Maggie's FarmWe are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for. |
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Thursday, February 23. 2017Educational signaling
I have always said that, as a rule of thumb, your education can get you your first job, but that, after that, you are mostly standing on that first job.
Posted by The Barrister
in Education, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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17:27
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Monday, February 20. 2017TV series recommendation: Shetland
Mrs. BD and a daughter say that the protagonist, Jimmy Perez, is their dream male. They both binge-watched it on their laptops, and I am certain now that I must be inadequate by comparison. Bummer.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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17:18
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A classicIt's a practical course in management of any organization, large or small: Caplow's How To Run Any Organization. There is no need to learn from your mistakes. Better to learn from the mistakes of others. Many used copies at Amazon.
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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16:00
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Sunday, February 19. 2017'64 Impala drift missile
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:06
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Wednesday, February 15. 2017Mental Toughness
Studying late at night for a Chem exam, resisting a donut, keeping climbing when your legs say "No," doing one more bench rep when your arms say "I can't", saying "Hi" to a pretty girl who is too good for you, giving your exasperating guitar practice one more half hour, bucking up for one more damn intimidating job interview, getting through a pile of paperwork. A doctor once told me that the toughest person he knew was a agoraphobic and social phobic who by sheer willpower forced herself to leave her house and re-enter society despite her terror. Everybody wants to fight against his own limitations, fears, flaws, and weaknesses, and nobody wants to feel mentally or physically weak. When I consider mental toughness I think of warriors facing a wall of spears or machine guns, but in our (or my) pampered and decadent American life we often have to go out of our way to seek out character tests and character challenges. We can easily avoid most of them if we wish to, but our life is diminished by it. I think shame, self-disgust, and self-disappointment are some of the unpleasant consequences of confronting some of our weaknesses and limitations. It is failure, and we know it. My genius trainer and I were discussing the topic a while ago. I told him that part of his added value to me was lending his mental strength to me. When my arms say "No," and he says "Two more - you can do it" - I do it. Alone, I "couldn't." That's my mental weakness. So we can gain strength from relationship. That's part of why marriage is so valuable. Friends, too. He said that group exercise training works well not so much because of the competition but because of the combined spirit of effort, the esprit de corps. Of course, that group effect is an essential part of military training too. He says the reason most people fail in fitness programs is for lack of spirit and determination, not muscle. I suppose good habits of toughness and perseverance can be nurtured from within from practice and from without with support and cheerleading. My mental toughness is not good enough to make me happy with myself, and probably never will be. Here's a Grit Quiz. Not sure if such personality traits are measurable really, or whether they are even traits. Sometimes I have plenty of grit, sometimes very little. Related: The Personality Secret to Successful Weight Loss What's your view on the subject? Tuesday, February 14. 2017Happy 150th Birthday, Laura Ingalls Wilder
"It is easy to forget that the memoirs of a little girl who watched Native Americans on horseback and saw herds of buffalo on the plains happened within living memory of my elders when I was born."
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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16:57
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Thursday, February 9. 2017Swimsuit Edition, 1921
Posted by The News Junkie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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23:40
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Sunday, February 5. 2017Stop wearing black at nightA note to you people who walk on the side of the road, or cross the road, between dusk and dawn in black coats, dark pants, and dark hats: One of these days I will hit you with my car, and it will ruin both of our lives. Please stop it. You are invisible to me. When I am driving, I am not looking for people in the road. You road people have to make yourselves obvious to me. Cars have rear lights for a reason. I have already had a couple of close calls this winter and when roads are slippery it is even more dangerous. If you must wear black, all it takes is a strip of reflector tape or one of those light things to keep yourself safe and to keep me from a mess.
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:37
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Saturday, February 4. 2017A bookWe linked a piece about the life of H A Rey (Curious George) a while ago. Rey also wrote Find the Constellations and The Stars. I learned the constellations from those books. I can still look up and find the North Star as long as I can find the Big Dipper (which is low in the sky this time of year). Basic life knowledge. Constellations illustrate an interesting cognitive phenomenon. There is no pattern up there in the sky, but if you invent some, you will see them for the rest of your life.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:23
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Jane Austin's juvenaliaJane Austen was a rebel against the chick lit of her time. From a review:
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:50
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Thursday, February 2. 2017DepressedA big reader friend told me at lunch yesterday that she had had the depressing realization last weekend that she will never be able to read all the books she wants to read in her lifetime. She is a very active, adventurous person whose appetite for new experiences equals her appetite for new knowledge. Rather than depressing, I found her comment uplifting. We'd like to die, maybe, dropping a half-read book onto our chest. Is there a library in heaven?
