Undy Sunday

QOTD

"New homely doll to improve self-image of young girls"
- The Onion, huzzah! (link)

1. The key word: NEW!

I saw this driving by St. Elizabeth Seton church.

www.sesnaperville.org/sesmain/?p=3021

QOTD

"[St. Elizabeth Seton will be] collecting NEW underwear, undershirts, and socks for children and adults."
- Undy Sunday web page

2. Human drama

Excellent human drama last night in baseball... Boston, Tampa, Atlanta.
Better than words:

Source: www.cardboardgods.net/2011/09/29/5618/

Just like little league... Carl Crawford looked like a guy who didn't want the ball hit his way.

3. Euro drama

I just post this, here, on Sep 29 as an oddity.

This has to be bogus. Stupid internet rumor. It has to be.

Insider Reports Germany Printing Up Marks will Abandon Euro

but still... yow, bill

Ryan. Repeal. Replace. Resplendent.

So rare and positive when a politician advocates increasing our freedoms and choices.... transferring power from Washington DC to the citizenry.
Paul Ryan's speech on health care is just such advocacy:

Paul Ryan's Repeal and Replace speech

Cha cha cha. One two three. All quotes are from Ryan's speech.

One: Repeal
"The first step toward true, patient-centered health care reform must be a full repeal of the President’s disastrous new law."
Cha!

Two: Why
"The health care sector lacks most of the basic building blocks of a functioning market."

1. Non-transparent prices
2. Consumers are insulated from costs

"The system that shields us from the cost of services, has actually left us paying much more."
That statement is both perfectly logical and ironic at the same time.

Three: Replace
"Choice and competition are critical to controlling costs throughout the health-care system, while improving quality for patients."

"By putting the power into the hands of individuals, we can let competition work in health care just as it does everywhere else."

Three reforms:

1. premium support for Medicare... subsidize old folks buying health insurance
2. block grants for Medicaid... subsidize health programs for the poor run by the states, not the feds
3. tax reform... replace employer  deduction for health insurance costs with individual tax credits. 

These fundamentals are wrapped in a guarantee of continuing the current system for people 55 and over. It also presumes further competitive reforms like malpractice reform and insurance competition across state lines.

Ryan's wrap

But the point is that we should not fear false attacks again in 2012. Fear and demagoguery are the last refuges of an intellectually bankrupt party – and the moment calls for leaders who are not afraid to be honest with people about how they would solve the problems we face.

In health care, we owe the American people a defining choice, and that choice is: Who is in charge: The government or the patient?
- Paul Ryan

Resplendent!
yow, bill

PS - President Obama is a postscript by reason of incompetence and absurdity. Part of President Obama's jobs bill calls for new legislation to give unemployed people the right to sue a business if they feel discriminated against, ala race, religion, etc. We need this because... "White House officials see discrimination against the unemployed as a serious problem."

atlantic - Obama Proposes Letting Unemployed Sue for Discrimination

QOTD2

"That would put joblessness on par with race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, meaning job applicants who think they were shot down because they haven't had a job would be able to sue."
- nabob, atlantic story

Test of faith

1. Class

I'm blown away. What a wonderful (love) letter to the fans by the SF Giant and their manager Bruce Bochy.
Read this:

From the desk of Bruce Bochy - To our fans

Class act. 100%.
No QOTD snippets. I'm saving this one... copy-paste at the bottom.

BTW, the marketing boys in SFO work overtime too. Nice graphic and slogan:

2. Border Trilogy #3
Book: "Cities of the Plain" by Cormac McCarthy
Review: 2 bill-stars (out of 5)... not worth it
Goodreads link: www.goodreads.com/review/show/215840873

This book is the third in Cormac's Border Trilogy about cowboys and Mexico and the old west and such:

1. All the Pretty Horses (1992) - 4 bill-stars, williamt review
2. The Crossing (1994) - 4 bill-stars, williamt review
3. Cities of the Plain (1998) - 2 bill-stars

The first two books of the trilogy were really, really great. This 3rd book is not strong. The beautiful writing style is there, but the plot is glacial and ultimately uninteresting. Cormac borrowed the two lead characters from the first two books (John Grady Cole and Billy Parham) for this book. It reminds me a little of a rock band reunion where the songs are slower and have less energy than the younger, original version.

