Wednesday, 29 September 2010

September and TV SHOWS!

September 11, 2010
I get dinner at night with CNF at the Korean restaurant past White Castle. Busy place, good food, close, a new go to spot. CNF decides to stay in for the night and I plan on going into the city with Bola, Kenny, and Miah.
I split from them to go to a B-day party that I have to go to. We go to White Rabbit, a bar/lounge in the LES. Atron shows up too and the kid is too funny. He mentions the "girl with piercings" that he's seen before. I tell him that she has a name, but "piercings girl" is all he's stuck on.
I can tell that our hero has a new theory that contends with Einstein's Theory of Relativity: Piercings and/or tattoos = crazy in bed
The Atron has been trying to bag one I guess. I tell him, "She's with her boyfriend and he's hanging with her right there, you can see." His response, "So?" This continues when he explains that he'd take her over "Shit don't stink" girl. (Inside joke.)
He even goes as far as to say, "We exchanged a look or something when I said "Hi."" Delusions of grandeur would be an understatement.
Atron and I skeeve off loads of champagne and then split in hopes of catching up with everyone at Candace's friend's thing that's nearby. I let Atron lead the way and wander around for a bit. Kenny and Miah had left already and we meet Stefan and Bola outside. We wander around like crazy and finally walk over to The Library for a beer and then time to head back.
By the way, I've been out of commission from the city for a while and dah-yaamm, the honies were out tonight. That is all.

September 19, 2010
I want to get dinner and see some Subway coupons downstairs so I decide to go there. On the drive there, I change my mind and go to the newly opened mall across from H Mart. I go upstairs to the food court that has two counters, one is Korean and the other is Korean Chinese food. I take the nice lady’s advice and get a bibimbap. It comes with a huge hot rock pot like at a restaurant. There’s a side of kimchi and pickled turnip and a soup. A bit cheaper than a restaurant ($11 and no tip), but for a quality meal and fix ins. Very good stuff and I take half of it home.
Review time:
Kombucha Passionberry Bliss: An expensive ($3+ for 16 fl oz.) tea that’s supposed to have all these health benefits and what not. Really though, waste of money. I’m glad that it’s not sweetened to the bones, which makes it better than most other “tea” products out there. However, this stuff doesn’t even taste like tea. It tastes a lot like watered down vinegar or a watered down fruity wine. Meh.
Kinder Buenos: On Ela’s suggestion, I decided to on a candy hunt at H Mart after checking out the mall. They’re a thin shell of chocolate and wafer with a heavy cream filling inside of hazelnut. A very good candy bar. I’m impressed by the packaging and how easy it is to open them and how each chocolate “finger” is individually packaged inside the actual package. Works out perfect since I portion my chocolate eating.

September 25, 2010
New shows this season.
Shit My Dad Says: Will Shatner and some young guy. Horrible sitcom. 5 minutes deep. Delete it.
My Generation: A “mockumentary” that just comes off as a boring drama. Cool concept and all, but it doesn’t work. Delete.
Nikita: Not a great show, but a pretty cool action/conspiracy show. If people like 24, I don’t see how this isn’t comparable. Maggie Q and Lyndsy Fonseca are by far the best eye candy a TV show has seen a long time. Maggie Q is way freaking kick ass awesome. Better than the usual stiff horrible actress that only looks good.
Always Sunny in Philly: Too awesome. First episode of the season completely had me laughing crazy.
Chase: Boring cop drama about US Marshalls.
Detroit 187: Boring cop drama, set in Detroit.
Better with You: Boring sitcom. Reminds me of How I Met Your Mother, but about relationships, marriage, sisters, and just boring.
Outsourced: Not as racist as it could be, but still a bit boring. It’s about a white guy that gets outsourced to India to manage a call center.

September 29, 2010
No Ordinary Family: It’s the Fantastic Four, but trying to be “fun” and about family. It’s not bad.
Blue Bloods: A so-so cop drama, but I’m excited to see what happens with it because it involves family and a conspiracy group inside the force. We’ll see where it goes.
Outlaw: Stupid bad show. A Supreme Court Justice quits his job and takes cases he “cares” about. Eli Stone was a great take on that. Btw, few people remember that show. Go back and watch it, very good.
The Defenders: Probably the most promising of the court shows. Belushi and OConnell work pretty well on camera.
Running Wilde: Pretty disappointing. Not very funny.
Raising Hope: Feels a bit like My Name is Earl. Trashy hillbilly people in a comedy, this time about a young single father raising a kid.
Mike and Molly: Cookie cutter shitty sitcom, but I actually liked it. It’s about a new couple that met each other in an Over Eater’s meeting. Two very very fat people. I don’t know, hopefully the fat jokes slow down a bit and we get more insight into these characters dealing with their eating problems.
Lone Star: One of the best shows so far. A conman that wants a “real” life, yet married to two different women. He has to balance those lives as well as fighting with his father, who has taught him everything about conning.
The Event: Seems more Fringe than Lost. Probably going to be bad, yet the nerds want to love it because they miss Lost.
The Whole Truth: Another courtroom drama. Boring.
Sons of Anarchy: One of the best shows to come out in years. Start watching if you haven’t already.
Terriers: Another one of the best new shows this season. Very refreshing. Love Donal Logue.
Chuck: This show has really gone down the drain. I’m not longer watching. Fuck it.
Boardwalk Empire: Unbelievable pilot. Surprised that it’s not a David Simon show, it feels a lot like one. Extremely cinematic. Going to be the best show of the new decade.

