Perpetually Winning

I've learned today that my good friend, former roommate, and co-49er season ticket holder, Josh Burstein, has just been selected as Charlie Sheen's summer social media intern.  It was announced via Charlie Sheen's twitter yesterday. 

As strange and far-fetched as the idea of this announcement may have ever seemed (see: Charlie Sheen gets 74,000 applicants for 'Tiger Blood Intern' role), the fact that Josh not only applied, but won, is not surprising in the least bit.

I first met Josh in the Fall of 2008 on the 3rd Floor (Ross House) of Cole Hall at the University of Wisconsin (Go Badgers!).  Our first conversation basically consisted of Josh telling me about a summer internship at ESPN in New York and borrowing my Memento DVD, which he would return a few months later (literally the next time we would converse).   There was also some talk of Keira Knightly, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the fact that Josh was half Asian / half Jewish.

We eventually became friends, and shared residences for the next few years.  Josh has always been sort of the life of the party.  He has the inherent ability to attract people, including insatiable girls who eat our leftover Ian's pizza and loudly proclaim their race from the bedroom in the middle of the night.  Josh is also a bona fide self-starter.  I've honestly lost track of all the internships he's had, and he has recently started a non-profit for what I believe is an extremely legitimate cause.

He's created video (yes, video) power hours, hosted multiple "Mustachio Bashios", and even has a cameo appearance in cinematic legend that is The Last Kiss.  Of the many other unforgettable moments over the past few years, I will never - for the rest of my life - forget the time Josh acted upon the priceless opportunity to ghost ride his car into a tree.

Suffice to say that at any given time Josh is capable of doing something crazy, ridiculous, awesome, or potentially stupid.  He's also one of the most successful people I know.  Thus, he's obviously perfect for this internship.

Here's the winning final round video application:



Winning, indeed.  Congrats, bud!

I Try to Hide All These Gay Thoughts and Feelings...

...I don't know where they coming frooommm!



Going to see The Growlers tonight with Dr. Dog at The Independent.  It's going to be a psychedelic rock extravaganza.  Pictures and/or videos to follow.  Until then, here are a couple more gems.

Dr. Dog - "The Ark"



The Growlers - "Empty Bones"



The Growlers - "Camino Muerto"

I Wish I Could Get Paid to Buy Vinyls

Went to Amoeba Records today to buy some vinyls.  It was literally the perfect day for walking around San Francisco and browsing through the mecca that is Amoeba Records.

It's a converted bowling alley, which naturally  makes it ideal for stuffing it with vinyls and letting people like myself run loose and splurge on new additions to my collection.

Seriously, mecca...

While I was looking around I got to thinking.  What I wouldn't give to take a shopping cart into this store and just go nuts for like 10 minutes, Super Market Sweep style.  For 10 minutes, I can go around the store grabbing any vinyls that I want, and after the time is up, I get to keep whatever I could fit in my cart.

Side note: how awesome was Super Market Sweep?  Seriously, just people going around throwing anything and everything in their carts, trying to ring up as much money as possible.  I'm even pretty sure they got to keep what they put in their cart.  I remember watching marathons of that and always getting pissed when the contestants did anything but go after the Butterball turkeys.  Everyone knew those things were worth like $30 a pop!  As a 10-year-old, I was convinced I could beat anyone in that game, because I'd go straight for the turkeys, and pick up any of the bonuses on the way.

Anyhow, I digress.  After about an hour and a half of browsing, I left the store with the following bag o' treats:

*  Bon Iver - Bon Iver
*  The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
*  Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
*  Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
*  The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
*  Deerhunter - Cryptograms


When I'm shopping for vinyls, there's always an internal conflict that involves me wanting to (1) complete collections of certain artists I have (see Black Keys purchase above); (2) buy new release vinyls of albums I've heard lately that I consider to be really good (see Bon Iver); or (3) expand my collection of classic albums that I ultimately want as part of my collection (see White Stripes and Led Zeppelin).  At the end of the day, I'm usually just very happy to be able to grab some new vinyls to listen to and stack on my shelf.

Speaking of which, here's the current vinyl collection:

There's about 90 or so LPs (12-inch), 20 or so 45s (7-inch), and three 10-inch albums.  I'm pretty proud of it thus far, but here's the space I ultimately need to fill:

Three shelves under the window to be filled.  After about a year I am about 3/4 of the way through the first.  Gives me something to shoot for, I suppose.

Someday, I'm hoping to have a room that looks like this:

And if You Show Me to the Stage, I Rock It

Alas, there is hope!

