More Pitch Meeting

I have been doing a lot (3 or 4 episodes shorter than 5mins) of webisode watching, hoping to understand a few things:
(1) Who the F cares?
(2) How do you measure success?
(3) What works and what doesn't?

And then I came across this, which initially seemed tangential and later appeared to be another article on not much, something Vanity Fair excels at. I mean all these chicks have twitter followers but what gives? What's with the flirty trenchcoats? amiright?
More...
I recognized Felicia Day from my minor obsession with Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog a year or so ago so I did some research. Apparently, this article was disappointing to all involved and rather than just move on (and more than likely because the Sunday football games were boring) I looked into what she was complaining about.

To net it out, I don't have much to report, This woman seems to earn a living as a working web series actress. Having said that, I still don't understand how, or the answers to any of my original questions. Still, I found this catchy and highly entertaining



You can actually buy this on iTunes...

Oiled up

Great question, Killer B! I like and respect you as well.

Oil price movements in the last year have left a lot of people scratching their heads. I’ve read almost nothing intelligent on the matter. Some members of the media and more than a few politicians seem to think speculators are to blame. Killer B is right to disregard that notion. Speculators do indeed increase demand for oil by buying contracts to take possession of oil at a later date. However, since they don’t actually want to take possession of a bunch of oil, they need to sell those contracts before they expire. Buying and selling an equal number of contracts pushes out the supply and demand curves equally. No effect on prices.

The shapes of the supply and demand curves tell a much more interesting story. The demand curve we learn in Micro 101 is a straight, upward-slopping line, meaning the more a product sells for, the more of it manufacturers will produce. But oil’s supply curve isn’t a straight line. Like every commodity, oil’s supply curve is based on the cost of production. The graph below is illustrative if not accurate, but something like 90% of the maximum daily output can be had for pretty reasonable prices. After that there is a sharp inflection point. Marginal sources become much, much more expensive to turn on. Oil shares this shape with nearly every commodity with limited storage (natural gas, electric power, etc.):



For many products, this shape exists, but is not a daily part of our lives because the demand curve crosses somewhere far away from this kink in the supply curve. The Micro 101 demand curve is a downward sloping straight line, meaning that as prices for a good rise, the quantity purchased falls. Oil is a bit trickier. Over long periods of time, oil has a downward sloping demand curve. People buy smaller cars, figure out the bus schedule, move closer to work, etc. But in the very short term, there is very little the world can do to use less oil. The demand curve in the short run is thus a vertical line, shown below in red:



The price we pay and for the quantity we demand is shown at the intersection of the supply and demand curves.

Now here’s the fun part. Both the supply curve and the demand curve move around from day to day and year to year. What we saw a year ago was the supply curve squeezing in due to supply disruptions in Iraq and Nigeria, along with natural decline in Norway, Mexico and other places. At the same time, the demand curve was pushing out due to a growing Chinese middle class and economic expansion in the West. The new graph looked like this:

Over the past few months, a global recession has brought the demand curve back in. A bonanza of oil infrastructure investments made over the past decade has come on line, pushing the supply curve out. The combination has crushed prices:

This explains 90% of the movements we’ve seen. There are other things around the edges, like government policy and the relative strength of the US dollar, but those aren’t as important.

Experts Agree!

Last week, I noticed I desperately needed a haircut. Normally, I would venture over to Astor Place, where I would read a comic, just purchased at Forbidden Planet, as I waited around for Ledo to free up and do some damage.

That Saturday however, I was pressed for time so I just went down the street and had someone more local cut my hair.

She took a preposterously long time to get it done, given that she hardly cut anything at all. She also charged more than Ledo, and her breathe smelled like cheetos ( I could not figure out if that was a plus or a minus).

She will forever be my friend for one reason. At one point she stopped cutting, turned to the woman next to her and pointed out in Spanish "this guy has great hair"

This conversation carried for a bit, in Spanish. Both women agreeing my hair was awesome. I could not keep from laughing. Eventually it dawned on them that I could understand them.

"Yes, your hair. It's very nice. You should be proud"

I agreed. I should be proud. More than anything, I was emboldened. I faced the week that came with a renewed vigor and pride. No one could stop me. I was in the mood to take what I wanted at all times.

