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!

Fatherhood

It's a usual Monday night. I sit here and I am the last one up in the house, which is pretty normal. Mo goes to bed early usually. I just finished playing a session of about 3 hours of poker, including a SnG, a micro-stake NL game, and a extremely profitable triple draw game. But this is not really a Monday night like any other, because sitting in my arms is my beautiful son Julian. I can't believe how in love I am with this guy. He's been a long time coming. And the only reason I say that is because of the various problems we had getting him into this world. More like difficulties really. Sure he was a little early, just 19 days, but we were sweating his arrival, hoping everything would be ok. At one point about 3 days before he was born, we were having a regular ultrasound and I noticed the nurse checking his brain. I spoke up, "how does his brain look?". The nurse said puzzled, "smart...". I chuckled. Fatherhood is stressful even when your son hasn't even been born! They say that you can't really explain the birth of a son or daughter, and that you really have to experience it. It really is unbelievable and a blessing. I can now understand why people say that the best days of their lives are the days their children are born. Count me in!

I really couldn't ask for much more. Julian was an April fools baby, and while 4/3 was my first choice for his birthday (the best Phish show i've ever seen happened 10 years ago), I can't complain. It seems like everyone knows someone with a child born on April 1st. So what's one more! He rocks. I can't stop looking at him, talking to him, singing to him, changing his diapers, he's the coolest kid on the block by far!

It's a win!

It took just shy of 2 hours to finely take one of these 180 man SnG's down. I was pretty damn happy about it too. I've been on the wrong side of some awful beats, and it's amazing I stay sane. Regardless, this one felt great. I feel like i played well, but there were some pretty terrible players as well.

Firstly, I had a guy on my right for the first hour go absolutely nuts with King high multiple times. I mean, calling all-ins with KQs like it was a pair of aces...snap calls. There was one hand where I deliberated in UTG whether to even play KQ of clubs, finally electing to just fold and wait, sure enough two players fold after me and this guy ships for just over than 7x bb, and my man to my right snap calls w/ KQ of spades...and at this point it wasn't like he was short or anything, he probably called off about 3/4's of his stack. Of course he ended up winning that one with a flush. Later I saw him call a late position pusher with K5s. At that point he was way over the chip lead or close to it, and he finally lost that one to an A6. By the end of the first hour he was out though, and I didn't get much of anything from him.

That's not to say that I didn't get lucky. But, I had some spots where I was pretty cold decked. They're the worst. Hands like this: It's right around the 5th level or so in the tournament, blinds are 75/150, and I've climbed my way up to about 2300. I'm in the BB with AJs, so now I have 2150 behind. Folds around to the sb who jams for 600...how can you fold? Then i'm up against KK. That's a perfect example of what happens, but the trick is to remain patient, and to actually have the chips to let those not hurt you. I was able to do that today.

What might have been the most frustrating part of playing this tournament, was my decision to simultaneously play a 5.50 triple draw sng. That thing lasted FOREVER...but, yeah....i took that one down too!

I can tell that I am out of my funk at the triple draw tables. It was a really brutal month of February, but with this win, and the small winning sessions at the ring games, March is shaping up to be a very profitable month.

I Love you Mo :)

Almost

It was a rough month of February. And after all of that whining about the bad beats i've taken in SnG's, I came out ahead and it made up for the beating I took on the triple draw tables. Hopefully March won't be so painful. Unfortunately, today, the first day of the month I took a nasty couple of beats that just don't happen that often. Yesterday, I had two ties in some big pots where I had the best hand way early in the drawing rounds, and after my opponents draw 2 both times, they hit my exact hand. The first was with a #5 and the second with #1. Then, tonight it happens one more time with a wheel. It's painful to have to split up even the blinds and limpers small change.

Since I was running so bad at the TD tables, I decided to play some other other games, and still didn't do well at all. In the Razz and Stud High games I played pretty poorly and a little too long. Since I don't play those games that often, I am extremely rusty, and way out of experience. But, I played a nice session of NLH that was extremely profitable. It was a 6 max table and I had pretty good reads on my opponents, well, one in particular. I would've been dusted off about mid-way through the session when I got trapped in a huge all-in hand. It went something like this. I am in the bb with JJ. Button raises 3-4x, which was pretty standard for him to do fairly light. I re-raise to 11x and he smooth calls. I then put him on a range of two big cards, most likely a suited ace - AK -> AT/A9, KQs, and possibly some smaller pairs up to TT. The flop came T high with 2 spades. I bet out 2/3rds the pot, and he min-raises me. I for some reason did not put him on a set maybe because I thought the raise would be higher, and the first thing that came to my mind was the suited ace which I put him on to begin the hand. So I pushed, and he called, the turn came my third J and the river was a blank, the pot was pushed to me and I look and sure enough he had QQ. I get trapped with JJ all the time and if I'm in his position, I push harder pre-flop. But I got outplayed regardless, and was lucky to double up.

