Nice fans

1. Punkin results

Sycamore Punkin 10K run this morning... 47:40, that's a 7:41/mile pace (results link).
My goal was 8 minute miles, so I'll take it.
Go:

1. I was aerobic the whole way. No huffing and puffing. Just cruising.
2. Free beer at the finish line. Leiny's OctoberFest, yum. God bless rural America!

QOTD

[Imagine the most enthusiastic, over the top girl ever. Like the girl handing out the Kool-aid in Jonestown telling people they were about to board the spaceship back to the mother planet or something]
Girl: We're going green this year [loud, breathless, huge bug-eyed smile]... and posting the race results online!!!
Bill: Good. I thought you were going to say that I couldn't drive here to get to the race or something.
- Registration for the Sycamore Punkin Run

Funny thing. I had to backdoor my way to find the Punkin results because their site crashed and burned. He he.

2. Johnny Pax

Surfed past NBA Classic on the tube. Then back. "Wait a minute. That's the 1993 Bull title game against the Suns."

With 40 seconds left, the Sun had a 4 point lead and the ball. Jordan sprinted the floor for a layup. The defense clamped down, and that left Johnny Pax for the three-pointer and the title.

• Basketball-reference boxscore - The Bull only scored 12 points in the 4th quarter. It was brutal.

• Johnny Pax winning shot - Pippen to Horace, back out to Johnny Pax at the 3-point line. Ka-boom! Three-peat!

Remember it like it was yesterday. Sigh. I had definitely given up in the 4th quarter. "Oh well, we'll get them in game 7." The Bull were brutal. We scored 12 points in the 4th quarter... 9 by Michael and Pax's title-winner. Sigh again.

3. F'n F

We took this pic on our baseball trip last year. It's Busch Stadium in St. Louis. It's already out of date.

Cardinal win. Oh well. F'n F.
But hey, shit... Game 6 was one of the greatest ballgames that I've ever seen.
And Tony Larussa is a fucking winner. I don't know what he does or how he does it, but the guy is the best manager in my lifetime. I don't have a 2nd best manager.

So... what's better than 11 titles? Incredible game 6? And best manager ever?
The St. Louis fans. Here's a wonderful SI story on how the Cardinal fans are nice, positive, polite, and non-violent: si - Where's the boo in booster?

Huzzah to the St. Louis fans! Why the heck would you pay good $$ to go to a sporting event to be a miserable bastard? (yes Philly, Boston and NY... I'm talking to you)
see bill run... yow, bill

PS - Also from SI. The best iPod of all time:
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1157160/9/25/index.htm

The American Idea

"Autumn Americana"

1. Shift-Delete

After reading some deal about a guy's gmail getting hacked (williamt - Pappy), I hardened all my passwords this week. Then, doofus, I typed my one of my new cool passwords into the user name slot. So, now it's stuck in the auto-fill for Firefox. Dop.

Huzzah! In Firefox, the solution to this is Shift-Delete. If you select an auto-fill choice in Firefox and then hit Shift-Delete, it goes away.

2. The American Idea

The WSJ this morning and google news is a blizzard of negativity. Europe. Unemployment. Deficits. Nabob Obama jabbering. Leftie racism directed at Herman Cain. St. Louis winning the World Series (he he). And probably my favorite: Occupy Naperville protests. Snort.

Paul Ryan is a sliver of light in this silly gloom. This is long, but worthy:

Rep. Paul Ryan on Saving the American Idea

The whole thing is goob, but these few paragraphs really resonated with me:

Telling Americans they are stuck in their current station in life, that they are victims of circumstances beyond their control, and that government’s role is to help them cope with it – well, that’s not who we are. That’s not what we do.

Our Founding Fathers rejected this mentality. In societies marked by class structure, an elite class made up of rich and powerful patrons supplies the needs of a large client underclass that toils, but cannot own. The unfairness of closed societies is the kindling for class warfare, where the interests of “capital” and “labor” are perpetually in conflict. What one class wins, the other loses.

The legacy of this tradition can still be seen in Europe today: Top-heavy welfare states have replaced the traditional aristocracies, and masses of the long-term unemployed are locked into the new lower class.

The United States was destined to break out of this bleak history. Our future would not be staked on traditional class structures, but on civic solidarity. Gone would be the struggle of class against class.

