I'm sure that the author whose gothic novel inspired this webcomic would have been taken aback by this pastiche. After all, in 1931 even H.P. Lovecraft's zany imagination didn't conceive of stories featuring a protagonist who was a troubled young mother with supernatural powers who bore a child out of wedlock and who worked as an auto mechanic. But he would have recognized a lot of the other elements populating this homage.
If you're a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos, this comic is a must-read. And if you're not, you should still check it out.
Showing posts with label laughter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laughter. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Flying Seattle visit
I seized an opportunity for a quick trek down to Seattle this weekend to see some old friends. Not so coincidentally this was also the weekend that several Seattle-area poker bloggers had chosen to hold a home game, so I crashed the party.
Saturday did not have an auspicious beginning. I endured a ridiculous 90-minute wait at the Peace Arch border crossing. This delay pushed back my Seattle arrival to 1pm, and caused me to miss the first of my planned rendez-vous. I can't blame my friend Wolfgang, he was being a responsible parent to his young daughter and nap-time is inviolate for any sane father having to pull solitary child-care duties.
So, I shifted gears and parked down near Pioneer Square to take a walk, eventually ending up at a favourite bookstore -- Eliott Bay Book Co. and happily browsed the shelves and after making some purchases, I ducked downstairs to the cafe and snarfed down some good soup as I waited for the arrival of Zeem. He was a bit late and I found out that a humourless traffic cop had ticketed my car during its 12-minute window of vulnerability. Of course, I discovered the bad news AFTER I had purchased another two hours' worth of parking.
Undeterred and unwilling to have my good mood spoilt, I rode shotgun as Zeem took me over to a nearby bar, Shorty's, where I embarassed myself with an abysmal performance in its pinball arcade. The games were in generally good working order but I felt a bit curtailed by the lack of adequate lighting in the room.
Then, we proceeded along to the evening festivities, a blogger home game with a few luminaries of the Seattle poker landscape. I was the proud Gigli of the 8-player NLHE tourney where the host slaughtered me in an early pot where I flopped a 9-high club flush and raised Doc's opening bet (he had a mere two pair). Chris, the gracious host who had made sure I had copious amounts of Guinness in my system at all times, came over the top. Zeem folded what he later showed was the queen-high flush, and I announced that I wasn't good enough to fold my 1-out redraw to a straight flush and promptly got busted by a king-high flush. Yes, three of us had flopped a made club flush. It's always crubs, as CK would say. Always!
However, this proved to be a blessing in disguise because it left me with my hands free to devour food and drink without constraint. It's rare that I go bananas over tapas, but The Wife makes a mean guacomole which I could not get enough of. I doubt Astin could match it. I am willing to judge that competition and adjudicate any and all prop bets on this. I washed it down with yet more Guinness and a couple of glasses of a fine shiraz I'd had before and was happy to sample again. The Doc knows how to live well!
I was allowed to choose the format of the second tournament. It went on a little long, but I redeemed myself by winning the HOOSE event we put on (double Omaha in place of Razz). I think I won something like 22 of the 24 Stud08 hands that were dealt? It was pretty sick.
We capped the late night with a dealer's choice cash game and most of the bloggers enjoyed my pick of Crazy Pineapple for an orbit of play -- and I proved how to go broke with AAx. Later I also demonstrated my poor judgment in not folding the flopped nut straight in a hand of Omaha, and got stacked when a gutterball draw got there on the turn. But I ground back up close to even by the time the game broke.
The party ended about 2:30AM as some of the bloggers made grandiose claims of needing to do healthy exercise activities early on Sunday. I think this was merely an excuse to avoid giving me any action on my Wii Golf challenge even though I promised to play wrong-handed.
I then took advantage of Chris' offer of a spare bed, snatched a few hours' sleep, and drove home late Sunday morning after seeing a few other old Seattle-based friends for a quick chat and a late-morning cup of coffee.
It was a fun whirlwind of a trip.
NB. Rough count of gibes at token Canuck: 19
Rough count of phone calls made by Doc & Wife to other Canadian poker bloggers to mock my Gigli performance: 2
Saturday did not have an auspicious beginning. I endured a ridiculous 90-minute wait at the Peace Arch border crossing. This delay pushed back my Seattle arrival to 1pm, and caused me to miss the first of my planned rendez-vous. I can't blame my friend Wolfgang, he was being a responsible parent to his young daughter and nap-time is inviolate for any sane father having to pull solitary child-care duties.
