Random Musings

Ahh, poker -- such a cruel cruel cruel woman, so I dump her to the curb.

Okay, maybe not. But I haven't played a hand since Sunday, and won't for a few more days, most likely.

Life's been pretty busy these days, what with weekly New Ben Franklins rehearsals, and gigs every 10-12 days or so now, it seems. We're playing a food bank donation raiser tomorrow, and then up in Loveland, Colorado, next Saturday.

Oh yeah, if you're in Denver and reading this, come to the Toad Tavern on Saturday, we play at 8pm. $5, and a buck off for each canned good you bring.

Initially, that was going to be the end for a while, as I've been supposed to leave town for a five week trial later in March. Yeah, this is part of the reason I haven't been really jazzed about BBT4, as I'd be pretty much incapable of playing about half the series.

Well, what do you know...fingers crossed, but this whole case may soon be over, sans trial, and what does that mean? A buncha stuff.

It means I can go to Rockies Opening Day, woohoo!!!! And for our home opener, no one other than the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies (whom of course we swept in the 2007 Division Series).

It also means I can actually consider playing the Heartland Poker Tour, which is back again in Blackhawk during March and April. Since the Colorado gaming limits don't go up until July, this again will be a case of having to play your way into the Main Event via a $340 qualifier. I'd given it no thought, considering the timing, but I've missed the previous HPT events, also because of work/travel reasons, and I do not intend to miss this one if I'm around. At least I'll take one shot in a qualifier. Who knows, if I win a Main Event seat, I'll likely play a 2nd qualifier with the hope I can win a 2nd seat and sell it, thus coming out ahead no matter when my AA goes down to 86s in Level 5 of the Main Event.

Anyway, tonight should also be a fun night. Three of my favorite bands are playing at the hi-dive, Denver's premier small indie music hipster paradise venue. Or something. I keed, I keed, but they do book a lot of really cool shit.

And tonight's no exception. The legendary Omens are fresh off a European tour, and celebrating release of their newest CD. I know there aren't a lot of true garage rock fans reading this, but let me just say that as a hardcore garage rock aficionado, I can tell you there is no more authentic true garage punk combo in the USA today. And in support are other faves Hawks of Paradise, and Overcasters.

Denver really does have an amazing music scene these days, attested to by the fact that these are flat out three of my favorite bands, with no "favorite local band" qualifier.

Wherever you're playing, whether its cards, rock and roll, tiddly winks, or some demented crap requiring a safety word, even when played solo (yeah, I'm thinking of a certain http://nickleanddimes.blogspot.com/ here), have fun this weekend.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Creen of the Crub Frushes!

Pay Respect, Yo

This is a sad day in rock and roll, for Ron Asheton has passed to the great dive bar in the beyond. He had your Raw Power. Ron, we're going to miss you.



Ron Asheton with Iggy & the Stooges (2007, I believe) - "I Wanna Be Your Dog"



Iggy & the Stooges (2005) - "TV Eye"

Ron, you brought the rock, and you will be missed.

Playlist from New Music Mondays

Well shoot, I didn't exactly keep a record of everything I managed to play during last night's festivities, but this should just about cover most of it...

The band name is first, followed by the song, the album it came from (in italics), and the band's origin. Most of these bands, even if unfamiliar, are pretty readily found over teh internets. I'm not fancy enough to post mp3s on my blog (unless I have a direct link to it), because I suck at fanciful blogging and have no web storage. But if anything jumps out at you, let me know, and I can pass along more about any given band.

