The Weekend Vigilante
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 8:14AM Welcome to The Weekend Vigilante!
I've got a collection of interesting and funny information and videos this week, so let's get right to it.
TDV DISCUSSION FORUMS
We received a number of good ideas for the naming of our discussion forums (as noted in "A Country is Only an Idea - The Launch of Worldwide TDV Discussion Groups"). Some of the top ideas include Agora, Mobs and Bonfire. We've included a poll on our Facebook page (please "like" us on Facebook - we put out some unique content via our Facebook page as well as Twitter).
So, go vote for your favorite in our Facebook poll or add your own.
My favorite, so far, is TDV Agora, submitted by Chris O. (he's Greek if his last name is any indication). He wrote in, "Generally speaking, it was the “agorá” where Greeks gathered to debate and talk about issues of their day. In ancient Greek cities the “agorá” was in fact an open space serving as a place of congregation, used not only for debating, trials, and other public purposes, but also as a market-place, just like the Roman “Forum” afterwards. So, originally the “agorá” was just the central location for the earliest Greek philosophers to gather and debate."
EXPAT LIFE: LIVE SPORTS OVER THE INTERNET
I never watched TV much my whole life... something that likely saved me from heavy statist progaganda... that and not going to the government's public schools hardly at all. But, I admit that watching sports on TV is one of my vices. I realize it is completely meaningless and many people are attracted to it because it tugs at the part of our human nature which still clings to our tribal instincts... us versus them! Fight!
But, having grown up in Canada and having lived in the city which had the greatest hockey dynasty of all-time, with Wayne Gretzky (the best player, bar none who has ever lived - just look at his stats compared to all others in history - he averaged nearly 2 points per game... almost everyone else with the exception of Mario Lemeux averaged closer to 1 point per game) and a team that won five Stanley Cups, I've always enjoyed watching my home town team, the Edmonton Oilers.
For me, it's just relaxation. Some people like to watch movies... or go for a walk. I like to watch sports a few times per week as a short-term diversion from real life.
For those who have expatriated and who still want to watch their local sports teams that meant it was hard, in the past. But, no longer. Here are three ways I still watch my local hockey team:
- Slingbox - This is something I've used for years. It is a box that you plug into a cable television hook-up at a friends place in the city/country where you used to live and you can then watch your local channels over the internet. If your friend has a good internet connection (specifically, fast upstream) you can get near HD quality over the internet and anywhere in the world. You can change channels as easily as if you were there.
- Satellite TV - Not many people know this but you can receive the Canadian satellite TV, Shaw Direct, as far south as Guatemala with just a standard sized dish. Canadian TV, by the way, has most of the US programming as well for those who want US TV. I have Shaw Direct hooked up in both of my current homes, on the beach in Acapulco and in Cabo San Lucas. Buying a HDTV Personal Video Recorder (PVR) is an absolute must. What I do is I record the game and then start watching about an hour after the game has started and fast forward through all the breaks and commercials. Doing this, I never spend more than an hour watching a hockey or football game... unless it goes into overtime. Plus you get the added bonus of being able to skip by all the statist promotions such as the national anthem and the "support the troops" propaganda.
- Live Video Direct from NHL Game Center Live - This is my new favorite way to watch hockey. Living in Mexico and traveling regularly I always found it difficult to watch the games I wanted to see. But now NHL.com offers a way to watch every NHL game live over the internet through your computer or even on your iPhone. The quality is amazing - virtually HD quality. And you can watch both feeds (home or visitor) and you can watch any game you want for $159 per year. I've really enjoyed this because I am often working on my computer and not near a TV so you can have the game running in a browser tab and flip back and forth between the game and work.
Being an expat just gets easier and easier thanks to technology.
HOW TO "PEACEFULLY" BREAK UP A RIOT
Michael Bach, who basically runs everything behind the scenes at TDV, is an avid videogamer. He plays them all: online, xbox, iphone games. I suppose that's his vice. He's actually a bit sad this weekend... he's been waiting for Battlefield 3 to be released for months... but we are so unbelievably busy lately that he may not get much chance to play Battlefield 3 this weekend. Poor guy! But, it's always business before pleasure. And, in many ways, business here at TDV is a pleasure as we get to interact with amazing freedom-loving, free-thinking people worldwide.
He did manage to sneak in a few iPhone games this weekend though, and he texted me on Skype from our office in Acapulco this week to tell me about his experience with a game called Scribblenauts.
Apparently, this is a game where you get thrown into a number of situations and you have to come up with creative ways to get out of it by typing in actions. Apparently, the game is quite good because they've thought up almost every imaginable scenario.
So, he had a laugh when the scenario he was entered into was called, "How to Break Up a Riot Peacefully". We, at TDV, are watching the Occupy Wall Street protests and riots with great interest and so this particular mission was of interest to him.
He recorded his experience and uploaded it to YouTube. One of the funnier parts is how the protesters are depicted as a ragtag crew of hippies and emos. But the best part is watching how the protesters cower in fear at what finally works in the end:
Diplomacy? No! Peacekeepers? No! According to Google there are only two ways to end a riot peacefully. One is tear gas. The other? Storm cloud. Sometimes there isn't much difference between real life and fiction (LA Times: Occupy Wall Street braces for Winter)!
MURDER IS FUNNY!
This video all but speaks for itself. A bloated, sociopathic Hillary Clinton giggles with glee over the sodomization and murder of Muammar Gaddafi.
As friend and TDV subscriber, Pete Kofod, stated to us after viewing the video, "You can't spell manslaughter without "laughter"".
TDV ON THE ROAD FOR NEARLY ALL OF NOVEMBER
That's all for this weekend! I'll be on a plane to Buenos Aires, Argentina on my way to Doug Casey's Galts Gulch on November 1st (note to subscribers: this month's edition of TDV could possibly be delayed by 1-2 days depending on how my travels go - If you aren't already a subscriber, sign up here). It's not too late to make plans to go down. You can see more info here: http://www.dollarvigilante.com/escape-to-cafayate. It will be a great time of fine wine and good friends I am sure... I'll be reporting in via the blog during my time there and will try my best to make you as jealous as possible of where I am and what I will be doing.
I'll be in Cafayate until November 13th and then I return to Mexico briefly and then I am off two days later to the Montreal Investment Conference on November 18-19 and then after that I will be at the San Francisco Hard Assets show on November 27-28.
That combined with our Interim Update going out to subscribers on Sunday and then the November issue of TDV being released soon after means no rest for the weary!
See you next week from Salta Province, Argentina!
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