Anytime.......................................

Bill Withers.................Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

Cherished oddities...............................

     This is odd.  Popular culture is supposed to describe popular reality.  The reality of American families is one of a mostly successful search for conventional happiness.  Most men and women are quite boringly heterosexual and are not very promiscuous except for perhaps a relatively brief period in youth, and most find lasting love,
     Most husbands and wives love one another.  Most of them consider one another best friends; most of them are faithful, or at least mostly so (neglected housewives who startle house painters with indecent proposals are as rare in life as they are common in Penthouse).  Most husbands never batter their wives, and most wives never remove parts of their husbands with household cutting instruments, nor do they set their beds afire.  Most parents would rather die than sexually abuse their own, or any, children.  Most children grow up to honor their parents, and most parents grow old in the comfort that they have, in the raising of their children, created something of irreplaceable value.  It's a wonderful life, and art used to imitate it.
     Why doesn't it anymore?  At the bottom, the fault lies in the nature of modern intellectualism, which has as its core the adolescent notion that conventional lives of conventional values are somehow wrong:  that they are not merely politically improper but are, worse, uncool - not worth living, or at least not worth examining. Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina one of the great founding untruths of the intellectual age, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."  This was exactly, entirely wrong.  Happy families are all idiosyncratic, each with its own unduplicable history, each with its own cherished oddities.  Very nearly every unhappy family is very much alike, the same tedious, awful story of selfishness and dead love and the destruction wrought by the fall of one or another family member into the grip of one or another vice.
-Michael Kelly, as excerpted from his essay "Family Wealth" from his collected writings

Damn, now he tells me.......................

"Generally, a book is read sequentially, line by line, progressing from one idea to the next. The lengthy 'build'  is dependent on what came before it."

So says my favorite book lover in his latest post about the virtue of real, turn-the-page, books.

About that "sequential" thing:   If I had a dollar for every time I flipped to the end of a thriller to make sure that the character I was identifying with as the hero survived, I'd be able to buy my very own copy of Michael Kelly's collected writings.   

Fifty years ago..............................

Johnny Mathis..........................What Will Mary Say

Reconcile..........................

  Mr. Newsom's emphasis on citizens fixing their own problems rather than pestering the government is admirable.  But he is naive to think that if you simply give more power to ordinary people, government will fix itself.  California empowers its citizens through ballot initiatives.  The result is a mess:  they vote for higher spending but lower taxes.  It is not enough just to give people hand-held devices that let them vote for their priorities, as Mr. Newsom argues.  You have to design intelligent systems that force them (or their representative) to reconcile their contradictory impulses.  The Republic is not a reality show.
-"Fixing the Republic" by Schumpeter in The Economist

cartoon via

Hate it when that happens............

via

That maybe they are not meaningless....?

via

Knocking.......................................

Stevie Nicks (and friends).....Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

Does blogging count......................?

Anxious...............................

thanks Todd

Good to know.....................

Insights are what drive success today.  Insights were the fuel that powered Google, Apple, Amazon and others.  And they're the keys that will unlock your success as well.  The computer scientist Alan Kay said, "A change of perspective is worth 80 IQ points."  Success doesn't come to the smartest, nor to the most optimistic.  It comes to those with the right perspective for our times.

-Tom Asacker, as excerpted from here

cartoon via

Fifty years ago...............................

Marvin Gaye................................Pride and Joy

Assets...............................

From CNBC and Inside Wealth comes an essay seeking to explain the new highs in the stock market. Key excerpt here:

Global asset reflation. That may sound technical, but economists say that the somewhat baffling rise in U.S. stocks can be best explained by looking at asset values more broadly around the world. The river of money coursing around the globe is now approaching the flood stage, fed by a downpour of cash from the Federal Reserve and now from the Bank of Japan.

All that cash is searching for a home, and unlike water, cash tends to seek higher ground rather than the lowest. So all of the world's cash is pouring into higher quality assets with little concern for underlying values or economic fundamentals.

I like his language.  The essay includes stamps, famous letters, and collectibles as "higher quality assets."  Wish I had some of those to sell.  "Reflation" instead of inflation indicates were are heading back into bubble-land.  What could possibly go wrong?

cartoon via

More fun with the English language..............

As a public service, friend Bilbo suggests we all remember the differences between homophones, homonyms, and homographs.  He thoughtfully provided this handy diagram to help us history majors. He then quotes a language expert:  "comedian Steve Martin once said French was hard to learn because they have a different word for everything."

