Monthly Archives: November 2006

Weekend Goodness. And Badness.

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What a great way to begin my 2-weeks off before I start my new job.

First off, my last day was great. I had a bunch of work to finish on Friday before 11:30, when Alli was meeting me at work to go with the whole Marketing group to lunch. They treated everyone to a terrific lunch out at the Yard House by the Legends and then took all of us bowling next door at Pin-Up Bowl. I had the highest first game score, but as is often the case, I tanked the second game. That’s why I hate bowling.

I got some great well-wishes and a really nice presentation from one of my friends at work. They made me a huge card too, which all of them had signed…it was really great.

Friday night was fun too. I was pretty ambivalent towards what I wanted to do, so Alli and I went to Target to pick out a couple DVDs to watch. Once we got there, we decided that, without question, we had to have all of the Muppet movies that we remembered from when we were kids and we planned on watching all of them on Friday night.

Target didn’t have them, so we ventured out to our friendly neighborhood Best Buy, where we asked an employee and they were found within minutes. How happy we were to have:

The Muppet Movie - Kermit\'s 50th Anniversary Edition The Great Muppet Caper - Kermit\'s 50th Anniversary Edition The Muppets Take Manhattan

We went home and popped the first one in the DVD player as soon as we could.

Now, it’s true…we both fell asleep 30 minutes into the first one on Friday night, but we watched them back-to-back-to-back on Saturday morning. And they were just as enjoyable as I remembered they were. We both found ourselves singing along to songs like “The Rainbow Connection” and “Movin’ Right Along” and my face felt like it was sore from permanently smiling. It was a real blast.

On Saturday, we also watched both Spider-Man movies…now I’m really excited for the new one next summer.

Sunday started with an early (7:45 a.m.!) church meeting and then a great service. We followed that up with lunch at Chili’s with mom, Jake, and his new lady-friend Kelly before going home to watch the DVR’ed Chiefs game. What a traveshamockery that game was. The Chiefs deserved to lose that game by about 30 points, but Miami just kept on trying to give it to us. Go figure. It makes Herm Edwards’ (who, by the way, WORST COACH EVER) decision on who to start at quarterback a lot easier. Huard was TERRIBLE and I can’t wait to see Green back on the field. It really was inevitable that his play would have to slow up sooner or later, but it doesn’t help that Edwards refuses to give the ball to Larry Johnson any less than 50 times per game. If it weren’t for Tony Gonzalez, we would have lost that game by more than we did. And of course, he has to go and get hurt.

Besides that little setback, though, it was a great start to my long weekend. The 2-week weekend continues…

ReviewMe.com

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So, you may or may not have read my last post, reviewing Cardroom Supply, Inc., an internet retailer of poker supplies. You might find yourself wondering…what the heck?

I’m testing out this new web site, ReviewMe.com, a place where bloggers and advertisers can meet together in pursuit of one glorious thing: Money.

Now, I’m not one of the most famous bloggers in the world by any means, but once I heard of the concept (you submit your site, advertisers submit requests for reviews, you write them, they pay you), I thought it sounded like something I would like to try. First…reviewing stuff for money? Sounds like a conflict of interest if you ask me, but the web site states that you don’t have to necessarily be positive in your reviews. Having the assertion that you can remain objective and STILL get paid…that sounded like some sweet action to me.

So I checked the site out and submitted this fair blog to be a part of their directory. Apparently, there are not many poker bloggers because I got a request for review immediately after signing up (the aforementioned previous post).

Once I accepted the review, all I had to do was write the review, enter the address of the review, then click one button on the Review Me site to complete the process. A later e-mail notified me that my review had been approved (all reviews must be at least 200 words), and I’ll be getting $20 for my review of Cardroom Supply. Pretty cool.

So, here’s how this applies to you, dear reader: I’ll be submitting reviews on here periodically as a part of this program. I like money, particularly that which doesn’t require a heckuva lot of work. I’ll do my best to stay as neutral as I can, but I imagine that the more money I receive, the happier I’ll be. Either way, I’ll still do my best to post other content too.

