The Great Epicurean: November 2008

STEEZ-TASTIC: New Balance WRC576

The New Balance WRC576 hi top sneaker comes in a tonal pack in December. The pack consists of a black, blue and green colorway with the entire upper coming in one color, including all logos and tags. Only the sole comes in a contrasting white.

YOU CAN GET THEM HERE BEGINNING IN DECEMBER

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

ARTISTS SPOTLIGHT: HEY CHAMP

http://www.myspace.com/heychamp
About Hey Champ
Rockford, Illinois... not exactly a hotbed of talent, although it has produced rock legends Cheap Trick, and (allegedly) the older brother from the TV hit "Blossom." Two boys, Saam, age 16 and Jonathan, 13, become heavily influenced by both Blossom and Cheap Trick. Naturally, they form a band

Eight years later the two reform in Chicago under the Hey Champ moniker. Much smarter and poorer, they begin a musical journey that ended up on the intersection of Gainsbourg Avenue and Jarre Lane. Needing some additional help on the keys, Jonathan called up an old Princeton chum, Pete Dougherty. The two had met as outsiders at one of those Princeton tea and crumpet parties where everyone wears blazers and laughs through clenched teeth.

Their lineup complete the trio became well known around Chicago for their pop savvy and songwriting prowess. Soon artists came knocking for Hey Champ production insight and remixes, and to this date Hey Champ has remixed Scenario Rock, Yeasayer, and many others. With a live show that excites and blows away audiences nationwide, and internationally acclaimed tracks and remixes spun in clubs all over Europe, Japan, Australia and the U.S., Hey Champ is poised to become...the third greatest thing to come out of Rockford.

IM GOING TO THEIR DEC. 5 CONCERT IN COLLEGE PARK

D'ANGELO: DEVILS PIE

PHOTO OF THE DAY

GEMMA ATKINSON

BY FAR THE BEST SCENE IN BAD SANTA

COLDPLAY FT. JAY Z

PHOTO ENVY

WEST AND YOUNG JEEZY

SARAH PALIN POST-ELECTION INTERVIEW....

....OH THERES TURKEYS BEING DRAINED OF BLOOD IN THE BACKGROUND.

WEC 31: URJAH FABER VS MIKE BROWN ....amazing

MOS DEF: UMI

by

COMMON: I WANT YOU

Common - I want you (NEW VIDEO 2007)
by blackgreenlantern1696

HOW ITS REALLY DONE: PRODUCING A BEAT...

KNOWLEDGE SON: HOW TO MAKE A BEAT...

Civil Disobedience Rules

McALLEN, Texas – Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor.

Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

SOURCE: Yahoo News

Cheney is the ultimate coward. Any inconvenience caused in his life is a victory for every American citizen.

Fuck Detroit

Sorry to be posting with such vehemence today, but the reading material has sparked my vigor. Mitt Romney checks in with an absolutely great op-ed and why bailing out the auto industry is nonsensical. I don't care what political alliance card you hold, nobody can question Romney's baller status when it comes to business. The Latter Day Saint has been a force in every form of business since graduating from Brigham Young University. Here's a brief rundown, thanks to Wikipedia:

In 1975, Romney graduated from a joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. He graduated cum laude from the law school and was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent of his business school class. After graduation, Romney remained in Massachusetts and went to work for the Boston Consulting Group, where he had interned during the summer of 1974. From 1978 to 1984, Romney was a vice president of Bain & Company, Inc., another management consulting firm based in Boston. In 1984, Romney left Bain & Company to co-found a spin-off private equity investment firm, Bain Capital. During the 14 years he headed the company, Bain Capital's average annual internal rate of return on realized investments was 113 percent.
In 1990, Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse. Within a year, he had led Bain & Company through a highly successful turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without layoffs or partner defections.
Romney left Bain Capital in 1998 to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee. In 1999, before Romney was hired, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks. Plans were being made to scale back the games in order to compensate for the fiscal crisis. The Games were also damaged by allegations of bribery involving top officials. On February 11, 1999, Romney was hired as the new president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Romney revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets, and boosted fund raising. He also worked to ensure the safety of the Games following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 by coordinating a $300 million security budget. Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million, not counting the $224.5 million in security costs contributed by outside sources. He and his wife have a net worth of between 250 and 500 million USD, not including Romney's blind trust in the name of their children, which is valued at about $100 million.

Not a bad track record. Dude knows how to turn a profit. Here are some highlights if you don't have 8 minutes to educate yourself.

