The Chinaman is Not the Preferred Nomenclature

2011-03-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hey I tried out this cool new product blah blah ablah

2007-08-31T02:49:00.001-07:00

There are some poor poker players over there. it's hot as hell, the air is like a sauna, there are mexican immigrants lining the streets with phone card advertisements of local sex workers, the bellagio's water show blasts high high into the air, the cars are stuck in traffic, and the strip is a brilliant glowing diamond light show.

And a few $1 drinks and 16 hours of poker later, you're either a tired, satisfied defeater of all less lucky or skilled poker players, or a tired, zombie-like defeated shmuck. Vegas is fun, I was there a grinding, poker-playing, nocturnal week.

vegas.

2007-08-14T14:05:00.001-07:00

I haven't written in this blog in a long time. More than a year. A lot has happened. I traveled the USA. I'm currently in Seattle.

The more I reflect on where I was in my life when I began this blog, the more I want to be there again. Sounds depressing, it isn't, it's more a driving force in the back of my mind.

Nobody reads this blog, it's more for my own use, and I'm glad I spent some time writing in it during what was the most exciting beginning in my life.

Perhaps I'll write more in the future.

2006-07-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

Pix of Tamarindo, the house:
http://picasaweb.google.com/segreen23/

2006-07-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

Jaco Beach

¿Qué mae, mae? Pura Vida.
I heard that a lot this past weekend. Jason, Number 7 (Scott), and I took a bus to Jaco Beach this weekend, (Pacific Coast of Costa Rica) and we had fun enjoying the beach by the day and sightseeing all the drugdealers and hookers at night. I didn't feel in danger though, partly because we were hanging out with our friend that we met on the bus that also happened to be a drug dealer. There are a lot of them in Jaco. Seriously, every corner, trying to sell yayo (cocaine) or marijuana. But we would politely decline the drugs and the sex offers and take our relaxing walk in the touristy town.

The first night we played no limit poker with blinds of 500 and 1,000 colones. ($0.50/$1.00) The players were bad for the most part, and if I hadn't played my last hand I would have left +$100, but instead left up $3. So it goes when you meet up against a set of 7s when you have top pair. Oh well. Es la vida.

Oh - back to the story about our drug dealer friend. So we're waiting by the bus ticket area in downtown San Jose, and some young looking guy in shades waves to us, probably because we looked like such white gringos - well, I thought he was our taxi driver from before so I wave back, then he comes over to chat, he's not our taxi driver but instead just some guy that's cool as hell and who wants to practice speaking english with us. Well, when Jason asked him what he does, he plainly said "I'm a drug dealer, I travel from Jaco to San Jose much." Well, okay. We didn't get hung up about it and just kept chatting about topics like religion, girls, and life in the USA compared to Costa Rica. Believe me when I tell you this guy was extremely cool, he helped us out when we got off the bus, recommended a hotel, took us to a couple others until we found one we liked, and on top of it all, bought us beers when I forgot my ID. Eduardo, you've only used the internet twice, but if you ever stumble upon this post, thanks for everything mae.

Some other funny occurences at Jaco - we were looking for a cheap dinner and a couple of white-blonde haired american-looking surfers were walking by, so I figure they have to know, lo and behold they point us to a cheap, delicious little "soda" that had big plates of rice, beans, grilled fish, plantains and vegetables for $3. If only it wasn't so damn humid in Jaco though, I remember at the dinner table feeling really woozy from sweating out all my fluids.

Oh before I forget, we also happened to meet a couple really nice American girls at the beach on our last day, and we're hanging out again this weekend if all goes according to plan.
So there you have it - my weekend at Jaco. If you have any questions, remember you can always e-mail me and I'd be glad to shoot a response back as soon as I can.

2006-06-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

Costa Rica Post!
Okay. So this post isn't going to be that great because I've been writing a seperate blog for work and therefore am a little faded by the idea of writing two blogs at once.

But I am going to try and run down some events so far in Costa Rica in a list-type of thing.

