RANT: POKER SITES SHUT DOWN BY US GOV

The FBI shut down Pokerstars.com, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. What happened to due process? So I guess now the government can just take your business (i.e. your website) just by charging you with a crime, not proving it. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? On top of this nonsense, they're not even sure if poker is really illegal gambling or a game of skill.

2.5 wars, 9.2% unemployment, $3.80/gal avg. gas price, US deficit over $14 trillion, Osama Bin Laden is still free, but the US government goes after online poker.

RANT: TCH POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

The Cultured Hooligan official political ideology:

I'm socially liberal, and fiscally broke.

RANT: SORRY CLEAR CHANNEL, PANDORA IS THE NEW RADIO

Bob Pittman spells out why Pandora is not Radio

While I can agree that a good DJ with the power to choose his own playlist is great, it's rarely if ever done these days. The last time I heard a DJ with playlist power it was on an independent "public" station (e.g. WFMU, WXPN, WBJB, WRSU, WSOU) not those that Mr. Pittman represents.

Clear Channel and national playlists killed radio with their fast-food-restaurant approach to radio programming and sent the music listeners away to the internet. If someone wants to hear the same tired and over-played 10 songs every hour then they should continue to listen to the corporate radio drivel that Mr. Pittman and Clear Channel represent. Services like Pandora while not perfect at least allow for discovery of new (or new to me) music, where corporate radio really doesn’t. So maybe Mr. Pittman should be saying Pandora is not CURRENT radio, it’s what radio used to be when it was good.

THE GREAT GATSBY IN 8-BIT

My newest time waster and addiction, The Great Gatsby as a pseudo Nintendo Entertainment System game. If you thought snapping a whip in Castlevania was cool, imagine throwing a fedora in 1920's era New York. I wonder if F. Scott Fitzgerald would sit and get drunk while playing this.

Play it here.

PREPARING FOR THE APOCOLYPSE WITH CLASS: BELT

I've been going through a "I should be prepared for a unexpected event" fad as of late. Maybe it's from the impending doom of the American Dollar crashing, reading too many Every Day Carry blogs, or maybe it's the new AMC show The Walking Dead that's got me all freaked out. The problem with "being prepared" is walking around like a dork wearing tactical gear with too many pockets. I've also tried to minimize carrying my bookbag around. So when I see things that can allow me to be prepared, but defy the tactical gear look I'll post it here. Here's product Number 1, the 686 Original Snow Toolbelt. It has a built in bottle opener in the buckle, 2 prongs in the buckle made up of a flathead screwdriver and a phillipshead screwdriver, a belt loop with 3 wrenches (8mm, 10mm, and 11mm). Available in Punk Rock studded belt (Rocker Stud Snow Toolbelt) and Work friendly (Original Snow Toolbelt) versions. Get it for $40 at 686.

(Source: Cool Materials)

RANT: STEVE JOBS IS AN ASSHOLE/FUCK APPLE

I've been in the market for a new mobile phone and have been checking out the Android OS phones, but rumor has it that the iPhone in coming to Verizon (January 2011). I like the specs on the iPhone and that there are so many companies making 3rd party accessories (meaning more choice, cheaper prices), but I can't stand Apple's "walled garden" aka dictatorship mentality.


I find it pretty ironic that some the most lefty "free thinking" people I know have such an allegiance to Apple products, namely the iPhone. The company is against the freedom of speech and ideas. They must approve whatever program/app that is available in the app store, and only those apps approved can be put on the iPhone because they lock down their device (unless you choose to Jailbreak it). Apple has a policy against adult content applications. That is unless you're Playboy. For some reason an independent producer/app maker can't make an adult app, but if you're Playboy you'll be accepted by the app store. Fucking bullshit.


I don't need a new daddy Mr. Jobs. I'm an adult and will make my decision on what I would like to surround my life with, what I want to view, and what I want to put on my portable media products. Jobs even went on the record stating that "we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone". Who the fuck do you think you are? It's not that I have some need to have porn on my phone, but I don't like someone telling me I can't do something, especially with a product that I buy. Apple also blocked a cartoonist's app due to a political cartoon because Apple said applications that ridicule public figures are not allowed. What the fuck? Fight the oppressor of information. Support Free Speech.


STEVE JOBS IS AN ASSHOLE. FUCK APPLE.


JAILBREAK YOUR IPHONE (OR BUY ANDROID?)

WHO CARES: THE DUANE PETERS STORY

A documentary (from 2005) with a shitload of skateboarding and a decent soundtrack. Tells the story Mr. Duane Peters, old school skateboard legend and punk rocker. This movie made me pine for my time as a member of the 4-wheel, 7-ply-maple militia. There's some pretty killer pool sessions that made me want to get a pool built and learn how to skate all over again...

The official(?) trailer: