informer

breaking news:

i just ate hot pockets for the first time in probably five years and they were good. they were some sort of quesadilla hot pockets and i ate them both. i think most people eat both of them. although, now that i'm done, my stomach is gurgling and i'm wondering where this is all going to end up.

are the sonic guys still funny? is the "hey bro" commercial considered a classic sonic guys commercial? i don't know. i like the "hey bro" but i don't think it's classic. there hasn't been a really good one for a while. i'm glad they're still trying though. keep working sonic guys. this country needs you.

i listened to the wilco album the other day, well most of it. i actually turned it off because i had other things to do and i was pretty disappointed too. there's some interesting stuff, like in bull black nova. it does somewhat sound like a television rip-off at some points, but speaking of rip-offs there is a total rip-off of george harrison's my sweet lord in one of the songs, i can't remember the name. you'll hear it. and the duet with feist, what is that about? i'm sure i'll come around and say i like it, but it's not classic and i feel it's a step-backwards in my opinion.

plus i've been having this conversation in my head about bands. it's like with most writers, there's a window. when that window is open, you come up with amazing stuff. but when it closes, you still come up with good stuff, but not like you did before. it doesn't come as easy and, if you're honest with yourself, it's not as good. now, take that theory and think about how few albums bands put out now-a-days. the beatles put out like an album a year. the beach boys, sometimes two. now, it takes bands two to three years to put out an album. therefore, the window is closing and because the band has put out so little product, we think the window should still be open. but it's not about product, it's about time. that time is passing and regardless of whether you've put out two albums or twelve albums, the window closes. my example is bob dylan. i love me some bob dylan. but look at his career. the real creamy stuff he did came from 1964 to 1966. that's it. two years! once he did blonde on blonde, that was it for that bob dylan. his music changed. his lyrics changed. he wasn't the same performer, he wasn't the same writer and he never was again. yes, blood on the tracks and desire have incredible moments, but you cannot for a second tell me that the lyrical imagery from those two albums compares with highway 61 and blonde on blonde. there's no way. so for dylan, his window was wide open until 1966 and then it started to close. that's peak production. it's hard to recognize when you're going through it. you really can only recognize it through hindsight.

wilco's put out, by my count, seven albums since 1993. and they've slowly built up an impressive catalog. but my thinking is that jeff's window is closing or has closed. he as a songwriter has peaked. i liked sky blue sky for what it was, but it was also a notice to me that things have changed. i really liked a ghost is born. some people didn't. it was weird and all over the place. but i can almost look back now and say, that was it. that was the point where wilco stopped making amazing, creative, perplexing, confusing records and started making records. and that's fine. the window was open for summerteeth, yankee hotel foxtrot and a ghost is born. i'll accept that. and i'll keep listening. but man, they used to be so good, they were sick.

by the way, argument number two, the band is better with jay bennett. it's not the same band. it doesn't have the same feel. i know he wasn't on a ghost is born, but look at the three albums since jay left and you have to notice the drop-off in melody, in production methods and varied instrumentation. i miss jay bennett.

any points?

that birdhouse (the song)

the new wilco album is available for streaming on their website. i haven't really had an opportunity to listen to it yet. i'm going to when i get home. i tried here at work, but everytime there's a computer message, like where a message screen pops up, there is a loud beep that is so loud it actually hurts my brain. so i decided for the health of my brain, to wait until i got home where i could control the beeps and not slowly crumble from the inside out.

does anyone remember the dana carvey show? well it's finally been released on DVD. i remember that show was a bizarre, mish-mosh of amazing comedy and amazing crap. some of my favorite sketches like skinheads from maine, and where tom brokaw has to pre-record all these wild scenarios before he goes on vacation like former president gerald ford being mauled by lions and how delicious he was. and then there were skits where bill clinton is nursing a pig and kitty kats tell you the news or something. but it was worth watching especially considering it came on in 1996 or something and it was after or before home improvement. remember that steaming pile of crap? yeah, well this show probably freaked out everyone who loved home improvement. check it out.

i keep hearing about underwriting and decided to stop being confused and read about it.

i haven't had any caffeine today and i'm starting to get a headache. but i'm almost done with work and it hasn't been too bad. plus i'll be home soon and i can workout tonight.

as most of you know, i have sbcglobal as my email carrier. today they're doing these advertisements for teeth cleaning. so everytime i go to check my mail i'm greeted with these horrible before and after pictures of people's teeth. some of them are pretty bad. and they're close-ups.

pork soda

i have finally figured it out! it's the soda. of course! the caffeine is killing me. not really killing me, but turning me into a zombie. how does caffeine turn you into a zombie you ask? oh you didn't ask? well then forget it. but if you're interested, here's how it does.

i don't really start to feel awake until i go to the gym usually around 7 or 8 in the evening. i feel tired and sleepy all day and then finally i get to sweat and burn some calories. this desk job is harder than i thought it would be. i keep thinking of ways to add a little exercise to it, like replace my chair with a workout ball or turn my desk into a standing post. i'm not sure those would fly in my office, but it's worth a shot. i think i'm sleeping too much too. you have to vidulent when you get older. if things start feeling different, you got to start using placebos and control techniques. i don't even know what i'm saying.

i was looking over the book i wrote like three/four years ago. it's actually pretty good. i'm re-typing it and adding some stuff here and there to make it better. i'm thinking about sending it to oprah once i'm done. i'm serious. i'm going to send it to oprah, she'll read it, then tell everyone to read it and they will because she said so and then i'll be a millionaire and i workout right away in the morning and feel awake all day. and eat oatmeal with blueberries. and toast. and pancakes. i'm thinking about starting a phrase that reads: "it's better than pancakes." i'll use it if something is really good. i think people will appreciate it if i tell them that they're better than pancakes.

monday

i'm referring to the wilco song "monday" from being there. speaking of wilco, has anyone seen their new album cover for the album coming out in june? it can be seen right here. what is that? i don't know what to do with that. i kind of laugh, but then my forehead crinkles a bit and i stop laughing and start really studying the picture. if this is any indication, this album is going to be wild. apparently this guy at billboard has already heard the album. he's a got a mini-review here.

did anyone watch SNL this saturday? usually i don't, but the wife was out of town and i had nothing to do and also justin timberlake was hosting. i know people are going to start making jokes, loud, inappropriate jokes, about me liking justin timberlake. but that dude is funny! and his music is actually really good, but more importantly, he's funny. he makes fun of himself and he's good at it. they had a parody song about mother's day. it was hilarious. check it out somewhere.

i have no political news today. i've been working non-stop since like 9a.m. so i've no time. i'm heading home to eat some cereal and watch the simpsons.

beyond here lies nothing

here are the preliminary results from the stress tests (i actually wrote "testes" and had to erase it. sometimes the mistake is better).

also here's an entry from the same blog about fractional reserve lending. i've made some entries here before about it. what does everyone think about fractional reserve lending? is it legal? is it beneficial? is it appropriate?

ron paul is a man against the machine. here's his thoughts on FRL.

i was listening to elbow yesterday. totally great line: "i sat you down and told you how the truest love that's ever found is for oneself, you pulled apart my theory with a weary and disinterested sigh."

a gift

dom deluise died today and i didn't find out until like five minutes ago. that is unacceptable. that man was in smokey and the bandit!

so postings will be few and far between. i'm also getting serious about the cpa exam, so i'll need time to study. but i'll pop in and out when i feel the need to rant.

this is what i'm listening to RIGHT NOW! give it time to load. it will. or contracted: it'll.

yet another movie

this weekend was sweet. 3-day weekend. first full weekend for quite some time. it was nice. the wife and i went to austin and rode the greenbelt. the next day we went canoeing, saw some friends and headed home. i always love being in austin. the minute i stepped back on the greenbelt, i felt great. it was so nice to be back there. i love it. the creek was dry, only a trickle of water at sculpture falls. the wife jumped in the water that was there. i didn't. it was cold, cold water and the sun wasn't too bright, so i stayed out. plus we saw a snake. i threw rocks at it, which is the scientific response when viewing a snake. we also saw a snake when we went canoeing. it was big and it was right next to the boat. i mean seriously, two foot away from the boat. we freaked out, which is the normal response when seeing a snake by your boat. i stopped by waterloo. went to the bookstore. it was a great weekend. now i'm back and i only have to work 40 hours a week again!