So, I shifted gears and parked down near Pioneer Square to take a walk, eventually ending up at a favourite bookstore -- Eliott Bay Book Co. and happily browsed the shelves and after making some purchases, I ducked downstairs to the cafe and snarfed down some good soup as I waited for the arrival of Zeem. He was a bit late and I found out that a humourless traffic cop had ticketed my car during its 12-minute window of vulnerability. Of course, I discovered the bad news AFTER I had purchased another two hours' worth of parking.
Undeterred and unwilling to have my good mood spoilt, I rode shotgun as Zeem took me over to a nearby bar, Shorty's, where I embarassed myself with an abysmal performance in its pinball arcade. The games were in generally good working order but I felt a bit curtailed by the lack of adequate lighting in the room.
Then, we proceeded along to the evening festivities, a blogger home game with a few luminaries of the Seattle poker landscape. I was the proud Gigli of the 8-player NLHE tourney where the host slaughtered me in an early pot where I flopped a 9-high club flush and raised Doc's opening bet (he had a mere two pair). Chris, the gracious host who had made sure I had copious amounts of Guinness in my system at all times, came over the top. Zeem folded what he later showed was the queen-high flush, and I announced that I wasn't good enough to fold my 1-out redraw to a straight flush and promptly got busted by a king-high flush. Yes, three of us had flopped a made club flush. It's always crubs, as CK would say. Always!
However, this proved to be a blessing in disguise because it left me with my hands free to devour food and drink without constraint. It's rare that I go bananas over tapas, but The Wife makes a mean guacomole which I could not get enough of. I doubt Astin could match it. I am willing to judge that competition and adjudicate any and all prop bets on this. I washed it down with yet more Guinness and a couple of glasses of a fine shiraz I'd had before and was happy to sample again. The Doc knows how to live well!
I was allowed to choose the format of the second tournament. It went on a little long, but I redeemed myself by winning the HOOSE event we put on (double Omaha in place of Razz). I think I won something like 22 of the 24 Stud08 hands that were dealt? It was pretty sick.
We capped the late night with a dealer's choice cash game and most of the bloggers enjoyed my pick of Crazy Pineapple for an orbit of play -- and I proved how to go broke with AAx. Later I also demonstrated my poor judgment in not folding the flopped nut straight in a hand of Omaha, and got stacked when a gutterball draw got there on the turn. But I ground back up close to even by the time the game broke.
The party ended about 2:30AM as some of the bloggers made grandiose claims of needing to do healthy exercise activities early on Sunday. I think this was merely an excuse to avoid giving me any action on my Wii Golf challenge even though I promised to play wrong-handed.
I then took advantage of Chris' offer of a spare bed, snatched a few hours' sleep, and drove home late Sunday morning after seeing a few other old Seattle-based friends for a quick chat and a late-morning cup of coffee.
It was a fun whirlwind of a trip.
NB. Rough count of gibes at token Canuck: 19
Rough count of phone calls made by Doc & Wife to other Canadian poker bloggers to mock my Gigli performance: 2
Monday, January 19, 2009
Pinball Wizard, redux
I couldn't do it justice. Fortunately, I knew that OhCaptain was one keen photographer and he has just posted a fantastic recap of our experience at the Pinball Hall of Fame in December. It's well worth a look-see by any closet geek!
This is yet another reminder of how much fun the blogger Winter Gathering truly was.
This is yet another reminder of how much fun the blogger Winter Gathering truly was.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Staring at the Abyss, part one
Preamble
You know you're headed to Vegas when ... your seat-mate on the airplane is a 25 year-old male clutching a passpart, airline ticket, wallet, and a roll of $3000 US wrapped in an elastic band in his hands during the flight. (I discovered this degen's name was Brock and that he was a Tsawassen bartender who had won a seat into the Bellagio Five-Diamond tournament.)
Those who know me well will tell you that I am uneasy and introverted in a crowd of strangers.
The five-act play that was the winter blogger gathering never elicited that introverted defensive shell from me, for which I am profoundly grateful. Everyone I met, without exception, had a smile on their face and was happy to strike up a conversation. That made the trip worthwhile all by itself.
Dramatis Personae
CK and F-Train (the guides): two of the warmest people you'll ever meet, they played the role of hosts to perfection and I gladly fell into their orbit for much of my stay. From The Great Pinball Expedition to a great late-night sushi dinner on Saturday after the blogger tourney where we all started at the same table to blogger mixed games to blogger 1/2 NL games to the IP mixed games ... well, that's a lot of good memories packed into four days!
