In 1926, two years before Mickey Mouse debuted in Steam Boat Willie, “My Old Kentucky Home” was the world’s first animated cartoon with sound. By the mid 1930’s family-oriented movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Bambi had proven that animated, feature-length films could compete at the box office.

National icons such as Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and other contemporaries dominated the animated shorts of the 40’s, but by the mid-1960’s the advent of popular television had caused a decline in the success of these films. The concept of the Saturday morning cartoon had come in to replace the trips to the theater.

Like any popular movie or TV show, cartoons mirror the pace and sentiments of the world surrounding it.Hannah-Barbera Productions, in particular, dominated the time slots with shows like Scooby Doo, Johnny Quest, and Tom and Jerry. The cartoons that first defined the genre were about emulating society with a weird, clever spin to lure audiences away from traditional live-action sitcoms like The Honeymooners.

The Simpsons emerged out of a generation that was disillusioned with the same American Dream that is championed in 60’s shows like The Flintstones and The Jetsons, cartoons that took real life situations and threw them into the past and future, with dinosaurs and robots that can only exist in animation. But today, the plots of the shows on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon have progressed into something almost impossible to comprehend without attention deficit disorder.

There are plenty of reasons why cartoons have always been popular for kids. The world within a cartoon can go anywhere, whether it’s beyond the solar system or into the human body. The colors, characters, and often ideas (just look at South Park or Family Guy) that populate the world of cartoons can be much more bombastic than the real world. And exciting is critical to kids, who research has proven have the attention span hardly beyond a small rodent. Watching an episode of Sesame Street makes it clear that breaking up these shows into small, simple segments helps kids understand them.

Ever since the early 90’s when cartoons  were first targeted towards kids, they have become a battle between creative control and educational value.

Take a plot from one of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows. Wikipedia summarizes one episode of Adventure Time as “Finn and Jake (the protagonists) volunteer to help Princess Bubblegum with a dangerous assignment: toting rare and delicious tarts for the Annual Royal Back Rubbing Ceremony.” If that last sentences makes logical sense to you, congratulations: You are mentally insane.

“Programming that’s made for commercials is made to keep you watching so that you watch the commercials, and the programming that’s made for public television has content that is made to have you watch the programming,” says Hilde Ko, programming director at KCTS.

Adventure Time, along with plenty of other programs, has brought the absurdity and surrealism of animation to a whole new level.

The primetime slot on cartoon network feels more like a videogame than anything else, with soundtracks and commercials that both choose synthesizers over full orchestras and massive explosions over plots and morals.

Watching kids cartoons on PBS (The Public Broadcasting Station) for an hour, without commercials, and then changing the channel to Cartoon Network is like transitioning from a strict diet of bread and potatoes to a full-blown cocaine addiction. The shows in PBS have slow, easily digestible plots and always end with an important note on morality.

“I think there’s a fundamental difference in the mission of a commercial network and a public one,” says Ko. “They have teams of researchers that are out with child development degrees, providing teacher resource materials… the programs are very much written with that in mind. The programs are helping kids become more literate or gain social skills.”

While the educational value of shows on Cartoon network and Nickelodeon may not have educational value, without educational guidelines for their shows, they have free rein to go far beyond public television in creativity and originality. Another popular program, Cartoon Network’s Regular Show defies the logic, physics, or speech patterns that the real world is based on. In one episode, the consequence of not filing taxes for a small city park is a huge black hole engulfing the property until the audit is completed. In an inadvertent way, many of the outcomes of these cartoons do teach upright values, the problem is that children need a clear path of morality.

Unfortunately, the Neilsen’s (television ratings) for any cartoon with a shred of redeeming value are nothing compared to those of shows that are only bounded by their creator’s imaginations.

As time has gone on, for better or worse, cartoons have grown from mirroring our own lives to completely defying them. What began as strictly adult proramming has become so strictly associated with children that when an animated show portrays adult themes it is often bombarded as misleading and harmful to society. Family Guy, South Park, and even the Simpsons are all protested because of the graphic nature of their content, often solely because the shows appeared to have “childish” animation that would appeal to kids.

