It’s that time of year — finals, papers, random meetings with classmates who want to "connect" before I get out of this horrible state.  Consequently, the quality of my posts may drop off for the next two weeks.  I promise to bring you quality content when I get back to the ocean.  That said, I’ll do my best to keep up w/ my posts.

Today’s theme song of the day is "Buggin’ Out" by A Tribe Called Quest.  What could be more fresh?!

 

"A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level. Make the best decision that you can with the information that’s available to you at the time, and above all, do the right thing."  Lee Scott -CEO Walmart

Who did the most for Katrina Victims? Walmart

 

And here is something that got my through my horrible internship this summer. It’s a realtime counter that keeps track of how much you make. You choose whichever way you like: hourly, weekly, monthly or annually - and scroll to your salary. The webpage calculates the money you make per day, per hour, per minute and per second (in real time) . It made my job suck just a bit less

know.exactly.what.you.are.selling.your.soul.for

And I can’t help but add this footage of the N/NW swell that hit La Jolla in December.

The theme song of the day is Themjeans’ remix of Shinin’ by The Pack ( You know them from that track Vans) I’ve been mixing this weekend so it’s bouncy and fun. I hope that you like it. I’ll post it in the comments..and here is the video for Vans — I played it a lot this time last year — definitely fresh.

This next video reminded me of those days at Blackie’s and Old Man’s, so I had to post it. Can’t wait for a Sunday morning longboard session … remember that time with the kayak in Laguna? Hahahaaha

And for those of you in my group who had to hear me comparing Altria and Nokia (cellphones and cigarettes) — Here’s an article for you:

more.dangerous.than.smoking

I’ve been talking about The Cool Kids for a minute, but for those of you who still don’t know, today’s theme song is Klever’s Big Ride Remix of "Gold and a Pager."  This one is fresh.  I’ll post a couple other tracks in the comments. word.

dont.sleep.on.this.remix

88

Black Mags

Gold and a Pager (album version)

Interview w/ Cool Kids and Klever. By the way, google is black today instead of white — I like it much better — it should always be black

I made it through another week…Hooray!!! Today’s theme song of the day is "Superstar" by Lupe Fiasco. I am really digging his new album. Check out this track (link to entire album in comments):

cool.music.for.a.friday.morning

gotta run — leadership conference. Have a great day!

Long or Short has a great critique of the movie 21:

The real life MIT blackjack team was mostly asian and middle eastern, and the main guy, Jeff Ma, was asian (he later started PROTRADE). In the movie version, the lead is some banal young white “star” and Kate Bosworth.If an asian dude can’t be the star of a movie about going to MIT by day and counting cards by night…what exactly can he be in except for a kung fu movie? Not to go Stossel, but GIVE ME A BREAK.

read.the.entire.post

Pop-Sci has a great post about the 10 most prophetic Sci-Fi movies ever:

truth.in.fiction

And Bear Stearns gear as "cool?"

What.the.fall.means.for.clubland

Zenith Solar — Let’s talk about "Concentrated" Solar Power:

Compared with traditional flat photovoltaic panels made of silicon, this so-called "concentrated solar power" technology has proved in tests to be up to five times more efficient. That puts it on the verge of being competitive with oil and natural gas, even without government subsidies.

link.to.businessweek

Today is a busy one: meetings, classes, workouts, and end of semester projects — so I need a theme song that is mellow but makes me smile. I have chosen Jack Johnson’s cover of Badfish/Boss DJ (Sublime). Add it to the last week’s tracks, and you have some great study music. Gotta run, but the link is in the comments section.

I still have a ton of thoughts to share — I’ll try to catch up this weekend.

Today’s theme song of the day is "Sweet Pea" by Amos Lee. I hope that you like it:

Link in comments

The birthplace of hip hop: 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, New York City

find.out.more

Good morning. I am feeling good today; and I hope that you are, too.  Today’s theme song of the day is "Bam Bam" by Sister Nancy.  I have probably heard the song a thousand times…but it makes me dance every time I hear it.  It’s just that fresh.  As is standard policy, I’ll post a link in the comments - just make sure you delete it The other song is the RDM (Buena Vista Social Club) remix of Clocks — I included it because I am playing it as I type this morning, and I dig it.

