Moments

It's easy for me to fall into the spiral that is this belief: things need to change for me to be happy. I'm trying more and more (failing mostly) to soak up individual moments...like the sunset on my drive to Sublette, KS on Friday. I saw this video tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe the video relates to my recent vein of thought in no other way than the title, but I still found it to be a powerful statement on the diversity of the human experience.

- Joel

By the way, if you like the music you hear in the video, you are in luck. Parachutes, the band featured in the video, is giving away their entire collection here.

The Big Short

I finished Michael Lewis' latest best-seller, The Big Short, yesterday. Most people can think of a thousand other things they'd rather do than read a book about the subprime mortgage crisis. On most days, I would fall into that category. However, Lewis crafts a masterful narrative; this book reads less like a financial recap and more like a novel, with twist and turns and controversy and conspiracy. It was fascinating to watch the crash of the housing market unfold and to see how a select group of individuals positioned themselves to make millions in spite of the economic crisis. While I would highly recommend this book, it did leave me with three questions/critiques:

1. Isn't hindsight always 20/20? Pardon the cliche, but Lewis writes from a convenient perspective. It is much easier to anticipate the collapse of the the U.S. housing market in retrospect than to actually predict the impending doom. He criticizes Wall Street's ignorance and writes as if the collapse was obvious. Yet, those who placed bets against the continued health of the housing market constituted approximately .01% of the investment population. To say that something 99.9% of investors did not anticipate should have been obvious seems to me to be a bit of a stretch.

2. Lewis paints his protagonists, those who foresaw the collapse and made millions by betting against the market, as heroes. Throughout the entire book, one question nagged me: why didn't these guys tell anybody? Lewis mentions repeatedly how afraid these men were that other people would find out what they already knew. They knew the cracked economy would eventually crumble leaving thousands of Americans in dire financial straights. Yet, they kept quiet, doing nothing to alert the public or inspire change, because they stood to make millions in the event of a collapse. How can one view as heroes men who, foreseeing the imminent economic danger, did nothing to help others but instead positioned themselves to profit off of the downfall of others?

3. Is this just a Wall Street problem, as Lewis implies? It seems to me that we live in an age where individuals need no longer bear the responsibility for their actions. Lewis places blame on both Wall Street and lending agencies for this economic collapse. However, in the midst of this blame game, Lewis makes the strong implication that the average homeowner, who by defaulting on his/her mortgage sparked this collapse, bears no responsibility for the crisis. I agree with Lewis that both Wall Street and the lending agencies bear a large responsibility for the economic collapse. However, I do not agree with Lewis' conclusion about American home owners. I have the sneaky suspicion that if, instead of taking out mortgages on exorbitant homes, Americans (myself included) simply learned to live within their means, then this crisis could have been widely avoided.

Alright, I'll get off my soap box. Don't let my critique dissuade you from reading this book. It offers a compelling narrative, is a quick read, and deserves your attention.

- Joel

Across the Country

© Joel Thomason

I started the week in Boston and ended it on the plains of southwest Kansas in Sublette. My cousin Dana and her husband are treating me too well out here. I may not make it back to Kansas City.

- Joel

© Joel Thomason

Photographer of the Day

© Kim Holtermand

Kim Holtermand. These pictures make me feel like the Loch Ness Monster is lurking just below the surface.

- Joel

© Kim Holtermand

© Kim Holtermand

Frontier Paper

An old friend of mine, Libby Smith, has started her own paper company in Dallas. Don't get visions of Dunder Mifflin; Libby's paper company actually makes custom invitations, stationery, and other paper goods. Check out her work here on the blog or go to the Frontier Paper Company website.

- Joel

Job Wouters

I'm digging Job Wouters custom lettering/design. The examples here are just the tip of the iceberg. Trust me, if you float in his waters, Job will sink you like the Titanic. (Bad cliche, even worse joke, but you should still check out his site)

- Joel

Wise Blood

Not sure what to think of this guy Chris Laufman, aka Wise Blood. He does a lot of looping/layering, similar to Panda Bear, and then sings over his new creations. You can listen to his EP below or download it for free at his Bandcamp page. If you are interested, "STRT SRNS" might be my favorite track from the EP.

- Joel

Beach House

Traveling this week gave me an opportunity to catch up on some new tunes (only the hippest tunes for me of course...I mean what is cooler than a dude who reads books about the subprime mortgage crisis and incessantly watches Western films). One that I have particularly enjoyed is a new track from Beach House which surfaced in their recent live session for iTunes. Check it out below.

- Joel

Beach House - "White Moon"

Photographer of the Day

© Edward S. Curtis

Edward S. Curtis. Yesterday and today I was in Boston on a work trip. The hotel where I stayed (the Millennium Bostonian Hotel for those who are interested) had a newly designed lobby with an array of photography books scattered on shelves. Of course I couldn't help but browse through a few of them; the book on Edward S. Curtis especially caught my eye. Curtis spent much of his career traversing the American West photographing Native American Indians. I found his photography to be a rare and powerful window into our nation's past.