Feel free to call me a hypocrite in the comments.

The preceding is a paid advertisement as a part of the ReviewMe.com network.

Cardroom Supply, Inc.

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The following is a paid review:

The last few years have seen a huge boom in all things POKER. ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker has really sparked a huge interest in the “sport” (you say sport, I call it more of a game) that has brought on the advent of a whole sub-culture of poker-related products and web sites.

First, it was online poker. Sites like FullTiltPoker.net, AbsolutePoker.com, and ParadisePoker.com have exploded into huge moneymakers and their users have taken the poker world by storm, changing the entire landscape of professional card playing.

That interest has filtered down across the United States in an increase in what most people call “home games”. A home game is a regular game of poker between friends that usually doesn’t cost a ton of money (or it can, but in most cases it costs between $5 and $20). As home games started popping up across the U.S., places started selling poker supplies all over. Even huge retailers like Target started selling tables and chips, capitalizing on the poker boom.

However, the best deals (as is almost always the case) could be found online.

Cardroom Supply, Inc. is an online store that specializes in all things poker. They sell tables, tabletops, chips, cards, even “gaming chairs”. Built on Yahoo! e-commerce technology, the online store has everything that the home game poker player would need. They have high-end poker tables as well as the more affordable folding tabletops that most major retailers sell. If I were to buy a table (and had the money to buy one), I would likely get this nice longer folding table. I like how there’s a padded armrest, but the drink holders are not on the table in the way of the chips, as is the case with this octagonal table.

Their chip selection is pretty good. They even sell the 13g clay chips that casinos use for gaming. Most clay chip sets come with an 11.5g chip or even a 9g chip. If you don’t think you can tell the difference between these chips, you probably shouldn’t come to my home game.

Despite the high quality of some of their products, I found their interface and selection somewhat disappointing. I would think that someone who considers themselves an online wholesaler of card room supplies would have a more vast selection in each of the categories. The selection is adequate, just not impressive. In addition, using Yahoo’s interface is a mistake. As someone who uses the internet to make a lot of purchases, I am always more apt to deal with a company that has taken the time to customize their own e-commerce technology instead of piggybacking on someone else’s. It just give me more of an assurance that the seller takes things more seriously and isn’t out to make a quick buck.

Even so, Cardroom Supply, Inc. sells a great range of products that most new poker players would be very happy with. In addition, there are probably a lot of Yahoo! users out there that appreciate the integration with the Yahoo Store platform. Plus, their offer of free shipping on all orders over $100 is a good one because shipping those heavy chip sets could get very expensive.

I’m not sure if I would shop there for my own personal poker supplies, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t right for someone who is just starting out. It might be just the place.

The following is a paid review as a part of ReviewMe.com.

The Cheese Monkeys

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The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters

The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters
by Chip Kidd
RATING: 9 out of 10

Back in June when I was attending the HOW Design Conference with my colleagues in Las Vegas, I was fortunate enough to attend a session put on by the guys at 3Dogz Creative about humor in the workplace. It was a great session and I got to get up on the stage to draw a quick logo for “DJ’s Hooker Vending Machines”. It was a traumatic experience because (unlike most other graphic designers) I can’t draw very well.

However, my participation in the class worked out for the best. I either got $50 in chips or copies of 2 books, one being The Cheese Monkeys (the other being one I haven’t read yet, but that’s neither here nor there).

Now, I’m not a knowledgeable enough designer to have known who Chip Kidd was before I read the book, but afterward, I definitely wanted to. So here’s a minor biography: Chip Kidd is considered the best book designer in the world and is as close to a “rock star” as a graphic designer will get. He has designed several of the most famous book covers, the most recognizable of which was Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, the artwork of which was subsequently purchased by the movie studio for use in branding the cinematic dinosaur franchise.

The Cheese Monkeys is Kidd’s first novel and is interesting from the outside in. Kidd waste no words or space in or out of the book. The edges of the pages even provide 2 messages that are key to the book: “Do You See?” and “Good is Dead.”

