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Posted on February 28th, 2007 by Christian.
Categories: Business & Finance, Humor & Pop Culture.
As a newly minted MBA starting his career as a management consultant and considering a subsequent career in private equity at some point in the future, I have learned to have a tough skin. I read a book with the subtitle, “How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch to Tell You What Time it is”, to know the opponent’s criticisms in order to develop a strategy for defending myself.
Despite my tolerance for criticism, I found this post: http://www.leveragedsellout.com/2006/02/the-shitshow/ a bit disconcerting (but hysterical, nevertheless). It is basically a rant criticizing a former consultant who has made the transition to working in leveraged buy-outs. Luckily, I had a career in finance before my post-MBA move to being a corporate advisor, so hopefully some of these criticisms are not applicable to me (and I am certainly as aggressive as some bankers)
Although the writer’s insults are well-targeted and witty (yes, we do make a lot of pretty charts, i.e. finger-painting) and he seems to simultaneously practice tongue-in-cheek self-deprecation of his own chosen background, I can tell you from my various ex-investment banker friends, that yes, they are masters of mouseless excel, and yes, they are as condescending and egomanical as depicted, displaying Mammon-like degrees of greed and superficiality…. BREATH… then again, many of my best friends fit that bill, so I guess I can let it slip.
Another reflection on my current career, from the other end of the business intelligencia, I’ve had a very difficult time explaining what I do for a living to other people, especially in entertainment focused L.A.
Here are a couple of the more interesting attempts:
Me: “I am a management consultant”
Her: “You consult for actor’s managers? Cool!”
Me: “Have you seen the movie, Office Space?”
Him (actor): “Yes”
Me: “Well, basically, I am one of the Bobs.”
Him: “Wow, you had a part in that movie? That was a great hit. What are you doing now?”
That being said, I think consulting is a great job. I’m learning a ton and working with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met. But that’s not too funny so I’ll quit my verbose rants here.
Posted on February 27th, 2007 by Seth.
Categories: Humor & Pop Culture.
THINGS THAT KEEP ME AWAKE AT NIGHT
1. Every new year starts the same: Hung-over.
2. I went to a party last night with pretty people. The problem with 8
by 10’s (A.K.A. the pretty people) is that they don’t have much to
say. They kinda just shoot you pretty looks. I always imagine them
doing Crest commercials. In fact, some of them had stared in Crest ads
(I loved your work as the gingivitis free incisor). My friend told me
C-list celebs may attend, but I didn’t realize it meant (C)ommercial
level talent. Also, all the pretty people usually have one male artsy
friend. He’s kinda deep and likes photography or painting. Usually
this means he draws the art for the “Say Anything” section of YM.
Whatever, I read it and enjoy his work.
3. I feel like every time I finish a book…I’m left with a square piece of trash.
4. Back to the pretty people party. It had Mistletoe. Okay, I’m
Jewish. Not that familiar with the “Mistletoe.” It’s the religious
version of spin the bottle. Only the bottle stays still and the people
spin around it. Jews also have a religious tool for hooking up — it’s
called VODKA.
5. Chanukah - It’s like we can’t figure out the best way to beat
Christmas. Every year we switch the date, like, we’re still testing it
out on different weeks. It’s kinda like a lost TV show that can’t find
a good lead in. We’ve tried right after Thanksgiving. No Good. This
year it had the nine o clock slot by being, I think, on the 13th. I
heard next year we’re taking after “Friends” and super sizing
Chanukah. Yep, twelve days of Chanukah. Take that Kwanza the UPN of
holidays.
6. I don’t trust Honey Nut Cheerios. I won’t eat any cereal that a bee
has nutted honey all over.
7. Red bull gives you wings…and a headache the next day.
8. Whenever I decrypt a vanity plate I’m always disappointed by it’s meaning
GIVMERM SOCRMOM – they should say NVRCLVR
9. Over time, beauty marks become less beautiful
10. Some say if they could go back in time and do it all again they
would. I think I wouldn’t. I’d hate to be eight years old and realize
it’ll be about seven years until I can get a blowjob. That’s a lot of
time to go without any action.
11. Synonyms
“We got engaged” is synonymous with “we ran out of things to talk about”
“I’m going to grad school” is synonymous with “I reached into the
game of life and pulled out a roll again card”
“We have to talk” is synonymous with “you’re about to be in a bad mood”
“You had to be there” is synonymous with “Sorry that story sucked”
12. Last week my roommate came home wasted and brushed his teeth with
Icy Hot. It doesn’t keep me awake at night, but I felt it was worth
mentioning.
13. Sometimes I wonder how much time I waste doing certain things. I
wonder, when I die, if God will hand me a stats report like the way a
football game keeps track of rushes, yards and sacks. I wouldn’t wanna
know how may times I made someone smile or helped someone out. I would
want God to hand me my report and I’d be like, Geez, I really spent
$130,605 on booze, 1,000,560 hours watching TV and, huh, only twenty
two hours making love. (fingers crossed it’s that high – I think I’m
up to three and a half hours already – A third of that time is
attributed to Whiskey Wang).
14. IM is great. It’s like saying – I want to hear what you have to
say, but I want to answer at my own speed.
Susan421: How was New Years
Me: (after ten minutes) BRB (I get bored after another eight minutes
and respond) FUN!!
Susan: I got sooo Wah-sted!!
Me: (tired of convo) LOL
LOL is a pathetic response.
HAHAHA is even worse. The person only has to hit two letters.
That IM thought sounded funnier last night…I guess you had to be there.
Posted on February 27th, 2007 by Myk.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality, Arts & Literature, Humor & Pop Culture.
Zaadz is a portal that has evolved in the 5 years I have known it. It started its life as Thinkarete; as an aggregator of philosophical & spiritual quotes / books / teachers / etc.. After several directional shifts, it entered the social networking space and currently has an extremely active community of maybe 50,000 people. I have to admit that I’ve even made interesting people on this site. Those that know me will get the reference…in any case, if you like, check out my profile here.
Zaadz is really very different than MySpace or other community sites for a several reasons. First, the site’s management team goes out of its way to respond and optimize the experience. All the latest tricks and features are available….Second, is the emphasis on bringing people with common interests together. It’s not really a hands-off experience–pretty structured actually. Lastly, is all the content compiled by the site for the use of all visitors, not just members. For me, that’s where the TRUE value lies, particularly in Zaadz’s vast library of quotes; organized by topic, author, & (conveniently) length.
Now you know one of my secrets.
Posted on February 26th, 2007 by Myk.
Categories: Business & Finance, Science & Technology.
Future Lab has a piece on disruptive innovations which I think is an interesting concept to share (see article here). The term was first introduced by Clayton Christensen, a HBS professor in his book The Innovator’s Dilemma. Disruptive technologies affect us, as business people as well as consumers, because they create new product/service dimensions for consumers and therefore attack existing competition in new ways. Basically, they’re the cutting-edge new technologies today that become the standard technologies of the future.
The article talks about Skype (VoIP) being a disruptive technology over traditional phone services and offers a few heuristics to determine an industry is vulnerable to disruption. An example of an industry I think is very prone to disruption is portable audio devices. Sony’s Walkman disrupted previous technologies (I want to say radio) by increasing choice in music consumption on-th-go. You could listen to George Michael all day long now. The next tech was the Discman, that disruption was minimal (maybe not one at all) because although the CD improved quality/convenience, it didn’t add a new dimension to the offering–similar number of songs, similar size to the Walkman, battery life, etc. It wasn’t until Apple’s iPod led the next charge with its MP3 technology that the next serious disruptive technology came about. Now, you could carry a musical library with you–THAT’s a new element.
Well that’s an intro to disruptive technologies: check out the article and file away the concept because it might be relevant to you some day; hopefully as an opportunity.
Posted on February 24th, 2007 by Gerrit.
Categories: Business & Finance, Arts & Literature, Coming Events.
I’ve had the fortune of knowing a lot of real live artists. Their hearts won’t let them do anything else; the iron in their veins is polarized towards the ascetic life of aesthetics. While I don’t always know how to make them happy, me being left to listen and to look and to learn, I can help feed them. So, with that in mind, I want to let you know about a great event put on by a new, amazing, very entrepreneurial and free-thinking friend of mine.
This Thursday (3/1/07) in NYC at Chashama @ 217 (217 E. 42nd St.) there will be an art auction hosted by Sparkling Fresh.
Here’s the invitation.
Here’s a sampling from a previous auction.
It’s free admission (and there’s an open bar).
Support the good stuff!
Posted on February 23rd, 2007 by Christian.
Categories: Humor & Pop Culture.
That’s right, we’ve all seen ‘em: the ‘roided out muscle man, the guy who thinks he’s too cool by half, those annoying metro twins, the faux rocker.
Hell, some of my friends are them. In fact, which one of us has probably not been considered a douche bag by another longing suitor. But someone has put together a great website to encapsulate the phenomena. Basically, people send in pictures of, that’s right, hot chicks with douchebags, and the site’s collaborators continue with a clever thrashing of said douchebag(s). Here is a sneak peak and a link to the site:
Uhm…
(gulp)
This is an honorable and respectable gentleman who deserves nothing but respect and admiration. He is not a douchebag.
Please don’t kill me, oh gracious and giant sir.
I have lots to live for. Like… my Night Train Express. My hohos and Chocodile 24 packs bought with my Ralph’s Club Card. My ratty basement apartment. My dirty, carpet stains. My plastic dishes and aqua blue rug from Urban Outfitters that’s shedding all over my apartment.
Ah, who the hell cares. Go ahead and kill me.
Posted on February 23rd, 2007 by Christian.
Categories: Media & Entertainment, Travel & Leisure, Arts & Literature.
For those who like all things Latin (the food, the music and most importantly, the women) I definitely recommend exploring the Mexican band, Maná. Despite my gringo status, these guys have been one of my favorite groups for years, ever since I heard their tunes playing at the hotel bar in Cancun, one lazy hung-over Spring Break morning many years ago. I’ve been a fan ever since, and the fact that I can actually hablar un poco Espanol these days has made these guys’ music even better. Their music is very hard to categorize, but think of it as a burrito filled with a little bit of the Police and the Stones (who the band covered in their origins back in the 80s) mixed with some Santana and topped off with just a little bit of a reggae beat on occasion.
So I consider myself very lucky to have seen them in concert for the first time last Sunday up in Universal City. As I walked in, the place was packed and full of energy. I’m guessing the majority of people there were Mexican, with the remainder being of various other Latin descent and I definitely felt a bit out of place. But luckily, there were beautiful Latinas everywhere and fortunately, I brought my very own Chula who was visiting from out of town. Gibson is a pretty intimate venue and despite the fact that we were somewhat in the middle, we felt like we were very close to the band. As the lights dimmed, a video played showing silhouettes climbing over a barbed-wire encased wall, with spotlights circling and a helicopter in the background. As each consecutive figure succeeded in climbing over, the audience cheered. Finally, the wall was blown up and everyone went crazy. I’m not quite sure if this video was a reference to the current album/tour, “Amar es Combatir” (To love is to fight) or to Mexicans crossing the border (it was probably both) but the guests certainly loved it. Anyway, they kicked off to the album’s title song and followed with an amazing two hour performance with rock, slower songs and even a crushing 10 minute drum solo from the band’s drummer, Alex Gonzalez. The lead singer, Fher Olvera, has one of the most amazing voices out there and captivated the audience the entire time. This concert was easily one of the best I’ve ever been to.
Again, I highly recommend checking out the concert as the tour progresses or exploring the band a bit (links below). Also, if you are with a hot chica and Maná starts playing at your local cantina, and are able to sing along, chances are things are going to go your way… it’s definitely worked for me before!
Maná’s website:
Official: http://www.mana.com.mx/
MySpace:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=41717807
Link to concert dates:
http://www.tickco.com/buy/concerts/mana.asp
Posted on February 22nd, 2007 by Phil.
