I'll drink whiskey instead of water cause I can't stand to be sober in this place

Well I had a fairly eventful week last week. After working Monday and Tuesday a few friends and I headed up to Tahoe for a few days of fishing (caught three little guys and released them), relaxing (beer & dominos) and gambling (lost $240 - ouch!). We went on a little hike to see the salmon, and try to catch a glimspe of a bear eating the salmon. Of course 5 minutes after we leave the bear shows up - some friends were still there, so I got some pictures...

I came home Thursday night and woke up Friday morning with a terrible cold. However, I had tickets for WhiskeyFest that night, and I was not going to miss it. A bunch of us headed out to SF, ate at the 21st Amendment Brewery (great food) and then headed over to the Marriott. It was great - I got to catch up with Tom Bulleit (Bulleit Bourbon), Jess Graber (Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey), got to meet Jimmy Russell (Wild Turkey) and John Hansell (Malt Advocate Magazine). It was my dad and my brother's first time at one of these events, so it was really fun to have them there. But alas, large amounts of whiskey and head colds do not mix... I will leave it at that.

So my Saturday, Sunday, Monday and half a day Tuesday were spent on the couch with a terrible cold.

Looking forward to being well again (I think tomorrow is the day).

Busy Busy Busy

Well, its Saturday. I like the weekends. It means no work... oh wait, there's cleaning, laundry, and the ever ominous homework to get done...

Life is busy, but with fun things, so its all good... Here is a breakdown:

• 10/8 - 10/9: Go to Tahoe with some friends
• 10/10: Go to WhiskeyFest
• 10/12: Rival Schools & Middle Class Rut concert
• 10/21: Charles' Birthday
• 10/25: Wine Party @ the Cond
• 10/28: Jenny Lewis concert
• 10/31: Halloween
• 11/3: Highway Patrol concert (Josh Pinkston's band - you should really go - contact me if interested)
• 11/7: Rise Against & Alkaline Trio concert
• 11/13: Ben Folds Concert
• 11/15: Safeway Foundation Gala
• 11/27: Thanksgiving
• 12/12: Seeing Wicked in SF
• 12/25: Christmas
• 1/1: New Years
• 11/7: Rise Against Concert

Damn! That's a lot of things....

The Counting Crows concert was great (no Anna Begins though... sniff) and surprisingly Maroon 5 was actually decent...

More later.

Casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there counting crows

Headed out to Shoreline to see Counting Crows tonight - this will be my third or fourth time seeing them, but it will be Shannon's first - so we are excited... Less exciting is Maroon 5 opening for them, not that their albums suck, but after seeing them perform live on TV... not looking forward to it so much. Another band, Augustana is opening up - checking them out on iTunes right now... not bad but not exactly my cup of tea. But Adam Duritz and Co. will make up for anything lacking the opening bands bring. Here's hoping they are still playing Anna Begins.

Oh by the way Vegas was a blast - I came back with more gambling money than I started with. Woot.

Sad Songs

Shannon and I went to see Damien Jurado this past Wednesday. Incredible show, nothing like a bunch of depressing songs to lift your spirits.

With sad songs on the mind, here are 5 that I really dig right now:

Damien Jurado - Medication - A song about a guy who can't be with his married lover, so he spends time with his suicidal brother and prays that God will take his brother's life to ease the pain. First time i heard this was Wednesday night.. brutal.

Pedro the Lion - Second Best - A wife convincing herself its ok to be second best and trying to rekindle the romance with her husband at a hotel. This song floored me when I first heard it.

Brand New - Jesus Christ - Deals with being alone, trust issues and a loss of faith. A great sad song on an album of sad songs.

Neil Diamond - I Am I Said - A man trying to prove his existence despite being alone and far away from home.

Ben Folds Five - Evaporated - Probably one of the saddest songs I know, and without a doubt one of my favorites. Not sure what its about, but considering his song Brick is about an abortion he and an ex had, its quite possible its about the same experience. Heart breaking.

Viva Las Vegas

Well in about an hour we are headed to the airport to being our Vegas Vacation. Here's hoping I can at least break even! In addition to the poker we will be playing for hours on end, Ron and I are also planning on playing a round of golf in near 100 degree weather (yikes!) and hitting up The Gun Store, were we will shoot various machine guns and feel like bad asses.




Go see Tropic Thunder for these two reasons:

• Robert Downey Jr. who excels at playing an Australian playing a black guy
  
• Tom Cruise, who I despise as a person, putting on one of the best performances of his career
  

Vegas

Well we leave for Vegas in 18 days and are pretty excited to go. Shannon hasn't been there since she was a kid, and last time I was there I was a 20 year old constantly looking over my shoulder as I played blackjack. It will be nice to go back and be able to sit in the casino, legally, and relax with cocktails.

Ron and I decided to head over to the Livermore Casino on Friday to prep ourselves for Vegas. However, the only thing we prepared for was how to lose money (and, hopefully, that does not happen in Vegas). We sat at a 3 -20 spread limit game, where the blinds are $1 & $3 and the max bet and/or raise is $20. We got murdered. I got no cards (best hand I was dealt all night was pocket 4's) and Ron got a ton of good hands dealt to him, only to get beat by a player that should never have been in the hand. People were taking down $150+ pots with King high or a set of sixes they hit on the river. I left a broken man, but knowing if I had a big enough stack, in enough time the table would be mine for the taking. Just gross.

Random Things That Are Going On

A lot of stuff is going in right now... here are some bullet points

• My Grandma is moving down in about a week and a half - and is going to live with my parents in Manteca
• We are finally getting the Altima fixed
• We are trying to buy a house (going through the loan approval process right now)
• School, as always, is keeping me busy
• Shannon wants to be a baker
• I want to open a Whisk(e)y restaurant
• Pliny the Elder is for sale
• We are going to Vegas in just over a month