Article: The NYT 2008 Year in Ideas

The 8th Annual Year in Ideas

Welcome back to the Year in Ideas issue. For the eighth year in a row, we have compiled an alphabetical digest of ideas, from A to Z Start Reading (almost), that helped make the previous 12 months, for better or worse, what they were.

Article: Beer, bread, coffee better than in the good old days.

Makes me homesick."
Represent

Article: Obama makes pick for energy chief, sources say

President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Steven Chu, a physicist who runs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary, three Democratic officials close to the transition told CNN.

Represent.

Article: Lard Sculptures

Only one thing comes to mind...why?

Army Gurkha chefs in Hampshire have been recognised for making eye-catching sculptures - made from lard.

Article: Black Holes

According to Dr Robert Massey, of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), the results suggest that galaxies form around giant black holes in the way that a pearl forms around grit.
from the BBC

Article: Birth, death and shopping

The rise and fall of the shopping mall
Dec 19th 2007
From The Economist print edition

America now has some 1,100 enclosed shopping malls, according to the International Council of Shopping Centres. Clones have appeared from Chennai to Martinique. Yet the mall's story is far from triumphal. Invented by a European socialist who hated cars and came to deride his own creation, it has a murky future. While malls continue to multiply outside America, they are gradually dying in the country that pioneered them.

Today: Cock Animal Cracker. Hee.

This came from a Japanese food store in New Jersey. I'm told that words are put on the crackers to help Japanese children learn English.
from here.

Performance: Desert Sin

Desert Sin Dance Company, known internationally for their edgy and erotic fusion of dance and theater, now comes to New York with their acclaimed production, "Musée des Femmes - Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque". This sideshow-stylized psychological spectacle is an imaginative journey through sight-and-sound and is guaranteed to mesmerize the audience! The unique story line lends an emotional and
human twist to stories of some of the boldest and most intriguing women throughout time, both fictional and historical, including legendary film starlet Mata Hari, The Hindu Goddess Kali, The Snow Queen, and Joan of Arc.

Desert Sin Dance Company presents:
"Musée des Femmes - Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque"
Thursdays, November 20th and December 18th at 8pm at the Zipper Factory Theater and Tavern
336 W. 37th St. NY, NY 10018
Tickets $20: (212) 352-3101 or available at www.thezipperfactory.com
Produced by Djahari Clark and Cassandra Siegler, in association with The Zipper Factory Theater
Directed by Djahari Clark

Some of their work:

Today: Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Joss Whedon conceived and produced this during the writers' strike.

Awesomeness. Stars Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, aspiring evil, and Nathan , as his nemesis. Both are hysterical.

I only wish Joss Whedon would make a happy love story for once.

Article: Well, Excuuuuuse Meee!

Why humans are so quick to take offense, and what that means for the presidential campaign. By Emily Yoffe

It is at the intersection between the urge for cooperation and desire for self-interest that we experience so much internal turmoil and external conflict. Observing how others handle this balance has a great deal to do with how we judge their trustworthiness and their fitness.

via Slate

Today: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Egad. Greenspan backtracks on free market philosophy

Facing a firing line of questions from Washington lawmakers, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman once considered the infallible maestro of the financial system, admitted on Thursday that he “made a mistake” in trusting that free markets could regulate themselves without government oversight.

“I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms,” Mr. Greenspan said.

from today NY Times.

Straight talk if there ever was any

Well's Fargo's Kovacevich
We just didn't make some of the mistakes that others did. We still made some mistakes, and that's very unfortunate. In some cases, we should have known better. In general—and I don't know if I take much pride in this—we're probably the least ugly of the ugly ducks because we did not participate in some of the excesses, particularly related to subprime borrowers and [collateralized debt obligations] and highly leveraged loans.

Add to reading list

designer's recommendations here.

Golden Gate Bridge

Interesting article about jumpers off the Golden Gate Bridge.

On things I want

1. The Book of Vice, by Peter Sagal.

Anyone who uses The Simpsons for an analogy is on my side of the masking tape.

Peter Sagal on the assumed conditions for Barack Obama conspiracy theories.

2) and/or that those of his friends/colleagues/co-conspirators to whom he did reveal his true agenda, (William Ayers, et al) have also maintained absolute perfect silence/mendacity on the topic, forever, as no one who actually knows Obama has ever said, “You know, once he’s got a couple of drinks in him, he starts going on about Che and finishing the Revolution;”

artists: Antonio Santin

frighteningly compelling.
Antonio Santin

It's so pretty.

It's so pretty. It's so pretty. It's so pretty. It's so pretty. It's so pretty. It's so pretty.
Apple's new 24in LED display

Sometimes people are insane in a good way.

Jay Walker creates a fantastic private library. via Wired.

My only comment would be to add rolling book ladders.