Guy Gavriel Kay has a new book out. Its title? River of Stars. I suppose I should write a review of this book, since way back in the day I wrote an Honours thesis based in part on Kay's early work. (I fortunately came to my senses in time to escape the EngLit PhD trap, though!)
So for now this will just be a placeholder until I actually read the book and come up with something intelligent to say about it.
My prediction: I will, as always, be entranced by Kay's command of language, crafting of scenes, and his meticulous research into fascinating historical periods: but this book won't supplant A Song for Arbonne or The Lions of Al-Rassan from their places on the pedestal. Still, almost any book by Kay is intrinsically better than 95% of all commercial fiction, so I'm in for a treat.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Monday, June 18, 2012
Bringer of Fire
Your esteemed author, in an intellectual conceit, is going to pretend that he is an obscure cousin of Prometheus, the titan in Greek mythology who gave mankind the gift of fire. This identity lets me show that brimstone is a highly combustible substance as I post a scathing review of the new Ridley Scott film named after his famous relative.
Why am I so aggravated by this movie? Two words: high expectations.
I own just about every commercially-released version of Blade Runner and Alien (okay, not the Betamax versions). I would rate both in my all-time top five films, both in terms of pure enjoyment and on objective merit. So I got my hopes way, way up in imagining what Scott could do with modern film technology in making a prequel to Alien.
What did Scott ultimately deliver? A really amazing film spectacle, yes, but really he shot a film with a horrendous script.
Let's imagine you are one of the really, really smart decision-makers working for the Weyland-Yutani corporation, and your company is bankrolling a trillion-dollar space mission to another planet. This ship is going to carry your CEO, his daughter - who stands to inherit the controlling interest in the company, and who wants to survive the voyage - and some top scientists to explore a planetary body which might hold the secret of how life began on Earth. If we assume the crew were following their mission orders, based on what I saw in the movie theater, you probably wanted to make sure no-one came back alive from this journey, and you wrote up the mission protocols like so ...
Mission Protocols
1) Explore any artificial structures found at voyage terminus.
2) If structure contains breathable atmosphere, recommend opening all helmets and outer coverings to conserve oxygen supply.
3) If structure contains possible bio-hazards, direct contact (up to and including rubbing into eyes or other orifices) is authorized in order to discover possible physiological mutations in human beings.
4) All symbols should be immediately and repeatedly manipulated by direct contact. Any potential doorways should be opened without consultation with security personnel nor implementation of quarantine procedures. Ignore any signs of danger such as alien corpses, holograms or psionic shrieks of distress.
5) All alien power sources should be activated. Functionality of alien artifacts is a mission priority.
6) Release all (bound) alien life forms from stasis, to ensure best possible human-alien diplomatic relations.
7) All specimens, materials and samples from the exploration site should be disseminated to surviving crew-members.
NB. In space, no-one can hear you scream.
Why am I so aggravated by this movie? Two words: high expectations.
I own just about every commercially-released version of Blade Runner and Alien (okay, not the Betamax versions). I would rate both in my all-time top five films, both in terms of pure enjoyment and on objective merit. So I got my hopes way, way up in imagining what Scott could do with modern film technology in making a prequel to Alien.
What did Scott ultimately deliver? A really amazing film spectacle, yes, but really he shot a film with a horrendous script.
Let's imagine you are one of the really, really smart decision-makers working for the Weyland-Yutani corporation, and your company is bankrolling a trillion-dollar space mission to another planet. This ship is going to carry your CEO, his daughter - who stands to inherit the controlling interest in the company, and who wants to survive the voyage - and some top scientists to explore a planetary body which might hold the secret of how life began on Earth. If we assume the crew were following their mission orders, based on what I saw in the movie theater, you probably wanted to make sure no-one came back alive from this journey, and you wrote up the mission protocols like so ...
Mission Protocols
1) Explore any artificial structures found at voyage terminus.
2) If structure contains breathable atmosphere, recommend opening all helmets and outer coverings to conserve oxygen supply.
3) If structure contains possible bio-hazards, direct contact (up to and including rubbing into eyes or other orifices) is authorized in order to discover possible physiological mutations in human beings.
4) All symbols should be immediately and repeatedly manipulated by direct contact. Any potential doorways should be opened without consultation with security personnel nor implementation of quarantine procedures. Ignore any signs of danger such as alien corpses, holograms or psionic shrieks of distress.
5) All alien power sources should be activated. Functionality of alien artifacts is a mission priority.
6) Release all (bound) alien life forms from stasis, to ensure best possible human-alien diplomatic relations.
7) All specimens, materials and samples from the exploration site should be disseminated to surviving crew-members.
NB. In space, no-one can hear you scream.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
17 more years of waiting?
I publish this post after two periods of Game Seven in Vancouver. My team is losing 3-0. I am resigned to the Boston Bruins hoisting the Stanley Cup in our rink. This will be a bitter pill to swallow. I went downtown today on errands - and stopped not three blocks from the rink at midday. The atmosphere was electric, the mood incredibly anxious. Nearly everyone was wearing the team colours. I thought back to last year when my father and I were two of the lucky spectators at the Olympic gold-medal game. I could well imagine what the atmosphere was going to be in a few hours when the game would start and the Canucks would have a winner-take-all Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup on home ice.
I could rant about this series for hours, but the bottom line was this: this was the first Finals appearance by the Canucks in franchise history where they were the clear favourites to win the Cup. If this series had been played 100 times, I think Vancouver would have won at least 70 times. But this is real life. In a given season, you only have one opportunity to become a champion. You don't get a do-over or a large sample size to determine who wins the post-season tournament.
