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.

no man can find the war

i'm off to austin tomorrow. i'm beside myself i'm so freakin' excited. i'm going to see wilco thursday night. and then after that, it's on.

it's going to be a blast.

unfolding fans

the baseball 2009 playoffs are here and, of course, i have the winner of the world series before it's played.

the national league:

l.a. dodgers versus the saint louis cardinals. i got the cardinals.
colorado rockies versus the philadelphia phillies. i got the rockies.
saint louis cardinals versus the colorado rockies. i'm sorry, but i got the cardinals.

the american league:

either minnesota twins or detroit tigers versus the new york yankees. i got the yankees.
boston red sox versus anaheim angels. i got the angels.
new york yankees versus anaheim angels. i got the angels.

the world series:
saint louis cardinals versus the anaheim angels. i got the angels.

there it is folks. your 2009 world series champ. the angels are a team of destiny this year. and the cardinals are the best team in the national league. it should make for a great world series.

slight figure of speech

so the weekend was great. saturday i took my exam. shopped for some stuff and ended up having sushi for dinner. sunday we went and got homemade tortillas from el bolillo and went and saw the informant down at the angelica and then snuck into capitalism: a love story. both were excellent films, although i'm not sure how much of the latter one we saw. we got in there while it was already going on.

the informant is based on this guy. the capitalism movie, i'm sure you guys have seen and heard about it. i was worried because sicko sucked and i thought old mike moore had lost it. but he nailed it with capitalism. i highly recommend it to everyone. of course, it's a topic i'm passionate about and it might bore the rest of you completely. but either way, sit through it and you'll get something out of it.

lots of stuff happening in the world. remember a few weeks ago when i said that 60 minutes was shit for saying americans were having a hard time dealing with so much change from the obama administration when there really hasn't been any change? well, SNL hit up on that this weekend. check it out.

goldman sachs is getting another rubdown from the government.

stiglitz says the markets are irrational regarding the supposed recovery. really? i believe him.

larry summers and this wonderful economic team at the white house.

now soros is saying there are bankrupt banks and they're holding the US back.

i really like long songs when they work. when they don't, they're horrible. but when they do they're epic and you can't help but listen to the whole thing. the avclub put together some of the best long songs all time. here they are.

by the way, the new avett brothers album is so good.

who could win a rabbit

i took the audit section of the cpa test this morning. i feel like a bad-ass. i should hold off on that feeling until i find out whether or not i passed. but it feels good to have finally taken a section.

i'm also wearing contacts. so i look like a badass.

tired hippo

i take the audit section of the cpa test on saturday. i'm not nervous, i'm just mentally exhausted. i've been studying this shit for months, took a few months off and now i've been studying another whole month. needless to say, i should pass. but if i don't, then i'll try again. not much else i can do. persistence baby.

jon stewart takes what i've been saying about the dumb-o-crats (lame) and makes it funny.

dude, jon and kate plus minus infiniti. i win. go away people!

this is a great list: 6 beloved tv shows that traumatized cast members for life. awesome.

banks still flying blind.

review of the new avett brothers album.

10 awesome arrested development scenes. just 10? the one where buster calls his mom an "old, horny slut" is a great one. ah, franklin.

GDP is now to blame.

you and i and love

wow. i just picked up the new avett brothers "you and i and love," the new yo la tengo "popular songs," the new dodos "time to die," and the new and only album from passion pit "manners."

it feels like christmas morning. except i'm santa. and i'm going to eat the cookies tonight.

two medicines

i really like the dodos.

husks and shells

i often wonder if i'd be happier waking up at six in the morning and working in a field all day. eating only when i'm hungry and to replace nutrients lost. everything i have/eat/wear is something either myself or someone in my family/community made. i wonder if we'll ever get back to that.

do you ever wonder that the simpler everything is, the more you're a part of it?

