Phish and Their Next Album

When Phish played their Halloween set this year, hopes were high...super-high for an epic "costume" cover of anything from David Bowie to Michael Jackson. Instead, they gave us what could possibly be THEIR next album...It was epic in my opinion.
Below are the thoughts that I wrote out after listening to the set a few times.

Phish could have their "Touch of Grey" on the next album. The new songs show a more complete band oriented level of songwriting. The band is more mature...conscious, alive, and unafraid. Not to take chances, no, they do that on a nightly basis. Phish knows who they are. They are completely aware of the music that they make and are capable of conceiving, given the atmosphere that is to be emoted. The trick played on Halloween night in 2013 was a reinvention of the band. The songs, while also harkening back to ideas and compositions from previous decades material, sound like a reawakening of a full band spirit, not seen in previous incarnations of the bands sound. After listening through the "Wingsuit" set, the songs that follow in the late 3rd set are somewhat of an afterthought. Not that they are poorly played, mostly exceptional and glorious (as usual). More so, those 12 songs from set II leave you wanting more, and to dig a little deeper. At times you hear sounds that could have been left out of Junta, a reimagining of a cut off of Farmhouse, or a snippet from a sick tweezer jam from a year that you just cannot place.



Production could be the key to the success of the Wingsuit songs on the next album. The first 3 songs have a wonderful flow, and I thought John Siket could do wonders with the record as a whole or even on just a few songs. Now we find out that Bob Ezrin has come on to produce "Wingsuit" (if that's even the final album name that they end up going with - I like it), who is known for his work with everyone from KISS to Taylor Swift. But, it's his work with Pink Floyd that is really intriguing, even co-writing songs like "Learning To Fly" and "Take it Back" for The Division Bell. Alice Cooper even went so far as to call him "Our George Martin". Treys voice is still a work in progress. It does shine when paired with one, if not all of the other band members. While not poppy to an extreme, songs like Monica, Waiting All Night, and Devotion To A Dream could have some wider appeal and make it onto adult-contemporary play charts. Trey wasn't lying when he said how much fun they were having writing together, and that is so very apparent throughout. Mike Gordon especially benefitted from writing a solo album and fronting it's touring band, as his touch is all over the songs in one way or another in a more honest and assertive tone.

While The Grateful Dead did not need a new group of fans, nor does Phish. But, as the Dead grew older and more popular, the mainstream music industry took notice, not only for their devoted fan base, but also for the genius in their music. This is what you get when you pair 30 years of friendship and a desire to make true and unique music.

Another Year - Another Go At It

Well...lets try again I guess. More music, more poker...etc

Fee 7/18/99 - Review/Timing

Thoughts on the incredible version of Fee from Phish performing in VA Beach, July 18,1999. 00:00 - 5:00 "catch your breath" begin beautiful jam, typical post fee noodling from trey and page. Mike and fish follow in unison, is fish signaling for an early ending with the bell, or is it Mikes foot bell? Very mellow and ambient. ~7:30 Jets fly overhead...literally! Picked up on audience mics. Ambient harmonic jam continues. ~8:35 Repetitive full band jam. Silky, leads to a heavier sound, louder, "picked up...diff spin on previous licks". ~10:00 Jam picks up speed, trey leading with a simple repetitive patter, he moves to a higher tone, but then settles back into "normal" 'doc tone. Getting heavier and more distorted with arpeggios. ~15:00 Heavy full band jam with trey. Peaking? ~17:25 Someone is using some sort of pedal effect (Mike)? Lots of tension in this section. Soaring trey solo-very high pitched and sustained but no real release...as type II as it gets. ~20:10 Back down to a slower ambiance, Mike thumping away. Quick dropout to end. 21:14

My favorite Rebas - top 5

In no real order, but the first clips below are from easily my favorite version for many years...

10/21/95



10/31/94



7/6/94

2/7/93

12/31/95

4 1/2 Years?

I realized today that I still have this here blog up and running, and I'm sure no one even knows that it's still around. I probably never really had any readers for it anyway, but I am going to try and give it another go. In the past all I talked about was music and poker and a little bit of my personal life, but I think this time around I may end up covering a whole lot more. My interests have evolved over the years, but I am still as passionate about all of them as ever. We'll see what happens!

