5 friends I was thinking about Today

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Oct 252011
 

As I sit and ponder about the past I smile as I remember these 5 friends and the good times we had together.

Kristina Smith, Blake Kelso, Kalli Horne, Joe Busi, Courtney Faber

Kristina Smith

I can’t say I’ve met anyone else who actually made “Ke$sha” look like sober church girl! We first met when she came to the house after responding to a roommate ad for a spot that opened up in the Seville house.  She stuck around and that night we met up with Shawn and Michaela at Cadillac Ranch.  We put down a lot of beers, shots and more than I could count.    We were the last two left in the bar as it was closing and we had to go.   Unfortunately she had drove and I couldn’t drive stick.  She convinced my drunk ass that she could and we ended up about 3 blocks before I realized her eyes were closed.  Luckily my roommate Blake was awake and came to the rescue.   We had many good times after that, and plenty of times that pissed each other off, haha, I remember the time I got pissed for some reason and took the phone out of your hand and threw it across the room.  I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking.  I miss you smile, I miss your jalapeno cheesy eggs and most of all, i miss your FACE!  I hope life is treating you well and you continue to your dreams!

Blake Kelso

I first met Blake at the Excalibur Poker Room during a 1/2 NL game at the new electronic tables they had for a trial period.  It failed, they brought the dealers back after 6 months.  I had entered my Poker Stars name “Sandviper23″ and after a few hands Blake had recognized my name.   It turns out we had played quite a few hands together online and we got to talking.  Blake was pretty wasted that night but we did talking about the new poker house.  About a month later he moved into our 9 bedroom poker house and we’ve been friends ever since.    He met his girlfriend Lee at one of our parties and they are still together after 2 years.  Here is a video of his birthday party at the poker house when we through him in the pool! Haha!  Hope poker is going well for you buddy!  2012 WSOP Champion! You’re due!

Kalli Horne

I first met Kalli at the Seville house with Ashley and we became roommates for several months after.  She was always down to do anything, but also capable of changing her mind on the way out the door.  Horne, Dash, what is your real last name anyway?  One of the funniest things I remember was when we were sitting on the couch and you gave your password away to someone who told you they had naked pictures of Breese or something? haha, i don’t remember exactly, but BAM! you’re facebook got hacked and you struggled for an hour to try to beat them back into it.   Straight up, the most down to earth and chill girl I know, even though you love to hate on the ones you love, its all in good fun.  Until Vegas brings us together again, bottoms up!

Joe Busti

Its been a while since I’ve seen Joe.  We first met through John Tollison and the WPDG “Wed Poker Discussion Group” which we all attended regularly way back in they day.  2004?  We became roommates in my first Vegas house and played more internet poker that year than I ever remember.    Joe was the only person I knew that was so into grinding that instead of taking breaks to go pee, he’d keep empty Gatorade bottles in his room so he didn’t have to miss any hands.   After moving back to Austin, he’d occasionally come back to Vegas and rent the out the closet under the stairs cause it had just enough room in the back to fit a twin size mattress.  Joe is doing great now and has a beautiful family.  I wish him all the best!

Courtney Faber

I met Courtney back in 2005, when I first moved to Las Vegas. Courtney didn’t drink back then, so our adventures were not of the partying type per say… but more of the random things that normal people wouldn’t consider fun. One day she decided to go on a Canadian road trip with one of my roommates at the time, and although I knew it was headed for disaster, they both seemed to think it would be a good idea. I still don’t know exactly what happened… Anyway, I never met a sweeter girl ;-);-) Miss you! Hope all is well!

A Music Bar in Prague

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Sep 282011
 

Went out with friends to a Music Bar in Prague called Madonna Music Bar.  My Prague days are limited as I will be flying to Bangkok soon.

2011 City Review : Budapest, Hungary

 City Reviews, Daily Blogging  No Responses »
Sep 032011
 

 City Review : Budapest, Hungary 2011

When :

August 31st – September 2nd 

Where I stayed :

Retox Hostel.  Located in the middle of the action.  Price was around $12 per night and has okay wifi with two public computers.  The staff was friendly and very knowledgeable about the city.  Every night an event was planned to party hard.  They had the grand opening of a new bar that is part of the building and was very busy, however the nightly events they plan are always somewhere else and you have all of your hostel mates to party with.

I slept in a room with 7 bunk beds.  I felt generally safe and had a free locker to put my stuff.  Although I really enjoyed my stay there, the main downside was that it was kind of hard to sleep during the day because the room was very bright and too hot to sleep.

