By Kevin | April 12, 2009
A few choice bits about $$ from The Oxford Book of Money, edited by Kevin Jackson. Appropriate, given the still-fragile economy. Many people continue to be worried. Here are a few historical justifications for such worry.
“It is more easy to write on money than to obtain it; and those who gain it, jest much at [...]
By Kevin | December 8, 2008
So, it’s heartening to see that people are now actively thinking of ways to make the country better now that we all hang on the precipice. There are rumblings of the specifics of Obama’s infrastructural boom, have been anxious meetings about “ready to go” projects, and talk of re-training and re-aligning the labor of failing [...]
By Kevin | November 24, 2008
Clive Thompson has a fascinating little piece on the interconnection of online content and t-shirts in this month’s Wired magazine. We all know that most of the bottom (i.e. money) dropped out of the internet a while ago. Many sites that once vied for cashflow from online content have since gone extinct. Thompson describes some [...]
By Kevin | November 16, 2008
So, we all know that Amazon now offers an mp3 download service that probably stands as the main contender to Apple’s iTunes. Amazonmp3 has a number of great deals, from their sub $5 albums (for some reason, some jazz and classical albums with only a few long cuts qualify, while others that are laid out [...]
By Kevin | November 3, 2008
I guess that it’s time for a little preemptive history. Tomorrow is the big day. The reality of George W. Bush leaving the office of President is finally feeling at-hand and incontestable. The general sense across the nation is one of relief, as the very “worst” that could happen is that someone marginally more competent [...]
By Kevin | October 27, 2008
Organist Merl Saunders (pictured above, at left, with musical collaborator Jerry Garcia) passed away 10/24/08 due to complications associated with a stroke, which had disabilitated him several years ago. The Garcia-Saunders band was a mainstay of the West Coast scene from 1971 through 1975. His passing is very sad news for me…this band, which only [...]
By Kevin | October 20, 2008
I’m in full Halloween mode. Oct 31 has become a favorite holiday. Despite it being very commercialized (what isn’t these days?) I look forward to it. It is a day of social unrest, youth trooping around in gangs, officially allowed rudeness, and seasonal cuisine. In fact, this month alone has yielded me Pumpkin Pie (which [...]
By Kevin | October 13, 2008
History isn’t dead, though a politics of and for amnesia has increasingly shown itself to be the name of the game. Outside of that realm of double-think and rabid ideological differences, it is interesting to see who becomes rediscovered, brought back into the discourse after periods of obscurity. Such a person is Noah Webster, the [...]
By Kevin | October 6, 2008
Stepping aside from politics, platitudes, and pontificating for a minute, I’d like to briefly touch on one of the more taken-for-granted pleasures: that of “getting a good deal.” Sure, our financial markets might be failing and our jobs disappearing, but it is still possible to legally make out like a bandit. You don’t even have [...]
By Kevin | September 29, 2008
Though my last post was meant for rest and relaxation, this one cannot be. This is it, folks! My generation (current twentysomethings–are we Gen Y or Gen Z??) has recently had its trial-by-fire, its fertility rite signifying complicity in the big “E”: it’s the ECONOMY, stupid! I am going to be as precise as I [...]