Movies: On the Road

Traveling is one of the kicks life can give you. It seems that the poet Jack Kerouac got a lot of kicks on his 7 years long journey through the USA which he accomplished in the 40s of the last century. His book "On the road" about his travel experiences became a bestseller and later a "leitmotif" for the hippie generation.

Kerouac´s basic ideas - having a very free life on a low budget - are displayed in the movie "On the road", directed by Walter Salles and godfathered by Francis Ford Coppola (imdb). I especially admired the work of cinematographer Eric Gautier. The Frenchman captured the sheer endless row of places visited by Kerouac and his friends on their long travel in awesome pictures. You could fall in love with America because of her beauty. I will have to sometimes discover these places myself.

Wikipedia claims that "On the road" is a Brazilian-French production (wikipedia). This explains that the movie doesn´t show the prudishness which is typical for modern Hollywood productions, not at all. The film very generously displays the sexual libertinage Kerouac and his friends enjoyed on their travels.

"On the road" also shows the innocence of the pre-HIV-era and offers a lot of nudity - male & female - and doesn´t shy away from graphic sex scenes. But this is absolutely necessary because traveling in the sense of Kerouac means also exploring the possibilities of oneself and other like minded people. At least the cast -  including Hollywood`s beauties Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst and Amy Adams  - didn´t seem to have any problem to participate in this freewheeling kaleidoscope.

The libertine approach of the movie could be challenging for a majority who believes the world functions like a Disney movie. But if your mind is open you could have a lot fun traveling the roads with the fine cast.

Economy: Fairness Is Cool

One of my favorite stores in New York is Whole Foods Market. It´s a paradise for food lovers. The huge variety attracts a cool clientele. Watching those stylish customers walking through the ailes is almost as fun as spotting all the delicatessen there.

But there is another issue I find very interesting. It seems that the company believes in fairness.

You can buy there a lot of coffee varieties. Some of the coffee beans are offered in open barrels. You can fill them in a bag and grind the beans in a grinder next to the barrels.

The beans have different prices, relating to the qualities. The cashier doesn`t know what quality is in your bag. Hence you write a code number on the bag defining quality and price of your purchase.

In theory people could confuse the prices by accident or not. In theory they could write the code number of a lower priced coffee brand on the bag and save some bucks.

But this wouldn`t be fair. Neither would that be cool. Therefore people generally write the right price on the bag and pay the right amount. At least Whole Foods Market is trusting their customers,  maybe because they know that their clientele is cool.

Culture: Sexy Badass Girl Fest At Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, New York

 

 (Drivebycuriosity) - I love girls and I love rock music. Hence I am very happy when both joys come together. This Tuesday I enjoyed the "Sexy Badass Girl Fest" at Knitting Factory, a venue in Brooklyn, New York (knittingfactory).

It was a lot of fun to watch this fine mixture of sole performers and girl groups. Around 8pm an elf in a hippie outfit appeared on the stage: Alyson Greenfield (facebook). The  young musician accompanied her delicate songs by playing on a keyboard. It was a pleasure watching  the young musician singing & dancing and playing her keyboard.

She got replaced by Tori Sparks, an American singer/songwriter, who lives partly in Barcelona (reverbnation). She presented us a mix of songs with influences from Nashville and Spain. I liked her melodic voice and her elegant guitar play.

Then Mancie (3 girls, singing & playing guitar, supported by a male percussionist) delivered a robust rock show (.facebook).

The breaks got bridged by Kara Klenk (newyork.ucbtheatre). The New York stand up comic told us funny stories, including topics like giving or not giving wedding presents and a male who was hunted by the police for driving through Brooklyn while jerking off without an erection.

Well done, girls!.

Economy: A Welcome To The Robots

I believe that this century will be the century of the robots, maybe even this decade. The other day I spotted one of them, a cute household device called "Roomba" (wikipedia).

It was fun to watch how this autonomous vacuum cleaner navigated through a small shop room without any visible human interference. The cute machine moved swiftly while avoiding contacts with walls and the many objects in the room. The little robot averted being trapped in the corners, didn´t bother the huge toy bear sitting in a corner and didn`t fall out onto the street even when the door was wide open.

Roomba is a typical cybernetic machine. The word cybernetic comes  from the ancient Greek term kybernētēs, meaning "steersman, governor, pilot" (wikipedia). Your air conditioner, for instance, is a typical simple cybernetic system. You might choose a certain temperature, say 68 F (20 Celsius). Then the sensors of the climate system will constantly check the room temperature, compare the target with the actual situation and respond to deflections. If the temperature climbs higher than 68 F the systems responds and starts cooling, if the temperature falls below 68 F, it stops cooling and might even start heating.

The Roomba and other robots work in a similar way. The processors respond to signals from the sensors about objects which have to be avoided.

Today most of the robots are working for industry. They are saving costs, for instance by assembling car parts or lacquering them. Even farmers are using more and more robots, for instance for harvesting strawberries or milking cows (wikipedia). These machines are reducing the costs of producing something significantly, making things cheaper and more affordable. Hence robots are raising the living standard of everybody. The saved costs also translate into rising company profits even in a sluggish economy and in this way are fueling  the rise of the stock market - generating wealth for millions. 

