tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24502463122545733792024-03-13T14:20:21.422+00:00Welcome to the monkey housejordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-7580253374087402892009-04-18T15:41:00.004+01:002009-04-18T15:52:29.994+01:00Soros' point of viewRecently, I got accross through a friend a very interesting article from George Soros' <a href="http://www.georgesoros.com/articles-essays/entry/the_crisis_what_to_do_about_it/">webpage</a>. It deals with the causes of the financial crisis. Here I present some extracts from it together with some comments.<br /><br />The article is very interesting and touches to start with with the reason for the crisis that we have all heard already:<br /><br /><i style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"The misconception is derived from the prevailing theory of financial markets, which, as mentioned earlier, holds that financial markets tend toward equilibrium and that deviations are random and can be attributed to external causes. This theory has been used to justify the belief that the pursuit of self-interest should be given free rein and markets should be deregulated. I call that belief <b>market fundamentalism</b> and claim that it employs false logic. Just because regulations and all other forms of governmental interventions have proven to be faulty, it does not follow that markets are perfect."</i><br /><br />We tend to believe that if regulators let the system be, it must be ok, but as Soros says,<br /><br /><i style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"It is important to recognize that regulators base their decisions on a distorted view of reality just as much as market participants-perhaps even more so because regulators are not only human but also bureaucratic and subject to political influences"</i><br /><br />The point I wanted to stress, though, is the effect that has had on the crisis the absolute ignorance of banks when it came to calculate the risks of some of the products they sell:<br /><br /><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">"Financial engineering involved the creation of increasingly sophisticated instruments, or derivatives, for leveraging credit and "managing" risk in order to increase potential profit. An alphabet soup of synthetic financial instruments was concocted: CDOs, CDO squareds, CDSs, ABXs, CMBXs, etc. This engineering reached such heights of complexity that the regulators could no longer calculate the risks and came to rely on the risk management models of the financial institutions themselves."</i><br /><br />Anyone working in investment banks can tell you that the fact that regulators trusted the risk models from the banks is the real problem. Some of the risk models that banks had (have!) for credit products are <b>a joke</b>. You get 20-year-olds managing millions in risk they don't even understand. It all boils down, I must say, to very simplistic models in the first place (quants!). It is the need to produce new models as fast as you can that leads to innacuracies. Again, the hurry coming from the ever present <b>greed</b>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/Seno6CoKRgI/AAAAAAAAKrc/zL7QIwlYKaY/s1600-h/greed_trust.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/Seno6CoKRgI/AAAAAAAAKrc/zL7QIwlYKaY/s320/greed_trust.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326044118177695234" border="0" /></a><br />About this problem of all-too-complex products, Soros says<br /><br /><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">"Sophisticated financial engineering of the kind I have mentioned can render the calculation of margin and capital requirements extremely difficult if not impossible. In order to activate such requirements, financial engineering must also be regulated and new products must be registered and approved by the appropriate authorities before they can be used."</i><br /><br />But the problem is, in my opinion, that you can never be sure that the regulator knows what he is doing! How do we know that they understand the products. I believe there should be a limit in the leverage products can offer (leverage = potential gains vs initial investment), because the higher the leverage, the higher the inherent risk and potential damage. Actually, Soros points this out as well at the end:<br /><br /><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">"Since the risk management models used until now ignored the uncertainties inherent in reflexivity, limits on credit and leverage will have to be set substantially lower than those that were tolerated in the recent past."</i><br /><br />Of course, that would make banks less profitable and, therefore, limit the speed to which management can get rich, which is a good thing. However, that's certainly not the panacea we are looking for, and one feels that something of a greater magnitude is necessary. A full change in the financial systems, which may be even too much to take for the leaders of our world, including Mr Obama.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-22604913973450801362009-04-15T21:21:00.007+01:002009-04-15T22:35:50.297+01:00The trader's point of viewFollowing on my last post on the G20 protests, I thought it would be fair enough to give a chance to a trader's opinion on the whole economic world crisis. I had at work a very interesting conversation with some of my trader colleagues. When I asked them if they still believed that a pure, crude, free non-intervention capitalist market is the way to go they did not hesitate for a moment: yes.<br /><br />I raised my eyebrow. 'Really?', I asked. They were outraged by how the governments are not only not taking more responsibility for what has happened, but also actually blaming the <span style="font-style: italic;">greed </span>of the bankers for it. As they put it, this is a very naive way of shifting the anger of the public toward them (us, should I say).<br /><br />For them, the reasons for this crisis is clear: the non-inclusion of the house prices in the inflation index, the CPI (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_price_index">Consumer Price Index</a>). Let me explain: the only tool for intervention that governments have to control the markets and the overall economy are the interest rates. The interest rates are the rates that banks need to pay to borrow money from the Bank of England overnight to cover their daily mismatches. Banks borrow money from each other as well, at a rate that is slightly higher than the interest rate set by the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">BoE</span> (for the added risk that banks can potentially default). Ultimately, the interest rates will determine (in a normal market) the mortgage rates citizens pay to the banks when they buy a house.