Water Levels & Gas

Hurricane Katrina just got done owning Louisiana. Now I feel really bad for all the people who's lives are devastated I really do. It's a tragedy, make no mistake about that.

That being said, I do have some thoughts... First of all, how could you not see this coming? Your city is BELOW SEA LEVEL. Gee, I wonder what will happen with excessive rains... Secondly, if you live there and you know you are below sea level and a class 5 hurricane is headed directly for you, LEAVE! I read a story about how a guy stayed behind to try and find the family cat. It's a cat stupid, run for your life!

And in the midst of all this tragedy, what was one of the most prominent images on TV? A sniffling Brett Favre blubbering about how devastated he was and how difficult it would be to play football this week. SHUT THE HELL UP. People were watching his interview and actually feeling sorry for this guy as he tries to act like his family in Louisiana won't be able to recover from the loss of their house. I think people tended to forget one small detail: Favre is a millionaire. Build a new house asshole and stop pretending you are as bad off as the middle class/poor who almost certainly had no flood insurance.

Bret Favre could rebuild an entire neighborhood for the money he wipes his ass with.

Today the Bush administration came on TV and made the claim that the economy would not be affected by the shutdown of the two oil pipelines going through Louisiana. Things will "even out" they claim. Somehow the economy is impervious but my personal economy (wallet) is certain to be devastated by the huge spike in gas prices. Ash made an interesting point.

When I started driving in 1999 the average per gallon price was 90 cents. By the time I graduated high school it was at an uncanny $1.39. When I left for New York on June 4, 2005 it was $1.89. When I arrived on August 12, 2005 it was $2.59. Today (August 31) it was $2.99 and expected to hit ~$4 by end of the week.

Can you imagine the riot if other products rose by that inflationary level. If milk was expected to hit $12 per gallon by next week? If a Kia sedan was suddenly $40,000+? If Walmart soda pushed upwards of $2 a can?

Time to move to Switzerland. No hurricanes, no Kias, and I can snow ski to work. Bam!

The iPod Project

Over the summer I decided to take the plunge and invest in an iPod. Typically I consider myself more of an early adopter, but after living in NY for the summer I definitely feel like I am the last person on the planet to obtain one of these nifty devices.

So last Tuesday, and by last Tuesday I mean a week ago not this past one, I set upon a massive undertaking to organize and catalogue 8 years worth of neglect on my mp3 library. This also included converting some CD song files that I had ripped into wma's a few years ago, namely about 120 CD's worth.

Starting Tuesday evening I have spent virtually every free minute of every day for the past 11 days working on this project. However, I am thrilled to say that after at least 50+ hours of work my entire library is immaculate. All that is left to do is the ripping of a dozen or so CD's purchased in the past year and my iPod directory is ready to rock.

Oh, and I bought it this past Monday. And let me tell you at 60 gigs this little baby is one hot mama. My main drive for this purchase is my upcoming 15 hr flight to and from China in October, and Paradis has been gracious enough to lend me his Bose headphones to try out for the trip. This in itself is fantastic as I have seriously considered buying a pair, but I really wanted to test them out before taking another $300 plunge on a set of headphones.

So I may be cramped in my bush league coach seat, but at least I'll be jamming in style.

Back in the Dirty

As of August 12 I have left NY. Back in NC to start the MAC program on the 15th. Quite a quick turnaround, especially considering the 2 page list of (non-school related) stuff I had to do in the first week I got back. That was the largest contributing factor to the lack of posts these past 2 weeks. Actually, I did a really long post yesterday from the Bschool, but it got erased, so I'll try and hit the high points briefly.

1. Cheesecake & The Pimp. On my last day in NY I left work at lunchtime and took the 2 train back into Brooklyn to pick up a cheesecake at Junior's for Dad's b-day on Sunday- the apple crumb is phenominal. Much to my delight, for the third straight time I have visited Junior's, I was petitioned for money by a man whom I have deemed the "Homeless Crippled Pimp," mostly because he is infact a homeless crippled pimp. Yes,thats right, a homeless man in a wheelchair, which by itself is nothing to laugh about. However when said person is dressed in full pimp regalia complete with an oversized pink leopard print hat and a purple feather... let the laughter begin. It takes a lot of balls to smack a hoe with one hand and ask for change with the other.

2. American Express Platinum Card. I have one. Mostly due to the fact that I will be traveling a great deal in the next year and the card grants you free access to tons of exclusive airport lounges ("clubs"). So now I belong to that snobbish airline sub-culture of travelers who look down on the airbound peasants from their enclosed lounges while they sip complimentary mixed drinks and enjoy the comforts of free wi-fi access. Yes, I am one of those people. Jeeves, get me some collared shirts to pop. God help me.

3. Tony the "Jew-Hating" Tiger. Courtesy of Wiley Westall we have a 6 foot tall cardboard standup of Tony the Tiger. Poised in the traditional Tony pose with hand on hip and one finger in the air, Tony is perfectly positioned to make various exclaimations. When I look at that tiger with his smug grin all I can imagine him saying is something along the lines of "I hate the Jews," or "black people are inferior." Tony's racism should come as no suprise... the guy is the mascot for a product called Frosted Flakes. Nothing screams white supramacy quite like that.

