Right After Left: February 28, 2010

3/5/10

The World as a Rubik's Cube

Often times when I have a clear mind, one without pressing thoughts, I slip into a daydream of alternate realities (Stay with me). It always fascinates me, for example, how many things in our world seem common place to us all now but are relatively new developments. The idea that the internet did not exist during my parents' childhoods is hard to imagine. The iPod is less than ten years old. Boxing and horse racing, only a few decades ago, were the biggest sports in the world and now they are almost non-existent. In the movie industry alone, there have been more than four different format changes alone. The world changes quickly and does not look back.

During one particularly spaced-out haze, I began to envision history, events, discoveries and culture as a Rubik's Cube. The world as it is today is much like the completed cube (We currently live in the blue section) with each of the nine blue squares representing a specific element of culture. The other sides (The red, yellow, orange, green, white sides) represent other times in history. Our cube is in order now because everything is where it is supposed to be. But imagine if we made one move. What if we slid the middle section clockwise once? Now all the sides would contain foreign elements. Assume that the middle section represents "people". It represents the famous, the spectacular, the great minds, the politicians of each era. When twisted, the shuffle would result in a reordering of who was important when.

Do We Need the Postal Service?

You've heard the whispers:

Mail delivery to be cut on Saturdays
Stamp prices to shoot up
Mailmen to be replaced by robots*

*I get mixed up sometimes between what happens in my dreams and what I read. Bear with me.

Imagine for a moment that we are discussing any normal business, look at the facts:

$13 billion in debt this year
Projected $238 billion deficit by 2020
36,500 retail locations (Double McDonald's, triple Starbuck's)
15% projected drop in demand within the next decade

If this was the GAP, if this was Subway, if this was Barnes & Noble, certain moves would happen immediately. Jobs would be cut, locations would be shut down and a complete reorganization would be needed. But the US Postal Service is a public utility, so business as usual isn't going to fly.

3/4/10

Cooking is Irrational - Part Two

*In Part One yesterday, I looked into the economic irrationality of cooking meals at home. Today, I make the case for cooking. Enjoy.*

Part Two

This irrationality can mean only one thing. N~~o one thinks their time is worth anything~~ There must be some other benefit to cooking at home which leads millions of people to prepare meals every day despite the clear reasons not to. I never used to understand this phenomenon. I would be rather angry, actually, after my hard work toiling in a kitchen would be slurped up in a fraction of the time (At least chew the food, geez!). Slowly, I am becoming a different person. I am adopting a different mindset.

Throughout college (Read: My main cooking period up until this point), my schedule was always rushed. Classes led to gym time led to meetings led to meetings led to sleep. Somewhere in there was a three to four meal allotment (Usually four, I'm a big dude). This left approximately seven and a half minutes to prepare each meal and four and a quarter minutes to eat the meal and clean up. As a result I would often use paper plates and plastic silverware to ensure a speedy removal of waste. Most meals would be one pot creations (Example: boil water in pot, add noodles to pot, drain water from pot, heat sauce in pot, eat noodles in pot). No meals had any sense of work within them. It is very clear when a dish is thrown together in under ten minutes as opposed to one which is thought through and developed over an hour or more. You can taste the difference.

Why the US Men's National Soccer Team Will Never Succeed

USA vs. Canada for the Olympic Gold Medal in Men's Hockey was a great game to watch, this is certain. But what led to these two nations meeting in the final game? Further, why are the same countries usually dominant in certain sports? The Norwegians dominate cross country skiing. South Koreans are typically great speed skaters. Chinese athletes take most of the diving medals (In the Summer Olympics). The United States can boast of a far-reaching dominance which can infiltrate any sport. More so than any other country, our athletes are afforded the opportunities to be great in whatever they would like. They are almost never at a disadvantage. It happens occasionally, however. Canada is much better at hockey than the US because it is so much more pervasive in their culture. Only a few states in the States have the same cold weather environment which breeds hockey greats. Children raised in most portions of the country are never even exposed to hockey in a recreational fashion. Some could argue that Chinese athletes will consistently be better in the "precision" sports because they have less regulation on training limits and rules. The social reflection of a country's sporting strength speaks directly to their national identity. South America and Africa sent (almost) no representatives to the Winter Games. The Nordic countries are non-factors in the Summer Games.

