This month’s bill, after keeping the thermostat at 65 degrees (and programming it to go to 62 during the day) is down from $480 to $179.
Still a lot of money, but more bamboo shoots under the fingernails instead of hot pokers in the eye.
Book Log – Bull!
BULL! A History of the Boom, 1982-1999 by Maggie Mahar
This was a great book, at least for an investing geek like me. Charlie
Munger (2nd in command at Berkshire Hathaway) emphatically recommended
this book back when it came out in 2003. A real in-depth look at the
insanity.
For instance, consider the position of mutual fund managers in 1998. They
are judged by their returns, relative to an index like the S&P 500.
They’re looking at the prices the market is giving companies like Cisco
and Amazon and saying to themselves “this doesn’t make sense.” But they
can’t not buy them. Because even though the rise of the prices is
insane, if they don’t meet or beat that insane rise, they’ll get canned.
If they buy into sensibly priced stocks, which are few and far between,
and they “only” get something like 15% annual return while the Ciscos and
Amazons return 100%, they’ll get canned. On the flip side, if they buy
the stocks that everyone else is buying, like Amazon and Cisco, and then
the whole market tanks, especially Amazon and Cisco, they won’t get
canned, because the index tanked, and hey, everybody was fooled anyway,
right?
So, the ramp up to the 1998-2001 crash slowly weeded out fund managers who
kept their integrity and bought what made sense for their clients instead
of their career. The dark side of Natural Selection: the remaining herd
were well adapted for the environment that selected them (the bull
market), but when that environment changed… extinction of their client’s
dollars.
A very informative read.
Photogenic
Back when we lived in the loft, we had great natural lighting, and I could
easily take pictures like this:
But in the new house, there simply isn’t a lot of natural light coming in,
and I take pictures like this:
So, I’m idly looking for inexpensive photography lighting options. I’ve
seen some 100 watts/second monolight kits from B&H Photo Video online for
around $150. Of course, one can quickly drift up into the thousands of
dollars to burn like the sun.
Do any photography buffs out there know how much oomf one needs in strobe
flashes to be able to take nicely lit hobby “portrait” shots?
Sick.
Sick.
Anti-Matter
After the TheaterSports show tonight,
I think I’ve heard of a Lucas Ryan in a local improv troupe, maybe one of the college ones. A quick google search…
Lucas Ryan, Basement Theatre, Atlanta
It’s important that I know of his whereabouts, because if we ever touched, we might explode and take the universe with us.
In honor of dtpatillo
Boy, these bug me.
The Danger of Overthinking
So, Toy Story 2.
I’ve seen it a lot recently, and for lack of anything better to do, I’ve been thinking about the implied mythology behind toys as portrayed in the films.
An audience for every movie
On the flight back from Phoenix, the movie was Dreamer, a movie
starring Dakota Fanning about a horse.
It was a mediocre movie (based on a true story), full of mediocre writing
and cliche moments. Towards the end, I’m thinking who would ever think
this was a good idea for a movie?. Of course, at the end, the
underdog horse wins the big race. Right when Dreamer crosses the finish
line, the woman in the seat across the aisle starts clapping.
She’s the only one clapping. And she doesn’t stop. Clearly, she’s been
moved by this predictable mediocre fare.
I guess some people just like horse movies.
Fierce_Jesus
A happy b-day to
Monsters Above the Bed
The problem with the Monster Energy Drink that Dad’s sells, aside from the apalling taste, is that I can’t find the precise amount to drink that gives me the boost I need to get through a 10:30pm improv show, but not keep me wide awake until 1:30am.
*taps fingers*
So… how is everyone?
*crickets*