At that point I had a nice size stack and considered calling it a night. But, after a couple of hands that had me going up and down like a yo-yo, I decided to stay since I liked my reads on everyone else, especially the player immediately to my left. In one hand early before the big JJ hand he got me to lay down AA on a KK9 flop. It was an awful laydown, but I was actually quite content with it in the end, and didn't really tilt about it at all. I just figured the way I played it afforded me the ability to get it in at a better time. Sure enough, that time came later in the session when we both had the biggest stacks at the table. I am utg+1 w/ KhJh and make a standard 3x/bb raise, my opponent than makes it 6x more to go, and since he had been crushing me with these re-raises over and over again, I decided to stand up to his what seemed like bullying, and at least call and see a flop. Plus, I was getting about 2-1 on the call. The flop brought out the beautiful Qd Th 9d. Bingo! I decide to see if I can get a nice bet out of him, and maybe check raise him or slow play the nut-straight. He bets out 2/3rds the pot, and I check-raise him making it 3x more. Then he goes and min. raises me, I move all in for just a bit less than he has in front of himm and he calls, the turn bricks, and the river hits an A. The pot moves to my seat and I look to see his AQo. I can't understand how he can't lay this down. We were so deep, that I am pretty sure I could do it, or at the very least slow down.

Anyway, the session of NLH inspired me to play better despite my obvious wins. I got pretty lucky on both hands, and played bad when I had good hands, if that makes any sense...

I made silver star on Pokerstars, so that's pretty cool. I can't decide if I want to use it for anything or not. I might go for the bonus $$, since I think it's fairly easy to clear, plus since the month was so awful, it can't really hurt.

Running Bad Is No Fun

Triple draw is a tough game. I've spent the last week or so just getting completely crushed. It hasn't been like this in a while, and I kind of had an inkling that I might be due for some good old fashioned variance. It's frustrating wading through starting hands like 2KJ96 over and over again and then finally getting something decent like 257QK. I'll play it straight up, not trying to get tricky, but just trying to get value, or essentially raising and re-raising pre-draw 1. Then I brick-brick, maybe get lucky to get to the second draw and hit a wheel card, which will usually result in drawing 1 against a pat hand which is usually beatable only to pair or brick the last draw. This also can result in the huge tilt factor that I have prided myself in not hitting. Occasionally it rears its ugly head and I try to calm myself. My other favorite draw/hand, while I'm ranting, is when I pat a marginal hand like a J/T/9 and even and 87 type hand and get drawn out on continuously.

What is making matters even worse at this point is that the games have gotten extremely good. The play is super loose and there have been a number of tables going with lots of players that I haven't seen before. They're the kind that LOVE to limp into pots, and occasionally pat a starting hand like 97654 all the way down, which can do wonders to your self-control and confidence. I still haven't figured out what to do in a situation where you have 257xx in the sb and there are 2-3 limpers. I've played it both ways profitably AND unsuccessfully, for big pots won and loss and vis-a-versa.

I have actually shown a small profit in the few SnG's that I have played this month, despite taking awful bad beats along the way. This has kept my confidence high, and the bankroll growing, just not at the rate that it was last month. So be it though. The important thing is that I have still been having fun playing and I guess I am trying to learn a bit at the same time. One thing is for sure, the hours I have logged this month have surpassed last month, so that may have something to do with the results as well.

I won the SSPC February event on Saturday. I almost didn't get to play it, but it was great that I could since Mo felt like I deserved a break/stress-reliever. There was a total of 20 players this month so the double points will help me hopefully get to the TOC again this year. I need all I can get because I foresee not playing in a number of tourneys in the months ahead since we have our child on the way.

Moving along to more exciting news, we had our first doctors appointment since Mo was allowed to do her bed rest at home instead of the hospital. Everything went very well. The baby passed all of his physical tests which include breathing (practicing of course) for 30 seconds straight, moving his fingers/toes, etc. We are still taking it one day at a time, but we are really hoping that Mo can get on some kind of modified bed rest so that she might be able to log some hours working from home. Even if she can't though, we are trying to stay positive and are getting exciting for this little guys arrival.

