Interesting tidbit since this year is a census year.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Map of Health Markets thru Stimulus and GDP
We've been through a round of bailouts in 2008 and stimulus in 2009/10. Here is how the bailouts/stimulus money compares to the GDP of other countries and the US.
Courtesy: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
How Should Financial Reform Look?
Another great article from THE BIG PICTURE BLOG on what financial reform should look like to get the job done.
For me, Number 5, 7 and 8 are incredibly important. Reinstate Glass-Steagall, Only one regulator, Reform the SEC. Way too many crooks and bad, unhealthy transactions and deals fell through the cracks.
CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE ARTICLE
For me, Number 5, 7 and 8 are incredibly important. Reinstate Glass-Steagall, Only one regulator, Reform the SEC. Way too many crooks and bad, unhealthy transactions and deals fell through the cracks.
CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE ARTICLE
Monday, March 01, 2010
Why We believe in CONSPIRACY THEORIES
I found this blog called the VOLOKH CONSPIRACY. Its a commentary blog from a large group of law professors. Most of what the blog contains are random comments by a number of writers on issues with a law slant. In a post from early 2008, they tackle the issue of political ignorance and pervasive nature of conspiracy theories in explaining major political events.
A very interesting read.
The first paragraph of the post:
"...For example, they cite survey data showing that some one third of Americans believe that federal government officials either carried out the 9/11 attacks themselves or deliberately allowed them to happen. Large numbers of people also believe that John F. Kennedy's assassination was the result of a wide ranging conspiracy in the government, that the AIDS virus was secretly produced in a government laboratory for the purpose of infecting blacks, and that the government is covering up evidence of alien visitation of Earth."
Since the housing bubble and subsequent credit crisis, the 2008 market crash, high oil prices before the 2008 election, the 2008-2009 bailouts and most recently, high unemployment, this study really hits home as many of us take comfort in conspiracy theories in an attempt at explaining the volatile world that we live in. Yet the study offers a very convincing reason why our human nature takes over in times of crisis.
The last two paragraphs of the post are below:
"In the political realm, on the other hand, widespread rational ignorance helps to spread conspiracy theory in two ways. First, the more ignorant you are about politics and economics, the more plausible simple conspiracy theory explanations of events are likely to seem. If you don't understand basic economics, you are more likely to believe that rising oil prices are caused by a conspiracy among oil companies or that the subprime crisis was caused by a conspiracy among banks. If you don't understand the basic workings of our political system, you are more likely to swallow the idea that the federal government could carry out something like the 9/11 attack and then (falsely) blame it on Osama Bin Laden without the truth being quickly exposed through leaks and hostile media coverage.
The full post is here:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_01_27-2008_02_02.shtml#1201989369
The study link is here:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916963
A very interesting read.
The first paragraph of the post:
"...For example, they cite survey data showing that some one third of Americans believe that federal government officials either carried out the 9/11 attacks themselves or deliberately allowed them to happen. Large numbers of people also believe that John F. Kennedy's assassination was the result of a wide ranging conspiracy in the government, that the AIDS virus was secretly produced in a government laboratory for the purpose of infecting blacks, and that the government is covering up evidence of alien visitation of Earth."
Since the housing bubble and subsequent credit crisis, the 2008 market crash, high oil prices before the 2008 election, the 2008-2009 bailouts and most recently, high unemployment, this study really hits home as many of us take comfort in conspiracy theories in an attempt at explaining the volatile world that we live in. Yet the study offers a very convincing reason why our human nature takes over in times of crisis.
The last two paragraphs of the post are below:
"In the political realm, on the other hand, widespread rational ignorance helps to spread conspiracy theory in two ways. First, the more ignorant you are about politics and economics, the more plausible simple conspiracy theory explanations of events are likely to seem. If you don't understand basic economics, you are more likely to believe that rising oil prices are caused by a conspiracy among oil companies or that the subprime crisis was caused by a conspiracy among banks. If you don't understand the basic workings of our political system, you are more likely to swallow the idea that the federal government could carry out something like the 9/11 attack and then (falsely) blame it on Osama Bin Laden without the truth being quickly exposed through leaks and hostile media coverage.