Here we go:

- Costa Rica airport was insane, 100 shady taxi drivers begging to rip you off
- Weather was hot and sweaty, drive to office was quick, followed by the realization that my boss is 23, drinks coronas, and wears jeans to work. Fuckin' A.
- Followed by a dinner at a hookah bar, getting a serious tobacco buzz and a delicious steak dinner that was paid for

-

Followed by entering my house for the first time, which is straight out of Scarface, with a large outdoor pool, columns, outdoor couches, a sauna, a pool table (which is busted though), furniture made of bamboo, a sweet sound system with an iPod cable, a flat screen TV, DVD Player, and a roof that you can walk onto to overlook San Jose. (By the way, check out the jeanis above)
- Maids 3x a week. I speak spanish with them. They laugh at me.
- Guards outside the house 24/7. We live down the road from the president of the country. They're cool, but really poor from Nicaragua, so I give them food and beer whenever I get a chance and teach them english words for a half hour at a time.
- The beer is good, not that cheap though. The cheap stuff is this moonshine type of drink that doesn't taste very good.
- When we party at night, it's rockstar status. VIP tables, bottles that are paid for, etc. I'm pretty much the ultimate "rich" gringo even though I'm not paying for any of it.
- The people at this company are young and cool as hell. I'm doing a lot of work on www.pokerinternships.com, keep your eye out, it'll be very good very soon.
- The office is pretty plain, nothing special, but it's always expanding.
- The food is good, I especially enjoy Casados, which is the traditional meal consisting of rice and beans, fried plantains, grilled chicken, and veggies. But it varies.
- The women are quite beautiful. I don't have any experience with them yet. I need a testicular implant sometimes... but I also wasn't feeling too hot for the first week or so because my stomach loves being a pain in the ass when travelling.
- Past weekend I went to the jungle, jumped off a waterfall cliff 50 ft up, rode horses like a noble gentleman
- The World Cup kicks ass
- I share a room with Luciano, who hid in a small bathroom because he thought our house was being robbed. It was a noise complaint. But guess what - the noise complaint came from the President of the country. We were in the process of being thrown out of the house. Things have luckily been smoothed over. And no, the noise complaint had nothing to do with music late night. The complaint was one of the members of the company was having relations with women rather loudly...
- What else?
- Haven't been playing poker that much, but I did play the owner of the company who enjoyed pushing $100s around with some questionable hands. I guess if I was playing penny antes I'd do the same.
- A TV Crew is coming next week. I think its for a documentary on the company but it's also possibly for MTVU. I don't like the idea.
- There's a shot that Mark Seif comes down and the interns play him for $$$
- There are also bounty tournies coming soon that have the interns where players that knock us out earn cash
- It's a lot of fun
- Send some questions if you got 'em.

www.pokerinternships.com will have a lot more within a week or so, with pictures and blogs from not only me but also the other interns.

2006-06-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Radiohead Concert:

My babbling does not do this show justice, so I will just say:

BEST SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN.

After all these years - Radiohead is still the greatest. And I'll end it at that. And they played my favorite song - Knives Out! And the new track "Videotape" sounds unbelievable. I cannot wait for the LP.

2006-06-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

High School all over again

4 Year Reunion you could call it. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing the various dames and lads from high school and let me tell you something, Noaam, you're a smart jew for getting everyone in there from facebook. Even though there were like 200 invites, you got a solid 50? people in there and it resulted in good times had by all.

Highlights? Popcorn, vodka/raz shots, freestyle with Rusty, high school makeouts, and good hip/hop being played all night long. It's a fantastic fresh and funky release from the fucking fazed out amherst bars that play Jon Bon Jovi and Journey on repeat.

Shoutout to Nate and Jon Joe. They read my blog and called me a fag. That's terrific.

Shoutout to Benjamin Goldman. That man is working for NESN.

Let's do it again sometime soon NSHS. Before Monday Jun 12. Because then I'm gone.

(I apologize for this intoxicated post. I love you.)

Batwoman is a lesbian

AWESOME. As long as she isn't one of those fat lesbians that eats trail mix and shaves their goatees. ;)

2006-05-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

A Really Good "Romance" Flick

It could be that I just really enjoy Natalie Portman in a stripper outfit, but hot damn, "Closer" is a great movie that I HIGHLY recommend. If you have HBO On Demand, it's there, although I'm not sure when it runs out.
What did I like about the movie? The dialogue involving Jude Law was great and Clive Owen's lines are like brutal stabs in the face of the typical "chick flick." Really, the movie is as slick as Ocean's Eleven although it's not trying as hard. It's about 4 people and how they all influence each other's lives and run into each other within a certain period of time, etc.

The movie kind of reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind only less predictable and with much cooler dialogue. Oh, and Natalie Portman being the hottest I've ever seen her doesn't hurt.

My 4 year undergraduate Collegiate career is over.

Not that it deserves to be under a random movie review. It feels strange to be "done." Everybody knows the cliches, the douchebags who say "Welcome to the Real World," "9-5, 24/7," and "Yea, college years are your best ones, enjoy it while it lasts," etc. etc. etc.

Being in the period in time that is post-undergraduate college, I feel like I have to prove the cookie-cutter John Doe 9-5er stigma wrong. It partly the reason I didn't major in Accounting or Finance. I didn't want to be stuck in a rat race leading a miserable existence. That's my personal stigma, and I could easily be wrong, but such is life.

I didn't say goodbye to everyone that I would have liked to. I hate to sound depressing, but it really feels like a tornado that is unraveling everything really quickly and unexpectedly. It's self explanatory that everything comes to an end and in the case of a semester you can actually set the date and nearly the time, but it isn't real until it actually knocks you in the balls. And right now my proverbial balls are sore.

The toughest part of all this is that all my life I've known what to expect. Summer is laughable job followed by a school year. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse, WAIT WHAT THE FUCK WHO TURNED THE WATER OFF?

I'm trying to make this blog more "viral" with people who comment with enlightening individual comments. Are you a recent graduate who still finds the time to hang out, drink beer, play videogames and enjoy life as much as before you started work? If so, make yourself heard, share your story. I'll read it at least.

P.S. - I didn't attend my graduation. Instead I went to Newport, RI to spend a quality weekend with friends I hadn't seen in about a year. We had a rocking great time and it feels great to meet and hang out with characters you normally wouldn't. My biggest regret was that my parents didn't see me walk and get pictures taken of me wearing a ridiculous looking hat and a black gown.
Some people feel very strongly about the choice I made. Apparently this act of dressing up and walking and taking pictures in a field with similarly stupid looking friends and classmates is very holy and it is the prize of 4 years of tuition, of blood and sweat and tears.

Call me a hippie, but I just struggle to see it that way. If you didn't watch movies and TV, the commencement idea would seem pretty silly. Just because it's the final episode of all your favorite teen television shows doesn't validate its existence.

I graduated and I have funny stories and $100 textbooks to show for it. I also ideally have some knowledge in the marketing field and a bunch of friends and acquaintances that I wouldn't otherwise have. That is my commencement.

2006-05-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

Pearl Jam - Live in Concert, May 25th 2006

Great show. My seats were behind the stage, but there were no obstructions. The sound was terrific and I got to rock out with Neil to one of the best alternative bands of our time. I wish I recognized more of Pearl Jam's songs - the setlist included many that I wasn't familiar with - but no matter the song, Eddie Vedder is a brilliant artist who captures the attention of the audience with a down to earth, drinking-booze-on-stage approach.
My favorite selections of the night were songs I recognized, like Alive, Wishlist, and Betterman. I was hoping to hear Yellow Ledbetter, Elderly Woman Behind a Counter, All Those Yesterdays and Thin Air, but so it goes - those were tracks from the Mansfield show a few years back and they sounded great.

Soon I'll be going to the Radiohead show - It's going to be scrumptralescent.

