Christmas with Me Ma

This year Mom came out for Christmas and my birthday/New Years. This is in part why I have been so inactive on the blog here, we’ve been running around busy, and vacation is time for getting out and about! Tomorrow we are going to the Academy of Sciences which was totally renovated recently with some very interesting exhibits. I’m excited. These are some pictures from the past week.

Christmas evening sunset hike on Liz’s parent’s hill behind their house.

“The Look”

Mom and Liz hanging on top of Bernal as the fog rolled in.

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Ponzi Scheme and Mortgage Meltdown

From Wikipedia: "A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from the profit from any real business. It is named after Charles Ponzi.^[1] The term "Ponzi scheme" is used primarily in the United States, while other English-speaking countries do not distinguish in colloquial speech between this scheme and other forms of pyramid scheme."

From what I can tell, this is precisely what was going on in the mortgage market from ~2000 to 2006ish. The people involved in these loans to potential homeowners were only able to make money because of the new money coming in from subsequent investors. Meaning, the only reason the scheme was functioning and generating returns for investors was because of the fresh blood coming into the market next week, willing to pay more for the same house that just sold for $30,000 less only one week ago. That kind of high turnover/short turn-around time was basically an over-glorified Ponzi Scheme. Think about it, what have these financial institutions been saying all along? We just knew the price of homes would never go down, so we'd just say, Don't worry, you can just refinance, or sell the home in a few months. So, the homeowner finds some new person entering the market (at the bottom of the pyramid), who has to pay out the most (thus far), they cash out, the bank cashes out, and New York cashes out. Meanwhile, the investment hasn't actually made anything in the process. Now read what Krugman has to say about the New York bankers and their bonuses. 

From Krugman's Op-Ed in the NYTimes: "Consider the hypothetical example of a money manager who leverages up his clients’ money with lots of debt, then invests the bulked-up total in high-yielding but risky assets, such as dubious mortgage-backed securities. For a while — say, as long as a housing bubble continues to inflate — he (it’s almost always a he) will make big profits and receive big bonuses. Then, when the bubble bursts and his investments turn into toxic waste, his investors will lose big — but he’ll keep those bonuses."

I think that I finally understand this whole mess. Yeah sure, it's interesting to consider how this spread to the money and credit markets, and yeah it's interesting to ask why the gov't didn't step in and prevent this from happening, but really...it's just another scam like anything else.

Winter Storms

It’s been a rainin’ here for the past couple of days, and now today it is freezing cold (literally there was frost on the ground this morning! The massive upside are all of these beautiful fluffy clouds everywhere. This picture was taken on my morning commute (I put the bike aside to avoid all the bad weather nastiness) and you can see the clouds trying to get over the Santa Cruz Mountains. Just after this I saw a very strong double rainbow as the sunlight caught the rain falling from this cloud.

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Frank Frazatta

 

These are some examples of the work of Frank Frazatta. I don’t know why but I’ve always been attracted to his work. It is all dark, mysterious, fantastical, and sexual- all very good adjectives. I find the slightly comic book and heavily epic feel of the art to really click with me. I mean look how evil the black knight looks, you can almost feel the agony of being suffocated by that huge anaconda, and the shadows, muscles, and butt on the third picture really takes you into that dungeon. I guess the uber-geek in me, the one that loves tearing through a fluff filled sci-fi/fantasy novel just gets all riled up when I look at these images. Good stuff Frank, RIP and I hope to own one for my wall someday.

My Special Lady Liz Dembski

 

Yes I took this picture because I like her butt. 

Liz is my girlfriend, and she is  good woman. She treats me well, is kind to all, sexy, social,  and super smart. We yell, argue, and go back and forth, but it rarely crosses the line into the realm of ugly, and when it does, we are quick to apologize and resolve the issue. Today, she helped me by calling insurance companies, the hospital, etc. to straighten out a healthcare bill that is retarded (healthcare is totally fucked man), something that I HATE to do, and makes me very very angry. She pretty much saved me like $500 today. Anyway, here is to you love, you are great, and I appreciate the times we’ve had, and the promise of more to come.