It is not wrong to ask for government help, but the automakers should come up with a win-win proposition. I believe the federal government should invest substantially more in basic research — on new energy sources, fuel-economy technology, materials science and the like — that will ultimately benefit the automotive industry, along with many others. I believe Washington should raise energy research spending to $20 billion a year, from the $4 billion that is spent today. The research could be done at universities, at research labs and even through public-private collaboration. The federal government should also rectify the imbedded tax penalties that favor foreign carmakers.

But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.

The Worldwide Leader Strikes

The rich get richer, and I'm not talking about the New York Yankees. The closest thing to a monopoly since Microsoft, ESPN acquired the rights to the BCS from 2011-2014. Chances are ESPN threw a boatload of money at whoever the fuck decides who the BCS signs with, as they abide by the WU slogan of Cash ruling everything Around Them and making even more money at the behest of the fans, the coaches, and the players. NOBODY likes the BCS other than these fucks who cash in every year.

"With the continued growth of technology and the depth of coverage that ESPN gives to the college football fan on all its platforms during the regular season, this postseason partnership is a natural fit," said John Swofford, acting BCS Commissioner. Oh really, John, you fucking selfish swine motherfucker. POSTSEASON! You randomly assign teams to play each other. There are occasionally TWO CHAMPIONS! There is nothing less climactic than college football, it is pathetic. Now if only Barry O makes good on one of those campaign promises:

When in Nashville...

try Jacks' Bar-B-Que. If you're traveling through the South and not trying the delicious local cuisine, you should consider pulling your head out of your ass.

America, the Beautiful

Spitzer Strikes Back

Eliot Spitzer, former governor and attorney general of the great state of New York, hasn't been heard from since he was exposed as a john who pays to play. Many loathe Mr. Spitzer, and many used to fear the man as well. Regardless, he was once a shining light of not only the Democratic party but a rising star on the national political scene. He chimes in with his two cents on how to clean up the financial mess. (highlights below if you are a lazy motherfucker)

No major market problem has been resolved through self-regulation, because individual competitive behavior doesn't concern itself with the larger market. Individual actors care only about performing better than the next guy, doing whatever is permitted -- or will go undetected. Look at the major bubbles and market crises. Long-Term Capital Management, Enron, the subprime lending scandals: All are classic demonstrations of the bitter reality that greed, not self-discipline, rules where unfettered behavior is allowed.

Those who truly understand economics, as did Adam Smith, do not preach an absence of government participation. A market doesn't exist in a vacuum. Rather, a market is a product of laws, rules and enforcement. It needs transparency, capital requirements and fidelity to fiduciary duty. The alternative, as we are seeing, is anarchy.

One of the great advantages U.S. capital markets have enjoyed over the decades has been the view -- held worldwide -- that there was an underlying integrity to the representations market participants made, because the regulatory framework in which they were made was believed to provide genuine oversight.

We need a unified approach that addresses the underlying issues: what kinds of leverage we wish to tolerate, how to measure risk, how much disclosure various trading products should provide. We cannot survive with the current system: the SEC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Fed, the Office of Thrift Supervision and on and on. We must go from the Rube Goldberg structure we now have to a sleek iPod design that is cleaner, has better operating software and may even look good.

We are now perilously close to nationalizing risk.

Rock la familia

UFC 91: LESNAR/COURTURE AMAZING

The Grid

The Future of the Web?

"The basic idea is simple enough. Instead of storing your data on your PC, you store it on a server on the Internet. You don't know, or care, where that server is located. Your data might, in fact, be scattered across a bunch of different servers. It's just all up in the sky someplace (hence the name "cloud"). But as long as you're connected to the Internet, with enough bandwidth, you can get at your photos and documents and home movies from wherever you happen to be, using any device you want, such as your mobile phone, a laptop, a media player or an Internet kiosk at the airport.

Moving to the cloud means no more trying to remember whether you left your expense-report spreadsheet on the PC at work or the MacBook at home. No more backing up everything to a thumb drive and transferring it from one device to another. No more copying all your stuff from your old PC when you buy a new one. It also means you can create a repository of information that stays with you and keeps growing for as long as you're alive."

Reading these articles makes me think of the Net starring Sandra Bullock.

Bourbon Street, New Orleans

(from Wikipedia): Though largely quiet during the day, Bourbon Street comes alive at night, particularly during the French Quarter's many festivals. Most popular among these is the annual Mardi Gras celebration, when Bourbon Street teems with hundreds of thousands of tourists. There are no open container laws in the French Quarter (glass containers are prohibited) and the streets are packed with tourists drinking Hurricanes, Hand Grenades and Huge Ass Beers - a large plastic cup of draft beer marketed to tourists at a low price. Other festivals and events focusing on Bourbon Street include French Quarter Festival and Southern Decadence.

