don't go near the water

we're going highbrow today people. this blog isn't just about the latest fashions, sights and sounds. the monkees were great, but how long can we talk about the musical genius of peter tork? the answer: not long. i pack this blog full of articles that i like to read. today i am going to pack it with articles about what i do and see everyday and some things i want to do and see.

the first thing is fas 157. first, what is fas? fas is short for fasb, which is short for financial accounting standards board. fas 157 is all about fair value. see what's happened lately is that with this financial meltdown, as i like to call it, we've gotten sensitive to what is being held on company's balance sheets. are these assets really worth what they are saying they're worth? how do we find out? how are the valuations calculated? that's what fas 157 is about. it's supposed to break down these assets into three levels, with each level determing a different value structure. fas 157 is all the rage right now.

and because fas 157 is all the rage, there is already talk of changing it.

next, what does the sec regulator look for? well we just talked about one: fair value. another is goodwill impairment. what is goodwill? goodwill is the intangible asset representing the excess amount above book value that a company paid for another company. and every year, that excess has to be tested for impairment. and with all this economic meltdown, you'd figure a lot of these have been impaired and you'd be right, but companies have a way of figuring figures that makes them look pretty good. so these regulators have to verify how goodwill is tested and how it is finally determined.

i should point out, i'm not a regulator. but an auditor does basically the same thing. i just do it on a much smaller scale.

a new area of accounting will focus on alternative energy, how to accounting for emissions and such. this is a very interesting article about how companys will value their credits under cap and trade.

and finally, this article is about wind energy and how difficult the logistics of transporting the energy really is. this has nothing to do with what i do, but it's intersting nonetheless.

tickets to what you need

i am totally digging the new place. i'll give you three reasons why:

1) it's smaller. the other place was too big and too awkward in design. it seemed no matter where i was, my wife was a million miles away. with this place, i can be at the computer and she can be in the kitchen, and we can still talk. it's great.

2) there is no cable in the living room. the days of rabbit ears are over, so if you don't have a cable outlet, you get no tv. now we do have a cable outlet in the bedroom and we do actually have cable, like 70 channels or something, but when we get home at night, i turn on music, she lights candles and i will read while she talks on the phone. no television is really nice.

3) all of our stuff is still in boxes. it makes our lives easier, simpler without tons of stuff cluttering up our lives. you really begin to realize how much junk you have when you move.

AIG is breaking up and some folks are making tons of monies off of it.

CNBC's ratings are way, way down. that could be because they're idiots.

is buffet the product of government bailouts and agressive lobbying?

speaking of, burkshire hathaway is going to post "blockbuster" results evidently.

with a girl like you

i'm over the moon on this cover of the troggs hit "with a girl like you." apparently this dude is a member of tv on the radio, who i'v never really gotten into. anyway, great arrangement, great pacing. really well put together.

the treasury is selling more debt. anybody want some of this?

i've been saying for a while that how can be tell how well our economy is doing when the government is spending so much money? isn't this just another version of a pumped-up, artificially inflated economy? mish agrees with me.

what is with all these texas instrumental bands? explosions in the sky. octopus project. balmorhea. enough people. say something!

mama says

i went to the dentist this morning. i got beat to hell, but i was told i was in good shape. so i don't think i'll brush for the next month and see what happens. actually my teeth are holding up pretty good. we'll see how they're doing in another 30 years.

i am totally excited about this weekend. music festival in houston! that is a rare thing. i've been listening to tons of broken social scene. i don't have anything by the rest of the bands, except of montreal, but i don't know where that is.

we went grocery shopping. i don't think anything beats the feeling of coming home with tons of good groceries. it's better than christmas morning.

almost done

-if i cranked up broken social scene, i wonder if anybody would care

-why are my hands so dry and cracking? i should probably look into that

-if i had to put an over/under on how much longer my car will last, i'd say less than three years

-i've been trying to eat tons of blueberries because i'm convinced they unlock some sort of super-powers for my brain

-benjamin is throwing up a lot and it has me very worried

-when will they have mailboxes like the bank slots in the drivethru? i bet they won't because someone could put something in there and you'd bring it into your house and wouldn't know until it was too late, like some bees or something

-i still have vhs tapes. why am i keeping these things?

-i have business cards and i actually gave one out the other day

-i think the peak of tom hanks career was bosom buddies

-i am certain i could be friends with pat sajak

-how long would it take the grass/weeds to cover a road?

-going through the hurricane last year, no matter how small it really was, was an amazing experience, not one i'd ever want to relive though

-i've had three cups of tea today

-it's been too long since i've had muenster cheese

-i have a lot of euros in my car cup-holder

-i still haven't developed my black and white film from iceland

-my teeth are going to be beaten the hell up tomorrow when i go to the dentist; on a side-note, i read a study that said redheads are more sensitive to pain; so i'm not a weiner after all

-there is a song on the dark was the night soundtrack that is blowing my mind. this is it.

moment of surrender

i think i'm slowly realizing how much of myself i have to let go in marriage. and it's not parts of me that are vital to who i am or my personality. it's the parts that rally for victory rather than understanding. it's the parts that knock over the catcher to score another run when i was already winning and could of easily trotted home. it's those parts. those parts ingrained in me that would rather fight, than listen. those parts that would rather go to sleep proclaiming individual victory, rather than team victory. my wife is better at certain things than i am. she's better at certain things that i should be better at. for example, we were loading up the futon in the back of the truck to take it away finally and we had these straps that we were using to lock it down. i had seen them used before, but i just needed a little bit of time to figure them out. that's how it is with most things for me: give me a minute or two and i'll figure it out and i'll never forget. but she figured it out faster. and internally, it frustrated me. i wanted to figure it out first and make it work faster. but i didn't and i had to give that one away. but who am i giving it away to? i'm giving it away to my team member. because there's only one team i'm on and i only have one teammate. so if i don't score the game-winning run, hopefully she will. i have to work/think like this. it's not just my show anymore. it's our show. it's our life. it's our future. i'm getting it. slowly. but i'm getting it.

krugman points out there's more high jinx (sp?) going on with some big investment firms. i'd heard about high-speed trading on NPR not long ago.

apparently the UK is going to be investigating high-speed trading/cheating.

do you bank with guaranty bank? well if you do, your bank is teetering on the verge of collapse.

what about afghanistan? what are we doing there?

i've been watching the bronx is burning again. man, that is a good show.