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Food, festivals, arts, entertainment, poker |
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| American
choir takes time out from the beach for concert in San José |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Between soaking up the sun on the beach and wandering through Monteverde's cloud forest, a choir from Santa Barbara, California, is giving a concert in San José tonight. The Westmont College choir, made up of 50 students, will be singing works including Si Celebri Alfini by Verdi, I Love my Love by Gustav Holst, spiritual hymns and Latin American music such as Caballo Viejo by Simon Diaz and Mata del ánima sola by Antonio Estevez. Students are mainly in the sophomore through senior years, and usually perform at major college events as well as giving one performance a year with an orchestra. Previous tours have been to western States like Colorado and to Hawaii. On this tour, the group has already sung in Ciudad Quesada and Monoteverde. Directed by Michael Shasberger, the group will share the stage with Costa Rican choral group Voces de la Vieja Metrópoli, directed by Patricia Valverde. |
 The Costa Rican group is based in Cartago and has been an indpendent choir since 2005. Proceeds of the event go to a charity chosen by the American students, the Asociación de Desarrollo Específico Pro Derecho de la Juventud de Rincón Grande y Pavas. The concert will take place tonight at 7.30 p.m. in the Teatro Eugene O'Neill, Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano in San Pedro. Entrance is by donation of 3,000 colons ($6), and reservations can be made by ringing 2207-7571. |
| The old squeeze play and how to
crush the squeezer |
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The
squeeze play has been around poker for a long time, but I’ve seen many
more players using it in recent years. What is the squeeze
play? Well, it goes something like this. Player A raises before the flop and player B calls. Then, usually from late position or from one of the blinds, Player C reraises — with anything. The theory behind this play is that the initial raiser, Player A, has to be worried about at least two other players -— in this case, Players B and C -— although he’s less concerned with Player B because he doesn’t figure to have a monster hand. Why? He didn’t reraise before the flop and that’s a sure sign of weakness. You see, squeezers will attack whenever they sense weakness. And when they do, they’ll turn to the squeeze play because it works. It’s even more successful when there are multiple callers after the initial pre-flop raise. Here’s an example. With blinds at 100 to 200, a player makes it 600 to go and three others call. At that point the pot’s worth 2,700. Now for the squeeze play. A squeezer in late position reraises pre-flop to 3,000 whether he has a strong hand or not. Unless the initial raiser has a powerful hand himself, he’ll probably fold, as will all the other players. The squeeze play works, and the squeezer picks up a nice pot without even having to see the flop. Now, if any other player happens to reraise the squeezer, well, the squeezer can fold, unless, of course, he actually does have the goods. On the other hand, if other players just call the reraise, the squeezer can usually win the pot with a bet after the flop since he has position. Fortunately, there is an effective counterplay specifically designed to trap a squeezer. This tactic can be a bit risky but when it works out like planned, it generally results in a hefty payday. Here’s how it goes. With the blinds at 100 to 200, a player raises to 600. You look down at your hand and see pocket aces. Normally, you’d reraise to protect this monster hand. However, with potential |
 squeezers still remaining, you set the trap by smooth calling instead of reraising. A squeezer will see this as a sign of weakness and might decide to try and steal the pot right there with a big reraise. In fact, the more players that call the reraise, the more enticing the squeeze play will be to the potential squeezer sitting to your left. Okay, let’s continue with the example. Three other players call the 600 raise as the squeezer lays waiting in the big blind with 7,000 chips. The 3,300 in the pot would increase his stack size by almost 50% if he were to move all-in and get everyone to fold. He thinks that if his big reraise could force the first player to fold, the other players would probably fold too. He (mistakenly) assumes that if any other player had a strong hand they would have reraised before the flop. That’s why a squeezer might even move all-in with a hand like Ks-5d, trying to pick up an uncontested pot. Were that to happen, though, you’d obviously move all your chips in with A-A and likely win a big pot, eliminating a cagey player at the same time. There’s another added benefit to this counter strategy. Once squeezers catch on to the fact that you don’t always reraise before the flop with a strong hand, they’ll be less likely to attack you when you call with marginal hands like middle suited connectors. Visit www.cardsharkmedia.com/book.html for information about Daniel Negreanu’s new book, "Hold’em Wisdom for All Players." © 2008 Card Shark
Media. All rights reserved.
