QOTD

"Hi Da.
[pause]
This is Ty.
[pause]
Call me back. I need to talk to you about this pumpkin situation."
- Ty voicemail, to protest that we weren't going to carve pumpkins here at the Castle... hey, he already did them with his mother. Ty wins and I'm headed to pick him up right now.

1. Peggy Noonan's Home Run

Must admit... not a big Peggy Noonan fan over here.
But what a home run this article is in today's WSJ:


It's a two-pronged argument:

1. We see so much illogical, irrational behavior these days. You know my current top 2: global warming nonsense and socialized medicine. Both of these are massive land grabs by the feds for no apparent sensible reason.
   
2. But people aren't worried or serious about this stuff because America is the golden goose. You don't have to be serious because shit has always worked out in the past.
   

I don't know the ending. Who does?
But I'm investing, nimbly... to accommodate this, the era of shenanigans.

2. Net Neutrality
Here's a good article supporting net neutrality. It's written by the guys who run Mozilla, creators of the Firefox browser. Net Neutrality: Spur to Entrepreneurship

The Firefox boys are convincing. The principle behind their argument is solid and QOTD2

QOTD2

"The principle that any "bit" of information is treated the same as any other bit is a defining characteristic of the Internet; it is a central aspect of the design that has lead to the unprecedented impact of the Internet on our lives."
- Mozilla guys, source

Happy Halloween!
That's not me to the right, but it is my cool Halloween attire for the day... courtesy www.threadless.com.

Excellent!
peace... yow, bill

QOTD3

"People are work, brother. A lot of work. Too much work."
- Al Pacino in "Sea of Love"

Movie: "Sea of Love"
Review: 4 bill-stars (out of five)... very good

Pretty basic. 3 bill-stars for the movie + 1 for Ellen Barkin. Mercy!
Ellen Barkin is 55 now, and I can't find a decent picture of her not all plastic-surguried up. Dop.

Labels: 4stars, movies, qotd, technology

Go Pacers!


No, I'm not a Pacer fan. I'm a Jarin fan: Jarin the cheerleader and more!

1. Little Story

QOTD

Needless military spending is "an affront to the American people and to our troops"
- President Obama on cutting the defense budget, source

That QOTD source is a little AP story.
Tiny, little story.
But this little story reveals so much of the crap that's out there. Continue:

1. Dear President Obama... soft on crime, weak on defense. Cha!
   
2. And dear President Obama, aren't you the one still dithering on what's going to happen in Afghanistan, so what does this military budget mean outside of that decision?
3. And President Obama sneaks BS "hate crimes" nonsense in the budget. Nice transparency there, hope & change.
   
4. Of course, the POS journalism doesn't give a percentage for the budget or "cuts" or anything.
   

2. Looking Up
GDP is up 3.5% in Q3 2009, so things looking up:


And unemployment claims are leveling off.


If it works, I like it.
If Bernanke, Paulson, Geithner and everybody else on the planet say the sky is falling, then it's falling.
So far so good to these boys and President Obama on the acronym nonsense (TARP, TALF, etc) and stimulus.
And yes, I'm as long as I can get today. Woot!
peace... yow, bill
PS - Raptor cheerleaders... um, you dropped something. He he!

Labels: fun, investing, politics, qotd

Jeez, Marisa. Yow!

Short, simple, logical global warming article. Freaked Out Over SuperFreakonomics

QOTD

"... it may well be that global warming is best tackled with a variety of cheap fixes, if not by pumping SO2 into the stratosphere then perhaps by seeding more clouds over the ocean. Alternatively, as "SuperFreakonomics" suggests, we might be better off doing nothing until the state of technology can catch up to the scope of the problem."
- SuperFreakonomics article above

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. No distractions (sorry Marisa) from the two big issues of the day:

1. Global warming - The cure to global warming is a massive tax hike?!? WTF.
2. Health care - Add people to Medicare/Medicaid. To save money?!? WTF 2.
   

