Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Mew @ Mezannine, SF
Mew rocked my world with their incredible live show in Mezannine (terrific sound system), San Fran on the night of 13th December, 2009. I always thought of them as a great studio band until that day, when I understood how superior they are live. All in all, Mew blew me off...
Some great renditions from the setlist:
Some great renditions from the setlist:
- Circuitry of the Wolf
- Chinaberry Tree
- Special
- Zookeeper
- Introducing Palace Players
- Sometimes Life Isn't Easy
- Repeaterbeater
- Beach
- Am I Wry? No
- 156
- Encore: Louise Louisa (Still ringing in my ears after 2 weeks)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
R.I.P Michael Jackson
RIP Michael, the King of Pop and an immortal musical genius (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Fall of the Consumer
When people in Asia looked at the sprawling malls, arrant consumerism and 'various goods that flow like platelets in the blood circulatory system, they felt that this was the way to live. Traditional Asian societies consumed less and saved more from their incomes. They followed the classic linear regression example that consumption should follow income and not the other way round. But in the West, people had other ideas. They binged on $5000 watches and spurge on $500 wines at dinners. There was a thin red line between needs and wants. Such consumer driven growth in the United States seems to have come to a stop or least a long halt for now.
Why blame Wall St., which lives on the principle that "there is a sucker born every minute", for the mess we are in today when people do not understand the reality gap between needs and wants? Why this sudden backlash on bonuses when we knew all along about Agency Problems in Public Limited Companies? Even during the eighties and nineties CEOs of loss-making public companies took stratospheric remunerations. This is not new. Wall St., is not rewarding its Ivy Educated bankers for creating these weapons of mass destruction (CDO and other acronyms that are just deadly financial bets no different to horse races) since yesterday. Its been happening for many decades now. If the consumers on Main Street do not change their appetite for flipping houses and trying to make a quick buck, Wall St., will not change its diet of derivatives. The bankers will always be happy to push down expensive houses to consumers in the shady promise that home equity will keep rising and so does wealth tied to it. The result is people who have nothing to do with this mess are paying the price along with millions of others across the World.
Consumerism as happened in the United States since the baby boom generation has increased consumption unprecedentedly. The mad consumerism in the West drives corporations to lie, cheat and fight without ethics to increase market share. Consequently Wall St., to have great expectations on quarterly performances.
We are all responsible for these draconian times. The fight to understand the culpable parties for this downturn has led to questioning capitalism itself. Adam West famously said that the market will take care of itself cause it knows the best. But the famous Invisible Hand is now pointing its middle finger at us.
Why aren't derivatives recorded on books? How come Hedge Funds are not regulated? They can take their profits with them but we all need to pay for their losses. This recession has given birth to the ultimate debate. Is Capitalism the best way to get more people out of poverty? Is the deadly combination of Capitalism and Democracy the best form of a Republic? Can only Democracy bring justice, harmony and a better quality of life to people? The strains of this recession are felt from the Eastern Bloc in Europe to recently industrialized towns in China, from Peru to Greece.
Since Reagan times there has been deregulation. A democrat like Clinton repealed Glass-Steagal Act. Every one from Adam Smith to Sandy Weil should be blamed for this mess. But mostly, its you and me, the consumer is us who should take the most blame. Flipping house will not create wealth, neither does betting in ludicrous derivatives. Only innovation and new technology can create wealth and lift us out of this mess. Where is the next Google when we need it the most? Until such innovation comes out of the garage and lifts us up, divided we stand but together we fall.
Why blame Wall St., which lives on the principle that "there is a sucker born every minute", for the mess we are in today when people do not understand the reality gap between needs and wants? Why this sudden backlash on bonuses when we knew all along about Agency Problems in Public Limited Companies? Even during the eighties and nineties CEOs of loss-making public companies took stratospheric remunerations. This is not new. Wall St., is not rewarding its Ivy Educated bankers for creating these weapons of mass destruction (CDO and other acronyms that are just deadly financial bets no different to horse races) since yesterday. Its been happening for many decades now. If the consumers on Main Street do not change their appetite for flipping houses and trying to make a quick buck, Wall St., will not change its diet of derivatives. The bankers will always be happy to push down expensive houses to consumers in the shady promise that home equity will keep rising and so does wealth tied to it. The result is people who have nothing to do with this mess are paying the price along with millions of others across the World.
Consumerism as happened in the United States since the baby boom generation has increased consumption unprecedentedly. The mad consumerism in the West drives corporations to lie, cheat and fight without ethics to increase market share. Consequently Wall St., to have great expectations on quarterly performances.
We are all responsible for these draconian times. The fight to understand the culpable parties for this downturn has led to questioning capitalism itself. Adam West famously said that the market will take care of itself cause it knows the best. But the famous Invisible Hand is now pointing its middle finger at us.
Why aren't derivatives recorded on books? How come Hedge Funds are not regulated? They can take their profits with them but we all need to pay for their losses. This recession has given birth to the ultimate debate. Is Capitalism the best way to get more people out of poverty? Is the deadly combination of Capitalism and Democracy the best form of a Republic? Can only Democracy bring justice, harmony and a better quality of life to people? The strains of this recession are felt from the Eastern Bloc in Europe to recently industrialized towns in China, from Peru to Greece.
