The Wise Lemur

Social Networking...Thoughts and Observations...

2011-05-15T01:14:00.000-04:00

The Internet has brought together literally thousands of people for absolutely no good reason. I speak particularly of websites like Face Book, Twitter, Tagged and MySpace, just to name a few. Now don't get me wrong, many people have found that these pages work to their advantage, sharing pictures and blurbs with family and friends that they actually know and are simply too far a away to make physical visits a frequent reality. I speak of those that add people simply to see how many "friends" or "followers" that can get and when one or two drop off, they spend hours reviewing their lists to see exactly who it is.

I look over Face Book, yes, I'm guilty of having a page there and see people with hundreds of friends on their lists. To what purpose I ask myself, are they adding everyone under the sun that asks? I can see if there is a common interest buried in the reasoning but there should be a limit to what some people should add. For those that follow celebrities and the like, do you really need to know that their dog just did something cute or that they really, really like a local restaurant's mushroom soup?

Is this some cry for help, a deep seated need to be popular due to some missed experience in high school? Turned down for the cheer leading squad, didn't get to play pro ball after high school or simply a "Look at me, look at me" type of thing going on. I am truly unsure as to why people feel the need to add anyone and I do mean ANYONE, to their personal pages.

Twitter is another of my favorites in that you can follow just about anyone you like without them ever knowing you exist. They will send out a brief message letting the world know they ran out of toilet paper and have to run to the store. If they happen to be famous...45 people will reply back that they have a spare roll for them, 63 more of their followers will say they'll run the errand for them and 100+ will re tweet it in case the rest of the world may have missed the post. Tragedy averted with the help of their Tweeps, for sure!

Since the advent of Face Book, you hear very little of MySpace and its millions of users. They have fallen prey to the dreaded "competition of websites" on the Internet. They of course, don't have Farmville, Mafia Wars or Zynga, which obviously were the main causes of death for the one of the pioneers in social networking sites.

These websites seem to have found their niche in our society, bringing millions of people together that may have otherwise never met. But have they actually met yet? If the additions are simply names and pictures on a website, how much do you actually know about those that you add?

That picture of the hot girl in the low cut top could just as well be a 55 year old man who thinks it is funny as hell you are coming on to a pic he ripped off the net from his favorite porn site. The 15 year old boy on your daughters page could be a 35 year old registered sex offender ripping his Internet service from a local Burger King. The anonymity of the Internet allows many people to toy with others for whatever reasons they may come up with, which is usually a deep seated need to make themselves feel better due to serious low self-esteem issues.

A friendly reminder from your ever watchful neighborhood Lemur. Add those you know or at least, know of. You never know what you may be getting yourself into. Until next time...

Quadjacks.com/WombatNation

2011-05-06T01:06:00.000-04:00

I've had the unique privilege of being a guest panelist on the Wombat Nation's radio broadcast on Quadjacks.com the past few days. I would like to thank Marco and SryslySirius for having me. They have a great bunch of people over there imparting not only breaking poker news but also just having a general good time.

I highly recommend a visit to the live broadcast. As I write this they are on Day 21 of a non-stop broadcast and still going strong. The site allows visitors to participate in the chat along with the panel in asking questions and discussing a wide variety of topics.

http://www.justin.tv/quadjackslive#/w/1165793904/9

Take some time and stop by. You'll be glad you did.

Best Video Ever!

2011-05-02T02:26:00.002-04:00

bin Laden is Gone...Too Bad...So Sad...Not.

2011-05-02T01:13:00.000-04:00

Ok since the topic of the moment in the death of Osama bin Laden, figured I better say something. Good, he's gone. The problems he caused and perpetuated are not.

Celebrate briefly, world, but do not relax your vigilance. They are plenty of nutcases out there still that need to be dealt with. This is particularly true about the ones waiting to hop in bin Laden's empty spot.

Enjoy it for now but never think that all the terrorist problems are gone because one moron is dead. There were more before him and there will be plenty after him. The biggest tragedy is that the stand up comedians and comedy writers will now have to search elsewhere for some of the funniest shit out there.

I refer particularly to the South Park episode where the boys go over to Afghanistan and are captured by bin Laden. In the classic Bugs Bunny tradition, Cartman causes bin Laden no end of trouble. Possibly one of the best ideas to ever hit a story board. Thanks Guys!

Horror and Sci-Fi Movie Formulas and Fables...

2011-04-26T13:15:00.000-04:00

As an avid horror and sci-fi movie buff, I see quite a few movies over the course of a week. Some are new and some are old favorites but they all have a few things in common that make them blend together into one huge lump. The writers of these scripts have seen the exact same movies as I have and simply cannot seem to expand their thought processes past the "formulas" that worked in the past. Here are a few thoughts on this from my end.

1: "The Black Guy Always Dies First": This little tidbit has been used so much that some movies even poke fun at this plot line before they actually kill them off. They need to start killing off one of the cute chicks first just to throw in a curve ball once in awhile. The whiny one one is always a good start in my book.

2: "The First To Die": Always seems to be one of the girls. Quit killing off the one with the biggest boobs, go for the one with the glasses, 3 layers of clothing and the backpack full of books that really didn't want to be there in the first place. Kill the boobs, kill the movie as the majority of male viewers will not bother to stick around after she's dead to see if she ends up in a bikini or shower scene before being brutally butchered.

3: "Spare The Child": There is always a little kid in these things that manages to escape a bloody end where all those around them are dying like flies at a frog festival. "Feast" took this to a new level when the boy gets eaten right at the outset of the movie. Kudos to the writers on that one as they just tend to whine, cry and scream a lot while the killer is busy dismembering Mom anyway.

4: "The Unlikely Hero/Heroine": For once, I would like to see the guy or girl with the balls at the outset actually make it through the movie as the winner. Quit picking the mousy one or the geek to save the day. The odds of this actually happening in a real situation are as unlikely as a high school chess club winning the Superbowl.

5: "Dress For Success": The wardrobe people work very hard on a film set to aid the actor in fitting their part. Why is it though that lately, every movie I see involving a female scientist has them in a tank top. No offense to the scientific community but let's be a little more realistic in this vein. Most female scientists do NOT have the body of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and the addition of a bit more realism may keep some of the chuckles down when she actually says something intelligent during the movie.

6: "Armed And Dangerous": People are dying all around and the hero or heroine finally gets the upper hand on the killer by whacking them in the head with the only shovel for a hundred miles. Now, the killer has been stabbed, shot, hit by a car and fell out of a two-story window by this point and just keeps coming. So why, oh why, do they think that one whack on the head is going to keep him down forever and throw the friggin' shovel away??? The same goes for finding the only gun in the place, firing one shot into the would be monster and setting the gun down to check on a fallen comrade and leaving it there. One phrase people..."Coup de Grace", lop his friggin' head off with the business end of that shovel for God's sake.

