Review: Brick

It's Oscar season, and here I am, still reviewing older movies. What fun is the Oscars when it's the same 6 films in every single category (looking at you, effing Benjamin Button)? I'll admit it was alright, but I've found one equally alright. I bring you the anti-Oscar.

I found Brick (2005) stumbling on a blog about the top 5 movies that you've never heard of but you should watch. Sigh. How cliche. IMDB plot summary: high school...underworld...crime ring...investigate...



I'M SOLD.

First few minutes in, and this is very obviously an indie film. It's refreshing to see one every so often, because watching non-cgi visual effects fills you with a sweet feeling inside, like watching a chill magic show. Do those exist? They do old-school things like filming a scene in reverse and playing it back to get the IMPOSSIBLE!!!! shot. Reminds me of the cheapness of Jacob's Ladder effects too.
Effects and cinematography +1

Head man is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose name or face you might, might recognize. I don't know what you watch. Here, he looks like he could be a cross between John Lennon and a young Heath Ledger. And what could be a better combination for a guy who fearlessly infiltrates a drug ring involving high school students. The support is rather well-played too. Considering that the dialogue is a shitstorm of slang (it took subtitles and some intermittent pauses to get through key plot points), the resulting performances hold up. And thank god it's not the same boring high school stereotypes. I lied. It is the same stereotypes. But not boring though, because it takes the characters from, say, American Pie, and applies a Max Payne story to it. The original video game, not some weird junk with valkyries 'n shit.

Yes, ultimately, it's a noir film and sort of a revenge film, and it grabs you by the collar as it runs down some dank alley. Enjoy.
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Essential Classical - Pt. 5: Pretentiousness and the last of this

This is it. Here are the miscellaneous pieces left over worth mentioning. Now it's up to you to go hunt down some more classical music you like. I'll give you a hint: Chopin's piano works are insanely good.

1) Vivaldi - Spring
You oughta know this one by now. And just to cover all the seasons, this is Autumn.

2) Bach - Cello Suite No. 1
Yo, Yo-Yo.

3) Bach - Jesu, Joy of a Man's Desiring
Sorta pompous, but check out #4.

4) Boccherini - Minuet from String Quartet in E Major
Sooooo pretentious.

5) Handel - Hallelujah Chorus
As you might have guessed, all those familiar tunes had to have started somewhere. This one just happens to go way back.

6) Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Reeds
If I'm not mistaken, Angela from the office plays this at one of The Office holiday parties.

7) Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
First time I heard this piece was when David Copperfield escaped from a building being demolished. And hey, it's Mars too!

8) Bach - Bouree in e minor
Since it's so rad on strings, Tenacious D and Jethro Tull caught on and replicated.

9) Rimsky-Korsakov - Flight of the Bumblebee
The piece to destroy a violinist with. Sweet trumpet version used in Kill Bill.

10) Mozart - Queen of the Night
The song to destroy a soprano with. You miss one of those notes and your career is effed.

11) Tchaikovsky - Trepak
I think it was featured in Home Alone, or really any other Christmas-themed movie...

12) Rossini - Barber of Seville Overture
I hope this is familiar to you, cause it means you watched the Looney Tunes feature that was voted one of the greatest cartoons ever.

13) Offenbach - Infernal Gallop
No need to say more. See it in Moulin Rouge.

14) Beethoven - Pathetique Sonata (1st and 3rd movements)
A snippet of the 1st movement was played in the Seinfeld episode about the Pez dispenser.

15 and 16) Beethoven - 5th and 9th symphonies
Everyone knows Beethoven's 5th, and the 9th gave you the "Ode to Joy". Sup, Die Hard.
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Brogger's Menu: Grilled Tofu and Eggplant Noodle Salad

For some of us SoCal people, it's friggin' hot outside. I've done variations on noodle salads, and this seemed appropriate for this week. It's vegetarian to boot. Check after the break for this easy 30-minute recipe that's healthy, light, and refreshing.

Ingredients - Serves 3
1 package of Chinese egg noodles 1 block fried Tofu/bean curd (using only half anyway) 1 eggplant (I prefer Chinese variety, but I used Japanese because that's all they had) 1 cucumber 1 package of bean sprouts 1 package Japanese seaweed 2 green onions 5 basil leaves 3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper
light sweet soy sauce / soba noodle dipping sauce (very similar)

Step 1: Prepare the vegetables & tofu - 5 minutes

Fill a pot with water, large enough to fit your noodles. Put it on the stove to bring to a boil.

Mince the garlic, shred the cucumbers, dice the basil and green onions.

Cut eggplant length-wise in half, then width-wise to get nice quarter-slices (look like chips). 3-4 slices per person. Drizzle olive oil enough to coat pieces, and add salt and pepper.

Cut tofu block in half, then cut the tofu from corner-to-corner to make a triangle piece of tofu.

Water should be boiling or near it. Take about a handful/fist's worth of bean sprouts and throw it into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Take out and set aside with the rest of your vegetables.

Step 2: Boil the noodles - 8 minutes

Dump your package of noodles into the boiling water. Stir slowly constantly to prevent sticking. After 7-8 minutes, take a sliver out and check for done-ness. You want them to still have a bit of bite to be chewy, but not mushy.

Step 3: Make noodle salad - 2 minutes

Grab a bowl large enough to fit the noodles. Drizzle olive oil enough to just coat the noodles so they don't stick together. Take your garlic, basil, and green onions and dump them in with the noodles and toss together. Take your light sweet soy sauce and drizzle enough to coat the noodles.

It should be at a consistency where the garlic, basil, and green onions stick to the noodles and are not clumped together. Put in refrigerator to chill.

Step 4: Grill eggplant and tofu - 8-10 minutes

Get the grill hot. Smoking hot. Toss on the eggplant and tofu triangles and close. Wait 5-6 minutes or until the eggplant skin becomes charred, and flip both eggplant and tofu. 2-3 minutes later, it should be completed.

You're looking for a tender consistency on the eggplant to tell if it's done. Poke it with a fork or tongs to check. The tofu just needs to get charred.

Don't have a grill? Sauteeing the eggplant and tofu works too.

Step 5: Construct plate - 1 minute

Take the noodles out of the fridge. Grab a plate and make a noodle mountain or however much you want to eat.

Layer on a bed of bean sprouts. Layer on a bed of cucumbers.

Place tofu triangles on top of cucumbers. Place eggplant around the plate.

Top off with seaweed salad.

Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top if you have it.

This dish has a refreshing light soy/garlic/basil flavor, and a smokey aftertaste once combined with the tofu and eggplant. It's deep and whole in it's flavor due to the grilling, and you won't feel guilty eating it because it's very light and chilled.

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Essential Classical - Pt. 4: Romantic...sorta

This category started out simply enough, and then it got out of hand really quickly. So here's 16 pieces, subdivided into dances, wedding music, and then general, chill-out-with-your-waifu stuff.

I. The Dances

Feel free to gloss right over if this ain't yo thang.

1) Ponchielli - Dance of the Hours (excerpt, cause the whole thing is loooong)
2) Tchaikovsky - Waltz of the Flowers
Where you've seen it: If you haven't seen it performed seriously, it's usually in spoofs of synchronized dances.
3) Bizet - Habanera
4) Gardel - Por Una Cabeza
Where you've seen it: Scent of a Woman, Schindler's List, True Lies


II. Weddings

Strictly wedding stuff.

5) Clarke - Trumpet Voluntary
Now that's classy. I'm pretty sure the bridal party usually comes in to this one.
6) Wagner - Lohengrin Act III Prelude ("Bridal Chorus")
Wikipedia: despite this being popular as "here comes the bride", it's usually not used for Jewish, Lutheran, or Roman Catholic weddings. And in the opera, the marriage between Elsa and Lohengrin is an almost immediate failure. Take that, Western culture!
7) Mendelssohn - Wedding March
Frankly, this is borderline epic.


III. Chill Out with Your Waifu

8) Pachelbel - Canon in D
The "original one-hit wonder," sometimes used in weddings too. The chord progression is in every single song you have and will ever like. Here's proof. And oh yeah, remember this guy?

9) Schubert - Ave Maria
Damn right, that's Hitman. So I've heard this during weddings and a funeral. Although, come to think of it, the funeral was in a game. Crazy. And crazy good.

10) Bach - Air on the G String
Never mind the awkward name. You'd sometimes hear this one at wedding processions as well. But by far, the Klazz Brothers/Cuba Percussion version used for the film Collateral is my number one piece of music to chill out to.

