I know I said I’m trying to get out of the habit of embedding video from youtube, but damn, Soulja Boy got hacked:
August 27, 2008 – 10:34 am
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By Peter
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Posted in Ramble
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First, look at this post and tell us what you think. Second, here are some lovely physical representations of graphical social data. As sculpture. Of course, I would not necessarily trust the social science chops of an artist (when I ran the numbers, it looked more like: But even with the faulty peaks and valleys, …
August 21, 2008 – 10:58 am
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By Peter
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Posted in Art
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In an otherwise interesting article on the Chinese Art market explosion (in the upcoming issue of ARTnews), Barbara Pollack sneaks in this line: With the sheer abundance of galleries, auction houses, and art fairs in Chine, the larger art world is recognizing the power of the Asian market. Standing in an auction house in New …
August 20, 2008 – 10:36 am
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By Peter
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Posted in Art
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As an experiment in sociology and blogging, Jenn (from whatisthewhat.wordpress.com) and I have put together a brief video on culture and markets, the beginning of what we hope will be a conversation at the intersection of culture, sociology, and economics. We’ll work on the lighting and switch off the big-head/small-head, but we hope you like …
Like others, I read then made the chocolate chip cookies from the recipe at the New York Times. I used Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips instead of the chocolate disks called for in the recipe. And like others before me, I found these to be the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. 3.5 oz …
August 18, 2008 – 10:20 am
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By Peter
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Posted in Ramble
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If you had invested 1/3 of your money in Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX), 1/3 of your money in Vanguard’s Total International Stock Index (VGTSX), and 1/3 of your money in Inflation-Protected Securities (VIPSX), your $10,000 at the outset of the year would be worth about $9135. And that does not include periodic distributions, …
I don’t think this is totally true, but on the other hand, I don’t think it’s totally not true, either. Bateson apparently spins a nice yarn. But it’s got me thinking about whether this kind of planning is actually as good an idea as it is presented to be. I mean, let’s say that Ma …
This poster hangs framed in the main area of Dance Manhattan, where I on-and-off take swing dance lessons: What I love about this poster is that at first glance it appears to be about the guy. Big pants, great hat, sweet lean. But then you look again, and it hits you that it’s not at …
August 13, 2008 – 6:52 am
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By Peter
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Posted in Ramble
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Well, a year or so later, and you can see at Portfolio an infographic displaying…well, I don’t know exactly how they measure size/value/assets for these banks, but something. I’m particularly impressed by Citi, of course, but also that JP Morgan seems to have largely escaped the credit crisis (so far) relatively unscathed. I know that …
There is joy in just geeking it out sometimes, and this is right in the middle of it. On a somewhat tangential but not unrelated note, saw American Teen this weekend. It is a good movie, and there are some scenes of such heart-breaking teen-ness that you want to just lose it. For those who …
I want to see Pineapple Express. And I watched 3 hours of Pay-per-View Ultimate Fighting with you, so you owe me.
August 8, 2008 – 4:59 pm
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By Peter
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Posted in Ramble
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Doogie + Mal + Vi + musical = niice. I’m looking forward to more, and it only leeched 40 minutes from my life! Update[!]: Looking about, I find that Felicia Day also does The Guild, a few minutes of your time at a time, totally worth a subscription. The vlog is so medium cool.
August 7, 2008 – 12:47 pm
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By Peter
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Posted in Ramble
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Apparently, I’m the pepper, at least in sociolo-blogo-circles. I met Jenn when someone pointed me to her blog, back at last year’s American Sociological Association meetings. Not long ago. I think we may try to do some video blogging sometime soon, if I can get my hardware/software act together…
August 7, 2008 – 8:04 am
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By Peter
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Posted in Ramble
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Does anyone really read my blog at my site? Or is it mostly RSS reader? I’ve been spending less time on Google Reader and more going to sites lately – I want to ‘slow down’ a bit, plus I have been trying to enjoy more the aesthetics of what is said as well as the …
August 6, 2008 – 12:12 pm
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By Peter
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Posted in Ramble
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The New York Times printed an article today about David Galenson, and I have nothing really to add. Oh, wait, other than to say that: 1) Economists prey on disciplines with low self-esteem, and the fact that anyone in the art world would even bother with Galenson is evidence that art history, and the arts …
Well, maybe not. But I feel like the most interesting and important long-term benefit of ‘doing’ sociology is the ability to look out into the world and see things that others have trouble seeing. That is, it makes the invisible visible. A case in point: a friend of mine has a downright logical state of …