MAGNAR'S WORLD

Dream bike

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 09:12:59 GMT

For Xmas I asked for a blue sparkle Alien track frame.

a velocity deep V wheelset with the rear these sweet polkadots

and a plain white one for the front.

a sugino bottom bracket with a sugino RD crankset.

Soma double straps and toe clips

and a new chain.

Basically I wanted a new bike, but wanted new parts and not one that is pre-built.I don't think it's a feasible gift this year, but my dad did say that he would help me out piece by piece for a while. The bottom bracket on my old bike is starting to pop when I ride. I can't really replace it though because I apparently need some sort of special bottom bracket since the threading in the frame is all weird. At least that's what homeboy at the peddler told me.

I got a really neat watch for xmas, gears of war 2, a new digital camera, some new vans slip ons, money for the road trip, and rock band 2. Rock Band 2 has better songs than GH world tour.

Hope everyone has a merry xmas. TTYL!

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:25:13 GMT

Life can change with a chunk of change.

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:23:44 GMT

I just bought a ticket to see ben folds next saturday.

I bet its going to be awesome. Tickets are 40, but it's BEN FUCKING FOLDS. you should buy tickets and come too!

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:00:55 GMT

New guitar hero songs worth noting...

Hollywood Nights - Bob Seger
The Joker - Steve Miller Band
Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
Hey Man, Nice Shot - Filter
About a girl - Nirvana
One Armed Scissor - At The Drive In
Today, 1979, The Everlasting Gaze, G.L.O.W - The Smashing Pumpkins
Spiderwebs - No Doubt
Shiver - Coldplay
Ramblin Man - The Allman Brothers Band
Float On - Modest Mouse

There's a lot more... for the full article
go here

It's like rock band now, except guitar hero game play. Which is pretty fun. I'm pretty excited.

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:56:41 GMT

I got this from a site called hip-hop-nation.com I took out the parts where he refers to the reader as a member of the hip hop nation because i though it sounded goofy...

Over the past week, the landscape of American Finance has been changed forever. We’ve all been reading about the impending recession and the failures of major financial institutions, but many of us still do not have a full understanding of how we got to this point.

With our Government finally reaching an agreement on a plan to use more than 700 Billion of our tax dollars to get Wall Street out of this mess, it’s important that the we "the people" really be ahead of the curve in understanding exactly what they’re doing with our money. Before we talk about getting out the current crisis we should be on the same page in understanding how we got here. Let’s go behind the numbers and discuss the financial principles that set the stage for all of this.

For decades, as Americans, we’ve been told that the key to building wealth and financial security is home ownership. Historically, purchasing a home provides better returns, over the long haul, than any other investment one can make – better than a 401k, better than any savings, better than any stock. Additionally, there’s the added security that in times of need, you can borrow against appreciation of the home’s value. After years of prosperity during the Clinton administration – from the late 1990’s through the early part of this decade, more Americans began getting their piece of the American Dream by purchasing homes. Cities like Atlanta, North Carolina and New York saw their property values double and sometimes triple in less than a decade. Banks and Mortgage companies all profited from lending money. Home values steadily increased and it was seemingly a win for everyone involved.

When you purchase a home, normally, you take out a long term loan with a bank or mortgage lender. That loan creates a steady source of income – through your monthly payments - for the lender. With so many houses being bought, the lenders began selling those loans - for cash to give out more loans - to Investment Banks.

For example, you get a 30 year Home Loan from HSBC. Bear Sterns, an Investment Bank, might go to HSBC, Washington Mutual, and Bank of America and purchase your loan, and loans just like it, at a discount. HSBC and the other banks get the cash, which they can use to give out more loans or invest in other markets.

Bear Sterns would then take all the loans they purchased and package them into what’s called a Collateralized Debt Obligation – or a CDO. What they are essentially doing is creating a single asset out of many loans just like yours. This is Securitization. Bear Sterns can then sell all of those loans, as one item, to another investment bank or Hedge Fund. Again, the seller gets the cash to do other stuff with, and the buyer gets your monthly payment – for 30 years.

