Suited4Battle

Music

Monro Secor — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:01:05 +0000

Music is one of my few great pleasures. Nietcheze said that art and music were the only temporary escapes from life suffering. I was immersed in music both as a fan and dj for several years. I stopped djing completely a couple of years ago. I miss the music but not the scene so much. I basically only played and listened to electronic dance music, specifically hard underground techno, for about 5 years. Prior to that, I listened to a pretty wide range of music, although a lot of it was what I would now consider somewhat clever marketing rather than an artist’s creation.

The last several years I haven’t really sought out new music at all. I just found out about pandora radio and I love it. I am listening to it now. It feels great to find all this new music. I was so pigeonholed for so long but don’t regret it because that focus created some great mixes and memories. I am going to post at least one of my mixes on here as soon as I figure out how to do it. I miss having my dj website. Posting some mixes here will appease that and serve as a direction to send anyone interested in having a listen. Since then, I have changed a lot and so have my musical tastes. Right now I feel like I could listen to pandora forever and be content. Why not? Tricky radio has been on constantly for the last few weeks and that’s only one artist.

Another inspiration/vehicle for my current music infatuation is my new i phone. It’s my first i phone and I am smitten. I’m typing this blog entry from it using the WordPress app. Yes, I’m a little slow when it comes to the newest technology and products.

I’m looking forward to discovering and listening to new music. I can see a pattern of music paralleling my life on several levels, many indescribable as the feelings that this gift can spur within.

Low Expectations

Monro Secor — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 04:32:43 +0000

Roman philosopher Lucious Annaeus Seneca stated that one of the keys to happiness is being pessimistic and having low expectations. It makes sense because anger, frustration and disappointment are common by products of being overly optimistic and having high expectations. Conversely, it’s a great feeling when you don’t expect something good to happen and it does. Seneca devoted an entire book on the subject of anger and called it the most hideous and frenzied of all emotions. He said that anger and stress are most intense when something takes us by surprise and doesn’t go our way. Being calmly prepared for when things don’t work out is helpful and reduces anger.

In the past year or so, I have been reading books and watching documentaries about positive thinking, visualization, and the power of our thoughts in general. I began to take it too far and often found myself frustrated when my visions and positive thinking weren’t showing results, particularly in the realm of tournament poker. I think it is important to have a positive mindset. I believe visualization and meditation can be very helpful in achieving your goals but it is equally important to be detached from the results. I am quite familiar with the concept of detachment but I was continually ignoring it in the short term. Specifically, I was caught up in the whole “positive energy attracts positive energy and this affects everything on a quantum physics level concept” from The Secret that I began deluding myself into believing that my mindset during an online poker hand could affect the outcome due to RNG’s(the random number generators that constantly move at a very high rate of speed and determine the next card dealt precisely when a player clicks the mouse). Objectively this doesn’t make much sense. It’s also a recipe for driving myself crazy, which tournament poker already does.

I should only be focused on making the best possible decision during each hand when playing, not whether or not briefly envisioning my opponent sucking out or rooting for a queen not to come makes any difference. Tournament poker can be brutal and if you are a decent player, most of the time you get knocked out it’s not because you did anything particularly wrong. Playing huge field online mtts only adds to the frustration. I certainly don’t need to be compounding my stress level by believing that my current state of mind could be working against me to such a high level that it is determining what card is going to come next. Sounds like a short story Alfred Hitchcock would concoct about a card player that drives himself insane.

I quickly came to terms with the fact that I am not special enough for my thoughts to affect computers thousands of miles away in the middle of the ocean but my positive thinking was still not helping my frustration level very much. I would just be frustrated while trying to remain positive. I found that due to the nature of tournament poker, it is not always best to believe that you are going to win an event or have a profitable day. The reality is that most days I am going to be losing money, so why not expect it? Seneca says that most anger arises from being surprised by something that doesn’t go our way. I shouldn’t be in shock or upset when I get a bunch of bad beats or lose 8 flips in a row. I should expect that it can happen.

There is a distinct and pretty obvious line not to cross with this mentality that I don’t see as being much of a problem. You never want to get into a negative mindset, especially when playing poker. I like that my daily losses are very controlled and minimal compared to my potential daily gains. I also must deep down like the uncertainty and pain from playing tournaments over and over. Even though I will most likely lose money today, I enjoy playing tournaments and have been profitable in the long run. I’m also aware that I might win a few grand today but don’t expect it.

There’s No Space Back There!

Monro Secor — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:39:39 +0000

Brooklyn Blizzard

Monro Secor — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:19:12 +0000

These pics were taken at 9pm on Tuesday night. The storm ended Monday morning. Plows still haven’t reached my neighborhood in Bay Ridge as of Wednesday evening. There are abandoned cars and trucks scattered throughout the area. I am able to get back and forth to the city no problem via subway.

I love Ms. Swan

Monro Secor — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:24:36 +0000

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

Monro Secor — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 02:29:23 +0000

Lincoln MKZ Commercial Music

Monro Secor — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:39:42 +0000

the best part is played in the commercial but still pretty good overall for a pop tune, i must be getting soft

Scar Tissue

Monro Secor — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:28:59 +0000

I have always been a fan of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I am a big time admirer of Anthony Kiedis. He keeps it real. He is a peta supporter, vegan, yogi, ex junkie, spiritual warrior, lady pleaser, rock star, father, the list goes on. I am just about finished reading his autobiography “Scar Tissue” and it’s everything I expected. This book was inspiring and I highly recommend it, especially to anyone that knows the pain of self conflict, drug abuse, and addiction. Everyone has at least some scar tissue. Keeping with the paradox of life, the more wounds one has is congruent with their potential for a greater enlightenment when they find the power and courage to heal. Anthony Kiedis is a fine example of this beautiful potential.

Pokerstars helps Haiti and hosts World Blogger Championship

Monro Secor — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:44:05 +0000

The Blogger Championship should be a fun event. If you blog then you can play as well. It’s free, see info/mandatory ad below. More importantly you can go to pokerstars and donate to the Haiti Relief fund and up until Jan 31, pokerstars will match all donations! They have mock tournaments labeled Haiti in the lobby with all different buy ins/donation levels.

I have registered to play in the WBCOOP PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! You too can Play Poker Online at PokerStars.com and take part in the WBCOOP which is open to all Bloggers by registering on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 487501

New York Sports Here!

Monro Secor — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:22:05 +0000

The Jets are playoff bound.

Rookie head coach, Rex Ryan before the season started, “We are going to try to put pressure on everybody we play with our style of play. We want to be known as the most physical football team in the NFL.” The Jets are number 1 in defense and number 1 in rushing. They blitz more than any other team. The Jets lost Leon Washington and Chris Jenkins. Rex Ryan is a good coach and great defensive mind.

The Knicks are really coming together. Nate the Great showed what he is made of last night, scoring 41 points(18-24) off the bench after being benched for a month! He thanked coach D’Antoni for “making it a humbling experience.” D’Antoni is a smart coach and knew what Nate needed. I think Nate will now be a much improved player.