Author Archives: Shadowtwin

For Ed

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I am a sucker for those IQ tests that seem to be everywhere on the internet nowadays. I am pretty sure that they are in no way accurate, since if the results were to be believed, I have an IQ in the 160’s. While I like to think that I am smarter than the average bear, I am certainly no Marilyn vos Savant. Still, they are fun to take if for no other reason than to see how much you have forgotten since High School.

The last one I took, which was several months ago, had a question on it that was just so horrible I decided to copy it down for further examination. I don’t remember which particular test this question was on, but you find similar on almost every one of these tests, yet never one so horribly put together.

Here is the question in question, as it were:

Ed likes 729 but not 730. He likes 1728 but not 1725. He likes 3375 but not 3400. Which of the following does Ed like?
A) 4072
B) 4913
C) 4734
D) None of the above
E) All of the above

First things first, the question is bullshit based solely on the fact that “None of the above” is listed before “All of the above”. Since if A, B, and C are all correct, you can’t answer “All of the above” or you are including “None of the above” in your answer. But I am just going to assume that was an oversight, even though every question on the test had the final two answers arranged that way. Now, on to the real reasons why this is a bullshit question.

Answer A is the correct answer because: Given what we know about Ed, he will invariably like the first number given on any list. We know with certainty that he won’t like the second number given on the list, but the question doesn’t actually say how he feels about the third number on lists. So I am going to assume that he always likes the first number, never likes the second number, and is generally indifferent about the third number. At any rate, I think it is fair to say that Ed has an unhealthy fascination with numbers. Ed needs to get laid.

Answer B is the correct answer because: This is the answer that I actually selected when I took the test, and it is the one I think they were looking for. In the question, the numbers that Ed liked -729, 1728, & 3375 all have cube roots that are whole numbers (take that! Useless memorization in High School pays off!). Of the three available answers, only 4913 also has a whole number as a cube root. So again I say, I think that this was the answer they were looking for.

Answer C is the correct answer because: All of the numbers that Ed likes in the question have digits that add up to 18: 729 – 7+2+9=18; 1728 – 1+7+2+8=18; 3375 – 3+3+7+5=18. Of the available answers, only 4734 – 4+7+3+4=18. So clearly this is the correct answer.

So, since A,B, & C are all correct for one reason or another, the answer has to be “All of the above”. Of course the answer can’t be “All of the above”, since that would include “None of the above”. Stupid test.

Like I said, I answered B on this question, and I am pretty sure that was the one they were looking for. The argument for A being the right answer is really pretty baseless, but given the presentation of the question, the argument can’t be logically disproven. The real problem is in deciding whether B or C is the correct answer. The question is pretty vague. It doesn’t really tell you what answer they are looking for, nor does it give you any hint of a reason why Ed likes the numbers he likes. If answer C would have been 4731 instead of 4734, I think we could all agree that Ed is just a whole cube root freak. But the way the question is presented, we have to decide whether Ed is a whole cube root freak, or if he has a “digits add to 18” fetish. And really, I don’t want to know what sort of weird kinky shit Ed is into. Frankly, Ed frightens me a little bit (no offense, Ed).

So if you are ever putting together an IQ test of your very own, please take care to make sure only one of your answers could be right. Or, failing that, put the “all of the above” option above the “none of the above” option. ‘Cause did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, Ed likes to swing both ways. Maybe Ed doesn’t appreciate your Republican, Bible-Thumping, Better than Thou attitude. Maybe Ed is up in his room right now dreaming about a 3-way with 4913 & 4734, after which he plans to spend a little quality time with 4072. After that he might even take on 8817, and you know 8817 comes from the wrong side of the tracks. But Ed’s not doing it because he wants to. No no, Ed is doing it because he doesn’t want to conform to your one-number pigeon-holing tactics. When Ed tragically dies while trying to take on 691457, the blood will be on your hands Mr. IQ test writer! I hope you are happy, you heartless bastard!

….

In loving memory of Ed. -4072 4913 4734- Gone but never forgotten…

Random email

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I got a forwarded attachment today from someone I don’t know. Of course I opened it, how else do antivirus companies stay in business? Actually it was just an email, but it did have a cute little story in it, which I thought I would share:

An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to plant a tomato garden, but it was difficult work, and his only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man described the predicament in a letter to his son.

Dear Vincent,
I’m feeling bad. It looks like I won’t be able to put in my tomatoes this year. I’m just too old to be digging up a garden. I wish you were here to dig it up for me.
Love, Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Sorry I’m not there to help, but whatever you do, don’t dig up the garden. That’s where I buried the BODIES.
Love, Vincent

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love, Vinnie


Yes, cute in that Reader’s Digest reader submitted way. You know that someone took a long time coming up with the little story. Which is really too bad, since if it had been written a bit differently the ending might not have been so predictable. But it was worth a chuckle anyway.

(relative) Success

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I like to play small ball when it comes to poker, as detailed in damn near every post I have made regarding the subject. Well, I finally took down my first MTT. That is if you have a very loose definition for the “M” part of it, oh and the second “T” part of it. Okay, more technically accurate, I took down a two table SnG. Come on, people! Baby steps.

I was greatly aided in my effort when, three hands into it, I had a J-6 in the big blind, and four people were in the hand. The flop was a Q-J-6 with two clubs. I bet 120 at it (the pot at the time), figuring that someone probably had top pair, and I was sure someone was on a flush draw, but I didn’t think it was likely anyone had two pair; the other blind folded pre-flop, so these guys had to actually choose to be in the pot, of course if I wanted to think way too much about it, it was also possible that someone had pocket queens, jacks, or sixes -however unlikely it was. Anyway, the next guy in line called, the next guy raised 120, the guy after him called 240, and I pushed. Two out of three called. What were they holding? One had A-7 of clubs and the other had 9-2 of clubs. Both on a flush draw, and at this point we already know where 7 of the clubs are for sure, since I also have one and there are two on the board. The one guy paired his two on the river, but I made it out of it okay.

Now a question. I can understand the guy with the A-7 flush draw calling that one, but if you are the guy with the 9-2 flush draw, do you really call when two people are already all-in in front of you? I suppose that is a bit rhetorical.

So, just like that I was to over 5,000 in chips. Boy the game is a lot easier when you have such a (comparatively) big stack. But even with the big stack, I still didn’t raise pre-flop. Instead, I knocked out people one by one by calling their all-ins. I didn’t lose a showdown until we got to heads up some time later. I didn’t take any screenshots while I was playing, but I just looked at my stats for the tournament and they were as follows:

You finished in 1st place (eliminated at hand #5262853304).

84 hands played and saw flop:
– 11 times out of 22 while in small blind (50%)
– 11 times out of 23 while in big blind (47%)
– 6 times out of 39 in other positions (15%)
– a total of 28 times out of 84 (33%)

Pots won at showdown – 16 out of 19 (84%)
Pots won without showdown – 8


The stats are a bit unrealistic though, since there were 20 hands played during the heads up, and the only losses I had at the showdown were when we just checked it down. Similarly, the pots won without showdown were (I think) exclusively won when he folded from the small blind in the heads up.

In a comment to a previous post, I mentioned that I don’t want to control the game, I just want to win about ten hands, to get to the money. I also said that if I called from a position other than the blind, it was likely a hand that I was willing to go all in with. In this one, I called six times when I was not in the blind, and I in fact did go all in on every one of them (or called someone else’s all in, usually). I won every one of them. Only once was it really even a suckout, when I called the short stack who pushed with A-8 when I was holding K-9. He got an ace and I got a king on the flop, I got another king on the river to suck it out. I didn’t really want to call with the K-9 but I was the last one with a chance or the short stack gets the blinds uncontested. Come to think of, I was in the small blind on that one, so nevermind.

Anyway, I played exactly six hands when I wasn’t in the blind, and they were all huge wins. Each one either eliminated someone or absolutely crippled them. That’s the game that works for me.

Note to self

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I decided to play in the Mookie tournament today, as I had not played any cards yet. I got all signed up for it with a few minutes before it was to start, then started hitting some websites to read up on other people’s take on the WWDN Invitational. Because honestly, reading what other people say about it is damn near as fun as actually playing in it.

Unfortunately, I came across the following take on the action at S.t.B.’s website. To quote just one little bit of it:

I fought may way back up until I got knocked out with the trips against the boat. MP decided to limp with Q Q instead of raising. They deserved to lose that hand instead of knocking me out.

Now, I was the “MP” in that situation, and reading this really irritated me. The whole idea behind poker is deception, right? You are supposed to make your opponent believe that you have something other than what you actually do. If that wasn’t the point of poker then we would just play every hand face up. Also, I have been at the table with this guy before on numerous occasions, and had he paid any attention whatsoever to my play, he would know that I NEVER RAISE PRE-FLOP. I can think of probably three hands out of 4 of these tournaments where I actually have raised pre-flop, and it generally always ends badly.

On the particular hand in question, two guys in front of me had already called it, if both of the blinds are in it as well there are five people playing at it. I have the second smallest stack at the table, and even if I was the type to raise pre-flop, I wouldn’t have done it in that situation. I want someone to hit something on the flop and bet into it, I need to take as many chips as I can, provided I have the winning hand. Instead of that happening though, he pushed and knocked everyone else out of the hand. What did he want me to do? Fold?

What really, really, really irritated me though was that what he said to me was “nice hand” (well an abbreviation for it), but what he wrote about it was “They deserved to lose that hand instead of knocking me out.” Maddening.

Yes, I am taking that entirely too personally.

So then the Mookie tournament started, and I was still stewing about that. I played like absolute shit -even worse than I evidently had the other day. I was looking through my hand history at one point and noticed that I had actually folded a king high flush, it was at that point that I knew my head wasn’t in it. I told the people at my table that my head wasn’t in it, then pushed on the next hand, which didn’t quite take me out since the only caller was the short stack, so I had to push on the hand after it as well.

So, note to self: Don’t check out others people’s blogs when you are about to start a tournament.

I played in the WWDN invitational and all I got was this lousy T-shirt

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I played in the WWDN invitational again tonight. This is the highest stake game that I generally play in, and it is just a ten dollar buy in. I did okay I suppose. Unfortunately, I was playing a bit scared at the beginning, and most of that was because Hoyazo was at my table, and I knew that any play I made was likely to end up on his blog. Yes, fear of being embarrassed, that is definitely the way to play poker!

I finished the thing in 21st place out of 72, which would bring my average finish to somewhere in the low 20s I think. I still think that is pretty good when you consider just who the competition is at that event. They are mostly all poker bloggers, and not just bloggers that happen to play poker like me; they are mostly poker players who happen to blog. Of course I don’t think ten bucks is nearly as much money to them as it is to me, so they also might not be bringing their A game, but who knows.

Speaking of Hoy, I am watching him in the bracelet race on Full Tilt, where he is currently 6th out of 19 remaining. Top three win WSOP prize packs. Best of luck to him!

A jog down memory mile

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

It always seems that it is something random and insignificant that forces to mind memories long suppressed. Even though many of these memories are such a part of your being that you would not be who you are today without them, they have faded into the dark recesses of your mind to slumber, until some chance occurrence forces them back to mind. Whether the memory stirs a sense of embarrassment or achievement, success or failure, it is there and forever will be, waiting only for that one seemingly insignificant event to once again break it from its cell.

So as I saw the jogger beside the road today, I didn’t think anything of it. There are frequently joggers along the road, I probably see them almost daily; so often that I don’t even really notice them when they are there. Why it was that today, out of all of the times I have seen a jogger, is the day when a memory from the fifth grade instantly pops into my mind, with crystal clarity no less, will probably always be a mystery to me. But I haven’t thought of this event in probably ten years or so, it seems likely that it may be as long before I think of it again, so I may as well write it down while it is fresh in my mind.

I was in the fifth grade, as previously stated, and going to a small school in southern Arizona. This was the school (I know I have mentioned it before) that only had 42 students enrolled, and that covered kindergarten through the eighth grade. We were all forced to participate in band as well as sports, because there just weren’t enough kids to make a team/bank without everyone (as you would expect, levels of participation varied greatly. Some of the kids were gung ho about everything, some of the kids really liked some of the sports and tried really hard while ignoring the ones they didn’t like, and some just showed up because they had to. I was of the second or third variety there, though I did like to at least try everything once). Of the sports that we participated in, I enjoyed baseball the most. As a bonus that was the game that I was best at, in practice anyway. When we actually played against a team from another school, noting that we would be playing against a team that was an extracurricular activity for those involved, I found that I wasn’t nearly as good as I had previously thought: I could foul tip damn near every pitch, but I could never seem to get a hit. Add to that my horrible fear of catching a pop fly (based solely on taking one in the mouth a year earlier) and I was pretty worthless on the field. But I played anyway, not as if I had a lot of choice.