Ultimateley, the greatest challenge cartoons have not yet achieved is finding a balalnce, a medium that can stay educational and relevant while still being entertaining. Or at least entertaining  enough to hold the attention of the countless kids who will change the channel from the cartoons their parents want them to watch the first chance they get.

“Last night we discovered a huge flaw in one of our algorithms used to tally the votes,” says Harmon Westwood, event organizer and coordinator of the Grammy’s. “As it turned out, even without a nomination, the votes tallied to give Mr. McCartney an overwhelming edge over his nearest competitor.”

Lil B, for the less musically tasteful, has recently become one of the most influential artists in the hip-hop/rap genre. His rise to fame has been rapid but monumental; he has released seven hundred mix tapes since December of 2009. Soulja Boy, immediately recognizing his talent, was quick to sign the Based God (a term of endearment from his fans) to his label Stacks on Deck Entertainment. He is often mistaken in his music videos for Bill Gates, Barack Obama, and Ellen Degeneres, to all of whom he has striking resemblances.

“Lil B stands at a crossroads right now,” responded Dave Gibbons, music critic for Hip-Hop magazine. “No one in the music industry has as much potential as Brandon, and even if he’s not bigger than Jesus yet, he sure looks like him.”

Lil B’s greatness lies in his ability to break down cultural barriers and stereotypes while still releasing material that remains musically innovative. As he releases a new music video on a dialy basis, the genius of his trickery becomes apparent. Some of Lil B’s work, while always brilliant, employs hilarious hooks and choruses to gain mainstream appeal.

The stream of consciousness, improvised flow that remais his trademark flawlessly combines the styles of trumpet player Miles Davis with lesser writer James Joyce. There is rarely an artist who can mix genres while maintaining an image that lies so close to his contemporaries.

“His shouts and woops help lay down the flawless timing of his tracks,” states Donavan McDoogle, Hollywood record producer and Based God expert. “They accentuate the verses, and compliment the snare hits much in the same way that a rim shot anticipates a trumpet line in big band jazz.”

His trademark “cooking” dance move is a statement for animal rights that’s as powerful as it is subtle. His songs have a relevance that is refreshing in a genre that can often concern itself solely with sex, drugs, and cars. In his spare time, Lil B enjoys interpreting Yoruban parables, studying Heraclitusian philosophy, and Words with Friends.

Every successful musician has stood in the middle of their career and had the choice to settle and sell out, or to push and strive for a spot among the true visionaries of their craft. The path Lil B takes from here is anyone’s guess, but his originality and deftness will be praised from both audiences and critics alike for years to come.

Jay Chou, born January 18, 1979, is the most successful entertainer in the People’s Republic of China. He has won the national award for Best Song, Best Album, Most Outstanding Singer, Best MTV Video Director, and Most Illustrious Hair in the glorious nation of China.

After filming a commercial for Sprite with Kobe Bryant, the resulting song collaboration quickly became the most downloaded ring tone in Asia. Kobe said of Chou that his basketball skills were “beyond [his] expectations.”

Chou’s music career began when he was three, taking piano lessons when his mother thought she saw musical talent in the boy. While spinal inflammation and back pain kept him out of the Taiwanese military, Chou was discovered by a talent scout at a local music competition. He then worked for two years writing and producing songs for Taiwanese artists, and spent days without leaving the studio. When given the chance to release his own album in 2000, he jumped at the opportunity, and hasn’t looked back since.

In 2000, Chou released the self-titled album Jay, two years before anyone had ever heard of Korean pop star Rain.By 2002, the most popular Chinese search engine reported that he was the number one search among all male artists.

The source of Chou’s artistry lies in his adaptability. Any one of his hit songs are likely to incorporate traditional Chinese melodies, woeful pans of introspection, and Bollywood choreography into a single seamless masterpiece.