I was going to write some great story comprised mostly of homophones, but my brain started hurting.  Sew, in loo of that, hear is a list of sum 441 homophones, wright yore own dam grate storey.

Imagine my surprise..............

"Congressional lawmakers and aides are considering exempting themselves from the mandate to enroll in the health care exchanges the ACA sets up."

Full skinny from WRM is here.  When I become king, this nonsense is going to stop!

Dedication and faith.......................

George W. Bush...................I Will Always Believe

Logic and proportion...................

Jefferson Airplane.....................White Rabbit

Parenting.........................

I am Catholic and my wife is Jewish, so in our home we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, which our sons, Tom and Jack, regard as an excellent thing.  People sometimes ask me if it is hard to raise children in respect and love for two great faiths that have a slight doctrinal disagreement between them, and I say:  not if you give them presents every day for eight days of Hanukkah and for Christmas.  The more Gods the merrier is Tom and Jack's strong belief.
-Michael Kelly, as excerpted from his wonderful essay, The Nine Day's of Tom and Jack, a fine piece of writing which will probably be transcribed in full on this blog in the not-to-distant future.

Hate it when that happens.....................

via

Fifty years ago..............................

The Beatles.................................I Want To Hold Your Hand
(as always, click on through to YouTube - please)

In the commercial real estate world...............

...........before anything gets built, the architects have to do their thing.  "According to the AIA, there is an 'approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending  on non-residential construction.'  This index suggests some increase in CRE investment in the second half of 2013."   The trend line is looking pretty good:

Backstory and enlargeable chart here

The Rich List.................................

Out here in the heartland, we always figured that prosperity was more a function of attitude than accounting. But, for those interested in the accounting side of prosperity, Friend John points to the Global Rich List.  Just fill in a few blanks, click the magic button, and viola - your ranking on the ladder of world-wide wealth appears.  My guess, Faithful Reader, is that you will be amazed.

Opening paragraphs..........................

     It seems implausible that a youngster named Rufus Roosevelt Ritchy would be a Junior.  How could parents brand a baby boy with the life-long burden of such a name?  To understand how Rufus Roosevelt Ritchy, Junior got his name, it is necessary to know something about his parents.  He was born on Memorial Day in 1961 in the Community Hospital in Gaston, Iowa to father, Rufus Roosevelt  (Rosie) Ritchy and mother, Mildred Compton (Ditsy) Ritchy.  After a rather difficult delivery, Rosie and Ditsy Ritchy had the simple task of naming their newborn son.  But, if the facts were known, nothing came very easily to the Ritchy family.  Rosie had his heart set on naming his first-born son after him and Ditsy detested his name.   She was of the opinion that the baby should be named Maelstrom Marmaduke after her estranged father.  As was typical of them, the argument commenced before the birth, through the protracted labor and continued several days after the boy was born.  Those who knew the Ritchys contended that the argument probably began before or even during conception.  The hospital staff pressed them to name the baby so that the birth certificate could be completed.  Suffering from the throes of postpartum depression, Ditsy cried and screamed defiantly that no son of hers would ever be called "Rufus or Rosie".  On the other hand, Rosie firmly insisted that it was his life-long dream to sire a son named after him.  And so, the argument raged on for several days until a compromise was reached.  Ditsy reluctantly agreed to name the kid Rufus Roosevelt Ritchy, Junior so long as he would be called "Junior".  Rosie agreed to call him Junior until he was grown up and had children of his own.  That was how Junior Ritchy was named and began what was to become a very bizarre life.
-Guy Sitler, The Pig Skin Prodigy

Ed. Note:  Guy Sitler is our down-the-street-and around-the-corner neighbor.  He has shown great kindness to my Sweetie.  The least I can do is read his books.

Sadness...............................

Richie Havens, an enduring favorite, died on Monday.  Thanks for the memories................

Richie Havens..........................All Along the Watchtower




Just Like A Woman



Lives In the Balance

Hey kids, how'd you like to look into the big telescope and see this ogre staring back at you?

Picture courtesy of APOD.   Their very interesting description of what we are viewing is here:

Explanation: What looks like a puff-ball is surely the remains of the brightest supernova in recorded human history. In 1006 AD, it was recorded as lighting up the nighttime skies above areas now known as China, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland. The expanding debris cloud from the stellar explosion, found in the southerly constellation the Wolf (Lupus), still puts on a cosmic light show across the electromagnetic spectrum. In fact, the above image results from three colors of X-rays taken by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory. Now known as the SN 1006 supernova remnant, the debris cloud appears to be about 60 light-years across and is understood to represent the remains of a white dwarf star. Part of a binary star system, the compact white dwarf gradually captured material from its companion star. The buildup in mass finally triggered a thermonuclear explosion that destroyed the dwarf star. Because the distance to the supernova remnant is about 7,000 light-years, that explosion actually happened 7,000 years before the light reached Earth in 1006. Shockwaves in the remnant accelerate particles to extreme energies and are thought to be a source of the mysterious cosmic rays.

