A Mad Vox

New song: Confine

Confine 4/04- full song

A FAWM '09 diddy. Technically, I posted this a couple months ago, just never mentioned it in a post. Here is a new recording without the snap, crackles, and pops. I'm in the process of working out a better recording setup.  In the meantime, have a listen.

What's one of your good habits? Was it harder to form than one of your bad habits? Do I need to ask?

Ever thought about why it's so challenging to form a good habit? From drinking at least eight glasses of water a day to taking a daily vitamin, it's daunting to know that from here on out there will only be more things to remember to do consistently... or else.

I came upon a site recently called Behind the Makeup which seems to explore this topic in more depth. There is a good "The Hills" spoof there too.

One of my good habits is writing. Though I have gotten out of the habit of sharing things publicly for awhile, I'm working on writing more often so that I can work my way through that. It used to be really fun to write publicly, then with the proliferation of social tools of syndication I became very aware of who could see what. As a result I've been writing neighborhood-only. I'm in a different place now. A place where I'm meeting new people in the web sphere, giving out my website and to my chagrin, realizing that when they visit it will appear to have been neglected for months.

If you'd like to read my hidden (neighborhood-only) Vox posts, then add me and comment on any of my posts or you can send a private message. If your blog is updated on a semi-regular basis and isn't geared toward spamming the world with your wares, whatever they may be, or just uninteresting to me for some reason, I'll more than likely add you back.

If you enjoy This American Life on NPR and want to hear what's going on with the banking industry TAL style, I highly recommend the episode played this weekend (Feb 27th). You can download/listen to the podcast from the link below.

This American Life: podcast rec

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio...

Host Ira Glass plays clips from TV in a recent senate hearing and talks about how confusing the current banking crisis is.  But fortunately today, we have the team that brought us our show that explained the mortgage crisis a year ago, back to explain entire the banking system in 40 minutes. (3 minutes)Act One. The Collapse of the US Banking System Explained in Just 39 Minutes.

My friend @netzoo recently shared a video "The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo." Jarvis, an Art Center student, visually demonstrates what sparked the downturn in the economy (easy credit) and how it all happened in an easy-to-digest way. Check the rest of the post out here.
http://netzoo.net/the-credit-crisis-visualized/

TIM CONWAY JR show

It's not everyday that LA radio stations change format, but just like Indie 103.1's recent departure the entire line of KLSX FM Talk is becoming just like all the other stations tomorrow at 5pm. The format is changing to a Britney, Justin, Jonas Bros and other overproduced pop music roster to appeal to a younger demographic.

Frosty, Heidi, and Frank are breaking the news that this is their next to last show, yet trying not to say too much about this as they're trying not to steal Tom Leykis' thunder.

Mostly, I'll miss Tim Conway Jr.'s show with Arsenio Hall on Wednesday nights, though Thursday nights with the Jesse Jackson game were especially entertaining too. I know the contracted employees (on-air talent) have a bit of a financial cushion since their contracts were bought out, but I still hope the good ones can make a come back to the airwaves (or podcasts) soon. I'll also miss hearing the producers (Gina Grad, Randy Wang and Crysta Garner) who are not contracted, just unemployed after tomorrow. You can read more about it on the 97.1 FM wiki.

Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme? - BusinessWeek

http://www.businessweek.com/the_threa...

I’ve been thinking that Madoff is a perfect analogy for the public sector. The government gives people money, which it expects to obtain by taking the money from people in the future. Even the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities, not known as a right-wing organization, sees the U.S. fiscal stance as unsustainable (pointer from Ezra Klein via Tyler Cowen)—in other words, a Ponzi scheme.

I have to admit, it's an interesting comparison. Do you think social security is a scam (particularly for the post baby boomer generation)?

JPG Magazine Folds, And With It A Radical Idea In Publishing

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/02/...

It’s not a good time to be a print magazine right now. Even a crowdsourced magazine with a stripped-down staff that relies on the contributions of its more talented readers. JPG Magazine and its parent company 8020 Media is shutting down after running out of money and not being able to find any new investors. The seed investment had come from Cnet founder Halsey Minor, who apparently also did not want to put in any more.

Just saw this on TechCrunch. I remember the magazine back when Derek Powazek was in charge. I'm sure he knew this was coming.