Musical Baton and a Quick Update

Well it seems the Musical Baton is getting around. It was passed on from Jdid to Big N and he subsequently sent it my way. My readers are few and far between as I am still a newb to the blogging world but I am gonna try my best to keep it going.

Total volume of music files on computer:
Are you ready for this?? 48.2 GB ... Yes, if you ever need a track chances are I have it! I have been downloading music for years now and I know its not a great thing but I just cant get myself to pay for overpriced CD's anymore

The last CD I bought was:
Collision Course - Jay Z / Linkin Park. I first downloaded this album and I really enjoyed it considering I am not a big Linkin Park fan but then I was interested in seeing the DVD of how this all came together and thus the trip downstairs to Future Shop and the purchase of the CD with DVD included.

Song playing right now:
Still Tippin' - Mike Jones. Have you guys seen the video for this track.. He gives out his phone number and my dumb ass brother tried calling it from my phone a few times last weekend!! From what I heard he had to change his number asap as he was getting some ridiculous phone calls.

Five Songs I listen to a lot, Or that mean a lot to me:
ahhhh... Brain cramp... So much I like u want to to bring it down to 5?? The tracks I chose represent my favourite MC's and I just picked one track from my favourite albums by each of them. It's all about the lyrics... If its about the bitches and the ho's and the bling bling.. Chances are its not on my playlist but Nas, Canibus and Immortal have so much power in their music. I wish I could say I went and bought the albums but I didn't I plan to eventually I do have stillmatic and illmatic on CD for now.. Its a start. I am not going to do a run thru of each track so I hope you got the gist from this little note :)

1. Rewind - Nas (Stillmatic)
2. Cenoir Studies 02 - Canibus (Mic Club- The Curriculum)
3. The 4th Branch - Immortal Technique (Revolutionary Vol. 2)
4. Mosh - Eminem (Encore)
5. Earth a Run Red - Richie Spice (Universal)

Five people to whom I am passing the baton to:
I might drop the baton on this one
Solitaire
Yuri
Brucki
Nidserz
Kat

Well normally Sunday I would do my recap of my top 5 news stories but I figured I will just do the musical baton and throw in an update on what's going on with me. My regular article will be posted up tomorrow and since I have the day off work I hope to make it a good one! It was a pretty busy weekend for me but I had a blast
Friday was mellow as I had gone to watch "The Longest Yard" and once again as I said in my last post.. you really can't go wrong with it if you are a Chris rock or an Adam Sandler fan
Saturday we decided to do something different. There is an organization called MyBindi and they had put together a south Asian comedy night. So I gathered up all the people I know who might be interested and 12 of us went out there not knowing what to expect. MyBindi is known to be one of them "lets get brown ppl together in a room so they can hook up to get married" type of organizations and most of their events are at clubs and bars.. All of which I have never attended. I was pleasantly surprised that the crowd that had come to this event was pretty balanced and there were people from all backgrounds there. It was real funny a 2 hour show and we decided not to stay for the after party which in other words was the "now its time to hook up brown people together". Basically we went to eat some sushi and decided to do our Sunday poker on Saturday and so the night rolled on and I came out 120$ richer which feels great :)
Today was a little different .. I discovered a new thing in Toronto (well its new for me) some part down near the lake shore called " The Distillery District" .. even though the weather was kinda crap the atmosphere was real nice and there was some kinda jazz festival going on. If it wasn't raining I probably would have sat there all day. They have a lot of nice restaurants there and the one we went to was called The Boiler House... Check it out they have a buffet for brunch on Sundays real nice a bit pricey though but the atmosphere was worth it. Now that I am done writing I am gonna cuddle up on my couch with a blanket and watch the Miami/Detroit game.. I am in need of some alone time and this game is just what the doc ordered. I shall return tomorrow with my sports update...
Nat

Monologue: Crash!!!

SHE LIVES....
Sorry I have been MIA for this week ... It's 5 am Saturday early morning and I finally got a minute to recap my week and the madness that has happened. May 2-4 came and went and the shortened week flew by but not without all sorts of drama. I had to go into the office this week which can I say is really a long commute from where I live so I have not had energy to blog this week. Here goes the first of many monologues to come...

