snap culture: November 2007

The Efficient Markets Hypothesis

11/29/2007 Add a comment

It's simple: You can't beat the market in the long run. If you think you can, you're wrong. My favorite financial writer, Michael Lewis (go read Liar's Poker!) profiles a reformed stockbroker in a great article in Portfolio Magazine. My favorite passage:

"If you put a thousand people in barrels and push them over Niagara Falls," one of them says, "some of them will survive. And if you take those guys and push them over again, some of them will survive. And they’ll write books about how to survive being pushed over Niagara Falls in a barrel."

Yet another reason to carefully read and follow the classic investing text A Random Walk Down Wall Street and put your money in diversified index funds. ben

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Misty Watercolor Memories

11/28/2007 Add a comment

The Steelers / Dolphins game on Monday night, played on a field that was more a puddle than anything else, reminded me of the Fog Bowl, the classic Bears / Eagles 1988 playoff game played in a dense fog.

If you want to see highlights of that game, the only YouTube option requires enduring Duran Duran. (Obviously) This is from an English broadcast of the game, and Walter Payton is listed as a commentator. I would love to hear his take on Neal Anderson and the rest of that game.

ben

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Fun with money

11/26/2007 Add a comment

From DCist.

William

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This ad

11/25/2007 Add a comment

is awesome:

(Thanks John!) ben

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Sampras takes round 3!

11/24/2007 Add a comment

After losing soundly in the first match and losing in two tiebreakers on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Pete Sampras beat Roger Federer 7-6, 6-4 this morning in Macau. I'm sure Federer wasn't trying very hard, and he probably lost the match so people would pay to see an exhibition rematch sometime in the future, but even so, not bad for the old man. And apparently when you play an exhibition match in Macau you get a giant glass trophy, win or lose. ben

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Thanksgiving - a boon to...Domino's?

11/21/2007 Add a comment

Yep, the night before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest pizza ordering days of the year. I also wouldn't have guessed that Halloween was in the top 5 days of the year (besides Super Bowl Sunday, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day). ben

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Federer wins round 1

11/20/2007 Add a comment

It turns out that the Federer/Sampras exhibition is actually a three-match Asian tour. They started in South Korea yesterday, and Federer won, 6-4, 6-3. Ho hum. The only interesting thing in the recap is this picture. ben

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fun with time-lapse

11/19/2007 Add a comment

Here's a time-lapse video of the South Park offices in the 24 hours before finishing up a show. And here's time-lapse of Lambeau Field from the Packers / Vikings game a few weeks ago. ben

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Clash of the Times

11/18/2007 Add a comment

Fresh off his Masters' Cup win, Roger Federer will play Pete Sampras in an exhibition dubbed "The Clash of the Times", which is about the stupidest name I've ever heard. I think the logo should be a grandfather clock and a stylish modern digital clock slamming together, with requisite giant explosion. I don't that's what they're using, but I did find these pictures of the tickets online. ben

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Mount Midoriyama, scaled by an American?

11/16/2007 Add a comment

If you flip past the usual tv channels, odds are you'll eventually run across Ninja Warrior on the G4 Network. It's an awesome game show that usually involves people falling into puddles of mud in disgrace, while the crowd moans and groans. A guy from Ann Arbor was named the American Ninja and will be competing on this season's competition. Tune in and see if he can conquer the 4 stages of ever-increasing physical challenges! ben

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Our military priorities

11/15/2007 Add a comment

U.S. Military Wasting All Its Victories on Notre Dame.

"It's important to realize that our young men have been fighting pitched battles against religious fanatics who have been brainwashed into a culture that seeks to destroy all other ways of life," Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun said Monday. "That's just the way Notre Dame football is, the way it's always been. You can't reason with people like that. You destroy them as completely, remorselessly, and quickly as you can."

(The Onion) ben

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Tupac in a tutu

11/14/2007 Add a comment

Okay, not quite, but surprisingly enough, Tupac was a ballet student. I learned that from the Hip Hop Documentary I posted a few days ago, then I found this. I also learned that the reason Snoop mentions Seagram's Gin in Gin and Juice is because his record label, Death Row, was a subsidiary of the Seagram Corporation. Who knew? ben

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For the eight gajillionth time

11/11/2007 Add a comment

a persuasive argument for why college football players should be paid, by the always-great Michael Lewis. I know, he's preaching to the choir, but I think about this every time I see the athletes walking around our campus with a bag of Wendy's. ben

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Mainstream Media has their finger on the pulse of black America (as always)

11/10/2007 Add a comment

Clearly, as evidenced by these articles on the growth of skateboarding in black communities in the Times and Tribune. Uh, guys, Lupe Fiasco's track about skateboarding came out on an album a year and a half ago. And Pharrell's video with skateboarders in it was five years ago. At least the Times article has the decency to reference both of those, whereas the Trib article steals its title from Lupe but doesn't even mention it. ben

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A Tour de Force

11/09/2007 Add a comment

Economist Joe Stiglitz outlines the catastrophe that is the Bush Administration's economic policies, and says it will take a generation to recover from all the mistakes and misdeeds. And I think that's an underestimate. It's depressing as hell, but required reading nonetheless. ben

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ben be shoppin'!

11/08/2007 Add a comment

ok, not really, but I have come across a few useful shopping-related websites that link to the best online deals and coupons:
The Bargainist has all the deals and is updated multiple times a day,
Consumerist has a daily shopping coupon/sale post,
Uncrate has men's "needs" (really "wants"), and
Outblush is the women's version.

For comparison shopping, I came across this article on the best sites to do it. They seem to like Pronto in particular. There are a million of these sites, and I don't even do much online shopping (just the occasional CD or econ book). Post your favorites in the comments... ben

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awesome documentary

11/05/2007 Add a comment

on the origins of hip hop, called Hip Hop Years, which Google Video is nice enough to present in its entirety. Everything you ever wanted to know about Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, etc. A good drinking game would be to drink every time Marley Marl curses.

I found this when looking for another rap documentary, but I haven't found it yet. I think it has a title like "nine miles to manhattan" but that isn't turning anything up. It was posted about on a blog a couple of months ago and on YouTube in eight parts, but I can't find it anymore. If you know what I'm talking about (and I'm grasping at straws here), help me out in the comments. ben

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No Mile High Club aboard the A380

11/01/2007 Add a comment

Don't know if you've been following the Airbus A380, the double-decker plane that just started flying. Singapore Airlines, the first carrier to fly the A380 (it's currently too big for U.S. airports), includes double-bed "suites" for couples who can afford them. But, no hanky panky!

Labels: airlines, planes

William

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Will he or won't he?

11/01/2007 Add a comment

Get the world's fastest race-walker to try to break the world record on tv. Send out 5 samurais to chase him. Will he run, or walk?

Japanese tv decided to figure out what would happen. Yet another reason why Japanese tv is the best. (Link from WithLeather) ben

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Anonymous: The thing to realize is that 50% of Japanese TV is baseball, and the other 50% is television shows along these lines. And like television here, only 5% is watchable, and .1% sublime. 11/08/2007

snap culture: November 2007

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