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Marty Graham
Moss Gropen
Andrew Hamlin
Dorian Hargrove
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Ken Harrison
Patrick Henderson
Tam Hoang
Eve Kelly
Dryw Keltz
Eva Knott
Thomas Larson
Ken Leighton
Matthew Lickona
Mike Madriaga
Bill Manson
Scott Marks
Bob McPhail
Walter Mencken
Joseph O'Brien
Sheila Pell
Ian Pike
Matt Potter
H.G. Reza
Dave Rice
Elizabeth Salaam
Jay Allen Sanford
Julie Stalmer
DJ Stevens
Matthew Suárez
Amanda Tascher
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shizzyfinn
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San Diego economists divided on how deep recession will be
I had heard a bit about Taleb and Fooled By Randomness, but was largely unfamiliar. His Wikipedia entry and his website are fascinating, though, so I'll be looking for Fooled as well as The Black Swan at the library. (As long as Jerry Sanders doesn't close the library first. In which case, I don't know, maybe they'll start loaning out books at Petco Park?) I love Taleb's idea of "epistemic arrogance," or thinking that we know and understand so much of a world that is largely unknowable and unpredictable. Probably the biggest epiphany of my adult life has been the realization that nobody knows s***, particularly about the future. But everybody from weathermen to cab drivers have no problem spewing advice regardless. And people like stockbrokers and real estate agents don't just spew advice, they charge dearly for it. So you gotta have your B.S. detector turned on at all times. Still, at first glance, Taleb seems more than a little full of himself, and utterly convinced that he is right, which seems to fly in the face of his own ideas - it's like he's an expert on why we shouldn't trust experts. And the reality is that in an uncertain world, we all still have to make decisions, from where to put our savings to whether to grab an umbrella on the way out the door. So maybe the idea is not to reject all advice, but to perpetually sharpen our filtering systems, so that only the good stuff gets in. I guess I'll have to read Taleb's writing and then decide for myself if it's good stuff or not. Oy, the B.S. detection never ends!
— November 14, 2008 11:30 a.m.
San Diego economists divided on how deep recession will be
Is it fair to call the dude from the investment firm an "academic" economist? You gotta be peering through some pretty heavily rose-tinted specs to think the current economic pain is going to be limited to "two or three quarters of slow growth" - or you gotta be trying to sell something. MsGrant, thanks for pointing to the Vanity Fair article. I enjoyed it - a nice history lesson evolution of our modern banking system, and its "shadow" counterpart. Greg, I'd suggest you send your idea directly to Secretary Paulson - he likes new rescue plans more than my wife likes new shoes.
— November 13, 2008 4:18 p.m.
Poor Dad
Mr. B, are you a fan of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman? I think his new movie "Synechone, New York" might be right up your alley. Duncan Shepherd, in his review last week, did not seem too impressed by the flick, but its themes include the meaning of life, the imminence of death, creativity, artistic achievement, medical maladies, and New York - themes that seem to surface in your column quite regularly. So if you've got a couple spare hours in the weeks ahead, head over the Landmark in Hillcrest for a viewing. I'd reckon that, at the least, you'd get more out of "Synechone" than "The Dead Pool". Though the latter does include that compelling cameo from Axl Rose...
— November 13, 2008 12:04 p.m.
The Creepy Factor
Ollie, oh noble King of the Remote Control, maybe you could share your thoughts on the new show The Ex List, which is shot in beloved Ocean Beach. I hate all TV outside of Comedy Central and ESPN, but I tuned in CBS last Friday for The Ex List premier - just to peep the OB backdrops, of course - and I found myself enjoying the characters, the sex jokes, the girly banter. I'm pretty sure that means I'm pathetic and it's time to disembowel myself with a sharp sword. But I thought I'd check with you first.
— October 6, 2008 4:58 p.m.
What advice would you give someone half your age?
I gotta raise a caveat to the "go to college right after high school" advice. It's good advice if you know what you want to study - the classes and the connections will help you get going in your career. But college might not be the right call if you don't know what you want to study - because it's easy to end up with a degree that doesn't suit you, thousands of dollars of debt, and maybe even a drinking problem. And in California (probably most other states, too) the public colleges and universities basically give you one trip through the system. Once you have an undergrad degree, the schools make it real tough to jump back in and get another one, even if it turns out your first degree sucks.
— September 12, 2008 3:22 p.m.
Unforgettable: On Love and Loneliness in Long-Ago San Diego
To the author - what's the deal with the two blanks in Sam's entries? Was he censoring himself, or were the omissions someone else's? "Of all the things that I love best is a little _______ An a starry night." "2 day I am in need of a good_______. You know how it is your self when you feel that way." You can't leave us hanging like that!
— September 12, 2008 2:43 p.m.
John's Jowls
Q. What's the difference between herpes and love? A. Herpes is forever. RDRR. Please do pass the facial festers on to McCain. He's already got 'em all over his conscience, that's for sure, with all the lives Republican policies have wrecked in his era. Forget the Straight Talk Express - dude is the conductor of the Straight T' Hell Express. And unbelievably, a lot of people seem ready to hop on board. Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!
— September 11, 2008 9:33 p.m.
My Mother and the Balloon Animals
Impressive that you remember what you were typing on your keyboard in dreamland. Sleeping with a pad nearby, are you? Freud would be proud. I like hearing about other people's recurring dreams, which seem to be the ones that offer the most insight into the dreamer's psyche. Personally, I have two recurring dreams these days, each one showing up about once a year. One is that I'm back in college, I'm about to take a final in a difficult class that I haven't attended for the entire semester, and I'm panicking because of the guaranteed F. I'd guess that the dream is driven by worries about not being prepared on the job...it seems to pop up when I've got some kind of unusual task on my plate at work. The other is harder to interpret. It starts with me and one other person whose identity varies, and we're outside walking when we see a plane up in the sky, badly listing. The plane eventually crashes, just over the horizon, and then me and my companion begin to make our way over to the crash, filled with both dread and fascination. Of course, I always wake up before we get to the scene. Maybe the plane one is about death? I don't know. But in my waking life, whenever I see a plane in an unusual place in the sky, I wonder if the dream is about to become reality.
— September 7, 2008 9:27 p.m.
Showboating
So this dude is already overrun with yachts, exotic cars, estates, and look-how-rich-I-am parties, but he's still looking to add to the coffers by selling the UT? Ugh. Reminds me of a line from another money pig, good old C. Montgomery Burns: "I'd trade it all for a little more."
— July 30, 2008 9:59 p.m.
What a Drag It Is...
OK, first off, a question for management...why is this amazing article nearly impossible to find in the online version of the Reader? After failing miserably at navigating the menu maze (turns out it wasn't under Stories nor Cover Stories but Feature Stories...) I ended up having to search for the article name to get here. It's a pity, because I'm assuming a lot of folks missed this piece, just because it's so hard to find. And the piece is a triumph. I first read it in the print version, where you don't get the author's name until the end. But I began to happily suspect, after making it to the mention of the Sounds of Silence, that John Brizzolara just might be at the controls. As more of the author's personal anecdotes emerged, my hopes were confirmed. And the article ended up being an instant classic from Mr. Brizzolara. His apology on behalf of the baby boomers is appropo. How does a generation that got started amid the peace rallies and painful lessons of Vietnam, somehow still manage to let a guy like George W. Bush take things over under its watch? The whole thing is -- to borrow a fitting and generation-spanning adjective from Mr. Brizzolara -- depressing-ass. Ah, but life's a bitch, and then you die, I suppose. Or as Mr. Brizzolara zings: "Almost everything I love to wear, they don’t make anymore. Everyplace I used to love isn’t what it used to be, and as time has revealed, it probably never was."
— July 21, 2008 9:21 p.m.
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Moss Gropen
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Ken Harrison
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Tam Hoang
Eve Kelly
Dryw Keltz
Eva Knott
Thomas Larson
Ken Leighton
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Mike Madriaga
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Scott Marks
Bob McPhail
Walter Mencken
Joseph O'Brien
Sheila Pell
Ian Pike
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H.G. Reza
Dave Rice
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San Diego economists divided on how deep recession will be
I had heard a bit about Taleb and Fooled By Randomness, but was largely unfamiliar. His Wikipedia entry and his website are fascinating, though, so I'll be looking for Fooled as well as The Black Swan at the library. (As long as Jerry Sanders doesn't close the library first. In which case, I don't know, maybe they'll start loaning out books at Petco Park?) I love Taleb's idea of "epistemic arrogance," or thinking that we know and understand so much of a world that is largely unknowable and unpredictable. Probably the biggest epiphany of my adult life has been the realization that nobody knows s***, particularly about the future. But everybody from weathermen to cab drivers have no problem spewing advice regardless. And people like stockbrokers and real estate agents don't just spew advice, they charge dearly for it. So you gotta have your B.S. detector turned on at all times. Still, at first glance, Taleb seems more than a little full of himself, and utterly convinced that he is right, which seems to fly in the face of his own ideas - it's like he's an expert on why we shouldn't trust experts. And the reality is that in an uncertain world, we all still have to make decisions, from where to put our savings to whether to grab an umbrella on the way out the door. So maybe the idea is not to reject all advice, but to perpetually sharpen our filtering systems, so that only the good stuff gets in. I guess I'll have to read Taleb's writing and then decide for myself if it's good stuff or not. Oy, the B.S. detection never ends!— November 14, 2008 11:30 a.m.
San Diego economists divided on how deep recession will be
Is it fair to call the dude from the investment firm an "academic" economist? You gotta be peering through some pretty heavily rose-tinted specs to think the current economic pain is going to be limited to "two or three quarters of slow growth" - or you gotta be trying to sell something. MsGrant, thanks for pointing to the Vanity Fair article. I enjoyed it - a nice history lesson evolution of our modern banking system, and its "shadow" counterpart. Greg, I'd suggest you send your idea directly to Secretary Paulson - he likes new rescue plans more than my wife likes new shoes.— November 13, 2008 4:18 p.m.
