Possum Exploits

Comic Con Day 3 and 4

2009-08-10T18:36:00Z

Oh yes, the, rest of the trip.

Crazy, hectic, Saturday
Much saner Sunday

Comic Con Day 2

2009-08-06T00:20:31Z

Friday was really busy, saw all sorts of stuff that day.

Friday, the Day of Attending Panels

Day 1

2009-08-04T16:58:11Z

This day was better than it sounds, but it will forever be The Day Twilight Ruined Comic Con

A slow and drawn out recap of San Diego Comic Con 2009

2009-08-03T20:12:59Z

Work wanted me to write a SDCC recap for the blog, so I did. It is very long, and the blog will update daily this week with each day's activities. So, slightly delayed and without further ado:

Day 0 aka Preview Night

This counts as a post, right?

Who doesn't like free stuff?

2008-03-03T23:34:41Z

PC Magazine's list of their favorite 157 free software tools

I hope this link works...

2007-04-24T15:36:23Z

Chris Cornell covers Michael Jackson
(It's from a Yahoo live set, but I don't think you need to even be logged in or anything complicated like that)
For those of you who don't know, he was the lead singer for Soundgarden then Audioslave. Even if you don't like either of those bands, this is still worth a listen.

I should really go to work.

Fanime?

2007-03-25T21:49:07Z

I was just wondering how many people were definitely or maybe or definitely not going to fanime. I haven't really made up my mind about it, and I was kinda thinking I may just drive up for the Memorial Day weekend and bum around even if I wasn't going to the convention. So, thoughts, queries, opinions, etc. are much appreciated.

I might be on the TV

2007-01-29T04:20:00Z

Today, Serene, T, and I went to Barona for some gambling and Wheel of Fortune auditions. Wheel is filming a few weeks of episodes here, so they're looking for local contestants. Everyone got to file into the auditorium and everyone put their application into a raffle drawing. They pulled names 5 at a time to run a quick mock game show on stage with the traveling Pat and Vanna. It's kinda funny to have Vanna use a marker to fill in the puzzles. They were churning through groups pretty quickly, and to my surprise, my name got drawn to be on stage. I was in the very last group to be drawn for the first audition. So, I got to be on stage and embarrass myself, which is kinda what they wanted anyway. And I got to feel especially proud because I solved the puzzle! I don't get anything special for it, but I got a hat, keychain and blinky pin, which is cool. I will get a letter or email in the coming weeks to invite me to the final round of auditions, if they so choose. I'm very excited that I might really make it on the show!

We were trying to decide if travel Pat was on speed or cocaine, given how much he jumped around the stage like a maniac. I wonder if he could really keep that up through 3 rounds of auditions. I thought travel Vanna was kinda hot, but T disagreed. I forgot to ask Serene her opinion.

As for the rest of the day, everyone who showed up for the audition got a discount for the buffet, so we had to wait for over an hour to eat what turned out to be a mediocre buffet. Then came the gambling. T and I had no luck at the blackjack tables. I got super special screwed on one hand where I split my hand twice, which puts three bets out there, and the dealer had a 6 up and drew to a 21... I was so pissed, but that was just my luck. The best thing I did was "save my table" because I was last to act and twice my taking the hit busted me and caused then the dealer to bust when they otherwise wouldn't have. I had a mini rush when I was down to my last $6.50. I just kept betting it all, and I doubled up to around $50, then played for a bit longer until it finally run out. All in all, it was a fun and eventful day.

I win

2006-12-08T08:06:15Z

After a few incredibly lucky hands, I won a 45 person $1 tournament, so I got $14. This means I've finally clawed my way back to the initial amount I sent to Pokerstars, all of $25. I was down to less than $2 at one point, I think as recently as a few months ago. I'm trying to get in as much practice as I can since when I take my random 2 day vacation later this month (my sick/personal time expires at year end, so I'd better spend it), I plan to hit up some casino around here and play another live tournament. I have played in 2 live tournaments, the first of which I busted out in 3 hands, the second of which I took much longer to bust out, though I have yet to take down a single pot. I really hope that changes, and, who knows, maybe I can win some real money. That would be exciting. Ok, sleep since I'm carpooling with Serene far too early tomorrow.

