Monthly Archives: August 2008

THERE CAN BE ECONOMIC PAIN WITHOUT A RECESSION.

THERE CAN BE ECONOMIC PAIN WITHOUT A RECESSION. There are lots of bad things that can happen to an economy without there being a recession. One of them is to have several quarters in a row with very low positive … Continue reading

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IS IT A RECESSION OR SHOULD WE CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE?

IS IT A RECESSION OR SHOULD WE CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE? Annalisa and Lee Bryant have both written me recently to object to the way the “R word” is being thrown around. They think “recession” should have a precise meaning: … Continue reading

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A “MUSCLE HUSSY.”

A “MUSCLE HUSSY.” My daughter Annalisa has been encouraging me to lift weights with her. I saw in the Financial Times some while back the phrase “muscle hussy” for a lady who lifts weights and have used it from time … Continue reading

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HOW COOKING SHAPED THE HUMAN BRAIN.

HOW COOKING SHAPED THE HUMAN BRAIN. I posted here about speculation that cooking was a great labor saving invention for early man because of the reduction in time spent chewing. Here is speculation that the discovery of cooking led to … Continue reading

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CONDITIONING BACK IN THE DAY—SLEEP AND WEIGHT LIFTING.

CONDITIONING BACK IN THE DAY—SLEEP AND WEIGHT LIFTING. Hawk Harrelson, the baseball announcer, was reminiscing recently about the macho, hard-drinking code of the veteran players when he broke in to the majors in 1963. Rookies were expected to join in … Continue reading

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LIFE LESSONS FROM ATHLETES—SLEEP.

LIFE LESSONS FROM ATHLETES—SLEEP. A lot of attention has been given to Michael Phelps’s calorie consumption, but this article shows that he values sleep as well as food: “‘Eat, sleep and swim. That’s all I can do,’ Phelps, who won … Continue reading

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LIFE LESSONS FROM ATHLETES—CALORIES.

LIFE LESSONS FROM ATHLETES—CALORIES. Michael Phelps, the star Olympics swimmer, eats 12,000 calories a day. If you want to lose weight, it may be that you should exercise more.

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A HORSE WALKS INTO A BAR….(COMMENT).

A HORSE WALKS INTO A BAR….(COMMENT) My niece Molly commented here that, as I had hoped, she had shared with her daughter Mia one of the jokes that my father told at the dinner table (“Y is the fourth of … Continue reading

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PRICING ART BY SIZE AND THE NUMBER OF FIGURES.

PRICING ART BY SIZE AND THE NUMBER OF FIGURES. Rubens on the pricing of art: “‘One evaluates pictures differently from tapestries. The latter are purchased by measure, while the former are valued according to their excellence, their subject, and number … Continue reading

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EPHEMERAL ART—SCREEVERS AND DUST.

EPHEMERAL ART—SCREEVERS AND DUST. With cameras everywhere, ephemeral art is not so ephemeral any more. Chalk on sidewalk in rainy England might seem as ephemeral as you can get (I posted on a talented screever here.) But perhaps drawings in … Continue reading

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