The Woggles - Flash Flood - The Zontar Sessions (Atlanta)
Freddy & the Fourgone Conclusions - Come On Over to My Side - Wigged Out Sounds (Michigan)
We the People - My Brother, the Man - Mirror of Our Minds (Orlando)
The Barracudas - This Ain't My Time - Drop Out With the Barracudas (England, I think)
Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. - Astrokorper - The Living Eye (Switzerland)
The Pebbles - Square Box - Pink Pistachio Candy (Japan)
The 14th Wray - Your Face Is In My Mind - Time Machine: The History of Canadian 60s Garage Punk & Surf (Canada)
The Pleasure Seekers - What A Way to Die - Hang It Out to Dry! (no bloody idea)
Manual Scan - Nothing You Can Do - All Night Stand (San Diego)
The Woggles - The World Is Falling - Rock and Roll Backlash (Atlanta)
The Penetrators - Guns Don't Argue - For A Few Guitars More (Atlanta)
Sincron - Pe Linga Plopii Fara Sot - Planetary Pebbles, Vol 1 (CzechosloTvakia, I think)
The Waistcoats - I'll Come Back - All the Rage (The Netherlands)
The Black Watch - Left Behind - Teenage Shutdown: Get A Move On! (Iowa)
The Embrooks - Standing Upside Down - Our New Day (England)
Jacques Dutronc - Le Responsable - Completement Dutronc (France)
The Sound Barrier - Hey Hey - Teenage Shutdown: The World Ain't Round, It's Square (no idea)
Monks - Shut Up - Black Monk Time (Germany by way of U.S. Army)
Graham Day & the Gaolers - Get Off My Track - Soundtrack to the Daily Grind (Medway)
The Omega Men - Beat Girl - The Spy-Fi Sounds Of... (Lancaster, PA)
John Barry Orchestra - Beat Girl - EMI Years: 1957-1960 (England)
The Florenteens - Bad Days Good - Like You Mean It (Washington, DC)
Tiger! Tiger! - Jealous Lovers - Collisions (Atlanta)
The Bristols - He'll Never Come Back - Introducing...the Bristols (England)
The Bruthers - Bad Way to Go - Bad Way to Go (no idea)
The Woggles - Jezebel - Live! at the Star Bar (Atlanta)

A few notes and observations, appropo of nothing in particular...

Yeah, I played a lot of Woggles, but for different reasons. Flash Flood is essentially a short badass fast insto, and it made sense to kick off the night in that fashion. The World Is Falling is a cover of a really cool 60s German garage rock song, and I unfortunately don't have a copy of the original. Jezebel...well, I just threw that in at the end of the night, and it was going to be either their version, or The Mummies', or The Hate Bombs', and I just think The Woggles version is the best sounding. Basically, I wanted to play the song, more than I wanted to worry about who played it.

As for The Florenteens, well, that's actually a former indiepop band of mine. I intended not to play any music from any of my bands, but a few of us were chatting up stuff about what we're doing with our current bands, and New Ben Franklins is actually playing a Florenteens song in their set list, so I played it to demo it. So sue me. If'n yer curious, the link is to a decent bandwidth version of that particular tune.

Yes, both versions of "Beat Girl" are actually the same song. John Barry wrote it for a truly cheesy UK B-movie from 1960 starring Christopher Lee, Oliver Reed, Adam Faith, and Margot Bryant ("Hop-Head UK School Girls Get In Trouble!"), and The Omega Men really spy-fi'd it up with some killer Hammond B3 - the contrast was fun.

For those bands whose location is listed as "no idea", if I got off my lazy ass long enough to pull out the CDs, I can figure it out if you're interested, as well as the years of most of the songs. But given most of the miniscule readership is more interested in online poker than in obscure garage rock, I don't imagine the effort would be necessary.

Anyway, the night was a total blast on all accounts, thanks again to all who spun, and to the Larimer Lounge and DJ HOT TO DEATH for hosting. Hope to do it again soon!

Quick Plug

From online edition of Westword:

Club scout: Monolith Festival co-founder Matt Fecher recently kicked off New Music Mondays at Larimer Lounge (2721 Larimer Street), which he hosts as DJ Hot to Death. The night, which runs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. (with no cover) features two guest DJs each week, and music fans can bring vinyl or iPods and share a few of their favorite cuts. On December 15, Kurt Ottaway of the Overcasters and Mondogarage will be Fecher's guests; the following Monday, he'll bring in Chris Martucci of Laylights and Miles & Baumer.

