Pool Cue News and Review

Not too much in the news today to report on, so I spent some time trolling around looking for anything to write about.  Sure, I could take a day off, but I saw a couple of items I just felt the need to share.

First, someone on the AZ Billiards site posted a ton of pictures of Jasmin Ouschan breaking and shooting.  You can check out all the pictures here, but I linked to one so ya’ll could get an idea of what they are.  Jasmin seriously has some amazing chops.  I give her grief from time to time, but from a raw talent perspective she really has the potential to run wild on the WPBA tour.  By the way, is it just me, or does that girl’s break look exactly like Johnny Archer?

The second is a blog post that just made me chuckle Beavis and Butthead style.  People are constantly giving me grief for mentioning that certain pool players are “all about the ladies”.  Well, it seems that I’m not the only one that thinks so.  I can’t remember what I Googled to find it, but there’s this site called AfterEllen.com where they talk about all things lesbian and bisexual.  Naturally, there was a post about the ladies of the WPBA with the readers using their gaydar to try and ID their favorite players.  Some of the comments are pretty damn funny.  See… its not just me that talks about this stuff after all!

So Turn The River had its New York premier the other day in what I consider to be a very cool setting: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC. If you’ve never been, you should go. Even if you’re not a big art nut, MOMA is still a mindblowing experience.

The premier didn’t look to be Aquaman spectacular, but it wasn’t supposed to be. Thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay, sometimes we forget that movies are in fact a work of art… some are just a little more artistic than others. As for the premier itself, I’ve been told that good times were had by all. I was browsing through some of the PR pics and what did I see but Famke, Lorelai Gilmore and Lisa Loeb all in the same room. Damn Digger Stiles… you got game!

The flick is finishing up its run of film festivals over the next couple weeks, so it will be screening in Indy at the Indianapolis International Film Festival April 25th and for all you Southies, it will be screening at the Boston Independent Film Festival on April 25th and 26th. Left Coasters, the flick rolls into your town at the Landmark Theater on May 6th and then officially opens on May 9th in NYC and May 16th in LA.

The cast has some serious acting chops and for you die hard pool fanatics, Tony Robles will be heating up those barbox tables. Don’t expect to see it at your local AMC, but hopefully it will get a few hundred screens on a limited release. For those who didn’t catch it the first time, you can watch the trailer below.

Move over Angelyne, because there’s a new billboard queen. I was checking the news on AZ Billiards this morning and once again, Ms. Ouschan was on the front cover looking all hot and scowley (is that even a word?) with her cute little face all scrunchy looking serious and stuff. I kept getting distracted though by the 5,000 billboards that seem to be covering almost every square inch of her shirt.

Now I’m not one to talk since I just whored the shit out of my website Google style so I can get my $0.31 per day in clicks, but damn girl! You look like you’re one step away from having Golden Palace sponsor your forehead. If a hot blond can get her pregnant belly sponsored by Golden Palace, you could probably get them to sponsor just about anything you want!

Oh yeah, congrats on making it to the Round of 32 at the World 8 Ball Championships. Hard to believe you made it this far after you crapped out so early in San Diego, but that’s pool I guess.

I’m sure you’ve all seen it before. It gets more TV time than any pro pool player and for the past few years has been by far the most popular cue ball on the market. Even so, I figured I’d share my $.02 on the ubiquitous Aramith Pro Cup (aka Measles) Ball.

So, why spend 30 bucks on a cue ball you might ask. There’s really only one reason: feedback. When you play with a regular cue ball and use English, you get very little visual feedback. Sure, you can see the general trajectory of the ball, but you can’t see any spin. The measles ball shows you how much spin you’ve intentionally or unintentionally put on the ball. It also happens to be an Aramith ball, so you’re getting the highest quality cue ball on the market.

That being said, if you’re really cheap, you don’t need to spend that kind of scratch on a cue ball. You could buy a standard Aramith cue ball and go ghetto style on it, coloring in big red dots on the ball. This will give you the same feedback, but the real feedback you get will be from all the other pool players who see your homemade ball and call you a cheap tool until you submit and get a real measles ball.

In all seriousness though, if you want to get better at playing pool, you really should pick one up.

Color me disappointed, but it looks like the latest hotly anticipated flick to feature pool isn’t going to be in the theaters long. Sony has opted to make Zombie Strippers a short run “limited engagement” and my town isn’t one of the 14 that made the cut to get distribution. I don’t know what the guys at Sony are thinking. This flick has a little bit of everything. Its got zombies, strippers, sex, gore, a secret government conspiracy and even stars Freddy Kruger himself Robert Englund as well as a newcomer by the name of Jenna Jameson. I haven’t seen any of her work, but I hear she’s got some crazy talent.

Now you might be asking yourself why I would include a clip for this movie in a billiards blog.  Well sir, I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but I’ll I can tell you is that it involves Jenna Jameson and projectile pool balls.  In answer to your next question, yes, I’m sure this movie will be available for rental soon.