Man Made Meals : Kook Omelette

Here's something new I will be updating. I will start a food recipe section every few posts with a new man made meal created by me. I would like to start the first meal out with a homemade egg omelette recipe. Eggs contain all the essential proteins, minerals and vitamins you need to make it through the day. So let's get creative and kick our morning off with power.

Materials needed to make the Kook Omelette:
-two eggs
-hint of butter
-two slices of American cheese
-salt and pepper
-ham
-bacon bits

1. Obtain a frying pan and pre-heat it on a stove for several seconds on a low temperature
2. Cut a small amount of hard butter and throw the slice in the pan. Spread it around using a knife or spatula. You just need enough butter to get the pan 'slippery' which helps later.
3. Heat up the temperature on the stove to a high temperature.
4. While waiting for the butter to completely melt, crack two eggs into a cup and beat for about 15 seconds.
5. Pour the eggs into the frying pan and wait for about a minute as the stove heats them up.
6. Put two slices of American cheese into the pan (cheddar works good too). For better results, break apart the slices into several smaller pieces and spread around in the pan when putting them in.
7. Throw a few chunks of ham into the frying pan.
8. Add some bacon bits for even more added flavor to the omelette.
9. Shake a few hints of salt and pepper in the omelette.
10. Wait for a minute or two and fold the omelette in half using a spatula. (It's usually best to flip the omelette as soon as the cheese clearly melts inside.)
11. Check underneath the omelette and on top to check how yellow it looks.
Hint: If it is starting to get brown on both sides, then you are finished. If it is brown on one side only, flip the omelette in the frying pan to have the yellow side on the bottom. If the omelette is yellow on both sides, cook until they are both brown.
12. Enjoy.

This meal usually goes best with some orange juice or milk in the morning for breakfast. But, I also like to use it as a nice midnight snack every so often.

My Top 10 Poker Moments of All-time

So, after learning that my vacation days to Turning Stone Casino in New York got approved by Lowe's, I've decided to post my top 10 poker moments of all time for your amusement. Every moment occurred when I was playing Texas Hold'em Poker.

Listing from 10 to 1:

10. Watching the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event in which Chris Moneymaker won the championship. This was when I first started playing Texas Hold'em and started to get addicted to it. My personal favorite moment from this main event is this hand: click here

9. I make an incredible call on Pokerstars to win $26.65 with just a pair of threes, including a pair of nines on the board. The guy continually stabbed at winning the pot with huge bets. On the river he bet over $10 for me to call with just a pair of threes. I put him on a flush draw, and listened to my reading skills and called his bet. He was on a pure stone cold bluff. That was practically the only hand I could of beat there; a huge bluff. I called him and won the pot and amazed everyone in the room.

8. Playing Texas Hold'em with my buddies in my 12th grade trigonometry class with a "custom deck". The deck was made from 13 pieces of copy paper, and was played with because none of us could find a deck of cards in the area. Now that's addiction!

7. Purchasing and reading Phil Hellmuth's poker book, Play Poker Like the Pros. This book greatly helped me improve my poker game and understanding. I would recommend to it any poker player.

6. Playing in a huge 16 man tournament at my house with my brother and his college friends, I was playing at a table with my brother. I had a good amount of chips and was in decent position and raised with Ace Eight of diamonds. My brother raised my bet a huge amount, and I debated for a long amount of time and called the bet. The flop came down eight of hearts, and two lower diamonds. My brother bet to me, and I raised, in which he went all-in. I called the bet putting him on pocket tens. I knew I had the lower hand at the moment but knew that an ace, eight, or a diamond would win me the hand. My chances of drawing a card to win me the hand was roughly around 30% on each the turn and river. My brother actually had pocket jacks on that hand. A blank came on the turn, but I was ecstatic to see that the river card was a diamond, and I made my flush to beat my brother. I knocked him out of the tournament and he was very upset with the decision I made to call his bet there with a pair and draw. However, I would re-do that move a billion times in that situation. Especially, since I had a good idea at what he had.

5. Continually putting my brother's friend, Mark, on tilt in different tournaments at my house. I purposely showed him hands I previously played to get him confused when I actually played against him in the hand. I often did the opposite of what he was expecting, and I took many of his chips when he was playing poorly due to frustration. Mark even admits to being on tilt because of me several times. Click here for a definition of tilt.

4. The same exact guy from the 3rd top poker moment was in a different tournament with me. I had Jack Queen of Hearts and called a bet from the same player to see a flop. I was instantly pleased with the flop when I saw that it was 8, 9, 10 of hearts. I had flopped a straight flush, and I slow-played the hand hoping someone else would bet. Well, my online arch-rival from top moment #3 did all the betting for me. He bet on the flop, turn, and river. The last card was another heart, and he bet a huge amount to which I raised him all-in. He auto-called and auto-lost the hand. He actually had the ace of hearts and a 10, and was crushed big time when he lost the hand with an ace-high flush to my straight flush.



