A Few Observations

No Country For Old Barbers

2008-02-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

Earlier today I decided to get a haircut, and, after discovering that my first two choices for haircut establishment were closed on Mondays, I settled for my third choice: this old school (presumably) Greek guy. I knew he was predisposed to military-short haircuts, but I figured I had walked too far to return unkempt.

After playing it safe and showing him a picture from a magazine of what I might want, his first move was to cut 2-3 inches off of my hair without warning. There was no turning back.

Now I learned a couple things from this: first, never settle for your third choice of anything, and that this is no country for old barbers. When all the old timers who like their hair "high and tight" lose their hair, this guy and all the barbers like him will be out of business. It's still all about the customer, no matter how badly you want to make me look like your 15 year old nephew on a Christmas card.

Say It Ain't So

2008-02-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

After the New England Patriots somehow managed to lose some sporting event (football I think?) last Sunday, I realized that I know understand why people choose to pretend things never happened.

It is much easier. Sure, it's immature, but I refuse to move on to the acceptance or even anger stages of grief. I want to go back to the good old days when I could be the arrogant asshole who cheered for the winning team. I already miss those days, and maybe, just maybe, I can hold out this fantasy of mine just a little bit longer.

Until I see another Giants jersey- then I am going to lose it.

Keep Your Head Down

2008-01-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

I've decided that whenever I walk anywhere at school from now on, I'm going to stare at the ground, exactly 3 feet in front of my feet.

I've been getting in the most uncomfortable eye-contact/greeting situations with people recently. As many of you know, handled poorly, a greeting can leave you walking away thinking, "WTF did I just say/do/gesture?!"

These situations are only exacerbated by the fact that in college, you tend to have a lot of acquaintances- people that deserve a nice greeting but maybe not a phone call. You never know how these acquaintances will react to a "hello", or how they will react to a non-greeting.

However, if you don't see the person (i.e. you are staring at the ground), you can't be at fault. Maybe I'm reading into this a bit too much, but at least I won't be tripping on any unexpected obstructions in the paths of Vassar College.

IMDb gives movies a 7.5? Err, no

2008-01-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

I came across this really funny article from The Onion, the satire news paper/online site. If you don't know anything about Pitchfork Media, it is a music website that has interviews, reviews, music news, etc. Their reviews (which include a score from 1-10) are notably elitist, which has caused a lot of people to disregard their rating system. However, whenever they give a rating over 8.0, everyone takes notice.

It is rating systems like this that make me appreciate IMBd's rating system even more- which is based on total user votes. It is however, nice to read an actual review and not just the number associated with it, which IMDb does not provide. In theory, you could therefore disagree with what the reviewer wrote and consequently their rating, instead of taking the number rating at face value. Either way, satire is funny and the Onion does it really well.

Gyms are a great place to pick up girls? I must disagree

2008-01-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have read, in numerous reputable periodicals, that the gym is a great place to meet/pick up members of the opposite sex. While I must concede that a gym has a higher percentage of attractive, in-shape people than say, a Wal-Mart, I would argue it is one of the most awkward, uncomfortable places to even talk to another human being.

After observing my local Planet Fitness for the past month, here are my top five reasons why this is the case:

5) It is nearly impossible to judge age outside of any indicating context (non-gym attire, etc.). Women are all over the board on this one- it doesn't help that my only chances lie within the 18-22 age range.
4) Everyone is on a different schedule: you're not going to interrupt someone half way into their stairmaster routine are you? Mid crunch? No. If the stars align and you end up leaving the gym at the same time as another person, that is basically your only shot.
3) The guy next to you is lifting twice as much. A real confidence booster.
2) Starting a conversation inevitably comes across as creepy. I mean the only thing you have in common at that moment is that you are working out. Don't even think about mentioning how long the woman has been on the treadmill, calories burned, weight loss goals, etc. And I've heard form advice is a no-no.
1) People generally look like shit when they are sweating, grunting, or generally exerting themselves in any way. Definitely not conducive to attraction, at least in my book.

However, there is hope: Whole Foods. That store is full of attractive, (seemingly) single women. Also, there is so much more you can talk about at a grocery store than at a gym. Unfortunately, the women I saw there were mainly between 28 and 40, so I'll save that one for the future.

Movie Update

2008-01-10T17:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more movies (and their ratings) I got a chance to see over break:

Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: 8/10
Notes: I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. Johnny Depp was great as always.

Atonement: 7/10
Notes: The storyline was a little boring but was redeemed by the directing style and the fact that Kiera Knightly is so hot.

The Lives of Others: 8/10

I'm still waiting to see There Will Be Blood, which apparently doesnt come out in Maine until the 18th. It's getting crazy good reviews.