Last weekend I wanted to get out of the city but with my dad still in town for two more days I was unable to do so as I only see him a few times a year when he comes here for work. Friday night I went to see the movie "Crash" for the second time and loved it even more. I got a chance to pick up on a lot of the little things I overlooked the first time I watched it but I came out with more questions this time around. Hollywood has thrown our way a movie filled with stereotypes but this time they seem real but then I ask myself ..."Do we as the audience really want to pay money to see the reality we deal with everyday for free?" For me personally yes... It was worth it because sometimes people need to be shown what they are doing wrong in a realistic way in order to try to prevent this wrong doing from repeating itself. I made everyone I know watch this movie so I urge you all to go watch it.. You will not be disappointed.

Saturday my dad was leaving so we did some family time and when he was safely at the airport my younger brother decides to reveal to me that he failed courses at York and he has been placed on probation! Freshman year... Freedom... Parents moved to Dubai.. All that put together basically added to his laziness and he basically blew his first year of college. I have a 10 yr age gap on him and even though he isn't a poster child I have always had his back. I was a rebel when I was young but he has taken it to a new level. He tells me he needs me to tell my parents... Ugh.. I am not angry with him I just can't understand how he let it go so far without coming to me earlier. I'm thinking I shall wait a week to reveal this info to the parents.

Sunday kinda went by with the usual poker night and catching up on sleep and TV. Monday was my cousin's baby shower which was very random as it was put together last minute and we had no chance to get presents. I mean if you invite me on Sunday evening to a baby shower the next day when the entire city is closed for a holiday.. Chances are ..." YOU AIN'T GETTIN NO PRESENTS!!" I went back to my parents and some ppl were over we decided to have another poker game... Yes... I know I sound obsessed with the game but hey if I can leave every night 40$ richer I ain't turning that shit down!

Pretty drama free you say!! Not for long....

Monday night ... Last day of the long weekend a bunch of us decided to do up a poker game. I called my youngest brother and asked him if he wanted to join us and he was like "naa we just got some fireworks and we gonna blow them up at z's house"... So I'm thinkin aite cool. 10 minutes later I see my phone ringing and its him and I'm thinking ok maybe he does want to play. I pick up only to hear him crying ... He says "Nat... I crashed the car... Its really bad... Please come quick!" My heart was racing... All thoughts going through my head. I had just learned earlier that weekend he was on academic probation!! Now I gotta tell them he wrecked the car??? You gotta be shitting me...
My family moved to Dubai last summer so I am the eldest and end up taking a lot of responsibility for shit that goes down but man I didn't bargain for this! I get to the scene and there are nuff cops there and the fire engine and ambulance and all that. Mind you I never been in an accident so I don't know the protocol but they took statements and all that and after about 3 hours of standing in the rain ... We headed home. I drove him to the hospital to get his back checked and he got prescribed a good amount fo tylenol 3 (loaded with codeine) to get him thru the pain. Time difference and all I had to wait till 3 am to make the dreaded all to my parents.. But before that I drilled my bro. First question " WERE YOU HIGH?" cuz if he was I was not about to defend his ass to my parents saying it wasn't his fault. He wasn't... he was actually sober and scared. He kept saying he felt stupid and he coulda taken the turn slower and that if his friends would have gotten hurt he woulda killed himself. After a lot of talking I asked him if he wanted to tell my dad and he was like no I'm more scared of him than of God. This infuriated me... I am not very religious but I am god fearing because only he can give and take the ultimate thing which is "life". My brother has no faith and it hurt me, because I say if you survive a head on collision with a maple tree!! You might want to check in with who decided you should live thru it. Anyways my dad was really cool about that and he kept asking if my bro was cool and if he was hurt and all that. I told my parents my brother will call them the next day. I took Tuesday half day off and did all the insurance stuff and we found out the car was a write off and my dad the angel of a man he is asked my brother " well what car do you want now since you need to get to work everyday for the summer" I looked at my brother and just said " you can crash his car... But just don't crush his heart.." My dad is one of the most amazing people I know and what he did with his reactions to everything just showed me that everything he does he does for us. (wow I am getting all emotional and I have rambled)

The next few days flew by as I had a lot of work to do ... and all I could do is look forward to the weekend. This time I ask for a drama free one. It has started off well I went to see "The Longest Yard" with some friends and it was funny.. I love Chris Rock and Adam Sandler so I knew I couldn't go wrong with this one. On my way home I just saw a bus driver scratching his bingo ticket while driving the bus... Insane... First thought.. ccrazyyy!! Second thought.. The only crash I want to see now is the kind that happens when my head hits the pillow and I fall into a deep sleep...
Nat out...

