Music Monday: My Three Songs, Volume 2

See if you can guess the connection that links the three songs. The answer is at the bottom of this post. Just highlight the text after "Select for answer."

My Three Songs, Volume 2

Song 1 (Mike)


Song 2 (Robbie)


Song 3 (Chip)


That's it. If you need a hint, just let me know.
Select for the answer: Campaign theme songs for the last three unsuccessful Democratic Presidential candidates (Dukakis, Gore, Kerry in order)

Web Stuff Friday: Norris xkcd

Chuck Norris kicks major butt. Don't believe me? Check out these Chuck Norris Facts. Here is a selection of my favorites.

• When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
• There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
• A Handicapped parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.
• When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.
  

xkcd describes itself as "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." In short, it is a geek's online comic. Mouse over each image and you will see a tooltip that adds a comment or another layer of fun to the comic. As I went through looking for a handful of favorites, I found many that made me laugh out loud. Here is a small sampling of some good ones.

• not at all geeky: Delicious
• terrible, non-geeky pun: Organic Fuel
  
• not very geeky: Family Circus
• a bit geeky: Binary Sudoku
• pretty geeky: Centrifugal Force

Soundtrack: Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Armed Forces), Etta James (At Last!)

Tibet: It's Also About Economics

In the Washington Post's Outlook section this past Sunday, I read Abrahm Lustgarten's What They're Really Fighting for in Tibet, which is a really interesting article about the economic side of the problems in Tibet.

Chinese state-run firms have staffed large construction projects such as the railway and even local road building with Han Chinese [instead of Tibetan] contractors and crews, who send their earnings home.

All the expansion and wealth that has streamed into Tibet has benefited Tibetans very little. Even after decades of investment, the illiteracy rate remains four times that of neighboring Sichuan province, and there are one-fourth fewer vocational schools per capita than in the rest of China.

I don't mean to belittle the ongoing religious and political oppression Tibet has suffered at the hands of the Chinese. Rather, I am suggesting that as the Chinese have started using economic imperialism to overwhelm Tibet, they have affected even more people and therefore might strengthen the resistance movement. By decimating the Tibetan culture without allowing the Tibetans to benefit economically, the Chinese are really making lots of economically motivated enemies. When you try to suppress their religion, people can simply go underground to resist you. When you hold them down economically, the result is bound to be more explosive.

Marriage and Your Inner Economist

This post scares me. It could potentially put me into the doghouse for a long, long time. Still, I gotta say what I gotta say.

I heard about ten minutes of an interview with economist Tyler Cowen on the radio today. He has a new book entitled Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist. He contributes to an economics blog here.

One particular quote from the interview really struck me.

Long-term marriage is about commitment and it's also about expectations. Not expecting it will make you happy. It won't always. I don't think we should marry because we think to ourselves "this marriage will make me happy." I think it's very important to say "I'm going to marry because I love this person and I want to commit to this person." And by not thinking about happiness, we'll actually end up a lot happier than if we think "this is a choice that's going to make me happier."

This is an interesting idea. Some couples I know have divorced (or started the process) in the past couple years, which has made me a bit introspective about relationships. Why does my marriage work? What makes our relationship different from theirs?

When we focus on love, commitment, and partnership, happiness seems to flow. As we successfully work as a team, we get positive reinforcement that makes for a happier relationship and thus leads to less stress and more happiness. I love Mrs. Kid and I love our partnership. She makes me happy not because she has to, but just because she does. Does she make me happy 100% of the time? No, but I love her 100% of the time and am happy about the commitment I made.

If you want to be happy, make it happen. Don't blame others because they don't make you happy--it's not anyone else's job. As a matter of fact, when you make other things or people responsible for your happiness, the expectations you have are bound to make sustained happiness unobtainable. It's not your job's fault or your car's fault or your teacher's fault or your spouse's fault that you are not happy. It's your fault. Own your happiness.

Soundtrack: Wayne Shorter (eponymous), War (The World Is a Ghetto), Philip Glass (Powaqqatsi), WFMU and KCSM Radio

Bailing Out of Profit and Loss

The Federal Reserve bailout of Bear Stearns is interesting.

US News and World Report gives us a column on What Taxpayers Get from the Bear Stearns "Bailout". It is an interesting assessment of why the bailout is a good idea. I certainly see the upside and am glad that it has the potential to help out with some of our country's financial problems.

On the other hand, NPR has Does the Bear Stearns Bailout Set a Bad Precedent? This article provides a coherent view of my initial thoughts on this issue. I am not an economist, but it seems to me that when you take away the loss side of risks, then you screw things up completely. Here is a quote from Milton Friedman:

The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-union-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures as profits in fostering successes.

Take note of that last part: losses are an important part of the capitalist system. If the fed bails out everyone who takes a big risk, then why will people not keep taking bad risks in the future? There is no downside, so why not? Don't get me wrong...I see the upside of the bailout. Many normal folks will be helped by it, but I am concerned about the long-term ramifications on our private enterprise profit-and-loss system.

Soundtrack: Bill Evans (Everybody Digs Bill Evans)

Music Monday: What Is That From?

Music can really make a commercial work. Here are a few of my favorites. See if you can remember the product that was sold. Answers are at the bottom of this post, but you have to select the text to see them.

Royksopp: Remind Me (a light, catchy tune that gets stuck in my head, but I'm ok with that)
(this is a different mix, but the videos with the right mix have the brand in their titles)


Carl Orff: O Fortuna, from the opera Carmina Burana (epic operatic masterpiece)


Nick Drake: Pink Moon (the commercial sold lots of albums for this late, tragic British folksinger)


ELO: Mr. Blue Sky (great rock tune)


Iggy Pop: Lust for Life (one of the great sell-outs of all time)


And the king...
Moby: Find My Baby (all 18 songs from the Play album were licensed for commercial use. This is how Moby got his music heard)


Answers (select the text below to see a partial list of products for the above songs):

Royksopp: GEICO (caveman in airport)
Carl Orff: Guinness beer, Old Spice, Reebok, Pringles, etc.
Nik Drake: VW Cabrio
ELO: Sears, VW Beetle
Iggy Pop: Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
Moby: American Express (Tiger Woods playing golf in a city)

Web Stuff Friday: Rice Advancement

FreeRice is a vocabulary game with a purpose. For each word you get right, they donate rice to the United Nations World Food Program. My best level is 47, but that was a fluke. I'm more of a high 30's/low 40's kind of a guy.

advanced theory blog is "Your guide to understanding Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and other highly Advanced musicians." If you want to know what it means to be Advanced, read the post So What is Advancement? The ideas are interesting and the blog worth reading.

Video Nuggets: David Lee Roth singing a capella and in Spanish. These are most excellent. Stripping out the music and singing the lyrics in a foreign language are both powerful ways to see an artist.




Soundtrack: Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Trilogy), Depeche Mode (Violator)