Melting Pot Post (just catching up)

Catching up on the many 'draft' mode entries I have saved. But before I begin, a notice for all those versed in Photoshop, want to win some sweet Apple products? Enter this free contest (4 different contests requiring you to collage some photographs creatively, or naughtily for the first one round). The Crestock Photoshop Contest 2007, thanks Mike.

NYC Taxi logos, aren't they awful? We didn't need a logo then, we don't need one now. Especially if it's this crap coming from Smart Design. Obviously the city meddled with it too much and the designers at Smart Design succumbed to it. Manage your clients! This is why we need Garden in Transit. All those painted flowers on the hoods you see on cabs everywhere were painted on vinyl by school kids and applied by volunteers. If anyone wants to get a group together I'm down.

Redoing a crappy logo doesn't hurt, just respray/reapply on every single cab in town. No worries. But getting a tattoo you aren't happy about? The recourse isn't very simple, even with laser removal. So to properly assess a tattoo's application to your body why not overlay it onto a 3-D model of yourself and see how it works with the light. No way to see what the aging process does to it right now, maybe Zimmerman will consider it in the future. Check out Needled for more information on Loïc Zimmerman's work. Still think it's easier to just get the design done in henna before you make it permanent.

The Piracy Paradox, an interesting observation on how the fashion industry need copycats to induce obsolescence furthering the industry's growth. Credit goes to Elmo for forwarding that New Yorker article. Additional reading can be found on Christopher Sprigman's blog, one of two law professors who coined the term, Piracy Paradox.

Reebok, are they the vehicle Adidas will be using to out-Puma, Puma? Disregarding Nike's Transformers Air Trainers III and TakaraTomy's Prime and Megatron. Tugging at my nostalgic strings a set of five sneakers customized for each Lion making up Voltron have been designed and released to the public. I think the designs are awful but it's freaking VOLTRON! And it's freaking expensive... I'll be passing on this one.

Inside Adidas Factory: Some photos of an adidas factory, bandwidth exceeded right now for the photos so check back later. Apologize for not posting this when I found it...

What is working though is this quick page of some very cool business card designs. Have a look, it'll only take you a second for you to see where I steal my ideas from.

I love the UPS white board commercials. Do you? Read more about them at Slate. The guy featured in it is actually the creative director of the campaign, Andy Azula, not some actor or famous designer... way to pump up his resume.

The end of advertising as we know it. Yes IBM (IBM Institute for Business Value study), thanks for the notice... haven't read their paper yet but I'm assuming it's worth a read for all of you who are in the field. Going to try to get through their executive summary tonight, assuming its still in one piece, been sitting in my bag for a while.

Pattern Analysis of MegaMillions Lottery Numbers, I drop a buck every so often as long as the jackpot is over $50 million. Anything less is chump change =T. It's funny, in school you never really consider playing the lottery, it's such a waste of money. But the mentality changes once you start working, sure did when I started out as an intern... anyway the study won't really help but make sure you read up on the comments, the discussion had my mind spinning. All you math geeks must be loving this huh? I didn't understand a damn thing.

Designing FiringSquad’s Reference Home Theaters, sure wish I had this when we were putting our setup together. Boatloads of information in one easy to understand article. So rather than trolling AVS Forum, do yourself and read this as a primer.

Terry thinks Goldman Sachs will eventually take over the world. Not as crazy as it sounds... hell I bet they would do far better in the White House than Bush and Cronies. Look what Bloomberg did for NYC! So now Goldman alumn, John Thain, has taken over at Merrill is it time to buy into Merrill? Here's an old feature written when Thain took the top job at NYSE. What did he say then and what was actually done? Call him Mr. Implementer...

Relationships and Finance

Now this is how you apply finance to a real life problem! Zan forwarded the Craigslist posting below to me this morning and I thought it was a great read then filed it away. Just now my ex-roommate Mike (who's currently on his honeymoon, Lucy you know he's checking his Blackberry?) forwarded it to me with the 'signature' attached. Apparently someone from my old company wrote the reply, bravo! Wonder how HR is dealing with this. Forwarded it to my old coworkers for confirmation...

Craigslist Post & Reply:

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

• Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms
• What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings
• Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?
• Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?
• Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?
• How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster
with services or
other commercial interests


PostingID: 432279810
THE ANSWER
Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a cr@ppy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump." I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

Regards,
Derek Landi
Mutual Fund Trading

(contact information and disclaimer deleted)

Update: Turns out Derek didn't write the reply after all. His signature must've gotten forwarded after he forwarded it to others. Oh well, still a great read!

Update 2: Elmo forwarded me a link to the NY Times article covering the story above. Looks like someone at JPMorgan got himself into the same situation as Derek above.

The Not Incredible Adventures of the Down and Out Dollar and The Common Desk

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Been meaning to post this video up for a while now (download it here if it doesn't stream above, or go to the Veoh page). One of my favorite SNL skits; smart, funny, and extremely relevant in the past few days with headlines like the following from Bloomberg, Dollar Falls to Record Low Against Euro on Inflation, Fed View. Uploading here because NBC keeps removing the video from the other streaming video providers. If they had it on their NBC / SNL site, I'd just link it there but their website sucks and you can't find anything on it... so posting it up on VEOH. Let's see how long we have until they remove it. Oh and great performance from Topher Grace.

While we are on this subject, Vince posted up a great article from Bloomberg. Mark Gilbert spoofs the famous Chuck Norris jokes and recasts them as they apply to the U.S. economy. Read Chuck Norris's Tears Might Solve Credit Crunch here.

On another note, finally watched The Common Desk, earlier tonight. It sat on my hard drive for almost two years, never had the time or patience to sit through it (40 minute short). Maybe this weekend I'll reorganize my desk? Perhaps I'll finally crank some creative work out?

"The movie is from an agency called ”Belief” and is a broadcast design & live animation studio. The movie shows you how to create the perfect surroundings for coming up with cool ideas through some real examples and they illustrate it with real work. It is full of humor and a real joy to watch. A wonderful way to show your talent to potential clients and for others a true inspiration! Looking forward to your opinion about it. Enjoy!" - Veerle