7: "Knowledge Is Power": Common sense rarely prevails in horror and sci-fi movie scripts. This is okay though, it does make them more entertaining but some of the plot twists are simply too stupid for words. Don't open the friggin' door when there is a suspected serial killer in the area. Don't open the kitchen cabinet door when there are scratching noises coming from inside and if there is a green glow emanating from the underside of the bedroom door...go the other freaking way! While these do make the movie more fun to watch, a thinking hero or heroine might make the real twists that much more believable.

I realize that some of the things I mentioned here will never change and that's okay. They have worked for this long, so why fix something if it is not broken? We live in a society with a much higher range of intelligence than 60 years ago when horror and sci-fi was just getting off the ground. It is time the writers stepped up to our level by incorporating a few more intelligent plot twists into these movies. A hero that keeps the gun in hand or one that actually checks to see if the killer is really dead on occasion might be nice and there is nothing wrong with some gratuitous nudity or a cheesy two headed alien either.

Water for Elephants...and Hay...and Grain...and Everything Else...

2011-04-23T12:06:00.005-04:00

I severely dislike ignorance before I've had my first pot of coffee for the day so I felt the need to put this out there. Hollywood's newest release, Water for Elephants, is out now and I was just reading a small bit over on Yahoo regarding "Taj", the elephant used for the movie. The comments from the so called "animal lovers" that decried the use of her for the film and how poorly show animals are treated are fucking laughable.

This is a subject near and dear to my heart as in my younger years, I had the incredible opportunity to travel with circuses around the country in many capacities including working with a wide variety of exotic animals. To the morons that believe that for one second, these animals get mistreated as a rule, I say...Go Fuck Yourselves, You Clueless Morons!

The majority if not all of the show animals out there, whether in Hollywood or on circuses were BORN in captivity, not brought over from Africa or Asia in the prime of their lives and "forced" into performing. They are raised by the trainer from a very young age and treated as a member of the family. They are given the best medical care money can buy along with being fed and housed year round and protected from anything and everything, much as a parent would do for a young child.

I personally know Buckles Woodcock, Benny Williams, John Marone and Mike Stone, just to name a few of the great elephant trainers I have met over the years. These men care as much for their elephants as they do for their own families and would NEVER allow harm to come to them. The elephants also have their own way of handling being mistreated.

I know of one instance where a groom with little experience was working near an elephant and had occasion to hit her with a shovel out of spite. Well, the saying is quite true that "an elephant never forgets" as months later, he was around her and she pulled the stake that had her on the line. She chased him around the trailer she was in front of, pinned him to it and broke his arm. He never hit her again nor any of the others to the best of my knowledge.

Elephants are probably one of the most royally treated of the show animals as they are more easily approached by humans. I have had the occasion to give an elephant a pedicure, a bath and even a haircut in my years on the road. They are staked out and chained while touring not to protect humans from them but to protect them from humans.

To the dullards who think that show animals are abused and held against their will..please look at your own life. You think you have freedom and they don't? You are chained to a job, taxes and responsibility whereas they work about two hours a day and have all their needs met in return with no worries at all by a bevy of grooms, family members and owners.

Before you go spewing off your rhetoric about "how bad their life must be", try living around them for a few years. I guarantee your tune will change.

Finally some good news...

2011-04-20T11:24:00.000-04:00

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/April11/pokerdomainnameuseagreementspr.pdf

Looks like the DOJ figured out how many US online poker player really got hurt when Black Friday hit. They are re-opening the .com domains for Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars to facilitate the players getting their funds returned to them. While this does nothing to forward the legalization of online poker we all hope for, at least it's a start.

Black Friday for Online Poker Players

2011-04-15T17:44:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the infinite wisdom of the US Gov't and the F.B.I., today will be forever known as the "Black Friday" of online poker. 11 indictments were handed down today against the owners of the "Big Three' poker websites (PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker)and all funds for American players frozen. Not only can the players not continue to pursue their hobby or livelihood but they cannot ever get to their own money.

We can only hope that the websites find a solution to allowing players to at least get back what they have online even if play gets stopped completely. There are literally millions upon millions of dollars in online poker accounts and many players pay their bills with these funds. The audacity of this action against the American people is deplorable.

How dare the US Gov't and it's minions tell taxpaying citizens what they can and cannot with their own money? The government gets more than its fair share from each and every one of them and still feels the need for more. This is bullshit, plain and simple.

Had they bothered to regulate Internet gaming last year when the bill came up, this would all be a non-issue. People can still gamble every day without leaving the comfort of their homes. There are websites that allow folks to invest in stocks...which is a gamble online. They can go to their local convenience store and blow their whole check on lottery tickets if they so desire.

Most people live close enough to go to a local casino and lose their home and this is seen as ok by many...as long as the government gets their cut in taxes. New York has OTB...Florida has dog tracks...Kentucky has horse racing...all of these are just fine..if that's they way you want to lose your money. Poker, whether online or live is NOT GAMBLING as there is a level of skill involved.

Slot machines are gambling, roulette is gambling and blackjack is gambling because the player has no effect on the outcome where in poker, it is the PLAYER that makes the choices of what to play and when. While the cards being shuffled do add the element of chance into the game, ultimately it falls to the player whether or not to play their hand and whether or not they can outright beat or bluff their opponent. Poker is a psychological game of cards, not just putting your money up and hoping the outcome is in your favor.

With any luck, this action will propel the US Gov't into making a real decision on the fate of online poker. The players will unite against the powers that be and their voice will be heard. Whether the officials in DC like it or not.

Back in the Saddle Again...lol

2011-04-06T19:09:00.002-04:00

To those few that bother to read this little disaster...I'm back! Been concentrating way too much on work and not enough on having some fun so need to change that. I'll be posting here weekly from now on with little bits of things that may or may not be relevant to anything either real or imagined.

Merry F**kin' Xmas to All...

2010-12-25T12:15:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas morning and all through the house, not a creature is stirring; not even a mouse...so now I really have no clue what I'm making for Christmas dinner...I was counting on that mouse for stew or at least soup...geez.

No fat bastard in a red suit came down my chimney during the night. Not sure if it was the barbed wire on the roof or the bear trap on the grate that deterred him but anyway you look at it, he didn't even try. What kinda guy, I ask you, lets a few little obstacles stop him from doing the one thing he has to do all year???

Now there's a job I'd like...actually work one day a year other than in a supervisory capacity the rest of the time. House costs nothing cause no one else would want to live there anyway and the slave labor force he has pretty much handles everything for him. You know he has them doing everything from making the toys to polishing his boots to cleaning up reindeer shit when they go on the carpet.

They can't go anywhere either...he probably holds their green cards ( being elves, the cards have to be green) and ensures their loyalty that way along with the occasional beating or bottle of spiked egg nog. Where would they go....really??? Career choices are pretty limited for 2 foot high guys with pointed ears and horrible fashion sense. Other than cleaning gum out from under cafeteria tables without bending down or midget porn, they're pretty much out of luck.

With these thoughts in mind, Merry Christmas from the Wise Lemur and to all a good day filled with family, friends and as much booze as you need to tolerate both.

Does This Make Me a Bad Person?...

2010-12-11T15:24:00.000-05:00

So, I'm sitting here contemplating the meaning of life, the existence of God or a godlike being and why more restaurants don't have Twinkies on the desert menu. My roommate is prepping for a trip to Florida for the holidays and then some and she goes to the salon to get her hair done. She returns to the house after better than 3 hours there and I say to her, "So what happened? Did they cancel your appointment?".

Does this make me a bad person?...I think not.

The dog is crashed out on the floor a few feet away and every once in awhile I get the "look. The look that says, "If you don't stop making noise with the frigging computer, I'm going to shit in your shoes while you sleep, you son of a bitch!" He's a good dog for the most part and rarely messes anything up but God forbid you forget to give him a friggin Milk Bone every hour or so. He starts acting like a junkie, pacing back and forth and muttering under his breath about "needing his fix." I don't always give them to him as he's getting fat from little exercise but I do occasionally like to mess with him and set one on the chair arm and make him wait..his tail wagging like it's going to snap off.

Does this make me a bad person?...I think not.

Well, I believe it's time for me to stop all this thinking as I feel the headache coming on. Stress is the number one killer of lemurs and this lemur feels it frequently of late. Think it's time to crank up the grill at 1:30 in the afternoon, open a beer and mess with the local wildlife by putting out bird food they don't like because I have a 50lb bag of it and I ain't throwing it away.

Does this make me a bad person?...I think not.

The One That Got Away...

2010-12-03T03:14:00.000-05:00

Here I sit, fondly remembering a love from my past. She was incredibly beautiful, smart, funny and talented. We had some of the best times in my life and I know there is no way I will ever forget them. She was the kind of person you search for your entire life and some people never find.

After we parted ways many years ago, I always thought about her and probably quite a bit more that would have been considered healthy. I once even had a dream that she had been injured years later and actually pulled up the courage to call her parents to see if she was ok. Thank God, my dreams mean little to nothing in the bigger scheme of things and she was just fine.

While I'm not the biggest fan on the planet of Facebook, I do maintain a page. On a whim and through another friend's page, I had looked her up and saw that she too had a page. I sent a message to her with a friend request, to simply say hello and inquire if all was well. The reply was short and courteous but not much else and we never messaged again.

That was quite awhile back and as she has her page on private and out of respect for her, I never requested to be her friend there again. I did however, pull up the page occasionally and the picture was always the same. Her, at her job, back to the camera and doing what she loved to do.

Well, yesterday while cruising pages on Facebook, I ran across her name again. I clicked on the page to see a new picture and it truly sunk in. It is a picture of a stunning beautiful bride, looking the way she did years ago, a minister and the guy who was lucky enough to capture her heart. I wish them all the best and I know now that the one that got away, that once in a lifetime chance, is truly gone.

R.I.P. My Old Friend

2010-11-10T23:37:00.000-05:00

Today marks the passing of a very dear friend of mine. I have known him for some 3 years now and it saddens me to no end that he is gone. We went through some serious times together and some fun ones too. We have traveled the country together, sharing experiences and adventures. With his help, I have gotten jobs, met good friends and enriched my life more than I can say. So for now, I bid him farewell and good voyage to the great beyond.

Goodbye my old friend...you will be missed.

Yet another brilliant move by the U.S. Government...

2010-11-10T20:46:00.000-05:00

The newest bit of idiocy from the FDA and the US Government is to put pictures of cancer victims and diseased body parts on cigarette packages. There have been many, many moronic ideas implemented to slow or curb the sale of items in this country but this one by far has to be the stupidest. This is going to have the complete opposite effect they are looking for, without a doubt.

To begin with, the one audience, children and teens, they are trying to deter from buying cigarettes are going to flock en mass to buy these once these new packages are released. They are effectively turning them into collector's items by altering the packages in this fashion. Children who never smoked will want these to show off to their friends as being "cool" and they will find a way to buy them.

Secondly, the idea that this will stop anyone from buying them or smoking is flat out ludicrous. People will not stop using a product simply because the packaging has been changed. What this will do is increase sales from China of cigarette cases and holders into the US.

The warnings that are on tobacco packages already are quite sufficient to notify the user of the potential dangers. Anyone who has smoked for any period of time knows the risks and dangers of lighting up. If the government feels the need to put glaring warnings on products for public use, they should not discriminate.

Let them post pictures on the side of luxury cars of crashes and mangled bodies. Let's start seeing pictures of exploded hearts on energy drink cans, exercise equipment and on the walls of the local gyms. Donut boxes and candy wrappers should sport pictures of rotted teeth and gums along with containers of fat sucked out after a liposuction procedure.

There is a risk in everything we do as individuals. The majority of us are thinking adults who are quite capable of making our own decisions based on facts. The last thing we need as a people is someone posting pictures like we are morons who can't read a simple statement. This insult to our intelligence is by far more degrading than the fact that the American public helped put these people in power. However, not by much.

Be Yourself

2010-10-24T04:43:00.000-04:00

Been thinking on this for awhile and decided to put it in writing to be saved for posterity’s sake. My office is pretty much my living room and my office chair is my recliner. The 42” flat screen is on constantly for background noise while I work so I get to see quite a bit of TV during the day which translates in too hundreds of commercials a day.

I’m seeing more and more commercials that are enabling women in particular, multiple ways to alter their appearance without surgery. They have bras that give them a whole new chest and drawers that push their ass up and out so it looks like you could rest a beer on it. There’s make up that is intended to make them look more “natural”, even though removing it would take a paint scraper most days and snap on teeth to cover that gap for a “perfect smile.”

Fellas, when you go to the club or the bar and you see the hotties that abound like so many nerds at a Star Trek convention….Beware! They have so many products out there that likely what you’re looking at is using one or more of these accessories to ensure that they snare whatever they are looking for. The best accessory for guys ever invented was the rolled up sock for God’s sake…they give us very little in the competition end of things.