Tuesday, 14 September 2010

Beginning of Sept.

September 2, 2010
I wake up on the boat and grab breakfast for the day ahead. A splash of oatmeal with nuts though they are out of bananas. I guess they won't put them out because they're too ripe and not very appealing. That's along with ice coffee, a couple slices of turkey, and four egg whites.
By the time I get home it's 1030. I go to work because I have nothing else to do for the day.
Ela has been complaining about the five year old boy hay she has to take care of. Rough times also because her German friends are asleep by the time she's free at night to chat. I call her walking from Penn, but it's late and she has to whisper in the house, despite it being huge. I'll get her tomorrow though and catch up on her hectic bizznass while I've been away.
At night, I go into the city to hang with niki from Australia and Elle, who's back from her travels. We meet at 230 fifth, which is pretty darn popping. I mean, you better expect gorgeous girls (and plenty of them) when you're paying 9 (I only order one) dollars for a stella. Stellllaaaaa. Didn't ever get to watch hat entire film, but Elle and niki surprisingly got the reference.
We meet up more people including our boy Lee. He's drunk as shit and with two girls that he ditches. He's the best type, the boob staring obnoxious wannabe Lethario that girls oh so enjoy...
We end up going to the east village for some hookah. It's actually not that bad, 15 for one, which is fine between four of us and it keeps getting passed.
Speaking of which, without much drinking these days (from healthy lifestyle and staying in to focus on studying), smoking goes down a lot as a direct relationship. Then again not like it was "smoking" as I try to explain. When speaking to smokers, they're like, "what do you mean you stick to a single pack for over a week or two? I go through a pack every few days." Obviously not a good thing for you, but it's down way far and I'm way too healthy these days. My grandma even joked that I'm much more of healthy eater than my brother, who also has a fitness lifestyle. Gym, high protein, low carb, etc.
Also, I'm rewatching my old favorite shows, Veronica mars and Angel. Veronica is a bit episodic, but loaded with smart writing and an excellent plot. Angel is slower, but some of those scenes... Just so good. A brooding Angel and a femme fatale exchanging lines, it's just noir gold, at least for a recent mainstream tv show that was on WB at least.
As for the workout regiment, biceps have been neglected. I do them, but not intense enough and not right. Gotta put mad pressure on them. I did them a lot on the cruise and I'm thoroughly sore. I have to reach that when I work out at home. I mean, especially since they're the most aesthetically "important" thing to work out.
By the way if you're reading this: Miah, thanks for doubting my abilities to get a six pack. I'm on my way and kicking this out of the park. Aaron, what happened to six pack competition, flabster. Catch up kiddo, you got a beast of a man to compete with kiddo. Now run and tell that... HOME BOY. Hide your husband, we gon' find you!

September 9, 2010
I'm listening to:
http://www.blalocksirp.com/

This guy basically compiles a playlist of Indie Rock every month. Over 100 songs, that's a lot of listening to do, but it works out since it's useful while studying. When not locked down and taking preptests, having a TV show on is still a bit distracting. I've been wanting to get back into music, so done deal, perfect for me.

September 11, 2010
I get dinner at night with CNF at the Korean restaurant past White Castle. Busy place, good food, close, a new go to spot. CNF decides to stay in for the night and I plan on going into the city with Bola, Kenny, and Miah.
I split from them to go to a B-day party that I have to go to. We go to White Rabbit, a bar/lounge in the LES. Atron shows up too and the kid is too funny. He mentions the "girl with piercings" that he's seen before. I tell him that she has a name, but "piercings girl" is all he's stuck on.
I can tell that our hero has a new theory that contends with Einstein's Theory of Relativity: Piercings and/or tattoos = crazy in bed
The Atron has been trying to bag one I guess. I tell him, "She's with her boyfriend and he's hanging with her right there, you can see." His response, "So?" This continues when he explains that he'd take her over "Shit don't stink" girl. (Inside joke.)
He even goes as far as to say, "We exchanged a look or something when I said "Hi."" Delusions of grandeur would be an understatement.
Atron and I skeeve off loads of champagne and then split in hopes of catching up with everyone at Candace's friend's thing that's nearby. I let Atron lead the way and wander around for a bit. Kenny and Miah had left already and we meet Stefan and Bola outside. We wander around like crazy and finally walk over to The Library for a beer and then time to head back.
By the way, I've been out of commission from the city for a while and dah-yaamm, the honies were out tonight. That is all.

Thursday, 2 September 2010

Random stuff and the Cruise

August 9, 2010
I'm back to rewatching TV shows. I'm a few deep into Veronica Mars and that show is so good. It's not a teen drama like you might think it is. Actually, it deals with a two season mystery and Kristin Bell doing PI work, with her frequent snarky, sarcastic comments. Granted, she goes to High School, but it's not about people hooking up and girls complaining about each other, but one's sacrifice of her social position for staying true to family.