My class today (on a Friday) is 9 hrs long. Started at 8:30, ends at 5pm. Great times. More posts soon.

"Family Values"

The term "family values" gets tossed around a lot these days. People are either for "family values" or against them. They are tirelessly promoted and have formed the backbone of many political campaigns over the years.

The "death" of this supposedly universally static system is one of the most hotly contested topics in the media.

But I'm not even sure what "family values" means. Does it mean valuing your family, and if so, has there been a noticeable decrease in overall appreciation of ones family members? Does mom's meatloaf no longer hold the sway it once enjoyed?

Is "family values" just a red herring for which to disguise an underlying prejudice and bigotry toward non-heterosexual or non-conventional relationships?

Is it just another clever conservative double-speak term that's over-used as a scapegoat whenever people feel like the lifestyle they enjoy is being threatened? I'm not sure I understand why people can't live whatever lifestyle they choose as long as they don't interfere with or force it on others? And if this is the case, how can those who say these "family values" are being threatened advocate policies to enforce said values, knowing full well that these policies would deny others the right to pursue their own lifestyle. Doesn't this seem hypocritical?

And why would people want everyone to live the same way anyway? Appreciate all the same things? Does it stem from some sort of envy for those who are different? Instead of breaking the mold yourself you want to conform others to it?

Perhaps "family values" as a social institution lacks any useful meaning altogether. Maybe we should all just focus on being the best people we can be and enjoy living life while we can.

Or maybe my values just aren't "familial" enough. Or perhaps I need a new family of values. Or maybe I should re-value my family on the black market. Yeah, that must be what they mean... I bet I could get a pretty penny.

Last week of employment before... employment

Yes, tragically my unemployment will only last a meager 2 days. This Friday is my last day with Deloitte for the summer, and as all great things must come to an end, so must my summer in New York. I will miss the bustling streets dearly. Fear not dear reader(s) for within a mere calendar year I will return triumphant to this metropolis that I love.

What will I do with my 2 days of summer vacation you ask? Friday night my flight gets in at 10pm. Agenda: Bill's Pizza & laundry. Saturday's agenda: the lake with Dan and Dad. Sunday's agenda: packing up, picking up couches and moving to Hillsborough. Oh, and probably dinner at Maggiano's to celebrate the Old Man's birthday.

Then bright and early Monday morning I become a full time student again... and I start a new job in the IT department at Kenan-Flagler.

So dear reader(s) I know what question plagues your mind, why you hold your breath in anticipation... will Irrational Exuberance! continue once Steele is no longer in the City? I can make no promises but I shall do my best to keep the gravy train a rollin'. Until then... see you in Disney Land!!!...... bring money.

Jazz in the Villiage

Last night I found myself in the Blue Note again. I don't know what it is about that place that just seems to soothe my soul... it's certainly not the drink prices. Yet everytime I go there all I can think about is how much I can't wait to get back again.

The first time I went Tony Bennet was leaving on the way in. Part of what makes it so great is the 10:30 show, which allows you to stay through the late night show until 3:30 am for free. That's 5 hours of jazz. And that's unbeatable.

So if you ever make it to NY I suggest you head to the West Villiage and check this place out. And while you're there, say hi to Tony for me.

The most profitable film of all time

In a rare free moment today I got a chance to check out boxofficemojo.com and I was looking at the total costs and revenues for the summer releases to see which had the highest overall return on investment. I had gotten through the 27th highest grossing film for the past weekend when I stumbled upon what, considering these numbers, would be the most insurmountably profitable film of all time.

According to boxofficemojo, the cumulative take for the film Crash is currently $52,232,117 and the listed total budget is $6.50. Six dollars and fifty cents. That equates to a roughly 803,570,931% ROI.

If you can find another investment that yields over 800,000,000% ROI in 3 months I highly recommend buying it. In fact, let me know... I've got $6.50 in my pocket right now that would love to become $52,000,000 by Thanksgiving.

Alas, upon further investigation you will uncover that it was actually a $6.5 million budget... which is still a pretty incredible ROI for a film released amid the stampede of action-packed yet cinematically shallow summer blockbusters. Despite all the talk of slumping ticket sales, it's been a pretty good summer for LionsGate.

Jet Sounds

I travel. Often.

As such it is critical to have a constant supply of excellent travel music easily accessible to help melt away the hours of layover in various airports across the US. One of my all time favorite jet-setting albums is the aptly named Jet Sounds by Nicola Conte. The entire album has an unmistakably bossa nova/bossa Italia sound to it, fused with acid jazz and wrapped in the soft uptempo beat of modern lounge.

Essentially it's the perfect soundtrack for flying, regardless of whether you are on a top secret government mission or merely on your way to crunch numbers in Columbus, OH. If you aren't up for forking out the extra dough for the import, you can pick up the US version entitled Bossa per Due, which was retitled in accordance to the most well known US single release of the same name featured in an incredibly irritating Acura commercial.

If Nicola Conte tickles your fancy I also highly recommend dZihan & Kamien and Jazzanova.