if anyone believes that these banks are actually making profits, you're drinking the kool-aid. these are accounting tricks and some smoke and some mirrors. the overall US financial system is being propped up. otherwise, it would collapse.

warren buffet wants to buy wells fargo.

here's a bio of al dunlap.

if friday night lights played varsity blues, who would win?

here are some lessons learned from star trek. space lessons.

wah-wah

i just read the timeline of the little boy who died from the pig flu and i'm wondering outloud here: he visited the galleria on april 5th and he goes back home april 8th and gets sick. i wonder if he was sick while he was here?

because the galleria isn't far from where i live, where i work out, where i eat and shop for groceries. and then i suddenly and out of the blue fall ill on april 17th. i have not been sick in any other month other than oct., nov. or dec. since 2004 when i had the flu. weird. and i still am not totally well yet. i wonder....

by the way, saw blue velvet last night. i've been wanting to see a david lynch movie because i knew they were weird/odd. but this was beyond weird/odd, this was amazingly disturbed. i would recommend it to anyone looking to watch a movie that will intrigue them and disturb in an arty way at the same time.

the grass roots and creed bratton

holy crap. creed bratton was in the grass roots. that is cool.

one of my favorite creed moments is when he dyes his hair black and tries to act much younger.

wow.

magnificent

after my months and months of overtime and working non-stop on saturdays, fridays and all days in between, i'm rewarded with: a day off. i'm off this friday. three-day weekend! the wife and i are planning a trip to austin to ride some bikes on the greenbelt. it should be nice after all the rain we've gotten. hopefully the creek is wet and running along. i went one time when the creek was running somewhat high and it was the greatest day. i remember the cold water rushing past us and having to carry our bikes over our heads. finally we made it to the end and hung out on the rocks and enjoyed the serenity. i hope it's like that again.

last night around 3 in the morning, i swear the lightning was so bright, it lit up the entire house for two or three seconds. i thought everything around us was getting struck by lightning. i stayed in bed though. funny how i feel really safe in bed. or maybe i'm still partly asleep to think, "hey, it's falling apart out there, i should probably stay in my pajamas in bed." actually that sounds nice.

so with our armies in iraq and afghanistand (what is afghanistand? that's a typo that i'm leaving in there), and trust me, i hate to bring this up, but what happens if pakistan falls apart? it's not likely, but it's not as unlikely as you think.

don't really have much today. houston is under water and i think there's more on the way.

i saw the ACL lineup this year and i'm excited. i'm totally excited about my buddy leatherbag playing ACL this year! that is insanely great. i'm still in shock. that dude is moving on up. hopefully i'll get to go the day he's playing and try to make him laugh while he's playing. i should wear a bert costume but use an ernie voice.

i'm only sleeping

still not feeling great. all the stuff in my chest has moved back up into my head and my head feels like a balloon with too much air. i can't wait until all this clears up. and then now i'm hearing about some pig flu. what the hell? when did our animals start mutating flu strains to kill us? first it was the birds, now the pigs. these animals are getting out of hand. seriously.

sheila barr says the FDIC should be the one stepping in and taking over banking and bank-holding companies. i'm not so sure i disagree with her.

everyone better get used to the idea of paying taxes for online purchases. it's coming quick.

i've been railing on them for awhile and i'll continue. here's more on how credit card companies hoped to keep people in debt.

here's eric rosenfeld from LTCM talking about the bust that was his company in the late 90's.

anybody have an opinion on the texans draft picks? i have not heard of any of these guys, but most draft experts say it was a good for houston. no idea. i'm predicting 15-1 this year. that's right. you read that correctly.

the underdog

holy crap, i've got such good stuff today. man.

okay, first: i love the psychology argument of investors. economists assume investors to be rational and on top of that make their choices because they have all the necessary information available. both assumptions are wrong and completely false. here is an article where the rational investor argument is blown up. i love it.

another great argument about elizabeth warren who has been put in charge of our beloved TARP money. she makes amazing statements about the insolvency of the american family. she seems to share my hatred/distrust of credit card companies and says american is the only place, i love this, where people save to be bankrupt. that's amazing. read it here.

the "stress-test" results are out and i don't have any links to those but i do have links to the government's methods for testing the stress at the bank. "there's a lot of stress in here. wait...wait.... i just found some more stress. it's over there. see it?"

here is andrew cuomo's letter to the SEC, barney frank, etc. in regards to the BofA merger with Merrill Lynch. lots of juicy stuff in this.

congratulations to my friend ana who got a new job making more money and with a shorter commute. i'm very proud of her.

congratulations to my friend bruce who is going through the final mixes of his band's ep. can't wait to here the results.

and congratulations to me who during a break in songs during the spoon concert, called out opener black nasty. i yelled, "you suck!" and the singer/rapper lowered his head because he knew in his heart i was correct.

"you suck!" very original.

blue in green

this past weekend was my 1st wedding anniversary. i woke up friday morning with a sore throat which progressed into a full-on sinus blow-up over the weekend. also, it rained for the entire day saturday, which meant bike-riding, the international festival and all other outdoor activities were cancelled. so being the industrious couple we are, we changed plans on the fly. saturday we went to the angelika movie theater downtown and watched "the great buck howard" which was one of those movies that no one else, besides you, will ever see. it was actually really good and then we went to the hotel and had dinner. sunday the weather was cleared up and the baseball game was good, despite the fact the astros lost. my wife got an autograph from reds 2nd basemen brandon phillips. it was an old ball i kept in my car to use at the park, so when she handed it to him, he commented, "what the hell happened to this ball?" to which my wife responded, "we used it."

so i'm feeling better today after sleeping almost all day yesterday.

so geitner says the banks are well capitalized. really?

great article on the "wail of the 1%." this opens up a great dialogue about compensation.

kc fed chief is at it again. dude doesn't mind speaking his mind. love it.

in case you didn't know, you can watch all episodes of frontline online.

our next netflix movie is blue velvet. i'm excited.

the bends

I noticed that Capital records has re-released Pablo Honey, The Bends and OK Computer from Radiohead. In recent years, I have proclaimed my favorite band to be Wilco. I’ve listened to them since I was 17 and something about Jeff Tweedy’s lyrics and melodies beat alongside my own ups and downs as someone living and dealing with America. The older I get the more it seems we occupy the same space in thought.

But for a great period of my life, from about 15 to 23, Radiohead defined my vision of music. They defined my musical experience. Starting with OK Computer and ending with Hail to the Thief, I bought every Radiohead record the first day it came out, once even getting caught in the pre-Allison flooding rains to purchase Amnesiac.

Radiohead made albums of frustrating beauty. They were melodic, yet completely distressed. There was anguish, there was loneliness and there was paranoia. Those were characteristics I knew when I was younger. Who has your best interests? Who are your friends? Who’s really in charge? What is coming up ahead?

I first heard Radiohead like everyone else. Creep was huge. I loved it. It was easy, it was nice to listen to in my truck, but I never thought about this band in any other way except, that was nice, see you later. It wasn’t until I was up late one night watching 120 minutes or some show like that on MTV (remember when MTV had videos, videos that weren’t just teeny pop and hip-hop) and the video for Just came on. I remembered the name Radiohead and decided to watch it. It blew my mind. Not only was the song incredible, but the video was original and I still say it’s one of the best videos I’ve ever seen. So I went out the next day and bought The Bends. It was instantly one of my favorite albums of all time. Starting off with Planet Telex and the line, “you can force it but it will not come” and this atmospheric sound and menace. I had no idea what I was listening to, but I loved it. I devoured it. High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Just, Nice Dream, Street Spirit. These songs still resonate in me. I was dumbfounded by how good this little band had become. From Pablo Honey to The Bends is probably the greatest artistic leap I’ve ever experienced. This was a different band. I began preaching to everyone who would listen and those who would not. Radiohead, you gotta listen to Radiohead. But rarely would anyone get excited. Then it came.