Logic and problem-solving are not a part of the solutions proposed by the Obama administration. It's a political land-grab, pure and simple.
marisa... yow, bill

Labels: fun, globalwarming, qotd

I heart my new t-shirt.

QOTD

"We are not joggers"
- motto at www.runlikeananimal.com/home

Book: "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Stout
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... worth it

See that shiny gold circle on the book over there to the right. "Pulitzer Prize". That caught my eye. I read the back cover, and it seemed interesting enough, so I snarfed it up.

I got it home and then read the front cover... a testimonial from Oprah Magazine. Dop.

Anyway, it was OK. Definitely girlie in parts. It was an easy read because of the author's pleasant writing style. I cracked up when Olive goes berserk because the guy she's having dinner with voted for W. That's happened to me more than once. He he.

But the book's true strength is its treatment of how hard it is to get old. Specifically, how hard it is to get old and to maintain relationships with family and friends and lovers. It did this really well.

QOTD

"And so, if this man next to her now was not a man she would have chosen before this time, what did it matter? He most likely wouldn't have chosen her either. But here they were, and Olive pictured two slices of Swiss cheese pressed together, such holes they brought to this union - what pieces life took out of you."
- "Olive Kitteridge" on having a boyfriend late in life

Funny one right here.
I'm censoring myself.

I'm censoring like two different things about my "Olive" book. I don't remember doing that before. I mean obviously there's personal details censorship all the time, but I don't remember censoring my opinion before. You can ask me about it in person, but I won't post it here. Interesting. Funny.
censor this... yow, bill

PS - The "I voted for W" test is an excellent one. A test of tolerance. If you can't tolerate someone of a different political view than yours, then you got issues... more issues than I can handle. If Marilyn Manson can rape the rapers, then I can not tolerate the intolerant. Cha.

Labels: 3stars, books, fun, marathon

I like the photo, and yeah, Ty and I were there... triple OT Bull 128-127 playoff win over the Celtics. Boxscore.
Awesome!

1. US = Best Health Care
One of the underpinnings of the health care reform debate is that our system is a shambles and in CRISIS. You've probably seen or heard "studies" about how low our system is ranked compared to France and Canada and blah blah blah. Never did sound right, did it?

Huzzah. It ain't. Here's a chart for you:

Source: Ill-Conceived Ranking Makes for Unhealthy Debate

The author of the (excellent) article makes two great points:

1. You take spending out of the equation and huzzah, the US health care system ranks among the highest in the world.
2. The ranking is largely "ridiculous"... filled with made-up numbers and other variables that are cultural or due to other factors. Infant mortality is an example of this. Is our infant mortality rate higher because of faulty health care or because of poor conditions and education in inner cities.

Then 2+2... cost is the key. And how do you reduce the cost of health care? You sure as shit don't throw more people into Medicare/Medicaid! Competition. Personal responsibility. Tax incentives. Subsidies for the poor who struggle to afford health insurance. Transparency in billing. On and on and on.

2. 2010 Elections
I figger. Lots of us hoping for 1994 redux in 2010. Me included.
The hope is for a rebuke of the President Obama leftie policies, just like ole Bill Clinton got in 1994 when he lost the Congress.
Old Newty was in charge of the deal in 1994 with his Contract with America.
Here's a quick Q&A with Newt: source.

Two important points here:

1. The repubs need a platform. Hey guys, how about presenting REAL choices on health care, global warming, jobs, etc. If I can do it here are williamt, then why can't the flippin' repubs?!? Does this require a Newt-like leader to pop up on the radar? Dunno.
   
2. It's not too late. I forgot how late and quick-striking the "Contract" was, as evidenced in my QOTD.
   

QOTD

"We didn’t do the Contract with America until late September of the election year [1994]."
- Newt, source

Sure would be nice to get a whiff of competence from the repubs before Sep 2010 though. He he.
I think if President Obama overreaches on global warming (coming up in December) just as he has on health care, then Congress 2010 is there for the taking.
peace... yow, bill

Labels: healthcare, myphoto, politics, qotd

Great t-shirt site, that www.threadless.com

Threadless has a great hook. They hold weekly design contests and then actually make and sell the winners. Excellent!