Chou is like Lil’ Wayne, if Lil’ Wayne was also Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, Michael Jackson, and The Beatles. Last year, his bandana officially replaced the character for music in the Chinese dictionary. This year, he attempted to break out into western theaters with his role alongside Seth Rogen in The Green Hornet.

“It was instantly clear that he was super cool, and that it was wrong to see him taking orders from me,” says Rogen in an interview with Clever Movies. “He’s really charismatic, he’s handsome, and he’s got that cool hair.”

“Yesterday I am a singer, today I am an actor,” said Chou in an interview with Steve Weintraub. “I’m not a huge star, I’m just a music person.” Pretty modest for a man who’s face is on the majority of billboards in China.

Chou had to learn English in one month to prepare for filming The Green Hornet. But that was no problem. The lack of success the movie had at the box office, however, has delayed Chou’s international rise to superstardom.

Nonetheless, a force like Jay Chou cannot be stopped by such trivial matters of mere mortals, and will undoubtedly be a household name in American homes by the end of the year. Resistance is futile, for we are entering the year of the Chou.

Born Dwayne Carter Jr. and raised in Hollygrove, a New Orleans neighborhood famous for producing soul singers, Wayne signed his first deal at age 11 after rhyming on a record executive’s answering machine. After a few misspent years in the terrible Hot Boys, Wayne went solo and undertook a transformation almost unprecedented in hip-hop. Over four years, he morphed from a mediocre rapper with a thuggish point of view into a savant who merges sex, drugs and politics with a freakish intellect. When his latest album, Tha Carter III, sold 1,005,545 copies in its first week, an unheard of number in the failing record industry.

Some might say that Lil’ Wayne is all hype; that his commercial success is not reason enough to proclaim him as top dog. But a rapper’s popularity is absolutely integral to their status. Maybe the most technically skillful rapper is in some basement somewhere honing his craft, and could beat Wayne any day of the week. But without the validation of a fan base and radio play, skill and rhetoric are meaningless.

While Lil’ Wayne isn’t necessarily the most influential, most brilliant, or most talented working MC of all time, most of his competition is either deceased or unimportant. In 2011, Nas, Rakim, Biggie, and 2Pac have all lost their relevance.

Jay-Z is forty, married, and has numbered days remaining in the rap world. Wayne, on the other hand, has so much more time ahead of him to come out with the same groundbreaking albums Jay-Z already has under his belt, he has a much brighter future. Before turning thirty, Wayne has brought his own record label into prominence, and has brought Drake and Nikki Minaj into superstardom.

Above all what puts Wayne on top of every other rapper today is his cleverness. Just listen to any of his songs after Tha Carter II.

“Don’t judge me,” says Wayne. “You wanna judge me, put on a black gown and get a gavel. Get in line with the rest of them that’s about to judge me. I got court dates every other month. It’s me against the world—that’s how I feel.” And it all added to his mystique.

The reason Lil’ Wayne is such an outstanding rapper is also the reason he is such a terrible role-model; he truly does not give a [buck].  He lives and breathes his lyrics better than most people can drink water. He memorizes everything he writes, carries a microphone on him at all times, and has a tattoo on his face that literally says “I am music.” If it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. Wayne probably hit the mark before he could legally drive.

A concerned mother say that Wayne is a bad influence on kids, and shouldn’t be seen as a role model. But he isn’t a role model. He’s a rapper. His actions are not supposed to represent the key to success or the path to enlightenment.

Wayne works at a pace that is frantic to say the least. After his first album at thirteen, he hasn’t looked back, and releases countless mix tapes and collaborates with an unheard of number of artists each year.

Tha Carter IV, with no set release date, is shaping up to be even more anticipated than its predecessor. The single 6’7” has already climbed the top of the charts, and it looks as if Wayne Carter is yet to see his greatest days.

There was good reason for it too. His campaign revolutionized social networking the same way that John F. Kennedy had pioneered the use of television almost fifty years before. At the time of his election, Obama had more YouTube views, Facebook supporters, and online campaign traffic than presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, and John McCain combined.

