This is actually a bit old, and recycled: I decided to syncronize my Facebook posts with these, so my blog doesn't look so bare.
Here are some recent thoughts of mine, thoroughly unprocessed by reflection or peer review:
criminal behaviour: Levitt, among others, has convincingly shown that more police lead to less crime. but why? is it because criminals are deterred by the immediate threat of violence (i.e. it is the increased *visibility* of the police that does the job) or is it because criminals believe (perhaps based on the testimony of other criminals in their peer groups) that they will be caught (because there are more detectives working)? if the former, to what degree could civilian presence substitute for this?
why does technical analysis still exist? is it not transparently a sham; it it not obvious that it is merely post hoc just-so-storytelling? Why haven't these guys thought about what would happen if every trader thought like them? (the failure to 'simulate' other trader's thoughts surprises me in particular. haven't they ever taken any game theory?)
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
I Want To Love You.
What do you suppose the title of Akon's new single is?
It is "I Want To Fuck You". (Watch the explicit version; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLlgKU_vLaE)
Firstly, let me make it clear that I think Akon is the foulest thing to come out of the British music scene since Oasis. Please, don't accuse me of liking the creature, except insofar as his adorable little Jamaican-English accent makes his desire to 'kick it like Tae-bo' (from the single "Smack That") sound like he's aping South Africa's president, Thabo in his, er, relaxational style.
Consider the following lyrics, as an example of our vile little chipmunk's suave propositioning skillz:
"You know my pedigree/Ex-deala use to move 'phetamines/
Girl I spend money like it don't mean nothing/ And besides I got a thing for you" .
and then, later, after much talk of pussy,
"Girl and while you're looking at me/ I'm ready to hit the caddy right up on the patio/Move the patty to the caddy/
Baby you got a phatty the type I like to marry/Wantin' to just give you everything and that's kinda scary;
'Cause I'm lovin the way you shake your ass/Bouncin', got me tippin' my glass/
lil' mully dont get caught up to fast but i got a thing for you. "
What intrigues me about this new song ("I Wanna Fuck You") is that it tries, albeit half-heartedly, to straddle two quite distinct approaches to sex in pop music:
(1) to address the woman directly, expressing a long-term affection and devotion to them, hoping to jump the courtship barrier that most women have. Or, at least, to have the men who play the song in the background surmount this barrier, making the R150 investment worth it.
Examples: "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt; anything by Jack Johnson.
(2) to address the lusty men, rather than the women, in the audience, and simply squeeze out some generic fantasy. Even when the song is ostensibly addressed to the women, the lyrics are obviously intended for the men's benefit.
Examples: "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent; "Shake Ya Ass" by Mystikal; "Under The Sea" from the Little Mermaid ["Darling it's better/ Down where it's wetter / Take it from me"].
Amazingly these approaches appear in the very same sentence, along with the mandatory hip-hop mysogyny:
"If you pick me then I'm a pick on you/ D-o-double g and I'm here to put this dick on you ... 'Cause pussy is pussy/ And baby you're pussy for life."
To top off this festival of absurdity, the whole song is addressed to a *stripper*. Have these guys never been to a strip club, or seen a TV show involving strippers? No touching the girls, period. How on earth do they plan to distinguish themselves from the other punters, who, I'm willing to bet, also want to fuck the employees?
It is "I Want To Fuck You". (Watch the explicit version; http://www.youtube.com/wat
Firstly, let me make it clear that I think Akon is the foulest thing to come out of the British music scene since Oasis. Please, don't accuse me of liking the creature, except insofar as his adorable little Jamaican-English accent makes his desire to 'kick it like Tae-bo' (from the single "Smack That") sound like he's aping South Africa's president, Thabo in his, er, relaxational style.
Consider the following lyrics, as an example of our vile little chipmunk's suave propositioning skillz:
"You know my pedigree/Ex-deala use to move 'phetamines/
Girl I spend money like it don't mean nothing/ And besides I got a thing for you" .
and then, later, after much talk of pussy,
"Girl and while you're looking at me/ I'm ready to hit the caddy right up on the patio/Move the patty to the caddy/
Baby you got a phatty the type I like to marry/Wantin' to just give you everything and that's kinda scary;
'Cause I'm lovin the way you shake your ass/Bouncin', got me tippin' my glass/
lil' mully dont get caught up to fast but i got a thing for you. "
What intrigues me about this new song ("I Wanna Fuck You") is that it tries, albeit half-heartedly, to straddle two quite distinct approaches to sex in pop music:
(1) to address the woman directly, expressing a long-term affection and devotion to them, hoping to jump the courtship barrier that most women have. Or, at least, to have the men who play the song in the background surmount this barrier, making the R150 investment worth it.
Examples: "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt; anything by Jack Johnson.
(2) to address the lusty men, rather than the women, in the audience, and simply squeeze out some generic fantasy. Even when the song is ostensibly addressed to the women, the lyrics are obviously intended for the men's benefit.
Examples: "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent; "Shake Ya Ass" by Mystikal; "Under The Sea" from the Little Mermaid ["Darling it's better/ Down where it's wetter / Take it from me"].
Amazingly these approaches appear in the very same sentence, along with the mandatory hip-hop mysogyny:
"If you pick me then I'm a pick on you/ D-o-double g and I'm here to put this dick on you ... 'Cause pussy is pussy/ And baby you're pussy for life."
To top off this festival of absurdity, the whole song is addressed to a *stripper*. Have these guys never been to a strip club, or seen a TV show involving strippers? No touching the girls, period. How on earth do they plan to distinguish themselves from the other punters, who, I'm willing to bet, also want to fuck the employees?
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Lambert's Bay: you should have killed me when you had the chance
I've just returned from the tiny town on the West coast which takes its name from this blog post. While there, I had several revelations:
(1) The mere absence of a market for crappy office-park developments doesn't mean that the architecture in miniscule settlements won't look like complete ass.
(2) Rural areas have a really high ratio of liquor stores to people. All of them have the same Castle Lager-themed advertising boards bearing the name of that store on their exterior walls (e.g. 'Weskus Drankwinkel'). I didn't check, but I bet their prices are identical.
(3) Despite being the only grocery store in town (as well as being the local monopolist in the market for garden furniture and compact discs), and the hour-long drive to the nearest other town, the OK Mini-Mart still prices goods at the same level as in Cape Town. I guess their prices are set by the central business HQ, which eliminates their ability to extract surplus profit from the townspeople. But even so, don't they have significantly higher transport costs than other OK outlets in major centres? Can't they get away with charging a 'we're in the middle of nowhere' premium?
(4) Adding '-izzle' to words makes them funny. Example:
WRONG: "Take a right at the upcoming T-junction."
RIGHT: "Swing a right at the T-Jizzle." Tee hee.
(5) My girlfriend refuses to follow the lead of Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas, at least insofar as generating meaningless words by appending '-ilicious' to them.
LEFT: Tana-liciousness personified.
(6) Swimming in the ocean is really fun, especially when it is so cold that your sex becomes indeterminate.
(7) Janique Peyper is a lovely person with a family that is perhaps not cool, but is something much, much better: kind and hospitable. Peyper-licious indeed.
(1) The mere absence of a market for crappy office-park developments doesn't mean that the architecture in miniscule settlements won't look like complete ass.
(2) Rural areas have a really high ratio of liquor stores to people. All of them have the same Castle Lager-themed advertising boards bearing the name of that store on their exterior walls (e.g. 'Weskus Drankwinkel'). I didn't check, but I bet their prices are identical.
(3) Despite being the only grocery store in town (as well as being the local monopolist in the market for garden furniture and compact discs), and the hour-long drive to the nearest other town, the OK Mini-Mart still prices goods at the same level as in Cape Town. I guess their prices are set by the central business HQ, which eliminates their ability to extract surplus profit from the townspeople. But even so, don't they have significantly higher transport costs than other OK outlets in major centres? Can't they get away with charging a 'we're in the middle of nowhere' premium?
(4) Adding '-izzle' to words makes them funny. Example:
WRONG: "Take a right at the upcoming T-junction."
RIGHT: "Swing a right at the T-Jizzle." Tee hee.
(5) My girlfriend refuses to follow the lead of Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas, at least insofar as generating meaningless words by appending '-ilicious' to them.
LEFT: Tana-liciousness personified.
(6) Swimming in the ocean is really fun, especially when it is so cold that your sex becomes indeterminate.
(7) Janique Peyper is a lovely person with a family that is perhaps not cool, but is something much, much better: kind and hospitable. Peyper-licious indeed.
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