SPORTSHYPE: Oaktown Revolution

Baron Davis leads the most exciting team in the NBA





To be a champion requires the heart of a Warrior. Baron's got it. It's how he dominates the game. It's how he scores at will when it matters most. How he never surrenders. Baron has tough-minded character and crazy skills and his Golden State Warriors are making a mad dash for the playoffs, and points beyond. They're hip, they're hype, they're happening. They're unpredictable, but guaranteed to thrill.

Even in the Wild West, where everyone's going for their big guns, where the Warriors' gaudy numbers are barely good enough for an eighth seed in the playoffs, nobody wants a part of this team.

So far this year, the Suns (twice), the Lakers, and the champion Spurs (twice), among many other teams, have fallen at the hands of Baron's merry band of streetballin' downtown-shootin', steal-you-blind, fastbreakin' cold-blooded assassins. Of the Western elite, only the Jazz have yet to be beaten by the speed demons of Nelson's Flying Circus. All of these teams know: when the Warriors start hitting on all cylinders, you can't catch them. No one can!
















"Old School"
Monta Ellis



One of the main reasons why is the emergence of Mississippi's own "Money" Monta Ellis, the "Mississippi Bullet", "Kid Flash"! In high school, Monta scored 80 points one night. Now, in his third year with Golden State he emerges as perhaps the fastest man in the league, with an astonishing array of finishing moves. With a 15-foot jumper becoming automatic, Monta leaves defenders with two bad choices: take the jumper in your face, or watch the kid go right by you and to the rim.


Monta Ellis in 2007 Rookie-Sophomore Game

As important as the raw speed and youthful energy of Ellis is, let us not forget the (apocryphal?) quote of Giants pitcher Gaylord Perry, following his victory over a younger pitcher: "Age and corruption will beat youth and beauty every time!"





Captain Jack shows the way
















Not that he's corrupt or anything, but soon-to-be 30-year-old Stephen Jackson is certainly a cold-blooded assassin. Time after time this year, in desperate situations, injured, in the fourth quarter and overtime, under pressure, the three-pointers of Jack would blot out the sun. He was suspended for the first seven games of the season as punishment for firing a gun in the air outside a strip club. He arrived in camp showing off his new tattoo to the press:











Praying hands holding a gun. It meant, he said, "I pray I never have to use a gun again."








And must give props to Dre! Goose! Beans! Whatever they're calling the big man this week. The Latvian giant has held down the front-court for Nellie's undersized and overspeed lineups all year, and he has not only survived, he has prospered -- remember him tying Shaq's record for most games in a row with over 60% shooting, or his monstrous 26-rebound night against the Knicks? Finally a center with excellent hands and feet, hard-working, never-complaining, Warrior fans give it up for Andris Biedrins!



















If only his beautiful girlfriend could fatten him up on Aukstais galds back in the homeland in the offseason. Twenty more pounds, and he'll play like Ivan Drago boxes!












Golden State Warriors
Golden State of Mind - Warrior Fan Blog
Fast Break - Warrior Fan Blog

Golden State Warriors - Here I Come
Golden State Warriors - Baron At War

Recent blockbuster trades (see "Big Men Go West", below) have the experts writing the Dubs' obituary all over again, but this is a team that thrives on adversity, often at their best with their backs against the wall -- in the last thirty games of this 2007-08 regular season, they will fight to achieve greatness.

Go Warriors!
We believe... the Hype.

ADVERTISINGHYPE: Lick Me

Is it Just Me
or is this the strangest advertising gimmick ever?  
Maybe it is because I was raised in the 60's and my first reaction was caution and suspicion.  It occurred that this could be a vehicle for drugging the masses.  This ad was in a very popular weekly tabloid magazine with millions of readers.

Read more about Peel & Taste Marketing.

Nope, not me, no way....I have a better idea.

FINANCEHYPE: Vice Is Nice - Gambling Beats Green

No, that's not a misspelling of a college football game result.

There's been a lot of hype over the past few years about socially responsible investing (SRI). Basically, this means that one would only choose to invest one's money in companies with socially acceptable practices. If this sounds silly already, it's because you might have realized that there are many different standards of acceptable behavior - and who's to say whose is the right standard?

For example, SocialFunds.com, with its self-proclaimed "over 10,000 pages of information on SRI mutual funds, community investments, corporate research, shareowner actions, and daily social investment news," doesn't appear to have an explanation of the SRI philosophy (perhaps manifesto is a better word) anywhere on its site. Interesting.

