Showing posts with label Game (Gambling). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game (Gambling). Show all posts
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
The Generous Gambler - Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1864)
Source.
"My dear brethren, do not ever forget, when you hear the progress of lights praised, that the loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist!"
Friday, January 17, 2014
The American Policy Player's Guide and Dream Book (1892)
Policy, also known as a numbers racket, was an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods (black, Italian, latin) in the US, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day (Source). The book below--which could pass as a book on dream interpretation--has a secondary purpose. To associate winning policy numbers with the dreamer's dream. More context: see, Herbert Gladstone Parris: Professor Konje Policy Players Dream Books and Policy Pete’s Dream Book (1933) | Digital Harlem Blog.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Friday, April 27, 2012
Video Game Storytelling, Theory and Terminology

- Half Real: A Dictionary of Video Game Terminology
- Computer dictionary and glossary
- The Sophistication and Stupidity of Video Game Storytelling
- Finally a proper Marxist videogame
- Researcher aims to make video games 'more meaningful' - Sudbury - CBC News
- GameDev Game Dictionary
- The Rise of the Stupid Game
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Virtual Game Exhibition
A wide-ranging presentation of historical games, with photographs: here.
Thanks, University of Waterloo.
Other Game Resources
- Ouija: Museum of Talking Boards
- History of Games (Wikipedia)
- Lusory Attitude (Wikipedia)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Nikolai Gogol
Source.
Novels
Plays
Short Stories
St John's Eve
A May Night ; or the Drowned Maiden
Taras Bulba [1835]
The Viy
How the Two Ivans Quarrelled (The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich)
St John's Eve
A May Night ; or the Drowned Maiden
Taras Bulba [1835]
The Viy
How the Two Ivans Quarrelled (The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich)
The Calash (The Carriage) [1836]
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Symbolism of the Tarot by P D. Ouspensky (1913)
Card I. The Magician
Card 0. The Fool
Card II. The High Priestess
Card XXI. The World
Card III. The Empress
Card XX. Judgment
Card IV. The Emperor
Card XIX. The Sun
Card V. The Chariot
Card XVIII. The Moon
Card VI. The Lovers
Card XVII. The Star
Chad VII. The Hierophant
Card XVI. The Tower
Card VIII. Power
Card XV. The Devil
Card IX. The Hermit
Card XIV. Time (Temperance)
Card X. The Wheel of Chance
Card XIII. Death
Card XI. Justice
Card XII. The Hanged Man
Card 0. The Fool
Card II. The High Priestess
Card XXI. The World
Card III. The Empress
Card XX. Judgment
Card IV. The Emperor
Card XIX. The Sun
Card V. The Chariot
Card XVIII. The Moon
Card VI. The Lovers
Card XVII. The Star
Chad VII. The Hierophant
Card XVI. The Tower
Card VIII. Power
Card XV. The Devil
Card IX. The Hermit
Card XIV. Time (Temperance)
Card X. The Wheel of Chance
Card XIII. Death
Card XI. Justice
Card XII. The Hanged Man
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The History Of Slot Machines
GAMBLING MEN
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Source. |
"What can not be re-arranged so simply however, is the differing accounts of a German immigrant named Charles Augustus Fey, and his invention over on the west coast. There are some who say he invented the first mechanical slot machine in 1887, four years BEFORE Sittman and Pitt’s machine hit the bars of New York. There are others who state that Fey conceived his innovation in 1895, four years AFTER Sittman and Pitt’s machine. It is the year 1895 however, that seems to prove more popular with gambling history enthusiasts. Regardless of the chronology, Fey’s invention was revolutionary.
"With what later would be termed the first "one-armed bandit," Fey had solved the problem of designing a machine capable of making an automatic pay-out for all possible winning combinations. This was achieved by replacing ten cards with five symbols ( Diamonds, Hearts, Horseshoes, Spades and a cracked Liberty Bell ), and utilizing three reels instead of five drums thereby considerably reducing the complexity of reading a win! Three bells in a row equaled the largest payoff, amounting to fifty cents or ten nickels. The machine, consequently called Liberty Bell due to it’s attractive symbol became a massive success and is generally credited with spawning the massive mechanical gaming device industry at this time.