Gentleman, this little bit is meant as a friendly word of warning. There are women out there deceiving all of us with padding and restrictive garments. Because at the end of the day, when all the fancy clothes and removable accessories come off and the real person is there for all to see, you may just end up with this:

Genetic Experiments Must Be Stopped!!!

2010-10-01T01:16:00.002-04:00

Day Nine and Ten...Consolidated

2010-09-26T18:05:00.000-04:00

Well, the fun is over..sort of...After two grueling days at the cash tables and quite a bit of bad luck, I am now officially broke..lol. But all is not lost as while I played on the ten dollars, I was able to accumulate 166 Player Points, which can be used to buy into other tournaments and satellites to larger games. i will use these for this and see where they take me. If anything of note does happen, I will post the results here.

However, for ten days, I had quite a bit of fun playing on someone elses dime for a change. Check back for further updates and any other nonsense I deem necessary to post. GL all.

Day 8....Like Butta....

2010-09-25T00:24:00.001-04:00

On a roll....lol...played 2 cash sessions and have increased the bankroll to an even $28.00. for those following, the cash sessions I have played so far are strictly Limit 5 Card Draw at the $0.25/.50 limit. While the game itself is fairly easy as opposed to a game like Omaha Hi/Lo, it still has its moments where player reads can mean the difference between stealing and outright winning with a sub-par hand.

I took a shot at a small buy in, $1.10, 5 Card tournament and didn't do so well but overall with the cash play, ending on a very nice little up note for the day. As I will continue to say, there's always tomorrow. Until next time, Good Luck and Great Cards.

On The 7th Day....I Created A Bankroll

2010-09-24T00:29:00.003-04:00

For those following, you've seen the downswing over the past couple of days and the bankroll drop to a meager $6.00. For poker players everywhere, never give up hope. I sat in four short cash sessions today and ground it right up to $20.50. Anything can happen in poker and the turn of a card can mean the difference between playing another day on someone else's money or having to make a deposit. Until the next installment, GL all.

Day Six...Coulda Been Better...Coulda Been Worse

2010-09-23T02:54:00.000-04:00

LOL...started out rough. Bankroll at $7.25 and using really poor judgment in regards to bankroll management, I hop right into a $3.30 buy in PLO tournament. Doesn't take me long to get it all in on a King high flush draw and and open ended straight draw. I hit my card on the river for both my straight and my flush...problem was the guy who called me all in was drawing only to the Ace high flush...so we both hit, he just hit better..lol.

So I took my last little $3.95 in pennies and headed to the cash table. After 2 hours of doing my best impression of a Duncan, I finally walked away with a whopping $6.00 total in my bankroll. At least it's playing money for tomorrow.

Day 5...Was a Rough One

2010-09-22T03:43:00.000-04:00

Played my heart out and just couldn't seem to recover. Took some bad beats and gave some along with just plain getting my ass kicked in more than a few hands. Bankroll ended down for the day at $7.25. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Day Four...Friggin' Horrible..lol(Edit)

2010-09-19T22:15:00.001-04:00

The title says it all...played a 3 hour cash session of 5 Card Draw. Bought in with $5.00 and was playin' fairly well...was up a buck or two at a few points, then hit a down hill run. Was dealt a King high flush and raised to the cap. One other player stayed in and drew 2 cards. Capped the second round and the cards flipped. He had held on to 3 Aces and drew out a pair of 6's to complete his full house.

So...needless to say,I went broke on that hand...lol. The bankroll is still in the positive at $11.65. I'll just have to hope tomorrow is a better day on the tables.

(Edit) Couldn't leave well enough alone so I went back, different table, same buy in amount. Had a very nice fish to my left that was horrible and I do mean HORRIBLE at bluffing. Made back my lost $5.00 from earlier, returning the bankroll to $16.65 and ending the day on a break even note.

Day Three of the Grind

2010-09-18T19:15:00.000-04:00

Started out ok...played a brief 5 Card cash session with a buy in of $5.00 and left the table with $7.00, clearing a two dollar profit. Not monstrous but a good start for the day. This brings the bankroll up to $16.65 total which is not to shabby playing the low limits I am at. Not sure if I will get another one in later or not so I'm posting this now. If I do, this post will be updated to include the total results for the day.

Chronicling the Grind

2010-09-18T17:32:00.003-04:00

Anyone who has read some of my previous posts knows that I am an avid poker player. I play predominantly on Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. In the past 6 months or so I have strayed from playing the conventional No Limit Texas Hold Em for the most part and have opted to play other games instead.

Poker Stars offers 5 Card Draw, which has become my mainstay for online poker along with many lower buy in tournaments for Omaha. They also had a promotion where you gather playing points and they could be used to unlock a cash award bonus. Over the past 2 months, I played and was able to qualify for the $10.00 added bonus to my account.

Beginning the day before yesterday, I decided to see how far I could take this ten dollars. I will be playing a mix of small buy in tournaments and low limit cash games and updating the results here. I am by no means a "great" player but I enjoy it so this is going to be a fun little experiment.

Day One saw me in a $2.20 buy in Pot Limit Omaha tournament in which I cashed out $6.00 in winnings, bringing the bankroll to $13.80. Day Two I was able to play a small cash table session with a $5.00 buy in and cashed off the table with $5.85, bringing the grand total to $14.65 for two days. I play when I can and do not feel the need to rush this so it may take some time to get this to any substantial amount but I will continue to update this after each session.

Anyone truly interested in how this is going may follow my playing statistics on either OPR (OfficialPokerRankings.com) for the tournament play and PTR (PokerTableRatings.com) for the cash play under the screen name of ShadowX1963. I'm not sure if PTR tracks the 5 Card cash play but I will be mixing in some Omaha cash games in this and those should be there.

Thanks in advance to all those that follow this little experiment from a not so great player in his endeavor to make a buck or two at online poker.

2010-07-14T14:44:00.001-04:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Interesting Little Test...

2010-07-02T05:28:00.000-04:00

http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Seventh Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Extreme
Level 7 (Violent)	Extreme
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Extreme
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Test

You Can Run But You Just Can't Hide...

2010-07-01T04:40:00.000-04:00

June for me was a very eventful month, nothing earth shattering but busy. I have taken on a project for a client in Costa Rica that takes up much of my time these days so blogging is a bit on the back burner for the moment. This, along with factoring in other things that have come up, has made my time a bit more scarce but that is no reason I should ignore this blog.

I'm chastising myself a bit for not keeping up and posting some of the things that I'm finding in and around the Interwebs. There has been so much happening on the websites I frequent but today I think I'd like to talk about the Internet and anonymity. People's ability to hide behind a monitor and keyboard and say whatever they like with virtually no repercussions.