Threadless is a company called Skinny Corp. They're Chicago guys, and I'm pretty sure they're still private. I wonder if they make money doing this stuff or not.

The Wikipedia summary of their deal is just OK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threadless
I have a zombie threadless t-shirt (I think) and I've gotten Christmas presents there in the past... the quality has been great.

QOTD

"We like vegetarians.
They make us laugh."
- Sign at Famous Dave's restaurant

threadless... yow, bill

Labels: fun, qotd

There are only two issues right now: health care and global warming. President Obama, in Rooseveltian form, is attempting to use each of these areas to dramatically increase the scope and specter (I love that, specter... sounds sinister, which is another good word) of the federal government.

Here's an excellent article on health care in Singapore:


Why don't we see a fee list for health care procedures? Medical savings accounts. Personal responsibility. Transparency. Sigh.

There are simple, straightforward ways to improve health care in the US... ways that empower us, not the feds. These will not be considered by the current administration. Will a more balanced Congress force such consideration? Or perhaps a sharp rap on the nose with newspaper?

QOTD

"I'm about to get $250 from the government as part of this super entitlement. I'm entitled to a cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security. You're entitled to that when the cost of living goes up, and you're entitled to this entitlement when you're not entitled to it. It's the ultimate expression of our culture."
- George Will, on President Obama's proposal to send $250 to everyone on Soc Sec, source

I'll give you the Geithner QOTD, then I'll put it in plain English for you investors out there.

QOTD2

"A classic pattern in past financial crises is governments tend to put on the brakes too soon, withdraw support too early, and that's been a very costly mistake and we're going to be very careful to avoid that mistake"
- Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, on Oct 16, 2009... source

Investing interpretation in plain English:



buy high, sell higher... yow, bill

PS - Here's the goofiest dang thing... copy/paste of the top 5 runners, last year, Naperville Turkey Trot, men 45-49 (source):

MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
Place O'All Name                  No.   S Ag City                 Time
===== ===== ===================== ===== = == ==================== =======
1    32 MARC WOODCOCK          4957 M 45 GLENDALE HEIGHTS       17:42
2    61 RANDY MEYLE            3648 M 47 OSWEGO                 18:31
3    63 WAYNE VILCHUCK         2937 M 47 BATAVIA                18:32
4    66 TOM ZIELINSKI          3743 M 47 NAPERVILLE             18:38
5    75 DENNIS KUBICK          2874 M 46 STRONGSVILLE           18:49

Interesting... can I do 3 6's?
Interesting.
Also, what was the weather last year? Really bad, right?
Good weather would bump these times a lot.
I'll have to run 1 6:00 and see how I feel.

Labels: healthcare, politics, qotd

I did the Indy Half Marathon yesterday.
I did her pretty good, actually. He he.

QOTD

"24 hour day care and preschool available!"
- billboard in Indy (dang, I wish I had my camera!)

Indy is a nice city, but it's pretty far south down there.
I'm not sure what 24 hour day care is, but whatever.
I got a whole floor of the Hilton for $200 a night, so I can't complain.
I had an outstanding breakfast at the Indy version of Le Peep: www.lepeepindy.com

Fashion faux pas of the event... the marathon sleeves. See goofus to the right over there.

Yeah, you wear a short sleeve shirt, and then buy extra (gay) sleeves to wear with it. I hadn't seen that one before. Um, dude. Just get the long-sleeved shirt on, OK?

Funny comment of the run... we're huddled waiting for the start. It's pretty cold, so everyone is ready to get on with it. The PA says the race will start in 30 seconds, and the guy next to me says, "I gotta pee now" and we all cracked up.