Poker and Test Scores

2006-11-02T08:08:05Z

I just finished playing a $1 no limit hold em tournament with 762 entrants. I finished 18th and won $5.49. And the other day, I completely busted someone in a $.01/$.02 NL hold em cash game, and that earned me about $3 on one hand. Soon, I might even win my way back to what I started with almost a year ago! And I didn't even ever go broke!

My GMAT writing score came in. I got a 6/6. As in the highest score possible. I was dumbfounded. I'm wondering if it was a mistake (not that I'm going to complain). I've never gotten anything better than a marginal pass (i.e. 4/6) on any timed writing exercise ever. Needless to say, I officially have spiffy test scores to accompany my mediocre (by grad school standards) GPA. Now, I just need to figure out where I want to apply and get off my ass to put together an application packet.

Halloween joke of the day

2006-10-31T19:10:44Z

toothpastefordinner.com

Stuff

2006-10-17T07:30:35Z

I took Friday the 13th of work. Why? Because I could, and I need to frantically use personal time before it expires at the end of the year. I got a massage. Nothing like getting an $85 for $20. Blessed new client promotion. Anyway, I was doing my best to relax before I took the GMAT (it's like the GRE to get into MBA school). I guess it helped, because I got 710 out of 800 (don't know my essay scores yet) which puts me in the 94th percentile. That should be a good foot to put forward to try and overshadow my GPA a little, unless I can use my major GPA. That GPA is MUCH better. In the mail today, I got a handwritten thank you card from my masseuse thanking me for coming in, wishing me well on my test, and hoping to see me again soon. It would be nice to go back, but I don't know if I can afford full price.

Oh yeah, I got 17th out of 328th in a 7-card stud tournament. I won $2.62 or so. I should have done better, but I got out drawn and busted out. If I'd have just sat and folded, I'd have made it easily to $4.00+ since that's what 16th place got. I was doing my best at playing to win as opposed to playing to not lose; I guess that's what happens sometimes.

Columbus Rules!

2006-10-09T07:07:19Z

Happy Columbus Day! It's a happy day for me because my work calls it a holiday. Sassi and Serene are both working, so I'm starting to wonder how many people are off. I'm about to enjoy the sleep that comes with not having an alarm wake you up.

Ugh

2006-09-23T11:15:55Z

I went to sleep last night shivering and I woke up this morning melting with a splitting headache. The headache is not unheard of for me, which is why I have Excedrin Migraine because it doses me up well and the bit of caffeine is never bad for my head. I figure the temperature thing is just me not being used to regulating my room. I seem to be doing ok for awhile, then I realize I'm freezing inside my office and trying not to physically shiver. After a few hours of this, I get heat flashes and am trying not to sweat in my chair. About 6 hours after my dose, my headache has come back again, so I amp up on the pain meds again. I attempt to clean my old apartment some, and I start sweating. I assumed it was just because I'm moving around a lot, but it's not like it was that much movement. I get home, feel ok for awhile watching TV, and eventually go up to my room to get some sleep. Around 10:30 (again, 6 hrs) my head starts really hurting again. I skip on the meds this time and figure sleep will be the cure. Again, I go to bed shivering. This time, I wake up about 4 hours later, my head hurts like a bitch, I'm melting, and I feel incredibly dehydrated. I'm not used to feeling dehydration as there was basically no strenuous activity in my day and I consumed around 96 ounces of water in the past 24 hours.

Right now, I'm back under the covers and not melting, my head still hurts, I drank a big ol' cup of water and I'm basically fishing for guesses as to what I might have. I'm not going to the doctor, since I have a $100 ER copay (I suppose a small price for unlimited inpatient benefits) but clearly I'm not doing too well.

Random reading if you're bored at work (like me)

2006-08-18T21:54:03Z

How will it end?

Street Scene!!!