Second, the rationality of political ignorance implies that even people who do have considerable knowledge are likely to be more susceptible to conspiracy theories about political events than in their personal lives. As I explain in this paper (see also Bryan Caplan's excellent book), the rationality of political ignorance not only reduces people's incentives to acquire political information, it also undercuts incentives to rationally evaluate the information they do learn. As a result, we are more likely to be highly biased in the way we evaluate political information than information about most other subjects. Many people embrace political conspiracy theories because they are more entertaining and emotionally satisfying than alternative, more prosaic explanations of events. Unlike in our nonpolitical lives, most people have little incentive to critically evaluate their political beliefs in order to weed out biases and and ensure their truth."
That is not to say that people are uniformly rational in their nonpolitical decisions. Far from it. But they are likely to be a great deal less irrational than they are about politics."The full post is here:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_01_27-2008_02_02.shtml#1201989369
The study link is here:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916963
Monday, January 18, 2010
McGwire and the Steroid Saga
Mark McGwire finally admitted to what we all suspected. He took steroids while playing baseball including his then record setting season of 1998.
We've all been over this before with other ballplayers who either came out and either flat out admitted their usage of performance enhancing drugs or apologized to everyone in earshot yet not divulging what they actually did to warrant the apology. Regretably, the former is far less common than the latter.
I understand why McGwire didn't admit to it when he testified in front of congress in 2005. His lawyers got in his ear staunchly apposing any heart-felt confession so as to not implicate him either by direct evidence or otherwise (Jose Conseco's book) to any steroid investigation at that time or in the future. I remember watching his testimony on C-SPAN. I waited for an admission or some act of contrition. Once he pleaded the 5th, my heart sank. His "pleading the 5th" might as well have been a guilty verdict in the court of public opinion. He collectively lost the paying fans and the hard-core baseball traditionalists in his evading the subject. As we have seen before, once the court of public opinion comes to a verdict, it is very difficult to change that verdict.
McGwire said he wanted to say something in 2005 while in front of congress. He didn't. Now almost 5 years later, his motives for speaking out are in question. People will will lump in the same group as the Rafael Palmeiro's of the world who, to this day, deny the test was accurate or claim it was someone else.
Back in the 1990s, we all lived in the moment. We watched McGwire and Sosa make history. It was the ultimate feel-good moment after the strike of 1994. It followed Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak record in late 1995. The resurgence of baseball into the national collective consciousness was an elixor that everyone was drinking up. Attendance was up. People were making money...and lots of it. It was like the strike that wiped out the World Series never happened. By 1998, we were all inebriated on baseball. And it felt real good!
Since the early 2000s when the Balco investigation implicating many players including the current season homerun record holder Barry Bonds became everyday news, the publication of Jose Conseco's tell-all book and the subsequent leaking of 104 players who tested positive for PEDs in 2003 was spread over the internet, we as fans felt increasingly duped and cheated. Now, we question every homerun hit back then as super-charged with roids.
Yet we all feel cheated by the players. We feel let down by the players who we thought played for the love of the game. Almost overnight, our baseball buzz became the ultimate hangover that no amount of sleep or spirin would cure. The focus was on the players. That's were our distain ended. Truthfully, our distain should have only begun there.
The owners for years have denied that they had any knowledge of the drug usage of their players. The commissioner has also said he was in the dark. The players' union likewise has said that they never promoted the use of PEDs with their union members. (They evaded the question answering without saying yes or no). The managers, coaches and front office personnel have also issued statements underlining their obliviousness to what was going on.
Am I missing something here?
These business savy owners were making tens of millions of dollars with world-class athletes as their "workers" and they had no idea? These ownership groups affiliated with countless other high end business ventures with billions of dollars in capital investment had no idea? The most powerful union on the planet had no idea what their union members were doing?
Your damn right they did!
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the FBI was investigating illegal steroid distribution. Eventually, they uncovered the doping regiments of many athletes. By 1993, McGwire's steroid use was known by the FBI. Back then, the authorities were going after the suppliers not the users like ballplayers so no charges were filed against any athletes.In 1994, the FBI shared their finding with Major League Baseball, specifically Kevin Hallinan, baseball's security head. Whether or not the information matriculated through MLB brass is not known. Hallinan says they could have done nothing because MLB had no testing program in place at that timee.