If you want to understand the subprime housing crisis more than the next asshole

read this article.

Eisman had told me a few weeks earlier. "These guys are only beginning to understand how fucked they are. It's like being a Scholastic, prior to Newton. Newton comes along, and one morning you wake up: 'Holy shit, I'm wrong!' "

Michael Lewis, HYD.

NASCAR Cancels Something

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- NASCAR will implement a no-testing policy next season in order to save millions of dollars during a massive downturn in the U.S. economy.

NASCAR officials met with teams' crew chiefs Friday morning at Homestead-Miami Speedway to inform them of the change.
All tracks that have NASCAR events in the top three series -- Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks, which will be renamed Camping World Trucks next season -- are included in the testing ban.
The change also is included Daytona International Speedway and the traditional two weeks of test sessions in January before the '09 season begins.
"It has pluses and minuses," said Pat Tryson, crew chief for the No. 2 Dodge driven by Kurt Busch. "Times are tough right now, so it's probably not that bad a thing for most people. It's the same for everybody. It may make the racing better with nobody having the opportunity to test."

I have no idea what any of this means. All I know is, less NASCAR is good news.

Will they be included in the auto industry bailout?

AGS lurking Gonzo-style in NASCAR Country.

This post, an homage to SYSTEMICIDE in a way. If you don't know, now you know.

i want to be leon

FAVORITE SCENE FROM THE PROFESSIONAL

WAKE UP MR WEST

Kanye West Says He's 'Voice Of This Generation'

LONDON - Kanye West is to music what Michael Jordan was to basketball _ at least that's what West thinks, in his humble estimation.

"I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "It's me settling into that position of just really accepting that it's one thing to say you want to do it and it's another thing to really end up being like Michael Jordan."

The Grammy-winning rapper-producer said Justin Timberlake had a chance to be music's MVP, but hasn't put out enough material. (Timberlake's last album was in 2006, while West released a CD last year and is releasing his latest _ "808s and Heartbreak" _ on Nov. 24.)

"There were people who had the potential to do it but they went on vacation, so when Justin went on vacation I made albums," he said. "And it just came out to be that."

West, 31, said life has been difficult since his mother's death. Donda West died last November after having plastic surgery.

"I'm just going through balancing that. And I always used to have that support system, you know. My mom would be there; no matter what, she was there before everything," he said. "We were together for like 30 years. And you know now when I'm on that stage and I look out and I say, 'What am I going to do with the rest of my life?' Like when does a real life start?' Because I have sacrificed real life to be a celebrity and to give this art to people, which is great. It is great that I was able to do that, I'm not trying to shun that in any way, but it's definitely a Catch-22 and it's bittersweet."-AP

MISHKA'S 09 PIN-UP CALENDAR. YOWZERS

Mishka NYC keeps you always guessing with their 2009 calendar shot by Ellen Stagg. Ellen Stagg has risen to prominence for her erotic photography involving both herself and others. The shoot was inspired by classic pin-up girl calendars seen in garages and features models such as Joanna Angel, Jelena Jensen and Justine Joli (upon a quick Googling, they’re all predominately porn stars). As a further accompaniment, each pin-up also includes a comic done by Jon Vermilyea who has been a regular mainstay for both Mishka and VICE magazine. Mishka also create a special t-shirt to go alongside the calendar. Both the calendar ($30 USD) and t-shirt ($32 USD) have begun shipping and when purchased together will retail for $50 USD.-hypebeast

I know I already ordered mine. More of Ellen Stagg's work can (and should) be found here

WHAT TIME IS IT?

SCREW G-SHOCK. They've sold out. So its time to find the next best thing. Timex has been pushing their retro shit hard and I'm now convinced. Her they reintroduce their classic 80 model. For Christmas they keep is simple. The Timex 80 Christmas Pack consists of three colorways - white, black and bordeaux. All three come with a shiny upper and stretchable band.

PREMO DENIM FOR WINTER

Atmos x Levi’s LX503 “X-Mas Special” DENIM

Just Levi doing what they do best; collaborations

buy here: ATMOS

Great Wall Street Journal article...

The Perils of 'Populist Chic'
What the rise of Sarah Palin and populism means for the conservative intellectual tradition.
By MARK LILLA

Finita la commedia. Many things ended on Tuesday evening when Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, and depending on how you voted you are either celebrating or mourning this weekend. But no matter what our political affiliations, we should all -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- be toasting the return of Governor Sarah Palin to Juneau, Alaska.

