In a very short period of time, I will be buying a 12-string acoustic.

When I do, I shall play this song first -

Broken Bottle, by Alejandro Escovedo

If I could reveal what I feel for you
And mark my words with a gentle kiss
Like Saint George I'd slay the dragon
Just to find I'd lost

From outside these windows there's walls between us
And outside is outside and that's where I'll be
I'll be wrapped in the morning dew
Just to find you gone

So pour me a drink from the broken bottle
And fill my glass with the dirty water
What I've lost is gone what I've gained has no name
And I'll take my leave once more

Ah J'taime mon amour, Ah J'taime mon amour
Fools for love in any language
Sometimes get burned by the heat of beauty
Just to find she's gone

My love is a scar that I wear for you
Like a crown of thorns, like a bad tattoo
I wear sin like a ring of beauty
Just to find you've gone

So pour me a drink from the broken bottle
And fill my glass with the dirty water
What I've lost is gone what I've gained has no name
And I'll take my leave once more

pretty sure playing Razz and Holdem on two tables at the same time is a good way to cause brain damage

rb

in theory, I've blown 33% on my online winnings in the last two weeks trying to get another big finish -

in truth, I've burned a lot of CD's onto the ipod at the same time - so the time was productive in ways that wouldn't have otherwise been productive had I just been playing poker - LOL

go figure.

RB

so I got a call from a debt collector today - for a $26 dollar debt -

from 1997 - old electric company debt - they've been charging me for 10 years and just now get around to hitting me up on this?

wtf -

they had my old street address - I told them to mail me a new statement - even then I felt like I could get hit with an identity scam.

took them 10 years to find this and get to it? lame, lame, lame - but it never showed up on my credit rating - odd.

rb

I've always said Townes is the greatest songwriter in the world on this blog -

on his best days, Jay Farrar is #2 - better then Jeff Tweedy -

Left A Slide - by Jay Farrar

when the pattern doesn't mend
fixtures fall from their base
pulling out of the race
put up the red flag
for matters close at hand
cross over the plan

it gets so diffused
you want to kiss the ground
and leave no sound
make it up the next year
chalk it up to remember
the wasted lonely fever

the way we've tried
left a slide into harm's way
enough concern to ride it out
it's no surprise that it's a long slow fade
let it rest on past pages and signs
pull the stops out let it unwind
when it's reaching and finding nothing
weighted down the nail below the head

minefield is the word from the start
watching out for the worst
never clear till it hurts
call it off to make amends
this life burns down
from both ends

the way we've tried
left a slide into harm's way
enough concern to ride it out
it's no surprise that it's a long slow fade
let it rest on past pages and signs
pull the stops out let it unwind
enough concern to ride it out
it's no surprise that it's a long slow fade

doing something I haven't done in a while - one of my favorite tournaments - the $39 dollar Sunday Million satellite on Pokerstars.

It's a strange thing with me and the satellites for this tourney - it used to be all 36 buck ones - then a lot of 11.70 shootouts, then a lot of 8.80 or 11.00 rebuys, but my favorite is always the 39.00 one that pays out 1 in 6

guess it's cause I know I can usually make the top 15% even when I wasn't making the top 10%

however, I just remembered that every time I live blog about a tourney I jinx myself, so by the time you read this, the tourney will be over - LOL

but it didn't fix the curse - flopped a big flush to an opponent's smaller flush - too bad he also flopped a flush draw.

rb

it's amazing what a 2 hr. nap will do for your perspective -

still don't feel like going to church though -

I need to write a waltz.

rb

I haven't done quickies in a long time -

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I have a garden now - or a place where stuff grows - it is all nice fancy plants that resprout each Spring - I didn't pick them or plant them, so I have to figure out what is a weed and what isn't - Dandelions are weeds - otherwise I'm picking anything with prickly or jagged leaves - that's pretty much all I got on that.

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28 Weeks Later is less good then 28 Days Later - surprisingly less good all things considered - I am bummed

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I started burning my Guided By Voices CD's to my Ipod - Rob Pollard may be the greatest hook writer in the world but his lyrics make less sense the Michael Stipe's - nevertheless, you listen for the rock and roll - hope I can still rock like that in my 40's -

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Long hair has not turned out to be a chick magnet - of course it's also grey - nevertheless, it will not get cut until the album is done - speaking of which, it's damn hard to get a drummer to give up their afternoon - (or rather, get up early enough to record in the afternoon) - but I have high hopes -

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1st place still feels damn good - gotta rework up my tourney game and bring the A game back to fruition.

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My favorite poker crush, Jennicide has an FHM photospread - she's attractive, but she was hotter when she was the number one ranked online female poker player :) - haven't seen her on the Pokerstars TLB for a while. I think she became one of those faceless/nameless California girls who looks exactly like every other California girl - too bad.

