Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
"Try this one out: Dyirbal, an Australian aboriginal language, has a category balan which contains women, fire, dangerous things, non-threatening birds and platypuses." All those things could be descriptive of a woman in menopause or as my kids used to call it, mental pause. Maybe even pregnant women.
Well, that works pretty well except for the "non-threatening birds". The platypus "delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans", so that fits in OK. The relationships between "women, fire and dangerous things" is self-evident and needs no elaboration.
The reference comes from a book by George Lakoff, Women, Fire and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind (1991). Lakoff's a fairly major voice in the realms of language and meaning, but his writing gives me a headache. As a result, I've never waded through his analysis of how balan functions as a category.
But I'm sure you can figure out once you see the four categories into which everything in the Dyirbal world is classified:
Bayi: men, kangaroos, possums, bats, most snakes, most fishes, some birds, most insects, the moon, storms, rainbows, boomerangs, some spears, etc.
Balan: women, anything connected with water or fire, bandicoots, dogs, platypus, echidna, some snakes, some fishes, most birds, fireflies, scorpions, crickets, the stars, shields, some spears, some trees, etc.
Balam: all edible fruit and the plants that bear them, tubers, ferns, honey, cigarettes, wine, cake.
Bala: parts of the body, meat, bees, wind, yamsticks, some spears, most trees, grass, mud, stones, noises, language, etc.
"Off topic" seems a bit too rational a title for this discussion. While I'm fairly certain that the cockroaches will survive us, I doubt the durability of the platypus, which apparently required the isolation of Australia to survive, while the bandicoot apparently exists near Singapore, giving it an extra continent to roam. Perhaps another category is required. "Alternative universe" comes to mind, but I'm sure saner minds will offer better titles.
Reply to @STB65: Yes, and imagine my surprise when I clicked down into this thinking "balan" was a misspelling of "balanced". What a "balan" fund would look like boggles the imagination, although perhaps it would be no crazier than some of the ETFs that have come and gone in recent years.
Reply to @GregFromBoston: The Winkelvoss Bitcoin ETF! It's coming! The "investing risks" section alone runs to 18 pages and notes that Bitcoins might, maybe, just a little be illegal or that hackers conceivably could make the entire enterprise disappear in a blink.
Reply to @David_Snowball: Your proposed ticker would brilliantly sow additional confusion by making the Balan Fund (PLATX) ring faintly of precious metals.
Reply to @GregFromBoston: Now see how different minds work- I immediately thought that it suggests a fund based on platypuses! Perhaps it remains to be discovered that a good grade of synthetic oil can be made from platypuses? Let's hope not, for their sake.
Comments
But I'm sure you can figure out once you see the four categories into which everything in the Dyirbal world is classified:
Bayi: men, kangaroos, possums, bats, most snakes, most fishes, some birds, most insects, the moon, storms, rainbows, boomerangs, some spears, etc.
Balan: women, anything connected with water or fire, bandicoots, dogs, platypus, echidna, some snakes, some fishes, most birds, fireflies, scorpions, crickets, the stars, shields, some spears, some trees, etc.
Balam: all edible fruit and the plants that bear them, tubers, ferns, honey, cigarettes, wine, cake.
Bala: parts of the body, meat, bees, wind, yamsticks, some spears, most trees, grass, mud, stones, noises, language, etc.
"Etc." indeed.
David
Balan: - I think these fall in the the category - can't live with them, can't live without them.
>I dunno... so far I haven't needed a bandicoot or a platypus ...
when they disappear so will we.
Take care, Falcon.
Perhaps another category is required.
"Alternative universe" comes to mind, but I'm sure saner minds will offer better titles.
Balan Balanced (PLATX)?
David
This short post about the Winkelvoss twins' stunt characterizes their ETF as an IQ test: http://www.businessinsider.com/one-paragraph-that-totally-destroys-the-winklevoss-bitcoin-etf-2013-7.
The longer piece from Felix Salmon of Reuters eloquently dices and slices the concept into finer pieces, and as a bonus includes links to some of his earlier postings on the bitcoin phenomenon: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/07/02/financial-innovation-of-the-day-winklevii-edition/