Cliff notes for those who don't feel like reading:

- Representative Joe Barton (R - Texas) is introducing a bill to legalize online poker
- Bill allows states to choose whether or not to legalize online poker within their state
- Poker sites need to already be licensed in at least one state
- Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (2006) does not explicitly outlaw 'poker', making it difficult to define what is/is not legal
- According to Barton, Republican leadership is generally in favor of such a bill
- Bill is co-sponsored by 11 congressmen, 7 of which are Democrats
- Provisions in the bill restrict those who could apply for a license for the first three years to licensed gambling companies that have significant assets, and require significant vendors to be scrutinized the same way
- Barton does not support legalizing other forms of online gambling because he believes poker involves more skill than luck.
- Barton hopes to have a bill on President Obama's desk during the current Congress.

So this is what Republicans and Democrats actually agree on?

How can you love me, when you don't like me, baby?

I apologize for the lack of posts in the past week and a half.  I am currently finishing the process of moving residences within San Francisco, and have spent a lot of time packing, moving, unpacking, putting things away, splurging at IKEA, and putting furniture together.  As a result, there was very little time to blog.

Anyhow, yesterday was new music Tuesday (literally one of my favorite days of the week besides the weekend).  A number of good albums came out, but one I really want to toss out there is the self-titled debut from Unknown Mortal Orchestra.  It received an 8.1 rating (out of 10) from Pitchfork (my primary source of musical news, etc.).  Basically, anything over an 8 is considered really good. 
I've had the pleasure of seeing this band live twice in the past couple months. It took a little while, but I really started to get into their music.  If you're into psychedelic rock, give it a shot. 

You can stream the entire album here.  Or, just buy it on iTunes.  Better yet, buy it on vinyl for $14 and get the free download card. 

                       *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Side note, it's been a little more than one year to the day that I started my vinyl collection.  Not only that, but it was approximately one year ago that I attended the Portugal. The Man concert at The Fillmore with my girlfriend and my friend who was visiting The City (looking at you, Adam Toy).  Anyhow, the picture behind my blog title was actually taken at The Fillmore during that concert, so technically I am in there somewhere (on the right towards the back, if I remember correctly).

Happy Wednesday!

Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment...

I've been busy moving to a new apartment, which is why there have been no updates lately.  I apologize for this and will surely update more often now that I am somewhat settled in.

On another note, I'm excited to relay that The Cool Kids have a new album coming out July 12th entitled "When Fish Ride Bicycles."  Originally scheduled for release on December 29, 2009 (no typo there), it appears as though the dream will finally become the reality. 

One thing I really enjoy about The Cool Kids is that for a hip-hop band, they don't embody a lot of the things that turn people off to hip-hop music.  For example, their first album, "The Bake Sale", consists of them rapping about such things as going to the grocery store and buying milk, playing basketball, playing Sega Genesis, shoes, pagers, and bicycles.  Notice no mention of drugs, sex, cash, hoes, etc.?  That's why they're so great.  They can rap about the corniest of topics and still make it sound sweet as hell.

Here's a new track off the forthcoming album entitled "Bundle Up", as well as reminder of some of The Cool Kids' current gems to get you all as excited as I am for July 12th:

"One, Two"

"Mikey Rocks"

"88"

"A Little Bit Cooler"

"Gold and a Pager"

Listen to them all, or listen to just one, I don't care.  They're all good.  And the beats are dope.

I don't want to work forever, know what I know, or beg or borrow

Happy Friday to all!  Be safe.


The video is 13 minutes long, but it's so worth a watch.  It's Portugal. The Man's new song "Sleep Forever" followed by another new song called "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)".  They played the video to start their show when I went to see them last month.

"Got It All" is currently the free single of the week on iTunes until Sunday, so get it while it's hot!

In These Modern Times

Within the last month or so, the city of San Francisco has imposed a 5% credit card processing fee on all taxi cab transactions.  The main issue seems to be that taxicab companies want to hire cab drivers as independent contractors so they don't have to pay them benefits.  However, they are now trying to install machines in the cabs to record every transaction made, most likely to reduce the risk of drivers stealing money / not recording every fare received.  To make matters a bit worse, fares start at $3.10 and haven't increased in seven years.  With the price of gas getting out of control (currently in the $4.30 - $4.50 per gallon range in the city), this makes it hard for cab drivers to make a solid living.

Now, I don't take a ton of cabs, but if I'm out with a group of people and we're all relatively far from home, taking a cab and splitting the fare often seems like the most logical choice.

I took a cab the other day operated by the San Francisco Taxi Cab Company, which not only takes credit cards, but advertises on their windows which credit cards they accept.  A group of us get in the car and we start heading home, at which point (and not until then) did the driver say, "It'll be cash only tonight, I'm not accepting credit cards."  When we questioned why, his response was along the lines of "because they take 5% and I won't get my f*cking money until Wednesday (it was a Friday)."