The problem with securitization is that it eliminates responsibility. If I’m HSBC, and you come to me for a loan – and I know I’m going to sell your loan to an investment bank – I’m not going to take all the necessary steps to insure that you will be able to pay your loan. Good Credit, Bad Credit, No Credit? – No problem. None of that matters because HSBC is not going to be on the hook if you default on your loan.

And that’s exactly what happened. For the first time in years, home prices stopped rising and in some parts of the country, they actually began to fall. At the same time, people began to default on the loans they’d taken out. Some of these were no money down loans with adjustable interest rates that rose after the first couple of years (known as ARMS). Some of the loans were given with only stated, not verified sources of income. As these loans began to default, the value of the CDO’s discussed above began to decrease dramatically.

Remember the thousands of loans just like yours that Bear Sterns bought and packaged - imagine if 10% of the people who are paying those loans ended up going into foreclosure. That CDO loses millions of dollars in value. Investment Banks and Hedge funds were buying, literally billions of dollars of these types of investments, and often, they were borrowing money to do so.

When the number of people defaulting started to increase, and homeowners could no longer borrow against their equity, or sell their homes for a profit, those investments lost value and the billions of dollars in subsequent losses led to the disaster we’re in now.

Almost two weeks ago Henry Paulson – the current Secretary of the Treasury (a cabinet position – appointed by George W. Bush) proposed a bill that would give the Treasury 700 Billion dollars to lift Wall Street out of the gridlock it’s been in of late. Since the plan was introduced, The White house, the Treasury, and Congress have been fighting tooth and nail to hammer out the details of the proposal. On Monday, the proposal finally came to a vote… and failed. Subsequently, we saw the largest drop in the Dow in history. Most Americans aren’t sure whether they should be happy the “bailout bill” failed, or worried about what the failure means to our financial markets. How about we look at all angles and figure out our own opinions.

So we all got to the same page previously in understanding that the root of the problem is the massive amount of foreclosures that are, in large part, caused by the packaging home loans into Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO’s). As people began to foreclose, the value of those CDO’s began to fall dramatically to the point where they were almost worthless.

Banks, Investment Banks and Hedge Funds who were heavily invested in these CDOs lost billions of dollars – their stock prices and value subsequently falling. As they fell, banks – fearing the worst - began holding on to more of their cash. In doing so the country's economic system screeched to a grinding halt. When banks begin losing value, and investors lose confidence, they begin charging more interest to lend money to each other, and to American businesses, and eventually they stop lending all together.

Millions of Americans are employed by small, medium, and large businesses that rely on loans - from these Wall Street Banks - to meet their everyday operating expenses. Take, for example a company like Caterpillar (the company that makes all those tractors and lawn mowers). Two weeks ago they could borrow money to cover operating expenses at 3%. This week they’re paying close to 8%. That may not seem like a big jump, but when you’re talking about a medium sized company employing thousands of people, you’re talking about a difference of millions of dollars. If it becomes too expensive for them to borrow, they can’t make payroll. If they can’t make payroll – they go out of business and all those jobs are lost.

Seeing this begin to happen, Treasury Secretary Paulson, with the backing of President Bush, proposed a plan to take 700 Billion Dollars of tax payer money and use it to buy the toxic CDOs that are bogging down these Wall Street firms. That, essentially, is the bailout plan - 700 Billion Dollars, to be used at the discretion of the Treasury to buy CDOs. Central to the theory that this is a good idea are two principles:

1. We can’t let these institutions fail because in doing so; we jeopardize thousands of business that rely on them everyday for loans, which in turn, jeopardizes millions of American jobs.
2. These CDOs are worth more then their current market value.

We already discussed the relationship between the Wall Street banks and the businesses that employ most Americans – now, let’s look at the other important piece of this plan – valuing Collateralized Debt Obligations.