Categories: Travel & Leisure, Philosophy & Spirituality, Philanthropy & Environment, Business & Finance, Science & Technology.
The Meal:
Not having anything to do with classic board games or cheese laden meals, this posting gives a fusion of two perspectives on global risk, both originating in Switzerland. The first set of ingredients comes from our friends at HubCulture who got together in St. Moritz for a little dinner conversation in the alps. The second comes from the humble author of this article, who first greeted this earth from Zurich, Switzerland. A loose connection perhaps, but the ones used to draw the conclusions below certainly aren’t.
The Chefs:
Fabrice, private aviation
Heidemarie, ultra-luxury real estate
Michael, financial consultant
Pascale, luxury spas
Phil, adventure capital
Richard, security & transportation logistics
Selina, global commodities
Tanya, global energy & carbon reclamation
The Ingredients:
- A Terror Event
- Middle Eastern Confict
- Religious Fanaticism/Neo-Conservativism
- A Spike in Energy Prices
- Supply of Fossil Fuels and other Commodities
- Climate Change
- Bird Flu
- Biowarfare
- Global Pandemics
- Alien Invasion
- Asteroids Colliding with the Earth
- The Earth being consumed by the Sun as it envelopes our solar system
The Fondue:
Things to be concerned with for sure, so you might want to plan accordingly. Maybe buy a hybrid car, perhaps cancel that spring break trip to Damascus, and definitely make sure you get a good deal on your next bulk order of steel beams or crude oil. Consider yourself warned.
Posted on February 21st, 2007 by Gerrit.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality, Arts & Literature.
I am a big fan of Neruda, so I borrowed one of his titles, “Ode to laziness.” Read it in the original Spanish. Of what I could find online, I liked best the translation on this site (look about a third of the way down the scroll area for it). But I recommend Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I noticed Myk carrying around the mini-copy of Mitchell’s translation of the Tao Te Ching one day. You know, this man translates Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Hebrew and Spanish among a few others (Stephen Mitchell, that is – not Myk, at least as far as I know).
As a brief aside, we don’t really know for sure what the words in ancient Greek texts really mean. All we can say is that our lexicon of the language is self-consistent, in that everything translated using what we think are the definitions makes sense, but isn’t necessarily what they meant. Your typical unabridged dictionary of ancient Greek will list under each entry every place that that particular word appears in all the literature we possess from these ancients. Arguably modern language works the same way, anyway – so it’s always true that, “you just had to be there.” I guess it’s why the Buddhists say, “the moment you open your mouth, you’ve missed the mark.”
Anyway, coming back to my ode . . . so, this week I decided to start getting more involved with online social networks and somewhere along the way I was asked a question about simple pleasures. I am actually very easily amused. I can and have stared at the ocean for about 6 hours straight. Basil and olive oil will make my day, any day, days in a row. Guitar always centers me. There is something about all these things that wraps me up on every level – physical, emotional, rational. Playing the guitar requires such digital agility, and a calculated sense of what’s to come in the phrasing of the music. Finally I have to feel what the composer was feeling and to that add whatever I might bring on a given day. And the greatest thing is it makes me forget whatever was tying me down to a moment that’s already passed. It helps me enjoy the here and now. It’s a very centering equation being brought back to reality, being reminded who I am. Sometimes I need that. I like to step way outside my comfort zone. It’s how I learn – it’s how we all learn. So these simple pleasures, while they are our anchors, I think they may also be what allow us to extend ourselves further. They help us find that self-consistency when a new entry is added to the lexicon that is us.
Posted on February 20th, 2007 by Myk.
Categories: History & Politics, Philanthropy & Environment, Science & Technology.
Phil’s in a bubble for a few weeks, so I feel compelled to post on one of his beloved topics, climate change. Here’s a new study, called Greening the Greys: Climate Change and the Over 50s, that shows how these people think of climate change. Now, rumour is this report is perhaps skewed and not as scientific as one might hope but if you really care, you aught to read it and come to your own conclusions. So, with little editorial, here she is:
Summary Points
