Happy Halloween!

Today was the last day to vote early so I hope you all did it already or else face the loooong lines on Nov. 4th! I went and took care of it this afternoon and the old man in the booth next to me had no clue how to use his electronic voting machine. He kept asking the guy next to him if his own machine worked or not and just stood there. Why he didn't go for the paper ballot in the first place was beyond me but I found it funny that something as simple as operating a few buttons and a screen can really still scare some people. I don't want to be that guy forty years from now, not knowing how to vote via 3-D brain-scan or whatever they'll be using and being made fun by online blogger punks...darn kids.

I saw the hotdog man on the street outside while I was there and it took a lot to stop myself from going over and getting a dog...in good time, in good time Albie.

Other than that though, this Halloween sucks because I am writing this from the office here at work. WORK!!!! There's not even any candy here...

Maybe they call him a socialist because he likes talking to people...

"You can argue the merits of each candidate and/or bash each one over the other all you want but it doesn't take a genius to realize that eight years of failure from an unpopular Republican administration has led to the American people realizing that just maybe they should pick a Democrat this time around. It's pretty much unavoidable and I hope Obama fully realizes what he's getting into because he's going to have to clean up the huge mess that Bush left behind. Still, no matter what happens in the next four years there's no way his approval rating will ever be as low as Bush's and if I had to make a guess, I think Obama might even become more popular than Bill Clinton ever was with the American people, something closer to the status of what JFK enjoyed in his brief stay at the White House. Unfortunately, McCain never had a real chance this time around...and he can blame Bush for that, not the Democrats."

--A little something I said in response to someone else who posted their opinion in the local paper the other day. Guess who I'm voting for! :)

Poker Update

I signed up with cardplayer.com's "SpadeClub" program over a week ago to help work on my tournament game and so far I've been doing very well making several final tables here and there building up my points and hopefully next month I'll be turning those points into entry tickets for their Weekly $5Ks and Monthly $40Ks soon enough. The player fields on average right now are between 80-130 for pointbuilders, 500-700 for the 20/50/75 cash guarantee tourneys, and the highest of course going to the weekly and monthly's with around 1000-1500 players so I have my work cut out for me if I want to win either of those two tourneys but to me, it's not even a matter of if I'll ever win one but more like when it'll happen because I feel like I'm playing my best right now and I'll start posting screen-cap's of my progress here as soon as I can.

I can say that tonight was a particularly good night for me as I final tabled two tourneys at the same time, a 5th place finish out of 129 in a PointBuilder tourney and then a 1st in tonight's $50 cash that I had to really fight for since I was down 7-1 in chips going into heads up play but over came it for the finish. I know they aren't big scores like what Bodog would offer but at least I'm able now to try new moves and really put people to the test while "practicing" on SpadeClub so I really like it and the community of players that play there. I just wish I could have joined the site six months ago since they have a Spade Club Player of the Year race going on in a standings/stats format that I'm a little too late to play in for this year but as soon as that starts over again for next year I can guarantee you'll be seeing me in that Top 20!

Eggplant Excitment

I've been collecting simple vegetarian reciepes online for me to try out and I really like the one's that I've found so far using zucchini and eggplant in particular. I also cooked with tofu for the first time ever last week and that was fun. I've always watched my mom make and cook tofu in her kitchen before but I've never tried to on my own but it turned out pretty good in our speghetti pasta dinner the other night. Or at least I thought it did, Billy gave me all of his tofu, lol. Maybe he'll like it when I deep fry it next time...

I've also been thinking over the whole vegetarian thing and I think I might alter the diet a bit to include fish since I love sushi too much to really give up sashimi and tasty cooked eel. I read up on it and according to Wikipedia, I would be called a "Pescetarian" if I went that route. The word itself was aparently added to the 2008 Webster's Dictionary as being, "vegetarian whose diet includes fish." This explanation though is a little strange considering the fact that most "official" vegetarian groups out there wouldn't say that these type of people were vegetarian at all if they ate fish flesh but that's a topic for another post and time! I just want to be able to lose some weight and enjoy some deliciously and beautifully prepared raw fish, is that too much to ask? I don't care what I'll be referred to as, or called, as long as it isn't "fat-ass", "chubby" or "slightly overweight half-asian" anymore and I'll be happy.

New Diet?

I'm proud of myself for having lost about 15 pounds since July but lately, or around two weeks ago I should say, I've been starting to revert back to some old bad habits such as eating out too often, especially at McDonald's since they're just down my street and doing that nifty free food Monopoly sticker game right now! Ahh, see what I mean? I get excited about stupid things sometimes. Fortunately, Billy and I dicussed this and I've come to the conclusion that in order to NOT eat BURGERS, or CHILI-CHEESEDOGS, or anything else that I know would ruin a week's worth of healthy eating, I've decided to officially go vegetarian for a month as of almost a week ago now.