Here’s something: a camera was attached to an elephant’s trunk. Check out the photos:

trunk.cam

The Pennymac thing is quite interesting.  Many are speculating that it’s been created to handle the junk from the Bear Stearns deal –and the FED is going to fund it. Here is what BlackRock had to say about it:

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) and Highfields Capital Management today announced that they have sponsored a new company that will acquire and restructure distressed residential mortgage loans in response to the ongoing dislocation in the U.S. mortgage market.

The new company, Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company, LLC (PennyMac), has been formed by BlackRock, Highfields, and a management team of mortgage industry veterans led by Stanford L. Kurland, PennyMac’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. PennyMac will raise capital from private investors, acquire loans from financial institutions seeking to reduce their mortgage exposures, and seek to create value for both borrowers and investors through distinctive loan servicing.

Mr. Kurland was President and Chief Operating Officer of Countrywide Financial Corporation until his departure in October 2006. The PennyMac management team also includes David Spector, Chief Investment Officer, who is former Co-Head of global residential mortgages for Morgan Stanley.

interfluidity.breaks.it.down

Forbes.link

marketwatch.link

Link.to.fed

bloomberg.link

I spent a few minutes at googletrends this morning; and I thought that you might be interested in the results.

Here are my trend plots:

The “Crisis” plot reminds me of 1984 (Orwell, not the year). It seems that we have a steady cyclical flow of crises:

 

It appears that “subprime” is the crisis du jour (note the corrolation between news and search trends):

 

 

“Securitization” is definitely a new search topic for many of us - but is certainly popular:

 

And I would be remiss if I did not include a trend for “foreclosure”:

 

Good morning.  The sun is out — snow is melting (hopefully) — and I only have a few weeks of school left!!!!!!  I never thought that I could be this excited about returning to the working world — but I cannot wait.  I suppose I’m just dreaming about surfing again.  If you haven’t seen yesterday’s post w/ footage from the Wedge - check it out.  It was firing that day.

Today’s theme song of the day is "I’m Yours" by Jason Mraz.  I have heard a few versions (including the video version), but the one posted in the comments section is my favorite.  It makes me smile.

link posted in comments.

 

Still thinking about Bear Stearns? Well John Hussman is — and he has some very strong opinions: Bear Stearns is trading at $6 instead of $2 because unelected bureaucrats went beyond their legal mandates, delivered a windfall to a single private company at public expense, entered agreements that violate the the public trust, and created a situation where even if the bureaucratic malfeasance stands, the shareholders of Bear Stearns will either reject the deal or be deprived of their right to determine the fate of the company they own. Very simply, Bear Stearns is still in play. Still, when all is said and done, my own impression is that the ultimate value of the stock will not be $2, but exactly zero.

link.to.hussman’s.site

And Bill Gross (MD at Pimco) is convinced that our ‘Shawdow lending’ system can be compared to a pyramid scheme.  The basic notion is simple — if we sustain heavy losses in the near term, banks will hold back exponentially more — constraining our access to debt, and (in his opinion) bringing on a recession.

link.to.pimco

And you should definitely check out this article I found at Bloomberg.com.  They speculate that The only tool left may be for the Fed to help facilitate a Resolution Trust Corp.-type agency that would buy bonds backed by home loans (can you say early 90’s S/L?).  Looks like I am heading to office hours to talk to my prof that worked with the RTC last time.

buying.mortgage.bonds.next?

I found this quite interesting: The cost of pure coke rose 44 percent in the United States between January and September 2007.  The DEA tries to take credit, but it’s really a function of currency exchange.  Both the UN and DEA note that a kilo of coke brings in two times as much in Europe as it does in America. 

"The euro has become the preferred currency for drug traffickers."

Winter just won’t give up this year.  Everytime I leave, I expect to return to a sunny and happy college town with green grass, happy students, frisbees, BBQ’s and the like.  Unfortunately, it is still snowing — something like 10 inches this weekend — and aside from the return of my ducks, there are few signs that winter is going to end before school does.  Speaking of school — I haven’t been posting as much as I would like to — but these projects and reading assignments are monopolizing my time.  I have a ton of things that I would like to discuss (windmills as bird killers, ‘green’ as the next liquidity bubble, my plan for saving Blockbuster, last mile fiber and what it means, the inefficiency of most private equity funds, and how much i like p90x) but i just have not had the time, yet.  I have been asked quite a bit about the books I read; so I will start including short reviews.  I also plan to spotlight a billionaire/ successful entrepreneur each week.  It would be a ton easier if I didn’t work out for 3 hours a day — but I won’t be ready for Ironman Kona this year if I don’t.

Luckily, I am having another great day; and I hope to share my happiness with you.  Today’s theme song of the day is G. Love’s "Beautiful" from Lemonade. You can find a link in the comments.  I’ve embedded the video below.  He performs with Tristan Prettyman.  If you haven’t heard of her, you will.  I’m diggin’ her new album; and I am really digging this song. Check it out:

And since I am thinking of home, here’s some video of the wedge last April. Newps is dope! On days like this everyone rides their bikes down to the wedge to watch the surf. I am definitely missing those days right now. Bear in mind that this is shorebreak.

Added link to lemonade in comments

Today was a day for basketball. Way to go fellas.

Stanford men win in OT, advance to Sweet 16

link.to.game.info

 Hey! Hey! Hey! Today’s theme song of the day is a fun bouncy track by De La Soul — "Itsoweezee(Hot)"

this.one.makes.me.dance.and.then.i.delete.it

 

I have liked the Centro since it was announced…but worried about its impact on margins…well — the proof is in the numbers.

Palm’s Good News: The Centro is a Hit! (That’s the Bad News Too.)

Is the Centro Cannibalizing Treo sales? 

Today’s theme song of the day is a bootleg track from Danger Mouse’s "Man to Mouse" White Label Vinyl.  It’s "Somersault" by Zero 7 with MF Doom.  It’s chill; and I hope you like it. (I know that Doom looks creepy….but the song is not)

mf.doom.and.zero7?…yeah.now.delete

And I’m just posting this because it makes me smile. You should definitely check it out:

Any of you soon-to-be unemployed IBankers thinking of ways to spend your time next year?  How about a move to Vail?

Don’t kill yourself with stress. Rent a place, buy an Epic Pass, and live the dream.  It’s only $579 and you have unrestricted and unlimited access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly.  That’s a deal - -since single day tickets are already $87 . The Epic Season Pass is only on sale until November 15, 2008 - Don’t Miss out!

live.the.dream 

What has happened to Del? I just listened to Eleventh Hour — and it is not fresh.  I’ve been a fan since No Need For Alarm.  What a drag. I will say, however, that the Gnarls Barkley track I posted last week is growing on me.   And speaking of MC’s…this article about masked artists raises an interesting point.

artists.in.masks.keep.it.real

Had to post this one. It’s a map of all the places where Ludacris claims to have hoes Below that I posted a flow chart that I found regarding the financial markets (I think that it’s from a group at NYU…I’ll find out)

 

Today’s theme song of the day is "Breakdown" by Jack Johnson and Handsome Boy Modeling School (Prince Paul and Dan the Automator).  I’ve always liked these guys…

 

 a.mellow.rainy.day.groove.you.can.delete

 

Who wouldn’t want to be Visa?

They raised $17.9B in their IPO — and should start trading ‘V’ on NYSE tomorrow.

reuters.visa.ipo.coverage 

 the.bear.bailout.good.for.everyone

And you all must know that the FED cut again — 75 basis points!!!!

FED.cut.from.BBC 

 

And if you thought that India’s $2500 Tata Car was a hoax, check this out:

India’s Tata Motors Raises $3B to Buy Jaguar and Land Rover

 

And just because this made me laugh:

NYC Trader Files Lawsuit Claiming Lap Dance Injury [AP]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! I’m not going to talk about Bear Stears today because it’s everywhere. Wow! $2 a share?! Unbelieveable. Check out the link to Long or Short (to the right) for their take on the market today.”The Market Celebrated St. Patrick’s Day By Getting Black-Out Drunk (image from their site)

Today’s theme song of the day goes out to all of you guys who plan on drinking a bit tonight.  It’s "Who’s She?" by Aceyalone…"She’s a Dirty Birdy. She’s so flirty. Comin’ out the house lookin’ all nice and purdy." And if you can’t get away…give ‘em the gas face (went waaaay back for that one — 3rd Bass. Check out the haircuts and dancing in the video)

stay.away.from.the.dirty.birds.and.delete

 

give.them.the.gas.face.and.delete

Today’s theme song of the day rocks. It’s "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies.  I was listening to the new Gnarls Barkley album this morning, looking for a song that really resonated with me…but none did.  I kinda like "Whatever," but only because it reminded me of today’s song. 

