Good Morning! Who can it be now?

I had forgotten how much I like this song until the music video was posted on deadspin last night:



Creepy lazy eye on the lead singer though...

Bear Breaks into Car. Goes for a Ride.

From Reuters: A bear broke into a car belonging to a 17 year old kid from Colorado, somehow put it in gear and went down the hill. All for a peanut butter sandwich.

I've done worse for peanut butter before, so I can't say I blame him. Sadly, there isn't any video of the actual bear-toboggan.

Full story here

3 minute philosophy: Rene Descartes

Last thing this morning and then I'm done with my catch-up reading:

Best line: "[Descartes] contributed so much to the modern world that the French decided to call it a day and haven't contributed a thing since"

Warning: there is some adult language in this video NSFW



Credit where credit is due: www.ritholtz.com/blog

Are we happy when busy but inherently lazy?

I'm posting a large volume this morning in catching up from the busy weekend. Here is a quick, but interesting post from the Freakonomics Blog at the NYT:

Are We Naturally Lazy? - It seems we are happiest when busy, but prone to idleness when left to our own devices.

Interesting Report on Climate Change/Global Warming etc

Seems to be a thoughtful examination of the facts supporting and criticizing the science around climate change.

Click Here

From Barry Ritholtz

Pigeons have the most appropriate response to Kings of Leon ever

So this happened

The funniest part to me is that they then walked off stage and refused to come back on, all because the bassist got some bird poop on him. From their publicist: "It is a toxic health hazard. They really tried to hang in there." [Emphasis mine].

I had no idea bird poop was toxic. Learn something new every day.

Andrew hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail

Andrew is about to set off with his Dad on a two-week backpacking trip around the Tahoe Rim Trail around Lake Tahoe. He and I spent three of the coldest days of my life there in October of 2008 hiking a piece of it, and it is absolutely gorgeous high elevation terrain. Since it will likely be warmer in July than it was for those few days (which were the coldest ever recorded for those specific days) I'm sure he will have a blast.

Good luck, be safe and send some pictures.

Is sports radio more dangerous than drinking while driving?

Here is the article, from the Freakonomics blog (part of the NYT)

They couldn't print it if it wasn't true, right? Notice the very small (and European!!) sample size. But still...

Two Great, Short Videos

Two great completely unrelated videos:

1. Entertaining fireworks disaster (no one was hurt so don't get upset)



2. Miguel Ángel Jiménez shot off the wall at last weekend's Open Championship (British Open)

Weekend Update

Nothing too exciting from here. Nice relaxing weekend around London.

Watched (and were inspired by) the Crossfit Games via a surprisingly high quality video internet feed. If you want to see something impressive, check out their final WOD (works best in Google Chrome, use the drop down at bottom left to select an archive feed). They had no time to prepare and were briefed on the workout on-the-fly with a 30 second rest between three 7-12 minute workouts. Looks like a fun kind of pain.

Also, the Tour de France is heating up. With 6 stages to go and after 68 hours of riding, Andy Schleck holds only a 30 second lead over last year's champ Alberto Contador.

I should be getting some good news regarding banking this week which would make me officially open for trading! Fingers crossed...

Crossfit Games

The Crossfit Games start tomorrow and go through Sunday. Its like Woodstock or the Olympics (or both?) for overall fitness. The men and women at the top of the podium are arguably the fittest people on the planet. I probably won't watch it live or anything, but its cool to check in on.

http://games2010.crossfit.com/

Books

I don't have a TV so, for any who are interested, here is the best of what I have read recently:

Wild at Heart  by John Eldredge - Evaluation of Christian Masculinity from a personal perspective. Less academic, good inspiration. Female corollary = Captivating (though I haven't read it yet). Makes you want to be (or I suppose be with) a stronger Christian man.

Band of Brothers By Stephen Ambrose -  Classic. Inspiration for the WWII Spielberg HBO series. Makes you proud of the generations before you.

Born to Run - investigates the culture of ultra-running and why we shouldn't wear shoes when we run (is Nike evil?), unless they are Vibram five fingers or ancient sandal-types.Makes you want to run forever.

Lone Survivor - Marcus Luttrell. Navy SEAL stuck behind enemy lines in the worst part of Afghanistan. True story told by the only survivor of a SEAL team. Powerful but violent. Makes you want to simultaneously join the SEALs or avoid war at all costs.

WAR - Sebastian Junger - Junger travels through Afghanistan with a team of US Army GI's through Afghanistam campaign. Lots of good anecdotes and some insight into the psychology of a modern infantry soldier. Definitely makes you want to avoid being a GI in the afghan front.

Three Cups of Tea - Gregg Mortensen - Low-income high-alpine climber builds schools in Pakistan after a tiny village at the base of K2 saves his life. Makes you want to quit your job and change the world.

What have you read recently that was worthwhile recommending?

P.S. Kindles are only $189 now. Take the plunge. Buy a light and a cover to go with it. You won't regret it.