Again, I'm only doing this for at least one month to see if 1) I can do it, and 2) to show how serious I am about getting healthy and I really want to attain that golden number goal of 200 lbs. once the New Year hits. I really think I can do it and I still have over two months in which to pull it off and I know it can be done. I'm not going to starve myself to get there either, but by eating more veggies and fruit I know I'll start losing it quicker and I should also mention that I have a pretty big bet going with Billy AND my mother about this so I can't let them have the satisfaction of winning now can I?

Only 25 pounds left to go...

Ramenlicious

In my opinion there are only two types of "perfect" food in the world.

1) Sushi.
2) Ramen.

Sushi is what I would eat if I had money to waste, while ramen would be what I'd eat later as a result of spending all my money on good sushi. Mainly because ramen is so affordable, and yes I did say good sushi because I wouldn't want to eat subpar or just average sushi. Not for the $6-12 a roll that most places would charge for just one roll! Ramen has this horrible reputation for being cheap and awful when if simply prepared correctly and made as how the Chinese or Japanese would make their ramen, it's freaking delicious! Most Americans only know of ramen as this Maruchan brand product that costs next to nothing and doesn't taste that great but buy it anyway because they're in college and have little money to spend on something better. Of course instant ramen will taste boring if all you do is follow the package directions. Real ramen like those that are found in noodle shops in larger cities, especially one's on the west coast and around New York serve huge bowls of deliciously prepared ramen with all sorts of different flavors and styles, cold and or hot. You can easily prepare authentic ramen soups now thanks to websites like ramenlicious.com with easy to follow receipe directions for really good eats. Google "ramen" and you'll come up with dozens of different sites that can show you how to best prepare delicious ramen. Being half-chinese I may be juuust a little biased on this topic but give ramen a "real" try and you just might be surprised at its versatility. ^_^

Dragon* Sake and Sushi Bar

Yes! It's been awhile since I've talked about sushi on this here blog and that is because there really wasn't any reason to with Nakamura Sushi hogging all the spotlight for the past year or so but there's a new sushi bar in town ladies and gents and that place is the dark and mysterious Dragon* Sake and Sushi Bar! It's located within the recently remodeled China Garden and opened a couple months ago and my friend Thinh and I have been dying to try it out for weeks. The last time we tried going there it just so happened to be a Monday and they told us that the sushi bar was closed on Mondays. Epic FAILURE...for us at least. If memory serves though I believe we went and ate at Nakamura instead (which is closed on Sundays by the way) and had a grand time eating the competition's sushi while thinking to ourselves, "how good could China Garden's sushi really be anyway? It's your typical asian-american buffet restaurant after all, right?" Well I can tell you tonight that we were absolutely wrong about those silly assumtions and had a GREAT dinner at the new Dragon* sushi bar which is located in what used to be the smoking section of the old sports bar area of the restuarant. When you first walk in, you will notice candles lit on cool little black tables, flat screen televisions, mood music, and it's darker than my balls in there but that's what makes it hip and romantic probably. Nakamura now looks like a Luby's cafeteria compared to this place. We seated ourselves at the bar, and we then realized that the place was EMPTY. Not a good thing you would think, but those worries left our minds once we were given complimentary miso soups without having even ordered yet. They also gave us this cold plate of some kind of pickled meat drenched in what I think was sesame oil that tasted utterly amazing. Sarah being the devout and unstraying vegetarian unsurprisingly chose to order the Veggie Rolls, which were incredibly huge and tasty looking. She could only eat about half of the eight peices "chunks" that they made for her. Thinh and I on the other hand, ate almost everything that we ordered which included an Unagi (Eel) Roll, the China Garden Roll, Yoo Hoo Roll, and the Alvin Roll, named (and probably created by) after the owner, Mr. Alvin Lin. I can't remember if Thinh also ordered the Kobe Roll or not because he did mention wanting to try it but I don't remember eating anything with tamago (sweet egg) in it so maybe not. I do remember drinking some pretty cold $9 sake though. My only regret? Not finishing all of said $9 sake! :(

I tried taking some pictures with my cell phone but alas it was too dark so here are a few pictures from their website, chinagardentx.com of some of the things we gorged ourselves on:




*Sushi bar did not really have any dragons nor did they serve any species of dragon unfortunately.

R.I.P.

