I did a quick post on the world’s greatest blog not too long ago, but I overlooked the potential for po-mo humor in the blog comments. This is not intentional humor, mind you, but the general situational humor of well-meaning folks who, when confronted with the magnificence of eggagog’s posts, feel compelled to respond in kind, an effect which is devastatingly hilarious in its combination of nonfunniness and try-hardiness.
This is quite possibly the nicest comment I’ve received on my blog, in reference to this post:
thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! I’ve been looking for soduku for my Treo for ages! Our newspaper just started printing it as well. However, we have 4 people that fight over it in our family. So at least I’ll get my own crack at it it without having to get sloppy seconds from my mom, dad or husband!!! Your blog was a lifesaver.
~ Whitney
Aw… .warm fuzzy. You see, lurkers! That’s how you do it. You read something useful or interesting and right about the time you’re thinking, “Gee, that’s really useful and/or interesting” that’s about the time you should be tapping out a note to me telling me how useful and amazingly interesting it was. Why? Because then I feel like less of a pathetic loser for spending all my free time blogging (try explaining THAT to you grandmother as a reason you’re not married yet) instead of doing more useful, socially-acceptable, money-earning, and/or baby-making activities.
Hal Varian of the NY Times has written an excellent analysis on the effect of Amazon’s used-book sales on the general market for books.
While Amazon is best known for selling new products, an estimated 23 percent of its sales are from used goods, many of them secondhand books. Used bookstores have been around for centuries, but the Internet has allowed such markets to become larger and more efficient. And that has upset a number of publishers and authors.
The publishers and authors may be unduly upset, he points out, due to the countervailing effects of the used-book market
When used books are substituted for new ones, the seller faces competition from the secondhand market, reducing the price it can set for new books. But there’s another effect: the presence of a market for used books makes consumers more willing to buy new books, because they can easily dispose of them later.
Applying the authors’ estimate of the displaced sales effect to Amazon’s sales, it appears that only about 16 percent of the used book sales directly cannibalized new book sales, suggesting that Amazon’s used-book market added $63.2 million to its profits.
Apparently not everyonoe shares my enthusiasm about this article, judging by the dazed look I got from the co-worker I just accosted outside the bathroom. That may suggest either high boredom-elasticity among heterogeneous consumers of the article or a poor choice of venue.
Incidentally, the Times article links to an SSRN paper with empirical research. My spidey-sense is telling me that there’s been a bit of an about-face on the part of editors who some months ago would never allow an article to link to another source on a 3rd party’s website. Tech rags such as Wired have done that for a while, but it seems the Grey Lady has finally (and only recently) started wising up to the tao of the internet.
Oh and since we’re talking about books and this is a helluva long post any way, why not read my lonely little essay Hot Wet Book Love. I promise I’ll get around to writing another <fingerscrossed>one any day now</fingerscrossed>…
The NY Times reports on recent advances in isotope hydrology that will allow scientists and government agencies to track the path of water and develop localized plans for sustainable development and conservation of water resources.
After more than 25 years of cooperative work, the agency has gathered so much information that it is now fashioning a detailed portrait of the planet’s water resources that could help prevent future crises and reduce regional friction that may erupt in water wars. “We’re talking about food security, sustainable development,” Dr. Aggarwal said. “If it’s based on unsustainable water resources, you jeopardize everything.”
What is it about human nature that makes this phenomenon inevitable? A Flickr stream has been collecting pictures of (relatively) ordinary folks from all over the world who visit the leaning tower of Pisa and all decide to take the same wacky picture, positioned between the camera and the tower in such a way that it appears they are holding it up. What prompts people to do this? Is it some deepseated instinctual response? Do they simply see others doing it? Beats me. Pretty funny though.