Domini Social Investments is one of the SRI mutual fund firms out there, and does a decent job of explaining its criteria for considering a potential investment to be socially responsible. For example, their Social Equity Fund (DSEFX) "seeks to hold the stocks of corporations that, on balance, contribute positively to the creation of a wealthy and healthy society" (more specific info is provided on their site).

Some of the things that SRI-minded funds (and people) find abhorrent:

• Tobacco, alcohol, and gambling
• Nuclear power and related services
• Defense (i.e., companies that make bombs, missiles, tanks, military equipment, etc.)

Let's take the risk of being politically incorrect, and look at the flip side of this coin - investing in companies engaged in socially irresponsible practices. Unfortunately, there aren't many options out there. Private Media, a well-known Swedish porn company, went public a while back and trades on the NASDAQ market (PRVT). For different reasons, it's not doing so well. Besides, it's not wise to invest in a single company if one is looking for exposure to a whole sector (due to unsystematic risk). It's wiser to diversify one's assets over a broader range of companies if possible, and one easy way to do this for individual investors is via mutual funds.

Enter the Vice Fund (VICEX) - something that discards all pretensions of political correctness, and goes straight for the dark side of the corporate world: Alcohol, Tobacco, Gambling, and Defense stocks. Their top 5 holdings at the end of 2007 were Altria, Loews, Diageo, MGM Mirage, and British American Tobacco. All well-known companies engaged in some form(s) of what could be called vice, to be sure.

Now, one might wonder what's to be gained by focusing strictly on these types of companies. There must be some free publicity, to begin with. There is probably also some degree of protest (from the people that might choose to invest in accordance with the SRI philosophy). But the most important thing in the mutual fund business is delivering performance for the shareholders, and at this the Vice Fund beats the above-mentioned Social Equity Fund quite nicely (not to mention the S&P 500):



What you see above is the most recent five-year performance of VICEX, compared to DSEFX and the S&P 500 (^GSPC; a widely-used proxy for the US stock market). It speaks for itself. Don't take our word for it, though - check for yourself at Yahoo! Finance (click on the chart, although it should update automatically every day).

The choice of where to invest your hard-earned dollars, then, boils down to this: capitalist or commie? Are principles more important than money? If you're after increased wealth, buy the bombs, booze, butts, and blackjack. If you'd rather feel good about yourself (and maybe eat ramen noodles in retirement), go ahead and be socially responsible.

But before you make your choice, keep in mind that this is the real world - people are going to keep getting hammered, addicted to smoking, and gambling away Junior's college fund. And that's before we take the American politician into account. After all, there are apparently a lot of people in this world that still need to be bombed!

TRAVELHYPE: Airbus A380 Evacuation

When they built the A380, also known as the Super Jumbo, Airbus had to prove that it was possible to get everyone off the plane within a reasonable amount of time during an emergency.

I don't know what that standard is specifically, but here's a demonstration of how fast it can be done: 873 passengers evacuated the aircraft in 77 seconds. That's 11.34 people per second - pretty impressive, even considering the number of doors on this double-decker airplane (16).

Notwithstanding the fact that this test was carried out under controlled conditions - meaning that nothing was on fire, nobody was injured, and so on - this stunt earned Airbus some respect, as well as checked one of the metaphorical boxes on the list of items needed for certification.

You'll notice that nobody stops to grab their oh-so-precious carry-on bag. That might not happen in real life! Also, the video is in German, but even if you don't speak the language, the action and directions are pretty clear. The music is great too... it brings to mind a horror movie where some kid has disturbed a nest of fire ants, and they're coming out for the attack.



Here's another interesting test of this airplane: deliberately dragging the tail along the runway before lifting off. This accomplishes two objectives: it determines the lowest speed at which the aircraft will leave the ground, and verifies that the tail anti-strike device is working. This sort of thing, done accidentally, generally won't result in catastrophic damage to the airframe - although it's apparently loud as hell if you're onboard!

FOODHYPE: Moules, Frites en Bier, Belgian Style

I had always been impressed by the great brewers of Europe: the English, the Germans, and others to the East, but the more I look into it, the more it seems that the true masters of the art are the Belgians. When I realized these Flemish madmen (and women, no doubt) had also originated the crispy golden fried potato dish we all refer to as French fries, I realized the Belgians had not gotten their fair share of Hype over the years, despite getting more than their share of a couple of World Wars.

Truth be told, they even get a little freaky for me with the chocolate and caramel beers, but props: Belgian beer, fries, and mussels is perhaps the greatest beer-related dietary innovation known to man, narrowly beating out the brilliant Japanese contribution of beer, sake, and sushi. I recommend a cool Delerium Tremens Triple Trappist Ale.

