Tautology of the Skeptical Sinner

Ahh 80’s geekiness revisited with relish, Karate Kid 1 and 2 available now on hulu.com - wax on… wax off.

Classic.

“Spies don’t get fired… they get burned”

I recently read a review of Burn Notice. A USA original series which is part action, part tongue in cheek that was getting some excellent ratings. Its second series season has just started, but guess where you can find season 1 in its entirety??!! You got it.

Check out the first 5 minutes and see if you likey

Go Hulu, it’s your birthday…

Since the government cracked down on online gambling, there’s been a huge market that is untapped. As we all know, as soon as you ban something, it doesn’t go away, it just goes underground.

Efforts are being made to fight the legislation, but in the meantime, a creative mind has come up with a different approach.

Enter Centsports.

Now, the government define online gambling as anything that offers prize, chance and consideration. Which is why Centsports is just going to give you money to gamble with. That’s right. They’re going to let you gamble with their money. That way, you’re not risking anything, therefore… not gambling.

Now, they’re only giving you 10 cents at a time, but you can wager that on any line currently offered in Vegas. Once you’ve accumulated $20 you can cash out. Of course, there are lots of restrictions, but even so, if you want to have a little flutter, while it’s not going to let you retire, this is a painless way to get some excitement.

The site of course has advertisers, they have to pay for it somehow, but… if you’ll give it a shot, I think you’ll find the site to be a lot of fun. Stop by and check it out!

In my last post on Hell’s Kitchen, I struggled to find out what it was about this show that was so damn appealing.

In last night’s competition (free over at hulu.com), I think I found out what it was.

The three finalists were: Christina, Corey and Petrozza. It’s obvious, from watching them, that they’re all competent chefs who know how to cook, but can they lead the kitchen? In this episode you’ll find out. If you ask someone to describe Chef Ramsay - they’ll probably mention “shouting”, “rude”, “mean” or “English” in their description of the charismatic owner of Hell’s Kitchen - and if you have only seen previews of the show, then you’d probably be inclined to agree.

But in this episode, as each of the aspiring chef’s take a turn at running Hell’s Kitchen, showcasing their leadership skills for a shot at the prize of being Gordon Ramsay’s next executive chef, you’ll see the teacher and mentor in Gordon Ramsay. I believe that is what makes this show so worthwhile for me. You’ll see that all of the lessons, the demands for perfection and communication, the frustration he demonstrates when a chef gives him less than he knows they are capable of, all come together when each of the final three take a shot at running the hotplate. Also known as The Pass, the hotplate is where the executive chef takes the orders from the dining room, relays them to the kitchen and provides quality control on those dishes that get sent out.

The best part is when Gordon gives each of the three some “assertiveness” training. Priceless.

I’d recommend watching this one, even if you’ve never seen a single episode before. If you like it, then go back and watch how Hell’s Kitchen got whittled down to the final 3. Then tune in next Tuesday (July 1st 2008) for the Final on Fox, or next Wednesday on Hulu.

This was an awesome final three, and you are left hanging right until the end. I won’t spoil it. But I think the best two are left.

Next week’s finale looks like an amazing 2 hours of TV, with the 2 finalists each creating their own restaurant, menu, look and feel… oh, and staffing their kitchen from the contestants previously eliminated from this season.

Keep an eye out for a preview of the finale, coming soon!

I just found out I can watch every south park episode online, legally, and for free!

You know I digg Hulu, so I have no problems with short hardly intrusive ads.

But why didn’t I hear about this earlier???

They Killed Kenny!!!

Bastards.

I love poker. However, what I appear to be good at is losing at poker.

Fortunately, Pokerstars is still accepting deposits from US players, despite Washington being bungholes about it.

While that continues to be the case, I’ll continue playing there.

Welp, here comes another beating.

As I’m still new to this blogging thing, I was holding off picking a style, until I came across this one.

I like it. The designer, Phu’s site looks awesome, so I’m trusting that it’s not going to cause me grief.

If you want it for your blog too: download it from the author

Thanks Alex, for the easy to find link!

We’ll see how long this lasts

hulu.com - Dumb name, great site. Its a joint venture between a couple of the major US TV networks to share current and archived shows in their entirety. The Hyper-geek in me just got through watching the first two whole seasons of Babylon 5 - all for free and with only minor commercial interruptions.

I got involved in the Beta test of this site, and since then its just gotten better and better.

In addition to the aforementioned geek fest Bab5, they also have Family Guy, The Simpsons, Hells Kitchen, The Office, shoot… the list goes on - click here for a quick index. Sometimes they only have clips or info about a show, but there are a ton of full length episodes and a decent selection of full length movies. It’s updated next day, which is a good thing because I’m always too drunk sleepy to watch Hell’s Kitchen on Tuesday nights, and I have Wednesday morning off. So guess where I’m heading next.

Skep

I used to do Napster.

I try to be a law-abiding citizen, no… really, I do… Okay, fine.  But having been a paid performer once (very badly paid, mind you), when I found out that the artists were the ones really getting screwed, it just felt wrong to download any more songs for free.

Now, I’m not saying I deleted all the mp3s from my hard drive in a statement of solidarity, just… welp, probably shouldn’t do that any more. “You’ll never know what you’ll catch” was also a motivator.

But dammit, my choice in music is too damn eclectic to be buying albums left right and center. Plus I’m horrible with mistreating my CDs. (I take this as a sign of genius-like disorganization, my girlfriend thinks it’s because I’m a slob. We may both be right.)

So imagine my delight when I find a completely legal and free way to listen to tons and tons of songs, and never hear them in the same order… just songs I love, digitized and accessible from any computer in the world with a sound card, speakers and internet connection.

Finetune.com – just f@&%ing brilliant. If you like music, do go check it out. If you’re feeling brave and want to see what my taste in music sounds like, just click here: Skepticals Sampling of Sonic Sumptuousness

Love and Licks

Skep