StudioGlyphic

Author: glyphic

  • Pride (in the name of face)

    The thing about blogs is that you are more or less making public declarations. And in my mind, one should try to keep one’s word, stand by one’s statements, etc. For instance, if I talk about not ending a single day with a net loss in pot limit, well by God I’m going to play until I make it happen!

    And this, boys and girls, is the foundation for a proper full-blown tilt session.

    So after losing $48 in the $50 PL games (I think I’ll avoid these and opt for NL in the future), I was determined to make it back later in the day. I did some studying (catching up) and took a 30 minute nap that stretched into 80 minutes. Then I got up, poured myself some whiskey, had a smoke, and got to work. It took me 3 hours and another glass or two of Knob Creek to make it back at the $25 PL tables, and now I’m up $2 for the day. Considering that I have more studying and assignments to do, that’s probably a good cutoff point.

    Oh, did I say something about tilt? I said it was the foundation for a tilt session, which is what the earlier losses might have put me on. But taking the study, er, poker break and the nap helped me put that behind me. Good.

    With yesterday’s monster pot, my bankroll is now looking slightly more respectable. The question is, what do I do with it now that I have it? If it’s still there when I go to Vegas in November, I’m taking it with me. But in the meantime…

  • “Organic” chicken costs twice as much as factory chicken

    Really now. $8 a pound is approaching the price of a good cut of beef, so for us carnivores it might make sense to pony up a few extra bucks and get that USDA Prime steak that melts in your mouth. I haven’t quite made up my mind whether my sense of values and my concern for my health justifies the 200% cost increase for organic. Still, if you’re thinking of grilling some chicken (organic or otherwise) this weekend, give this marinade recipe a try:

    Mongolian Chicken

    3 lbs chicken breast

    1 cup hoisin sauce
    1 1/2 tsp Lee Kum Kee black bean garlic sauce
    1 tbsp sugar
    1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
    1 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar
    1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
    1 tsp Tobasco
    1 scallion, minced
    Ground pepper

    Mix ingredients in a glass bowl.

    Slice chicken into bite-size strips.

    Marinade overnight (or at least four hours).

    Throw on the grill. Keep in mind that the smaller pieces will cook faster, so be careful not to overcook.

    This is a great marinade. It’s got lots of different things going on at the same time: salty, tangy, sweet, spicy. Good stuff.

  • Maudie and Poker Perspectives

    This is one of those posts about linking to someone else’s blog, which is kinda silly when it comes to Poker Perspectives, since it’s not as though it’s not a known site. Anyway, what I like about what I’ve read so far on Maudie’s blog is that it’s all about her poker experiences, written from a personal point of view. It’s not just hand histories or PT stats–you know, the boring stuff I put on this blog to gloat or groan about my insignificant wins and losses. By contrast, her recaps are more narrative in style, and she throws in a dose of “Here’s what I thought” or “I felt like this.”

    Anyway, just thought I’d throw that out there for that one person who may be coming here to read about poker–there’s really better stuff out there. Which is why it surprises me when I find the occasional link to this blog in a list of poker blogs. I guess what I can say about StudioGlyphic, however, is that we’ll cover a fair number of topics in proportions you may not find elsewhere. And nothing beats a well-mixed cocktail.

  • Spyware Redux

    Good grief.

    A friend of mine got a spyware and virus infestation that was more severe than anything I’d seen before. The steps for dealing with the problem went far beyond what I’d prescribed in my Public Service Announcement. Thankfully, the counter-spyware experts at The PC Guide Forums were able to walk me through the process of marking, fixing, deleting, repairing, and immunizing. I think the machine is clean now.

    Right now would probably be a good time for you to update your spyware and anti-virus definition files. SpywareBlaster is also a good one to have. It puts known spyware on the shit list and prevents them from being installed in the first place. It’s free to use, but if you donate a small fee, you can enable the auto-update feature for worry-free protection.

  • Post Number Eight, or how I joined Netflix and decided that it was really cool

    Hey kids, just trying to make up for a lackluster week of no posts.

    I signed up for Netflix a couple months back and have come to the conclusion that it’s a really good service.

    It’s fast. I have always received my DVDs the day after I get the email from Netflix saying it’s on its way. If I drop off the movie for return at the post office, Netflix usually gets it the next day and ships my next movie that same day. I’ve never been so impressed with the postal service in my life.

    It’s flexible. My sister and I wanted to watch all the Lord of the Rings movies in one sitting, so one of the first movies I got was Return of the King. As it happened, we never got our schedules to coincide, so I had to sit on that one for a week and a half. In the meantime, I watched/returned about four other movies.

    It’s cheap. Well, this one depends on how many movies you can get through in a month. I pay about $24 every month, and got through 14 movies this past month. That’s $1.71 a movie. Not bad. If you’re one of those people who gets hit by late charges at your local videostore all the time, you’re probably better off joining Netflix instead.

    It’s convenient. I get movies delivered to my mailbox. I can return them at any mail drop. It doesn’t get much more convenient than that.

    It’s expansive. Maybe I’m stretching it a bit here, but really, I find that I’m watching all kinds of movies now. If I think of some movie I’ve been meaning to see, or hear about some movie that sounds interesting, I just add it to the Netflix queue and figure I’ll eventually get to it. That goes for TV shows as well. Seriously, who wants to spend 13 weeks following some series on television with commercial interruptions and cliffhangers when you can just order up the entire season afterwards and watch it in one 12-hour marathon? This may change the way you watch TV.