Friday Fun

Rivers are useful metaphors to use when thinking about an economy.  Don’t take my word for it.  Alan Greenspan, the former Chair of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), used the figure of speech in these remarks to the National Association of Home Builders in early 1995, address

It’s not very often Atlas gets to reference a BuzzFeed.com article in our morning note, but we’ll take advantage of today’s opportunity.  Sequels are often not as good as the original.  Take this list which tallies 21 of the worst movies sequels in movie sequel history.  That’s

Chemistry is a subject I should have taken more seriously.  I have one class in the eleventh grade under my belt.  Now that chemistry is making its way into more economic subjects as the globe fights off a pandemic and climate change, it might need to be added to Atlas’ knowledge set.   Last Friday we published this note on sand, and now we have another which tangentia

Supplying beaches with sand is ill-advised.  For one thing, it is really tough to get out of the car’s carpet.  And have you seen gas prices?  At these levels, the last thing you need is extra weight forcing you to use more petrol as you motor toward the water.  But these are strange times.  We’re still emerging from the pandemic-related economic shutdown wh

Kermit the Frog told us decades ago that it wasn’t easy being green.  We’re only now starting to understand.  Coal is thought to have first been used for heat in Northern China 4,000 years ago.  This special rock could burn like a log, providing warmth in a cold part of the globe and likely the first time humans used fossil fuel.  Fast forward through various ind

Some of the best laid plans develop crimps.  Take the Kinks and their song Lola for instance.  They recorded the song in 1970 (it became one of their most famous songs) but needed to re-record it in order to get airplay on the United Kingdom’s BBC.  You see, broadcasting is different in the UK.  The nat

Humans and our ancestors have used tools for millions of years.  They started with rudimentary instruments made of rocks (hence the stone age moniker).  Suddenly, around 12,000 years ago, humans began to harness copper.  Since then, we and this utilitarian metal have maintained a longstanding relationship.  It was the first metal worked by our ancestors and is still an impor

Lawn bowling is a wonderful pastime.  In California, the weather is generally nice enough to play outdoors, but there are parts of the nation (and the globe for that matter) which offer indoor greens.  It’s leisurely but provides something for those with a competitive spirit as well.  In short, the goal is to roll your asymmetric bowl down the green toward the jack (a white

American pop culture was lucky enough to be graced by the Talking Heads for 16 years before they split up in 1991.  Their willingness to experiment with and mix various sounds made them a seminal force in the creation of new wave music, a whole new genre at the time.  Their second album titled More Songs About Buildings and Food is a perfect starting point for a future blog a