The Random Ramblings of One K-Dubs

Phatcorndog

While I do routinely read the Tabs of other people I know on the site, I've noticed I haven't posted a single thing since New Year's.  And it's the middle of May.  That's a long time.  I've got a lot to write about, but I won't do it all at once.  I should have enough material to last for a bit so I won't go on another 5 month hiatus anytime soon.

Enough dilly-dallying and on to the nitty-gritty.  I had been anticipating Linkin Park's new CD for the past few months.  They're one of my favorite bands (Hybrid Theory is maybe one of the five best rock CDs ever released), and the hype surrounding this new release has been enormous the past weeks, especially since the first single was released in early April.

The CD comes out this Tuesday (5/15).  I say: don't bother.

I got an advance copy, and as much as I want to love it just because it's LP, I can't.  I've never heard a band veer as violently off course from their previous sound as they have on Minutes to Midnight (maybe U2 with their whole techno phase can compare).  They went super-soft; at times, I thought I was listening to Coldplay or The Fray.  There are at least 2-3 songs on there that could have easily made a soundtrack for The OC.  Other times, they seemed to try to imitate Metallica, U2, and Hoobastank.  So many different sounds, and none their own.

Another huge complaint: Mike Shinoda only appears on 3 tracks and Joe Hahn is barely heard from on this CD.  Much of the appeal of Linkin Park came from the fact that they spanned the genres of rock, metal, rap and electronics and blended it into something more cohesive than any attempt before they came along.  And now?  They've essentially reduced themselves to your prototypical 4 piece band (singer, 2 guitars and a drummer).  Any one of a couple hundred bands out there could have put out this CD.  Musically, it's not a poor CD; there are some catchy tunes, the lyrics are pretty decent and Chester's singing is just off the charts good on this disc.  But it's not what we've come to expect from Linkin Park, and while they did have a lot to live up to after releasing 2 mega hits, their third effort was mediocre at best by comparison.

In a recent interview, Mike Shinoda declared that this new sound was here to stay, and that "if you want to listen to stuff like Hybrid Theory again, go out and buy another copy of it."  

Considering I don't own an actual copy of HT, I think I just might.  It'll remind me how great Linkin Park was and how they broke down the barriers in music and at times made the possibilities of sound seem endless.  It's a shame they declined the opportunity to continue with their trendsetting style and settle for a generic sound.

Phatcorndog

I hate whining about poker, but wow, I haven't been able to catch any kind of a break since I got back into the game after a 4-5 month hiatus.

Since coming back from "retirement," to recap:

AC Trip during the Eastern Regional weekend: get absolutely no cards, but with the competition at Caesar's $1/2 NL game weaker than can be put into words, I still manage to finish up $180 during about a 4 hour session.

Tournament at John's: $150 buy-in, cold run of cards continues as I bust out 2 hours in.  Play in a cash game, hit one big pot and hung on to finish up $250 for a net of +$100.  Still not bad.

Club Rick: Here's where it gets dicey.  A weekly Tuesday night $1/2 NL game that the word "loose" doesn't do justice.  We're talking routine $15 preflop raises that are called by 5-6 people easily.   I lost $350 in my first two sessions, but came back to win $180 in the third.  A couple of bad beats were thrown in there (AA losing to 77, KK losing to AJ, flopped a set of 4's and the other guy turns a set of 8's while calling a bet and a raise with 2 overs on the flop, etc.), but nothing I haven't seen before.  The last two weeks though have been downright scary.  Dropped $400 in each session, and both were highlighted by just some awful beats (losing to pocket 10's to 74 on a T98 flop and missing a nut flush draw for a $700 pot while getting nearly 6:1 odds post flop hurt quite a bit).  The trouble is that I rarely got any suited connectors; thus, I appeared to be a lot tighter than I wanted to be because all I got were crap hands and decent PP's, making for less opportunities to limp and go unnoticed by the table.  I got less action than I wanted when I had the hands, and even when I did, I would somehow get outdrawn repeatedly.  Also, anytime I called down on a draw, I would invariably miss (i.e. AQcc vs AK after post flop of 2c48c and a turn 2... the odds of losing the pot are far less than either winning or chopping, but the percentages have not been in my favor at all recently).

The Club Rick game is disbanding for the summer, as Rick has grown tired of hosting week after week (can't really blame him, considering the game goes into the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday nights and everyone has to work Weds.), and also wants to do quite a bit of traveling.  There is a Friday night $1/2 NL game with most of the regulars at Rick's, but I can't continue to absorb $400 (the max I will allow myself to lose at a single $1/2 session) hits week after week for much longer, nor do I prefer playing cards on Fri nights as opposed to going out with friends.  This is also certainly not the kind of momentum I want to have going into AC next week.

I realize every player goes through this kind of downswing, but considering I'm basically one big hand away from not just losing in 5 of 6 $1/2 NL sessions, but losing big in all of them, it's bad.  I know I'm a better player than this, and yes I've made mistakes, but it's been more bad luck than my mistakes that have been critical towards causing my recent losses.

What I really need to do is get back online and start seeing more hands.  I tend to run a lot better live when I play online regularly.  Maybe it's because I usually take most of my severe bad beats online, so I get it out of my system ahead of time. :)  Now if there was only a way to get back on...

I'm done venting. 

Phatcorndog

This is from a few weeks ago, but I came across it again today and it still gave me chills reading this note sent from the Hoya Hoop Club.

What a season. 

Phatcorndog

If this was a prelude to how the Memorial Day Weekend this year will play out, I'm starting off on a good note.

Fri. night: Went with Eric, Kim, and a bunch of other people to a place called New Jersey Bar and Grill, about 10 min from my house.  Looks like an absolute hole in the wall from the back road that it's on, but inside, there's about 8-10 plasma TVs, a dartboard, and 2 hot bartenders.  And supposedly the food there isn't bad, either.  Definitely will have to check that place out again.  Oh, and Jose Cuervo is good stuff. :)

Sat: Saw Uncle Henry and Aunt Cecilia for the first time in awhile.  My parents and I had lunch with them and Uncle Henry's brother/sister in law.  Nice people, especially the sister-in-law, who had an incredible memory... she knew the address of our old house on Daniel St. after not having seen us in nearly 20 years.  That is just sick!  That and she was able to carry a conversation with my dad long enough that he actually had a decent time.  Quite a woman.

Sun: Wiffle ball game in the morning capped by the Yanks salvaging the finale of a 3 game set against the Mets.  Entourage/Sopranos are DVRed elsewhere, so there's something else to look forward to.

So, even though I missed the Preakness due to a faulty weather report (eff you, Weather.com), it still turned out to be a pretty nice weekend.  Starting with AC on Thursday, this next one figures to be even better.