Pick #313

David Cook - "Lie" from David Cook

TreT, the Parkour DOG!

Some of My Research on SSRN

I have submitted some research to Social Science Quarterly and it is under review.  I was informed that it is fine to also post that research online at a site like Social Science Research Network.  Here's a link to my paper coauthored with Dr. Charles Barrilleaux and Dr. Daniel Scheller.

Atlas Shrugged Part I

I watched Atlas Shrugged Part I with the econ club tonight.  If you don't read the book before watching the movie, there are tons of characters heaped on you in this first installment of the trilogy.  It's tough to draw the connections between everyone without a background of how the story will unfold.  The movie times the presentation of information to the audience differently than the text.

It's true that there are some bad sets and terrible CGI, but I feel like this first movie was just a setup for an awesome Part II.  I hope they can trim the speech in Part III or else it's doomed to be boring.  Overall, the actors did a good job of portraying the characters.  I was an especially big fan of Taylor Schilling who plays Dagny Taggart.  She showed the confidence and determination that I imagined while reading the book.

Watching the movie now makes this book feels particularly prescient.  At one point, I seriously thought I heard Obama's voice from one of the government types who was basically talking about spreading the wealth around.  Spreading the wealth is a nice concept until one stops to consider where that wealth comes from before it is spread or who is in charge of the spreading or what sorts of incentives that creates for everyone.  In response to these incentives, Ellis Wyatt sets his own very valuable oil field on fire.  This is where Part I of the movie ends.  It is not unreasonable to think that non-fictional characters faced with the same incentives could do the same thing.

I am glad that I got to watch this movie with the right audience.  I don't think it would have been as good on my own or without a discussion afterward.

Groovy and Rad

The words groovy and rad seem to be used by people in certain cultures but are almost unambiguously good things.  I don't think I've ever heard them used sarcastically.  People might say "well that's cool" to mean that it's not cool.  Some people say "have a nice day" to mean F you.

I have heard alternate uses for groovy.  It can be a synonym for granola (the adjective, not the noun).  If you can recall a time you heard either groovy or rad used in a bad way, please let me know in the comments.

This post partially inspired by Millencolin's song "Fox."

Pick #312

Orleans - "Still the One"

Do Phones Ring Anymore?

On the way to my office, I heard a phone vibrate and thought it was mine.  Wrong.  Turns out that most phone vibrations sound the same.  Ringtones are sometimes the same, but it's easier to have a unique ring than a unique vibe.  I think kids these days (and older people too) leave their phones on vibrate.  Sometimes I think they're on silent because I see people pick up their phone all of a sudden and answer it.  I definitely hear less ringing from phones than I used to.  I wonder what's caused that shift away from an audible (ok, I guess you can hear a vibration) notification.