dance yrself clean

i think that's what i'll try tonight.

failure is an option

i did not pass BEC.

honestly, i'm stunned. i thought i had it. now i have to take it again. with two more sections that i still have not passed.

this process is soul-sucking.

world sick

i believe i sent this link to most everyone i know. maybe i forgot some folks, so i posted it. the volcano in question is located at the southern tip of iceland. when we went on our honeymoon, we stayed in reykjavik, mostly. we went into the interior on one trip and that was to the glacier langjokull. we actually snowmobiled up that glacier. it was the quietest moment of my life. it was the only moment of my life where i felt like i was not on earth.

anyway, iceland is an incredible place. for more interesting facts on iceland, go here. while you're there, please disclose all federal offenses.

the fix is in

elbow continues to make me sweat.

"the fix is in, the odds that i got were delicious,
the fix is in, the jockey was cocky and vicious."

the family gardener

this is one of my favorite moments in the jeff tweedy solo tour DVD:

go here if you are curious.

excuses

with all the great albums coming out this year, one is being unjustly overlooked. the big echo by the morning benders is a freakin' great album. it was produced by one of the dudes from grizzly bear. check out the first track and it's overall beach boys tone. promises, the next track on the album, has a video. go here. you will not be let down by checking out this album. add it the list of great albums from 2010.

don't forget the flowers

this is an amaryllis flower. at my last audit, i was standing outside a building taking pictures of this flower to show my wife and the owner of company, who is like 80, i should say owner and founder of the company comes over and starts talking to me about the flower and he tells me to take three! he gives me his pocketknife and says take it and leave it with the secretary when i'm done and take three of them. that was awesome. what is funny is that i actually went to a banquet honoring this man a few months before hand. he is a kind dude.

anyway, enjoy the flower.

remember the alamo

last night i had a dream that for some reason we had to reenact the battle of the alamo. now most reenactments are staged, where no one really gets hurt or killed. this one, however, was going to be a real, brutal reenactment of the battle. i have no clue how i was picked. i just remember preparing the day before the battle was to take place and looking around going, "tomorrow, i'm going to die at the alamo." and everybody seemed to be okay with it. there were just a few of us, obviously, like the real battle. one was andy bernard from the office. he was there.

so the day of the battle, i called my mom and told her goodbye. she was upset about what was going to happen to me, but didn't question why the hell the battle was taking place in the first place. that's what makes me think it had to be done for some serious reason between the u.s. and mexico, like we had to do it again for mexico to feel better about itself or something. i don't know. but she was sad.

so they bused us over there to the alamo. now, mind you, this is modern day san antonio. so there are buildings all around the alamo. big ones. and hotels and shops and all sorts of crap. they bus us right up to the alamo and let us out and start putting us into place. my place was on top of the alamo, the actual cathedral part. i get up there and look out at about 5,000 mexican troops, who i believe were normal people like me. i started chanting U.S.A! U.S.A!, which got the crowd going, but i felt stupid afterward because i should have been chanting something about texas. that made more sense.

now if you have read this far, you will disappointed because i woke up. just like that. no battle. no start to the battle. nothing. i woke up before a single shot was fired. i had already picked out who i was going to shoot first and i woke up. i was so seriously worried about how i was going to die at the alamo that i think my brain let me off the hook and didn't make me worry anymore. it was terrifying.

that was my battle at the alamo.

here is pitchfork's review of the national's new album.

here is the avclub.

counting only blue cars

that's right. that is a dishwalla song reference. so, tell me all your thoughts on God.

dr. dog was a great show. the concert going experience is a strange one. you're surrounded by a large group of people who are their for a common thing: to see the show. they like the band, presumably. but everyone has their own experience. i tend to get wrapped up in my head. i start to associate all songs, lyrics, sounds with my life and it takes on supreme resonance. sometimes the experience is more than i want and i'm affected more than i want. but most of the time, it's the right balance. that and i need to sit down more than the average fan. standing around in a closed group of people, not my thing.

you guys been paying attention to greece? it's still going on.

this is a great post regarding hyperinflation and the causes in post WWI germany and recently zimbabwe and how different those scenarios are from our current status.

here is 10 ways the economy is built on fraud.

the amazing month of may begins with releases of the new pornographers and broken social scene. next week is the national and soon after that is lcd soundsystem.

terrible love

the live version of "terrible love" is outstanding. not sure what happened to the balls of the recorded version.

"it's a terrible love and i'm walking with spiders." i have no idea what the literalness of that statement means, but it resounds quite deep everytime i hear it.

i only wear blue

dr. dog is tonight. boo yes.

i have another exam in four weeks. the madness continues. but without the madness, my life would be a lot less interesting.

i'm so tired

i've studied and studied and studied. i'm ready for this test. don't know if i'll pass, but i've acquired a bit of knowledge that if i don't pass, i'll be ready to take it again soon. i'm taking regulation at the end of may, so that will be three of the four taken, with only financial still hanging out there. i've left the hardest two for the last. don't know how smart that is.

but if i can pass business tomorrow and have two under my belt this early in the game, that would be a major coup for me. i'd have the rest of the year to pass the final two. actually, i'd have until august 2011, when my audit credit expires, but i want to pass them all this year. i feel like 2010 is going to be a good year for me. i've made some major changes this year and it feels like forever since i've been this productive. define productive i suppose. but i'm looking forward to tomorrow. i enjoy the mental rigor of taking these tests. i don't enjoy missing out on beautiful days like today though. i could have ridden my bike all day and picked flowers. seriously. but, i'll do that tomorrow after the test.

if you aren't enjoying seeing goldman sachs suffer, than you probably don't really understand the situation. so i'll boil it down for everyone: let's say i sold you a car. i knew the car was a piece of shit. but i didn't tell you. i told you it was in great shape. so after you bought it, i made a huge side bet that the car was going to break down. and it did. you suffered. i made out huge. that's what goldman sachs did. read the emails. they knew exactly what they were doing. how the public hasn't torn down this company only shows that we either don't understand or don't care. and neither one is acceptable.

this isn't the first time that the government has had to battle a large financial institution. andrew jackson took on the 2nd bank of the united states and won. here's that story.

being there by wilco is year by year becoming my favorite album of all time.

high violet

for those you the national enthusiasts, please refer to the NYT website by april 27th to stream the new album.

you're welcome.

in other news, hot dogs still taste like wasted ass.

more than words

today is my two wedding anniversary. we went to san antonio this past weekend and celebrated. we went to the alamo and the riverwalk.

but the most awesome thing was the botanical gardens in san antonio. it was freakin' amazing. i could have spent all day there. easily.

anyway, that's two years in the books. she is now my longest relationship ever, surpassing my high school girlfriend who was in first place. not anymore. move over.

here's to two more. and two more. and two more. and two more. than three. than two more.

sec sues goldman sachs!!!

ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!

taxman

the taxman has cometh and the taxman has goneth. my days of working 10 hour days and saturdays are over. that's right baby. over. my life is back.

the astros won today by the way. they started 0-8. that's amazing. it's going to be a long summer.

i saw the white rabbits this week. they were orgasmic. that's actually a bit extreme, but they were really, really good. those guys are going to be huge. and they seemed so young. that's strange at concerts. to listen and really get into some band that's younger than you.

listening to the new MGMT right now. not bad.

wet cement

two things:


saw "the reader" on friday. awesome, awesome film. highly recommend it.


saw a band called the sideshow tramps. sounds like they'd be totally lame, but this band was fun and totally wacky in their presentation. and this was at a crawfish festival. i don't eat crawfish so i had a corndog. it's been ages since i've had a corndog. it was perfection.


other than that, studying a lot.


oh last night, i almost turned into a phil collins robot at HEB. what is a phil collins robot? it's a robot that goes around singing phil collins in a robotic monotone voice obviously. this happened in the frozen foods area by the milk. i began singing and the danger was mounting, but it turned out okay. i turned back into myself.

i learned the hard way

if any of you chaps is having a shindig and wants to throw down some soul crunching soul moving music, check out sharon jones and the dap kings. love their style man.

astros lose the opener. somehow, i knew.

i wonder how long i could get by on four hours sleep. probably two/three days. then i would collapse. it's something i would like to try at some point. i bet i could get a lot done.

the last days of disco

it's good friday. last day of eating fish on friday. i'm sure i'll eat fish again on fridays, but with a side of chicken and beef for dessert.

there's a top fed official who wants to break up the banks. this guy is something. i totally dig his style. he's the lone voice of reason amongst the federal reserve officials.

here's his story.

paul krugman disagrees.

here is the history of the toothbrush and toothpaste. of course it was the chinese who invented it. love those chinese.

i passed the audit section of the cpa exam. this weekend i'll be studying endlessly for the business section, which i take at the end of april. i really hope i pass that one too. to have 50% of the test done, with still basically 14 months to accomplish the other two section is a big deal. that would put me in a really good spot. but either way, i feel really good about passing. it gives me a lot of confidence and i'm going to need it because each section gets harder and harder. i wish i could pass each one the first time. man, that would be great.

"but here i go again, wishin' never solved a problem. if you wanna get it big time, you better get it, get it big time."

not a great quote, but i really dig the song by yeasayer.

i'll come running

i went running yesterday and my entire body feels like goo. gelatinalized goo.

i got my business cds in the mail. time to hang up the tunes and hang down(?) the monotanized female business voice that feeds me endless amounts of information. yes!

actually this weekend i have a ton of studying to do. i think i'll do it. and i think i'll eat some eggs too.

another day

"it's just another day."

paul said it best. it's just another day. another day.

i passed the audit section of the cpa exam.

white rabbits and dr. dog coming to houston in april. am i excited? yes. am i going? yes. will i continue to ask and answer questions from myself? probably. no, definitely.

hey joe

well said mr. vice president. well said.

on down the line

health care has passed people. let us rejoice. now let's get out of iraq, get out of afghanistan, close down wall street and give us all candy.

alex chilton. the dude invented power pop. if power pop sounds lame, that's because no one does it like alex chilton. he took rock and added life and soul to it and with chris bell made it beautiful and touch and shady. he deserves a place on the rock history mount rockmore with bob dylan, john lennon and mickey dolenz. i love mickey dolenz.

uh-oh, love comes to town

"if you were really smart, you'd know what to do."

it's about to come a gully-washer here in houston.

i ate two chicken biscuits for breakfast and lunch. brunch. lunkfest. either one is a wonderful new word. born of laziness.

this weekend has its promises.

crystalized

this is the first week i have felt good in about a month. that sickness took me down hard for like the whole month of february and some of march. i feel strong again. i've been getting up early and going to the gym. i'm dying at like 3 in the afternoon, but it's worth it because i have tons of energy in the morning.

i saw a concert last weekend in austin: legs against arms. they kicked raw ass. man that was fun. full of energy. the next day we stumbled across a kite festival in zilker park. we walked the greenbelt until we came to the park and then just walked around the kites. i've never seen so many kites. it was incredible. we had a blast. i was still feeling a little crappy, but that was the last day. it was the sunshine burned it out of me. i love the warmth.

did anybody else see jon stewart doing his glenn beck impersonation for the entire 1st half of the show last night? it was brilliant. totally f-in' brilliant. check it here.

has anybody heard of vertical farms? these pictures are amazing. check them out.

centerfield

the 2010 baseball season is upon us and it's time for my predictions. this is going to be easy because i don't see anything changing. the cardinals will win the NL Central, the phillies will win the NL East and the rockies will win the NL West. the wild card from the NL will be the dodgers. same as last year but with the rockies and dodgers flip-flopping.

in the AL, the yankees will win the AL East, the twins will win the AL Central and the rangers will win the AL west. the tampa bay rays will win the AL wild card. that is a little different than last year. i think the rangers will be the surprise team this year, but mostly everything will be the same as last year. not a lot has changed to make anything different. the tigers will be a little worse without curtis granderson, the angels will be a little worse witout john lackey, plus they're getting a little old. the mariners will be a little better with cliff lee. the reds should be a little better with some seasoning. the NL Central promises to be comedicly bad. the most excitement will probably come from the possibility of another phillies-yankees world series. the same two teams have never, ever met in the world series in back-to-back years in my lifetime. it's never happened. so that will the biggest storyline.

i can't wait. as for the home team, they're going to be a little better i think this year. the rotation is younger and should be stronger. the bullpen is a little tighter. our offense is still pretty pathetic, but our defense has improved enough that i think we'll win 80 games. that's my prediction: 80-82. another losing year, but we're moving in the right direction.

while you wait for the others

so....who's watching the watchers?

we have major accounting firms not doing their job (i'm looking right at you ernst and young!)

we have credit agencies giving bogus credit scores to garbage assets (i'm looking right at you moodys!)

these are the agencies we depend on for their adherence to rules and compliance. we cannot trust them. therefore, we cannot trust anyone. it's all made of fiction and gorilla dust. all of it. something doesn't look right, move it off the balance sheet. the audit firm won't mind, we pay them millions. they'll do what we say.

i hesitate to link this article, but i have to. some of you (actually the only guy who reads this agrees with me) don't want to believe what's really going on. that everything you know and rely on is made of crumbs and it won't take more than a collective sneeze to blow it away. really. the game is rigged. do your best as a person. have as much fun as you can. nothing is going with you in the next life. don't be greedy. let it go. but realize what you're up against and who you're playing with.

republicans=democrats=republicans=democrats and on and on and on and on.... no one has your best interest in mind except you.

someday i will treat you good

mark linkous killed himself the other day. he was basically sparklehorse. apparently he walked down a street, pulled out a shotgun and shot himself in the heart. must have been in a lot of pain.

i remember being young. i remember listening to "someday i will treat you good." that made me buy vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot. i bought it. i listened to it. to this day, i still am blown away by the feeling the album generates. it's beautiful. it's haunting. it's sad. it's hopeful. it's disjointed. i love it.

i'm sorry he was in such great pain. i hope he's feeling better now.

something

man, i had something hilarious to post about something. now i can't remember. it was going to be groundbreaking.

i'm almost 80% after my battle with whatever took me down this week. this was the worst i've felt since i had the flu, which i was certain i had the flu but didn't. still tons of coughing and lots of just tiredness, but trust me, it's way better than where i was monday/tuesday. i think i shaved my head too soon. i usually do it in march or april. this year i did it january, when it was still freakin' cold. that's my theory. i needed hair.

giving up the gun

every picture i see of jim bunning, the man looks insane. especially walking into his "senator's only elevator." that was so crazy, it was brilliant.

niall ferguson, who is obsessed with the current/potential long decline of america, likens it to thomas cole's paintings known as "the course of the empire."

neil degrasse tyson is everywhere. i saw him on the daily show last night. i saw him rachel maddow last night. he's the guy who took down pluto from planet to dwarf. pbs is actually airing a special tonight about that same thing. i suggest it.

the acts of man

the new midlake album is so bad. it pains me to say it, but it totally sucks. it sits on one feel the entire time and it never leaves it. every song sounds the same and each new one brings about new levels of crap. don't waste your time. move along people. nothing to see here.

going the distance

the test is over. this part, for now. i'm taking the weekend off from studying. i'm going to lay it all out there at the chili cookoff with my best friend and my wife. i honestly cannot wait. i'm literally sitting still, not waiting.

there was a sign on the desk where you check in before the test. it read: "you only fail when you stop trying." totally lame, but man, oh man, is it true. i could fail this thing and be upset and get bent out of shape, but that doesn't get me anywhere. i have to keep studying. keep trying. and finally, it will happen. i know it will.

"gonna fly now, gonna fly now...." everything comes back to rocky.

wednesday morning

i take the audit section. wish me luck!!

i also had my ticket dismissed today. so it's the start of a good week. i plan on keeping it going.

benjamin in china

all of the people who read this blog know my cat. his name is benjamin and before he started to go crazy, he was the coolest cat ever. he's still cool, but the annoying level is growing. anyway, all of you know him and love him and recognize him from this picture. the only thing is, that's not him. i found this picture on a website i frequent and freaked out because this cat looks exactly like benjamin. i mean exactly. it has to be him. i guess it doesn't have to be him.

so either there is another cat who looks exactly like my cat or benjamin got out of the house one night, caught a flight to china and found someone to take this picture of him and got back in bed with me and my wife before we woke up in the morning. the latter does seem more likely when you spell it out. i just love the fact he was enjoying his trip enough to have someone take a picture of him while he was there. great thinking bear.

the courage of others

i pray i have the courage to face the evil that will come my way.

st. valentine's day

what a weekend people. friday night, saw avatar. it was the most visually stunning event i have ever participated in. the colors, the scenes, the action is all in your face and vivid and beautiful. i highly recommend it.

saturday we had dinner at reef and saw wonderful at the alley. dinner was great. the play was stupid and terrible and possibly the worst play ever. possibly and likely.

sunday i studied and then the wife and i put together this epic dinner that took like three and a half hours. the dinner was pretty good, but it was most fun making it together.

now i'm studying all week and night and all week again. all weekend. all the time. i'm passing that bastard this time. i'm doing it!!!

the horizon is a beltway

"the horizon is a beltway that we may never cross
the tops of buildings tremble like children lorn and lost
the stain runs deep it's deeper than the blood upon the cross
the horizon is a beltway that we may never cross."

- the low anthem

rain on

"are you quite certain love?"

over fire island

things are about to get interesting. if greece falls, there could some real fireworks out there. and i'm wondering how long before we start to smell the smoke?

the bailout of greece and the end of the euro

a greek crisis is coming to america

EU leaders promise to keep greece in check

greece: the PIGS fight back

after reading these articles, you start to get the same feeling: people are nervous. we all know what the ending of the story is for every one of us. that only leaves one question: when will the end come? we live our lives certain ways thinking the end is far or near. countries do the same thing. is the day of debt reckoning here? probably not yet. but the future/present never seemed so confusing.

girls, pts.1 & 2

harry rag

i have been sick for five days now. my ears are clogged and everything sounds like i'm underwater.

no matter.

this still does not change the fact that the kinks are severly underrated and underappreciated. kinks albums, i'm coming for you. all of you. actually all of you before lola, i think after that you kind of suck.

smoke detector

rilo kiley is so lame, but so hot and tight at the same time. i listen to it for two or three songs and love it. and then i hate it. and then i want to make love to it. and then i want get some space from it.

i love you jenny lewis.

no i don't.

love like a sunset, pt. 2

"come in number 51, your time is up."

the fed as a giant counterfeiter. great article that clearly spells out the inflation based fiat system of money we have.

the website that article comes from is http://www.mises.org/. i highly recommend checking into this website daily for great reads and articles on economic and political topics.

"tu ne cede malis."

apparently chris dodd is going go out on top, by killing the financial reform bill so he can go work with the very same financial institutions it tries to wrangle in.

paul krugman looks north to the boring canadiens as a great example of how to base our financial policies.

"i don't believe in beatles. i just believe in me. yoko and me. that's reality."

books of moses

yo la tengo was great. i can't shake the feeling though that i don't belong at concerts anymore. i'll still go, oh yeah, i'll still go and some i do feel like i belong. like when i went to blind pilot and the low anthem. but at yo la tengo we were standing around like 16 year old kids who all had the same haircut, all moved the same way and all attached amazing importance to every movement of sound. i know this because i used to be those kids. but now i'm older and i like going, but i don't like the standing, i don't like the crampness, i don't like the screaming. i need a personal performance in my garage. when i get a garage.

there was one girl there who overheard me talking to pete about how the first band sucked. and she started shaking her head, telling me i was wrong. i made a smart-ass comment in her direction and then she proceeded to ask me to name my top ten bands of all time because that's how she determines character in her book. that's how she said it. so i named hanson, foreigner, deep blue something. i couldn't name all ten because she was instantly dying on the inside because she actually believed these were my top ten bands of all time. but it was how she said it, "that's how i judge character in my book." and i thought, do i do that? i don't think i do. character is not something i attach to what kind of music you listen to. some of the best people in my life, the most honest people i've ever met listen to absolute shit. and some of the most untrustworthy, lying, deceptive people i've ever met listened to great music. so a judge on someone's character? no. a judge on their ability to artistically judge something worthwhile and meaningful? yes. so maybe that's what she was getting at, but used a different word that i didn't appreciate. who knows. she was wasted. and married. and hitting on me.

i will be going to another concert very soon. sunday i'm seeing girls at walters. that sounds promising.

autumn sweater

going to see yo la tengo tonight.

boo-yes.

boo-yesh.

boo. yes.

yesh.

too much caffeine.

butter the soul

"those funky days are back again."

obama is set to take on wall street. we'll see. he's listening to paul volcker, which is a good sign. i know that loss in massachusetts had to awaken him to the fact that we are pissed about wall street banking while the rest of us are floundering when the caused they shit in the first place. hopefully, he'll nail them.

i'm set up to take the audit part of the cpa test again in february. i'm going to nail it. i feel it this time. last time was like rocky I, when he battled apollo to a draw/loss, with apollo retaining the title. he felt like he won even though he lost. in rocky II, he fought hard and trained hard and he took apollo to the last round and knocked him out. that's what i'm going to do.

