Need to bone up on your Macroeconomics?

Yes, yes you do...My suspicion is that a great many people, worldwide, are seriously pissed and have no idea how we got in this global economic mess. There are a couple of things you should know at the outset. 1. Every economic collapse of the 20th and 21st centuries can be traced directly to Goldman Sachs and speculation. 2. Every economic collapse of the 20th and 21st centuries is likewise directly attributable to the cycles of boom n bust that modern capitalist endeavors rely upon.

But, how to sort out the competing views of the giants in this field, John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek?

How about this  ballin' fucking' video by "creative economist" Russ Roberts. Enjoy.

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Today's Hot Nerd: No end to Kari Byron pictures...

I will never, ever get tired of looking for Kari Byron...and,  by extension, posting them. Today's special includes some new pics of Kari pregnant, in which she has the adorable maternal glow --and even more phenomenal cleavage.

Der Schatten wishes you and your new monkey all the best, Kari, and thanks for representing the intersection of brains and beauty that makes our nerd worlds go 'round...

The infamous "drunk" episode of Mythbusters...admit it: you want to be the apparatus she's blowing on...

Wonderbras -quite literally-make everything better....

 This is my new favorite picture of Kari...the reason is pretty damned obvious.

 Confession time: I've got a thing for pregnant women...especially really damned smart ones with pendulous breasts....

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Friday is recovering from a surreal Thursday...

And Thursday was almost surreal as Pink Floyd, tripping their balls off, playing to an empty ampitheatre in Pompeii, with a giant screen projecting lava in the background...

...oh, that's been done before?

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Thursday wishes it would rain...

That will keep me inside, focused on what I'm supposed to be doing.

Speaking of rain, "I wish it would rain down" is wonderful, and a veritbale who's who cast of fabulous musicians: Clapton, Sklar, Collins etc. I know you probably haven't heard this in a while, so enjoy.

Up next: Best of the Big 12 Apocalypse

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The coolest old people on the planet: Literally.

These two are smiling for a reason...

Ah, the sunset years. Time to retire to a good life of rest, leisure, hobbies, and enjoy the company of your loved one. A chance to reflect upon a life spent in toil and hardship, and look back with pride on your accomplishments, while shepherding the younger generations alond their life's journey.

Well done, me...well done...

 

But, sometimes retirement can be a bit difficult, particularly when your relationship isn't strong, or your friends and loved ones start to be ill, or pass away. Then, there is the potential boredom; after all, you've spent your life working and striving. Now what?

However, if you're the Smith family, 75 year-old retirees in London, boredom most definitely is not on your agenda. See, while other elderly couples are traveling, taking up (or resuming) hobbies, gardening, visting with friends and families, Ian and Jean Smith have something way, way cooler to distract them...

They are Britain's oldest swingers.

Pics or it didn't happen...

Wow. In an fascinating story by SWSN.com, it is revealed that the Smiths are the unofficial "King and Queen of Swingers" in the UK. And, by their own estimate, have had over 300 orgies or shared encounters.

Despite their age, Ian and Jean show no signs of slowing down and vow to continue swinging for as long as physically able.

But Ian admitted: ”Our children know but they prefer to say nothing about it – I guess it doesn’t matter how old you get, you can still be embarrassed by mum and dad.”

This is really, truly, the most awesome story ever. For those of us concerned about life ending when our productive years are concluded, it's damned good to know that our reproductive ones can continue.




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Want to feel like you've done acid?

Without actually doing so?

Yea, that's pretty much it...

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This is the most awesome thing I've seen...

Entitled, "If Alabama Football Player were your job, then this would be your office"...From RBR, which I think got the reprint from an email circulating through Tide Pride (correct me if I'm wrong).

I'm only go to excerpt a few things, you really need to get over there and check it out; not only is it of particular interest for UA fans or football fans, but for anyone that's ever wondered what kind of facilities a modern student-athlete has his/her disposal at a major program

That is just an awesome poster...plastered throughout the weight room facilities.

And, judging from some of the motivational slogans, I see that I'm not the only one who's a big fan of Genghis Khan...

As the players leave the locker room and head to the practice field they have to pass by a pyramid of the logos of the teams they will play this season.

What happens to those logos as teams are defeated? Well, they are signed by every player that contributed to the victory. The signed placards are then placed onto a wall leading to the tunnel at Bryant Denny Stadium. Last year, for instance, we played 14 teams, and won every last one of them...However, the year before, we did not meet all of our goals, and those logos remain in the pyramid as a sign of a task left unfinished.

 Awesome...

There is so much more cool stuff there, including the roping off of the logo in the locker room, etc. The only think I can say is that it is well worth five minutes of your time to check it out.



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Wednesday will begin the final countdown

In six weeks, I will be 5300 miles from here, starting a new, and undoubtedly better, life. I don't think I'm going to be able to keep this up in my current manic state with 3-5 posts a day; so, I'll probably just update this bad boy on the weekends, or on those evenings when I have some time.

Until then, I'm going to add as much as I can, when I can...and, hopefully, the external editor will make that process a lot easier. Now, sadly, I have to go study; let the 14 hour day commence.

This is the most identifiable cheesy keyboard riff in an entire decade full of cheesy keyboard riffs. It is like a transwreck...you just can't turn your head, can you?

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Expect Delays...

I am in the process of meddling with the Style Sheets, preparing to migrate the site, and --to my eternal relief-- getting an external editor instead of this damned web-based editor (not that it's bad for a web editor, but...).

Anyway, things may be buggy for a day or so. Until then, be glad you're not ferrying this Titanic.


D.S.



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Hobbits had the right idea...

12th century English peasants, enjoying one of their many holidays and/or 170 days of yearly vacation.