Finally, I have acquired a few new music releases from this year, and all of which have been really great, these include albums by Vampire Weekend, American Music Club, Beck (Odelay Deluxe Edition), moe., Sam Amidon, Jazz Liberatorz (the first hip-hop/rap album I've bought in a long time that was not something from my youth), and The Soundtrack from the movie "Juno".

Of Course...

Late in the game. You play tight aggressive as usual. Pick up few hands then get short <10 bb's. Run JJ vs. KK pre-flop (other player is also shortstacked). You are now down to <4 bb's. Of course you pick up a few hands and climb back to still <10 bb's. The blinds climb and it is bubble time. Time to get aggressive, there's no cash for 4th place. Of course you get it all in behind this time and run K7 into QQ from the second smallest stack, of course he calls...then the huge stack that hasn't played badly all tourney, but hasn't really played that well either calls with 98o. Flop delights you with K 3 7 rainbow. "Sweet" you are thinking as you also remember all of those times you've been on the QQ end and wanted to reach through the computer screen and strangle the guy with K7....but hey, what goes around comes around right? Then the turn brings an offsuit J....you feel that pit in your stomach and your mind quickly wanders..."i'm home free" you think as the T of hearts plops down on the board. Of course the computer lags behind for about 2 seconds while it tries to figure out, as do you if you in fact won the pot as you ~should have...then it's pushed to Mr. Big Stack with 98o who was probably playing the odds, and you realize that, sure enough, he just hit runner, runner straight to take you both out. You quickly check the hand history and realize that you were the shortest stack, so even though both of you were all in, and you had the second best hand, you still get nothing. And so it is, before you can even close the hand history window the tourney is already over in one heads-up hand where Mr. Big Stack of course picks up a small pair and wins his race against QT....OF COURSE

SnG's Tilt Me, But So Does Life Sometimes

Not only am I not playing very well in SnG's right now, but they are frustrating me really bad. I remember a while back having absolutely no success in them. I really have not played very many this month so my sample size is extremely small. I can say that I've gotten all of the money in when I am ahead 80% of the time. The other 20% have been "cooler" hands, for example; I get short and have ~10 bb's and pick up AKs in EP. I jam and get called in MP and LP, we flip and I'm up against another AK and QQ. GG me. And then there is the good old moron playing transparent poker. In my stats I have a section for notes on the particular game that I played....here's what I wrote in my second to last SnG where I went out 8th place: such bs…maniac plays three to my left, I limp w/ 66 utg+1, 1 more limps, and maniac jams big stack…I knew he would do it and decided if he did I would call, he flips KT, flop QQ4, turn A, River J, IGHMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the other hand, the TD tables have been OK, but not as profitable as last month. I am running into variance mostly, but I really believe I could be making a bit more if I could stop playing SnG's (or at least get better at them), therefore making it less likely for me to tilt. I noticed in the few games I played last month at 2/4, I was a marginal winner. I would love to step up to that limit, but I need to probably double my 'roll before I really feel comfortable. I don't mind taking shots though as those games generally aren't any tougher, since basically the same players are playing them. The few other players that are regularly playing seem to be your average 1/2 player just with a larger bankroll. Plus, the rake at the 1/2 games is pretty bad.

Mo has had some complications with the pregnancy which has been pretty stressful for the last two weeks. After finding out that she may have gestational diabetes, we were told that the baby is under weight and she has low amniotic fluid, all of which have contributed to her being on 24 hour bed rest at the hospital. There was a chance that the baby would be born at 29 weeks (obviously very premature), but that did not happen. The doctors really want to get to 34 weeks, but we are just taking it one day at a time. It's hard not being at the hospital with her at night. But, I think I'm better off going home at night and getting a decent nights sleep rather than on the pathetic excuse for a pull out bed that is in her hospital room.

@#$% !!!!

I don't like to post bad beats, and i don't think I really ever have done it on here, but this hand left me shaking my head...

PokerStars Game #15091765658: Tournament #76484677, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2008/02/05 - 23:46:40 (ET)
Table '76484677 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1:(4605 in chips)
Seat 5: (4013 in chips)
Seat 8: jamfreek (4882 in chips)
Seat 1: posts the ante 25
Seat 5: posts the ante 25
jamfreek: posts the ante 25
jamfreek: posts small blind 200
Seat 1: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jamfreek [Qh 4h]
Seat 5: folds
jamfreek: raises 800 to 1200
Seat 1: calls 800
*** FLOP *** [7h 2h Ac]
jamfreek: checks -> I usually made a cont. bet here, but I had played previous hands where I had the best hand and checked, and was able to increase my stack because I had made so many cont. bets with nothing and got caught. I thought this player was paying attention...but who knows, I probably should've bet here.
Seat 1: checks
*** TURN *** [7h 2h Ac] [Jd]
jamfreek: bets 1600 -> Now I do it and bet about 2/3 of the pot, but since I get called I am guessing it's too late. Problem here is that I have left myself 1/4 of the pot behind and jamming is really my only option since I feel like I have no other play <--probably wrong
Seat 1: calls 1600
*** RIVER *** [7h 2h Ac Jd] [2d]
jamfreek: bets 2000
Seat 1: calls 1780 and is all-in --> Snap call btw/
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jamfreek: shows [Qh 4h] (a pair of Deuces)
Seat 1: shows [4s Kc] (a pair of Deuces - Ace+King kicker) <-- Did I just get owned?
Seat 1 collected 9235 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9235 | Rake 0
Board [7h 2h Ac Jd 2d]
Seat 1: (big blind) showed [4s Kc] and won (9235) with a pair of Deuces
Seat 5: (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: jamfreek (small blind) showed [Qh 4h] and lost with a pair of Deuces

January Update

At least I have been able to keep up with my new years resolution for 1 whole month. It's pretty easy when you are winning though. I just got back from Vegas for our annual convention. I had my best trip playing poker ever. I finally cashed in a tourney, actually I chopped it evenly between two other guys after playing the same tourney the night before and busting short of the cash. I played pretty good and only made one bad laydown that I can remember. It was actually a great little tournament with 3000 in starting chips, a $65 buy-in with an option to re-buy if you were busted out of the tourney in the first hour, and no antes. Also, I played basically one session of 1/3 NL that yielded a $500 profit. I played a quick 30 minutes before the tournament and although I can't remember how much I won, it really wasn't much. I even played two sessions of blackjack and won a grand total of $200. It's been about two years since i've played any table games in Vegas so I couldn't be happier about that really.

Right now I am waiting for a seat to open up in a TD game, but all that is available is a 5/10 game and while there are 2 tables of 2/4 going, there are 2 people on the each waiting list. Besides, I would much rather play 1/2. If there was anything that I could say I have learned about my online play this month it would be that I need to really figure out my SnG strategies and re-learn to play them. It might be my switch to turbos, who knows, but I did not do very well this month.

New Years Resolution

A while back an online friend of mine, Snadly, sent me a sweet program for tracking my poker results. I have tried for years to do a better job of keeping better stats. At one point I was writing them down free-hand in a nice hard back journal. This became too cumbersome, and although at the time I had about the same bankroll (online), I got way too frustrated to keep up with it. I would have a good night and be very meticulous about the numbers. Then, I would have an awful run and either forget to do it, or I would just wait to have a good night and make up for it. Then I almost went broke that fateful night that I played a WSOP double shootout on 'stars, and went on to play way over my bankroll and that was it for my record keeping. Then, later that year, as I built the 'roll back up I used Snad's excel spreadsheet, and really liked it, but I procrastinated, or just forgot after a while. So now I'm going to try and turn over a new leaf. I had such a great year online, that I want to make sure to keep as perfect stats as I can, so that I can really see where I stand at the end of the year. So far, so good.

At this point, my "ring game" stats are showing a nice profit for the first half of the month. I am pretty much sucking in the SnG's having only 1 win, and 1 second place out of 9 NLH tourneys. In between I did place second in a micro TD SnG, but then played a HORSE SnG and donked out in 5th place when my top two pair was no match for a flopped board lock for low and hi in the O8/b portion.

I transferred some funds to my buddy Chris to get him back into playing and hopefully talking about poker again. He had a sick run playing blackjack a couple weeks ago when we made a trip to AC. I of course stuck to poker only, playing a deep stack tourney for $120, and some limit and NL hold'em cash games. In the tourney I had a run of crappy cards, a few steals here and there, and then this hand: UTG opens for 1600 w/ blinds at 200/400 w/ antes around 50-75 and I am in MP w/ AKdd. I elected to call the raise, but with my stack at ~16000, the proper play was probably to move in. It folded around and we saw a flop of 7QT rainbow. UTG, whose stack is about twice mine, bets 6000. I fold. From then on it was jam/fold pretty much until I moved in w/ KQ for 5x bb and got called by one of the largest stacks at the table who tabled J8o. The flop was good for me, but the turn/river gave him a runner/runner/straight (he actually caught the inside straight) to take me out. I then proceeded to play some 1/2 NL at possibly one of the easiest tables i've ever played, and only one about $30-40. Regardless, I had a really fun time.