The Palin farce is already the stuff of legend. For a generation at least it is sure to keep presidential historians and late-night comedians in gainful employment, which is no small thing. But it would be a pity if laughter drowned out serious reflection about this bizarre episode. As Jane Mayer reported recently in the New Yorker ("The Insiders," Oct. 27, 2008), John McCain's choice was not a fluke, or a senior moment, or an act of desperation. It was the result of a long campaign by influential conservative intellectuals to find a young, populist leader to whom they might hitch their wagons in the future.

And not just any intellectuals. It was the editors of National Review and the Weekly Standard, magazines that present themselves as heirs to the sophisticated conservatism of William F. Buckley and the bookish seriousness of the New York neoconservatives. After the campaign for Sarah Palin, those intellectual traditions may now be pronounced officially dead.

What a strange turn of events. For the past 40 years American conservatism has been politically ascendant, in no small part because it was also intellectually ascendant. In 1955 sociologist Daniel Bell could publish a collection of essays on "The New American Right" that treated it as a deeply anti-intellectual force, a view echoed a few years later in Richard Hofstadter's influential "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" (1963).

But over the next decade and a half all that changed. Magazines like the Public Interest and Commentary became required reading for anyone seriously concerned about domestic and foreign affairs; conservative research institutes sprang up in Washington and on college campuses, giving a fresh perspective on public policy. Buckley, Irving Kristol, Nathan Glazer, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Peter Berger, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Norman Podhoretz -- agree or disagree with their views, these were people one had to take seriously.

Coming of age politically in the grim '70s, when liberalism seemed utterly exhausted, I still remember the thrill of coming upon their writings for the first time. I discovered the Public Interest the same week that Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, and its pages offered shelter from the storm -- from the mobs on the street, the radical posing of my professors and fellow students, the cluelessness of limousine liberals, the whole mad circus of post-'60s politics. Conservative politics mattered less to me than the sober comportment of conservative intellectuals at that time; I admired their maturity and seriousness, their historical perspective, their sense of proportion. In a country susceptible to political hucksters and demagogues, they studied the passions of democratic life without succumbing to them. They were unapologetic elites, but elites who loved democracy and wanted to help it.

So what happened? How, 30 years later, could younger conservative intellectuals promote a candidate like Sarah Palin, whose ignorance, provinciality and populist demagoguery represent everything older conservative thinkers once stood against? It's a sad tale that began in the '80s, when leading conservatives frustrated with the left-leaning press and university establishment began to speak of an "adversary culture of intellectuals." It was a phrase borrowed from the great literary critic Lionel Trilling, who used it to describe the disquiet at the heart of liberal societies. Now the idea was taken up and distorted by angry conservatives who saw adversaries everywhere and decided to cast their lot with "ordinary Americans" whom they hardly knew. In 1976 Irving Kristol publicly worried that "populist paranoia" was "subverting the very institutions and authorities that the democratic republic laboriously creates for the purpose of orderly self-government." But by the mid-'80s, he was telling readers of this newspaper that the "common sense" of ordinary Americans on matters like crime and education had been betrayed by "our disoriented elites," which is why "so many people -- and I include myself among them -- who would ordinarily worry about a populist upsurge find themselves so sympathetic to this new populism."

The die was cast. Over the next 25 years there grew up a new generation of conservative writers who cultivated none of their elders' intellectual virtues -- indeed, who saw themselves as counter-intellectuals. Most are well-educated and many have attended Ivy League universities; in fact, one of the masterminds of the Palin nomination was once a Harvard professor. But their function within the conservative movement is no longer to educate and ennoble a populist political tendency, it is to defend that tendency against the supposedly monolithic and uniformly hostile educated classes. They mock the advice of Nobel Prize-winning economists and praise the financial acumen of plumbers and builders. They ridicule ambassadors and diplomats while promoting jingoistic journalists who have never lived abroad and speak no foreign languages. And with the rise of shock radio and television, they have found a large, popular audience that eagerly absorbs their contempt for intellectual elites. They hoped to shape that audience, but the truth is that their audience has now shaped them.

Back in the '70s, conservative intellectuals loved to talk about "radical chic," the well-known tendency of educated, often wealthy liberals to project their political fantasies onto brutal revolutionaries and street thugs, and romanticize their "struggles." But "populist chic" is just the inversion of "radical chic," and is no less absurd, comical or ominous. Traditional conservatives were always suspicious of populism, and they were right to be. They saw elites as a fact of political life, even of democratic life. What matters in democracy is that those elites acquire their positions through talent and experience, and that they be educated to serve the public good. But it also matters that they own up to their elite status and defend the need for elites. They must be friends of democracy while protecting it, and themselves, from the leveling and vulgarization all democracy tends toward.

