To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music that words make.
I liked this one.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Manhattan
Greatest Opening Film Lines (Manhattan - 1979):
Chapter One. He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion.' Uh, no, make that: 'He-he...romanticized it all out of proportion. Now...to him...no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.' Ahhh, now let me start this over...
I liked it.
Chapter One. He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion.' Uh, no, make that: 'He-he...romanticized it all out of proportion. Now...to him...no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.' Ahhh, now let me start this over...
I liked it.
The Toyota Way
Good Books: (via Emergic) Jeffrey Liker’s book The Toyota Way defines Toyota’s philosophy and operations + the essence of the organization. The book is great + full of ideas + I don't think it's that easy to execute. In my view the concept is a magical accumulation of smart work ethics + embedded culture factor + that otherness.
From the book description:
Fewer man-hours. Less inventory. The highest quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer. In factories around the globe, Toyota consistently raises the bar for manufacturing, product development, and process excellence. The result is an amazing business success story: steadily taking market share from price-cutting competitors, earning far more profit than any other automaker, and winning the praise of business leaders worldwide.
The Toyota Way reveals the management principles behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability. Dr. Jeffrey Liker, a renowned authority on Toyota's Lean methods, explains how you can adopt these principles--known as the "Toyota Production System" or "Lean Production"--to improve the speed of your business processes, improve product and service quality, and cut costs, no matter what your industry.
Drawing on his extensive research on Toyota, Dr. Liker shares his insights into the foundational principles at work in the Toyota culture. He explains how the Toyota Production System evolved as a new paradigm of manufacturing excellence, transforming businesses across industries. You'll learn how Toyota fosters employee involvement at all levels, discover the difference between traditional process improvement and Toyota's Lean improvement, and learn why companies often think they are Lean--but aren't.
The Toyota Way, explains Toyota's unique approach to Lean--the 14 management principles and philosophy that drive Toyota's quality and efficiency-obsessed culture. You'll gain valuable insights that can be applied to any organization and any business process, whether in services or manufacturing. Professor Jeffrey Liker has been studying Toyota for twenty years, and was given unprecedented access to Toyota executives, employees and factories, both in Japan and the United States, for this landmark work. The book is full of examples of the 14 fundamental principles at work in the Toyota culture, and how these principles create a culture of continuous learning and improvement. You'll discover how the right combination of long-term philosophy, process, people, and problem solving can transform your organization into a Lean, learning enterprise--the Toyota Way.
The 14 Toyota Way Principles discussed by Liker are:
- Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy even at the expense of short-term financial goals.
- Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.
- Use pull systems to avoid overproduction.
- Level out the workload. (Work like the tortoise, not the hare.)
- Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.
- Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement.
- Use visual control so no problems are hidden.
- Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes.
- Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.
- Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy.
- Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.
- Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation.
- Make decisions slowly, by consensus, thoroughly considering all options ; implement decisions rapidly.
- Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement.
More info @ Business Week / Jeffrey Liker
From the book description:
Fewer man-hours. Less inventory. The highest quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer. In factories around the globe, Toyota consistently raises the bar for manufacturing, product development, and process excellence. The result is an amazing business success story: steadily taking market share from price-cutting competitors, earning far more profit than any other automaker, and winning the praise of business leaders worldwide.
The Toyota Way reveals the management principles behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability. Dr. Jeffrey Liker, a renowned authority on Toyota's Lean methods, explains how you can adopt these principles--known as the "Toyota Production System" or "Lean Production"--to improve the speed of your business processes, improve product and service quality, and cut costs, no matter what your industry.
Drawing on his extensive research on Toyota, Dr. Liker shares his insights into the foundational principles at work in the Toyota culture. He explains how the Toyota Production System evolved as a new paradigm of manufacturing excellence, transforming businesses across industries. You'll learn how Toyota fosters employee involvement at all levels, discover the difference between traditional process improvement and Toyota's Lean improvement, and learn why companies often think they are Lean--but aren't.
The Toyota Way, explains Toyota's unique approach to Lean--the 14 management principles and philosophy that drive Toyota's quality and efficiency-obsessed culture. You'll gain valuable insights that can be applied to any organization and any business process, whether in services or manufacturing. Professor Jeffrey Liker has been studying Toyota for twenty years, and was given unprecedented access to Toyota executives, employees and factories, both in Japan and the United States, for this landmark work. The book is full of examples of the 14 fundamental principles at work in the Toyota culture, and how these principles create a culture of continuous learning and improvement. You'll discover how the right combination of long-term philosophy, process, people, and problem solving can transform your organization into a Lean, learning enterprise--the Toyota Way.
The 14 Toyota Way Principles discussed by Liker are:
- Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy even at the expense of short-term financial goals.
- Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.
- Use pull systems to avoid overproduction.
- Level out the workload. (Work like the tortoise, not the hare.)
- Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.
- Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement.
- Use visual control so no problems are hidden.
- Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes.
- Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.
- Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy.
- Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.
- Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation.
- Make decisions slowly, by consensus, thoroughly considering all options ; implement decisions rapidly.
- Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement.
More info @ Business Week / Jeffrey Liker
The Tea Towels That Became Van Gogh Originals
Charlotte Higgins writes about Van Gogh tea towel + the X-ray techniques used to track its authenticity + its historical significance + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2157890,00.html
Christie’s And Sotheby’s: On The Champagne Trail
Kelly Devine Thomas writes about Christie’s + Sotheby’s creative marketing tactics in the dog-eat-dog world of art business + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1890
The Function Of The Broker
2007: I don't know how many times I have this article. The more I read the more I enjoy it because I like the old generation concepts + their philosophy. Vivian Prins is well-known in the diamond circle. He is from a different generation. His generation did business the old-fashioned way. The diamond brokers knew the buyers and sellers. It was not transaction but relationship concept. I wish todays generation are the same. Times have changed. The diamond industry has changed + there has been a tectonic shift in everything with new markets + new ways of doing business. The personal touch of the old generation isn't there anymore. This article is educational + Vivian shares his views on the role of a diamond broker.