Instead, Americans would work, compete, and co-operate in an open market, climb the ladder of opportunity, and keep the fruits of their efforts.

Self-government and the rule of law would secure our equal, God-given rights. Our political and economic systems – rooted in freedom and responsibility – would reward, and thus cultivate, traditional virtues.

Given that the President’s policies have moved us closer to the European model, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that his class-based rhetoric has followed suit.

- Paul Ryan, The American Idea

Contrast Ryan's "American Idea" with President Obama's nincompoopery: "You got their [repub's] plan, which is let's have dirtier air, dirtier water, (and) less people with health insurance." (usatoday story)

So, put your money on the table: President Obama and Occupy Naperville or Paul Ryan's American Idea. Cha!
yow, bill

Apple trees

"Apple trees"

1. The Top .0004%
Forbes sent a billionaire to visit the Occupy Wall Street protest. Very interesting.

forbes - Billionaire visits Occupy Wall Street

QOTD

I was once part of the 99%. I never thought I’d ever be part of the 1% but just the fact that I could try to achieve that was motivating. That’s what this country is about.
- Jeff Greene, billionaire

"That's what this country is about".
Huzzah to that!

2. World Series

The Wikipedia World Series page is really nice:

 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Series_baseball_champions

Game 6 last night was about as good as it gets.
Game 7 tonight. Huzzah!

QOTD

What's going on here?
- Tim McCarver, on guys dropping the ball (6 errors) in World Series game 6

yow, bill

Fed $$$

Man oh man, the feds gots the $$$.
Fed $$$ for Naperville, college kids, obesity, hunger. Go!

1. Fed $$$ to Naperville
 Naperville is a wealthy community. Huzzah to that! Rich or no, we are survivors. Yup. We survived a federal emergency disaster thingie in the blizzard last winter. I know this because Naperville just got $500K from the feds (FEMA) for snow removal costs:

Naperville snow refund on its way

Rumor on the grapevine is that Naperville will be spending the $500K on two things: 1) a champagne and caviar party for everyone in Naperville at the mayor's castle (not mine), and 2) hiring more people to fill in federal grant applications.

2. Fed $$$ to college kids
The feds have money for college kids too. The leftie reporter here complains that the feds aren't giving away very much money to college kids.

White House help on college loans isn't so much

Fortunately, the president reports that lowering college borrowing costs will not cost the feds any $$$. I believe the logic here is similar to the Obamacare math.

The reporter-ette slips in this seemingly innocuous factoid.

QOTD

"Around the same time the College Board was releasing a report showing that the average tuition at a four-year public college rose 8.3 percent last year"
- sfgate story

Cheap $$$ from the feds leads directly to the high, increasing cost of college. This connection never seems to get much of a mention though.

3. Fed $$$ to fight obesity
Alas, Naperville is jealous of Salem, VA. The good people of Salem got $800K from the feds for PE equipment to "fight obesity".

Salem wins federal grant to fight obesity

Bah. Salem, VA isn't so special. "Salem was one of 76 school systems in the country to receive these federal funds."

4. Fed $$$ to fight hunger
While the feds are steadfastly battling obesity, they are also heroically fighting hunger. PBS pulls out their heavy-hitting Sesame Street franchise to get this important message out.

QOTD

"Elmo didn't know there are so many people who don't have the food they need."
- Sesame Street fighting hunger, npr story

There is only one way to stop this stuff. Cut fed $$$.


5. Smoke em if you got em boys
I heart this Herman Cain pol ad where the guy smokes a butt at the end:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhm-22Q0PuM

Excellent.
yow, bill

Reverse Cowgirl

QOTD

"Have your guy lie on his back and, facing his feet, straddle him with your knees on either side of his hips. Or, if it's more comfortable, squat over him with your feet flat on the bed."

- The Reverse Cowgirl

1. Cormac. Dop.

Book: "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy
Review: 2 bill-stars (out of 5)... not good
Good reads link: www.goodreads.com/review/show/227341416

Well, "Blood Meridian" is a recent classic. Written in 1985, it's on all manner of "best books ever" lists and such. It's got a 4+ rating on goodreads and Amazon. I guess it's "literature"... chockful of allusions and metaphor. You know... "horrors of war" and "true nature of man" blah blah.

