eateggs

At long last, I’ve finally gotten into the action on InTrade. This “predictions market” put the “efficient markets hypothesis” (the theory that, at any given time, the price of a stock or commodity reflects all available information) to the test.

Like the stock market, InTrade essentially provides its users with a platform for betting on a predicted outcome. After an initial public offering, “stocks” of an outcome trade up or down, based on public demand.

Every share sells for its market-determined value (which, historically, tends to be a darn good proxy for its actual probably outcome). After the event, the value of a share goes to $10 if the expected event (ex: Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States) is fulfilled, or $0 if it is not.

Yesterday, I bought 100 shares of Milk to win the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture.” I set a market limit order at 49 cents, which was quickly filled. If Milk loses to Slumdog Millionaire (as it likely will), I’m out $50. If Milk wins, I’m up $950.

Here’s my case for Milk winning, in the form of a numbered list:

1. Milk is a better movie than Slumdog Millionaire.
2. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences likes Gus Van Sant better than Danny Boyle. I can’t prove this one, but: Van Sant is a long-standing and visible member of the Hollywood establishment; Danny Boyle’s is some young punk kid whose last big film was 28 Days Later. (Don’t get me wrong–I like Danny Boyle better than Gus Van Sant, but…)
3. Milk is about gay rights–in a year when gay rights is in the front of everyone’s minds (with the success of Prop-8, that is. The Academy would probably give the award to Milk, just to spite the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Homophobic Saints).
4. The children actors in Slumdog Millionaire, though picked from the slums, were grossly underpaid and quickly returned to the slums from whence they came, when the filming was over. (See: this article.)
5. The Academy has long succumbed to the inherent pleasure and persuasiveness of numbered lists!

So. Maybe Milk will win. At 20:1, I feel like it’s a solid bet. And, after all, my portfolio could use a little luck, after my ill-advised bet on Citigroup (NYSE: C) eight weeks ago.

May the best film (that conforms to the political agenda of the Academy) win!

In a previous post, I alluded to reasons about logging in when you visit my blog.

In this post, I expound.

I think that part of the value of a blog is the ability to “write things you wouldn’t say.” I write unsavory, profane and inappropriate things on my blog as a matter of habit–to relieve some stress, or to amuse my friends. But–if you want to READ my obscenities–you’d better believe you need to be logged in with an account that I’ve verified.

Unfortunately, especially for bloggers who got started when these things were still “web logs” (see: before Google) … I think there was a sense of anonymity that may have been appropriate then, but certainly isn’t now. Nowadays, this sort of post has become a platitude–and new generations of bloggers know better than to divulge damaging details about themselves. But when 1) only four people in the world had blogs, and, 2) the only way to find those blogs is if you knew their URLs, I think a sense of anonymity was appropriate and justified.

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Me being called by the Ferraro’s guy (assuming that he found my phone number from my blog–which is the most likely scenario) is a great case-in-point, in re: 1) your mom’s on Facebook (I know, because my Mom is Facebook-friends with your mom), and, 2) the intarwebs is serious business!

In other words, the internet is no longer an anonymous haven for your unspoken thoughts–you’re accountable.

(Though, for an interesting counterpoint, read this article: Scene Stealer: The aXXo Files. I found the article particularly interesting because, yes, [by reading this, you certify that you are not an agent or employee of the MPAA] I’ve downloaded aXXo movies–for the exact reasons the article suggests: because aXXo is a brand-name associated with high quality products.)

[To be read aloud in a “historical narrator voice”]
When I started this blog, six long years ago, I recognized the need to separate content for my friends from content for my parents [/end narrator voice]. Take profane language, for example. Lord knows, I’m fond of it. And, lord knows, when I go home, I try awful hard not to be (you do it too!). That’s just the way of things. I just like to keep my image up with the ‘rents, ya know?

But the internet is also now a lifelong indexed, archived and searchable repository of my 22 young years of life. And yours, dear reader, too. Pardon my restatement of the obvious, but … your future employers will Google you. Your future boy/girlfriend will Facebook you. Your future political opponents will use pictures from your website to convince a nation that your youngest son, Trig, is actually your daughter’s. Serious business, no?

So I have this user account system, whereby I assign every registered user an appropriate access level. And you should like it, too. I’ve never posted a picture of a friend smoking marijuana–but supposing that I had, it would remain hidden. You never know when something like that might come back and bite a guy, right?

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“If the Ferraro’s guy can find my cell phone number,” I found myself thinking yesterday, “I wonder if I should be careful what I post, with respect to my Worker’s Comp claim manager.” Not that I’m doing anything wrong–I’m far from recovered, but that’s a topic for another night (ah HA! I’ve done it again! How can I just leave you HANGING like that? You’ll have to COME BACK! HA!). “It just might be unnecessarily complicating,” I reasoned, “for my claim manager to read my blog and discover that I’m skiing on the weekends.”

Well… what should arrive in the mail today, other than a letter from my WC claim manager! Addressed to my orthopedist, it stated, simply, that he’d received word that I’d been skiing at Bridger Bowl–and that he’d like my doctor to explain how this is medically possible. (It is, mind you!)

