I’ve been longwinded enough about my, er, maturation that I don’t think I need to prattle on about how I spend less time in bars these days. Now that I’m trying to spend less time at poker tables (I think my pancreas just twinged a bit), I’m desperately seeking healthy forms of alternate entertainment.
So, how have I entertained myself in the past few months?
Books
James McManus– Just finished McManus’ “Physical.” As with any McManus read and despite the subject, it’s a page-turner. McManus gives the American healthcare system a check-up and does so in the same style with which he wrote “Positively Fifth Street.” McManus’ style makes the short book a very easy and entertaining read and offers several laugh-out-loud moments (my favorite being a S&M fantasy during a routine stress test). My only complaint about the book is that it spends a helluva lotta time on tobacco and stem cell research. While both are important subjects, I found myself thinking…alright, move along, already. However, I give McManus a pass on this one, because he was a lifelong smoker and his daughter has juvenile diabetes, so both subjects are very close to his heart. As it is, I also happen to agree with McManus on both topics.
Lighter fare– Here are some other books that have made trips with me or helped me to relax after a long day in the past few of months:
— Carl Hiassen’s “Tourist Season” and “Basket Case.”
— Christopher Moore’s “The Stupidest Angel”
— Jesse May’s “Shut Up and Deal” (third reading)
— Stephen King’s “Cell” (As an unashamed life-long King reader, I sort of wanted to hate this book just on principle. Once again, I read every page and didn’t hate it).
— Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink”
Music
56 Hope Road–Maybe you Chicago folk know this band. I didn’t hook up with them until last week at a downtown street festival. I bought their live disc on the spot and have listened to it about ten times already. Think Blues Traveler meets Dave Matthews meets Mighty Mighty Bosstones meets your favorite hippie jam band. I sorely wish these guys were the house band at a local club.
Pandora.com–Sometimes even I get bored with my iTunes and iPod selections. For a long time I was an advocate of Yahoo! Launchcast. Recently, I’ve been tooling around with Pandora.com, a web-based music player that lets you design your own station by entering favorite bands or favorite songs. Once you have typed in a band name or song name, the player searches its database and plays songs and bands with similar attributes. As I type, I’m listening to a live version of “Little Rabbit” by the Yonder Mountain String Band. My stations include: Yonder Mountain String Band, Allman Brothers, Hot Tuna, Dave Grusin, Dave Brubeck, Jamgrass 741, The Black Crowes, Donna the Buffalo, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, John Gorka, Sam Bush, Uncle Tupelo, and Eddie from Ohio. Overall, I’ve been pleased with Pandora. I’ll admit, if you’re listening all day long, as I do, you’ll eventually find the database is not HUGE. However, it’s free, so I can’t complain.
On the screen
While most TV and Hollywood film sucks, I still watch some. Some of it is good, some of it is just entertainment laxative, and, yeah, I watch the bad sometimes, too. This is the part of this post that shames me the most.
The Good: The Sopranos (not as good as previous seasons, but still watchable) — Big Love — A History of Violence — The Loop — Sons and Daughters — The Office — My Name is Earl — CBS’ 48 Hours
The Entertainment Laxative: Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, CSI (all three), The First 48
The Bad: Deal or No Deal, Flight Plan (Jodie Foster), Two For the Money (Al Pacino), cable news
Food
The wife and I went out to dinner without the kid for the first time in ages. We went to the Bonefish Grill. I enjoyed a guilty (and embarassing, I think) little pleasure in two Grey Goose dirty martinis and had a filet with a really good Oscar topping with a side of vegetables. The wife had some sort of tillapia.
***
So, for lack of something inspirational, that’s how I’ve been spending my spare time recently.
Any suggestions on how to improve?
Ah, Hiaasen’s crazy, crazy Florida.
At least I’m not the only person reading his books. =]
Listening to ’56 Hope Road’ as I type this (from their website) THANKS! A new band to add to the ipod and to pandora 8^)
If you like “Blink” – have you read his first one “Tipping Point” ? – am reading that now.
Should I appear on deal or no deal, i’d pick Sklansky as one of my “supporters” simply because i think it would be great to see his head explode.
How about some sort of “field trip” with the family to an aquarium or on a picnic?
You can play online poker at Fulltilt.com and play against the pros. Bonus code Biggestron.
😉
Restaurant O’s is awesome. Gotta try it if you haven’t already. We love it there and always look for a chance to go.
Have you read the new Richard Marcus book on cheating in poker? Not as good as American Roulette but interesting.
The Sopranos and Big Love make a Sunday night great.
If you like Hiassen, I can recommend Pete Hautman (http://www.petehautman.com/novels.html)
The setting is Minnesota, but it’s got that same crazy vibe. Also, the main character in the Joe Crow series is a rounder, and Hautman works poker games into the stories.
Start with the second book, Short Money, as it was written prior to Drawing Dead and has alot of the backstory.
Also, for some truly bizarre and wicked florida fiction, Tim Dorsey will make you want to take a bath after finishing his books. Hilarious, but the dude is truly disturbed.
Happy Easter to the whole Otis clan!
Dude, did you list Deal or No Deal as a show you’re watching? Was that a joke?
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