True facts

If Wiki Confirms It, It Must Be True.
Philly girl #1, pointing to picture: Hey! My dad once punched that guy in the face!
Philly girl #2: Benjamin Netanyahu?
Philly girl #1: Yeah.
Philly girl #2: Wait... isn't he from Israel?
Philly girl #1: Nope. He went to Cheltenham high school, same as my dad.
Philly girl #2: What happened?
Philly girl #1: My dad said, "if you poke me one more time, I'm gonna punch you in the face."
Philly girl #2: (silence)
Philly girl #1: He poked him.

--M60 Bus
via Overheard in New York, Nov 14, 2009

The bank

One Day At The Bank Branch (Mish Shedlock)

I imagined the same thing

11AM We Imagine Ving Rhames in This Role
Starbucks barista: And what size would you like?
Very tall and intimidating black man with deep voice: My size.
(barista grabs largest cup available)

Santa Rosa, California

Overheard by: One-Hit
via Overheard in the Office, Nov 10, 2009

Confess

"If you torture data sufficiently, it will confess to almost anything." -Fred Menger, chemistry professor (1937- )

Success

James Cameron quote being passed around today (I got it from Daring Fireball):

“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.”

Know any Harvard MBAs

Submitted with no comment.

Fewer Harvard M.B.A. graduates took jobs on Wall Street this year than in the past as a result of the sharp contraction in the financial services industry. But for Ray Soifer, a former banking analyst and Harvard Business School alumnus, the reduced number of graduates flocking to Wall Street isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it may actually be a positive signal for the market.

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/a-contrary-indicator-on-mbas-and-stocks/

Have a drink

(stolen from the comments box on Mark Shea's blog)

Rene Descartes goes into a bar and has a glass of wine. The bartender asks him, "Would you like another?" Descartes replies, "I don't think..." and then vanishes into thin air.

Dies irae

Dies irae, dies illa
solvet saeclum in favilla:
teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!

Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulcra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.

Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.

Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?

Rex tremendae majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me fons pietatis.

Recordare, Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuae viae:
ne me perdas illa die.

Quaerens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti Crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.

Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.

Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce, Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Preces meae non sunt dignae:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.

Inter oves locum praesta,
et ab haedis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextra.

Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis:
voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.

Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus.

Huic ergo parce, Deus:
pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen.

It really works

I got this reference without looking it up!


toothpastefordinner.com

More destruction

Blogging as Creative Destruction (CloudAve). I haven't been engaging in a lot of creative destruction lately (at least not in this venue, although I have been doing plenty of it elsewhere in my life.)

In the meantime if you are a frequent visitor of this space and are interested in seeing what's going on, I am afraid you'll just have to wait a little longer :-)