When Track and Field season rolled around (is there actually a “season” for that?), we were somewhat limited in the events we could participate in. Some of the kids in our school were actually good at some of the events, though I forget which students and which events -although I would bet that the students were the ones from the seventh and eighth grade, so we sort of got to pick from the events that they weren’t participating in. Once we had a participant for each event we could choose a couple other events to enter, making sure that the times for our events wouldn’t overlap. I remember signing up for two events, one of which was the long jump (I thought that I was pretty good at that, and I probably would have been in a field of my peers, but in a field that included people three grades -and several feet- beyond me, I was pretty fucked), the other event that I entered was the mile. The mile is one that I entered because no one else did, and we really wanted to have at least one participant in each event.

Being that I was in the fifth grade, I was no stranger to running. I ran every day at recess, well it wasn’t really recess since we were on a middle school type schedule, more of just a long lunch break. I participated in all of our team sports: soccer, football, baseball, etc. There was a lot of running in each of those as well. I figured it wouldn’t be much different to participate in the mile, hell, I must have been running more than a mile on any given day anyway. So my training for the mile was just that, I did no training whatsoever, just continued with my daily playing around.

The first time that I ever saw an actual track was on the day of the track meet. I had no idea just how big that sucker was. Remember, I was only ten years old at the time, and the track was at a high school, that thing was fucking huge! I took my place alongside about a half a dozen other people, all of which were at least a good foot taller than me, and waited for someone to tell us to go. Then I ran like hell.

I was able to break out in front of the pack immediately. I was thinking that there was no way these older kids could compete with me, hell, I was ten, I ran every day just for fun. By the time I got to the back stretch my legs were starting to get a little bit tired, so I slowed down a little bit. The rest of the group was still behind me, but closing fast. I managed to stay just a bit in the lead as we went into the corner, but someone pulled ahead of me just before the final straight stretch. I’ll be damned if I am gonna let someone else win when I have been in the lead the whole race. I turned on the afterburners and blew right by him. I got to the finish line and let my sprint turn into a jog, then eventually a walk. Then everyone ran past me back into the first corner. What the hell? Victory lap? But I was the one that won.

I started to jog again, but slowly. I still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but the judges were still trackside, and everyone else was still running… I didn’t have any energy left in me, and it was all that I could do to just continue putting one foot in front of the other. I was nearing the back corner when I saw the rest of the field pass the finish line for the seconds time, and keep on running. I made it to the finish line for the second time just about the same time as everyone else had reached it for their third. I had been lapped by everyone else in the event by the time I was on the back straight for the third time. Everyone else stopped when they reached the finish line, so it seemed that it was actually a four lap race, who knew?

I had lost, and lost in a big way, but it wasn’t in me to give up. I pushed on, jogging when I could, but cramping so badly that I had to walk the majority of it. Just about everyone had left the track to go watch some other event (the pole vault, I think), leaving me there all but alone, with just one guy still trackside. When I finally hit the final straight stretch, I started to jog again. I wanted it to at least look like I was giving it an effort, even though only two people in the world would ever know it. When I finally finished the race, the guy who was still trackside came up to me and said “good race, man.” And, as cliche as it is, he actually patted me on the back.

I learned a lot that day.

I learned that it is probably a good idea to do at least a little bit of research before you sign yourself up for something. I learned that distance running is probably not one of my strengths. I learned that sometimes it really isn’t about winning, sometimes it is just about finishing; it is better to finish last than to just give up. I learned a very valuable lesson about life, one that I certainly didn’t realize at the time, but that is glaringly obvious now: The guy who watched me finish was holding a yellow ribbon, so he finished third, but he stayed around to watch me finish. Finishing first might mean that you won the competition, but there is a lot more to competition than just being the one who finishes first. It was the guy holding the yellow ribbon that was truly a winner that day.

I suck, evidently

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I have been actively looking for a job for well over a month now, as opposed to the first month where I was significantly more concerned with completing home repairs than actually finding a new job, and I am starting to get just a wee bit depressed.

When I was a teenager, I never had to worry about finding a new job because, well, I got every job that I interviewed for. I thought that my perfect record for interviews would translate over to my current job search, but I was sadly mistaken. I guess when you are a teenager looking for a job, where the employees are actually looking for a teenager, it is really a lot different; If you show up in clean clothes and freshly showered, you have already eliminated a good 70% of the field. That doesn’t seem to hold true as an adult.

