27 Mart 2008 Perşembe
Off To Dayton
Blogging will be light for the next couple of days - I'm at the R.I.S.E. Forum in Dayton Ohio. I may post a thing or two, but only if the speakers get too boring (and they've been excellent so far).
23 Mart 2008 Pazar
I'm In Mourning
21 Mart 2008 Cuma
Atlanta Tornado
I'd spent a fair bit of time in Atlanta a few years back, and still have quite a few good friends there. So, I was pretty concerned when a tornado hit downtown Atlanta last weekend. Luckily, no one I know was hurt since most of my friends live well north of the city.
But one of them sent this extremely cool photo of the city taken that night - it looks almost apocalyptic.
Yet another reminder that you do NOT want to mess with Mother Nature.
But one of them sent this extremely cool photo of the city taken that night - it looks almost apocalyptic.
Yet another reminder that you do NOT want to mess with Mother Nature.
20 Mart 2008 Perşembe
We're God's Crap Game
Moab
Happy Spring Equinox! It's finally warming up! The sun crossed the equator at 11:48 pm last night and I spent it around a fire with good friends a couple houses up the Colorado River from my house-sit at Roberta's & Michael's.
I haven't house-sit much this winter, staying mostly at the canyon cave. I sometimes crash at the warehouse of my friend, Val (Moab's teepee maker).
I feel a grand sense of community in Moab this time around. A growing freegan spirit is happening. One example: my new friends, Brer & Haila, have gotten Free Meal going (based on the Food Not Bombs model) - free food for anybody. It has created new community, real people, love. No club or organization can create such realness & friendship like simple, free food. True Communion.
The Cave
It was a colder winter than usual, but the cave was quite warm! Lots of folks think I'm totally hard-core caving the winter way up the canyon. Most the "caves" up that canyon are really alcoves, the beginnings of arches, & I've stayed in those in the past. But presently I stay in an actual cleft in the face of a cliff, going back about 20 feet, 5 ft wide & a 5-foot high ceiling. There are Anasazi petroglyphs nearby, even one of a pushmepullya big horn sheep. The cave is south-facing, high on a ledge, a natural solar collector. I could often sun-bathe naked there in January even as Moabites below shivered in their boxes. And I rigged a little wood stove from a large tin, with tin cans for a flew, for cooking. It's efficient. A couple sticks cook a meal & make the cave blazing warm. And at night I put plastic over the tear-drop-shaped opening. I really haven't even had to use the stove for heating. I never had to get totally into my sleeping bag all winter long. My coldest times this winter were at house-sits in town.
My Neighbors
I have a pack-rat neighbor in a cave above me.
And a few weeks ago there was a newcomer in the neighborhood - a ringtail cat! He's probably the reason I haven't been plagued by mice all winter. He actually tried to move into the cave, making a den in a back cubbyhole while I was gone for a couple days. I discovered him in the deep of night in the cave making noise, & was relieved to find he wasn't a packrat. 
But after we had a stare-down for a few minutes, I reluctantly shoed him out of the cave. If he didn't leave token turds & pee puddles, I'd accept him as a room-mate.
I've also had canyon wrens try to move in.
Ah, the feeling of hearing the melancholy canyon wren song heralding in the rising sun!
Some of my other neighbors are chipmunks & rock squirrels, spiders, scorpions (quite harmless), sand lizards, and, unfortunately, a few blood-sucking kissing bugs.
And there are bob cats, coyotes, & a cougar that make their rounds, leaving tracks. Only once did I ever see a bob cat and a coyote up there, but never that stealth cougar. And I spot pygmy owls, hawks, occasional golden eagles, & of course ravens.
Oh, yeah, a colony of honey bees moved into a mini cave right above mine, too! They're just awaking for the spring. And there's a colony of fascinating ground bees nearby, too!
Free Fire, Stolen Fire
Ah, the perfect balance! Everybody freely eats and is eaten, freely gives and freely takes. Everything is peaceful, even the violence, because nobody worries that somebody else has it better or worse than themselves. The violence I witness doesn't eat at the soul like the violence in civilization.
See the fundamental of life hardly anybody notices: Everybody on earth gets energy from the sun. Everybody, the just and the unjust. Even the energy running this computer comes from the sun. And the sun demands nothing back. Nothing. All energy is totally, freely given - that is, until it falls into human hands!
That's called Stealing Fire From Heaven, the universal myth describing what separates us from Nature, makes us fall from Balance. Our unique ability to control fire symbolizes our unique control of Credit and Debt. This is the Fire Serpent, the Trickster Seraph who brings consciousness of Credit and Debt. He's called Promethius (Forethought) with his twin Epimethius (Afterthought). He is Ego, who dwells everywhere but in the Present Mind.
We're God's Crap Game
We've become thieves - ungrateful, stingy, possessive, control freaks. Why have we forgotten that everything we get is gift, that by Chance we are blessed? As even the Bible, worshipped by the self-righteous, says:
"The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all."
(The Bible, Ecclesiastes 9:11)
I love Einstein, but dare say that genius was wrong when he said God does not throw dice. God IS the throw of the dice and the thrower of the dice! The day we trust ourselves to the throw of the dice is the day we truly realize Faith. Truly we are Evolution, the product of the dice throw, conforming to the Creator's Image! And we are utter fools, whether we are scientists or religious, if we don't see this Total Miracle! Yes, in the dice is the unbreakable link between science & religion.
"The dice are cast into the lap,
But their every decision is from Yahweh."
(Proverbs 16:33)
And fools indeed are those of us who, by CHANCE might be intelligent or wealthy, and have the gall to look down on others, calling them moochers and parasites!
Get this: our ingratitude has gotten so comically absurd we even bottle water and sell it, and we EVEN lock up our trash bins so no hungry urchin dare snatch even a crumb falling by chance off the table of our Slave Trade! And our Taskmasters (our Politicians & Religious Leaders & Business Leaders) have the gall to call us free! Why don't we get it? We insist we can finally balance everything with our our control games, our money, and we just can't. Not ever.
I say "we" because we are all partakers, and nothing will ever change if we don't take responsibility for our actions, not somebody else's actions. The illness of one cell is the illness of the whole body.
Only trusting the throw of the dice can bring balance, can bring about the Naturally Select, the Elect of Jah.
Happy Spring Equinox! It's finally warming up! The sun crossed the equator at 11:48 pm last night and I spent it around a fire with good friends a couple houses up the Colorado River from my house-sit at Roberta's & Michael's.
I haven't house-sit much this winter, staying mostly at the canyon cave. I sometimes crash at the warehouse of my friend, Val (Moab's teepee maker).
I feel a grand sense of community in Moab this time around. A growing freegan spirit is happening. One example: my new friends, Brer & Haila, have gotten Free Meal going (based on the Food Not Bombs model) - free food for anybody. It has created new community, real people, love. No club or organization can create such realness & friendship like simple, free food. True Communion.The Cave
It was a colder winter than usual, but the cave was quite warm! Lots of folks think I'm totally hard-core caving the winter way up the canyon. Most the "caves" up that canyon are really alcoves, the beginnings of arches, & I've stayed in those in the past. But presently I stay in an actual cleft in the face of a cliff, going back about 20 feet, 5 ft wide & a 5-foot high ceiling. There are Anasazi petroglyphs nearby, even one of a pushmepullya big horn sheep. The cave is south-facing, high on a ledge, a natural solar collector. I could often sun-bathe naked there in January even as Moabites below shivered in their boxes. And I rigged a little wood stove from a large tin, with tin cans for a flew, for cooking. It's efficient. A couple sticks cook a meal & make the cave blazing warm. And at night I put plastic over the tear-drop-shaped opening. I really haven't even had to use the stove for heating. I never had to get totally into my sleeping bag all winter long. My coldest times this winter were at house-sits in town.
My Neighbors
I have a pack-rat neighbor in a cave above me.
