Anark's New Writeups

Contango (idea)

2009-11-04T08:51:48Z

A term commonly used in futures markets. Contango occurs when the spot price of a commodity is lower than the price of a contract for future delivery, or more generally, when far futures are more expensive than near futures. In other words, people are willing to pay to not have to take immediate possession of something that they wish to have at some future time. Contango is the opposite of backwardation.

Earlier this year, there was an extreme case of contango in the crude oil market, as 6 month contracts were trading at around $15 per barrel above spot. Apparently the greedy buggers in OPEC pumped lots more of the stuff than demand warranted, which overwhelmed the available storage capacity. Trading firms leased huge tanker ships, effectively using them as floating storage tanks.

Moose Drool (thing)

2009-03-09T09:49:03Z

A tasty beverage with a funny name. Moose Drool Brown Ale is the flagship product of the Big Sky Brewing company in Missoula, Montana, though if there were any justice in this world it'd be brewed from water drawn from a stream running through Saskatchewan's most interesting town. Any honest Moose Drool should, of course, emanate from a Moose Jaw. And then, perhaps, be bottled by a flying squirrel, to compete with Boris and Natasha's Russian ~~Imperial~~ (oops I mean Socialist Comrades) Stout.

The beer in question is quite dark, with a fuller, more complex flavor than you'd find in a Newcastle. It's quite toasty and only moderately hoppy. The smell of the stuff reminds me of an odd blend of pipe tobacco my father smoked back in the 1980's. Ubiquitous in Montana, Moose Drool can also be found throughout much of the western United States, albeit more sparsely. You probably won't be able to buy it in the East,…

QuickSteel (thing)

2006-07-17T07:12:16Z

I wonder if, a few years down the line, we'll see a spate of court cases concerning children with mouths epoxied shut.

An unlikely scenario, you might protest, but allow me to explain.

QuikSteel is steel-reinforced epoxy. It comes in the same sort of package you'd find regular putty-style epoxy, though it looks a bit different, being a uniform charcoal in color. You use it the same way you would any other epoxy putty - knead it to mix the resin and the hardener, and put it where you want it to go before it sets.

The product's claim to distinction is its superior ruggedness. The manufacturer claims a tensile strength of 6200 pounds per square inch and shear strength of 740 PSI. It holds together at 260 degrees Celsius (500° Fahrenheit). It will set under water and is impervious to solvents, so it's good for emergency patching of boats, gas tanks and such. Someone on the Web (not the manufacturer!) claimed it would even seal a cracked engine block.

…

Groo the Wanderer (thing)

2006-01-24T22:27:26Z

A hilarious comic book published from the early 1980's to the late 1990's. It gained a steady following over the years, outlasting many more popular titles while maintaining its original creative staff.

The creation of Sergio Aragones, Groo didn't see publication for years due to Sergio's refusal to surrender creative rights to a publisher. (In retrospect, this was an excellent decision.)

The character of Groo first appeared in 1981 in a special edition of Destroyer Duck published to benefit the Comic book Legal Defense Fund. Groo lasted for several issues on Pacific Comics until the company went bankrupt, then switched to Marvel's Epic imprint. After more than a hundred issues, Marvel got into financial trouble and Sergio signed on with Image Comics, dropping the Wanderer from the title in favor of a simple Groo. When Image suffered the same problems, he switched once more to Dark Horse Comics, which is currently reprinting old issues and publishing…

Paradise Valley (place)

2005-05-19T08:35:13Z

Prominent among the numerous Paradise Valleys throughout the world (a quick Google search suggests there are dozens) is the valley of the upper Yellowstone River in Montana, stretching from the northern border of Yellowstone National Park to Livingston, Montana, the first sizable town on the river.

The name's not hyperbole. Paradise Valley really is just about the prettiest place you can imagine. The surrounding mountains are high and steep, but seem somehow friendly and inviting. The river is clear and swift and the land unmarred by tall buildings. It's an awesome place to be a rancher or retiree and an awful place to be a trout; during much of the summer your typical fishie's diet might consist more of feathered hooks than of actual bugs.

But the valley is also populated by beings far more interesting, and perhaps dangerous, than the typical happy retiree or persecuted trout. On the more benign side of things, Paradise Valley seems to be a…

Wear and abuse as signs of quality (idea)

2005-04-11T10:06:15Z

I was sixteen when I discovered Thomas Pynchon. It was summer, and I was within bicycling distance of the last stop of Baltimore's only subway line, so I pretty much had the run of the city despite living in the suburbs and having no car. If you know where to look, you can find a deli or soul food joint that'll sell you a mouthwatering (but artery-clogging) meal for no more than the price of a Big Mac and fries at McDonald's. Then you can head down to the Inner Harbor, park yourself on a bench with a good view and chow down while gawking at tourists from all over the globe, who have arrived not for your entertainment but for purposes of their own gawking; namely, at the sights of your hometown. If the weather's good and the eating and gawking are done, it's fun to pull a book out of your backpack and read while soaking up the sun's rays, cooled by the breeze coming off the water.

Fortunately for those who would pursue…