Con Jargon

If you liked the article about the TV Series "Hustle" (to read it, click Here) and yourself enjoy the same, here's more food (?) for thought. Some of the people who have seen it complained that there are many "keywords" used in the grifter lingo, that they weren't able to comprehend. For eg: Do you know what "a mark" is? What would you do with a "cackle-bladder"? Don't be depressed, reader. The official BBC site has a solution which I will be shamelessly posting here, only for the benefit of the less privileged. Without any hurry, be ready to get the low-down on the world of the con and the jargon used in Hustle. Hope you enjoy the list and it adds to your vocabulary!!

# 'The mark' is the intended victim of the planned con.

# A 'short con' refers to taking 'the mark' for all the money he has on his person. It's an opportunist scam that isn't pre-planned to any great deal.

# A 'long con' or 'big con' refers to a more complex, planned con, whereby 'the mark' is sent to get more money or used to get more money than is just on his person.

# 'Putting him on the send' is another term for a 'long con' or 'big con'.

# The 'big con' is a form of theatre - "staged with minute naturalistic illusionism for an audience of one who is enlisted as part of the cast".

# 'A mark' is lured in by the conman by, in the first instance, by making money himself on one of their scams. Having gained 'the mark's' trust, the conmen 'sting' him for a load of money.

# There are two types of con settings, real life (ie. restaurants and hotel rooms) and 'The Big Store', where empty offices are rigged out to look like a real life setting.

# 'The Roper' is the 'Outsideman' - the man who identifies with 'the mark' (the victim) and gains their confidence.

# 'The Insideman' is the key player, the member of the con mob who stays near the 'big store' and receives 'the mark' (the victim) whom 'The Roper' brings.

# 'The Manager' manages the outfit and is often the bookmaker for the group.

# 'Extras' are unemployed conmen playing the role of extras in the con.

# 'Putting up the mark' refers to the process of locating a well-to-do victim.

# 'Playing the con for him' refers to gaining the victim's confidence.

# 'Roping the Mark' refers to steering him to meet the 'insideman' who will eventually fleece him.

# 'Giving him the convincer' refers to the process of allowing the victim to make a substantial profit on the first scam, thereby gaining his trust.

# 'Blowing him off' refers to the process of getting the victim out of the way as quickly as possible.

# 'Putting the fix' refers to forestalling action by the Law.

# 'Playing a man against the wall' refers to conning a man in a real setting, eg. a hotel room.

# 'Cackle-bladder' is a method of faking the death of one of the conmen. It involves filling a small receptacle with chicken blood which the conman conceals on his person for the fake gunshot.

# If 'the mark' 'beefs' then he's gone to the Police to grass up the conmen.

# 'The Fix' refers to the cooperation bought from the Police. A Fixer usually has political connections and is paid off by the conmen for fixing people in the banks, police, and the courts. Most con mobs can't exist without 'Fixers'.

It would be wrong on my part if I don't mention the actors who make up the best Grifter crew ever seen in the world at this juncture, since Hustle won't have come so far (not forgetting the writers, of course)...

• The Legendary "Mickey Bricks" a.k.a. Micheal Stone played by Adrian Lester - He is the Leader and the Inside Man.
• "Alby" a.k.a Albert Stroller played by Robert Vaughn - He is the Roper.
• Ash "three socks" Morgan played by Robert Glenister - He is the Fixer.
• "Stacie Monroe" played by Jaime Murray - She is the Lure.
• "Dannie Blue" played by Marc Warren - He is the Inside Man and the Floater.
• "Billy Bond" played by Ashley Walters - He is the Rookie.

If you have anything else to add to the list, feel free to do so. Click here to comment, add or to notify any correction with respect to the above data. And beware, don't ever be greedy and dishonest, you never know when somebody cons you !!

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Hustle - The CON is ON !!

Previously on Time of your life : You read about Suyash's favorite game on PC i.e. the Need for Speed: Most Wanted. In this episode, err, in this blog post, you will read about my favorite TV show: Hustle. But a bit of flash back before I begin raving about Hustle. You can read about some other tv shows (American, mostly) which caught my eye while I was "busy" completing my engineering. But this one is different. First and foremost, its a British Series. And the next highlighting point is, its the only series which is a really good blend of brilliant direction, awesome acting powerhouses and unbelievable support from the background staff (writers, cinematographers etc). And its highly addictive for those who get a kick out of making a fool of others with a simultaneous application of unparalleled wit and intelligence. As Morpheus (from Matrix, the movie) says, "You gotta see it, to believe it". Get ready to be Hustled !!