PS - If you're a Pearl Jam fan and you want a recording of the show I attended, you can purchase the mp3s at www.pearljam.com

2006-05-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

"Support Our Troops"

OK - don' t expect a crazy far left hippie rant, because that's not what this is. It's not a right winged ignorant one either. Here's what I'd like to say: I do not understand why people put magnets on their cars that read "support our troops." First of all, it implies that those that don't own the magnets must not support American troops. Secondly, why do citizens feel that they need to advertise their "support" of troops, does it make any difference in national morale? Is the bright yellow magnet serving a societal need or a personal, egoistic one instead?

I logically hate that young americans are dying overseas. There are too many factors involved to come to a firm decision like this war is good or this war is bad, and you'll get a plethora of political opinions on the topic that end up in nothing but two monkeys throwing poo at eachother. I just wanted to say that support of people risking their lives should be implied, it shouldn't be some commercial good to profit some guys company that's probably outsourcing production of the magnets to China or something.

Which brings me to the film: United 93.
I haven't seen it and I don't want to see it. I don't care that it's received good reviews. The actual events were so dramatic and horrifying that seeing a made-for-movies reenaction doesn't interest me.

I apologize that this post isn't very funny. But I saw a group in facebook that a friend of mine was in, and the name of the group was "Support Our Troops." Does this mean that the kids not in the group therefore don't support our troops? It's just stupid, and the support of soldiers should be inherent. If you're going to join a group like this looking for public awareness then choose something like the hunger in Africa or the plight of people in New Orleans, or something that isn't so saturated in the media and so prevalent on, for example, the bumper stickers on big Ford SUVs. I'd like to hear some opinions on this, even though people don't seem to like to respond. I hope this war can end soon and instead of buying yellow magnets people can buy welcome home banners and vacation airline tickets.

2006-05-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hello lovers, a picture post for you on this beautiful Sunday morning:

2006-05-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

You know how athletes thank God when their team wins? What if they're buddhist or something - do they thank the elephant with all the legs? What if they're atheist? Who do they thank then?

Well that's kind of the way I feel right now, I just got accepted as an intern for AbsolutePoker.com - and everything is coming up roses. I can't wait to live in Costa Rica for the summer and possibly beyond - it's going to be incredible, and who knows - I might post pics of all the fun I have.

Costa Rica - Summer 06 - Amazing.

2006-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a while so here's a post.

Food Network Shows and how they relate to the Fake Orgasm
Here's where I'm going with this one - You know how after every food network show the cook tastes what he or she has made and says "MMmmmmm, delicious," like it's the best meal they've ever tasted? Like they're a bunch of thirsty starved Ethiopians that just were handed happy meals. I mean there's no WAY that EVERY SINGLE TIME the meal is that good. There is just no possible way. So shame on you Food Network, you receive a finger wag of deceit.

Keystone Ice and how it compares to Keystone Light
I'm not going to tell you that Keystone Light OR Keystone Ice don't taste like fermented horse urine. What I AM going to tell you is that Keystone Ice has more alcohol and in my estimation tastes better. Win-Win.

V For Vendetta
Have you seen this movie yet? Well it's really good. It's a frightening glimpse into the possible future if the government continues to rob the american people of their rights, privacy and otherwise. I saw it on IMAX with Neil, if you ever get the chance to watch a movie on IMAX, do it. It's INCREDIBLE. $11, but whatever.

Buffalo Chicken sliced deli meat...
Is tasty! The woman at the supermarket told me to put Blue Cheese on it. Crazy bitch!

iPod FM transmitters
This one is pretty depressing - there is NO such THING as an FM transmitter that sounds clear. There is just no such thing, as Eminem said, it's like "finding a female with good looks who cooks and cleans." But I'm borrowing my roomate's one right now so at least I get to listen to Otis Redding and Van Morrison in the car.

Golf season!
It's begun! I'm getting a boner in my plaid pants! I played for the first time last Friday, but I was hungover. When I was putting I thought I might eat shit right there and make a ballmark with my forehead. But seriously folks, I was slicing as usual from the tee which was pretty annoying. But hey, I got to spend 5 hours walking around on one of the best days of the year, golfing and shooting the shit.