(via International Diamond Annual, Vol.1, 1971) Vivian C Prins writes:
Those who are familiar with practice in diamond cutting centers may believe that it is a fairly simple matter to become a diamond manufacturer and to be supplied by one of the De Beers organizations. Anybody who has undertaken the task of manufacturing diamonds will, however, know, in fact how very difficult it is to become a regular client of De Beers. Nevertheless, a manufacturer who envisages a long-term operation on a substantial scale recognizes that the one source of raw material in diamonds which may be reliable will be from an outlet managed by one of the De Beers subsidiaries. In practice, the demand for diamonds from the Diamond Trading Company in London and Industrial Diamonds (Sales) Ltd, the main outlets of rough diamonds in the world, is normally so considerable that only a small fraction of those who would like to be supplied can regularly be offered goods. The intricacies of obtaining such supplies in the first place are such that anybody who is interested, whether dealer or manufacturer, seeks the services of a firm which has specialized knowledge of the process of obtaining from the ‘syndicate’ what is usually known as ‘a sight’.
These special firms are syndicate brokers, sometimes an individual and sometimes a whole organization, who have over the years made it their concern to know what is going on in their particular field of the diamond business. There are ten such firms of whom three are relatively large, and between them they handle the major part of the business.
It is to be supposed that the original brokers, whose work in this field began some 80 years ago under conditions very different from today, existed because the De Beers organization was looking for clients and seeking buyers for its goods. During the last century the broker, therefore, represented both the buyer and the seller, normally obtaining a commission from each side. The state of the diamond business at that time was relatively primitive; since then the De Beers organization, as well as the world diamond trade, has developed enormously. During this period the role of the broker has also evolved from the relatively simple function of bringing buyer and seller together—possibly by having a personal family or business relationship with each party—into a major business where the responsibilities and the services are greatly expanded.
The function of today’s broker is still best described as bringing the buyer and the seller together, and it is essential that he has the fullest confidence of both sides. The Diamond Trading Company, as well as the buyer, must have complete assurance of the broker’s integrity, and the nature of the business also demands as much secrecy and discretion as may be expected of a physician.
One of the big changes in the situation is that, whereas 80 years ago, De Beers were looking for clients, today the Central Selling Organization is able to dispose of their goods readily, and far more people are seeking to become clients of that organization than can be supplied. Thus the broker must do more than merely satisfy the Central Selling Organization that they have a client of adequate financial means and of sound commercial ethics and standards. They must convince the London executives that the client has a major role to play in the diamond business, that he will handle his goods in the manner in which the De Beers organization wish to see them handled, that the business in question is likely to have a long-term future. Therefore, it may sometimes be necessary not only for sons of the principals to be in the business, but to express the intention that the grandsons might well join, too! In other words, the business must be ‘just right’, neither too small nor, in many ways, too large, since the De Beers company have always prudently preferred to split their assets among a reasonable number of solid firms rather than a very few ‘super’ manufacturers or very big dealers. As in all things in life, there are occasional exceptions to this rule!
It is through this maze of rather precise requirements that the broker will lead his client, and with the cooperation of all parties may eventually arrive at a point where the client receives his longed-for sight. It is not an easy road for any of the parties, and just as much as being involved in the technical aspects of obtaining a sight for his client, a broker may find that his tact and abilities are stretched to the limit in persuading his client to exercise patience, when, despite meeting all the normal qualifications, a sight is still not forthcoming. This is particularly true when a competitor has for no apparent reasons been more successful!
Obtaining a client is only a first step. Usually a considerable amount of work has been involved which often includes two or more trips to the client in his home country each year. Despite this, no fee or charge of any kind is made by the broker for these efforts. The broker’s eventual remuneration will depend on a commission from business actually done, and this is sole source of income.
Once the client has become a regular buyer at The Diamond Trading Company he will need to apply for each sight; he will wish to be informed as to various changes in prices, assortments, conditions existing at that company, and he will need to have this information very quickly because it could easily affect pending decisions regarding purchases and sales of his goods. The broker will look after these matters for his client, who may also wish to discuss general world conditions in the diamond market and thus assess his own requirements of rough diamonds. Certainly from time to time the client’s requirements may change, so that once again his broker will be pleading, possibly for more goods, or an additional variety of goods, or, perhaps, for a related company in an entirely different country. Naturally, when the buyer comes to London the broker is at his disposal. He will be present at talks with The Diamond Trading Company. He will also help his client with the purchase of his sight, responding whenever asked for analyses or advice concerning the goods offered—and the broker’s experience must enable him to be a sound judge in these matters. On occasions, the client is unable to come personally. Travel difficulties, illness, family affairs, or just pressures of business may make it difficult for him to come to London. The broker then takes over the whole task of making the purchase on behalf of the client—quite a major responsibility when it is remembered that the purchase may frequently involve several hundred thousand dollars worth of goods. The writer can recall once receiving what to a broker must be the ultimate accolade, when a client indicated that the purchase made was ‘even more satisfactory than when he himself attended’.
What has so far been written on this subject may give the reader some idea of the basic activity of a broker’s function. What is much more difficult to convey is the personal relationship with the client, and the broker’s special understanding of the issues involved. It is this side of the work which makes the syndicate broker’s task exceptional. In general, clients expect their brokers to understand their problems so fully that the broker can give advice. Indeed, if the relationship is as it should be without fault. Those who know the diamond business may well also realize that psychology and approach to business in the Pelikaanstraat or on 47th Street may be very different from the attitudes in the offices of The Diamond Trading Company. It is the broker’s task to smooth out these differences and to avoid any misunderstandings that could be caused. It is also natural that many diamond people have an inadequate command of the English language. Most of them were born in Belgium or Poland and the competent broker must be capable of speaking to his client in a language which he understands and of being an interpreter when discussions take place with The Diamond Trading Company. A further small but valuable service must be given to the client. He must be able to use his broker’s office as his own, receiving any kind of secretarial, telephone or telex service which he would require in his own office, and very often he receives, in addition to this, assistance in arranging his travel and shopping plans! The syndicate broker is anxious to do everything to make his client feel at home.
It can be seen that, with the diamond business operating on an important scale in Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Bombay and New York, and on a lesser scale in several other countries, a syndicate broker not only requires an alert and efficient office organization to help take care of administration and communications, but he must himself be prepared to travel almost every month to meet his clients in different parts of the world, and to be up-to-date with the situation in general, and, of course, to study his clients special needs. During these travels the broker will see many factories and have many conferences. He will himself ask many questions, and many enquiries will be made of him, but through his constant activity, always coming to a climax at the London sight, he will play his special role in lubricating the wheels of the diamond business.
(via International Diamond Annual, Vol.1, 1971) Vivian C Prins writes:
Those who are familiar with practice in diamond cutting centers may believe that it is a fairly simple matter to become a diamond manufacturer and to be supplied by one of the De Beers organizations. Anybody who has undertaken the task of manufacturing diamonds will, however, know, in fact how very difficult it is to become a regular client of De Beers. Nevertheless, a manufacturer who envisages a long-term operation on a substantial scale recognizes that the one source of raw material in diamonds which may be reliable will be from an outlet managed by one of the De Beers subsidiaries. In practice, the demand for diamonds from the Diamond Trading Company in London and Industrial Diamonds (Sales) Ltd, the main outlets of rough diamonds in the world, is normally so considerable that only a small fraction of those who would like to be supplied can regularly be offered goods. The intricacies of obtaining such supplies in the first place are such that anybody who is interested, whether dealer or manufacturer, seeks the services of a firm which has specialized knowledge of the process of obtaining from the ‘syndicate’ what is usually known as ‘a sight’.
These special firms are syndicate brokers, sometimes an individual and sometimes a whole organization, who have over the years made it their concern to know what is going on in their particular field of the diamond business. There are ten such firms of whom three are relatively large, and between them they handle the major part of the business.
It is to be supposed that the original brokers, whose work in this field began some 80 years ago under conditions very different from today, existed because the De Beers organization was looking for clients and seeking buyers for its goods. During the last century the broker, therefore, represented both the buyer and the seller, normally obtaining a commission from each side. The state of the diamond business at that time was relatively primitive; since then the De Beers organization, as well as the world diamond trade, has developed enormously. During this period the role of the broker has also evolved from the relatively simple function of bringing buyer and seller together—possibly by having a personal family or business relationship with each party—into a major business where the responsibilities and the services are greatly expanded.
The function of today’s broker is still best described as bringing the buyer and the seller together, and it is essential that he has the fullest confidence of both sides. The Diamond Trading Company, as well as the buyer, must have complete assurance of the broker’s integrity, and the nature of the business also demands as much secrecy and discretion as may be expected of a physician.
One of the big changes in the situation is that, whereas 80 years ago, De Beers were looking for clients, today the Central Selling Organization is able to dispose of their goods readily, and far more people are seeking to become clients of that organization than can be supplied. Thus the broker must do more than merely satisfy the Central Selling Organization that they have a client of adequate financial means and of sound commercial ethics and standards. They must convince the London executives that the client has a major role to play in the diamond business, that he will handle his goods in the manner in which the De Beers organization wish to see them handled, that the business in question is likely to have a long-term future. Therefore, it may sometimes be necessary not only for sons of the principals to be in the business, but to express the intention that the grandsons might well join, too! In other words, the business must be ‘just right’, neither too small nor, in many ways, too large, since the De Beers company have always prudently preferred to split their assets among a reasonable number of solid firms rather than a very few ‘super’ manufacturers or very big dealers. As in all things in life, there are occasional exceptions to this rule!
It is through this maze of rather precise requirements that the broker will lead his client, and with the cooperation of all parties may eventually arrive at a point where the client receives his longed-for sight. It is not an easy road for any of the parties, and just as much as being involved in the technical aspects of obtaining a sight for his client, a broker may find that his tact and abilities are stretched to the limit in persuading his client to exercise patience, when, despite meeting all the normal qualifications, a sight is still not forthcoming. This is particularly true when a competitor has for no apparent reasons been more successful!
Obtaining a client is only a first step. Usually a considerable amount of work has been involved which often includes two or more trips to the client in his home country each year. Despite this, no fee or charge of any kind is made by the broker for these efforts. The broker’s eventual remuneration will depend on a commission from business actually done, and this is sole source of income.
Once the client has become a regular buyer at The Diamond Trading Company he will need to apply for each sight; he will wish to be informed as to various changes in prices, assortments, conditions existing at that company, and he will need to have this information very quickly because it could easily affect pending decisions regarding purchases and sales of his goods. The broker will look after these matters for his client, who may also wish to discuss general world conditions in the diamond market and thus assess his own requirements of rough diamonds. Certainly from time to time the client’s requirements may change, so that once again his broker will be pleading, possibly for more goods, or an additional variety of goods, or, perhaps, for a related company in an entirely different country. Naturally, when the buyer comes to London the broker is at his disposal. He will be present at talks with The Diamond Trading Company. He will also help his client with the purchase of his sight, responding whenever asked for analyses or advice concerning the goods offered—and the broker’s experience must enable him to be a sound judge in these matters. On occasions, the client is unable to come personally. Travel difficulties, illness, family affairs, or just pressures of business may make it difficult for him to come to London. The broker then takes over the whole task of making the purchase on behalf of the client—quite a major responsibility when it is remembered that the purchase may frequently involve several hundred thousand dollars worth of goods. The writer can recall once receiving what to a broker must be the ultimate accolade, when a client indicated that the purchase made was ‘even more satisfactory than when he himself attended’.
What has so far been written on this subject may give the reader some idea of the basic activity of a broker’s function. What is much more difficult to convey is the personal relationship with the client, and the broker’s special understanding of the issues involved. It is this side of the work which makes the syndicate broker’s task exceptional. In general, clients expect their brokers to understand their problems so fully that the broker can give advice. Indeed, if the relationship is as it should be without fault. Those who know the diamond business may well also realize that psychology and approach to business in the Pelikaanstraat or on 47th Street may be very different from the attitudes in the offices of The Diamond Trading Company. It is the broker’s task to smooth out these differences and to avoid any misunderstandings that could be caused. It is also natural that many diamond people have an inadequate command of the English language. Most of them were born in Belgium or Poland and the competent broker must be capable of speaking to his client in a language which he understands and of being an interpreter when discussions take place with The Diamond Trading Company. A further small but valuable service must be given to the client. He must be able to use his broker’s office as his own, receiving any kind of secretarial, telephone or telex service which he would require in his own office, and very often he receives, in addition to this, assistance in arranging his travel and shopping plans! The syndicate broker is anxious to do everything to make his client feel at home.
It can be seen that, with the diamond business operating on an important scale in Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Bombay and New York, and on a lesser scale in several other countries, a syndicate broker not only requires an alert and efficient office organization to help take care of administration and communications, but he must himself be prepared to travel almost every month to meet his clients in different parts of the world, and to be up-to-date with the situation in general, and, of course, to study his clients special needs. During these travels the broker will see many factories and have many conferences. He will himself ask many questions, and many enquiries will be made of him, but through his constant activity, always coming to a climax at the London sight, he will play his special role in lubricating the wheels of the diamond business.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The More Sensitive You Are, The More Certain You Are To Be Brutalised
(via Guardian Unlimited) Truman Capote's interview of Marlon Brando in Kyoto, Japan, 1957 @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2154887,00.html
Marlon Brando is one my favorite actors + his ability to morph and totally internally reflect into unique characters is just amazing. Sometimes I watch his movies several times just to understand the character (s). The interview with Truman Capote also reveals his philosophy about life, people, cultures, friends, family and the business of acting itself. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Marlon Brando is one my favorite actors + his ability to morph and totally internally reflect into unique characters is just amazing. Sometimes I watch his movies several times just to understand the character (s). The interview with Truman Capote also reveals his philosophy about life, people, cultures, friends, family and the business of acting itself. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Art In The Garden
The Economist writes about Sotheby’s experimental approach in selling directly to interested collectors outside the constraints and physical confines of the auction house + other viewpoints @ https://www.economist.com/daily/columns/artview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9783553
The Newfound Pollocks: Real Or Fake?
Kelly Devine Thomas writes about the differences of opinion among the experts over the authenticity of 32 newly discovered works said to be by the artist + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1888
This reminds me of colored stone grading + diamond grading + origin determination by reputed gem testing/grading labs. Despite using nearly the same standards + equipments, the experts can't agree + they give you different grades or misidentify the provenance, for instance, in the case of rubies, blue sapphires and emeralds. At times you ask yourself: can you trust the labs? What are the options? Very few. To me, gems and paintings are twins. They both have the same concepts and characters + perceived value, beauty, rarity and deception.
This reminds me of colored stone grading + diamond grading + origin determination by reputed gem testing/grading labs. Despite using nearly the same standards + equipments, the experts can't agree + they give you different grades or misidentify the provenance, for instance, in the case of rubies, blue sapphires and emeralds. At times you ask yourself: can you trust the labs? What are the options? Very few. To me, gems and paintings are twins. They both have the same concepts and characters + perceived value, beauty, rarity and deception.
The Red Diamond
2007: The red diamond story is interesting and educational + this can happen even today. I think some people have the 'touch' to locate the source + identify + sell for a profit. At times diamonds can be a gift or curse. Some are just plain lucky to find and hold it forever.
(via International Diamond Annual, Vol.1, 1971) Max Drukker writes:
‘Do you remember the red diamond, Oppie?
My old friend Houthakker and I were walking along the Marine Parade in Durban, South Africa, when we bumped into Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. Houthakker introduced me. We fell to talking about diamonds, as diamond men will, whenever they meet. Houthakker was a diamond broker who regularly sold diamonds to the Oppenheimer group.
“You must remember that piece of boart I showed you in your office, Oppie. It was 33 carats. I asked you what you thought of it and what I should do with it.” “Oh, yes,” said Sir Ernest. “I think I remember. Didn’t I say you should send it to Amsterdam as a piece of boart and let them try to cleave or polish it? What happened?”
And so I told Sir Ernest Oppenheimer the story of the red diamond, for I was one of those brought into consultation in Amsterdam when Houthakker followed “Oppie’s” advice and sent the boart to the Goudvis company in Amsterdam. Louis Goudvis had been the buyer for our company in South Africa for many years.
Houthakker used to visit the diggings at Lichtenburg regularly. One day a digger came to him with a diamond. “Wat moet die klippie kost?” he asked Houthakker, handing him the big piece of boart. “Wait jij geef” was Houthakker’s reply. After a bit of haggling, the stone changed hands at £2 a carat.
When the parcel arrived at the Goudvis company, in Keizersgracht, Amsterdam, the five brothers looked at the black stone. Houthakker had asked the stone should be cut on a fifty-fifty basis. “Houthakker must be crazy,” said the youngest Goudvis. “It’s just a piece of boart. We can use it as a powder for polishing.” But the eldest brother said: “Take it easy. Let’s look at the stone first.”
The master cutter was called in and then the cleaning experts. One and all they insisted it was just a piece of boart. Only the eldest Goudvis brother, holding the stone under lamplight, thought differently. “I see light,” he said firmly. After cabled exchanges with Houthakker, it was decided to make “windows” on each side of the stone. Two carats were lost but the stone was still black. Again the eldest Goudvis said stubbornly: “I see light.”
There were more cabled exchanges with Houthakker. Windows were made on all sides of the stone. It now weighed 23 carats, it looked brownish but nothing else. And then the master cutter made a kind of crystal shape out of the stone and, suddenly, he too saw a beam of light. He took the stone from the scaif and hurried to the eldest Goudvis. It was a miracle. Under a strong lamp a reddish gleam could be seen in the heart of the stone.
This was only the beginning. Heated discussions began about the shape of the stone—whether it should be round or square. After another seven months of studying the stone and polishing it, there emerged an emerald-shaped diamond of 5.05 carats—pure and of red color. The five brothers had become more and more excited. When the stone was ready, it was put on the big table in their private office—and they look at it by candlelight. Except for the candle the big room was totally dark: and in the flicker of its beam, it was as if a drop of blood had fallen on the hand that held the diamond.
This was 1927. We began to wonder what the value of a red diamond would be. Top blue white pure diamonds are rare; but a red diamond, which is pure as well—that, indeed, is a rarity. There was no diamond dealer in Amsterdam who would make a firm estimate. The Goudvis brothers thought it might fetch at least one hundred thousand Dutch guilders. Hugo Prins, the famous authority on polished stones, made a much higher valuation.
Newspapermen were not very helpful about publicizing this red diamond in those days—it’s very different with publicity today. No buyer came along. So it was decided to send the stone to New York. The youngest Goudvis took it there. The four leading jewelers in New York looked at the stone. Nobody was interested. The stone came back to Amsterdam and soon afterwards a cable arrived from the chief buyer of Tiffany’s: “Have customer for red stone.” Again Goudvis traveled to New York and the red diamond was shown to Tiffany’s client—he was owner of one of the biggest soap manufacturing companies in the world and he was looking for an exclusive present for his fiancée. The client offered 100,000 dollars, including Tiffany’s commission.
Cables flashed to and fro. The oldest Goudvis brother wanted to sell, saying it was the chance of a lifetime. The others wanted more—for something extra special, an extra special price. They stood out for $150000. The customer withdrew his offer and was not interested any more.
The stone went back into the safe in Amsterdam. During the Depression and then in the war years, the red diamond had many adventures. During the war and the occupation of Holland a group of German jewelers bought polished diamonds and amongst them was the red diamond, for which 70000 Dutch guilders were paid. Then, when peace came, the red diamond was found again in Germany and bought back to Holland. The Goudvis brothers were now all dead and, as the Goudvis heirs owed money to the Amsterdamse Bank, the stone was sold by tender in 1947. I made a bid for the diamond with an offer of 23000 Dutch guilders. The highest bid was 57000 Dutch guilders. The story goes that George Prins bought the red diamond for an American account. But I do not know where that diamond now is. This is one of those cases where no one knows where a famous diamond eventually comes to rest. One thing is certain. The red diamond is a very special diamond indeed.
