The Story of Stuff

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Inflation and the FDIC

I was at a Wells Fargo Branch recently in Walnut Creek. I noticed signs all over the bank saying how each account was insured by the FDIC. The FDIC was created in 1933 to provide "deposit insurance which currently guarantees checking and savings deposits in member banks up to $100,000 per depositor."

Adjusted for inflation, the $100,000 you would receive if your bank failed in 1933 would be $1,428,225.34 in today's dollars. So are we being ripped off, or not as well insured as we were back in 1933. $100,000 in 2006 dollars is worth only $7001.70 in 1933 dollars.

Why has the deposit insurance not kept up with the rate of inflation?

What the Fuck? File #2G

Second thing to put in the "What the Fuck File."

What I want to know is why did the surgeons reattach it?

Music is fascinating not just for its own sake, but also for its effect on the listener. And when coupled with visuals the effect can be intense. But sometimes music is over used. Take the show "Grey's Anatomy". The first few (I am ashamed to say it) seasons I watched, I felt bombarded by music. Almost more music than dialogue. And intense scenes were ruined by the added music. We were not allowed to observe the naked suffering but the director had to indicate to us that the scene was sad and intense by adding the music.


Such is the case with this scene from "Children of Men", based on the book by P.D. James. I did not read the book, but have read her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, which are damn fine. Read them. I meant to read the book before I saw the movie, but forgot that she had written the book. I do not like to read a book after seeing the movie. My mind's eye is too influenced by the movie and I can't build the scenes and faces of the character after seeing how the director of the film imagined them.
Anyways...the scene would have been much stronger, his agony more intense if there were no music. Too many spices spoil the flavor. Music is the MSG of movies. Instead of cooking well, directors, Alfonso Cuarón, in this case, just dump in some MSG to make it good. Too often the scenes are spoiled, the emotions indicated instead of felt.

Children of Men

Music is fascinating not just for its own sake, but also for its effect on the listener. And when coupled with visuals the effect can be intense. But sometimes music is over used. Take the show "Grey's Anatomy". The first few (I am ashamed to say it) seasons I watched, I felt bombarded by music. Almost more music than dialogue. And intense scenes were ruined by the added music. We were not allowed to observe the naked suffering but the director had to indicate to us that the scene was sad and intense by adding the music.

Such is the case with the scene from "Children of Men", based on the book by P.D. James. I did not read the book, but have read her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, which are damn fine. Read them. I meant to read the book before I saw the movie, but forgot that she had written the book. I do not like to read a book after seeing the movie. My mind's eye is too influenced by the movie and I can't build the scenes and faces of the character after seeing how the director of the film imagined them.
Anyways...the scene would have been much stronger, his agony more intense if there were no music. Too many spices spoil the flavor. Music is the MSG of movies. Instead of cooking well, directors, Alfonso Cuarón in this case, just dump in some MSG to make it good. Too often the scenes are spoiled, the emotions indicated instead of felt.

Ingrid Michaelson

Never heard of her until today. Heard her big hit, that I guess is part of an Old Navy ad (the new way to fame getting a song in an ad for cheap clothes made to last a season), "The Way I Am" Cute, catchy 2 minutes of fluff.



I was humming along with it until I heard the line about Rogaine. Any song that has Rogaine in it has got to go. And what the hell is indie-pop anyways. If it is pop, it's not indie. Independent popular music makes no sense.

Some of the side effects of Rogaine include hair loss and difficulty breathing. I tried some free samples in highschool. A friend's dad was a dermatologist. But after reading about the side effects of difficulty of breathing while lying down...forget it.
Be a man, take baldness in stride.

Review?

Wendy Perron, the editor of Dance Magazine, wrote something on her blog about our performance Friday night, Nov. 30th, at St. Mark's in NYC. Not exactly a glowing review of our work, and I think it perpetuates some bad expectations of improvisation, but still got my name in virtual print by the editor of Dance Magazine.

"Andrew Wass...willing to start his own trouble"

What the Fuck? File # 6.2

Court: Woman Can Keep Frozen Dead Cats

Kiefer is a privledged Lush

Kiefer Sutherland was recently arrested for driving while under the influence while on probation for a similar offense. His sentence is 48 days in jail. Maybe that number because it is twice the number of the title of his show, who knows.

But what galls me is this -
"Earlier reports suggested he would serve his term with breaks in order not to interrupt the 24 filming schedule"

Why would he have gotten out of jail every now and then? Yes, he is a big star, blah, blah, blah, but what judge could hand that decision down with a straight face and not think the justice system is a joke? If anyone else had been arrested for a similar offense they would not be allowed out of jail to continue their work schedule. They would probably lose their job, be unable to pay their mortgage, spouse/partner leave them as they get more and more depressed...
But, noooo, Mr. Fancy Pants Hollywood star has the possibility to leave jail whenever he feels like it.

But it is all moot anyways as "...production has already been suspended due to a Hollywood writers' strike."