Writing recently in the New York Times, David Brooks noted correctly (if belatedly) that conservatives' "disdain for liberal intellectuals" had slipped into "disdain for the educated class as a whole," and worried that the Republican Party was alienating educated voters. I couldn't care less about the future of the Republican Party, but I do care about the quality of political thinking and judgment in the country as a whole. There was a time when conservative intellectuals raised the level of American public debate and helped to keep it sober. Those days are gone. As for political judgment, the promotion of Sarah Palin as a possible world leader speaks for itself. The Republican Party and the political right will survive, but the conservative intellectual tradition is already dead. And all of us, even liberals like myself, are poorer for it.

Mark Lilla is a professor of humanities at Columbia University and a former editor of the Public Interest.
from The WSJ

PHUNKISM's Debut on The GE

And then there was Craigslist
11.08.2008

I vividly remember my first hook up. I was 14 at a grade school dance (St. Charles if you're from the area) I think Next Too Close was on and as I kissed this girl my eyes rolled in the back of my head and my right leg shook violently. Those were the days. I was a late bloomer and a spinner. Let me back track. When we were younger the most important trait you carried in my crew was the way your tongue moved as you sloppily shoved it down someone else's throat. You could poke, or spin. They are self explanatory, so if you don't get it, I consider you an idiot or the dude who plays World of Warcraft at GameStop from 9-5. Either way - I spun, which to a 13 year old girl around me was the equivalent of a lefty pitcher who throws 100mph to a Yankee scout. I was a hot commodity.
I miss the days of crazy sexual encounters based on experimenting. Not like it still doesn't happen, but it was cooler when you were younger and didn't know any better. Like when you used to jerk off and then fell dirty afterwards- I fucking miss that. So I set out on my own little mission to find myself that old dirty feeling. I went to Craigslist.
Craigslist according to most people is only good for 3 things - buying a sofa, finding roommates, or getting a blow job in the next 15 minutes. I am in need of the first but very curious of the third. I started reading and responding to posts about a week ago and continued to for 10 days. There is a ton of shit you can look for in the personal ads ; sex, sex for money, marriage, 8-somes, and the list goes on. I took up my time on the casual encounters page - a spot I figured the desperately wet and disgusting lay their tracks...TRUE It's an interesting site to read. There are people from all walks of life, sadists, and valedictorian's of the $40,000 girls boarding school. And sadists from that boarding school. Predominately it consists of gnarly women who are too old or too naive and really believe this could happen, or it's a fuckin bait trap that your inbox will be lucky to get out of.
So I send a ton of responses out, some with only my picture, others
with my picture and a description and even some with my reasoning- which I'm sure every desperate dude has as an excuse. Mine usually sounded like - Hey, so i am writing this article about the myth of the 15 minute blow-job, and as i was perusing craigslist i stumbled upon your face, and it seems interesting. Interested?
(For the record if my zipper ever gets pulled down using that line I'll buy everyone who reads this article Tastykakes).
So I send my responses out and some came back, most from the gross middle-aged lunchladies who are just itching to get scratched. If you think thats bad, the others are worse. It turns out if there is anyone remotly cute, normal, or slutty AND fuckable on the casual encounters page it usually corralates into one of two things - they are a dude fucking with you and it becomes embarrassing, or 2 - they are a web service that is the lower eschelon of SPAM. Like I'd rather be the dude who holepunches your reciept at Walmart or BJ's than the marketing intern for Flingdildo.com that records my cookie for an email blast. Now dumb me (can you believe I went to college after reading this?) responded to almost 70 people, in all I had 9 real responses - 2 of which from girls my age but they were looking for a relationship, 1 was very special which I will talk about later. And the rest...Ahhhhh the rest. The rest of that dividend was ridiculous spam that is overflowing my inbox as I write.
So in turn I must say, it is a 50/50 answer.
Yes, the 15 minute blow job does exist. No, it won't be from someone who doesn't look like Missy Elliot in her first video, unless you want to pay money. And yes, Craiglist personals are 90% clutter that will leave you inbox with a bruised O ring and genital warts. But - I'm happy now. I feel dirty, used, and as I've seen too much. So if you need me feel free to drop by the homeless shelter - I'll be there hitting on the genuinley sweet girls who are pouring the soup next to me.
thanks to Destiny at PHUNKISM.COM

MAKE NEW FRIENDS

I LOVE SILVERMAN

PHOTO ENVY

DIRECT PHOTO FROM AMSTERDAM: THE CROSS JOINT FILLED WITH WHITE DOLPHIN. IM JEALOUS OF ALL OF YOU ACROSS THE POND.

BONUS FOOTAGE:

BLACKBERRY VS IPHONE begins

LOST IN TRANSLATION

ARE WE STILL HERE????