OK Computer hit like a hurricane. I bought it the first day it came out and didn’t stop listening to it for about four years. It ranks as one of the greatest albums of all time. Start to finish, it’s leveling. The melodies are four star. The lyrics are disconnected and disjointed, yet as a whole, they form a cohesive response to a world that was beginning to spin too fast and too loose. The next thing I knew Radiohead was huge. But it didn’t make me like them less. I was proud of them. I thought I was witnessing the response to the release of Sgt. Peppers. That is what it felt like, I would think. Because you don’t witness that kind of response to an actual work of art very often. This wasn’t Cher filling stadiums, this was Radiohead, singing about refrigerators buzzing and the karma police. It was amazing.

Since then, they’ve released more great albums (Kid A, In Rainbows) and some okay ones (Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief). And as I’ve gotten older, my identity has shifted some and I now find myself less confused and more comfortable with who I am and those around me. I still feel the world is out to get us, so I will always come back to Radiohead. And I’ll always come back to that time when I 15 hearing “comes like a comet, suckered you but not your friends, one day he’ll get to you and teach you how to be a holy cow, you do it to yourself, you do, and that’s why it really hurts.”

It’s not an understatement to say Radiohead helped shape the way I look at the world. That’s something that will stay with me longer than any song or album.

birds flew backwards

the doves are another band that i wonder why they're not insanely popular.

i usually lead off with the political/economic stuff, but come on, an interview with will arnett. that leads baby. although he doesn't talk about the arrested development movie. that worries me.

"they forget their job is to protect us from the banks, not to protect the banks."

obama bettin' it all on the failed banksters.

the fair value litany.

has everyone done their taxes? today's the day.

the thanks i get

this article perfectly says what i've been trying to say, which is, to stimulate the us economy and entice consumers to spend more will help to jump-start our sagging economy in the short-run, but it will do nothing in the long run and might even jeopardize our situation more.

warren buffet is investing in chinese company that makes electric cars.

you might be billed by the city next time you get into an accident.

i ate a tres leches cake today that was so full of three kinds of milk, it was soaked through the cake. wow. it was from this place.

it's more fun to compute

here's some weekend reading for everyone:

federal reserve history.

bretton woods system.

fractional-reserve banking.

gold standard.

fiat money.

triffin paradox.

have a happy easter holiday.

working week

is anyone else working today?

what the hell....

complicated shadows

i drove up on the curb today doing like 50 mph. it was the coolest thing ever.

remember i mentioned black swans earlier? here's how to avoid them (even though by definition you can't).

listening to the new leatherbag ep. i'm always really grateful when randy sends me his music. i appreciate him thinking enough of me to do that. it's great and i'm really excited for the guy. he's for real.

if you're a fan of these ten tv shows, might start finding something else to do. they might disappear.

the new legs against arms ep will be called come on let's disappear. i like it. can't wait to hear the final version. these guys have been together barely more than a year and they sound like seasoned vets live. can't wait to hear the studio magik.

pidgin english

went to the astros game last night. we won in 10 innings. totally great outcome. i almost got into a fight with a dude who was yelling at us for standing in the ninth inning with jose valverde on the mound. apparently it's against the rules to stand at a baseball game. so i had to lay down the law for the dude. he totally backed down. pathetic actually.

i'm not really finding any good articles lately.

so here's a list of stuff in my car:

1. box of tissues
2. three bottles of water, empty
3. cds
4. peanuts
5. lint roller
6. two reusable grocery bags
7. three wool hats (it's not winter anymore, those need to go)
8. workout gloves
9. stamps
10. fiber bars (stay away from these, mess you up)
11. more cds
12. gum
13. two tennis rackets
14. spare tire

that's it. there's also loose change, a battery and several rodents. that's not true. i collected the loose change.

but i did forget i have a gallery furniture football. seriously, they're going all the way this year.

let us down easy

on sunday, i rode 40 miles in the space race. the race was not held in space, blatant false advertising, but it was nice anyway. i wiped out about 10 miles before the end. i was taking this corner too fast and became fixated on this pebble/rock. i knew if i hit it, i was done. so i was trying to avoid it, but in the mean time i wasn't slowing down. so i tried to slow down at the last second and didn't get my hands there in time and just wiped out and landed on my left hip. it was easily the coolest thing that happened all day. my hip is a little bruised and i have some scrapes on my left leg, but it worth it.

the astros opened the season last night and lost to the cubs. i'm still sticking with a fourth place finish for this team. it's going to be a long year.

my one year anniversary is coming up next week, april 19th. can't believe it's already been one year. they say the first year of marriage is the toughest. or maybe it's the last year. but either way, the first year was difficult in some regards. marriage has to be a coming together of two people. if those two people try to remain too independent and never meet the other person in the middle, it won't work. you have to sacrifice some things. but it's easier if you're sacrificing things that makes the other person happy. and that's really the end result you want anyway. i've learned a lot about myself, some things good and some i'm not proud of and i'm determined to change. but i'm lucky that i have a partner who listens to me and actually tries to make herself and our marriage better and accepts me for who i am. she will not let us fail and i love her dearly for that. i'm very lucky. so here's to year number two coming up. i can't wait.

reckoner

i caught the last part of this last night. must see TV.

take 54

i just ate a whole bag of garlic pita chips. i'm convinced my breath will smell like garlic in the year 2016. it's intense man.

"i sang my balls off for you baby, i worked my fingers to the bone, i closed my eyes to get the high note, but when i woke up i was alone!"- take 54, harry nilsson

i love harry nilsson.

has anyone heard this joke: hey, did you hear? social security is broke! that's the joke. not really funny, but true.

ha. ha.

we finally watched the queen last night. i thought it was a great movie. it definately highlighted how much i do not understand the british monarchy. not because of their actions, or stoic nature towards life and the public in general, but their actual existence. i suppose it adds stability to the political landscape, but what does that stability actually afford? nothing in the way of state decisions or policy-making. the queen/king might be consulted or informed of agendas or party ideology, but at the end of the day, the queen/king cannot institute or enforce policy. i've, obviously, never lived under a monarchy, figurehead or otherwise, so my relationship to one is based on observance of others. we no longer believe the queen/king represents a chosen figure by God. their families are not ordaned by prophecy or memento to lead absolutely. they were the best at the consolidation of power. they used aggression and the wealth of their times to keep their power. nothing more, nothing less. and good for them. but to stand and ask me to bow to a woman/man of this earth and hold them in such high regard is ludicrous. the monarchy seems to me nothing more than a tourist attraction. it's a soap opera. and when all the lights are turned on, the british monarchy actually costs the citizens of britain about $40 million pounds. maybe more is taken in from tourists, but i cannot find those numbers. the bubble that exists for the life of the royals seems to have been punctured by the constant glare of their uselessness. i wonder if i will see the end of the british monarchy in my lifetime. it seems i probably will.

burning down the house

the market is way up today. it's also raining and i just ate something really weird tasting chicken. not from the chicken restaurant where the chicken wants to beat me up or i want to beat it up. not that one. just normal chicken. i made it. it's gross.

with the economic downturn comes horrible consequences for us all. but one consequence that actually benefitted us was lower gas prices. remember when gas was almost $4.00 a gallon? that's coming again soon, but here's some explanation on why that happened.

there are new rules being/about to be put in place regarding mark-to-market accounting. this is a big deal in the way that banks/financial institutions value their assets. here's what's happening.

i ran across an article listing the top ten ideas changing the world. normally i would read it and roll my eyes at the obviousness of the things on the list. this list, however, is quite intriguing.

there's a new cigarette tax in place. cigarettes are currently more expensive than toilet paper and diet soda. i'm sticking with the latter.

how tarnished is america in regards to the collapse of our economy? krugman has a nice article on the topic.

brian mctaggert, from the chronicle, and i have been going back and forth about the yankees. there is no way, no way, no way, the yankees are winning the world series. it ain't gonna happen.