"this is the last round."

everything can be related to rocky. everything.

i think ur a contra

another sign that the world is ending: vampire weekend's newly released "contra" is the number one selling album in the country.

what? yes. it's true. i have sources.

it's actually a really good album. couple that with the new spoon album and it's been a pleasant start to 2010 as far as music goes.

what is horchata though? this is what it is.

is love forever?

it's interesting i found this article yesterday. i've since found three other articles saying that january 19th, january 24th and january 26th are the most depressing days of the year. funny how they all occur in january. i found it particularly interesting because yesterday was the 15 year anniversary of my sister's death. i turned 30 last year, so i have now lived half my life without my sister. i don't really remember what it's like to have a sibling, someone who you grew up and lived with. the last thing i ever said to my sister was not verbal, but i laughed at something she said. i had been stuck on some joke for some time and she took the joke and used it for herself and it made me laugh. and that was it. she was gone. the next day. the only reason time heals all wounds is because there are tiny battles everyday that help you forget that you're missing something so bad. there are tiny hurdles and games to be played every day. the distance is what heals. and it doesn't heal completely. ever. and in some ways, it shouldn't. there should always be a scar there. otherwise, you might completely forget. and i've already forgotten enough.

spoon's new album is out today.

elizabeth warren is out fighting today. love her.

a bank levy will not stop the doomsday cycle.

written in reverse

"i'm writing this to you in reverse."

honey in the sun

so the gala was pretty sweet. my wife went nuts at the silent auction and bid for a craig biggio signed baseball, that we won, and dance lessons, that we won also. so the good comes with the bad. but as far as galas go, i enjoyed it. my wife got dressed up like she was the wife of a diplomat and looked amazing. i broke out the old suit and dusted it off and after i made some alterations to the pants, (apparently, i've put on an inch since i got married) i was ready to go. there were some big wigs there, but not as many as i expected. the live auction was lackluster because apparently wall street greed leaves all of us with no money, even the big wigs. but all in all, i would totally go again.

now it's back to the real world and study, study, study.

coming up

i'm going to a gala tonight.

a freaking gala. that is hilarious.

i've been using the word gala.

the plan

step 1 is complete. i am joining the ranks of the "move your money" people. i've been thinking about doing this for some time. but this movement has got me re-invigorated. step 2, this weekend. and as the new kids said, three 3 it's just you for me.

i love when a plan comes together. i really do.

cage the songbird

events and happenings, exciting and not:

1. getting my car's oil and inspection done tomorrow
2. tonight i will watch the new star trek movie
3. i am taking my money out of a tarp bank and moving it to a smaller bank next week
4. i am attending an economics conference next weekend
5. tanner just burned me five awesome albums including the woods, the wooden sky and other voices
6. girls, yo la tengo, akron family and noah and the whale is coming up
7. i have a hot cup of coffee sitting right next to me
8. i found a new workout that is going to transform my body (in a good way!)
9. i just ate a banana
10. it's likely that i will have lunch with my wife at red lobster today, home of the cheesy biscuits

what a life.

whole lotta losin'

this month promises to be exciting already.

i have dates for the yo la tengo concert, the girls concert and the akron/family concert. i do not have a date for noah and the whale, but i'm not worried.

i'm also signed up for this: a symposium on the failure of keynesian economics. ron paul will be there speaking. totally, totally excited about that.

this month and february are the worst of the year for me, but with stuff like this, hopefully i can keep a positive attitude.

i wanna be your man

it's 2010. it has been for a while. things are changing already, even before the new year. wow. since i was 15 in my first job at kroger, we never stopped hiring. we never started firing unless you fell asleep, were drunk or made out with the cleaning lady. but that's changing. keep your heads on straight. and pull up your socks. i have to pull up my socks all the time. seriously. it's like the elastic only keeps for a year maybe. but these socks are old probably. i bet i haven't bought new socks since i was 16 or 17 and i didn't buy them. my mom probably did.

i like to do this thing where i look at what i'm wearing and try to figure out how much it cost me. the other day i was wearing shoes that pete gave me. total so far: $0.00. my pants were from goodwill. total: roughly $4.00. the shirt was given to me by my wife, so that cost me nothing. and my jacket was from goodwill too. so with the pants and the jacket, my total outfit cost me $6.00. nice! but that doesn't count socks and underwear, cause to be honest with you, i'm not sure where any of that came from. i think i was given socks and underwear when i was born and i still have it.

so to the serious stuff:

great article in the atlantic about the demise of america. what does that mean? is it born into our culture? is for real this time?

matt taibbi is back and railing on fannie mae and freddie mac.

seriously, where do my socks and underwear come from? i should clarify that by saying "underwear" i mean whity tighties. boxers, those i bought. i remember buying those. those did not come with my birth. the rest, i think did.

bluebird

"i'm a bluebird, i'm a bluebird, i'm a bluebird, yeah, yeah, yeah."

accidentally like a martyr

"enjoy every sandwich." that's what warren zevon said.

murray rothbard breaks down the case against the fed.

how overhauling derivatives died in the WSJ.

niall ferguson breaks down the ascent, not of money, but of the new east dominance.

percussion gun

i think i know what i'm doing for new years and it doesn't involve drinking or standing around with a bunch of people i don't like. that is great news to me. way to kick off 2010. start with something different. start it up right again. this decade needs to be a return to a way of life i surrendered about a decade ago. clean. pure. honest. focused. easy. slow. content.

i went walking with my wife on sunday afternoon. we walked down to the arboretum and she took along her tree book and stood around for about three hours trying to identify trees. it was probably some of the most fun i had all month. it was free. it was enlightening. i learned stuff. i got to see my wife in her element, out amongst the trees and nature. it was wonderful. that's what i'm talking about. my 20's were a great time, but i'm glad they're done. lots of ups and downs. lots of influence and questioning. lots of unnecessary stress. lots of people who came in and now they're gone. there are quite a few people still in though and those are the people i should be concentrating on. some of them have kids. i need to spend more time with these people and their families.

here is what i expect to happen in the next decade (of course if i had done this at 2000, every word of it would have been wrong, so bear with me on this):

1. i will pass the cpa test in 2010-2011
2. my wife and i will make a drastic change location wise
3. my wife and i will buy a house
4. we will vacation in a foreign land
5. i will finally buy a new car
6. my professional career will take off
7. my wife will start a new business
8. i will have the same friends i have now (i can count five)
9. we might have a kid (possible)
10. we will have two dogs

that's it. you really don't know, do you? so much could happen that we don't expect. i just know i want the simple life with my wife. i want flowers and gardens and coffee and seasons and hikes and bikes and a fireplace and two dogs. i can't wait.