From the experts at BeerAdvocate.com

Poured from a 12oz bottle from behind the bar into a Delirium Tremens tulip. I wish they had let me pour it for it was served to me with not much head. This is my first belgian strong pale ale so I'm learning here. A - beutiful hazy gold color with champaign bubbles. Great lacing. S - fruity essence of orange and maybe some raspberry. I actually smell some wheat presence T - Much like the smell, which I think is always good. It's like your nose and mouth are in harmony. I really taste some orange going on here with a hint of raspberry. This tastes very much like champaigne with grand marnier mixed in... but so much better. Dry like champaigne but not as dry. Crisp, refreshing. I don't taste the alcohol much at all. Gets less dry as it warms and the fruitiness mellows out. M - feels like champaign with mouth-tingling carbonation. A great sipper. Dry, yet quenches. This is a very interesting beer for me as it is my first Belgian strong Pale Ale. I really like it. Others around me at the bar thought it was wierd, but I'll definitely drink again.

You can tell by the spelling, it's a great Strong Pale Ale.

No doubt, if you're in Brussels, you can get some excellent Moules, Frites en Bier at this place:

Since over 30 years the tavern-restaurant the « Frederiksborg », facing the imposing Koekelberg church

welcomes you in its charming and warm atmosphere.

The tavern and its cuisine are open MO - TH from 7h - 2h and FR - SU from 7h - 3h. We still offer you the quality service and efficiency for which we are known since the opening in 1975.

But if you're stuck in Oakland, you can always check out Luka's:

Luka's the dog...

Check out Luka's FAQ

I can testify that it's a very pleasant environment, and the authentic Belgian beer and fries are excellent... but it is downtown Oaktown, and it is a hip-hop club late in the evening, so if you just want to chill at a window seat with some fries, get there before 9. Flat-screen Samsungs over the bar provide a great view of the Warriors in HD. Luka's... I'm getting hungry just writing this review.

More than you ever wanted to know about Belgian beer from Wikipedia

An example:

Distinct from Trappist beers (see below), Abbey beers (Bières d’Abbaye or Abdijbier) are brewed by commercial brewers, and license their name from abbeys, some defunct, some still operating. The most internationally well-known brand of Abbey beer is Inbev's Leffe. Others include Grimbergen, Tripel Karmeliet, Maredsous, Watou, Saint-Feuillien, Floreffe, and Val-Dieu.

Abbey beers mainly came into being following World War II when Trappist beers experienced a new popularity. The Abbey beers were developed to take advantage of the public's interest in the Trappist beers. This is why the single key component of an Abbey beer is its name: there is always the name of a monastery (either real or fictious). Like the Trappist beers, Abbey beers do not connote a beer style, but rather a general type of beer.

Belgian-Beer.net

SPORTSHYPE: Big Men Go West

If you follow the NBA, you know the West is where it's at. The biggest, baddest, best basketball teams in the World come from the Western territories of the United States. In dusty towns with names like San Antonio and Phoenix, giants roam the land, dunking at will, smothering the pathetic drives of Eastern Conference foes, forever frustrating the King-In-Waiting...

Three of the East's biggest headed West this week --

Shaq was traded from a disintegrating Miami Heat team for fed-up-with-Phoenix Shawn Marion (The Matrix). He is certainly still a veritable mountain under the rim, but is age catching up to the Big Aristotle and will the heat of the Suns force him out of the kitchen he has dominated for years?















Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns

In the trade expected to have the biggest impact, Memphis Grizzly Pau Gasol was picked up by the Los Angeles Lakers for a bus transfer and a pocketful of lint (actually Kwame Brown and some draft picks, or ball-racks or something). He will join Lamar Odom and recovering-from-injury Andrew Bynum to make a formidable front line for DFish and Ebok (you must say his name backwards) to operate behind. Lakers: Title contenders?



















Pau Gasol to the LA Lakers

He may not be considered on the same level as Gasol (age'll do that to you) or Shaq (still one of the top pitchmen in the ad industry), but his story might be even more fascinating. Chris Webber, in his 14th (?) year in the league, returns to play with the same coach, on the same team, where in his sophomore year he rebelled against said coach, demanded a trade, and some say, destroyed the team for years... The Prodigal Son? A Quest For Redemption? Or just more crazy entertainment from the City on the Other Side of the Bay?






















Chris Webber to the Golden State Warriors



Phoenix Suns Introduce Shaquille O'Neal

Getting to be NBA Hype Time, baby!