2007 was also a good year for fantasy football. I ended up winning my inaugural season in my "high-stakes" league. I started the year off 1-4, and went on to win every single game after week 5. A timely trade for Portis/R.Wayne for Addai/Reg. Williams and a sweet pickup in Bobby Engram, got me there. The only problem for 2008 is I have no RB to keep in a 1 keeper league. I do have B. Edwards, A. Johnson, and R. Wayne to pick from so i don't feel that bad, plus I get the cash and the bragging rights!

Current Playlist: Grateful Dead 10/19/73 SetII Dark Star > Mind Left Body Jam>Morning Dew, Sugar Magnolia, Eyes Of The World

Best Of 2007, better late than never....

Here's my list. This year was a tough one. The second annual "Best of..." Holiday mix cd was hard one to put together. Some people thought this wasn't the best year for music, but I loved a lot of what came out this year, so here we go:

10. Keller Williams - Dream
9. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
8. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
7. Iron & Wine - The Shepherds Dog
6. Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin
5. Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
4. Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows
2. Dr. Dog - We All Belong


1. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

2007 Music Review

Every year, I buy a ton of cd's and downloads. This year was no exception. I started to keep a journal of everything that I purchased, noting 2007 releases, and any notes about the music in general. I love to give the gift of song to my family and friends, and hopefully they appreciate the music at least and possibly find a golden nugget they'd never heard of before getting a little snippet from me. It's the gift that keeps on giving, an obvious cliche'.

My Morning Jacket: Tennessee Fire, At Dawn, Chocolate & Cheese (EP), Early Recordings Chapter 1 - The Sandworm Cometh, Early Recordings Chapter 2 - Learning
After falling in love with the band and playing "Z", "Okonokos", and "It Still Moves" non-stop, I had to check out the earlier releases to see what I missed. Of these 5 albums, "At Dawn" was my favorite, with "Early Recordings Chapter 2 - Learning" coming in a close second. At Dawn I noted was much more acoustic tinged and laid back but with a great mix of songs, all of which have become classics. "ER Chp.2" was closely behind, but only because the recordings were not mixed as well. Great versions of Bermuda Highway, and I Will Be There When You Die, as well as neat covers, esspecially Erykah Badu's "Tyrone", which always seems to stay near the top of my top 25 songs most played playlist on the old 60 gig Ipod.

Zero 7: Simple Things
I waited way too long to get this album. Possibly one of my favorite songs of all time "In The Waiting Line", and just a great chill mix of songs that you can listen to from start to finish and not get bored, although I would assume that some people might need to be in the right frame of mind for this more "downbeat" music. I love it though!

The Beatles - Love
After listening to an NPR interview with the producer of this album, I had to check it out, plus I was going to be seeing the Cirque Du Soleil show in Vegas weeks later, which comes close to rivaling "O"....at least the music is better in my opinion.

Allison Krauss And Union Station: Lonely Runs Both Ways
A 2006 release that I had not gotten, classic AK collection of bluegrass, that was not as good as previous releases, but still enjoyable.

moe.: The Conch
A great start to the 2007 year of music. I was waiting patiently for this release because their last offering was quite innovative and excellent. The first song "Blue Jeans Pizza", knocks your socks off, and goes to show that this band can be so unique. The rest of the album had a few songs that I had heard played live, but the 4th track "Tailspin" has some great George Bush samples.

Walk The Line: Soundtrack
I bought this cd for Mo because I thought she really liked the movie (I thought it was good too!), and she was diggin on some Cash so I felt it would be a decent introduction to a quite extensive library of works.

Built To Spill: You In Reverse
If I had bought this cd in 2006, it would've possibly made it into my "Best Of 2006" Mix CD. I noted that it had a "progressive, indie-prog-rock, jam" flair, although at first listen I felt it was more Wilco'ish. After further listens, I don't really hear that as much anymore.

The Slip: Aliveelectric, Eisenhower
Occasionally, I would listen to Rhapsody and tune into the "jamband" channel while playing poker, and I heard an intense instrumental song from this band. Eisenhower easily should've been in the top 5 for best albums of 2006, and it should've been in my mix cd as well. The whole album is wonderful. Best songs include: Children of December, Airplane/Primitive, Even Rats, If One of Us Should Fall, Suffocation Keep, just get the album already!