Why I Now Hate GPS Units and How They Will Lead to the End of the Human Race

2008-01-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

You know those portable GPS things that people use to get places they are unfamiliar with? Well, they need to be destroyed. I just returned from a trip to Montreal with some friends and unfortunately we were at the mercy of one of these units.

Here are some of the things I blame this machine for: 1) it made us take the craziest route to the border which must have been completely based on distance and not road condition, speed limit, potential for fatal accident, etc. 2) The border checkpoint we were guided to is probably the least used checkpoint in the eastern half of the US-Canada border- as a result the entire car was searched, we were detained for 5 hours, and then denied entrance into Canada (this had something to do with illegal knives in the glove compartment). 3) When we finally got to Montreal it led us to the other Prince Arthur St. just to add a bit of insult to injury. 4) On the drive home, in the worst driving conditions I had ever seen due to snow, the route we were forced to follow went straight through the White Mountains in New Hampshire which was probably the most dangerous stretch of road around. That drive took at least 2 years off of my life, thanks GPS.

Why not just get directions from Mapquest or someone who has driven to Montreal before? The answer is simple: we had the GPS. We were invincible. It uses satellites, which seems more foolproof than Mapquest at least. Thats the reason these things are so dangerous- they give you a false sense of security and do not require any prior knowledge of the places you are driving through.

I hope to never own such a device. The more people use them, the lower the world's total knowledge of directions will be- if we all use GPS this theoretically won't be a problem, assuming the technology becomes affordable for more people.

Admittedly, GPS can be helpful in certain situations. The devices are pretty much digital phone books, containing names, numbers, and addresses of local businesses which can be very helpful. Also, if you have absolutely no clue where you are, they will get you to your destination (it just may not be the fastest or least headache-inducing). Basically, the thought of taking orders from a machine scares me.

Day of the Week Drama

2007-12-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

Since being home, I have lost all of my day-of-the-week sense. I've decided this very unique situation is likely only shared by other college students on ridiculously long breaks, infants, and the elderly. Even the unemployed can probably tell a Tuesday from a Saturday based on traffic, other peoples moods, etc.

It doesn't help that my parents are taking random days off mid-week, ruining any schedule I was slowly creating in my mind. In college, its all about getting to Thursday- in the working world, Friday is the goal. Right now, I don't have a specific day I look forward to; a Friday could be as much or as little fun as a Monday. I am essentially in Purgatory.

This phenomenon, however, has instilled in me an above-average sense of dates. I know what I'll be doing on December 31st, but I couldn't tell you what day of the week that is. January 5th, no clue. Talking to a friend the other day about going skiing, we reached an impasse very quickly. It went something like this:

Hey do you wanna go skiing next Wednesday?
What's the date?
I don't know.
Well, I can go on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th.
What days of the week are those?
I don't know.

Hopefully this little problem of mine will sort itself out fairly quickly. I feel like nobody else is having a similar day-of-the-week problem. If calendars didn't exist, I would end up staying in my house all day, watching soaps, playing solitaire, and eating dinner at 4:30.

Movie Update

2007-12-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Andy's movie rating update, here are the (new) movies I have seen so far this break, and my ratings:

Charlie Wilson's War 8/10
Kite Runner 5/10
Juno 9/10

Ratings (hopefully) coming soon:

Atonement (really excited to see this)
There Will Be Blood

*On a side note, I would suggest everyone make a stop at their local Target. All Entourage seasons are $15, Arrested Development $20, and the OC $20, among others. I just bought Entourage season 3a so if you happen to go to Vassar, I would suggest buying 3b (you know, for posterity).

Facebook and the Availability Heuristic

2007-12-23T19:06:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty confident that at some point in every Facebook-users life they have been drawn into reading some irrelevant wall to wall conversation between two "friends" they barely know (only on Facebook, right?), or random people within their network.

Now, in the interest of cognitive economy we humans tend to use heuristics, or shortcuts, to quickly evaluate situations. I would argue one of the most dangerous heuristics we use on Facebook is the Availability heuristic, which is essentially the act of forming conclusions about a person, situation, event, etc. based on examples that are most readily available. Here's a fictional scenario:

Person A: yo last night was so crazy. so many kids were there. we gotta hang out more often. call me about tonight we gotta party again
Person B: yeah so nuts. you were out of control. haha so funny. ill def call you later

And a very special Winter break scenario:

Person A: oh man, i can't wait for you to come to _______ to visit me. its gonna be so sick. we're gonna party so hard.
Person B: yeah, i'm so excited. how are the ladies in _______. you better hook me up dude.