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SeZOgbq_JZI/AAAAAAAAKrM/kb7IoVUbvD0/s1600-h/bank-of-england.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SeZOgbq_JZI/AAAAAAAAKrM/kb7IoVUbvD0/s320/bank-of-england.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325029928503027090" border="0" /></a><br />The other thing to understand is which rules does the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BoE</span> follow to change the interest rates. The main aim of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">BoE</span> is to maintain inflation under control, so prices are <span style="font-style: italic;">stable</span>. The inflation is measured with the CPI, which is a basket of prices of several products, such as food, transport, fuel... Indeed, in the <a href="http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BoE</span></a> website, we can read the quote<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="HomeTxt">The Bank sets interest rates to keep inflation low, issues banknotes and works to maintain a stable financial system</span>.<br /><br />So, in a nutshell, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">BoE</span> looks at inflation and changes rates accordingly, determining how much do we pay for our mortgages and, therefore, controlling how much money we have at the end of the month to spend in other things (clothes, food, shoes, holidays...). The less money we have, the less we spend, stopping prices from increasing. And vice <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">versa</span>. So if inflation increases, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">BoE</span> increases rates, and vice <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">versa</span>.<br /><br />Now, once we understand that, does it make sense to anyone that house prices are not included in the CPI? Think about it: for years, the CPI index was under perfect control, while house prices were increasing at alarming rates (15%-20% a year for the past 5 years or so). <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Narrowmindedly</span>, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">BoE</span> found no reason to increase rates because the CPI was within target, while the housing bubble was growing. Even if rates were not quite low, people found it easy to get massive mortgages, without stopping to think that they were paying stupidly high prices for their houses. Banks were happy to give money away because as long as house prices were going up, they would make a profit from reposessions as well.<br /><br />And we all know the rest of the story: when the bubble burst, everybody was caught in underpants, and now the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">BoE</span> rushes to lower rates (we are at 0.5% now) to get us to spend again. The point of my colleagues was that had the house prices been in the CPI calculation, inflation would have raised above target as soon as house prices would have started to go up, triggering the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">BoE's</span> reaction of increasing rates much earlier and potentially stopping the housing bubble that eventually started it all in the US.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SeZRorD6fRI/AAAAAAAAKrU/p_DyXEuNRfA/s1600-h/irgraph.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 204px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SeZRorD6fRI/AAAAAAAAKrU/p_DyXEuNRfA/s320/irgraph.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325033368607948050" border="0" /></a><br />This is not to say that free capitalism is <span style="font-style: italic;">still </span>the way to go, certainly not in my opinion. I believe that in the same sense that we have laws to control other human impulses, we should try and do our best to control greed, because it damages society ultimately. But it does tells us that most of us don't know near as much as we should before drawing hasty conclusions condemning bankers as full responsible for this situation.<br /><br />I believe it is positive and legitimate to go and protest against capitalism as we know it (indeed, other socioeconomical systems are possible), but it may not be a bad idea to get out there again asking for a fair inclusion of house prices into the CPI: it is simply reasonable.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-12192223394152915322009-03-29T16:00:00.005+01:002009-03-29T22:01:41.731+01:00G20: put people first!Hi y'all, it's been a while.<br /><br />Anyway, we were yesterday raising our voices to tell all sorts of things to the G20 heroes: climate change, financial crisis, job losses... the list was quite long actually. The point was to try to show the discontent over the whole world-wide situation. As for me, I finally found the banner that said exactly what I wanted to say:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Capitalism isn't working</span><br /></div><br />If you still do not believe this, have another look. Resources are limited, put it in your head. Aiming at a 6% yearly growth is a death sentence for the planet and us eventually. Let's take it easy shall we? Start all over, and just <span style="font-weight: bold;">LIVE</span>. We are not saying that it is easy to find a better economic system, but at least there are some proposals out there already worth having a look. A good summary of the economic systems can be found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_system">here</a>. The most innovative (and never tried!) systems include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_economics">Participatory economics</a> and or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_democracy">Economic democracy</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/Sc-OoSiBeHI/AAAAAAAAKBs/-PBWFRL76Aw/s1600-h/IMG_1129.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/Sc-OoSiBeHI/AAAAAAAAKBs/-PBWFRL76Aw/s320/IMG_1129.