September 23, 2008

Palpatinian tranche.

I've been reading and listening to people talk for over a half century, so it's really weird to have to look up 2 words in 2 hours.

First, MadisonMan, he of the bird's-eye view of the Michelle Obama rally-ette, said:
I agree that McCain's post-hit grin is a little too Palpatinian.
Okay, now you know I haven't been following the "Star Wars" saga. I'm not ashamed of that. In fact, I'm one of those people who blame "Star Wars" for ruining film.

And then I had to go and read the Gawker item with the revolting title: "Why We Are Better For Knowing Elizabeth Wurtzel Screwed David Foster Wallace."
That Elizabeth Wurtzel had some thing with David Foster Wallace in the nineties is the type of news flash I'd like to have failed detecting this week. Namely because to blog about Elizabeth Wurtzel is to tempt oneself to unwind the various tranches of disquietude summoned when someone like me conducts a Wurtzel Google Image Search. There's the first tranche of familiarity; I've conducted this search before; the second: I remember quickly that I will invariably, though tempted by the grainy topless shots from Bitch, will like Radar before me quickly settle on the hottest color photo available, the one she used for the cover of her 2001 addiction memoir More, Now, Again, even though Wurtzel has graciously offered us photographic evidence that she has, in the intervening (ohgod) seven and a half years, aged. For this is not a new asset, this story; the underlying episode dates back to the nineties, when Wurtzel was still dressing up her faculties and skills with too much blue eyeliner and too many mood-altering substances in lieu of the appropriate degree of risk management and/or clothes.
I admit it. I don't study finance. That's why I unfortunately cannot help you with the burning question of the day, whether the big bailout is the desperately needed cure or a horrible, evil boondoggle. I'm sorry. Really.
So let's examine that tranche for a second: here we have Wurtzel, drawn to David and his big, serious, ambitious, meaty, unfrivolous gold standard of a book; David, drawn to Wurtzel by her fucking leotard and perhaps her nebulous promise to impart upon his serious asset some sort of value-unlocking sense of "buzz"; the confusing, fuzzy subprime relationship they signed onto; all fuzzy fundamentals and wild histrionics and bombastic promises dependent on "trajectories" neither knows how — neither is socialized to know how — to prepare for a soft landing; yeah, you've done that sort of fucking.
Is Gawker trying to write like David Foster Wallace? David's dead, baby.



David's dead, but there were some good movies after "Star Wars."

23 comments:

goesh said...

Wallace,Wallace,Wallace, it's all I've been hearing lately. He's done been potted and maggots are in his eyes - give me rather something on Todd Palin so oft referred to as 'First Dude'. Now there's a bit of slander and a bitter pill to swallow, an oil field worker, commercial fisherman and snowmobile driver called a dude. Real dudes primp, worry about the size of their penis and truly believe they are half female - ewww! There is a certain 'stickiness' connected to the media girlymen who keep calling TP a dude.

cnnenfreude said...

McCain isn't Palpatine. Lieberman is: http://newsburglar.com/2008/05/how-the-2008-election-might-play-out-in-the-star-wars-galaxy/

MadisonMan said...

Check out the smirk on the guy!

Link

PunditJoe said...

"Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design."
Emperor Palpatine

Tibore said...

"In fact, I'm one of those people who blame "Star Wars" for ruining film."

(*GASP!*) Blasphemy!! HERESY!!!

What?? Alec Guiness himself called the dialogue in "New Hope" "shoddy" in one interview and "atrocious" in another?? I'll have NONE of this!!!! (*Plugs ears with fingers*) LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!!!...

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Plowing thru "Infinite Jest"

Two dry mouths bumping at each other, trying to kiss, his self conscious thoughts twisting around on themselves like a snake on a stick while bucked and snorted dryly above her, his red swollen eyes and his face sagging so that its slack folds maybe touched, limply, the folds of her own loose sagging face is it sloshed back and forth on his pillow it’s mouth working dryly.

That’s just one sentence.

sean said...