Poor Dad
Mr. B, are you a fan of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman? I think his new movie "Synechone, New York" might be right up your alley. Duncan Shepherd, in his review last week, did not seem too impressed by the flick, but its themes include the meaning of life, the imminence of death, creativity, artistic achievement, medical maladies, and New York - themes that seem to surface in your column quite regularly. So if you've got a couple spare hours in the weeks ahead, head over the Landmark in Hillcrest for a viewing. I'd reckon that, at the least, you'd get more out of "Synechone" than "The Dead Pool". Though the latter does include that compelling cameo from Axl Rose...— November 13, 2008 12:04 p.m.
The Creepy Factor
Ollie, oh noble King of the Remote Control, maybe you could share your thoughts on the new show The Ex List, which is shot in beloved Ocean Beach. I hate all TV outside of Comedy Central and ESPN, but I tuned in CBS last Friday for The Ex List premier - just to peep the OB backdrops, of course - and I found myself enjoying the characters, the sex jokes, the girly banter. I'm pretty sure that means I'm pathetic and it's time to disembowel myself with a sharp sword. But I thought I'd check with you first.— October 6, 2008 4:58 p.m.
What advice would you give someone half your age?
I gotta raise a caveat to the "go to college right after high school" advice. It's good advice if you know what you want to study - the classes and the connections will help you get going in your career. But college might not be the right call if you don't know what you want to study - because it's easy to end up with a degree that doesn't suit you, thousands of dollars of debt, and maybe even a drinking problem. And in California (probably most other states, too) the public colleges and universities basically give you one trip through the system. Once you have an undergrad degree, the schools make it real tough to jump back in and get another one, even if it turns out your first degree sucks.— September 12, 2008 3:22 p.m.
Unforgettable: On Love and Loneliness in Long-Ago San Diego
To the author - what's the deal with the two blanks in Sam's entries? Was he censoring himself, or were the omissions someone else's? "Of all the things that I love best is a little _______ An a starry night." "2 day I am in need of a good_______. You know how it is your self when you feel that way." You can't leave us hanging like that!— September 12, 2008 2:43 p.m.
John's Jowls
Q. What's the difference between herpes and love? A. Herpes is forever. RDRR. Please do pass the facial festers on to McCain. He's already got 'em all over his conscience, that's for sure, with all the lives Republican policies have wrecked in his era. Forget the Straight Talk Express - dude is the conductor of the Straight T' Hell Express. And unbelievably, a lot of people seem ready to hop on board. Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!— September 11, 2008 9:33 p.m.
My Mother and the Balloon Animals
Impressive that you remember what you were typing on your keyboard in dreamland. Sleeping with a pad nearby, are you? Freud would be proud. I like hearing about other people's recurring dreams, which seem to be the ones that offer the most insight into the dreamer's psyche. Personally, I have two recurring dreams these days, each one showing up about once a year. One is that I'm back in college, I'm about to take a final in a difficult class that I haven't attended for the entire semester, and I'm panicking because of the guaranteed F. I'd guess that the dream is driven by worries about not being prepared on the job...it seems to pop up when I've got some kind of unusual task on my plate at work. The other is harder to interpret. It starts with me and one other person whose identity varies, and we're outside walking when we see a plane up in the sky, badly listing. The plane eventually crashes, just over the horizon, and then me and my companion begin to make our way over to the crash, filled with both dread and fascination. Of course, I always wake up before we get to the scene. Maybe the plane one is about death? I don't know. But in my waking life, whenever I see a plane in an unusual place in the sky, I wonder if the dream is about to become reality.— September 7, 2008 9:27 p.m.
Showboating
So this dude is already overrun with yachts, exotic cars, estates, and look-how-rich-I-am parties, but he's still looking to add to the coffers by selling the UT? Ugh. Reminds me of a line from another money pig, good old C. Montgomery Burns: "I'd trade it all for a little more."— July 30, 2008 9:59 p.m.
What a Drag It Is...
OK, first off, a question for management...why is this amazing article nearly impossible to find in the online version of the Reader? After failing miserably at navigating the menu maze (turns out it wasn't under Stories nor Cover Stories but Feature Stories...) I ended up having to search for the article name to get here. It's a pity, because I'm assuming a lot of folks missed this piece, just because it's so hard to find. And the piece is a triumph. I first read it in the print version, where you don't get the author's name until the end. But I began to happily suspect, after making it to the mention of the Sounds of Silence, that John Brizzolara just might be at the controls. As more of the author's personal anecdotes emerged, my hopes were confirmed. And the article ended up being an instant classic from Mr. Brizzolara. His apology on behalf of the baby boomers is appropo. How does a generation that got started amid the peace rallies and painful lessons of Vietnam, somehow still manage to let a guy like George W. Bush take things over under its watch? The whole thing is -- to borrow a fitting and generation-spanning adjective from Mr. Brizzolara -- depressing-ass. Ah, but life's a bitch, and then you die, I suppose. Or as Mr. Brizzolara zings: "Almost everything I love to wear, they don’t make anymore. Everyplace I used to love isn’t what it used to be, and as time has revealed, it probably never was."— July 21, 2008 9:21 p.m.