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318626507768297586" border="0" /></a><br />So much to say for a cloudy Saturday morning. But it's the echo that counts, let's make it resonate.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-84840817531801715672008-09-22T19:15:00.004+01:002008-09-22T20:09:51.503+01:00The LHC rapNow this is cool:<br /><br /><div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="340" height="280"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j50ZssEojtM&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j50ZssEojtM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="280"></embed></object></div><div><br /><br />Physics is cool ;)</div></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-69388225723619220172008-09-14T23:15:00.008+01:002008-09-18T23:57:08.167+01:00I'm cool: no you're not.What can I say, before we had hippies, punks, grunge, although it felt as if they had something else than the clothes... nowadays, everybody is <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SNLctmX3MhI/AAAAAAAAHrw/72JHNoCivFg/s1600-h/hipster-glasses-no-728194.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 149px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SNLctmX3MhI/AAAAAAAAHrw/72JHNoCivFg/s320/hipster-glasses-no-728194.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247499191792906770" border="0" /></a>full of s**t, if you pardon my French. Even when I was at uni we had a name for them, "pijipis". Fuck, I may have actually been one myself. As I see it, yougsters today are full of nothing but themselves. <div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html">The fucking truth</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Might be because it's Sunday night. To those ofended, get on with it.</div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-49713858961146252212008-08-18T22:31:00.004+01:002008-08-18T22:46:54.547+01:00Quote: John Fante<span style="font-style: italic;">Oh for a Mexican girl! I used to think of her all the time, my Mexican girl. I didn't have one, but the streets were full of them, the Plaza and Chinatown were afire with them, and in my fashion </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SKntiSlc2fI/AAAAAAAAHJA/s9lgLvx8F_g/s1600-h/fante.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 188px; height: 265px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SKntiSlc2fI/AAAAAAAAHJA/s9lgLvx8F_g/s320/fante.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235977215155165682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">they were mine, this one and that one, and some day when another cheque came it would be a fact. Meanwhile it was free and they were Aztec princessesand Mayan princesses, the peon girls in the Grand Central Market, in the Church of Our Lady, and I even went to Mass to look at them. That was sacrilegious conduct but it was better than not going to Mass at all, so that when I wrote home to Colorado to my mother I could write with truth. Dear Mother: I went to Mass last Sunday. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">'Arturo', she said. 'Why do we fight all the time?'</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I didn't know. I said something about temperaments, but she shook her head and crossed her knees, and a sense of her fine thighs being lifted lay heavily in my mind, thick suffocating sensation, warm lush desire to take them in my hands. Every move she made, the soft turn of her neck, the large breasts swelling under the smock, her fine hands upon the bed, the fingers spread out, these things disturbed me, a sweet painful heaviness dragging me into stupor. Then the sound of her voice, restrained, hinting of mockery, a voice that talked to my blood and bones. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ask the dust</span>, 1939<br /></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-21279747647383895012008-06-21T22:30:00.009+01:002008-09-15T23:38:03.003+01:00RastafarisThe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari">Rastafari</a> movement was born in Jamaica in 1930 when news of the <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SM7jmIwJU6I/AAAAAAAAHrQ/VHxJrZMBtLU/s1600-h/selassie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SM7jmIwJU6I/AAAAAAAAHrQ/VHxJrZMBtLU/s320/selassie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246380860257162146" border="0" /></a>crowning of Ras Tafari (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie_I_of_Ethiopia">Haile Selassie</a>) as King of Ethiopia, attracted the attention of various Jamaicans who had been to some extent influenced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey">Marcus Garvey</a>. Haile Selassie is known to be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAH">Jah</a> because of his direct ascendancy to King Menelik, son of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Solomon">King Solomon</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Sheba">Queen of Sheba</a> and King David and because of his inherited title, King of Kings, Lord of Lord, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, which identifies him as the living Jah whose coming was foretold in the Bible, Psalm 68.4, Revelation 5:2-5, 19:16, 22:16.<br /><br />Various persons connected Garvey's prophecies of the crowning of a black king who would deliver black people from their oppressors, with certain biblical passages that confirmed to them that Selassie was indeed the Messiah.<br /><br />Rastafari is not dreadlocks and a joint. It is a way of life that is not dependent on feigned social freedoms. Rastafari prefers to opt instead for something less material and more meaningful-truths and rights. In other words... being in the world but not of it.<br /><br />Herb, Marijuana, Collie or Ganja are considered a Sacrament to Rastafarians and is used to act as a channel to a calm and conscious temporal spirit much as Christians and Jews use red wine. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SM7jfJVjLQI/AAAAAAAAHrI/_NuQmsF2syw/s1600-h/rasta2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 247px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SM7jfJVjLQI/AAAAAAAAHrI/_NuQmsF2syw/s320/rasta2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246380740154961154" border="0" /></a>Rastas believe that this use of Ganja was granted to them by the words of Jesus in the fields of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion">Zion</a>, "<span style="font-style: italic;">God gives man all green herbs, trees and plants bearing fruit with seeds</span>". This he did while standing in a field of Cannabis. Genesis Book 1 verses 11,12,29. Rastas also believe that smoking Ganjas will allow them to use positive common consciousness.