(via International Diamond Annual, Vol.1, 1971) Max Drukker writes:
‘Do you remember the red diamond, Oppie?
My old friend Houthakker and I were walking along the Marine Parade in Durban, South Africa, when we bumped into Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. Houthakker introduced me. We fell to talking about diamonds, as diamond men will, whenever they meet. Houthakker was a diamond broker who regularly sold diamonds to the Oppenheimer group.
“You must remember that piece of boart I showed you in your office, Oppie. It was 33 carats. I asked you what you thought of it and what I should do with it.” “Oh, yes,” said Sir Ernest. “I think I remember. Didn’t I say you should send it to Amsterdam as a piece of boart and let them try to cleave or polish it? What happened?”
And so I told Sir Ernest Oppenheimer the story of the red diamond, for I was one of those brought into consultation in Amsterdam when Houthakker followed “Oppie’s” advice and sent the boart to the Goudvis company in Amsterdam. Louis Goudvis had been the buyer for our company in South Africa for many years.
Houthakker used to visit the diggings at Lichtenburg regularly. One day a digger came to him with a diamond. “Wat moet die klippie kost?” he asked Houthakker, handing him the big piece of boart. “Wait jij geef” was Houthakker’s reply. After a bit of haggling, the stone changed hands at £2 a carat.
When the parcel arrived at the Goudvis company, in Keizersgracht, Amsterdam, the five brothers looked at the black stone. Houthakker had asked the stone should be cut on a fifty-fifty basis. “Houthakker must be crazy,” said the youngest Goudvis. “It’s just a piece of boart. We can use it as a powder for polishing.” But the eldest brother said: “Take it easy. Let’s look at the stone first.”
The master cutter was called in and then the cleaning experts. One and all they insisted it was just a piece of boart. Only the eldest Goudvis brother, holding the stone under lamplight, thought differently. “I see light,” he said firmly. After cabled exchanges with Houthakker, it was decided to make “windows” on each side of the stone. Two carats were lost but the stone was still black. Again the eldest Goudvis said stubbornly: “I see light.”
There were more cabled exchanges with Houthakker. Windows were made on all sides of the stone. It now weighed 23 carats, it looked brownish but nothing else. And then the master cutter made a kind of crystal shape out of the stone and, suddenly, he too saw a beam of light. He took the stone from the scaif and hurried to the eldest Goudvis. It was a miracle. Under a strong lamp a reddish gleam could be seen in the heart of the stone.
This was only the beginning. Heated discussions began about the shape of the stone—whether it should be round or square. After another seven months of studying the stone and polishing it, there emerged an emerald-shaped diamond of 5.05 carats—pure and of red color. The five brothers had become more and more excited. When the stone was ready, it was put on the big table in their private office—and they look at it by candlelight. Except for the candle the big room was totally dark: and in the flicker of its beam, it was as if a drop of blood had fallen on the hand that held the diamond.
This was 1927. We began to wonder what the value of a red diamond would be. Top blue white pure diamonds are rare; but a red diamond, which is pure as well—that, indeed, is a rarity. There was no diamond dealer in Amsterdam who would make a firm estimate. The Goudvis brothers thought it might fetch at least one hundred thousand Dutch guilders. Hugo Prins, the famous authority on polished stones, made a much higher valuation.
Newspapermen were not very helpful about publicizing this red diamond in those days—it’s very different with publicity today. No buyer came along. So it was decided to send the stone to New York. The youngest Goudvis took it there. The four leading jewelers in New York looked at the stone. Nobody was interested. The stone came back to Amsterdam and soon afterwards a cable arrived from the chief buyer of Tiffany’s: “Have customer for red stone.” Again Goudvis traveled to New York and the red diamond was shown to Tiffany’s client—he was owner of one of the biggest soap manufacturing companies in the world and he was looking for an exclusive present for his fiancée. The client offered 100,000 dollars, including Tiffany’s commission.
Cables flashed to and fro. The oldest Goudvis brother wanted to sell, saying it was the chance of a lifetime. The others wanted more—for something extra special, an extra special price. They stood out for $150000. The customer withdrew his offer and was not interested any more.
The stone went back into the safe in Amsterdam. During the Depression and then in the war years, the red diamond had many adventures. During the war and the occupation of Holland a group of German jewelers bought polished diamonds and amongst them was the red diamond, for which 70000 Dutch guilders were paid. Then, when peace came, the red diamond was found again in Germany and bought back to Holland. The Goudvis brothers were now all dead and, as the Goudvis heirs owed money to the Amsterdamse Bank, the stone was sold by tender in 1947. I made a bid for the diamond with an offer of 23000 Dutch guilders. The highest bid was 57000 Dutch guilders. The story goes that George Prins bought the red diamond for an American account. But I do not know where that diamond now is. This is one of those cases where no one knows where a famous diamond eventually comes to rest. One thing is certain. The red diamond is a very special diamond indeed.
Where To Look
Bill James (Australia) writes:
It is a similar process to that which causes tree trunks of long ago to be changed to stone in cheerful yellows, browns and grays which now turn up as pebbles that make attractive costume jewelry. In Queensland, opal is found inside small boulders of dark sandstone known to miners as Yowah nuts. Some of these contain kernels of precious opal, rather like the thunder eggs of agate. In these many varied ways, over immense periods of time, Australia’s jewel box of gems has been built up. Already many of these deposits have been discovered, but others await discovery, and it may well be by some amateur gem seeker.
These stones are all products of our earths crust, except one—the tektite, a word that means ‘melted rock’. Tektites are thought to have come from space, either as volcanic glass from the surface of the moon or in the tail of a comet. Tektites are translucent, greenish to brownish objects, averaging an ounce or more in weight and occurring in a number of rounded shapes. They are estimated to be less than 10 millions years old. They occur in at least six other parts of the world as well Australia and North Western Tasmania. Millions are scattered south of an irregular line from the Kimberleys to Kyogle in New South Wales.
In some areas they are scattered thickly. Around Charlotte Waters in the Northern Territory, an explorer collected 8000. Over the course of time, like other gemstones, tektites found their way into alluvial deposits. Early New South Wales gold miners called them ‘button stones’ and believed they indicated rich yields of gold. Some even took them to California as lucky charms. As substances which have reached us from the remoteness of space, tektites have a peculiar appeal to the imagination. They make up readily into costume jewelry that is certain to create interest.
It is a similar process to that which causes tree trunks of long ago to be changed to stone in cheerful yellows, browns and grays which now turn up as pebbles that make attractive costume jewelry. In Queensland, opal is found inside small boulders of dark sandstone known to miners as Yowah nuts. Some of these contain kernels of precious opal, rather like the thunder eggs of agate. In these many varied ways, over immense periods of time, Australia’s jewel box of gems has been built up. Already many of these deposits have been discovered, but others await discovery, and it may well be by some amateur gem seeker.
These stones are all products of our earths crust, except one—the tektite, a word that means ‘melted rock’. Tektites are thought to have come from space, either as volcanic glass from the surface of the moon or in the tail of a comet. Tektites are translucent, greenish to brownish objects, averaging an ounce or more in weight and occurring in a number of rounded shapes. They are estimated to be less than 10 millions years old. They occur in at least six other parts of the world as well Australia and North Western Tasmania. Millions are scattered south of an irregular line from the Kimberleys to Kyogle in New South Wales.
In some areas they are scattered thickly. Around Charlotte Waters in the Northern Territory, an explorer collected 8000. Over the course of time, like other gemstones, tektites found their way into alluvial deposits. Early New South Wales gold miners called them ‘button stones’ and believed they indicated rich yields of gold. Some even took them to California as lucky charms. As substances which have reached us from the remoteness of space, tektites have a peculiar appeal to the imagination. They make up readily into costume jewelry that is certain to create interest.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Watership Down
Greatest Opening Film Lines (Watership Down - 1978):
Long ago, the great Frith made the world. He made all the stars, and the Earth lived among the stars. He made all the animals and birds, and at first, he made them all the same. Now, among the animals in these days was El-Ahrairah, the prince of rabbits. He had many friends, and they all ate grass together. But after a time, the rabbits wandered everywhere, multiplying and eating as they went. Then Frith said to El-Ahrairah, 'Prince Rabbit, if you cannot control your people, I shall find ways to control them.'
Long ago, the great Frith made the world. He made all the stars, and the Earth lived among the stars. He made all the animals and birds, and at first, he made them all the same. Now, among the animals in these days was El-Ahrairah, the prince of rabbits. He had many friends, and they all ate grass together. But after a time, the rabbits wandered everywhere, multiplying and eating as they went. Then Frith said to El-Ahrairah, 'Prince Rabbit, if you cannot control your people, I shall find ways to control them.'
Bob Dylan
Being noticed can be a burden. Jesus got himself crucified because he got himself noticed. So I disappear a lot.
I really liked it.
I really liked it.
The Top Ten: 2005
Milton Esterow writes about art market perception (s) + the way collectors spend their money to buy the right thing + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1868
The ARTnews 200
http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1866
The ARTnews 200
http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1866
The Call Of The Fens
Stuart Jeffries takes part in a unique art project and shares his experience (s) @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2158660,00.html
Where To Look
Bill James (Australia) writes:
Wind, rain frost and chemical reaction with gases in the atmosphere, smash and decompose the hardest rocks. Running water is the world’s most energetic miner. It carries vast loads of material to sea with every rainfall. Rivers and streams carve away the faces of mountains, pounding rocks into pebbles and sand. Where the stream rushes swiftly, the bedrock is scoured; where it loiters, the gravels carried in the water are left in what are called alluvial deposits.
These deposits contain the heavy insoluble materials washed from the rocks, including gold and gemstones. Rain falling over a mountain range sweeps into the river systems of the area the debris of rocks already decomposed by exposure to air and the alternate effects of frost and sunshine. In this way rivers concentrate deposits of both gold and gems that are far richer than those contained in the original rocks.
But many things can happen to a river in a few thousand years. Most likely it will change its course several times, each time leaving gem gravels high and dry and creating fresh deposits in new places. Rivers have been gathering gold and gems from the rocks of Australia not for thousands of years but thousands of million of years. Time and again the landscape has changed. Where once a river flowed from east to west, it is diverted to flow from north to south. What was once a streambed becomes a mountain-top; sea invades the river valley, smashing the rocks with its waves. Or perhaps a huge glacier, most ruthless of nature’s jackhammers, grinds across the land, carving mountains to new shapes, leveling valleys, carting heaps of rock and gravel many miles to faraway places. Glaciers left their mark on Tasmania and New South Wales and scattered a thin trail of diamonds as they rasped across the highlands of north-eastern Victoria. In one place ice blocked the rivers; in another, fire. Lava from a volcano flowed over the diamond field of Copetown in New England some 40 million years ago burying a riverbed under up to 130 ft. of basalt.
Buried alluvial deposits are known as deep leads and some people believe there is a fortune in diamonds in the deep lead at Copeton, in the New England district of New South Wales, but the cost of finding out has made it too great a gamble for anyone to venture as yet. Copeton is unique in being the only place in Australia where a diamond has been found in its original volcanic vent. This was a dolerite (basalt) dyke at Oakey Creek. The vast changes that have taken place on the earth’s surface have given rise to two other types of rocks beside those of an igneous nature. Sedimentary rocks are derived from the weathered waste of older rocks, like sandstone or conglomerate, or precipitated from solution, as gypsum or limestone. Gemstones are sometimes found among the pebbles and rock fragments making up conglomerates.
Richer in ores than the water-formed sediments are the metamorphic rocks. These are created by the transformation of igneous and sedimentary rocks under extremes of heat and pressure. Under these circumstances granite become gneiss and limestone changes to marble. This is known as regional or dynamic metamorphism and may occur over large areas. Metamorphic rocks are a product of the tremendous convulsions of the earth’s surface that I have already mentioned. When magma forces its way into and through existing rocks, changes occur that are described as local or contact metamorphism.
In this, the superheated, concentrated solutions of magmatic water, with its chemical mineralisers, play an important part. As a result, sapphires and rubies, garnets and spinels among other gems occur in contact metamorphic deposits.
In some metamorphic rocks, crystals of mica, garnet, chlorite and other minerals have been lined up so that the rock will break easily along parallel surfaces. Such rocks are called schists. Turquoise is found in veins through some schists and slate —metamorphosed shale from Rockhampton to Brisbane in Queensland, and also at localities in New South Wales and Victoria. Among other gemstones produced from silica solutions are chalcedony, agate and Australia’s pride, the opal.
Opal comes in two forms, common and precious; with the common opal, known to the miners as potch, often acting as a signpost to the better stuff. Potch can be colorless, as hyalite, amber, milky, blue-gray or black, but it lacks iridescence and fire. Precious opal glows in red, blues, and greens, colors that flash and move as the stone is turned in the light, rainbow hues created by the breakdown of light through layers in the gem having slightly different refractive properties.
In Australia precious opal was first discovered as nodules and veins in cracks and cavities of basaltic lava and the quartz-rich igneous rocks called andesite or trachyte. But this mountain opal was disappointingly subject to cracking and crazing on exposure to dry air. The real opal country is the 50000 square miles of sandstone laid under the sea that spread over much of central Australia 120 million years ago. This dry and bare expanse of modest hills and sandstone ridges takes in 52 known mining localities in Queensland as well as White Cliffs and Lightning Ridge in New South Wales.
Mines at Andamooka and Coober Pedy are in sandstone and shale of a similar period and it is likely that important deposits of opal await discovery in the so-called desert sandstones of South Australia. The silica solutions which filled crevices and replaced other substances, such as wood and bone, in the rock also cemented the sandstone into what is called duricrust. As angel stone, shin-cracker and steelband, this hard rock is usually found in layers above opal.
A number of fossils have been turned to opals, including plants, shells and the bones of dinosaurs. Just before the First World War an almost perfect skeleton of a small dinosaur came to light at White Cliffs. Part of a crocodile’s jaw and teeth in blue black opal was dug up at Lightning Ridge, where the celebrated ‘nobbies’ are also of fossil origin. But this is not to say that the opal dates back to dinosaurs. The skeleton of a cat, buried in a miner’s hat, was found to have turned to pale pink opal. Gateposts buried 20 years were found to be opalised at the foot.
Where To Look: (continued)
Wind, rain frost and chemical reaction with gases in the atmosphere, smash and decompose the hardest rocks. Running water is the world’s most energetic miner. It carries vast loads of material to sea with every rainfall. Rivers and streams carve away the faces of mountains, pounding rocks into pebbles and sand. Where the stream rushes swiftly, the bedrock is scoured; where it loiters, the gravels carried in the water are left in what are called alluvial deposits.
These deposits contain the heavy insoluble materials washed from the rocks, including gold and gemstones. Rain falling over a mountain range sweeps into the river systems of the area the debris of rocks already decomposed by exposure to air and the alternate effects of frost and sunshine. In this way rivers concentrate deposits of both gold and gems that are far richer than those contained in the original rocks.
But many things can happen to a river in a few thousand years. Most likely it will change its course several times, each time leaving gem gravels high and dry and creating fresh deposits in new places. Rivers have been gathering gold and gems from the rocks of Australia not for thousands of years but thousands of million of years. Time and again the landscape has changed. Where once a river flowed from east to west, it is diverted to flow from north to south. What was once a streambed becomes a mountain-top; sea invades the river valley, smashing the rocks with its waves. Or perhaps a huge glacier, most ruthless of nature’s jackhammers, grinds across the land, carving mountains to new shapes, leveling valleys, carting heaps of rock and gravel many miles to faraway places. Glaciers left their mark on Tasmania and New South Wales and scattered a thin trail of diamonds as they rasped across the highlands of north-eastern Victoria. In one place ice blocked the rivers; in another, fire. Lava from a volcano flowed over the diamond field of Copetown in New England some 40 million years ago burying a riverbed under up to 130 ft. of basalt.
Buried alluvial deposits are known as deep leads and some people believe there is a fortune in diamonds in the deep lead at Copeton, in the New England district of New South Wales, but the cost of finding out has made it too great a gamble for anyone to venture as yet. Copeton is unique in being the only place in Australia where a diamond has been found in its original volcanic vent. This was a dolerite (basalt) dyke at Oakey Creek. The vast changes that have taken place on the earth’s surface have given rise to two other types of rocks beside those of an igneous nature. Sedimentary rocks are derived from the weathered waste of older rocks, like sandstone or conglomerate, or precipitated from solution, as gypsum or limestone. Gemstones are sometimes found among the pebbles and rock fragments making up conglomerates.
Richer in ores than the water-formed sediments are the metamorphic rocks. These are created by the transformation of igneous and sedimentary rocks under extremes of heat and pressure. Under these circumstances granite become gneiss and limestone changes to marble. This is known as regional or dynamic metamorphism and may occur over large areas. Metamorphic rocks are a product of the tremendous convulsions of the earth’s surface that I have already mentioned. When magma forces its way into and through existing rocks, changes occur that are described as local or contact metamorphism.
In this, the superheated, concentrated solutions of magmatic water, with its chemical mineralisers, play an important part. As a result, sapphires and rubies, garnets and spinels among other gems occur in contact metamorphic deposits.
In some metamorphic rocks, crystals of mica, garnet, chlorite and other minerals have been lined up so that the rock will break easily along parallel surfaces. Such rocks are called schists. Turquoise is found in veins through some schists and slate —metamorphosed shale from Rockhampton to Brisbane in Queensland, and also at localities in New South Wales and Victoria. Among other gemstones produced from silica solutions are chalcedony, agate and Australia’s pride, the opal.
Opal comes in two forms, common and precious; with the common opal, known to the miners as potch, often acting as a signpost to the better stuff. Potch can be colorless, as hyalite, amber, milky, blue-gray or black, but it lacks iridescence and fire. Precious opal glows in red, blues, and greens, colors that flash and move as the stone is turned in the light, rainbow hues created by the breakdown of light through layers in the gem having slightly different refractive properties.
In Australia precious opal was first discovered as nodules and veins in cracks and cavities of basaltic lava and the quartz-rich igneous rocks called andesite or trachyte. But this mountain opal was disappointingly subject to cracking and crazing on exposure to dry air. The real opal country is the 50000 square miles of sandstone laid under the sea that spread over much of central Australia 120 million years ago. This dry and bare expanse of modest hills and sandstone ridges takes in 52 known mining localities in Queensland as well as White Cliffs and Lightning Ridge in New South Wales.
Mines at Andamooka and Coober Pedy are in sandstone and shale of a similar period and it is likely that important deposits of opal await discovery in the so-called desert sandstones of South Australia. The silica solutions which filled crevices and replaced other substances, such as wood and bone, in the rock also cemented the sandstone into what is called duricrust. As angel stone, shin-cracker and steelband, this hard rock is usually found in layers above opal.
