Outside The Box

outside the box from joseph Pelling on Vimeo.

Btw, thinking outside the box , Britain's most despised business jargon, does not work. (Video via Andrew Sullivan.)

Ames' Optical Illusions

Just in case you need (or want) to get a migraine, try watching this vid several times in a row:



Ames room, invented by Adelbert Ames, Jr.

Twitter? - That's soooo 2008

This is supposed to be a satire, but I presume it will turn out to be a neat assessment of future developments:



youtube direct link

Btw, I like the not so hidden advice to interns: keep your little secrets...


_

Inspired Bicycles - Danny MacAskill

Yes, this blog seems to be on hiatus again. Take this post as a sign that I'm still around. I've been checking out twitter lately... great procrastination tool for sure!

Via John Dickerson's twitter feed, I found this awesome video:



Thought of bookmarking it for my oldest nephew, but did not. For obvious reasons. Btw, great song - "The Funeral" by "Band of Horses".

Alan Murray (WSJ) on Internet Journalism

Alan Murray of The Wall Street Journal on hiring and managing online reporters from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.

If we had at least three politicians and more than a handful of journalists with that kind of internet knowledge, there would be hope to get Germany out of least developed country status internet-wise.

(via)

My Beautiful Life - A Reminder.

Yesternight, I suddenly felt the urgent desire to listen to some Cajun music. Too layzy to search my CD's for the "The Big Easy" soundtrack, I did some youtube surfing and ended up watching the following clip:



Balfa Brothers - Tribute to Cajun Music - 1979

The obligatory google search directed me to "Dewey Balfa and the Balfa Brothers":

Tragically, Dewey lost his brothers Will and Rodney in an automobile accident in 1979. To add to that already horrific loss, his wife Hilda passed away in 1980. These combined tragedies were almost enough to bring him down, but he realized that his only choice was to carry on with the goal he had set for himself and his only relief from the suffering was the music itself.

Whew! That served as a reminder to myself that my life is beautiful and that I have nothing to complain about. (Ask me tomorrow, next week or next year if that still holds true...)

And by the way, the youtube vid is a section from the movie "Les Blues de Balfa". You can watch the whole movie (26 minutes) over at folkstreams.net.

POTUS Envy, Indeed.

Bill Maher strikes again (issuing a language warning while pointing to Maher is unnecessary, right?):



Watch the whole thing, dang it! On a related note: In it's upcoming issue, The Economist asks "Where's Angela Merkel?" Well, last time I turned on the radio, she unfortunately was still in Germany, bubbling around the hot issues. And while I'm a little disconcerted seeing all the Clinton zombies raise from their graves again (and I'm not talking about Govenor Napolitano here), I can't help to state that my post-election depression has in fact turned into POTUS envy - or more precisely into First Lady envy, since we even don't have a First Lady!

Perhaps, Mr. Feasel and I are able to come up with an elaboration of our envy thesis one day. My title suggestion, for starters: "99 shades of envy - transatlantic relations for dummies". How 'bout that?

Stress

Just to fill you in about my current mode:

Stress

Pronunciation: \ˈstres\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English stresse stress, distress, short for destresse — more at distress
Date: 14th century

1: (...) c: a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation

The 13th century appears to be the last century of mankind where things went smoothly. Oh well, come December 14th, happy days will be back again for me with money for nothing and chicks for free. Or so I tell myself to keep me running.

Why Obama Should Read This Dead Greek Guy

I've decided to make anti-German jibes a regular feature of my blog posts, since it's such a relief. So, here we go again: If (and that's a big IF) Germans show any interest in their politicians, they are usually pondering serious qestions like "Does he dye his hair?", "With which TV anchor does he cheat on his wife?" or "Is it okay for the Bundeskanzlerin to wear a rose jacket when attending the Wagner Festspiele?"

And those philistine Americans? They ask: What should the next president read? Fancy that. I mean, c'mon, Gerhard Schroeder probably never got past the table of contents of "Macchiavelli for managers" and I bet, the only book he fully embraces is about the Soccer Worldchampionship 1974.

Anyhow, Dan Drezner has this advice for Obama:

I’d probably advise the president to read the uber-source for international relations, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. (...) The entire text demonstrates the complex and tragic features of international politics, the folly of populism, the occasional necessity of forceful action, the temptations and dangers of empire, and, most importantly, the ways in which external wars can transform domestic politics in unhealthy ways.

And at that point my day job met my blogging pasttime head-on for the first time, since the other day, a member of the think tank I'm confined to sent me an essay to be posted on our website: Why President Obama Should Read Thucydides. (pdf)

So, McCain Lost The Youth Vote, eh?, plus "New World Order"

Okay, the campaign fun is definitely over for the next three years...but the fun is still pouring in from all sides (JibJab video added):

"Who is going to be the next president, daddy?" my four-year-old son asks impatiently.

"Barack Obama," I tell him.

"No, I mean after that."

Seabass has caught the perpetual campaign bug.

He was upset he couldn't vote last Tuesday; he's been a McCain aficionado since watching the war hero drive a tank over Obama in the JibJab election video. Plus, a certain five-year-old buddy of his -- a boy whom Sebastian looks up to because he is "superfast" -- was proselytizing for the GOP ticket.

On election eve, Sebastian insisted that his mom (whose distaste for the McCain candidacy would be hard to overstate) help him write "McCain" on a piece of paper, so he could pretend to cast his own ballot.

My son's reaction to the electorate's verdict: "ohhhhh nooooo." Then he became the only person in America to ask whether McCain can run again

This is all great fodder for future father-son bonding. Or maybe it's father-son ribbing. I can picture myself years from now, meeting Sebastian's college girlfriend over dinner and casually bringing up the fact that my son wanted to vote against Barack Obama in the 2008 election.

"Dad, I was four," he'll say, reddening, and kicking me under the table. The same "what are you doing?!" reaction I'd have when my parents would break out the pictures of my 1970's adolescence to share with others, a visual extravaganza featuring lots of polyester, acne, braces and really bad haircuts.


And then, there's the New World Order (via Andrew Hammel):

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Obama Victory Fallout

I was in a store (...) some black dude walked in, grabbed a bag of chips and walked out. (...) "Hey, why don't you pay for that?" He said: "FUCK YOU. Obama in office, we run that shit." (...) So, I paid for the chips (...) all of us ain't the same, man.

And in the youtube comments:

bradford1872: i have to commend you on paying for those chips...It takes a real man to do that and not go upside that asshole's head. I'm black and it kills me when "niggas" act stupid for any reason and then try to blame people for holding them back when it was their own fault. Starting today and for the rest of your life, it time to man up, own your mistakes and be willing to better yourself...2009 should be deemed the "Year of accountability" amongst the black community. NO MORE EXCUSES!!!

craftkevin: I went out there and chopped dude ass up about that dumb ass shit. He got his mind right now...!

Being not so familiar with the urbandictionary part of American English, I hope this dude is still alive...

Anyway, fascinating stuff. If regular youtube people sounding like Michelle Obama is the fallout of the Obama victory, then keep it coming. This kind of accountability makes divided, aging, pointless Germany look even more hopeless*.

Here's the whole thing:



Youtube direct link: Black people stop doing stupid stuff because Obama won the election!

On a related note, a conversation between Ann Althouse and Glenn Reynolds on the glamour of being ridiculously left-wing, Reynolds' piece on Forbes ("Whoever wins, chill a bit") and the first signs of Obama Derangement Syndrome (which hasn't even a wikipedia entry yet; the Bush Derangement Syndrome does, of course):



*) The other day, a friend of mine noticed: "There's always this subtle anti-German resentment in your rants." My reply? "What do you mean 'subtle'?"

Educated Chicks Vote Count: It's a Tie!

And yes, this angry, tired, pessimistic little libertarian citizen-taxpayer will go vote after class today! It won't make much numerical difference -- my state is full of leftists and I'm vastly outnumbered -- but I'll vote anyway because, well, it's my right, dang it, and it's my one little ballot saying "NO" to the tide of high-taxing neo-statism. I don't care how pretty its newest face is.

vs.

without expounding upon policy likes and dislikes, and the merits of Obama vs. McCain, let me just say this: i never thought i'd vote for a democrat, but here i am, taking the gamble!

Hmmm...both of you seem to follow the W.C. Fields line:

I never voted for anybody. I always voted against.