HEY DJ, BRING THAT BACK: CHARIZMA

Charizma - Ice Cream Truck
by keepitreal

ENTRODUCING THE ANDROID PHONE

Google bets on Android future
By Darren Waters

Google has made no secret of its ambitions in the mobile space. There are mobile versions of all its key services, such as search, e-mail and calendar.
But the company is going much further. At the end of 2007 it lifted the lid on Android, an open mobile operating system that is being used to power a new generation of devices under the Open Handset Alliance, a group which involves firms like HTC and chip designer ARM.

Android is the creation of Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms.

He believes that a lack of openness in the mobile phone space has stifled innovation to date.

"What Android enables for third party developers is the kind of programming we see on the internet," he says.

"What it enables is agility and rapid innovation and the same kind of innovation that happens on the internet."

Mr Rubin says that by opening up the phones - from the operating system, released under open source, to the drivers and the application framework - developers will have more freedom to innovate, and more scope also.

But if you talk to Symbian and Microsoft, two companies that also build mobile operating systems, both claim to be open also.

Mr Rubin says: "There's a distinction we have to make - and it's an important one - between open source and open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).

"APIs are essentially documentation, they're the way that somebody like Symbian or Microsoft will allow third party developers to develop for their platform.

"Open source is a mechanism by which the source code of the operating system is actually for free and that way the carriers and OEMs are not really locked into a single vendor, nobody really owns this.

"It means they are free to take it into the direction that's important to them; they can fix bugs, add enhancements so in the end the consumer has a better experience."

Mr Rubin believes this will lead to greater variety of mobile experiences - driven not by the rules and regulations of an operating system but by the ideas of developers.

In essence, it could lead to greater variety of phones and of what those phones are capable.

Google has formed the Open Handset Alliance, with manufacturing partners like HTC and chip designers like ARM.

At the Mobile World Congress earlier this month the first reference handsets running Android were on show.

Mr Rubin gave BBC News a demo of his handset and while the software was in pre-beta form, it was a good representation of what the phones will be able to do.
The browser was responsive and driven by both touch and a mini-track ball.

Google Maps supported Street View, the ability to see stills of real world locations, which has not been seen on a mobile device before.

Mr Rubin says Android is running on a phone powered by a 300Mhz chip, which puts the device in the mid-range of smartphones.

"A lot of applications we are seeing on phones today, in some of the newest and most powerful phones, are doing internet style web browsing.

There should be nothing that users can access on their desktop that they can't access on their cell phone
Andy Rubin
"But that is just one of the components of the internet we need to bring to cellphones. There should be nothing that users can access on their desktop that they can't access on their cellphone.

Mr Rubin points out that not all net experiences are available through the browser.

"Applications like Google Earth and YouTube have specific functionality that hasn't yet effectively been brought to mobile.

"Up until Android that wasn't possible on the phone - you could only access functionality given to you by the operating system."

Mr Rubin says the open nature of Android will let developers take advantage of the web, of other applications, of the phone's hardware capabilities, from 3D graphics to multimedia capabilities.
This is not Mr Rubin's first foray into overturning the "natural order" of things.

A former roboticist and Apple engineer, he created Web TV, and the device which led to the pioneering Sidekick handset.

"One of my passions throughout my whole career is consumer products; making things my mom would use.

"That need wasn't satisfied doing robotics. that was behind the scenes factory stuff."

So what does he make of Apple's first phone to the market?

"It's a great 1.0 product; I use one.

"Apple has that great balance of being both a hardware and software firms so they have a lot of flexibility.

"One of the things that is a challenge for them is having an incredible footprint worldwide - there are different types of communications standards, regulatory issues, and different language issues.

"I'm hoping that doesn't limit them."

With about three billion people using mobile phones worldwide and the number of devices that can access the net climbing rapidly, the future of the web is definitely mobile. And with no one company dominating the mobile arena as yet, the race is very much on.

How mobiles became multimedia devices

Album Review: Q-Tip's The Renaissance

Q-TIP: The Renaissance - the Sunday Times review
by Dan Cairns of UKTimes

It’s not The Low End Theory, but to measure Q-Tip’s new solo album against A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 masterpiece (as some are) seems unfair. Its gestation has been, even by his standards, a long one, but the wait proves worth it. Listen to that piano, working discordantly to subvert Johnny Is Dead’s verses; to the Obama-sampling Shaka; to the simultaneously fly and catatonic grooves of Gettin’ Up; to the almost sectionably odd Norah Jones duet, Life Is Better; to the Midnight Marauders- recalling Won’t Trade You. One-third of one of hip-hop’s most innovative acts, Tip stays true to TCQ’s jazz-rap-fusing and socially conscious ethos, imagining love across the US-Iraq divide on the spare funk of We Fight/Love, and coercing D’Angelo to make vocal magic on I Believe. Wonderful stuff.