3. One time a guy online who shall remain nameless was criticizing my play. He called me a "fish" in a tournament for making a call on a bet that was actually well justified with correct odds. I caught on him in that hand, and won a nice pot, and argued with him online in the chatbox on Pokerstars. I automatically developed a hunger to take him out and when I was dealt pocket Jacks I raised to see him call. The flop came down 9, 3, 8 and I bet to which he automatically overbet the pot and went all-in. I debated thinking that perhaps he had Ace-nine suited or something like Ace-Eight suited, and I called the bet. He had pocket tens. Another person called our all-in bets with pocket eights and I needed to draw a jack on the turn or river to win. Neither person expected a Jack to come on the river and I beat his three-of-a-kind with my higher three-of-a-kind. I laughed for several minutes when this happened as he was eliminated from the tournament by me. Revenge was served on a very cold dish that day.


2. I once turned a $2 money transfer online from my brother on Pokerstars into $150 in about a month after winning numerous big hands in cash games and tournaments.

1. Just after turning 18, I took a trip to Turning Stone Casino in New York where it is okay to gamble at the age of 18. My family took me and I played an entire day at the cash Texas Hold'em tables. I showed up at the table with $100. I left the cash table after 4 or 5 hours with close to $390. At one point, I actually had close to $600 but lost a good amount bluffing a hand or two. I'll never forget this poker moment to me, especially since I was sporting a cool but intimidating look. I was wearing sunglasses over my eyes, and on the tip of my nose I had my glasses on.

Top Twenty-Five Driving Songs

So, it seems like I'm driving a lot now these days. And of course, I'm the kind of person who can't listen to silence in a car. I'd probably lose my mind. I actually use to have a Volkswagen with a broken radio. I got so fed up of not having music, that I actually would play my iPod and put my headphones in my ears while driving. Yes, not my smartest ideas, I know. But that's just how so important music is to me when driving, lol. It's so important that I actually decided to make a top 25 list of driving songs of old and newer songs. Here it is.

1. Radar Love - Golden Earring (Nothing beats the awesome drum beat in this song)
2. Flirtin' with Disaster - Molly Hatchet
3. Paint it Black - Rolling Stones (Everyone in the car can't help but hum the ending together)
4. Fuel - Metallica (Give me Fuel, give me Fire!!!)
5. Man in the Box - Alice in Chains
6. In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
7. Highway Star - Deep Purple
8. Highway to Hell - AC/DC (Great for driving late at night on a highway)
9. Panama - Van Halen
10. Kickstart My Heart - Motley Crue
11. Life in the Fast Lane - The Eagles
12. Paradise City - Guns N' Roses (Take me down to Paradise City)
13. Authority Song - John Mellencamp (Great for running away from the Police)
14. Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
15. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
16. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
17. Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty
18. Layla - Derek and the Dominos (Great guitar playing)
19. More Than a Feeling - Boston
20. I Can't Drive 55 - Sammy Hagar
21. Legs - ZZ Top
22. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2 (This song is a real spirit lifter)
23. Waitin' on a Sunny Day - Bruce Springsteen
24. Sex Type Thing - Stone Temple Pilots (Too BA to pass up)
25. All Around the World - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Colt shows up against the Colts

I was able to watch the Redskins beat the Colts Sunday night during the Hall of Fame game. I must say that I was impressed with one certain player; backup quarterback Colt Brennan. The 6th round draft pick from Hawaii showed a lot of energy, poise and throwing accuracy. When I heard that the Redskins drafted Colt, I was very pleased. I was satisfied because Colt is the type of player that gives 110% and is a team player. He set records in Hawaii. Many people are questioning his ability to play in the big game. But, I really think this kid might be able to be a starting quarterback in a few years. He brings a lot of energy to the team.

Colt completed 9 out of 10 passes during the pre-season game Sunday night and threw two touchdown passes. Also, on one pass Colt "threaded the needle" between a free safety from the Colts and hit his receiver right on the money. He also was a factor outside of the pocket as he rolled out a several times on a few passing plays. Colt has some great potential and I will not be shocked if he is eventually starting for the Washington Redskins. Of course, since it was pre-season, he was throwing against some 2nd and 3rd string defensive players. However, I think he made some fantastic plays that any defense wouldn't be able to defend against. Below are highlights taken from the game of Colt Brennan. Try to observe the amount of energy he brings to the table, and take a look at his accuracy as he made some great throws in some very tight windows. Those are traits you can't teach.