<br /><br />The Rastafari wear <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadlocks">dreadlocks</a> as an expression of inner spirituality. For them, the term "dread" refers to a "<span style="font-style: italic;">fear of the Lord</span>", expressed in part as alienation from the perceived decadence and other evils of contemporary society and a return to the Covenant with the Almighty, Jah Rastafari.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-18272575081178289962008-06-21T16:04:00.003+01:002008-06-21T16:38:10.967+01:00Quote: Fernando Pessoa<span style="font-style: italic;">Habíamos acabado de cenar. A mi lado, mi amigo el banquero, gran comerciante y notable estraperlista, fumaba como quien no piensa. La conversación, que había ido languideciendo, yacía </span><span style="font-style: italic;">muerta ante nosotros. Intenté reanimarla al tuntún, con algo que recordé de pronto. Me volví hacia él, sonriendo.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFVd0KQ3DJI/AAAAAAAAGtU/NwjS7T3m8tY/s1600-h/pessoa.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 217px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFVd0KQ3DJI/AAAAAAAAGtU/NwjS7T3m8tY/s320/pessoa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212175294440869010" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">- Por cierto: hace poco alguien me dijo que en tiempos usted fue </span><span style="font-style: italic;">anarquista...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">- Lo fui y lo soy. A ese respecto no he cambiado. Soy anarquista.</span><br /><br />...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Por anarquismo entiendo aquella doctrina social extrema que proclama que no ha de haber entre los hombres mas diferencias o desigualdades que las puramente naturales, y que no han de pesar sobre los hombres penas y males distintos a aquellos que Naturaleza reparte...</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />La abolición, pues, de todas las castas, de la aristocracia, del dinero, de todas las convenciones sociales que promueven la desigualdad. La abolición, también, de todas las desigualdades sociales que se oponen a la Naturaleza: las patrias, las religiones, el matrimonio...</span><br /><br />...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">- Intenté dilucidar cuál era la primera, la más importante de las ficciones sociales. Sería esa la que debería, antes que ninguna otra, intentar subyugar, intentar reducir a la inactividad. La más importante, al menos en nuestro tiempo, es el dinero. ¿Cómo subyugar al dinero, o más precisamente, a la fuerza, la tiranía del dinero?...</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />...Lo más simple era apartarme de la esfera de su influencia, es decir, de la civilización; irme al campo a comer raíces y beber agua de los manantiales, andar desnudo y vivir como un animal. Pero eso, aunque no entrañase la menor dificultad, no era combatir las ficciones sociales; ni siquiera era combatir: era huir... ¿Cómo subyugar al dinero combatiéndolo?... Sólo de un modo - adquiriéndolo, adquiriéndolo en cantidad suficiente como para no sufrir su influencia; y cuanto mayor fuera la cantidad en que lo adquiriese, más libre estaría de su influencia...</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">O banqueiro anarquista</span>, 1922.<br />Merci Raul.<br /></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-70629276122885429662008-06-16T20:55:00.005+01:002008-06-16T22:46:20.161+01:00Esbjorn Svensson died this weekend<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFbGZvXd30I/AAAAAAAAGuE/6Gn16BPrUeQ/s1600-h/es.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFbGZvXd30I/AAAAAAAAGuE/6Gn16BPrUeQ/s320/es.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212571764241850178" border="0" /></a>Yes, he died while diving, while enjoying himself... What a loss. As in many other corners of the Internet, I wanted to dedicate tonight my corner to this great man, this talented genius, that made so many lives sound much better.<br /><br />We still have a gem to discover. The last work of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esbj%C3%B6rn_Svensson_Trio">E.S.T.</a> will be released this year, <i>Lencocyte</i>. Such a shame no more will come.<br /><br />To you, Esbjorn, rest in peace.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-78793621078351587492008-06-15T19:40:00.012+01:002008-06-15T23:32:06.220+01:00Radiohead in BCNI went with my brother Joan to Barcelona to see Radiohead in concert at Fórum (12-6-08). The event was called the DayDream festival, but to be honest it was just a mascarade to have a massive Radiohead bash: all the bands performing were even friends of the band (Liars), admired by the band (Faust, Modeselektor) or playing covers of the band (Enemc).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFVk0Xc6H1I/AAAAAAAAGtc/pP8zuT3fDYk/s1600-h/IMG_0077.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFVk0Xc6H1I/AAAAAAAAGtc/pP8zuT3fDYk/s320/IMG_0077.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212182994562457426" border="0" /></a><br />It was my 4rth Radiohead concert, my second one in Spain and the third one I watched with my good friend Albert. The night was promising: the sea, the weather, the people and the expectations, which never quite high enough for a band of this caliber, of this god-like stature. I was in for a dream-like ride, and oh dear I had one.<br /><br />There were many highlights during the concert: the opening <span style="font-style: italic;">15 Step</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Bodysnatchers</span> (so powerful), <span style="font-style: italic;">Airbag</span> of course, <span style="font-style: italic;">The National Anthem</span> as usual... <span style="font-style: italic;">Faust Arp</span> was beautiful, with only Thom and Johnny on stage, already a favourite. If I had to choose the top 3 moments of the concert, those would be <span style="font-style: italic;">Optimistic</span> (since I had never seen it live and absolutely love it), <span style="font-style: italic;">Videotape</span> (in an almost completely different version from the CD, with all the members of the band involved in it) and, on the top spot, the opening of the second encore, the beautifully weird <span style="font-style: italic;">You and Whose Army?</span>, a favourite of mine, with Johnny and Thom appearing both on the backstage screen from a cam over the piano, with Thom giving us his craziest looks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFWXY_WxOwI/AAAAAAAAGtk/viL-Z7rAx8k/s1600-h/IMG_0081.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFWXY_WxOwI/AAAAAAAAGtk/viL-Z7rAx8k/s320/IMG_0081.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212238599330806530" border="0" /></a><br />For many reasons, I believe this was the best Radiohead concert I've been to. Never heard Thom's voice so strong, so convincing, to fragile when intended, so beautifully diverse. Joan mentioned to me surprised how they sound '<span style="font-style: italic;">as in the CD</span>'. Nope. They sound better. Bad bands never sound quite as in the CD. Great bands improve their recordings. Each song had a new twist, a new arrangement. Johnny would try a new riff, Thom a new voice line, Phil some new rhythm. Altogether, they owned the night and I found myself in a musical orgy, surrounded my thousands but alone with my pleasure, probably helped by Moroccan wonders. No wonder they are the best band in the world. Nobody gets even close to this.<br /><br />I recorded a couple of videos during the concert. I post here two of them, quite large fragments of <span style="font-style: italic;">Pyramid song</span> and of <span style="font-style: italic;">Paranoid Android</span>. The track list included most of the new songs from <span style="font-style: italic;">In Rainbows</span> (how I like <span style="font-style: italic;">Arpeggi/weird</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">fishes</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Jigsaw</span>!), and some b-sides. They were all great. I just can't quite resist the classics. Enjoy.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxhaRDiLlv8SYeVPb9lP0YLZtFJHP61VhcgwfpnOgsSjvICiLBAM-aHTS7S4kaSsNv-KEpQYaWhNZuxSL7llQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzETTStl6RVNZSQce2fVcy0Y7fYg3x8y-GQQaEmUKFokdq6HHCwVt-CAhNo1NLXjkN5PXDFS-TLBsulu9wIzQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-10084757431248935532008-06-14T16:50:00.009+01:002008-06-15T19:40:44.614+01:00Quote: Luke Rhinehart<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFP4nlKdXXI/AAAAAAAAGtM/dzx-13w0Ge8/s1600-h/Luke_Rhinehart.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 255px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SFP4nlKdXXI/AAAAAAAAGtM/dzx-13w0Ge8/s320/Luke_Rhinehart.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211782552672361842" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">'What is the dice man, Luke?' Lil repeated. She hadn't moved since entering the room. I saw Arlene start and felt her eyes upon me as I turned back to Lil.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> 'The Dice man,' I said slowly, 'is an experiment in changing the personality, in destroying the personality.'<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />'Is interesting,' Dr Krum said.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />'Go on,' Lil said.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />'To destroy the single dominant personality one must be capable of developing many personalities; one must become multiple.'<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> 'You're stalling,' Lil said. 'What is the dice man?'<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> 'The Dice Man (...) is a creature whose actions are decided from day to day by the roll of dice, the dice choosing from among options created by the man.'</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />. . .<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">The dice in position before him, he knelt silently for two minutes and prayed. He then picked up the two dice and began shaking them gaily in the bowl of his hands.<br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Tremble in my hands, O Die,<br />As I so shake in yours.<br /><br /></div> <span style="font-style: italic;">And holding the dice above his head he intoned aloud:<br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">'Great bleak Blocks of God, descend, quiver, create,<br />Into your hands I commit my soul.'<br /><br /></div> <span style="font-style: italic;">The dice fell: a one and a two - three. He was to leave his wife and children forever.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The dice man</span>, 1971<br /></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-13669755850780208582008-05-27T20:54:00.006+01:002008-05-27T21:05:44.894+01:00Leuven & Freyr with RaulI'm just back from a little trip with my friend Raul, where we intended to party a lot and climb a lot as well, two things that do not combine fantasticly but that, somehow, we always manage to blend quite nicely.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SDxn2JemZDI/AAAAAAAAF5o/wtUPRW24kes/s1600-h/IMG_2556.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SDxn2JemZDI/AAAAAAAAF5o/wtUPRW24kes/s320/IMG_2556.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205149449288311858" border="0" /></a><br />It was fantastic to walk the streets of Leuven again, get lost in the middle of the afternoon, sip a beer in Giraf watching time flow and bikes pass, just feeling a bit of bitterness now that Pata Negra has been closed for good. Leuven is changing and so is everything else: so is Eva, and Tom, and Nikos and Ellen, and Toni and his brother and their Pronto, my Pronto. And so am I.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SDxoz5emZGI/AAAAAAAAF6E/hOhH4PLWJgU/s1600-h/IMG_2543.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SDxoz5emZGI/AAAAAAAAF6E/hOhH4PLWJgU/s320/IMG_2543.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205150510145234018" border="0" /></a><br />Changing or not, Leuven goes with me everywhere: a piece of Leuven will be within me forever.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-31156027474074135832008-05-02T00:05:00.003+01:002008-05-02T00:07:45.996+01:00Big b-day!