At this time, I was unaware of the newly-imposed credit card fee, and was a bit taken aback by the driver's tone / attitude.  I mean, as an accountant, I am well aware of costs of doing business, and to me, while it was unfortunate for taxicab drivers, this seemed to be a new cost of doing business.  While these taxi drivers count on their fares for the day, my friend Brent pointed out that they would only need to take this hit up front.  In other words, after the first few days, even though fares earned in a given day would not be received for 2-3 days, they would be receiving fares from the previous 2-3 days, which would ultimately cancel that out.

Therefore, the only real issue would be the 5% fee, which got me thinking.  I know that 5% of a driver's daily take can be a significant amount of money to him/her, especially with the price of gas.  But is it worth being a dick about?  Is it worth losing out on a tip or losing someone's business altogether (assuming the driver refuses to take a credit card and the customer decides to try his/her luck with another cab).

In general, I would think that most people tip approximately 15%-20% for cabs, restaurants, services, etc.  I generally like to tip 20%, mainly based on the facts that I live in a high-cost-of-living area, and and cab drivers, waiters/waitresses, etc. depend on tips to help make a living (I'm not judging, though).

I can only speak for myself, but when I use a cab, I find my experiences / thought process to follow one of the following scenarios:

Scenario A - Driver is a dick about me paying cash when he clearly has an operational credit card machine.  I reluctantly pay cash (if I even have any) and don't give a good tip (10%) due to the shitty service.


Scenario B - Driver says he only accepts cash, I ask if he will take a credit card, he says "no, cash only."  Because I only have credit card, I find a new cab and driver keeps looking for business.


Scenario C - Driver asks if I can pay cash, I say that all I have is a credit card, he agrees that is fine.  Driver is friendly and treats me with respect.  I tip at least 20% and probably round up to the nearest 50 cents or dollar to help him make up for his 5% hit.


Scenario D - Drivers asks if I can pay cash, I ask if credit card is okay and he says he's sorry, but he can honestly only take cash or he genuinely prefers only cash.  In this scenario, he may/may not be telling the truth, but as long as he seems genuine/remorseful/caring about the situation, I don't mind paying cash and leaving a normal tip, even though I don't generally have much cash on me.


While these aren't the only scenarios that could play out, they demonstrate my general opinion towards this issue.  I have no problem tipping someone for doing well at their job, and that includes demonstrating high quality customer service.  Even though they prefer cash, it's ultimately more beneficial to them if I pay a $10 fare with a credit card and leave a $2.50, less a 5% charge, vs. them being mean / demanding / disrespectful and me paying somewhere between $10 - $11.


Overall, I guess my recent thoughts regrading this issue really made me realize that treating people with respect, delivering high quality customer service, and being a good person, especially in the face of a little adversity, can really pay dividends.  In some ways, literally. 


I have no problem paying a little extra to help out my fellow man, especially if I feel the respect or kindness is reciprocated somehow.  With credit cards being the way of the future, it will be interesting to see how things shake out, especially if there are no base fare increases in the near future, not only in San Francisco, but in cities around the country.  I guess we will all have to stay tuned.

If you look real high, you just might find, sitting in the stars, glistening, glistening...

Pretty hard to get pumped about going to work when the ballpark is just a stones throw away.

Photo effects courtesty of Instagram.

I Got Mine

It's "New Music Tuesday" (at least according to iTunes)!

Go out and get some new tunes.  I already got mine:

Cults - "Cults"

Arctic Monkeys - "Suck It And See"

Beirut - "East Harlem / Goshen" single

Will comment more once I have given them each a few listens.  

Everyone is Golden

On April 15th, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted the heads of various major online poker sites under charges of bank fraud, illegal gambling, and money laundering.  I'm not going to go into too much of the details, but to make a long story short, online poker has essentially disappeared in the United States for the foreseeable future.  Ultimately, the DOJ determined that online poker sites are in violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which basically rules online "gambling" to be illegal.  It is silent with regards to "poker" specifically (I can get into the merits of arguing why poker is not necessarily considered "gambling," but perhaps I will save that for a different day.

To read more about the whole situation, check out this article.

It goes without saying that I completely disagree with the DOJ's (and US Government in general) decision to ban online poker.  Not only did I use to play extensively as a source of a second income (I basically made a living playing online poker while I was in college, didn't have to work a 'real' job for spending money, and was able to pay for my security deposit + first month's rent when I moved out to San Francisco), but I enjoyed the competition and the intellectual challenge to constantly adapt to the way different players were playing, thinking, etc.

I understand that what the heads of these poker sites did was wrong.  They used illegal means to transfer funds between bank accounts, to and from payment processors, and to / from players' accounts.  However, I can't help but think that our government is missing out on an incredible opportunity.