Now, there's an idea........................

cut and pasted from here

Good luck with that.................................

Mungo is down on human nature as it relates to access to somebody else's money:

In some ways, I prefer the folks on the left.  They say they are going to use the state to run the economy, and they do that.  The phonies on the right say they favor free enterprise, but that quickly turns into a different kind of "favor."

In support, he quotes Hayek:

“There is some justification at least in the taunt that many of the pretending defenders of “free enterprise” are in fact defenders of privileges and advocates of government activity in their favor rather than opponents of all privileges. In principle the industrial protectionism and government-supported cartels and agricultural policies of the conservative groups are not different from the proposals for a more far-reaching direction of economic life sponsored by the socialists.” - F.A. Hayek, page 107,  Individualism and Economic Order

And points to this tale about my fourth favorite ex-Phillie pitcher.

image via : cartoon via

Fifty years ago...........................

Dee Dee Sharp.............................Do The Bird



In 1963, Dee Dee Sharp landed at #10 on the Billboard 100 with this little tune.  Just ignore the fact that this video is from 1965.

What could possibly go wrong.........

The Oracle Google evolves:

What does it mean that Google really is trying to build the Star Trek computer? I take it as a cue to stop thinking about Google as a “search engine.” That term conjures a staid image: a small box on a page in which you type keywords. A search engine has several key problems. First, most of the time it doesn’t give you an answer—it gives you links to an answer. Second, it doesn’t understand natural language; when you search, you’ve got to adopt the search engine’s curious, keyword-laden patois. Third, and perhaps most importantly, a search engine needs for you to ask it questions—it doesn’t pipe in with information when you need it, without your having to ask.

The Star Trek computer worked completely differently. It understood language and was conversational, it gave you answers instead of references to answers, and it anticipated your needs. “It was the perfect search engine,” Singhal said. “You could ask it a question and it would tell you exactly the right answer, one right answer—and sometimes it would tell you things you needed to know in advance, before you could ask it.”

full essay here

thanks craig

Eyewitness accounts said........................

What?  Oh, never mind............................

Seeing is believing?   Much depends on the angle one is looking from.  From our friends at What is Psychology?

Midnight confessions.................

from the archives at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

News you can use..................

thanks gerard

Ain't...............................

Rascals................I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore

What could possibly go wrong...............

"As sensors and assisted-driving software demonstrate their ability to cut accidents, regulators will move to make them compulsory for all new cars. Insurers are already pressing motorists to accept black boxes that measure how carefully they drive: these will provide a mass of data which is likely to show that putting the car on autopilot is often safer than driving it. Computers never drive drunk or while texting."
-as excerpted from this essay in The Economist

This appeals to the history major in me......

"The notion that economics is a science with irrefutable laws appeals to economists (who have long tried to elevate the profession out of the realm of observation and description and into the realm of science) and to the widespread human desire for certainty. But even science isn’t quite so set, as any good scientist knows. The laws of gravity may be set, until the laws of quantum mechanics throw a wrench. Our ability to measure the world increases, and our understanding of laws evolves."
-As excerpted from Zachary Karabell's essay, The "laws of economics" don't exist

Thanks Mungo (who doesn't approve)

Fifty years ago..............................

The Dixiebelles.....................(Down At) Pappa Joe's

The Clintons......................

Bill:
     "In a nation so fractionalized that each voting block has its own political language, he is multi-lingual.  He does not speak the language of the masses but of each diverse sub-set."
     "It is 2:30 in the morning of Election Day, and Bill Clinton, a middling amateur saxophonist, is playing his true instrument, the crowd."
-Michael Kelly, Things Worth Fighting For

Hillary:
"I guess I’m just different, though. I guess, for some reason, the idea of getting up onstage and desperately trying to be attractive and charismatic enough for the millions of voters nationwide who pick their political leaders like they’re picking the cast of fucking NCIS is sort of off-putting somehow. One thing I do know is that if I did run again in 2016 I would definitely have to work on my ability to talk in a non-condescending way to human beings who should absolutely, positively be condescended to. That’s a real area of improvement for me."
-As quoted in the Onion.  Full, fun-to-read, essay is here

Making friends and influencing people................

