Poker Progress - Well, I busted out early in the Foxwoods Wed. night no-rebuy 7-Stud tournament. My cards were lousy, and I was burned at the end when I played a pair of aces and a king fast against a pair of eights and lost when I didn't improve. He improved with a second pair - of kings no less.

Luckily, I was able to sit down at the 1-5 Stud tables and make back my entry fee plus enough to buy a copy of Rockstar Studios' Grand Theft Auto 3 for PlayStation 2. That, plus the free meal they gave me and the baseball cap made it a good night all around.


Speaking of GTA3, that game is insane. It's great if you're just in the mood to watch and cause video game-style mayhem. My favorite part? Stealing an ambulance and delivering people to the hospital by cutting across the park and running people off the road. Runner up - stealing a police car and taking vigilante assignments.

Maureen Dowd's Take on what CNN dubbed "The Case of the Slipped Disk" (referring to the Democratic Senate Staffer who found a White House presentation dropped on a street corner by an intern): Secrets of the Yo-Yo's

"Maintain a positive issue environment," they instruct. Not a positive global environment, of course, just a positive issue environment. In midterm elections, they intone, "Presidents' standing matters." No kidding.

Karl urges Republicans to "Focus on War." Milking that war again. And "Promote Compassion Agenda." Not compassion itself, mind you, just the trompe l'oeil agenda.

Trompe l'oeil? Cool! I love trompe l'oeil!. Oh, wait, she doesn't mean it literally.

The Gambler - Forgot to mention, I'm going to be participating in another poker tournament at Foxwoods. It's Wed. evening and it's their weekly 7-Stud $35 no rebuy tourney. Can I top coming in second the last time I entered? We'll see.

Slow - Posting is going to be slow until things settle out. A number of obligations and the fact that I am looking for a car and have borrowed transportation are goign to make it less likely I will come across fun little tidbits to post.

Stress makes me want potato chips. Have I mentioned that before?

So I'm looking for a used car. Aiming for a Toyota Corolla or maybe a Honda Civic or Saturn S-series. Used because I shudder at new car prices and the inevitable depreciation that occurs when you drive a new car off the lot. I should psych myself up for battle to avoid the depression of the marketplace. Any suggestions?

Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted did not disappoint. The Avon hosted the show last night, which was a little less sick and twisted than I remember. But still, twisted enough.
Most memorable, in my opinion were Don Hertzfeldt's Bitter Films, specifically "rejected" and "ah, l'amour." "rejected" was the evening's finale piece, and it really defies description. Hertzfeldt's stick-figure drawing combined with his goofy, twisted wit had the crowd in stitches. Mike and I remembered past festivals and reminisced about our favorite bits. One treat in this festival, a short documentary film featuring Spike himself in a Rasta cabbie's hat.