The theory that these CDOs are worth more than their current value has everything to do with stopping foreclosures. Every time someone goes into foreclosure the value of some CDO at some Wall Street bank or fund takes a hit. Right now, no one on Wall Street knows when the foreclosures are going to stop and because of that, the Market price for these securities linked to home loans is next to nothing. When the foreclosures stop however, the value of the CDO’s may increase tremendously.

Think of it this way:

Say you have a CDO that consists of 100 thirty-year mortgages. So far, since housing prices started decreasing about 14 months ago, 5 out of those 100 homes attached to those mortgages have gone into foreclosure. That CDO has then lost 5% of its value. That’s where we are right now. We don’t know whether 5, 10, 15, or even 20 more homes out of that 100 are going to go into foreclosure – and because we don’t know that, we don’t know how to value that CDO. The goal of the Treasury is plan is to use tax payer money to buy that CDO for below it’s current market value, stop the foreclosures in it, then sell it back to Wall Street - as a stable entity - for a nice profit.

This is where the haggling began between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, President Bush, Democratic Congressmen, Republican Congressmen, Barack Obama and John McCain.

Let’s go through each side of the debate and try and understand what they’re fighting for.

Henry Paulson and George Bush

Paulson and Bush are the architects of this plan (really, just Paulson). It should be noted that Paulson is the former HNIC of The (former)Investment Bank - Goldman Sachs, he left Goldman to become Treasury Secretary for Bush in 2007 – His package upon leaving… over 160 Million dollars. Both Paulson and Bush seem to be, in this case, primarily concerned with doing whatever they can to pass this proposal to prevent the bleeding on Wall Street from trickling further in the lives of average Americans. They believe the country is on the brink of disaster, and that this is the best way to avert that disaster.

Democratic Congressmen

The Democrats in Congress primary concern is making sure that this bailout plan doesn’t come off as if the government is rewarding Wall Street its failures. They want to limit the power of Secretary Paulson in overseeing the plan; his original proposal, called for him to have sole authority over how the $700 Billion is spent, without any oversight by congress or any court in the nation. Democrats also wanted to limit the compensation of Wall Street executives make use of the plan by getting rid of their companies bad CDOs. Again, they don’t want folks to be rewarded for failure. Most importantly, Democrats wanted the ability to re-work mortgages in the securities they purchase in order to prevent people from going into foreclosure as this is the central cause of the crisis

Republicans, typically, are against Government intervention into the Financial Markets. They believe the markets will regulate themselves, and that banks, just like anything else, should be allowed to fail. Some Republicans in congress favor a plan that, instead of purchasing CDO’s, lends Wall Street banks money to remove some of the burden caused by mortgage backed securities.

Caught in the middle of all this are the two Presidential candidates, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. Both candidates are trying to juggle their knowledge that the government has to do something to stop this crisis, with their knowledge that the average American is against the bailing out Wall Street. John McCain has the unique task of calling for the kind of regulation needed to prevent problems like this from happening again, despite the fact that he’s fought against this kind of regulation in the past.

When the final details of this proposal are finally agreed (or not agreed) to, we’ll take a look at how everything we talked about above gets worked out.

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:36:17 GMT

press refresh and play

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:46:11 GMT

if you read this before 10:59 A.M. on August 29, 2008

just repeatedly play it, and start it over. you don't have to watch the whole thing.

also go to

http://freshmen.mtvu.com/freshmen_nominees/thee_armada and you know...click vote for this video.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:15:18 GMT

I read the following on a myspace page while browsing today. I was kind of in disbelief, I haven't really talked to anyone who didn't believe obama might be the best major party candidate for the presidency, though I am aware there are people who do disagree. However if these are points people really use as to why Obama would be a bad president then I don't know where their heads are...

Obama: Bad for America?