2008-09 NFL Season Arriving

The 2008 NFL season is already almost here. Tonight actually starts the beginning of the pre-season for the NFL 2008-09 season. My team, the Washington Redskins, will battle the Indianapolis Colts at 8PM tonight in the hall of fame pre-season match up. As a Redskins fan, I am somewhat pumped for the game. I know this game is the first game of pre-season which means the regular season is very close to starting. However, let's face it, pre-season isn't really that important. The record doesn't affect anything at all for the regular season. I've seen undefeated teams in the pre-season win a whooping 4 out of 16 regular season games, and have also seen winless teams in the pre-season go very far in the playoffs. I am a little excited to see that my team made the Hall of Fame game though. I'll be able to get a look and feel at how well some of our new rookies are. I'm anxious to see which rookie receiver out of Devin Thomas and Malcom Kelly will perform better, and I sure can't wait to see LaRon Landry make some mind-blowing hits on his victims. I also believe that the Skins offense will produce a lot of points and gain a lot of yards. I'm ready to see my favorite player, Chris Cooley make some nice catches this year. He should have a lot pressure taken off him from opposing defenses with the additions of Malcom Kelly, Devin Thomas and Fred Davis. My expectations for this season are mid of the range I suppose. I would like to see a playoff appearance for my team again this year, but am aware that there is a new coach in Washington. Coach Jim Zorn definitely looks like he is going to stress passing the ball more. I wouldn't be shocked if the Redskins call more pass than run plays even with Pro-Bowl running back Clinton Portis on the team. It should be an interesting season and I'm pumped for it to begin. To share my enthusiasm, I will share a video of Chris Cooley's Fantasy Football Profile. Enjoy.

Meaningless Nonsense: Bearded Tales

Nearly every guy has experimented with facial hair. Facial hair can make a unique statement about yourself. For example, full beards tend to give a more rugged look to a man. This sends a message of strength and power. I mean, Chuck Norris has a full beard, and no one ever questions his power or integrity. Chuck Norris once shot down a German plane by pointing his finger at it and yelling "BANG!" (Sorry, had to throw in a Chuck Norris joke there). More can be read about facial hair here.

I have experimented with many different beard styles in my life. I have tried to grow a full beard (didn't turn out too great), and even experimented with a mustache (also didn't turn out too great). Today, most guys that have facial hair, have either a goatee, mustache or both. I always wanted to be different than most guys and try to sort of make a unique statement about myself with something a little more creative. So, I thought to myself that you normally don't see too many guys with the "soul patch". This facial hair style is facial hair that's under the bottom lip. It is also known as the "flavor savor". I tried out this look, and I was instantly sold. It's easy to grow and trim, looks nice, and as silly as it sounds, it gives me confidence. It has a look that adds a little bit of boldness I think. People often tell me that I look like Tommy Lee from Motley Crue banging away at the drums in a concert surrounded by beautiful women when I'm wearing the soul patch (well not really ever, but I like to imagine that sometimes).

There's no doubt that different facial hair styles have different meanings. Let's review some different styles quickly.

The Full Beard: Adds a masculine, rugged look to the wearer. Conveys a statement of power and strength.
Famous users of the Full Beard - Chuck Norris, Geico Caveman
Characteristics portrayed - Strength, Power

The Goatee: This style often gives the wearer a different look with authority. It still presents a look of masculinity, but at times when it is trimmed very neat, it adds a look of maturity to the user. When you shave a goatee off anyone, normally they look a lot younger afterwards.
Famous users of the Goatee - Dog the Bounty Hunter, Mark McGwire
Characteristics portrayed - Authority, Maturity

The Mustache: This facial hair above the upper lip is generally the first facial hair that is grown by a male around his early teenage years. Usually it conveys a well-groomed manner to the user.
Famous users of the Mustache - Edgar Allan Poe, Super Mario
Characteristics portrayed - Neatness, Growth

The Soul Patch: The soul patch adds a some boldness to the user. It also gives the wearer a unique sense of style and comfort.
Famous users of the Soul Patch - Tommy Lee, Steve Vai
Characteristics portrayed - Boldness , Uniqueness

The Chin Curtain: This beard often gives the user an old fashioned style of look. It often gives the wearer a nice mild-mannered sense about him.
Famous users of the Chin Curtain - Abraham Lincoln, The Amish
Characteristics portrayed - Mild, Gentle

Here below are a few pics of me with different beard styles to show the different looks each one accompanies to give a few examples.



Notice below the difference with a clean shaved look as compared with the others. The clean shaved look gives a plain, clean and neat look to the user.



Clean