I have no idea what “obidos” means.

Factory Records (and Teenbeat in their footsteps) used to assign catalog numbers to everything associated with them (parties, medical bills, etc.) and media megacorps have begun to reflexively brand everything in their paths, but here’s an interesting point in the middle of that spectrum: Mademoiselle just sent out a letter explaining that they had ceased existing and would be converting the remainder of outstanding subscriptions into issues of Glamour. At the bottom of this final letter, below the signature, were the words “A supplement to Mademoiselle Magazine”.

“segueway”

Even if the vocals aren’t sung, it’s still music.

Even if it’s not professionally published, it’s still a book.

Even if you don’t like the taste, it’s still food.

Even if you paint it yourself, it’s still a portrait.

Even if your four-year-old could have done it, it’s still art.

Even if the ideas aren’t coherent, it’s still an essay.

Even if it was made to maximize profit, it’s still art.

Even if you can’t see it, it’s still a picture.

Even if one wall is missing, it’s still a house.

Even if he’s dead, he’s still your grandfather.

No kidding!

Let (A,M) be a local ring. For each P in Spec A, let k(P) denote the field A_p/PA_p. Then A is said to be excellent if it satisfies the following two conditions: (a) For each P in Spec A, the formal fiber ring

 _ A (X) k(P)     A  

is geometrically regular over k(P), that is,

  ( _          )                 _ ( A (X) k(P) ) (X)    L   ~=   A (X) L (     A      )   k(P)              A  

is regular for every finite field extension L over k(P), and (b) A is universally catenary.

[Quoted from Lee, Leer, Pilch and Yasufuku; "Excellent Rings With Singleton Formal Fibers", Furman University Electronic Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics 1999.]

The next time you have several dollar bills in your pocket (five or six is fine — this isn’t a real high-rent game), do this: grab them in your fist and then throw them all up in the air. You can shout “Hooray!” or “Whee!” or “Suck Bruno!” or whatever you want.

Have you tried it yet? Isn’t that great?

I suppose you could add a defiant political twist to it by doing this in a public place and walking away, but I’m just talking about when you’re with friends or at work. You can pick up the money afterward while everyone is staring at you envying your style.