back at the chicken shack

so there's this chicken on 290 and W. 34th street that stands outside this new chicken restaurant and tries to get customers who are driving by to stop and go to the chicken restaurant. this chicken is pretty tall, probably about my height and it kept doing this hand motion while i was sitting there, like a motion to move over and come and eat some chicken. then, the chicken looked right at me and made some weird motion with it's hand that was like telling me to eat it. i started laughing and shrugged my shoulders, saying, i don't know what you're saying, you're a chicken. but it did it again and walked away in a strange chicken walk. it was surreal. i kept picturing the chicken from family guy who fights peter. i thought about getting out of my car and fighting the chicken, but i don't know that i would be able to stop laughing enough to fight it.

unstructured finance says break up the banks.

did obama pull a "reagan?"

hussman funds discusses the urgency of abandoning the purchase of toxic assets.

rush limbaugh is casting a large shadow over the republican party. avoid the pun in the road.

war pigs- the cost of a global empire.

amazing shots from earth hour 2009.

avclub has 25 great albums best played start to finish.

spin the black circle

how was the weekend? mine was quick. and monday is starting off with a bang.

did anyone else ever get the feeling the last fifteen years that there was just too much? too much of everything? too much excess? too much indulgence? i didn't feel it when i was younger because i was more worried about getting laid. but after that, there was just always this lingering feeling of too much. i know this economic downturn is horrible for people out there. some people have lost their jobs and are having to make great sacrifices. i understand and i feel for them. but with every horrible event, there has to be something learned. and i think we as a country should learn something from the last fifteen years, which is, we don't need so much shit. our place in the world is not a given right, we have to work for it and yes, sometimes put off instant pleasures. our wallets got bigger, but so did our waistlines, so did our indulgences and with that self-restraint and patience was lost. and i read this article the other day and it's stuck with me: the end of excess. and while i think it's too early to call this thing, i hope we're learning about ourselves in the process.

krugman is now a celebrity economist. here he is on the cover of newsweek.

i preach the stylings of warren buffet on this blog. my man didn't have a good couple of years. the buffet way is under attack.

wow, just looked at the market: it's tanking.

GM ceo is out. and it's about time.

pets

we have a pet. his name is benjamin. he's very demanding. he likes to drink water out of the bathroom sink. he likes to be petted constantly, unless he's asleep, then he wants you to leave him alone. he also throws up quite a bit. this is kind of what he looks like. that's not him, but it's pretty damn close. and in spite of all these things, i really him. he lays on my stomach when i watch tv. and when he wants me to pet him, he'll start petting my face, usually around my chin. other times, he'll be walking and just plop down next to me. and other times, he'll do something out of the ordinary, like get up on the dining room table or answer the phone. he doesn't answer the phone, but i like to think he could.

here's a building that is alive.

tesla (not the band, or the man) has a new electric car.

i create lists all the time. i'm a list guy. one of my favorite lists is of the astros: best, worst. all that. so this guy has a list of recent (post-2000) draft flame-outs. check it out.

all my thoughts

i'm always amazed by what i'm thinking about when i'm driving. it's rarely about driving. it's usually about late nights in huntsville. or early mornings when i was a in high school. or outside fox sports at 4 in the morning. or mostly about where i think i'll be in five years/ten years. or about diet soda. it's usually one of those.

coconut records is so good. they're on the border of almost cloying annoyingness, but they walk that line so smoothly, that i love it. they're great. schwartzman is great. i have to thank tboyd on that one. that was his call.

anyway, good talking to you.

sunshine superman

this could be the coolest thing i've ever seen/read.

can we still be friends?

i'm having a change of heart on the new u2 album. not a total change of the heart, but i'm listening without my mind made up already. there seems to be two u2's on this album. that's a difficult sentence to type and think. the first two tracks are incredible. the title track and "magnificent" have this yearning, pushing feel to them, that they might be break apart or speed off into nothing. the next two tracks are pretty good. but then the change happens. all of a sudden we get languid melodies and fill-in-the-blank lyrics. then comes "get on your boots" which i still think is a terrible song. the album then tries to turn back into the first part again.

it's somewhat of a shame because it seems they had some serious ideas about where to go, but sacrificed just enough to water down the album.

rolling stone looks at 45 new albums coming out this spring. wilco and the avetts are there.

lucky old sun

i did the bike ride yesterday. i rode 60 miles. and today i feel great. except for being burned to a crisp on my arms and legs. i put sunscreen on my face because my nose always burns, but i neglected my arms and legs and i am paying for it today. i'm going to take an oatmeal bath tonight and soak out of the heat. this is intense. but the ride was great. i had a blast and i think i did pretty well considering how little i actually ride. it was seriously a tour of houston. i mean we went back and forth and saw the same area like two/three times. there's another ride coming up out at nasa that i think i might participate in also. i love bike-riding. plus the bike i used was pretty sweet. i was clocked around 20 mph, at some points a little faster. the wind man. i was like the wind.

all things to do with the bank bailout today. first, what the hell was TARP? we basically gave the banks $700 billion and now we have to buy their toxic assets for $1 trillion? what is going on here?

breakdown of the plan.

analysis from businessweek.

mish's take.

krugman's take.

frontline will air a program entitled "ten trillion and counting" this tuesday. check local listings for airtime.

here is a quick history of the federal reserve. check it out.

bicycle race

tomorrow i'll be riding in the tour de houston. i haven't rode in it since '06 when i rode a mountain bike and was easily passed by grandmas and their fat, overweight grandchildren. but somehow i got through 40 miles and i'm going to do 40 again, unless anyone else wants to do 70. i'm pretty sure i can do the 70. a friend is going to hook me with a sweet bike, so hopefully i'll be gliding through the air, my wheels barely touching the ground.

has anyone listened to the new u2 album? what a bunch of crap. i kinda of liked their last album. but this thing....wow. "get on your boots" is terrible. it's a total hunk of pro tools vomit. the rest is slow-paced and lyrically abysmal. i expect a lot from u2. "the joshua tree," "achtung baby," and "zooropa" are great, great records. since "pop" they really don't seem to know their way. or something like that.

here is an exerpt from another wildly outrageous, but ultimately entertaining and truth-laden rolling stone article:

"It's over — we're officially, royally fucked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he was once again going to have to stuff billions of taxpayer dollars into a dying insurance giant called AIG, itself a profound symbol of our national decline — a corporation that got rich insuring the concrete and steel of American industry in the country's heyday, only to destroy itself chasing phantom fortunes at the Wall Street card tables, like a dissolute nobleman gambling away the family estate in the waning days of the British Empire."

the rest is here.

upstairs at eric's

i don't know why that album title cracks me up, but it does. "if you want me, i'll be upstairs at eric's." i'm laughing typing that line. i am in a slightly abandoned part of a building. the cleaning lady is the only person i have seen all day unless i ventured out on my own. so i'm in this old abandoned office and i keep hitting my foot on this giant computer tower. so i'm checking it out and i notice a stack of cds on top of it. here are the cds i found:

1. yaz- upstairs at erics
2. inxs- kick
3. erasure- the innocents
4. just say yo- a volume II of just say yes (some kind of remix compilation)
5. inxs- X
6. the church- starfish
7. concrete blonde- bloodletting
8. zz top- greatest hits
9. the outfield- play deep
10. pat green- dancehall dreamer

so by the looks of these cds, this office has been abandoned since 1986. i love the 80's theme with zz top and pat green mixed in there. and what is the outfield? and why do they have an album called, "play deep"? that is so funny. i already listened to inxs "kick" and yaz "upstairs at eric's." i'm currently listening to erasure. i can turn this up as loud as i want and no one will be bothered because i'm in the center of nowhere.

dude, "ship of fools." erasure, yes!

we came along this road

systemic risk. is AIG a systemic risk? they sure think so. here's an internal letter from those great civil patrons at AIG.

seems obama is going to try and undo the bonuses at AIG.

here's a list/story of who's on AIG's bankroll.