Years later, Canseco's book came out, Balco was revealed and the federal government got involved. As quickly as the owners could stash their cash, put their blinders on, lawyered up and hunkered down until the dust cleared or until they were subpoenaed in front of congress which ever came first.
It was an act of congress, so to speak, that brought Bud Selig, baseball commissioner and Donald Fehr, head of the players' union to Capitol Hill to testify. Nothing came of it. There hands were tied due to the collective bargining agreement which had no testing procedure. Only after strong suggestions by leaders in Congress did testing became more strict and inline with the other main sports. Yes, Bud Selig asked George Mitchell to do an independant investigation--a PR move--on the depth of the usage of steroids in baseball afterward. The report basically corroberated what we all knew from the get go and that steroids, HGH, etc permeated the game. That was several years ago and as of this writing in 2010, we have yet to hear Selig give an apology or an 'I'm Sorry."
But that won't happen. Its his legacy on the line. After all, he's due to step down in 2012. How about the owners? Not a peep. They are still unscathed by the whole thing.
If we all claim to be purests. If we all claim to put the game of baseball ahead of any interests, then we must also look deeply into the actions of the owners, management and players' union who benefited from the steroid era along with the players. All of the groups are equally at fault. The owners and players' union allowed this to happen. They knew what was going on but choose not to address it. They turned a blind eye and continued to watch the balls fly out of the ballpark as their bank accounts grew. All of baseball is implicated in this era.
I am by no means abdicating the players of their behavior. They took advantage of the times and made their money too. They took PEDs because it gave them an edge. They knew it was artificial but they did it anyway. The short-term statistical and monetary gain to the playeers, like the owners, seemed worth it at the expense of the now apparent long term damage to themselves and game.
If the players are punished (no entrance into the hall of fame) then the owners and players' union should be punished too. Yet how do we punish them for which there is no hard evidence? The answer is we can't. Unless there are documents that show collusion among the owners and management to cover up the rampant usage of steroid and other drugs among the players back then, the truth will stay unknown. If such documents exist then what? How do you punish them? Do they fork over money to the players or the players' union like they did in the 1980S free agency collusion case? How can you? They are implicated in this too. Using the same rationale, can we punish the players who have not tested positive or played before 2003 with a blanket gulity verdict? No we can't. Yet the players are under a cloud of suspicion while the owners and players' union are virtually untouchable and they know it.
The story isn't over. There are more than 100 names that tested positive back in 2003. Those names are out there. Eventually, these names will get out. Only then will we have concrete information that illustrates the scope of PEDs in baseball. Granted, its not all inclusive but its the best we'll have. As more information about the late 90s and early 2000s comes to the surface and is digested by all, the true indicator of what PEDs meant to the game will be readily apparent.
Historians will say that corruption has been a part of baseball since its inception in the 1860s. Gamblers stalked ballgames affecting outcomes for decades leading up to the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Fights broke out in stands between players and fans and umpires. If that were to happen now, Psychologists would be touting it as the ultimate degredation of society unmatched in any time in history.
Since then, gambling, although not totally eradicated, is not what it once was. Baseball is better organized and well-governed compared to its historically cousin. I am sure that Ruth and Cobb would have juiced if PEDs were available back then. You can bet that Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, Commissioner of Baseball in the 1920s, would have had them banned for life if he found out.
Players now have something to gain about not talking. That is their legacy. The owners, management and the players' union also have something to gain and that's power and leverage. By talking, they dissolve that steady hand they've been waving for years. To them, like the players, the eluring scent of power and financial gain is a far bigger motivator than doing what is right for the game. I want to believe that McGwire is genuine in opening up. Yet he has something to gain and that is a paycheck as a hitting coach. His remarks on how the steroids didn't help him hit homeruns only clouds the legitamacy of his statements and his character. I really want to get behind him. I honestly do. But I just can't bring myself to it. As these names like McGwire's come out, remember this:
Like the players of the past, The players duped us. The owners, the management, the commissioner, the union also duped us.
We've all been over this before with other ballplayers who either came out and either flat out admitted their usage of performance enhancing drugs or apologized to everyone in earshot yet not divulging what they actually did to warrant the apology. Regretably, the former is far less common than the latter.