And now excuse me while I'm crying in my beer. I have been diagnosed with post-election campaign depression. (But hey, there's hope. I just saw the first "Romney/Jindal 2012" ad!)

A message from The Mac!

With less than 20 hours until first polls close, I just got my first election related spam mail. Woohoo! It reads:

My friend,

Sorry, Mr. McCain lost me there. Providing my e-mail address to the McCain campaign - that's what Facebook friends are for...

If global spamming to eligible and non-eligible voters alike isn't a sign of desperation, what is?

Quirky Chekhov

For the record, just to show how busy I am (and how occupied with the election campaign): Yesterday, I discovered that my Arche Literaturkalender (kudos to my sister for donating next year's edition every christmas) still displayed the week from July 7th to July 13th! I tried to catch up and ran into some remarkable quotes. The week from July 14th to July 20th featured Anton Chekhov. What a quirky guy:

Ich habe Dir aus dem Ausland sehr schönes Parfum mitgebracht. Komm doch in der Karwoche und hol es Dir ab. Komm unbedingt, Liebste, Gute, Herrliche (...) Es macht nichts, daß Du in einen anderen verliebt bist und mich schon betrogen hast, ich verzeihe Dir, nur komm bitte. (Anton Cechov an Olga Knipper, Jalta, 7. März 1901).

The Wikipedia article refers to "Chekhov in Love" by Misha Aster which contains the following money quotes:

Chekhov on Sex

"Sex plays a great role in the world, but not everything depends on it, and not everywhere is it of decisive importance."

Oh well, perhaps that held true for russia in the 19th century. As for modern times, sex is of decisive importance.

Chekhov on Marriage

"I am not capable of such a complex, involved business as marriage."

Chekhov on the Perfect Wife

"[G]ive me a wife who, like the moon, does not always appear in my sky every day."

On 25 May 1901 Chekhov married Olga Knipper. Their long distance relationship resulted in a 1,300 pages correspondence. (1,300 pages...wow... that's approx. 25,000 twitters or 22,000 SMS, respectively. An impressive record for a relationsship of roundabout 2,000 days.)

Chekhov's death strikes me as a good example on how to die with grace. In 1908, Olga wrote this account of her husband’s last moments:

"Anton sat up unusually straight and said loudly and clearly (although he knew almost no German): Ich sterbe. The doctor calmed him, took a syringe, gave him an injection of camphor, and ordered champagne. Anton took a full glass, examined it, smiled at me and said: "It's a long time since I drank champagne." He drained it, lay quietly on his left side, and I just had time to run to him and lean across the bed and call to him, but he had stopped breathing and was sleeping peacefully as a child..."

Peruvian Shamans for Obama

Couple of weeks ago, I thought The Onion managed to mention really every single target group:


Latest Poll Reveals 430 New Demographics That Will Decide Election

But now I wonder how on earth they failed to mention the Peruvian Shamans? Since it's so obvious.

Asian-Americans On Election

Since my day job is keeping me extremely busy and since I don't like it at all to be addicted to something (or someone, for that matter), I have reduced my election campaign attention to a daily visit of "Today's Polls" over at FiveThirtyEight. But tonight, I stumbled upon a CNN video which drew its MUST SEE status from its title: Asian-Americans on election. As a pro-Asian racist and a Pro-American (have still to figure out what exactly I'm refering here to, though), watching Asian-Americans in action is always a pleasure for me. This time, the fun part started early on with learning that the CNN reporter's name was Veronica De La Cruz...



Going through the pieces Veronica De La Cruz mentioned (McCain losing his chance to win over the Asian American vote and Asian Americans Feeling the Power), I couldn't help myself but acknowleding the heavy pro-Obama spin going on here. Oh well, pro-Obama spin is so ubiquitous these days that I got used to (and over) it.

"Survey shows Asian-Americans support Obama over McCain", says... Xinhua! Here's more: "Obama, McCain camps eye Asian-Americans". For the record: Asian Americans For McCain-Palin and Asian Americans For Obama (as per usual, the latter seem to be far better organized). Finally, here's an online petition signed by (to date) 571 people: VIETNAMESE AMERICANS ENDORSE JOHN McCAIN FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Me, Now Uncle of Five!

