A Brilliant Pairing

Just yesterday, I came across one of the best video representations of Bon Iver's "Holocene." Larkin Seiple's stunning cinematography highlights both Iceland's natural beauty and man's innate curiosity. Although I agree that "youthful curiosity" on its face sounds cliche--and, admittedly, it pains me to use such a term--watch the video (lights off, full screen, with Bose QC3 noise-cancelling headphones) and see for yourself.

Particularly touching is the sequence starting at 02:13: "Third and Lake it burned away, the hallway / Was where we used to celebrate." Towards the end, the boy tosses a handful of pebbles in the air, ultimately puncturing the lake's metallic reflection. Fittingly, this action occurs in tandem with Vernon's utterance of "to celebrate," verbiage clearly associated with action and merriness. This type of pairing is precisely what brings the [now-corrupt] concept of a "music video" to life.

Presidential Dialogue

The NYTimes rightly places Obama's State of the Union Address in the context of electoral politics in its piece, "Obama Sets Sights on Romney." When reading excepts of Obama's speech juxtaposed with Romney's critiques, a dialogue between the two men emerges, elucidating two very distinct world views which will soon be put to the test in the general election. But not if Newt Gingrich has anything to say about it...

Jobs Bills

Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) via Politico: "My colleagues in the House and I have been focused on jobs since Day One, passing more than 25 bills to give small businesses the certainty they need to grow, increase the domestic production of energy and get Americans back to work. Many of these bills passed the House in a bipartisan basis but remain stuck in the Senate."

What are the actual numbers here? Exactly how many Republican-proposed bills aimed at job creation failed to get through the Senate?

Seasonally Adjusted?

Despite being largely content with this morning's job report from the DOL, I must say that the Bureau of Labor Statistics' so-called "seasonal adjustments" neglect the highly cyclical couriers and messengers category from their data modification, a category responsible for the majority of December's gain at +42,000 jobs. If couriers and messengers do in fact "move and distribute documents and packages for individuals, businesses, institutions, and government agencies" (as defined in the BLS occupational outlook handbook), then clearly these jobs are significantly impacted by seasonal factors. I don't even need to post an article, graph, or chart to back up this statement--as it requires only common sense to realize that a greater number of packages are shipped in December (due to the holidays) than in any other month--but I will nonetheless.

Thanks to CS chief economist Dr. Neal Soss for noting this peculiarity on today's monthly credit strategy call. Also, see Bob Willis' article just posted on Bloomberg.

Ville d’Avray

After an initial viewing of Jean Baptiste-Camille Corot's Ville d'Avray (c. 1867), an oil on canvas landscape depicting the artist's home commune in the western suburbs of Paris, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the woman in the foreground appears to be using an industrial-grade leaf blower (backpack model), absolutely pummeling the man to the right with leaves, twigs, and other debris. Who knew that such a brilliant technology existed in nineteenth century France. Seriously , though, one of my all-time favorite landscapes is Corot's View from the Farnese Gardens, Rome (c.1826), which I first discovered in person at Washington, D.C.'s Phillips Collection, and which now sits on my desk (unfortunately, in postcard form).

Ville d'Avray

View from the Farnese Gardens, Rome

Judge Pain and Young Buck

Somewhat old news (12/22/2011), but unbelievable nonetheless. What a sad ending for "David Darnell Brown" and G-Unit, but, then again, not really. The tweets in the article's final paragraph are almost too good to be true.

Via WSJ's Bankruptcy Beat: Bankruptcy Judge Orders Young Buck Into Liquidation