The Canucks didn't get the job done. Mostly, this was their own fault. Some of it was atrociously bad luck. And a very small part of the blame should be laid at the door of the NHL's inconsistent officiating, which definitely did the Canucks no favours. But make no mistake, over the balance of play of these seven games, Boston was the better team. That's why they play the games; in professional team sports the best team often doesn't win the championship. And that's what I believe happened here.
This was a gut-wrenching series to watch, especially for the last five games. The Canucks' luck was ridiculously bad - all the bounces of the puck went against them; the Bruins' superior goal-tending and defensive system negated much of Vancouver's league-best offense; significant injuries to nearly all of the Canucks' best players - most notably the Game One injury to Ken Hamhuis, the team's most reliable defenseman, and the clearly hobbled Ryan Kesler, the heart and soul of the team who soldiered on at half-strength - as well as the Aaron Rome suspension, robbed the team of its cohesion at the worst possible time. And you could just see the Canucks being worn down, their speed and skill advantages over Boston blunted as the series wore on.
Above all, this series will be remembered as one where the Canucks were blown out in all three games in Boston with sub-par performances by Roberto Luongo and most everyone else in a Canucks uniform.
I really hope the Canucks can make it back to the finals and take care of unfinished business before my nephew, aged 18 months, graduates from high school.
I hope Mason Raymond recovers fully from a gruesome back injury he suffered at the :20 second mark of Game Six.
If a miracle of biblical proportions occurs in the third period and the Canucks come back to win the series, I will probably end up collapsing after a week-long bender. If the Bruins win, I will undoubtedly be a morose grump for a few days. Either way, my liver is in for a world of hurt.
A very, very small part of me admires the achievement of Tim Thomas. He's the same age as I am - and he just put up a goal-tending performance for the ages.
I could rant about this series for hours, but the bottom line was this: this was the first Finals appearance by the Canucks in franchise history where they were the clear favourites to win the Cup. If this series had been played 100 times, I think Vancouver would have won at least 70 times. But this is real life. In a given season, you only have one opportunity to become a champion. You don't get a do-over or a large sample size to determine who wins the post-season tournament.
The Canucks didn't get the job done. Mostly, this was their own fault. Some of it was atrociously bad luck. And a very small part of the blame should be laid at the door of the NHL's inconsistent officiating, which definitely did the Canucks no favours. But make no mistake, over the balance of play of these seven games, Boston was the better team. That's why they play the games; in professional team sports the best team often doesn't win the championship. And that's what I believe happened here.
This was a gut-wrenching series to watch, especially for the last five games. The Canucks' luck was ridiculously bad - all the bounces of the puck went against them; the Bruins' superior goal-tending and defensive system negated much of Vancouver's league-best offense; significant injuries to nearly all of the Canucks' best players - most notably the Game One injury to Ken Hamhuis, the team's most reliable defenseman, and the clearly hobbled Ryan Kesler, the heart and soul of the team who soldiered on at half-strength - as well as the Aaron Rome suspension, robbed the team of its cohesion at the worst possible time. And you could just see the Canucks being worn down, their speed and skill advantages over Boston blunted as the series wore on.
Above all, this series will be remembered as one where the Canucks were blown out in all three games in Boston with sub-par performances by Roberto Luongo and most everyone else in a Canucks uniform.
I really hope the Canucks can make it back to the finals and take care of unfinished business before my nephew, aged 18 months, graduates from high school.
I hope Mason Raymond recovers fully from a gruesome back injury he suffered at the :20 second mark of Game Six.
If a miracle of biblical proportions occurs in the third period and the Canucks come back to win the series, I will probably end up collapsing after a week-long bender. If the Bruins win, I will undoubtedly be a morose grump for a few days. Either way, my liver is in for a world of hurt.
A very, very small part of me admires the achievement of Tim Thomas. He's the same age as I am - and he just put up a goal-tending performance for the ages.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Maui Trip Report, pt. 1
I don't want to write anything about the Canucks-'Hawks series until it is over. Until then, I'll post a serialized trip report from my recent vacation - with pics to come.
2nd April
Get up early for 6 hr flight to Maui. Supposedly I'll be sitting next to sister, brother-in-law and 16 month-old nephew in bulkhead seats - more room to stretch out? yes please! - but they prove to be a myth. Bad beat.
I had resigned myself to long odds that Oliver would behave on the flight but he came through like a champion, much to the delight of everyone in the vicinity, as we gladly enjoyed the 7-to-1 shot. Only bad part of flight was about 1 hour's worth of fairly significant turbulence. Would happily have traded back the hour saved - we landed in just over 5 hours - for a smoother flight.
Somehow we spent 2.5 hours on arrival collecting baggage and picking up two rental cars. We then drove to . . . Costco. Yep, the first stop on a Hawaiian vacation was a giant store. Nothing says you're in Maui like Costco! This store was quite a bit different than the ones you'd find in Vancouver, though. Picked up essential supplies, then proceeded to posh resort. A spot of trouble with our room, but this was sorted out to our satisfaction and we settled in. (We soon found out the unit we were renting was for sale for a cool 1.4MM.) We spent a quiet evening getting the hang of the place and barbequed some burgers, than we turned in, ready to hit the beach the next day.
2nd April
Get up early for 6 hr flight to Maui. Supposedly I'll be sitting next to sister, brother-in-law and 16 month-old nephew in bulkhead seats - more room to stretch out? yes please! - but they prove to be a myth. Bad beat.
I had resigned myself to long odds that Oliver would behave on the flight but he came through like a champion, much to the delight of everyone in the vicinity, as we gladly enjoyed the 7-to-1 shot. Only bad part of flight was about 1 hour's worth of fairly significant turbulence. Would happily have traded back the hour saved - we landed in just over 5 hours - for a smoother flight.