Much can be explained through this analysis and a simple look at the country-sport correlation. What happens when you look at arguable the most simple game on Earth; the most widely played game on Earth; the most popular sport on Earth? What accounts for country's varying levels of skill when it comes to soccer? No longer can it be as simple as weather or training regiments. Over the course of hundreds of years the playing field should more or less even out. But this does not happen. The same countries, year after year, are the top national teams. The same countries produce the best players on a consistent basis. It doesn't make much sense.

3/3/10

Valentine's Day and The Marriage Ref: What it Means

On these pages I have defended the merits of a celebrity obsessed culture (see: In Defense of Celebrity), so this next statement may come off initially as hypocritical:

Movies like Valentine's Day and television shows like The Marriage Ref the worst things in entertainment.

Let's start with Valentine's Day. I have no problem with chick flicks. Often I find them to be quick and fun trips into the fantasy of true love. They can be cute, they can be funny, the can even be endearing at time (Good example: The Proposal; Worst Example: Bride Wars). No, these are not the films which are going to change the way anyone looks at the world, but this is not their intent. If I am in the right mood and mindset, I can enjoy most chick flicks. Even further, similar films which feature star-studded ensemble casts like Valentine's Day (ie. A Lot Like Love, He's Just Not That Into You) were fine. I left the theater/my living room feeling no better or worse than when I started the films. They were demonstrations in mediocrity. But they did manage to achieve some things which Valentine's Day could not, they at least seemed to a.) have a script that was looked over at least once b.) feature performances which appeared to be rehearsed c.) create characters which managed to seem slightly real and d.) wrap up the many stories semi-coherently. Valentine's Day was quite possibly the worst movie I can remember seeing. Even using the term movie is an injustice, it is more like a clip show of a terrible series you have never seen.

Cooking is Irrational - Part One

Part One (stay tuned for Part Two, which is much more abstract)

Economics is based, fundamentally, on one principle: Rationality. Or, more simply, that man makes decisions upon well reasoned thoughts after weighing the costs and benefits of each alternative. Within the economic/mathematical framework, this idea is 'proven' based on the following type of example:

Steve is at a cupcake store. He is very hungry and wishes to have a delicious blend of sugar and cream topped with unholy amounts of toppings. He notices that the specials for the day feature three different choices, all for the uniform price of $3.99 (It is a rather fancy boutique-type cupcake store). His choices are: Red Velvet cupcake, Double Fudge cupcake and Key Lime Pie cupcake. With everything else being equal (ie. price and how each cupcake is displayed), Sam has a very simple choice to make. In his mind, whether he knows it or not, he is forming the basis for a rational decision. He is assigning a level of utility (Read: benefit) derived from each cupcake. Only Steve knows how much he likes each type of cupcake. He comes to the conclusion that:

Utility (Double Fudge) > Utility (Key Lime Pie) > Utility (Red Velvet)

3/1/10

Quitting As the First Step

I just quit my job.

Really. Like fifteen minutes ago. I stepped out of my boss' office after a thirty minute meeting and left without a job. Now the following thoughts are running through my head:

1.) What the hell is wrong with you? Have you seen the unemployment numbers? You are insane.

2.) Man, am I relieved.

This change was a few months in the making, but really it can be traced back to high school. Let's take a look at the 'path' take by hundreds of thousands of wide-eyed young people starting when they are a mere 17 or 18 years old.

Junior Year (high school): Begin testing periods to qualify for college (I did well SAT:1320 ACT:31)

Senior Year (high school): Make final decision on university (Bowling Green State University, a fine school)

Freshman Year (college): Choose major (Sports Management)

Sophomore Year (college): Change major (Accounting and Finance, dual major)

Junior Year (college): Find internship (a well-known personal finance firm)

Senior Year (college): Begins job search (job fairs, websites, networking)

Post-Graduation: Find job, STAT! (...)

Early Career: Do the hard work which will pay off later (See below)

Right After Left

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