AIG's latest disclosure from footnoted.

i'm a little obsessed with this story. not because they gave out bonus money from our tax money, as asinine as that is, but because someone actually believes bonuses are deserved! what the hell? you have a company on the bubble accepting government money to continue operations. does that sound like someone is doing a good job? anybody? are these bonuses going to the guys who clean the floor or empty the garbage? because those guys probably are doing a good job even when the company almost doesn't exist. it's amazing. corporate america is amazing.

in other news.....

the avclub has a great list of television shows that changed characters/plots/entire stories. most of the ones from the 80's i remember, like charles in charge and valerie and the facts of life. even though i was young, i was like, "who are these people? what happenend here?"

finished the watchmen book this past weekend. i also saw the movie. i actually saw the movie before i finished the book, which usually wouldn't be a big deal because the movie never follows the book. but this movie followed it to the letter. i mean whole passages of dialogue were the same. plus, you ever watch a movie and think it's pretty good, but the further you get away from it, the more you think it wasn't very good. that's how i feel about this movie.

bob dylan's going to be releasing a new album soon.

i'm so vain

"i'm so vain, i probably think this song is about me!"

videos:

nick cave and the bad seeds: "more news from nowhere"
nick cave and the bad seeds: "dig, lazarus, dig"
nick cave and the bad seeds: "night of the lotus eaters"

radiohead: "house of cards"
radiohead: "pyramid song"

leatherbag: "on down the line"

carly simon: "you're so vain" w/chinese captions

paul mccartney/wings: "too many people/big barn bed"

the strokes: "last nite"

spoon: "the underdog"
spoon: "i turn my camera on"

the truth

holy shit. i am currently watching/listening to the john stewart interview with jim cramer. i am hearing exactly what i've been thinking in my head out of the mouth of john stewart.

you don't generate profit by blowing up the house. that's the bubble mentality. don't buy into it. recognize it for what is and play by those rules. play by the rules of the shadow banking system and hopefully you won't get burned. either that, or invest your money in yogurt stands. those things are gold.

your redneck past

i missed it. i don't have cable and apparently i missed the undressing of the new century. jim cramer, who i was obsessed with early on in my education of stocks/finance, was on the daily show last night. now although john stewart is a funny man, he has a knack for pinpointing hypocracy within the media. he did it with crossfire, which was subsequently cancelled, and now he's doing with CNBC as a whole. i agree with his assessment to a point. yes- CNBC is not for the average investor who watches it for stock information. yes- CNBC was so far up the ass of corporate america that they could not see the fall coming and it brings their journalistic integrity into question.

but....come on. if you are watching jim cramer and following his advice to a tee without doing your due diligence and investigating where you're putting your money, you're an idiot. john stewart's right: this isn't a game. this is real. these losses are real. that's why i cannot understand for the life of me why people put their money in these stocks/mutual funds/hedge funds and never look at it again. or investigate who is in charge. who makes the calls. who handles the checks. information is power. you have to know where your money is and what is happening with it.

i have since recognized that jim cramer is an idiot. the person i listen to for stock advice now is the tiny man who lives in my sock drawer. his name is ted and i found him paddling on a bar of soap on buffalo bayou during a rainstorm. we started talking and he was looking for a place to stay. i suggested my sock drawer and he was fine with that as long as i fed him honey nut cheerios. he actually wades in the bowl of milk to eat the cheerios. it's really funny. but he's got great stock advice. like one time he told me: "i would never fetch a reindeer if i wasn't sure which way was north." brilliant. made thousands of dollars that day. another time he said: "it's not called bluffing if you're not wearing underwear." another thousand dollars. sometimes he talks of travelling and wants to get out, but i put a lock on the sock drawer so he's not going anyway. ah, ted.

more news from nowhere

"then a black girl with no clothes on danced across the room, we charted the progress of the planets around that boogie-wongie moon, i called her my nubian princess, i gave her some sweet-back bad-ass jive, i spent the next seven years between her legs pining for my wife."

-nick cave, "more news from nowhere," dig, lazarus, dig

the fact that i am getting into this album as much as i am is starting to tell me something. i feel like i've entered into the second phase of my life. this second phase didn't have a definitive beginning and i'm sure the next one won't either. it just happens. you wake up and see the world a little different. you have different opinions and your concerns are different as well. songs like "more news from nowhere" ring around in your head. leonard cohen's music. the concern for what is new and exciting (in the way of music, fashion, etc.) gives way to exploration of your own personality, your faults, your desires, your relationships. there's a calmness that is taking over me. the edges are sharper, but only used on rare occasions.

it's not something i can truly discuss within the text of this blog because it's not something i completely have a handle on yet. it's emerging and it's not even considered true fact yet. but i like it.

great little article/conversation about george lucas and steven spielberg discussing the raiders of the lost ark. lawrence kasdan is there too, but, really, who cares?

citi claims they made a profit and the market vomits happiness. let's see what happens through the rest of the week.

these are some really awful poses, but the morning show on 1560 the game is the best in houston. john and lance are freakin' hilarious. lance doing his uncle drayton impersonation and john calling people out. it's the best. i was listening this morning to them talking about sheriff blaylocks nachos at minute maid and uncle drayton giving away free foul balls. it was great.

seriously

no more auction block

there's no better feeling than doing something nice for someone you love. that's how i spent my weekend. well saturday, i worked all day. sunday i spent all day doing something nice. but saturday night was interesting. i was alone. my wife is out of town for the week and i had nothing to do. i didn't want to drink at all. so i drove down to get some coffee and decided to check out the bookstore over off of shepard and walabama. i saw some good stuff, but nothing i decided to buy. the new mojo magazine had a cover of nick cave and my mind got to thinking about his music.

but before i decided to expand on that, i thought i would look for cheaper books at the half price bookstore near montrose. i found a pretty good book by roger lowestein called origins of the crash. he's the same guy who wrote when genius failed about the spectacular death of long-term capital. so i got that book and looked around their used cd section for nick cave albums. didn't find any, so i went to soundwaves on montrose to find them there. didn't find them there either and that place has gotten way expensive. so i trucked it over to the new cactus records to look there and they didn't have any either. so i decided to call it a night, but before i went home, i went by target to see what i could find there. they had a sale on the john adams miniseries and i also got the watchmen book. but that's where i got the grand idea about what i wanted to do for my wife.

i won't divulge the details, but it's pretty sweet. i think she's going to love it when she gets home. to close up the nick cave story, i found my way to a website called secondspin.com and they had them there. i got let love in and nocturama.

anyway, pretty unusual weekend.

monkberry moon delight

paul mccartney's early stuff is pretty weird/good. they're strange little musical ideas that he doesn't always expand on, he just kind of introduces them and throws some crazy words around them and then that's it. his self titled and ram are great albums. and there's one track called big barn bed. nice.

all these amazon links, i need to charge them advertising.

lots of people have lost their jobs in the past few months. if you have a job, feel fortunate. i know three people who have been laid off. if you don't have a job and you don't mind getting sunburned, there are still a few corners left in houston to work. or just stand next to an atm. you know those people have money.

here's a review of the watchmen.

you know, sometimes rules are good. so they're trying to reinstitute a law that was in place like 80 years or something and then they dropped it and it took 10 years to have a depression. correlations do exist between responsibility and financial stability.

i actually have a link to this act from way back when. i can't find it, but it's back there somewhere. here's a new link to it.

i cannot believe there is a video for this song.

talkin' bout the smiling deathporn immortality blues

wow.

working 10 and 12 hour days gets a little tiring after a week. actually two weeks. here are some quick hits:

the arcade fire versus the flaming lips

i can't believe i was in iceland in may and now the entire country is bankrupt. here's the story of how it happened.

this will surely be a book i'm going to check out. and don't call me shirley. had to.

you realize that if stocks/the market is at 1996 levels, we have lost an entire decade of earnings. of course, those earnings were based on air/mirrors/smoke whatever. but an entire decade. wow.

anyway, got tons to do. seriously.

one horse town

this is an open letter to my body:

that's it body. you and me are finally on the same team. i know i've nurtured you and taken care of you. i took you to the beach and to the gym, where we turned you into something pretty sweet. but you know what i'm really talking about. it's not about those times to the beach or to the gym. it's about those times where i try to destroy you. you know those times, don't you? those times where i think i'm having fun and i think you can handle it, but then you and my brain get together and punish me like medieval times? those times?

well, that's it. no more. no mas. i'm turning in. throwin' in the white towel. laying down the flag. putting my sock in the air. that last one was an original of mine. that's right. i can't compete anymore. i finally realize that the last 9 years are finally over. the behavior i cherished and looked forward to is finally over. and the best part is, i'm ready. it should be over. it's time. i can't yell in people's faces anymore and expect them to be okay with it. i can't steal random objects from bars or people's houses and expect them to be okay with it. i certainly can't call people and speak in one unrecognizable syllable and expect them to understand me. but most of all, i can't get out of control and still be able to control the situation. that's the rub. the loss of control was the point from the very beginning. that's what it was about. losing control. not being responsible for what happened. not wanting to remember what happened. that was the main event. that's really why the whole thing started. you remember? you wanted to lose control. you wanted to do things you knew you shouldn't, but you sure wanted to, so you figured out a way to do them and feel okay about them. that was great. it was honestly, the most brilliant thing ever done on the planet. ever. and it worked. for a long time, it worked to perfection.

the thing is, though, it doesn't work anymore. and the reason it doesn't work anymore, is because i don't want to lose control. i don't want to do things that i shouldn't. i want to feel in control of everything. be responsible for the things i say and do. and no, it's not because i'm getting older and i'm married and all that crap. it's because i did it. and now, i'm done with it.

the best part of the weekend for me is sunday breakfast. i'll get up or my wife will, and we'll make breakfast and talk and watch our political shows. and then we'll go for a walk or go bike-riding. those things are why i work so hard during the week. it's to get to that moment. to experience a bowl of oatmeal with my wife on sunday morning. that's the whole thing. if i destroy myself, i don't get that moment. i don't the walk. i don't get the bike-ride. those things are robbed from me. and why are they robbed? because i thought it was more important to talk to someone about why the original star wars movie is better than empire strikes back until four in the morning. and it is by the way. look it up.

now body, i expect you to back me on this. i'm doing this for you. and my brain too, i guess. because his revenge is awful as well. but there will be times when i think the best way to relieve stress is whiskey and smoke. it's going to happen. so i'm going to need you to kick yourself whenever you feel that it's too strong. go ahead and kick yourself right in the ass. i won't mind. i'll then remember what's going on and right the ship.

but i'm writing this down today, so i can read it anytime i want. i can remember that this is what i want and this is what i need. this time, they're the same. it's going to be hard. but the reward will be more than enough. it's time to enjoy the whole thing in a different way.

i can't wait until sunday morning.

wilco, the album

june can't get here soon enough.

some days are better than others

today is not one of those days. are you ever convinced that you didn't sleep at all the night before? you know you did a little because you had a dream or something, but the rest of the night you remember lying there and thinking about why you can't sleep and how impossible it will be to ever go to sleep again? i had one of those nights.

the dow is having a great day too. it's getting close to buying season on the market. i still think we're in for 5,000 territory. i really think it's going to happen. that will be the signal to me that the market has bottomed out. i mean you could argue that we're there right now and i wouldn't tell you you were wrong. when the market loses half it's value in a year and a half, the bottom isn' too hard to see.

here are the world's most admired companies. not one of them is located on the island of grenada. i'm very disappointed in grenada. come on!

here's a history of our savings in the form of a graph.

it's liddy versus greenberg in the battle of most short-sighted incompetent ceo. AIG was basically supposed to insure the entire financial sector against a major economic downturn. turns out, they didn't deliver.

pitchfork reviews u2's new album. when i say "review" i should actually say destroys. that's probably more appropriate. i think u2 is just about done as far as being a cutting-edge band. in all honestly, i liked their last album, but it wasn't amazing. when you go back and listen to "the joshua tree," "achtung baby" and "zooropa" those albums are amazing. and then they stumbled big with "pop" and they really haven't recovered. it's time to pass the mantle to the next biggest band in the world: flight of the conchords.

here's the walkmen's website. check it out.

here come the astros

not really. this is going to be a long year for the home team. since it seems manny is going to sign with the dodgers, he's the last big piece to fall. and i watched an astros spring training game yesterday versus the braves and it was the greatest hour of the year thus far. so with all that being said, it's time for the 2009 baseball predictions. let's go:

National League
Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Houston Astros
5. Milwaukee Brewers
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

East
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies*
3. Florida Marlins
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Washington Nationals

West
1. Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

American League
Central
1. Minnesota Twins
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Chicago White Sox

East
1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Boston Red Sox*
3. New York Yankees
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Toronto Blue Jays

West
1. Anaheim Angels
2. Oakland Atheletics
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

*denotes wild card selection

so that's it. yes, the reds will surprise some people this year. yes, the yankees will surprise everyone and finish third. c.c. is not big time. burnett will get hurt and a-roid is in for a long year. also, the twins will continue to mystify everyone and continue winning the central, while in the national league west, manny isn't enough to get the dodgers past the diamondbacks. i think those young kids are finally going to put it together this year. and the home team, well, fourth place isn't that bad when you look at the pitching staff. the only way the astros move up this year and finish second or third is if mike hampton and russ ortiz both become comeback players of the year, kaz matsui is actually healthy and michael bourn can get on base. otherwise, look for bogusevic, sutton and johnson to get a call-up later in the year.

162 games. i'm ready.

frosted ambassador

this is from mish:

"Dear Mr. President, With All Due Respect ....

Dear Mr. President, I read your New Era $3.6 Trillion Budget Proposal. I also listened to your speech Tuesday night. You made a great campaign speech. However, the campaign is over. You won. And the reason you won is you offered hope as well as a promise of change.
With all due respect Mr. President, Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke are offering the same policies as President Bush and Secretary Paulson. Those policies are to bail out banks regardless of cost to taxpayers. Mr. President, it's hard enough to overlook Geithner's tax indiscretions. Mr. President, it is harder still. if not impossible, to ignore the fact that neither Geithner nor Bernanke saw this coming. Yet amazingly they are both cock sure of the solution. Even more amazing is the fact that solution changes every day.
With all due respect Mr. President, Geithner and Bernanke are a huge part of the problem, and no part of the solution and the sooner you realize that the better off this nation will be.
With all due respect Mr. President, your budget proposal is the same big government spending as we saw under President Bush. The only difference is you promised more spending and bigger government, while President Bush promised less government and less spending and failed to deliver on either count.With all due respect Mr. President, it is impossible to spend one's way out of a problem, when the problem is reckless spending.
With all due respect Mr. President, you and Congress want to force banks to lend when banks (by not lending) are acting responsibly for the first time in a decade. Mr, President can you please tell us who banks are supposed to lend to? Do we need any more Home Depots? Pizza Huts? Strip malls? Nail salons? Auto dealerships? What Mr. President? What? And why should banks be lending when unemployment is rising and lending risks right along with it?
With all due respect Mr. President, we were hoping your administration would not carry on the war mongering policies of your predecessor. Instead we see amazingly that you Seek $75.5 Billion More for Wars in 2009. Mr. President, do we really need another $75 billion for wars? Was there nothing in the military budget that could be cut?
With all due respect Mr. President, The United States spends more on its military budget than the next 45 highest spending countries in the world combined; The United States accounts for 48 percent of the world's total military spending; The United States spends on its military 5.8 times more than China, 10.2 times more than Russia, and 98.6 times more than Iran. Isn't that enough Mr. President?
With all due respect Mr. President, the downfall of every great nation in history has been unsustainable military expansion. Mr. President, the US can no longer afford to be the world's policeman. You act as if we can. Mr. President, can you please tell us how we can afford this spending?
With all due respect Mr. President, Fannie Mae Reported A Fourth Quarter Loss Of $25.2 Billion. Can you please tell us where you draw the line on taxpayer bailouts of Fannie Mae? Freddie Mac? AIG? Mr. President is there a line anywhere, on anything? If there is, we would appreciate knowing where it is.
With all due respect Mr. President, how can you talk about reducing the budget deficit while proposing the biggest budget in history?
With all due respect Mr. President, how is it possible to talk about reducing health care costs while proposing to increase the health care budget?
With all due respect Mr. President, you have talked about "hard choices". Can you please tell us what hard choices you have made other than to throw money at every problem? Sure a few programs have changed but Bush orchestrated the biggest Medicaid/Medicare package in history and you upped it. You upped military spending. You criticized McCain for cutting programs that amount to peanuts, and all you can find to cut out of the budget is peanuts.
With all due respect Mr. President, your "Era of New Responsibility" is nothing more than a continuation of the Bush administration Era of Irresponsibility. Mr. President, we hoped for more and deserved more. Yet, behind the charade of campaign messages of hope and change, we essentially see the same fiscal irresponsibility and misguided policies as before. Oh sure Mr. President, your budget priorities have shifted a bit, sadly the irresponsible spending did not."