Whatever. It sucked pretty hard. Sure, you get the rugged and wild west and Cormac McCarthy's smooth-as-butter style, but the rest is a write-off. There are no real characters, per se. Everyone's just a caricature. The plot is just 350 pages of random, rambling violence. It wasn't worth it.

You're going to think I'm making this one up, but I'm not. Page 200. The book's bad guy named "the judge" buys two puppies from a kid in Mexico, throws them in the river, and then another guy shoots them. That's it. No connection to anything really. Just a couple pages of nothing. I almost quit the book then, but kept on going through the last 150 pages.

My favorite thing from the book is so small. But it's my favorite because I just imagine Cormac-baby laughing out loud while he wrote it. I know I laughed when I read it.

QOTD

[the protagonist, "the kid", encounters a hermit in the middle of the desert... Cormac spends a couple-a pages describing the barren wasteland in which this filthy, lonely hermit lives all alone... and then the kid asks the hermit...]

How long you out here?
Out where?
- Cormac, Blood Meridian

He he. Never mind. That one's for me.
giddy... yow, bill

Quails

QOTD

"quails"
- winning Scrabble word yesterday, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quail

...

...

1. Immature
Who's more immature (less mature?), the headline guys are Yahoo or me?

QOTD

"Mariah Carey reveals twins"
- Yahoo headline

2. Pro-Obama
The decision to completely leave Iraq seemed a little funny (funny weird, not funny ha-ha) at first. Lots of reasons to keep at least a small force there. But then I read this, and I'm pro-Obama on leaving Iraq.

QOTD

"...the Iraqi side was told that the American side won't leave a single soldier without full immunity and the Iraqi answer was that it's impossible to grant immunity to a single American soldier"
- Iraq leader Maliki, wsj story

Yeah. We're going to have soldiers in Iraq that are arrested and then tried and jailed under Iraqi law. I don't think so. See ya.

3. Nerds, public schools
Bill Gates is in the WSJ today, writing about fixing public education. His approach is to work with the teacher's unions. It hasn't worked thus far.

QOTD - Gates

"98% of our school teachers are rated "satisfactory.""
- Bill Gates, how a nerd says you're a fraud, wsj - Grading the Teachers

Steve Jobs (RIP) didn't exactly work with anyone on education that I can tell. He was a bit more direct on solving the problem.

QOTD - Jobs

Jobs also criticized America’s education system, saying it was “crippled by union work rules,” noted Isaacson. “Until the teachers’ unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform.” Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit, that schools stay open until 6 p.m. and that they be open 11 months a year.

- Steve Jobs talks teachers unions and education reform

It's ownership.
Does the principal of your public school feel like he/she owns the joint? Probably not.
Do the teachers feel like they own the classroom? Some, but not enough.
Do parents and students feel like customers of the public school system? No chance.

I have more of a feeling of ownership with my (crappy) fantasy football team.
yow, bill

Crunchy Creamy Cookie Candy Cupcake

1. Crunchy Creamy Cookie Candy Cupcake
I'm not quite sure what's wrong with me... but I think this 18 seconds of video cost me $10:

youtube - Rango

Ring me up for 10 ebay-bucks today for the Rango DVD. Free shipping. Mmmm-mha!

2. Bring out your dead

Sort of like Sarah Palin's "stunning the halibut", I reckon. "Died after capture"... good one.

QOTD

"Qaddafi Died After Capture, Misrata Military Council Says"
- goodbye Mo-Mo, yahoo link

3. Knight battle

I got spam for the Army v. Rutgers game because it's being held at Yankee Stadium. I didn't know that both teams were "knights". Which is cooler?

Army Black Knights:

Or, Rutgers Scarlet Knights:

Go Army!
yow, bill

I'm open, comrade!

1. Facade

The facade seems to be cracking. And still more than a year to the election.

QOTD1

"Murder will continue to rise. Rape will continue to rise. All crime will continue to rise."
- Joe Biden, describing the impact if repubs don't pass Obama's job bill, link

QOTD2

"I believe all the choices we've made have been the right ones."
- President Obama, on his first 3 years, link

This facade is such a weird part of this whole deal, this Great Recession. The weird, surreal facade of blaming people for not paying their "fair share", "green jobs", student loan debt is greater than all credit card debt, governments spending while the rest of the population saves, and you sneak socialized medicine in there for the cherry on top.

