Guy Berger

For what it's worth, when I was in grad school I bought the cheapest pair available ($40). You get pretty much what you pay for -- they are better than nothing, but I am thinking of upgrading. What about the Shure earbuds or whatever they are called? Everybody who has them swears by them. Guy

Maui, or some other tropical paradise. Though with global warming, we may dispose of this annoying winter thing in other places too. Guy

Missed that post earlier. Thanks Guy. We tend to think the same thing here. Lack of statistics helps to cover up regional prosperity gaps. MG I think that in the US the regional statistics are probably decent, though certainly not as good as the national ones. As far as prosperity gaps -- they exist both in terms of levels and in rates of change. For example, though Michigan is somewhere near the US median in terms of per capita income level it's pretty much been in a recession for the last XXXX years, much worse than the rest of country and even the rest of the rustbelt. Guy

A very funny graphic, but the "Helicopter Ben" moniker is based both on a misattribution (Milton Friedman was the guy that came up with the "dropping money from a helicopter" thought experiment*, Bernanke was just quoting Friedman) and a misunderstanding (printing lots of money may indeed be the best way to end deflation). Guy *Though I was recently amused to find out that as part of their strategy in WW2, the Nazis planned (or did?) to drop lots of counterfeit bills on the UK in order to cause runaway inflation.

Is there a rational scheme for water pricing in the Atlanta area? Guy

A few days later and a much more cynical article:

Seems fair to me. Caron Butler is an all-star in the east and Lamar Odom at his best is a very good player (though he hasn't lived up to his potential) -- not a fair deal, but not crap either. Guy

Doesn't make sense to me. Howard & Terry are nothing to write home about, and two very low first rounder? If the Lakers are offering to take that, I'm jumping on it right now if I'm Dallas.... I think Kobe wishes he took that Clipper offer now, that made so much sense for him. Maybe they meant Josh Howard? Terry is a good shoot-first point guard, and Howard is a very good (not great) all-star caliber player. Given that the Lakers are going nowhere with Kobe, maybe it's a good idea to blow up the team and start from scratch. Plus, ditching Kobe's contract makes trading for the right pieces easier. Personally, as a Laker hater, I hope they keep him. Guy

His work with Monk -- under Monk's name, under Milt's name, and under Miles Davis's name -- is all essential. Not sure if that is what you are looking for, though. Guy

Very interesting, informative article. Disclaimer: like most of the Economist's journalism, it has a fairly strong editorial bent.

It's ALL done for money. Show me the musician who didn't want paying. MG I think 7/4 meant music that compromises artistically in order to get more money. (i.e. The artist deliberately "reduces the quality" of their music.) This opens up a whole can of worms and may be so subjective as to be completely meaningless (though I don't think so), but I think that's what people mean when they accuse an artist of producing "commercial"/"commercialized" music or "selling out". edit: I was going to say that this kind of thinking becomes more prevalent once an art form starts actually being considered ART by its audience, but the more I think about it maybe not. Guy

The Beatles didn't get creamed by the Rolling Stones in a 4 game series. Guy

I checked. Not only are there regional indices for the CPI, but even about 30 or so for urban areas. It was pretty striking (though not surprising) that economically struggling areas (eg Detroit, Cleveland) have much lower inflation than those areas that are economically booming (SF Bay Area, Miami, NYC). Guy

I figured one of the perks of moving south would be the year round availability of summer produce -- peaches, plums, nectarines. Unfortunately I was surprised to go to my local supermarket and find that they were gone, replaced by the usual winter fare of apples, pears, and citrus. All I could find were some pathetic-looking organic nectarines. Is this also true where you live? Where does one go to buy some imported southern-hemisphere produce? Guy

I am almost sure the answer is "yes". I will get back to you within a few days. Guy

I don't think anybody's mentioned Muhal Richard Abrams's Blu Blu Blu, though at this point it's 15-20 years old. Excellent big band writing that straddles a-g jazz and post-bop.

The Dylan covers were hit and miss -- but I love their versions of "Mr. Tambourine Man", "Chimes of Freedom" and ESPECIALLY "My Back Pages". Guy

I like some of his contributions to those early albums, but think the band got better after he left. That may be due more to the emergence of Hillman and Crosby as songwriters. Guy

This speech by Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher does a pretty good job of explaining why policymakers should focus on some sort of core measure of inflation, though he can't help but plug the Dallas Fed's special inflation measure. The whole speech is interesting, but I bolded the stuff that was relevant to our earlier discussion:

I used to love BK chicken tenders when younger. I don't do much ff these days (barring stuff like Quizno's) but I still like the occasional Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich. Guy

Black Fire and Judgment would be good ones to try next, but eventually you'll want them all. They are that good, and they all get better with time/repeated listens. I second Sal's recommendation -- Black Fire and Judgment are the next ones to get. Guy