Somehow we spent 2.5 hours on arrival collecting baggage and picking up two rental cars. We then drove to . . . Costco. Yep, the first stop on a Hawaiian vacation was a giant store. Nothing says you're in Maui like Costco! This store was quite a bit different than the ones you'd find in Vancouver, though. Picked up essential supplies, then proceeded to posh resort. A spot of trouble with our room, but this was sorted out to our satisfaction and we settled in. (We soon found out the unit we were renting was for sale for a cool 1.4MM.) We spent a quiet evening getting the hang of the place and barbequed some burgers, than we turned in, ready to hit the beach the next day.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Escaping to paradise
I have been mulling over what to do with this space. Like many bloggers whose authorial voice has waned, my posting frequency has dropped to nearly nil. Since it's not 2005 and I no longer feel the need to try to post a lot about my poker adventures or record my halting steps towards proficiency at various forms of the game, I have been considering what other topics I might opt to write about here. I have a few ideas and once I've made some preparations, all six of you who still read this blog will hopefully be rewarded with some content of non-negligible value.
In the meantime, I'm happy to say that I'll be taking a family vacation in a week's time to Hawaii. It'll be my first time to that island paradise, and we're all set to stay at a very nice resort. I hope my nephew, who is fifteen months old, behaves on the flight. Other news of interest: my father, who is a few years older than this car enthusiast, and probably has even more disposable income than his fellow doctor to make frivolous purchases, will likely own one of these very soon. Needless to say, I have dibs on taking it out for a spin - my brother-in-law will have to get in line!
Sadly, I'll be an island away from this poker blogger when I'm vacationing, and it doesn't look as if I'll be able to hop over for a visit because our schedules don't mesh. I guess our next meeting will have to wait until Vegas in December.
I hope to fit in a round of golf whilst in Maui, so if anyone has any golf course suggestions, I'm all ears.
In the meantime, I'm happy to say that I'll be taking a family vacation in a week's time to Hawaii. It'll be my first time to that island paradise, and we're all set to stay at a very nice resort. I hope my nephew, who is fifteen months old, behaves on the flight. Other news of interest: my father, who is a few years older than this car enthusiast, and probably has even more disposable income than his fellow doctor to make frivolous purchases, will likely own one of these very soon. Needless to say, I have dibs on taking it out for a spin - my brother-in-law will have to get in line!
Sadly, I'll be an island away from this poker blogger when I'm vacationing, and it doesn't look as if I'll be able to hop over for a visit because our schedules don't mesh. I guess our next meeting will have to wait until Vegas in December.
I hope to fit in a round of golf whilst in Maui, so if anyone has any golf course suggestions, I'm all ears.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
In the words of an English peasant
This brilliant scene from one of my all-time favourite movies resonates with me more than usual this week, since Sunday is my birthday - my 37th. And I'm starting to notice the onset of age. I've spotted some gray hair. Carpe diem!
At least no-one has yet called me ...
King Arthur: Old woman.
Dennis: Man.
King Arthur: Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
Dennis: I'm 37.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I'm 37. I'm not old.
King Arthur: Well I can't just call you "man".
Dennis: Well you could say "Dennis".
King Arthur: I didn't know you were called Dennis.
Dennis: Well you didn't bother to find out did you?
King Arthur: I did say sorry about the "old woman", but from behind you looked...
Dennis: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior.
King Arthur: Well I am king.
Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.
Go watch the whole thing. And laugh your guts out. Or go see Spamalot, because it's nearly as awesome.
At least no-one has yet called me ...
King Arthur: Old woman.
Dennis: Man.
King Arthur: Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
Dennis: I'm 37.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I'm 37. I'm not old.
King Arthur: Well I can't just call you "man".
Dennis: Well you could say "Dennis".
King Arthur: I didn't know you were called Dennis.
Dennis: Well you didn't bother to find out did you?
King Arthur: I did say sorry about the "old woman", but from behind you looked...
Dennis: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior.
King Arthur: Well I am king.
Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.
Go watch the whole thing. And laugh your guts out. Or go see Spamalot, because it's nearly as awesome.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Musings on the year that was 2010 and some 2011 predictions
Here are some predictions for 2011, and a few thoughts on 2010.
I will lose ten pounds to reach my target weight of 165 lbs (which is what I was at back when I graduated high school).
I will achieve some much-needed professional development and move upwards, not laterally, in the coming months.
I will improve my endurance and run some 10K races this summer, hopefully breaking the 55-minute barrier.
The Vancouver Canucks - currently the best team in the NHL - will be Stanley Cup finalists for the first time since 1994. We will probably lose in heart-breaking fashion to the Pittsburgh Penguins because Sidney Crosby always finds a way to win. This will be a time where my sincere admiration for Crosby will (temporarily) turn to unvarnished hatred.
I will attend next December's blogger gathering in Las Vegas.
I will put more time and effort into crushing some local private NL/PLO cash games that I've recently discovered. I will likely play more online poker in 2011 than I did in 2010, sticking to lower stakes mixed games and PLO8 cash games and a few bloggaments. Bring on the next BBT, Al!
I will blog more (but it's likely poker won't be a regular topic unless the American online poker industry blows up in dramatic fashion).
Looking back on 2010, I have a lot to be thankful for. I significantly improved my fitness, I saw the most famous international goal in Canadian hockey in my lifetime from 40 feet away (my DOB is post-Summit Series), and most importantly of all, my close family is all in good health and grew by one with the birth of my nephew Oliver, who recently turned one on December 30th.
I will lose ten pounds to reach my target weight of 165 lbs (which is what I was at back when I graduated high school).
I will achieve some much-needed professional development and move upwards, not laterally, in the coming months.
I will improve my endurance and run some 10K races this summer, hopefully breaking the 55-minute barrier.