Results... I was very happy with my halfsie results and it, for the most part, felt goooood:

1. 1 hour, 39 minute, 36 seconds... 100 minutes minus 24 seconds
   
2. That's a 7 minute, 36 second pace... I was shooting for 8's
   
3. I ranked #133/2890 overall and #8 in the old white guy category

I definitely went out hot. I got a little panicky and pissed off at the start because it was so congested, and I was afraid of getting behind. The other motivator I had... there were no official times given on the course at all. I don't carry a watch, so I was flying blind.

There was one "big" hill, and I'm not used to hills. I had read about it in the stuff they sent out before the race... "beware the hill in mile 10". Well, mile 9 was the tip-off that mile 10 was trouble... in mile 9, we started going downhill fast. I cranked the tempo, hoping to offset being slowed down on the way up. It was about as steep as I have run in a "real" race. Nice burn too. He he.

The race was great. It was really well-organized and setup. Lots of nice people too.

Anyway... no 40-something moral victory. A real victory. Rare these days.
A nice Bill beat-down. I like it.
run faster... yow, bill

PS - Next? Turkey Trot? 3 6's? Or maybe find a nice 10K?

Labels: fun, marathon, qotd

So, I don't get:

• We have 3 bones in the inner ear. So, we must have had 2 bones in our ear before that, right? What the heck did that look like?
• As we evolved to 3 ear bones, how do you not wreck the ear? What possible advantage is a 3rd bone until it's totally working?

I'll admit I'm a rummy, but I'm not alone.

QOTD

"... it has been a mystery how this delicate system [the ear] evolved from the cruder listening organs of our reptilian ancestors"
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fossil-reveals-ear-evolution-in-action

You can't say "intelligent design" these days because that's a loaded (re. politically incorrect) term. My understanding of evolution (admittedly limited) is that it is based on 1) random mutations or changes, and 2) pretty much a greedy optimization algorithm, in that only changes that improve the competitive nature of the organism are accepted, or survive. It's a head-scratcher to me.

I also don't understand (Ty too) why we don't have pads on our feet, but that sounds too stupid, so I'm not going to mention it.

2. The Earthquake
Tomorrow is the 20th Anniversary of the SFO (Loma Prieta) earthquake, Oct 17, 1989.
Williamt was there. Here's a tasty map. The red star is the center of the quake. I was about 10 miles west of that San Jose dot. Holly was closer to the center, south of the San Jose dot.


I have pretty vivid memories:

1. I was at some convention in a large room, and I remember seeing the large lights above us doing some serious, serious swaying. I just looked up and figgered, "I hope those don't fall down, eh." Unsurprisingly, it seemed to last a lot longer than it did.
   
2. Everything shut down... no power. All the highways clogged up... because everyone left work at the exact same time. My car (1970 Pontiac Firebird) ran out of gas sitting in traffic. So, I just walked to work which was a few miles away. I wasn't carrying any money. Dop. I always a hundo hidden away in my wallet since then.
   
3. I couldn't reach Holly at daycare, either physically or by phone. So, yeah that was very tough. Fortunately, girlfriend Janny scooped Holly up all on her own. I found this out some number of hours after the earthquake... and I owe Janny to this day for that one!
   

I have some great photos of our apartment getting pretty trashed too... but they're not scanned in yet. Stay tuned. Or not.
thanks janny... yow, bill

PS - Holly and I moved to (beautiful, scenic) Naperville Illinois in August 1990. About two weeks in, one of the strongest/deadliest tornadoes ever hit neighboring Plainfield: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Plainfield_tornado. I would claim being a disaster jinx, but since the tornado, I've been pretty much disaster-free. So, meh.

Labels: fun, qotd, technology

I like this chart... just to give you an idea of how weird these deflationary times are. We've had the first bout of deflation of any level since the 50's. Click on it for a readable biggie:


Nice QOTD from that site too...

QOTD

"The September 2009 Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U) is 215.969. The annualized inflation rate computed from this number is -1.29%, which marks the seventh consecutive month of deflation."
- dshort stats

7th consecutive month of deflation. Dop.
peace... yow, bill

Labels: investing, qotd

1. Economy Stupid or Stupid Economy
You may have read that I heart business.
Here's a government thing I like: www.recovery.gov
This is a website that tries to detail the spending from President Obama's $787B stimulus bill.