I reckon that we will see many more robots soon as a result of the technological progress. The necessary processors, sensors and memories are getting smaller and cheaper all the time (thanks to Moore`s law) which causes more affordable and better robots. Robots also could be the answer to the problem that a falling birth rate leads to a shrinking percentage of working people (work force) and a rising number of retired people. More and more things will be produced by robots substituting the missing workers and raising the life standard of the world.

Culture: Poetry Reading By Riverside Poets At NYPL Riverside Branch, Manhattan, New York City

  

(Drivebycuriosity) - Relationships alter your horizons. For almost 3 years I have been seeing a beautiful New York woman whom I married this New Year´s Eve. She opened my eyes to the world of poetry.

This Saturday I attended a poetry reading by the Riverside Poets at the NYPL Riverside Branch in Manhattan, New York City, which she is administering. It took place in a small library on Amsterdam Avenue. There gathered a group of New York poets. 

Among others reading were my wife Sarah Ellen Bedell, who is administering the Riverside Poets group, DeeAnne Gorman, who also is a beloved vocalist and performer (facebook), Peggy Murphy and David Elsasser, who has poetry group of his own.

A enjoyed the variety of poems  - around 40 writings including some short haikus - the attendees read there. Every reader presented his or her own universe, hence the afternoon was full of surprises. Many of the poems were philosophical and full of interesting ideas. Some texts were funny, others sad.

Here is one example, courtesy of Sarah, my beautiful wife. Enjoy.

You sit there in my home,
wondering if I have poem –
But I’m at the office,
shouldn’t that suffice?
I’ve got notes on some old beaus,
who left me mostly in throes
 - of rejection,
I could write of those -
You silly slave driver of affection!
BTW - What would you do?
If the same happened to you?
But there is no problem G.
I am smitten as smitten can be.

Stock Market: Why The Fireworks Will Continue

Last week the global stock markets delivered fireworks. The S&P 500, the benchmark for US stocks, climbed to the highest level since 2007 (marketwatch). The index gained 4.6% for the week, its largest one-week percentage gain since the week ending Dec. 2, 2011.

The rally got ignited by the fiscal cliff deal on New Year´s Eve (the perfect gift for my wedding on this day) and received a lot of tailwinds from beneficial macroeconomic news from China & US.

Yesterday we learned that the US generated 155 K new jobs in December. This number is perfect for the stocks because the job growth is strong enough to generate more income to finance the growing consumer spending. But the number isn´t strong enough to induce a rise of the interest rates which are now close to zero. Hence the monetary policy should continue fueling the rally on the stock markets.

I am also encouraged by the ISM Non-manufacturing index which showed that the US service sector (the largest part of the economy) accelerated its growth in December (calculatedriskblog). The solid numbers prove that the US is still on a sound growth path and  is doing much better than the majority believes.

I reckon that the fireworks will continue this year. I believe that  the economic growth in the US & China will continue and maybe even accelerate. This should reanimate the ailing economy in Europe.

Next week the focus should change to the company numbers because of the starting earnings season. On Tuesday Alcoa is expected to be the first large company which reports profits & revenue from Q4 2012. I reckon that most of the S&P 500 companies will beat the the predictions of the analysts because the majority oft them is too pessimistic. I further believe that the average of the companies will provide a solid profit growth thanks to the rapid technological progress which strengthens their efficiency and reduces the costs.

Rising company profits and a healing global economy accompanied by record low interest rates are a strong fundament for further gains on the stock market. Enjoy!

Movies: Argo

 

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Revolutions belong to the worst things on earth. The Iranian revolution is no exception. 1979, after the Shah Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavī, who is still hated by the left wing in Europe & US, has been overthrown, the mob started to rule in the streets of Tehran. Shortly after the Shah has fled to the US, the American embassy was stormed by agitated masses who acted like zombies. 6 US citizens could escape and found refuge in the Canadian Embassy. Their hidden asylum got more and more endangered by Iranian fanatics who where feverishly searching for them. Under huge time pressure the CIA - in cooperation with Canadian authorities - accomplished a clandestine operation to save these people and smuggle them out of the country. As camouflage they faked a movie production claiming that the 6 refuges are member of a Canadian film team which had to inspect Iranian locations for an alleged Science Fiction film called "Argo".

The movie "Argo" tells this historical true story in a way Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud of (imdb). Director Ben Affleck and screenwriter Chris Terrio deliver a nail biting thriller which lets the audience participate in the growing dangers and the extremely narrow escape.

But the film offers much more. It is partly a documentary and shows how one man, the CIA agent Tony Mendez, played by Ben Affleck himself, organizes a sophisticated and imaginative rescue operation on an extremely hostile terrain. "Argo" also shows how people respond in a claustrophobic and dangerous situation and how they have to develop trust and faith into their rescue. Furthermore, the film is a lecture how bigotry and fanaticism leads to blind hate against innocent people which transforms humans into fierce beasts.

Affleck`s fine ensemble converses the story in a convincing way. "Argo" shows what cinema could be.