I have now been to four job interviews (well, 5, but one of them I am not going to count since the only hang up was my inability to relocate), and haven’t landed a job yet. These are jobs that are in the industry where I have worked for the last twelve years and have a great deal of knowledge and experience. I find it difficult to believe that in every instance they found someone more experienced, or otherwise better qualified, than me. That can lead to only one conclusion: There is something wrong with me.

Since I am not yet willing to believe that there is actually something wrong with me, or with my experience, I have to think that it is something about the actual interviews. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but there must be something. I dress business casual, even wear a tie. I am polite and attentive, and answer all their questions honestly. When they ask if I have any questions for them, I always ask several, none of which are ever about compensation or benefits; just more specific information on store procedures and the such. I just can’t figure out where I am going wrong.

The majority of the jobs that I am applying for have been from websites like Monster, so I know that they are probably smothered in applications, but they have managed to pick my resume out of the pile for one reason or another. Do I just appear better on paper than I do in person? I really would like to know what I am doing wrong.

Now that it is nearing the middle of June, I really am starting to get a bit depressed about the whole situation. This is the slowest time of the year for retail outlets down here, and the number of new positions listed each week is growing smaller and smaller. That likely means that each position is getting even more applicants, thus decreasing my chance of being the one that stands out. But what am I doing wrong? Why don’t I stand out?

The more that I think about it, the more helpless I feel. Each interview that I have been to without results has taken a chunk out of my shield of confidence. It is getting ever more difficult for me to keep my spirits up and be confident when I go to these interviews, and nothing is worse than going to an interview if you are already convinced that someone else is going to get the job. But I really am starting to feel helpless, and I don’t know what, if anything, I can do about it. I better stop now, before I depress myself even more. Here’s to hoping that the next one will go better.

More poker goodness

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Fresh off of my amazing streak last night, I entered a couple of MTTs this morning. One was a 45 person, $1 buy in, the other was an 18 person $1.50 buy in. I didn’t play particularly well in either one of them, but I was able to cash in both. The 18 person one I finished in fourth, which was just enough to cover the buy in, and possibly buy a soda if I could get one for about .45 cents. I did a bit better in the 45 person one.

Here I must note that I am generally much better in single table sit and go’s than I am in MTTs. There is just something about getting moved from table to table that seems to keep me from getting into any real rhythm. Today was no different, but the distraction of having the 18 player tourney going for the first half of the 45 player one kept me from really paying any attention to who was at the table anyway.

At about the same time as I busted out of the smaller tourney, the larger one went on break. It seems almost sad really, that I am risking a buck for the chance to win as much as $14 and it takes well over an hour. Hell, it seems even worse that I actually only cashed $4, and that was after just under two hours of play, but I do have to learn how to play in an MTT before I dive into one with bigger stakes.

My best starting hand of the day, and what turned out to be my best call of the day, came just after the break. I had aces in the small blind and bet 3x the BB. I got three callers on it, which was better than I could have hoped. Better, that is, until the flop came up with a pair of Queens and a 2. Under the gun pushes all in, and is quickly called by the other two still in the hand. Seems pretty clear that at least one of them has a Queen, that or a pair of 2’s, and either way I was fucked. I had about half of my chips in the pot at that point, but it was just so clear that my aces were no good that I had to lay it down. Once everyone was sufficiently all in, we got to see their cards. One guy did have the pocket 2’s, and he was the last one to call. The other two hands were A-Q and K-Q, both of which went down to the full house of 2’s and Queens. Now, had it been me that made the play with the pocket 2’s, the turn would have been a king and the river an Ace, just to make doubly sure that I lost to everyone, but what are you gonna do.

The next hand, I got an A-4 of diamonds on the button. Again I raised, but only to half of my now meager stack. Got two callers. The flop was K-Q-6, all diamonds. I pushed all in and both of them called. They both had me more than covered at this point.. The turn and river were garbage cards, and the other guys just checked to the showdown. I only got to see one of their hands, the other guy mucked. The winner of the side pot had a K-Q, but no matter, I tripled up.