The Vancouver Canucks - currently the best team in the NHL - will be Stanley Cup finalists for the first time since 1994. We will probably lose in heart-breaking fashion to the Pittsburgh Penguins because Sidney Crosby always finds a way to win. This will be a time where my sincere admiration for Crosby will (temporarily) turn to unvarnished hatred.
I will attend next December's blogger gathering in Las Vegas.
I will put more time and effort into crushing some local private NL/PLO cash games that I've recently discovered. I will likely play more online poker in 2011 than I did in 2010, sticking to lower stakes mixed games and PLO8 cash games and a few bloggaments. Bring on the next BBT, Al!
I will blog more (but it's likely poker won't be a regular topic unless the American online poker industry blows up in dramatic fashion).
Looking back on 2010, I have a lot to be thankful for. I significantly improved my fitness, I saw the most famous international goal in Canadian hockey in my lifetime from 40 feet away (my DOB is post-Summit Series), and most importantly of all, my close family is all in good health and grew by one with the birth of my nephew Oliver, who recently turned one on December 30th.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Nineteen
Tonight marks the night when #19 rises to the rafters. Just two years after his retirement from the NHL, Markus Naslund, the best player in Vancouver Canucks team history (he owns a ton of team records for his accomplishments as a Canuck), has his number retired by the Canucks. It's the third number retired by the franchise, following Stan Smyl (#12) and Trevor Linden (#16).
It couldn't happen to a more deserving person.
The only thing that could make me happier as a lifelong fan of the team is a Stanley Cup parade.
It couldn't happen to a more deserving person.
The only thing that could make me happier as a lifelong fan of the team is a Stanley Cup parade.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Two words: no-hitter
Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball.
Even though he's no longer pitching for my team, I still cheer for him.
Now that he's pitching in the playoffs for Philadelphia, casual baseball fans realize just how good Doc is. All he's done for the Phillies this year, his first season playing in the National League, is put up a Cy Young-worthy season which featured a perfect game, and now the second no-hitter in baseball's postseason history (NB. there have been 1,264 postseason baseball games played since 1903 - so this was a truly staggering feat). And this wasn't an easy task - Halladay was facing the highest-scoring team in the league in the Cincinnati Reds - and he made the Reds batters look completely helpless at the plate. No-one even came close to getting a hit; and Halladay only walked one batter during the game.
Five men have thrown two no-hitters in a calendar year or a postseason no-hitter. Halladay just became the first pitcher in baseball history to accomplish both feats.
I look forward to the day Doc gets inducted to the Hall of Fame, and I can see him wearing a Blue Jays cap once again.
Even though he's no longer pitching for my team, I still cheer for him.
Now that he's pitching in the playoffs for Philadelphia, casual baseball fans realize just how good Doc is. All he's done for the Phillies this year, his first season playing in the National League, is put up a Cy Young-worthy season which featured a perfect game, and now the second no-hitter in baseball's postseason history (NB. there have been 1,264 postseason baseball games played since 1903 - so this was a truly staggering feat). And this wasn't an easy task - Halladay was facing the highest-scoring team in the league in the Cincinnati Reds - and he made the Reds batters look completely helpless at the plate. No-one even came close to getting a hit; and Halladay only walked one batter during the game.
Five men have thrown two no-hitters in a calendar year or a postseason no-hitter. Halladay just became the first pitcher in baseball history to accomplish both feats.
I look forward to the day Doc gets inducted to the Hall of Fame, and I can see him wearing a Blue Jays cap once again.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Two words: whisky night
The long hot dry summer is over.
A night out with father, brother-in-law, and brother-in-law's father (visiting from Scotland) put paid to the mostly alcohol-free summer. We spent a night out having a good meal followed by the real treat of the evening, sampling a great many expensive offerings of Scotland's finest export in Vancouver's best gastropub - none of your Irish or American or Canadian inferior offerings for this party of four, if you please (the menu had a full page of single malts; there was about seven or eight Irish whiskeys on the back page, and a few North American and Japanese).
My favourite - we sampled about twenty, accompanied by a tasty cheese plate, some sausage and french fries - was a classic offering: a 16 year-old Lagavulin. But if you pressed me, I'd have cast a strong second-place vote for the 15 year-old Bruichladdich. Or my perennial favorite, Caol Ila (a real fire-starter, an 8 year-old with over 64% alcohol content), could have taken pride of place. Or there was this very good recommendation by the bar manager ...
I'm glad we thought ahead and booked a cab for the trip home.
A night out with father, brother-in-law, and brother-in-law's father (visiting from Scotland) put paid to the mostly alcohol-free summer. We spent a night out having a good meal followed by the real treat of the evening, sampling a great many expensive offerings of Scotland's finest export in Vancouver's best gastropub - none of your Irish or American or Canadian inferior offerings for this party of four, if you please (the menu had a full page of single malts; there was about seven or eight Irish whiskeys on the back page, and a few North American and Japanese).
My favourite - we sampled about twenty, accompanied by a tasty cheese plate, some sausage and french fries - was a classic offering: a 16 year-old Lagavulin. But if you pressed me, I'd have cast a strong second-place vote for the 15 year-old Bruichladdich. Or my perennial favorite, Caol Ila (a real fire-starter, an 8 year-old with over 64% alcohol content), could have taken pride of place. Or there was this very good recommendation by the bar manager ...
I'm glad we thought ahead and booked a cab for the trip home.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Dog days of summer
I will seize on any lame excuse for my lack of blogging. Hot summer weather is a good one.
Despite the summer heat, I've managed to break through a running plateau. Some proper new running shoes and a new venue - which incidentally was a training track for Roger Bannister's 1954 four-minute mile at the Commonwealth Games - have furnished added motivation to my exercise program. I've managed to crack the six-minute barrier (km) for my half-hour runs (total distance just over 5K). I hope by next summer to be doing 10K runs at that pace or better.