Struggles With Donkeys? More Like With Life

To be honest, my head just wasn't really in it. Last night's tourneys, that is.

(That's not why I didn't run deep, I just played poorly, but played poorly, in part, because of an inability to focus.)

Unlike RecessRampage (who seems to love his job), I'm really pretty damn miserable in mine right now, and recent events are really exacerbating things for me. Do you ever feel trapped in a game where the rules change arbitrarily and you have no impact or influence on them, yet are responsible for the results? That pretty much describes how I feel, and I don't see any way out. I feel like I'm paying for someone's previous decisions that were either poorly thought out or poorly executed, and that when someone says "oh, just do [xyz]", they have no appreciation not only for the hours that entails on my end, but what that means with regard to cases on my docket that they aren't on.

Don't get me wrong...I understand. It's not any attorney's job to worry about what's on another attorney's docket. It's only their job to worry about their docket dates getting met, and getting their product out the door. I get that. But when you're in the midst of a true clusterfuck document production (not in size, but in the rampantly unnecessary duplicated acts, waiting on others, poor direction following by vendors, etc.), while at the same time needed to be in full trial prep mode for another case where you're leaving town for trial in less than three weeks, and the attorneys on the two cases are not the same...just fuckitol, ya know?



Anyway, I'm stuck, because I don't know how to do anything else for a living. And no, I'm not going to play professional pokerz. I've been a paralegal for nearly 20 years, and I'm not about to go to law school. I think I'm really good at what I do, and I've worked for some of the largest and best firms in the country. This is what I do, and this is what I'm going to do tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, probably until I die of a pressure-induced stroke, or something. But none of that makes me feel any better when the fit's hitting the shan, and you're powerless to change your situation.

Okay, whiny rant mode off.

I'll try to end with something positive. The recent Chesterfield Kings' album I just picked up, "Psychedelic Sunrise", is really fucking good. If you like your rock'n'roll flavored a la Brian Jones'-era Rolling Stones, with a dash of early 70s style, then this record is for you.



No one does truly authentic 6Ts sounds like Chesterfield Kings, other than The Royal Purple, or The Omens, that is.

Monday Morning Mentions

So the Giants won the Super Bowl? Good for 'em. I really had no vested interest in either team, other than to the extent that having grown up in Miami as a kid, it was nice to see the '72 Fins get to continue their claim to fame for another. But I tend to dislike all NY professional sports teams, because of the general misplace arrogance of fans of said NY professional sports teams, and I dislike (though respect) the Cheatriots on many levels.

However, the game was very taut, and largely well-played. Most of the poor offensive plays could be attributed to the fact that both teams played very good defense, and the Giants, in particular, put pressure on Brady like he hasn't seen in years. So, it was fun to watch. Blue Moon with orange slices washed down the wings and things nicely, and the Good Doctor Mondo and I had a very nice time of it.

In a moment of very unexpected coolness, an old acquiantance of mine's band, TheBoss Martians, had their music in two Super Bowl commercials - the eTrade commercials with the talking baby:



The track is called "Hey Hey Yeah Yeah", and is off their forthcoming new album, Pressure in the Sodo. (Iggy Pop even lends vocals on one track on the album.) The Boss Martians started out, nearly 15 years ago, as a an old school traditional surf/Gary Usher-style hot rod band (which is how I came to know them), and have evolved over time into a balls out power pop outfit that can hang with anyone, anytime, anywhere. It's been fascinating to hear the evolution of Evan, Nick, and their current rhythm section.

Evolution via album covers/photos:






As a big fan of surf, garage rock, and power pop, I've pretty much been a fan of everything The Boss Martians have ever done, and I can't wait to hear the new one. The snippet played over the last 6-8 seconds of the eTrade ads was spot on.