"Cities" reminded me more of Cormac's rambling "No Country for Old Men" (williamt review). The end of "Cities" is brutal with a long dream within a dream dialogue between two old homeless guys under a bridge. Blap.

QOTD

I mean if you were lookin for somebody to give a shit I can tell you right now it sure as hell wasnt Gene. He didnt care if syrup went to thirty cents a sop.

- "Cities of the Plain", Cormac McCarthy

Some Cormac links du jour:

• Cormac on wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy
• And this is a (kind of dormant) fan site, I think: www.cormacmccarthy.com
• "All the Pretty Horses" was a movie: www.imdb.com/title/tt0149624/. That's the good news. The bad news: it stars Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz and totally bombed.

Next up. Cormac's "Blood Meridian" is highly-acclaimed and click click click... added to my Amazon cart.
 

3. Portillos. Religion.

I've been going to Portillo's for 20 years now, ever since I moved back to Illinois.
It's an amazing place. The food is always good. The people who work there are always positive and courteous. And I don't care how crowded it is... they always get my order right, whatever it may be.

Until today.

There were peppers on my beef with mozzarella, no peppers.
What to do?
What does it mean?
Is my devotion to Portillo's misguided?
What other basic, foundational assumptions about life to I have completely wrong?

I got up to return the sandwich. Then, I stopped, sat down and smiled. I took the peppers off and took a big bite. Hey, I figgered, a religion doesn't have to be right every time. All's right with the world because being right nearly every time is OK by me.

I enjoyed a couple more bites of delicious beef sammich and took a sip of my lemonade.
It was warm and didn't have any ice in it.

I laughed and took it up front for some ice. The girl pulled me a new lemonade, chockful 'o ice. She smiled and said, "Here you go sir".
Thanks!
he he... yow, bill


PS - Copy-paste of Bruce Bochy's letter:

To Our Fans,


The best part of every road trip is the moment I sink into my seat on the team plane and say to myself, "We're going home." I know what's waiting for us at AT&T Park: Our reinforcements. Our fans.
I look up at that sea of orange-and-black -- at the Panda and Baby Giraffe hats, the beards, the Timmy wigs, the scarves and towels, the poster board signs that say "Believe!" - and feel as if no one can beat us. The incredible energy generated from 41,000 stomping, cheering, passionate Giants fans is like having a tenth man on the field.


Tonight, the Giants will set a record for the highest single-season attendance in the franchise's 128-year history -- 3,303,000 surpassing the 3,277,244 set in 2001. Tonight also marks the 79th consecutive sell-out of the 2011 season. These attendance milestones simply demonstrate what our players, coaches and front office already know: We have the best and most devoted fans in baseball. 


On behalf of everyone at the Giants, thank you.


I am writing not only to thank you, but also to make sure you know that your support makes a difference. Your thunderous cheers for Romo or Wilson or Casilla to get the third out late in a game - they matter. Your rally caps, your "Beat LA" chants, your "Get Well" signs for Buster, your willingness to weather cold nights on Orange Fridays - they all matter. You could have given up on us this season. Wracked by injuries, we've struggled to score runs. But just as you were there during last year's magical World Series season, you're with us still - a show of loyalty that continues to inspire us as coaches and players.


In baseball, the difference between winning and losing can be as slight as a bunt that stays fair instead of rolling foul. A team is always looking for an edge. Opposing players and coaches tell us all the time that AT&T Park gives us an edge. They're right but not completely. It's the not park. It's the people in it. I look forward to seeing you over these last few days of 2011 and for seasons to come. Thank you for helping us draw out the best in ourselves.