i got you (at the end of the century)

christmas is over. my wife's birthday is over. the vacation is over. i'm back at work. my wife's birthday was awesome. we went to mark's american cuisine for dinner. totally awesome restaurant. we had all sorts of delectables. and some good vino. then we went to a comedy club where i ran into kena, an old friend from fox sports who promotes comedians. she was managing two of the dudes that performed that night. one of the dudes was making fun of how white people dance (real original material right?) so since we were sitting right up front, and i mean right up front, he singled us out. well the daughter of the couple we went with actually got up on stage after he asked her to and she danced her ass off, so much so that the dude lost his routine and had no idea what to say. he basically dropped the mike and left the stage.

so later, as the event was winding down, kena runs up out of nowhere and yells that it's my wife's birthday. so the whole club starts signing happy birthday to wife stevie wonder style, which was sweet. i wasn't able to sing it, because i didn't know stevie wonder style. but it was fun. good, good times.

christmas was good time. i'll gloss over that.

so back to business right? back to studying and reading and getting smarter. so here's some stuff to read:

paul krugman shows how the last decade was basically a wash.

apparently john mccain wants to reinstate glass-steagall. i applaud him for his efforts and i hope it passes.

in his new book, the evolution of God, robert wright looks at changes in religion during times of war, political unrest and the shrinking of the world.

anybody interested in the school of austrian economics? go here and read the theory of money and credit by ludwig von mises. good stuff.

war is over

"so this is Xmas
and what have you done
another year over
and a new one just begun

and so this is Xmas
i hope you have found
the near and the dear one
the old and the young

a very Merry Xmas
and a happy New Year
let's hope it's a good one
without any fear

war is over, if you want it
war is over now."

happy christmas everyone.

2009 in tunes

i guess it's time for my annual top ten list of albums. 2009 wasn't a great year for music. it was a good year. i heard lots of good albums, not many great ones. yesterday, tanner burned me frankel, the low anthem and a.a. bondy, so i might change this list once i listen to these albums and get familiar with them. but for now, here it is:

1. the avett brothers- i and love and you
2. grizzly bear- veckatimest
3. dark was the night- various artists
4. animal collective- merriweather post pavillion
5. fruit bats- the ruminant band
6. flaming lips- embryonic
7. girls- album
8. the low anthem- oh my god, charlie darwin
9. the white rabbits- it's frightening
10. wilco- wilco the album

there it is. honorable mention:

yo la tengo- popular songs
elvis perkins- in dearland
u2- no line on the horizon
phoenix- wolfgang amadeus phoenix

and that's really it. like i said, not a great year, but a good one.

anybody have anything else to add?

someone to share my life with

wednesday is my wife's birthday. i instituted what i called "the seven days of birthday" last wednesday where my wife got a gift every day leading up to her birthday. the last three are going to be awesome. she's going to love them! i am the best husband ever. seriously. look it up.

i had blood drawn today for the first time since i was 14. i am the biggest wiener when it comes to blood. but i got through it. it still hurts a little. not much.

i'm so excited about this week. this is going to be a fun week. (check back next week for the entry when i say that this week sucked.)

we've been had

"we've been had. you say it's over. sometimes i'm just happy i'm older. we've been had. i know it's over. somehow it got easy to laugh outloud."

-the walkmen

dig a pony

i saw "fantastic mr. fox" last night. wow. that movie. stop-animation by wes anderson. voices with george clooney and glenn close. the funniest line in a movie in 2009 was by ash, the son voiced by jason schwartzman:

"you're disloyal." that was delivered better than any line in the history of lines. so funny.

i also ate twos bags of popcorn and two giant sodas. i think my total caloric intake for the night was between 15,000 and 20,000 calories last night. i think tonight i'll dream about working out.

the movie actually had three beach boys songs. the movies starts with "heroes and villains." amazing montage sequence. i love a good montage. set to a tune by the b-boys, even better. next was "i get around." great tune. and finally, "old man river," which the beach boys didn't write, but they have an outtake where they are singing with it with minimal instruments and the harmonies are killer. totally killer.

in other news, my cat is the cutest animal on earth.

swimming in the flood

it's cold outside. jeeze. colder than when it snowed.

so for all you sports fans who voted for the tagline of change and hope (myself included in that sports fans reference), you have probably woken up to the harsh reality that change is not coming and hope is dead on the vine.

one of my favorite political writers right now is matt taibbi. he writes mostly with rolling stone. i posted a link to his article a while back about goldman sachs when eviscerated the financial institution.

well he's back. and this time he aim is directly on the obama administration. the obama big sellout. i highly recommend you read it and try your best to understand the back room dealings that are going on here. we'll never know for certain how many of these deals happen, but when one is exposed, familiarize yourself with it. get to know it. and remember it. they think we don't have a memory.

for the next election, we need to make our voice heard. we will not stand for the republican or democrat parties any longer. they're day in the sun is done. vote 3rd party all the way. even if it's the most ridiculous 3rd party there is. how can it be more futile than what we have?

this is a call

well it's not snowing anymore. i'm sure most of you guessed that.

i have been super busy this week. i'll have to catch everybody up later in the week.

i ate some righteous hummus today. very swell.

snow in houston

i cannot believe it. there is snow everywhere. not enough to make you stay in all day, but snow nonetheless. it's beautiful. i made one snowball and my hand almost froze off.

heroes and villains

lyrics

the song

my hero

i don't care what anyone says (and i'm not exactly who this vague force of evil i'm referring to is, but i'm sure it's out there (how's that for paranoia?)) but the foo fighters song "my hero" is one kick-ass, full-on, bitchin' rock and roll tune.

i saw the foo fighters do a vh1 storytellers. it's probably the only music-type show vh1 has done in six or seven years, but it was good. i have mad respect for dave grohl. i don't necessarily love the foo fighters, but for that guy to come from being the drummer of the most adored band of the early '90s and putting out that first album of his took major, major balls. and it was pretty good. it wasn't great, but it was pretty good. i liked it enough to buy it, the last foo fighters album i bought, but still. the guy has personality and is always saying something interesting or funny when i see or read about him. gotta love that.

breathe

"every day, i die again and again, i'm reborn."

"there's nothing you have that i need. i can breathe."

- both from bono.

age brings wisdom. supposedly. but for the most, i think it does. christmas is a great time of year. but man, i see so many people killing themselves, not enjoying the spirit. the lights. the music. the shiny stuff. it's beautiful. there's nothing at best buy or some jewelry store that you need. like jeff tweedy said, "the best life never leaves your lungs." don't get too high. don't get too low. that's how to live life. i wish i knew that ten years ago.

there's a lot going on in the world, but i want everyone who reads this to think and pray for jessie maker. she had her foot amputated. i pray for healing and strength for her. she is most beloved and is an amazing woman. i have no doubt she will overcome this and be up again taking care of those around her.

moods for moderns

food stamps now help one in eight americans and help to feed one in four children. read that again. one in eight americans and one in four children. that is amazing. i sit here and read that and think, there's no way that's right. but it is. one in four children. 25% of the children in this country are fed with the assistance of food stamps. we're hearing a lot of talk about a "recovery," but each time i hear that i think about what i see and hear everyday. i don't think we're grasping how deep this problem is going because a) we're not paying enough attention and b) we still think things can continue the way they always have since i've been alive (30 years): debt will spur growth. that is not sustainable. it is not logical.