The most interesting stat is how little money has been spent so far. Of the $787B total, only about $170B has been spent or roughly 20%. Bet your ass that most of the remaining 80% will be spent during the election year with mucho fanfare about government largess.

It's also interesting that Congress refuses to provide a similar facility for the health care bill. Even a 72 hour peek has been voted down.

QOTD

"We are moving in the right direction"
- President Obama, Oct 14 2009 (source)

The stock market agrees with President Obama, clearly. I think recovery is the most likely outcome, at least some form of recovery. The investing answer, IMHO, is to ride the wave with tight stops if things turn bad.

The interesting question comes, however, if we are not heading in the right direction. Dial ahead 12 months to Oct 2010... if unemployment is still around 10% in a year and the Dow is lingering at or below 10,000... will America hold President Obama and/or the dem Congress accountable for the situation?

You would think so, but who knows these days.

2. Book Review
Book: "Await Your Reply" by Dan Chaon
Review: 2 bill-stars (out of 5)... meh.

It was close, but I can't recommend it.
It's a plot book with the snarky plot twists and the 2-D characters.
If you like the snarkiness, it's OK. It wasn't worth it for me.

Onward and upward.
yow, bill

Labels: 2stars, books, investing, politics, qotd

1. Yankee
First, for the Yankee fan who has everything: Authentic Yankee Grass Seed

2. So many Bill Kriegers
Go:

• www.cheese-louise.com - This is a cheese shop blog in Walla Walla Washington run by Bill Krieger. I am honored to be his first blog "follower". Maybe I'll scam some cheese out of the deal. If I could live anywhere but Naperville, it'd have to be Walla Walla... not the city, the name.
  
• www.billkrieger.com - This looks like your standard crappy personal web page... like mine. But this Bill Krieger (William W.) bears the scarlet "U" of the web page universe: "Under Construction". Dop.

3. Plain, old DVD
I bought me some "Watchmen" DVD at Best Buy.
And I smiled.

Inside you get a $10 coupon (right) off your purchase of a "better" DVD coming out in December. I know this infuriates some people.
It makes me smile.

1. I'm over it... I can count on one hand the number of DVD's where I actually watched the extra stuff. So, I'm over that phase and only purchase the stripped down (usually $10-$12 now) version.
2. If you're not over it... Relax and buy the fancy DVD. It's nice to choose. If it pisses you off, then pass (or rent it if you can find an open video store), but don't whine.

I'll pass on the blu-ray nonsense too... I can't tell the dang difference.

Watchmen... great book and movie.
peace... yow, bill

PS - The Dow crossed 10,000 today. The first time it did that was Spring 1999 (source). Dop.
Here's 10 years of Dow... click on it for the goodness:

Labels: fun, investing

QOTD

"Line drive. Base hit. Caught out there. The runner tags. Throw to the plate. Off target. And in time! A double play."
- Chip Caray call, source

I heart business. Commerce.
These tough economic times have been met with a MIGHTY response by business.
We've all seen it:

• The "Price Cut" stickers all over the Jew-el (leading to $1.75 Frosted Flakes and cheaper beer... if that doesn't help you ride out the recession, nothing will)
• Sales. And advertising like crazy of those sales
• Job cuts, expense cuts. Again, like crazy
  

Businesses are responding to tough times by getting even leaner and meaner.

How about government's response? Here are two examples from today:

• The CTA is raising its fares, making it one of the most expensive public transportation options in the country. Price hikes are expected to be 33-50%. What the L?
  
• And I know this seems surreal, but Naperville "has" to raise taxes. Naperville. Proposed sales tax worries some in Naperville business community
  

QOTD2

"We do not want to reduce our service levels to make ourselves an average community"
- Doug Krieger, ciy of Naperville nabob

Yeah, did you catch that?
Doug Krieger, a namesake, is the "city manager" of Naperville. Sigh.