So what can we take away from these conversations. Well, these kids are pretty cool and fun. I mean, they party all the time, and are really sociable. While these are pretty ridiculous assertions based on such a short conversation, it's hard not to make some larger (positive) assumptions about these people. Initially I read these types of exchanges and think "wow, these people must have exhausted all other means of communication talking about their crazy exploits, the exploits spilled into Facebook for everyone to see."

The fact that I don't actually believe that statement has more to do with time of exposure than my own mental processes. However, when you quickly read wall posts (which you often do quickly and in high frequency), you rarely have time to develop a valid conclusion. Shortcuts are taken in the interest of time, a shocking occurrence that is making kids with high wall post counts look disproportionately cool.

The only solution to this problem is to start wall-posting about everything I do: "oh man great time at dinner. so crazy" or "can't believe you said that in the library haha". How cool will I look? I mean, if you didn't wall post your friend about it the next day, it never happened.

New Music Drop

2007-12-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

Being home with no school work to think about has afforded me time to check out some new music. Now, I hate when people overload me with all these bands they love, so I'll keep it short.

Yeasayer "All Hour Symbols"- don't know much about this band but I like what I hear so far.

Band of Horses "Cease to Begin"- New album for these guys I guess. I hate the band name but that's neither here nor there, right?

Silversun Pickups "Carnavas"- This isn't too-new of an album, but I rediscovered it after hearing one of their songs on Newport Harbor (can you believe Chrissy?)- anyways really good stuff.

Ruin the Ending

2007-12-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

In a recent post, Ryan Holiday of ryanholiday.net, blogged about how he manages to read books that are intended, theoretically at least, for people with more formal education. At 20, his favorite topics include Greek History and Applied Economics, subject areas he has never taken classes in.

Among his suggestions for understanding a book regardless of your education level, two stuck out for me: Ruin the Ending and Read the Reviews. Before you even open the book, he says you should go to wikipedia and find out what happens. Then, he says, go to Amazon and read the reviews of the book.

His theory is that once you know what happens, you can concentrate on why it is happening and how each development will affect the resolution. The reviews will give you an idea of the important themes and cultural significance of the work- while you may come to these same conclusions yourself, the idea is that you can appreciate them as they come. This also gives you some idea of how other people interpret the book and creates a (virtual) discourse that will amplify your understanding of the book.

This is definitely an interesting theory; I also think it does essentially what Ryan Holiday intends it to do: increases your understanding of some written material. I found this was this case when reading On the Road earlier this year. I personally didn't find the book that much of a page turner; but its On the Road, the book that defined a generation (or whatever the back cover said). Reading the book, knowing how many people it had inspired or resonated with, became a much more rewarding experience. I had read quite a bit about Jack Kerouac, On the Road, and the whole Beat Generation thing before reading the book, something that made it much easier to appreciate the style and pacing of the writing.

I can't decide if knowing the ending or major themes of a book makes reading it any less enjoyable. Maybe Classics are more conducive to this type of pre-reading. Who knows. If I give this strategy another shot, I'll let you know.

Drugs are fun

2007-12-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

I found some unintentionally funny quotes in my Forensics text tonight and thought I'd share:

On Marijuana: "...initial restlessness and hilarity followed by a dreamy, carefree state of relaxation; alteration of sensory perceptions including expansion of space and time; and a more vivid sense of touch, sight, smell, taste and sound; a feeling of hunger, especially a craving for sweets..."

Ok, how can you read that and not want to smoke? This part comes just after the section where we find out marijuana produces no physiological or psychological dependencies. Anyways...

On alcohol: "The drinker's personality becomes expansive, and he or she exudes confidence"

Nice.

On field sobriety tests: "The ability to understand and simultaneously carry out more than two instructions is significantly affected by increasing blood-alcohol levels"

Probably true.

On an unrelated note, my last exam is tomorrow then I'm out of here. It's been a great few months; I'm looking forward to next semester.

What your finals week drink order says about you

2007-12-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

Coffee, cream and sugar on the side: this is probably your 5th cup today

Anything with the word chai in it: ultimate frisbee is one of your interests

Tea with honey: is it hard to study in pants that tight?

Cappuccino: female

Large black coffee: your syllabus and calculator are out and you've already determined how badly a C weighted 30% fucks you

Feel free to share more. I've got a paper to write.

Finals and such

2007-12-11T14:44:00.000-08:00

So finals have sort of kept me from posting much this week. I could of sworn study week was fun last year- this year I've just been super stressed. I've spent most of my time writing this research paper about oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. I guess I can't complain too much since I picked the topic. So now I've killed two birds with one stone- milked a blog post out of a required research paper. Anyways, here's a excerpt:

Based on “The Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government”, the United States imports just over 10 million barrels of crude oil per day. At this rate of consumption, the entire crude oil supply of the 1002 area (the proposed drilling area) in the ANWR could be consumed by the United States in a period of between 425 and 1,180 days (assuming reservoir probabilistic values of 95% and 5%, respectively)...Alaskan reserves as of December 31, 2005 were 4.17 billion barrels of crude oil. If the 1002 ANWR area predicted reserves were added to these known Alaskan reserves, shifting U.S. imported oil to Alaskan production would last between 842 and 1,597 days.