I understand why McGwire didn't admit to it when he testified in front of congress in 2005. His lawyers got in his ear staunchly apposing any heart-felt confession so as to not implicate him either by direct evidence or otherwise (Jose Conseco's book) to any steroid investigation at that time or in the future. I remember watching his testimony on C-SPAN. I waited for an admission or some act of contrition. Once he pleaded the 5th, my heart sank. His "pleading the 5th" might as well have been a guilty verdict in the court of public opinion. He collectively lost the paying fans and the hard-core baseball traditionalists in his evading the subject. As we have seen before, once the court of public opinion comes to a verdict, it is very difficult to change that verdict.
McGwire said he wanted to say something in 2005 while in front of congress. He didn't. Now almost 5 years later, his motives for speaking out are in question. People will will lump in the same group as the Rafael Palmeiro's of the world who, to this day, deny the test was accurate or claim it was someone else.
Back in the 1990s, we all lived in the moment. We watched McGwire and Sosa make history. It was the ultimate feel-good moment after the strike of 1994. It followed Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak record in late 1995. The resurgence of baseball into the national collective consciousness was an elixor that everyone was drinking up. Attendance was up. People were making money...and lots of it. It was like the strike that wiped out the World Series never happened. By 1998, we were all inebriated on baseball. And it felt real good!
Since the early 2000s when the Balco investigation implicating many players including the current season homerun record holder Barry Bonds became everyday news, the publication of Jose Conseco's tell-all book and the subsequent leaking of 104 players who tested positive for PEDs in 2003 was spread over the internet, we as fans felt increasingly duped and cheated. Now, we question every homerun hit back then as super-charged with roids.
Yet we all feel cheated by the players. We feel let down by the players who we thought played for the love of the game. Almost overnight, our baseball buzz became the ultimate hangover that no amount of sleep or spirin would cure. The focus was on the players. That's were our distain ended. Truthfully, our distain should have only begun there.
The owners for years have denied that they had any knowledge of the drug usage of their players. The commissioner has also said he was in the dark. The players' union likewise has said that they never promoted the use of PEDs with their union members. (They evaded the question answering without saying yes or no). The managers, coaches and front office personnel have also issued statements underlining their obliviousness to what was going on.
Am I missing something here?
These business savy owners were making tens of millions of dollars with world-class athletes as their "workers" and they had no idea? These ownership groups affiliated with countless other high end business ventures with billions of dollars in capital investment had no idea? The most powerful union on the planet had no idea what their union members were doing?
Your damn right they did!
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the FBI was investigating illegal steroid distribution. Eventually, they uncovered the doping regiments of many athletes. By 1993, McGwire's steroid use was known by the FBI. Back then, the authorities were going after the suppliers not the users like ballplayers so no charges were filed against any athletes.In 1994, the FBI shared their finding with Major League Baseball, specifically Kevin Hallinan, baseball's security head. Whether or not the information matriculated through MLB brass is not known. Hallinan says they could have done nothing because MLB had no testing program in place at that timee.
Years later, Canseco's book came out, Balco was revealed and the federal government got involved. As quickly as the owners could stash their cash, put their blinders on, lawyered up and hunkered down until the dust cleared or until they were subpoenaed in front of congress which ever came first.
It was an act of congress, so to speak, that brought Bud Selig, baseball commissioner and Donald Fehr, head of the players' union to Capitol Hill to testify. Nothing came of it. There hands were tied due to the collective bargining agreement which had no testing procedure. Only after strong suggestions by leaders in Congress did testing became more strict and inline with the other main sports. Yes, Bud Selig asked George Mitchell to do an independant investigation--a PR move--on the depth of the usage of steroids in baseball afterward. The report basically corroberated what we all knew from the get go and that steroids, HGH, etc permeated the game. That was several years ago and as of this writing in 2010, we have yet to hear Selig give an apology or an 'I'm Sorry."
But that won't happen. Its his legacy on the line. After all, he's due to step down in 2012. How about the owners? Not a peep. They are still unscathed by the whole thing.