we're lucky. most of you/us reading this are in a state that, while not immune to this great recession, has weathered it better than most. there are entire states out there that are hurting. and while the story about tiger woods wife beating up his back window with a golf club might be fun and entertaining, the truth is:

1. we're sending more troops to afghanistan, where we've now been for almost nine years; longer than our involvement in WWII
2. we have 17% total unemployment, which includes people who have given up looking for work and part-time employees who would rather be working full-time
3. we have an imploding national debt that will start to eat into our everyday lives as we grow older
4. we have a political system that is engrained in the status quo
5. for those with jobs, we have stagnant wages with price increases in food, power, medical and retirement fees

we need to pay attention. we need to hold those in charge accountable. start writing your senators. start writing your reps. start writing the president. we've got huge problems and we're patching holes while the boat is sinking.

we're marching towards zombie capitalism.

and the glitter is gone

michael moore's open letter to president obama.

it actually inspired me to write one to him as well. click the link on the bottom of the letter to write to him or someone who reads for him or to him. who knows. it just felt good writing and telling someone what a mistake it is to send more troops to afghanistan.

nice

a shot in the arm

man. i needed this past break. it felt so good not to go anywhere or spend all night studying. wednesday, my buddy and i went and rampaged this ping-pong table. that was incredible. ping-pongs wars ensued. thursday was nothing but food covered in gravy, which is the way it was intended to be. and friday we saw my friend's little boys and played with them. and saturday and sunday, we took it easy. so nice.

does anyone really believe that if you listen to a repetitive phrase, or several repetitive phrases while you sleep, that you can actually memorize them in your sleep? i wonder. it's actually called "hypnopaedia" which translates to sleep teaching.

greatest avclub inventory ever. 17 peculiar beach boys songs! i have them all. my favorite on the list is probably johnny carson. that is a brilliant album.

great article by niall ferguson regarding the possible debt implosion and how the great superpowers have fallen because of it.

be thankful you have a job right now. seriously.

end the fed

i can't believe i missed this:

ron paul in houston, part 1.

ron paul in houston, part 2.

middle of the road

so i took time out of my life last night to watch the texans play on monday night football. my wife and i got some hamburgers, some chips and some beers. she watched about half of the game. i watched about 3/4. we made a bet on the game too. she doesn't like to do money bets, because it all comes from the same pot. so we made a dinner bet. whoever lost would have to cook dinner for the other person. the dinner doesn't have to be 4 star michelin, but it has to have thought, planning and preparedness.

i bet on the texans to win. so what should i cook? i'm thinking some sort of pork dish maybe. like a pecan crusted pork loin. or maybe something more exotic, like buffalo or maybe something from the sea, like scallops or chilean sea bass. i have to do it before 30 days have passed, so i have time to think and prepare and plan.

i should also think about not betting on the texans next game or ever again.

i'll be waking up early tomorrow to take BEC, another portion of the CPA test. if i fail this one, i think i might have to take drastic measures in my studying habits. like tape myself reading the material and listening to it while i'm sleeping. or take stuff to the inside of my eyelids. i don't know.

whatupwiththat

i watched a bit of snl on saturday night. mostly, i don't think the skits are very funny, but every once in a while, you'll get a good show. this one was hit and miss, but this skit in particular is still making me laugh and i'm not sure exactly why. it's not that original or witty, but it's catchy and man i want those dance moves.

what up with that?


ooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeee!

it's got to be the glasses

the motown sound. we know it. we grew up with it. and the consensus is marvin gaye. he was the maestro. and you won't get an argument from me. the man was soul personified. he wrote and produced his shit. he ached every note and believed every pause and silent fixture.

but that's not the whole story. david ruffin. if you listen to david ruffin's vocals with the temptations, you'll hear a man with tread on his voice. a man who didn't force nothing. double negative. i love those.

i wish it would rain. i'm losing you. my girl. the man couldn't control his urges, but what man can? his demons destroyed him. but sadly, that's what made his performance so great. he was desparate. every note was the last.

when i started writing this i was listening to i'm losing you. but now, the cd player has shifted and admiral halsey, uncle albert is playing. what a great song. the perfect paul song. it means nothing, but man is it gorgeous. the melody is so sweet. the melody is perfect and so are the harmonies. i wish brian wilson had decided to get out of bed and do his little tunes. i'm sure he would have made songs so seemingly insignificant, but yet, so deep in their brief existence.

i take BEC on wednesday. i wish i was smarter.

this guy is probably a total douche, but i'm digging this first song off his solo album.

singalong/junk

i didn't pass the audit section of the cpa test. am i bummed? yes. but, i know i can do it. i have confidence and faith in myself. the worst part is that it was probably one of the easiest sections. it's only going to get harder. that is daunting. but if you ask out 100 women, two will say yes and one will be easy. that's the approach i have to take. i'll keep taking the exam and keep studying and eventually, i'll pass.

all four sections.

eventually.

jeeze.

my city was gone

i just made out big time on a used cd website. i bought six albums and used a promotional code to save $13.00. ultimately, i got six albums for next to nothing. they are:

the pretenders- learning how to crawl
lou reed- coney island baby
elvis costello- armed forces
talking heads- talking heads '77
marshall crenshaw- marshall crenshaw
paul mccartney- band on the run

this is a great day in america.

head full of doubt, road full of promise

reality sucks. the reality of cheeseburgers and football and beer is great. but the reality of this economy sucks. you might notice the dow jones ticking up every day and say, "well there's some good news." but really? step back. no, really. get up and step back. now, ask yourself: what is this good news based on? why is the dow jones going up? do you in your everyday life see anything changing?

i do. i see more houses for sale. i see more foreclosures. i see more empty commercial real estate. and i hear about more people i know losing their jobs. is that what drives up the dow jones? evidently.

most people out there believe it's going to get worse.

here are the 15 biggest congressional recipients of wall street campaign cash.

the china-america relationship is more like a booty-call relationship to me.

here is the 2008 acfe report to the nation on occupational fraud and abuse.

"i bless the rains down in africa."

africa

i was making toto jokes all day today. so much so, that people stopped talking to me because everything that came out of my mouth was about toto. so i'm driving home from the gym tonight and what do i hear on the radio?

