Still Not Getting It Right the First Time

Ultimately, with so many new bands scrambling to be heard amidst the din of MySpace and YouTube, with a million next big things out there, why should you spend 45 precious minutes with Florence and the Machine? Maybe because of the resigned but resilient woman singing on “I’m Not Calling You a Liar”. Or because of the near-brilliant lyricism of “My Boy Builds Coffins”. Or maybe because few moments in pop history have captured joy like the last 30 seconds of “The Dog Days Are Over”. Because what you have, right here, is a truly rare thing—a perfect debut. So congratulations, Florence. Now it’s time to conquer that troublesome sophomore slump. But frankly, I wouldn’t worry.

Welch and her producers filter a multitude of styles through this epic purview, from garage-rock (“Kiss With A Fist”) to freak-folk (“My Boy Builds Coffins”) to bluesy cabaret (“Girl With One Eye”) to gospel-tinged dance (a cover of The Source’s “You’ve Got The Love”). At times, Lungs borders on exhausting, careening as it does from one over-the-top track to the next—even the comparatively subdued soul ballad “I’m Not Calling You A Liar” eventually crescendos toward a lush, tear-stained finale. But with a voice as strong and emotive as hers, it’s not surprising that Welch has little use for moments of quiet contemplation.

The songs that sound like pre-ordained radio hits like "Good Girls Go Bad" (which features the amazingly post-modern guest list of Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester on vocals, Lil Wayne producer Kevin Rudolf behind the board, and a co-write from pro songwriter/Am Idol judge Kara DioGaurdi)

So who killed Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers? Without a bust by the SEC, all that's left is means and motive. Everyone in Washington and on Wall Street understood what it meant when Lehman, for years the hated rival of Goldman Sachs, was chosen by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson — the former Goldman CEO — to be the one firm that didn't get a federal bailout. "When Paulson, a former Goldman guy, chose to sacrifice Lehman, that's when you knew the whole fucking thing was dirty," says one Democratic Party operative. "That's like the Yankees not bailing out the Mets. It was just obvious."

Looking back over human history, rationality has been the anomaly. Being rational takes work, education, and a sober determination to avoid making hasty inferences, even when they appear to make perfect sense. Much like infectious diseases themselves — beaten back by decades of effort to vaccinate the populace — the irrational lingers just below the surface, waiting for us to let down our guard.

Li has also found that men are universally attracted to women with a .7 hip-to-waist ratio—something he believes is genetically hard-coded as a reproductive trait. “I can’t do anything if a woman is fat, but I can tell her to dress so it shows off her waist,” he says dispassionately. It works both ways, by the way. Women prefer dates wear a suit and because women are predisposed to look for “good providers” Li says he can track for every extra 1,000 RMB you make a month, statistically what percentage more attractive you will be to an average woman. “It’s a math fact,” he says. “I can build you a model.

Unconsciously, everyone expects a startup to be like a job, and that explains most of the surprises. It explains why people are surprised how carefully you have to choose cofounders and how hard you have to work to maintain your relationship. You don't have to do that with coworkers. It explains why the ups and downs are surprisingly extreme. In a job there is much more damping. But it also explains why the good times are surprisingly good: most people can't imagine such freedom. As you go down the list, almost all the surprises are surprising in how much a startup differs from a job.

Orchard Towers (4 Floors of Whores) - Didn't go, but read this is where you spend SGD $200-300. Aussie friend said the name came from 4 dance clubs over one another: 1st floor are cheap women, 2nd floor are pretty girls, 3rd floor are tranvestites, and 4th floor is a pricey club where women are gorgeous.