Um, dear Doug... you and the city of Naperville government isn't what makes a Naperville above average. It's its people and businesses and the work done therein. Your job is to provide an environment where these people can continue their good work. Your role isn't to suck in more money when the economy is in the shitter.

Here's another example of Naperville waste, the new $11M Early Childhood Center. Ty and I used to play in this park. It was nice because it had a large field of just grass and a basketball court and then some swings. Very low key. Now, it's an "Early Childhood Center". No, I don't have any idea why Naperville is spending $11M on an early childhood center when there are private day care and preschool options up the ass all around the city. Oh well, at least the building is "green". Woot!

GOOD => You. Me. Business, large and small. We're all cutting back to meet the challenge.

BAD => Government ain't. Naperville. The CTA. And of course, the most egregious of all, the Feds.

Good and bad. Very nice. And simple.
I'll take me some of that good, thank you.
run faster... yow, bill

Labels: politics, qotd, sports

I ran 10 miles this morning. That's my last "long" training run before my half next Saturday.

Chicago Marathon is underway as we speak.
Funny story about my favorite marathon, the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee... the top 2 women were DQ'd: one for drinking non-official water and one for listening to her Ipod. Huh?

QOTD

"Clem"
- Doc Holliday's nickname for his girlfriend, Clementine (he he)

Movie: "My Darling Clementine" by John Ford
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... very good

"Clementine" is actually the gunfight at the OK Corral.
You know... Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and the Clantons and all.

Very good:

• Henry Fonda was excellent.
• Victor Mature (to the right there) always struck me as a weird, weird-looking dude, and he does that well in this movie too.
  
• The chicks were hot hot hot. Clementine was the good girl, and she was hot. The bad girl was faux Mexican (I don't think you could be "real" Mexican in those days) and she was hot hot hot. Ay carumba hot. Her character's name was (pause) Chihuahua. He he.
• There's a screenful of great character actors that you know from a zillion other movies. I saw Bert the Cop from IAWL in there. Walter Brennan. Excellent.
• Beautiful western scenery is signature John Ford, eh.
  

After that, it was a pretty convoluted story. Slow. The characters were only mildly interesting. Quick, put a bow on it, ending. I had higher hopes, I reckon.

This was my first Netflix experience. I finally had to do something... shit, they closed 3 different Hollywood Videos on me. He he. Anyway, Netflix worked fine, and I'm signed up for 2 movies a month for $5. Why not.
clem... yow, bill

PS - Here's Chihuahua (Linda Darnell), the picture isn't from "Clementine", but who cares... you get the idea.

Labels: 3stars, movies, qotd

Welp. Sue me.
He he.

"Schindler's List",
"Glengarry Glen Ross",
"The Dark Knight",
"2001 Space Odyssey",
"Manhattan",
"The Godfather",

... [dramatic pause] ...

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"?!?!?

QOTD

"Come on, Steve. We've got some diem to carpe!"
- Flint, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"

Movie: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"
Review: 5 bill-stars (out of 5)... wonderful!

I know. No way this is a 5-star movie. Oh well.

• My ribs still hurt.
  
• I laughed inappropriately in a movie theater jammed full of kids.
• It was fun, funny, smart, sweet, slapstick, action-packed, creative and positive.
• Bugs Bunny-esque form start to finish... more jokes for adults than for the kids.
• Steve the monkey, and the food, and the hot nerdy girl, Mr. T, Rat-birds, and spray-on shoes, Manny from Guatemala, and...
  

Jeez, Ty and I laughed and laughed.
So, grab your kid and take 'em to Meatballs... for your sake.
steve... yow, bill

Labels: 5stars, movies, qotd

I get these crappy news emails from the WSJ... about one a day. Don't know why. Delete.
Here are two I woke up to this morning.

WSJ NEWS ALERT: Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
U.S. President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Nobel committee said.

WSJ NEWS ALERT: Dozens Killed in Pakistan Suicide Bombing
At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured when a minibus packed with explosives detonated along a road near a well-known market in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday.