The New York Review of Books just published what is ostensibly a review of Thomas Friedman’s paean to globalization The World is Flat. It’s quite possibly the most bizarre bit of economic journalism I’ve come across, which doesn’t so much review Friedman’s book as use it as an excuse to revisit the ghost of Karl Marx. As far as I can tell, Gray asserts that Friedman was specifically inspired by Marxism but consistently gets most of it wrong, leaving us with statements like this:
The centrally planned economies that were constructed to embody Marx’s vision of communism have nearly all been swept away, and the mass political movements that Marxism once inspired are no more. Yet Marx’s view of globalization lives on, and nowhere more vigorously than in the writings of Thomas Friedman. Like Marx, Friedman believes that globalization is in the end compatible with only one economic system; and like Marx he believes that this system enables humanity to leave war, tyranny, and poverty behind.
followed by statements like this:
It is an irony of history that a view of the world falsified by the Communist collapse should have been adopted, in some of its most misleading aspects, by the victors in the cold war. Neoliberals, such as Friedman, have reproduced the weakest features of Marx’s thought—its consistent underestimation of nationalist and religious movements and its unidirectional view of history. They have failed to absorb Marx’s insights into the anarchic and self-destructive qualities of capitalism.
I’ve more to say about the piece, but frankly I’m dazzled by having to confront so many bizarre notions at once, as well as its many ambiguities and tautologies. We’ll see if some of the other blogging economists pick up the thread. In the meantime, read “The World is Round” for yourself. If nothing else, it will introduce you to the rather fascinating character that is John Gray.
Well, so technically all games we play have been made up by someone at one time or another, but I’ve decided to record for posterity the games I’ve encountered at or near their conception. The Game of Bottle is one such.
I read somewhere that it took 20 years for nascent basketball players to figure out that they needed to cut a hole in the bottom of the peach basket so they could quit climbing up the ladder to fish out the ball. Games gestate. In 50 years there will be a world-champion bottle team and their star player will have more endorsement contracts than he knows what to do with. Any megacorporations want to get in on the ground floor with some start-up capital? Coke? Pepsi? … Fanta?
James Suroweiki has a fantastic piece in this week’s New Yorker, “A Farewell to Alms” -
In 1985, when Bob Geldof organized the rock spectacular Live Aid to fight poverty in Africa, he kept things simple. “Give us your fucking money” was his famous (if apocryphal) command to an affluent Western audience—words that embodied Geldof’s conviction that charity alone could save Africa. He had no patience for complexity: we were rich, they were poor, let’s fix it. As he once said to a luckless official in the Sudan, after seeing a starving person, “I’m not interested in the bloody system! Why has he no food?”
Whatever Live Aid accomplished, it did not save Africa. Twenty years later, most of the continent is still mired in poverty. So when, earlier this month, Geldof put together Live 8, another rock spectacular, the utopian rhetoric was ditched. In its place was talk about the sort of stuff that Geldof once despised—debt-cancellation schemes and the need for “accountability and transparency” on the part of African governments—and, instead of fund-raising, a call for the leaders of the G-8 economies to step up their commitment to Africa. (In other words, don’t give us your fucking money; get interested in the bloody system.) Even after the G-8 leaders agreed to double aid to Africa, the prevailing mood was one of cautious optimism rather than euphoria.
As Suroweiki notes, American aid in Asia, particularly South Korea and Taiwan played a major role in revitalizing the economies of those countries. Not only have they emerged from third-world levels of poverty, but they have become productive trading partners and manufacturing hubs for high-tech enterprise. Foreign aid has had some stunning successes in recent years, not to mention the overwhelming effect of the Marshall plan on Germany and the restructuring of the Japanese economy after WWII.
One of the assignments for the St. Anthony’s team members who went to Mexico was to read Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty in order to guide our discussions of the role St. Anthony’s could play in the communities in which it is active.
There are a lot of wonderfully well-meaning people out there who give sacrificially to important causes, but there is a difference between charity and investing in community with the expectation of tangible improvements in quality of life and economic development. While many economists treat problems of economic development with the clinically detached interest of someone performing an autopsy, Sachs’ approach is that of a doctor (his wife is a pediatrician) underlining this approach by making a differential diagnosis for each country in which he works. If you’re interested in getting informed and involved in charitable activity in developing countries, this is a great place to start. A number of Sachs’ articles are available through Project Syndicate.
