I watched Super Bowl XXVII (27)

The Dallas Cowboys played in Super Bowl XXVII (27) in 1993 and we recorded it off the TV. I hadn't watched the video in several years, so I decided that I wanted to watch all three of the Cowboys' Super Bowls while I was off school.

I was 9 years old when this game was played almost 13 years ago. OJ Simpson did the coin toss and the game started kind of slowly until a Dallas punt was blocked and Buffalo got a 7-0 lead. Buffalo used a no-huddle offense all the time, which was kind of weird, I'd forgotten that. Dallas scored and then went ahead, and then kept scoring like crazy to win 52-17. Football is harder to watch without the yellow first down line that is now shown on all football broadcasts. The yellow first down line has only been around for a few years, but it's really helpful.

I also found some of the old commercials to be entertaining - I actually kind of remember some of them, like the one with Bugs Bunny, Marvin the Martian, and Michael Jordan advertising Air Jordans. Also there was a commercial with Larry Byrd and Michael Jordan competing to make ridiculous basketball shots, like "through the window, off the scoreboard, into the basket, no rim." There was also an ad for Crystal Pepsi. I don't know when I'll watch Super Bowl 28 and 30.

Played poker last night

My friends and I like to play poker sometimes. My friends also like to play Trivial Pursuit, which is probably my least favorite game ever, for several reasons.

Last night we were talking about what to do and some people suggested Trivial Pursuit, so I spoke up and suggested we play poker, and fortunately other people thought my idea was good, so we ended up paying poker. We started with six people, which is probably as many as we ever have, and eventually people started to go out of the game. By 12 o'clock or so, I believe we were down to the final two people - my friend and me - who have been the last two people for the last several times we've played poker. The game dragged on, as we both continued to bet conservatively and when my friend had a good hand (or even when he didn't) and bet aggressively, I didn't have a good hand so I would fold, and then when I had a good hand and just bet at all, my friend would fold.

So, eventually, we both got good hands at the same time and we both went all-in. This was it, one of us would finally win, and it was going to be me, because I had a straight. So we laid down our cards, and he had the same straight. So, no money changed hands and we kept playing... Then, we both had good hands again, and we both went all in. There was an ace on the table and we both had an ace, but I had a higher ace, so I won the game with a pair of aces. I think I've won the last three times we've played, but I have probabably had more than my share of luck. We finished at 2:15, and I decided to just spend the night on the couch at my friend's apartment. I didn't sleep that well, but it was still a fun night.

Sun and reflecting pond

Taken yesterday at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Cold color scheme

My new color scheme was made to reflect the coldness of winter. I like it, it looks cold.

Movie review Midnight Cowboy

This movie is famous for being the only X rated film to have been named Best Picture. It might have deserved an X rating in 1969 when it was released, but it is more tame than some films that have been rated R more recently. Midnight Cowboy was a movie ahead of its time, not only by telling the story of Joe Buck - not the sports announcer, a pseudo-cowboy gigolo wannabe - and showing parts of some of his sexual escapades, but also in its artistic quality. The plot isn't the driving force of the film, but rather the two main characters and their struggles as they learn to take care of each other even as they try to tae advantage of others. Additionally, the scenery in the film is visually appealing, particularly Buck's bus trip from Texas to New York, which has the song "Everybody's Talking" as a backing track. While the original shock value of Midnight Cowboy has worn off, it remains a good character-driven and attractive film.

Rating: 7/10

Visited Gaylord Texan Hotel

My girlfriend and I visited the Gaylord Texan Hotel a few weeks ago in Grapevine. We were on our way to the Galleria in Dallas and had heard that the hotel was worth visiting, so we decided to stop in and look around.

The hotel was pretty large and really nice. The hotel had a large atrium whose main path was adorned with poinsettias. There were fountains and a stream in the atrium and there were also several running model trains. There was a concourse around the hotel along which there were some restaurants and shops. On one side of the hotel there was a model train traveling in a circle around several small houses made from candy, next to a large gingerbread house made from 4000 gingerbread cookies and 1800 pounds of candy. On one hand, the house was kind of neat because it was made from candy, but on the other hand - what a waste of food.

The hotel also connects to a convention center, which has several ballrooms and is probably why the hotel is so large when there really isn't much reason for that many people to want to go visit Grapevine. Anyway, the hotel was pretty neat and might be worth staying at if I wanted to stay in Grapevine for some reason.