Kidd’s book is about a student who attends a state school to study Art, even though he has a large disdain from what is considered “art”. It is told in two separate semesters, fall and spring. The fall semester is used to introduce the characters and to start developing their relationships and the spring semester is the one in which we meet the craziest graphic design professor in fiction: Winter Sorbeck.

Many would say that the subject of graphic design probably doesn’t deserve a novel of its own, at least not one that would be viable to the public at large. Kidd does his best to prove that just isn’t true. Whether or not he succeeds is really up to the reader. I think this book likely resonates more with artists and designers than it would any other audience, but I could just be biased.

I really enjoyed the book, although I thought that the end was a little disjointed. Maybe if I read it more carefully, I would have appreciated it more, but I think that it was intended to be that way because of the narrator’s state of mind.

The book gave me a better appreciation for my craft and made me wish just a little bit more that I would have taken more graphic design classes instead of being a self-taught designer. Sure, there are benefits to being self-taught that give me certain advantages, but I’m at a disadvantage in other areas as well.

If you’re a designer or an artist, I would recommend this book. Otherwise, I’m not sure. Maybe if you’re interested in the insanity of creative-types. And you’re into really, really good writing and great book design.

To update you on my 2006 reading list, I’m up to 22 books now, but I’ve read 5 books that were off my list, so according to the list, I still have about 8 to finish, which would get me to 30 total for the year. That wouldn’t be too bad, in my opinion. It’s not Julie level, but it’s still pretty good.

Vote Today!

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Your vote does count.

Let your voice be heard today. I can’t wait until this day is over…I’m sick of hearing about the Talent-McCaskill race across the state line. Will be interesting to see who is in control of the Senate and Congress after today. We shall see.

Stop This Train

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No, I’m not colorblind
I know the world is black and white
I try to keep an open mind
But I just can’t sleep on this tonight

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
But honestly, won’t someone stop this train?

Don’t know how else to say it
I don’t want to see my parents go
One generation’s length away
From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
But honestly, won’t someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older
I’m only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun

Had a talk with my old man
Said “help me understand”
He said “turn sixty-eight
You renegotiate”

“Don’t stop this train
Don’t for a minute change the place you’re in
Don’t think I couldn’t ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we’ll never stop this train”

Once in awhile, when it’s good
It’ll feel like it should
And they’re all still around
And you’re still safe and sound
And you don’t miss a thing
Till you cry when you’re driving away in the dark
Singing

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can’t take the speed it’s moving in
I know I can’t
Cause now I see I will never stop this train

“Stop this Train” by John Mayer, from Continuum

Buy this song from the iTunes Store

Uncomplicated in its Complexity

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Six Degrees is JJ Abrams’ (the creator of Lost, Alias, Mission Impossible: III) newest television venture an it appears Thursday nights at 9 p.m.

As I was watching last night’s episode (which you can view for free on the ABC web site), I was thinking to myself, ‘You know, there’s not a ton to this show. It’s all about good characters and interesting relationships. But it’s still really good.’ It’s a relatively simple concept for a show, but it’s executed so well. The real twists come in the nature of how everyone is connected.

A lot of the people I’ve talked to (do you hear me, Jason?) find the show “boring” or “depressing”, but to me, it’s just about perfect. The characters aren’t ridiculous caricatures of life – they’re real people who we can relate to. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about them or their story lines; they’ve all made mistakes and are trying to live their lives the best they can.
That’s what makes me appreciate this show even more – the show is about normal people and it is still interesting because the writing captures real life so well. The more that went wrong in Steven’s life last night (he’s the aging photographer), the more believable it became because sometimes it just feels like life’s pitfalls snowball on us and there’s no end in sight.
I hope that this show stays on the air. I haven’t heard a ton about its ratings, but I also haven’t heard anything about its struggles either. I can’t imagine it is a cheap show, considering it is shot on location in Manhattan and contains some really big actors (Hope Davis, Bridget Moynahan, Jay Hernandez, Erika Christiansen, Zoe Saldana). I hope that ABC gives it time to develop an audience…they likely will since it’s a JJ show, but you never know with the morons they have in TV these days.