Was in Des Moines for a friend's show last night - was gonna roll in, catch the show and roll out - but 5 hrs beforehand, while killing time on my way to locating the venue, I noticed a sign for $35 dollar hotel rooms and said hell with it.

Good time at the gig - also met a guy who was trying to make a hip/hop and bluegrass fusion and he gave me a four leaf clover which I hope is lucky.

I wasn't sleepy afterwards, and I had done a scouting report on Pokerpages for poker rooms and got nil - but I saw a sign for a casino near the hotel and when asking the bartender he informed me that yes, there was a live poker room there - so I went down and won back my travel expenses playing $1/2 NL for 3 hrs.

Good time - I also bought Kate Rusby's new CD "The Girl Who Couldn't Fly" (a sly reference to Kate's fear of airplanes) - you know what that means....yep - Russ spends another three weeks in lovesick mode and you have to read new lyrics later - LOL

pax
RB