Summer is approaching quickly.
And I don't have a job. And I'm not ready to graduate. Hey who cares, be merry, kill brain cells and have fun with pals, that's the real measure of success!

2006-03-15T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hi guy(s),
Here's a new post from your buddy.
World of Warcraft
Do you play this computer game or know anyone that does? If so, you might want to talk to them about it. See here: World of Warcraft (not a virus)
It seems as if World of Warcraft is not only a computer videogame, but also a fantastic self copulation tool.

Sopranos
Awesome first show. Even awesomer in HDTV biotches.

March Madness NCAA Tournament
I've never been a big fan of the tournament. I am a fan of all the gambling that goes with it though. What a novel idea in our Puritan-gambling is illegal- society. Just don't get caught like Neuheisel.

Myspace
I am holding out on Myspace. It took me long enough to join Facebook, and joining both would just be too much right now. However, I did create a test account to look at my older brother's myspace page and other people - and what I found was that myspace is chock FULL of absolutely pathetic chumps and absolutely damaged ego'd provocative girls.

Let me expand on this a little bit. If you check out myspace you will find profiles of girls that are posing in their best "sad" look wearing some skanky outfit, and underneath those pictures, you'll find tons of very creepy guys looking to get e-laid who respond with comments such as "yo girl you fine, lemme ride up on that behind," or something of that flavor. If you look at the other pictures of the girl, you'll see that the same creepy guys have commented in on that picture as well!

So you see, there's a terrible vicious cycle that's going on at myspace. The girls keep posting away because they're getting the attention that mom and pop never gave them, and the guys continue to e-flatter these girls with a simple keystroke or two, and they both feel like they've won something.
Just kidding. (?) - P.S. - If you are on myspace, and I've offended you, I apologize. It's the other girls and guys, not you. There are respectable myspace profiles out there, and in fact some people I know do in fact have them.

Poker
*Vomits*

Spring Break
I'm going to Fort Lauderdale. I'm excited for the beach, the beer, the sox and the free accomodation. Oh and the jews. Did I mention that jews live in Florida? Not only jews, but lots of Cubans and Mexicans, so I'll be able to practice my rapidly declining spanish speaking skills! I also happen to be missing the sweet sunshine of Spain quite a lot, and a day in Florida is the next best thing at this point.

2006-03-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

I'm not racist but...
Black kids are better than white kids at basketball. My intramural team was 4-0 somehow in 4 games in the "For Fun" male intramural basketball league. So yesterday we faced one of the "Top Gun" teams in the first game of the playoffs. Well, as it turns out, we were to face the football player team that has won the whole shebang for the last 3 years.
They kicked our asses. But - it was fun. I'm amazed at the athleticism of good basketball players. It's uncanny, especially when you're on the court with them. One of the kids was a highly touted point guard in high school apparently - The highlight of the game was hitting a 3 and later hitting a jump shot over a kid that was 6'6". Good luck to those guys, I'm sure they'll win the championship again.

It is freakin' warm out
Which means it won't be long until the skirts and spaghetti tops are on full display! However, as a friend of mine said, "Mother Nature is being a cock-tease." It's going to get cold again before it gets warm, and that's as fun as a cactus in the undies.

The Sopranos starts Sunday at 9pm
It's going to be a great season, I can just tell. The NY and NJ families are feuding, Johnny Sac is in prison, Tony is back with Carmella, and somehow the immune system of Tony has continued to avoid any serious STDs from all of the strippers and russian whores he makes stains with.

Crowded Amherst Bars
...Aren't as fun as you'd expect. You see, when it's impossible to carry a conversation with someone and the place has more "Yah-Dude Robots" than you could imagine, it's tough. Seriously though, who decides the fashion trends? What about all those ridiculous t-shirts that used to be so popular with the 1970s style text on front that said like "I'm Naughty" or something similarly stupid like that. I can't knock the fact that it opens up conversation, which is tough to do in these kind of bars, but it's still pretty sad that the only way we can strike conversation is with tacky tee shirts.