Just goes to show how dependent we really are on foreign oil- pretty frightening.

I'm sorry, fine me

2007-12-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

I came across this article about Rodney Harrison being fined for taunting Baltimore Ravens coach Bill Billick. He was fined $5,000- not that significant I know but what was really crazy was that he has been fined over a quarter of a million dollars in his career (this is in addition to a $470,000 fine he paid for using human growth hormone- hate to even mention this. Patriots. Cheating. Let's move on).

So now I really want to know what happens to that money. I hope the NFL is good enough to donate all this money to charity. I don't see how they can't. Assuming this is the case, I am now a big fan of fines. Usually athletes get fined for doing crazy shit (Steven Jackson, others) that is usually hilarious to watch and later joke about. Then they give money to charity- everybody wins (unless someone gets hit in the face, in which case, they lose).

Could we fine people for more things in the real world? I know there are fines for lots of things like speeding and hitting your wife but I'm proposing fines for lower scale things. Didn't turn in your paper in time? $10 fine. Forgot to call someone back? $5. Questionable hook up? $20 (This one has the most potential- you could put the money in a fund that finances parties with better looking girls. Problem solved). You get the idea. I actually think this is a terrible idea- mainly just because I'm cheap.

3:10 to Yuma

2007-12-08T22:51:00.000-08:00

So this was a great movie. Imdb confirmed this for me with a very high 8.2 (#173 overall) rating but I needed to see it for myself. Ultimately the movie came down to the amazing performances of two great actors: Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. While I normally feel that Bale is the better actor (see American Psycho, Rescue Dawn, etc.) Crowe did a slightly better job of creating some internal moral conflict.

Unfortunately it looks like this movie wont get too much Oscar buzz- check out "There Will Be Blood" with Daniel Day Lewis- probably the best actor of our generation. I feel this may steal considerable Oscar buzz. Trailer here. It also seems to be coming out at the right time- oil is pretty hateable right now.

I havent looked much into 3:10 but my first reaction was that Bale and Crowe should have switched roles. I wouldn't normally jump to this sort of critique; however, judging the performances of Bale in American Psycho and Crowe in Gladiator it was the logical move. Bale is a method actor who can pretty much adapt to any role (see Rescue Dawn, The Machinist) In my opinion, he would have been a much better sociopath than Crowe. Likewise I feel that Crowe would have played a more compassionate rancher. While I got the feeling that Crowe was the more functional killer, Bale just always seemed on edge and became more believable as the unpredictable killer.

Notes: Love how Bale was such a money shot (doesn't this always happen in movies?) and how his son was a Zach Efron double

Also loved the last scene. Can't ruin the movie but see it yourself

2007-12-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

Thought this clip from the Ali G show was pretty funny and is sort of related to my earlier post. Skip to 3 minutes 10 seconds.

I've heard a rumor that there is going to be a Bruno movie. Hope this is true

Why Sin City is so great

2007-12-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

Ok so I just watched Sin City for the second time in as many weeks. Has to be in my top 5 for movies. I don't think there is much disagreement out there about whether or not it's good. (Evidence here) I've come up with a few more reasons why I love this movie so much (in no particular order)

-With the voice overs, the movie is almost entirely composed of quotable dialogue. To0 many to list.

-Mickey Rourke's voice

-The ratio of hot girls to ugly ones. On the order of 100:0 if thats even possible.

-Jessica Alba as a stripper. Just the idea of this is exciting.

-I have no reservations about having a man crush on any of the characters.

-Josh Hartnett's small role. Hitman who gets with the girls before offing them- pretty money.

-The segmentation of the movie. Each part can pretty much stand alone which is good if you are pressed for time

Thoughts on Consistency

2007-12-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

Consistency is totally underrated. I recently had a good conversation with a friend about how important consistency is in personality and temperament. Knowing what to expect from someone seems pretty boring on the surface- maybe true, but I would argue that the person was probably boring to begin with. Its pretty frustrating to have to guess how someone will react to a comment or a new situation. There must be some adaptive heuristic at work that tells you, based on every situation you've seen a person in, how they will react in the future. This goes out the window with inconsistency.

The only way to handle inconsistency in my opinion is to be as consistent as possible, ideally to the point where the other person begins to question their own consistency. Maybe this makes no sense, but this is my first blog post and I have a hangover. The idea is there.