Here's a compressed summary of what Hustle is all about (compiled from wiki and popular tv websites) : This is a story of a group of elite con artists, who each week pull off a complicated scam with several twists. A slick and stylish drama, Hustle is an action-packed blend of humour and intrigue, following the fortunes of a gang of expert cons on the loose in London. They are specialists in the way of the grifter and all are keen to liberate cash from the amoral and undeserving. From faking film sets and expensive paintings to double-crossing the duplicitous head of a bank's security system... they can pull off absolutely anything. Despite their chosen trade, they adhere to codes such as "bad behaviour breeds bad luck" and actually follow some rules that they've chalked out for themselves. Read carefully, for these are the rules of con:

1. You Can't Con An Honest Man - because an honest man doesn't want something for nothing.
2. Feed The Greed - the greedier the victim, the more the extraction.
3. Always Give The Mark An Out - part of the "convincer", just in case the "mark" feels something is fishy.
4. Never Give A Sucker An Even Break - hehe :)
   
5. "It's All In The Detail" - The great "Mickey Bricks" (you, always, must have a plan B)
6. Don't Have Anything In Your Life You Can't Walk Away From In A Second
7. Always Look Out For Number One
8. It's Not Just About The Money - And that's one thing that makes these grifters stand apart from the rest...
   

Each episode amounts to a confidence game played upon the viewers through the use of misdirection and hidden plot details that are revealed at the end of the story, only to leave you flabbergasted !! In addition to one long con, each episode features a number of short cons played by the major characters on members of the public. The short cons demonstrate the seemingly endless array of tricks professional con men possess and the ease with which short cons can be played. Not all cons depicted are successful, and some episodes focus on the characters dealing with the consequences of their actions. However, even if a con does fail, the characters usually come out on top in some way or other. It helps to illustrate why the life of a grifter isn’t as much fun as it may seem – it can undermine a person’s ability to ever lead a normal life.

All right, one will say, "what's the big deal? I've seen so many movies/series about confidence tricksters/ con artistes / con men that I know every damn trick out there." But Hustle has tons of surprises in store for you, in each of the episodes, which really stand out from the crowd. Hat's off to BBC for thinking of such "ethical grifters", who have this awesome gift of thinking on their feet in crunch situations, helping each other like family members (and thats the fundamaental difference betwwen them and the other crews, which are just crews" - as aptly quoted by Ash Morgan.) They exhibit superb team work who in the end have a joyous laugh on achieving yet another scoop of the richie block. I, like millions other fans of Hustle, like the concept because each story actually reflects the hard work put in by the script writers and the amazing detail level thought process which has been underway by the production crew. Since the characters have some moral obligations to follow, they are not really criminals, thus making them even more lovable, in addition to their spectacular prowess of pulling off each con with meticulous precision. These grifters do not resort to violence, or "force" to achieve their goals, instead it all depends on a really smooth plan. Add the humour element, a bit of dramatics, the Sherlock Holmes type suspense at the end and you have a perfect potboiler which keeps you grillled to your seat for an hour, and after 58 minutes, leaves you panting for more !!

If you haven't seen Hustle yet, you are certainly missing something. There have been 4 season's so far (each comprising of 6 episodes) and it's currently on a break now. Let's hope that the 5th season rolls out real soon with Adrian Lester back in action. Click here to post your comments about Hustle - because the CON is ON !!

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American Television : you are awesome !

Till the time I began to understand the finer nuances of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, I also learned that an under graduate has got lots of time to while away unless he is one of those not so adorable geeks/nerds. Yeah, though I don't exactly flunk in my exams, the situation really helps you to deal with even more tougher real life applications (read crisis !)

So initially I began by doing what all people do... Running amok the campus doing weird stuff with even more weird people (read batch mates) who were in fact similar minded confused individuals trying to re-discover their identity in the jungles of VNIT, Nagpur. So cracking all types of jokes, hanging out in strategically located areas, "interacting" with the first year guys, ogling at the fair sex, playing cricket every now and then and other stuff was generally the routine. Other than that, playing games on the computer and the greatest time pass in the world by communicating with friends online via god knows how many messengers and god only knows how many social networking sites completed the day. It was and in fact is, a fun still. But the fragile human soul that we possess, change of the form of entertainment is a must. After all the real pursuit of happiness that we want is something beyond any body's scope I guess. Anyways, watching Hollywood movies on the trot was a refreshing change indeed and the wide scope of genres that it offered out numbered Bollywood both in terms of quantity, quality and most above anything watchability ! After gobbling up tons of movies that were on the platter, a new search began, for alternative sources ...

and then came the American Television to the rescue !!!