Haven't been playing any poker due to lack of inspiration. If I can't play close to my best, there's no point in playing. This means I should be a complete degen in December at the WPBG . . . isn't poker blogger money the best? I'm on track to meet my target weight of 165 lbs, but losing the first 15 was easier than the remaining 15 will be. I wonder if anyone else is going to make their weight?
Nephew is just about 7 months old. A new purchase which has been a big hit is a wading pool.
One of my favourite all-time baseball players entered the Hall of Fame yesterday. Here's a tip of the cap to Andre Dawson. Hopefully his former Expos teammate Tim Raines won't be far behind.
Despite the summer heat, I've managed to break through a running plateau. Some proper new running shoes and a new venue - which incidentally was a training track for Roger Bannister's 1954 four-minute mile at the Commonwealth Games - have furnished added motivation to my exercise program. I've managed to crack the six-minute barrier (km) for my half-hour runs (total distance just over 5K). I hope by next summer to be doing 10K runs at that pace or better.
Haven't been playing any poker due to lack of inspiration. If I can't play close to my best, there's no point in playing. This means I should be a complete degen in December at the WPBG . . . isn't poker blogger money the best? I'm on track to meet my target weight of 165 lbs, but losing the first 15 was easier than the remaining 15 will be. I wonder if anyone else is going to make their weight?
Nephew is just about 7 months old. A new purchase which has been a big hit is a wading pool.
One of my favourite all-time baseball players entered the Hall of Fame yesterday. Here's a tip of the cap to Andre Dawson. Hopefully his former Expos teammate Tim Raines won't be far behind.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
You Win Some, You Lose Some
It's been a lazy summer so far, and not entirely by choice.
Injured my foot somehow; haven't been able to run for past ten days or so. Disappointing, because I'd broken through a plateau and was chewing up more distance in my 30 minute runs. I hope to be back at it either Wednesday or Friday, though.
My nephew will reach the 6-month mark tomorrow, and as a doting uncle I babysit every chance I get to spoil him shamelessly and leave all the responsibilities to the parents.
Poker hasn't been so fun lately - I used up some of my unused stockpile of FTP points to earn T$, and proceeded to bubble a slew of SNGs for zero profit, but I'm reminded why I like Rush Poker when I play just long enough to hold up in spots like this (having 55% equity in a 3-way AIPF pot is hard to do in Omaha!):
Injured my foot somehow; haven't been able to run for past ten days or so. Disappointing, because I'd broken through a plateau and was chewing up more distance in my 30 minute runs. I hope to be back at it either Wednesday or Friday, though.
My nephew will reach the 6-month mark tomorrow, and as a doting uncle I babysit every chance I get to spoil him shamelessly and leave all the responsibilities to the parents.
Poker hasn't been so fun lately - I used up some of my unused stockpile of FTP points to earn T$, and proceeded to bubble a slew of SNGs for zero profit, but I'm reminded why I like Rush Poker when I play just long enough to hold up in spots like this (having 55% equity in a 3-way AIPF pot is hard to do in Omaha!):
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Fitness Goals
As time marches on I figure I should provide a brief update on the weight loss bet that I've really been taking seriously from the get-go. I plan on attending this year's WBG in December after a one-year hiatus, and there's something on the line as I've pledged to reach a target weight of 75 kilos - which is what I tipped the scales at way back in 1992 when I graduated from high school. I'm pleased to report that I'm well on my way there, having weighed in today at 80 kilos. Running three times a week and hitting the gym another couple of times per week since February has done the trick, along with much improved nutrition. When I began my running program it was all I could do to wheeze through ten-minutes stretches at a laughably slow pace; now I'm able to run about 5km in 30 minutes. Not exactly a 4 minute mile pace but pretty respectable by my way of thinking (at least for now). This time next year I hope to be able to run 10K in under 50 minutes.
I plan to hit the ice again for weekly hockey games in the fall; it's been several years since I've played organized hockey and given how I'm feeling I am pretty optimistic that I'll have the cardiovascular fitness to seamlessly pretend I'm an NHL'er. I just hope my hands haven't completely lost their touch; I used to play hockey at a pretty high level back when I was a teenager. Only time will tell if I'm delusional.
I plan to hit the ice again for weekly hockey games in the fall; it's been several years since I've played organized hockey and given how I'm feeling I am pretty optimistic that I'll have the cardiovascular fitness to seamlessly pretend I'm an NHL'er. I just hope my hands haven't completely lost their touch; I used to play hockey at a pretty high level back when I was a teenager. Only time will tell if I'm delusional.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Anatomy of a PLO game
Here are some interesting hands from a deep-stacked PLO game I played earlier today. This was at low stakes, obviously, but it was a good opportunity to shake off some rust as I shift attention away from tournament poker back to the cash games. The mixed games are still my bread-and-butter, but today I felt like something fast-paced, which Omaha definitely is!
Hand #1: Backing into two pair
This guy could have had anything. It turned out he had two club blockers and luckboxed his way to a mediocre two pair hand, which I was able to vanquish.
Hand #2: Value-betting a straight
Pretty trivial spot. I love the power of position.
Hand #3: Folding a set
I was probably priced in to call off my stack hoping to boat up. I had one of my outs in my hand and this led me to wuss out and fold (incorrectly I would guess).
Hand #4: Losing the minimum with a premium draw
Villain pretty much has to have me beat on the flop given this action. I was happy to take free cards for the chance to go to valuetown if I made a better hand.
The following three hands had me squaring off with a particular villain. His play led me to believe I should give him action, but he was very transparent with made hands, as we'll see below.
Hand #5: Folding the nut flush
I got too cute here. I should have led right out on the turn with the nuts. Check-folding the river was painful but necessary.