Road Rage Karma................................

thanks jonco

In layman's terms...............

via

Money and happiness....................

It is the quality of spending not the accumulating of quantity that makes us happy.  So reports Eric Barker in his post, Six Ways Money Can Buy Happiness.  A wee excerpt:

"Growing evidence reveals that it is experiences— not things— that make us happy. Many experiences, such as hikes with friends or family game nights, are virtually free........However, it’s important to remember that material things can also make us happy— as long as we turn them into experiences."

Not unlike the present (or the past for that matter)

thanks michael

But...Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn't, didn't already have.................

America....................................................Tin Man

Opening paragraphs...............

Money is a thought-form.  It is a symbol of energy, and as such it has not real, intrinsic value.  It is neither good nor bad, positive nor negative.  It is impartial.  The guy who wrote that "money is the root of all evil" just flat out didn't have any!  You can't make it through the physical plane without it. And whereas the love of money can cause people to become evil and weird, it is a fact that without money you cannot be free.  Poverty is a restriction, and, as such, it is the greatest injustice you can perpetrate upon yourself.
-Stuart Wilde, The Trick to Money Is Having Some!

I recognize sensible advice when I see it.....

Robert Shiller's recent essay about "land fever" and "housing bubbles" reminds that us bi-peds with opposable thumbs and a consciousness are prone to excess.  Full essay is here.  Sensible advice is here:

With rates now relatively low, this could be an auspicious time to buy a house with a fixed-rate mortgage. That could make good sense for people who aren’t out to bet on the housing or mortgage markets but are instead focused on settling into a home for the long term.

Makes perfect sense to me...............

via

Fifty years ago.......................

Rolf Harris..........................Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport



This little tune peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1963.  It was a re-recording of a song he wrote in 1957.  That sound in the background is made by a "wobble board."  Smart marketers sold a bunch of them after this song came out in the US.  We had one.  Not sure what ever happened to it.
Live version, showing the wobble board, is here.

Happy Earth Day........................

George Carlin....................Saving the Planet

 

Plan..........................

Shortly after I met my mentor he asked me, "Mr. Rohn, how much money have you saved and invested over the last six years?"  And when I said, "None."  He then asked, "Who sold you on that plan?"
-Jim Rohn

A few words from Warren Buffett...............

“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” 

"The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money."

“There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. ” 

"Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that 'Price is what you pay; value is what you get.' Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down."

“It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.” 

"You do things when the opportunities come along. I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing."

“When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.” 

"Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken."

“Forecasts may tell you a great deal about the forecaster; they tell you nothing about the future.”

“Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.”

“A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.” 

“If past history was all that is needed to play the game of money, the richest people would be librarians.” 

Now, a few words from Jimmy Buffett...............

“Life is more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party.”

"Indecision may or may not be my problem."
 
“It's important to have as much fun as possible while we're here. It balances out the times when the minefield of life explodes.” 

“I just want to live happily ever after, every now and then.”

"People who think too much before they act don't act too much."

"Humor has bailed me out of more tight situations than I can think of.  If you go with your instincts and keep your humor, creativity follows.  With luck, success comes, too."

“It's a jungle out there kiddies. Have a very fruitful day.”

“Sail the main course in a simple sturdy craft. Keep her well stocked with short stories and long laughs. Go fast enough to get there but slow enough to see. Moderation seems to be the key."

"Hoot!"

Investing................................

 

all cartoons, except for the last one, are from here

Serve......................

Bob Dylan........................Gotta Serve Somebody




thanks gerard

A few verses....................Part 1

     A man should not hate any living creature.  Let him be friendly and compassionate to all.  He must free himself from the delusion of "I" and "mine."  He must accept pleasure and pain with equal tranquility.  He must be forgiving, ever-contented, self-controlled, united constantly with me in his meditation.  His resolve must be unshakable.  He must be dedicated to me in intellect and in mind.  Such a devotee is dear to me.
     He neither molests his fellow man, nor allows himself to be disturbed by the world.  He is no longer swayed by joy and envy, anxiety and fear.  Therefore he is dear to me.
     He is pure, and independent of the body's desire.  He is able to deal with the unexpected;  prepared for anything, unperturbed by anything.  He is neither vain nor anxious about the results of his actions.  Such a devotee is dear to me.
     He does not desire or rejoice in what is pleasant.  He does not dread what is unpleasant, or grieve over it.  He remains unmoved by good or evil fortune.  Such a devotee is dear to me.
     His attitude is the same toward friend and foe.  He is indifferent to honour and insult, heat and cold, pleasure and pain.  He is free from attachment.  He values praise and blame equally.  He can control his speech.  He is content with whatever he gets.  His home is everywhere and nowhere.  His mind is fixed upon me, and his heart is full of devotion.  He is dear to me.
     This true wisdom I have taught will lead you to immortality.  The faithful practice it with devotion, taking me for their highest aim.  To me they surrender heart and mind.  They are exceedingly dear to me.