She may be in Budapest, but she can still keep in touch. We want lots and lots of pictures, Jessie, lots and lots of pictures. Visit Jessie Foltz on the web. I do believe I have ushered in a new design era of Hoosier-chic.
So it seemed like a good idea. I’m getting kind of hooked on Sudoku, a Japanese logic game that British newspapers picked up and turned into a bit of a craze on that side of the pond. I
don’t get much of a chance to sit down with pencil and paper and work on one, so I went looking for a version for my Treo and lo and behold, soduku on the go, loaded it onto my phone and now I can’t stop playing that freaking game.
onsider the potential ramifications of Sudoku my personal productivity. I console myself with the tenuous belief that while playing I vaguely look like I’m giving my calendar an awful lot of thought. Care to join me in spending an obscene amount of time we could be using for productive, money-making activities instead playing a silly, infuriating game with a bunch of numbers?
Haven’t tried it yet? There’s a bunch of stuff out on the web to help you get started on this wonderful time-obliterating activity. Websudoku has puzzles you can solve online. Here’s a cool Sudoku primer (pdf) I just turned up. Other than that the Sudoku Wikipedia entry has all you could hope for to start you down the road to addiction.
At right: the sign is from an ice cream vendor we found on a stop in Dolores Hidalgo. Me gusto mucho tequila-flavored ice cream. Bluebell needs to send some market research people south of the border.
Dallas-based Deadman has been floating around the musical ether lately, with an appearance on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic a while back and the impending release of a new album, Our Eternal Ghosts.
Deadman is husband and wife duo Steven and Sherilyn Collins who take a Daniel Lanois-inflected alt-country sensibility to a Texas songwriting tradition that mixes in gospel, country, rock & soul.
“I think gospel music really is the whole thing behind country ‘n’ western, rock ‘n’ roll and soul music,” he enthuses. “You’ve got guys like Sam Cooke writing soul music out of gospel, or Aretha Franklin doing the same thing, and even Ray Charles. The essence of what we’re doing with [our new songs] is that you have a bunch of frustrated Texans doing our little break-out version of that music. [The Ray Charles biopic] Ray shows that process of, ‘What are you doin’, man? You’re playin’ church music in here, get out of here.’ You see there’s conflict there, but then there’s growth. It’s really just great source material.”
Linotype, Bitstream and other big companies are a bit like major record labels, with catalogs full of reliable classics like Helvetica and Futura – the type of type sold in packages to software companies. There are also hundreds of smaller players: indies, in music-business terms. Emigre is one of the best known of these (with hit fonts like Mrs Eaves), along with Hoefler & Frere-Jones, House Industries and P22. Such firms may sell licenses for one person to use a single font for $50 or less, or sell packages of fonts for multiple users to design firms, ad agencies and the like. (They also create custom typefaces for specific clients, for much larger fees.) Meanwhile, as Tamye Riggs, executive director of the Society of Typographic Aficionados, points out, the digital revolution has also spawned tools that make it easy for almost anyone to create a new font and sell it for as little as $2 – or even give it away as a form of promotion. Not surprisingly, font piracy is pervasive. ‘’Just like MP3’s,'’ Riggs says.
The NY Times covers the latest trend among marketers - tapping the Christian market. It’s a bit strange to realize you’re part of demographic that Hollywood is trying to target and seems to be having an awfully hard time wrapping their little pinheads around. We’re not all that mysterious, are we? I mean, there’s a BOOK that tells you everything. Sharon Waxman does a great job with the piece, but I must confess to an eyebrow spasm when she described “The Da Vinci Code” as “the best-selling novel that challenges basic Christian dogma.” Dogma? is that really the word you want to use there?