If we all claim to be purests. If we all claim to put the game of baseball ahead of any interests, then we must also look deeply into the actions of the owners, management and players' union who benefited from the steroid era along with the players. All of the groups are equally at fault. The owners and players' union allowed this to happen. They knew what was going on but choose not to address it. They turned a blind eye and continued to watch the balls fly out of the ballpark as their bank accounts grew. All of baseball is implicated in this era.
I am by no means abdicating the players of their behavior. They took advantage of the times and made their money too. They took PEDs because it gave them an edge. They knew it was artificial but they did it anyway. The short-term statistical and monetary gain to the playeers, like the owners, seemed worth it at the expense of the now apparent long term damage to themselves and game.
If the players are punished (no entrance into the hall of fame) then the owners and players' union should be punished too. Yet how do we punish them for which there is no hard evidence? The answer is we can't. Unless there are documents that show collusion among the owners and management to cover up the rampant usage of steroid and other drugs among the players back then, the truth will stay unknown. If such documents exist then what? How do you punish them? Do they fork over money to the players or the players' union like they did in the 1980S free agency collusion case? How can you? They are implicated in this too. Using the same rationale, can we punish the players who have not tested positive or played before 2003 with a blanket gulity verdict? No we can't. Yet the players are under a cloud of suspicion while the owners and players' union are virtually untouchable and they know it.
The story isn't over. There are more than 100 names that tested positive back in 2003. Those names are out there. Eventually, these names will get out. Only then will we have concrete information that illustrates the scope of PEDs in baseball. Granted, its not all inclusive but its the best we'll have. As more information about the late 90s and early 2000s comes to the surface and is digested by all, the true indicator of what PEDs meant to the game will be readily apparent.
Historians will say that corruption has been a part of baseball since its inception in the 1860s. Gamblers stalked ballgames affecting outcomes for decades leading up to the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Fights broke out in stands between players and fans and umpires. If that were to happen now, Psychologists would be touting it as the ultimate degredation of society unmatched in any time in history.
Since then, gambling, although not totally eradicated, is not what it once was. Baseball is better organized and well-governed compared to its historically cousin. I am sure that Ruth and Cobb would have juiced if PEDs were available back then. You can bet that Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, Commissioner of Baseball in the 1920s, would have had them banned for life if he found out.
Players now have something to gain about not talking. That is their legacy. The owners, management and the players' union also have something to gain and that's power and leverage. By talking, they dissolve that steady hand they've been waving for years. To them, like the players, the eluring scent of power and financial gain is a far bigger motivator than doing what is right for the game. I want to believe that McGwire is genuine in opening up. Yet he has something to gain and that is a paycheck as a hitting coach. His remarks on how the steroids didn't help him hit homeruns only clouds the legitamacy of his statements and his character. I really want to get behind him. I honestly do. But I just can't bring myself to it. As these names like McGwire's come out, remember this:
Like the players of the past, The players duped us. The owners, the management, the commissioner, the union also duped us.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Baseball Hall of Fame - Next 5 Years
Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday.
However, there are a list of players awaiting election over the next couple of years that might not get in once the list grows including sure-fire-first-ballot guys in 2013 through 2015.
The leftovers who almost garnered enough votes this year are:
Roberto Alomar, Lee Smith, Bert Blyleven, Tim Raines, Edgar
Martinez and Jack Morris
2011 marks Jeff Bagwell's first year of eligibility. If the writers are liberal with their votes--unlike their track record in recent years--Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven can make it.
2012 marks a year where there is no clear-cut first ballet players. Tim Raines and Lee Smith might have a shot then. Jack Morris, a good pitcher, doesn't have the stats in my opinion. If these players don't get in within a few years, they odds drop significantly.
Edgar Martinez is an interesting case due to his DH role throughout most of his career. Writers who see the DH as a bonefide position rather than a career extender will vote for him. I don't see it happening for a while.
2013 is the year that sees the eligibility list getting bunched up real fast. This also marks the first time that multiple players who were attached to performance enhancing drugs are on the list not named Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro. The list of first-time eligible players include:
Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds.
Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza are in on the first try.
Sosa, Bonds and Clemens don't get in...at least not now. Too much incomplete information on their involvement. Curt Schilling is an interesting case. Post-season play can't be argued...regular season stats are border-line.
2014 will see Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux list on the ballet. All first-ballet inducties.
