's due. The template was a free design from NodeThirtyThree. I altered it where I wanted to get the look you see today. I used code snippets and examples from various places as guidelines for creating this app. Many articles and blog entries related to various specific Django functions were used, etc. Small list of thanks.

• Django Docs (obviously)


• All Your Pixel


• Jerakeen.org


• B-List

So have a look around and let me know what you think, if you spot any errors or if you have any suggestions.

[Update] I got around to adding Trackback support last night, according to the MovableType trackback specs.

Technorati Tags: blog, development, django, geek, python, software

Django CMS

I have been taking the time to learn Django the last few weeks. Hour here, hour there. I started working on a "real" project a few days ago and it's coming along nicely. Given the little time I've had for this, I am really surprised how much I have completed.

The idea is to replace serendipity as the blog software I use for this website. It's been fine, but has a few things I find pretty annoying. Bottom line is, I want something I have complete control over. So, with that was born "pscom". Which is what I called my personal CMS written in Django. Highly original! I have all the basic blog functionality working fine, even got the XMLRPC stuff working thanks to an awesome write up over at All Your Pixel.

Most of my time has actually gone into the "design" of it. I am by no means a web designer, and my creativity in that sense is not even on the charts! So it's tough for me to get something together that I think looks nice. We will see what you all think soon.

Anyways, I have been pretty busy with other things, so I will update when I can! I hope to have this site replaced with the new one in a few weeks.

Technorati Tags: development, django, geek, python

New Tattoo

I spent a few bucks and finally got the cover up tattoo I have been avoiding for some time. Here is a little background on it..

The year is 1995. I am a young punk and want to get a tattoo across my stomach. I invite over an old friend who was pretty good at drawing. I had build a home made tattoo gun out of a pen, tape player motor, a cheap remote from a remote control car, button, guitar string and a double A battery. This is the same setup used in most prisons. Don't ask how I know about these. Well, literally 25% of the way in, my mother walked in on us. Needless to say she wasn't happy! That ended the tattoo right then and there. I was 15 and walking around with a 25% of a shitty tattoo on my stomach.

Zoom to 2003. I am not 23 and vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. My buddy, who originally invited us, suggested I finally get the original 25% covered up with a new tattoo. I had been putting it off for so long because it _really_ hurts on your stomach. I figured why not, the time is right, I might as well get it over with. We ended up meeting this guy who also happened to be from Southern California and owned a tattoo parlor in town. I go down, meet the artist, agree on a pattern & price and get to work. About two hours later, I was done, and not very happy. My cover up, was horrible and would require a cover up :(

On to Apr. 26th, 2007. I am visiting family in Albuquerque. There is an awesome tattoo artist here named Dave Martinez. He is well known in the tattoo community and has also done 2 tattoo's on me before. I wanted to get a cover up for my cover up and finally end the humiliation. It's been a few years since I had Dave give me a tattoo and apparently, his star is really rising. His rates more than doubled and he is completely booked up until OCTOBER! Ouch! I didn't give up. There is a second shop that I heard a lot of good things about, it is called Route 66, Fine Line Tattoos. I went by and consulted with Gilbert Vasquez. I had the idea to use a centaur in some sort of "mist" so everything that needed to be covered up, would be. I had my father in law draw me up a pattern. He is an awesome artist! He came up with a centaur in about 20 minutes. I had an appointment with Gilbert the next morning at 11am.

It's the next morning, 11 AM. I have been dreading this for some time. I do remember how much it hurt the first 2 times I attempted this on my stomach. About 20x more intense than on my arm, back, chest, etc. We had scheduled a 4 hour session to knock it out. I wasn't nervous, just anxious to get it over with. Gilbert knocked it out in 2 hours, 45 minutes. Result? F'n awesome! Very happy with the results! You can see the photo of it on my flickr account.

I will post more pictures in a few weeks once its completely healed. I should have taken "before" pictures so you can see what an amazing job he really did! Doh!

This was a long and rambling post, sorry about that. Just thought it was funny to tell how it all worked out. Beat up tattoo as a teen, worse cover up, and finally the huge tattoo needed to fix it all. Eesh!

Technorati Tags: albuquerque, fantasy, life, tattoo

Albucrazy, New Mexico

Yet again, I am making the trip to Albuquerque. This time I am taking the 2 gremlins I own to visit their grand parents. I will be back on the 30th. Since there are a few of us going, we are driving the entire 850 mile (give or take) trip. This is where my iPod and Sirius Satellite Radio come in handy! I've done this drive a hundred times and it's really not that great :) Going through the Flagstaff, AZ area is definitely the most scenic part of this trek. The rest is mostly flat lands, with lots of rocks. Oh, and if you haven't been to Needles, Ca in the dead of the summer... Well you're missing out!</sarcasm>

Technorati Tags: albuquerque, birthday, ipod, life, new mexico

Sanjaya... Noooooooo!!

So Sanjaya was voted off American Idol last night. Shit! All my wasted votes! I could care less about the show. I might have seen 2 episodes in my life. Still, I found myself as part of the Sanjaya movement! Why? Well, it's funny. Why not? Since Kelly Clarkson, there really hasn't been any Idol winners that have "IT" and this season is no exception (heh, so I'm told.)

How did I get started voting for Sanjaya? Two Words: Howard Stern. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a die hard Stern fan. I rarely miss a show and as silly as it sounds, it's fun to participate in the few things we are able to, like the Sanjaya Movement. Did I really get a kick out of voting? Well, yes. I had fun voting, then listening the next morning to everyone call in and say how many times they voted. While I've never called the show, it still put a smile on my face!

