[click on image to enlarge | Photograph Credit: Edward Olive]

By Josh Ritter - Living in Los Angeles, I know quite a few women who take pole dancing classes. Succumbing to the benefits (nay, well marketed benefits) the classes range from beginner to Spearment Rhino levels, but whatever the skill, the classes tout physical fitness as their greatest benefit.

To those offering the class may I first say, thank you.

Whether you live in a major metropolitan area or just Bumblefuck, Nebraska you may have noticed the seemingly explosive growth (my trousers notwithstanding) in women’s pole dancing classes and the vixens every day women that choose to take the class. All in hope of a stronger core hotter body, of course.

To those women may I also say, thank you.

My point here is that an otherwise taboo form of art has made its way into the mainstream; buttoned-up assistants, mid-level managers, and corporate debutantes the world over are turning a curious eye to that pole dancing class registration form. It’s a beautiful thing.

Those that have any opinion against it need to cease and ass-ist. May I humbly submit my case for pole dancing…

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By Ben Bowers - As I groggily took my place in line at unspeakably early Saturday morning hours, I questioned if all the hype was justified. My previous smart phone was 3G compatible and served me well over the last year. So what if it didn’t have a glossy back, touch screen, or a brand that let people know you stood for everything hip (overly?) in the world.

My doubts melted though the moment the sales attendant placed the gleaming white bar in my palm… right then and there I started drinking the iPhone koolaid…
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If you missed any of the gut wrenching drama of the US Open then you missed one of the most spectacular showdowns in all of sports. Four rounds and an 18-hole playoff were not enough to settle it between the #1 ranked played in the world and the 158th that it had to go to sudden death. Tiger called this win his greatest championship and I have to agree. He showed a new level of fortitude and perseverance that we have yet to see from him, and that’s saying a lot. Winning when you’re 100% is great; gutting it out when your not is what separates the true champions.

My thoughts after the jump.

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My last post may have nearly been my last post forever.

This past weekend I went out surfing for the first time since last Fall. The 47 degree water temps warranted a wet suit and gloves. The conditions were perfect for a relatively newcomer to surfing and the waves were about 2.5 to 3 feet high at about 8 seconds apart. There was a nice offshore breeze, and the air temps were in the mid 70’s. Aside from a handful of locals on the shore I was alone in the water. This became a problem when I got caught in a rip..

(read on for the rest of Marc’s near-final post)

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By: Jonathan Sohn - Las Vegas. The land of cheap food, free drinks (not counting the green chip tip to your favorite cocktail waitress of course), cheap hotel rooms, and of course, bountiful prostitues/hookers/call girls/escorts…

In 1975!

Alas, that is no longer the case. Back in the day, when the mob ran things, they treated their customers well with cheap food, cheap sleeps and cheap whoretainment. But now that the real mob, otherwise known as corporate conglomerates run the places, they’ve discovered that they can charge more for crap, and people will still flock to the city hoping to become the next world series of poker champion annoyingly loud spectator.

Ah, Vegas has changed from the good ole days (not to say that I actually remember what the good ole days were like, since the first time I went to vegas was circa 2k1), but I’ve heard stories of people who would go there, sleep for a couple nights, eat buffets for five bucks and then leave (making sure not to gamble), having spent a grand total of 20 bucks (with 2 extra bucks for gas - it used to be all cheap like that).

Now, the casinos charge more if for no other reason than they need someone to pay for all of the features that you’ll never see once you walk up to a craps table. I mean, other people might enjoy the lights of the strip, the fabulous view of the aladdin’s topless pool from atop the eiffel tower (yay quarter-binoculars!), but for me, you could just put a craps table in the middle of the parking garage, and I’d be cool. But for everyone (including lowly me playing $3 craps in the basement of some dude’s house), we now have to pay upwards of a hundred bucks+ for a hotel room, more than 30 bucks for a buffet, and close to 400 for a good time case of genital warts.

Every hotel is getting bigger and better, and more expensive. But there’s an interesting thing happening because of this. There are now so many rooms, that hotels are finding out that people can actually… (gasp) shop around. That being said, some hotels are finding that they cannot sell out every night charging 500 bucks for a bed and a sink, and thus, prices are going back down. Soon, places will be advertising that they have cheaper prices on their buffets and cheaper prices for the rooms, and glory days will be here once again! Of course, if that happens, there will probably be $100 minimums for all the table games, so, c’est la vie.

Disagree, agree or just want to buy Jonathan dinner? Email him.

I use used a 4th generation iPod. It was glorious with it’s 20 gigabyte hard drive, paper weight styling and ability to be dropped onto concrete with fear not for the device but for the ground it landed upon.

That is until I decided to introduce it to my venerable friend. You may know him well and by many names and origins, but I like simply like to call the old bastard, beer. Miraculously the only thing that didn’t work after that sad, but funny, but sad introduction was the screen. That’s when I cursed out loud a few times then decided to see if I could salvage the beast.