The (positive) portrayal of the "Occupy" protests in the media is as irrelevant as the (negative) portrayal of the Tea Party. It won't be reported, but people won't vote for "Occupy". The closer the link between President Obama and the "Occupy" protests, then the greater his chance of getting the boot next year.

2. I'm open, comrade!
This is surreal. Adam Morrison is dominating in the Serbia basketball league:

usatoday video - Adam Morrison is playing some good ball in Serbia

yahoo video - Adam Morrison doesn't have to take your elbows, dude

I like the Jesus look. If you watch that "elbow" video, it's disappointing that Russian basketball players faux fight, just like they do in America. When Morrison stuck his mug in that Russian guy's face, I thought the comrade would at least take a swipe at him. Oh well.

3. Reverse psychology

The worst team to ever win a World Series was the 2006 St. Louis Cardinal.
Their regular season record was 83-78.
Worse than that, look at these dogs... the lineup, the pitching staff. Woof!

baseball-reference - 2006 St. Louis Cardinal

BTW, the worst record of any team to make the MLB playoffs was the 2005 Padre at 82-80 (yahoo link).

And one more on this theme: forbes - 10 worst World Series Champions

So, the 2011 World Series is Ranger v. Cardinal. The Ranger are better at every position, save 1B. They have better starting pitching and a better bullpen.

World Series prediction: St. Louis Cardinal win

The Cardinal have one lone advantage: the manager.
Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan ain't losing to Texas. I don't know how they do it, but they do it.
blech... yow, bill

The Conversation

1. Movie review

Movie: "The Conversation"
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... worth it

"The Conversation" is billed as the movie Coppola made after "The Godfather". Wow, talk about your 180 change in direction. "The Conversation" is incredibly tiny and slow. Today, I think we'd consider it an art film or something.

It was pretty interesting though. It was a long walk, but it had a good ending. Made in 1974, the movie is chockful 'o stars: Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford (32 yo below), Teri Garr, Fredo, Shirley from Laverne and Shirley, and Robert Duvall briefly.

Since the movie is about a surveillance guy, there's tons of fun 70's stuff in the movie:

• rotary phones
• reel-to-reel recorders
• rusty cars
• most shocking, people walking their dogs without leashes or little plastic baggies full of poop

2. Spending

State governments and the feds have grown dramatically in the last 10 years or so. A double in 10 years is a 7% compound growth rate.

Source: ibd - The Austerity Myth

And, in roughly 10 years, the feds have added $10T to the debt.

10 years. That's a pretty quick sprint to screw the pooch. It seems that way at least.
yow, bill

Pappy!

I met Pappy in Vegas. He he.

"Pappy - Fortune Teller"

1. All in
Ala Texas Hold Em, the media is "all in" on these Occupy protestors. Story after story after story is penetrating Bill's Media Bubble (TM). the Occupy protests are big and important... the protestors are serious and righteous and true.

Here's an example... a blog post that explicitly lays out the "This the Tea Party, but better" argument:

Occupy Wall Street must occupy Congress, AG offices

The Tea Party was a media exercise (anti, rather than pro), until 2010. At this point, the Occupy protests are a media exercise (pro, rather than anti) that will either fizzle or pay off in 2012. Occupy reminds me of the Wisconsin teacher protests/siege earlier this year, not the Tea Party.

Speaking of teachers, public service unions in Ohio are spending $20M to try and roll back changes that the Gov made last year. In Ohio, this "Senate Bill 5" reduces the bargaining rights of public employees in an attempt to keep costs under control, ala Wisconsin. When your stuff is on the line... say anything, baby. ANYTHING! Below, getting paid less makes it harder for this guy to be a teacher.


QOTD

"Hi, Teresa. I’m voting no on Senate Bill 5 because it can make my class size larger and can make it harder for me to be a teacher."
- some Ohio teacher, lying on the blower, nytimes story

2. Scared the bejesus

This is a long article, but worthy. It finally did it. Scared the bejesus out of me. Scared enough so that I hardened my gmail password. And others too.

atlantic - Hacked!

yow, bill

Spewie and the Punkins

1. The Punkins Concert

Concert: Punkins at The Riv
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... goob

It was a good show. The Riv is a great venue. The Punkins have about as good a song catalog as anyone still touring who doesn't have a foot in the grave. And man, Billy Corgan can play that gee-tar, and they sounded great.