"Drunk Dials"
I refute the idea that when you are intoxicated, your phone calls are less heartfelt or significant. Bullshit, I feel that alcohol is like the water and sunlight that helps blossom a flower. And who doesn't love a blossomed flower?

Ryan Gomes
Is INCREDIBLE. 29, 11 and 3 last game, 27, 9 and 5 the game before that. Danny Ainge - SIGN THIS KID BACK.

2006-03-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Procrastination...
I have been pretty bad with procrastinating lately. Last night it took me 4 hours to read 6 pages. No joke. I am so used to the Spanish lifestyle that my procrastination has become far worse than before. I don't think I have attention deficit disorder, but I find myself becoming distracted far easier nowadays unless I'm dealing with something very, very important. I can usually get things done in crunch time due to my early laziness - it's a fight or flight mechanism - however last week I left studying for a psychology test to the last minute, ended up staying up till 4 am reading the damn textbook, and received a 68 on the exam. Not cool. Especially when I could have done a lot better with a little bit of determination.

Blogs... there are a whole lot that suck hard.
It's a little depressing to me that there are so many goddamn blogs in cyberspace. I don't have the exact number, but there are A LOT of blogs out there, and 95% of them are worthless crap. I'm talking WORTHLESS crap - I mean, for example, think about glancing out your car and seeing some lady carrying 3 big stuffed Wal-Mart bags to her SUV. Now ask yourself - would you ever want to stop that woman in the street for a nice chat? I'm guessing the answer is absolutely not. But when you're hiding behind the computer screen you get an urge for some odd reason to read the mindless drivel that this overweight 39 year old single woman decides to e-complain about. Humans are interesting that way.

Jack Johnson
I acquired the Jack Johnson Curious George Soundtrack a couple weeks ago. This guy can make songs about Recycling sound chilled out and respectable. That's some impressive shit. I remember back in Elementary School we had this mother of a girl in my class who was a super hippie and she used to sing these whacked out songs - very similar to Jack Johnson's - on acoustic guitar, and I'd shit all over her with my pals. (Not literally.)

Walk The Line
Great movie. Joaquin Pheonix did a solid job as Johnny Cash. He sang all the songs himself which nearly rocked the socks off my feet. Luckily they were on tight.

Responses
When it all boils down, these blogs are made for people who want a little bit of extra attention and a medium for ranting and raving about random occurences that we all get to face on a daily basis. Speak up, it could be fun.

Procrastination ...
I have a lot of work to do. It's 7:16 pm right now. Maybe I'll read a chapter or two by 4 am.

2006-03-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

THE CELTICS
The Celtics are back. Have you seen the last couple games? First they beat the Lakers, in L.A., mind you, and then keep a close game with the Heat last night. Delonte West and Ryan Gomes are playing out of their minds right now - I sincerely hope Gomes doesn't jump ship after 2 years and becomes the next big ex-Celtic star. Same goes for West.
I can't decide whether or not I want the Celtics to make the playoffs. My initial feeling is no, I want them to miss the playoffs, pull a SA Spurs Lottery move and pick up Morrisson or Rudy Gay. The other part of me wants these young guys to get some playoff experience in. Just play Pierce alongside rookies and sophomores and get that experience in for the rest of the season.

UMASS WEATHER
It is fucking cold out. Speaking of cold, all of my roomates in the apartment have gotten sore throats, me having the worst of the sore throats. I went to the sick house today and it was full of students, so I just turned around and walked back to my car. Fuck waiting 2 hours to be told "drink more liquids."

POKER
I've been having an awful run lately. I don't like telling bad beat stories, but believe me, it's ugly.

JOB?
I continue to question what the hell I'm doing in the summer and next year. I'm on pace to graduate and I don't want to wake up at 6am and work someplace I don't love for the next however many years. I heard of a sports marketing company that has offices all over Europe and offices near DC. I'm going to look into that.

OK that's all I can think of on the spot.

Peace
Simon