May 2013
2 posts
“I ain’t humanizing myself. It ain’t about me humanizing myself. At what point...”
– Kanye
March 2013
2 posts
February 2013
1 post
“The desire to make art has always been inherently social, not economic, and now,...”
– New York Times
January 2013
3 posts
Listen
August 2012
5 posts
July 2012
5 posts
“How has it been possible for banks to grow from less than 4 per cent of the...”
– Lies, Damn Lies, and Libor
“If attempts to manipulate LIBOR were successful—and the regulators think that...”
– The LIBOR Affair, The Economist
June 2012
2 posts
“This place is crazy. Like the stuff of dreams, and then so much more. At the...”
– Emily Richmond has been in Papau New Guinea for the past three months. Stay safe Emily! We miss you!
“As creative people, we have always been trained (and with good reason) to view...”
– Something I wrote while inviting Amanda Palmer to use Kickstarter way back in June 2009.
May 2012
1 post
April 2012
5 posts
“The awesome, and final, powers of the Justices are best exercised sparingly and...”
– Oh snap, Jeffrey Toobin! (New Yorker)
“People detained for minor offenses can turn out to be the most devious and...”
– Supreme Court Disgrace Anthony Kennedy in a decision giving law enforcement the legal clearance to strip search anyone they detain.
March 2012
5 posts
“United States government scientists recently reported, for instance, that...”
– Weather Runs Hot and Cold, So Scientists Look to the Ice (NY Times)
Ten Best Players in the NBA (3/26/2011)
Lebron James
Dwyane Wade
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Durant
Dwight Howard
Derrick Rose
Kevin Love
Tony Parker
James Harden
Chris Paul
“Albert Maysles lead the late meeting and told us the reason to make films is to...”
– Project Update from The Commentator
“The goals of any honest and enlightened patron [are] namely the nurturing of...”
– Art historian Francis V. O’Connor, 1971. This quote comes up in Tyler Cowen’s excellent Good & Plenty: The Creative Successes of American Arts Funding. Cowen argues persuasively that the United States tax code is the world’s largest funder of the arts. Highly recommended.
February 2012
3 posts
Kickstarter and the NEA
In an interview last week with the website Talking Points Memo, I mentioned to reporter Carl Franzen that it was probable that more money would be pledged on Kickstarter in the coming year than would be distributed by the NEA. My reasoning was:
The NEA’s 2012 budget is $146 million
More than $150 million has been pledged lifetime on Kickstarter
In 2011, $99,344,382 was pledged to projects on...
Scouting Report: Jeremy Lin
On Friday I went to the Knicks-Lakers game, aka the 38-point Jeremy Lin eruption. A friend asked for a full report on what his game was like, and I’m pasting my haphazard thoughts below.
Lin was by far the most dominant player on the court. The entire Knicks offense is built around him. Their starting five: Lin, Landry Fields, Bill Walker, Jared Jeffries, and Tyson Chandler (always...
“Characteristic physiological times, such as life spans, turnover times, and...”
– “Growth, Innovation, Scaling, and the Pace of Life in Cities,” by Luis M. A. Bettencourt, José Lobo, Dirk Helbing, Christian Kühnert & Geoffrey B. West (2007). Amazingly their research shows that the pace of walking increases in a city as its population increases.
January 2012
16 posts
Today’s best song in the world courtesy...
The TSA of Retail
On Sunday I went into Best Buy to buy a camera. I walked directly to the camera section and told a clerk that I wanted to purchase a specific model. The saleswoman unlocked the case, removed the camera, and walked me to a register nearby.
After scanning the camera, the saleswoman turned to me:
“Would you be interested in a Best Buy protection pla-“
“No thanks,” I...
“In Silicon Valley, the conspicuous consumption norm is already relatively weak...”
– Tyler Cowen, “Will the Era of Conspicuous Consumption Wind Down”
“You often here that for one reason or another the United States...”
– Matthew Yglesias
The Baptist Generals, “Going Back...
“The ball came out of Daniels’ hands well after he hit the ground, but...”
– Grantland’s Bill Barnwell has been my favorite NFL writer this year
“Kickstarter is really good. I’m so glad it exists. It’s a very...”
– Stuart Murdoch talks about his Kickstarter project
An incredible Blue Orchids song called...
“Mekeyershin Salawq” by Alemayehu...