Poker downstairs

Julia threw a bash over the weekend for her work homies. About 30-35 people over to her place for game night - people were playing the likes of Pictionary, Taboo, Euchre, and some other stuff. I sat in a corner in the basement by the food and cooler of Budweiser pounding beers and playing poker.

It seemed only won 4 or 5 hands all night, but they were all BIG money hands and were enough to power me to 2nd out of 13 people. I figured that was pretty good cause alot of these guys get together once or so a month and play and some are those real serious types - playing chip games, shuffling chips, calling out percentages on what's left in the deck and who's ahead in the hand ... you know, all that annoying shit. Most of the night I just sat there and sipped the Budweiser, petting the dog, and watching these guys beat up on each other until I had the cards to pounce.

We ended up splitting the pot at the end which I hate, but it was good for me. The other dude had me probably 3-1 in chips, but his wife was wanting him to leave. He wanted to split it and give me second place money and him first, and I said I was willing to sit there and play it out. The I suggested we split 50/50 which he was game for, so I pocketed $60 and headed upstairs to play some Operation thinking after 3 hours of Bud had my hands steady enough to beat anyone in it. But everyone bitched out and left after poker.

Still though - Midnight in little ole Richland, Mi is a late night. And you drunk asses called me around 230 and I didn't even hear the phone. So the party in Cincinnati was going much later.

Ninjaless?

You're gonna have to tell me how you deleted these users to lose your basis ninja abilities ... I'm guessing a refresh that you pulled (or didn't pull) the users from the wrong client?

I was going to call you tonight to get the scoop, but I'm too tired from racin' on the PS2 for yapping on the phone.

In PS2 racin' news, I finished the first season and ended up 6th in the truck series. That let me sign a contract to race in the Busch series for the next season. Fake NASCAR makes me want to fake drink ... just kidding ... makes me want to real drink ... mmmmmmm ...

Nascar Commercials

http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2007/01/nascar-on-espn-its-life.html

There's a link to the NASCAR commercial I recently posted about. There's a second one on there as well that I haven't seen on tv yet, but it has Kyle and Kurt Busch before a race and some other stuff. I don't like the music in that one as well.

Inhaling Alcohol via Dry Ice

Get drunk quicker by inhaling alcohol via dry ice so it goes directly into your blood stream. Oh yes, it's true and find out how here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS1W6yGkKaI

Peekvid

Check out this website:

http://www.peekvid.com/

It has movies, TV shows, etc that you can watch online. The quality is pretty good too. TJ, it has all the OC you can handle. Jesse, you can catch any of The Office episodes you have missed. It has every The Office episode on there. I've been checking them out on there over the past couple of weeks.

I think I showed you all this website once before but it has more stuff then it used to.

Bud Select

This stuff tastes like shit. Well, I take that back, not shit - but really no taste at all to me. It just feels like carbonated water in my mouth.

After working from 630am-1130pm Saturday, I was trying to find a beer in this damn town. Both convience / liquor stores were closed. The gas station didn't sell beer. So I had to go to Wal-mart just to find beer on the way home. And the damn Budweiser people got me with the Jay-Z / Junior / Danica Patrick racing cars and boats commercials to try Bud Select.

It just didn't work for me. I'm sticking to my full power Bud. But - I will say, I'd still take a Bud Select over a Miller anyday.

My Own Brush with MLBers

I was invited by one of our Business Partners - who we just bought a bunch of hardware from - to attend the West Michigan Whitecaps end of year banquet where they raise money for some local charitys.

Well first, let me back up - it's damn near 4am and I'm only posting this because I got paged and can't get back to sleep.

So tonight me and Jim, another guy I work with, head up there after work. The Whitecaps are a Grand Rapids minor league team and they happened to win it all in whatever league they're in. There was a silent auction / dinner / live auction / raffle / speakers. I was thinking the silent auction would be just Whitecaps stuff or maybe some Tigers stuff since that's the orginization they're in, and there was, but there was all kinds of other stuff too. What caught my eye the most was a Kyle Busch autographed hat / model car.

I waited around for awhile and finally bid $40 for them and was only the second bid ($25 was the first). 5 minutes before it was over, my bid was still the highest, so I went and got another beer and went to dinner. I lost. Julia said silent auctions people swoop in at the end and win them - doh! Who knew? But they had some other cool stuff too like a Favre autographed jersey, some big name hockey jerseys autographed, golf rounds at some pretty nice places, but the Kyle Busch stuff is all I bid on.