August 14, 2010
We take the 920 train in. It’s Scott, Bolanos, Miah, CNF, and I. Miah is stuck with Bolanos because Atron doesn’t want Bolanos coming. I stay with them for a while and get to see Stefan and Lauren. I smoke with Scott and it’s way too much for me. With the drinking, time just goes really slow. We meet up with people at The Library. I go out for a smoke and it feels like it last 15 minutes when it’s only like 5. I just lose track of time. It’s really not fun and we go to the LES. Bolanos and Miah feel ditched. I don’t really know what to say and it’s all a mess.
I remember having two waters. I remember having two slices at .99 pizza. I also have pizza near Katz’s where Miah and Bolanos are. It’s all a bit blurry and annoying. I end up running past Miah. He bitches me out. I catch a cab to the E Vill and get a ride back with Lauren, CNF, and Scott. I get on WFAM for a little bit. I have some food. It really was a bad night. Miah’s pissed. Bolanos sorta mans up and sorta understands, but still doesn’t make it right. I didn’t have fun like I should’ve meh.)

August 28, 2010
It’s CRUISE time! Ride to the city at 12:00ish. It actually turns out that my aunt’s side of the family is coming too, which I didn’t know. Then again, they’re just going to be on the same boat, so doesn’t matter me much. It takes forever on line to get checked in and walk onto the boat. It’s 3:00ish by the time I get on and immediately to the buffet. The food is way bad.
I get to catch Ela before I finally get onto the see and outside of my service. She’s going to be stuck with her little kid for the next few days and I’ll be outside of communication. Oh noes.
Then there’s also loads of Asians on the boat. Dammit, I feel like an alien. Actually, the age issue is worse. You’re either a family (adults with little kids) or an AARP member if your’e on this boat. For dinner, it’s a set time at the dining room, but at least it’s sit down, etc. The food isn’t too bad and they at least try. Smoked ducked breast, grilled pork chop, and a cheese plate for dessert. I’m so getting fat if I keep eating like this for dinner. I gotta watch that for the entire cruise.
At night, I just nap. I walk around and there’s nothing to do. Grab a late snack. I go back to the room to watch some TV. I also get to see most of Avatar, which is a long ass movie. I don’t think I can really enjoy it much without a 3D IMAX.

August 29, 2010
I play on waking up at 9:00 to work out, I sleep in. I get some lunch and then head to the gym. It’s supposed to be way crowded (from reading cruise reviews), but it’s actually not bad at all. Then to the buffet for some ice coffee to mix with the whey protein that I brought. Yep, brought a container with enough scoops to last me the few days.
For the night, I stay in after dinner and just study and watch some V-Mars.

August 30, 2010
We wake up early because we stop at St. John. To call this a city, no, a town would be a shame to all towns. The only thing they pride themselves on is the tide. Quite possibly the worst attraction a “town” could ever have.
“Look the water is low at this time of the day. If you come six hours later, the water will be at the high point. Enjoy!”
It takes six hours to witness… And it’s just water level… Who cares! To back that up, the weather sucked. Turns out that we hit their random hot day and it was over 80 degrees and I’m miserable in my jeans. When I looked it up, it was supposed to only be 70s, but whatever.
The only thing worth it was the Farmer’s Market connected in the mall. It has fresh fruits and veggies. Import British chocolate and gourmet ingredients and goods. And great places for lunch: A small Korean stall, a seafood place, a butcher shop, deli’s, etc. I get myself a big wrap, go back to the boat, and scarf that motherfucker down to some Hurt Locker on TV.
I stop by the gym, but it’s pretty crowded so I just go for a quick run. After dinner, I stay in the room to get some studying done. Then onto the gym right before it closes. It’s the best time because it’s empty now. They don’t have a bench press, but free weight press still does the job. Mad chest workout and leg lifts for abs.
After that, I go down to the poker table and decide it’s been too long and I should see how it’s going. In about 5 hands, this one horrible player picks up an easy $2-300 to double his already large stack. It’s a $1/2 no limit table. Chip average is around $150-200 with weird small stacks (showing that people don’t know how to buy in). He flops nothing and keeps betting into a guy until he hits runner runner to get a straight off of his AK. Another hand, he flops the nuts (straight). Another hand, he calls with nada and his gut shot on the river.
I feel like I have a decent idea of how the table is going and buy in for $150. The first hand I sit down, I pick up JJ. Raise, two callers. Flop is blanks. Raise. One caller (probably the best player at the table). K comes, raise again. He folds. He says that I probably had a bigger pair than him. I doubt he had a pocket pair, but it does sound like he’s giving me respect.
Immediate next hand, I pick up TT. Raise. Multiple callers. Flop comes AKQ. I call a raise, it’s heads up. Turn is a blank, another raise. I fold.
I hover around $120 then pick up a decent pot to set me back to $150. I drop a bit after a couple hands. I pick up AQ early position. Raise, one rereasier to $16. I call. Flop is Q66. Pot is $35. I raise $25 (with $65 behind). He moves me all in (This guy was a real man, sat down at the table with a shot in hand. He hit the nuts (flopping a full house) after buying in for $50 and tripled his stack to a regular size stack compared to the table.) I shrug and without much thinking, I snap call. I don’t have much left and the pot is a larger than my stack.
I’m hoping he’s stupid and reraising with KQ. He could be overplaying JJ or TT. If he has QQ(!), KK, or AA, then c’est la vie. I call, he has KK. I can’t really do anything. I’m way invested into the pot and what better am I going to hope to hit with AQ. Meh, the loss ain’t fun, but more about the actual losing than the money. I came on the boat with cash, expecting it to be lost. Win some then good, lose some, then hope it wasn’t from playing poorly. It is what it is. I probably played around 20 hands. Sucks that I couldn’t have played more and ran into a bad situation. At least I see there are some chumps at the table, another day maybe.