Two months later, Obama broke another barrier. By appearing on Jay Leno, he became the first American president to appear on a talk show while holding office. After subsequent appearances on daytime women’s talk show The View and comedic program The Daily Show, there has been criticism that Obama hopes to perpetuate the celebrity status he enjoyed as a nominee. Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell responded by saying that “there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency.”

But the president is hardly the only politician hoping to garner fame in the media. With only cursory knowledge of the outdoors, former governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin now has her own reality show about the wilderness of Alaska.

America has never before seen a time when the role of the personality and the politician have looked so identical. Since the first campaign speech charisma has been a factor in politics, with movie stars such as Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger using their popularity at the polls. But only with the internet’s rising domination of American media does this concept reach a peak.

Our democratic system wasn’t intended to work with Wi-Fi and Cable TV. With everyone having their own “fifteen seconds of fame,” sustaining a relevant, positive image has become more difficult than ever, and yet it remains the most essential element of any politician’s career.

“Social Media enables politicians to establish a direct relationship with potential voters and constituents,” says New York University political researcher Danielle Bailey. “What social networking will do is allow traditional advertising to be amplified and spread, increasing the impact of the message.”

In 2007 and 2008, The O’Reilly Factor was the most-watched cable news show in America. O’Reilly claims that he is an anarchist, and believes that “There are no right-wing critics.” The BBC reported that Fox News saw its profits double during the Iraq War, with a 300% increase in viewer ship at the conflict’s height.

It’s easy to say that Fox News lies, cheats, and perpetuates a hypocrisy in its reporting, but there is no denying the influence of the channel. Popular radio personality and talk show host Glenn Beck’s program at 5 p.m. and O’Reilly’s at 8 consistently receive higher Nielsen television ratings than the programs in the same time slots on MSNBC and CNN combined.

The problem with this new system of personality-driven media in America is that news Channels, at their best, are driven by ratings. At their worst, politically savvy hosts actually use their programs to perpetuate calculated, biased political agendas.

On The Colbert Report, a comedic show that explores recent news and issues, host Stephen Colbert often mentions the political power of his “Colbert Bump.” What began as a joke has become a reality. After appearing on the Colbert Report, an author’s sales on Amazon.com can expect to increase by an average of ten-fold. Economists at the University of Maryland found that Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Obama warranted him over a million votes.

“The problem I have with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert is that it’s always ‘look how crazy this is,’ and ‘look how ridiculous this is,’ but they don’t ask us to look at these problems together,” says Eric Alterman, journalism professor and writer for The Nation.

Glenn Beck has almost 350,000 followers on Twitter, and Stephen Colbert has over two million. Neither claim to be a real reporter or journalist, but the influence they have on popular opinion is tangible.

While Beck and Colbert received very similar ratings in January, their demographics were quite different. Beck’s demographic mainly consisted of very conservatively minded citizens who are 65+. The average age of Colbert’s audience is less than 40 years old.

If television programs are primarily watched by like-minded citizens, their main purpose is to reinforce values rather than to plant them. But ads have a much more receptive audience.

“Political advertisements have become increasingly negative,” says Fiona Chew, Professor of Communications at Syracuse University. “Research shows that political ads reinforce partisans’ positions and recency of exposure leads to higher retention of messages.”

JBiebs is afraid of the dark, stands at 5’4 barefoot, and has performed for Barack Obama. His favorite color? Purple. Favorite Candy? Sour patch kids. He seems like just an ordinary kid, right? Right. Yet for no reason 3% of all Twitter servers at any time are dedicated to him.

As far as I can tell Justin Bieber is a nice guy. He smiles in interviews and loves his mother with all his heart. But he is also one of the least interesting celebrity personalities ever. On his days off, his favorite things to do are “be regular and chill.” His favorite musical influence is “Micheal Jackson, [because] he’s got a lot of great songs.” Inspiring.

Now I’m an eternal optimist, but I’m not sure the world will be able to recover from February 11, 2011, the release date of Never Say Never, a  biopic of Justin Bieber’s life co-starring Miley Cyrus.

Oh, and it’s in 3-D in order to catch the detail of every hair flip and pensive smile.

