Josh Mack blogging at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts, and occasionally on; bicycles, politics, Brooklyn, parenting, crafts, and good reading. Currently helping to build a new NYC neighborhood news site - nearsay.com, that celebrates the voices that make our city. Subscribe to the daily newsletter it gives you what you need to know.
VeloNews following their live blogging of the Tour de France
The OilDrum reading about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, methane, and the occasionally comment about the end of life as we know it.
Thinking that the portable watermelon cooler that Nima linked to would be a neat stroller for a little alien or my child on Halloween, if I pretended not to know that she is going to be a ballerina or a Wonder Pet.
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
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?
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?"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Recent Comments
catbobcat (crossing a road in Redding, CT.) blogging