According to Forbes, PokerStars - the largest online poker site that served the US - has approximately $1.4 billion (yup, BILLION) in annual revenues, with approximately $500 million in profits.  This figure will no doubt decline now that a chunk of the player pool is no longer able to play on the site.  However, imagine if the US government regulated online poker and taxed the shit out of it!

For example, to become legitimate, all online poker sites would have to register with the US government and follow certain guidelines in order to stay "in compliance" with regulatory rules.  Such guidelines may include, but not be limited to, transparency of the use of players' funds, limits on daily/weekly/monthly deposits to help prevent players from overextending themselves (this is near impossible to completely achieve, but I believe these limits could go along way), and maintaining certain debt and/or liquidity ratios.  As long as sites stayed 'in compliance' with set guidelines, they would be eligible to operate within the US.  The kicker is that the government would be able to tax their revenues at a significant rate.  Consider even a 20% tax rate (it would likely be higher), which would yield $100 million in additional tax revenues, which could be used to improve government programs like health care, medicare, and most notably, education.

And that's just PokerStars.  Full Tilt Poker and Party Poker, the next two largest online poker sites, generated revenues of approximately $500 million each during 2010, with approximately $100 million in profits.  Applying our assumed 20% tax rate above, that's an additional $40 million in tax revenues for the United States government.  Obviously, I am make general assumptions, but you get the general idea.  However, since there is no depreciation for online poker rooms (like there is in brick-and-mortar casinos) a large percentage of profits will flow to the bottom line and ultimately be taxed.

Due to the UIGEA (mentioned above), it had become much more difficult to get money online (certain banks would not process transactions to online gaming sites).  If online poker were made legal and regulated, the doors would be opened to everyone and anyone (over the age of 21) who was interested in playing, which would substantially increase the overall player pool, and in turn, annual revenues, profits, and tax dollars.

Finally, another aspect of legalizing online poker that should be of interest to the US Government is that of job creation.  Currently, all major online poker sites operate overseas or in Canada (as a result of the aforementioned UIGEA).  With legalization in the US would come opportunity to set up offices closer to some of the actual customers, which would then create jobs in finance, customer service, administration, etc.  Obviously, I'm not talking hundreds of thousands of jobs, but maybe hundreds, or thousands, which are both bigger than 0, and that's the point.

The morality of gambling should not be the question here.  It is not up to you or I to decide whether or not poker is (a) considered gambling; (b) if so, if it is in the same boat as blackjack and/or other casino games; and (c) whether gambling itself is somehow 'wrong' or 'immoral' or against some kind of inherent moral code ingrained in all of us as American citizens (hint: it's not).  The fact of the matter is this:  if people want to play poker for a living, and they can't play online, they'll go to casinos, or move to Canada, or find some alternative means of playing.  However, any of these alternative means result in no additional tax dollars to the US government.

It's along the same lines as the legalization of marijuana.  You may or may not think that smoking marijuana is 'right' or 'okay'.  The truth is that many people smoke it on a daily basis, and are going to continue doing so, whether it is deemed illegal or not.  The only difference is that if it were made legal and, most importantly, regulated, the US Government could place a high tax on sales an generated much needed revenues.



The first easy step in achieving improvements in the above areas is the legalization of online poker.

(On a somewhat related note, Phil Ivey has filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker and is boycotting the 2011 World Series of Poker.  Read more here.)

What's the Bizness, Yeah!

I went to see Yeasayer at The Fillmore a couple Fridays ago with some friends.  Overall, it was a great show.  The Smith Westerns were one of the opening bands.  They're basically a bunch of 20-year-old kids from Chicago who just released their second album, Dye It Blonde.  I highly recommend giving it a listen, as it is probably one of the better albums of 2011 thus far.

Anyways, like I said, the show was great.  Smith Westerns were good, Yeasayer was awesome, AND we got a free Fillmore poster (my collection is at 4 now!).

However, what I really wanted to talk about was the opening act.  It was one dude with basically an iPod and a microphone named Hush Hush.  He used the iPod to play what sounded like some pretty awesome beats.  However, once he started singing, things quickly went from potentially awesome to (not so) borderline inappropriate.  For example, check out this song.

I read one account of a guy who saw Hush Hush perform a few nights before we did, and he described the experience as, "Never in my life have I been so fascinated and felt so violated at the same time."  Yup, that pretty much sums it up.  It's almost disappointing because a lot of his songs have a pretty solid musical sound and are then tainted once the lyrics start.  Although, I get the feeling that's kind of the point with this guy.

Here is another nugget for your viewing pleasure.

Finally, you may have noticed the title of this post may seem a bit weird or not make much sense relative to the rest.  I've basically decided that some of my post titles will contain lyrics / lines / phrases / excerpts from various songs that are stuck in my head that day.  Today, "Bizness" by TuNe-YarDs is the lucky winner.