Assuming that they retire in 2010, Ken Griffey, Omar Vizquel, Randy Johnson and Gary Shefffield are on the list. Everyone except Gary Sheffield are first-ballet hall of famers. Sheffield's link to PEDs will keep him out for a while.
2016 potentials are Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Ivan Rodriguez. Count on Rivera and Rodriguez as first-ballet inducties. Trevor Hoffman a distant second.
Sometime between 2015 and 2020, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Chipper Jones will be eligible.
However, there are a list of players awaiting election over the next couple of years that might not get in once the list grows including sure-fire-first-ballot guys in 2013 through 2015.
The leftovers who almost garnered enough votes this year are:
Roberto Alomar, Lee Smith, Bert Blyleven, Tim Raines, Edgar
Martinez and Jack Morris
2011 marks Jeff Bagwell's first year of eligibility. If the writers are liberal with their votes--unlike their track record in recent years--Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven can make it.
2012 marks a year where there is no clear-cut first ballet players. Tim Raines and Lee Smith might have a shot then. Jack Morris, a good pitcher, doesn't have the stats in my opinion. If these players don't get in within a few years, they odds drop significantly.
Edgar Martinez is an interesting case due to his DH role throughout most of his career. Writers who see the DH as a bonefide position rather than a career extender will vote for him. I don't see it happening for a while.
2013 is the year that sees the eligibility list getting bunched up real fast. This also marks the first time that multiple players who were attached to performance enhancing drugs are on the list not named Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro. The list of first-time eligible players include:
Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds.
Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza are in on the first try.
Sosa, Bonds and Clemens don't get in...at least not now. Too much incomplete information on their involvement. Curt Schilling is an interesting case. Post-season play can't be argued...regular season stats are border-line.
2014 will see Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux list on the ballet. All first-ballet inducties.
Assuming that they retire in 2010, Ken Griffey, Omar Vizquel, Randy Johnson and Gary Shefffield are on the list. Everyone except Gary Sheffield are first-ballet hall of famers. Sheffield's link to PEDs will keep him out for a while.
2016 potentials are Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Ivan Rodriguez. Count on Rivera and Rodriguez as first-ballet inducties. Trevor Hoffman a distant second.
Sometime between 2015 and 2020, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Chipper Jones will be eligible.
Around 2020, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will be on the list.
Friday, January 01, 2010
100 Movies in 2009
It doesn't seem like the most prestigious goal but I finally made it. Yesterday on New Years Eve, I finished my 100th movie of 2009.
Watching movies was never intended to become a marathon toward 50 or 100 or beyond. Around September, I realized that I had watched a bunch of movies through rentals, borrowing DVDs from family members or DVDs that I had on the shelf but never had the chance to watch over the years. So I wrote down the movies and came up with a list that neared 70.
Needless to say, I was shocked that it added up to a number that high. So I started doing the math and figured that if I time my movie watching just right, I could reach 100 movies by December 31st.
Here is the list in groups of 10.
I highlighted 32 of my favorites:
The Lookout
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Slumdog Millionaire
Gran Torino
In Bruges
Primer
Matrix 1
Matrix 2
Matrix 3
Milk
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rachel Getting Married
Little Miss Sunshine
Juno
Existenz
Batman
Ironman
Gattaca
Clockwork Orange
PI
Taxi Driver
Sunshine
Raging Bull
Goodfellas
Minority Report
GI Joe
Reservior Dogs
Taken
Memento
District 9
Knowing
Xmen: Wolverine
Star Trek
State of Play
Terminator: 4
Michael Clayton
Bottle Rocket
Up
Monster vs. Aliens
There Will Be Blood
The Italian Job
Hancock
Tropic Thunder
Frost/Nixon
Punisher
The Reader
The Wrestler
Valkyrie
Supertroopers
The Incredible Hulk
Supersize Me
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
I Love You, Man
The Hangover
Pumping Iron
Chasing Ghosts
King of Kong
Burn After Reading
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
The French Connection
Babel
The Thin Red Line
Casper
Syriana
The Dark City
The Quiet Earth
Hot Rod
Rollerball
The Maiden Heist
The Bucket List
Letters From Iwo Jima
12 Monkeys
Antarctica Documentary
The Straight Story
Millers Crossing
The Simple Plan
The Astronaut Farmer
Code 46
Cypher
All the Kings Men
A Scanner Darkly
Mr. Brooks
Xmen
The Number 13
Equilibrium
Hudsucker Proxy
Surrogates
Boondock Saints
Clean Shaven
THX-1138
Ronin
Xmen 2
Xmen 3
The Contender
The Ninth Gate
The Road to Perdition
Something, Something, Something, Darkside
Requim for a Dream
The Truman Show
Almost Famous
Watching movies was never intended to become a marathon toward 50 or 100 or beyond. Around September, I realized that I had watched a bunch of movies through rentals, borrowing DVDs from family members or DVDs that I had on the shelf but never had the chance to watch over the years. So I wrote down the movies and came up with a list that neared 70.
