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Someone once said - "In poker, anything you can get away with is fair.”

Published in 1902, The Expert at the Card Table was penned by S. W. Erdnase (that's E.S. Andrews backwards) - a book about how to be an "advantage player", in other words learning how to eliminate the element of chance by manipulating playing cards. The book shows you how to false shuffle, false cut, deal from the bottom of the deck etc. This book proved popular with a lot of card magicians because of it's emphasis on naturalness, making it almost impossible to tell when cards are actually being manipulated.

This book was so good, that even the great Houdini was fooled. The Expert at the Card table remains today the single greatest book on card manipulation, no mean feat for a book originally published in 1902.

"The player who believes he cannot be deceived is in great danger.” - S. W. Erdnase

Tired of that thousandth Long Island Iced Tea? No more apple martinis say you? Here are 5 classic cocktail recipes that you should become very familiar with. Now. Come back and thank us later.

1. The Sidecar

There are tons of stories out there in regards to the origins of this drink. What we do now is that it originated in Paris during the first World War. The version we like says that the drink was created by a Parisian military officer who rode back and forth in a chauffeur-driven motorcycle sidecar to drink this cocktail at a bar. Sweet from the Cointreau, cool and refreshing from the lemon, strong from the cognac - God bless that Parisian officer for combining all three. In a Cocktail Shaker with ice, combine the following:

• 2 oz V.S.O.P. grade Cognac ( Hennessy Privelege)

• 1 oz cointreau

• 1 oz fresh lemon juice (no substitute)

Optional sugar rim, shake all three ingredients and strain into a chilled martini glass. A votre sante!

Now that you've had a few Sidecars, here's another one you should become familiar with. This is by far our favorite. A couple of these and it may very well become yours too. Easy on the palate, fresh and citrusy from the lemon juice. A very strong subtle undertone from the brandy and rum, subdued in a very good way by the Cointreau and lemon. A very superb combination of all elements.

In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine:

• 1.5 oz brandy ( Martell V.S.O.P.)

• 1.5 oz white rum (Havana Club)

• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice (no substitutes)

• 1/2 oz Cointreau

• 1/4 oz simple syrup (optional)

Shake all ingredients and strain into a chilled martini glass.

The Rolls Royce phantom coupe was unveiled today and the car itself really doesn't need much introduction. This is the last model to complete the Phantom line. A few interesting features on The Phantom Coupe are:

• Hundreds of twinkling fibre-optic lights around the headlining
• 250mm (wheelbase) shorter than the Phantom
• Stiffer Chassis - the coupe's ride is less sportier than other models in the Phantom line
• The fuel tank has a range of 372 miles

My ears hurt whenever I listen to my ipod for more than 30 minutes using the standard headphones. Plus I never really hear the bass very well whenever I listen to my Shabba Ranks Greatest hits cd.

Then I came across the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Cancelling headphones - let me just put it this way, your music will never sound the same again.

The closed ear design encloses the ear canal and employs Noisegard 2.0 tech to filter out 90% of unwanted noise. The nose cancelling technology works by recording the level of sound around you and then eliminating it by inverting the signal. Duh smart.

So far you've had the Sidecar and the Between the Sheets. Now I'd like to introduce you to Tom Collins. if you haven't met already. Not to be confused with his cousins John, Joe, Mike, Jack, Sandy, Pedro or Pierre (you'll meet the rest of the Collins' family in due time).

Tom Collins is called so because this cocktail was traditionally made with Old Tom Gin, a sweetened London dry gin rarely seen on the market today.

Think of a Tom Collins as supercharged lemonade - perfect for a hot summer day. This is traditionally a "tall drink", because it is usually
served in a tall glass (a Collins glass) that can
hold anywhere from 12 - 16 oz.

Here's how to make a superior one.

Fill a Collins glass with ice all the way to the
top. Add:

2 oz Gin (Bombay Sapphire)

1 oz fresh lemon juice (no substitutes)

1/4 oz simple syrup

dash of bitters (Angostura)

Fill with Club Soda. Optional lemon garnish. Stir with a straw. Kick back and ponder.