Hand #6: Overplaying a draw
I was still steaming a little from Hand #6 and decided to gamble against what was pretty obviously a set of queens. I didn't get there.
Hand #7: Getting even with trips
Given the last two hands against this villain I absolutely cannot fold here.
Hand #8: Snapping off bare aces
I like to have a little more equity on the flop but I was more than willing to get it in given all the possibilities I had to improve. I probably should have waited until the turn to get it in.
Hand #9: Properly played aces
I'm willing to pay off against the miracle quad fives. Villain is much more likely to have a big pair in the hole.
Hand #10: Letting the new table maniac bet for you
If I had been certain he only had two pair and would pay off a raise, I would have re-popped it. But I chickened out in case he had the straight. If I had felt like pushing the action I could have given more action on the turn with the nut flush draw and an overpair.
Hand #11: My boat is bigger than yours
Given my recent run of cards people were looking me up with inferior values.
Hand #12: Missing my freeroll
The final hand of our session. The Austrian villain was seduced by the quantity of crappy draws he had and avoided a lot of disaster cards by making a nut straight right along with me. This hand more than anything illustrates the beauty of a superior hand structure where you can dominate someone's draws.
I happily booked a +4 buy-in win for the session and will be back for more, once I've fixed a few leaks that have revealed themselves (see in particular Hands 3, 5, and 6) from this session review.
Hand #1: Backing into two pair
This guy could have had anything. It turned out he had two club blockers and luckboxed his way to a mediocre two pair hand, which I was able to vanquish.
Hand #2: Value-betting a straight
Pretty trivial spot. I love the power of position.
Hand #3: Folding a set
I was probably priced in to call off my stack hoping to boat up. I had one of my outs in my hand and this led me to wuss out and fold (incorrectly I would guess).
Hand #4: Losing the minimum with a premium draw
Villain pretty much has to have me beat on the flop given this action. I was happy to take free cards for the chance to go to valuetown if I made a better hand.
The following three hands had me squaring off with a particular villain. His play led me to believe I should give him action, but he was very transparent with made hands, as we'll see below.
Hand #5: Folding the nut flush
I got too cute here. I should have led right out on the turn with the nuts. Check-folding the river was painful but necessary.
Hand #6: Overplaying a draw
I was still steaming a little from Hand #6 and decided to gamble against what was pretty obviously a set of queens. I didn't get there.
Hand #7: Getting even with trips
Given the last two hands against this villain I absolutely cannot fold here.
Hand #8: Snapping off bare aces
I like to have a little more equity on the flop but I was more than willing to get it in given all the possibilities I had to improve. I probably should have waited until the turn to get it in.
Hand #9: Properly played aces
I'm willing to pay off against the miracle quad fives. Villain is much more likely to have a big pair in the hole.
Hand #10: Letting the new table maniac bet for you
If I had been certain he only had two pair and would pay off a raise, I would have re-popped it. But I chickened out in case he had the straight. If I had felt like pushing the action I could have given more action on the turn with the nut flush draw and an overpair.
Hand #11: My boat is bigger than yours
Given my recent run of cards people were looking me up with inferior values.
Hand #12: Missing my freeroll
The final hand of our session. The Austrian villain was seduced by the quantity of crappy draws he had and avoided a lot of disaster cards by making a nut straight right along with me. This hand more than anything illustrates the beauty of a superior hand structure where you can dominate someone's draws.
I happily booked a +4 buy-in win for the session and will be back for more, once I've fixed a few leaks that have revealed themselves (see in particular Hands 3, 5, and 6) from this session review.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
A game of excellence
I never doubted Roy Halladay would be dominant in the NL, but he just exceeded my lofty expectations by throwing the twentieth perfect game in ML baseball history. The number of baseball games in MLB history is a rather large number -- approximately eight hundred thousand -- so it's hard not to marvel at such a rare accomplishment. Which happens once every thirty-seven thousand games, or thereabouts.
We miss you, Doc.
At least you'll go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Blue Jays cap.
We miss you, Doc.
At least you'll go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Blue Jays cap.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
A game of luck
There won't be a pirate sighting in the ToC of the BBT5, sadly. As is my usual wont in the Mookie, I built a big stack in Hour 1 (top five), maintained it in Hour 2 (top ten), went completely card dead in Hour 3 and busted out once I was forced to play preflop shove poker with 10BBs despite having way the best of it when the money went in preflop (AK vs. A3).
I thought about channeling Waffles in a rant but I can't be unhappy with how I busted out. Bloggers calling off with inferior ace-x hands is just a way of life and in the long-term I love getting those calls.
Good luck to those with a ToC seat! And thanks to Al and FTP for a pile of free stuff ... something like 35K in prizes with only twenty-one players competing in the final tournament(!).
I thought about channeling Waffles in a rant but I can't be unhappy with how I busted out. Bloggers calling off with inferior ace-x hands is just a way of life and in the long-term I love getting those calls.
Good luck to those with a ToC seat! And thanks to Al and FTP for a pile of free stuff ... something like 35K in prizes with only twenty-one players competing in the final tournament(!).
Thursday, May 20, 2010
I like a good freeroll, redux
Al works hard for us, doesn't he?
I have a few more thoughts on some trends I've noticed playing in just a handful of the BBT5 events so far.
