A quote from a NY Times article today on fashion with the headline, "Fashion recalls 1950's nostalgia."

"Fashion is so fragmented, so indefinable," Mr. Doonan replied. "So, many people are looking for what they recognize." The retro trend "mirrors the chaos in our society."

I have the view that art and fashion are at the forefront of what's happening with society. This 1950's nostalgia reinforces my view that american society in general is only becoming more conservative because society is changing too rapidly.

When changes in society happen too quickly, it's too much for most people. Most people fear change as it is, and right now changes are forced and in your face. In fact, everything about american society in so in your face, so out there, so not private.

It's perfectly normal and reasonable for people to start clinging to the past, not because they don't want to move forward, but because the past is familiar and safe. Changes in society are happening so quickly that people are clinging to the past so they can slow the changes down, so they have time to adjust, reorient their lives and values.

What's sad is that you can't slow the change down in the end, but you sure as hell can go kicking and screaming into the future.

I think people are going to start doing that now, if they haven't already. And one sure way to slow to change the change down is to bring back values from the past.

The 1950's was such a dark time in America. I mean, sure you had family stability and all that stuff, but there was also McCarthyism and a darkness and violence in society underneath the sugary sweet stability. And the 1950's didn't last that long either, because then the beatniks and the hippies came along.

Maybe we need to all take a collective look back into the past, take a break for awhile, only to realize in the end that what we have now is so much better that we had back then.

You can never go back, but maybe you can visit for awhile as long as you don't get stuck or lost there.

I checked out the annual US News and World report rankings of colleges to see where my alma mater Grinnell College ranked.

Grinnell College is ranked # 15 for Liberal Art Colleges and
ranked # 7 for Best Value in Liberal Arts Colleges.

Not bad for a school of 1,200 in the middle of the cornfields in Iowa.

I finally finished reading Michael Lewis' book, "Liar's Poker". It's an interesting book, and you can still see the after effects of everything he brought up about the financial markets.

Mr. Lewis has apparently written a new book on major leag baseball and the Oakland A's which I intend to read. From the reviews I've read on the book and the interview I heard with Lewis, you could say that Billy Bean, the Oakland's A's general manager, could be akin to Michael Milken and the junk bond market.

Bean looks for "underperforming players", and using his own set of ratios such "base on balls percentage", signs them for the A's for cheap. These low salaried players, then end up become pretty good players for the A's. You get a good player for a cheap price.

It's the rationale that Lewis said Milken created with the junk bond market. Don't buy the bonds of good companies, when they are overpriced and whose value have nowhere to go but down. Instead, pick a company that is undervalued and if your research is right, will eventually rise in value. Or something like that.

Listening to Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory". It's a darn good cd! I'd put a link up to Amazon.com, but their site is down right now for some reason. Oh well.

Other cds that I'm considering purchasing, Three Doors Down (Kryptonite, When I'm Gone) and Evanescence (Bring Me to Life). I love that girl's voice.

I love thrasher, semi-headbanger rock and roll music!