11) Delibes - The Flower Duet
I can't remember, but I think this is the song playing when Homer Simpson sees "Flushing Meadows" and dreams about a field of toilets.

12) Jenkins - Palladio
Only because this was used in old De Beers commercials. A diamond cubic zirconia is forever.

13) Strauss - The Blue Danube
If this song didn't sound so blissful, it'd belong in the Epic section too.

Where you've seen this: 2001: A Space Odyssey (noticing a trend?)

14) Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 II. Andante cantabile
Better known as the Pathetique Sonata, for whatever reason. Klazz Brothers and Cuba Percussion have a good, jazzy arrangement of this piece too.

15) Grieg - Morning
More fun to set this song as your alarm than Rage Against the Machine - Wake Up. The other "morningy" piece is from the William Tell Overture (see the 2nd half of the video).

16) Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation XVIII
This will freaking sweep you off your feet, even if you're sitting down. Amirite?
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Electronica Classics

Here are some songs I've found in the past and had the feeling that I've heard a million times before, though I never knew who did them. They're the kinds of songs they put on cheesy commercials or they're in movies and you never know who they're by. Please ignore the videos themselves as they are generally rubbish. Insomnia has been sampled for other songs for ages, and Operation Blade was the theme song for Blade (Starring Wesley Snipes, before tax fraud and jail). These songs will also take a while before it gets to the "Oh I feel like I've heard this before" part.

• System F (aka Ferry Corsten) - Out Of The Blue
• Felix - Don't You Want Me
• Zombie Nation - Kernkraft 400
• Faithless - Insomnia
• Public Domain - Operation Blade

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Shorting Treasuries: 2-week update

I have more or less turned out flat for the past two weeks. The Dow has gone down roughly 1000 points, with these being the big headlines:

• Citigroup Ready to Shrink Itself by a Third
• Jobless Claims Jump in Latest Week
• Retail Sales Keep Sliding, Declining 2.7% in December

On another note, there is part II of the Finance Meets Fashion party. This is a party organized by promoters to cater to the greatest d-bags in Manhattan - the bankers and traders who think they're the shit, and the girls that want to snag a rich guy in Gucci loafers. Or as Dealbreaker puts it, it will "make you want to throw a grenade into the party and kill all the assholes in NYC in one fell swoop." Read More......

Essential Classical - Pt. 3: Epic

The ones that didn't make the Furious cut, but still had huge, classical cojones.

1) Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra Introduction
How do you pack that much epicness into such a small time frame?
Where you've seen it: 2001: A Space Odyssey

2) Orff - O Fortuna
It's sad how overplayed this is. It could've been something special.
Where you've seen it: EVERYWHERE. I hate you, Paul Blart, mall cop.

3) Grieg - In the Hall of the Mountain King
You've heard it before, I know. I don't have anything to say about this one.
I was also not aware ELO did a version of this...whatever.

4) Bizet - The Toreadors
Where you've seen this: I remember this at the end of each NES tetris level. And then the Russian church towers would blast off like rockets. Just like in real life.

5) Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 III. Presto agitato
If you didn't know, Piano Sonata No. 14 = Moonlight Sonata. And to think, I was learning how to play this...

6) Mozart- The Marriage of Figaro Overture
My music teacher in high school called this a classic overture, saying it was a "fun song." I guess that's one way to describe it.




And now, the juggernauts...

7) Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture
Part 1
Part 2
Tchaikovsky wrote a part for cannons to be in his overture. Cannons! Imagine the afterparty after a performance:

"Yeah, I'm in the orchestra. I played the cannon."

Where you've seen it: V For Vendetta Finale [OBVIOUS SPOILER]

8) Tchaikovsky - Marche Slave
The Slavonic March. This song kept coming up in a documentary of Stalin I saw last semester.

9) Rossini - William Tell
Part 1
Part 2
...triangle guy steals the show.
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Graph-ology: Internship Applications

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Essential Classical - Pt. 2: Emo

Ahhh, the original emo. This will be short, cause I'm not sure how many devastatingly depressing pieces there are. I was trying to pack with these pieces playing in the background, but it was practically impossible. How about that.

1) Schubert - Der Leiermann
Heard of it only because of In Bruges (another personal favorite). This version really sets the tone for the bleak parts of the movie.

2) Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata
Chances are you've heard this one before. After 8 years of piano instruction, this is maybe the only song I still remember how to play.

3) Chopin - Funeral March
Isn't the name obvious enough? Turns out the song was played at Chopin's own funeral. What a baller.

Where you've seen it: Some NES game's game-over screen

4) Mozart - Lacrimosa (from Requiem in D minor)
Lacrimosa is Latin for "weeping." It's said that Mozart, as he was composing it in his crappy dying condition, teared up when he heard the first few bars.

Where you've seen it: Amadeus, 30 Rock's spoof of Amadeus (S2E13 "Succession")

5) Barber - Adagio For Strings
Quite possibly the saddest song ever. Drags on and on, so you can truly wallow in your depression. Way to go, Tiesto, for making it upbeat.

Where you've seen it: Platoon [SPOILERS]. You try being more dramatic than that.
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Graph-ology: Party Scene

We've all been (or will be) victim to this at least once. Read More......

Essential Classical - Pt. 1: Fury

As kiyoshi is busy finding popular music, let's jump back a few hundred years. They sure don't make 'em like they used to. Hopefully this'll be the first in a full-fledged series on getting you familiarized with the best of the best classical music around. Now you can finally know the name of that song you always liked but couldn't really Google the lyrics for...

Oh, but you think classical's boring?

Not to worry, this first set is just a sample as to how angry those super-oldies can get. This is music you go to war to. Check it out.

ARE YOU READY TO GET ANGRY YET??

Here we go, in whatever particular order:

1) Mussorgsky - A Night on Bald Mountain
Let's get this one out of the way first. Used in Fantasia, as you can see. I'm not a big fan, cause it doesn't get me ANGRY enough, but it gets close. Gotta love that animation.

2) Mozart - Symphony No. 25 in G minor
Solid. I actually only have the last 2:32 (most dramatic) piece of this song, so I gotta find the whole thing somewhere...

Where you've seen it: Amadeus (1:57 into the clip)

3) Holst - Mars, the Bringer of War
It's widely said that Hans Zimmer ripped off parts of this song for the Gladiator battle theme. See for yourself.

Where you've seen it: Let's be honest. None of you watch the Venture Bros. So let's just say you heard it in Gladiator.

4) Mozart - Dies Irae
You've HAD to have heard this at least once...

5) Verdi - Dies Irae
Interesting tidbit: in the 2001: A Space Odyssey book, Bowman nearly has a breakdown when playing this song in deep space.

Where you've seen it: Battle Royale prologue.

6) Vivaldi - Summer III (Presto)
It's a shame everyone's most familiar with the most weaksauce of Vivaldi's seasons - Spring. As I read somewhere, Vivaldi manages to put the essence of summer thunderstorms into the last movement of Summer.

Where you've seen it: not sure, but check out funtwo

7) Vivaldi - Winter I (Allegro non molto)
Shit, if you liked summer, wait til it's Winter. There are no words. Especially after I saw it in Oldboy.

Where you've seen it: Oldboy. SPOILER and SQUEAMISH WARNING

The gist of the scene is Dae-su (guy with the hammer) is getting back at the guy who imprisoned him for 15 years. "Each tooth I extract will age you by one year." Hooo man.

8) Prokofiev - Dance of the Knights (aka, Montagues and Capulets)
I almost went nuts looking for the name of this song. As you might guess, Prokofiev is a Russian name, hence the "hammer and sickle" feel to it.

Where you've seen it: Muse's 2007 concert in Wembley Stadium (their H.A.A.R.P. live album). Now if you could walk into, say, an interview like that, you'd be set. For life.

9) And finally, Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries
Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit!

Where you've seen it: Apocalypse Now

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kiyoshi's electronica rundown

I've been killing time looking for what dance music is cool now. Here's some links to some of the more popular songs I've found.

• Sash ft. Stunt - Raindrops (Encore Une Fois) Kindervater Mix
• Eric Prydz - Pjanoo
• Ferry Corsten - Radio Crash
• Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008 (Klaas Vocal Edit)
• Tiësto presents Alone In The Dark - Edward Carnby (Tiësto Music Video)
• The Killers - Human (Ferry Corsten Radio Edit)

That'll be all for now, I just wanted to show some of the songs I've seen show up on the top of the dance charts. I will share some of the older gems in another post... Read More......

random vaguely CS-related thoughts

I feel like going off on a coding/CS major ramble...