Needless to say, I was shocked that it added up to a number that high. So I started doing the math and figured that if I time my movie watching just right, I could reach 100 movies by December 31st.
Here is the list in groups of 10.
I highlighted 32 of my favorites:
The Lookout
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Slumdog Millionaire
Gran Torino
In Bruges
Primer
Matrix 1
Matrix 2
Matrix 3
Milk
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rachel Getting Married
Little Miss Sunshine
Juno
Existenz
Batman
Ironman
Gattaca
Clockwork Orange
PI
Taxi Driver
Sunshine
Raging Bull
Goodfellas
Minority Report
GI Joe
Reservior Dogs
Taken
Memento
District 9
Knowing
Xmen: Wolverine
Star Trek
State of Play
Terminator: 4
Michael Clayton
Bottle Rocket
Up
Monster vs. Aliens
There Will Be Blood
The Italian Job
Hancock
Tropic Thunder
Frost/Nixon
Punisher
The Reader
The Wrestler
Valkyrie
Supertroopers
The Incredible Hulk
Supersize Me
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
I Love You, Man
The Hangover
Pumping Iron
Chasing Ghosts
King of Kong
Burn After Reading
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
The French Connection
Babel
The Thin Red Line
Casper
Syriana
The Dark City
The Quiet Earth
Hot Rod
Rollerball
The Maiden Heist
The Bucket List
Letters From Iwo Jima
12 Monkeys
Antarctica Documentary
The Straight Story
Millers Crossing
The Simple Plan
The Astronaut Farmer
Code 46
Cypher
All the Kings Men
A Scanner Darkly
Mr. Brooks
Xmen
The Number 13
Equilibrium
Hudsucker Proxy
Surrogates
Boondock Saints
Clean Shaven
THX-1138
Ronin
Xmen 2
Xmen 3
The Contender
The Ninth Gate
The Road to Perdition
Something, Something, Something, Darkside
Requim for a Dream
The Truman Show
Almost Famous
Friday, October 16, 2009
Summer is filled with the scent of cut grass and rich soil. Its that feeling of the heavy, humid air so vibrant, charged with activity that makes us yearn for this time when nature sleeps. On a still day as the sun beams down, I swear I could hear the Photosynthesis taking place. Plants producing energy and oxygen; a chemical process that gives life to our summer!The sun is now shifting its focus to the southern hemisphere. In Australia, southern Africa and South America, spring has begun For the rest of the world, its autumn....then winter....and snow!
The autumnal equinox--that imaginary point in time when the sun is directly over the equator--is here and gone.
Now, we transition from summer warmth to a cool and damp stillness. The freshly cut grass aroma begins to waine and the earthen smell of yellow and orange leaves takes over as they reach maturity. Summer warmth seeps away replaced by the calmness of cool, damp and still evenings as the the initial stage of autumn commences with the first leaves quickly changing color, falling to the ground by mid-September. The collective sound of children running around fades to a distant few. Presumably most are inside doing homework--most likely playing video games--as the sun hastily exits below the horizon even quicker then the day before.
Slowly, the tree-line becomes more transparent. Distant light from an unknown source now makes its way all the way through the once thick underbrush to our eyes. The thick blanket of deciduous trees and shrubs is now a thinned out shadow of its former self. Each day, a new element of mother nature's woods becomes visible again after being secluded from the outside world. The irony is dramatic. We experience the vibrant state of nature, full of heat and light outside of the woods. Yet nature's fruits produce a green blanket creating a dark, isolated world only to be revived once the blanket dies away.
