Detour

A recent discussion at my undergraduate economics club got me wondering as to the origins of red=Republican and blue=Democrat. Who decided on the colors? Red used to represent communists and between the two groups I would think that Democrats would be more likely to inherit their political-cousin’s color. Chairmen Mao = Red = Ronald Reagan…huh?

I don’t remember the terms being used until the 2000 elections. If you forced me to guess I would guess that the Voter News Service, a consortium of news agencies that got together in 2000 to get election results correctly and quickly (Ha-Ha-ROTFLMAO-Sigh!), decided to call Democratic States blue and Republican states Red and since everyone used the service, everyone used the same colors. Still I wonder if that is the origin, and why would right-wingers be associated with a left wing color? Anyone know the history of the colors.

PS - I grew up in LA during the 80’s when crack first hit the street scene, causing battle royales between the crips and the bloods. Isn’t it interesting that they used the same colors?

Update: “Whatever the subliminal debris, the 2000 election, which kept the nation staring at tinted maps for weeks as the outcome remained uncertain, appears to have cemented a decision that once could be safely governed by whimsy. The Geospatial and Statistical Data Center at the University of Virginia, for example, once chose shades of green and turquoise for its election maps. “I suspect it was just what the mapmaker liked at the time,” said Michael J. Furlough, the director of the data center.” - New York Times 02/08/2004

Ever wonder what an economist that makes punk-music sounds like? Ivy Leauge education is stressful…this music may be the perfect release.

Pee-Wee is a Pervert is sure to be a classic.

During my time in Ithaca life had a vastly different flow then I ever experienced before. One of the things that helped ground me, reminding me that life as I knew it was still in existence, was listening to KFOG’s Acoustic Sunrise on Sunday Mornings. The ritual was the same before graduate school, during my time at Cornell, and now post grad life…Wake up slowly, brew a pot of coffee, stream KFOG on the internet, and slowly be lulled away to relaxation. There is something in the confluence of acoustic guitars and heartfelt lyrics that intoxicates me to no end.

This morning I heard a song by Anna Nalick called 2AM that was so special that I felt a need to write about it.
It’s funny because I know I’ve listened to the song before, but for whatever reason this morning I *heard* the song for the first time. Brilliant. The line ‘life’s like an hourglass glued to the table’ just struck a chord with me today.

While I was at Cornell I constantly felt as though life was passing me by. The feeling that I was wasting five years of my life, only to have to start at the bottom rung of the academic ladder at the end of the draining process was an inescapable thought. I fought the feeling with all my heart and soul, but I never defeated the evil ghost. I guess the thought of being middle-aged before seeing tangible results for all the hard work necessary was more of a concern then I would allow myself to admit.

You only get one chance at life…life’s like an hourglass glued to the table…yeah…sing to me Anna…sing it…thank you.

“Breathe (2 AM)” Lyrics

2 AM and she calls me ’cause I’m still awake,
“Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?,
I don’t love him. Winter just wasn’t my season”
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize,
Hypocrites. You’re all here for the very same reason

‘Cause you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable
And life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe… just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

In May he turn 21 on the base at Fort Bliss
“Just a Day”, he said down to the flask in his fist,
“Ain’t been sober, since maybe October of last year.”
Here in town you can tell he’s been down for a while,
But, my God, it’s so beautiful when the boy smiles,
Wanna hold him. Maybe I’ll just sing about it.

Cause you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable,
And life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button, boys,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe… just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

There’s a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout ’cause you’re just as far in as you’ll ever be out
And these mistakes you’ve made, you’ll just make them again
If you only try turning around.

2 AM and I’m still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it’s no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I’m naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you’ll use them, however you want to

But you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable,
And life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand.
and breathe, just breathe
woah breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe.

Today is 3.14 (and is epecially noteable at 1:59 {am and pm}). Tell a friend.

Who in the hell is

http://12.163.72.13/

and why are they hitting my website hundreds of times in the last few days.

I did a whois search and found nothing. Anybody have any ideas?

Help!

Update: Vinayak has been hit 190 times in the last 10 days by this address. Whate up?

Update: Well it turns out that a google search of “http://12.163.72.13/ spam” (thanks Vinayak)

Pretty Cool.

www.econmodel.com

Dr. William R. Parke, from UNC-Chapel Hill, is developing a neat site…especially for undergrads, check it out.

Did I mention he has econ movies. If you get excited about that you are an incurable geek (No, John Morow…this comment wasn’t directed entirely at you)

I leave graduate school…and only then does google make me the #1 result for Cornell economics blog and weblog

At least my work at getting Chris Reicher as a log linearization jock is showing some results with a google ranking of 6th.

Rumors kicked into high drive after 50 Cent officially booted the Game from his G Unit click during an interview at Hot 97 radio station last week.

After 50’s revelation, gunfire erupted outside the radio station, and 50 and his crew quickly left the scene.

Am I the only cynical person in the world that thinks 50-Cent is creating the controversy to sell more records? Here is the scenario as I see it…

1) Find a new and talented rapper
2) Get him to the studio and produce an album
3) Promote the hell out of the album and new hit single
4) When it appears the artist’s career is on the proper trajectory, contrive a feud
5) Make sure the feud is well publicized and continue it through multiple new albums
6) After the novelty has worn off…kiss…makeup…then make a new album together

It seems realistic to me.

Update: Check out the Billboard Rap Charts for this week for further proof of the results of a fued…
#1 Song - 50 Cent - Candy Shop
#2 Song - 50 Cent & Game - How We Do
#4 Song - 50 Cent - Disco Inferno
#8 Song - Game & 50 Cent - Hate It Or Love It

40 percent of the top 10…not bad guys.

Update: It turns out that my time scale was shortened a bit. 50 Cent and Game call a truce.

Every self-respecting grad student knows how to twirl a pen in some way or the other. Now that I am a graduate school dropout I need to learn a new trick to impress onlookers. My discovery of a website dedicated strictly to the skill of coin tricks I can waste countless hours in futile attempts at perfecting the Perpetual Motion Coin Myth. That is if I can fit in the practice between learning mySQL, PHP, and SAS (it seems that my STATA skills are undervalued outside of academia).

Laura’s parents (Jon and Linda), Laura, and I spent some time enjoying San Francisco this weekend. We drove to Golden Gate Park to see the Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest public conservatory in North America, which specializes in tropical plants.

It was one of those beautiful days in San Francisco that comes along a few times a year. No fog, no wind, no cold…yeah! The flowers in the conservatory where nice, although I am not much interested in flowers to begin with, a beer museum would be more my speed. On the other hand, the building was an eyeful…i wish there was a conservancy of old unique buildings, I could spend hours in a place like that…oh yeah, there is a place like that…they call it Europe, nevermind. A windstorm almost demolished the building in 1995; it took 8 years to bring up to code. Thank god they did.

We made reservations at the recently renovated Cliff House later in the afternoon. With a few hours to spare before Lunch/Dinner (why isn’t there a word for that like brunch?) we hiked down to the Sutro Bath ruins. The pictures below are from the overlook. If you ever visit San Franciso this is a great half-day trip.

Lunch/dinner was great (and had a price to go along with the quality), and I found a new love…Point Reyes Blue Cheese…YUM!!!