In which take a few pots

Music (audit division): Yet another artist on permanent rotation in the queue is Yusuf / Cat Stevens (the slashing is his current stage name). The album was "Matthew and Son," his first. It's interesting listening in some ways, because you can hear some Cat Stevens in it, but it's a mixed up and/or nascent Cat Stevens at best. Sometimes it sounds like he wants to be a mid-sixties rock star, and at other times it's messy and overproduced and doesn't know what it wants to be, and then it becomes folk music. It was not a hit in the US, nor were his two follow-up albums. It was "Tea For the Tillerman" in the US when I, and the rest of the country, heard the real, sui generis Cat Stevens for the first time (although I did shortly after Tea's release go back to "Mona Bona Jakon," released only months for Tea, which is also the real Cat Stevens but didn't have Tea's popularity). If nothing else, Tea has "Wild World," one of my favorite songs of all time, despite its controversiality as sexist. I don't know... 

Anyhow, since the days of Tea I have followed Y/CS closely and mostly with fondness. I was extremely happy when "An Other Cup" was released, marking his return to popular music. In today's America, he is persona non grata, and was apparently unable to obtain a visa for his most recent tour. His numerous humanitarian awards are listed on Wikipedia. 

Games: In other news, last night was our monthly poker game, in which most of the conversation revolves about who's in and whose deal it is. There are certain poker norms that would eliminate these fascinating discussions, namely betting in order around the table and, as we use two decks, leaving the shuffled deck to your right for the next dealer. But I seem to be the only one who believes in these ideas. And then there's the whole playing past their bedtime. We're lucky if we can get a game, which starts at around six o'clock, to last beyond eight o'clock. I'm not exactly a night owl, but I can usually make it until after sunset. [Sigh.]

Then again, I did win all of $11. This great fiscal success was, of course, the result of always betting in order and leaving the shuffled cards to my right.