Mean Gene

Superquickypost

I've done some tweaking to the blog, which as you can see is now graciously sponsored by the good people whose advertisements appear on the right. I appreciate the fact that they consider me an asset worth exploiting for their own venal purposes. Is there a greater compliment one can recieve?

I'm going to echo a post written by C.J. of the Up for Poker crew--if I don't have you linked on my blogroll, and you'd like to be linked on my blogroll, leave a comment and I'll do the deed. If you've already emailed me and I didn't add the link it's not because I don't like you or your blog--it's that I'm lazy and stupid. Chances are if I like your blog I'm reading it thru Bloglines and just never bothered to tell you. That's my bad, and I want to make good. An exception is for Dragonystic, who actually has me listed FIRST on his blogroll without me ever doing the courteous thing and listing him on mine. My thinking has always been that folks are getting their link-fix from the big Pimp Daddies of the pokerblogosphere (i.e. Iggy and Pauly) and that it was no big deal if I didn't update mine. But not linking to people who link to me (or to people who I read every day) just isn't neighborly. So, help me be a good neighbor, as good a neighbor as Kyle MacLachlan was to Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet. Well, bad example.

Otis makes the good point that before we form a circle around Steve Dannemann for the ritualistic stoning after his foolish cell phone call during last night's WSOP broadcast we briefly walk in his shoes. He might've forgotten he was miked, and not known the camera was trained on him. What he did was still pretty stupid, but how many of us have done things that would've looked stupid if they were caught on film? This teaches us a valuable lesson--always assume that you're being watched, that every day, and all the day, powerful forces are observing you, tracking you, analyzing you, waiting for that moment when you slip up and make the mistake that seals your fate. Keep that fact in mind and you'll just sail through life.

Last night we also saw video of a bearded, bearlike Howard Lederer when he made the final table of the World Series a decade ago. Annie Duke, in her autobiography (which I read and wrote a soon-to-appear review of) says that the kids at the private school where her father taught called Lederer "Chowie". I can imagine Howard reading that and thinking, "Thanks, Sis! Thanks for dredging up that particular childhood trauma." Duke, of course, made the mistake of writing her biography FIRST--although her book paints Howard as a caring brother and invaluable mentor, that "Chowie" crack might be returned a hundredfold if and when Lederer writes his book. Especially since Duke knocked him out of like 4 World Series events (including the Tournament of Champions Duke won). Another valuable lesson--don't give anyone the last word, in any situation, ever. Because that's all the sheep will remember. You need to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk until the other guy gives up out of exhaustion or disgust. Either reason is good enough.

<< Home