:::

Everything old is new again

WEST: So what inspired you to have that pink tank on your last tour? That was amazing, when you were sitting on top of the army tank.

RIHANNA: I love to combine femininity with a kind of extreme masculine edge, and I felt like the tank is just not a typical thing that you think of when you think of a girl-or in any kind of rela­tion to a girl. Then we made it hot pink. We just added that touch.

WEST: I mean, people really need to see a photograph-the entire tank was pink. That was a great piece of commercial pop art. Was the idea of that to kind of portray an American Dream- like the fantasy of this hot black girl sitting on top of a pink tank?

RIHANNA: [laughs] I never actually thought of it like that.

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/rihanna/#page2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Soviet_tank_crews

Ways Horrible/Humorless People Respond To Conversational Jokes/Bits

theidiotking:

• “OKAYYYYYYY….“ 
• “You’re WEIRD.”
• “What are you smoking?” and/or “I want some of what YOU’RE on.”
• <eye roll>
• “Yeah… not so much.”
• “Not sure what THAT was all about, but…”
• “Riiiiiiiiiight.”
• “Anywayyyyyyyyyyy…”
• “Um, random much?”
• “I never developed the social skills one needs to have a fun back and forth with someone, nor do I understand/know how to process humor, so consider this a defense mechanism kicking in. Sorry!”

(via vanmega)

21 (Kevin Spacey)

Whenever someone offers a game, there is an explicit set of rules attached to that game. If I tell you “Lets flip a coin. Heads I win, Tails you lose”, you’d never play. When a fair coin flip is offered, there is no advantage, and anyone can play. The person offering the game should know that the people taking their action (betting the coin flip) will do whatever they can to find an edge. In flipping a coin there are very few variables, and any edge would (should) be obvious to both parties. But the person offering the game should expect to have people try to beat that game through whatever strategy they can imagine. 

The Boomtown Casino in Fort McMurray is offering a No hole card, Dealer hits on soft 17, Re-Split any, Double any, Surrender (Not on Ace), lose only one bet if you double or split on dealer blackjack, 4 deck shoe’d blackjack game. They offer it at $5-100 and $25-500. I’ve been playing it. It’s been profitable. When playing this game, the player wants to be able to play as much of the 4 decks as possible. The house wants to use as little of the 4 decks as possible. They limit the number of cards used before the shuffle by cutting off a portion of the decks that won’t be used. They would rather have shuffle machines, but cutting off a big portion of the deck means if the deck gets hot, the player edge will be negated. 

Yesterday I sat at the $25-500 table, alone, and watched the dealer cut off half the shoe. At the $5-100, I was used to them cutting ~40 cards but some dealers cut less and I’d try to talk them down every time they shuffled. Half the shoe is 104 cards. I had just bought chips and had not played a hand. I said ‘If you’re going to cut it there, I’m not playing’, and gave my chips back. The dealer needs approval from the pit boss and when she called him over she said ‘He doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t like where I cut off the shoe’.

The pit boss said ‘Well, move it back’. Then I played, and we shuffled again, and the pit boss moved to another area of the casino and the new boss told me I couldn’t have the deck cut where I wanted. I said “Why not?”

She said “The players don’t want it cut off there, luv. If the decks are bad it takes too long to shuffle.” 
I looked to my left and right and said “I’m the only one here.”
She said “It’s just our rule.”
I said “The other boss moved it back.”
She asked “Which one?”
I pointed him out, turns out he was her superior, and she smallered the cutoff portion of the shoe. We later argued about where the cutoff card should be, she saying there is no difference, but we do it for the players, me saying there is a big difference, you do it to the disadvantage of the players. The argument was finished when I said “Is there a minimum number of cards you cut off?”
“Yes.”
“Is there a maximum”
“No.” 

Today, I was pulled out of the poker room for a ‘serious talk’. Two managers informed me that my behavior was rude and wouldn’t be tolerated and they would suspend my privileges if this kept up. I asked for an explanation. They said they are trying to run a business here, and I can’t change the rules willy nilly, yadda yadda yadda. I said “I asked to be able to use a larger portion of the shoe, and two pit bosses complied. How is that changing the rules?”
They said “No, you demanded they change the shoe, it’s all in your attitude, you said ‘If you don’t change the shoe, I’m not playing’ and picked up your chips.”
I said “How is that rude? I thought you were going to offer a fair game, when you didn’t, I started to leave, and without me saying anything, the dealer told the pit boss the reason and got him to move the cutoff card back.”

The managers said “Well, its other things, too, you’re sometimes loud when you win, we’re trying to run a business here, we’ve had complaints from other players. You think we’re the only casino in town.”

I have no idea why they think me knowing that they are the only casino in town is relevant to anything. I asked what the complaint from another player was and who made it, and they wouldn’t spill.

This is all a joke and didn’t really happen.

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