Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade

Sportsmen's Tavern, Buffalo, NY

The sexy gypsy-jazz-retro look can easily pass for disingenuousness, but Miss Tess pulls it off with her style, songwriting, and melodies plucked from the early jazz era. Her band was young, super-tight/talented, and visibly enjoyed the music (Upright bass, reed player and drummer). I don’t remember the particular tune, but there was a defining point early in the show where her voice truly opened up and I was no longer listening to the heavy influences of this genre. I was also incredibly impressed by her guitar playing, much like Madeleine Peyroux (who is one of those heavy influences), but again, her voice on the guitar is taking shape as well. I of course left at half-time, but the crowd was swelling, swaying and spilling out into the street, so a return should be in order.

Zoar Valley

A Shadow Conjures the Crow's Ghost

(fiction/poetry)

Dearest mother,

The nights on the Moriah farmstead have been long, hot and unbearable. Mr. Moriah pitches cards into his dusty old cowboy hat all night long. The cards click against the wall and fall silently into his worn hat, but when missed, the slightest scrape of the floor echoes throughout the rickety house and sends the night spiraling into a manic sleepless journey. The oil lamp sends the fox's shadow waltzing across the ceiling; the crow's ghost paces back and forth beneath the window, and I fear the spider has followed us. The Black Hills are deep and treacherous mother; we will be leaving for the desert in the morning.

With a nervous pen,

B.

Niagara Falls

The Chase

Tournament poker=American Dream=Non existent.

It has become clear that a major leak in my game is tournament poker. I see all these young boys and girls making huge scores and admittedly become seduced by the idea that I might sneak one past the young rounders. I have cashed in a bunch, final tabled a handful, and taken down 1 tournament this year. Still, not enough. My cash game winnings are just being donated to the tournament scene. I also had a great look at a 5k nl tournament score at Seneca Niagara, but spewed my stack all over the place showing the gentlemen to the left of me just how little I cared about those shitty little chips, and made sure that he will never "ride my coattails to the final table".

At any rate I have been watching the young people play nl tournaments online, trying to get ideas from them, incorporate some of their moves, and am realizing I cannot put in the volume to get the results I expect from tournament play. I don't want to sit in front of the computer for 12 hrs straight. I have a career that I enjoy and don't need to grind it out. However, I'm still hungry and do want to go to the WSOP again next year, so the roll will be built, it's just time to plug the leaks.

As ever,

B.

Buffalo Central Terminal (Rumble in the City)

Fremont