My crappy public education doesn't afford me the vocabulary to accurately describe my reaction to this one. Shit, I can't go two paragraphs without using the word "crappy" twice... he he.

Well, first I laughed out loud. It is funny... a guy who has done virtually nothing in 9 months getting a Nobel Peace Prize. President Obama joins other notable Noble "winners": Arafat, Jimmy Carter, and Al Gore. It's a joke.

But it's also not a joke. It's like high school to me. High school was so unpleasant. Irrational and unpleasant. The cliques. The emphasis of appearance of substance. I went off to college and suddenly, what you did and said and how smart or kind you were was important. You were defined (mostly) by who you were rather than by what you looked like or what clique you belonged to.

Reality is somewhere in between high school and college. Of course, appearance matters... and being part of the "in" crowd. Perhaps it's just never been so stark before. And with President Obama, appearance becomes reality.

He's the Paris Hilton president.
Famous because he's famous.
Popular because he's popular.
It's a sad state of affairs for the USA.
peace... yow, bill

PS - I'm tacking this on a couple hours after posting. A tasty QOTD.

QOTD

"The nomination deadline is eight months before the announcement, with a strictly enforced deadline of Feb. 1."
- Rules for the nobel peace prize, source

President Obama was nominated less than 2 weeks after his inauguration. Too funny.

Labels: politics, qotd

Book: "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... good

This is the same girl who wrote "Gilead".
I like "Gilead" better, but "Housekeeping" is worthy.

I like Miz Robinson's slow, slow style. Her writing style is very smooth, readable, and wonderful. Both her books have had strong endings. That's rare. I also like that her books have "smack you in the face" themes.

"Housekeeping" isn't as interesting as "Gilead". "Gilead" was hoisted on the shoulders of following the old man through all his questioning and self-doubt and whatever. "Housekeeping" follows a teen-age girl through her trials and tribulations, which just isn't as compelling. The description of the town and neighbors was (I think) intentionally barren to make the girls seem more isolated. Well, that's OK, but it hurt my interest in the book.

There's a wonderful theme in parts of the book about the importance of things we don't see or don't know in everyday things or relationships. You look at someone and what they have done or achieved, but you don't see the things, good and bad, that they did not do. It's sort of like understanding how negative space can dominate a photograph. What's not there, not present is more important than what's there.

The gripping and beautiful example of this in the book is the suicide of the girls' mother. The girls wonders if her mother had not gone through with her suicide, then the young girl would never know it, never know the struggle won by not doing something. Here's a (long) QOTD that really captured this for me.

QOTD

"I remember her, grave with the peace of the destined, the summoned, and she seems almost an apparition.

But if she had simply brought us home again to the high frame apartment building with the scaffolding of stairs, I would not remember her that way.

Her eccentricities might have irked and embarrassed us when we grew older. We might have forgotten her birthday, and teased her to buy a car or to change her hair. We would have left her finally. We would have laughed together with bitterness and satisfaction at our strangely solitary childhood, in light of which our failings would seem inevitable, and all our attainments miraculous.

Then we would telephone her out of guilt and nostalgia, and laugh bitterly afterward because she asked us nothing, and told us nothing, and fell silent from time to time, and was glad to get off the phone. We would take her to a restaurant and a movie on Thanksgiving and buy her best-sellers for Christmas. We would try to give her outings and make her find some interests, but she would soften and shrink in our hands, and become infirm. She would bear her infirmities with the same taut patience with which she bore our solicitude, and with which she had borne every other aspect of life, and her silence would make us more and more furious."

- Ruthie, first person in "Housekeeping"

Strong.
peace... yow, bill

Labels: 3stars, books, myphoto, qotd

QOTD

"You need your head examined."
- Gram Krieger

Gram Krieger: Dec 7, 1909 - Oct 5 2004

Gram passed away 5 years ago today.
dop... yow, bill

PS - Ty and I visited this afternoon. Gram says hey. He he.