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;">To all those of you that spent my birthday at home with us, a big THANK YOU!! That was a party I won't forget. I can't wait to meet you all again!<br /></div><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SBpMpk1ML4I/AAAAAAAAF04/QvZg5PtCmPQ/s1600-h/IMG_2532.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SBpMpk1ML4I/AAAAAAAAF04/QvZg5PtCmPQ/s320/IMG_2532.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Massive kisses to you all.<br /></div></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-17921507491302806052008-04-13T21:02:00.004+01:002008-04-13T21:09:49.688+01:00Too young to be old, too old to be youngYes, it's finally come. My 30th b-day. And what am I gonna do about it? Well, pretty much what everybody does: gather as many friends as I can around me and have a crazy night to remember, and celebrate that life is good (not to be taken lightly ;).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SAJoK-8z9wI/AAAAAAAAFow/EizzSeWjl8k/s1600-h/30en.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/SAJoK-8z9wI/AAAAAAAAFow/EizzSeWjl8k/s320/30en.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188824258590275330" border="0" /></a><br />Wanna join? Love y'all, my friends.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-53259620941066813772008-03-30T23:48:00.007+01:002008-03-31T00:06:17.429+01:00Quote: Philip K. Dick (2)<span style="font-style: italic;">The Nexus-6. He had now come up against it. Rachael, he realized; she must be a Nexus-6. </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R_AcUp76LXI/AAAAAAAAFac/DrNUQjXcimI/s1600-h/philipkdick.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R_AcUp76LXI/AAAAAAAAFac/DrNUQjXcimI/s320/philipkdick.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183674312283532658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I'm seeing one of them for the first time. And they damn near did it; they came awfully damn close to undermining the Voigt-Kampff scale, the only method we have for detecting them. The</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Rosen Association does a good job-makes a good try, anyhow-at protecting its products.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And I have to face six more of them, he reflected. Before I'm finished.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">He would earn the bounty money. Every cent.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Assuming he made it through alive.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Do androids dream of electric sheep?</span>, 1966</div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-35805596065436714002008-03-16T16:43:00.004+00:002008-03-19T21:34:03.441+00:00I love house, tooA bit house for the crowd:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/9024235ab1af11/">http://www.zshare.net/audio/9024235ab1af11/</a><br /><br />Track list:<br /><br />1.- K7 - make up your mind<br />2.- madonna - jump<br />3.- svek - hold still remix<br />4.- rinocerose - la guitaristic house organisation<br />5.- bare essentials - weekenderstyle<br />6.- buddha bar - the novel sound<br />7.- svek - gamla stan<br />8.- blue six - music and wine<br /><br />enjoy!jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-65738361601117888182008-03-16T12:13:00.003+00:002008-03-16T12:21:28.369+00:00la iaiaAquest és el meu petit homenatge a la meva iaia Remei, que morí a Barcelona el passat 11 de marc. No hi ha hagut mai iaia tan riallera, llesta, aguda i amb tant sentit de l´humor. Tan moderna, tan estimada, tan gran persona. Han estat tants estius, tants Nadals, tantes tardes... T´he estimat de debó, sempre viuràs en mi.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R90QsxsdaWI/AAAAAAAAFaE/9ZG_ZNx4nyU/s1600-h/iaiaijo.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R90QsxsdaWI/AAAAAAAAFaE/9ZG_ZNx4nyU/s320/iaiaijo.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178313507986041186" border="0" /></a>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-45326360567539788982008-03-09T22:46:00.004+00:002008-03-16T12:27:51.859+00:00I love technoThis is a little mix I assembled with my beloved Hercules MK2 console, my favorite toy:<br /><a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/8700733fb43912/"><br />http://www.zshare.net/audio/8700733fb43912/</a><br /><br />Track list:<br /><br />1.- tiga - you gonna want me<br />2.- john dahlback - it feels so good<br />3.- random factor - after the tone<br />4.- royksopp - what else is there (trentemoller remix)<br />5.- mike ink - rose<br />6.- oxia - domino<br />7.- leger & lake - aqualight<br />8.- mateo murphy - crockett's theme<br />9.- ellen alien - blaue iwen<br /><br />hope u enjoy it.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-88078908293993750172008-02-25T23:09:00.015+00:002008-02-25T23:30:13.067+00:00El debatillo democratiquilloZapatero flojo. Sí, flojo, siempre parece que se va a quedar sin palabras.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R8NNWCltfGI/AAAAAAAAFZ0/YcHGOI5S830/s1600-h/zapatero.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 147px; height: 212px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R8NNWCltfGI/AAAAAAAAFZ0/YcHGOI5S830/s320/zapatero.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171061838198963298" border="0" /></a> Pero es que el PP, con Rajoy o sin él, me sigue dando tanto miedo como hace 4 años... O casi más, porque Aznar era más facha, pero Rajoy más tonto...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R8NNdCltfHI/AAAAAAAAFZ8/d-PvcmJSeLk/s1600-h/rajoy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 148px; height: 199px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R8NNdCltfHI/AAAAAAAAFZ8/d-PvcmJSeLk/s320/rajoy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171061958458047602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Por eso, y porque es de cajón, votaré catalán, como voto siempre que me desencanto. Al menos para mí es fácil. Cuanto mayor me hago más me doy cuenta de que o nos entendemos y nos damos cuenta de que este país cagón esta lleno de naciones, o aquí no quedará de pie ni el apuntador, porque para chulo un español.