My quote for this post is about having faith... I am a big beliver in "Things happen for a reson" ... you do the best you can , but you gotta have faith and leave the rest to the one up above...
"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."- St. Augustine

No Shaq = No Problem!!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the top 5 sports news stories I was following for that week. I enjoyed sharing my thoughts and decided to make it a weekly post. I wont analyze each story as much but rather leave each topic open for some kind of debate. Hope you enjoy it... Without further adieu here goes my top 5 (Drumroll.... )

#5: Silver Medal and still no NHL

"After concluding a 14 hour session the NHL and NHLPA will meet again tomorrow"... those are just words to me that mean nothing. Rumor has it a private company has offered to buy the NHL for over $4 billion!!! I want this to happen.... We need to get this show back on the road already! Wonder what it might be called .. This new league if it goes through... hmm NAHL? (North American Hockey League)


#4: Juiced Up - Professional Sports are suffering

I know... This is old news, but truthfully its an ongoing saga that has been brewing for along time and has recently erupted. The Olympics have been scarred heavily by all the medals revoked due to athletes taking banned substances but this is a whole different ballgame. I mean, most of these people get paid millions of dollars a year to do something they love... Can't they just lay of the SUDAFED!! Professional sports have taken many punches in the past but this is a real Knockout. Expect to see some laws put in place in the near future.

#3: The Zen Master - destination? Unknown

He has 9 championship rings... There is place for one more before he will need to start using them as toe rings. The question still remains is which team is he going to take the next journey with... Above that does he want to even go on a journey right now? The most winningist coach in NBA playoff history can pretty much have a job with any team in the NBA and in the end, unlike most cases where management chooses the head coach, he has the luxury to chose his next destination. The cavs want him... The Knicks want him... The Timberwolves have looked into the option and who can forget the Lakers. He does have a tie to his previous team ( his girlfriend is the owners daughter) but will that be the enough to bring him back to babysit Kobe? Is he willing to build a relationship with a Jordan'esque "King James". He may just shock us all and not return at all.. Though I must admit I think the NBA needs him back.

#2: Who needs Shaq? - Nash was the right choice for MVP

The Miami heat did not need Shaq to sweep their 2nd series of this years playoffs... FACT.
Shaquille O'Neal is one of the most dominant players to ever play in the NBA... FACT.
There were whisperings everywhere when Steve Nash was awarded the MVP for the 2004-2005 NBA season and what we have seen in the playoffs should shut everyone the hell up. Miami has just proven to the world that they did not need Shaq as much as phoenix needs Nash. On another note... Bruised thigh and all...We hope to see the big man in uniform for this next series... MVP or not they need him against the Wallace tandem!

#1: Stern v/s Hunter - We don't need another lockout!!!

Did David Stern and Billy Hunter not see what has unfolded for the NHL over the past year!!! what is going on with sports? In the case of the NBA... the ticket prices are rising rapidly, the bloated salaries are commonplace, and the people have not completely forgotten the lockout 7 years ago yet. I am in no way saying that the NBA is in the same predicament the NHL is... this year in terms of quality of the game .. the NBA saw one of its better seasons. 19 year old players out of high school signing $100 million contracts is one thing, but the players union in this case needs to be careful where they tread, Mr. Hunter trying to use the "race card" as part of his strategy is just bullshit. There is just no weight to the story but at the same time David Stern needs to take control of the situation and get this new CBA in place sooner rather than later. This game has its share of issues and after seeing the ugliness of the NHL lockout, I dont think waiting till the 25th hour will bode well for the future of the NBA.