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Brian Loves Adonis

Brian was a little bit apprehensive about the cat living with him when we first moved in, as he had a rather shitty and pee-y experience with his previous furry roommate. To be honest, I was quite nervous about moving Adonis, but I think we can both say that he is a very welcome addition to our household. No matter how shit of a day I’m having, petting a very fluffy and appreciative animal whom you share you resources and life with will always calm and mellow a turbulent soul. Adonis, I look forward to caring for you as you get old my fuzzy friend.

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What You’ve Been Missing

If you haven’t checked out my new daily photoblog, here is a taste.

Jesse’s Pictures

Oh and for those of you who have been visiting, I know that things have been a bit slow to load lately, and I’ve been screwing up the linking of the pictures sometimes, but I’ve gotten most of the problems ironed out, and things should be faster and cleaner from now on. -J

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More Info on Vacation Day Comparisons

Link-PDF

From the Expedia vacation poll: 

"International Stats

-- Employed adults on average will earn the following number of vacation days in each country in 2008

(Note: based upon the mean of results including people who did not receive vacation days)

o Employed adults in the United States on average receive about 14 vacation days per year, compared to 14 days in 2007 and 2006 and 12 days in 2005.

o Employed adults in Canada on average receive about 17 vacation days per year.

o Employed adults in Great Britain on average receive about 26 vacation days per year, compared to 24 days in 2007 and 2006 and 23 days in 2005.

o Employed adults in France on average receive about 37 vacation days per year, compared to 36 days in 2007 and 39 days in 2006.

o Employed adults in Germany on average receive about 27 vacation days per year, compared to 26 days in 2007 and 27 days in 2006.

o Employed adults in Spain on average receive about 31 vacation days per year, compared to 30

vacation days in 2007.

o Employed adults in Italy on average receive about 33 vacation days per year.

o Employed adults in the Netherlands on average receive about 28 vacation days per year.

o Employed adults in Austria on average receive about 28 vacation days per year."

AND we're going into a recession- I sware if one right-wing jerk says this is the lazy poor American's fault, I'm going to lose it. 

What Can You Do with a 50mm F1.4?

 

 

I got my first Christmas present today, and it was the best kind, to myself! My 50mm F1.4 Canon lens showed up today, and I have to say, I love it. I is totally bitchin’. It has such a shallow depth of field that it is actually hard to shoot with because if you move between the autofocus and the shutter it will lose focus. However, that just makes it more fun. Also, having the fixed focus really makes the whole shooting experience feel different. Move forward, zoooom in, mooove back, zoooom out. Weird. Finally, all of these pictures are shot at 400 or 800 ISO, are hand-held, and shot in normal evening indoor lighting conditions at a nice comfortable shutter speed of ~1/25 (and of course at F1.4). This is a really nice fast lens and I can’t believe I waited this long to buy one, totally worth it and I haven’t even cut its teeth yet. 

Bikes Could Change the World: Part 2 - The Natural World

In Michigan you can safely say that Winter has arrived when you have to defrost your windows before the morning commute. However, besides that and driving more carefully, little else changes in a person's daily habits as a result of changes in the weather. As the rain has begun to fall, I have had to start carrying rain gear with me, and wear that hot uncomfortable plastic while pumping away. Not that I exactly mind as it just creates another challenge. I have found that I tend to get more flats on rainy days, which makes me sad because flats suck, especially in the rain. Also, in the morning it is rather cold, say high 40s, low 50s, and I have to get all bundled up for the cold air down Bernal Hill. Finally, as a result of the shorter days, I have to wear lights after I leave work, and when I get off the train in San Francisco. 

My point is this all translates into a greater sense of the natural world around you. Is it sunny? Is it cold? Is it cloudy? Is it rainy? Is it warm? Will the sun be up? These are things I have to think about every day before and after I go to work. It demands my attention. I have found this healthy and appreciate being more aware, apart, and present in the outside world.