Many of the forums that I belong to are very much proponents of freedom of speech and censor very little unless it's blatantly over the top. This includes things like racism, slander and of course, breaking their TOS by posting links to competing websites. Which is something I find quite amusing as if their businesses can't stand a bit of competition, then how are they going to survive in a market as big as the Internet?

Now, I'm not saying that they should let the spammers run rampant but when a legitimate forum member finds something of interest not only to them but an item that may benefit other members of the community, they should be allowed to impart this information. There are ways around it of course, such as posting the link in text and not as an actual hyperlink, i.e. www(dot)gotothiswebsite(dot)com.

Then we have the trash talkers. Those people who speak their minds, no matter how small they are, attacking whatever or whomever they do not understand. These people operate under the assumption that they will never meet those that they are taking shots at and debasing in a public arena. These are the ones that need to be gently reminded that while the Internet is a big place, the real world is not.

There are literally hundreds of websites that for a few dollars will reveal anything and everything they can find out about an individual. It wouldn't take long for someone to gather just a few scraps of information about another person and sign up to one of these websites. A name and location goes a very long way in finding the person that has been talking trash about another online.

For the most part, these pay websites are not even necessary. There are many of the social networking websites out there such as Face Book and MySpace that will pretty much tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the person. This is particularly true if they haven't figured out how to set the privacy settings.

So, to those folks who think it's fun to bad mouth and talk trash online, be careful. It is much easier to find you now then it ever was in the past.

Border Patrol Agent Shoots Stoner

2010-06-09T13:47:00.000-04:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127577713
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/08/us-border-patrol-uni.html#p0

I read quite a bit of news online and this story hits particularly close to home as I live 40 mins. away from where this took place. One website I follow is www.boingboing.com. They post quite a bit of interesting news and science related items and it is well worth a visit or two. They also allow comments to their posting as this one, at the time I write this, has 131 comments from many different viewpoints. I read everyone of them and found most to be laughable.

A majority of the comments are from know it alls that think Google is their friend. Try reading one weeks worth of the El Paso Times or the Las Cruces Sun News to get a taste of what the Border Patrol agents and law enforcement in this area go through. I do not condone what happened but I can understand it. I saw ONE comment from someone who lives here, the rest are from wannabe diplomats from across the US, one lives in TN, one lives in NC...you have no clue what they deal with on a daily basis here.

The agent was threatened by an overwhelming force...yes...overwhelming as in more than one or two individuals, he is going to react in kind as would any of you if your safety and life were threatened. The boy comes out from behind a column with his hands up in the middle of an altercation with an unknown number of other individuals. Out of the corner of his eye, the agent sees this...he's already looking in seven different directions at once. His reaction was a natural one in self defense not malicious intent directed at one particular individual.

While it is tragic that a child died, it can also be a wake up call to the powers that be that more manpower is necessary in places like El Paso. Had there been enough agents on the scene, the situation could have been contained and tragedy averted. They are grossly understaffed, both here and along the rest of the border.

With the variety of weapons being used by the people in this area, any one of those rocks could have easily been a hand grenade or Molotov cocktail. Anyone who thinks I'm blowing this out of proportion, read the paper here. They are gunning down children with AK-47s and Uzis in Juarez. The world would love to see the law enforcement agents around here carrying Tasers, rubber bullets and shotguns loaded with rock salt and sandbags. The drug cartels would throw a friggin' party that day. Cause they sure as hell aren't giving up their very lethal firepower.

If this was an incident of one or two people confronting the agent in question and he shot one, I would simply say, "Hang his ass from the highest tree" but it's not. Nothin' for nothin', not one of you reading this, if put in a similar situation and had a gun in your hand, would place said gun on the ground and say, "It's ok...let's talk." You would do your utmost to survive as this is human nature and an undeniable fact of life.

Possibly the Coolest Thing I Have Ever Seen

2010-06-08T19:06:00.004-04:00

Collaboration...of sorts

2010-05-22T03:48:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine on another forum posted a set of song lyrics that he had written. As I read them I was moved but in a slightly different direction than he. With the kind permission of Robert Price II, I will post his original, unaltered version and then my take on the beautiful lyrics he has so kindly allowed me to have my way with:

The Original:

Go on and breath the fiction, living life to live a lie
So do you feel the friction as our energies collide
In the beauty of it all, where we lay therefore we stay
Lost inside of this fictitious lie that's consuming all of me

It's all been done before
Refuse to feel it anymore
Show me a path to take today
And I will open up the door

The gods answer all my questions
Before the questions become known
Now inside i see direction
The path is lit so I will go

It's all yours now there's no mistaking
None will be left for the taking
As I fade away with you
We will find a path, a new

It's all been done before
Refuse to feel this anymore
Show me a path to take today
And I will open up the door

This holy faith that you hold dear
Will only make you bend and kneel
As you search and seek for the truth
Look deep inside it's within you

My Take:

People live and breathe the fiction, every waking moment a lie
We revel in the friction, when our energies collide
There is a beauty in it all, a cosmic fireworks display
And when we come together, that is where we lay

It has all been done before, in one way, shape or form
The refusal to truly feel it, seems to be the norm
Show me a different path, that I may take today
This brand new possibility, may be my only way

My questions may be answered, before ever being asked
By gods on high or mortals, whichever may be tasked
Now inside I see directions, too many to comprehend
There is however a single light, glowing at one end

It is all you now, there will be no mistaking
Nothing worth anything, will be left for the taking
As I fade away, with you right by my side
A new path we can discover, a magic carpet ride

We seek the truth together, explorers in the light
A greater understanding needed, we feel it is our right
The world will look outside itself, to solve its mysteries
Our answer has been here all along, right in you and me.

I look forward to working closer with Robert on some other projects and as they are finished, provided they aren't sold for millions of dollars, they will be found here.

UB/AP Update

2010-05-18T16:48:00.000-04:00

http://www.pokerspace.com/school/articles/poker-rooms-and-deals/ultimatebet-and-absolute-poker-solve-secruity-problem/

Here's a follow up on my earlier post from a forum site that I'm quite fond of.

Horror/Sci-Fi Movie Formulas and Fables

2010-05-15T21:15:00.000-04:00

As an avid horror and sci-fi movie buff, I see quite a few movies over the course of a week. Some are new and some are old favorites but they all have a few things in common that make them blend together into one huge lump. The writers of these scripts have seen the exact same movies as I have and simply cannot seem to expand their thought processes past the "formulas" that worked in the past. Here are a few thoughts on this from my end.

1: "The Black Guy Always Dies First": This little tidbit has been used so much that some movies even poke fun at this plot line before they actually kill them off. They need to start killing off one of the cute chicks first just to throw in a curve ball once in awhile. The whiny one one is always a good start in my book.