Labels: myphoto, qotd

QOTD

"What counts more than luck is determination and perseverance.
If the talent is there, it will come through.
Don't be too impatient."
- ???

Kind of a blah blah blah QOTD. Preachy. Until you see who said it.

Investing: The recent past
This excellent graph from the Mad Hedge Fund Trader, originally Bespoke Investment Group:



For those of you keeping score, that's:

• $63 trillion market cap of world equities at the peak
• $25 trillion at the bottom (a loss of $48 (fucking) trillion worldwide)
• Now at $43 trillion and rising
  

Amazing. Simply amazing.
Or as the Mad Hedge Fund Guy more eloquently says, "This is wealth destruction of a truly Biblical proportions."

Investments: The near future
I am currently accepting inquiries for a limited number of preferred investors (sort of like Jew-el's Preferred Card) in an exciting new opportunity that will probably be the next "thing" on the Internet.

Obviously, I can't go into too much detail, but basically I'm working on the next Twitter. Here's the back of the envelope:

1. We all know the problem with Twitter: 140 character messages are too long to read and no graphics. Plus, the past perfect tense of "tweet" is, um, problematic.
   
2. My solution is www.blather.com. I expect Blather to pretty much displace Twitter as "the" next mode of communication for young people and suspended football players around the globe.
3. Blather will replace Twitter. "Blah-ing" will replace "tweet-ing". The kids will say, "He just blah'ed me that he'll be 15 minutes late" or, "His blather stream is my favorite." Of course, celebrity blathers will be the rage. You don't have to spell or use text to blather; this will be a strong draw to many TV, movie and sports idols.
4. Instead of 140 character messages, Blather will allow blah-ers to send up to 16 emoticon images to other users following their Blather stream. For example, the 3 emoticons to the right say "I have squirted lemon juice in my eye. It hurts. Oh, now I'm okay".
   

You know the drill. Offer not available in Tennessee. Please send checks. Not cash.
blah blah blah... yow, bill

PS - QOTD by Fred Astaire. When Fred Astaire hands down some advice on succeeding, I listen. I wonder how many people have never seen Fred Astaire dance. Or Michael Jordan play basketball. Or the NY or Chicago symphony. I'm talking the best of the best.

Labels: investing, qotd

QOTD

"It was bowling shoe ugly out there yesterday."
- sports radio guy on the Cub 12-3 loss to AZ

Do you pay taxes?
Duh.
Well, did you know this?

1. 47% of Americans pay no income tax
2. 24% of Americans don't even pay the payroll tax
   

I know. That doesn't sound right.
Well, here's the source. And the original source of the source is something called CNN Money.
It still doesn't seem possible. I don't know.

October. So great.
run faster... yow, bill

Labels: myphoto, politics, qotd

First, things first... the hotness:


Jeez.
#1 on Amazon already.
I'll wait for the movie. He he.

QOTD

"Chicago isn't the second city any more; we're the 4th city. The city of losers"
- Guy on sports radio

He he.
Well, mea culpa and shame on this ole blogger... I had President Obama (and the missus) swooping into Copenhagen to claim credit for Olympic victory, all pol'd up and snarky. Ends up they must have gotten the call that Chicago was on the ropes, and they flew in on a salvage mission. It would appear a more above board venture than I gave them credit for.

My bad.
And shame on my kooky old ass!

I gotta admit... I don't follow the Olympics too much these days, so whatever on Rio hosting in 2016.

Why Brazil?

1. First city in South America to host the games, and
   
2. I read that they are committing $14B to the deal, as opposed to Chicago's $4B. Fourteen Billion Dollars. Yikes, you can have it!
   

They also won the bikini competition. He he.
yow, bill

PS - So great.

QOTD2

"...a sporting event greater than the World Cup, World Series and World War II combined."
- The Dodgeball Championship

I would add... "Will someone catch a goddamn ball? It's like watching a bunch of retards trying to hump a doorknob out there!"... but that's politically incorrect. He he.

Labels: fun, politics, qotd