Wednesday, May 26, 2010
books of moses
i always create wish-lists for books and then lose them. so i'm making a very public book list that i know i'll be able to find again.
1. the end of the free market- ian bremmer
2. three felonies a day- harvey silverglate
3. the big short- michael lewis
4. 13 bankers- simon johnson
5. the black swan- nassim taleb
6. american lion- jon meacham
7. all music guide to rock- various
that's it for now.
1. the end of the free market- ian bremmer
2. three felonies a day- harvey silverglate
3. the big short- michael lewis
4. 13 bankers- simon johnson
5. the black swan- nassim taleb
6. american lion- jon meacham
7. all music guide to rock- various
that's it for now.
superconnected?
(this post has generated major backstage heat. therefore, it has been removed by management. management would like to apologize for the misunderstanding. management also would like for people to take everything on this blog with two grains of salt and a stick of butter).
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
another green world
this entry had begun as a visceral attack on BP. i was filled with righteous indignation. i had articles and articles of their complete incompetence, their spinning and their tail-covering. i had articles on the environmental impact of this calamity. i had everything. i was ready.
but i won't do that. nothing i post here will change the oil spewing into the gulf of mexico, trashing america's third coast. nothing will change the hard-liners who believe this is no big deal and nature has a way of cleaning itself and how the company is doing everything it can. they probably don't live here. they probably have never seen the coast.
the strange thing is, i smell oil right now. the more i read about it, the more my stomach churns and my nostrils are filled with the smell of petroleum. it's sickening. it's sickening for a company to post monstrous profits start to look to cap its liability when they have devastated the fishing and tourism industries of these areas and, not to mention, the marine and aquatic life. what is the impact of this? how should a company be allowed to do this and survive? where is the liability? where is the reason?
i wonder if the bonuses are still rolling in.
it's been more than a month of oil gushing into the gulf. more than a month.
i can still smell it.
but i won't do that. nothing i post here will change the oil spewing into the gulf of mexico, trashing america's third coast. nothing will change the hard-liners who believe this is no big deal and nature has a way of cleaning itself and how the company is doing everything it can. they probably don't live here. they probably have never seen the coast.
the strange thing is, i smell oil right now. the more i read about it, the more my stomach churns and my nostrils are filled with the smell of petroleum. it's sickening. it's sickening for a company to post monstrous profits start to look to cap its liability when they have devastated the fishing and tourism industries of these areas and, not to mention, the marine and aquatic life. what is the impact of this? how should a company be allowed to do this and survive? where is the liability? where is the reason?
i wonder if the bonuses are still rolling in.
it's been more than a month of oil gushing into the gulf. more than a month.
i can still smell it.
Monday, May 24, 2010
the memory collector
jose lima passed away this weekend. houston has been full of big sports stars while i've lived and worked here. but most of them are boring. honestly, bagwell and biggio, two of the greatest baseball players in history played right here in houston while i grew up. the did amazing things on the field. but they were boring. jose lima was anything but boring. this dude seemed to never take anything seriously except trying to enjoy himself. i've heard a lot of interviews with him and a lot of stories about people bumping into him around town back when he was in houston. every one of them was hilarious. the guy just seriously enjoyed life. he'll be missed.
global chain reaction of debt? that sounds promising.
i never watched lost. not one episode. i assume it's about someone who has misplaced their favorite shirt. am i right?
this guy revisits f.a. hayek's road to serfdom and how it really got us or will get us. it still depends. actually, maybe not.
for all you facebook users, more and more stories about their ceo and business model are freaking me out. take a look at their privacy options.
global chain reaction of debt? that sounds promising.
i never watched lost. not one episode. i assume it's about someone who has misplaced their favorite shirt. am i right?
this guy revisits f.a. hayek's road to serfdom and how it really got us or will get us. it still depends. actually, maybe not.
for all you facebook users, more and more stories about their ceo and business model are freaking me out. take a look at their privacy options.
Friday, May 21, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
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.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
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 fix is in, the odds that i got were delicious,
the fix is in, the jockey was cocky and vicious."
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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.
Wednesday, May 12, 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.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
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.
"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 have another exam in four weeks. the madness continues. but without the madness, my life would be a lot less interesting.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, April 23, 2010
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.
you're welcome.
in other news, hot dogs still taste like wasted ass.
Monday, April 19, 2010
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.
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.
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