And a few weeks ago there was a newcomer in the neighborhood - a ringtail cat! He's probably the reason I haven't been plagued by mice all winter. He actually tried to move into the cave, making a den in a back cubbyhole while I was gone for a couple days. I discovered him in the deep of night in the cave making noise, & was relieved to find he wasn't a packrat. 
But after we had a stare-down for a few minutes, I reluctantly shoed him out of the cave. If he didn't leave token turds & pee puddles, I'd accept him as a room-mate. I've also had canyon wrens try to move in.
Ah, the feeling of hearing the melancholy canyon wren song heralding in the rising sun!Some of my other neighbors are chipmunks & rock squirrels, spiders, scorpions (quite harmless), sand lizards, and, unfortunately, a few blood-sucking kissing bugs.
And there are bob cats, coyotes, & a cougar that make their rounds, leaving tracks. Only once did I ever see a bob cat and a coyote up there, but never that stealth cougar. And I spot pygmy owls, hawks, occasional golden eagles, & of course ravens.
Oh, yeah, a colony of honey bees moved into a mini cave right above mine, too! They're just awaking for the spring. And there's a colony of fascinating ground bees nearby, too!
Free Fire, Stolen Fire
Ah, the perfect balance! Everybody freely eats and is eaten, freely gives and freely takes. Everything is peaceful, even the violence, because nobody worries that somebody else has it better or worse than themselves. The violence I witness doesn't eat at the soul like the violence in civilization.
See the fundamental of life hardly anybody notices: Everybody on earth gets energy from the sun. Everybody, the just and the unjust. Even the energy running this computer comes from the sun. And the sun demands nothing back. Nothing. All energy is totally, freely given - that is, until it falls into human hands!
That's called Stealing Fire From Heaven, the universal myth describing what separates us from Nature, makes us fall from Balance. Our unique ability to control fire symbolizes our unique control of Credit and Debt. This is the Fire Serpent, the Trickster Seraph who brings consciousness of Credit and Debt. He's called Promethius (Forethought) with his twin Epimethius (Afterthought). He is Ego, who dwells everywhere but in the Present Mind. We're God's Crap Game
We've become thieves - ungrateful, stingy, possessive, control freaks. Why have we forgotten that everything we get is gift, that by Chance we are blessed? As even the Bible, worshipped by the self-righteous, says:
"The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all."
(The Bible, Ecclesiastes 9:11)
I love Einstein, but dare say that genius was wrong when he said God does not throw dice. God IS the throw of the dice and the thrower of the dice! The day we trust ourselves to the throw of the dice is the day we truly realize Faith. Truly we are Evolution, the product of the dice throw, conforming to the Creator's Image! And we are utter fools, whether we are scientists or religious, if we don't see this Total Miracle! Yes, in the dice is the unbreakable link between science & religion.
"The dice are cast into the lap,
But their every decision is from Yahweh."
(Proverbs 16:33)
And fools indeed are those of us who, by CHANCE might be intelligent or wealthy, and have the gall to look down on others, calling them moochers and parasites!
Get this: our ingratitude has gotten so comically absurd we even bottle water and sell it, and we EVEN lock up our trash bins so no hungry urchin dare snatch even a crumb falling by chance off the table of our Slave Trade! And our Taskmasters (our Politicians & Religious Leaders & Business Leaders) have the gall to call us free! Why don't we get it? We insist we can finally balance everything with our our control games, our money, and we just can't. Not ever.I say "we" because we are all partakers, and nothing will ever change if we don't take responsibility for our actions, not somebody else's actions. The illness of one cell is the illness of the whole body.
Only trusting the throw of the dice can bring balance, can bring about the Naturally Select, the Elect of Jah.
Some Time Wasting Resources
In case you're looking for a few new ways to kill some time (right - like we need more of those):
I spent most of yesterday editing a paper with my two colleagues. I like working this way - all three in a room (or in a conference call), arguing over each line, suggesting alternate phrasings, etc....