<br /><br />Duran i Lleida, ajuda´ns i escombra cap a casa. Visca Catalunya i l'Espanya federal.jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-44355873555643075942008-02-25T22:15:00.003+00:002008-02-25T22:17:23.891+00:00Photo store: and you thought you had a bad haircut...Have a look at Baby Huey:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R8M-MyltfDI/AAAAAAAAFZc/dEoLxYhnpuY/s1600-h/babyhuey.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R8M-MyltfDI/AAAAAAAAFZc/dEoLxYhnpuY/s320/babyhuey.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171045186610756658" border="0" /></a>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-72627340452786578852008-02-02T10:32:00.000+00:002008-02-03T17:11:16.165+00:00Music store: Oi va voiThis British band is another member of the breed of bands that blend music, in the deepest sense of the word. Those that live comfortably in the border of styles and cultures. In this case, Yiddish music is assembled to pop-rock-electronic music to obtain a surprisingly positive and uplifting result and, in the<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R6RIh9RDlGI/AAAAAAAAFY8/4o0PQJibkP0/s1600-h/oivavoi.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R6RIh9RDlGI/AAAAAAAAFY8/4o0PQJibkP0/s320/oivavoi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162330821092414562" border="0" /></a> process, the most advanced expression of klezmer music today. Their music is an rich wrap of traditional sounds (lots of violin, clarinet, old men hebrew voices...) around a modern layer of contemporary sounds (great bass and electronics). At times you seem to be in an Armenian wedding and then you are transported to a London club. And it works.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oi_Va_Voi">Oi va voi</a> have three studio albums, and all of them worth a listen. Probably, their best known song is <span style="font-style: italic;">Refugee</span>, a gripping and tearing song about forced emigration. Not to miss either is the instrumental <span style="font-style: italic;">7 brothers</span>, a perfect example of what these guys are about. And they are meant to be great life, too. Give them a try!<br /><br />This is the video for the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Yesterday's mistakes</span>, from their second album. Enjoy.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="280" width="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9n-LJ3PpfMU&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9n-LJ3PpfMU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="280" width="340"></embed></object></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-87782880032279250062008-02-02T09:29:00.000+00:002008-02-02T09:58:58.726+00:00Quote: Arthur C. Clarke<span style="font-style: italic;">The sixth member of the crew cared for none of these things, for it was not human. It was the highly advanced HAL 9000 computer, the brain and nervous system of the ship.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hal (for Heuristic programmed ALgorithmic computer, no less) was a masterwork of the third computer breakthrough. These seemed to occur at intervals of twenty years, and the thought that another one</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> was now imminent already worried a great many people...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R6Q-vNRDlFI/AAAAAAAAFY0/CjUruJ5AjwY/s1600-h/arthurcclarke.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 227px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R6Q-vNRDlFI/AAAAAAAAFY0/CjUruJ5AjwY/s320/arthurcclarke.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162320053609403474" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Whether HAL could actually think was a question which had been</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> settled by the British mathematician Alan Turing back in the 1940s. Turing had pointed out that, if one could carry out a prolonged conversation with a machine - whether by typewriter or microphone was immaterial - without being able to distinguish between its replies and those by a man might give, then the machine was thinking, by any sensible definition of the word. Hal could pass the Turing test with ease...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And then, if there was no reply from Earth, HAL would take what measures he deemed necessary to safeguard the hsip and to continue the mission - whose real purpose he alone knew, and which his human colleagues could never have guessed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Poole and Bowman had often humorously referred to themselves as caretakers or janitors aboard a ship that could really run itself. They would have been astonished, and more than a little indignant, to discover how much truth that jest contained. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">2001: A Space Odyssey</span>, 1968<br /></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-82756529466524608782008-01-27T14:16:00.000+00:002008-01-27T14:35:11.530+00:00Music store: The DearsEwa and me saw this band in London, on the South Bank Center, in a events that commemorated the 10th anniversary of some discographyic company. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dears">The Dears</a> were not even the headliners (<a href="http://welcome-to-the-monkey-house.blogspot.com/2007/10/midlake-videos-of-van-occupanther-pt-7.html">Midlake</a> were, that was the day I discovered them; check the music store archive to read about them). I learnt about their existence through Radiohead... yes, yet again. Tom Yorke gathered a list of his favorite songs from 2007, and among them was a song from The Dears. I downloaded the songs, thinking (quite rightly, I must say) that if I like A and A likes B, I will like B as well. And how right I was.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R5yWZtRDlEI/AAAAAAAAFYs/08Od6gAieFM/s1600-h/20061214_dears_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R5yWZtRDlEI/AAAAAAAAFYs/08Od6gAieFM/s320/20061214_dears_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160164641451775042" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I remember that the guy presenting them complained about the critics, which would define The Dears as bad copies of a whole list of other well-known bands, and he argued that critics that can only describe a band by comparing them to others should get out of the way and do something else. He had a point really. It is true that you cannot avoid hearing influences in their music (Radiohead themselves, The Smiths, Doves...), but it's unfair not to acknowledge the arrogance and lack of fear of these guys when it comes to music: the use of a myriad of instruments, the musical landscapes, the way they can express all sorts of feelings with their songs... they have been defined at times as pretentious. I don't get why. Some of their songs are indeed grandiloquent, but they work. Hell they do. This is, to conclude, very good pop rock. Some of the best around. Together with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_Fire">Arcade Fire</a>, these guys have placed Montreal in the musical maps. Big time.