Going back to skate rock circa 1983 …

 

rock.on.then.delete 

yeah.whatever.and.delete

more to follow…just have meetings and class all day long. 

Today’s theme song of the day is Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." You may have heard it…but it’s such a mellow track that it is perfect for today. I really hope that you like it.

thinking.of.the.islands

I have to tell you about something: This link takes you to every flickr image as it’s uploaded. It’s a world map background, and images appear in real time over their respective location. Even when the photos were lame, I couldn’t stop watching it. Check it out.

flickrvision.com

not as cool, but simlar are: spinvision.tv (youtube videos) and twittervision.com

Random information: Flights from Cleveland to Honolulu RT on Continental $323 in April and May.  I may have to book a quick trip — anyone wanna fly out for a long weekend? Steve?  Find the info on slickdeals.

hawaii.or.bust

Since one of bands that I have been talking about is on SNL today, I decided to make today’s theme song of the day Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend. Here they are on SNL singing A-punk:

Link.to.A.Punk (sounds better than snl)

Stuck in the airport.  Frontier has let me down again…can you believe it? And now regarding the Bees: 

 

fortune.article.$9B.crisis

silence.of.the.bees 

UK.article.loss.of.bees.by.2018 

Have you heard of CCD (colony collapse disorder)?  I hadn’t until recently.  The long and short is that millions of bees are flying away from their queens and dying — the worst part is that we depend on them for pollination of our crops… at first i thought it was cool because some guys are making millions by hauling their bees around to pollinate crops…now it sounds like crazy talk… i am not sure how i feel about it…but I thought that I should share the info.

 

I updated my Mogul today w/ the new HTC/Sprint ROM.  It now has Rev A and GPS (Oh yeah!!!). It’s super fresh and only works on the Mogul — but I need to hack it so that I can tether — some guys are saying that they can’t anymore.

links.to.the.ROM.and.hints 

ppc.geeks.links.and.discussion 

Rev A explained: EV-DO Rev. A technology provides users with expected average upload speeds of 350-500 kbps and download speeds of between 600 kbps and 1.4 mbps; peak download data rates increase to 3.1 Mbps and peak upload data rates increase to 1.8 Mbps.

 

ROM Upgrade explained: 

A maintenance release for the Mogul (PPC 6800) has been released TODAY from HTCs site. The new ROM version is 3.35.651.2 with a ROM date of 2/22/08.
It provides several key updates:
Added GPS Support
Added Sprint Navigation Application
Added Qualcomm EVDO RevA upgrade
Added Task Manager to Today Screen
It is recommended that all users update their ROM to take advantage of these enhancements. Users must back-up any data added to their device before updating the software.

 

Quick note re: The B of A / Countrywide merger. It’s pretty ugly … and seeking alpha sees an arbitrage opportunity.

 

link.to.seeking.alpha 

here are some more articles related to the proposed merger: 

investors.doubt 

b.of.a.not.retreating 

 

Just picked up Traktor Scratch — haven’t had a chance to play with it, but here is JFB (DMC LONDON Champion) using it:

I can’t believe how much I love the sun. It’s beautiful here in newport beach. it makes me wonder why i ever left. I’m feeling mellow and very beachy (I know that’s not a word) so today’s theme song of the day is Damien Rice’s "Delicate."

find.it.here.and.delete 

It’s friday and we’ve finally made it to the end of the week. Hooray!!!!!!  With group meetings, make up classes, my 2.5 hour per day work out schedule, and job stuff — I have been really pushing my limits.  That’s why I’m headed to newps this weekend (i’m in the airport right now) Nick says that the surf should be good — and I am stoked.  Not surprisingly, today’s theme song of the day is a travel song:  The remix of "I left my wallet in El Segundo" by A Tribe Called Quest.  It’s the one that starts w/ Phife — and if you haven’t heard it; you are going to love it. 