"Big Ups" to VoteForTheWorst.com. Combined with the legion of Stern fans, we kept Sanjaya around much longer than he deserved. We almost won, maybe next time we will!

Sanjaya is dead. Long live Sanjaya! (not exactly appropriate, but 'meh')

Technorati Tags: american idol, howard stern, sanjaya

Blackberry Pearl

Saturday, I picked up a new Blackberry Pearl which is replacing my old Blackberry 8700g. At first, the smaller phone and especially keyboard was annoying to me. The more I use it, the more I like the interface. Nothing can replace the full keyboard imho, but the rest of the phones navigation is superior. I especially like the roll ball navigation, as opposed to the scroll wheel on the 8700. Again, the biggest adjustment is the keyboard but I am getting the hang of it. The word prediction on this phone is much better than any other device I have used.

Another great feature is the camera! It may be the nicest camera phone I have ever seen. The camera is a 1.3 megapixel and the photos are very nice (considering, it's a phone!) I have a few of them on my Groovr profile.

I will post an update on my feelings on the pearl in a week or so, once I've had more time to play.

Technorati Tags: blackberry, cell phone, pearl

Happy Birthday Modesty!

Today is my oldest daughters birthday! Her name is Modesty, and she is 8 year old today. Yes, I started early! Couldn't help myself. The devil made me do it. My wife was so aggressive. Something like that. Anyways, I wanted to wish her a happy birthday. Waiting on her return from soccer practice so we can have cake & ice cream!

Technorati Tags: birthday, life

eChores - Flickr

Keeping the various services, that we all use, up to date can be a pain! I haven't updated my Flickr account in some time. It is so out of date in fact that I simply deleted all my photos and started over from scratch. I am slowly adding "rolls" from my iPhoto into "sets" on Flickr. I have to admit, Flickr is very cool these days. Their newer utilities and geo tagging are awesome features. I know they might not be that new, but it literally has been a year since I used my account. heh.

So I am making an effort to ditch my current gallery install and use my Flickr account for all my photo sharing. I purchased the FlickrExport plugin for iPhoto. Now keeping it up to date is extremely easy. Just add them to Flickr as I import them from my camera. I can worry about organizing them later, when I have the time, via the Flickr website.

Currently I have about 3 sets up on the site, with more to come. I will spend another hour on this today (hopefully) and move on to something that doesn't involve a keyboard. Anything, as long as it doesn't involve a keyboard!

Anyways, check out my Flickr photos here.

Technorati Tags: flickr, life, photos

Sea World, Oh Joy!

First off, I haven't been updating much as I have been busy. I gave up my "career" as a consultant and accepted a new position. I now work at CheetahMail, an Experian Company. I am currently a Sys Admin based out of the El Segundo, CA office. I will try to update more often and discuss a wider range of topics. I'm sure everyone is getting bored of my gambling links, but damn it, it interests me!

On to our underwater adventures. Well, sort of. On April Fools Day - 2007, I was enjoying (read: stuck at) Sea World (San Diego, CA.) The place is a bit boring, but they do have a few cool exhibits. My favorite being the polar bears. But hey, the kids loved it and that's really what it's all about. *cough* Excuse me.

One real fun thing was, I took my 7 year old daughter on her first roller coaster ride. The only coaster Sea World has is called Journey to Atlantis. It's not the scariest thing, but it was more than enough for her first coaster ride. She was surprisingly a lot more calm than I had expected. As the ride started climbing she did look a little worried. At the first fall, they snapped a photo (which I did buy, at $14!!) and her face says it all. Hilarious!

Technorati Tags: cheetahmail, life, sea world, work

Albuquerque

I just returned from a trip to Albuquerque. I went out to see my brother who had just came home. He has been away for a few years. I got to see some good friends as well. I lived in New Mexico for about 7 years, so it was good seeing how things have changed since my moving back to LA.

As good as it is to return to New Mexico, it also reminds me why I moved back to California. NM is a very slow paced (read: boring) place. It is paradise for a lot of people, I am just not one of them. At least not while I am still in my 20's ;) I wouldn't mind owning a cabin in Northern NM some time, but thats a ways away.

Enough rambling..

Technorati Tags: albuquerque, friends, life, new mexico

Hiking in Big Bear, Ca

Have I mentioned how much I love So. Cal? Everything is a short drive away. Want the beach? We got plenty of em (some nicer than others.) Mountains? Desert? Desert islands with mountains? All are less than 2 hours away from Los Angeles. Traffic can suck, but you have to remember that the reason for traffic is all the people. All those people create the environment that makes L.A. so desirable to me. Many, many, many things to do and always something new to see. Anyways...

Last Sunday my wife and I took our 2 daughters out to Big Bear, California for a short hike. We chose the Cougar Crest Trail, which is about 5 miles round trip. The way up is all up hill, so needless to say it's the hardest part of the hike. The trail is not to difficult, and my 2 daughters (who are 7 and 4) were able to hack it out. My 4 year old did have some trouble in a few spots, but she did hike the entire trail. Well, technically I did carry her on my shoulders for about 100 yards before she got sick of it and wanted to walk again. A few other hikers commented on how well they climbed the trail.

Once at the top, we found a nice spot in the shade and had a mini picnic. The kids had a blast tossing snow balls at each other. After an hour or so, we decided to head back. The walk down was cake, obviously. By the time we reached my truck the girls were exhausted and slept the whole trip home. I snapped a few photos, which can be viewed in my gallery.

Technorati Tags: big bear, hiking, life