So it's about time for an update...

Since Julian is finally napping a little more during the day I can somehow find the time to update this pathetic blog.

I have probably listened to all of the Fleet Foxes recordings straight through today, maybe 3 times. The albums are the kind that you just can't skip through. The NPR concert that was posted on their All Songs Considered podcast is absolutely unbelievable. So far their full length album is coming at number 1 for my pick of album of the year. It's been a pretty great year for music in my opinion. So many great new songs and artists.

I could easily explain what has been going on with my poker playing lately, but it would be easier to refer to old posts of me running horribly. Plus, not having the extra time to put in the necessary hours has made my bankroll dwindle. I am jonesin for some live brick and mortar games, but no one wants to run a game.

Mo and I have been trying to work out a schedule for Julian. So far he is really not cooperating. One night he will sleep for the most of the night, then the next he will act like a newborn. Whatever, he's great, and we will pull through this. Mo is a great Mom and has probably had it the hardest, with the least amount of sleep. I Love her more and more for this.

Seriously, come on....

I hate ranting and raving about poker, but the last few beats are just typical...here we go:

How about splitting the pot 3 ways with way the best of it:
PokerStars Game #18032852137: Tournament #91505872, $11+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/06/09 - 21:24:43 (ET)
Table '91505872 3' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: shipemshorty (2270 in chips)
Seat 2: StevBel (1369 in chips)
Seat 3: ToneCEO (2510 in chips)
Seat 4: Fishseeker2 (1470 in chips)
Seat 5: lankyjock (1641 in chips)
Seat 6: Kstnbike (1320 in chips)
Seat 7: Mon_Dz (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: imyopushha (1450 in chips)
Seat 9: jamfreek (1470 in chips)
jamfreek: posts small blind 15
shipemshorty: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jamfreek [9h 9s]
StevBel: folds
ToneCEO: folds
Fishseeker2: raises 60 to 90
lankyjock: folds
Kstnbike: calls 90
Mon_Dz: folds
imyopushha: calls 90
jamfreek: raises 330 to 420
shipemshorty: calls 390
Fishseeker2: folds
Kstnbike: calls 330
imyopushha: folds
*** FLOP *** [6c 9c 7s]
jamfreek: bets 1050 and is all-in
shipemshorty: calls 1050
Kstnbike: calls 900 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6c 9c 7s] [5s]
Kstnbike said, "vnh"
*** RIVER *** [6c 9c 7s 5s] [8s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jamfreek: shows [9h 9s] (a straight, Five to Nine)
shipemshorty: shows [Jh Jc] (a straight, Five to Nine)
jamfreek collected 150 from side pot
shipemshorty collected 150 from side pot
Kstnbike: shows [9d Kd] (a straight, Five to Nine)
jamfreek collected 1380 from main pot
shipemshorty collected 1380 from main pot
Kstnbike collected 1380 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4440 Main pot 4140. Side pot 300. | Rake 0
Board [6c 9c 7s 5s 8s]
Seat 1: shipemshorty (big blind) showed [Jh Jc] and won (1530) with a straight, Five to Nine
Seat 2: StevBel folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ToneCEO folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Fishseeker2 folded before Flop
Seat 5: lankyjock folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Kstnbike showed [9d Kd] and won (1380) with a straight, Five to Nine
Seat 7: Mon_Dz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: imyopushha (button) folded before Flop
Seat 9: jamfreek (small blind) showed [9h 9s] and won (1530) with a straight, Five to Nine


Lets see I am 83.17% to win, and 1.66% to tie on the flop when I go all in. Then it gets pretty interesting on the turn: Win: 85.71%, Tie: 9.52%

I don't know how I keep it together...seriously, come on!

