11.14.06 kibbles and bittorrents

NP: "It's Expected I'm Gone"Minutemen.
NP: "Track #7"Tom Ze.
NP: "Horoscopic.Amputation.Honey"Califone.
NP: "Feel"The Church.
NP: "A Few Hours After This"The Cure.
NR: Same as last entry, but I did read like half of the New Yorker from like three weeks ago.



Has anybody ever sampled the drum intros from either of the first two songs above? Both of them would make a killer track. I'm guessing the Minutemen track has been on people's radar screens, but... I don't even know the name of the damn Tom Ze song, so... maybe that one's a little more obscure.

I was saying I was going to fill up this entry by doing some research and pulling 8-12 great drum parts that need to be sampled, but... quite frankly I was just too lazy to do it.

I worked a couple of nights, and I went out of town to Philadelphia with the Chrome Children tour for Stones Throw Records. Damn that J. Rocc is a fucking monster on the turntables. I stood on the side of the stage and just watched him for a half hour when he did his own set. Amazing. I'd like to see him doing it without the Seratto or whatever the digital scratching system is called, but... it's obvious the skills are there whether it's analog or digital.

Lessee... What else? Went to go see Califone. They weren't amazing, but they were officially Really Damn Good. And closing with the first track offa "Quicksand Cradlesnakes" doesn't hurt one bit. I love that fucking song.

I've also been a bit obsessed with Bittorrent these last few days. I'm still glad I went out and bought those $500 worth of cds at Virgin Megastore the other day, because then I don't feel guilty about moments like these. I just downloaded all the church albums I don't have digitally (including a lot of the later ones that I actually own, but have never bothered to, well, listen to. I've listened, but nothing has really sunk in.

I've also gotten the later New Order and R.E.M. records that I will probably never listen to, but... since i have the 250 GB external harddrive, why the hell not.

I'm in the middle of downloading all the Incredible String Band albums I don't have, The Clash albums I don't have (including Cut The Crap... wonder if I'll ever listen to that? I'm sure not.), and the one thing that started the whole bittorrent obsession: the movie Trees Lounge. It's been sitting at 587 MB of 700 MB for like three days.

One good thing about all of this is that it made me clear out tons of space on my old desktop so that I'll have a couple of GB clear for downloads, which means I've also moved some stuff onto my laptop that I've not heard in YEARS. Like the two Barry Black albums and a couple of B-Sides from The Cure that I had gotten offa Napster or Kazaa 5 years ago. How the HELL were "The Exploding Boy" and "A Few Hours After This" and "Breathe" B-sides? Holy shit. It's really insane.



11.08.06 if mike tyson had never fought, he'd still be undefeated

NP: "Sing, Little Birdy"Shearwater.
NP: "Constant In Opal"The Church.
NP: "Johnny's Gonna Die"The Replacements.
NR: starting on "The Miracle Game" by Josef Skvorecky. Read "Anthem" by Ayn Rand in basically one short sitting at the recommendation of the bartender Theresa at Camus, the bar at the Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix. I'm still kinda annoyed that she didn't write or call to thank me for sending her the books I sent her. I guess she thought I was either creepy or too persistent (or both), but I really wasn't doing it to hit on her... I just always want people to read Alice Munro, Evelyn Waugh, and Ernest Hemingway. Probably won't be the last time I waste $50 on a random act of kindness, but... Oh, well.



A home game at Chez Newmy. There hasn't been one of those in FOREVER. We get a decent turn-out. Pretty old-school. The Hat, Sausage, Drought, Crazy Glenn... then there's Pete, Dennis, and New Kid. It's shaping up pretty nice. We're gonna play higher stakes than we used to, we decide once everybody's there.

We decide on $100 buy-ins, and playing rotation of $1/$1 NL hold 'em and $1/$1 PL omaha hi/lo. When a few more people show up, we also add a rotation of $1/$2 Limit Newmyer's Seven Nuts.

The night passes easily enough. I hit some lucky flushes and gutshots on people that bet like pussies (ie., Dennis), and I'm up between $150 and $100 most of the night. Then, after Drought busts out and Dennis busts out the third time, and Sausage has almost no money left, the stacks start getting bigger and the game starts getting looser. And now I can't hit a goddamn thing. Next thing you know it's 4-handed, and I'm down $400. Pete and CG have big stacks in front of them, Mitch has a couple of hundred, and I'm asking if it's cool if I buy-in for $300. They all say OK.

