Shucks and Curses

100 Thing Challenge

2010-08-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

So there was a much discussed article in the NYT this week about the connection between happiness and consumption. The idea was that researchers are finding that experiences contribute more to happiness than material purchases.

The article profiled a couple living in a 400 square foot apartment in Portland, OR. They each own less than 100 personal possessions, having taken the "100 thing challenge" started by a blogger named Dave.

I had a few thoughts on the matter:

1) Jack Reacher has all the hippy minimalists beat. He only owns a toothbrush and an ATM card.

2) If a significant portion (say, 20% or so) of U.S. consumers adopted this attitude, the world economy would slip gradually into a cyclical disaster unlike anything modern economists have ever known. Imagine it - consumers spend less voluntarily, so companies go out of business, so people lose their jobs, and then everyone has to spend less involuntarily. Could be interesting.

3) I'm really intrigued by this challenge. There are few things about alternative cultures that appeal to me, but this may be one. I'm not saying I'm committing, I'm just saying I think I'm going to count my stuff. Is there a market for baseball cards from the early 90's?

God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise

2010-06-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

New album from Ray on August 17th

XOBC

2010-02-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

A few new songs and covers from the incomparable Brandi Carlile:

http://itunes.apple.com/album/xobc-ep/id351896151

Letter to Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-08-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have spent 3 weekends at Rocky Mountain National Park this summer and have enjoyed beautiful mountain scenery, wildlife, and excellent hiking trails each time we have visited.

On Friday 7/24/2009 we attended an evening program at Moraine Park Campground. The subject was "The Wild Bunch: Squirrels, Chipmunks, and Marmots". The ranger was very entertaining and the subject matter was informative and relevant to our visit - we had a great time trying to classify numerous squirrels and chipmunks the rest of the weekend.

Having enjoyed our previous experience, we attended another evening program on Saturday 8/1/2009 at Moraine Park. I was disappointed to learn that the subject of the talk would not be about the wildlife, the geology, or anything related to RMNP itself. Rather, the ranger gave a very one-sided and opinionated lecture on climate change, complete with power point slides that looked like they came straight out of the movie "An Inconvenient Truth". While I don't doubt the ranger's passion or qualification to speak on the subject of climate change, I question the appropriateness of such a politically charged theme as the subject of the program. I was especially incensed at the ranger's thinly-veiled suggestion that those who question the severity of climate change or the role that humans play in it are simply "sticking [their] heads in the sand", which she communicated with an illustrative photograph. The ranger sought to convince the listeners of the correctness of her views on climate change by citing broad scientific consensus, but not giving any attention to numerous opposing arguments in the scientific community and in fact trying to make any opposition look comical and unreasonable by way of the photograph previously mentioned. I found this tactic offensive.

The ranger asked us to think about the future and consider what kind of world we wanted our children and grandchildren to grow up in - and to consider reducing our carbon footprint by using less energy. When I think about the future, I picture a world in which our children are free to attend public school, watch Hollywood movies, and visit the country's National Parks without constantly being indoctrinated with a liberal worldview.

I write this letter in the hope of encouraging the rangers of RMNP to please keep politics out of the park - and keep the ranger programs focused on the park.

The Value of an MBA degree

2009-01-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

Upon returning to school, one of my foremost goals was to learn how to make Powerpoint presentations with "mojo", and Excel spreadsheets that "pop". While I've had some opportunity to practice these undeniably value-add skills, this winter semester I have encountered my first MBA class that focuses more on teaching critical thinking skills than the basic principles of business: MBA 621, Advanced Corporate Finance. The class is entirely based on case studies that are prepared before each meeting. Grades are based solely on class participation and scores on daily quizzes, which are administered at the beginning of class and focus on the case that will be discussed that day. There is no right answer to the quizzes, by the way, what matters is the reasoning behind the answer. So far, my average score is a 6 out of 10.

I love the class, I hate the class. I love it because it teaches how to make decisions given an ambiguous context, using logic and reason, and recognizing the hidden underlying assumptions of analytical tools. Arguably, this is almost as valuable in business as black belt-level spreadsheet skills.

I hate the class because sometimes the Professor's main goal seems to be to help students understand that we are not as smart as we think we are, which can be a frustrating lesson.

Legislating moral conformity...

2008-11-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

The issue of homosexual marriage is is far from over. I'm not looking forward to the continued debates and hate crimes against church-goers that will inevitably result...

This editorial from the National Review points out some of the ridiculousness of the tolerance movement.

Thank you, Big Oil

2008-11-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

Amidst worsening economic woe and doom, there is one bright spot of hope. Gas prices are now less than $2/gallon. I, for one, would like to thank the benevolent oil executives for their compassion and kindness. Undoubtedly, the stream of letters to the editors of news publications, the scrutiny from the mainstream media, and the congressional hearings from this past summer have caused ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and others to reach deep inside their corrupt corporate souls and turn from their nefarious practice of price gouging. It can't have anything to do with market rates. No way. They were taking advantage of us before, and now they're just being nice.

Thank you, Big Oil.

Election Day

2008-11-04T11:56:00.000-08:00

This morning as I drove to school, the winds of election day change whipped the fallen leaves around the streets with a fury, and a light rain was falling. It was the kind of weather that makes me contemplative.

While I don't pretend to apologize for the current administration's failings, I don't believe they are as bad as the media, academia, and Hollywood would have us believe, and as I try to reconcile myself to the almost certain outcome of today's presidential election, I can't help but feel slightly depressed.

I wish the candidates would have talked more about the roots of their political ideologies. I wish John McCain would have vehemently defended conservative economic and social policies, instead of emphasizing his bipartisan views. I wish Barack Obama would have helped people understand the moral and economic implications of his proposals. There is a sinking feeling in my gut that portends a dramatic change in the future of this country, but not for the better.

From a letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune:

On my way to lunch recently, I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama; I need the money." I laughed. In a restaurant my server had on an "Obama 08" tie. Again I laughed. Just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came, I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Barack-Obama-redistribution-of-wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need—the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment, I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Visits with Uncle Vinnie

2008-06-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks I've been spending time with my wife's great aunt and her husband, who are visiting from New York. The husband of my wife's great aunt happens to be legendary studio guitarist Vinnie Bell (pictured at right with Gene Pitney). The list of records that Vinnie played on reads like a compilation of the greatest hits of the 60's:

Walk On By (Dionne Warwick)
This Diamond Ring (Gary Lewis)
Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You (Four Seasons)
Happy Together (The Turtles)
The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)
New York, New York (Frank Sinatra)
It's Impossible (Perry Como)

And the list goes on and on. Vinnie also invented the Electric Sitar. He's a pretty cool guy - and has stories and comments about everyone who worked in the entertainment business back in the day. Like the time when John Lennon tried to walk out of the studio with Vinnie's gear. Or how during a show Paul Simon tried to tell Vinnie how to play his guitar part without knowing that Vinnie was the one that played it on the record.

Nowadays, Vinnie likes smoking cigars and eating out. Drop by his website and leave him a comment - he loves reading them.

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Gallactica.

2008-06-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Two hikers are lost in Denali National Park:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/17/denali.search.ap/index.html

I'm going backpacking in Denali in August. I'm slightly scared of getting eaten by a bear. Or a swarm of mosquitos.

Seriously, though - planning for the Alaska trip has been exciting. We've been slowly accumulating our gear - backpacks, sleeping bags, pads, titanium cookware, stove, hiking pants. We're making another trip to REI this weekend to try on hiking boots and purchase a water filter. Maybe we should get some of those bells to ward off the bears.

Freedom To Be Frank

2008-06-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

Now that I have given notice and am leaving my place of employment to go back to school, I am relieved by the opportunity this presents to be much more open and honest in my communication with my co-workers. Not that I'm going to burn any bridges...

...but when Megan from Consolidations Accounting emails me about her stupid survey:

"I have you as a contact to fill out the close efficiency survey on a monthly basis. The past two months you have not responded to the survey. Can you please let me know...the reason you were unable to complete the survey the past two month?"

I have no qualms about responding with my true feelings on the matter:

"I didn’t fill it out because I dislike automated surveys and generally don’t take them seriously."

And so it goes. Six more weeks.

Welcome, Mr. Korver

2008-01-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

With the Jazz sitting in 9th place in the Western Conference standings after a dismal December, the news of a trade last weekend was certainly welcome - a sign that Larry Miller, Kevin O'Connor, and Jerry Sloan are at least trying to shake things up enough to get their team back in the playoff picture. Mr. Korver is reported to be a team player that demands respect from behind the arc, so hopefully he'll be able to help combat team chemistry issues (remember Deron's comments after last year's playoffs?) and zone defenses. Plus, the guy is a 91% free throw shooter.

Still, I'm scratching my head over the whole Sloan/Giricek blowup. I'm all for "tough love" and old school coaching, but from all the media reports of the incident, Sloan really came away looking like a jerk for banishing Giri to the locker room and later sending him home from a road trip. While he may be a mediocre defender who is too inclined to shoot, Giricek does seems to be a mild-mannered fellow. Hopefully he'll find a role in the Sixer's rotation.

In the meantime, the Jazz are 2-0 after the trade, and Korver is averaging 12.5 points in just 15 mins per game. Is this a turnaround point for Utah? Let's see how they do on the road against those pesky Blazers this weekend...