of course if that were the case i wouldn't be typing on a computer sitting underneath a fan and listening to volcano choir on the internet. i like that too. maybe i'll wake up at six in the morning tomorrow and see if i like it.

pussycats

it might seem ridiculous to take an album that's already been made and remake it. note for note. no changes. but by remaking it, aren't you changing it? might be note for note, but you've added something new to it by remaking it. the walkmen did this with pussycats. pussycats was a lost album made by harry nilsson and produced by john lennon. it was made during the whole lost weekend bullshit story. i actually like the walkmen version better. i'm not sure why.

i highly suggest going out and getting both albums, if you can find the first. listen to one and then the other. beck is actually doing this project called record club. it's not exactly the same because beck and friends are stylistically changing the songs/albums. check it out.

no line on the horizon

long, long, long

"long, long, long" is a george harrison song on the white album. i've always been intrigued by it. there's nothing immediately exceptional about it. it's somewhat seductive in its presentation. i used to skip it when i first listened to the white album. but i remember i was in huntsville listening and drinking in my apartment by myself. i used to do this with all the lights off and only had some candles burning and i would really try to "listen" to the music, almost completely feel it. it didn't always work successfully, but for this song it did. i felt it. the reason i mention it is because jim james (yin yames?) from my morning jacket has covered a few george harrison songs and "long, long, long" is one of them. i hope it is better than the original, which there is no way possible it will be, but hey, give it a shot. plus, there's no audio sample of the original song for me to link to. you can hear a clip on amazon. actually, you can't do that either. sorry.

as much as this country is about muscle cars and power, i cannot wait for the future of cars to get here. i want a light, battery operated vehicle that will fit myself and a bag or something, but still have protection from flying debris and flying monkeys. like those bikes/vehicles from tron (see above). that's awesome. fast, safe (unless you hit a wall and they break up into ten million pixels), but safe in reality. check out these cars from the near future.

i've been watching a lot "one year from the crisis" type shows where they go back and see what really caused things and how we really should have handled it. anyway, here is frontline's version and i love frontline.

here are the most frugal cities in america.

i have seen wilco live three times, once in austin and twice in houston. the first time in houston was april of 2005 for the ghost is born tour. i went with randy and his girlfriend. it was a great show. jeff tweedy had just stopped smoking and was a easily agitated by the crowd. he basically said he was not coming back to houston because everyone who wanted to see them could go to austin. the next time i saw them was at acl in austin. great show again. and the last time was march 2008 back in houston. they came back apparently because they forgot something, i don't know. but he had a cold this time. so every time he came to houston that i saw them, jeff was afflicted in some way or another. i also met and talked to glenn kotche outside a sushi restaurant the last time they were in houston. that was cool. i bet he remembers that. this time, i'm going to cedar park, which is outside austin to see wilco in october. it doesn't look like they're coming to houston anytime soon and i'm taking the audit part of the cpa text the week before the show, so i'm going to be ready to blow off some steam. i'm totally stoked.

audience with the pope

"i have an audience with the pope, and i'm saving the world at eight, but if she says she needs me, she says she needs me, everybody's gonna have to wait." brilliant elbow.

did anyone watch 60 minutes last night? the interviewer, i believe it was steve kroft was interviewing president obama. he mentioned how the american citizen is having a hard time handling the health care reform because there's been so much change already. what change is he referring to? what has changed? the administration has done nothing to correct the financial industry's problems. everything that happened before can happen again. today. he hasn't changed health care. he basically backed out of the public option. so what is really changing around here? please inform me of the great amounts of change going on. i would love to be corrected. because i thought i voted for change. that's what i thought.

speaking of interviews, my mom told me about wilco being interview on cbs this morning. i didn't see it because i usually don't wake up at 8:30 on a sunday morning. here is the interview.

i did make the mistake of watching the texans game yesterday. seriously. unbelievable. totally pathetic. i predicted 8-8. that might be optimistic.

the evil mastermind of the 20th century