it covers the hillside

i don't watch a lot of movies, but the ones i do, i select carefully. you won't find me watching eddie murphy in "daddy day care 11: the return of the fishsticks." i know that movie sucks and i'm not going to waste my time watching it. but even the ones i select carefully can be let downs, like the darjeeling limited. i was so excited to see it and it was awful. or the good shepherd. i actually saw that a long time ago and don't know why i thought of it, but i'm glad i did because it was awful too.

so it's great when you see a movie and the credits are running and you don't want to talk. you don't to say a word because that means it's over. this thing that you were experiencing is over and you have to let it go when you don't want to. we watched "into the wild" this past friday night and i could not leave that movie alone. it's the story of christopher mccandless a.k.a. "alexander supertramp." he's a young kid who's just graduated from college and he goes off on this adventure to find truth and meaning. the film is extremely inspiring and heartfelt. the kid really has no idea what he's doing, but everywhere he goes, he influences people in a positive way.

there's one quote that sticks with me from the movie: "happiness is only real when shared."

if you get a chance and you're watching the dark knight for the fourth time, put this movie on instead.

shelter from the storm

president obama gave a speech last night. here is the transcript. i've read through most of it and i agree with the assessment that recent ideological visions have favored short-term profits over long-term development. this is an american phenomenom. it wasn't just the goverment. it was all of us. but how do we fix our debt as people? we stop spending, we cut back. we try to earn more money from our employer, either through working overtime or getting an extra job. these same rules will have to apply to our government. they'll have to scale back spending or reallocate to satisfy spending needs. they'll have to raise more money, that means taxes. either that or print more money and debase the currency, which i don't think they'll do unless they have to. so i agree with obama about long-term planning, it's needed, it's necessary. but i don't understand how he's going to cut the decifit and give people a tax cut. i hope he can. i hope he's got something up his sleeve and is able to pull this off. i want to live in a country that has a plan again. that has a vision.

businessweek has a write-up of the speak and the main points and analysis. here it is.

charlie rose is at it again. here he is with morgan stanley's john mack.

ukraine's ratings cut by S&P.

mish on bernanke's hide and seek.

top 10 brands to invest in from yahoo finance.

michael cera is apparently on board for the arrested development movie. my dream is coming true.

here's a concert review of blitzen trapper in chicago. i love furr but it's slightly scattered. if those guys can focus on one sound, they're going to make some freakin' amazing albums. hopefully they come to texas, other than SXSW.

banking on a myth

risk. that's the measure. that's the key. how risky is something? if i make this bet, what are the chances of x,y,z happening? they have models for these things. but as i've said before, the outcome of a model is not always based in reality. the outcome could very well be logical, but practical, no. these models were behind the fall of long-term capital and they've been the reason so many people were surprised when their CDOs started falling. people actually think they can quantify risk. it's impossible. risk can be measured given all known inputs, but therein lies the fallacy, you cannot possibly include all unknown inputs. they're unknown! it's not impossible. so risk can be squeezed down to make you sleep better at night, but it's still there because you didn't factor in what would happen when these CDOs failed on top of all the credit default swaps that were lingering with them. i'm going off on this tangent because of this article. read it here. it's great.

so what is a credit default swap? real quick: let's say you want to bet on the yankees to win the world series but you're not sure they're going to win. so you bet five on the yankees and four on the astros. so i've collected nine dollars from you. now the yankees win. you want your five dollars. well i don't have it. because i took that nine dollars and only kept one. i invested the eight dollars in mortgage securities, which i can't sell now to cover the bet because they're worthless. on top of that, i used the mortgage securities to obtain loans using the mortgage securities as collateral. now the banks are calling in their loans because my collateral is worthless. so i owe for the yankees, i owe to the banks and the worst part is i took this bet for every person i know. i'm over-leveraged and have no means to pay back the credit default swap or the loans. that's what happened to AIG, Lehmans and Bear Stearns.

bill gross of pimco has some power. here he is answering questions.

apparently american express is paying people to pay off their balances.

the paths to repudiation.

a daily show clip is always worth mentioning.

robert smith is hating on radiohead. i've got two words for robert smith: less is more. dude, you're fifty. let's cut the pancake and teenage angst and let's start singing about early dinners and the weather channel. please.

murder in the city

"always remember there is nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."
-the avett brothers

ditty diego

from the article yesterday by james quinn: here are the main points from the article, excellent, read the whole thing if you have the time.

We know that Congress is corrupt and in the pocket of lobbyists. They show no courage to make necessary unpopular decisions because they won’t be re-elected. The founding fathers envisioned representatives who did their civic duty for a short time and then went back to their real profession. Almost 200 out of 535 members of Congress are lawyers and lifetime politicians. This explains much about our predicament. Term limits would inject our leaders with a dose of courage. Maybe they would do what was best for the country if they knew that they would only be in Washington for six years.

Outlawing lobbyists and PACs would remove the buying and selling of votes in Congress. We must remove the corruption from Washington DC.

The PAYGO rules that were allowed to expire in 2002 must be reinstituted. These rules would not allow new spending initiatives without an equal cut in other spending. These rules allow Congressmen to pretend to have a backbone and say no to constituent demands.

The banks that are insolvent will need to be nationalized, investors wiped out, and good assets sold off to good banks. Nouriel Roubini lays out a logical scenario. The sooner we purge the system of its bad debt, the sooner we can get this economy on a positive track.

Dr. John Hussman has a solution for the foreclosure disaster that would not stick the U.S. taxpayer with the bill. Banks could write down the mortgage balance but receive a PAR (property appreciation right) back from the homeowner. The idea is discussed in more detail here.

The U.S. carmakers need to be restructured within a pre-packaged bankruptcy. They want another $39 billion of your tax dollars. No more taxpayer funds can be wasted on these bloated pigs.

A truly non-partisan commission appointed by the President with the power to put forth a comprehensive plan to restructure Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security for an up or down vote by Congress is the only way to create a viable future. Congress must be forced to confront this issue.

John McCain’s moderate approach of allowing a path to citizenship seems like the best immigration plan. Most came here to try and live a better life. If they have committed crimes or don’t follow the prescribed path to citizenship, then they need to be expelled from our country. We need to encourage foreign professionals to immigrate to America with incentives, if necessary.

If 50% of the $1.4 trillion annual military related budget was redirected to debt reduction, energy independence, and infrastructure rebuilding, we would actually get a positive return on our tax contribution. Our military is supposed to defend our country, not invade sovereign nations.

A “Manhattan Project” to develop new energy sources which would eliminate the $400 billion per year that we send overseas for foreign oil. The number of high paying jobs that could be created by building nuclear power plants, wind farms, and converting vehicles to natural gas would be in the hundreds of thousands.

A tax system that eliminated all the preferences and loopholes for corporations and individuals while lowering rates would be fairer. Maybe even our Treasury Secretary could do his taxes correctly. Congress and lobbyists use the tax system to push their agendas. A flat tax or replacing the income tax with a national sales tax are other possible options.