2: "The First To Die": Always seems to be one of the girls. Quit killing off the one with the biggest boobs, go for the one with the glasses, 3 layers of clothing and the backpack full of books that really didn't want to be there in the first place. Kill the boobs, kill the movie as the majority of male viewers will not bother to stick around after she's dead to see if she ends up in a bikini or shower scene before being brutally butchered.

3: "Spare The Child": There is always a little kid in these things that manages to escape a bloody end where all those around them are dying like flies at a frog festival. "Feast" took this to a new level when the boy gets eaten right at the outset of the movie. Kudos to the writer on that one as they just tend to whine, cry and scream a lot while the killer is busy dismembering Mom anyway.

4: "The Unlikely Hero/Heroine": For once, I would like to see the guy or girl with the balls at the outset actually make it through the movie as the winner. Quit picking the mousy one or the geek to save the day. The odds of this actually happening in a real situation are as unlikely as a high school chess club winning the Superbowl.

5: "Dress For Success": The wardrobe people work very hard on a film set to aid the actor in fitting their part. Why is it though that lately, every movie I see involving a female scientist has them in a tank top. No offense to the scientific community but let's be a little more realistic in this vein. Most female scientists do NOT have the body of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and the addition of a bit more realism may keep some of the chuckles down when she actually says something intelligent during the movie.

6: "Armed And Dangerous": People are dying all around and the hero or heroine finally gets the upper hand on the killer by whacking them in the head with the only shovel for a hundred miles. Now, the killer has been stabbed, shot, hit by a car and fell out of a two-story window by this point and just keeps coming. So why, oh why, do they think that one whack on the head is going to keep him down forever and throw the friggin' shovel away??? The same goes for finding the only gun in the place, firing one shot into the would be monster and setting the gun down to check on a fallen comrade and leaving it there. One phrase people..."Coup de Grace", lop his friggin' head off with the business end of that shovel for God's sake.

7: "Knowledge Is Power": Common sense rarely prevails in horror and sci-fi movie scripts. This is okay though, it does make them more entertaining but some of the plot twists are simply too stupid for words. Don't open the friggin' door when there is a suspected serial killer in the area. Don't open the kitchen cabinet door when there are scratching noises coming from inside and if there is a green glow emanating from the underside of the bedroom door...go the other freaking way! While these do make the movie more fun to watch, a thinking hero or heroine might make the real twists that much more believable.

I realize that some of the things I mentioned here will never change and that's okay. They have worked for this long, so why fix something if it is not broken? We live in a society with a much higher range of intelligence than 60 years ago when horror and sci-fi was just getting off the ground. It is time the writers stepped up to our level by incorporating a few more intelligent plot twists into these movies. A hero that keeps the gun in hand or one that actually checks to see if the killer is really dead on occasion might be nice and there is nothing wrong with some gratuitous nudity or a cheesy two headed alien either.

Online Gambling in the U.S.

2010-05-14T16:15:00.000-04:00

Watched a great show last night on Fox Business Network with John Stossel. His guests included Andy Bloch, professional poker player and a few others including a bookie, a ultra conservative douchenozzle and an author. For those who haven't figured it out, I am a HUGE proponent of not only Internet gaming but of freedom of choice.

The conservative douchenozzle is of the opinion that if Americans were left to their own devices, we would all be looting and pillaging to make a deposit on an online gaming site. We would be beating our wives and girlfriends and triple mortgaging our homes. His ideas and those of his constituents can only make me believe that behind closed doors, these are the ones that are smoking and drinking and molesting small children or animals, depending on what's handy.

Thinking adults in this country and others, should be allowed to make their own choices. if I want to blow an entire paycheck playing poker online, I should be allowed to. No one is policing all the shopaholics on eBay that are running up credit cards to their max and going into bankruptcy. There aren't armed guards standing at the state run lottery machines at 7-Eleven insuring that only one ticket is purchased for each individual.

I can go to Vegas or Atlantic City at the drop of a hat and lose my life savings, should I choose. If I want to do this from the privacy of my own home, I should be allowed. The majority of degen gamblers out there will find a way to lose their money and should not be lumped in with the rest of the population.

People, for the most part are much smarter than that and make decisions based on what they can LOSE when they gamble, not what they can win. This is a form of entertainment for many people here in the states along with the rest of the world. All this aside, the idiots on the Hill are not looking at the lost revenue by not regulating and taxing this form of entertainment.

Billions of dollars a year...yes BILLIONS are being sent offshore rather than being kept where they belong. People will always find a way to spend their money if they wish to gamble. Why shouldn't the country benefit from this rather than being labeled as criminals because we like to play a little poker after a hard day's work?

UB/Absolute Does It Again

2010-05-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

http://www.pokertableratings.com/blog/2010/05/ptr-security-alert-cereus-poker-network/

To all that play here...this is important.

Social Networking...Thoughts and Observations...

2010-04-27T04:50:00.003-04:00

The Internet has brought together literally thousands of people for absolutely no good reason. I speak particularly of websites like Face Book, Twitter, Tagged and MySpace, just to name a few. Now don't get me wrong, many people have found these pages to their advantage, sharing pictures and blurbs with family and friends that they actually know.

I look over Face Book, yes, I'm guilty of having a page there and see people with hundreds of friends on their lists. To what purpose I ask myself, are they adding everyone under the sun that asks? I can see if there is a common interest buried in the reasoning but there should be a limit to what some people should add.

Is this some cry for help, a deep seated need to be popular due to some missed experience in high school? Turned down for the cheer leading squad, didn't get to play pro ball after high school or simply a "Look at me, look at me" type of thing going on. I am truly unsure as to why people feel the need to add anyone and I do mean ANYONE, to their personal pages.

Twitter is another of my favorites in that you can follow just about anyone you like without them ever knowing you exist. They will send out a brief message letting the world know they ran out of toilet paper and have to run to the store. If they happen to be famous...45 people will reply back that they have a spare roll for them and 100+ will re tweet it in case the rest of the world may have missed the post.

Since the advent of Face Book, you hear very little of MySpace and its millions of users. They have fallen prey to the dreaded "competition of websites" on the Internet. They of course, don't have Farmville, which obviously spelled death for the pioneer in social networking sites.

These websites seem to have found their niche in our society, bringing millions of people together that may have otherwise never met. But have they actually met yet? If the additions are simply names and pictures on a website, how much do you actually know about those that you add?

That picture of the hot girl in the low cut top could just as well be a 55 year old man who thinks it is funny as hell you are coming on to a pic he ripped off the net from his favorite porn site. The 15 year old boy on your daughters page could be a 35 year old registered sex offender. The anonymity of the Internet allows many people to toy with others for whatever reasons they may come up with.

A friendly reminder from your ever watchful neighborhood Lemur. Add those you know or at least, know of. You never know what you may be getting yourself into. Until next time...

Lemurism Of The Day #6

2010-04-26T12:00:00.002-04:00

There is no right move or wrong one...only the one you make in the moment...MDFR

Why is it.....?

2010-04-25T10:41:00.000-04:00

Why is it that when there is nothing on TV at 3 am and your surfing through the channels, you run across a show who name rings a bell but you never actually watched much. Now, the majority of these shows are the short lived ones that had a one season run, or even less and went by the wayside. The networks have dumped these into syndication to fill those dead time slots where it's either their show or an infomercial about how to get a flatter stomach or a way to chop bricks and vegetables with the same knife, to choose from.

Here's the rub however. You make the fatal decision to click on that channel and that particular program rather than the ad for the High Powered Emulsification System, which turns out to be a fancy name for an expensive blender anyway. From all the reruns available, the name of the show only sparks the tiniest of remembrances as to something you saw one or two episodes of, years ago and vaguely recount that it was passable fare.

The remote has been clicked and you have settled into your favorite chair and begin your viewing experience. Here is where your brain begins to process the oddly familiar sensation that you have seen this show before. You discount this at first but after a few minutes, realization sinks in that a show you watched twice, 13 years ago, is in syndication on your TV and this is one of the two episodes that you actually saw, back in the day.

This is a "Murphy's Law" scenario and possibly a government conspiracy but you may need to check with your neighbor on that one. You know the one with the tin foil hat and no land line phone because he KNOWS that it would only be tapped if he did. If this a plot by anyone, albeit a poorly conceived one, to make us buy exercise programs or the next big thing in kitchen ware, they are sadly mistaken.

Infomercials for the most part, sell something only a few people would be interested in as opposed to the majority of television watchers. To this minority, who enjoy listening to the guy with accents sell glue I say, "Watch a rerun or two and save your money for more important things...like a doctor's visit for some sleeping pills." You need your rest anyway.

My Take On The Land Of The Free

2010-04-22T00:32:00.001-04:00

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, the United States is slowly but surely losing its place in the world as the "Land of the Free." As each day passes, more and more babysitter laws get put into place that restrict our freedoms further and further. I am not saying that the country should be let to run rampant and the population do whatever it wants to but come on, there are some things that should be left alone.

Smoking is a big part of my life and has been for many years. I do mean cigarettes and true tobacco products, not the "other" kind.I understand the need to have laws in place to protect the general public in restricting smoking in certain areas. However, if I want to smoke in my home or car, no one and I do mean NO ONE is going to tell me I can't.

Recently, Congress stuck it's proverbial "beak" into Major League Baseball in "suggesting" that they restrict the use of smokeless tobacco as it may influence children to use it. Are you kidding me??? There is no restrictions on high energy drinks which will likely kill a child a whole lot quicker than any pinch of dip will.

There are no restrictions in which video games parents or children are allowed to buy and play but Bugs Fucking Bunny was too violent to leave on TV the way it was. They rate the video games to help guide parents but nothin' for nothin', there are so many coming out that the average individual would need a full time secretary just to keep up with them.

Our country has so many people who think they are doing "good" for the general public when in actuality, they are slowly killing the ideals this country was formed upon. But that's ok, they can continue they way they are going. When the majority of the population wakes up and realizes they can't take a shit in their own home because it is "environmentally unfriendly" because they eat products with artificial ingredients then maybe, just maybe, America can go back to being the "Land of the Free" that it was intended to be.

Study: Online gaming would create new jobs - TheHill.com

2010-04-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

Study: Online gaming would create new jobs - TheHill.com

2010-04-19T18:48:00.001-04:00

moar funny pictures

2010-04-19T01:55:00.000-04:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Lemurism Of The Day #5

2010-04-17T17:54:00.002-04:00

If people had as much faith in themselves as they do in God...We would have a world full of unstoppable individuals.

2010-03-12T00:22:00.001-05:00

Baby wild bunny eats a daisy @ Yahoo! Video

2010-02-11T07:52:00.001-05:00

2010-01-26T01:15:00.000-05:00

2010-01-23T10:00:00.002-05:00

My Take On Modern Art

2010-01-21T21:45:00.001-05:00

I have recently been trying to decide on artwork for the Lemur Lair and have run in to more than one issue. I went online, like all intelligent creatures and performed a search. Are you F'N kidding me?!?!?!?
The crap that passes for art today must have Manet, Monet and the rest of the Beatles spinning in their graves. They put their heart and soul in to a painting and meanwhile in the "modern" age, some jagoff is taking a dump, smearing on canvas and calling it art? The worst part of this is that some other jagoff is actually going to pay money for it and reward the ignorance. What I see and an extraordinarily screwed up individual saying, "Look at me...Look at me!!!!". Here's guessing that not only wasn't he breast fed as a child but he was dropped from quite high up...very early on.
Jackson Pollock is one of my favorite artists but come on, I've thrown away drop cloths with more personality than some of his stuff. The guy who buried the 10 Cadillacs, nose down in his yard had more of an eye for art than the yahoo who spent $10,000.00 on a canvas with a single 1/8" black dot in the center because someone told him it was "deep".
Here's what really happened...the "artist" went to the art store to buy canvases. He grabbed 10 from the discount bin. When he got home, he found one with a spot and said, "Shit, I can't use this" and set it on the side. An "art critic" came to his studio and in looking around at all the paintings that the hours and hours of work and sweat went into and saw that messed up canvas in the corner and decided that that was the best thing he had seen in forever. Dullards...the lot of them.
Sculptors like Rodin have their work immortalized in museums and books and then some douchenozzle comes along, throws together two people in a "69" position, slaps a piece of glass on top and say, "Here's your new coffee table, isn't it a work of art?" No, Moron, it's not and not even a strip joint would have it for decor.
There is an old saying, "There is no accounting for taste" and after browsing online, I fully understand that statement. P.T. Barnum said it best, "There's a sucker born every minute" and this is no where more true than in the art world.
Until Next Time...

Lemurism of the Day #4

2010-01-19T04:18:00.000-05:00

The ultimate form of procrastination is putting off today what you can do tomorrow and then never going to sleep.

Lemurism of the Day #3

2010-01-02T12:53:00.000-05:00

"I think, therefore I am" Does this mean if I stop thinking, I disappear???

Lemurism of the Day #2

2009-12-30T03:18:00.000-05:00

You are no good to anyone else, if at first, you are not good to yourself.

