DefinitiveInk

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Love Juice: it's a natural thing

Madoff statements looked real enough at first glance.

Unfortunately I know several people whose parents lost all or most of their money to Bernard Madoff. I was curious about what the statements looked like and hounded a friend to let me see one and post it to this blog. She agreed but after looking at it I changed my mind, besides you can see one embedded below. My friend's looked almost exactly the same: odd lots, Fidelity Spartan Fund, US T bills, blue chip stocks. The amounts were different but it is the same mix, and the trading days are the same since it is a statement from the same month. There was a computer and mailing system behind this too, so either Madoff or someone else punched in the fake positions.

I don't know why I expected it to look out of the ordinary, after all this man fooled regulators who even if they only gave a cursory look at his business must have seen these. True, it doesn't have some of the information and graphs that others I've seen have but would it cause you to blink? I doubt it. Especially if you were making money each month after being "let in" to the club. 

Last night I learned another thing that would have quelled doubt if any had arisen, each trade was accompanied by a confirmation statement.  So people got a reassuring blizzard of paper each month showing Madoff working hard, trading up a storm...so of course it was reasonable to think that year in and year out, profits were possible. How many of us really look at our confirms or statements that closely, in good times or in bad? (I'm speculating about the older investor who he fleeced and not the funds of funds or some people who I find it hard to believe didn't know better.) Madoff Trading Statement, November 2008

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work Business bernard madoff Business

A list of Madoff's victims in a very cool widget

The columns in the widget are sortable and the whole thing is searchable. They are working towards exposing the read write elements.

Seven gets a standing ovation at the Women's Forum in Deauville

Happy to read that my mother's project Seven has gotten such a great reception at the Women's Forum in Deauville.

Will the real Rockefeller please stand up?

What are the odds that a Ripley-like sociopath who pretended he was a Rockefeller would be on the cover of the Styles section and look so much like the real Rockefeller who got married this weekend?

                                       

Fake - Clark Rockefeller       Real - Clayton Rockefeller

Update: Whether intentionally or not the NYT is now onto this.

Teddy Bear at Kuntry Karaoke

Last night I went to Hank's Saloon for Kuntry Karaoke night with a few friends. The highlight of the night, and in fact of a long week, was Mike's recitation of Red Sovine's TeddyBear. Apparently he memorized this song while working in a Post Office in NJ. when he was a teenager. Hearing this over and over might make someone go postal but the fact that he memorized this and gave such a spirited performance was inspiring. Here is a link to the fine song.

For my part it took me back to fine memories of my father talking on a CB Radio while driving up the Merritt Parkway to CT in our brown Lincoln Continental. I think we were all cringing in the back. Don't remember his handle though I imagine something like this..."Breaker, breaker one nine this is the Jew Canoe. Passing Darien now any Smokeys up around Norwalk?"

The Blue Blazer - A fiery classic cocktail

This evening B and I taped my friend Dave making Jerry Thomas' signature drink the Blue Blazer. To make it you need to pour flaming Scotch back and forth between glasses.  Buy Dave's new book Imbibe if you haven't already. 

Wildlife found on our deck this morning.

This morning we found a dead bird on our deck. My immediate thought was to call 311 where I was told that if I wanted to file a "complaint" about a possible case of West Nile virus, it would take two business days. I was also given instructions on how to dispose of the bird. I chose the latter, but as I was putting it into the garbage bag it turned over and had the most extraordinary beak. Immediately we got out the Sibley and I (in retrospect ignoring the sizing info) identified it as something like a Hudsonian Godwit or a Bristle-Thighed Curlew.  Armed with that exciting info we decided to call the Prospect Park Audubon Center who asked us to send these photos to their Chief Naturalist. He identified it as an American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), an upland shorebird (basically a sandpiper that is adapted for a forest habitat).  They migrate overland and sadly are particularly prone to colliding with windows. Poor bird.

Friday cat bobcat (crossing a road in Redding, CT.) blogging

A Farm Grows in Midwood

Of all the places for a tornado to touch down in Brooklyn it had to be the backyard farm the Manny Howard, a college classmate, was building.  His very funny, and touching article about the experience in New York Magazine this week.

How to remove your underwear while keeping your pants on

This video is by the author of an upcoming book called, 211 Things a Bright Boy Can Do, that a friend of mine acquired and edited. Some combination of the accent, the mustache, and the moments of deadpan humor make this brilliant. I hope the book is as successful as this is and at the least that there are more videos in the series.

phew - we can keep ignoring the metric system

The EU voted to let Britain retain their measuring systems; pints, ounces, miles, etc."Britain and Ireland officially use the metric system, but imperial measures are still often used alongside their metric equivalents....Under the European Union decision, they can retain miles on road signs, and pubs may continue to serve pints of beer. Other goods must be sold in metric quantities, but retailers can display imperial equivalents....They also feared that forcing Britain to abolish the imperial system would have damaged European Union trade with the United States, one of three countries, including Liberia and Myanmar, that have not officially adopted the metric system."

Some company we are keeping. The process of adopting the metric system is called metrication. According to the Wikipedia Myanmar uses the metric system on an everyday basis, so it is really only Libya where an American could truly feel at home in weights and measures.

I think I was metricated twice unsuccessfully in 2nd and 5th grade.  The wikipedia has the history of the metric system which goes back to the 1600's.

Riding the Elevator Into the Sky - A Poem by Anne Sexton

Manhattan User's Guide posts a beautiful poem to commemorate 9/11. Made my morning as I was sad.

Water Hammers and other things beneath our feet

We started wondering what steam pipes do and what causes them to explode so I turned to Kate Ascher's great book The Works: Anatomy of a City. It has a section on steam pipes and how they heat midtown buildings with wonderful illustrations. Sadly they aren't online on Amazon but you can read about the book andsee the table of contents. I think the explosion was caused by something called a>water hammer which she explains but the on it too. The book is one of my favorites. It reminds me of the David Macaulay books I had growing up. In fact a close relation of The Works is his book, Underground. Ascher covers so much more than what is under our feet though, spans of bridges, airports and pretty much every other system the city has. During the next blackout I look forward to lighting a candle and reading about why I'm in the dark.

Brooklyn Blogfest May 10th Old Stone House

Considering that I live two blocks from the Old Stone House, and that the event features many blogs I like, and last of all is free, it would be a bit pathetic if I missed it. So I'm planning to attend and  give some support to outside.in, brownstoner, and more.

Odds that life exists on other planets cut to 100-1 from 1000-1

A life documented as a series of pie-charts - fantastic (via Kottke)

R.I.P Hebrew Hercules

NYT obituary of Abe Colman age 101, a professional wrestler, known as the Hebrew Hercules. 5'3" 200+ pounds, drop kick copied from kangeroos. At his 100th birthday party, The Queens Chronicle said that a nephew asked him if he wanted to wrestle, “Get my tights and jockstrap,” the Hebrew Hercules growled.

Prince Andrew's daughter Princes Eugenie is on myspace.

An old Sesame Street song to start the day