Since Reagan times there has been deregulation. A democrat like Clinton repealed Glass-Steagal Act. Every one from Adam Smith to Sandy Weil should be blamed for this mess. But mostly, its you and me, the consumer is us who should take the most blame. Flipping house will not create wealth, neither does betting in ludicrous derivatives. Only innovation and new technology can create wealth and lift us out of this mess. Where is the next Google when we need it the most? Until such innovation comes out of the garage and lifts us up, divided we stand but together we fall.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
High Plains Drifter (1973)
Who else but Clint Eastwood can carry a Western like this? I have seen many movies of John Wayne (personal favs. Stagecouch (1939) and The Searches (1956)), but I almost always prefer this man with no name to ubercool and overweight cowboy Wayne. Clint has become a great director off late but we can see his directing genius as early as this movie which came more than 35 years back.
Stranger comes to town, has an agenda in mind and carries his plans out meticulously. Sounds familiar and most of the Westerns have this theme. But when Clint is the stranger, things are a bit different. He is probably the most remorse-less cowboy I have ever seen portrayed. The rough rider comes out of the prairies and dissapears back into them. In High Plains Drifter, which Clint himself directed, a gunfighter comes to the small mining town of Largo, and tries to bring the people together in their fight against three outlaws who are about to attack the town. This is the basic premise on which is built more intrigue and a hidden motive. In the process of bringing townmen together, Clinton tears the town apart, creates more problems than he solves and ultimately seeks his revenge without a trace of compunction.
High Plains Drifter is probably the darkest Western Clint ever directed. Unforgiven (1992) is a close second and surely more mature in terms of direction but this movie is a beast. The hero is a ghost, does not blink before opening his gun, treats women like dirt and leaves without a trace. We are not told what his motives are until the second half by which it becomes clear about his plans in Largo. The movie is full of excellent dialogue and non-stop surprises. The screenplay is tight without a dull moment. There is no love in this movie. Only vendetta and Clint delivers it in full style. A must watch for any fan of Clint Eastwood and/or Westerns. This is one of the great film-noirish westerns from the 70s.
Stranger comes to town, has an agenda in mind and carries his plans out meticulously. Sounds familiar and most of the Westerns have this theme. But when Clint is the stranger, things are a bit different. He is probably the most remorse-less cowboy I have ever seen portrayed. The rough rider comes out of the prairies and dissapears back into them. In High Plains Drifter, which Clint himself directed, a gunfighter comes to the small mining town of Largo, and tries to bring the people together in their fight against three outlaws who are about to attack the town. This is the basic premise on which is built more intrigue and a hidden motive. In the process of bringing townmen together, Clinton tears the town apart, creates more problems than he solves and ultimately seeks his revenge without a trace of compunction.
High Plains Drifter is probably the darkest Western Clint ever directed. Unforgiven (1992) is a close second and surely more mature in terms of direction but this movie is a beast. The hero is a ghost, does not blink before opening his gun, treats women like dirt and leaves without a trace. We are not told what his motives are until the second half by which it becomes clear about his plans in Largo. The movie is full of excellent dialogue and non-stop surprises. The screenplay is tight without a dull moment. There is no love in this movie. Only vendetta and Clint delivers it in full style. A must watch for any fan of Clint Eastwood and/or Westerns. This is one of the great film-noirish westerns from the 70s.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Paul Krugman - Nobel Economics 2008
This just in..
Paul Krugman of Princeton University wins the Nobel Prize in Economics for the year 2008 "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity".
Congratulation Paul, as much as you and I differ on politics (you hating Obama), we still agree on one thing...free trade, free trade for the dumb! :-). I am a regular reader of your NY Times columns. I have also read some of your books. I admire the way you write without jargon so non-intellectual people like me can understand the complex world of economics. You are easily the most popular economist ever to win a Nobel!
Paul Krugman of Princeton University wins the Nobel Prize in Economics for the year 2008 "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity".
Congratulation Paul, as much as you and I differ on politics (you hating Obama), we still agree on one thing...free trade, free trade for the dumb! :-). I am a regular reader of your NY Times columns. I have also read some of your books. I admire the way you write without jargon so non-intellectual people like me can understand the complex world of economics. You are easily the most popular economist ever to win a Nobel!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Blame it on the PC :)
"The whole thing, starting with the subprime, is the fault of the computer. I was just talking to a banker the other day, and not that long ago, 20 years ago, an investment banking house, let’s say, Lehman Brothers, when it got a package of mortgages, they would go through every mortgage, every single one, and they’d throw out the ones that just seemed absurd, they just wouldn’t accept them. Things used to arrive on paper. Today things arrive on a screen, and a screen is back lit, and one of the biggest pains in the neck is trying to read something dully written and complicated on a computer screen. It will drive you nuts—I mean, try it sometime. Now they say, ‘Oh, to hell with it,’ and they just accept the whole package. And if it hadn’t been for that, they’d be going over each loan. What’s happened is the backward march of technology."
-- Tom Wolfe
-- Tom Wolfe
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