2006-08-06T11:29:42Z

Serene and I were at a concert this weekend, but it's not just a normal concert. Street Scene is a 2 day festival in the parking lot at Qualcomm (the football stadium) with 5 stages and lots of bands. Here's my day by day breakdown with lj cuts, since I'm bound to ramble for awhile (I just got out of the shower and I want my hair to dry before I go to sleep).

Serene already had the day off and I left work at 3 to get there when things were just starting. The first thing we do when we get there is to go through ID check to get to the 21 and up areas. No, it's not just because I'm a drunk, there's a stage that's only in the 21+ area, and the ID check line was the longest line at Coachella, so we figured we should get it out of the way early. Then I notice that Captain Morgan and Jose Cuervo are sponsors and I get Captain and Coke or a Margarita. I was absolutely stunned... they were $6. Not $15 like it was at Coors Amphitheater, it was like a normal price, and it wasn't watered down. I'm getting ahead of myself, I only drank on Saturday. Anyway, we spent a lot of time wandering back and forth thru all the stages since there were a lot of bands worth checking out and not really any that we really cared about. We started with The Shys, a decent Brit-rock sound. Then we meandered toward Nine Black Alps, also a decent rock performance. More meandering and finding solace in shade. Oh yeah, carnival rides. We went on the demon ferris wheel and it was free. It goes around like a ferris wheel, but you get locked in this little cage and your cage spins around so that we could take turns crushing each others sides. Oh yeah, and there's a steering wheel in it that you can use to control the spinning. Twas much fun.

Ack, I feel like I need a paragraph, I hate long blocks of text. Anyway, I think next we stumbled upon the Yard Dogs Road Show in the 21+ tent. They were part band, part side show act... we saw a guy swallow a 37 inch sword. Then he swallowed an 18 inch glow rod that you could see illuminated in his throat. It was cool, but we were off to see... I will remember... She Wants Revenge. We saw them at Coachella, they put on a good show there and we weren't disappointed here either. The singer was having fun with the crowd, gave an honorary award to a mosher that had a jug of water in each hand, and sang a little ballad for him. After that was Wolfmother. Again, we caught part of their show at Coachella and man that guy has a crazy voice. It was kinda psychedelic, kinda pure rock, and all cool to watch. Then came the tricky prioritizing. All these bands were overlapping so much running around was happening. We started with Bad Religion, listened to a few songs, they were a pretty good performance, but since they've been around forever and they were playing a variety of stuff, I didn't know much. Then we wandered a long way to watch Wu-Tang Clan. Yes, Wu-Tang Clan was there, Kanye West was coming on after them... it's a random festival. Listened to a couple songs just to say, "I saw Wu-Tang Clan" and moved on to Queens of the Stone Age. They put on a really rocking concert and get the award for best crowd interaction (slight paraphrasing, obviously).

Singer: "Why are you throwing stuff at me, is it because I blew a wad on your mom's face last night? That's right you heard me, I wasn't going to, but she loves to swallow, that greedy bitch. It's not like I'm the only one, I mean, I hit her 5th, so I guess I can't complain."
There were some comments in there calling the guy a dickhead and pointing him out to the crowd so we could all point and say, "hey dickhead"

Moving on, then we were off to AFI. I really enjoy watching them perform just because of how dynamic the lead singer is. He's always running and jumping and crouching and just really puts 110% into his performance. I love watching him sing the old stuff, before it got that pop sensibility, where he's just screaming like a maniac, and he screams so well too. The singing is pretty decent as well. My favorite was watching him scream "I will wait for you" while on his knees, bent over, like he might actually be crying while he sings it. So that's really emo, but he sells it well. The last stop was Social Distortion. They seem like a band that could play for hours, and they've been around long enough to have the material, and it would be awesome to just chill and listen. So we chilled and listened for awhile, and during the last song left for the trolley to make our trip home not so unpleasant. Oh, and then there was The Mutaytor. They played on their own stage, pretty much non stop for hours, and we walked by the stage like 5 times between everything else. Their show is awesome; I was disappointed that I was there to check out so many other things. There's a full band and dancing girls and acrobats and fire and just a hell of a lot of panache. If they're playing at a club near you ever, I highly recommend watching their show.