I feel a concert like this is just opportunity lost though. It's the gol dang Smashing Punkins, for jiminy sake, playing in their home town. It could-a, should-a been a special event. Alas, Billy Corgan is one cranky dude. Home town, schome town. There was little/no (gay) banter with the crowd or recognition that he was home. The crowd reflected Corgan's antipathy and was just not that into the whole deal. I'm not sure that a lot of the younger concert-goers even knew (or liked) the Punkin's songs.

Of course, Billy Corgan has long since jettisoned all the other members of the Punkins because they are all incompetent boobs. OK. But now it's just Billy and some zombies with zero stage presence or contribution to the event other than playing the notes.

The set list was about 50/50 new and old songs. That's way too many new, completely unknown songs. There were at least half a dozen songs I thought we'd hear that we didn't.

FWIW... here are a couple of reviews in the local rags: Trib review, Sun Times review.

It's always the stories though, right. Some fun, memorable side moments for me:

1. Tall - What is the deal with tall people at concerts? I'm talking giants. There were dozens of guys at least a head taller than me at the show. It was funny because these super tall guys left crowd shadows because no one would stand behind them.
2. iPhones - I was equally amazed at the number of (young) people who just stood there holding their iPhones up to video the show. Can you enjoy a show standing still holding your arm up the whole time? Scratch. Scratch. I don't think so.
3. Peeing - I was, um, next to a guy drinking a beer while he was peeing. I smiled, disbelieving. He he.
4. Spewie - And my fave... heading home on the red line with my nubile, young date, we noticed a drunk young guy propped up near the door of the train. The barely conscious lad's friend, an Aussie, talked to us. "He's been throwing up all night. I call him Spewie." Well, the train was packed. If Spewie, um, spewed, it would have been total chaos. Fortunately, Spewie and his buddy got off on the first stop, without incident.

Source: Trib review

The highlight of the concert was easy. Final song... Billy Corgan craning over the microphone... "The world is a vampire"...
cha... yow, bill

Chicken Lady

1. Chicken Lady on a date

He he:

youtube - Chicken Lady on a date

QOTD

Of course it's good.
Cause they're fresh.
Straight out of my body and on to your plate.
- Chicken Lady, omelette for dinner

 

2. Contrary

This is goob.

When the news and talking heads report that cutting government spending/control will bring Armageddon, then you know things are going well. Things are on track. The debt ceiling was a good example of this.

Here's some British media nabob arguing that the Tea Party brought the world to "the edge of Armageddon" during the debt crisis and beyond:

U.S. Politics Took the World to Edge of Armageddon: Martin Wolf

And, this is bad.

The news coverage of Mitt Romney is overwhelming positive. Currently, Intrade gives Romney a 67% chance of winning the nomination as we speak (Romney nom on Intrade).

Romney is not a reformer, especially in the area of health care. We will not see Obamacare overturned if Romney is the repub nominee. We will not see entitlement reform with Romney. And so on.
blah blah blah... yow, bill

PS - Bonus video!

QOTD

Hey everybody.
Don't panic.
I mean I'm only CRUSHING YOUR HEAD!
- Kids in the Hall, youtube video

Neuromancer

1. Neuromancer

Book: "Neuromancer" by William Gibson
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... OK.
Goodreads link: www.goodreads.com/review/show/222333770

Ah, the opening... "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

Sometimes you watch some old movie, and you remember that, in the context of of the day, this movie was edgy or important. Perhaps, it's not quite as cutting edge or interesting now, but back in the day...

Neuromancer is sort of like this. I think that Neuromancer is an important sci-fi book, historically speaking. It won the sci-fi triple crown of awards; that's why I bought it. It has it's own Wikipedia page explaining all the terms and such: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer. It coined terms/ideas like "cyberspace" and "cyberpunk" and "the matrix". There are anti-virus programs called ICE for Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics. In the book, the main character is dealing with breaking ICE. Cool. The world is a dystopian place, very reminiscent of Blade Runner.

But as for just sitting down and reading... it was OK. It had some cool parts and action. Neuromancer had the vanilla sci-fi weakness of 2-D characters and flat dialog. The hot, anime girl, Molly, was pretty silly and totally stereotypical. Whatever. There are enough interesting things going on to make it worth reading.

Neuromancer is part of a trilogy, I guess. I liked the book, but I won't be moving on to the other two guys in the series.

