The World Series is rolling up on us quicker than anyone realizes, and another year of poker is about to hit it's ultimate high in Vegas. I always enter it with a complete sense of excitement for all the possibilities that it brings, along with a certain amount of healthy knowledge that comes with being aware what that much competition for that length of time really is like. With that said, you can't help but get fired up for the WSOP, and I am certainly doing that. Luckily for me I have been able to get some fun time in this May to recharge the batteries before heading to the desert here in about a week...

The Raconteurs
One of the things I love about truly great live bands is that if you really pay attention to them play you notice who they are playing for; themselves. Of course they are there for the fans as well, and are going to get them all off, but in order to do so they play to each other and create an excitement just as a band, and just for each other. They get each other off as musicians and the crowd feeds off of that. It's one of the coolest thing to watch, not only as a fan, but as someone who has played music and played in bands. I have always thought that the greatest bands get that and play accordingly. You can't play FOR the fans exactly. You have to take them for a ride, but they can't BE the ride. I think that musicians have to play the music that THEY love in order to really transcend, blow things up, and excite. The band is the ride, you know what I mean? Every band that I have loved is great at this. Dave Matthews Band, Rise Against, John Butler Trio, Rush, Citizen Cope, Live...they all get this. The Raconteurs locked into that big time and tore the doors off the Music Box here in Los Angeles last night, and it was a sick thing to witness and be a part of. Poker TV

One of my biggest regrets about getting into online poker is that it has left me with so much less time to go to live music, which was what I did religiously before about 3 years ago. When you see bands like last night it reminds me that I still need to make time to go out and see more. Jack White and crew were locked in last night, kicking off their Summer tour in style, and taking us all along for the ride. I especially appreciate The Raconteurs because The White Stripes never did much for me, as I never got into the garage movement from a few years back. I also just think that bass exists in music for a reason, and Jack proves that with his second band...haha...

At any rate, we had a big group that splintered down to just a few by the start of the evening and I had a great time with Huffy and crew that was needed after a stressful weekend...

"Surfwise"
This is a movie that I have been dying to see for months and it finally came out just recently. It tells the tale of the Paskowitz surfing family. Doc Paskowitz, his wife, and their 9 children...who all live in a camper and travel North American non-stop. That's right, they have no real jobs, and the kids never went to school at all, so in essence they are true rebels of society. This is no tale of hippies and stoners though, as Doc Paskowitz spent the first part of his life attaining a medical degree from Stanford and practicing medicine. It is only after some years of this that he rejects society's way of doing things, and comes up with his own. It is an amazingly interesting tale, that for the first half of the film spins this perfect utopian yarn that the viewer can't help but think, "Man, I want that". We see the now-grown children talk about how amazing their childhoods were, spent surfing and learning what the true meaning of "family" is. Of course, with anything that seems perfect from the outside, the family wasn't, and isn't, quite as harmonious on the inside.

The second half of the film explains the children's difficulty at attempting to assimilate into the real world, into society, without any discernible skills, education, or work experience. It is clearly a different tale as half of the kids express anger and frustration at how they were raised, while the others still believe it to be what it was: a truly unique utopian existence. The final scene of the film ends with the Paskowitz's coming together after years of estrangement from each other and reuniting through tears and laughter. It's a beautiful movie with several possible messages strewn throughout. What did I take from it? Well, nothing is as perfect as it seems from the outside...nothing. As well, EVERYTHING in life should exist in a medium of moderation, which is really something that I need to desperately learn myself. I tend to live very extremely as well, and that probably isn't the way to do it. Nothing is wholely evil or wholely good all at once, and I think the trick is to take the goods from whatever you encounter and try not to also absorb the negatives, which is of course, easier said than done. I tend to either work 18 hours a day or completely reject every system and control that I possibly can...and neither of those ways is particularly healthy in any way.

Anyway, definitely worth checking out, in my humble opinion. Soooo, that's what I have been up to. Just wanted to holler about some things I thought were pretty cool recently. Talk to ya soon..

peace,
J