ANIMALHYPE: Plexiglass Shark Cage

This seems to be about the state-of-the-art in shark cage dives offered to tourists - from a company called Hawaii Shark Encounters (check out the Shark Cage) --
Sure enough, only a plexiglass window, completely transparent, stands between the adventurous tourist and these evil beasts (or "wonders of nature", depending on your political party).

From HSE's "Questions" page:

Can the cage sink?
No! Floats surround the cage on all sides and they keep it level in the water. The top of the cage is actually 2 feet above the surface. The cage is also tied to the boat with several lines.

Is the cage closed at the top?
There is no lid on the cage. You are not locked in and you can come up and enjoy the view from the surface and communicate with the crew at any time.

Can the sharks jump in?
No! The sides of the cage extend 2 feet above the surface of the water. The sharks would have to jump three feet clear out of the water with a forward trajectory and aim they simply don't have. They will occasionally lift their heads out of the water, but these sharks are not capable of leaving the water. Even if they wanted to. (and they really don't).

How do I get in the cage? Do I have to swim to it?
Of course not! You would have to pay us a lot extra to be allowed to swim even one moment outside the cage, with the sharks. The cage gets pulled right next to the boat and you step down a very solid ladder directly inside the cage.

How secure will I be inside the cage?
There are handrails to hold on to all around the cage. You can stabilize yourself while you float on the surface or you can pull yourself a little lower for a different view. None of your body parts will ever have to extend outside the bars.

Will the sharks attack the cage?
No! The sharks will come very close to the cage to investigate but they do not charge at the cage or try to bite the people inside. Human beings are not on the natural menu of these sharks, as is the case with most sharks.

Do I get an unobstructed view of the sharks?
Yes! There are two large (and very strong) pieces of Plexiglas installed on each short side of the cage. In the water they are almost invisible.

























Hawaii Shark Encounters
Rates: US Dollars
Adult: $ 105.00
Children (under 12) 70.00
Kama'aina and Military (Adult): 90.00
Kama'aina and Military (Child): 65.00




Sam Jackson and the Shark (from "Deep Blue Sea")

MUSICHYPE: Curse Ov Dialect

"Righteous, informed and totally bugged-out"
says XLR8R

Rap like you've never heard rap -- these Aussie maniacs redefine the music from the outback ground up. Twisted, psychedelic, not for the faint of mind. The new stuff on Myspace is rad -- "Speeding Ticket In Colorado" is the Curse experience extraordinaire -


Curse Ov Dialect - Bury Me Slowly


Curse Ov Dialect - Baby How

Curse Ov Dialect at Myspace
Love to see more web-presence, Curse.. a proper page with some high-res non-Google video and complementary mp3 downloads, maybe? It's all about getting the name out! Hype!

COMEDYHYPE: Train Horns on a Truck

"Terror on the streets"... That's what the people at HornBlasters use to promote their product - train locomotive air horns, but installed on your own truck. It can't be legal, but watching the reactions of people on the streets sure is hilarious!



Below are a couple of videos of the action. You may think you wouldn't react to this if it happened to you, but normally if you're American and you hear this sound coming at you, you're about to get hit by a train - so you'd probably dirty your drawers too.





These guys posted several more videos, but most of the rest have crappy music and promo text in them.

SPORTSHYPE: The New Yankee Stadium

There is a rule of combat that goes something like this: "To those that have shall be given; from those that have not shall be taken even what little they have."

In that spirit, I give you the New Yankee Stadium:



















Designed by the masters of modern ball park design, HOK Sport (also responsible for Coors Field and AT&T Park, among many others, this sounds like just the place for the undisputed spending champions of the baseball world:

The new Yankee Stadium will have party suites, a members-only restaurant, a martini bar and a price tag to match all the luxury — $1.3 billion, up from the original estimate of $1 billion.

"We tried to reflect a five-star hotel and put a ballfield in the middle," said Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost, who hosted a media tour Thursday.

There will be a conference area with video conferencing so that a corporate group could have a daylong meeting and then stay for a game. A concierge will be available to procure theater tickets or restaurant reservations.

There will be 51 luxury suites, two large outdoor suites and eight party suites with seating for up to 410 people in total.

The 58-by-103-foot center field television screen will be six times the size of the video screen at the current stadium.

Yep, those smug Yankee bastiches will have the state-of-the-art yard. Well, just remember: it's more fun to try and beat the Yankees than it is to be the Yankees.

The New Yankee Stadium at newyorkyankees.com