Scorcese Does The Stones

Let's face it. The Rolling Stones have always been relevant. They're as present as, well, let's see, death and taxes. And the new Martin Scorcese film proves just that: The Stones are here to stay. Permanently.
Mortality has no claim on them. They actually seem to have bought it out.
I tend to be aware of a good number of my daily structures and even though I lean more towards glam/punk, I still find myself mentioning the Stones very often. They've penetrated my speech, hence they're personally relevant as well.
I'm still not sure how Keith Richards manages to be alive, or how M. Jagger still moves and looks the way he does, but the fact is, they are and always were extraordinary performers.
So, during a lukewarm cinematic season, this film is bound to entertain.
As the Times piece notes,
"This is a concert film with frills that places you on the stage with the band and, with a finely trained eye, observes the musicians’ interactions with one another and with the audience. The visual rhythms and unobtrusive editing reflect the contradictory status of the Stones as a majestic rock institution and a gang of down-and-dirty bad boys thumbing their noses at propriety while scooping up all the girls."
Read full text here.

What Do Cookies and Test-taking Have in Common?

Hat tip to A. Tabarrok over at Marginal Revolution.

'The brain’s store of willpower is depleted when people control their thoughts, feelings or impulses, or when they modify their behavior in pursuit of goals. Psychologist Roy Baumeister and others have found that people who successfully accomplish one task requiring self-control are less persistent on a second, seemingly unrelated task.

In one pioneering study, some people were asked to eat radishes while others received freshly baked chocolate chip cookies before trying to solve an impossible puzzle. The radish-eaters abandoned the puzzle in eight minutes on average, working less than half as long as people who got cookies or those who were excused from eating radishes.'

Hmm. Fascinating and true. To me, at least. But then again, radish never did much for me.
What do you think?
Read full NY times article here.