That's alot of info to take in so I shall end here and leave you with a quote about conflict. It seemed appropriate with all the conflict going on between the players and owners in professional sport.
"You can't shake hands with a clenched fist." - Indira Ghandi

edit: sorry for the crappy layout i am still figuring out blogger

I have a date with my TV

I wanna take a minute to thank the people who invented the PVR (TiVO : for all you American's) I do not know how I functioned without it... Actually I do but it was not so legal I guess, the whole download TV shows phenomenon. Thing is, sports precede TV shows on my priority list when it comes to my Daily TV lineup. Monday Night Football is watched live while, unlike before, I can just record all my other junk I love to watch. Wednesday is a tough night for me, as there are 6 1-hour long shows I follow. If I had no life it may be easy to watch 6 hours of TV straight (not that it would be healthy at all) but this is not the case... I do chose to go out with my friends and so this PVR has become like my new best friend but this one doesn't whine if I don't hang out with it... just sits patiently till I make a date with it and shut out the rest of the world.

Last Sunday was crazy!!! There was a Jays game to watch... then the world championships of hockey and all that was extra programming adding to the the ongoing NBA playoffs that had 3 games on the schedule that day. This heavy sports line-up meant I was going to rely on my PVR once again to take care of shows like Desperate Housewives and Greys Anatomy as well as Animation Domination (Family Guy and American Dad)
Monday nights after football season was great this year..,having converted my friends into serious "24" junkies I have them over to watch the show and then play poker or video games. I just let my PVR take care of my other Monday night shows. The other day my TV schedule was so nuts and I had made a promise to my friends I would spend some time with them. Problem was there was a big game on TV and they knew I was a little ticked off I was going to miss it. Then I looked over and grinned.. I was looking right at my PVR. This wonderful invention was going to allow me to tape the whole game and my other shows going on at that time and when I came home it would all be waiting for me. Sure I avoided every TV channel and radio station that might blurt out the score but it was sweet to come home and have a ball game to watch at 1 am :)

Now you might be thinking " dayum this woman is crazy!" but really... I grew up in a country where I had one television channel and that too the programming was in my native language which I barely speak. Yes it was rough watchin the Cosby show in Urdu and trying to watch the smurfs as a kid in a language I can barely speak. TV played no role in my life until I moved to North America 10 years ago and I don't know if its a good thing ( I watch a basketball game v/s play one with friends) but at the same time I feel I'm making up for lost time.. I did enough bike riding and colouring in books to keep me busy when I had no TV to watch but now I take pleasure in it and I have no problems telling my friends on a Sunday... " naa I aint leaving my couch ... I HAVE A DATE WITH MY PVR"

Here is a list of my top 20 TV shows and on any given day you will find my PVR taking care of archiving them for me :)
1: 24 - Drama/Action
2: Alias - Drama/Action
3: Lost - Drama/Action
4: Desperate Housewives - Soapy/Drama
5: Grey's Anatomy - Medical/Drama
6: Las Vegas - Drama
7: The O.C - Teen/Soapy/Drama
8: Numb3rs - Crime/Drama
9: Kevin Hill - Law/Drama
10-12: CSI ( NY, LV and Miami) - Crime/Drama
13: The Apprentice- RealityTV
14: The Amazing Race - RealityTV
15: America's Next Top Model - RealityTV
16: Joey - Sitcom/Comdey
17: Scrubs- Sitcom/Comedy
18: One Tree Hill- Teen/Soapy/Drama
19: Gilmore Girls - Teen/Sopay/Drama
20- Family Guy - Animation/Comedy

The quote i chose seemed fitting to be related to technology. I decided to use humour for this one... ENJOY :)
"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three." - Alice Kahn

POWAH POKAH CAN LEAD TO BAAAAD BEATS! - The obsession with Poker (Part 2)

"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned"- From the movie The Color of Money

Texas Hold'em has invaded my world and I'm hooked. This love affair began last summer when I started hanging out in the west end with my new friends and its been quite a ride so far. I have always gravitated towards all things that involved some level of risk taking as far back as I can remember. I did the Bungee jumping thing at age 15 off a bridge in the middle of New Zealand, next on the agenda was getting my sky diving certificate and that was followed by my frequent trips to Foxwoods casino (Connecticut) when I was in University (I was a fiend for Blackjack). This game though took it further, this was not just a risk...a gamble... but now there was mind games added to the mix. I love the rush you get just before the 3 cards are shown on he flop... even more than that... I love saying the two words "ALL-IN!!"