Firstly, some very aggressive players have really put a beating on the tournament fields so far in the BBT5. They apply maximum pressure preflop with any two cards and, frankly, avoid playing postflop poker whenever possible -- this is especially true in the later stages of the tournaments, even when stacks are 20+ bbs. I even saw one particular player open-shove a 25 bb stack once an orbit four consecutive times in the middle stages of last night's Mookie! Each time I woke up with a fairly good hand - usually AJ, AQ, AK - on the button and reluctantly folded since I didn't want to blindly gamble it up. I'd have to say this is pretty frustrating for me, coming from a cash game background where the effective stacks are usually much deeper, and I don't have tournament survival as an overriding concern. After all, in a cash game I can simply rebuy and plan to take all of a target's money in a subsequent hand; I can't do that in a tournament. I like to see a flop with significant money behind as it gives me more room to maneuver; their tactics effectively minimize the skill factor in the game and maximize the luck factor. Obviously, this does mean that they get paid off when they have big hands because they are going to generate action when other players have a medium-to-good hand to fight back with; what I don't like about this style of play is when I see the questionable calls preflop with a lot of dominated ace-rag hands in hopes they will get lucky. All that said, if you can adapt to deal with this style, don't fear getting it in with a hand like the mighty jack-ace; they are going to call with many worse aces and you will have the best of it. Above all, I would try not to give them the opportunity to put in the last raise. Either apply pressure yourself, by making them decide to call off their chips. Or best of all, if you do have a premium hand, put out a normal raise and pray that they get frisky. You can even try the ol' limp re-raise or limp-call from early position with a big pair since they won't be able to resist jamming from late position on you a lot of the time. More than anything, plan your hand out in advance once you've adjusted to the presence of a loose aggressive player.
More than anything I regret not being able to amass a 25+ bb stack at the final table of last night's Mookie. That would have given me enough ammunition to play back at the aggressive players, or to force them to play postflop by calling their raises in position in an attempt to maneuver myself into a situation where I think I have an advantage.
I have a few more thoughts on some trends I've noticed playing in just a handful of the BBT5 events so far.
Firstly, some very aggressive players have really put a beating on the tournament fields so far in the BBT5. They apply maximum pressure preflop with any two cards and, frankly, avoid playing postflop poker whenever possible -- this is especially true in the later stages of the tournaments, even when stacks are 20+ bbs. I even saw one particular player open-shove a 25 bb stack once an orbit four consecutive times in the middle stages of last night's Mookie! Each time I woke up with a fairly good hand - usually AJ, AQ, AK - on the button and reluctantly folded since I didn't want to blindly gamble it up. I'd have to say this is pretty frustrating for me, coming from a cash game background where the effective stacks are usually much deeper, and I don't have tournament survival as an overriding concern. After all, in a cash game I can simply rebuy and plan to take all of a target's money in a subsequent hand; I can't do that in a tournament. I like to see a flop with significant money behind as it gives me more room to maneuver; their tactics effectively minimize the skill factor in the game and maximize the luck factor. Obviously, this does mean that they get paid off when they have big hands because they are going to generate action when other players have a medium-to-good hand to fight back with; what I don't like about this style of play is when I see the questionable calls preflop with a lot of dominated ace-rag hands in hopes they will get lucky. All that said, if you can adapt to deal with this style, don't fear getting it in with a hand like the mighty jack-ace; they are going to call with many worse aces and you will have the best of it. Above all, I would try not to give them the opportunity to put in the last raise. Either apply pressure yourself, by making them decide to call off their chips. Or best of all, if you do have a premium hand, put out a normal raise and pray that they get frisky. You can even try the ol' limp re-raise or limp-call from early position with a big pair since they won't be able to resist jamming from late position on you a lot of the time. More than anything, plan your hand out in advance once you've adjusted to the presence of a loose aggressive player.
More than anything I regret not being able to amass a 25+ bb stack at the final table of last night's Mookie. That would have given me enough ammunition to play back at the aggressive players, or to force them to play postflop by calling their raises in position in an attempt to maneuver myself into a situation where I think I have an advantage.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
An old-fashioned Mookie + Dookie recap
It's been a really really long time since I've done a bloggament recap. So why not two for the price of one, seeing as how I made the final table in both?
The Dookie was a PLO8 tournament. PLO8 is pretty much my favourite poker variant of them all, and I like to think I am pretty solid with the fundamentals of this game. Many people are not. So I was sailing along in a commanding position, chip-leader with six left, and ultimately decided to put maximum pressure on the villain whom I barely had covered, with a premium hand: Kh Ad 2c 3d. He opted to put 7000 tournament chips in with Ah 2s 3c 2h (!) ... and a measly pair of deuces held up in a pretty sick spot:
Needless to say, I think the villain should never get it in here.
I wasn't too unhappy because I was making a run in the Mookie and was trying to focus on being a short-stack ninja as we reached the final nine and the final table (which was also the cash bubble). In the previous BBT series (2-4) I have managed to win this tournament for a ToC seat, but so far in BBT5 I have only played one Mookie and didn't get anywhere. This time, I swore it would be different.
Things got off to a good start as I got some revenge on JuliusGoat, when he 4-bet jammed with QQ and ran into a bigger pair:
Then I folded, folded, folded, and folded some more. Card death was rampant. I won the occasional pot to stay at around 5K in chips for a very long time.
Then I opened in early position with sevens and folded to a button re-raise by a player whom I know doesn't ever fold to a 4-bet.
The very next hand, I was able to squeeze in the big blind against three opponents with pocket tens. Given my image, I probably would have tried this with any two cards.
Shortly after this I was dealt three good hands in succession, and lost 1K in chips since I don't like to overplay AK or AQ unimproved ... this put me back down to 4K in chips, and I was struggling to maintain an average chip stack. I refused to panic, however, since I still had plenty in relation to the blinds.
Using my tight image, I played some positional poker to get a fold from what was likely a better hand than mine:
The very next hand I was dealt tens again and 3-bet to bring my stack up 6K without a showdown. I like it when my raises get respect.
I went back to folding for multiple orbits.
As the antes kicked in, I won the blinds a couple of times with AK.
