Today’s theme song of the day is "Uknowhowwedu," by Bahamdia.  It’s fresh. check it out.

fresh.beats.for.you 

We’ve been talking a lot about the Rent v. Buy question (but not on this blog) — and I have promised everyone that I would post my calculator.  I’ll try to get it posted today.  Until I do — here are some links I found on the net.  I must point out that I still have not found a calculator that takes taxes into account — without taxes, it’s an oversimplified approach that adds very little value.  Given our income (this especially applies to my mba classmates, rockstar oncologists, and soon-to-be venture capitalists), we need the tax benefits of a mortgage — so much so that it often justifies purchase (even in this market).

Here’s something I found at NYT’s website today — a good discussion of rent v. own:

definitely.an.article.that.you.should.read 

Article about home prices in California (32% lower than a year ago). Check it out:

san.jose.business.journal 

I found an interesting article at Economist.com regarding VC selection and the debate of management v. business.  Many say that it’s all about the management team — but in reality, it takes both.  Take a look at the article:

picking.winners.economist 

And if you were wondering who is on the winning end of higher commodities prices, read this one:

as.food.prices.spiral.they.profit 

Thomas Friedman writes a very interesting op-ed piece for the NYT.  I recommend it:

Truth.or.Consequences 

And I really enjoyed the article about twenty-something living in NYC and getting by on low wages.  It reminded me of living on the Lower East Side with Chef Tell (you still rock climbing on weekends, man?):

young.poor.nyc.still.living.the.dream 

And here’s a site that everyone should love — it tells you where all the drink specials are.  Detroit Bar has $1 beers?! Rock on!

myopenbar.com 

Mine was super fun! Today’s theme song of the day is "End of Summer Song," by The Billionaires. It’s more of that fun summer pop (but not quite pop) music. I think that you’ll dig it.

happy.fun.music

Today’s theme song is the strings version of "Campus," by Vampire Weekend.  I wasn’t cool enough to catch them live (unlike some people  — insert jealous smile), but I can share this unreleased demo with you.  It is definitely fresh.

can’t.get.enough.of.this.band 

 Today’s song of the day is "Troublemaker," by Weezer.  It’s from the forthcoming Red album, to be released on June 3rd.  I’ve been playing it for a few weeks now — it’s nothing spectacular…but fun summer music.  I’ll post a link to the entire album in the comments section.

kinda.what.you.expect.but.i.still.like.it

Today’s song of the day is, "This Is What We Fought For?" by Lyrics Born. It’s on the LB Variety Show Vol. 3.  If you didn’t know, mixtapes are at an entirely new level — more like albums than mixes. Definitely fresh.  This track has Cee Lo on vocals and a mellow hook that I can’t get out of my head:

hip.hop.is.not.dead.in.2008 

I just found a blog called "results junkies."  I definitely think that you should check it out.  Here’s a link to a post entitled, "Some lessons I wish I learned earlier in life."

good.stuff 

Since I’ve been posting about oil lately — here’s an article from the telegraph that might make you feel a bit better — a strong rebound in supply may bring prices back in line:

hope.for.the.masses 

Personally, I am hoping that eager politicians will repeal state gas taxes, step in to maniuplate futures trading (in their favor), and take away tax incentives from large oil companies — all just to save consumers a few hundred dollars a year. Don’t be surprised if you see all three. I won’t.  And since we are talking about government and oil; let’s talk about Haliburton:

Hals.$3.36B.bid.for.oil.services.firm

And can another day go by without news of Warren Buffett?  The word is that the InBev bid for Anheuser Busch (valued at $46B) is going to happen — and Berkshire Hathaway is the second largest shareholder of AB.

beer.money.buffett

This is totally unrelated…but I still don’t understand Twitter.  It just seems silly to me.  But somehow they have an $80 Million valuation.  Here’s to silly things that make money — someone is stoked right now.

money.for.nothing.or.at.least.close.to.it 

Tons of thoughts, very few conclusions…so there isn’t much to share…at least not yet. My thoughts are mostly focused on the housing market (something I promised to address this week) — so I promise to share them with you

Today’s song of the day is "Marina Gasolina" by Bonde Do Role.  It a super fun song. I’m posting the video — but you should listen to the song first. I really dig the samba sound…but the video is kinda wierd:

here’s the track

get.your.joyride.trolley.on

I tried to take a picture of the sunrise from behind the house today — but the third photo came out a bit dark.  I’m sharing it with you anyway because this is what I see every morning.

Today’s song of the day is M 83’s "Kim and Jessie."  I have been playing this album for a couple of months now…so I thought it time that  I share it.  I’ll post a link to the song later, but here is one to the album Saturdays=Youth.

fun.retro.cool.sounds 

Yesterday was unreal — 80 degrees, 68 degree water, blue skies, and head high surf. We surfed until the sun went down — and then until we couldn’t see.  But I have to tell you about that sunset.  From our vantage point, we watched it dip behind the pier, creating a picturesque silhouette of pylons and palm trees.  The sky was filled with red, orange, pink, and blue.  It was amazing.  And if you looked towards Laguna, an almost full moon was low on the opposite horizon, painted orange by the refracted light.  We watched and listened as wave after wave crashed on the shore (and we even caught a few ).  My buddy looked at me and said, "feels like summer." yeah man, no kidding.

