Busy

And so ends quite the eventful month for me, and the coming months will hopefully be just as eventful. All I know is that in five months I will be seeing Madonna live in concert. I am so excited about it. In two weeks I will be going to Vegas, hopefully for a nice relaxing rest this time. I plan to catch Indiana Jones soon. In July my most anticipated movie, Mamma Mia will be released on the 18th. On the same night will be the release of The Dark Knight.

Life is good.

Listen to Your Heart

My cherished Madonna tickets have become quite the conversation pieces at work. There are those that still think I should sell them for an obvious profit. There are those that still think I should go see the concert from one of the best seats in the house. There are those that still think I should go see the concert and sell the other ticket for big profit. In the end I must do what I feel in my heart, and that is to take a friend and leave it at that. I'll always have a chance to make money. In fact, maybe I will come across tickets in the next five months. I can still try to sell those.

But to wait 25 years and not get the best seats that I could, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

Dilemma

My cherished Madonna tickets can be picked up at the Ticketmaster on Wednesday. But today at work I've been stuck in a quandary. Here is my line of thinking and options regarding my two awesome seats for Madonna. Once again, with taxes, they came out to about $350.

Tickets in the same area are going on eBay for a total of $1000-$1500. I'm guaranteed to make money if I sell them (whether it's on eBay or Craigslist). I could probably sell them, buy two tickets for myself at a lower price (and obviously worse seats) and still make a profit.

Let's assume my love for Madonna transcends my love for money. I'll never get a chance to be 16 rows away from one of my music idols. So I decide to keep my tickets. Well, what do I do with the SECOND ticket? Perhaps by then I've found Ms. Right and we'll be madly in love and I'll have no qualms about treating her. After all it only cost me $175. But if I am still in the running for The Bachelor at that time, should I take a friend and charge cost for the ticket? Do I try to sell ONE ticket on eBay, and possibly even make enough to pay for my own ticket? But then how silly would it look if I went to the concert by myself?

Madonna or money?

Deal or No Deal?

After another unsuccessful night trying to win the Bad Beat jackpot at Edgewater (it's over $82,000) I had breakfast with Jackeline but by then it was 8am. I set my alarm for 9:30am and then made sure my laptop was working perfectly. At about 9:55am I went to the Ticketmaster website and waited and waited until the clock struck 10am. The website wasn't accessible until 10:03am but suddenly I saw in front of me two floor tickets in the 16th row for $165 each. It was an easy decision and now I have two tickets to see someone I've been waiting almost 25 years to see in concert. Next to ABBA, this is the one concert I regret not ever seeing. But on October 30, I'll be there.

Then again I could probably sell the 2 floor tickets and probably make $1000 IN PROFIT. But it is Madonna.

Back to the Edge

After dinner with friends last night I ventured to Edgewater and played some $4/$8 limit. I quickly remembered why I stopped playing $4/$8 at Edgewater. Generally it's a crapshoot. No matter how strong your hand is preflop, you'll almost certainly get somebody (often a few people) who stay until the river and more often than not outdraw you. I was down early but in the end managed to only lose $70 for about 6 hours of "work". I guess I'm just "training" for my Vegas trip next month.

Yee Haw

It's not too busy at work due to the Cloverdale Rodeo going on just across the parking lot. It seems the Cloverdale folks are more interested in the fair than the casino. As a result, it's been quite the relaxing day here. The next two days I have some rare night shifts before three days off.

Lost Wages

Thanks to a very good friend, I get to stay in some city called Las Vegas for three nights at MGM FOR FREE from June 16-19. All I have to do is pay for my flight. I haven't been back to Vegas for a few years now so it will be nice to see it again. I can't wait to visit the Wynn for the first time, and then check out some of my old haunts: The Gambler's Bookstore, The Coca-Cola Museum, The M&M Museum. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see a show FOR THE FIRST TIME. And from what I hear, they have casinos in Vegas so I'll probably get to do some of that.

Greed is not Good

I returned to the poker waters last night when Jackeline and I decided to go to Starlight after dinner for some $1/$2NL. Cardswise it was miserable. I won an early hand (unfortunately it was from Jackeline) but really got nothing after that and my blinds just dwindled away. Once in a while I would pay to see a cheap flop only to see nothing afterwards. I made one mistake and it cost my dearly. But that's the way it is. Of course the fun part is I just got home 30 minutes ago and now must get ready for my 4am shift. Hee hee, just like the good ol' days. RED BULL.

Sorry

I learned a harsh lesson tonight in thinking before you speak (or in my case, thinking before I text). Sometimes even the most innocent of statements can offend someone. So Brenna if you happen to come across this blog, I'm sorry I said what I said.

Tragedies

My heart goes out to all the families and everybody in general in Asia. In the matter of a week they have gone through two absolutely horrific disasters. It is scary to think that 50,000 people have lost their lives in Burma and China.

Happy Mother's Day

For all those trivia buffs, this is the 100th anniversary of the first Mother's Day. So to all those who are Moms or those who have Moms, HMD.

Desperately Seeking Madonna

It seems implausible to think that in all of Madonna's amazing career, she has never had a concert in Vancouver. That will change on October 30 as she loses her Vancouver virginity at General Motors Place. Next to the ABBA reunion that will never occur, there is no one on this planet that I would want to see more.

So now the question is, how much is she worth? The tickets will range from $55 in the nosebleeds to $350 floor seats. IF I am able to, I can pretty much justify paying for the best seats. The problem will be if I am unable to get the great seats before they are sold out (and of course they will be sold out a few minutes after they go on sale May 24). So I can only hope that the stars are aligned and I manage to get tickets to see Her Madgesty. This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime concert.

Iron Man

It took me almost a week but I finally got a chance to see this, the latest in the superhero movie genre. There was a lot of hype and good reviews and the movie did not disappoint. I've always liked Robert Downey Jr. as an actor and his performance was excellent. Gwyneth Paltrow was delicious as the assistant. The film reminded me of Transformers.

And in case you don't already know, stick around to the end of the credits for a little surprise.

Crystal Ball

My Hollywood predictions for the next 365 days, whether you care or not:

1) Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon will be separated and divorced
2) Miley Cyrus will be photographed at a dance club drinking something alcoholic
3) Britney Spears will be arrested for something
4) Lindsay Lohan will be back in rehab
5) Paris Hilton will not help children in Iraq even though she promised she would
6) Another 16-year-old actress or singer will get pregnant
7) The opening night for The Dark Knight will exceed all expectations as a tribute to Heath Ledger
8) I unfortunately will be watching Mamma Mia the Movie on that night

Post Mortem

Now that I've had a good night's sleep I can intelligently reflect on the 2007-2008 season for the Montreal Canadiens. It was an amazing ride. At the beginning of the season they were picked to be near the bottom of the standings in the East. But they defied the odds and at the end of the regular season they were first in the East. One can argue they were too young for the playoffs, or that perhaps they needed a veteran goalie. To that I say whatever. Those boys played their hearts out and as a rabid Habs fan, I was impressed with the class that the fans showed after the Flyers scored the empty-net goal to "seal" the game. How often do you see a standing ovation for a team that squandered a 3-1 lead in the game? That's what being a Montreal Canadiens fan is all about. It's not about giving up, or jumping on and off the bandwagon, or spending more time insulting the other team instead of cheering your own team.

I can't wait for next year's playoffs.

Love Always

It was a love affair that started many, many years ago when I immigrated from Hong Kong in 1972 and was introduced to a game called hockey and a team called the Montreal Canadiens. It has been a great love that has gotten better with age. And even though the last few years my beloved Habs went through hard times, my love has never died. And, if it is actually possible, this year I fell in love with my Habs once again. It is true what they, to be a Habs fan is a religion. It was beautiful to hear the greatest fans in the world CHEER their goalie even after the fifth goal. This was because to almost everyone in that building, the last 6 months have been an amazing ride, and even though we fell short, we can believe again.

To Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau and Carey Price, thank you for a great season. Thank you for making me fall in love again.

Forever Proud