Once it goes three-handed with The Hat, CG, and myself, I just can't catch a break. I get 10's when CG gets QQ's, I get AQ when somebody has AK, I get 44 when somebody has 55. The night ends with a hand of omaha high only where I have AAxx double-suited and raise big, The Hat hits a set of 5's on the flop, and I lose $150.

I lose $1100 in my own apartment, and it's one of the worst sessions of poker I've had EVER. How's that for a new era of home game? All of the pain, agony, and distress of a bad night of poker, in the (dis)comfort of your own home.

ouch.

This is a little funny, though: before the night starts I start thinking about this girl Heather that came to a couple of poker games. She was pretty bad, but... maybe not as bad as some of the players I see in the card rooms. Well... worse, but... still. Anyway, the last time I've seen her or spoken with her was at a game at my house where I berated her for calling me down with the shittiest hand possible, and she took it badly (it was kinda bad, even by my standards.). Well... I found her phone number in my old phone and sent her a text message. I said I wanted to apologize to her for my behaviour the last time I saw her and that I wanted to invite her out to the poker game. To my surprise she wrote me back, and eventually said "no worries... it's water under the bridge." I texted back "dumb water under a drunk bridge." As soon as I hit send I realized.

She wrote back: "Are you in AA?" No, I'm just dumb. I shoulda realized how that sounded. Oh, well.



11.07.06 is $4400 an hour a good hourly rate?

NP: Nothing.
NR: Starting on "Rene's Flesh" by Virgilio Pinera. Finally time to dive into the last 6 or 7 Eridanos Press titles I haven't read.



Now THIS was an interesting night of poker. I must admit... I'm writing this a couple of days later, and I wish I had written about it right away. But... now I'll just shorten it a bit and stick to the basics and what I remember.

What I remember is that I couldn't catch a freakin' break all night. I'm playing 1/2 NL at SSSS, and I keep having to move tables because my table is breaking, which is annoying enough.

But on top of that I just can't win. I'm both unlucky AND playing poorly. Not a good combination. Still, though, after about 10 hours of playing I'm down $1200, and I suppose in some regards it could have been worse.

I lose with AA vs. KJ but only for a little money... I get rid of the hand on the flop. A little while later I have AA again, and AGAIN the flop comes KKx. Only this time the guy slowplays me and just calls on the flop. And then the turn comes KKxA and I'm stoked. I check, and he checks behind me, and then I get all his chips on the river.

I get moved AGAIN... I'm down about $500 at this point, and I have $400 in front of me (in for $900). I have A6 and I raise in late position. I get a call on the button and from both the blinds. The flop comes AJ3. Two players check to me, I bet, the button calls, and both blinds fold. The turn comes AJ3J... i bet again, and the button calls. Now I know I'm losing, either to a bigger Ace or to trip Jacks. The river comes AJ3JA. I bet. The guy raises me. I somewhat apologetically call, assuming we're chopping and that I rivered the guy with a bigger Ace. And the button turns over a Jack! And I'm fucking kicking myself. I still had another $200 in front of me, and I should have gone all-in at the end, just on the off-chance this guy was an idiot. Well, he was. And I was, too.

Alfonse starts yelling at the guy "Buddy... you couldn't have played that hand any worse. What were you thinking?!?! That was horrible!". And the guy gets pissed off and gets up and leaves, and the entire table is pissed at Alfonse. Apparently he's been a calling station, but hitting lucky hands, and everybody was just waiting to get their money back, and Alfonse scares him off the table. Alfonse is an idiot, too.

But, still... I made like $300 that hand, and now I'm close to even. I pick up another small hand and am within $75 bucks of being even. This is probably around 2:30 AM.

Then I just start playing like shit.

This is the hand that really annoyed the hell out of me and made me feel like I should never play poker again.

I pick up:

I'm in late position and I call a small raise to $12 with it. One of the blinds calls, and an early limper. The flop:

I know I'm really far ahead on this flop. First two guys check, the original raiser bets, I call, and the blind calls. Other guy folds. I thought about raising here, but I figured I have top two, there's no obvious straight draw, and no flush draw, so I decide to wait until the turn. The turn:

The first guy bets out $60. I'm afraid he just hit the higher two pair. The original raiser folds, and it comes to me. I think about it for a second. He's got a pretty big stack, and I know I'm supposed to raise, but I'm just too afraid to do it. I decide to just call. The river:

He bets out $90. Now I know I can't raise, but... can I fold? Of course I don't fold. I call. He shows me:

Which I *had* considered on the turn as one of his very possible holdings. And I kick myself for playing the hand awfully. And handing over $200 away when I could have taken it down on the flop or turn for a nice little win.

Then I hit two pair with hands like J9, J8, and J7 like 4 times in the next hour as the other guy makes the straight. I get away from it twice, but once I still call on the river, and once I make a bet on the river and then have to fold when I get raised. Once again the table breaks and I move tables. I'm in for $1250, and I only have about $375 in front of me.

And then it just gets worse.

I limp for a $5 in early position after a straddle with:

A guy after me makes it $17. He gets two callers, and it comes around to a woman in the little blind. She raises to $52. It folds to me, and I decide to gamble and call. The original raiser calls, and one of the other callers calls. It's four players to the flop:

There's $200 in the pot, and I'm in second position. The woman who raised in early position checks. I bet out $65, hoping to get raised. It comes from the next player to my left. He makes it $165. The other player folds, and the woman goes all-in for about $250!. I go all-in over the top (making it about $325 total), and the guy who made it $165 calls the other $160 or whatever it is.

his hand:

she never shows her hand, but afterwards says that it's KK.

And then the turn and the river:

And all I can do is say "wow" as I watch the dealer push him the $1125 pot.

But of course I don't leave! No! That wouldn't be like stubborn me. I sit back down at another new table with $250. (I went to the club with $2000 on this night... which is probably not a very smart idea.). I play for about 45 minutes and nothing's happening. It's 6:00 AM and I see that a seat has just opened up at the 2/5 NL table. I buy another $400 in chips and move over to that table with $650 (you're only allowed to take $600, but nobody noticed I took more.). I see a couple of flops and lose a few bucks, and I buy another $100 in chips (the last of my money). I brought $2000, and all I have left is the $650 sitting in front of me.

It's now 6:15 AM. SSSS usually calls last hand at 6:45 AM.

I have:

The blinds are $2 and $5, there's a straddle to $10, and the next player makes it $40 and immediately gets a caller. I'm next to act and make it $120. It folds around to then, and they both call. The flop:

They check to me. I bet $150. I get one caller. The turn:

She goes all-in for $350. I'm positive it's a stone-cold bluff. I call. The river:

The dealer says "showdown" and points to the girl. She says "I missed". I say "What do you have?" and the guy sitting next to me is whispering "make her show, make her show!", but she just says "I missed" again" and mucks her cards. I turn over my 9's, and take down the $1250 pot. I have no fucking clue what the hell she had. Either AK or A5 or A6 maybe like 10 6? I don't know. I really don't get it. But I appreciate the gift.

Two hands later I'm in late position and limp with 57clubs. It goes around to the blinds, one of which raises to $25, and there are two callers to me. I call and close the action. The flop comes club club club. I'm feeling pretty good. The guy bets out $50. The other two players fold, and I raise him to $150. He thinks about it a second and calls. The turn comes a rag, and he checks to me. He has about $400 in front of him, so... I go all-in for $400. He thinks about it a second and calls! The river comes a blank, he turns over Qspade Qclub, and I show the made flush and take down another $600 in profit.

Alfonse starts yelling "Buddy... you just got two gifts in a row! That wasn't poker, those were just gifts!" Whatever. I hate him.

I proceed to get AA two times in the next twenty minutes, and they win both times. The a hand later I flop a straight with Q9, only to get counterfeited on the turn, but still end up chopping for half the pot.

And then maybe the most satisfying hand of the night. About three minutes before closing I look down and see AA AGAIN. Somebody makes it $30, I'm next to act and make it $90. Alfonse makes it $250. It folds around to me, and I go all-in. He's got $500 total. He turns to the guy sitting next to him and says "he can't have Aces every hand" and throws in the rest of his money. And I turn over the AA and half the table laughs and half gasps, and Alfonse turns over his KK and just gets up and starts walking away. He's muttering and bitching and yelling and dealer deals out five rags, and I tip the dealer $40 from Alfonse's stack as he stands there and watches me do it.

I get up five minutes later with $2800. I just had a $2200 swing in thirty minutes.

I've never had anything like that happen before, and it's unlikely I will ever have a run like that again.



11.06.06 in retrospect, the last good night of poker i've had

NP: I can't remember
NR: still the same stuff listed in last post.





A relatively uneventful trip to SSSS to play 1/2 NL, except I flop three sets in 45 minutes, 44, 55, 44 and all win, once against top two and I could have made much more money (or lost a lot of money had my set turned into a boat).

But then I'm sitting there with 750 (I'm in for 600 of that), and I get JJ. There's a straddle to 5 and a re-straddle to 10 in front of me, so I'm first to act at the 8 handed table. I call the 10, then sit there in horror as the 6 of the 7 players call. It comes back to the re-straddle, and he raises it $30 on top, thank god. I bump it another $80 to $120. Everybody folds except him.

The flop comes:

He checks to me. I bet $175. He starts asking me questions. "Do you want action?" "Are you trying to buy the pot?" I tell him that I'm pretty sure I have him beat. I'm kicking myself for talking to him, as I feel I do give something away in those situations. I've felt that Tommy Foley and others at BBBB have made reads on me based on what I say, and I've vowed to not speak in these situations, but of course I can't do it. He thinks for a little while longer and says "I'm going to raise. $200 on top." And he throws $375 in green chips into the middle.

I think about it. Now I'm really worried that HE has QQ, and is maybe actually worried that I have AA or KK. But I have those four gutshot outs... ugh. I really don't know what to do, so I start counting the pot. There's $290 in there from pre-flop. There's my $175 plus the call in there for another $350, and there's his $200 raise. It's $200 to win $840. I decide that even if I'm up against an overpair, I'm not a 4:1 dog. Or, I'm right on the line. I say fuck it and call. The turn comes:

A blank if I've ever seen one. And then the strangest thing happens. He checks to me. I don't understand it. He's only got about $150, but... I don't understand why it doesn't immediately go in unless I'm beating him. I know it's going to go in anyway, probably... There's $1040 in the pot. I go all-in, and he really disgustedly calls. "You have an overpair?" he asks, and I say yes. He starts beating himself up already. "fuck, what a stupid play. I don't know why I didn't believe you" etc. The river comes:

I turn over the JJ, and he mucks. I never saw his cards. Later he tells me that he just had the 10, and didn't think I had anything (obviously).

I play another 45 minutes, somehow lose another $200 in the process, and walk out of there at 3:30 up $640. I catch a taxi and make it to Veselka just in time to order a 22 ounce Slavutich, and egg sandwich, and potato pancakes. I'm liking my time off in NYC.



11.03.06 an entire post that doesn't even mention poker

NP: "Maggie Mae"Rod Stewart.
NP: "Jailbreak"Thin Lizzy.
NP: "Mr. Soul"Love Battery.
NP: "Suicide On The Installment Plan"Swearing At Motorists.
NP: "I'll Be Yr Bird"M. Ward.
NR: still the same stuff listed in last post.



Overheard at Lit: "If you don't see me for an hour, you know where I am."

Amazing.

I've discovered that the weird new pizza shop, that replaced the old weird new pizza shop at the corner of St. Mark's and 2nd Avenue, has the best slice of margherita pizza that I've ever had. It's almost like an Alsacian tart. The dough is salty and baked crisp, and has just a little bit of sweetness to it. They bake the mozzarella right onto the dough, until it's dry and firm and almost burnt. It's collapsed tightly to the surface of the dough. And then there's just a little bit of sauce and basil. It's a truly fantastic slice of pizza. I've eaten it three days in a row.

I've also had some amazing steamed hot apple cider. I was way early to work, so instead of going straight to BBBB, I walked to Frankie's 457 on Court Street. The very cute bartender was playing M. Ward and thought they were out of apple cider, but then she double checked and found out they just got some more. I sat there for an hour (making myself late for work), drank two cups of the stuff, and finished the last 40 pages of "Waterfalls Of Slunj". It was like watching a favorite movie... I was waiting for the one final line with such anticipation I actually think I was smiling while reading and finding myself tugging at the leash to skip ahead. I can't wait to read it again someday.


I finally finished getting all the photos from The Clientele tour scanned and uploaded. Here's a collection of my favorite photos of the ones I took:
The Clientele Tour, August 2006.







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