The Bat Cave

-Following up on my goal to gain weight: since mid-March I’ve gained 14 pounds (144 —> 158) via lifting weights 3x a week, taking creatine, and bumping my daily calorie intake somewhere around the 3000-4000 range. I’m still roughly 27 pounds off my ultimate goal, but I wanted to achieve that by October, so I feel pretty solid about my current progress. I can’t really say I can see the 14 lbs, but I definitely feel healthier and a bit more in shape… but most importantly, I feel good.

-Fuck poker. Honestly. I hate the game. I made it a goal to not play at least twice a week, but the actual result has been not playing roughly five times a week and the few days I do play are very limited sessions. I just don’t have it in me to devote hours and hours anymore to something I really don’t enjoy in the least. Here’s the problem: I don’t like playing cards nearly as much as I like making fast money–at least not on the internet. I enjoy the camaraderie of playing with actual people, but something about playing online allows the inevitable bad beats and cold streaks to just drive me completely fucking crazy; it makes me absolutely miserable sometimes. Despite cutting back on my playing time by roughly 90%, I have managed to eek out my first winning month of 2009 (assuming I didn’t just jinx myself). It’s admittedly a moderate pull so far, but it’s refreshing to know that I’m still capable of being a winning player.

-I’m recording a new album. Yes… I know I’ve said this before and it has been six years since I released Relationshits and I might as well be retired at this point, but I’m in a zone… the kind of zone I haven’t hit since I was recording Relationshits. I’m deep into the writing process and I’m just starting to record songs… Despite that, I think a summer 2009 release date is pretty likely at this point although that time frame doesn’t correspond with my trend of releasing my music on one of my famed “cursed” days (I’m looking at you February 14th, October 12th, and December 20th). Anyways, I’m far enough along with the project to know that it’s going to be called Leaving Las Vegas. That’s a reference to the Nicolas Cage film since my battle with and recovery from alcoholism is a central theme and gambling also played a rather large role in the downward spiral that was my life from 2005-2008. I should have some guests on the album as well, but I’ll wait a little bit before I air that information. Stay tuned.

-Eminem’s album Relapse comes out in roughly a month. So far I’ve heard four tracks from Eminem in 2009 and I’m not really sure what to expect from the album. Here are the four songs that have been leaked/released: 3 A.M., We Made You, Crack A Bottle, I’m Having A Relapse (Freestyle). Based on the quality of those tracks, I think Relapse is likely to be better than Encore, but still disappointment overall. I think it’s highly likely that the Eminem from 1999-2002 that was poised to be one of the best emcees of all-time is dead and will never come back. However, the lyrics and flow seem to be back–dude absolutely rips “3 A.M.”–but for whatever reason, Eminem seems incapable of rapping in a normal voice anymore. Every single one of those songs I posted has him using his Triumph The Insult Comic Dog/Arabian voice from “Azz Like That.” I don’t get that shit at all… it’s wack as hell. Hopefully dude can at least put it together long enough to be sincere when he inevitably touches upon Proof’s death.