I was able to win a bigger pot, without having to go to showdown, with the reliable jack-ace:
I 3-bet light on the button and folded to a 4-bet, tumbling back down to 4500 in chips.
I had my one big suckout of the tourney right here as a blind steal went wrong. With 1000 out there and a stack just over 4000 behind I open-shoved A2 on the button to pick up the pot. Of course, I got out of jail against a big pair:
As the blinds and antes increased, I was able to take them down uncontested again with AK two more times, and then my pocket jacks held vs. a short-stacked opponent's eights. I looked up and all of a sudden I had over 15K in chips. I felt like I was Astin for a while.
I folded down to 12.5K and snapped off cmitch's open-shove with the mighty ace-ten (easy call because his range here is really really wide):
Then I was able to win another hand against a short-stack when my eights held up against his early position shove with KJ to climb to 23K in chips as we neared the final table bubble. Sadly, I would climb no higher than this and was forced to fold my way up the ladder for a while.
I ran up against MemphisMojo right on the final table bubble when we were playing five-handed and was forced to lay down a hand when I just didn't think I could get him to fold once he'd led out on a scary flop, since he was representing exactly what I was supposed to have:
Once we reached the final table a player quickly busted out so we were down to eight. I was somehow dealt AK back-to-back and prayed for action on the second hand, but no dice. (Seriously, I must have been dealt AK about six times, and always won the blinds without any action. If I had ever had some other quality hands that I could have opened to appear more active, I'm sure I would have gotten some action. I really felt like I was Astin in disguise.)
Unfortunately, I then had to fold a parade of junk hands for multiple orbits and my tournament came to an abrupt end as I exited in 7th place as I open-shoved 13 bbs from the small blind right into the big blind's pocket jacks. FPT decided to taunt me by giving me eleven outs on the turn, but I didn't get there.
Only three more BBT5 tournaments to go! I hope to give myself at least one more good shot at a ToC seat. Best of luck to everyone in their pursuit of this same goal.
The Dookie was a PLO8 tournament. PLO8 is pretty much my favourite poker variant of them all, and I like to think I am pretty solid with the fundamentals of this game. Many people are not. So I was sailing along in a commanding position, chip-leader with six left, and ultimately decided to put maximum pressure on the villain whom I barely had covered, with a premium hand: Kh Ad 2c 3d. He opted to put 7000 tournament chips in with Ah 2s 3c 2h (!) ... and a measly pair of deuces held up in a pretty sick spot:
Needless to say, I think the villain should never get it in here.
I wasn't too unhappy because I was making a run in the Mookie and was trying to focus on being a short-stack ninja as we reached the final nine and the final table (which was also the cash bubble). In the previous BBT series (2-4) I have managed to win this tournament for a ToC seat, but so far in BBT5 I have only played one Mookie and didn't get anywhere. This time, I swore it would be different.
Things got off to a good start as I got some revenge on JuliusGoat, when he 4-bet jammed with QQ and ran into a bigger pair:
Then I folded, folded, folded, and folded some more. Card death was rampant. I won the occasional pot to stay at around 5K in chips for a very long time.
Then I opened in early position with sevens and folded to a button re-raise by a player whom I know doesn't ever fold to a 4-bet.
The very next hand, I was able to squeeze in the big blind against three opponents with pocket tens. Given my image, I probably would have tried this with any two cards.
Shortly after this I was dealt three good hands in succession, and lost 1K in chips since I don't like to overplay AK or AQ unimproved ... this put me back down to 4K in chips, and I was struggling to maintain an average chip stack. I refused to panic, however, since I still had plenty in relation to the blinds.
Using my tight image, I played some positional poker to get a fold from what was likely a better hand than mine:
The very next hand I was dealt tens again and 3-bet to bring my stack up 6K without a showdown. I like it when my raises get respect.
I went back to folding for multiple orbits.
As the antes kicked in, I won the blinds a couple of times with AK.
I was able to win a bigger pot, without having to go to showdown, with the reliable jack-ace:
I 3-bet light on the button and folded to a 4-bet, tumbling back down to 4500 in chips.
I had my one big suckout of the tourney right here as a blind steal went wrong. With 1000 out there and a stack just over 4000 behind I open-shoved A2 on the button to pick up the pot. Of course, I got out of jail against a big pair:
As the blinds and antes increased, I was able to take them down uncontested again with AK two more times, and then my pocket jacks held vs. a short-stacked opponent's eights. I looked up and all of a sudden I had over 15K in chips. I felt like I was Astin for a while.
I folded down to 12.5K and snapped off cmitch's open-shove with the mighty ace-ten (easy call because his range here is really really wide):
Then I was able to win another hand against a short-stack when my eights held up against his early position shove with KJ to climb to 23K in chips as we neared the final table bubble. Sadly, I would climb no higher than this and was forced to fold my way up the ladder for a while.
I ran up against MemphisMojo right on the final table bubble when we were playing five-handed and was forced to lay down a hand when I just didn't think I could get him to fold once he'd led out on a scary flop, since he was representing exactly what I was supposed to have:
Once we reached the final table a player quickly busted out so we were down to eight. I was somehow dealt AK back-to-back and prayed for action on the second hand, but no dice. (Seriously, I must have been dealt AK about six times, and always won the blinds without any action. If I had ever had some other quality hands that I could have opened to appear more active, I'm sure I would have gotten some action. I really felt like I was Astin in disguise.)
Unfortunately, I then had to fold a parade of junk hands for multiple orbits and my tournament came to an abrupt end as I exited in 7th place as I open-shoved 13 bbs from the small blind right into the big blind's pocket jacks. FPT decided to taunt me by giving me eleven outs on the turn, but I didn't get there.
Only three more BBT5 tournaments to go! I hope to give myself at least one more good shot at a ToC seat. Best of luck to everyone in their pursuit of this same goal.
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