In my Google searches I came across Rapid Repair, an iPod service center. They claim that 85% of the iPods they fix are less than $90. Using a three step process: diagnostic order, sending in device, and repair. After 48 hours I was given a quote for $30. About $299.99 less than I expected (roughly the price for a new iPod).

Outstanding. Well, long story short the unit has worked beautifully, it’s sitting plugged into an iPod Dock in my bathroom dutifully carrying out it’s remaining days as the music source for my shower karaoke sessions. Punishment? I think not.

If you’re looking for an iPod, iPhone or Zune (really… do you have a Zune?) then look no further than Rapid Repair. They even offer some basic mods like colored screens.

By: Bradley Hasemeyer - If you eat to survive, wear clothes to stay warm and drive a car to get from A to B, then I pity you and frankly you won’t care much about this post nor any others from GearPatrol. If, however, you personally introduce each taste bud to the flavors in you meals, drape your body in cloth and style and breathe with your cars’ revs, read on.

New designs, innovations, beautiful women and free food, where else would you expect to find GearPatrol? This year’s International New York Auto Show gave numerous examples of cutting edge, flower-conscious, gadgety creations. If 30 is the new 20, pink is the new black and retro is the new modern then 1.8L is the new V-8, and hatchback/fastback/sexy-back is the new SUV. If it’s a crossover, (new VW, Mazda, Volvo) it’s in. If it’s going to save the world, (e-volt, flex fuel Tahoe) it’s in. If it’s got sharp-carved edges it’s in (Cadillac, Ford Edge). And if 50-Cent endorses it, my friends, it is undoubtedly in (Pontiac).

Being the 4th major auto show in 2008 left little to be unveiled in the Big City. However, just like your senior year prom, there were a few premiers who turned up looking better than expected:

• Acura 2009 TSX
• Audi 2009 A-4 Avant
• BMW 2008 M3 Convertible
• Dodge 2008 Challenger SRT8
• Pontiac G8 GXP, Solstice Targa Top
• Hyundai 2010 Genesis Coupe
• Smart fortwo

More after the jump.

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We have no qualms with the betterment of all mankind. We certainly have no problem with the betterment of all mankind through promotion. And we definitely have no problem with this promotion through the beauty of the female form.

Meet the Vegan Vixens, a group of women whose goal is to inspire men to live a longer and happier life by making healthier decisions on what they eat. In the case of this poster, it’s not so much healthier eating as it is anti-dog fighting (ED: I’m going to take a shot and say that there’s probably few readers of Gear Patrol who participate in dog fighting).

The message of the Vegan Vixens show is to alleviate suffering that our environment and animal friends endure in addition to promotion of compassion. More images at Asylum. [via]

What this means to you: We’re firm believers in the advancement and betterment of men. Hell, that’s part of our goal here at Gear Patrol. That doesn’t mean a touch of guilty pleasure can’t be the reason for better awareness. (Image Credit: veganvixens.com)

Television commercials, for the most part, are blasé. Little creativity and a lot of politics tends to sum up the results of most of what’s on the airwaves today.

However, this spot for the 2008 Mercedes C63 AMG, which we posted on GP a while back made me want to take a second mortgage on my home. No, not to buy the C63 AMG, but to fund the eighty-seven sets of tires I would inevitably bald trying to recreate the driving depicted in this commercial. Of course, New York cabbies drive like this on a regular basis but that’s an entirely different subject altogether.

You can and should watch the commercial after the jump, but if not then I can sum up the trasnscript for you.

“300 horsepower is fast. 400 will take your breathe away. That’s why we gave it 451.”

It’s pure unadultered simplicity at it’s finest. To those crazy German engineers who fully believe in cramming as much horsepower into as small of a vehicle as possible. We salute you.

Watch Now

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The VH-71 is a good looking helicopter. That is, until we read on Danger Room that this little beauty and it’s 28 sisters will cost the U.S. around $11 bilion dollars to operate, about $400 million per chopper. Airwolf didn’t even cost that much and at least they had Jan-Micahel Vincent at the helm. Just for sake of reference, the cost of the U.S. Marine One is more than Beoing 747 based Air Force One. Don’t get me wrong. We enjoy a good helicopter and the HMX-1 , Marine Helicopter Squadron One “The Nighthawks” do an underappreciated task. They’re amazing feats of engineering, but $11,000,000,000 is just a pinch too much to fathom. The President requires no holds bards protection, that’s undeniable, but all the other dignitaries, VIP’s and people no one cares about need to ride Coach with the rest.

I suppose there’s a group of acquisition managers toasting a drink to this deal and either they’re either genius bastards or pork barrel evangelists. [via Danger Room and Washington Post]

What this means to you: How much are we supposed to be getting with “Economic Stimulus Plan?” Food for thought.