Assembly of Dust: Recollection
I noted that this 2007 release from a band that describes their music as "hick-funk", sounded more like old school Strangefolk. Obvious great lyrics from Reid Genauer, I noted in my journal that there was "nothing spectacular, but enjoyable from start to finish", and while that might sum it up, this band really grew on me, and it may have been from getting a chance to see them in action at this years All Good Festival.

Arcade Fire: The Funeral, Neon Bible
Sometimes my Dad will surprise me and bring something to the plate that is completely off my radar. I had heard about this band, and shrugged them off. I'll admit, it's taken me pretty much all year to figure these folks out. I noted that they really sound like David Byrne meets Bowie. Neon Bible came out and I borrowed it from Dad, and it was almost infectious, but I was still not there. I guess I get it by now, but they are seriously the kings of indie rock these days.

Keller Williams: Dream, 12
Continuing with his tradition of one word album titles, Dream might be KW's most impressive album to date, as well as his most cohesive. Great collaborations, and although almost all of the songs I had heard multiple times, the guest musicians give the album a freshness that I had not heard since maybe "Laugh". I think it's the fact that he NEVER plays with anyone other then himself (no pun intended) why this is so. This year's concert of the year is tied between The WMD's (Keller's "side" project) and any number of performances from this years All Good. Later Santa would bring KW's "greatest hits" collection in 12. While I have every album, as a collector, I hate to not have the one "best of" album, even though I can just make a playlist. When Mo and I heard that he would be putting this album out, we had many talks about what he would choose to be the "top" cuts. We hit a few, but missed the majority. The bonus track "Freshies" was fantastic to see played live, and I was eager to hear his studio version.

The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America
Another album that would've made it to the best of 2006 cd if only I had remembered to give it more of a listen and a purchase before the end of the year. They try not to sound like the E Street Band in my opinion but don't do that great a job of it...this is not bad, and the songwriting is pretty good.

Dr. Dog: We All Belong
Every once in a while a band comes along that just works for you. When I first gave this album a listen, I jotted down in my notebook "good old-fashioned pop songs", and "heavy Beatles influence - great from start to finish", while I focused on the song Alaska as the favorite. Later I would analyze every single song on this album, and I really think it was one of the top 5 if not 3 of the year.

West Indian Girl: West Indian Girl
After finding out that we were to see this band at the All Good Festival, I had to check em' out, and was quite impressed. Unfortunately, Mo and I were unable to attend the show as we had to leave the campsite early. I still like the album as it is really chilled out, electronica-meets-rock-meets jam, or something along those lines.

STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9): Artifact
I remember hearing about this band when they first came on the scene when the techno-jams of the Disco Biscuits were just starting to surface. I later would see a neat couple of songs on concert-tv that really had me boppin' along. Unfortunately, I was not as impressed with their album as I was with their live show that they brought to the All Good Festival, with an amazing light show.

Zero 7 - Simple Things
I put off buying this album for way too long. Waiting Line may be one of my top 5 desert island songs. This album is just stunning, and is worthy of just about anyone's music collection.

Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Kick Your Ass
While this album title is kind of humorous, the tunes are far from it. I had heard of these guys for a long time, but never brought myself to purchase. Once I had heard the song "Mr. Tough", I had to break down and buy it in April of 2007.

Page McConnell - Page McConnell
While I still believe this maybe the phishiest of all of the boys releases (other than Trey of course), although the one member that really impresses me since the break up has to be Mike. I was still eager to hear what he has been doing all of this time, and the album is pretty impressive. While it still has that "Vida Blue" charm, I can hear something pretty unique going on here.

Umphrey's McGee - The Bottom Half, Live At The Murat
Leftovers from last years fantastic "Safety In Numbers". I really hope that they can muster up the balls to put "Alex's House" on an upcoming studio release, because I would love to hear how a completely produced cut of this song would go. Live it works wonders, and even on this release, the choppiness gives it a neat aspect. I really could've done without Divisions, but I am pleased with the "geekiness" that the band knows it's phreaks take part in. And, with that, releasing their double cd "Live At The Murat", with it's collection of two nights may have driven some fans battty, but they picked some choice cuts. Luckily for me and all the rest of the geeks, if you pre-ordered it, you got a free download of one of my favorite live cuts "Partyin' Peeps", which I guess just did not fit on the cd.

ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) - Roses And Clover
I was so happy this band put out another great album this year. Why this band is not more popular I just don't understand?