Currency :

Forint or Huf.  100 huf = .50 cent.

Beer Factor :

In general, beer was about ($2) 400 huf  for beer draft beers in nice bars and restaurants.   I really enjoy all of the different local Hungarian beers that I tried on draft.   Among the top 5 countries with the best beer in the world.

Food Factor :

Burger King was  ($6-7)1200-1500 for a medium size combo meal.  Other food included pastas, goulash soup, and lots of dishes with meat and bread types.  Prices range from 800-200 on average.  My favorite food there was actually late night beef gyro wraps.  I had plenty of them, 600 huf each.

Female Factor :

Being in the main tourist area for my visit I was disappointed that I didn’t get to meet any locals.  However I did randomly end up with a quick video of a local girl while I was testing my new HD cam.

Most Overrated :

Goulash Soup.  Everyone talked about how good this traditional Hungarian dish was and I was recommended a good place to try it.   I won’t be having it again.

Click Budapest Photos

Personal Trip Summary :

I really enjoyed the city of Budapest.  Octagon square, the area we stayed in, was loaded with bars, people and restaurants and everything was easy to get to, no taxis, buses or trams needed.  We saw a lot and never had to spent more than 5 minutes walking to anything.  This is a place that I could go back to and live for a summer.

Two short blog post from my Budapest Trip.

50 cent Beer Night and 1st night in Budapest

50 cent Beer Night in Budapest

 Daily Blogging  1 Response »
Sep 022011
 

Everyone at the Hostel I am staying at was talking about this place called Morrisons which featured 100 forint beer night on Thursdays.  100 huf or (forint) is about 50 cents.   Needless to say it was a good night.


We met some French girls at dinner and brought them with us to the bar.  In this pic, Shane a.k.a. “thegr8str8″ from twoplustwo (a poker player) is bring over some tequila shots … I guess 50 cent beer wasn’t enough.

4 hours later while sporting my new Retox Hostel shirt, I took full advantage of cheap beers and they took full advantage of me.  I heard the hot springs were great for hangovers, I guess I will see for myself tomorrow.

“The Pub” in Prague

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Aug 242011
 

The Pub in Prague allows customers to pour their own beer at there table. With a computerized beer tap, each person can keep track of how much they drink as they pay per ounce. Its a huge drinking competition, see who can drink the most of out your friends or team up and compete against the other tables. A big screen in the center of the bar shows which table has drank the most and will then flip to the national scene to show how the bar is ranked against the other Pubs around the country.

The Last 12 Months…

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Aug 232011
 

We threw a lot of House Parties (Las Vegas)


Below is a  video tour of one of our house parties

But like all good things, eventually… they come to an END… :(

You will be missed…

Late September 2010 – The Cops had had enough….

We had to move out

Teaming up with Roommates Ryan Parker and Jonas Dick, we went to Los Angeles for a few days

October 2nd 2010…  Everything I now owned was in 2 suitcase..

Getting HAMMERED at the Airport

Good Bye America! Boarding the plane highly Intoxicated.

I do not remember this...

 22 hours later, with a massive Hangover, I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand.

Spent 3 days in Bangkok

Temporary stay in Bangkok, then caught a Flight to Phuket.

The Island of Phuket

 Phuket “Pooh-Ket” was another world…

1st Night Kata Beach with Ryan & Jonas

Beautiful Beaches all over Island.  Kata Beach only a 5 minute walk.

The Island of Phuket (October 5th- December 26th 2010)

Found a hotel for $15 (500 baht) a night and partied it up for all of October.

Me, Ryan, Rudy and Thai Girls.

Rudy (yellow shirt) a fellow poker player and poster on twoplustwo, has been living in Phuket for many years and really helped us adjust to the new life in this strange land.

 

Beach House, November and December 2010.

Moved into a Beach House where I lived for 2 months with some fellow poker players

Partying in Patong Beach, Phuket.

Flipping for Shots with new poker player friends who now called Phuket home.

And as the life of a poker player goes, the ups and downs come with them.  In late December 2010 had a bad run on the tables and had to give up the luxurious beach house and move to a different.

October-December 2010 Results

Instead of paying $900 rent for a beach house room, I got my own place for $250 a month in Chiang Mai

Phuket to Chiang Mai 2 hour flight.

Ryan had arrived a few days earlier and we celebrated New Years Eve

I love Belgium Beer!

My sister Courtney came to visit for 6 weeks and loved Chiang Mai

Chang Beer Tower only $7

 April 2011  Song Kran!!