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
16:45
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Price basics - very basicA Price Is a Signal Wrapped up in an Incentive
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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16:12
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Tuesday, January 31. 2017This Isn't As Easy As It SeemsMy poker night is this Friday, and I look forward to it each month. 50 people, food, libations, conversation and competition. There are afew heated moments. Not many, mostly good fun and the chance to take your friends' and neighbors' money. I have more or less broken even in this game. I keep pretty good records. We play a cash game for an hour, then a tournament, followed by cash games as people are bounced. The idea of a computer beating a human at poker seems like it should be simple. It's not. But we've seen computers win at Go, Jeopardy!, checkers, and even chess. So why not poker? It's a game of incomplete information. Computers are good at games that have lots of available information, not games lacking in it. But poker often has more information available than we care to admit. Betting trends are like prices. They give signals. Being able to sort through the signals and recognize where value lies is a skill. But humans also think and behave in linear ways. If you have a non-random betting approach, a computer should be able to sniff it out. A computer beating a human at Texas Hold 'em, even a limited table such as this, is quite a feat. The fact I happen to know the inventor of the computer makes it doubly interesting for me. He presented some of his yield optimization techniques to our team several times. I have suggested to our team we bring him back in. Sunday, January 29. 2017SOME FAMILY TREES BEAR RICHER FRUIT THAN OTHERS.Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves in Three Generations. Family wealth usually doesn't last very long unless it is vast and managed by people with the job to maintain it: Kennedys keep their wealth offshore and untaxed, and Rockefellers have a huge family office to protect and build the family $ - but by three generations ordinary wealth tends to be spent/wasted/diluted/frittered away by generations which are less effective at, or less interested in, wealth accumulation. Thus downward mobility. In my work, I see as much downward financial mobility as upward. Naturally, the upward is more rewarding for me and the downward more painful to watch. I just tell myself "Regression to the mean is a law of nature." Social class, which is more about culture than about wealth, but still implies a little loose cash, continues to be of value because of relationships, manners, life experiences, sophistication, etc. Nowadays, though, life in America is far more democratic than a generation or two or three ago when your family clubs, prep school, summer communities, and Ivy colleges guaranteed you social and occupational entree. No more pedigree in the USA, if there ever was because here "old money" was always rather new. America is far more meritocratic than it once was, but it has always been more meritocratic than Euroland or other places in general. The American Dream and all that. Andrew Carnegie: penniless Scottish immigrant makes good. Financial mobility works both ways, goes up and down. The medium-prosperous naturally want to maintain their family traditions of perquisites and cultural advantages, but that is difficult to do for most people if they do not dodge estate taxes (which many do). Better off to have scrappy kids and if they can golf, sail, play tennis, can tell a Breughel from a Rembrandt, and have perfect dinner party manners with snappy repartee, so much the better. They can set an example for others and get on with the program. Lefties (although McArdle is not one, really) love to focus on money and income mobility: So, What Do Your Parents Do? And Your Great-Grandparents? There are advantages that come with genes, manner of upbringing, and social background. It's the rare black ghetto kid in Baltimore or Hartford who has a prayer to escape his background. Some do, but it takes more drive and brains than for the middle class white kid in central Ohio whose dream is to get off the farm and go to New York to start a business with his or her algorithm. The vast majority of middle-class Americans do not care much about such things and just want to build some security and comfort for their families. Many, however, are ambitious wealth-builders too. They are necessary, the job and wealth-creators. Everybody else is a parasite. Including me. Ruling Class ain't what it used to be...
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
15:16
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Saturday, January 28. 2017Reminiscences about Freud and the Jews
She gets a couple of things wrong though. Freud did not invent Psychatry. It's been around for a long time. An American founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Dr. Benjamin Rush, was a Psychiatrist and a leader in the movement towards the humane care of the mentally ill. Another thing she gets wrong is to equate Psychoanalysis with Psychiatry. Psychodynamic ideas are one useful tool in Psychiatry, but just one of the tools in the toolbox.