2. The 1%
He he. Good one here from the boys at the Chicago Board Of Trade, having a little fun with the unwashed 99% protestors below.

Source: WBEZ post

yow, bill

Death by cantaloupe or running

1. Tea Party kudos

The Tea Party hillbillies and huckleberries stormed this country in the 2010 election. After losing in 2010, President Obama coined the Tea Party triumph a "shellacking".

All this was done without violence or the threat of violence. The media hype against the Tea Party was simultaneously withering and ridiculous and just wrong. Go ahead and convince yourself... google up some "tea party violence", "tea party threats", "tea party arrests", "tea party pepper spray". Nuttin.

Yet, in just a few short weeks, the leftie Occupy Wall Street protestors have turned violent.

Violence - protestors swarmed the Smithsonian, because of an exhibit that featured a military drone. When the protestors went to march through the museum, security guards used pepper spray to repel them. bloomberg - Smithsonian closed after scuffle with protestors

Threats - Occupy "hactivists" proclaiming "a new civil rights movement has begun", threatened a  cyber-attack on the NYSE today: Anonymous threaten to take down NYSE

So, this is an easy one. Kudos to the Tea Party knuckleheads for changing things the right (rightie) way. I hope for an encore in 2012. It seems like there's even more money on the table than there was in 2010.

2. 500 yards

I read that 21 people have died in the US from bad cantaloupes: Death toll from tainted cantaloupes rises to 21

Bad: Man, dying from bad fruit. Shit, that's brutal. "I remember Bill. He was pretty funny. Too bad about that cantaloupe though." Jeez.

Some dude died running the marathon yesterday: Runner collapses at Chicago Marathon, dies

Bad: Dying at 35 years-old. That's tough.

Good: But OK, if you're gonna go... then, for my money, you can't do much better than gacking while you're running a marathon. Pretty cool. "Bill keeled over running the marathon. Cool."

Bad: But don't die 500 yards from the finish line. Argh. Man, that's harsh.

Good: Still, it's not as bad as death by cantaloupe. Major bummer, but still...

I'm going running. Right. Now.
So, if this is my last post.
he he... yow, bill

School choice in New Orleans

1. Some beverages

Welcome to beverage talk, what's your question?

Please get your ass to a bar this October for some Southern Tier PumKing. Damn, that's candy goodness! I got mine at that German joint... the Bavarian Lodge in Lisle.

As I previously posted... fuck Starbucks with their MSNBC charity and their tiny leftie weenies (williamt post). My SBUX saga continued this afternoon.

So, I visited my local Caribou coffee. It seems that Caribou's charity choice is a little more substantial and heartfelt than SBUX.

Amy Erickson, our beloved Roastmaster, loved life, laughter, tulips and, of course, coffee.... In 1995, at just 33 years of age, Amy lost her battle with breast cancer. Amy’s Blend is our tribute to her—and our hope for finding a cure.
www.cariboucoffee.com/page/1/amys-story.jsp

So, count me in, Caribou.
I just hope this Caribou tastes alright. He he.

2. School choice

Ah, unintended consequences. New Orleans had one of these epically bad public school systems. Katrina wiped that crappy school system out. The forced restart is based on entrepreneurial charter schools, and it is improving the education and lives of students.

wsj - The Big Easy's School Revolution

QOTD

"We have tended as a country to solve problems like this more through generating energy by way of our entrepreneurs. The approach [in New Orleans] is just government facilitating an entrepreneurial solution to this inequity."
- John White, superintendent of NO schools

3. Challenge

It's as obvious as the blue sky this morning: emphasis on effort and process over result.
This is a short, wonderful post (with a bad title).

relstr - Fail Better

Did you catch that? “You must have worked really hard.”
Tell your kid that he/she worked hard, and they'll worker harder. They'll value hard work. They'll worry less about result and the risk of failure. They'll worry less about their inherent gifts or lack thereof.

Freedom of choice. Hard work. Self-confidence.
And in memory of Amy at Caribou Coffee.
Positivity!
yow, bill

PSA test

1. Today is the greatest

OK, well, yesterday was the greatest... frisbee on Montrose Harbor Beach with my tulips.
Dive!

2. PSA test
The PSA test is a blood test to detect prostate cancer (webmd). There is confusion over: a) whether you should get a PSA test, b) how often, c) what you should do with the results of a PSA test, etc.