I’m still amazed that Hollywood was so surprised by the success of the Passion. I don’t think I’ve seen single group of people feel so obligated to see a movie since Shindler’s List. How could that surprise anyone? Does no one working in Hollywood go to church? Does no one who goes to church work in Hollywood? Please, Hollywood, quit putting cruxifices in shots as if it were product placement. We’re the same as everyone else, just in a differenty sort of way.
I did find this bit interesting and quite revealing, in my experience -
The researchers found that “when it comes to popular movies and popular shows, tastes don’t differ at all” between religious and nonreligious, said Joseph Helfgot, president of MarketCast. “What you find is that people with conservative religious doctrine are the most likely to see movies rated R for violence. If you compared it to liberals, it’s a third more.”
Just remember kids, not all Christians are conservative…
Don’t know how I missed this one. In addition to hosting KCRW’s daily music show, Morning Becomes Eclectic, Nic Harcourt also produces a weekly best-of compilation called Sounds Eclectic featuring a baker’s dozen or so new tracks with four or five live songs from whoever he had in the studio that week. Click the “Listen” icons to launch the audio in RealPlayer. Click on “Playlists” to listen to archived shows.
Intellectual Historian Louis Menand offers an insightful look at O’Connor’s time on the Supreme Court and the nature of the impending confirmation battle to replace her spot on the bench.
In the short time since they formed their band in 2003, The Greencards (Kym Warner-mandolin, Carol Young-bass and Eamon McLoughlin-fiddle) have won the Best New Band award in the 2004 Austin Music Awards contest, been nominated for Best Emerging Talent by the Americana Music Association, and landed a prime spot opening for Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
The Greencards have just released their second studio album Weather and Water.
Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days. Eventually Michael, the archangel, found him resting on the seventh day and inquired of God, “Where have you been?”
God sighed with deep satisfaction and proudly pointed downward through the clouds. “Look Michael, look what I’ve made.”
Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, “What is it?”
“It’s a planet,” replied God, “and I’ve put life on it. I’m going to call it Earth and it’s going to be a great place of balance.”
“Balance? “inquired Michael, still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of the Earth, “For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. The Middle East over there will be hot spot", God continued, pointing to different countries. “This one will be extremely hot and while this one will be very cold and covered with ice.”
The Archangel, impressed by God’s work, then pointed to an area with mountains, lakes and forests, “What’s that one?”
“Ah", said God, “that’s Maine, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful beaches, rivers, lakes, and mountains. The people from Maine are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, and high-achieving people, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace.”
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then exclaimed, “What about balance, God? You said there would be balance! Everyone and everything seems so totally perfect in this place you call Maine.”
God replied wisely, “Wait until you see all the idiots I’m sending them every summer.”
Joy Goodgame sent me a video of her friend John Ramsey, who is desparately eschewing the ambulance-chasing profession to become a stand-up comedian. Not sure you’re really moving up the social-status-o-meter, there John, but you are pretty dang funny, so go for it! Who needs money when you’ve got your art! Soy babies…..
While you’re there, take a minute and read through the stories. Terrific writer.
I killed the rat. Even though the woman who swept the courtyard told me I would bring bad karma upon myself. The rat was menacing the bunk room. It was an oily sewer rat. Every night it crept into the room after we were asleep and clawed into our backpacks, gorging itself. One night it leapt onto the face of a Danish girl and got its claws tangled in her long blond hair and she woke up screaming. Enough is enough.
. It’s quite possibly the most bizarre bit of economic journalism I’ve come across, which doesn’t so much review Friedman’s book as use it as an excuse to revisit the ghost of Karl Marx. As far as I can tell, Gray asserts that Friedman was specifically inspired by Marxism but consistently gets most of it wrong, leaving us with statements like this:
in order to guide our discussions of the role St. Anthony’s could play in the communities in which it is active. 
to launch the audio in RealPlayer. Click on “Playlists” to listen to archived shows.