For Saturday, I had the money for a few drinks, and a much clearer schedule of events. My day originally was Bedouin Soundclash, Subways, Tricky, My Chemical Romance, and TOOL!!!11! Tricky and My Chemical Romance became the New York Dolls and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (who were moved from another stage). I was pretty much gonna drink early, since I figured I would have to stake a claim out for Tool. So, I got a couple drinks before Bedouin Soundclash, who I saw before opening for The Flaming Lips. They're a Canadian Reggae-ish band, and I really like them. They have a good vibe, awesome baselines and just fun music, and you can dance to it (if you can dance, which we all know I can't, but it didn't stop the drunk me from swaying and enjoying myself). After their performance, all the other acts were on the same stage, but there was a bit of a gap beforehand. So, I got another drink and some nachos and then headed over for the Subways. They were a lot of fun to watch. Again, it's that Brit-rock type sound, alterna-whatever, but it's pretty well done. Plus, they have a female guitarist who's really cute and spunky (and she's a red head, so The Russian might wanna check that out). After their performance, the cramming began. The New York Dolls are an old, old school punk rock band. I mean, when the Ramones were no one, the New York Dolls were right there with them. The singer seems to be on a quest to challenge Keith Richards for the "how am I alive looking like this" award. They put on a really solid show, considering almost the entire crowd up front at this point is just waiting for Tool. No, I'm not kidding, at least 100 Tool fans in front of me (and way more behind me) had already squished up front for the band that wasn't going to start playing for over 3 hours still. By the time the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs were going to come on, the crowd is chanting Tool. I was feeling pretty sorry for them, since they went from headlining a side stage, to Tool's opener on the main stage. But when they came out, she really rocked the place. Y3 (I'm abbreviating since I hate typing it out) is a bunch of guys on the instruments and crazy as fuck chick singer. The "radio songs" are all kinda mellow, little bits of rocking, but feels, chill I suppose. That was so misleading, because she sings and screams with the best of them. It was a total crazy punk vibe. I have to say, I enjoyed that like 10 times more than I expected I would.

So, the cramming had gotten pretty fierce even during Y3. Serene opted for the sake of her slippers and her ankles to get the hell out, a decision I do not fault her in the least for. Even during the gap between Y3 and Tool, there's lots of violent pushing and shoving, I'm squashed against a bunch of strangers, and the friends we made in the crowd. I'm a sweaty mess, my glasses are fogging up, and all I've had to drink today is a bunch of Monster and 3 alcoholic beverages. No, I'm not dehydrated, but I'd be damned if I was losing my spot which is now feet from the stage. I've been crushed, shoved, and choked... and they haven't even gotten on stage yet. Finally, when I think I'm going to have to give up and get out... somehow... they come on stage to give me a burst of energy. They open with Stinkfist and the entire crowd is singing every lyric, and not because Maynard is holding the mic out; everyone just knows it by heart and is singing to everything... it was louder than Maynard for a bit. Somehow, the crowd that couldn't even move before, except as one mass of humanity, is now jumping and trashing to the music. I was enjoying myself for awhile (read one song), but this guys arm was around someone, and I kept getting shoved in such a way that it was choking me, so I'm not feeling to good, and I start trying to get out. The way most people make it out is crowd surfing. Basically, you get lifted up so that you can be passed to security and taken to safety. I had no such luck being able to get up. I should have just found a sturdy guy, posted on his shoulders and thrown myself forward, that would have been much better than what happened.

Well, the whole crowd seems to be slowly shifting right, so I'm moving with it, hoping to get out sideways. Then, I see the problem. A group of people have fallen down and they can't get up. I'm trying to help this one guy up when I get in the back and knocked on top of him. I'm pretty much pinned at this point with my feet on the ground, but my torso is horizontal. And all the dumb fucks that have been trying to shove to the front keep getting room because people are spilling on top of each other on the edge. Security is trying to get people out, but everyone is so tangled that they can't pull anyone out. Eventually, someone ends up laying on top of me... I'm still not on the ground, just crushed horizontally. Then, a guy trying to escape steps on my chest and face to get out. Sadly, that bothered me less than most of what was going on around me. Eventually, when Tool realized that security couldn't fix what was happening, they stopped playing and started telling people to back the fuck up since people were getting trampled. I know some poor girl was unconscious on the ground. I know because eventually I got knocked on top of her. I'm sure that really helped the situation. So now I'm chest first toward the ground, there's a girl under me and my legs are still pinned by god-knows-what behind me. I've got my hands on the ground and I basically start walking my hands forward to pull my legs out. I ended up dragging my shins across the pavement (oh, did I neglect to enforce that since we're in a parking lot, everything is on asphalt) in the process of freeing my legs. I finally get to a useful person to stand me up, which is a vast improvement, but I'm not out yet. Since I couldn't get to security in the front, I basically went out the only way I could... sideways and back through the whole crowd. All the guys are really helpful getting chicks out, but a guy says he wants out, and they just stand there. Eventually I force my way out, buy a couple bottles of water, one of which I chug, the other I drink more slowly, then I track down Serene at our meeting spot. In this whole mess of a process, I lose my watch. Don't have a freaking clue when or where, but it wasn't on my wrist when I got out. My wallet, house keys, glasses and cell phone were all accounted for, and I almost lost my shoes, but thankfully I could force them on my feet.
Anyway, the performance was fucking awesome. It was a great mix of new and old, all the way back to Sober. And they closed with Aenima, which was great, since I haven't seem them perform that song in a long time. I wish they would have found room to play Opiate, but they only had so much time to work with. It makes me wish I was going to Fresno to see them play again, since it's such an awesome show. Even Serene was like, "Wow, I think you may get me hooked on Tool" So now I'm home, I have all sorts of interesting bruises, I'm wired as hell from possibly still adrenaline at the fact I'm not hospitalized. Maybe I should have seen Snoop Dogg, he was playing at the exact same time. I heard he was blazing up on stage.

My hair is dry now and I'm sure I'll collapse when I give myself the chance. And that chance is now.
P.S. Re-reading for continuity isn't happening, so I hope it's not too bad

My weekend

2006-07-31T15:35:17Z

russianswinga came down to visit this weekend. Much food and liquor was consumed. We started by going straight from the airport to the Yard House to be in awe of the beer selection and 18 inch tall beer glasses. Some more drinking at Ra Sushi, some praying to the porcelain god by me (I blame my head start before going out), and finally home for some sleeping.

Saturday was yummy omelettes for breakfast at Broken Yolk, then off to Mexico and Puerto Nuevo lobster. I drove my car down, insured the crap out of it, and thankfully it was uneventful, at least in terms of my car's safety. We visited La Bufadura (maybe I can spell), a.k.a. the blowhole. It's basically a crevice where the waves splash in and end up shooting water dozens of feet in the air, a lot like a whale's blowhole. Then off to get lobster Puerto Nuevo style, i.e. fried. It's fun listening to the street hustlers trying to sell lobster, but in Mexico, if they are offering 3 lobsters for $15, I don't want them. We went to a reputable restaurant we'd checked out in advance called The Lobster House. We all ended up getting the seafood combo of 2 lobster tails, 2 jumbo shrimp, a fish filet, and a squid fillet (I think that's right, it may have just been a different fish... much seafoody stuff was on the plate), all for $24 or so (it was in pesos, so I forget exactly). Not the cheapest dinner in the world, but it was awesome. Once we finally got across the border, we closed out the night at Dave and Buster's with some video games and more drinking.

Sunday was a cheap taqueria breakfast, well lunch, then off to the beach. Played in the waves, got salt in the eyes, slight sunburns, etc. Keeping with the outdoors, we explored the Cabrillo tidepools. Well, it was high tide, or high enough tide, so it was some hiking on the accesible rocks and grumbling at the lack of tide pool access, but there was still much to see. After we were done exploring, it was time to get ready to go to The Strip Club. A steak place. The Strip Club is such a wonderful place; it's 21 and up, you grill your own steak, the waitress are scantilly clad, and there are pinups on the wall. And the steaks are awesome, the drinks are good, the sides are terrific; it was all in all a great experience. Until Sassi informed me that my toilet is leaking on the 1st floor neighbor, who isn't exactly fond of us at it is. So further drinking and/or dancing downtown was interrupted so I could figure out if any of my stuff was wrecked. Apparently, the tank cracked randomly, which caused all the water to spill out and make a nice soggy encroachment onto my carpet and all the crap on the floor of my room. Once things were as settled as they were gonna get, we headed out for a few more drinks at Seau's before calling it a night.

Monday morning is way too early. Getting the Russian to the airport at 7ish is not a happy way to start the week. But I have coffee and too few coworkers to notice that I'm not working, so that's good enough for me. It's time for me to start working harder, as a staff is starting to trickle in.

OMGWTFBBQ?!?!?!!!11?!

2006-07-14T15:10:46Z

Everyone's favorite European pop sensation!

Zombie Survival Guide Movie!!!!!!!

2006-06-16T14:40:38Z

Yay!

Of course, this was a bidding war for production rights; the movie is still awhile away. I'll be eagerly awaiting its release!

I finally won a respectable amount of money

2006-06-14T06:23:01Z

I meant to be going to bed, but I decide on one quick turbo no limit hold em 18 person tournament. It had a $1.50 buy-in with a $0.25 entry fee. And I got 1st! I've gotten 4th a few times, and won $2.70 and 3rd once which got me $5.40, but this is my first 1st and I won $10.80! I know that isn't a lot of money, but it's a lot relative to what I risked and I'm so happy I got a 1st! Ok, I think I'm done now.

My christening at KTS

2006-06-09T21:51:55Z

It happens to everyone, now it's finally happened to me. I got stuck in the elevator. We were coming back from our farewell luncheon and heading back to work. Almost the entire accounting department and trial department, as well as some of client services were stuck. All in all, there were 12 of us in the elevator. Needless to say, it got hot very quickly. We steamed up the mirrors before we were let out. Thankfully, it was only about 10 minutes in there, or we'd have really been melting.

666

2006-06-07T06:08:30Z

Serene, her coworkers and I went to see The Omen today. The movie definitely had its moments, but it mostly made me want to see the original again. The highlight was that our stubs were purchased at 6:06, meaning on 6/6/06 at 6:06 we have ticket stubs for The Omen. Well, Serene and I both lost our ticket stubs, but I was given the receipt for the bulk purhcase that has the date and time, but not the movie :(.

P.S. Nothing is coming after you, Serene, it'll all be okay.

Get away from me Ass-Ghost!

2006-05-18T05:14:15Z

I've seen many zombie/monster/ghost/creature etc. movies in my life. I have never seen a zombie fight that involved pulling jackets over their heads and grabbing their asses to stop the attacks (moonlight "activated" them, but only if they saw it and I have no idea why the ass grabbing lulled the zombie). Now, I am all caught up on my random foreign movies purchased from Fanime, so I'm all prepared to buy more.

Logic got the best of me.

2006-05-14T02:32:00Z

In light of realizing that the big graduation party is Sunday, and not Saturday, I've decided I'm not up to being that much of a zombie on Monday at work. It was nice of the Russian to offer me a ride to the airport at 4:30 am on Monday to catch the 6 am flight to get into town in enough time to take the bus from the airport to work. Even if I could get the day off approved on short notice, I can't really afford days off and don't get paid vacation yet. So I welcome drunk dials and taunting phone calls; if I'm lucky, my phone will even pick up.

I think I'm going to ignore fiscal responsibility

2006-05-10T20:28:05Z

I've decided that I want to come up for the graduation/Damn Russian/whatever-it-is party on the 20th. Since it'll be just me coming up, I'm gonna fly into Sac Friday night. This means I need someone to fetch me from the airport and somewhere to crash. I'll also need someone to take me back to the airport Sunday evening (although, depending on plans, schedules, etc., I may even visit my parents and they could take me to the airport). So, yeah, my credit card will have to wait just a bit longer to be paid off and someone let the Russian know his party better be good or I'm gonna kick him.