Maybe it's just around me but death seems to be a close topic as of late. Not only did a 17yr old Central student recently die in a high speed wreck just down the street from where I work, another young man was shot and killed last week who's former girlfriend (and one of the suspected shooters I believe) had actually worked as a housekeeper for us a short time ago. On top of that, if you look at today's obits you'll see Ortiz, the Central student and below him David Lewis Johanson of whom I had known quite well...at least at the poker tables here in town. We knew each other by name and he was always very nice and courteous, a true gentleman. The paper said he died of heart surgery complications on the 13th in Austin. He was only 53. I'll always remember him as that snowy-haired guy with a cig in one hand and two cards in the other trying to figure out if I had AK when I raised him or 24suited as he often accused me of having. I'll certainly miss that old man.

My YouTube Find of the Day

After this vid, be sure to check out some of the related links...

33rd Annual Taste of San Angelo...

...took place today, and I had to work! >_<

For only $25 you could have sampled food and booze from around 50 local restaurants including my friend Justin's restaurant River Terrace Restaurant (www.theriverterrace.com) I'm a little pissed about missing this event since I completely forgot about it last year and I might not be here next year for the next one so it really sucks. Oh well, on the plus side I probably saved myself five extra pounds...

EDIT**

Almost forgot, this week marks my 2nd full year with "the company" and I'm a little proud of that since that was my initial goal when I started. Too bad I won't be there for very much longer hehe!

"For the Record" - Standard Times

I found this entry to be quite ironic, amusing, take your pick:

Vernon Jack Redwine, 1/42, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

This guy had to have been caught by police many times to have been awarded a hefty 12 year sentence. I can't help but wonder if red wine really was his drink of choice or not. Also, doesn't his name pretty much obligate himself to having to drink all the time? They should give the guy a break. I mean, his ancestors must have really loved booze to have taken that last name in the first place right? It's not his fault he's an alcoholic with places to go if it's in his naturally .09 bloodline...

International Coming Out Day

I learned just a few days ago that today, October 11th marks the annual Coming Out Day for anyone who wishes to do so. Big events are held in large towns like Austin for this special day with local GLBT groups around the country but I thought it was pretty cool that there's a day for this. They say to wear support pins or patches or whatever to show support and awareness of GLBT people around the world which I think is a really cool idea. Too bad I don't own a pink triangle pin or rainbow braclet or anything snazzy like that or I would have today! There's a certain friend of mine that I will not name here that I think could use this day to tell us all "something" but that isn't my place or my business to talk about really since I myself know all too well how hard it was to come out to my closest friends and family when I was younger. Everyone does it in their own way and that's fine! Just uh, don't wait until you're married, have three kids and then decide to tell everybody because umm it might be just a little late then... ^_^

Register To Vote!

I think today is the last day to register if you haven't already and plan to vote for the next president of our country. I was asked to renew my voter card back in July when I renewed my driver's license and I finally recieved my voter card in the mail yesterday so that I can vote next month and you should too! I'm happy to live in a time and society that lets us choose our leaders by voting by the people and their representatives and know how important this next election is for the future of our country. We're living in a time of war and a horrible economy, not to mention worry about the future of Social Security and oil. Yes, every election is going to be touted as an important election but this one feels a lot different to me than the one four years ago with Kerry and Bush. We didn't have the rediculous gas price issues back then, nor did we have a bunch of billion dollar businesses go bankrupt on us and lead us to a near financial collapse. People today are having trouble getting morgages for homes, they can't sell their homes, and unemployment is at its highest in years while the stock market hasn't hit this low since at the least the '87 crash...

Throw in the fact that a black man may actually become president as well as a woman for vice president and you've got yourself something pretty damn historical. I'm not going to use this space to try and convice you as to who to vote for as much as I would like to see you out there actually VOTING. So read about the issues, go to each candidate's website and find out who you would like to be the next leader of our ailing country. I can't stress enough how important it is to research and learn about the person and party you vote for because without doing so, your vote will have been a waste of time. Nothing bugs me more than the thought of someone going to the polls and voting simply based based on the color of skin, sex, age or appearance.

Be smart, or stay home November 4th!

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Per the U.K. blog “Very Good Taste” I am going to try my hand at the Omnivore’s 100 - a list of foods that every omnivore should explore to broaden their palate.

To participate, just go to the original post and copy & paste the list before identifying the stuff you’ve eaten or won’t eat.

Instructions:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

"Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers."


The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred, as experienced by Albie:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I've tried just over 30 so far, that I know I'm sure of. I wonder if Durian wafers count...I'll update this list once I figure out what some of these things even are.

*EDIT*
Okay, aparently Epoisses is a specialty un-pastuerized French cheese that is banned from the public transit areas of France because of its horrible stench. Hmm, reminds me of Durian fruit. I'm 110% sure its not available in San Angelo and neither is a lot of those Indian/Middle-Eastern/Russian/Japanese dishes since we don't have any restuarants that would serve anything even remotely similar to what's on this list! I'll probably try and make the Currywurst this month since its Oktoberfest time and I found a good receipe.