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The End... (Cont'd.)

Michael Lewis, the author of Liar's Poker and Moneyball (!), returns to Wall Street to look at who knew the barbarians were at the gate.  Or rather, who knew that the consuls were opening the gates to the barbarians.  

The End of the World as We Know It

The Money Meltdown is your one-stop-shop for information on the current global economic crisis. Its excellent design values make it a calming way to encounter extremely alarming information.

Speaking of which, as a follow up to the excellent Giant Pool Of Money, This American Life has come out with the aptly named Another Frightening Show About the Economy. 

Update: The fine folks who brought you the alarming TAL segments above have created the Planet Money Podcast. 

Among the most interesting aspects of the AFSAtE linked above is a passing reference to asymmetrical information - the idea that one party in a transaction knows more, or different things, than another.  Much economic theory is implicitly predicated upon transparency and the free flow of information. But in actuality - in policy, the economy, and countless other fields of human endeavor, information is not distributed equally.  IN this case, thos means that the credit freeze comes as a result of the complexities of the Credit Default Swaps, or as a result of the fact that they are unregulated and therefore, institutions that hold the CDS's, i.e. highly leverged bonds, know more about their exposure to the toxic securities than lender whom they are beseeching for credit. 

Lascaux

Ochre fields on an ancient gray slate

not peopled but spirited

by totem animals.

Now days, we would outline them in blue

but with so few pigments then just red 

All we had

except the desire to catch the animal dreamed-

the great bull running through dreams

its hot wet breath as close as you are to me. 

Holding on to you these years

-holding to your neck through bolt and veer - 

I was meant for  this ten thousand years ago - 

Some spirit bull

the best thing i have ever done,

Not tamed - but held on to.

I know that you will carry me to see that spirit world

that my ancestors will invent. 

"Remember...

that tomorrow has come a long, long way to help you - it's your saving grace..."  the Steve Miller Band.

Ubiquity

I have used Firefox for several years.  Tabbed browsing was, in its way, a first step toward bringing converging information from different websites in one location.  Ubiquity is a wonderful reiteration a of bringing together dispersed information.

Convention and John Kerry

Why wasn't Senator Kerry this good on his own behalf in 2004? 

You Learn Someting New Everyday

William Moulton Marston is the inventor of the lie detector test. A psychologist, feminist, and polyamorist (?!), he is also the creator (thanks to his partners Elizabeth Marston and Olive Byrne) of Wonder Woman. 

Wistful

For wistful, my money is on Paul Willaims. Just saying. 

Ethyl

A history of leaded fuel additives and the world's most dangerous chemist, Thomas Midgely

Gospel at Colonus

Zora Neale Hurston once suggested that that the closest thing to the power of Greek tragedy in our society was the ecstatic energy of the black church.   In 1985 Lee Breuer, inspired by this notion and the Robert Fitzgerald Translation of Oedipus at Colonus, created The Gospel at Colonus.  Borrowing from the source text above,  as well as Oedipus Rex and Antigone, Breuer worked with composer Bob Telson to set the return of Oedipus from exile in a pentecostal church with the idea that, "catharsis can go right on through pity and terror into joy."  The blend of  greek, gospel , musical and tragedy simultaneously makes connections between the ancient and the recent in addition to foregrounding the obvious connections (theatre as religious rite, e.g.).  Truly, there is nothing new under the sun. 

The original cast included Morgan Freeman as the Messenger, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and Soul Stirrers with the groups representing individual characters as well as a chorus.  Reviews almost always mention a clumsy-feeling book that pales in comparison to the music.   But as Frank Rich puts it, "the considerable spoken text... can never fully upstage it."  With numbers such as "Stop! (Do Not Go On) " "How Shall I see you Through my Tears" and "Lift Him Up," it's easy to see how it it has inspired a suprising range of artists, including John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats.