MattZ

as a slight diversion, a couple of you have mentioned adapting your technique to the boominess of dreads, and I'd be interested to hear you elaborate on that. What are some things you find yourself doing differently? My main acoustic gtr is a Taylor 314ce (cutaway) and so I don't have any boom issues (I think taylors are generally considered to be pretty bright, and the cutaway probably doesnt help). I recently got a Gibson folksinger (F-25) that I love but Ive had my eyes on a J-45 for awhile. So, I'm just curious. Also, they are hard to find but I use (and love) LaBella Silk and Steel

Yes. After the market was almost 40% from its peak. The facade that I referenced had crumbled by then.

Yep, no argument from this guy here.

Stewart's point is that CNBC marketed Cramer (and others) in such a way that misled people into thinking that they were receiving a multi-faceted, educated approach to investing. Now, we can argue over whether those people were morons, or naive, or reasonable, but to me, that's the coup de grace. Cramer is nothing more than Dr Phil or Rush Limbaugh (an entertainer). And CNBC held him out as something else. And to take it a step further, combine Cramer with everyone else on that channel. All of CNBC is a facade. And it's a facade that helped to convince lots of people to put 401k money in

Yeah it's funny. I got on a Ribot kick awhile back, and the guy used to play virtually every show I ever went to at a cool club (now deceased) called Tonic. Every time I went there he was either the main act, or opening for the main act (usually Electric Masada or Masada). Seeing him headline with Los Cubanos Postizos there barely missed making my "top 5 concert experiences" in that other thread. The guy is unbelievable. Oh, and then he was a surprise opener (with Zorn) for a Yo La Tengo Hanukkah concert this year. I really can't escape the guy. Not that I am complaining.

If you hadn't said it, I would've... (I saw them once too; they were terrible (IMO))

Interesting that A-Man's link suggests that the lighting guy thinks Ryan's hearing issues are in his head. You have to be zen to be a Ryan Adams fan. Fo' sho'.

In another life I saw phish at least 30 times. And I've seen each of the following at least 10 times: (1) wilco/tweedy solo (2) dylan (3) elvis costello (attractions, imposters, brodsky quartet, bacharach) (4) squeeze/tilbrook solo/fluffers (5) medeski martin and wood (electric, acoustic, w/ DJ Logic, w/scofield) (6) yo la tengo (7) marc ribot (solo, trio, cubanos postizos, electric masada w/ zorn)

I know. That's why it was a rhetorical question. Was just highlighting the distinction so it isn't missed. Of course you run your biz for the most money possible. You own it.

Shouldn't CEOs, as employees, be doing the same thing? i.e., running the company to make as much money as possible for the owners of the company (the shareholders)? (that's a rhetorical question)

Thain also spent $1million re-decorating his office in 2008. I will not and cannot defend that guy. But we are never going to prevent people from ASKING/DEMANDING compensation that doesn't match their performance. People always have and always will overvalue themselves. They certainly do in my company. The point is that something actually worked properly here! He didn't deserve it and he didn't get it. That's much more important to me than whether this asshole asked for something he didn't deserve. Especially given this debate we are having now. ETA: And no, I am not overlooking the

Yeah, missed that, although my defense is that I was responding to Artifice. But are we now criticizing Thain for being an asshat? Or a "system" that enables unqualified and undeserving executives to get compensated without accountability? Because if he was railroaded into not taking one, so was the president and the CFO. And whether it was PR or some other reason, they didn't get bonuses. So, the system sort of worked here, didn't it?

Thain is a clown that deserves no defense, but if you are going to quote what Thain requested as a bonus, isn't a bit misleading to leave out this part too? Again, I don't say this to defend the guy, but at least present the whole picture. Maybe he was pressured into this, but the guy got no bonus for 2008. Lots of folks are complaining about firms going down and CEOs getting compensated. Merrill Lynch is not one of those examples. Mr Thain, who guided the investment bank to a merger with Bank of America (BoA) just hours before Lehman Brothers collapsed in September, on Monday night told

when i was a kid, I thought his name was Butt kiss.

Also, the reason Jules is great is because he posts shit like that and then disappears while everyone else fights about it. And he knows what he will find when he checks back in. Lemmings, we are.

The hypothetical author of Jules' post said that he is "done with this country." I would suppose that Good Old Neon was responding to that 3rd grade-level, temper tantrum-type argument by calling "him" on it. I don't see why your converse argument is relevant in this context. Unless you can point me to someone in Somalia who is done with that country. You can expand your search beyond semi-obscure former alt-country message boards, if you like.

I think the point would be that people who tend to rail against taxes also tend to ignore the benefits that accrue to them through taxes. Hard work and success does not occur in a vacuum. It occurs in the context of a society that funds itself with taxes. And while it is easy (and wrong, frankly) to hold up the pregnant woman on welfare as a scapegoat, the truth is that eating Ramen and putting every dollar into your business in Somalia would have yielded far fewer riches to our hypothetical business owner than it would have, and would continue to, in the good ol USA -- even with Obama's hi

not dark yet

the first three that popped into my head: Shins Modest Mouse Oysterhead

I think I had too much joy in me when I heard Fluffhead or Sanity or Antelope to think i've moved on. But maybe you are right. Or maybe moved on doesn't have to mean entirely. We shall see.

If you can catch him with the Imposters, you should do it. But the Attractions are the tightest, most badass, band I have ever seen.

I'd echo some of what Moe says, and obviously I say that as someone who saw a fraction of the shows that he saw and my peak years were 95-97. I thought the run was a lot of fun. I got chills at all the normal spots (fluffhead, sanity opener, antelope). There was some rust for sure, but it's hard to quibble with the rust when you come out of retirement to play 3 shows like that, balls to the wall. There were going to be Trey flubs and I can't get (and won't get) hung up on them. The energy seemed to be there and the joy was there. And yet, I am a bit surprised at the outpouring of unani

elvis costello and the attractions (by far) And in no particular order: wilco phish squeeze (in their prime) yo la tengo

Haha, yeah. I didn't mean literally. I am with El, though. Like most things we argue about around here, I just don't think the issue is black and white. Are the folks arguing for nationalization and compensation caps being intellectually consistent? Can you simultaneously incentivize people to go work for companies without caps on compensation (i.e., FOREIGN banks) as you argue that the govt can fix the situation? Who is going to be left to do the fixing? Of course, I realize that the folks that are going to be incentivized to go work for Deutsche Bank are the folks that got us into th