MY OWN REVIEW TO COME...

THE BELOW EVENT WAS HELD AT COMMONWEALTH DC, WHICH IS 4 BLOCKS FROM WHERE I LIVE AND A FABULOUS PHARREL RUN CLOTHING BOUTIQUE IN DC. IT WAS A PRE-RELEASE LISTENING PARTY, IN 3 PARTS. FOLLOWING IT ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE TRACKS FROM THE ALBUM.

The world likes us again... THE FUTURE IS NOW

OBAMA STEALS THE SPOTLIGHT AT MTV EUROPE VMAs

Paul McCartney may have been crowned a legend and Britney Spears named Act of the Year but it was President-elect Barack Obama who stole the show at last night’s European MTV awards.

Obama fever dominated the 15th MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony at the Liverpool Echo Arena, with artists competing in their tributes to the future US leader.

Presenter for the night, Katy Perry - who opened the ceremony dressed as an American footballer straddling a giant cherry chapstick to perform her hit I Kissed A Girl - also donned an oversized yellow T-shirt with a print of Obama’s face.

Jared Leto, of 30 Seconds to Mars, who won both the Rock Out and Video Star awards, had the audience on their feet to honour the President-elect. "Lets hear it for Barack Obama," he said, prompting the loudest cheers of the night.

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MTV Europe Awards
Sugababes also got in on the act, with Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Range and Heidi Berrabah wearing red, white and blue when they came on stage to present Pink with the gong for Most Addictive Track.

And McCartney, who picked up MTV’s one-off Ultimate Legend Award, closed his acceptance speech by thanking “everyone in America for voting in Mr Obama”.

Other awards last night went to German band Tokio Hotel, named Headliner, and Kanye West who picked up the Ultimate Urban award. Britney Spears, who did not attend the ceremony, won two awards for Album of the Year and Act of 2008.

The most surprising winner of the night was Rick Astley, who scooped Best Act Ever as voted by the public. MTV was last night putting the shock win down to the internet craze Rickrolling. Astley was not able to accept the award, but in his absence Perry and co-presenter Perez Hilton pleased the crowd with a dance routine to his famous track Never Gonna Give You Up.

MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARD WINNERS 2008

Most Addictive Track: Pink ‘So What’

Video Star: 30 Seconds To Mars ‘A Beautiful Lie’

Headliner: Tokio Hotel

Ultimate Urban: Kanye West

Rock Out: 30 Seconds To Mars

Artists Choice: Lil Wayne

Act of 2008: Britney Spears

Ultimate Legend: Sir Paul McCartney

Album of the Year: Britney Spears Blackout

Europe’s Favourite Act: Emre Aydin (Turkey)

New Act: Katy Perry

Best Act Ever: Rick Astley
by Zoë Blackler of UKTime

Eagle Bunnies

A month after 'Playboy' founder Hugh Hefner confirmed his relationship with Holly Madison was over, another former girlfriend, Kendra Wilkinson, has announced that he is engaged to Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett.

At the time, Hefner said he was still with Kendra but acknowledged "the relationship will be ending when she moves out, probably by the end of this year." We pointed out there were reports that she ended their romantic connection "quite sometime ago" and with today's news of the engagement that definitely seems to have been the case.

"Kendra Wilkinson has met someone who she would like to spend the rest of her life with," Hefner said of the 23-year-old's engagement to Baskett. "I have given her my blessing and will be giving her away at a very special wedding ceremony at the Playboy Mansion this coming June."

Kendra had lived with Hefner, sharing him with 'Girls Next Door' co-stars Bridget Marquardt [photos] and Holly Madison, since 2004. And there will no doubt be big changes coming, following the current season, to both the show as well as Hefner's personal life.

But don't feel too badly for the 82-year-old, his new 19-year-old twin girlfriends, Karissa and Kristina Shannon, have already moved into the mansion to take care of his free time.

-TVShark.com

GO HANK

BARRY O

DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY

DAFT PUNK: DIGITAL LOVE

WAYNE IT TAKES A TRUE ARTIST TO MAKE GOOD MUSIC. RYAN LESLIES TAKING YOUR SHIT AND MAKING SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

Live on The Invasion Radio Show with DJ Green Lantern.

If you've never heard 'The Invasion', you should know that Green Lantern is about exposing the real deal. I knew this wouldn't be a normal interview when I walked in and saw they had a keyboard set up for me.