You don't know the word "tranche"?! Weren't you a corporate associate?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I use the word tranche all the time :-) In fact, last week I was (and still am) extremely worried about certain tranches.

Ann Althouse said...

I was in litigation.

It's possible I once knew "tranche."

Ann Althouse said...

I've been out of that Wall Street world for almost a quarter century. How much am I supposed to carry around in my head?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

Okay, Ann, fair enough that you don't know finance. As a constitutional conservative, I'd be very interested to have your take on putative bail-outs in view of enumerated powers.

Can you bury this in the commerce clause? Is there another place it can find a constitutional home? Or is it simply one more extra-constitutional exercise (like the federal Department of Education) that people will choose to ignore because of some felt need?

MadisonMan said...

tranche is a frenchy word.

When freedom fries starting being served, the White House starting using splits instead. That explains why they didn't understand what was happening 'til it was too late...they thought stock splitting was a good thing. Didn't realize how it applied to securities.

George M. Spencer said...

Since no one has yet defined the word 'tranche,' it's basically a third-party derivative that holds outstanding debt as a counter-risk future Level 3 obligation that expires upon demand, although the underwriting is a bit different in the U.K., however the fixed-income redemption for non-agency securities is still valid for QSPEs under FAS 140 because otherwise there would be major whackage on the morning DAX fix because of the LIBOR spread adjustment disparities.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Clifford Irving does Howard Hughes
Elisabeth Wurtzel does David Wallace

Tina Fay does Sarah Palin

Henry said...

I admit it. I don't study finance. That's why I unfortunately cannot help you with the burning question of the day, whether the big bailout is the desperately needed cure or a horrible, evil boondoggle. I'm sorry. Really.

Lack of expertise doesn't seem to be stopping anyone else, so ... thanks.

Ann Althouse said...

"Two dry mouths bumping at each other, trying to kiss, his self conscious thoughts twisting around on themselves like a snake on a stick while [which?] bucked and snorted dryly above her, his red swollen eyes and his face sagging so that its slack folds maybe touched, limply, the folds of her own loose sagging face is it sloshed back and forth on his pillow it’s mouth working dryly."

Yikes, now I almost wanted to commit suicide. Then, I realize I could just never kiss anyone ever again. Thanks, Lem!

Chris said...

Why can't we just use "Palpatine" as an adjective too?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Then, I realize I could just never kiss anyone ever again. Thanks, Lem!

It was you Madam that opened my eyes to this missing tranche in my so called life.

Beggar that I'm, I'm poorer in thanks, But it is I that thank you.

vbspurs said...

The funny thing about connoting politicians with Palpatine is that it backfires.

Palpatine is cool -- so is Darth Vader. He's cool because he's badass and evil, even if he's ugly and deformed.

Benedict XVI as Palpatine

I think that makes him look awesome. Go Pope Palp!

Cheers,
Victoria

blake said...

I'm one of those people who blame "Star Wars" for ruining film.

I know! What's the deal with movie studios making pictures people actually want to see? They're mostly mouth-breathin', bitter-clingin', gun-totin', sub-moron rednecks!

I didn't like Star Wars, myself, but I find that period before it almost completely unwatchable. Movies from that era tended to look ugly, sound ugly, and be about ugly things. At least the German Expressionists wrapped up their ugly ideas in a high aesthetic.

There were some good movies before Star Wars, too.

MadisonMan said...

I disagree that Palpatine is cool. Palpatine disses Yoda. Yoda is the ultimate in cool.

And Palpatine dies unredeemed. No politician wants that. They want to be loved so people will vote for them.

William said...

Why would anyone want to market a debt instrument with a French name?....Despite the fact that Great Britain's economy was half the size of the French economy, the British government was able to raise twice as much money in their bond offerings during the Napoleonic wars. And they paid lower interest on the money they owed. France, under the King and the revolution, had a simple way of managing a debt crisis. They repudiated it....The way a government manages its debts is a predictor of its survival. Scary thought.