Good Week Bad Week

Good week for:

1. "Poetic justice", as 28 teenagers who broke into Robert Frost's old house in Vermont, had a keg party, and caused over $10,000 in damage were sentenced to take a class in poetry.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24935777/

It reminds me of sheriff Joe Arapio who makes his prisoners at his Arizona jail wear pink underwear, and only allows them to watch the weather channel so they can see how hot it will be working outside the next day.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/arpaio.asp


2. Sowing the fields, as a 17-pound Densuke black watermelon was sold at an auction in Japan for $6,000. While you can occasionally get a dud watermelon at the grocery store (not pink/red enough, not juicy enough), there are still plenty of delicious watermelons that I have had from local grocery store for about $3.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24997464/

By the way, did you know that the record for watermelon seed-spitting is 68 feet 9 inches!!

http://www.slashfood.com/2008/05/19/play-with-your-food-have-a-watermelon-seed-spitting-contest/


Bad week for:

1. Being "#1" in the world, as the dominant Roger Federer, was demolished by the Spainiard Rafael Nadal in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. It was Nadal's fourth straight French Open title. I have seen Federer in action several times, including live at the US Open, and he is like a machine. He has won 12 grand slam titles (3 Australian Open, 5 Wimbeldon, 4 US Open), but has NEVER won the French. It seems that the clay court is like his kryptonite. Federer has now lost 3 straight French Open finals to Nadal. I may be coming down too hard on Federer, and it just may be that Nadal is SO GOOD on clay, and that is the difference.

My question to you all is, how can someone be so good at playing tennis on one surface, but become so beatable on another suface like clay?

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/french08/columns/story?columnist=ford_bonnie_d&id=3432371

2. Buying early, as Apple has announced that the new 3G iPhone will not only be faster, have more memory, and possess more features but will be MUCH cheaper than the initial iPhones. The new iPhone will sell for $199 (the initial iPhone sold for about $600 last year). Suprisingly, Apple's stock was lower on the news.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/09/technology/applekeynote.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes

Market update: we have broken support on many of the major averages including the DJIA and the S&P 500. The NASDAQ has been strong the past few months, but is also on the verge of breaking horizontal support. Be careful out there...we could be headed for a test of the March 17th lows.

3. Driving "rapido", as truckers in Spain, Portugal and France blocked highways in protest of high fuel costs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080609/ts_afp/europeinflationprotestenergytransport

Again, efficient markets are working properly, as a new report indicates that 66% of Americans said they are cutting back on the amount of driving they do and 71% indicated that they are considering buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Car manufacturers will step up their production of more fuel-efficient vehicles, which will then be on the road for years to come, even if gas/fuel/oil prices fall in the next few years. Plus, the new technology developed to maximize fuel economy from engines will remain, setting new standards that will likely persist for years to come. Overall, there will be decreased consumption of fossil fuels, and people will realize they don't need to have gas-guzzling SUVs, especially in non-snowy areas (I still don't understand the popularity of SUVs and trucks in Florida and Texas).

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/09/news/economy/poll/index.htm?cnn=yes