Now, I know you’re thinking that he must have read it on my blog! OMG! But … I’ve set you up! You’re WRONG! Instead, his letter indicated that he received word through the Montana Conservation Corps–which is easily explained: Donna was my crew-leader last season; Donna now works at Bridger and scans my ski pass every Saturday; Donna also just started working with MCC again.

But, on the other hand, I don’t think it will be too long before worker’s comp claim managers are checking Facebook, subscribing to Twitter feeds, and reading blogs–to check up on their cases.

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This post will now self-destruct.

I just realized that, on January 27th, this blog had its 6th birthday!

Just for fun, here’s the archives from January, 2003 (I was a Junior in high school):
http://www.eateggs.com/archives/2003#January

It might prove to be a great irony if my History capstone course turns out to be the low point in my career as a student in the MSU history department. Not my performance–but rather, the worst class I’ve taken.

Last week, my classmate Whitney had to physically restrain me from clawing my eyes out.

This week, I resorted to 6th grade tactics. For two-and-a-half dragging hours, I bored holes into my desk using a dull protractor. And my teeth.

Next week … perhaps illegal hallucinogenic drugs might be just the thing.

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Nice day, today. High in the upper forties. Think it breached fifty, yesterday. Warm and sunny … and it puts me in quite a mood. Let me tell you. Not. A. Happy. Camper. No sir.

It’s been weeks since we’ve had snow. And what’s left is all just … melting away.

I’ve hardly felt the urge to use my ski pass. Groomed runs and icy bowls just don’t quite do it for me like they used to (back in the days when I didn’t know there was such a thing as powder … and when there weren’t any green runs down the bowls, so I didn’t want to ski them anyway).

I’M SICK AND TIRED OF SUNSHINE! GOD DAMNIT! SUN, SUN, GO AWAY! COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY! (See: Summer. It’s not your time yet. Don’t be so impatient!)

And the days are getting longer. Which is weird … because I don’t remember them ever getting short. And it’s a little weird, yes, that I’m disappointed that the days are getting longer. Normally I’m excited. It’s just that … I don’t feel like Winter has really come yet?

…

Well, now that you ask, I have been thinking of moving to Alaska. For a while now. Hrm…

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Speaking of which … not really, but… there seems to be a problem with staying logged in on my site. I should really fix that but … sorting through pages of poorly written PHP to troubleshoot an intermittent error … sounds only slightly more scintillating than skiing down sheets of ice.

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And, logging in is important. But first, a funny story about that…

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So, a week ago, Chris and I went out to this fancy Italian restaurant called Ferarro’s for the first time. Everyone knows that their food is overpriced, and not very good, but we went anyway–willing, by this point, to pay quite a premium to try a new restaurant.

And … expecting a mediocre dining experience, we were thoroughly disappointed. It was, without a doubt, the worst dining experience I’ve had in Bozeman.

So I got home, and created a Yelp! account (I have the app on my iPhone, and decided that it’s useful), and ragged on Ferraro’s. You can read the review on Yelp! here.

That’s not interesting. What’s interesting is that, a few days later, I received a phone call from the manager of Ferraro’s–Mike Something.

This was strange for two reasons.

First, his manner was strange. He told me that he’d noticed I’d posted a review online, and that Ferraro’s had “clearly dropped the ball.” He wanted to invite me down to the restaurant to try Ferraro’s again. But really, seems to me, what he really wanted was to coerce me into changing me review.

He mentioned something about bad reviews being bad for business… and mentioned twice that “we’ve been here fifteen years! We must be doing something right!”

The second weird thing is that … he called me. At 10:00 am. On my cell phone.

It’s weird because my cell phone number (which is new, by the by) isn’t available on Yelp! or Menuism, where I posted reviews. I can only assume that he saw my user name (markegge), Googled for Mark Egge, found my blog, and gave me a call.

Hrm.

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Yup. Well, I’ve gone on too long already. More, another day!

Today was my Dad’s 60th birthday. That’s a little weird… I mean, my Dad’s 60, right? You wouldn’t know it though–he’s busy right now training for his next marathon and next summer’s backpacking trip in the Wind River Range.

The Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday… And, as another blogger phased it, Batman’s pissed. Huh. I expect that Heath Ledger will get Best Supporting Actor… And that Milk will pick up a bunch of awards. I mean… it was a solid movie, but, more than that, it’s the sort of movie that the Academy likes to play up. Same reason why Brokeback Mountain picked up so many awards. I see strong Best Picture potential in Milk.

Well, I’ve tried it now… and can safely say that trying to post from my iPhone is just plain obnoxious. The little tap “keyboard” is sufficient for 160 character SMS messages… but certainly nothing meaningful. When it comes to typing, the Blackberry has a clear advantage, it would seem.

Well, enough. I need to be up at 4:30 am tomorrow to go ski with the dam. Yay for having a season pass and starting ski days at 2:00 pm!