Tool

Never seen these guys live...would be an amazing show

New laptops/tablets, TV shows, movies, and other media

Agh...sick AGAIN much of last week! Not as bad as the supercold I had a few weeks before, but had the sore throat/sinus/cough thing going on. I've never been sick back to back like that before. WTF!!! The weather has finally taken a turn for the better. I am really dying to get out on the bike.

Anyway,I forgot to mention the Craigslist find from a couple weeks ago. Got a Samsung model 300v5a-a05us laptop with Core i7 CPU and 8GB RAM for $300. Gonna sell my Toshiba ultrabook to cover the cost. Will likely even make a few $$ on the deal. I purchased a 120GB SSD drive off eBay and tossed it in. I got some benchmark software and it screams. Only thing is, it's creaky/noisy and I think I still like my Asus better even though it's an i5 CPU, it still seems just as fast. It's also totally solid as far as its construction. I still wish either had a backlit keyboard.

So, being on a perpetual electronics upgrade kick, I offered a kid (like 16-18) $150 for the Google Nexus 7 he was selling on CL, and he accepted. Nice little tablet! I've been playing around with it for a couple weeks now too. Sold the Kindle Fire for $100 on eBay. Not quite a free upgrade, but worth the few extra $$.

As for phones, I am cool with my S3, but the new HTC One looks sweet. My mom wants a new phone pretty bad so I am recommending this or the iPhone, although the bigger screen really wins out, especially for older folks. Did I mention my mom has lost a bunch of weight? She's been dieting and actually even exercising. Good for her.

I recently joined Amazon Prime which seems pretty cool so far, but I am still unable to watch some of my favorite cable shows without paying. I like Walking Dead, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Louis CK, Californication, Homeland, Bates Motel, Workaholics, and Sunny in Philly. Walking Dead season just ended and Mad Men started last night. I was just saying how I never used to watch so much TV. Well, if the weather was better...One cool thing with AP is that you get free 2-day shipping on everything, which will pay for itself even before Christmas with all the business I do there. I rarely even buy electronics from Tigerdirect any more.

One item I'll be buying from Amazon will be the new Black Sabbath release coming out in June called 13. I've heard a couple snippets and it sounds good so far. First Sabbath release in 35 years with Ozzy. Looking forward to a tour! Sample here

Books! can't forget to mention the new book I'm reading. Recommended by TK and a few podcasters I listen to (Mysterious Universe, Paranormal Podcast). It's called John Dies At The End, and so far it's freaking fun. Movie is in my Netflix queue. There's a sequel that I'll pick up immediately after this one.

Speaking of podcasts, Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast is quickly becoming a favorite. It's just him ranting into a recorder, but his comedy is pure brilliance. Check it out!

Work is going great. Got a lab together a couple weeks ago, and got a ton done over spring break. I hope summer goes as smoothly. 

Sorry, no poker lately. Probably gonna hit the Shoe soon. Team tourney this coming weekend.

Weather

First week of April and it's been below freezing overnight since who knows when. No end in sight. We may hit 50 degrees this weekend. Meanwhile, every FB friend of mine seems to be vacationing in FL, posting pics by the pool, riding bikes, fishing, etc. I would love to be able to get outside year-round.

My friend Sean was in from DC last weekend. He was moving his mom back to town and crashed at my place Sat night. We just sat around talking all night and flipping channels on the tv. He had to head back to DC the next morning. He'll be back here on Friday with 1 band he's in, and back to Europe in a few weeks touring with Pentagram. Here he is from last year's tour. Rock and roll.