"During the next five years Charles Fey also invented the first descendent of the Liberty Bell called "4-11-44" named so after the maximum winning combination of the machine, worth five dollars. After this success, Fey upgraded his business from small-shop trading to factory production and in successive years invented the "Card Bell" machine and then further improved it a year later in 1899. This latest innovation had an altered symbol ( Star ) and boasted a maximum prize of twenty dimes or tokens, achieved with a three bell combination!
"Fey had been enjoying limited competition and favorable government legislature in his bid to dominate the gaming device market. However, various companies including Kalamazoo and Monarch had also released slot machines and one company in particular would severely test his control. Again, there are conflicting theories as to what actually happened but it was well-known in gaming device circles around the turn of the century that Charles Fey refused to sell or lease his revolutionary Liberty Bell slot machine to anyone. One theory as it that in 1905, a robbery occurred at a saloon in San Francisco, a theft in which only two items were stolen - an apron and a Liberty Bell slot machine. Less than a year later, Herbert Stephen Mills who had inherited the ‘Mills Novelty Company’ some years earlier from his father Mortimer Mills, produced a new version of the Liberty Bell called the Mills Liberty Bell. Despite the competition, the Mills Liberty Bell saw off all challengers. Mills, at this point, was employing assembly-line techniques for the construction of slot machines and despite the controversy, later became known as the "Henry Ford of slot machines."
"The other theory however states that Charles Fey actually went into business with the Mills Novelty Company, and then manufactured the Mills Liberty Bell which stunted all competition.
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Source |
"Charles Fey had not only had to contend with these commercial losses, but he suffered most heavily when his main slot-machine producing factory was almost utterly destroyed in an earthquake. After this point, Fey faded into relative obscurity and he died some years later in 1944. Herbert Mills’ company however continued to thrive.
A BOOMING INDUSTRY
"By 1910 slot machines could be found seemingly everywhere. The Mills Novelty Company introduced slight variations to it’s Liberty Bell design and named it the Operator Bell. The Operator Bell had a more fitting neck coin entry and also featured fruit symbols unlike previous models. The Mills Novelty Company was also now producing five different variations of it’s Liberty Bell design at it’s factories, and by the time World War One broke out, the company had expanded into Europe and it’s factories were manufacturing up to 30,000 gaming machines.
"The age of the cast iron machines came to an abrupt end when Mills introduced slot machines fashioned with cheaper wooden cabinets, and by the early 1930’s the Mills Novelty Company made a number of changes to it’s production line of slot machines that signaled another revolution of the gaming industry.
"The new wave of machines introduced a double jackpot that allowed players the luxury of knowing that they could win twice in quick succession. The machines were also designed to be quieter and these 1930’s machines are now referred to as the "Silent Bell(s)."
"New cabinet designs were also released as part of this new wave of slot machines and included such themes as the Lion Head, the War Eagle, the Roman Head and finally in 1933, the Castle Front.
"The War Eagle also boasted a new coin acceptor that displayed the coins played moving successively across the top of the machine. In the case that slugs were used to operate the machine, the operator would now be able to see if such an object was being used. The new specification also added additional movement. Herbert Mills passed away in 1929 at the age of 57, leaving a vast fortune to his wife and eight children.
"In 1909, the previously favorable laws were thrown out the window, and new laws were introduced declaring that slot machines could no longer dispense cash. Slot machine manufacturers and bar owners managed to cope with these new laws by giving away free packs of gum and other prizes for getting certain combinations of symbols on the machines. There is a theory that this was the idea for the fruit and bar symbols present on modern-day slot machines. The bars are said to represent the packs of gum and the fruit symbols indicate the various kinds of candy that were won. Another theory holds that an early slot machine rewarded it’s players by awarding fruit-flavored chewing gums with the pictures of the flavors depicted by the corresponding symbols on the reels. The popular ‘cherry’ and ‘melon’ symbols are said to have derived from this machine. According to this representation of events, the ‘BAR’ symbol now common in slot machines was actually derived from an early logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company.

