Mean Gene

Really Quick Random Thoughts

Perhaps my favorite literary criticism one-liner (baby, I got a million of 'em!) come from Truman Capote who, when asked his opinon of a book he apparently didn't like, said, "That's not writing, it's typing". Maybe you have to be a writer (or wannabe writer) to appreciate it. Anyway, I felt like typing, so here comes a tiny post.

Watched the WSOP coverage last night, the high point being Greg Raymer refusing to shake the hand of Mike "The Mouth" Matusow after the Mouth unleased a profanity-laced verbal assault. After he was done spewing Matusow extended his hand and said, "Hey, just fooling with you," and Raymer kept his hand at his side and shook his head. Kudos to Raymer, like the guy already. A guy wants to be an asshole like Matusow, that's up to him, but the other player doesn't have to act the straight man. You have to have some fortitude to leave it a one-man show and not get involved yourself.

I read the report about the recent WPT event in Paris, and the infamous Tony G again made the final table. I don't want to reveal too much for those of you who don't want to know who wins, but G (G?, yeah guess that's what I'll call him) would go on these tirades trying to drive one of his opponents crazy. Like, rants that went on for like 5 minutes straight. No one told him to shut the hell up and play, which I find remarkable. Apparently at one point they only played 14 hands in an hour, which is appallingly slow. The other player didn't respond a single time, didn't bat an eye, showed no emotion. Can't wait to see it.

I'd like to think that, under the same circumstances, I could display the coolness of a cucumber. Like when Phil Hellmuth gets a bit crispy after a tough hand, he'll say things like, "What's your name? Where're your from?". Trying to get you to talk, get you to think of him as the person in control, in charge. You're answering HIS questions, responding to HIS stimuli. Screw him. He wants to know about you, send him your resume, after the tournament. I'd hope I could pretend he isn't even there, just totally ignore him.

Last night's episode thankfully ended ESPN's fawning coverage of the "Crew". Congrats to Messeurs Fischman, Jungblut, Boyd et al, but enough was enough. Though I had to say that, ever since I wrote a post about them, I've been getting lots of hits by people searching under "Dutch Boyd + Crew" and similar threads. I'm up to 120 visitors a day, meaning this blog probably has a bigger circulation than any poetry journal in the United States. Our culture, she is doomed, yes?

OK, a lunchtime minipost. Write more later, including about the anti-poker ESPN story that ran after last night's show.

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