"i bless the rains down in africa!"

oh yeah! you never hear that song on the radio. toto you made my night.

in other news, it is being reported that robot insurance is on the raise....

would you believe

vacation is over. work is back. traffic is back. getting up early is back. i miss the bags of chips. i miss watching gilmore girls. i miss bike rides. i miss the complete lack of direction i woke up with every day. ahhh.

vacation was incredible. actually my wife and i took off for about four days and just got away. i had a big party last year for my birthday, lots of people, lots of drinks. no more. i don't want a party like that again. it's weak. it's lame. this was special. thursday we went to new bruenfels and my wife made reservations at this amazing bed and breakfast. i sound totally gay sounding that, but whatever, it was freakin' sweet. we went to wurstfest the whole night. we drank. we ate. we sang. we danced. she bought me an astros hat that lights up. it's the greatest hat ever. and we got a caricature made. apparently the guy who drew it had something against asians because we look totally asian.

the next day we went to fredericksburg and went to several wineries with my dad and his wife. seeing my dad was great. we tasted a lot of wines and hung out. he also gave me this carving of a bear for my birthday. i couldn't even bring to describe how awesome it is. my great uncle made it. i have a buffalo he made too.

saturday was my real birthday and we went to enchanted rock and climbed that sucker. we took along lunch and ate lunch on the side of the rock. once we got to the top, we took pictures and walked around. there's a lot of room on the top. my wife saw this little patch of vegetation and bent down to take a picture of it. when she did, she sat on a cactus and i had to pull about 30 needles out of her pants and her thigh. she dropped her pants so i could get the ones in her leg. it was an enchanted rock trip i'll never forget.

sunday. we woke up. came home. drove in the rain. the whole way. vacations. they all have to end.

now i'm studying. i take the BEC section of the CPA test the wednesday before thanksgiving.

man i had a blast though. i wish we were back in fredericksburg drinking wine and looking at tourist crap.

vacation, all i ever wanted

that's right. i'm on vacation. for the whole week. i turn 30 on saturday. am i getting better with age? most would say yes. others would say no. and some would even say yes and no. those people don't count. the no people don't count either. so by a landslide, yes wins.

the only real drawback of the positioning of my birthday, is that someone, usually me gets sick. it's positioned right between the hot and the cold, and the body has no idea what to do with the variations of temperature. but i'm not sick, yet. my wife is sick however. that's what happens when you marry old. hopefully she'll be better soon. if not, i think i might get a jump on my mid-life crisis and find me a 19 year-old with a car.

convinced of the hex

within the first seconds of the new flaming lips album "embryonic," you know this is a different flaming lips. their last album "at war with the mystics" was a great disappointment to me. it was a thin attempt at keeping a sound that they seemed to have little interest in continuing. it was an album that was disconnected. it wasn't where they wanted to go, but they were already there so why not do it again. the lyrics were callow and sophomoric. the music was banal and uninteresting. and i felt like the band that made the symphonic pop masterpiece "the soft bulletin" had run out of steam.

and i was right. they had run out of steam/ideas of that sound. they needed a change in direction. embryonic is that change in direction. it's menacing. it's lyrics are simple, but direct. each track grooves along and bleeds into the next. it's sprawling. it's a series of riffs. the first track, convinced of the hex, says all you need to know about the rest of the album. it will make your arm hair stand up. i highly recommend this album. this was the change they needed.

as you (who?) have noticed, my postings about banks and government has been sparce. i'm growing disillusioned with government and people's apathy towards their situation. i sent out an email declaring the city of houston was bankrupt, and one person responded. nobody cares. nobody has time. i'll continue to post articles that i find interesting and relative. but it's hard to keep the passion when you can't find any anywhere else. anyway, i'll step down from my soapbox. it's not anybody elses' fault but my own. i need to get involved and find people who will engage me.

one red thread

last night i saw the low anthem and blind pilot, two bands that it is impossible to be a casual fan of. why? because they are not well known, not played on the radio and don't appear in an apple commercial or have a song on a vampire themed movie soundtrack. so it was amazing to me to witness the kind of inconsiderate and indifferent crowd that gathered at the house of blues last night. the crowd was loud, rude and completely not there to see the bands. at one point, a guy in the crowd yelled, "freebird!" at that point, i just shook my head. give credit to both bands. they soldiered on and played a tremendous couple of sets. my appreciate for both bands went way up after seeing them live.

the most amazing moment of the night came during the last song. blind pilot closed with one red thread and the crowd that talked all night, not paid attention and was there to stand and check their cell phones, sang the song in unison. it was a strange twist to the end of the evening. for that one song, everybody moved their heads, clapped and sang. no idea how they knew it or why all of sudden they realized where they were. but i counted myself lucky to see those two bands play. amazing lyrics for both, amazing musicianship, amazing harmonies. just amazing.

charlie darwin

i'm going to see the low anthem tonight and blind pilot. and i'm super excited to see both of these bands.

the low anthem have a video for charlie darwin right here. they also had a hearya session here.

blind pilot did a hearya session too. that's right here.

man i'm excited. i don't think i've been to a show that featured an opening band that's as good and talented as the headliner in a long time.

let me roll it

i'm going through a mini-mccartney obsession as of late. i can't stop listening to ram. it is not a flushed out piece of pop symphony by any means. it's an album consisting of little ideas, snap-shots of melodies and lyrically, it's just scatter-shot. but, as a whole, it flows so well. it's such a sweet album, and by sweet i mean soft-hearted. the fact that this is paul and his wife recording and singing these songs like "eat at home" and "long haired lady" and "the back seat of my car" is very comforting. it's greatly undervalued and i wished he would have made a few more albums like this.


his debut album, just called mccartney, was a particular obsession of mine back when i was in college at huntsville. mccartney consists of mere sketches of ideas of melodies and lyrical approaches. i mean, it is an album that sounds like an album of outtakes and demos. it really does. but at the time, i was intrigued by brian wilson's modular approach to recording, which he utilized on good vibrations and smile. and i thought, what if instead of taking these little recorded track sections and putting them together to form a cohesive album, instead you record little track sections and never put them together, but combine them into an album of little ideas. and that's what appealed to me so much with paul mccartney's debut album. it was an album of little ideas. and it was impressive that such a pillar of the music industry at the time would release such an album. you could argue that the beach boys did it first with smiley smile, but i wouldn't agree with that argument considering smiley smile only existed because smile was too complex and complicated for the beach boys and smiley smile was just a collection of tracks recorded for smile that they re-recorded and released subsequently.

you would think finding paul mccartney albums is easy. it's not. go to a record store and you won't find a lot of his 70's albums besides the debut, ram and band on the run. you'll find some of his more recent recordings, which i understand are pretty good.

but i'm interested in finding red rose speedway. (which strangely enough, i used to listen to on vinyl because my dad owned it. i listened to it when i was a kid, not because i liked the music, but because the insleeve contained photos of naked women in pseudo s&m poses. for a ten year old kid, that was like finding the lost city of gold).

i would also like to explore some of his early '80s stuff like mccartney II, and tug of war.

but back to ram, i'm not sure of a modern artist who's recorded an album such as this. i'm sure i know of one, but at the moment, i'm at a loss. but there are brilliant moments of exhilaration on that album and distinct beauty. i hear it in my head right now. great album.

brilliant

elizabeth warren for president.

not in 2016. in 2012. this is a great idea. i love elizabeth warren.

this matt taibbi guy is onto some good stuff.

the roust-a-bouts

here are some clips from some pretty rockin' dudes:

legs against arms- the applicant recording session

leatherbag- acl

legs against arms- at the mohawk

leatherbag- on down the line

legs against arms- at the mohawk, pt. 2

leatherbag- pro j insider interview

let's burn down the cornfield

the committee to save the world. rubin. greenspan. summers. this committee to save the world nearly brought about the end of the world. the financial world at least. these guys worked with democratic president clinton and a republican controlled congress to deregulate the financial market. so the next time someone tells you the republicans or the democrats did this, look them right in the eye and tell them, they all did it. they're all responsible.