It's noisy and contentious, and takes time, a good self image, and an even better sense of humor (or we'd end up killing each other). But generally, if you can get three people to agree on something (or at least to not be vehemently against something), chances are, it won't suck.
Fancast has entire episodes of many tv shows available online - free. And yes, they have Firefly and Buffy.Now you can blame me for your lack of productivity.
Crooksandliars has compiled a list of the 100 best standup comedians of all time - with links to Youtube clips for many of them.
I spent most of yesterday editing a paper with my two colleagues. I like working this way - all three in a room (or in a conference call), arguing over each line, suggesting alternate phrasings, etc....
It's noisy and contentious, and takes time, a good self image, and an even better sense of humor (or we'd end up killing each other). But generally, if you can get three people to agree on something (or at least to not be vehemently against something), chances are, it won't suck.
19 Mart 2008 Çarşamba
Financial Rounds? Genius!
The Blog Readability Test supposedly determines what level of education is necessary to understand a blog. Here's Financial Rounds' result:
Nuff said. My sense is that it just picks up that I occasionally use big words.
In case you're interested, I found the site from Trainee Trader, which lists the results from a number of popular finance blogs.
Nuff said. My sense is that it just picks up that I occasionally use big words.
In case you're interested, I found the site from Trainee Trader, which lists the results from a number of popular finance blogs.
16 Mart 2008 Pazar
Rankings of Finance Doctoral Programs
Because I'm one of the few bloggers who regularly write about the life of a finance professor, I get about a dozen questions a month from people considering a PhD in finance (Note: if you're interested, you can read about a finance professor's typical day here and here, and about what's involved in getting a PhD in finance here).
The emails are one of the more surprising and most enjoyable things about writing the blog, and at least a couple of the folks who've sent me questions are currently in PhD programs. I look forward to seeing how their careers progress, knowing I may have played some small part it them.
Some of the most frequent questions I get are along the lines of "How do I find out how well respected University X's finance doctoral program is?" or alternately, "Where can a get a list of rankings of finance doctoral programs?"
I should have done this some time ago, but I'm a bit slow at times. But, since Unknown Daughter and She Who Must Be Obeyed are out to a classmate's birthday party, and Unknown Son is entranced by a Harry Potter movie, this seems like a good time to spent a little time on the Almighty Google. Here are the results:
The emails are one of the more surprising and most enjoyable things about writing the blog, and at least a couple of the folks who've sent me questions are currently in PhD programs. I look forward to seeing how their careers progress, knowing I may have played some small part it them.
Some of the most frequent questions I get are along the lines of "How do I find out how well respected University X's finance doctoral program is?" or alternately, "Where can a get a list of rankings of finance doctoral programs?"
I should have done this some time ago, but I'm a bit slow at times. But, since Unknown Daughter and She Who Must Be Obeyed are out to a classmate's birthday party, and Unknown Son is entranced by a Harry Potter movie, this seems like a good time to spent a little time on the Almighty Google. Here are the results:
- Karolyis and Silvestrini have a piece on SSRN titled "Comparing the Research Productivity of Finance PhD Program Graduates" here
- Jean Heck has a similar piece titled "Establishing a Pecking Order for Finance Academics: Ranking of U.S. Finance Doctoral Programs here. Both it and the Karolyi/Silvestrini piece analyze productivity on the basis of the author's doctoral-granting program, but this one lists a few more doctoral programs than the other piece. So, it might yield some possibilities for those looking for less selective programs.
- Finally, Arizona State has a ranking of finance departments (which may or may not have doctoral programs) here, while EconPhD has a similar one covering several finance areas here.
- Chan, Lung and Wolfe have a ranking of finance departments based on "citations" (in case you're not familiar with the term, a citation occurs when one author references another in his work). So, citation counts are often used as a measure of the impact a person's work has in the larger academic community.
- The University of Texas-Dallas has a ranking of business schools (not finance departments) based on publications in a pretty wide number of journals across all business disciplines.
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