Books, Books, Books

So here is a picture, very messy might I add, of my book collection.  I would like to think that I read quite a bit, although not as much as I'd like.

Chuck Palahniuk is in there along with some Kurt Vonnegut, Koontz, Tolkien.  

Preference wise I am all over the place, in fact I just finished Tippin Point by Malcom Gladwell.

A definite must read for anyone who is into psychology and/or marketing.  The book discusses certain social trends and at what point they became a must have item.  He analyzes items from Cigarettes, all the way to the Children's show Blues Clues. 

The most interesting chapter was about cleaning up NYC using the broken window theory by cleaning up the graffiti, and stopping turnstile violators.  The theory of the book is that very small adjustments eventually snowball into total Social Epidemics.  

I will attempt to keep writing about what I am reading giving brief overviews and possibly some insight depending on how drained I am from a day of writing about the financial world.

Next book is Liars Poker by Michael Lewis, writer of now famed movie The Blind Side.

Revenue Increase Inspite of Piracy

So read any of my Blogs at my job, World Market Media concerning piracy, and you will find that I am a repetitious violator of copyright law.  Sorry.

yea yea, I was on napster when it came out, and bear share, and limewire, and mininova, and thepiratebay.

I found this article on the front page of Digg and found it very interesting  link its from torrent freak and is written by the writer Ernesto.

The Article states that regardless of rising pirating, revenue for the music industry continues to increase through digital sales and although CD sales are down, mobile and digital downloads through mediums with revenue traction such as Apple's iTunes are astronomical.

So what does it mean?  It means the situation is very blown out of proportion, and that piracy is greatly out shined by those who have bought music.  The pirated music has to come from somewhere, it is not all leaked, and someone at one point goes out and buys the CD or the Album online, strips the DRM and uploads it to rapidshare, youtube or their favorite torrent hosting website.  On top of all of this the prevalence of mixtapes and free songs is increasingly  popular on the internet, just ask DeadMau5 and Lil Wayne.

I have always justified my "stealing" by saying that I support musicians by going to see them live.  It is by far my favorite activity, seeing live music is one of the best events you can spend your money on, and when they come through the NYC or South Florida area, I always make it a point to see my favorite artists.

I am really not even sure what "The Man" is even complaining about when reading that graph.

Memento

Last night I watched the movie memento which was recommended to me by a friend named Renny. In case you are unaware of the plot of this movie it concerns a man who has experienced an accident in his life which damages his brain in a way that disallows him from making new memories.  He proceeds through the movie's trial in pursuit of his wife's killer.

Memento is one of those movies that makes you step back and go, wait a minute what?

The movie is a total head fake, It had me leaning one way the whole time  all of the sudden at the end pulls back for the three pointer in your face at the buzzer. It had me stunned. I hate to spoil the movie for you if you have not experienced it so I wont go into the plot too deeply. Upon reviewing the movie laying there in bed, I got to wondering how the staff of that movie, the writer and producer included, kept all of the scenes straight in their head. It must have been a long briefing meeting before they started shooting, with a very complex story board.

The plot is shot backwards incrementally with flash forwards and flash backs that are very dificult to explain in text but understandable on screen. On another note, the tone was so eerie. I felt really odd upon completion of the movie, almost disturbed. Because, what are you without your memory? It touched some inner chord in my personality and really had me think about the foundations of reality based upon perception. Deep right?

Anyway, this movie is a must see as long as you are not a victim of head trauma or clinically depressed

The Matrix Has You

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

Scuba Steve

This is my long time friend Steve Christophoro.

He all the sudden got it together and just graduated from some crazy dive school that specializes in underwater welding and such.  Apparently it is one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet.  Regardless, I love this picture.  The suit somewhat reminds me of Tim Burton's Nine.

Things that I despise

Apathy

Ignorance

Gluttony

Untimeliness

Indecisiveness 

Immaturity 

Ash Over Western Europe Hopefully Not Ruining My plans

On May 10th I am planning on traveling to Dubai for business/vacation visit with my school.  Our plane will be departing from Miami to Heathrow Airport and then onward to Dubai International.  


Hopefully by then the Ash over Europe will be cleared otherwise I am not sure what we are going to do.  They are estimating that British Airlines are losing over a million dollars a day after cancelling thousands of flights.  The volcano ash cannot be seen on radar and is as course as sand which instantly can seize jet engines.  


They are not citing that some planes have been doing some test flights without passengers and have had no problems.  According to the WSJ, not one weather balloon has been sent up to test the conditions. "NATS said Sunday that the closure of U.K. airspace would continue through 0600 GMT Monday."