For those of you who have been drawn into the "awe" and "glory" of Barack Hussein Obama, please beware. In very simple terms, Obama is no different than what the Democratic party has stood for for decades. On top of that he's a Socialist at heart when it comes to most, if not all of his policy ideas for America. He's for higher taxes, wants to "steal" money from the wealthy and claims that it'll be given to the poor, wants to ruin our private healthcare system by instituting a universal health care system, and wants to continue passing legislation that supports the murder of unborn children (includes partial birth abortions. For those that don't know, partial birth abortions are when a baby that is almost at full term, is killed by pulling out the bottom half of his/her body leaving the head still within the womb and then literally puncturing the baby's head and killing it. Cowards, they can't even look the baby in the eye before they kill him/her).

Make an educated vote this fall and if you plan on voting for Obama, vote because you truly believe that he's good for America, not because he's the "opposite" of Bush or because he's black (studies show that the majority of blacks plan on voting for Obama, yet have no educated reasons for doing so other than "change" and skin color).

We do need "change" in our country, but it's not going to come from any one man. Neither Barack or McCain have the answers for an America that is struggling at war, struggling financially, and killing itself morally. Whether we like it or not, the founders of the country (whether we like them or not) did so with a desire to have God's hand on the country. We can argues intentions and one of the biggest "black eyes" to America which was slavery, but we can't dismiss the very present existence of God's name on any and every "good thing" this country has stood for.

We are still the greatest and most free country in the world. We give more than any other country in the world. When another country falls into crisis or experiences destruction by weather and tsunamis, who is the first to give aid and cash? Of course, it's America. Because of our giving nature and many other great qualities, we have been blessed as a nation. Some attribute this to men and leaders, while others acknowledge God as the one who blesses. Are we perfect as a nation? Of course not. Do we need change? Of course, change is always good. Is Obama the "change" this country needs? Probably not much good change will come out of him.

But, whatever you believe, just don't put all of your belief in man. You'll always be disappointed by doing so, and I feel that regardless of who ends up in the white house this year, we're going to end up being very disappointed. Pray for this country. Pray for wisdom as you make a choice in voting this year, and let's hope for what's best for America in November.

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:12:55 GMT

So,

I've been really freaking out since the salvia incident earlier this month. I've told my parents about it, and I asked them about maybe seeking psychiatric help. My dad is kind of against it because he feels that seeing a psychologist is only going to get me on more drugs, and he'd rather not see me doped up for the rest of my life (should I get addicted to prescription medicine)

I've been talking out my fears/problems from the experience of the drug and I am slowly starting to feel better. I plan on going to my parents house for the week and then Austin this weekend to chill out, it would be cool if everyone reading this would want to take a trip up to enchanted rock or somewhere near Austin where we could camp, hang out, and have some really good times without the use of any recreational drugs. Including alcohol. I think I should go without that stuff for a while.

So, who's down??

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:22:48 GMT

You know, it's been a while since i've written in here. Everything's cool.

I'm in love with pebbles. jammin'. for reals.

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:40:25 GMT

http://uhd.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6292302477

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:10:14 GMT

Two of the funniest commercials I have ever seen in my life.

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:39:25 GMT

halo 3 kicks ass. I need a new hobby.

.magnar.

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:56:59 GMT

I really don't know what to put in here....

things are good though, if you're interested.

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 05:18:11 GMT

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 07:49:57 GMT

man

tonight was fucking crazy.

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:33:58 GMT

i have a lot of hats.

i need a wizard hat. where's my animosity shirt?

this week is gonna kick ass.

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 06:44:47 GMT

man

what day is it?

why not? right! omgrofl!!~!@

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:43:02 GMT

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 16:41:54 GMT

man have you guys heard the 1979 cover by young love??

have you heard young love? it's pretty good. the cover though is amazing. It on his space, you just got to search it.

Last night I watched the good the bad and the ugly, it was pretty good. Not amazing, but good. NEWAYZ IM NOT DOING ANYTHING EXCEPT TRYING TO 100% SONGS ON GHII. so you know, save me. or whatever.

later d00dz.

Sat, 05 May 2007 16:12:55 GMT

man

LCD Sondystem says it best.

"I'm never as tired as when I'm waking up."