After the enormous success of Paranormal Activity, a horror movie that cost only $15,000, Paramount Pictures formed a subdivision called Insurge to focus on low-budget, high return films. The Company was given one million dollars to finance ten films, and Never Say Never is the first.

It’s true, people do star as themselves in movies about their own lives. Like Eminem in 8-Mile. But the difference is that Eminem grew up with unbelievable family problems and rose to fame against all odds.

In contrast, Justin Bieber grew up in a small town in Canada. He looks “cute” and sings pretty well. But he is not a particularly talented musician. Even the producer who signed him commented on Bieber having the “Beatle’s hair and lovability of Micheal Jackson.” Clearly Bieber’s musical ability was the not the first thing on his mind.

Creativity is being able to think of original ideas and put them to good use. Justin Bieber’s three most watched videos on YouTube were all written and produced by someone else.

Yet talent alone isn’t even enough to merit a film. I Walk the Line and Ray, two other biographical movies about musicians Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, are defined by the tests of character and addiction the protagonists face. Bieber should at least wait until he’s actually experienced a problem before he puts out a film.

“Not trying to be arrogant, but if I walked down the street and a girl saw me, she might take a look back because maybe I’m good-looking, right?”

Maybe Bieber’s movie will be great. Maybe it will challenge everything people know about fine cinema. Maybe critics will be able to look past the superficial standards of stardom that Bieber epitomizes. But until then, the fact remains; Justin Bieber and every person who has ever tweeted about him are together destroying America.

The premise of Girl Talk (the stage name of beat master Michael Gillis) is to combine hip-hop a capellas with rock instrumentals, creating remixes that often sound better than the originals. His first album came out in 2002, when Gillis was a 21-year-old Biomedical major in college and has since evolved to songs like “Throw some D’s” from his 2008 release Feed the Animals, which samples Aphex Twin’s “Girl/Boy Song” and is just about the most brilliant thing ever.

In his newest album, All Day, the approach is essentially the same: 71 minutes of mini mixes with upwards of twenty samples per track.

Girl Talk, for the most part, is ridiculously awesome. No one mixes quite like him, and the music, while mainstream, is extremely fun to listen to. “Shutterbug,” “Ante Up,” “Teach Me How to Dougie,” and “Money to Blow” sound like totally different songs after hearing them paired up with “Arcade Fire,” “Portishead,” and “Miley Cyrus.”

Gillis puts some subtle hints in his mash-ups too. It’s no coincidence that “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones gets put over “Black and Yellow,” or that “Smoke on the Water” backs up Biggie rapping about blunts.

What makes the album sound even better is that it’s free. Rather than charge for his music, Girl Talk has a “pay-what-you-want” policy on the website Illegal Art. Although because the rights to his music are entirely owned by the original artists, selling it at a fixed price could lead to a serious lawsuit.

Despite his avant-garde method of distributing his tunes, the music rarely deviates from mainstream, which can be a blessing and a curse. Being able to recognize all of the samples makes the music more entertaining, but doesn’t allow for discovery of anything new. Jay-Z is sampled five separate times on All Day.

Essentially, the problems I have with All Day are the same as Feed the Animals. Girl Talk’s approach, while extremely unique, makes it hard to really get into the music. When the structure of a song completely changes every thirty seconds, continuous gigging is very, very hard to achieve even though Gillis makes his money from live performances targeted at kids who like to jump around and party.

Most of the time the tracks do sound filthy, but every once in a while they fall flat. Bad eighties rock and mainstream hip-hop are both (usually) sh*tty, and dicing them together doesn’t change that. All Day does better than Gillis’ other albums at mainlining awesomeness throughout. Although Drake isn’t featured until the fourth minute of the ninth track, which is completely unacceptable.

Fair warning, listening to Girl Talk’s albums for the first time can feel weird. Don’t write it off after 30 seconds, or even 20 minutes. Listen to All Day twice, all the way through, on separate occasions, to really get a feel for the album.