The Federal Reserve needs to be abolished. A currency backed by gold or a basket of precious metals would restrict what Congress could spend. This would save us from ourselves. The dollar has lost 93% of its purchasing power since Nixon closed the gold window in 1971 and the National Debt has gone from $389 billion to $10.8 trillion, a 2,800% increase in 38 years. Politicians will spend your money if they are given the chance. Let’s not give them the chance.

night of the lotus eaters

"get ready to shield yourself." - nick cave, "night of the lotus eaters" dig, lazarus, dig

i've got some goodies today. it's lucky friday. have you noticed people starting to say, "happy friday!" like it's a holiday? what is that? friday is not a holiday. it's a freaking day of the week. let's not start turning ordinary, mundane events, like a day, into a holiday. let's calm down people. the weekend isn't that great that we have to kick it off every week with a holiday.

anyway, check it. here is a great article by james quinn, former comptroller general of the united states. he says our current levels of asset acquisition by debt is not sustainable. who knew? "hey i'd like a new car, house, cell phone, television, i'm going to have four kids and my husband and i both make $15,000 a year with no college education. and i'd like that now!" see people, that's the definition of unsustainable. look to your left, now look to your right, you see it all around you.

here is nouriel roubini and mark zandi on charlie rose.

and finally, here's mish's take on nationalization.

what is everyone's opinion on nationalization? does everyone understand that nationalization does not have to be a permanent thing? you can nationalize a bank, re-organize, kick out the idiots who were in control, make it profitable again and sell it. that can happen. also, for everyone who keeps complaining that obama is going to turn this country into a socialistic society needs to freakin' wake up. this is a democracy. obama is not king. we can elect a new president in less than four years. he's not a freakin' dictator that can change our entire democratic system without our say-so. so freakin' wake up!

let me hear it all three or four of you that read this.

under pressure

i'm out on engagement for the next two months practically, so my entries will be brief and infrequent.

mish has some good stuff on the nationalization train.

roubini likes the idea of nationalization.

here are the details on obama's mortgage fix plan from marketwatch.

oil near $35.00.

that's all for today.

like dylan in the movies

i haven't finished my last batch of books, but i'm already ready to get moving on the next group. here are the ones in my sights:

1. the black swan: the impact of the highly improbably by: nassim taleb
2. origin of wealth: evolution, complexity and the radical remaking of economics by: eric beinhocker
3. stabilizing an unstable economy by: hyman minsky
4. the general theory of employment, interest and money by: john maynard keynes
5. short history of financial euphoria by: john kenneth galbraith

that's my short list.

here's the top 10 most forgettable presidents.

after visiting iceland on the honeymoon, i think norway would be where i want to go next.

i'm excited about the watchmen movie. don't know why. but here's a free video game online.

favorite waste of time

the great st. valentine race for love is over. we had dinner at bistro don camillo and then we went to a show at radio music theatre. i first went to radio music theatre with the youth group from ort. that must have been at least 12 years ago and i loved it then and it was great again. if you live in houston, you should really check this place out. funny, funny stuff.

bill moyers always has excellent interviews. here's one on the emerging banking oligarchy.

little bit of re-learning needed for the nationalization of banks.

don't eat the peanut butter.

sing another song, boys

phase two is underway. finally. month long funk is officially funked. hear the good news.

in other news: bologna is still gross.

halloweenhead

"it leads me through the streets at night,

that's alright, i just watch, i don't go inside.

it's all the same old shit again,

i've got a halloweenhead!"

-ryan adams

pretty weak lyric, right? hear it in the context of the song and you'll dig it. enough to type it at night on your blog. what? only i do that? whatever.

sound of silver

i ate an apple today for breakfast. my teeth are aching. is that normal? it's like a good ache though, like the skin of the apple cleaned my mouth. what's that old saying, an apple a day keeps the dentist away? right? yep, that's it.

"merging two zombie banks is like have two drunks trying to help each other to stand up."- Nouriel Roubini

speaking of roubini, here's what he has to say about nationalization:

"So why is the US government temporizing and avoiding doing the right thing, i.e. take over the insolvent banks? There are two reasons. First, there is still some small hope and a small probability that the economy will recover sooner than expected, that expected credit losses will be smaller than expected and that the current approach of recapping the banks and somehow working out the bad assets will work in due time. Second, taking over the banks – call is nationalization or, in a more politically correct way, “receivership” – is a radical action that requires most banks be clearly beyond pale and insolvent to be undertaken. Today Citi and Bank of America clearly look like near-insolvent and ready to be taken over but JPMorgan and Wells Fargo do not yet. But with the sharp rise in delinquencies and charge-off rates that we are experiencing now on mortgages, commercial real estate and consumer credit in a matter of six to twelve months even JPMorgan and Wells will likely look as near-insolvent …

…So while Plan A is now underway today’s very negative market response to this Treasury plan suggest that it will not fly. Markets were expecting a more clear plan but also a plan that would bail out shareholders and creditors of insolvent banks. Unfortunately that is not politically and fiscally feasible. It is thus time to start to think and plan ahead for for Plan N (“nationalization” of insolvent banks)."

so the stimulus was passed in the senate, soon to be ratified again in the house. here is how to know if it is actually working.

mish is not happy with bernanke.

if your a muppets fan, this article is like christmas dinner. what? check it out.

always something there to remind me

it's all stimulus talk, all the time. great graphical breakdown in the washington post. amazing graph. check it out here.

mish has got an breakdown and analysis.

geitner wants to bring in private investment as part of his financial rescue plan. it was supposed to be announced today, but was delayed until tomorrow.

i had a greatly successful weekend. i acquired four harry nilsson albums including: pandemonium shawdow show, aerial ballet, pussycats and knnillssonn. thanks to randy for pointing me in the right direction on those. i plan on acquiring three more tonight and tomorrow night.

i was eating crab last night and i tried breaking into this crab leg, like full on force and i ended up stabbing the underneath part of my thumbnail and it's really sore. seriously, those crabs are well protected. we have to bang a freakin' hammer on them to open them up. and then slather them with butter and eat them. what eats crabs besides us? can bears open them up? i know birds have no shot. and sharks might just swallow it whole. i don't know.

the grammys were last night. i taped it and then fast forwarded (yeah, VHS baby!) through the entire thing to see radiohead play. it was pretty cool. it was just thom and johnny playing with the entire USC marching band. my wife and i had the same thought at the same time, "you know each one of those band nerds (i was one) is creaming their pants playing with radiohead right now." when a husband and wife both generate that thought at the exact same time, "wow" is all you can say.

ballroom blitz

it's getting deep in here people. as milhouse would say, "we're through the looking glass." i've been doing some reading on fractional reserve banking and i've found some serious stuff. here is a great article on the topic.

pay particular attention to the multiplier affect shown towards the bottom. here is gist:

"Let's assume that the Fed buys $10,000,000 of U.S. Treasury bills from some "approved" government bond dealer (a small group), say Shearson, Lehman on Wall Street. The Fed writes out a check for $10,000,000, which it gives to Shearson, Lehman in exchange for $10,000,000 in U.S. securities. Where does the Fed get the $10,000,000 to pay Shearson, Lehman? It creates the money out of thin air. Shearson, Lehman can do only one thing with the check: deposit it in its checking account at a commercial bank, say Chase Manhattan. The "money supply" of the country has already increased by $10,000,000; no one else's checking account has decreased at all. There has been a net increase of $10,000,000.

But this is only the beginning of the inflationary, counterfeiting process. For Chase Manhattan is delighted to get a check on the Fed, and rushes down to deposit it in its own checking account at the Fed, which now increases by $10,000,000. But this checking account constitutes the "reserves" of the banks, which have now increased across the nation by $10,000,000. But this means that Chase Manhattan can create deposits based on these reserves, and that, as checks and reserves seep out to other banks (much as the Rothbard Bank deposits did), each one can add its inflationary mite, until the banking system as a whole has increased its demand deposits by $100,000,000, ten times the original purchase of assets by the Fed. The banking system is allowed to keep reserves amounting to 10 percent of its deposits, which means that the "money multiplier" – the amount of deposits the banks can expand on top of reserves – is 10. A purchase of assets of $10 million by the Fed has generated very quickly a tenfold, $100,000,000 increase in the money supply of the banking system as a whole."

that is brilliant.