It took an hour and a half to get to the final table, and only the top seven were paid. Three of us had over 10,000 in chips, while three had under 3,000. I took advantage of being one of the big stacks by stealing damn near every pot for the first couple of orbits. I had just taken the chip lead when someone finally called my raise and caught me with a 4-7 offsuit, which was just about the same hand no one had called me on in the last ten minutes. I had to fold to his all in call, so at that point I lost a lot of credibility. I wasn’t able to steal much of anything after that because every time I tried someone would call. And when they did call, I never got any help on the flop and generally had to lay them down on the flop or turn.

I did get to bust out the guy in 9th place when I was in the big blind with an A-8 suited. We were at the flop, which had come up 8 high. There was a possibility of a straight, but only if you were in with a 4-7 offsuit. This guy was on the button, so I assumed that wasn’t what he was holding. But he was also the short stack, and I had TPTK. Unless he was holding a pair, which I think he pushes in before the flop from the button, especially when he is short stacked, I should win the hand. I call and get to see his A-7 offsuit, so I have to sweat just a bit as I wait for the turn and river to be anything but a 4 or a pair of sevens. My hand did hold out.

Nothing much happened until it was down to five left. Four were hovering around 14,000 chips, while I was right around 10,000. The blinds were 600/1200, so it was just folding and more folding. Then we came to a hand where I was in the big blind with a 7-8 of clubs and everyone was in the pot. Over 6,000 in the pot by the time it gets around to me, I decided to double it up to see how many of them really wanted to be in the hand. Only one called, but that pot was now at almost 10,000. I got one club on the flop, and a gutshot straight draw needing a 9. I decided to make my stand, which probably wasn’t the best decision. Hell, who am I trying to kid, it definitely wasn’t the best decision. I pushed and he called with a 10-J, pairing his ten. My only hope was the gutshot straight or a runner runner flush. Neither of which happened, so IGH in 5th.

Still, I think I am getting a lot better at the MTT format. I haven’t actually won one yet, but I sure am getting to the money a lot (for those who actually consider a buck to be “money” that is). If there was more money on the line, I would like to think that I would have just called my way into that last hand, then folded when I didn’t hit a pair on the flop. Of course I can’t actually be sure of that until I am in that position, but the fact that I knew that it was the wrong move to make even while I did it makes me think that I probably could have resisted. The difference between 4th and 5th in my position was only a dollar. Had I been in a ten dollar game, that difference would have been ten dollars. I took a huge gamble for a dollar for the slight chance to double up and take a crack at winning the whole thing. In a ten dollar game, I think I would have listened to my gut…I hope.

Bored on a Saturday

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

There is a radio ad playing on my local radio station, I think it is for Ultimate Electronics, although I can’t find anything on their website or google to support my claim. Anyway, the commercial goes on to say that your t.v. isn’t simply a t.v., it is a personal theater where “gifted thespians like Steven Seagal ply their craft”. I don’t know why, but that just makes me laugh every time I hear it.

Speaking of Steven Seagal, he was in a new movie that came out last week. Shadow Man was a direct to video release (like every Seagal film should have been), that I happened to catch a couple of scenes from. All I can say is wow. It has been so long since I have actually seen Seagal in a movie that I had completely forgotten just how bad he is at acting. I do see parodies of him quite a bit on MadTV, but those were just parodies, obviously exaggerated, right? Nope. The truth is that the parodies of him, where the actors are doing their absolute best to act horribly, are still better than his actual acting. Since it is clear that he isn’t going to go away, why don’t they just set the movies around his character being a mute who has lost all ability to feel emotion, hell he could probably win an Emmy in that role.

Holy shit!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

During a bout with boredom sometime last week, I went ahead and tuned one of my guitars and plucked away at it a bit. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the only things that I could remember how to play, and actually still play with only minor mistakes, were all from Metallica’s Black Album. Of course I did spend thousands and thousands of hours playing that when I was a teen.

I dug out my old Yngwie Malmsteen tabliture book for the Rising Force album and and started trying to play Black Star again, it has been an awful long time since I attempted that song. Anyway, while I had a pretty good idea what the song sounded like, I couldn’t remember it exactly. So I went to you tube to see if I could find a video of it. Well, I found a video of it, but I also found this video of a kid guy playing the second song from that album.

Watch it, right now. Seriously, I’ll wait.


Then I put the guitar back in the spare bedroom. Let us never speak of this again.