1. Why am I a CS major? I don't actually enjoy coding *that* much, the drive is more in the building and problem-solving aspect. Did you play with Legos as a kid? I don't know about you, but once I finished building something i'd use my imagination for a little bit, like reeanacting a space battle, and then i'd smash it to little bits and rebuild another spaceship. I'd reuse little bits of the old spaceship that I thought were cool, That's actually distressingly similar to software development, all developers love the first time they code something, and try to maintain it for a bit, and then they get some bright new idea that requires rewriting everything but reusing core parts of the old code. And so I find myself doing the same thing at Rescomp, only I'm programming instead of building lego spaceships.

2. I don't know what people outside CS perceive it as. It's all just making stuff work, in the end. In fact, I will bet you that if you can write a good essay, you can be a good programmer - it shows that your thoughts are organized and can be directed somewhere. After all, if you ramble on and on aimlessly and confuse your readers in English, god help you with Perl. Hey...no wonder soft majors are bad at coding...

3. There is no such thing as software engineering. Can you engineer an essay? Well, then you sure as heck can't engineer an operating system. An essay is never really done. You give it to as many people to read as you can, hope they can catch mistakes, proofread it over and over, but no matter what you do there's going to be a valid counterargument to your claims. If one doesn't exist, you wrote a trivial essay that doesn't actually do or say anything of value. Same with coding. You write, test, debug, test some more, debug some more, release, realize you made a huge boneheaded error that passed all the testing somehow, repeat over and over...There have been bugs in the Unix codebase that have been hidden for 33 years. You'll never be done. You can engineer a bridge because you do things like mathematically model stresses and material strengths, and prove your fault tolerances. How do you model "user clicks a link, app retrieves info from database"? In the end it's all just trial and error, and trial and error != engineering.

4. Being in CS doesn't make you not have a life. I have enough free time to go out to the gym, party on weekends, and have an hour or two to myself every day. I just choose to waste it doing retarded shit like playing dota for three hours straight or watching ESPN. And that seems to be the type of thing my fellow CS majors like to do in their free time. And when you're surrounded by bastards like these, you quickly assimilate. I actually have a theory as to why this major attracts loners with no social skills...it's because computers are the one thing that allow you to actually do something without having to interact with people face-to-face. I mean, you *could* read a book, but nobody's gonna pay you for that. Sit in a cubicle, code for an hour or so at a time, chitchat with co-workers about code (a safe, no social awkwardness possible topic) - this sort of dreary existence appeals to a lot of the sleepyheads in my classes.

5. last one. I am not one of those people in #4. I can sit at the computer for 5 hours straight sometimes, but at some point I need to get the fuck away and talk to someone. Maybe I should uninstall AIM so I'll actually interact with people physically more often. Instant messaging is so unrealistic - you can plan out all your thoughts. Anyone can be a smartass on the internet, as long as wikipedia isn't lagging.

6. JK. bonus point. Women cannot do comedy. Girls can make you laugh if they do something ridiculously cute or stupid, or if they tickle your balls while stro- wait, wrong blog. But never in my life have I beheld female comedic wit. I'm pretty sure it's a guy thing. No wonder 4chan is full of funny. EL OH EL!
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Brogger's Quarterly: Five Essential Suits Under $500

Happy New Year, readers! It's internship application season. I'm assuming all you gents (sorry no suits for ladies here) will be getting past the paper-cut round and into first-round interviews. That means you need a snazzy suit to dress like you already have the job. Or maybe you need something for an occasion? Finding your suit too big? Just-want-to-looking-effing-great?

Since most of us are on a college budget, I'm going to keep these suits (jackets + pants) under $500, offer some advice on safe colors, and educate you on the different types of lapels and vents.

Still too expensive? Let's just say these suits are an investment for your life. The suits here should last you well for a couple years working, getting you the job, or being in your general wardrobe. It will pay for itself in a short amount of time.

Every guy needs a suit, and quality suits can be had for under five bills. Take a look, after the break.

Some Guidelines

1. The most common pitfall is having/buying a suit that's too big for you. Everything should conform to your body, and don't even think about "growing into it." Jacket sleeves a little too long? Pants waist need an inch more or inch less? Hem? Get it tailored.