Lest I forget to mention: Since the evening of October 22, 2008, I am now an uncle of five. Or, to put it less self-absorbed: My sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The gender ratio among my sister's children (boys/girls) has risen to a worrisome 4:1, much worse than the PR China! Then again, boys are much easier to play with - and to find gifts for...

Undecided? Dunno...

Color me an election '08 maniac. It'll probably end up with me living at Duesseldorf main station, mumbling curses at myself. Anyway, here we go again:

So here they are, three undecideds in one of the swingiest of swing states, just sittin' here, stewing in their undecidedness. What campaign canvasser wouldn't give her left arm to be here?

"Three Undecideds in a Diner" is a Cheever-ish, insightful little piece of literature. And then, there's the more prosaic take by Dane Stangler, who is torn between Obama and McCain, stating that the election has become "a referendum on Barack Obama" (obvy). A snippet:

As a matter of policy, I have great philosophical disagreements with Senator Obama. I and many other Americans do not think the tax code is or should be a vehicle for pursuing fairness. On health care, I tend to stand with Senator McCain in thinking that we may finally need to sever the link between health insurance and employment. McCain has consistently supported free trade, and while I can't believe that a man as intelligent as Obama would disbelieve the benefits of free trade, he has continuously made protectionist noise during the campaign.

But because of fiscal constraint and political reality, it is unlikely that either candidate will enjoy free rein to put his favored policies in place. So where should we look in evaluating what type of president Obama will be?

Finally, there are those who have already made up their minds (my emphasis):

So a canvasser goes to a woman's door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she's planning to vote for. She isn't sure, has to ask her husband who she's voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, "We're votin' for the n***er!"

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: "We're voting for the n***er."

In this economy, racism is officially a luxury. How is John McCain going to win if he can't win those voters?

Well, the jury is still out on that one, as Dan Drezner points out:

While people with these kind of attitudes might be telling canvassers, pollsters, and reporters that they’re thinking of voting for Obama, I do wonder if that inclination will dissipate when they have to punch the ticket.

The other day, I got an, and I quote, "Einladung zum Election Breakfast". Do I want the race to be over by then? I'm undecided. An Obama landslide would be boring to watch. Then again, you can't swallow for-free food while biting your nails.

On Krugman Nobel Unhappiness

So, Paul Krugman was awarded the Sveriges Riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne aka Nobel Prize in economics - and Jess is "not happy". And she is not the only one. Then again, Megan McArdle:

One of the most interesting things that I've read in multiple commenters is that his most important insights seemed obvious. I think perhaps the deepest economics insights do--after someone has pointed them out. Everything from comparative advantage to the Coase Theorem makes you slap your head with the inescapable logic of it, and wonder how it can have escaped the human race for so long. And still, it takes a genius to reveal these obvious truths to the rest of us poor slobs. Krugman's math is far too impenetrable for this English major, but the conclusions are as clear and lovely as a bell.

And yesterday, I came across this:

(I also liked the "lukewarm sorta kinda dammit I hate to say this" presidential endorsement at the end of the session. Which did not exactly came as a surprise. I'd endorse a Drezner/Cowen ticket any time, btw.)

"Arranged" Marriage? Oh, my.

Mad Minerva points to an article/book review about a new trend for westerners as the easy way out of the big fat post modern matching mess:

One group of women she spoke to, who had had arranged marriages, were alpha-type New Yorkers in their late thirties and she noticed too that they didn't look to their partners so much for their happiness. “In Western culture there's an obligation for your partner to provide all your social and emotional needs,” she says. “In the landscape of arranged marriage there is an extended group that takes the pressure off this one man being able to provide everything.”

First of all, there is no such thing as "Western culture". And second of all, this whole article made me cringe. What a  "Sex and the city" BS. But a good example for multicultural cherry picking.

A marriage arranged and supervised by an ethnic auntie brigade? Good idea, especially in terms of "be fertile and multiply".

A marriage arranged by a MoDo columns loving East Coast psychiatrist turned matchmaker supervised by a bunch of friends who know all seasons of "Friends" and "Seinfeld" by heart? C'mon on, now!

A marriage arranged by your Chinese boss? A mind-blowing, suicidal tendencies triggering experience. You betcha. (Fortunately, she didn't succeed. And I'm still alive.)