Ryan Mont,Who?

Ryan Montbleau! His last name is quite hard to remember, but once you see his band perform live, you wont ever forget it. My list of favorite bands is constantly changing, expecially after the 4:20 weekend extravoganza that just passed. Arriving early to see the band RAQ about 6 months ago, I was first introduced to The Ryan Monbleau Band. I was blown away by the tightness and musical maturity of the quintet. The band definately "jams out" but they are very focused on performing their songs with extreme clarity. Each member of the band compliments eachother, and there is no struggle for the spotlight whatsoever. They all look like college kids, but when you close your eyes, it sounds like a band who has been playing together for a quarter century.

This past saturday, the crew went to see RAQ. I was a little disapointed with the setlist and the energy in the room. My one critique is that they played too may "Todd Stoops" songs, which in my opinion, sound like show tunes.

My revised list of "Top 2 Bands to see live" is the following...

1) The Heavy Pets
2) Ryan Montbleau Band


above, is a picture of The Ryan Montbleau Band on 4:20, at the Knitting Factory NYC

The "Kandinsky" of Poker

Congratulations Jesse Martin "A well know east coast poker player"... This evening Jesse is the proud winner of 2007 WPT Belagio Championship. This was one of the $2,500 no-limit hold'em tournaments leading up to the WSOP. This is Jesse's largest cash win in any poker tournament, live or online. One of the biggest perks of the win, besides the cash, is that he has a free entry into the $25,000 WPT main event. Wow The story on the street is that Al Krux, his mentor, was at his side while the final table unraveled. I however, was watching the live updates on Cardplayer.com

The final hand, Jesse had A-4, and his opponent had K-8. Jesse spiked an Ace on the river to secure the hand with 2 pair, and his first gold bracelet!

Jesse's online persona is "Mazeorbowie" but after this win, my new personal nickname for him is "The Kandinsky Of Poker"

Kandinsky was born in moscow in 1866, and died in 1944. He was considered to be "The founder of abstract art" A few of his famous works are featured below.