Come Get Some

Tomorrow is Opening Day (disregarding the fake Opening Days in Tokyo and D.C.), which means the long Winter of My Discontent (aka "I'm terrible at all Fantasy Sports but Baseball and Football and I'm not even very good at those two") has ended and I can now enjoy daily contests again at Fantasy Sports Live.

I'll be there. So should you.



Click the ad to the right to go to the site and open an account. Extra free dolla dolla bills y'all if you use Bonus Code: Speaker.

Poker Tips

I have one.

1. Keep your mouth shut.

I was lamenting to another how I hadn't flopped a set in...oh...6 months (slight hyperbole).

Well...I flopped a set. Hooray for me.

Back-to-Back

My second Final Table appearance in a row in the $5 HORSE, coupled with meal money from Midnight Madness (and ohmygod what ridiculosity that was) made it a double-cash night.



Lost a third of my stack to shorties in Razz, the first rotation at the Final Table, but was chip leader (six remaining) by mid-way through the Hi/Lo round thanks to trips and jacks up against a flush chaser.

Down to 5, the top 4 sacks were within 6K of each other. And I figured bed time was a long way off. Everybody just trading chips back and forth. Then one guy (mad flush chaser) went donktastic during hold 'em and suddenly had half the chips (raising and calling with an OESD that came in).

Me? I just folded my shit cards either pre-flop or after whiffing the flop and stalled for O8. Not easy to do 4-handed I tell ya, and the Mad Flush Chaser raising every hand on my right. I made it. As the short stack. Flopped a set on the first hand and then saw the turn bring both a flush and straight card. That was disappointing.

I was all in with 6542 and flopped a wheel, but guy rivered a flush to keep me from scooping. Then I was all-in pre-flop on two straight hands, one okay, one good and scooped both. Then I scooped another with AAJ3 and I was back to second in chips by a pretty good margin. Until the Big Stack doubled up both the shorties.

Lost one early in Razz and we were 3-handed where nothing got solved except I got pummeled by bring ins. Basically tied for 2nd with half the chips of the leader.

My jacks in the pocket were not enough to out-last the chip leader who made two pair on 6th. I lasted one more hand and then got in with a pair of deuces, eventually making two-pair, but losing to a rivered straight. Sure would like to win this effer, but it's certainly been profitable. Heck, I might even move up to $10. Nah, $7.50. Baby steps.



See ya at The Mook.

Big Show

On the heels of a smashing weekend, in which I became a) an award-winning erotic poet, b) a 14th-place Big Game finisher and c) one of the masses sucked out on by Scott Fischman, I have one more achievement to pass along.

Thanks as always to Pauly for his continued patronage, guidance and hard work. Check out these fine works and pass 'em along to your friends (the ones who can read and have access to publishing dollars especially).

Cheers.

March 2008, Vol. 7, Issue 3

Welcome back to the third annual L.A. issue featuring some of your favorite L.A. writers sharing stories about Los Angeles.


1. Next to Mama Cass by Paul McGuire
Dulce was an attractive peppy girl from San Diego. She diligently saved up for grad school and her first job funded her future. Her second job funded her addiction to weed, whiskey, and cocaine. She loved all three when her shift ended at midnight... More

2. The Drug Store by Change100
I walked down a cement pathway into the shade of unkempt trees and saw a cloudy glass door that led into a deserted elevator lobby. It was open. Someone was here. The lobby walls were covered in cheap faux-oak paneling and the floors in decades-old linoleum. Next to the elevator doors hung a building directory. And there it was. Dr. Jerry Greenblatt, M.D. Fourth floor. I gingerly stepped into the sketchiest elevator in Los Angeles and prayed it wouldn't drop me to the basement... More

3. Today's Special By Joe Speaker
Brad's last night on Planet Los Angeles started at El Caballo, clutching his beer like a dog eared paperback. Starched white shirt glowing red in the bloody lights of the place, same color as the naugahyde booths behind him jammed against the textured and cracked yellow walls... More

4. Smoking Is Cool by Dan Keston
As a man, I truly believe that if you feel comfortable walking down the street with a Coors Light in your hand then you probably feel comfortable wearing your fraternity letters well past your 35th birthday. I also believe, contrarily, that walking down the street with a cigarette in your hand makes you look suave, debonair, independent and just aloof enough to be mysterious... More

5. California: The Garden of Eden by Johnny Hughes
It seemed Los Angeles was in this artificial super-Technicolor, compared to West Texas. The first thing I saw was a grade school class with black, white, and Asian children. I had never seen that, since our schools were segregated... More

6. My LA by Betty Underground
Accidents happening all around you on the freeway. The world's biggest spectator sport! Traffic is not because of the carnage in the road, it is from the rubberneckers trying to catch a glimpse of the blood and guts, only to be disappointed when it was a minor fender bender... More

What a Long Strange Trip It's Been...

From the Editor's Laptop:

Welcome back to the special L.A. edition of Truckin' featuring several your favorite L.A. based writers. We have Change100, Joe Speaker, Dan Keston, and Betty Underground in this issue scribbling about the City of Angels, along with a short story from myself and a contribution from the legendary Johnny Hughes.

Please tell your friends and family about your favorite stories. It takes only a few seconds to pass along Truckin'. The writers certainly appreciate your support.

Also, feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you know anyone who is interested in being added to the mailing list.

Thanks again to everyone for wasting your precious time month after month with Truckin'. And many thanks to the writers who exposed their souls to the world and spilled blood to make art. And, they did it for free. Thanks for inspiring me and taking that leap of faith with me.

Be good,
McG

"Sometimes you just have to pee in the sink." - Charles Bukowski

Published by Truckin' Staff at 3/02/2008 07:51:00 AM | Permalink | Send Comments

Oysters & Chocolate

The imagery captured in "Taut" is simultaneously dream-like and tactile -- the elements of hazy reverie blended with the physicality of sex make for a romantic and sexy experience.

This is what someone thought of a poem I wrote. Thought enough of it to award it third in their contest, which comes not only with worldwide acclaim, but also $25.

Ship it!

This is the first writing contest I've ever entered. I've shied from doing it in the past. Several reasons for that, chief among them self-doubt and this overwhelming competitiveness I have to not simply compete but to win. I deemed myself ill-prepared, in skill and ability to handle rejection/loss.

So, I chose (had chosen for me) a poetry contest to start. 'Cause I don't think I'm as good a poet as I am a writer. And the rejection wouldn't sting so much.

Yet, I was happy with what I wrote. Maximized what ability I do have. It worked. And regardless of finish, I was proud the result.

So, thank you Alana for the swift kick to the ass and the gift of inspiration. To Oysters & Chocolate for their patronage and peerless taste in a beginner's poetry. And to each of you reading now.

I give you "Taut".