Link


Hopefully some nice weather will roll through and push the ash out before any real harm to my plans, to the airlines and to the environment is done

Some pics found early this morning

High Frequency Trading

Here is a post by a fellow Blogger Tyler Durden, I like him a lot, and his whole Fight Club theme aint bad either 

In very broad terms, high-frequency trading (also known as HFT) refers to the buying and selling of stocks at extremely fast speeds with the help of powerful computers. Using complex algorithms, these computers can scan dozens of public and private marketplaces simultaneously, execute millions of orders a second, and alter strategies in a matter of milliseconds.^[1] In the U.S., high-frequency trading firms represent 2.0% of the approximately 20,000 firms operating today, but account for 73.0% of all equity trading volume.^[2]

Here is the link

Labor, What Ends the Cycle?

Today as I left my workplace at 10AM to grab an overpriced coffee from Starbucks around the corner, I noticed a “Black” man sitting on the stoop of a storefront eating a bag of chips and reading a tattered newspaper. 

I have not deciphered if he was homeless or not, but he did have a few bags on his person and his clothing was pretty worn and dirty.  Usually I pay no attention to these scenes, being from the North East and living in West Palm Beach Florida; you run into homeless individuals quite often. 

For some reason,  I got to thinking about the labor situation here in America.  Although our President is now “Black” which even that is under debate, and there are quite a number of Minorities who have positions of power, for the most part minorities are still the slaves, they just get paid now.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a blanket statement, I am not racist in any way and if you take a deep breath and think about it, it is true, and no one is to blame.

Who cuts your lawn?

Who fixes your Laundry Machine? (mine broke the other day)

Who builds your computer?

Who sews all of your clothes?

Who does all the stuff that you don’t want to do?

Minorities. 

A further question, where is the end game?  Think of the industrial revolution here in America in the 1700’s.  Everyone busted their asses every day, children were working in sweat shops, men were working all day on Farms, Women spun cottonm, until after a few hundred years we all get to sit at our kooshy desk jobs, passing the hard work onto someone else.

Moving further along in history, the two biggest developing nations in the world, China and India rely heavily on manufacturing, especially China.  As time has gone on the emergence of a strong middle class working predominantly in an office setting, service oriented workplace is beginning to gain traction.  Pretty soon, these countries are going to be passing the work along to someone else. 

So where does the cycle reach its end?  When is everyone in the world so educated that they don’t want to do any manual labor. Maybe America will experience some crash, and We’ll be the one making mice for Microsoft, Washing Cars, and Mowing Lawns.  Or maybe we will be so advanced that it will all be done by robots, it sounds really Matrixy but that is the way this planet is moving.  They’ll call it the “age of convenience."

Here is a link to some working conditions in China. 

I know it’s a sobb story and I do think that a country must go through this process in order to be more advanced, and I do not agree with how these individuals are treated.  Enjoy, its long.  

Hunter S. Thompson and Wal-Mart

I really wish that Hunter S. Thompson could have seen Wal-Mart in all of its glory.  Especially the one that I frequent in West Palm Beach.  If you have never been here it is an area of crests and troughs.  Ghettos are interspersed with some of the most expensive real estate in the country.  Make a wrong turn and your life could very easily be threatened by a few gentlemen sporting a deadly weapon.

While shopping at Wal-Mart I began to people watch.  There are some really funny people there.  The demographic here ranges from poor white rednecks to very hood black people, hispanic immigrants,rich jews from New York, and A few college-joes like me.  The plethora of human debris walking around this place is entertaining.  I'ts like going to the circus.  You cannot make this stuff up, its priceless.  I am thinking about taking a camera in there next time.  My most common observation at Wal-Mart is the level of obesity the United States is experiencing.  There are a ton of fat people here, and all of them for sure shop at Wal-Mart, at least when I go.

I would have liked to hear Thompson's take on the whole scenario, his thoughts on the predatory nature of American Corporations as well as the assorted people dragging through its halls of retail glory.

Netbook Inspiration

February 1, 2010

Making a conscious effort to be more aware and write more.

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time browsing the internet for an affordable netbook.  I figure with all of the iPad hype as evidenced by Colbert at the grammies “Jay-z you didn’t get one of these in your gift bag?  Does this make me cool?” that the price of netbooks will come down.  Even if the selling point isn’t pricing, the features and quality will come up.  I see a golden opportunity to be in the market for a mini, and I am not an apple groupie (my wallet won’t allow it)  so the decision is obvious I would even go as far to say that many of these apple fanboys will be selling their old gear to buy the non-multi threaded device.  To get back to my point, I have been wrestling with various models, and the fact that I may not even need one.    

As a student the idea of being mobile is always attractive.  I am a writer for a website, so being productive between my classes sounds like a good idea.  During class I would love the device to take notes, but ignorantly, my school has made all of my class rooms “technology free zones.”  My gripe with the idea is that I am good student, paying for my education and how I choose to use class time should be up to me.  I would efficiently take notes and decode more information with a computer at my disposal. 