Per the Telegraph (UK), work life in the dark ages apparently wasn't all that grim, back-breaking 365 day, subsistence farming that we've been led to believe. (I have my own conspiracy about that in a minute). When asked about what the modern world could learn from 12th century Britons, the study authors concluded:

Debt-free living; a lot of holidays and parties and a lack of work ethic; the idea of a 'just price' for goods; some aspects of the medieval guilds and the importance of craftsmanship; and a more spiritual response to money."

A small farmer in the 1100s would be able to make enough money to live off while taking up to 170 days off a year, but since then work has gradually become more dominant in our lives, he said.

He estimated that a similar person in 1495 would need to work for 15 weeks of the year to earn a sufficient amount to live, while in 1564 the figure was 40 weeks and today most British households need two people on full-time incomes to maintain a home and family.

 19th Century Briton...

Is it any coincidence, whatsoever, that the decline in free time, and the decreasing value of wages for labor are sneakily tied to the rise of the capitalist and labor classes? I don't think so, and if you've watched your paycheck shrink over the last few years, then you've felt the pinch and pain of it as well...



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Perhaps the greatest film ever...

Citizen Kane? From Here to Eternity? Potemkin? Metropolis? NO.

I refer of course, to the upcoming Japanese feature: Vampire Girl v. Frankenstein Girl.

I hope Netflix carries this...

H/T Monkey.

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Tuesday is worn out...

I've never really liked Adele per se, but there is something about her voice that is so unique you just can't stop listening.

And, yes, I am bone-tired.

Back to the grind for this one. Coming up today is some Japanese splatter gore and a very frightening sex toy. If I have time, I may throw in a nerd chick for ya.

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Shadow Q&A: Part Two

 I told you I was pretty....and butch

Last week, I answered some of the more frequent questions I've received; including where I'm from, what I look like, who my current "end of the world" paramour would be, and my sexual orientation.

This week's Q&A will largely consist of answering the bizarre comments/questions I've received over the past 3+ years this blog has been in existence (and, it's been located four places on the web, sadly).


Who is your role model and/or who were you in a past life.

These are related, and I can answer them with one answer: If I believed in past lives (which I do not, since I am not a flake), I would have been Temujin a/k/a Genghis Khan for the same reasons I model my professional life after him:

• He was ambitious and absolutely relentless in obtaining his life's goals. Find someone else who was a better task-oriented person, I dare you.
• He was ruthless, cunning and not, as an individual, particularly cruel...Just single-minded and driven.
• He never let life kick him in the ass without getting up, dusting himself off, and kicking life right back in the nads
• He was a consummate organizer and delegator, never micromanaging the affairs of his subordinates
• He always had an eye for the great purpose and the larger goals, as well as the initial and intermediate steps that were necessary to obtain them.
• He was surprisingly progressive
• He loved speed and stringed weapons
• And, he especially loved the ladies.

Me and the Great Khan...ten toes down; ten toes down.

Why are you a lawyer?

Not by choice, initially. I went to college with the goal of being a heart surgeon. But after getting a C in Inorganic Chemistry, I realized that it would probably be unfair to cut on patients as a C student. Then I went into Pyschology and Philosophy, with a minor in creative writing. While in grad school for Clinical Psych, I realized how very very much I hated people.

The only career options open to philospophers, who love to write, but who hate people are A) taxi drivers, B) unemployment/grad school and C) attorney at law.

I chose C.

 Some of Socrates lesser known maxims include the "Piss off", and "I hate all of you fuckers"...

Do you take yourself seriously?

Not as much as Carrot Top, but moreso than Sarah Palin...

Speaking of Sarah Palin, would you 'tap it'?

I loathe stupid people and do not intentionally sleep with republicans. So, to answer your question, not with a borrowed dick and you pushing...

Sarah ' in 2012: Derp...

Oh, so you're a Democrat?

Only because "militant, yet pragmatic lefitist who despises limousine liberals with the intensity of a thousand suns and respects the rule of law" isn't an option at the voting booth. Besides, libertarians are selfish whiners who never got over being 15 and reading "Atlas Shrugged". I pay my taxes, because I value and like schools and roads and firefighters and courts and parks...however, I really should be able to abort my fetus, while smoking pot, and surfing the web anonymously. Nanny-ism is almost as bad as the police state.

 

 Exhibit A for everything that is wrong with self-serious, doctrinaire liberals.

Damn, I see we're running out of time. Is there anyone particular you want to punch in the face today? And why?

Yes. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts. And the reason is Citizens United v. FEC. Go look it up...your democracy is now owned by the oligarchy.

Asshole. 

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I absolutely agree: only in America

Only in America could you possibly add: One part dong....

I'm pretty sure that a penis is not supposed to look like that...

And one part crazy....

Oh god, it tingles so gooooooodddddd.....

And one part freaking Samurai sword....

Hmmm...I wonder if this is still a viable weapon in the 21st century?

And get such predictably bizarre results:   Per the LA Times.

A porn actor wanted for allegedly murdering a co-worker with a samurai-style sword died after jumping from a cliff edge following a standoff with Los Angeles police, police said.


"He jumped down off the cliff after he was Tased," LAPD spokesman Bruce Borihanh said. Whether Hill died from being Tasered, the fall or possibly landing on the sword he was armed with was under investigation, Borihanh said.


Hill was wanted for one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder after attacking colleagues at a pornographic film distribution company warehouse in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Say what you want about America, but you have to give us credit. We absolutely know how to do shark-jumping, batshit psycho....

Okay, so the Japanese do it just a little better.

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Monday has another one down...

and, just 22 more subjects to go...at  my present rate of one evert 2-4 days, I should be finished by Christmas.

Sigh.

What a hypnotically cheesy song.

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