By the way, if you ever have a chance to travel to Boston, don't let it slip by. What an incredible city.

- Joel

© Edward S. Curtis

© Edward S. Curtis

Your Brain On Computers

Over the past year and a half, I have noticed the steady retardation of my attention span. It has become progressively obvious that I have a difficult time passing the day without a constant barrage of digital stimulation. Today, as I was driving to my parents house, I heard a fascinating interview with Matt Richtel, technology reporter for the New York Times, on NPR's Fresh Air. Richtel recently won a Pulitzer Prize for his series "Driven to Distraction", a discussion of the perils of media consumption while driving. In fact, Richtel's writing provided the impetus for many cities and states to enact texting-while-driving legislation. However, today Richtel discussed his current journalistic series, "Your Brain on Computers". In the interview, Richtel explored the scientific research examining technology's effect on the brain. It seems that I am not the only one losing my attention span. Though technology has profoundly improved our daily lives, it has also deteriorated our mental capacity. We in the digital age have a more difficult time focusing, a shorter attention span, an impaired memory, and an increasingly unhealthy addiction to technology's buzz.

This interview and Richtel's articles, which you can read at the links below, left me with tough questions to ask myself about my own digital consumption. In fact, I may be taking a 30 day fast from Twitter as a result. The articles are not lengthy and are well worth your time. I have inserted a quote from each article below the link to give you a quick and dirty summary of what each article details. Furthermore, I realize the irony of posting articles about the dangers of digital media consumption here on a blog. I guess I'll just have to take the risk.

- Joel

"Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying A Mental Price" (June 7, 2010)
"Throughout evolutionary history, a big surprise would get everyone's brain thinking," said Clifford Nass, a communications professor at Stanford. "But we've got a large and growing group of people who think the slightest hint that something interesting might be going on is like catnip. They can't ignore it."

"Studying the Brain Off the Grid, Professors Find Clarity" (August 16, 2010)
It is a debate that has become increasingly common as technology has redefined the notion of what is “urgent.” How soon do people need to get information and respond to it? The believers in the group say the drumbeat of incoming data has created a false sense of urgency that can affect people’s ability to focus.

"Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Much Needed Down Time" (August 24, 2010)

The technology makes the tiniest windows of time entertaining, and potentially productive. But scientists point to an unanticipated side effect: when people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas.

Song of the Day

Navajo Bixby hail from New Jersey - cue derogatory comments from Fred Armisen dressed as New York Governor David Patterson.

- Joel

Navajo Bixby - "Down Under"

Photographer of the Day

© Scott Pommier

Scott Pommier - straight out of California counter culture.

- Joel

© Scott Pommier

© Scott Pommier

© Scott Pommier

Even More Sufan

For five years we didn't get much news out of Sufjan Stevens. I guess that's not entirely true; we did get an album full of B-sides, some repackaged Christmas tunes, and a symphony. Maybe the curse of being so incredibly talented is that we view such a diverse set of material as uneventful. However, he has more than made up for his absence, whether real or perceived, over the past seven days. Last Friday he dropped a new EP. Then yesterday he announced a new album. Now today we get a sneak peak of what that album will sound like. I'll admit that Asthmatic Kitty's description of Sufjan's new sound had me thinking, "I'm not going to like it." But now that I hear it, I think it may become my favorite album of the year. We'll see. Listen to and/or download the new track below.

- Joel

The Walkmen on Etsy

The Walkmen are doing some cool things surrounding the release of their album Lisbon, which drops on September 14. They're teaming with artists on Etsy to release posters (seen above), t-shirts, and album inserts. Not a bad way for the band to promote/support developing artists. Check out their etsy store here if you're interested. And by the way, Lisbon is going to be a great album. You should listen to it.

- Joel

Matt Lehman

Check out this great design work by Matt Lehman. Lehman does illustrations, logos, branding and so much more. He's even done quite a bit of design work for fellow Liberty High School graduate Matt Wertz.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

© Stefano Unterthiner

Stefano Unterthiner. Animals face to face. I love this.

- Joel

© Stefano Unterthiner

© Stefano Unterthiner

© Stefano Unterthiner

Sketchbook Project

This is something that Cassie should do (or you if you're creative). Enter into The Sketchbook Project (for $25) and they'll send you a sketchbook to design/illustrate/collage/create as you see fit. All completed sketchbooks will become a part of the Brooklyn Art Library's permanent collection, but first they will tour the country and be put on display. This is something I wish I was talented enough to try. Check out some examples above and below.

- Joel

Dead Man's Bones

If you didn't already love Ryan Gosling, you will after watching his band perform at an old folks home. If you watch all the way to the end (even past the weird interlude in the middle) you'll get to see the children's choir and the old folks break into a dance party. It's kind of ironic that Dead Man's Bones is performing for nearly-dead men's bones. Get it?

- Joel

What I wouldn't give to spend a month roadtripping across America. It might look something like this.

- Joel

Song of the Day

Here is some grimy new hip hop from Kid Cudi. This track will be on his album which drops in the fall.

- Joel

Kid Cudi feat. Kanye West - "Wylin' Cause I'm Young"