August 31, 2010
First of all. Rant: Fuck Amelia Earhart. I walk into the room and my mom is watching a movie with Earhart being played by Hilary Swank. They actually do a pretty good job getting her to look like an ugly Earhart. I start ranting at my mom about what a bitch this girl is.
Here’s a situation: Some rich girl grows up rich and flies planes. She flies into the middle of nowehere, gets lost, and dies. Big fucking whoup. Fine, she has a cunt and does things for women, but most specifically for female aviation. You look in a history book and tell me how important female aviation is to the history of America. It’s probably less important than how fat and long Martin Luther King Jr.’s penis was. Or if fucking Susan B. Anthony was like throwing a hot dog done a supermarket aisle. By the way, do you know what the funniest joke of all time is? Women’s rights.
Today is Halifax. I wake up, off to breakfast. Oatmeal, a dash of sugar free syrup, half a banana, and a scoop of nuts. Then a few slices of plain turkey. Then two hardboiled egg whites. All with some ice coffee, 2% milk, Splenda, and a scoop of whey.
Off the boat, Halifax is actually a city. They have a busy downtown loaded with shops and stuff. Their port has lots of touristy stuff, buses, and ferries. I get to try Beavertail, which is a really unappealing name for a thin strip of fried dough. I got it topped with nutella and another one with apples and cinnamon. Fucking good shit. NYC needs to get these. Led Zeppole needs to learn to make their fried dough in this shape. Another thing I notice, loads of redheads in Nova Scotia. Yep, I should move here.
I pass by one of the gift shops and realize that I almost forgot that I need to send Ela a postcard. I find a postcard with three old men smiling (dunno why), write it up, stamp it up, send it out.
Back onto the boat, I haven’t eaten for a while, time for the buffet. I get fresh deli sliced turkey, which is silly since it’s really good meat, yet the deli is open for only a few hours during the day. The same goes for the Mongolian BBQ, which I have yet to try. It’s supposed to be good and the line is always ridiculous because it’s again, only open for a few hours. Then, I also have some mahi mahi. They’re actually awesome with their fish. It’s set out in a big platter with pico de gallo and shrimp. No one eats it because they would rather have some messy pasta and greasy chicken drumsticks. The fish is broiled and the bottom is clean with little to no grease. Done deal. I’m all about it. It all tastes clean, cooked with little fat. Perfect for my proteining.
Another thing about the food, I don’t remember the whole conversation, but I overheard some people on the boat, “Or they come on the cruise to eat.” And boy does that really define the cruise. All these fat people do is eat and eat. Shit, all I can see is fat people, all day, errday.
Right after I write that and go to dinner, boom, more material for me. I decide to avoid dinner with mom and grandma because it’s sit down, slow, and the food isn’t even that great. Off to the buffet where “regular” people eat, I’m on the buffet line next to a really fat lady. Then again, those are just “fat ladies” on the boat. The standard is quite different here. Everyone’s overweight.
She starts off with the salad. She scrounges in the for the little last morsels in the crouton container. None left. That’s the best way to start a salad, loads of croutons… Then she builds her salad, which is fine. Salad is salad, it’s healthy. Then time for the dressing. I can just imagine her thinking to herself, “Hm… Ranch, that’s too creamy. Ohh! Italian, that’s great (even though it’s white and creamy just like the ranch for some reason.).” She proceeds to pour on more dressing than Peter North’s load. I know, a vivid metaphor. It literally the entire salad, all white, you can’t even see the remnants of what once was a salad. Then some ham. Well… As in about 8 slices on top of the salad.
Onto the food, fish and chips. A large piece of deep fried fish and fries. Then three servings worth of mashed potatoes. Cover that with gravy. That’s a dinner. I hope that’s enough for one 5’4, 240 lbs. woman.
Then came the sad part. This boy, maybe 10 years old asks his dad, “What’s this?” His dad reads the sign for the curry, vegetable rice dish. Looked pretty healthy. Sons asks, “Is that good?” Dad replies, “Haha, well you know what I like…” He then proceeds to be excited for the pork loin and all the gravy he can put on it.
I start feeling really bad when his family sits down. The dad is fat as shit. The son is as well. So is the younger sister. Then the wife, which is just fat enough that I really could not tell if she was just fat or pregnant. I hate staring, but seriously, I couldn’t tell.
If adult’s want to be fat and piggy, go ahead. But to lead your kids into a horrible lifestyle and plague them with a future of health problems, but Fuck You. No really, Fuck You. You’re a shitty ignorant adult and shame on you.
Right before dinner is gym, which is awesome awesome at night. No people, I get to do biceps and shoulders without people taking from the one set of free weights, etc.
After that, I poker for a bit. So far, people are buying in cheap and the players are horrible. I blind out for a bit after a smaller $90 buy in. I get back over $100 after a decent hand. Then it’s just grinding and grinding from there. I can’t raise preflop much because they auto-call. I miss a couple flops and stay card dead until $50. Then I double up after hitting top set with my 99. Then it’s more downhill. Card dead, fold, miss flop, fold, fold, raise, see flop, fold, fold. The play is still real abysmal, but you can’t outplay. You just have to hit the cards, play well, and squeeze every cent out of these tourist suckers. The “usual” players start coming in who are a bit more competent. I decide to cut my losses at $50ish since my stack is way too small and you’re basically giving away your money if you’re playing short stacked.
I’m watching TV and saw a commercial that Ela would enjoy. Some kid said he’s studying abroad in Germany and soaking it in, but having problems with their humor. The TV shows that they’re laughing at a guy putting his tongue into a fan. I know that show and I want to start watching the Canadian version. It’s basically two guys that compete doing bullshit things. In one that Ela showed me, there are two guys on their knees trying to see which one could suck a long piece of ice faster and get it down to nothing. It’s not ice sucking really… When they’re on their knees, it just makes it silly.
By the way, cruises are awesome for their duty free shops. If I smoked like a chimney, I’d be in heaven. Two cartons (that’s 10 packs in each) for $50. Then again, I did buy liquor. Not sure if I’m keeping much for myself though. Done deal. I maybe should buy more come to think of it. It’s so fucking cheap. The shitty stuff that I buy is almost the same price as this. Hm, maybe I’ll buy more tomorrow.

