It's been a solid week in Berkeley so far. I rolled into town and met up with a bunch of my old college heads and have been having a great time so far. The Cal/Michigan State game did not disappoint, as it went down to the wire, with Cal pulling out the win, 38-31. As an added bonus, I got to kick it with my brother, who is the newest Cal-Berkeley student in the family (!). I couldn't be prouder of him and it is so cool...and so weird...to see him rolling around my old haunts here in Berkeley. He's a little militant, telling me already that he will never wear a Berkeley t-shirt because he doesn't want to "conform", but I know that he is going to kill it here and have an absolutely sick time in college.

Other than that, I have been going on the sickest long runs here. The weather has been absolutely unbelievable and I just can't help throwing on the ipod and just tearing through the hills and the campus here. Berkeley is one of the coolest, and prettiest, town as well as campus, that I have ever been to and I'm loving remembering just how great it is here. I really think that in a few years I might just move back here, either to the Berkeley hills, or perhaps to the North Bay and Mill Valley or Sausalito. There is just something about the Bay, man. It gets in you... Poker Videos

I also got lucky and one of my oldest friends, Kevin, scooped me up and took me to a semi-secret show with Beck last week at the Independent in San Francisco. Kev is one of the truest dudes that I know and it is always a blast getting to spend some time with him. We had a few drinks and enjoyed a kick-ass set from Beck. The Independent only holds about 500 or so people, so you can imagine what an intimate show that can produce. It did not disappoint...

Hmmm, what else, what else? Just finished up listening to Sarah Palin give her RNC speech in Minnesota. She is definitely a tough woman, no doubt about that. The beginning of the speech left me a little nervous as I thought she came out excellently, throwing punches and showing that she is tough as nails. This is, of course, generally what the VP candidate does...those dirty jobs that the Presidential candidate can not. As she continued though, the venom got a little old. It's all good and tough to go on the attack, but in the end you need to have something behind that tough talk, and she really didn't. Palin didn't really give any examples of what her ticket intends to do or how they intend to do it, but rather simply wanted to attack Obama in every way imaginable. In the end, I just felt that she was a little full of hot air. In the coming month, the Repubs will need to show what they actually stand for, rather than just trying to bring down what the Dems stand for. We'll see how it develops, obviously...I'm sure you can guess who is getting my vote...haha...

That's it, my peeps! I'm fired up for the DMB shows this weekend and ready to cut loose. The shows should be pretty amazing and if you're going, be sure to stop by Henry's on Durant for some pre-show drinking and hanging out. PokerRoad fans represent!

peace,
J