Parenting tips
30-Jan-08
Angry midgets are about to pop out of many of the women on my friend’s list, so I thought I’d pass along these helpful parenting tips, courtesy of radiantsun.
On the origins of Russian supermodels
30-Jan-08
Where did all the beautiful Russians come from?
To put it bluntly, in the Soviet Union there was no market for female beauty. No fashion magazines featured beautiful women, since there weren’t any fashion magazines. No TV series depended upon beautiful women for high ratings, since there weren’t any ratings. There weren’t many men rich enough to seek out beautiful women and marry them, and foreign men couldn’t get the right sort of visa. There were a few film stars, of course, but some of the most famous—I’m thinking of Lyubov Orlova, alleged to be Stalin’s favorite actress—were wholesome and cheerful rather than sultry and stunning. Unusual beauty, like unusual genius, was considered highly suspicious in the Soviet Union and its satellite people’s republics.
This doesn’t mean there weren’t any beautiful women, of course, just that they didn’t have the clothes or cosmetics to enhance their looks, and, far more important, they couldn’t use their faces to launch international careers. Instead of gracing London drawing rooms, they stayed in Minsk, Omsk, or Alma Ata. Instead of couture, they wore cheap polyester. They could become assembly-line forewomen, Communist Party bosses, even local femmes fatales, but not Vogue cover girls. They didn’t even dream of becoming Vogue cover girls, since very few had ever seen an edition of Vogue.
While out here in Tennessee, I also did some work in front of the camera. One of my photos is the basis for this web icon:
Me again, as a Vietnam-era early-90′s era soldier.
Nude, but not naked (NSFW)
Photography lessons with Oleg
27-Jan-08
I’m in Hermitage, TN taking photography lessons from Oleg Volk. Here’s some of the shots from my first photo session. My thanks to Brandon and Tiffany for being so patient!
Do madmen elect political saints?
22-Jan-08
Ezra Klein writes:
“…Namely, as I understand Tyler’s worldview, he thinks individuals are a whole lot more rational and economically capable than I do. I think folks, in many circumstances, need a bit more help, and that, as beings fairly aware of our own irrationality, lapses in long-term attention, and assorted other deficits and shortcomings, we often smartly conclude that the whole is stronger and wiser than the one, and build communal institutions that sacrifice some autonomy but create structures better fitted to the messy and occasionally disappointing ways in which we actually engage the world…”
It’s curious that so many Democrats, having endured 6+ years of the Bush administration, have such great confidence in the ability of the irrational masses to elect wise and benevolent leaders.
Among the libertarians I know, most agree that their fellow often make wasteful, irrational, and shortsighted decisions. But that doesn’t mean that taking their decision making authority away from them and giving it to government officials will result in better outcomes.
If decisions are left up to us as individuals, and if we are held responsible for our actions, we will enjoy both the benefits of our good choices and pay the costs of our bad choices. Therefore, we have a strong incentive to take steps to curb our own irrationality. And if we fail, our poor decisions will primarily affect only ourselves and our close relatives.
If, on the other hand, we delegate control to elected officials, what reason do we have to believe that those officials will make better decisions than we will? If humans are irrational and wasteful with their own money, just imagine how they spend other people’s money. Consider the difference in how people order at a restaurant when the check is split equally, vs. how they order when everyone pays for their own dish.
Moreover, what happens when a government bureaucrat makes a bad decision? If you make a mistake as an individual, it’s clear you are responsible, and you suffer the consequences.
Government officials, on the other hand, are notoriously difficult to fire.
And not only do they not suffer for their mistakes, political incentives encourage bad decisions. For example, economists on both the left and right oppose farm subsidies as a waste of taxpayer dollars, yet $17 billion was spent in 2004 on direct subsidies to agribusiness. Why? Because agribusinesses are a powerful lobby, who spend millions of dollars to convince Congressfolk to continue their subsidies. The countervailing force is much weaker, because the cost of the subsidy is diffused across everyone in the country. Therefore, no single person or group has much incentive to fight against it.
Finally, an individual’s bad decisions primarily only affect themselves. The decisions of the federal officials affect everyone in the country — the only way to escape is to move out of the country.
Many people are shortsighted and irrational, it’s true. But that’s an argument against giving them power over others, not for increasing it.
Know a good carpenter?
21-Jan-08
Anybody know any good carpenters on the S.F. Bay Area? A friend of mine is looking for someone to rehang her back door.
The Joy of Exercise
20-Jan-08
Crossfit on Tuesday. Self-defense on Wednesday. Crossfit again on Friday. Self-defense on Saturday. And a vigorous hike this morning. Whew. My body is feeling pleasantly sore.
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Met up with radiantsun, mhat, frogpyjamas, and nasu_dengaku for dinner at Fresca’s last night. We had tapas! Delicious. The wait staff timed the delivery of the dishes perfectly–not too early, because there wasn’t enough room, but not so late that the food became cold. Recommended.
This morning radiantsun, mhat, ijeremy, arcanepackrat and I hiked the North Ridge Trail in the Purisima Open Space Preserve. It’s beautiful — lot’s of trees, forest glens. And hills. A more vigorous hike than I expected, based on the trail guide. Had an interesting conversation with Jeremy about what it takes to be an actor in the Bay Area. Becoming a SAG member’s expensive! $2100.00 membership dues. But there’s more work for actors (or at least, SAG members) than I thought.
Afterwards we had lunch at Oceanic Chinese Restaurant, where kime7673 joined us as well. I liked the decor, and it was quiet, which allowed us all to converse and hear each other at the same time. The mushrooms and sugarsnap peas were tasty, as was the salt and pepper squid. The Mongolian beef was a bit tough, and the sauce a little heavy for my tastes.
And of course, good conversation throughout.
The History of Civilization (NSFW)
19-Jan-08
Perfect-O-Dates
18-Jan-08
Note, appears to be fake. Tom Lommel claims to be Jeff Castle.