It’s one of my favorites.  I hope that you enjoy it.

get.back.to.el.segundo.and.delete

btw, i am posting from the denver airport…frontier air missed my connection…now i have to stay in a hotel and finish my trip in the morning…kindof a drag…but at least i get food and a hotel…others are just roaming the terminal like homeless people…

 

 

this quarter has started with a bang….i have had barely enough time to get things done…and i cannot wait to just kick it and catch up on my reading…so today’s theme song is so mellow that it is my sincere hope that it will chill me out enough to slow down the machine…it’s Pass the Kutchie by the Mighty Diamonds. (You’ve probably heard Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth — this one is roots reggae).  I have played it a few times today….I think that it’s working.

 

you.need.this.song.today.but.delete.it.after 

 

 

And if you haven’t heard yet, some are calling Chocolate a suitable sports drink….yes, chocolate milk.

In the study, nine male cyclists rode until their muscles were depleted of energy, then rested four hours and biked again until exhaustion. During the rest period, the cyclists drank low-fat chocolate milk, Gatorade, or Endurox R4. During a second round of exercise, the cyclists who drank the chocolate milk were able to bike about 50% longer than those who drank Endurox, and about as long as those who drank the Gatorade. [Note: this study was funded (at least in part) by dairy producers]

Here is a link to Web MD:

seriously.check.it.out 

 

And a quick post about the World’s Billionaires 

 

I pulled this from Carpe Diem:

Forbes released its report today on the world’s billionaires, see the top 25 above (click to enlarge). Note that Indians represent three of the six richest people on the planet, and four of the eight richest people, compared to only two Americans. Of the top 25 richest people in the world, Russia has almost twice as many billionaires (7) as the U.S.

check.it.out

But not too busy to share today’s theme song with you.  It’s a super mellow track that makes me smile: Make You Feel That Way by Blackalicious.

 

 get.your.groove.on.and.delete

 

But I couldn’t leave the house without a theme song.

Today’s theme song is Anyone Else But You by the Moldy Peaches — I can’t get it out of my head (and I really dig the video game reference).

it’s.as.lofi.as.they.come.but.it.sticks.in.your.head

 

His former Harvard Business School professor recalls George W. Bush not just as a terrible student but as spoiled, loutish and a pathological liar.

gotta.post.this.one

speaking of hbs, here’s an article about their biggest admissions mistakes:

Here’s a quote from Dealbreaker

Scott McNealy -
McNealy, the chairman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, is one of those rare Harvard take-backs. McNealy graduated from Harvard with an A.B. in economics but was rejected from HBS. McNealy, who had a notoriously crap work ethic and a penchant for hockey (buggery on ice), eventually went to Stanford Business School, but not before the Cardinal rejected him twice.

first.link 

second.link 

And I cannot convey to you how much I like franchises — few business models make me smile the way this one does.  With that in mind, I have to share Jeff Matthew’s review of the Berkshire Hathaway purchase of Dairy Queen.  It’s a quick read, and it really brings home the joy of franchising. 

 

 been.to.a.dairy.queen.lately?

Today’s theme song is all about my approach to the last 7 weeks of school.  It’s "Gone Daddy Gone" by Gnarls Barkley (Cee Lo and Danger Mouse).  I know it’s a cover — but this one makes me jump more than the Violent Femmes one.  (I may include links to both)

 

def.over.it (but the song is fresh)

I know the photo above is a bit creepy, so here are some others… these guys are funny.

 

 

 

And I can’t help but laugh a little at the financial discussion surrounding nude photos of Lindsay Lohan

 

 

Naked.lohan.reminds.us.of.taxes 

How.private.equity.got.lindsay.to.strip.for.us

naked.lohan.hit.for.new.york 

as far as the pic above, i’m not really into it .. but here’s to naked girls and finance! 

 

 

Here’s a quote for you, " More hedge funds will blow up this year than ever before."

link 

I don’t know why, but this song was the first thing that my computer played when I turned it on today.  For that matter, I don’t even know how it appeared on my computer.  But I will tell you that it gave me a big smile — so it is officially my theme song of the day: Rupert Murdock’s Escape (the pina colada song)

get.your.boat.drinks.on.and.delete

 

Hey Fellas, tired of traditional courting rituals?  Move to New Zealand. Check this out:

Dating culture is dead - instead, young New Zealand women are regularly getting drunk and cruising around in packs looking for men to have sex with.

 

link.to.article