Sadly, I never got to share any bills with them over the years, but they twice crashed at my house while on tour, back when we were living DC-stylee. Good folk, and a fantastic band. Pressure in the Sodo is their 7th full length release (not counting Evan's solo instrumentals album or their interim Mystery Action record, both of which are quite good), and I wish them the best for big things in '08 - don't forget to stop in Denver while on tour!

Anyway, for reasons having nothing to do with the music, those were our favorite commercials of the day, with the fire breather Bud Light commercial a close third. The fact the eTrade baby commercials didn't seem to rate in anyone else's Top 5 pretty much flabbergasts me. All I hear about are the Will Ferrell and dog-trains-horse commercials, and sure, they're cute, but Will's just being the same Will he is in every movie, and the Bud horses just aren't that creative. Can't stop the bum rush, though.

EDIT: This just in, according to TiVo, the talking baby was, in fact, the top ad. I suspect their measurement is based on number of users who recorded and watched it?



As for poker? Hell, I didn't sling a single chip all weekend long, how's about dem apples? I'll start making up for that tonight, however.

Oh, and a special bonus for tomorrow's Bodog Blogger Tournament -- an hour of Mondo's dead money! Come get some!

Goodbye to an anti-Beatle

Today is a say day for a lot of fans of relatively obscure garage rock music, myself included.

From Eddie Shaw:"Two days before the birthday of his hero, Elvis -- Dave Day of the Monks suffered a heart attack and massive brain injury. He has been taken off the life support system today. His work is done."

This development truly makes me very sad. I got to hang out wiht Dave Day in Vega$ after their Las Vegas Rockaround set a few years ago, and found him extraordinarily engaging and humorous, and even at his advancing age, at 3am, and after a raucous set, he was still ready to toss down with all the fans. The world is a bit less today. To many, the monks were the original punk band. Comprised of five American G.I.s stationed in Germany in the early 60s, they traversed the gap from playing the standard club covers of the day, to tribally savage and rhythmic feedback-fueled stompers that reflected the angst and antipathy of their time and place.

It's beat time, it's hop time, it...was once...monktime.

Dave Day is actually the second monk to pass away, but somehow, this one hits me a little harder, perhaps because of the sheer uniqueness of an electric banjo punk rocker, and just the constant smile he had when we met.

In extremely minor poker news, I managed to fire up a couple of turbo SNGs last night, to no avail, but got into a $1.10 2-7 Triple Draw SNG, where I managed to get heads up with a 5:1 chip lead and proceeded to lose in about 10 hands. This is not too hard to do once the doomswitch is turned on. Had an 8-6 go down to an 8-5, got dealt 2nd nuts and shorty drew out to the nuts, etc. Ah well. Cash is cash, but being up 5:1 and losing, in a limit game....ack.

I think I played a total of five games, consisting of the aforementioned $1.10 SNG, a $3.40 5-table SNG, 1 $3.40 HORSE SNG, and 2 of the $2.20 4-table satellites to the Stars Sunday Hundo. All were turbos, except the 2-7 TD, and in all but one, my money was in ahead, but random fish seemed all too eager to call an all-in, more often than not with a crap ass ace-rag. I think it's because of the turbo structure of these things.

New Music Alert

Since I sometimes don't play nearly as much poker as I'd like to play, nor as much as many of the other bloggers play, it's time to expand ye olde wee blog a bit. Other than poker, music is far and away my most passionate recreational avocation, so yeah, let's talk about the rawk.

I know it's awfully early in the year, and a lot of new music is likely to find its way onto folks' playlists this year, but I'd like to submit for consideration a record released about six weeks ago, as one of the coolest things any of you may ever hear in quite a while:

The band is Graham Day and the Gaolers, and the album is Soundtrack to the Daily Grind. It's probably very unlikely that poker bloggers have ever heard of Graham Day. However, he's long known to afficionados of garage rock and the Medway sound as one of the original members of The Prisoners, one of my favorite bands from the original garage rock revival days, and part of the same scene as Billy Childish, Thee Headcoats, Thee Milkshakes, etc.

