I read this book by Michael Lewis several years ago at the recommendation of our son who had worked as an intern at Merrill Lynch. He knew I was working hard to understand the stock market, or at least to understand it well enough to not make too many bad investment decisions. Lewis writes that the stock market is well enough regulated that it is almost fair to investors. The same was not true of the bond market. Lewis somehow bluffed his way into a Salomon Brothers training program despite his degree in art appreciation and became a bond trader making incredible amounts of money. They paid him very well indeed to pretend he knew what he was doing. “Never before had so many unskilled twenty-four-year-olds made so much money in so little time…” He says he set “…out to write this book only because I thought it would be better to tell the story than to go on living the story.” I particularly liked the statement at the end of the Preface that his parents “…are, of course, directly responsible for any errors, sins, or omissions herein.” Continue reading
Pell-Mell
The Phrase Finder defines the term as meaning “In disorderly confusion; with reckless haste.” Another term used is to describe “…people charging about like chickens with their heads cut off.” Sir Thomas North translated “Plutarch’s Lives of the noble Grecians and Romanes,” a passage that indicated “disordered confusion.” “He entered amongst them that fled their Campe pelmel, or hand overheade.” The expression is derived directly from the French. “Pel may derive from the Old French pesle, meaning to run or bolt.”
Cosmos – A Spacetime Odyssey
Tyson confronts the Big Bang in the new Fox series Cosmos – A Spacetime Odyssey
Are you watching Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s remake of Carl Sagan’s iconic mini-series Cosmos? The theme of the first episode was that space-time is really, really big. The episode has received excellent reviews and I agree: the special effects and cinematography were stunning (“faster, brighter, and more explosive” as Wired says), though the use of cartoon animation to present a historical story struck me as less compelling than live action would have been. There seem to be high hopes that the new Cosmos will rekindle America’s love affair with science, as anecdotes (if not rigorous studies) suggest the original Cosmos did. I’m not sure what impact Cosmos had; Star Trek inspired kids, too. Continue reading
History Decoded
This site usually reviews serious books of history, sometimes ponderously serious books. This book is more like “anti-history”; it’s subtitled: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time.
The book arises from the TV show Decoded on the History network, and presents the crew’s favorite conspiracy theories. As is typical for such shows, they never resolve any of their mysteries.
wikianswers defines a conspiracy theory as “a version of events that a group of people believe to be true in direct conflict to the official version.” I think of such theories as pointing to sinister forces, viewed by non-believers as wacky and immune to facts (since anyone who disputes the theory could be one of the conspirators).
The book “give[s] you our theories – plus the sensible and logical questions to ask – and then you decide who you believe.” This “you decide” presentation sounds appealing, but, of course, as a reader you only have the information the writer chose to offer. But these are popular theories, so you’ll find more information on the Internet, where you must sort out reliable sources from wackadoodles. (I like to start with Wikipedia; at least it receives input from multiple sources and has an editing policy.) Continue reading
Off the Hook
I’ve noticed this expression has a new meaning lately. Urban Dictionary notes it’s currently slang for something so new and fresh it is like the latest fashion right off the store’s shelf or hanger. The meaning has expanded to anything cool or exciting.
Wiki.answers.com says the older meaning comes from fishing slang; if you’re on the hook you are caught, trapped, or obligated. Off the hook means you escaped. Phrase Finder has several definitions, including some no longer in use. But I found no origin for the phrase.
Making a Pencil
I suggest we have become complacent in expecting industry to produce exceptional products that cost very little. I recently received a message about the production of pencils. I predict anyone who decides to read the link for “I, Pencil” by Leonard E. Read will be introduced to the complexity that is involved in producing products that we accept as simple instruments we expect to be available whenever we need them. I also suggest you will be astonished that such a complicated product can be placed on the retail market at such a low cost. Continue reading