there was one lady trying to regulate the derivatives market. brooksley born. pbs frontline ran a show on her last night. she was simply trying to pull the market from the dark. but this committee to save the world wouldn't have it. they knew better. markets are better left alone. she didn't agree. and she wrote a concept release regarding the matter. you can read it here. eventually, she was marginalized and she resigned.

the pbs frontline can be seen here.

here is a playground analogy regarding the financial mess.

greenspan has retired as head of the fed. rubin went on the help make citibank one of the biggest receivers of federal bailout money. and summers is back in government with our current president. apparently he is now in favor of more regulation.

but there are people in the administration calling for more regulation. paul volcker is. but does he go far enough? that is a question raised here at naked capitalism.

and more importantly: does he have the president's ear? the new york times discusses that question.

there's a line a broken social scene song that goes, "don't get high on what you create." and that is applicable here. these problems existed before. these problems helped stir up the beginnings of the great depression. but we created a better, more fluid financial system, right? those problems won't be our problems again, right? we're smarter now. information is abundant. it won't happen again, right?

don't get high on what you create.

periodically double or triple

time doesn't really seem to exist much these days. whether it's a monday or a thursday or a sunday doesn't have too much relevance, besides football games and such. but ultimately, the days are somewhat connected. and i'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. it's nice to not focus on certain days or fret about other days or what's coming up. you can kind of just take it all in. the change in weather certainly helps. i'm actually really enjoying this life of tempered behavior. i started late to the race and i'm glad i did. but i'm also glad i finally joined the race. and it's not the race for material possessions or fancy things. it's probably not even a race. it's more of an awareness. i was late to the awareness. and i think people who are late to the awareness fair better down the road. it's the people who wake up suddenly when they're 35 or 40 and become aware that can be dangerous. i don't really know what i'm saying, but i do.

there's a new sec prosecutor and his name is robert khuzami. yes. go after them robert khuzami! i suppose one bernie madoff is enough for the sec to be completely and forever embarrassed.

here's a few guys you can start with. these dudes is corrupt.

i've been saving my money a lot lately. partly because i don't want anything and partly because i want to provide a cushion when my wife and i get old and broken down. so it really pisses me off to read stuff like this because i know it's out there and i have a bad feeling it's going to get worse.

the dollar is crashing. what's that all about?

paying off your credit card on time might soon cost you some money. remember to use these things sparingly. they are not your friend.

flight of the conchords have a new album out.

this magic moment

has anyone seen "lost highway"? it's a david lynch movie. david lynch movies are incredible because you have no idea what's going on and no idea why the characters are doing crazy shit. "blue velvet" made a little more sense than "lost highway," but "lost highway" was better. it's the story of a jazz musician who thinks his wife is unfaithful. but it's so much more than that. the movie goes in wild tangents making you sit through about an hour an a half of movie before things start to somewhat become unclear. i highly recommend it to everyone. and i would love to hear what anyone thought about the movie who's seen it.

i finally got my notice to schedule for the next part of the CPA exam. i've been fighting with these people for two weeks. that was a huge relief.

looks like the banking industry might be getting the much needed hand slap it deserves.

this chart shows that increased viewing of television goes hand in hand with increased amounts of debt. at this thought, this chart seems to make tons of sense and really doesn't enlighten the conversation at all. but it's worth looking at just to check out.

went the to menil museum and the italian festival this weekend. i love going to the menil.

my world series picks are looking pretty grim.

my texans pick of 8-8 is looking perfect.

when you wake up feeling old

supergrass is a seriously underrated band. i remember hearing "late in the day" way back in high school and loving it. i've bought all their albums since. actually i don't have diamond hoo-haa. i hear it's awful. but i don't know so i can't say for sure. i only mention this because i'm listening to road to rouen right now. good stuff.

i'm going to see blind pilot in a couple weeks. but i'm totally excited about the opening band too. they're the low anthem. wow. they have a sweet sound.

food prices are set to up again this year.

this guy had a guy at a bar tell him the reason for the economic collapse was due to smart guys making it to wall street instead of the slower guys. maybe he's right.

goldman sachs is still making money. tons of it.

new documentary coming out called floored. check out the trailer here.

laura

there's a band called girls. they have an album called album. it's really, really good.

here is the video for laura.

check it out!!

kick in the teeth

i emailed several people last night about the pbs frontline program on the afghanistan war. the war that is in its eighth year, longer than WWII. the war with no end in sight. the war with no clear understanding or reason. the war that has boys dying half way around the world while trying to win the hearts and minds of the afghan people. really? did we train soldiers or did we train day care teachers? war is frustrating and in most cases unnecessary. this one is both. has this war accomplished anything? the soviets marched in afghanistan and got beat. of course john rambo helped, but still. they got beat and they live right next door. we live across oceans.

foreignpolicy.com says get nasty or go home. i'm not so sure that's not exactly right. i don't think we need to be there. but we are. so we need to accomplish our mission and come home. otherwise, we're lost.

bill black was speaking about james galbraith's book the predator state. he had several good points. you can find them here about midway down the page.

and mish is getting on board with the financial coup d'etat.

geithner's aides seem to be able to still make money. lots of it.

"i believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. if the american people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around (the banks) will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. the issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

- thomas jefferson

remember when....

remember when obama was going after those tax loopholes that let billions of dollars go unchecked and untaxed from overseas investments?

well, nah. apparently, we're not going to do that.

and even our buddy jeff skilling is getting an appeal from the supreme court. this guy is fraud personified. but, we let the others go. why not him too?

ghostmouth

there are some terms floating around out there that need some definitions.

excise tax

VAT tax (which is kind of redundant, because it's value added tax)

memo to investigators. dig deep!

companies are going after the unbanked. look at the dude in the picture. where do you think he hides his savings?

the clientele. very nice. i bought suburban light used at waterloo. great album.

the blessed breeze

man. wilco was incredible. two encores. both with like 5 or 6 songs each. the concert was held in a minor league hockey arena. my feet were completely numb by the end of the show. but what a show. i think sarah enjoyed it too and enjoyed hanging out with her. i kind of felt like a cooler, older brother, which i've never been. my sister was older than me. it was nice hanging out and getting to know her. after the show, we hung out with rock stars legs against arms and drank their beer and hung out. friday was kind of a busted day, but it quickly turned into an awesome day. and it was cold. and it was wet. but it was fun nonetheless.

this is an amazing article with gore vidal. i highly suggest it be read.

bill moyers does a follow-up on the financial crisis with marcy kaptur, who was a great part of capitalism: a love story and simon johnson. that video is here.

the financial times weighs in on a possible 2nd coming of the current recession.

iceland is continuing to be hit very hard by their economic collapse.

is a lower dollar value the answer to our economic situation? i was just reading last night how roosevelt took us off the gold standard to improve our situation during the great depression.

the flaming lips have a new album out. it's called embryonic. here is a review.