The Ratings:
★ — Tweet it
★★ — Skip 6th Period
★★★ — Weekend Expedition
★★★★ — Story to Tell the grandkids

Jamba Juice
★★★
Beneath the underbelly of Gotham City lies a secret world of drugs, crime, and Christian Bale. The same applies to Jamba Juice. Their company is known for toting drinks of a healthy and expensive nature, but this philosophy prevented them from selling drinks that are both unhealthy and expensive. Still wanting to appeal to all the teenagers afraid to each their fruits and vegetables, they achieve perfection through their secret menu, which has delicious sugary drinks like “chocolate gummy bear,” “dirty orgasm,” and other names that would make a health conscious soccer mom turn over in her fully accessorized mini-van. Jamba Juice gets three stars for being clever, underhanded, and unwholesome all in one fell swoop.

McDonalds
★★
I was shocked too. McDonald’s does, in fact, have a secret menu. Grilled Cheese, The Grilled MacChicken, and (a personal favorite) the Poor-man’s Big Mac are all fair game. Or maybe you’re upset with the declining meat to bun ratio in the Big Mac. Set your stomach straight. Known as the McKinley Mac in Alaska, this super sandwich is a Big Mac with quarter pounder patties, making for a meal to be reckoned with. Yes, you are welcome.

In and Out Burger
★★★★
In and Out Burger is the absolute epitome of the secret menu. Upon walking into their store, only four food items can be found on their menu. The hamburger, cheeseburger, double double (two patties and two slices of cheese), and french fries. They also serve chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry shakes and standard coke products. However, the menu they require all cashiers to know is much, much larger than that. Until recently, the limit on the number of patties and cheese slices on a burger didn’t exist, and images of the 100x100 burger have made both Jack Yates and Professional wrestlers alike cry out in despair. Best item on the menu: The Flying Dutchman, animal style with grilled onions, with a large lemon-up.

Taco Bell
★★★
Taco Bell might get a couple of stars on this list even without any tricks up its sleeve, but we can be thankful that it does. The Cheesy Gordita Crunch is a known
crowd-pleaser, and the double grilled, double secret quesadilla (extra crispy) gets the job done too. The particularly adventurous should try the green sauce. Looking it up beforehand is unacceptable. My favorite: The Chili Cheese Burrito.

Dick’s
★
Dick’s just might have the greatest secret menu of them all. Walk up to the window, and simply order anything edible your heart desires. If the cashier tells you that they do not serve what you have ordered, ask to see the manager; sometimes the menu is too secret for the average employee to know. If the manager denies your demands, ask to see their manager. In the confusion, steal as many Ketchup packets as your hands can carry and make a dash. But not to worry, if you actually wanted food just wait twenty minutes. By then the shifts will have changed, and you can order the standard combination of burgers and shakes that makes Dick’s famous.

Wendy’s
★★
Wendy’s has been traditionally known for its square patties, baked potatoes, and chili (usually without fingers in it). But Wendy’s goes beyond the normal call of duty with its secret menu. Have you ever pulled up to the drive-through at Wendy’s, and wished the crispy chicken club was just a little more economical? Well, the answer is the value crispy chicken club. The difference between the two sandwiches are unknown, possibly non-existent. And then there’s the barnyard sandwich for the indecisive child within us, packed with chicken, ham, bacon, and beef. That’s not even mentioning the grand slam, which is like a triple stack, but with four patties! Yummy!

Arby’s
★
As if Arby’s wasn’t already the crucial spot for every healthy craving, their secret menu takes it to a whole new level. Introducing the most delicious fast food hybrid to date; Wet Fries!
This order is fries smothered in a cheese-like sauce creating the delicious wet fry experience in every bite. Arby’s also offers their Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich and French Dip for the big risk-takers out there.

There are two ways to play poker. Most players use years of experience and thousands of hands to develop a sense of intuition and feel for the game. Most work through the ranks, sweating it out in casinos for years to get good enough to hit the big tables at premier Vegas tournaments. But some use the statistics:

Likelyhood of pocket Aces in a game of Texas Hold’em: less than half a percent.