The words Tilt, Flop, River, Paint, and 4th street carry a whole different meaning for those who have entered the world of poker. When I hear the word river, I don't think about a stream of water that empties into the ocean, rather, I think about the last community card shown on the table when playing a game of Texas hold'em. Then that word will further trigger the memories of getting a BAD BEAT on the river. I came across a website dedicate just to this "rivered again" and it made me smile... Yes!!! Bad Beats deserve a shrine :) Now I know I am not alone when it comes to getting fucked on the river!
p.s: I am soooo buying one of these t-shirts soon... I love it!

At the start of this affair with poker it was hard... I lost a lot in order to learn the game. I went days losing 10$ a day in hopes of becoming better at the game and as they say practice makes perfect. As winter rolled around and we began to play cards more since it was too cold to go out I started winning a few games here and there and before you know it I am running weekly game at my house. Religion Sundays was already in place for me at the time as Sunday is my holy day... 11 hours of Football!! We just added a new dimension to it... watchin the game and playing poker... I was in heaven :) All this time I am still working on a good poker face ( still don't have a good one) but my friends know all my tells so we want to expand the circle. I call up a few acquaintance's and turns out they always lookin' for a good game... this sounded good to me.. new people wont know how I play easier to play with them. From their perspective it was " No gurl gonna be takin my money!! This is going to be easy!!" The games were great... On any given day I could get together 8-10 people and put together a game at my place. Things have since spiraled out of control as I now and getting phone calls from friends of friends of friends asking if I am running a game and if not then they try to coerce me into it. I mean its great winning random peoples money but I cant do it every night. Over the last 2 weeks I played poker about 8 days... a bit excessive even for my liking. For now I'm pokered out.. I am taking a 2 week hiatus.

On that note here is my top 3 bad beats I took that sting me even thinking of them and stung even worse when they happened!

1. My hand = jack and ten off-suit : Community cards= (flop)queen, 8, 9 (turn)2 (river)2. Hand that fucked me over = Queen , 2 off-suit!! (thanx Chris)
My gripe: Now I have flopped a nut straight and a pretty high one too!! Who the hell plays a queen 2 off-suit when u are not in the blinds!!! As you can tell a runner runner happened and I got fucked on the river by the full house that beat out my straight! I didn't go all-in on the flop because I felt I had a chance to extract more chips from the other players in the hand. In the end I ended up losing half my stack :(

2. My hand = Ace, Queen off-suit : Community cards= (flop)queen, 9, Ace (turn)7 (river)10. Hand that fucked me over = Jack , 8 suited (thanx Adam)
My gripe: Now I have flopped the top two pair. I raise and the aforementioned calls along with two other people at the table. When the turn comes I raise a lot others bow out and he re-raises I guess he is got a half bluff going and so I call it. Here comes the turn!! and there it is... rivered again. He goes all in and I call it the fool I am and *boom* just like that I am done for the night. Why would u chase a close ended straight so far into the hand I will never know but I do know it was a bad beat if I ever seen one.

3. My hand = Ace, 10 off-suit Community cards= (flop)queen, 10, Ace (turn)2 (river)queen. Hand that fucked me over = queen , 10 suited (thanx m)
My gripe: Now I have flopped the two pair ace high. I raise all-in as I remember the last time I got rivered. When I didn't play aggressive in this situation. I get one person who calls me he has hit 2 pair as well with queen high. I am short stacked so this was my time to make a move. Turn gives me some breathing room and I am grinning only to see a queen show up on the river!!! He made the full house and once again I was fucked on the river.

That my friends is a glimpse into my poker nights. If I can recommend a movie about it, the best one made has to be Rounders with Matt Damon. It has tons of classic poker lines and great drama. If you like poker and haven't seen it yet... you are missing out... so go to your nearest movie rental place and grab it.. Until next time "may your cards be live and your pots be monsters!!" - from the world poker tour.