RANT: WELFARE KINGS & QUEENS

I'm so sick of these people on welfare living lavish lives with the people's tax money, but not doing any work to earn it. Then they have children and the people have to support them too.

Yes, I'm talking about you Prince William...

THE SPORT OF KINGS

My major sports championship season is a few weeks away. Unlike most championships, mine starts in the beginning of the season. It's almost time for THE TRIPLE CROWN. It all starts with the Kentucky Derby (May 7, 2011 6PM), followed by the Preakness Stakes (Saturday May 21, 2011 6PM), and lastly, the Belmont Stakes (Saturday June 11, 2011 6PM).

If you want to learn how to bet on horses, check this out. I was going to explain it here, but the internet beat me to the punch.

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)