Moving right along:

PokerStars Game #18033432068: Tournament #91506031, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2008/06/09 - 21:53:13 (ET)
Table '91506031 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: chiarot17 (3148 in chips)
Seat 3: MelbourneJoe (2515 in chips)
Seat 6: jamfreek (1650 in chips)
Seat 8: D0nKaMenT (6187 in chips)
chiarot17: posts the ante 25
MelbourneJoe: posts the ante 25
jamfreek: posts the ante 25
D0nKaMenT: posts the ante 25
chiarot17: posts small blind 200
MelbourneJoe: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jamfreek [Kc As]
jamfreek: raises 1225 to 1625 and is all-in
D0nKaMenT: folds
chiarot17: folds
MelbourneJoe: calls 1225
*** FLOP *** [4s Jh 3c]
*** TURN *** [4s Jh 3c] [5d]
*** RIVER *** [4s Jh 3c 5d] [Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MelbourneJoe: shows [2c Ah] (a straight, Ace to Five)
jamfreek: shows [Kc As] (high card Ace)
MelbourneJoe collected 3550 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3550 | Rake 0
Board [4s Jh 3c 5d Tc]
Seat 1: chiarot17 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: MelbourneJoe (big blind) showed [2c Ah] and won (3550) with a straight, Ace to Five
Seat 6: jamfreek showed [Kc As] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 8: D0nKaMenT (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This one isn't ~that bad, but it's still pretty gross. I can see the guy calling me pre-flop. It looks like I could be jamming with anything here. Under the Gun with about 4 bb's you pretty much have to jam with a full range, but seriously, come on...

Update with the quickness

So it's been a while since i've updated. It's been like one long endless groundhog day in a sense. Julian is the coolest kid ever. I am enthralled with him, his development, pretty much everything about him. He's not at the stage yet that he is sleeping through the night. Although right now he's sleeping right next to me and I am crossing my fingers that he goes an extra hour or even thirty minutes every night. But, every half hour, and sometime every couple minutes he stirs and grunts and keeps me on my toes.

Lately poker has been up and down (par for the course). I have not been playing as many hours as usual for obvious reasons. The td games have been pretty crazy. My sng's haven't gotten much better, although I finally took one down last night in a pretty quick game. I was actually down to about 200 chips in the second level when I proceeded to double up multiple times and finally do some damage. Tonight I had a great session playing NL cash games, and RAZZ.

Look at this ridonkulous razz hand:

PokerStars Game #17626666767: Razz Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/05/23 - 01:42:16 (ET)
Table 'Lutetia IV' 8-max
Seat 1: Mantelet ($21.80 in chips)
Seat 2: renfurdson ($36.45 in chips)
Seat 4: jimstrong ($22.10 in chips)
Seat 5: jamfreek ($26.90 in chips)
Seat 6: Batt_James1 ($21.85 in chips)
Seat 7: patsangie ($6.60 in chips)
Seat 8: potter39 ($4.75 in chips)
Mantelet: posts the ante $0.05
renfurdson: posts the ante $0.05
jimstrong: posts the ante $0.05
jamfreek: posts the ante $0.05
Batt_James1: posts the ante $0.05
patsangie: posts the ante $0.05
potter39: posts the ante $0.05
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Mantelet [Ks]
Dealt to renfurdson [5s]
Dealt to jimstrong [Js]
Dealt to jamfreek [6h Ah 5d]
Dealt to Batt_James1 [Td]
Dealt to patsangie [Qh]
Dealt to potter39 [Kc]
Mantelet: brings in for $0.25
renfurdson: raises $0.25 to $0.50
jimstrong: raises $0.50 to $1
jamfreek: raises $0.50 to $1.50
Batt_James1: folds
patsangie: folds
potter39: folds
Mantelet: folds
renfurdson: calls $1
jimstrong: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
jamfreek: calls $0.50
renfurdson: calls $0.50
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to renfurdson [5s] [Qs]
Dealt to jimstrong [Js] [Jh]
Dealt to jamfreek [6h Ah 5d] [9c]
jamfreek: bets $0.50
renfurdson: calls $0.50
jimstrong: raises $0.50 to $1
jamfreek: raises $0.50 to $1.50
renfurdson: calls $1
jimstrong: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
jamfreek: calls $0.50
renfurdson: calls $0.50
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to renfurdson [5s Qs] [2d]
Dealt to jimstrong [Js Jh] [Qc]
Dealt to jamfreek [6h Ah 5d 9c] [6d]
jamfreek: bets $1
renfurdson: calls $1
jimstrong: raises $1 to $2
jamfreek: raises $1 to $3
renfurdson: calls $2
jimstrong: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
jamfreek: calls $1
renfurdson: calls $1
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to renfurdson [5s Qs 2d] [9d]
Dealt to jimstrong [Js Jh Qc] [3c]
Dealt to jamfreek [6h Ah 5d 9c 6d] [7d]
jamfreek: bets $1
renfurdson: calls $1
jimstrong: raises $1 to $2
jamfreek: raises $1 to $3
renfurdson: calls $2
jimstrong: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
jamfreek: calls $1
renfurdson: calls $1
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to jamfreek [6h Ah 5d 9c 6d 7d] [8s]
jamfreek: bets $1
renfurdson: folds
jimstrong: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jamfreek: shows [6h Ah 5d 9c 6d 7d 8s] (Lo: 8,7,6,5,A)
jimstrong: mucks hand
jamfreek collected $38.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $38.60 | Rake $0.50
Seat 1: Mantelet folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 2: renfurdson folded on the River
Seat 4: jimstrong mucked [Th Jd Js Jh Qc 3c Kh]
Seat 5: jamfreek showed [6h Ah 5d 9c 6d 7d 8s] and won ($38.10) with Lo: 8,7,6,5,A
Seat 6: Batt_James1 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: patsangie folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: potter39 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

You gotta love when they think they're playing high (or maybe he was)

I followed that hand up with this one:

PokerStars Game #17626725014: Razz Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/05/23 - 01:47:09 (ET)
Table 'Lutetia IV' 8-max
Seat 1: Mantelet ($18.10 in chips)
Seat 3: nantelope ($19.95 in chips)
Seat 4: jimstrong ($8.40 in chips)
Seat 5: jamfreek ($47.80 in chips)
Seat 6: Batt_James1 ($21.40 in chips)
Seat 7: patsangie ($14.50 in chips)
Seat 8: potter39 ($4.55 in chips)
Mantelet: posts the ante $0.05
nantelope: posts the ante $0.05
jimstrong: posts the ante $0.05
jamfreek: posts the ante $0.05
Batt_James1: posts the ante $0.05
patsangie: posts the ante $0.05
potter39: posts the ante $0.05
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Mantelet [Qs]
Dealt to nantelope [Ad]
Dealt to jimstrong [6s]
Dealt to jamfreek [2c 3d As]
Dealt to Batt_James1 [Jc]
Dealt to patsangie [2s]
Dealt to potter39 [2h]
Mantelet: brings in for $0.25
nantelope: folds
jimstrong said, "needed some of the river back"
jimstrong: calls $0.25
clmrrw joins the table at seat #2
jamfreek: raises $0.25 to $0.50
Batt_James1: folds
patsangie: calls $0.50
potter39: folds
Mantelet: folds
jimstrong: calls $0.25
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to jimstrong [6s] [Js]
Dealt to jamfreek [2c 3d As] [4d]
Dealt to patsangie [2s] [3s]
patsangie: checks
jimstrong: checks
jamfreek: bets $0.50
patsangie: calls $0.50
jimstrong: calls $0.50
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to jimstrong [6s Js] [7h]
Dealt to jamfreek [2c 3d As 4d] [5c]
Dealt to patsangie [2s 3s] [Qh]
jamfreek: bets $1
patsangie: calls $1
jimstrong: calls $1
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to jimstrong [6s Js 7h] [6h]
Dealt to jamfreek [2c 3d As 4d 5c] [3h]
Dealt to patsangie [2s 3s Qh] [8s]
jamfreek: checks
patsangie: checks
jimstrong: bets $1
jamfreek: raises $1 to $2
patsangie: folds
jimstrong: raises $1 to $3
jamfreek: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
jimstrong: calls $1
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to jamfreek [2c 3d As 4d 5c 3h] [Kc]
jamfreek: bets $1
jimstrong: folds
Uncalled bet ($1) returned to jamfreek
jamfreek collected $14.10 from pot
jamfreek: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14.60 | Rake $0.50
Seat 1: Mantelet folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 3: nantelope folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: jimstrong folded on the River
Seat 5: jamfreek collected ($14.10)
Seat 6: Batt_James1 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: patsangie folded on the 6th Street
Seat 8: potter39 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

Good times...

And with that, Julian's crying, time to feed him!