Song Kran is the Craziest Holiday EVER!

What is Song Kran??  Its a giant water fight for between everyone in the entire country for 5 whole days! Yes, 5 whole days.  Not lets stop and think about what this means exactly.  Yes, its hot,  yes, everyone has water guns, water hoses, huge water buckets in back of trucks and no one is safe.  The 1st couple days were fun, but when I just wanted to go to grab something next door I would get drenched by someone.    Yes, 5 days!  But I loved it!!

I loved Chiang Mai, $4 1 hour massages and this …

Popp'n Bottles for $10

 Played some softball with the local college team, Payap University.

I'm a FOOT taller than EVERYONE

Next Stop Philippines for 2 weeks

Manila in May 2011

After living in Thailand for a while, I didn’t care much for the Philippines.  Everything seems over priced and EVERYONE tried to ripped you off, hustle you, and bother you.  We had repeated horrible experience with cab drivers, over charging, having faster meters, one drop us a few miles in the wrong direction to run up the meter, making us 10 minutes late.  Manila was dirty, over crowded and a headache.

White Beach, Phillipines

Went to White Beach, Philippines for a few days and it was better than Manila, but still not a place I would recommend vacationing too.  Plus I found out the next day that the hot girl I was making out with all night was a lady boy.  Yeah, don’t go to Philippines.

May 2011 off to Prague!

After that, flew to Prague to spend the summer drinking and playing baseball for the Praha Eagles.  Now its the end of August and that concludes what happened over the last 12 months.

5 friends I was thinking about today

 Daily Blogging, Friends  No Responses »
Aug 222011
 

As I sit and ponder about the past I smile as I remember these 5 friends and the good times we had together.

Crystal Pherson, Shawn Vance, Nanci Pietras, Jason Kane and Niki Virga.

Crystal McPherson

I miss Crystal.  It was a Sunday night, we were hosting a beer pong tournament at the house and it was a little disappointing because I ended up out of the match early.  However, it worked out for the best as I went outside and that’s when I met Crystal for the first time, sitting somewhere around the hammock feeling really really good.  I miss all the times we spent under the influence,  in a world I haven’t been back to very often.   I miss the day at MGM pool and the night at Diablos.  I miss looking into her eyes and knowing we both felt the same feelings and thought the same thoughts.  We had many great times together and I wish that she could be here now to experience the new world I am in.  I just don’t ever want to repeat the “naked Jonas in my tub” night ever again :/

 

Shawn Vance

 I haven’t seen Shawn in forever, it was April 2010 in San Diego, California at a Padres games when the Braves were in town.  Atlanta won, we had some beers and I think I took down like 7 hot dogs in the all you can eat stands.   It was a good day.   I miss all of the adventures we had throughout Sweden,  Prague, South Africa and Las Vegas.   We put back a lot of beers together and I contribute 100% of my alcoholism to him alone.  Now he is living in Stockholm with his beautiful wife and baby girl and I hope them the best and hope that I able to afford to make it out to Sweden to visit within the next month.

Nanci Pietras

I remember the night we first met, Ryan and I were taking advantage of free drinks at the club before heading out to another location to meet some friends… we ended up staying there a little longer than expected.  I was a little closed off at first, but your friendly and real personality had me opening up to you fairly quickly.  Haha, I remember you signed into my facebook on my HTC hero phone and for some reason it wouldn’t let you sign out!  It took forever to figure out what was wrong, lol.  It was worth it though, however, I wish we could of spent more time together taking pictures of you with my hat and funny wig :p  I wish you the best in Philly and hope we will run into each other again during our travels.

Jason Kane

We met at one of my first house parties at the Rockin Seville House around the beginning of 2009.  It was unfortunate that we were never able to set up a day for his band to play at any of our parties.  We did have some good times, drank a lot of beer and it would of been great if we were able to have one last party on the strip with some of those green pills before I left ;)

Niki Virga

 It seems that all the times we spent together were pretty spontaneous, from a random drink at Ellis Island,  a mid day Yankees game at Barley’s Brewery and Casino, Foundation room, Cadillac Ranch, to Stoneys with a guy who ended up being the 2009 World Series of Poker winner.   I do remember the first night we met, it was at Blue Martini,  you were wearing a black top with blue shorts, actually, haha,  I have no idea what you were wearing, that would be creepy, but I do remember you were sitting down at a table and that encounter was brief.   I hope everything is well with you and I’m looking forward to a Yankees vs Braves World Series this year!

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