At any rate, the new Gaolers record is awash in perfect raw pop masterpiece writing, the sounds of Medway guitar, sitar, organ, and wonderful rhythmic goodness supplied by Dan Electro and Buzz Hagstrom, who some may better know as the rhythm section of The Woggles (my absolute favorite live band, and the band I was most jazzed to ever get to share a bill with).

Obviously, this sound isn't for everyone. If your idea of the pinnacle of entertaining rock is corporate crap, then Graham Day & the Gaolers are probably not to your taste. However, if you're at all familiar with anything this guy might play on his show, then you owe it to yourself to give it a listen.

In other news, my former D.C. band The Jet Age, is on the verge of releasing their second album, to be titled, "What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?" I'm really excited for them. Of all the bands I've ever played with, they were, objectively, the best, and other than Jealous Lover Targets, the most difficult to leave. Of course, as usual, it will probably go over well with the reviewers at Pitchfork and Magnet, but only sell a few hundred copies -- such is life in indie rock when you're not a flavor of the month.

Happy listening.

If I had a Hammer...

So this Hammer thing...I clearly don't have the hang of it quite yet. Ended up playing the pub league freeroll on Friday, since I had to meet two players there to pick up a camcorder for my Good Doctor Mondo to use over the weekend. Anyway, I get there and tell a friend of mine that, if I'm big stacked at the table and get the Hammer, I'm all in.

Guess what. Of course. I'm big stacked, triple up in first hour, and get the hammer. In the BB. I totally chicken out. Flop comes Q87. I check-fold to an all in. Deuce on river. KK wins the hand. I feel worse than a donk.

Anyway, I end up finishing 2nd in the first tourney, out of 55. Nice. So, early in the 2nd tourney, I get the Hammer. Again, in the BB. Blinds are 25/50, and six players call. I go all in. Called by pocket tens, and crushed. I think the lesson is, "grow a pair before it's too late".

Crushed the home game Saturday night, but got rivered by a straight over my flopped two pair in HU and finished 2nd. Not bad. I'll take 2.5x buy-in payoff anytime. Spent most of my FTP time this weekend in .10/.25 and .25/.50 NLHE, and damn if I didn't end up down one buy in after being up four buy-ins. I know, I know, you WANT a caller to your re-raise with nut flush on turn. What you do NOT want is for that fish to hit his four outer on the river. Yes, that happened. Twice. I hate FTP sometimes. Heh. Went from running awesome, to running shitty, in about two hours of play. The bankroll's down to five max buy-ins at .10/.25, but this whole thing of playing NL is still new, and yea, I'll reload if I have to.

Anyway, it was great to hear of smokkee's satelitte rockage this weekend. Wonder how he did in the $500k. Good luck in the Aussie qualifier tonight. Also great fun following the Doyle Brunson WPT stuff.

Someday, I'll learn to take notes. There were actually a couple of interesting FTP hands. Finding the fish at most of the tables wasn't difficult. Avoiding their suckouts was, unfortunately, occasionally impossible. But the real difference between a roughly break even weekend and being up a bit was a bad call with KQ on a K-high board, seeing villian turn over AK. Lessons, lessons, lessons...

Today, I sit at work in a virtually empty office. All the shelving's gone to make room for new carpet tonight. Which makes today utterly fucking boring, and yet I can't leave...argh. There's good midday tourneys up the hill, as well. Still, finding a $75 iTunes gift certificate in my mail inbox is suhweet...gonna start it off with The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. - McAwesome organ driven spy-fi from Europe. Maybe followup with Switzerland's, The Giant Robots, if the US iTunes store carries it. Great, great stuff. This band gets the Mondo's stamp of approval, and if they ever gig in the US, I *will* find a way to get them to a Denver show.