So Friday when I relayed this story to Et #2 and she agreed there was really only place to go. I licked her face.

Manolo's Animal Trivia

* When a girafee's baby is born, it normally falls from a height of six feet without being hurt. I am sad to report that the same thing can't be said for the time DullerBiatch got dropped on his head.

* Camels have three eyelids on each eye. They also have two testicles which is two more than DullerBiatch has...

* A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate. I really don't know how Evil has survived this long.

* A pregnant goldfish is called a twit. I apologize Evil...I didn't know you were either a goldfish or pregnant...

* Cats have over 100 vocal sounds while dogs have only about 10. Xtian makes over 500 vocal sounds as he cries himself to sleep every night...

* A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out...and Xtian can't get an erection...

Manolo Has Hurt Feelings

Over the weekend, I called Xtian for our twice a year phone call…After making fun of Evil for about 10 minutes, we proceeded to talk about life. That conversation lasted about 2 minutes (which I think is a personal record for us). We promptly changed our conversation to the Hose which at this juncture WAS the only thing keeping our friendship together….

I said WAS because xTian and Evil staged are guilty of staging a coup d’état. I didn’t think they had it in them but I am to give credit where credit is due. It is almost genius the way they did it. First, Evil took the Hose as his own personal diary. He started posting every day with these lame posts about leaving [his old job], having sex with Mystery, and flying to India to become the next Siddhartha…

That was around the last time I read the Hose because besides being unbelievably boring, xTian and Evil got their cronies in Wall Street to crash the real estate market. I have been working non-stop to salvage what’s left of my real estate empire…Do you know how time consuming and exhausting it is to kick people out of their homes? You have to involve lawyers, get an eviction notice, and then get the sheriff to throw all those bums out…You give them plenty of time (5 minutes) to gather their papers and most important belongings and they still complain. They also have no control of their kids. You think they will find one minute in those five to tell their kids to stop crying. And another thing, those kids are freaking retards…they always leave their favorite blanket or toy behind. Hey kid, you ever stopped to think that maybe if you didn’t spend your five minutes crying, you could have gotten your Tickle Me Elmo…

Then, xTian and Evil go and draft some elementary school superstar thinking he is the next Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. They don’t tell poor DullerBiatch that he will be playing with the big boys and that his WeeWee skills won’t get him anywhere. Next step involves hosting an election about my future without telling me. I didn’t know there was a vote taking place until Monday with an hour left before polls closed. You know how little time that is to make an informed decision and vote. Luckily, I was able to access six computers and make my voice heard…otherwise I would have lost by a bigger margin. All I wanted was a chance…You don’t think I would have been wooing Hose readers like super delegates at the Democratic Convention, or working on a way to get access to more computers…

Don’t you know how hard I fought for the Hose? I made this place what it is. I can count on three fingers the people I have brought in…What about the times the Hose was left for dead and I went ahead and made a fool of myself for your amusement. I wanted the chance to partake in something greater than myself and you have crushed my dream…Now I will crush you…

Happy Birthday, America!

Evil

happy birthday to the greatest country on earth (current foreign policy notwithstanding). america, you dont look a day over 225. even though we know you're really 231. you're letting yourself go a bit in the midsection (shape up, you fatties in chicago!), but we still love you. luckily, you're in such good health for your age, because you have no healthcare. but whatever, botox and boob lifts arent covered by insurance.

and to our loyal following on the hose, some words of advice as you celebrate america's birthday (because i care about you and want you to have a fun but safe holiday)...

xtian: no really means no.

the bumpasaurus: you shouldnt try to clench that roman candle in your butt cheeks, no matter how good you are at it.

manolo: there's a difference between a bottle rocket and a pocket rocket. try not to mix them up (like last year).

kentak3: yes, you can take today off from work, even though you're japanese (and a robot).

mamacita: see you at the BBQ... dont pretend like you dont know me! makes me sad. :(

evil twin #1: if you're going down to the esplanade, might as well pick some pockets.

evil twin #2 (TFME): will you post some more on your blog already?!

bruno: stay away from the bbq grill at all costs!!!