Pork and Beans

This morning I heard Pork and Beans by Wheezer on the radio and was thinking to myself about how much I loved the video Buddy Holly. And by chance, Greg sent me over the link to this video and this is my new favorite music video (although that Damn Yankees one is still up there):



Do you guys recognize all of the references they make on there? I get most of them, but some I just have no clue. I don't know the GI Joe looking one, the t-shirt one, or the one with the black guy twirling around the bo staff, among others. I love that video, and the more I hear the song, the more I like it.

Am I the only person who gets a sense of accomplishment when I eat a salad? It's almost as much as when I go running. Like I usually hate myself while I'm doing it, but then I finish it and I think, "wow...way to go!"

Lately I've been visiting IBD Editorials a lot. I don't think that I've linked them yet on the blog. They have articles on a variety of different topics. Lately, they've been coinciding a lot with my interests, namely, fuel and the economy. I just read this article today, and I think it sums up pretty well a lot about the current state of things with public perception of the economy. One excerpt:

ABC, CBS and NBC made comparisons to America's worst economic turmoil — the Great Depression — more than 40 times in the first four months of 2008.

Compare that with how the New York Times summed up its own market outlook in an Oct. 30, 1929, story after billions of dollars were lost in record trading. "Despite the drastic decline, sentiment in Wall Street last night was more cheerful than it has been on any day since the torrent of selling got under way," wrote the paper.

Words like "optimism" and "hope" shouted off the pages of major newspapers. The Oct. 31, 1929, Times described the devastating six-day decline:

"The market quickly regained its poise and stability."

The same day, the Washington Post discussed "the passing of the crisis."

The difference between how the media handled a crisis in 1929 and 2008 was astounding. Network news was four times more negative about the Bear Stearns buyout than major newspapers were about the 1929 crash, which many historians link to the beginning of the Depression.

Although things are tighter for most people probably, it still isn't a recession. At least not yet. I read somewhere that while the housing market is in the dumps, technology is soaring like it never has before, but when you read this, that's probably the first that you've even heard about that.

I think I posted a similar article not too long ago about the overwhelming sense of pessimism that is prevailing these days. It's just crazy to me that so many people are so down on everything, but when you look at your own personal financial situation, it's probably not even that bad. Are you just annoyed at gas prices or are you actually considering using public transportation or participating in a ride-sharing program at work? Have you not made any majorpurchases over a couple of hundred dollars or forgoing buying anything significant in the next few months? Have you taken a trip in the last few months or will you be taking any this summer? If things are as bad as everyone thinks it is, then you wouldn't be doing any of those things unless you're just being reckless. Yeah, money is kind of tight for most people, but not enough to actually disrupt the conveniences we've been enjoying. I know I look at things through the prism of living in and being a part of a pretty affluent community, but I suspect that nothing drastic has happened to most people financially. It's just my guess, is all.