Saturday, January 17, 2009

Blame Beyonce

A rather amusing article from China Daily:

Beyoncé's song 'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)' could lead to economic collapse, according to scientists.

A study carried out at New York University has found that songs with a more regular beat coincide with volatility in the American financial markets.

Phil Mayim, a professor of finance and risk engineering, has studied the Billboard chart for decades and found that low "beat variance" songs had an "inverse correlation with market turbulence", reports The Guardian.

"If it's a steady beat, the same beat, no matter if it's fast or slow, that's a low beat variance song," Maymin told PRI Radio. "[But] if [the song] starts off slow and becomes fast and comes back down, that's a high beat variance."

The last market crash coincided with the release of A-Ha's 'Take On Me', which had a "steady beat". Meanwhile, songs with more complex arrangements were more popular at times when the market was less volatile.

"The correlation is pretty strong," Maymin concluded. "The turbulence of the music predicts the steadiness of the market."

Beyonce's 'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)' is currently at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

And just because I can't ever think about Single Ladies without Shane Mercado, here he is:

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Congratulations Ryan & Christy


Mr Ryan and Christy Mack
Originally uploaded by sjross

Friday, January 9, 2009

Four Months Old


IMG_5358
Originally uploaded by sjross

Thursday, January 1, 2009

smile, sadie!


smile, sadie!
Originally uploaded by Meagan Vanover
Pic taken by my sis while we were up north. She looks SO old here!