Anything more than an inch or so in these you might wanna look at a different suit. Designers all have different cuts so don't be trapped by a particular name. They all fit slightly differently.

2. Most suits need some sort of small alteration here and there, but the chest and shoulders should fit true to size because you might as well have bought a different size suit. A tailor can tell you they can re-size the shoulder pads or reduce them. DON'T-DO-IT-LA.

3. Chest - The jacket should button up with no strain on the jacket. There should also not be too much room between the button and your chest. Try buttoning up the jacket and putting your fist in between the jacket and your chest. If there's more than a fist's worth to move around, your jacket is too big. Size down.

4. Shoulder - Shoulder pads should hug your shoulders, not protrude past them. Here's the test: Stand next to a wall. If your shoulder pads hit the wall first before you do, the jacket is too big.

5. Length - Elbows up. Side-to-side. Lean like- just kidding. Put your arms down to your sides. You should be able to cup your fingers under the suit jacket.

6. Buttons - 3? 2? 1? Up to you. A 3-button is the traditional classic look. You can't go wrong with it. To modernize the 3-button suit, some designers go for the 3-roll-2 look where the lapel rolls over the 3rd button, so you just button the middle one.

The 2-button is the most modern popular suit you may see on the racks right now. It used to be the conservative choice for people working in the government, but now all the hip designers are modernizing it with slimmer cuts and streamlining the look so its a hip-cool outfit to wear anywhere.

1 button? If you can pull it off, go for it. It's super sleek and chic. It's not for everyone, but if you got the body and looks to go for it, well, go for it.

One of my best friends, Nehal, actually has a 4-button suit. Quite interesting (that's not him, but his suit does look like that).

7. Lapels - Notch lapels are what you see most of the time. Always safe. Peak lapels are something out of the old-school book. It's kinda sophisticated and polished. It's making a comeback in the high-fashion realm so take your pick.

8. Vents - A center vent is the all-purpose and traditional one you see. Side-vents are popular with European designers. They make you look a little more streamlined and sleek because it can cut away any unwanted curves you may be having in the waist area.

Okay, you're ready to read on.

To preface the suits, these are full retail prices listed. When you go shopping during sale season, these drop like crazy. You can have these suits for 40-50% off retail so they're gonna be even cheaper.

The Gray Suit
$378, by Club Monaco

Let's consider the gray suit as your foundation to a suit wardrobe. It's always appropriate for either for an interview or a day on the job.

The opinion out there is sometimes the gray suit is the most boring, old-man color of suits. It's all about the fit.

It's versatile to pair with white, blue, pink, and just about any other color because it's a neutral tone. It will be easy to throw together something that you don't have to worry about.

While this suit does just fine, I'd actually recommend a more medium-gray shade like the one seen here to fit more in line with a business environment.


The Navy Suit

$443, by Banana Republic

Looks like it's black, but it's just a very dark navy blue. This is another safe classic suit color. It works particularly well if you have to transition from work to dinner because it lends itself to be a snazzy evening outfit too.

Again the outfit is pretty versatile in terms of shirt-tie combo, but if you wanna go for a sleek look, pair it with a white shirt and a dark tie for a sure winner.

The Navy Pin-stripe Suit

$250, by H&M

The navy pin-stripe is the cool man's suit. There's a level of confidence that goes along with wearing one. Big boss guys, bankers, hot-shots, etc will sport a pin-stripe suit. You mean business when you wear this.

The normal shirt-tie combo with a pinstripe is solid shirt solid tie. If you want to be adventurous, you can go for a striped shirt or striped tie, but not both. It'll look too busy with all the lines happening. Just make sure all the colors are similar and the stripes don't match. You'll want something bold to contrast the pin-stripes on the suit, not go with it. See, matching isn't so in with everything.

The Black Suit

$256, by Calvin Klein

This is probably the suit you own right now. The only one.

Look, the black suit is all good and dandy, but I don't think you have that many black-tie events, formals, or funerals to go to.

So why do people usually only have black suits? Probably because you don't know what else to get, and it's a "safe" color. It "goes with everything."

I'd have enough money to buy a suit if I had a dollar for every black suit I saw at a career fair or interview. Look broski, there's nothing to mourn at the career fair except maybe for your poor choice of clothing and failure to get a job.