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I on the other hand, was on the weekly Pokerstars TLB after my Sunday 6am Win - I think I was 14th - for about 6 hrs before I was drummed out - nevertheless, it's been a while since I got close - the games are tougher then I recall, but 30% of my cashes are FT cashes, so it just takes time - if I could quit busting with the 2nd best hand at the FT, I'd be ok - :) - if it's not the FT, I'm busting with the best hand, but I digress.

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Spent 3 hrs listening to Dr. James Dobson beat the drums for war with Iran. His streaming broadcasts had a big lobbying pitch for 20 minutes before the program started - then A whole week of his programs were about how we have to be prepared to go to war with the new "Hitler", the president of Iran. There must be a verse in the Bible where Christ told us to smite our enemies and I keep missing it when I read the gospels - strange - but the fact GWB called him and other "pro-family" leaders to the White House to sell it tells me we're in military action any day now - he's selling his base on it, so it's gonna happen - fruck. Iranians are like poker players, very proud with a long memory - not good.

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I have played no less then 5 flash versions of games where you kill the undead - as a kid I was a big fan of the Zombie genre, and to this day I spend at least one good minute a week thinking of what I will have to do if the undead suddenly come back to kick my ass - still thinking a samurai sword is the best option, cause you never know...

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my dream state is getting wild - seems like from the moment I put my head down to the moment it's up, I'm in that state, and I know cause I hit it right away if I push the clock ahead 30 min - and I'm remembering them more - this is what happens when I sleep on the nice bed instead of the lumpy futon. Armand Assante was real pissed at me for interrupting his Disneyland schtick three nights ago and was gonna drown me in one of the many fountains.

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go to youtube.com and run a search for Hamas and Farfur and you'll get clips of the Hamas Mickey Mouse teaching kids about Jihad on Palestinian TV - I have to confess, I've watched the clips about 20 times, including the mouse singing and pretending to shoot an AK-47 -

watched it more then the real Mickey Mouse - it's disheartening but I can't look away - it's like a turd in a punch bowl - all you can do is start and smile while repulsed -

rb

man, I've played tourneys that seem long, but nothing is as long as one hr in a 4 tabling multi tourney streak -

jeez fracking louise - not to mention a guy can suffer a bad beat and get right back up, and can bust out with QQ vs KQ and shake it off and move on, but when that happens 6 times in one hour, well, I think it affects the game -

one table for a while - maybe slightly higher limits, but definately one tournament at a time is best - frack almighty.

I just folded the nuts as I was typing this - maybe I should stop blogging during SNG's as well - LOL

rb

busted out in 5th in the riverchasers/blogger tourney - 4 pays - I pretty much made a bad tilt - I have a habit of getting too loose/aggressive in the bubble, believing I don't want to play just to make the money, but to win.

That's fine, but then play to win, don't bluff the chip leader with 6 times the bb with 89 suited - esp. when two other players are seated to his right and have their own problems - ah well

then I found an online chump at Pokerstars - he insisted he was a pro -

first sign of an amateur - berating other players for their play.
second sign of an amateur - no wins under his pokerdb profile.

BUT he has several profiles (he said) which he uses and he has a lot of wins on those and he plays for a living at online and casinos -

meaning he's either a cheat or a liar - super doper for both -

he got lucky and flopped two pair vs. another lower two pair on a 6 high board - he might actually get his first cash tonight -

oh yah - third sign of an amateur - follows you from table to table as you play so he can keep telling you how good he is on his other profiles, which he won't reveal the names of, undoubtly because he plays multiple tables with them.

Il est un dumbfuck
rb

it is my belief that my recent win gives me such a psychological advantage that the Blogger/Chaser tourney on Full Tilt is a given win and all other bloggers should kindly fold and move on - :)

I'm still checking pokerdb.com on an hourly basis waiting for it to show up - where is my first place stat, you whores...

I have my windows and shades open for the first time in the upstairs office - I don't think my neighbors like me - meh - no one has to like me as long as I keep the grass cut.

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it was just a 2 buck tourney, and the $300 is good - it's my biggest win of the year and wipes out over 50% of my red ink this year, but 1st out of 800+ players - man...

and I got lucky - always have to -

I'm really overjoyed at my number of final tables so far this year, and in some cases, the odds I had to go thru to get there - at a time when getting in the top 10% was my biggest goal, I'm finding that to consistantly be getting a final table 25-30% of the time is the ego boost I need to keep pushing forwards in the quest to rebuild the bankroll -

and hey, we got a nice start anyways, but that's not the end of the micros for me yet :) but I got plenty of time to rebuild a bankroll before Neteller gets it's shit together again -

see ya'll on Full Tilt in one hr -

rb

PokerStars Tournament #49447814, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $2.00/$0.20
825 players
Total Prize Pool: $1650.00
Tournament started - 2007/05/13 - 02:00:00 (ET)

Dear whiskeytown,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $334.13 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