The garden is already wilted and gone. The rhubarb has shrunk and withered back to its subterranean sanctuary.
The grass is losing green luster.
I continue to "voice" my disdain toward earth's measly yet potent season-driving twenty-three and a half degree tilt by wearing shorts. Its forty outside and I am wearing shorts. I take the dog out at 6:30 A.M. A heavy frost blankets the deck. The thermometer reads 28. I'm still wearing shorts. You wait. The first hard snow and my choice of attire will still buck the trend. Call it my "obscene gesture" expressed in a code only to be decrypted by mother nature.
Maybe she will get the idea...Maybe she can't decrypt it....I don't think she is listening.....I don't think she cares. Yet at the same time, the changes autumn offers are a refreshing substitute; cleansing in a weird way. As nature prepares for its hibernation, the shorter days and cooler nights seem to have a rejuvenative property. The summer fire still smolders in our minds even after the autumnal equinox. Although my grilling days will continue as they always do when the cold air sets in, a hearty bowl of soup or chilly sounds surprising good right about now. The apple picking, the bright colors, jumping into leaf piles and the distant smell of bond fires rekindles the euphoria albeit under the guise of autumn. You can't help but breathe the cool air in a little deeper, open your eyes a little wider and smile.
The resurgence is felt on the bumpy hayrides as kids drape themselves over the side; their smiles frozen from ear to ear as mom and dad guide them through the sensory experience.
One kid comments on the odor emanating from the horses in front. Laughter ensues as the wind shifts wafting the odor over everyone. Laughter continues. Dad laughs. Mom corrects Dad and then succumbs to the laughter herself. As we turn the corner, the wind shifts and alas, the olfactory onslaught is over.
A cup of warm apple cider warms the palette and the hands as a push of cool air knifes through our bodies amid the anemic sunshine. The chill is bone numbing and quick. Sunshine overtakes the wind, we warm up then the wind starts again. We all recover only to go through it again...and again...and again. At the same moment almost by Ultimate design, every one's expression screams the same thought.
"This only the beginning of what is to come in the weeks and months ahead." Not one person dare say it. Yet everyone knows that everyone is thinking the same thought. Its the only awkward moment of the day.
For unknown reasons, someone wants ice cream--no doubt trying to hang onto the last remaining footprint of summer. Either that or they are really, really, really jonesing for some frozen desert. Someone makes fun of the request, then another and another. Eventually, everyone gets an ice cream cone quickly forgetting the bone numbing chill that seemed so paralyzing minutes before.
For all its changes, autumn is still my favorite season. I enjoy all of it.
The resurgence is felt on the bumpy hayrides as kids drape themselves over the side; their smiles frozen from ear to ear as mom and dad guide them through the sensory experience.
One kid comments on the odor emanating from the horses in front. Laughter ensues as the wind shifts wafting the odor over everyone. Laughter continues. Dad laughs. Mom corrects Dad and then succumbs to the laughter herself. As we turn the corner, the wind shifts and alas, the olfactory onslaught is over.A cup of warm apple cider warms the palette and the hands as a push of cool air knifes through our bodies amid the anemic sunshine. The chill is bone numbing and quick. Sunshine overtakes the wind, we warm up then the wind starts again. We all recover only to go through it again...and again...and again. At the same moment almost by Ultimate design, every one's expression screams the same thought.
"This only the beginning of what is to come in the weeks and months ahead." Not one person dare say it. Yet everyone knows that everyone is thinking the same thought. Its the only awkward moment of the day.For unknown reasons, someone wants ice cream--no doubt trying to hang onto the last remaining footprint of summer. Either that or they are really, really, really jonesing for some frozen desert. Someone makes fun of the request, then another and another. Eventually, everyone gets an ice cream cone quickly forgetting the bone numbing chill that seemed so paralyzing minutes before.
For all its changes, autumn is still my favorite season. I enjoy all of it.
The fleeting warmth, albeit brief. The chill, strong and still maturing. The colors, dirty yet vibrant.
The smells, fulfilling and sweet.
The kids, energetic and full of life.
To me, this is autumn.
To me, this is autumn.
Monday, October 05, 2009
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