I do not deny the distractive nature of unlimited internet in the hands of college students, and when bored, there is no doubt that often times games are played and news is searched.  As of late a few of my roommates and my girlfriend have been into this aquarium game on Facebook.  I refuse to embark in the retardation.  I have plenty of things to do, and I would rather be productive in my free time rather than turn my brain into goop. 

After mulling over the idea for a while I conluded this:

Technology makes productive people more productive, while making distracted people, way more distracted.

I still have yet to settle on my netbook decision.  I’ll let you know

A lull in my day, Jan 28th 2010

It is around lunch time and I am kind of in between writing assignments, so I decided to do a little browsing and writing on my own.

This first picture brought back a lot of memories of middle school where I was heavily into the Pokemon Craze.  I feel bad for children now, because they don't have anywhere near the amount of cool stuff that I had when I had when I was kid.  Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Pokemon, GI Joe, X-Men...the list goes on.  Kids just get fat and play video games these days...pathetic.  Put down the Cheetos and get off your asses you little porkers!

Any way heres the picture, its a traditional style Japanese Art of the original Pokemon.  Found this on Digg. 

As you may well know Apple Fan boys all over the planet have been falling all over themselves concerning the release of the iPad.  First and foremost I give it to Apple on their buzz build and their high security press team.  In an age of internet leakage, Steve Jobs may be one of the only CEO's in full control of the content his company projects.  I also give it up to Apple for creating a need for a new market.  The device is somewhere between an iPhone, and a Macbook...which is cool, but making too many cool devices too quickly can cannibalize sales.

Here is an article that I thought was funny about the iPad which somewhat douses the device's flame.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/01/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad/
I laughed a little after reading.

Last is some pictures from China I found on Digg that reflect the floating Islands on Pandora, from Jame's Cameron's Avatar.  Enjoy:

Pretty eerie spires of rock, makes you wonder whether they sprouted from the earth's crust or were carved away by some environmental force?  Thats all for now.  Back to work for me.

Pictures of the Day

Just some random ones that I found in my travels today.  The last one with the ferris wheel reminds me of the movie Spirited Away

Revisiting the 25th Hour

While in New Jersey I found some of the remnants of my DVD collection.  One of the movies that I rediscovered was an old favorite: The 25th Hour starring Edward Norton and Rosario Dawson.  

From IMDB:
The 25th Hour depicts the last day of freedom for a young man before he begins serving a seven-year jail term for drug dealing. Prowling through the city until dawn with his two close male friends and his girlfriend, he is forced to re-examine his life and how he got himself into his predicament, which leads to a shocking, disturbing finale.




My first thoughts on this movie are "Wow a Spike Lee movie with intelligent white characters."  As racist as it sounds, it is true, ask Seth McFarlane.  Anyway, a very emotional movie.  Edward Norton remains as one my all time favorite actors.  It is rare to see a movie so driven by dialog these days.  His rant concerning the various people groups of New York is something that I'll never forget.  Norton has a knack for being able to scream hate filled dialog (see American history X).  Another interesting aspect about the movie which I  forgot before viewing, was that it is set in post 9/11 New York.  As a resident of Northern New Jersey, 9/11 struck very close to home (no pun intended).  It is moving to see the world trade center post attack and to this day seeing the New York City Skyline without it is haunting.  


One of my favorite images from the movie is a poster on one of the billboards surround the world trade center wreckage.  It reads: "You cant stop New York City"


Lastly, the final dialog by the father is great.  Brian Cox builds up the final scene very well leaving the audience hanging at the end.  I found myself wondering what I would do in the same situation.


The movie is an all around great view.  Most movie watchers have seen it but it is definitely worth a second look after a long hiatus. Enjoy.

A Random Day

Slow Day, its cold outside,  Hence a blog reflecting my travels through the internet today.  Often random, but I am sure you will understand a little about me through the pictures here

The Carters: A Documentary Battle

Post New Years is always a time of recovery, so in my time of lounging about the house this weekend I viewed the The Carter Documentary as well as Sean Carter's Fade to Black. Both Sean and Dwayne Carter are very talented musicians and have enjoyed large sums of money, fame, and females. Each documentary was unique in its portrayal of its respective artist. Many feel that Dwayne Carter, or “Lil Wayne” is the upcoming star of the Rap and Hip-Hop world, while Sean Carter or “Jay-Z” is the successful entrepreneur who has been “too good for too long”. There are many differences between the two artists including style, and background, but the biggest difference is their positioning in the music world with Wayne establishing himself as an iconic rock star, and Jay continuing in his Rap mogul status.