A number of fossils have been turned to opals, including plants, shells and the bones of dinosaurs. Just before the First World War an almost perfect skeleton of a small dinosaur came to light at White Cliffs. Part of a crocodile’s jaw and teeth in blue black opal was dug up at Lightning Ridge, where the celebrated ‘nobbies’ are also of fossil origin. But this is not to say that the opal dates back to dinosaurs. The skeleton of a cat, buried in a miner’s hat, was found to have turned to pale pink opal. Gateposts buried 20 years were found to be opalised at the foot.
Where To Look: (continued)
Monday, September 10, 2007
Jose Carreras
I think the second to be true, because the soul is the center and the source of all these emotions, it's the start of singing, it's inside us; the voice is the instrument, but it's the brain that gives the orders for our actions, so I strongly believe that singing starts in the soul.
Annie Hall
Greatest Opening Film Lines (Annie Hall - 1977):
There's an old joke: Two elderly women are at a Catskill Mountain resort. And one of 'em says: 'Boy, the food in this place is really terrible.' The other one says: 'Yeah, I know. And such small portions.' Well, that's essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly.
There's an old joke: Two elderly women are at a Catskill Mountain resort. And one of 'em says: 'Boy, the food in this place is really terrible.' The other one says: 'Yeah, I know. And such small portions.' Well, that's essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly.
Investing: The Last Liberal Art
Good Books: (via Emergic) Robert Hagstrom’s book Investing: The Last Liberal Art talks about the need for a latticework of mental models. It is inspired by Charlie Munger’s thinking that one needs to have a framework of the best ideas across multiple disciplines. I have been a Charlie Munger fan for a long time. So it wasn't difficult for me to understand the concept. It's a good book.
From the book description: Investing: The Last Liberal Art offers a unique picture of investing within the larger world. It explains how investment management works by borrowing the big ideas from other complex disciplines: biology, economics, mathematics, philosophy, physics, and psychology. In the biology chapter, Hagstrom analyzes the central nervous system and the immune system as complex adaptive systems and then draws parallels with the behavior of the economy and the stock market. In the physics chapter, he explores a mathematical distribution and considers the advantages of scale in relation to the bigger is better models that define the business strategies of Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and Home Depot. This interdisciplinary approach or model describes in which mechanisms the markets work and how to select and hold stocks.
Chetan Parikh writes in his review:
This book is certainly the best book that I have read for a long time. It is a book on how to connect and unify many disciplines - physics, biology, social sciences, psychology, philosophy and literature - to investing and the markets. It also contains some serious advice on how to read a book - a boon to avid bookworms like me.
Ideas just bubble from every page - the author warns in the preface: "Reading this book requires, then, both an intellectual curiosity and a significant measure of patience." - I went through the book in just two sittings, impatient as I was for more. In a way, this book crystallises the thoughts of Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, who believes in a liberal arts understanding of investing and feels that building a latticework of mental models could greatly help people to improve their investment returns. Bill Miller, the investing superstar of Legg Mason, actually practices this by gaining insights from various disciplines to aid his investment thinking.
To be an intellectual Christopher Columbus, an investor should acquire models or concepts from various branches of knowledge and then attempt to recognise patterns of similarity in them. Investment decisions have a higher probability of success when ideas from other disciplines also lead to the same conclusion. As Charlie Munger has stated - "You've got to have models in your head and you've got to array your experience - both vicarious and direct - on this latticework of models." As Benjamin Franklin said it is forming "habits of mind" that seek to link together different disciplines. Intelligence is really a factor of how many connections or links one has learned. As Munger also stated: "You can reach out and grasp the model that better solves the overall problem. All you have to do is know it and develop the right mental habits. Worldly wisdom is mostly very, very simple. There are a relatively small number of disciplines and a relatively small number of truly big ideas. And it's a lot of fun to figure it out. Even better, the fun never stops. Furthermore, there's a lot of money in it, as I can testify from my own personal experience. What I'm urging on you is not that hard to do. And the rewards are awesome. It'll help you in business. It'll help you in law. It'll help you in life. And it'll help you in love. It makes you better able to serve others, it makes you better able to serve yourself, and it makes life more fun."
From the book description: Investing: The Last Liberal Art offers a unique picture of investing within the larger world. It explains how investment management works by borrowing the big ideas from other complex disciplines: biology, economics, mathematics, philosophy, physics, and psychology. In the biology chapter, Hagstrom analyzes the central nervous system and the immune system as complex adaptive systems and then draws parallels with the behavior of the economy and the stock market. In the physics chapter, he explores a mathematical distribution and considers the advantages of scale in relation to the bigger is better models that define the business strategies of Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and Home Depot. This interdisciplinary approach or model describes in which mechanisms the markets work and how to select and hold stocks.
Chetan Parikh writes in his review:
This book is certainly the best book that I have read for a long time. It is a book on how to connect and unify many disciplines - physics, biology, social sciences, psychology, philosophy and literature - to investing and the markets. It also contains some serious advice on how to read a book - a boon to avid bookworms like me.
Ideas just bubble from every page - the author warns in the preface: "Reading this book requires, then, both an intellectual curiosity and a significant measure of patience." - I went through the book in just two sittings, impatient as I was for more. In a way, this book crystallises the thoughts of Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, who believes in a liberal arts understanding of investing and feels that building a latticework of mental models could greatly help people to improve their investment returns. Bill Miller, the investing superstar of Legg Mason, actually practices this by gaining insights from various disciplines to aid his investment thinking.
To be an intellectual Christopher Columbus, an investor should acquire models or concepts from various branches of knowledge and then attempt to recognise patterns of similarity in them. Investment decisions have a higher probability of success when ideas from other disciplines also lead to the same conclusion. As Charlie Munger has stated - "You've got to have models in your head and you've got to array your experience - both vicarious and direct - on this latticework of models." As Benjamin Franklin said it is forming "habits of mind" that seek to link together different disciplines. Intelligence is really a factor of how many connections or links one has learned. As Munger also stated: "You can reach out and grasp the model that better solves the overall problem. All you have to do is know it and develop the right mental habits. Worldly wisdom is mostly very, very simple. There are a relatively small number of disciplines and a relatively small number of truly big ideas. And it's a lot of fun to figure it out. Even better, the fun never stops. Furthermore, there's a lot of money in it, as I can testify from my own personal experience. What I'm urging on you is not that hard to do. And the rewards are awesome. It'll help you in business. It'll help you in law. It'll help you in life. And it'll help you in love. It makes you better able to serve others, it makes you better able to serve yourself, and it makes life more fun."
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