From the good folks at RUN... Renal and Urology News:

PSA testing: why the US and Europe differ

And from my driveway this morning:

wsj - Panel faults widely used prostate cancer test

This confusion about medical policy isn't uncommon. You have very similar situations with mammograms and hormone replacement therapy for women. Medicine/science is confused for two reasons:

1. Medical policy statements seem to be made for groups, rather than individuals. Also, it is assumed that these groups of people won't be paying for these services.
2. Policy is made in an environment where doctors are sued arbitrarily. For example, if a doctor doesn't recommend a PSA test to someone who gets cancer, then he/she gets sued.

3. Quick and dirty
Oh, for Christ's sake... go!

OutOfMoneyBall
Michael Lewis WSJ interview - Michael "Moneyball" Lewis' new book predicts the end of the world. Well, sort of. This is an interesting 10 minute interview.

Drones
American drones are infected with a computer virus - No, I don't "get" this one. How can the army guys let this happen? And not get rid of it? Weird. Are their systems that out of control? too complex.

FEPO

Howard Lindzon - Like TV, investment blogging isn't news or information... it's for entertainment purposes only (FEPO). This guy, Howard Lindzon, is a great example of this. The formula is clear: 1) Write BIG headlines. Be outlandish. 2) Sound like and expert, an insider. 3) Always hedge. Never actually say anything. This "might" happen or that "may" be the case". Two examples:

• What does a market bottom look like... today! - the end of one day's trading makes Lindzon feel like the market is done falling, maybe
• The Steve Jobs market bottom - here Steve Jobs dying means that the stock market might be ready to stop going down

Killer quotes are (not) important too:

"Today was the first day it felt like people were tired of selling"
"I doubt today was a long-term stock market bottom. I hope it is. I don’t have any money pinned on hope though."
"We need to stop going down first."
"It makes sense that we have a Steve Jobs bottom."
- Howard Lindzon, www.howardlindzon.com

Fruit
www.glitterlimes.com - jewelry made out of fruit and candy. Ha!

Al Davis
Nobody cares - I didn't know that Al Davis was a mentor to Bill Parcells. Here's a great, short Al Davis story:

Bill Parcells: “Al, I am just not sure how we can win without so many of our best players. What should I do?”
Al Davis: “Bill, nobody cares, just coach your team.”

yow, bill

13 1/2 years in 45 minutes

"Red flower"

1. The Post Office plan

The Post Office is broke and losing more money each day. They have way too many employees. They have pension woes up the wazoo. The Post Office hasn't adapted or modernized over the years, and now they're in big trouble.

No matter. The Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe (huzzah!) has a 21st century fix for these woes... more junk mail!

QOTD

"What we want to do is to make standard mail more interesting for customers so we can grow the total volume."
- Postmaster General, wsj - Post Office Rescue Plan: More junk mail

LOL.

2. Market gains in the last 13 1/2 years

The market was down (again) and then popped up about 4% (crazy) in the last hour of trading yesterday.

QOTD

"Since March 17, 1998, the S&P 500 has gained 4.02% (excluding dividends).
That entire gain came during the last 45 minutes of trading today."
- crossing wall street guy

You follow that one? At 3:00, the value of the S&P 500 (excluding dividends) was the same as it was March 17, 1998... 13 1/2 years ago.
Surreal.

3. 101 years old

This lady is the same age as Gram.

video - Two Classics, One Car

QOTD

"People always say to me, 'Have you lived in Plymouth your whole life?'
And I say, 'Not yet' "
- Margaret Dunning, 101 years old

3 baseball playoff game 5's tonight. Excellent.
yow, bill

I heart Dr. Bryan Smith

I cede all control to my extreme Ikea Syndrome. I heart this photo... for no apparent reason.

"Old Style"

1. Embarrassing laziness

I heart this guy. This Dr. Bryan Smith of Naperville. It seems that Dr. Bryan Smith of Naperville couldn't figure it out, couldn't wrap his head around it.
Why the heck couldn't his kid bring tests that he took home from school?!?

naperville sun - Resident says parents should be able to see children's tests

“It’s my understanding that rewriting tests is a standard practice.”
[annoying buzzzzz]
Incorrect.
Hey, I'm a faux teacher. I know.

The teachers at Naperville North are too (fucking) lazy to create a new test each year for their students, so they can't have the old tests floating around.
Snort.