Greyboy Allstars - What Happened To Television
This was one of the albums that I was most anticipating this year. It is solid from start to finish, with classic old-school hooks, and some different stuff mixed in which is why they are one of my favorite "jazz" bands out there...I mean if you could call them jazz, I can't think of anything better!

A Tribe Called Quest - Peoples Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Funk And Rhythm
Somehow I misplaced this cd and I was jonesin to go back and re-discover this. I can still remember when i was about 13, buying this tape at Kemp Mill Records and nearly playing it out of whack. This probably my favorite rap album of all time.

De La Soul - Buhloone Mindstate, Three Feet High And Rising
Ditto, these two albums...classics, nuff said...

Ween - Quebec
I had never bought this album, and loved seeing them live.

Herbie Hancock - Village Life
I somehow scored a copy of this digitally, and I believe it is out of print. The story behind this album is that it came out to absolutely no acclaim. While the album is only 4 tracks and is completely improvised, it absolutely ethereal. The only players being Hancock and Foday Musa Soso, with Hancock on a detunable Yamaha DX-1 synthesizer and drum machine and Soso on what allmusic.com calls a zither-like kora, vocalizing a bit and playing a talking drum. This is mesmorizing stuff....for the quiet times.

Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing
Another favorite rap album of mine. Brings back the days of high school football in good old Springbrook's locker room.

The Bad Plus - Prog
This three-piece's version of Tears For Fears "Everybody Wants To Rule the World" is almost better than the original. I love how this band does their jazz versions of rock songs, usually at least on an album, but this album they let loose on a bunch of great songs, one of the best releases of 2007.

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky, Summerteeth
Easily got the most play of any album that came out in 2007. I may have listened to this straight through 5 times in a row before setting it aside for a day. I could pick any song and riff about how great it is and how well if fits into the album. All I can say is the new guitarist Nels Cline, fits right in and hopefully will be there to stay. Every once in a while an album comes along that has lyrics that fit into your life so well, you would think that you wrote the songs. That's this album for me, and is why I believe it was the best of 2007. I later got Summerteeth, just because I didn't have it, I mean, I have alll the rest, why not this one?

Bright Eyes - Cassadega
Conor Oberst may be this generations Bob Dylan, it might be a stretch, but he has some incredible lyrics. I have to go back into this guys catalog, because I hear that this album may not even be close to his best stuff.

The Beastie Boys - The Mix Up
Pass The Bong, not the Mic if you ask me. While the album gets a little stale after a while, I had a great 20 mile bike ride listening to this.

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Another album that I was eagerly anticipating for the first half of 2007. This guy is a beast. He writes incredible lyrics and beautiful acoustic songs that are sometimes poppy and other times just straight folk, all in all another great album from an incredible musician.

Flight Of The Conchords - The Distant Future (EP)
When their full length release comes out in 2008, you can bet I will be listening that day. One of my favorite shows to watch all year. They are like a Tenacious D mixed with Stephen Lynch, with some ridiculous dry humor.

Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
I guess you could say I got into some folk and singer/songwriters this year. This guy is all of that.

Trey Anastasio - The Horseshoe Curve
When Trey went out on his own, the first time, about 6 years ago, I thought I could never see Phish again, if this is what I have in it's place. This release is absolutely NOTHING like any of his previous releases which is a VERY good thing. Not that those were bad, but this is the real deal here, this is what I think of when I hear Trey outside of Phish. I love lyrics and all, but I never feel like I need to hear anyone singing when I listen to this cd. Good job Trey, not kick the habit and lets get back to the real drug in your life...music.

The Bridge - The Bridge
I didn't think I really liked this local band that much, but after seeing them a couple of times, they grew on me. I believe this was their first release, and it's actually a perfect introduction to them. I like that.

VHS or BETA - Bring On The Comets
Since I had worn out my copy of Eisenhower from The Slip, I was searching for something similar, and stumbled on these guys. At first I didn't really get it, but that was me being naive, and is why it took me this long to find them. If I had to categorize them it would be electronic-rock. But, it's probably more indie than anything. The songs are short and sweet, and after a few listens to the album as a whole, it gets a little repetitive, but there are some excellent individual songs on this album. I found that they even sound a bit new-wavey or even 80's-ish. But in a good way, besides, the songs are short and to the point and overall enjoyable.

Dave Matthews And Tim Reynolds - Live At Radio City Music Hall
While not as good as "Luther College", this release focused more on Dave's solo stuff I felt. I wrote in my journal...fine, same stuff, but still good. I could've used more of Tim Reynolds without his slide, but that is what you can find on Luther College. Their version of Old Dirt Hill, is fantastic.

Robert Plant And Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
Simply beautiful! How do these two make this work? One of the best of 2007. Listen to this one with some good earphones to really get what's going on here. OUTSTANDING!

Phish - 10/21/95: Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln, NE, Vegas 96
If there was one song that I could listen to over and over again, without it getting old, it would be this version of Reba from 10/21/95. I could go on and on about how great this song is. That being said, when Live Phish decided to release a soundboard of this show, I was ecstatic. This is by far my favorite phish recording ever. Thank YOU KEVIN SHAPIRO!!! When Mo, told me that she would be giving me Vegas 96 for a anniversary gift, I was unbelievably excited. Just look at what Phish has given the phans this year. The limited edition box set also came with a "Road To Vegas" cd that featured excellent versions of SOAM and TWEEZER from shows leading up to the Vegas run.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
Highly anticipated from the east to the west. And, giving the thing away, it's unbelievable that anyone wouldn't pay 10 bucks for this. Easily one of the top 3 albums of 2007, and more than 1/2 of the world didn't pay .01 for it. I have heard that if you play each track in between each track of OK Computer that it's like a sonic Wizard Of Oz/Dark Side Of The Moon, but I still haven't tried it.

Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer
What a story! And, what an album! Almost country, almost bluegrass, almost rock, but all good. One of the best of 2007 easily.

Christmas With The Rat Pack
I needed more Xmas music for the holidays, how can you go wrong with the Rat Pack?

White Stripes - Icky Thump
I waited so long before getting this album. It took me a little while to "get" what was going on with Jack White, but I got it. This album may be a bit different than his previous releases, but I like it more and more everytime I play it.

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
The year of folk and singer/songwriter remember? Well, thats what I thought this would be, but its not entirely. Eclectic seems the right word, and heavy as well. This album paired with Elvis Perkins may leave your head in a fog, which isn't bad, but beware...

Iron And Wine - The Shepherds Dog
Not your typical Sam Beam here, nope, we've got Calexico as well, and that put it as a must hear/buy cd for me. This was very surprising for me, considering that I really didn't like Iron & Wine at first. This is another best of 2007, probably top 5.

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
I had heard such great things about these guys, and they don't dissapoint. North American Scum is one of the best songs of the year, the album isn't entirely my cup of tea, but it works here and there.

Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin
Why oh why does this happen? I wait until 10 days before the end of the year to buy one of the greatest albums put out all 2007. This would've filled my top 25 most played playlist on my Ipod and taken the place of MMJ (who I can never get enough of).

Okkervil River - The Stage Names
This was another one as above that I waited too long to get. I still haven't absorbed the whole album, but it has potential. It may be top 10 from what I hear so far, but there was just way too much stuff this year for me.

Dreamscape

Last night as I waited for Mo to get home from her Grandmothers birthday party that I unfortunately could not attend, I saw the tail end of a 1984 science fiction movie called "Dreamscape". It was a movie that I had seen countless times when I was younger. The story is basically about an idea that you can control your dreams and enter other peoples dreams, in the end altering their existence. The story goes on that a group of assasins plots to assasinate the President of the US because he is having nightmares and they tell him that they can fix them. So I watched the last 40 minutes and remembered how much I loved it when I was growing up, although I don't exactly know why.

Fast forward to this morning when I wake up recounting my own dream from last nights deep sleep. I am sitting at The Bellagio eating dinner at one of their really nice restaurants. I know it is at the very least a casino because in the background all I can hear are the bells and whistles of slot machines and the shuffling of chips. Also, I determine that I am at The Bellagio because sitting beside me at the table are Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu, who sit to the left and right of me respectfully, while across the table Patrick Antonius and Phil Ivey are talking over plates of lobster. Barry, Daniel, and I are talking poker, and specifically online pokers highest stakes games on Full-Tilt. Essentially Barry and Daniel tell me that although both Ivey and Patrick play in those games, Antonius in particular is a huge donkey! I agree with them both, telling them that calling off 3 million dollars on the flop of a pot-limit omaha game with only a flush draw can't be +ev.

Now I sit here trolling the pages of Cardplayer and realize that...holy crap...Chip Reese died last night!! While this was very saddening news to read, the only thought I had was, could Dreamscape be real? Who slipped into Chips dreams last night? Was it someone who he had put a bad beat on the night/day before? Someone who he owed money but could not pay? Regardless, it is definitely a bad-beat for poker. And while the poker community will mourn the loss, they will undoubtedly be left with quite a legacy of a gentleman in poker who some may say was the best in the world.