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that's how it's done - jinx be damned - about fucking time.

rb

die you yellow soulless bastards, die - that message being only for dandilions, of course, the only weed i can easily identify and pull - I'm scared to pull anything else though it seems if it's ugly, appears to sharp points or fur that it's worth pulling. I will be cutting a few of them this morning after work as well, along with that accursed grass.

accursed grass - dang - never used to be - LOL -

Here comes the WSOP again - 2.5 weeks away - 50 events according to Pauly - motherless goat - with most of the NL's running 3 days - guess I should be glad there's other events in there although NL dominates the standings, it by no means dominates as some previous tournaments have done in the past with 100% NL coverage -

Reading one of his posts about TV hit the nail on the head for me - the televised beast makes for quick editing of everything but bluffs and all-in pots and it got old fast - High Stakes Poker generally seems boring because everyone's making the right folds 99% of the time (except Hellmuth and Matasow, of course) - but that's where you get to see the best play -

I spent most of last week watching season 2 of Battlestar Galactica - (Katee Sackhoff is the shit in that series) - and catching up on it - so little poker - but I should have some spare time next week and I intend to catch up on that Sunday Poker Blogger's game at FT that AlCan'tHang is pimping - since I have a $24 token and all I'm not using right now and it's as close to a fish pond as one can get - LOL

fruck - spinning my wheels again - making noise - no motion - stuck in Rush Hour - I need a big final table to break my funk.

rb

one of my favorite Cracker tunes - I love that chorus

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Take me down to the infirmary
Lay me down on cotton sheets
Put a damp cloth on my forehead
Lay me down and let me sleep

I know the whiskey won't soothe my soul
And the morphine won't heal my heart
But if you take me down to the infirmary
I won't have to sleep or drink alone.

So, take me down to the infirmary
Walk a sound that is as blue as her eyes
Oh, sister magdelene won't you fetch the Doctor's flask.
He is going to need a steady, a steady hand

I know the whiskey it won't soothe my soul
And the morphine won't heal my heart
But if you take me down to the infirmary
I won't have to sleep or drink alone.

So, take me down to the infirmary
Lay me down on cotton sheets
Put a damp cloth on my forehead
Lay me down let me sleep
Lay me down let me sleep

momma mia - I want a drink -

no particular reason - I just want to be like everyone else I know and see - Oblivious to that hole in my soul and in everything I see around me -

I want to embrace that type of self destructive behavior again that puts you on the short path to an early grave - waiting around for the President to declare Martial Law and invade Iran is wearing me down - I suppose I might always be eligible for the draft if I'm lucky -

not only that, but I don't feel like I can hang with poker bloggers anymore without a drink - all our best work is liquor fueled -

I read an interesting quote this week - forgot where it was - maybe it was a poker blog, but I don't think so - think it was Daily Kos - it went something like this.

Either you are a Collaborator, or you tend to resist authority - while those are extreme terms, at the end of the day, when the shit hits the fan, that's kinda what it comes down to - poker bloggers are NEVER collaborators - and that's what I love about them - by and large - fucking degenerates who take money from others and write about their triumphal smackdown with the Hammer are the kind of people who will help you move a body if you've earned their trust - and I miss them, but when I quit drinking, I put a rift back between me and them, and between me and the world I've never quite gotten over.

as my friend David would sometimes say in a song "Drunks usually look out after drunks" and I miss the comfort of the barstool - the stupid drunk philosophers who by and large, are trying to numb an injury to their soul or spirit that has long since become infected and deserving of amputation.

I miss the drunk binges in Vegas, and being able to outdrink the dumbass at the end of the table while still taking his money - the cute waitresses in the short skirts who always keep my glass half full and suggest reasonable and tasty alternatives to Jameson Irish -

And the Irish bars - lord do I miss the Irish bars - my favorite in St. Paul actually closed down - or turned into a regular neighborhood cover bar watering hole, rather. Might as well be dead to me now -

and I've learned moderation - in almost everything else I do now - I've learned to moderate and keep it healthy.

But I guess not today. Not tomorrow either, and probably not for awhile -

rb

played poker this week at a casino in Jackson, CA - an hr or two of Limit, about 4 hrs of bingo, and an hr. of NL -

twice flopped two pair to my opponent's straight - once I was smart enough to get away after only losing 16 bucks when I correctly put him on 9/10 to a 78J flop - 2nd time my opponent had 47 on a 568 flp - didn't get as good a read on that one - LOL

everyone was a pro - everyone had played 60/120 or something at Commerce - everyone had game, lip smack and attitude - except one guy who turned over pocket 4's with 2 pairs on the board - then after winning a bunch he took a lot of winnings off the table for a satellite -

and some 18+ player was laughing at how he snapped my Q's with A8 - no biggie -

but truth be told, I'm thinking I'd rather play bingo for a while

rb