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| Art Galleries ... |
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Surreal circus art leaves circle of life question open to onlookers  Wandering around the
Museo Calderon Guardia, looking at austere
historical artifacts about the socialist former president complete with
wax-work statue, the last thing a visitor expects to come across is a
circus tent. Until May 22, that is precisely what museum-goers can expect when they enter the small temporary exhibition space. A colorful toy snake curls around the bottom of a notice board announcing “Introvoco” with two clown shoes fastened to it. The floor is covered in a carpet of hay, giving the room a barn-yard smell, and most of it is obscured by a blue tarpaulin. Read more - click here |
Art Biennial breaks down national stereotypes  A work of art that
involves only a
metal key is among the most acclaimed piece in the Museo de Arte
Costarricense's latest exhibition.Also on display are old Caterpillar boots, a patchwork quilt and a foosball table, all aimed at breaking down the stereotypes that exist between Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans. As Nicaraguan migration into Costa Rica continues, so do tensions between the two national groups. The U.S. Department of State's most recent estimate was that up to 15 percent of the population of Costa Rica is made up of Nicaraguans who have migrated here mainly in search of work. Read more - click here |
| Dramatic Arts ... |
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Weekend of belly dance will present the traditional side of the art  Belly dance and
other oriental forms will be celebrated in three nights
of dance and plenty of workshops during the first Festival Nacional de
Danza Oriental.Dance group Zuhair Danza Oriental decided to put on a weekend of oriental dancing due to the growing success of belly dance in Costa Rica. The festival aims to show the dance, called baile de vientre in Spanish, in its traditional form, with emphasis on its rythmic characteristics and the key part that exotic clothing plays in the dance. Belly dancing originates from the Middle East, and it is often claimed to be the earliest social dance in history, due to depictions in ancient Egyption artwork. Read more - click here |
Salsa and big band collide in a night of dinner and dancing Music students of Pérez Zeledón and salsa-dancing fans of the group Son de Tikizia are preparing for a night of dinner and dancing to be held in the capital of the province. The big band of the town that calls itself Pérez Zeledón, but whose actual name is San Isidro del General, will join dancers from the Universidad Nacional to present Cena Bailable May 23. A concert by the 25 members of the big band will start off the evening, which will continue with a buffet-style dinner and end up with dancing. The big band musicians are all students of the Escuela de Música Sinfónica de Pérez Zeledón, Universidad Nacional, and will be interpreting everything from jazz to popular under the direction of Leonel Rodríguez Cambronero. Read more - click here |
| Food... |
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Café culture uncovered in San José  In San José there are plenty of places to catch a coffee. A soda will give you a coffee on the run, but it won't have a nice selection of frapucchinos, and the most European lunch on offer will be the ubiquitous ham and processed cheese sandwich. The plastic atmosphere of the proliferation of coffee shops found in city malls doesn't cut it in comparison with the artsy, individualistic establishments in which musicians, revolutionaries, poets and artists got together next to the river Seine. After one casado too many, there are, however, a few places to go for a brief retreat towards the European ideal. Claudio's Delicafé  Arguably one of San José's most attractive buildings, this café is attached to an art school and is not afraid of letting the creativity filter through into the café itself. Previously known as Café Arte, the French owner of San Pedro restaurant Le Chandelier recently took over the café and has restyled the entire thing, very much to its benefit. One corner of the café is a tower-like extension, its cylindrical shape and many windows giving an airy atmosphere. Wicker-backed chairs, wooden sofas and arty photography give the interior an understated style. Click here for more café reviews |
Mini-mall comes to the rescue of the not-rich-but-hungry  For those in the
know, there is a clean, affordable, relatively quiet
gastronomic surprise off the pedestrian mall in downtown San
Jose. Between Arenas clothing store and the Patio Restaurant,
behind a perfume counter and a Pops Ice Cream sits a food court without
a McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway or Church's Chicken in sight. Click here to read more Festive season proves troublesome even for established restaurant  Being a chef in a
busy kitchen must be a pretty stressful job, but
around Christmas stress is something any successful restaurant should
factor in as inevitable. On a second visit to well-reputed French restaurant Le Chandelier, it soon became obvious that the staff were poorly equipped for the onslaught of Christmas party diners on a Tuesday night, leaving the usually decent food to deteriorate into a procession of almost inedible starters and bland entrees. Click here to read the full review A great meal is not all in the presentation  With a vaulted
glass ceiling, palm trees lining the pathway and posh lighting, one
would not expect Saga restaurant to be settled behind a dull parking
lot in Escazú. Although this restaurant may look out of place, it doesn't deviate much from the norm in Escazú, an area many would classify as suburban sprawl. Click here to read the full review |
| Books ... |
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Heredia author mixes teen romance with leatherback turtles  A 15-year-old girl
who is infatuated with buff surfers and Gucci shoes is setting out to
convince other teenagers her age that caring for leatherback turtles
and saving the environment is just as cool as going to the mall.Penelope, as she is called, is the creation of Heredia resident Marina Kuperman, a New York native who has recently finished the “eco-adventure” novel “Turtle Feet, Surfers Beat.” Written to target girls aged 9-14, the 86-page novel is printed entirely on eco-friendly paper and follows the story of Penelope and her family as they relocate to Tamarindo for a month. Forced to work as a volunteer at the Leatherback Biological Centre, Penelope, who has been recently dumped by her quarterback boyfriend, falls in love almost simultaneously with leatherback turtles and a blonde surfer called Kendall Brown. Click here to read more |
Land use in Costa Rica documented by Fulbright scholar Forty years of living in the jungle, moving between secluded forestry stations and research labs, has led Louisiana resident and NASA veteran Armond Joyce to write a book about the changing uses of land in Costa Rica. After winning a presitgious Fulbright scholarship in 1998, he came back to Costa Rica to revisit forest sites that he worked on over three decades earlier as a graduate student. Click here to read more New book dwells on the social aspects of food Food is not just a selfish pleasure or a way to stifle hunger, but is central to the evolution of art, according to a new book published by Museos del Banco Central. Artworks by Costa Rican painters are the main content of the hardback book, “Imagenes para Comer,” which follows the representation of food in art since still life painting became popular in the Renaissance. Click here to read more |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |