The Benjamins have a wildly upbeat and positive sound; it’s this sort of mid-winter Wisconsin optimism (the band is from Milwaukee). It’s punk-rock in the Lagwagon fashion. They sound a bit like Weezer, I guess. The lyrics are smart, funny and somewhat depressed. The optimism and a teen-movie romanticism shines through, though. Everything about this [...]

I placed 8th out of 1162 in a free tournament tonight; I cashed out with $11.50. This isn’t too bad considering the no cost entry. Besides, it’s fun and I would have been playing the free games anyway. There’s a similar tourney tomorrow night. Maybe I’ll learn my lesson about discipline and rank a little [...]

Well, this is pretty interesting: There is little question that, at the Founding, jurors were triers of both the law and the facts. In essence, this provided a popular check on an overreaching legislature and a supine judiciary, although a check that would only operate on a case-by-case basis. A jury could find that a [...]

I just won my first poker tournament on pokerstars. Pretty amazing considering I totally miscalled his hand: he had two pair when I put him on a shitty straight. Still, I feel pretty good about it!

King Penguin receives Norwegian Knighthood. Fluffy news makes me feel good. Jackson Browne sues McCain, RNC over song in ad. You’re goddamn right. From Maud Newton: Behold: The Google Phone — and its first customer. Leaked footage comes complete with Darth Vader breathing noises. Debate coach shoots for the moon. Norm Stamper: Former Seattle top [...]

Bad things might happen the next time my boss asks me to ‘fix the verbiage on the pamphlet holders’ again. I keep replying, “yes, I will fix the copy.” Apparently, this is not working. I was asked to remove a single, inoffensive ‘some,’ resulting in it looking exactly the same. They wanted less ‘verbiage’ on [...]

I’m working my way into season 3 of Star Trek: TNG and episode 4 (Who Watches the Watchers) brought before my eyes, the acting juggernaut Ray Wise. A quick IMDb search confirmed my suspicions. Incidentally, the episode is aggressively anti-religious in a Richard Dawkins sort of way. Those wild eyes and oratory finesse captivate me [...]

Where did Lucy purchase her new vagina? Ryan Call now has a promotional offer for No Colony issue 1. All you have to do is buy a copy and he’ll send you a free copy of Robert Coover’s Pricksongs and Descants, which is an incredible collection of imagist/surrealist and hyperlanguaged stories. I read a lot [...]

‘Mail-Order Bride’ Law Brands All American Men Abusers Some parts sound reasonable. For example, U.S. consulates will provide “mail-order brides” with brochures that explain their legal rights. Other parts sound draconian. For example, the IMBA requires American men who wish to correspond with foreign women through private for-profit matchmaking agencies to first provide those businesses [...]

In episode 21, season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data mentions that one of Riker’s previous duty stations was the Potemkin; an obvious allusion to the Battleship Potemkin, and quite an amusing one at that.