September 1, 2010
I wake up and breakfast time. More poor decision making when these people eat. I’m waiting on the omelette line. “Hey, I need two omelettes, one for me and one for my wife. She wants an egg white… With ham and cheese. Extra ham and cheese!” Sure sure…
Mine, egg white, extra everything veg. Then two hardboiled egg whites with pepper and a lick of ketchup. Two thin slices of turkey. Ice coffee with 2% and Splenda. A little bit of oatmeal with banana and loads of nuts. Love nuts.
Then onto the poker tournament, $150 with prize money and an invite to a large tourney in Miami (though the ticket is transferable). The play starts out slow again. Card dead. I get AK twice, but with multiple callers and completely whiffing on my flops. The action runs round and round with the usual poor “calling station” play. Also the usual poor basics like overbetting larger than the size of the pot, folding when you have the option to check, etc.
The game goes by really fast with the blinds going up every 12 minutes or so. I get pretty low until I hit a few hands and move back up to 5000 chips. Then blinds are killing and I finally take a stand with against a smaller stand with AQ. He moves in on me on the flop with three small blanks. I’m 3-1 if he has a pair and the raise is about 2-1. The blinds are way to high, lets go. He has KQ. Sweet, I double up to the second largest stack at the table. This is when I make my move and raise preflop in position with anything. I win pot after pot. However, the blinds are way too big, any hand I get involved in, it sets me back from the pots that I won. A small stack moves in from early position, it’s 5 handed, I’m BB with 22. I call, it’s a race against KJ. I’m good all the way until he rivers a K. If I win that pot, I take the chip lead and start stealing pots like a bandit. The players aren’t aware that the blinds are 300/600 with the average stack at about 8000. The blinds are way too high for this many players and you have to move fast.
However, I lose the pot and get back down to ground zero. 500/1000 blinds are coming up and I have 5000. A small stack my size moves in, I call with QJ. I hope he has a pair, he has KJ. He said he thought I had a big one. At least I made a good image for myself. Played tight against the large number, stole pots when I had chips and blinds were higher, but in the end, I needed to with that race with my 22. Meh, I tried. The only thing I can think of is re-raising flop raisers because they overbet with the goal to just steal. However, I’m not sure about that. They’re calling and very loose and I can’t imagine really knocking them off their hands easily. Down for the trip, but I think I played decent and I had some fun.
For lunch, I go during prime time and it’s a shit show. Fat people everywhere, lines are long as shit, I cut the line to grab at parts of a salad, order just sliced turkey from the deli, and run off with a light salad. At 2:00ish, our hero returns for some real shit. Stupid stupid again, the best food of the ship is open only for lunch and it’s all 4 hours of bonkers lines. The whole trip, never got any Mongolian BBQ. However, I did get to try the Fish and Chip place this time. Omg, Hero is easting fried fish?! Nope, I ordered ceviche, octopus salad, and ahi tuna over watermelon. Not great excecution, but it’s decent ingredients for what you’re getting on the boat. Again, this place is only open for lunch. A shame that I only get this on the final day.
I bet back to the room and study for a while. I bitch at some kids that are loud outside the room. I’m such an adult, woohoo! Gran Turino style. PBR, buck shot, the works.
For dinner, they need to clean the room so I join my mom at the “Platinum” Room for a sit down dinner. I order a vegetarian Indian dish, which turns out to be one of the best things I’ve eaten on the boat. Makes sense since they pride themselves on having a multicultural staff. I’m betting that someone Indian in the staff helped make it. Tasted pretty authentic. After the gym, I get some dinner. I walk by the steak frites and man do I want some fucking fries. I ever tell you how much I love fries. Love fries. However, I was just at the gym and can’t be eating fries. However, I do walk by the “diet” apple pie, like there is such a thing. I also love me some apple pie and haven’t had any in forever. I grab a small slice and have half of it. Could’ve used a microwave, but boy did I enjoy some pie.

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Ela Mentions the Blog

August 1, 2010
Darwin’s Albums of 2010 (so far, in no order)

Corinne Baily Rae – The Sea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO7KrgALE2k

Beach House – Teen Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITOAtVwF5Wc

Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fp73J6VjII

Black Keys – Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBAHyK8N8fw

Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZyCOvrGEoI

Dessa – A Badly Broken Code
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eQL3BrRqM8

The Like – Release Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IBPbCjY8aA

The Morning Benders – Big Echo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jaBxDBMCUY

Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STwVx6ynYjk

August 4, 2010
This is what Ela said about the blog:
“today i was out. with belanos. we ate currywurst for the first time of my life. it was awesome. then we bought beer. though we are not even 21 yet. it was an exciting mission. but we succeded. wow what an experience. i came home at 2ish. at home i recognized that i smell. so i took a shower for like 10 minutes. im fresh again. yeeehaaaa.”
Not sure what to say about it, but it’s pretty spot on and hilarious.
Either way, she’s still all scared and worried about the US and coming here in two weeks. She’ll deal with adapting with the culture and everything, but I can understand being homesick for family and friends and stuff. I keep telling her to stop bitching.

August 5, 2010
I have work then go food shopping for some salad mix, Crystal Light, frozen chicken breast, Kashi Go Lean Crunchy (soooo crunchy and healthy to boot, suggested), and a salad from the salad bar. Boy, I guess you’re really on a diet when a salad tastes like a treat. Peppers, brocolli, balsamic (no oil), cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and loads of egg whites from hard boiled eggs. I would prefer chicken if they had it… Anyway, shit’s so good.
I get home, I chillax for a bit. Then time for pull-ups and biceps.
Erdem calls me about dinner. Convo goes like.
H: You wanna get dinner?
D: Sure, where?
H: Wings.
D: Naw, I’m good. Thanks though.
H: Can you help us find wings?
D: Like what? Harbor? Hooters?
H: No, look it up, WINGS!
D: I don’t know what you want. Bars like Donovans have wings. Lemme look… I mean, Korean fried chicken?
H: No, that’s expensive, WINGS!
D: Hasan, you don’t understand, there’s no such thing. I just gave you options for wings.
H: Find WINGS! WINGS WINGS WINGS!
D: This is ridiculous, I need to go.
H: Oh cmon! Help us find WINGS! WINGS WINGS!
D: Bye Hasan…
I’m glad he’s still his ridiculous self. It’s all pretty harmless and stupid, but it still reminds me of how much of a waste planning stuff with him can be. All it is is excuse after excuse. Sometimes the excuses are pretty fucking great.
Example, how about we go into the city? Nope, Hasan’s been there, done that. By the way guys, if you kids weren’t aware, from ages 19-20, Mr. Erdem was the son of an UAE oil tycoon. He tore up New York City, spending over $100,000 in certain nights. Man’s a legend. Not even, man is myth.

August 6, 2010
I have a Yelp event to go to and I head in a bit late. I get into the city by 8ish and I take a cab to Lucky Strike lanes. It’s from 7-9, but I should still be able to hit some of it up. I go to the place and the guy in the front asks if I’m there for the event and I say Yes. He’s not a Yelp person checking names, just a regular bouncer checking IDs.
I go to the bar and the place is way empty. I ask the bartender what the Yelp event specials are. She has no idea what I’m talking about. I go to the lanes and they’re a few parties of people playing pool and bowling. It’s like absolutely dead. I leave and it’s only 8:20. I head downtown and wait around at Kim’s Music Store and grab a Subway sandwich while waiting for people to head in.
We meet up with Stefan and Avi. Then come Miah, Alon, and Kenny. We move to Doc Holidays. After that, we meet Atron and go to Sophies. We actually meet the main character from The Pacific and Rubicon. Avi spots him. It’s pretty awesome running into a celebrity. It seems like people have that happen in LA, but it’s much rare in NYC.

August 8, 2010
I go on Yelp to look up the review of the event. Yes, the site even has reviews for events it throws. I look at the pictures and it seems like it was a mighty poppin’ situation. Buckets of UFO beer, little gourmet snacks, free knick knacks, free t-shirts, loads of people bowling and posing for pictures. I’m thinking to myself…. What? It wasn’t like that at all.
Lameboat, I should’ve showed up on time. It turns out that the lanes have a lounge attached to building. You have to go to the end of the bar and go through a certain area to get to it. Great… The bouncer didn’t know to direct me to the attached other part of their establishment. The bartender had no clue what was happening that night. Meh, guess next time I should really find out what the deal is before assuming that the event was “dead.”

Sunday, 1 August 2010

End of July

July 28, 2010
I've been watching some movies and have a queue sort of set up.
My brother suggested Greenberg, though I didn't like it. It was just boring to me. I didn't like Ben Stiller's character.
And a surprise to me, I actually enjoyed Hot Tub Time Machine. Fine, it's not a good movie at all, but it's one of those shitty stupid movies that I'd be willing to watch if people wanted to sit down and watch something. Again with my opinions on people watching movies, it should be done by yourself unless it's something easy to watch where people can socialize, etc.
Mad Men starts off the season really well, though when did it become cool to watch the show? People have jumped on the band wagon. I've been watching the show for years and motherfucker should have listened to me. Gotta listen to my word, dicks. I decide what's cool, not other people.
I've been also trying to get back into music.
I really like The Like album. They haven't released anything since I was in high school (2005). I found them out through the Cali crowd of bands when I used to listen to Phantom Planet. It seemed like I only knew the band and I really loved their album. Now, they're back with Mark Ronson producing and it's an homage to the oldies. Going back to the 50s and 60s with the female singing trios, Motown, and more. Much fun.
The Jaime Lidell is a bit disappointing. His last album was fantastic. He evolves more in this album, but a lot of the songs are throwaway. Then again, the highlights are killer, especially Camo Cameleon. It's one of the best songs of the year and has some help from Beck, which can surely be heard in it.

Monday, 19 July 2010

Mid July

July 13, 2010
This man is a "mat-cheen" (an obscure reference to a Little Lupe appearance on the Howard Stern show). Down to 122.5, definition is coming in. Eating "no" fat. Barely any carbs. Avoiding red meat. Cutting calories everywhere. Shit's paying off. Get some discipline people.
Yesterday was quite the productive day. Got up before 8, worked, got home, didn't really slack, took a long nap because I couldn't sleep the night before, worked out, cleaned the car because my brother keeps the car fucking disgusting, had some chicken breast (cooked with no oil), steamed vegetables, and kimchi, and then started LSAT studying.
Right when I sat down with dinner, I was asked if I wanted to go to BHT to watch the Home Run Derby. However, I wouldn't have studied, I would've fattened up on beer, so meh, I did't go.
Can't wait for more Friday Night Lights, downloaded third season and so I should be back on that.
Louie, fantastic show. One of my favorite comedies to come out recently. It mixes his stand up with sitcom and while I dislike most stand up comedians, I can actually get Louis CK.
If you haven't seen Double Rainbow, it's pretty fucking funny. Better yet, Georgia State bodypaint guy is awesome.

July 15, 2010
I drive with Bolanos into the city to have dinner with Corinne and her friend at Kenka. It's the second time for the week going, but I still enjoy it and it's her still favorite place anyway. Along with dinner, between the four of us, we also are able to polish off 9 of their 32 oz beers for $5. It's New York City and that's a deal, buddy.
We end up meeting CNF, Evan, Arielle, and a friend. We stop by the Continental for a few 5 shots for $10. We Corinne and Marti have to get back. The rest of us go to Doc Holidays for a bit. Then we stop by Beauty Bar and Artichoke. I drive back

July 16, 2010
I pick up Atron and we get some KFC. You can actually order healthy there with their grilled chicken. We go back to my place and pregame with some rum. Bolanos comes, we pick up Miah from work, we pick up some Joose and take the 920 train. We meet some peeps and Miah and I go to split a Baoguette. It's already 10-11:00ish and dinner at 7 has left me hungry. I then meet Corinne and a few more friends. We meet CNF, Stefan, and Atron and go to a karaoke room in Koreatown. Not the Stout style, we rent out the room.
We then have some late night snackage as a restaurant. Kimchi bibimbap with loads of side dishes with some soju. Yeesh, that shit is rough.
We split up and we're at the Penn station area already. We have nothing to do so we find an empty bar, have a beer, 3:19, etc. etc.

July 17, 2010
It's Siren day. However, it's exhausting to be there all day. Matt drives in with Toph, Bolanos, Atron, and I. We go to Totonno's first and catch the end of Earl Greyhound. We then make some Ted Leo. Brown bagging some Negra Modelo. After that, we have Matt and Kim. Another beer there, though this time Atron and I walk by an officer. He points at the sidewalk where other partially drunken beers are. We comply and at least I finished most of it anyway. Stupid stupid law, though at least the cops are doing it right. Couldn't imagine them writing hundreds of tickets out.
Matt and Kim are funny, especially with Matt going into Ignition, though I wish they did a cover. Fun show and we head back. A serious shower is needed and some dinner. Then my brother has some people over to play beer pong. Bolanos heads over with Ben. I lose some though end the last game in serious good fashioned win.

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

More July

July 7, 2010
It's the semifinals for the World Cup today. Bolanos and I get breakfast from Best Bagels. Then we make some errands and start the pregame for the city. We take the 1:20 train in for the 2:30 game. We're supposed to go to Zum Schneider, the German beer garden, but it's almost "closed." The metal gate things used when a store is closed are half closed because the place is so full.
We walk and try to find anything we can. We find a bar that's half full, which is still a decent amount for early afternoon. Walking in, the bouncer asks me multiple times to not blow the vuvuzela that I have on me or else I will get kicked out. We stay there and watch the first half. By the way, it's 100 degrees out today. Shit is way too hot. I'm even drenched in sweat while standing in the air conditioned bar.
During half time, we head to Nevada Smiths, which is superpacked and loaded with Spain fans. Poor Germany. I'm rocking my white shirt and white vuvuzela for the Deustchland. Spain scores a goal and I get some beer rained down on me for it. Spain ends up winning 1-0 and we immediately walk out.
It's past 4:00 and I'm starved after just breakfast and the drinks. We decide on Caracas. It's just a slopping mess of pouring as much sauce as I can all over the arepas and scarffing them down like an animal. It's quite a disgusting sight. We then take the train back because Bolanos wants to catch his water polo game.
I get home and chat with Ela about the German loss, though at least we'll beat Uruguay for the third place match. Shootin' some shit, we play "Guess the song" with some humming. Man, reminds me of loads of music that I used to listen to. Ok Go, The Vines, Jet, RHCP (By the Way). Hey, I didn't say it was the best music, but that's what I was into in Middle/High School.
She also gets me to start Season 2 of Gilmore Girls because that's partly where she learned her English, in addition to school. I've watched enough of these girly ass shows in my life. I shoud be able to tell if this is worth it.
Also, I've gone through a full season of Friday Night Lights. Pretty good show. I got hooked quickly. For a drama, it paces quite well. Some of the characters are compelling. And the most intriguing part is its portrayal of "middle" America. It really got me thinking about how it was be like if I grew up with that kind of lifestyle. Things are laidback. A small community. The importance of High School football and how so much revolves around that. Then again, I'm not crazy. I'm a city boy. However, I still will always regret not going to a Midwest sports team college. That would been so fun.