Initially, I was a bit apprehensive as to how can people endure watching some silly crap sit com which has mindless humour and non sensible jokes/stuff all crammed in 20/45 min of sheer madness. It was only later that I realized, that one has to sink in to the bottom to experience the, what may I say, the bliss, that these sitcoms offer. The fellows residing inside the campus seemed to have an endless supply of tons of "episodes" and "seasons"... a terminology that I was new to, since they aren't quite related with the 24/7/365 Hindi serials that we were made to watch in that bygone, but terrible era. Well, i had to take the plunge to test what the fuss was all about and here goes a list of some of my favorite pass times which keep me occupied every time I get bored. These serials are, in fact some of the most popular ones and one must watch from the beginning to get the full essence of the characters and the story, if there is one !

1) F.R.I.E.N.D.s : Can be treated as the single most and highest successful sitcom to ever rule the roost on American Television. Started in 1994 it ran for a brilliant 10 season streak till 2004 and people never got tired of the 6 lively charecters around whom the show revolved. It was a story of some really cool guys and gals who re-defined the meaning of friendship through their riotous antics which never failed to bring a bout of laughter, no matter how many times you watch a scene from any episode ! The show has set some really unbelievably impossible bench marks to achieve and all the credit goes to the cast and the writers alike... Whether it is ross making up his usual goof ups or Chandler doing his wise crack acts or Joey blurting out, "How u doin' ?" to every other gal or Monica taking the house down on floor with her cleanliness is even before to godliness or Rachel adding just the zing to the whole madness or last but not the least, the awesome Pheobe completing the mania with her abnormal qualities... this was simply the best that there ever was !!

2) Prison Break : Presented by FOX, its simply the best in its genre (Action/ Thriller) and its a fact that the whole world can vouch for ! This great potboiler of a story is simply put the most creative hair raiser thats ever been made by the human beings. This is what they call perfection and this suspense thriller which has elements like suspense, mystery and pure hit me and I hit you back type of action coupled with some really brainy plot intermingling some god level charecters. This one is just irresistible once you start, and if you wanna know what addiction is, just watch season 1, episode 1. Unless you are incapable to understand the english or are maybe "those" females (who hate pure brawn and brains), I bet you wont feel ashamed to beg for the next episodes ! The show keeps you on the edge of your mind till it finally culminates to a heart stopping and soul-unnerving end with you wanting more and more !

This is a story of the super intelligent Michael Schofield and his super brave, courageous brother Lincoln Burrows who get entangled in a web of deceit, treachery and what not weaved by a sort of "company" that is so powerful that it even holds the US government as its puppet and the President as its hostage. To cut the long story short, the brothers break out of a US prison (of course, they are innocent !!) to get out of a huge conspiracy only to get stuck again in another trouble in Panama ... The series is in its 3rd season and is racing down to another thrilling finale where we expect the truth to prevail but I doubt it will have a happy ending at that ! I just love Prison break... and its popularity can be gaged by the fact that it's "s03e01" (or season 3 opener for common man) had 23035 seeds on the day I downloaded it from a torrent a day after its telecast ! and thats huge...

3) Heroes : This is the classic series which has made it to the top of the charts due to the great act of realizing the childhood dreams of every human to come true to experience the super heroes that they admire albeit in a different manner. I mean everyone loves the "just-dare-to-beat-me" Superman, the awe inspiring Batman and your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, but then after endless comic strips and cartoons it gets repittive. But NBC has brought a new lease of life to the super power bearing individuals having its own modification of X-men, which is surprisingly too good and all thanks to the great story and the vivid imagination of the writers and the director all alike.

It deals with not so ordinary individuals, who are indeed special and gifted with some great powers and think that all have a path, a goal in their life (but alas ! not everyone thinks the same way and we have super power villains too !) Though the super hero powers are heavily borrowed from the Genetic mutation based X-men, the reason why "Heroes" rocks is due to the amazing plot of the story coupled with complicating dynamics of space-time continuum and its effects on simultaneous developments happening in different lives of the people involved. Now in its 2nd season, the show promises lots of exciting stuff in its store and I cant wait to devour it!

Other than these, there are others like "LOST", "How I met your mother", "24" and "Scrubs" etc and lot more which are also a treat to watch and I will post more on them at a later date. In the end I must say, the US citizens are lucky to have such creative things on their TV's (though their is lots of other crap too), but I wont call it an idiot box for sure, had I been staying there !

Do post your comments/views/ramifications on the same, if you too are one of those "couch potatoes" like me... and it will be great to know what things you watch ... Click here to let me know about your TV time pass/habits from abroad and any criticism about them !

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