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
13:51
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Tuesday, January 24. 2017Job interviewsMonday, January 23. 2017NYC with Pussy Protests, Valentin, and a goodbye to the Waldorf-AstoriaI spent quite a bit of time in NY, some with Mrs. BD, last week. Some random pics and observations follow. Whenever I expect to spend a few days in the city, I bring a bag of my shoes that need polishing, new laces, or new soles, to Eddy's in Grand Central Station and pick them up later. If I have a spare 15 minutes, I like to sit in those chairs and get a shine. Like a guy's version of a pedicure. Feels luxurious. Spit shine, better than I can do myself. $10 including $2 tip.
More below the fold -
Continue reading "NYC with Pussy Protests, Valentin, and a goodbye to the Waldorf-Astoria"
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
16:14
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Saturday, January 21. 2017Grandma's furniture
American antique or semi-antique (ie "old") "country-style" furniture still retains some modest value, but it is not usually brown. There is no market for "brown furniture" anymore, and the experts say that your kids will never want it either - even if they ever have room for it. If you want or need to de-clutter your home or homes, the best deal might be to donate it to a charity rather than paying $600 for somebody to take it away. Today's precious thing is tomorrow's junk. I still like some brown antiques if over 200 years old, but a room usually can't handle more than one. Why the Market for Heirloom and Secondhand Furniture Has Disappeared Somewhat related, are you too attached to your stuff?
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
13:24
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Friday, January 20. 2017Romeo et Juliette The Met's new production knocked our socks off. I am not a music reviewer, so I can't even try other than to say that Diane Damrau sings like a bird and has a bell-like clarity which I did not think was possible. A New Take on Romeo and Juliet’s Ball, Balcony, Bed and Tomb (I was reminded that people who do not go to operas are not aware that live opera performances use no vocal amplification. Voice alone must fill the hall, above the music. The vocal power is always remarkable to me. The vocal precision is assumed.) The Met this week: A few rainy Manhattan pics below the fold - Continue reading "Romeo et Juliette"
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
17:09
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Thursday, January 19. 2017You are probably a Federal criminal
Nobody knows all the federal criminal laws, much less all of the state and local laws. And we are not even talking about civil laws and regulations and administrative rules. They can always get you on something if they want to, and that's the problem. Nobody is innocent. A book by the national treasure Harvey Silverglate: Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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20:05
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Rock, Paper, Scissors
The Secret To Winning Rock-Paper-Scissors: A Living History Of The World’s Oldest Game Surely not the world's oldest game, but RPS - Roshambo - is a good one for all ages. Our friends at BattleBo take the age old game of rock, paper, scissors and boosts it to a whole new level of competitive game play.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
15:19
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The Most Dangerous Time to Live
I focus on the fact, in general, our lives are improving. Today, most of us hold more computing, audio and video power in our pocket, at a reasonable cost, and this device can help us control our houses, cars, and money with a few swipes. We text or call someone and are sure they got a message. Our diets are vastly improved, our choice of diets extensive, and we have more options regarding the quality and types of foods. When I was in my teens, few people had flown in a plane. Today, most have. I was the first of my friends to visit Europe in 1976. Today, most of them have kids who have vacationed or studied abroad. Continue reading "The Most Dangerous Time to Live" Sunday, January 15. 2017Have to hear it a few times
One of our Christmas presents this year were Metropolitan Opera tix with dinner. Being musically retarded as I am sure some of our readers are, I need to listen to a piece several times before I have the privilege of hearing it live. There is no way that I can get the music or the singing the first time around and I have not enlisted the help of weed for that in many, many moons. We have Gounod's Romeo et Juliette tix coming up soon, so we are both listening to various productions on YouTube and on the Met's site. A daughter said "Don't listen to the end or you won't be surprised." Golly gee, it's purty music. Here's one.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
15:32
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Saturday, January 14. 2017Extinct creatures
The extinction of species and genera is the earth's history. In recent history, some extinction has been brought about by mankind, mainly hunting for food. The giant ice-age mammals of North America probably were all hunted out like the White-Tailed Deer in nothern New England are today. Mountains of good meat which seemed endless. The North American Bison barely escaped that fate, but the European Bison did not. The sentimentally-sad story of North America's Passenger Pigeon is similar. The complete eradication of those vast, sun-blocking flocks was inconceivable. They were tasty birds, and there were no hunting laws. The smaller, and not large-flocking Mourning Dove stayed around, thankfully. It is tasty too, with a slab of bacon in the oven. Interesting: The Case for Bringing Back the Passenger Pigeon - One geneticist’s quest to de-extinct what was once one of the world’s most abundant birds
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:59
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