Today’s theme song of the day is "Swimming Pool," by The Submarines:

i.know.it.is.summer.pop.but.i.kinda.dig.it

more to follow — i’m going for a run.

some news from the oracle: 

buffett.loses.1.6bn.on.derivatives 

buffett.says.effects.of.crisis.far.from.over 

good morning. the theme song of the day will come a bit later…

i have been thinking about two things quite a bit lately: housing and oil.

rather than give my opinion right away — i’ll  share some links with you:

today, we talk about oil.

you cannot even begin to discuss oil without discussing oil futures:

basic.futures.primer

quantitative.discussion.of.state.of.oil.futures 

oil.hedging 

and you really can’t avoid discussion of "peak oil"

peak.oil.faq 

cheney.peak.oil.and.final.countdown 

peak.oil.is.upon.us 

in the middle of this lies the discussion of a commodities bubble and the role of traders:

seeking.alpha.discussion 

commodities.are.the.new.tech.stocks 

blame.the.traders 

new.margin.requirements.slows.things.down 

side note:

here’s an interesting article for everyone in newport

surfwear.makers.hit.rough.waters

update: today’s theme song of the day is "In a cave," by Tokyo Police Club. It’s a track on the new album Elephant Shell — i’ll post a link in the comments section.

changing.it.up.this.morning 

i used to have an unhealthy obsession with cars — i couldn’t drive anywhere without noticing every other car on the road, especially the more exotic ones.  and living in newport — there is no shortage of such cars.  just yesterday, i spent the better part of an hour discussing carbon brakes with the owner of an LP640 — that’s the new Lamborghini Murcielago (LP for longitudinal placement of the engine and 640 for the horsepower) — maybe that’s why i enjoy my starbucks so much — i see enzo’s , lambos, 430’s, and slr’s on a dailly basis … now it’s just a healthy obsession that i indulge from time to time.

anyway, this obsession led to a keen understanding of the automotive market, automotive engineering, maintenance, and performance enhancement.  which leads us to the reason for this post:

detailing

i’ve been involved in a few discussions regarding auto detailing; and i’d like to share my thoughts regarding the subject.  actually, i’d like to share a couple of links. the first link is to chris’ work:

chris.is.an.amazing.detailer 

my car has very unique paint (something that the dealership ‘detailers’ did not understand) — consequently, their effort to wash my car put tiny microscratches all over it.  you may have these on your car as well.  for most drivers, they are no big deal.  but for a self-proclaimed car guy with a black car — it pains me to see the scratches.  it pains me so much that i cannot bear to post them here (if you would like to see them, just look at the before pics posted in the link).  chris understood this — chris felt my pain — and and chris fixed my car.  if you are in los angeles and need work like this — please do not hesitate to contact him.  he’s amazing.  the link also outlines the process and products used.

"I used a rotary polisher (Hitachi SP18VA) with a Lake Country light cutting wool pad with Menzerna Intensive Polish to cut the paint and remove the defects. The same rotary polisher with a Lake Country CCS green foam (Autogeek) pad and Menzerna 106ff to perfect the finish. The paint and all exterior plastic and trim were sealed With Ultima PGP."

chris used a rotary buffer, some of you may only need a porter-cable — but the thing to note is that claybars and standard wax are probably not enough for you to get the shine that you really want.

detailing.101.from.the.pros 

polishing.paint.to.perfection 

detailing.clay 

using.a.porter.cable 

if this interests you at all — your best bet is to spend some time on autopia and learn about the process.  that’s how i found chris — his skills are amazing, he loves what he does, and i am a much happier person for it.  unfortunately, the dealership ‘detailers’ got ahold of my car again — and now i have to find chris (luckily, this time it’s not so bad — i stopped them midway after having told them not to wash).

Something I heard reminded me of the Stevie Wonder conert I saw last December.  It was amazing.  I think Stevie played for 3 hours.  But perhaps the coolest thing (for me at least) was when John Mayer came up and played "Superstition" with him.  It was a complete surprise; and I was playing the John Mayer album quite a bit at the time. 

Since you probably already have all of Stevie Wonder’s catalog — here is a song that you may not already have.  Today’s theme song of the day is "Say," by John Mayer. 

It’s mellow. It was only released as a single, so it’s not on Continuum — and it kinda sounds like he is playing a ukelele in the beginning.

breakfast.music

All mp3s posted are for promotional use only. If you find something you like on this blog, please support the artist by buying their albums and/or merchandise. If you are an artist, or a representative of an artist, and would like an mp3 removed, please contact me: iknowgeronimo@gmail.com

I spent the day wakeboarding with my buddies…and although I am not the best wake boarder, I had a great time.  I’ll post some pics when I get them from Joey.

Today’s theme song of the day is "A Beautiful Mess," by Jason Mraz.  I haven’t heard the new album in its entirety, but I do like this song.  I’ll post a link in the comments.  It’s called "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal."

a.mellow.track.that.i.am.digging 

gonna run the beach now — it’s beautiful outside. 

Good morning.  Today is one of those quintessential southern California days (at least so far) with blue skies, light winds, dolphins playing right outside of the breaking waves, and children playing in the breaking surf.  Everyone should live in a place like this.

I just picked up the new Flight of the Conchords album (it’s self-titled).  It’s pretty good, but not all that much different from The Distant Future EP – which has been in my playlist since it released.  I really dig the live recordings on that EP.  As for today’s theme song of the day, I am digging “Foux Du Fafa.” I’ll post the entire release in the comments.

french101.meets.bebelgilberto 

Good Morning!
It’s a cloudy and chilly morning here in newport — perfect running weather. I hope to get 8 miles in before breakfast (wish me luck). Today’s theme song of the day is a great one by Toots & The Maytals, “54-46 That’s my Number.”

ska.grooves.for.you

learn.more.about.the.band

I’m addicted to hulu.
I get episodes of arrested development, the office, and my name is earl — whenever i want.
for a guy without a tv, it rocks.
so does this clip:

I love you, Mom. 

I’ve adjusted to beach life; and I am now officially resuming my daily posts…so stay tuned.

Today’s theme song of the day is "Daughters," by John Mayer.

this.one.is.for.you.mom