To Answer That Question I Will Need To Consult The Donald

I was in Half-Price Books today buying an SPSS User Guide and on the front desk they were selling 12" Donald Trump talking dolls for just $6.95. I nearly got one. It would be perfect for class. I could sit him next to me and if I'm cold called and don't know the answer I could just have The Donald answer for me.

"The Net Present Value is positive"
"The brand was insufficiently differentiated from the competition"
"Straight line depreciation over the life of the asset"
"You're fired"

Easy Answers to Difficult Questions

According to Barron's the number one fear of rich parents was that their kid would turn out to be like Paris Hilton.

Easy to fix. Compulsory national service for the children of all families with more than $100,000 household income. Also, maybe a ban on rich kids getting camcorders.

Message for Juliette

Hola Chiquitina

Es la tu amiga italiana Silvia.

As I know that you are crazy for the teletubbies, I thought you might like the Barba-family as well. When I was as little as you I used to love them. (Nearly) 30 years ago, they were for me what the teletubbies are today for you. I liked them so much that my mum bought me a pyjamas with the family displayed on the top.

Here are the Barba-parents: Barbapapa & Barbamama



Click on them to meet the rest of the family. Are they not as cute and colourful as the teletubbies? They can also change shape!

Enjoy

Besitos
Tu Silbita
x

Don't Mention the War?

A Dutch expert on football hooliganism told Radio Five Live that he believes England fans still represent a high security risk. That may or may not be true but at the end of the article he says that he identified a number of problems with fans he observed during the England v Wales match.

'They were drinking without shirts on, they don't integrate with the local supporters, they refer to the war, and it doesn't make a nice relaxing atmosphere for the match.'

What war? Were the England fans goading their counterparts with insults about Llywelyn the Last and the conquest of Wales in 1283?

Interviews

Yesterday I had my first interviews. I was at the MBA Career office at 8 a.m. for the very first interview of the season for the A.C. Nielsen school.

I had to f**king represent man!

It went not too badly. I thought I connected really well with the big boss guy I interviewed with first, and I was OK with the Analyst I talked with second. The interviews were only 30 minutes long each and consisted almost entirely of behavioral questions with the odd "Why marketing research" thrown in. Of course there are things I think of now I should have said, or things I could have said better but that's natural. I think I came across as someone who had a passion for what they're doing and had a lot of experience in the industry so I'm pleased about that. I figure I didn't say anything that would wreck my chances so it all depends on if anyone else was better than me. There are no second interviews with this employer so I'll know October 24th if I'm in.

Anyway, I'm putting it behind me until then. I have an Accounting mid-term on Wednesday morning to revise for, and then another interview that afternoon. Then two more sets of interviews next Monday.

Cute Kid Stuff Redux

• Ilsa sounds like she's drunk when she answers questions in the affirmative. "Yesh Daddy"
• She also recognizes Mozart when it's playing. Juliette can recognize The Killers, U2, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven which gives you an idea of what Lindsey plays during the day.
• Ilsa reads books when she's having her diaper changed. It's very strange. It's like I'm a hairdresser or a shoe shine boy or something.

Madison Student Pisses Off Pro-Gun Blogger

I did an image search on Netscape to look for pics of a 50-caliber rifle for my post on ending the illegal arms trade. I found one from a blog where this fun bloke spends all of his time spreading the word about how great guns are. Nothing seriously new there. But s I scanned down his site, I saw the phrase "Camp Randall":

If I climbed up to the top of Section O in Camp Randall, I could put a round through Sellery Hall.

Now three months ago, I wouldn't have paid any notice. I am not a football fan, and I didn't know that Camp Randall is the name of the Badgers' home stadium until we moved here. So it turns out this blogger was criticizing an article written by a UW-Madison student in the The Daily Cardinal, a local Madison paper, in which the kid explains the firing power of the 50-caliber using the above phrase. It is the only piece of the article the blogger doesn't debate, so I'll assume it's accurate. I did a little map:

Useful for home defense!
Of course this pro-gun blogger took the piss out of the kid's major - Middle East Studies - by calling it "a hotbed of left-wing cultural relativist propaganda." But he made me laugh by suggesting that a student should at least get a useful major, like HISTORY. Sure my history major was fun, and it's great to talk about at get-togethers, but it's never been particularly useful!

I bet he mentioned it because he's a frustrated military historian. Great - frustrated and armed...