The had Leyland there to talk to us which was pretty cool. He said managers don't really have anything to do with a good team. He said he's had good players and the season's turned out well before, and he's had teams with lousey players and the team 'wasn't worth a damn.' so it's all in the players.

Then Brandon Inge spoke some and Verlander, Craig Monroe, and a couple others were there. Out of probably 100+ tables there, we were just a couple rows back and pretty close to the front.

Obviously I'm not a huge Tigers fan - or a fan of them at all, but it was pretty sweet to be there and hear these guys talk. And it made me want to go to a Whitecaps game sometime.

When I found out some Tigers were there I though Sean might be there and I was going to tell him thanks for letting me watch Big Ben win the Super Bowl at his place, but I guess he was off with Chambers and some ultimate fighter and Nicole Richie or soemthing.

MLK Day and Beyond

Well, MLK day has gone and passed but the stories still linger. Sean and his buddy from Pittsburgh drove into Cincy around 1pm on Monday. He was coming into town to do a speech at a banquet in Oak Hills. Some kind of fundraising thing to raise money to put turf on their football field (Oak Hills Public School).

We had a great time. The food and drinks were included. We got to ride in a limo to the bar afterwards and then it took us home. The next day a film crew came to our house to film Sean. That was pretty sweet. I'll probably never have a film crew in my house again. Good thing I looked like crap after drinking all night and hadn't shaved since Friday of last week. There were probably about 15-20 people in our place while they were filming. They were filming a show for American Fighter. Check out this website on what the show is about: http://www.damagewear.com/TV_Show.html.

The show is basically about inspirational stories. People that have overcome the odds. American Fighter is a brand name for UFC. The guy who owns American Fighter (he acutally lives 4 houses down from where I live) is good friends with Rich Franklin, current Middleweight UFC champion. Long story short, a couple of years ago a high school kid got into an accident on a four wheeler. Sean went and visited this kid at the hospital and has kept in touch with him ever since. Rich Franklin also visited and knew the kid so the first episode of the show is going to be based on this kid and his experiences.

For Those About to Rock

ESPN has a new commercial out hyping their broadcast of NASCAR this year and man it got me pumped up! I was in the bedroom and heard AC/DC on the tv (For Those About to Rock) and I went in the other room and saw the commercial ... guys hoisting their driver's flags, unpacking the cooler, climbing up on the RV at the race, and the drivers getting ready. I'm pumped for NASCAR season - yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!

Reds ...

Ross and Reds Agree to $4.5 Million, 2-year Deal
Email this Story

Jan 15, 3:32 PM (ET)

CINCINNATI (AP) -Catcher David Ross and the Cincinnati Reds agreed Monday to a $4.5 million, two-year contract, a deal that includes a team option for 2009.

The 29-year-old Ross was acquired from San Diego last year during spring training and became the starter. With 21 home runs in 90 games, he ranked third among NL catchers.

Ross, who made $500,000 last year, gets $1.6 million this year and $2,525,000 in 2008. The Reds have a $3.5 million option for 2009 with a $375,000 buyout.

Right-handers Aaron Harang and Kyle Lohse also filed for arbitration last week and are set to swap proposed salaries with the Reds on Tuesday.

Cincinnati also agreed to a minor league contract with pitcher Paul Wilson, who was invited to spring training. The 33-year-old right-hander went 11-6 with a 4.36 ERA in 29 games and led the team in wins with 11, but he was limited to nine starts in 2005 and had shoulder surgery that June. He was 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA in four minor league starts last year during a rehabilitation assignment.

A Web of Lies

Ryan Chambers was out today to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday. He called Steve this morning to inform him that he would not be working today. He said as it turns out the Italian history he always boasts about is nothing but a lie. He now claims to have family tree ties to the great Kunta Kinte Chambers, an African American slave known for his white skin, hairy arms, and personality of being nice to everyone. As for his explanation of the white skin? He says Michael Jackson's disease runs in his family. After explaining these bombshells to Steve this morning, Steve agreed to let him have the day off. However, suspicious of Ryan's excuse for not working, Steve immediately worked with Lynn Sowar on an official declaration of shananigans. An investigation proved Steve's suspicions were well founded. His parents, who were shocked that their son would make such claims, said they were ashamed that he would denounce his Italian heritage. Even his wife, Stacy, admitted to the deceit. She confirmed that there is only one part of Ryan that is black...the soles of his shoes.