Four of a kind in a game of Omaha? 20,821 to one.

The chances of getting a royal flush in a game of five-card draw: less than being struck by lightning.

Recently, physicists have been winning tournaments more than nuclear fission gives off radioactive transmutations. If you think that joke sucks, it’s because i’m not a physicist.

Physicist Michael Binger took third place in the World Series of Poker six years ago. He made a cool four million. Last year another physicists entered a tournament in Italy taking first place and 1.6 million. Sean Carroll recently entered a Chicago tournament, and ran into three other physicists. Games like Black Jack and craps have odds that favor the house, so over an infinite amount of time there is a 0 percent of winning. These are the guys that end up ahead.

“When played by a professional, poker is not gambling” says physicist Eduard Antonyan in an interview with Discover magazine. “While you can get unlucky for extended periods of time, eventually, if you’re good, you’re going to profit.”

Consider the simple example common in high school math classrooms. On a game show, a contestant is told to choose one of three doors, knowing that behind one is the car of his dreams. He makes his decision. Then the host opens one of the remaining two doors, revealing empty space and eliminating it as a choice. The contestant is given the option of changing his selection. The contestant’s original decision was made when the odds of picking the right door was one in three, thirty three percent. But the other door is now one of two and by changing his answer; he has a 50 percent chance of walking away with the car.

Simple enough, right? Game theory involves memorizing the equations that simulate situations such as this. Except in poker, there are thousands of possible scenarios with every hand. And the human element adds an unpredictable element.

“Poker of course is a game, but it’s not solved,” says Caltech professor Sean Carroll. “No one knows what the dominant strategy is. So it turns out that the way to play poker involves inventing a model of your opponents. You need to apply your knowledge of mathematics to those models of your opponents. That’s how you win.”

Yes, poker can take a Ph.D. to fully understand, but an average economics or engineering major could do just as well as a physicist, right? Wrong.

The reason physicists dominate poker is beyond the math. Past the numbers. Physicists are unique in that they’re job involves spending weeks, sometimes months on a single problem. And sometimes those problems hit a dead end, and there is nothing to do but to start again, with different equations and prospects.

the patience to see the long term and play with emotional control are what put physicists above the rest. After a night of thirty bad hands, a physicist can sit down and maintain the same cool at the next table. Because they know that if they play long enough, they will eventually win.

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) — Digable Planets
Digable Planets sound a lot like A Tribe Called Quest, but Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler definitely has the swag to match Q-Tip.  The rest of the roster is filled out by Craig “Doodlebug” Irving, Silkworm, and Mary Anne “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira. Yes, that is a completely ridiculous combination of rappers, but don’t let that phase you.

Ganja Smuggling (Rodney Rolls Remix) — Eek A Mouse
Sounds like smoking weed underwater.

Blues Deluxe — Joe Bonamassa
Joe Bonamassa is not better than Jimi hendrix, but he is better than everyone else. He loves his guitar more than most men love women, and plays with more soul than a sock with a hole. If your play the guitar or have ever listened to music, consider checking Joe Bonamassa out.

Streets Won’t Let Me Chill — Diamond District
Unbelievably this song is from the first album of an underground D.C. rap group. One of the filthiest beats to come out in a while, and rapping to back it up.

All I Want Is You — Miguel feat. J. Cole
Somehow Miguel managed to fuse R&B, soul, and hip hop in one song featuring one of the hottest up-and-coming rappers. Whoever you think of when you listen to this song, chances are they’re all you want.

F*ck You — Cee-Lo Green
I see you drivin’ ‘round town with the girl I love, and I’m like “F*CK YOUuuuU.” Cee-Lo does it again.

Rainbow in the Dark — Das Racist
Random, funny, filthy, “Rap bridge on a duet with T-Pain and Stephen Hawking.” I’m not joking, stop jocking, stop talking.”

Pac Div — Pacific Division
A musical slap in the face courtesy of South Central L.A. A mix of Wu Tang and the Cool Kids; watch out because Pac Div is coming.