Just kidding. I'm really not that mean. Really. Comon, that's just being super shallow.

When you wear a black suit, don't make it look like you're wearing it just for the black suit else someone is going to mistake you for going to a formal event or a funeral. So, go for a colored shirt. Blue, pink, purple, whatever. A patterned tie works too. You'll just want to dress down the look a bit if a black suit is all you got and have to work with it.

The black suit is versatile too, no joke. You or your parents bought it for you so you can wear it, not just with a shirt and tie. Refer to the picture. Just don't expect to show up to the corporate environment wearing something like this though.

Of course, there's the flipside to the black suit. You better look damn fine going to your formal event or whatever demands you.

The Khaki Suit
$250, by Express

With all these dark shades of suits, you'd be wondering what to wear on a warmer day. The khaki suit is acceptable to wear to work if you need to complete your suit wardrobe.

Match it with a dark tie to contrast the suit. After work, take off the tie and you're already dressed for going out in a great outfit.

I don't have the mentality to wear a khaki suit yet, just because I don't wear suits enough yet to feel a need for one. For me, this would probably be the last addition to my wardrobe after the rest of them.

I guess if I was a baller going on a business trip to a warm place or vacationing in an elite area I'd pick up one of these ($376 French Connection).

So there we go. Suits ain't so expensive if you wanna look great. I got my suit at Nordstrom Rack's sale for 60% off. Original price $1100, copped for $400. That means you can get these suits for even cheaper. Good luck hunting! Hit me up for more tips or if you want me to go suit shopping with you!
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Long TBT, short Treasuries

I made my first trade today, and I will note that this is more of a speculation than an investment.
TBT is the symbol for "PROSHARES ULTRASHORT LEHMAN 20 PLUS YEAR TREASURY".

UPDATE: This article popped up a couple hours after my trade :-D
TREASURIES-US 30-year bond trades over 3 points lower in price

UPDATE: This article (Cover story of Barron's), which came out the day after I bought this ETF, is about the bubble in US Treasuries.
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Here's a deconstruction of what this is:

• Proshares: Proshares is the company that manages the various index funds
• Ultrashort: This ETF is 2x short the index that it follows, meaning that a 1% drop in the index results in this ETF rising 2%
• Lehman 20+ Year Treasury: The index that this ETF tracks is the Lehman index that tracks the price of US Treasury Bonds that have a maturity of over 20 years

So what I purchased is an ETF that goes up as the price of Treasuries goes down. The 2x leverage allows me to get a higher gain (or loss) on the price movement of US Treasuries. Now why did I make this trade? First I'll have to explain a bit about the special place that Treasuries hold in the global securities markets.

When an institution wants to invest its capital in the safest possible securities, they go to Treasuries. The United States Treasury is rated AAA and it is pretty much assumed that there is no possible way that the United States could default on its debt [Note: Some day this might not be true. If it happens, it will be far worse than anything that has happened to date]. So as the stock markets crumble, corporate defaults rise, homeowners default on their homes, and consumer spending declines, the safest place to put your money is in Treasuries.

However, Treasuries are bonds, and therefore they have interest rates. The 'yield' is the interest rate that equates the present price of the bond with the sum of the discounted future value of the bond as it pays out to whoever owns it (There are subtleties that I will not go into). There is an inverse relationship between yield and price. As price of the bond goes up, the yield decreases. However, yield (theoretically) should not go below zero. If the yield was below zero, that would mean you would purchase a bond at $100, and when it pays you back once it matures, you get paid back less than $100. That's not the way it's supposed to work.

However, the demand for Treasuries has been far higher than anyone has ever expected. The shortest-maturity T-bills are 3-months, and their yield is now around 0%, and in intraday trading it has supposedly even gone negative. This is because their price has been bid higher and higher as more and more investors move towards safe assets. These low interest rates are unprecedented, and my opinion is that it is not possible for these yields to go much lower. If yields can't go lower, that means prices can't get any higher, so I'm shorting the Treasuries on the bet that prices for Treasuries can't go anywhere but DOWN from here. In trading-speak, there's no upside risk to Treasury prices because yields can't really decrease from here. The US government paying 2.8% for a 30-year loan? I don't think so...
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