July 9, 2010
After a slight pregame, I take a walk to the station for the 850 train. Stefan is supposed to meet up with us, but I don't know what happens to him. Bolanos and I go to Cheap Shots where we get disappointed by the fact they're out of the best beer, Patriot Ale. If you mix water and beer, you'd have the Patriot.
Atron and Murray come through from their earlier plans or whatnot. We meet up with Erin from the Montreal trip and other school friends. While we're standing around Atron says he'd give me $1 if I ask an open shirt homeless black man the time. It's easy money. I walk over and ask what time it is. He starts spitting like crazy at me and shouting and then starts coming towards me. I immediately turn around and walk away as fast as possible. Even people on the street have to try to stop him as he walked towards me, spitting and shouting. That's the hardest $1 I've ever had to make.
We decide to take the 1:19 back because I'm too old for this shit these days. We get to Penn early and spend the next 20 minutes playing Johnny Lodden Says. Example: Chris and David don't think James has a clue about measurements. They ask James to think of how many feet are in a mile and lock it down in his head. Chris and David then start naming numbers higher and higher until one stops. Stopping at a number means you have that number and numbers under it. The other person has all numbers above. Obviously this game is to be played with wagers.
You can play this game with: Sports trivia, celebrity ages, even something as stupid as the current time. The best part of the game is that "facts" do not matter. All that matters is if you can guess what the non-betting party thinks. You really need to get into their head and extract an answer in from their shoes. Fun fun fun times.
After that, we catch jump onto the 119, which is usually a lame train without fights like the 319. By the way, it's a bit sad that the nights come down to highlights from the train ride. Anyway, we sit across from three girls. One of them has a cup of beer. One is sitting against the window and looking off. Another one is sitting at the isle and a chubby dude walks over, gets on a knee, and starts chatting her up. I could tell they know each other, but I think he's just a friend that's drunk, horny, and lusting.
Atron restart our game where we speak in Spanish. It's fun because I love the language and I really hate losing it after taking it for three semesters in college. The girls stop us and tell us that they know Spanish. We don't care, we keep making fun of the chubby kid. I call him "THE Romeo." About his fire eyes as he starts deeply into the girl's eyes. All this business, it's really fun.
He later leaves and it surprises me that she says they aren't anything official, but they were something. Really? That chubby kid? The girl near the isle is smokin' and has a fuckin' rack that bulldozer can't even pick up. I called out and could tell that she was Persian. The other girl near the window is Italian and quite the looker herself. Dammit, all night nothing. Then the highlight of the night (and even girl spotting) has to come down to the LIRR. Lammmeee. We introduce ourselves, get into a BS talk, exchange names, what are you doing with life, age, etc.
Afterwards, Bolanos and I go to White Castle. 1 BBQ slider, 1 burger, split a sweet potato fries. Not the best, but certainly better than when I used to shove down up to 7 burgers and an order of onion rings in a drunkin stupor. Keep the food clean. Take the liquor easy. This body is a machine.
Either way, update on that, I'm down even more weight. In the mornings, without food in me and all my water weight is gone (so not my "natural" weight), I'm at 123.5. And about saying if I should cut, depends on the goal. I don't have a gym membership nor the time, so I won't be completely bulking, proteining, etc. Instead, I want to cut that body fat and work on the abs, in addition to other areas. Abs are shitty muscles. You need to be unnaturally low in body fat to any get definition from them. Anyway, that's my update/rant.
PS: Flabbymaster Flex Atron owes me a six pack for losing our contest.

July 12, 2010
I'm listening to the Siren bands.
To see:
Wye Oak- The band I'm looking forward to the most. Dreamy folk is how I would describe them, if that helps.
Surfer Blood- Fun indie rock with a hint of "surfer." They draw a bit of that 50s surfer rock feel.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- Despite the silly name, not bad indie rock, but nothing I'd go out of my way to see.
Matt and Kim- I like last year's album more other stuff that I've heard of them. And also, they released one of my favorite songs of last year, unfortunately I feel the rest of their music doesn't hold up to that.
The Night Marchers- Not too "heavy," but still a lot more action than a lot of the other indie pop bands playing.
Ted Leo- Didn't really like them in the past, but I enjoyed the most recent album.
harlem- Catchy indie pop.
Earl Greyhound- I hope they stick to their more rock stuff because a lot of the last album focuses on more the pop side of the band and their female vocalist. SOS is going to be sick though, along with Oye Vaya.
Screaming Females- A punkish band from New Brunswick. Looking forward to them.

Not see:
Holy Fuck- Instrumental electronic isn't really much cup of tea.
Cymbal Eat Guitars- More indie rock, didn't hear much that I found interesting.
Ponytail- Jamming, it's a lot of noise.
Apache Beat- Fail.