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Outerphex

Sorry for the postlessness, dear readers! I’m down in Philadelphia for the Interphex conference and been busy getting things set up.

I’ve been attending this annual event since 2000 and this is the second time it’s been in Philly; all the other years have been in NYC. Not sure why it got bumped this time around, but hey.

The “fun” thing about these conferences is finding out what state our booth is in. Every company has horror stories about their booth materials (their stand, handouts, etc.) being lost. In this case, all of our things arrived, but the conference administrators forgot to tell the decorating company that we were supposed to have carpeting, two tables, and four chairs. Which is to say, I arrived yesterday to find our stuff — a pop-up booth in its crate and 24 boxes of magazines — sitting in the middle of a 10′ x 10′ concrete square.

So that took a little time to get resolved.

I always marvel at the scene on an exhibit hall floor 12-15 hours before an event begins. It’s absolute chaos, but somehow it all gets put together in time for a 10am opening.

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What it is: 3/24/08

What I’m reading:Little Nothings: The Curse of the Umbrella, by Lewis Trondheim

What I’m listening to: Drunk with Passion, This is How it Feels, and Pure, all by the Golden Palominos

What I’m watching: Blades of Glory, unfortunately

What I’m drinking: Not a durned thing

Where I’m going: Philadelphia, for a pharma conference

What I’m happy about: Getting to see some of my pals down in Philly (both locals and work-friends who I tend to see only at conferences, but would hang out with in non-work scenarios)

What I’m sad about: Being away from my wife and my doggie for a few days.

What I’m pondering: How to describe the multiple levels of messed-up-edness in Sunday’s visit with my uncle, who had bypass surgery a few weeks ago. On the plus side, he seems to be recuperating pretty well. On the minus side, it appears that, in addition to my having to worry about hereditary cardiovascular issues, I’ll also have to be on the lookout for the mental instability that my dad and his brother share.

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Mondo Condo

There’s a neat article in the weekend Wall Street Journal about the impending flood in the condo market. It looks like one of those “perfect storm” problems: developers got financing to build a bazillion dream-condos in hip locales a few years ago, but they’re all nearing completion just as the mortgage market is collapsing, real estate prices are dropping and no one knows how much these properties are really “worth.”

The article describes some interesting aspects of the economics of condo-developers, where the money comes from, how much is self-financed, and why it makes little sense for them to convert the units into apartments. But most importantly, it explains why the condo boom couldn’t be stopped:

The rising supply is a reflection of the picture in 2004 through 2006 — a time of huge demand for condos. Speculation was rampant as investors believed empty nesters and young professionals seeking an urban experience akin to what they watched on “Friends” would prop up the condo market for years.

And you wonder why I read all these business and finance articles.

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Meet the G that kilt me

I’m still pretty busy, dear readers, so why don’t you spend some time with this excellent essay from The Nonist on the Fake History (and fake history-making) of the Tartan?

I’ve never seen Braveheart, and my history of Scottish stereotypes goes back to Orwell’s essay on antisemitism in England, where I first heard the “Scots are cheap” meme:

It is interesting to compare the “Jew joke” with that other stand-by of the music halls, the “Scotch joke”, which superficially it resembles. Occasionally a story is told (e.g. the Jew and the Scotsman who went into a pub together and both died of thirst) which puts both races on an equality, but in general the Jew is credited MERELY with cunning and avarice while the Scotsman is credited with physical hardihood as well. This is seen, for example, in the story of the Jew and the Scotsman who go together to a meeting which has been advertised as free. Unexpectedly there is a collection, and to avoid this the Jew faints and the Scotsman carries him out. Here the Scotsman performs the athletic feat of carrying the other. It would seem vaguely wrong if it were the other way about.

Years later in New Zealand, I saw a rental van parked at a lodge. The side of the van was plastered with the logo for “Scotty’s Rentals,” and carried the slogan, “Rates so low, a Scotsman would love them!”

Anyway, you oughtta be checking in on The Nonist’s blog every so often, or add it your RSS feed. He writes some pretty entertaining, thought-out posts.

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Update

Ahoy, dear readers! Sorry I didn’t post yesterday. I probably won’t have time today, because I have a ton of work to do.

But I don’t want to leave you in the lurch, so I offer up this view of The Dog, as he uses his Mind Powers of the Mind to convince us that we should never bring him to a pet store again:

And if anyone knows where we can find dog toys that aren’t squeaky, leave a comment!