You think he Drew it on?

Cut from an intelligent conversation between Jeff Choy and Jesse Johnson.

SonofTzu: i think the saints will get rid of drew slug on my face brees after this year...
BigCountryJEJ: slug on my face
BigCountryJEJ: lol
BigCountryJEJ: i think its a leach
SonofTzu: drew...a bird shit on my face...brees
BigCountryJEJ: hahaha
BigCountryJEJ: i think he puts it on there. i noticed it changes shape. its like a beauty mark for guys
SonofTzu: ...maybe its like those things they put under their eyes...
SonofTzu: ...but hes a bit off...so he puts it on the side of his face
BigCountryJEJ: maybe its a third nipple
SonofTzu: ...or a dead fetal twin?
SonofTzu: like that eposide in south park
BigCountryJEJ: there has to be a site on the internet where people have their theories and u can vote on which one u think it is
BigCountryJEJ: i think ur right. its a dead twin fetus
BigCountryJEJ: i saw it wiggle
SonofTzu: lol
SonofTzu: ...it looks like its trying to say something when he says something....
SonofTzu: ...like...
SonofTzu: ...im still....aaalllivvvvveeee
BigCountryJEJ: "help me"
SonofTzu: ...itssss meee....whosssss tttthrooowwinggg
BigCountryJEJ: thats why he talks so loud. he trying to drown it out
BigCountryJEJ: LOLOLOLOL
SonofTzu: wow...we smart

Stumble Upon

You guys have to check this out. It's called:

www.stumbleupon.com

Channel surf the internet with StumbleUpon! Discover great websites,videos, pictures and more — all according to your interests. That was the description from the website. The sites that are on here are sweet. You all should sign up and get it. My user name is chambry.

Annoying Penn Station Guy

Ryan, Brian, Marvin, Dana, and myself headed up to Penn Station the other day for lunch. Five is a terrible number to have because it has to be the smallest Penn Station in the world. The only place five can sit comfortably is at the bar type table with the stools. There were four empty seats and one guy who appeared to have eaten already was still sitting there with his drink. I figured that if we all sat down around this guy he would get the clue and leave. Marvin decides to stand at the end of the table by the guy and I'm thinking ok he's going to leave anytime now. He doesn't budge. Not only does he not leave, he tries butting in on our conversation. Someone asked when the game started and he blurted out 8:30. Then he made some comment about a news brief on TV for a U.S. soldier that died in Iraq. "We lost another one. And that guy wants to send more troops over there. Geez." I wanted to go off on the guy. "Hey hippie, guess what? We're not talking to you. We don't want you chiming in on our conversation. In fact, we don't even want you sitting here. You're making our big friend, Marvin, stand while eating, which is totally unnatural even though the Tower Place mall tries to make it look normal. We thought you would get the idea when we all crowded around you, but no you hang around like a bad fart hoping that someone will talk to you. Not only are we not going to talk to you, but in about two seconds flat I'm gonna rip your ass off of that stool so I can shove my foot in it. And you better believe that if I can't get the job done, my big buddy Marvin over here can." I should have said this, but I just sat there instead. Next time he doesn't stand a chance.

Lonely Signs

I did a Give Back Cincinnati volunteer event and we were doing some work in the Walnut Hills area. When I was driving home, I pulled down this one street and saw these signs sitting in a vacant lot. The signs include:

• KFC
• Sid's Motel: Air Conditioned
• El Rancho Motel
• Arby's
• Some kind of Bar-b-q place
• At the very end there is a bear sign. Not sure what it's for.

I just thought it was weird that these signs were just sitting in some vacant lot. If you want a KFC sign for your apartment, you'll know where to find it.

This Butt's for You

Here are the pics from New Year's:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryan_otto_chambers

I'm still working on the video. I have video downloaded on my computer but I'm working on the sound. Once I have it, I'll let you all know.

Online Nascar Madness

I talked to TJ the other day about him and his brother getting the new Nascar 07 game. I was asking if they were going to play each other online. I don't know much about the online gaming thing, but I think that would be pretty sweet. If I am understanding it correctly, I could get the game and the network adapter plus headset, and then whoop some ass and talk trash from miles away. If that is the case, count me in. Ryan sounded interested too.