"Despite the governmental pressure the gaming industry continued to bloom and grow, especially in the state of Nevada where gambling was legalized in 1931. Several companies sprung up to take advantage of the situation, and they began to manufacture and sell slot machines to the fledgling casinos in Nevada. The manufacture and enjoyment of slot machines grew at an exponential rate well into the 1960’s.
"NEW LOOKS FOR NEW ERA
The pinball machine manufacturer, Bally, in 1964 began to produce a new slot machine named Money Honey. This machine was powered by electricity, and also possessed new sound effects as well as being classed as a multi coin machine. It was also the first slot machine ever to have a hopper - the name for the holder into which the coins get paid out. More innovations flowed from the Bally business brains; they added games that had more reels, bigger hoppers and more coins until 1970 when they produced a hopper large enough to hold dollar coins which meant larger jackpots for the consumers.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo
This includes both primary and secondary songs. Source.
(field transcription, uncredited) Cotton-Eyed Joe (hoodoo) pre-1925 Arnold, (James) Kokomo Old Black Cat Blues (Jinx Blues) (black cat, jinx) 1935 Arnold, (James) Kokomo Policy Wheel Blues (Jinx Blues) (policy dream books) 1935 Batts, Will Country Woman Blues (goofer dust) 1933 Black Spider Dumpling ![]() Blake, Blind (Arthur) Policy Blues (policy dream books) Blake, Blind (Arthur) Panther Squall Blues (jinx) 1928 Bogan, Lucille (with Spoken parts by Papa Charlie Jackson) Jim Tampa Blues (jomo, black cat bone) 1927 Brown, Bessie Hoodoo Blues (goofer, gris-gris, spider dumpling, black cat bone, shoes) 1924 Brown, Gabriel Jinx Is On Me (jinx, gypsy, card reading, numbers) 1945 Carter, Bo (Armentier Chatmon) The Ins and Outs of My Girl (jinx) 1936 Carter, Big Lucky (Levester Carter) Goofer Dust (goofer dust, dragon's blood, etc.) 1968 Chatmon, Harry Hoo Doo Blues (hoodoo, palmistry, horseshoe) 1935 Chicago String Band Hoodoo Blues (hoodoo, gambling) Clayton, Dr. (Peter) Root Doctor Blues (double entendre on root work) 1946 Cox, Ida Fogyism (black cat, etc.) 1928 Gypsy Glass Blues (Gypsy) 1927 Mojo Hand Blues (mojo) 1927 Crudup, Arthur "Big Boy" Hoodoo Lady (hoodoo lady, hoodoo hand) 1947 Dixon, Willie I Ain't Superstitious (bad luck omen list) 1962 Gibson, Clifford Don't Put That Thing On Me (conjure, hoodooing male nature) 1929 Gillum, Jazz The Blues What Am (bad luck omen list) 1947 Hand Reader Blues (fortune teller, herb tea, good luck pills) 1947 Harlem Hamfats Hoodooin' Woman (hoodoo, fix, spread stuff) 1937 Harris, Wynonie Conjured (foot-track magic, graveyard dirt, etc.) 1964 Henry, Waymon "Sloppy" Jomo Man Blues (jomo, lodestone, john the conquer, goofer dust) 1928 Hogg, Andrew "Smokey" I Bleed Through My Soul (black cat bone) c.1950 Hopkins, Lightning Mojo Hand (mojo) 1960; also a later version, undated House, Son The Jinx Blues [No. 1 and No. 2] (jinx, Gypsy) 1942 Hudson, Hattie Doggone My Good Luck Soul (black cat, horseshoe, rabbit foot) 1927 Hunter, Ivory Joe I Almost Lost My Mind (Gypsy) 1950 Jackson, Papa Charlie Bad Luck Woman Blues (jinx, rat's [?] foot) 1924 Jefferson, Blind Lemon Bad Luck Blues 1926 Broke and Hungry Blues (black cat bone) 19-- (INCOMPLETE) Dry Southern Blues (implied menstrual blood in coffee) 1926 Low Down Mojo Blues (mojo) Lemon Rambler Blues (jinx) 1927 Johnson, Merline Sold It to the Devil (crossroads ritual) 1937 Johnson, Robert Little Queen of Spades (mojo) 1937 Johnson, Robert Hellhound on My Trail (Hot Foot Powder) Stones In My Passway (foot-track magic) 1938 Jones, Curtis Black Gipsy Blues (Black Gypsy) 1938 Black Magic Blues (hoodoo) Jordan, Charley (with Charlie Manson) I Couldn't Stay Here (jinx) 1936 Jordan, Louis Somebody Done Hoodooed the Hoodoo Man (hoodoo) 1939 Lenoir, J. B. The Mojo, a.k.a. Mojo Boogie, Voodoo Boogie (jack ball) 1953, etc. | Lewis, Furry Black Gypsy Blues (Black Gypsy) 1929 Lightnin' Slim (Otis Hicks) Hoo Doo Blues (hoodoo) Lincoln, Charlie (Charlie Hicks, Laughing Charley) Mojoe Blues (mojo, hoodoo) 1957 Lofton, Cripple Clarence I Don't Know (goofer dust) 1939 Lofton, Cripple Clarence Strut That Thing (goofer dust) 1935 Lonesome Sundown (Cornelius Green) I'm a Mojo Man (mojo) 1957 I Don't Know (goofer dust) 1952 / 1953 Memphis Jug Band (with Will Shade) Aunt Caroline Dyer Blues (Aunt Caroline Dye, mojo) 1930 Memphis Jug Band (with Will Shade)I Whipped My Woman With A Singletree (Black Gypsy) 1930 Memphis Jug Band (with Hattie Hart) Spider's Nest Blues (spider, toby) 1930 Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas) Hoodoo Lady (hoodoo woman) 1936 Moss, Buddy Jinks Man Blues (jinx) Nelson, Romeo Gettin' Dirty Just Shakin' That Thing (goofer dust) 1929 Otis, Johnny Castin' My Spell (mentions many hoodoo beliefs) 1950s Patton, Charlie Revenue Man Blues (jinx) 1934 Rainey, Ma Black Cat Hoot Owl Blues (bad luck beliefs) 1927 Rainey, Ma Black Dust Blues (goofer dust) 1928 Rainey, Ma Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues (Algiers, hand, hoodoo, goofer) 1925 Red, Tampa (Hudson Whittaker) and Georgia Tom Dorsey The Duck Yas-Yas-Yas (hoodoo women) 1929 Ross, Dolly Hootin' Owl Blues (bad luck beliefs) 1927 Shade, Will (Memphis Jug Band) I Whipped My Woman with a Singletree (gypsy) 1929 Shines, Johnny Hoodoo Snake Doctor Blues (hoodoo doctor) 1970 Smith, Bessie Lady Luck Blues (horseshoe, goofer dust) 1923 Smith, Elizabeth Gwine To Have Bad Luck Seven Years (bad luck women list) Spand, Charlie Big Fat Mama Blues (goofer dust) 1930 Evil Woman Spell (hoodoo woman) 1931 Hoodoo Woman Blues (hoodoo woman) 1940 Spivey, Victoria Hoodoo Man Blues (hoodoo man) 1926 Stokes, Frank Bedtime Blues (Goofer Dust) 1928 Tampa Red (Hudson Woodbridge / Hudson Whittaker) Anna Lou Blues (mojo hand) Temple, Johnnie Hoodoo Women (Aunt Caroline Dye, hoodoo) 1937 Torey, George Lonesome Man Blues (jinx) 1937 Towel, Jim I've Been Hoodooed (hoodoo, rabbit foot, foot track) 1928 Twitty, John D. (Black Spider Dumpling) Sold It to the Devil (crossroads ritual) 1937 Washboard Sam Hand Reader Blues (fortune teller, herb tea, good luck pills) 1938 Washboard Sam Suspicious Blues (many bad-luck beliefs) 1938 Waters, Muddy (McKinley Morganfield) Louisiana Blues (mojo) 1950 Weldon, Casey Bill (Casey Will Weldon) Jinx Blues (jinx) Wells, Junior Hoodoo Man Blues (reworking of SBW's "Hoodoo Hoodoo") 1953 & 1965 Wheatstraw, Peetie Last Week Blues (jinx) 1934 Wheatstraw, Peetie Cut Out Blues (policy, jinx) 1936 (INCOMPLETE) Wiley, Arnold Spider in Your Dumpling (spider dumpling, live things) 1920s Williams, Albert Hoodoo Man (Memphis Al) (hoodoo man) 1963 Williams, Big Joe Jinx Blues (jinx) 1963 Williams, Robert Pete Black Cat Bone (black cat bone) 1961 Wiliamson, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Hoodoo Hoodoo (hoodoo, mojo) 1946 |
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Fox and His Friends (1975)
Labels:
Carnival Circus Theme Park,
Contempt Ressentiment,
Diva Glam Decadence (Luxury Market),
Excruciation,
Families,
Friends Buddy Movie,
Game (Gambling),
Melodrama Romance Sentimentalism,
Queer Gender,
Relationships as Units of Exchange,
Sex Trade Pin up Model,
Thief (Hustler),
Tycoon Entrepreneur Impresario,
Winning,
Wretched Poverty Misery
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
$1bn Streets of Monaco Yacht a Floating City
Source.
A LAVISH new yacht recreating the billionaire's playground of Monaco is set to become the world's most expensive.
The staggering 155m Streets of Monaco yacht is expected to cost over $1.1 billion to build and is modelled on a section of Monte Carlo.
Currently in the design stage, the super-ship will feature smaller versions of the state’s famous landmarks such as the Monte Carlo Casino and racetrack, as well as swimming pools, tennis courts, a cinema, a go kart track and a Hotel de Paris.
Instead of traditional decks the one-of-a-kind ship will have buildings, and instead of a swimming platform it will have a beach.
Travellers will also spot waterfalls, a swim-in Jacuzzi-bar, helicopters and submarines on board.
A LAVISH new yacht recreating the billionaire's playground of Monaco is set to become the world's most expensive.
The staggering 155m Streets of Monaco yacht is expected to cost over $1.1 billion to build and is modelled on a section of Monte Carlo.
Currently in the design stage, the super-ship will feature smaller versions of the state’s famous landmarks such as the Monte Carlo Casino and racetrack, as well as swimming pools, tennis courts, a cinema, a go kart track and a Hotel de Paris.
Instead of traditional decks the one-of-a-kind ship will have buildings, and instead of a swimming platform it will have a beach.
Travellers will also spot waterfalls, a swim-in Jacuzzi-bar, helicopters and submarines on board.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Total Art: A Big List of Kid Birthday Party Ideas

The aesthetic borrows from other holidays and the attenuated symbolism of sentimentalism kept in circulation by trending activity of the publishing, toy and entertainment industries. One imagines if an ambitious parent dug up some ingenious theme for a celebration that was uncommon to a toy store's stock (dryads, kill-bots!), children would instantly smell the lie. What is held in common currency by children is what is expected and desired.
Rituals are games often involving prizes: junior gambling. All props are cheap, disposable and easily attainable from malls. Thus we have sound, set design, costume, arts and crafts, ceremonial ritual, consumerism, an occasion for snapshots, eating, gambling and compulsory participation all in one. If the event staged encouraged thought (in those ways art likes to: conceptualism, subversion, reflexivity, etc.), these little naive ceremonies would fail miserably; and moreover, make the host a bad parent.
Kid's Birthday Rental Equipment
Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Parties
Pink Cake Box: Extravagant Cake Creations
List
Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Parties
Pink Cake Box: Extravagant Cake Creations
List
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