Sincerely,


Bruce Bochy
San Francisco Giants Manager

The $100 undershirt

"Faded Flower 7"

1. This Gilt thing

I signed up for this Gilt thing. It's supposed to be snooty retailers at a discount.
The spam is hysterical, and the companies and products are a little, um, unconventional.

• Blinde eyewear - blind the "e" is silent eyewear. Cmon. You can't be serious. I think I read somewhere that Blinde is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paraplegic Running Shoes, Inc.
• Equmen underwear -  the home of the $100 undershirt. $109, actually. See?

Well, the undershirt makes Blinde's $200 glasses look the Walmart of snooty fashion.
I don't think I'm Gilt's target audience. Ha!

2. Global REALLY warming

President Obama, through his own extensive scientific research, has concluded that wildfires in Texas are being caused by global warming.

QOTD

"You've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change. It's true."
- President Obama, gov directed at repub gov of TX, usatoday link

Jeez, it ain't easy being a global warming dude these days. I mean you gotta be pretty worried by now, right? Al Gore. Global warming causing wildfires. And tsunamis. And East Coast tropical storms. And earthquakes. And cold winters. It's a bad joke at this point. A punch line.

Speaking of bad jokes.

Dear President Obama,
This news blurb today for you.

Home-buying season the worst in at least 50 years

yow, bill

200 hits

1. 200 hits - the present
Starlin Castro has more than 200 hits this season. Really goob.

Here's: Starlin Castro at Yahoo... Starlin Castro at Baseball reference.
Go:

• 54 of Castor's 201 hits (right now) are extra-base hits, including 10 home run.
• Castro has reached base in 35 consecutive games.
• Starlin Castro is only 21 flippin' years-old (see QOTD below). This is just his 2nd year in the big leagues. 
• I'll always remember (sure, Bill) that Castro was the first player to make it to the bigs who was born in the 1990's (wiki).

How rare is a 200 hit season? Somebody does it each year, but not many guys:

• It looks like 5 guys in all MLB will get 200 hits this year: Starlin, A-Gonz, M Young, J Ellsbury, and Milky Cabrera (huh?). 
• 2010 (2 guys): Ichiro 214, R Cano 200
• 2009 (3 guys): Ichiro 225, Jeter 212, R Cano 204, Ry Braun 203
• 2008 (3 guys): Ichiro 213, D Pedroia 213, J Reyes 204

QOTD

"Since the modern era began 111 years ago in 1900, Castro is the 10th player to reach 200 hits in a season 21 years old or younger. He joins Alex Rodriguez (1995), Garry Templeton (1977), Vada Pinson (1959), Al Kaline (1955), Buddy Lewis (1937), Joe DiMaggio (1936), Hal Trosky (1934), Lloyd Waner (1927) and Ty Cobb (1907). Kaline and Cobb were both 20 when they reached the milestone; the others were 21."
- mlb story

Lot of nice names on that there list.

2. 200 hits - the past

For the first time in his career, Ichiro won't have 200 hits this season. It sucks even harder because this is also the only year he has batted under .300. For 10 years in a row (2001 - 2010) Ichiro collected at least 200 hits in each season and had a career batting average around .330.
But Father Time, he don't negotiate... 37 yo is 37 yo.

Here's: Ichiro on Yahoo... Ichiro on Baseball Reference.

If I may regress back to junior high for just a second, back to when ballplayers were heroes... Ichiro is the coolest player in the league over the last decade. He has his own style and is supremely confident. Ichiro's speed to first base is unmatched. His fielding and his arm in right field are amazing.

Ichiro is a first ballot HOF'er.

That said, remember up there... out of Starlin Castro's 200 hits, 54 were for extra bases.
Ichiro never did that.

3. 200 hits - the future

Prediction: You won't see Starlin Castro get 200 hits very often in the future.
He'll start swinging for the fences more.
It just makes sense.

• Only 21, he's going to get a lot bigger and stronger. 
• The Cub will move him from SS to 3B, which is a more bopping position.
• And they will move him down in the lineup to an RBI slot, 3rd or cleanup.
• And for Castro, all this will mean more home run and more $$$.