Look, the education in Naperville is top notch. But lazy is lazy, man. It's great to see it sitting laziness documented right out there for you. These teacher should be embarrassed. But what are the odds of that?
Kudos to Dr. Bryan Smith and the Naperville Sun.

QOTD

"I don't feel tardy."
- Van Halen

2. Who's on first

C: When you pay off the first baseman every month, who gets the money?
A: Every dollar of it. And why not, the man's entitled to it.
C: Who is?
A: Yes.
C: So who gets it?
A: Why shouldn't he! Sometimes his wife comes down and collects it.
C: Who's wife?
A: Yes. After all the man earns it.
C: Who does?
A: Absolutely.
- youtube - Who's on first

who's wife... yow, bill

1099.23

1. A blast from the past
Today's Secretary of State... chatting up world affairs 7 years ago when she was the junior Senator from New York.

QOTD

"Obviously, I've thought about that a lot in the months since. No, I don't regret giving the president authority because at the time it was in the context of weapons of mass destruction, grave threats to the United States, and clearly, Saddam Hussein had been a real problem for the international community for more than a decade."

"The consensus [on WMD's in Iraq] was the same, from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration. It was the same intelligence belief that our allies and friends around the world shared."
- Hillary Clinton in 2004, on voting for the Iraq War in 2002, cnn link

2. A broken clock
Forget leftie, rightie, whatever... IL Senator Dick Durbin is the symbol of all that's wrong in our politics. The worst of the worst. The bottom of the barrel. He's a lifelong pol. Pompous. Completely self-serving. Weasel.
As Moz would say, Durbin would sell cancer if they paid him.

That said, on this debit card fee thing, Durbin is right.

QOTD

"Get the heck out of that bank.
Find yourself a bank or credit union that won’t gouge you for $5 a month."
- Dick Durbin, on Bank America raising debit card fees, trib story

Blech. Patooey.
We can debate this regulation or that, but I sure ain't paying 60 bucks a year for a debit card.



3. Market co-inky dink
Some fun stock market coincidence:

• Yesterday, Oct 3 2011... the S&P 500 closed at 1099.23
• Three years ago, Oct 3, 2008... the S&P 500 closed at 1099.23

www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-october-3-2011-vs-october-3-2008-2011-10

sell... yow, bill

Happy lunch!

 
1. First sentence
How's this for the first sentence of a new book. Huzzah!

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

Fun! We'll see how accurate the first sentence indicator ends up being in the next 250 pages.

2. QOTD x n

Get the gloom (and barf bag) out of the way first.

QOTD1

"You know that 80 billion euros that you loaned us to cover our banks, you need to move that from the loan side of your books to the capital side. Here’s the key to your bank. By the way, what are you going to do with your bank, we’re just curious."
- doomy gloomy John Mauldin, on what Ireland is going to tell the Euro Central Bank

Prediction: my "like new" Punkins CD will (happily and quickly) find its way to the floor in the backseat of my Subaru.

QOTD2

"Item is stored in non-smoking dark room and has been cleaned of any fingerprints (if applicable). Outer case has been cleaned and buffed (if applicable). I handle all my CD's with micro fiber cloth gloves. I try to sell "as new or mint conditioned" cd's. I guarantee a terrific experience with me."
- Guy on ebay selling CD's

He's way out there, but I heart Papa Grande.

QOTD3

“It’s over for the Yankees. No more. One hundred percent. I want it over, because I want my team in the second round.” … ”Is this a prediction, or your hope?” Valverde was asked by a reporter. Valverde reached out and good-naturedly put his hand on the shoulder of the reporter and said, “What do you think?”
- Papa Grande, talking that shit, nbc sports story

QOTD4

"That shit wasn't about race. That shit was about fame...
If OJ drove a bus, he wouldn't even be OJ. He'd be Orenthal the bus-driving murderer."
- Chris Rock, "Roll with the new"

BTW, that Chris Rock CD... 5 bill-stars. If there's a better comedy CD, I ain't heard it.

We had a KFC close right across the street from the Jew-el. I ain't never heard of a KFC closing, so what does that mean? I dunno.

QOTD5

"The new KFC Double Down sandwich is real! This one-of-a-kind sandwich features two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe®), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce. This product is so meaty, there’s no room for a bun!"
- KFC bomb, link

Double down!
Lordy.
he he... yow, bill