Keep in mind, I take my hat off to the true improvisational players out there. I've been around the world and seen some amazing piano/keyboard players. In fact - I've even hired a few of them to play with me at live shows or in sessions.

I taught myself to play by ear, and I was thankful I figured out the chords in time to get an arpeggio going. I posted this video to show that no matter your talent level - it's always important to give your all. People will respond as long as it's sincere.

Live radio on the spot is no joke.-RYAN LESLIE

FUCK WEEEEEEZAY BEBE

"IM UGLY"

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough.”-twain

PRESS RELEASE:

DEERFIELD, Ill., Oct 27, 2008 -- Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. a global leader in premium spirits, expands its award-winning whiskey portfolio with the introduction of (ri)1 Whiskey, the company's first ultra-premium rye whiskey. Debuting nationwide this October in limited quantities, (ri)1 (pronounced "rye one") is set to elevate the ultra-premium whiskey category, offering consumers a refined flavor, a striking look and a new take on cocktail couture.
"The traditional rye whiskey category takes on a modern look and feel with the introduction of (ri)1," said Mara Melamed, Brand Manager, (ri)1. "(ri)1 is a cutting-edge spirit for today's top tastemakers and cocktail drinkers who are looking to expand their ultra-premium spirits repertoire. (ri)1 brings cocktails to life by celebrating smooth rye flavor notes, and its stylish packaging and simple name showcase a fresh take on a classic spirit."
Bottled at 92 proof, (ri)1 features a light, slightly spicy flavor and a long, luxurious finish. Straight, the nose offers a gentle, peppery nod to its rye heritage. Cut with water, the scents of dried fruit and cinnamon push to the front, providing a rich palate experience.
Spirits expert F. Paul Pacult, editor of F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal, reports rye whiskey is experiencing new found popularity. "Straight rye whiskey is a bona fide comer because the increasingly sophisticated American palate is searching for new and exciting high-end spirits."
Whether serving as the base of traditional cocktails, such as the (ri)1 Manhattan, or the foundation of new signature recipes like the Rising Sun (1/2 part (ri)1, 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice and 1/2 part orange juice), (ri)1 offers a smooth alternative to the cocktail scene.
(ri)1 is packaged in a distinctive glass bottle with a single label that reinforces the brand's straightforward feel and modern style. Priced at approximately $46-48 per 750ml bottle (varies by market), (ri)1 is an exquisite spirit suitable for the most sophisticated lifestyle. Future variants, including (ri)2 and (ri)3, are planned to create a complete product line.

For more information, visit http://www.ri1whiskey.com.

IN AN ABSOLUTE WORLD THIS COMMERCIAL WOULD NEVER MAKE IT TO THE PUBLIC

JOE THE ASSHOLE

So it turns out that when Plumber Joe was a child, he was on welfare, not once, but twice, and he credits it with helping his family ultimately lead a middle-class life style. He defends having received welfare by saying that he's subsequently paid into the system.

In other words, well-designed taxpayer-funded social assistance programs are fine because ultimately they will pay for themselves.

Suddenly we have Joe The Reasonable, right? Well, not exactly. Plumber Joe has got something of a tax dodging problem. In the end, he's just another typical Republican hypocrite.

by Jed L at www.dailykos.com

I CANT FEEL MY LEGS

THE FUTURE IS NOW

If you're sick of having to wear a now-cliche Obama shirt, peep this. Print Liberation's new tee gets the message across and does it with steez. BUY HERE

PHOTO ENVY

Terry Richardson: jackass

HOMEWORK

Tonight you all have homework:

go to the Fox News Forum site by clicking here then reak havoc in the comments section. I promise you nothing will make a shitty day better than pissing people off here.

Do Work

I WAS WRONG!!

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT WE ELECTED A GREAT MEANS FOR PROGRESS AND CHANGE, IT TURNS OUT ALL THE REPUBLICANS WERE RIGHT. bARRY-O IS IN FACT A TERRORIST. IN THIS TOP-SECRET PHOTO THE WORLD CAN SEE BARRY GIVING A SECRET TERRORIST HAND SHAKE TO WHAT CAN ONLY BE ONE OF THE BOYS HE MOLESTS (ALL TERRORIST DO THAT).

SEE YOU NEXT FALL

THE FUTURE IS NOW

BARRY O FOR PREZ

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

EXCUSE US

THE GREAT EPICUREAN IS (IF NOT ALREADY APPARENT) NOT DOING ANYTHING UNTIL THE ELECTION IS DONE. OUR VIEWS HAVE BECOME TOO BEFUDDLED. GO VOTE.

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