The Dreaded N Word

I had a little incident at Ryan and Stacy's New Year's Eve party. You see, I may have been a little intoxicated and let something slip out of my mouth. I was talking to Adam, and I was in the happy "you're my best friend" stage of drunkeness. I tried to tell him that he was my buddy, but it just didn't come out like that. Instead of saying, "You're my buddy," suddenly I hear myself blurt out, "You're my [insert n word here]." I think I was as stunned as he was, and I realized as soon as I said it that I said it in the wrong company. I asked, "That wasn't appropriate was it?" He said, "No, it wasn't." I felt like an idiot. What makes it even worse is that I think I used the "er" instead of the "a". Somehow the "a" doesn't seem as bad as the "er". It's the sharp "er" that made an already awkward situation even worse.

Vegas Funding Idea

I was browsing through an antique store in Marietta over the holidays when I stumbled across this little money making machine - an official Ronald McDonald House charity box. Now, I know you guys are going to say this is wrong and that I'm going straight to hell, but I was very close to buying it and using it to make money for the Vegas trip. The only problem is I didn't know where I could put it. You almost have to own a store or know someone who owns one and trusts you are doing the right thing. Little would they know that the spare change would go not toward helping poor little children, but instead it would go toward roulette, booze, and hookers. It's not like they need the change anyway. It's just an idea.

A Mulletsville Christmas

Christmas present highlights:

- Painting of a Grand Cayman blue iguana - my mom used one of my pictures of an iguana from our cruise to paint this.
- Who dey rug - my mom crocheted a orange and black rug and actually put the words Who dey into it somehow.
- Printer/scanner/copier - this really wasn't a Christmas gift. My dad already had a printer when he got a new computer that came with one. So I swiped it.
- Paper shredder - my dad thought my sister and I needed one of these.
- Miscellaneous Bengals stuffs - beer koozies, shower curtain, gloves, socks, bottle opener for the wall (from Tracie)
- Apartment stuffs - pots and pans, glasses, other kitchen stuffs, towels, stand, etc.

TJ's favorite show

Fox has canceled the O.C., aka TJ's favorite show...ever. Thankfully there will be a season finale that will add real closure to the show. I'm guessing it will involve a hot chick cheating on her boyfriend, a dude beating up a chick's boyfriend, or some combination of the two. Sorry TJ. This is truly a sad day. Click link below if you haven't heard the bad news.

The O.C. Dies, TJ Cries

Saddam Video

Anyone see the Saddam video? I started watching it and then had to turn it off right before he hanged. I must've become soft in my old age ...

The New Year's that Would Never End

I'll have pictures up in the next couple of days but what a New Year's it was. Ryan had a bright idea. The day before I went to Home Depot to buy a 3/4 inch board to help get my Plasma screen TV mounted to the stand that we got from Mandi and Sean. I used some of the board to help mount the TV to the stand and there were two other pieces leftover.

Two boards + beer + cups + ping pong balls = BEER PONG!

Here's another equation for ya: BEER PONG + Large Quantities of Alcohol + Cornhole = Very hungover Ryan.

Needless to say, it was a great New Year's. We drank and played games until 7am in the morning. I almost forgot......we also gave TJ a ring at 6:30. Thought he might pickup but he didn't. I have to say that very drunk Jesse was quite impressive at Catch Phrase. On the other hand, Adam Iding not so impressive. It would take him about 15 seconds just to say a clue.

I actually have some of the night on my camcorder. I haven't seen that yet but I'll take a look shortly. It should be interesting.

Christmas

From the sounds of it, you all seem to have made out pretty good for Christmas. I made out pretty good too. Here's the highlights:

1. Digital Camcorder - check out the link. I was pumped about this gift.
2. External DVD burner
3. 1 GB Flash Drive
4. Shop-Vac - (I think my mom won this for a raffle so I got it). I wasn't too excited about it until I used it the other day. It's pretty sweet. That thing sucks up anything.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers Shotglass - Sean is a Steelers fan and thought it would be funny. I thought it was so funny I displayed it with a big X in duct tape.

My mom also surprised my brothers and I and got married two days before Christmas. She had been dating someone for about 5 years now and they got engaged about a year ago. They just had a judge there in there house and got married. There's an idea for ya TJ.

Fun times. It was just nice to be away from work.