Last night was pretty cool, in this weird way. We could have done what we did anywhere. Either way it was a pretty n eat trip, I wish there wasn't so much cloud cover though. Anyways, I am outties

ttfn.

Fri, 04 May 2007 17:16:33 GMT

If you value spider-man comics and the universe marvel crated him in. Do not see the most recent spider-man installment. It will break your heart.

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:48:53 GMT

Last night I went to sleep before 1 A.M. Which hasn't happened in like 3 months. I woke up at about 7:30, and was astounded. I went back to sleep, or tried to and go about 9:45. I laid there for a bit just thinking and looking around my room. I was kind of dozing off again, and then Jo-Anne called saying she needed my phone. I already knew that Jo-Anne needed my phone, so this wasn't a shock. The funny thing was that we had made a joke that Jo-Anne would call me at 10:15 A.M. (which is when she did call) and then I would be like on my way over, and because I only had 45 minutes (which is a while) to get ready, I would show up in my underwear and sandals. (because I take forever to get ready) HAR HAR HAR (isn't that funny?!)

When I got to Jo-Anne's.. Zara was still there because something unfortunate happened to her, and I don't wanna give any spoilers. I think her journal will cover it. (if she writes one)
Here's a hint : it happened to me last week

Jo-Anne doesn't know how to use my phone::She is retarded.

So, she uses Aimy's instead, they leave and I go to eat lunch with Robert and Evan, because I am hungry.

Now...that's whats happened today, uh this week? not a lot has been going on. I have been hanging with Jo-Anne and Aimy a lot. It's been pretty fun. I have to do a paper today, or tomorrow morning. I can also do it late tonight, and the rest of it tomorrow morning. I am procrastinator. can you figure out what I am going to do??

I still think my LJ icon is hilarious. I am still a pretty happy guy, and I really like my mixtape I made this week. If you want the stats...

Okay so my mixtape is titled "Broken Hearts & Broken Chords: A Teenage Boy's Journey Through Love & Rejection.

Act I: The main character comes across a girl whoo he totally falls hard for, they get into a relationship and he's all about it. (love & joy)

Act II: He slowly begins to hate the relationship & the girl. He leaves her. Feels resentment towards her because of the way she was, and why he failed to get along with her, and the way she treated him. He feels like she never loved him the way he loved her. He begins to blame himself for the problems, but he still can't stomach the thought of her. (depression & anger)

Act III: He no longer wants to feel like he has been, he gets over his depression and anger. He likes who he is becoming, and sees her as the spark that started it all. He no longer feels resentment towards her, realizes he does love her, and if she is willing they can get back together. Eventually she does come back around, and BAM! they're back to where they started. (learning & forgiveness)

I think it's pretty cool. Okay, now track listings...

1) Weezer – Falling For You
2) Mock Orange – She Runs The Ride3
3) Jimmy Eat World – Crush
4) Unwed Sailor – The Faithful Anchor
5) Hellogoodbye – Call N’ Return
6) The Snake The Cross The Crown – Same As It Ever Was
7) My Chemical Romance – Thank You For The Venom
8) Northstar – American Living
9) .hopesfall. – The End of An Era
10) Mogwai – Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home
11) I Hate Myself – Caught In A Flood With The Captain of The Cheerleading Squad
12) Death Cab For Cutie – For What Reason
13) MeWithoutYou – Gentlemen
14) Converge – Dead
15) Saetia- Woodwell
16) Modest Mouse – Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset
17) Poison The Well – Horns And Tails
18) Small Brown Bike – A Declaration of Sorts
19) The Get Up Kids – Action & Action
20) Mae – Summertime
21) Reggie And The Full Effect – Megan 2K2 (Even Though It’s 2K3 Now)

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 08:34:02 GMT

some of you will see this on another person LJ in your friends' list. other's wont. for those of you who can't see her post...check this man...hahahah it is awesome.

james iha. haha

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 06:35:14 GMT

check it out my dad and chamillionaire were on punkd

here cool alright!