<br /><br />With songs such as <span style="font-style: italic;">Find the way to our Freedom</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Expect the worst 'cos she's a Tourist</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Hate then Love</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">I feel deep</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Never destroy Us</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">No hope before Destruction</span>... this band has all the tickets to become either a cult band or a mass success... not sure what would be better. I just happen to be very happy to have discovered them.<br /><br />Here's the video to the melancholic <span style="font-style: italic;">You and I are a Gang of Losers</span>:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="280" width="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VppnteRfb-s&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VppnteRfb-s&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="280" width="340"></embed></object></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-90809561909107214312008-01-21T20:00:00.000+00:002008-01-21T20:55:52.125+00:00Quote: Philip K. Dick<span style="font-style: italic;">Charles Freck, becoming progressively more and more depressed by what was happening to everybody he knew, decided finally to off himself. There was no problem, in the circles where he hung out, in putting an end to yourself: you just bought into a large quantity of reds and took them with some cheap wine, late at night, with the phone off the hook so no one would interrupt you... </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />At the last moment (as end time closed in on him) he changed his mind on a decisive issue and decided to drink the reds down with a connoisseur wine... so he set</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R5Kmqa0sN5I/AAAAAAAAFYI/VuIlJg0LLTo/s1600-h/philipkdick.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R5Kmqa0sN5I/AAAAAAAAFYI/VuIlJg0LLTo/s320/philipkdick.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157367770977679250" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"> off on one last drive and bought a bottle of 1971 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon...</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Back home again, he uncorked the wine, let it breathe, drank a few glasses of it... tried to think of something meaningful but could not... and then, with a glass of the Cavernet Sauvignon, gulped down all the reds at once.<br /><br />After that, the deed being done, he lay back... and waited.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">However, he had been burned. The capsules were not barbiturates, as represented. They were some kind of kinky psychedelics, of a type he had never dropped before, probably a misture, and new on the market. Instead of quietly suffocating, Charles Freck began to hallucinate. Well, he thought philosophically, this is the story of my life. Always ripped off. He had to face the fact - considering how many of the capsules he had swallowed - that he was in for some trip.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />The next thing he knew, a creature from between dimensions was standing beside his bed looking down at him disapprovingly... "You're going to read me my sins", Charles Freck said. The creature nodded and unsealed the scroll. Freck said, lying helpless on his bed, "and it's going to take a hundred thousand hours." Fixing its many compound eyes on him, the creature from between dimensions said, "...Your sins will be read to you ceaselessly, in shifts, throughout eternity. The list will never end."...</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Ten thousand years later they had reached the sixth grade. The year he had discovered masturbation. He shut his eyes, but the could still see the multi-eyed, eight-foot-high being with its endless scroll reading on and on...</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Charles Freck thought, at least I got a good wine.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A scanner darkly</span>, 1977<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2450246312254573379.post-67242061552065159022008-01-19T12:10:00.000+00:002008-01-19T12:33:32.182+00:00The man with a higher IQ than Einstein<span style="font-style: italic;">...Fischer was also the (then) highest-rated player in history according to the Elo rating system... Because of his accomplishments up to this point in his life as a pioneer of professional chess, the select list of people who have beaten</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R5HuDa0sN4I/AAAAAAAAFYA/kUdHMhur13c/s1600-h/BobbyFischer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HOYL16Dmod0/R5HuDa0sN4I/AAAAAAAAFYA/kUdHMhur13c/s320/BobbyFischer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157164790823270274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"> Bobby Fischer in chess, the fame he brought to himself and the game in the 1970's, and the epoch of IBM Deep Blue in the last 1990's (after which those few who ever had a higher rating than Fischer's peak can now be defeated by a machine), some reference works and some of his biographers rate him as the greatest player that ever lived...<br /><br />...Fischer was also an expert at solving the fifteen puzzle, which he completed in under 25 seconds multiple times. He was also an expert at playing pinball machines and early video games such as Space Invaders...<br /><br /></span><span>R.I.P.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>jordihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16135161185293053699noreply@blogger.com0