Al (the roommate): I cannot forget the sight of meeting him for the first time at McCarran. He looked like death warmed over, but that didn't stop him from greeting me like a long-lost friend and telling funny stories the whole weekend. He even laughed at my scooter joke about the sorely-missed Riggstad!
Joanada, Astin, Kat (the fellow Canadians): compatriots who offered warm hugs & handshakes, talk of home, and knew their hockey and the Blue Jays. They were also much much better at slots and video poker than I was!
VinNay (the honorary Canadian): also knew his hockey, especially his Sabres. We both took a bath during the blogger mixed game on Friday night at the MGM and I had to laugh as he gallantly wore a Patriots jersey on Sunday and watched his Bills throw away a football game with admirable stoicism.
OhCaptain and OhCountess (the Minnesotans who could do no wrong): two of the nicest people you could ever meet, we had many pleasant conversations. Tim was one of the two official chroniclers of the Great Pinball Expedition (MetsFan was the other); he also managed to place 5th in the blogger tourney. Not to be outdone, his better half quickly outstripped that modest feat with huge video poker exploits of her own.
Donkey Puncher, Joe Speaker (the well-dressed): DP wore a suit all weekend, enough said.
KuroKitty, Recess Rampage, Gnome (the serious poker players): we all trekked over to the Venetian together on Thursday night as proof of our determination to try to find and exploit +EV situations. I owe Recess $1.
Dr. Pauly, Derek, High on Poker (New Yorkers): good guys who happily would listen to me talk or take my money in the mixed blogger game. I waved a deli sandwich in front of Pauly's face late Sunday but he didn't rise to the bait since it wasn't pastrami.
Grubby and Grubbette (good-looking Asians): nice people to talk to at the bar and fierce competitors at my starting table at the big Saturday blogger tourney. The hammer was thrown down at least once, and I inadvertently caused Grubby's demise at the hands of Derek -- I should know better than to play AQ from early position!
Doc Chako, The Wife, Joshua Carlson, Zeem (southern neighbours): really nice group of Seattle-area bloggers. The latter two bought me many drinks and said nice things about me, which expanded my hat size; the Doc spiced up the Sunday cash game at the IP and knows his whisky; the Wife was the prettiest thing around and modelled Vikings gear at the poker table to my great amusement as she tried not to injure herself. A Pacific Northwest mini-gathering should definitely be in the works!
Smokkee, Dawn Summers, Bacon Mary et al. (Sunday cash game participants): tough foes at the IP cash game, all of them, who slung chips and dished out the beats and took them with a smile.
Bayne (the craps maestro): his mojo didn't appear to be working this trip, so it's just as well I didn't join him for a dice session after all. His intake of Stella Artois (my beer of choice) vastly exceeded mine. I was humbled.
Emptyman and MiamiDon (the invisible ones): the former holed up at the Strat most of the time and failed to make a planned lunch on departure day. I think this was a plot to foil any opportunity for me to flirt with his better half (Jesse clearly married up) ... so I will have to plot my revenge! Don ... he ran behind schedule on Thursday so we didn't see much of each other except for at the blogger tournament. Next time I want to make the golf happen!
Well, that's quite the cast of characters, and I know I've missed mentioning quite a number of new friends. In part two I'll try to rectify that with some more talk about the Great Pinball Expedition, and some actual poker content.
You know you're headed to Vegas when ... your seat-mate on the airplane is a 25 year-old male clutching a passpart, airline ticket, wallet, and a roll of $3000 US wrapped in an elastic band in his hands during the flight. (I discovered this degen's name was Brock and that he was a Tsawassen bartender who had won a seat into the Bellagio Five-Diamond tournament.)
Those who know me well will tell you that I am uneasy and introverted in a crowd of strangers.
The five-act play that was the winter blogger gathering never elicited that introverted defensive shell from me, for which I am profoundly grateful. Everyone I met, without exception, had a smile on their face and was happy to strike up a conversation. That made the trip worthwhile all by itself.
Dramatis Personae
CK and F-Train (the guides): two of the warmest people you'll ever meet, they played the role of hosts to perfection and I gladly fell into their orbit for much of my stay. From The Great Pinball Expedition to a great late-night sushi dinner on Saturday after the blogger tourney where we all started at the same table to blogger mixed games to blogger 1/2 NL games to the IP mixed games ... well, that's a lot of good memories packed into four days!
Al (the roommate): I cannot forget the sight of meeting him for the first time at McCarran. He looked like death warmed over, but that didn't stop him from greeting me like a long-lost friend and telling funny stories the whole weekend. He even laughed at my scooter joke about the sorely-missed Riggstad!
Joanada, Astin, Kat (the fellow Canadians): compatriots who offered warm hugs & handshakes, talk of home, and knew their hockey and the Blue Jays. They were also much much better at slots and video poker than I was!
VinNay (the honorary Canadian): also knew his hockey, especially his Sabres. We both took a bath during the blogger mixed game on Friday night at the MGM and I had to laugh as he gallantly wore a Patriots jersey on Sunday and watched his Bills throw away a football game with admirable stoicism.
OhCaptain and OhCountess (the Minnesotans who could do no wrong): two of the nicest people you could ever meet, we had many pleasant conversations. Tim was one of the two official chroniclers of the Great Pinball Expedition (MetsFan was the other); he also managed to place 5th in the blogger tourney. Not to be outdone, his better half quickly outstripped that modest feat with huge video poker exploits of her own.
Donkey Puncher, Joe Speaker (the well-dressed): DP wore a suit all weekend, enough said.
KuroKitty, Recess Rampage, Gnome (the serious poker players): we all trekked over to the Venetian together on Thursday night as proof of our determination to try to find and exploit +EV situations. I owe Recess $1.
Dr. Pauly, Derek, High on Poker (New Yorkers): good guys who happily would listen to me talk or take my money in the mixed blogger game. I waved a deli sandwich in front of Pauly's face late Sunday but he didn't rise to the bait since it wasn't pastrami.
Grubby and Grubbette (good-looking Asians): nice people to talk to at the bar and fierce competitors at my starting table at the big Saturday blogger tourney. The hammer was thrown down at least once, and I inadvertently caused Grubby's demise at the hands of Derek -- I should know better than to play AQ from early position!
Doc Chako, The Wife, Joshua Carlson, Zeem (southern neighbours): really nice group of Seattle-area bloggers. The latter two bought me many drinks and said nice things about me, which expanded my hat size; the Doc spiced up the Sunday cash game at the IP and knows his whisky; the Wife was the prettiest thing around and modelled Vikings gear at the poker table to my great amusement as she tried not to injure herself. A Pacific Northwest mini-gathering should definitely be in the works!
Smokkee, Dawn Summers, Bacon Mary et al. (Sunday cash game participants): tough foes at the IP cash game, all of them, who slung chips and dished out the beats and took them with a smile.
Bayne (the craps maestro): his mojo didn't appear to be working this trip, so it's just as well I didn't join him for a dice session after all. His intake of Stella Artois (my beer of choice) vastly exceeded mine. I was humbled.
Emptyman and MiamiDon (the invisible ones): the former holed up at the Strat most of the time and failed to make a planned lunch on departure day. I think this was a plot to foil any opportunity for me to flirt with his better half (Jesse clearly married up) ... so I will have to plot my revenge! Don ... he ran behind schedule on Thursday so we didn't see much of each other except for at the blogger tournament. Next time I want to make the golf happen!
Well, that's quite the cast of characters, and I know I've missed mentioning quite a number of new friends. In part two I'll try to rectify that with some more talk about the Great Pinball Expedition, and some actual poker content.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Vegas Return
Trip report will be up tomorrow, I trust. I gotta catch up on sleep.
Edit: Managed to wake up in time to win a Skillz game.
Edit: Managed to wake up in time to win a Skillz game.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Vegas Departure Imminent (Redux)
My flight leaves in less than 24 hours. I can hardly wait.
Pinball is looking more and more popular as a planned activity; it looks like we'll end up trekking over in the early afternoon on Friday. I must remember to take some photos to satisfy my father's jealousy. ;)
The over/under on how much time I spend at the museum? Three hours.
Pinball is looking more and more popular as a planned activity; it looks like we'll end up trekking over in the early afternoon on Friday. I must remember to take some photos to satisfy my father's jealousy. ;)
The over/under on how much time I spend at the museum? Three hours.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Another week done ...
... in the grind that is PLTC.
And it's talk like a pirate day.
Enough said, really.
And it's talk like a pirate day.
Enough said, really.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Probably the Best Holiday Sketch Comedy of All Time
This is a shout-out for my Yankee friends and their turkey day. Enjoy stuffing yourselves!
You can find other parts of this brilliant episode by following the links.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
You can find other parts of this brilliant episode by following the links.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
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