JoshWilson.org

What I do and who I’m with on Tuesday nights.

Just a quick heads up, the banking situation here in the US is not getting any better. In fact, the FDIC just closed it’s eighth bank for the year. Now, that may not seem like many, but consider the banks that have closed:

Bank::FDIC Payout::Uninsured desposits

First Priority::$200 million::$13 million
IndyMac::$4 billion
Hume Bank::$12.5 million::$1.1 million

In all, eleven banks have failed between Feb 2007 and August 2008. To put things in perspective, before Feb 2007 the FDIC hadn’t closed a bank since 2004 (see sources). We’re gonna have big problems here.

Sources
Bank Failures, Should You Be Worried?
Coming Bank Failures
FDIC Bracing for Bank Failures

I’ve watched more than my fair share of this year’s Olympic games, and I’ve also listened to more than my fair share of lackluster commentary. NBC is just doing a horrible job at announcing these Olympics - there’s no real sense of humor or fun (although I will give them cheesy, even though it’s delivered in total dead pan - as though they don’t even realize they are trying to be funny).

The best Olympic commentary I’ve heard was during the Sydney games in 2000. The announcers had a sort of unified enjoyment of (and healthy disrespect for) the Olypmics, and it came through in their comments.

Not us. NBC is just way too straightlaced in it’s approach. There’s no humanity to anything they do. I find it so… well… lame… that I think that the IOC should yank their contract and hand it to someone else - someone with a modicum of experience in announcing sporting events, someone like… oh, I don’t know… like ESPN. The folks over there just seem to have such a joy for sports that they couldn’t help but enjoy themselves as they hosted the Olypmic’s US television presence. Maybe we’d enjoy them a little more too.

As an American, I tend to live life without any margins. Urgent things get priority over important things for the simple reason that they are time sensitive and someone is screaming in my ear. This is a really bad situation: not only do my ears hurt, but if I redline my life long enough I eventually explode.

My friend Jay has helped me sort out how to make room for life. He boils it down to remembering four things:

1. You have limits.
2. All of your time will be spent.
3. Urgent things will crowd out the important things…(unless)
4. You get the important things into life first.

You have to make the decision to make the important the imperative. And then put it on your schedule.

Brilliant series on the consumerism that wracks our culture.

Those Improv Everywhere guys are freaking awesome:

So…. come to find out that, at least for males, that not getting married has the equivalent life expectancy impact as smoking two packs of cigarettes a day (6 years). Well… crap.

Stunningly Beautiful

Eerily Still

Breathtakingly Serene

You know, I always wanted  a tree house - but those KommonVolk in Germany don’t dream, they do.