Chapter 12
Verses 13-20
Bhagavad-Gita

Either.................................

thanks jonco

Sunday's verse................Part 2

⁴⁴  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

⁴⁵  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Luke 6:44-45

The Holy Bible

King James Version

Fifty years ago.................................

Cliff Richard.................................Don't Talk To Him

Fun with verses.....Part 3

Translations, where would we be without translations.  Never having been a literalist, it is of interest to read differing interpretations of the "same" verse.  As an example,  the following are all translations of  Verse 43 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.

The very softest thing of all
     can ride like a galloping horse
          through the hardest of things.

Like water, like water penetrating rock,
And so the invisible enters in.

That is why I know it is wise
     to act by doing nothing.
And how few, how very few understand this!

People teach in the world
what I know to be true:

if you live violently
     that is how you will die.

-As translated by Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer, and Jay Ramsey
------------------------------------------------------------------

The weakest thing in the world
excels the strongest thing in the world
what doesn't exist finds room where there is none
thus we know dong nothing succeeds
teaching without words
succeeding without effort
few in the world can equal this.

-As translated by Red Pine
-----------------------------------------------------

Noting under heaven is softer or weaker than water,
      and yet nothing is better
           for attacking what is hard and strong,
               because of its immutability.

The defeat of the hard by the soft,
The defeat of the strong by the weak -
     this is known to all under heaven,
          yet no one is able to practice it.

Therefore, in the words of the sage, it is said:
     "He who bears abuse directed against the state
           is called 'lord of the altars for the gods of soil and grain';
      He who bears the misfortunes of the state
           is called the 'king of all under heaven' "

True words seem contradictory.

-As translated by Victor H. Mair
----------------------------------------------------

                 The softest of all things
          overrides the hardest of all thing.
That without substance enters where there is no space.
         Hence I know the value of nonaction.

                Teaching without words,
             performing without actions -
           few in the world can grasp it - 
              that is the master's way.
               Rare indeed are those
      who obtain the bounty of this world.

-As channeled by Wayne Dyer

Opening paragraphs..................

Benjamin Disraeli's career was an extraordinary one; but there is no need to make it seem more extraordinary than it really was.  His point of departure, though low by the standards of nineteenth-century Prime Ministers, was neither as humble nor as alien as some people have believed.  It is possible to overestimate the obstacles in his way and underestimate the assets he possessed.
-Robert Blake, Disraeli
-----------------------------------------------------------

In the year 1290, on All Saint's Day, King Edward I. expelled the Jews from England.  There, up till that day, they had been tolerated.  But those were days of the Crusades; in every village, monks were preaching against the Infidels; and the peoples were demanding a Crusade at home.  About sixteen thousand Jews left the country.  The King insisted on their being allowed to go in peace, without molestation, and his word was obeyed in the main.  The sole exception was one master-mariner who disembarked his passengers on a sea-bound sandbank, bade them "Cry our for Moses!" and raised his anchor.  A few dozen Jews were thus drowned, but the mariner was hanged.
-Andre Maurois,  Disraeli

A few quotes attributed to Benjamin Disraeli...

Disraeli, aka 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (1804 - 1881) was a novelist, member of the House of Commons for almost forty years, twice the British Prime Minister, political foe of Gladstone, a noted Conservative statesman, and fast friend of Queen Victoria who saw to it that he could be a member in the House of Lords. Baptized into the Anglican Church at age 12, Disraeli, unique among all British Prime Ministers, was of Jewish birth.  He also said some neat stuff.  To wit:

"I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few."

“He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong.”

"It is knowledge that influences and equalises the social condition of man; that gives to all, however different their political position, passions which are in common, and enjoyments which are universal."

"Free trade is not a principle; it is an expedient."
"Protection is not a principle, but an expedient."

“To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge” 

"Finality, Sir, is not the language of politics."

“Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” 

"Ignorance never settles a question."

"Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation."

“Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.” 

"The secret of success is constancy to purpose."

“A member of Parliament to Disraeli: 'Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.'That depends, Sir,' said Disraeli, 'whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”