Dwayne Carter is, as you probably know, from Holly Grove Louisiana. He will never let you forget it. He apparently has been rapping since he was eight and went to a very predominant performing arts school during his early years in the South. He signed with Cash Money records at twelve years old and has been tearing apart the rap world ever since. Although I do not bow to Wayne I will give him one thing, he has made himself an icon. He has created a larger than life persona with his dreads, tattoos and southern slang. The man lives by his own rules. What he lacks in talent he makes up for in charisma. He has the look and the work ethic to go far, but I wonder if his personal life will be the death of him. During the the documentary, Wayne seems debilitated, like a leashed dog, its like everyone has to take care of him. At times he would speak and no one would have any clue what he was saying. The man is constantly smoking weed throughout the movie and his manager and friends seemed very concerned of his addiction to the fabled “Sizzurp”.

To educate you a little, “Sizzurp” is: prescription strength cough syrup containing Codine and Promethazine which is mixed with sprite or some form of sweet drink and sipped throughout the night. It is very popular in the south and is sometimes referred to as “lean”, “drank” or “purple”

Wayne's addiction to the substance has become public knowledge and has struck a rift in his camp on long tours. The artist is constantly stating in his music that he'll smoke weed and drink “Sizzurp” till he dies, and I don't doubt it for a second.

The Carter Documentary emphasized Wayne's work ethic. Showing various recording sessions. It has been said that he never goes a day without recording at least one song. It also explains clearly the difference between the freestyle and .the mixtape methods. Lil Wayne also made it very clear that he never writes anything down and that the only thing he wants to leave behind is his music. Intermittently, the documentary would show him in the booth spitting his lyrics, the music cannot be heard over the soundtrack.

I do have some issues with lil Wayne the main one being that I don't think he is as good as everyone says he is. I am not denying the man's skills at all, but if you were to graph lil wayne's great songs, they really peak at the Carter 2 and Da Drought 3 and I don't think he has proven himself since. The Carter 3 was decent, but people bought it out of hype and were disappointed. There is also rumors that Wayne has problems with taking, and retaking in his songs as well as lot of help from Auto tune software. Everyone needs to get it out of their head that he can sing. During the documentary they show him attempting to sing, and what comes out of the man's mouth is not how it sounds over the track. He also has some problems with voice inflexion in his songs which his producers fix a lot of.

Lil wayne has also popularized the mixtape methods, where he records thousands of songs and releases them for free. So of course if you do this, you are gonna produce a whole lot of garbage songs and a few gems.
To conclude, I do enjoy Wayne's music and I do think he is a great artist. His popularity is undeniable and I wish him the best during his journey to the top. His fans are all waiting at the edge of their seats for next installment of lil Wayne, and I hope he does not disappoint.

Next I'll speak about Jay-Z, Mr. Hova himself. Jay-Z, or Sean Carter is one of the most financially successful rap musicians weighing in at a fabled 150 million dollar net worth. He co-owns Roc-a-fella records, the 40/40 club and the New Jersey Nets. Originally he hails from the Marcy projects in Brooklyn, NY. He also has recently married Beyonce Knowles. Let us also not forget that Jay-Z came right after Biggie for New York Rap and has been labeled one of the greatest of all time.

To be honest Wayne and Jay are not even in the same ballpark as of right now. Jay-z is out of this world as far as financial status, popularity and overall clout. Fade to Black was a decent documentary, it probably should have been labeled “Jay-Z live at Madison Square Garden”. The performance included some of the biggest names in rap music and was the first hip-hop act to completely sell out the legendary arena. In review, the show looked like it was unbelievable, those who were there witnessed history in the making and probably one of the best live shows of all time.

While the Carter, Documentary portrayed the up and coming rock star, Fade to Black was more of a review of Jay-Z's career in light of his retirement, which we all know didn't actually happen with the recent release of the Blueprint 3. Also, Fade to Black was directed by Mr. Sean Carter himself so I am sure a lot of foolishness was cut out rather than the sort of live feed style of The Carter Documentary.

We all know that Jay-Z doesn't write any of his raps down, and although Wayne does not embark in penmanship as well, Sean Carter definitely takes the belt on this one. Fade to Black shows Jay-Z absolutely destroying beats, he hears the song, begins to mumble to himself, gets in the booth and comes up with some of the most complex lyrics Rap has ever seen. I am not saying that the guy is the next Einstein, but there is something to the complexity of his lyrics that are spit on the fly. Jay-Z also has an incredible memory, I would not be surprised if he has every single one of his songs over his 15 albums committed to memory.

Finally, it is tough to really compare Wayne and Jay. Their styles as well as backgrounds are so different, and it is unfair to put these two artists on the same level simply because Wayne is so relatively so new to the game in comparison to Jay-Z. Those who are claiming that Wayne is going to take Jay-Z's throne, or that he is more skilled, are a little premature in their predictions, but only time will tell.