Why are Most Hard Liquors Named After Men?

2009-12-25T18:06:00.000-05:00

A subject that has perplexed this creature for quite sometime is the purpose for this post. There are many different liquors on the market and almost all named after men. There is Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker just to name a few. Since the majority of liquor drinkers are men, why not alter the names a bit to more suit the consumer.

"Bitch Left Me" vodka: For the first few hours after being dumped.
"Boss is an Ass" bourbon: No real explanation needed, name says it all.
"Damn, She's Hot" whiskey: For those times a little courage is needed.
"Up Yours!" scotch: For when your underdog team knocks the hell out of the opposition and you're the only guy in the bar rooting for them.
"F Me" tequila: For gearing up before heading home.
"Kiss My Ass" cognac: For those times a little you feel like splurging.
"Blind Me" rum: This goes well for those days at the beach, when all the old men seem to have shopped at the same Speedo shop.

These are just a few ideas for truth in advertising. Any comments or suggestions will be more than welcome.

Lemurism of the Day

2009-12-23T17:50:00.002-05:00

Procrastination is like masturbation...in the end, all you have done is screw yourself.

Simple Stupidity From the Streets of Philadelphia

2009-12-22T13:02:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading a news story that has my whiskers atwitter. In Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love, some children were having a snowball fight. A passerby is accidentally struck by a snowball by a 15 year old boy. The passerby, a 26 year old man, an obviously well adjusted member of society and quite even tempered, goes home and gets his illegally owned firearm. He then returns to shoot the boy in the side of the head. The boy consequently dies a day later in the hospital.

This in and of itself is a tragedy but not what has me a little more than annoyed. The "Snowball Shooter", because of course all murderers should have a cute name for the media to use, is in court and his legal counsel's defense for his actions are that he was defending himself, as the 15 year old pulled a knife.

So, let's recount the chain of events. Passerby gets struck by snowball, 15 year old then pulls knife and passerby says, "Wait a minute, will you? I need to run home and get my gun, I'll be right back." 15 year old boy and friends sit patiently and wait while this pillar of society goes home, gets his gun and returns to shoot a child for a mistimed snowball.

The "Snowball Shooter" will no doubt enjoy his new found cute name while serving a lifetime time in prison as someone's girlfriend. We can only hope that this is the outcome and that the young boys family can receive some measure of comfort from this. My condolences and thoughts go out to the family.

An Alternative to Not Being Able to Smoke

2009-12-22T09:17:00.002-05:00

There are many of us out there, lemurs and human alike, who smoke. For many of us, quitting may be an option but simply not a desire. It is to this group that I direct this blog. With more and more establishments refusing us the right to smoke due to the health of others, I have found a product that can alleviate this issue. I'm talking about Snus.

A Snus is a small pouch of tobacco that one places between the upper lip and gum to release a small amount of nicotine and various flavorings, depending on the type chosen. These Snus, unlike traditional dip/snuff do not require the need to spit making these much more user friendly in a public setting.

These are primarily made in Sweden and Denmark but are available in the U.S.. GetSnus.com has a very large variety of these in varying flavors, sizes and nicotine levels. Most should have no trouble finding one that works for them. Many of the Snus available on the website have individual testimony as to how a previous user liked or disliked that particular one.

The Wise Lemur's pick for the moment is Thunder brand Frosted. It's spearmint flavor and 14 grams of nicotine per pouch make it a perfect alternative to lighting up in a restaurant or standing outside in 20 degree weather just to have a cigarette. There are a few different sizes so very few people can even tell that they are being used.

Let's face it, many of us after 25 years or more of smoking simply are not going to stop tomorrow just because. These can be a way to either cut down on cigarette use or a stepping stone to quitting all together. Visit the website(link @ right) and take a look around, you may be pleasantly surprised.

The Wise Lemur is in no way being compensated by GetSnus.com for his opinion on this product. This is purely from personal use and my own observations. As with all tobacco products, there are health warnings and risks associated with use.

I Won the Canadian Lottery!

2009-12-19T08:45:00.003-05:00

So yesterday, I received a letter with a check for $3750.25 and a instructions on what I needed to do to receive the rest of my $89,500.00 prize from the Canadian Lottery. There are a few things inherently wrong with me getting this in the mail. One, I don't live anywhere near friggin' Canada. Two, I'm not that lucky to start with and the odds of me winning any sum of money that big are that of the proverbial snowballs chance in Hades. So, I decide to do a little research by using the names and addresses supplied in the "prize notification" letter. The names themselves are fairly generic except for the name on the check. It belongs to a courier company based in NYC and thanks to Google, I find a telephone number and give them a call. The gentleman I spoke to was kind enough to inform me that their computers had been hacked in the past few weeks and I wasn't the only one to receive one of these checks. While scammers may be getting smarter, some are still just a dumb as a box of rocks. What makes these idiots think that for one second, I'm going to deposit a check from something I never entered in the first place then turn right around and ship them a chunk of it back for "taxes". For those that have fallen prey to these types of scams I have only one thing to say, "Please let your parents read your mail first before doing anything with one of these, keep your special helmet on and please...only lick warm windows".

The Wise Lemur Highly Recommends This

2009-12-18T17:15:00.001-05:00

Online Poker and the U.S. Government

2009-12-18T11:24:00.002-05:00

This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Online poker to some is considered gambling but to anyone that actually plays it, it is truly a game of skill. There's an old saying, "If poker is gambling to you...you're doing it wrong". The U.S. Government has decided that we as a people, should be told how to spend our entertainment money, should our choice in entertainment be online gambling. Now they don't have a problem if someone spends their entire paycheck on scratch off lottery tickets or Powerball numbers. Because these proceeds go to a worthy cause, their pockets. The money from these goes into the state's coffers for some good programs, don't get me wrong, but with the amount of people playing these on a daily basis, why do taxes keep rising? The online poker industry was approximated to be worth 100 billion dollars last year. The U.S. is one of the few countries that does not seem to see the benefit in regulating this and wants to stop it completely. They are not screaming at the casinos when someone loses their house to a craps table, but if a normal person wants to throw 10 bucks at an online poker tournament, there's hell to pay. There is more than once dunce on Capitol Hill that needs to get their head out of their ass and see that by regulating and taxing online poker, just as they do the winnings in a casino, that this country could most likely be a whole lot better for it.

1st one

2009-12-13T09:43:00.000-05:00

Just a starter to get going with. I am a slightly opinionated idiot on my best days. I will whine and bitch about damn near anything just for fun, but I'm not really like that. I have ideas and general observations on just about any subject one could think of and they will all be posted here. Until next time, then.