You'll see Castro put up more than 54 extra base hits, but his average will decline and the 200 hits thing will fade away.

4. Moneyball

Movie: Moneyball
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... OK

How the heck do you get people to go to a movie about baseball statistics and the Oakland A's not winning the World Series? Well, you get Brad Pitt signed up and then market the hell out of it.

The movie was OK. The best scenes were when Billy Beane interacted with the old baseball scouts. Man, that rang true. That's also what I remember most from the book.

Brad Pitt is seriously miscast as Billy Beane. In the book, Beane is a ferocious and intimidating ex-jock. Brad Pitt ain't intimidating anyone. But no one cares... it's Brad Pitt.

Other than the marketing barrage, I have a hard time understanding the glowing reviews for MoneyBall the movie. If you don't like baseball, then you'll be bored to tears.

Here's a guy who says that Billy Beane will be hired to run the Cub: Billy Beane and the Cub. Hey, he can't do any worse.
yow, bill

Marilyn Manson and Mr. Krabs

QOTD

[Marilyn CD blaring in the Sooby... "I wanna be your little girl"...]
Bill: Marilyn is just making fun of his fans.
Ty: That's not very nice.
Bill: Well, Marilyn doesn't like all the fan adulation. He just needs their money.
Ty: Just like Mr. Krabs.

1. F SBUX

QOTD

"I can quit any time you know."
- williamt, my running joke whenever I go to Starbucks and bought (past tense) Starbucks Gold coffee

I heart my SBUX Gold Coast coffee. I buy it by the pound and then cook it up here at The Castle. Well, I went a couple weeks ago and couldn't find it. The caffeinated lad behind the counter told me that its name had been changed to "Morning Joe", but it was the same coffee.

OK. That name doesn't sound like an upgrade to me, but what do I care.

Yesterday, I went to SBUX to resupply and found out why the name had been changed. My SBUX coffee is now named after a MSNBC show.

Starbucks and MSNBC join forces

So, well, SBUX... F you. I don't care about your politics. Shit, I had lunch yesterday at Ted Turner's dump. I ignore the silliness of planet-saving paper straws and enjoy the mini-burgers. I buy Dawn soap with a stupid, fucking baby seal on the label. Repeat: I don't care about your gol dang politics.

But when you slap an MSNBC label and name on your coffee, you can count me out. I'll find some leftie (or rightie) company who doesn't have quite the hard-on about their own political beliefs and cares more about selling their shit. Cha.

So, I have my two pounds of Morning Joe to swill down over the next few weeks, and then the search begins. Caribou Coffee anyone? Dunkin Donuts?

2. Yuck

We're down down a quick 6% in the two days since The Bernank said "There are significant downside risks to the economic outlook". He's not the only one saying that:

• Fedex (and UPS) say that slow growth is likely to continue: wsj link
• Toys R Us plans to hire fewer holiday workers: reuters link

And two stock market quickies:

• It's amazing that more than half the stocks in the S&P 500 have a higher yield than the 10-year treasury: bespoke link.
• Another bespoke link, the Bloomberg World Index of stocks entered bear market territory today... down 21% from its recent high.

People ask: Why aren't companies hiring? Or spending their cash? Why are treasury rates at an all-time low? Why won't banks lend money?
Cmon, the answer is obvious. Fear. There is a fear that we are in a modern-day depression (video). Everyone is hunkering down.
yow, bill

Wargames, 2001, and Failsafe in a blender

1. Collosus

QOTD

"We can coexist... but only on my terms. 

 You will say you lose your freedom.
Freedom is an illusion.
All you lose is the emotion of pride.

To be dominated by me is not as bad for humankind as to be dominated by others of your species."
- Collosus! 

Movie: Collosus: The Forbin Project (imdb)
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... lots of fun

A friend recommended this movie, and it was a lot of fun. It was a total 60's and 70's fest with the clothes, the hair, smoking everywhere, big old computers with lights flashing everywhere, cheesy graphics, etc. Excellent.

This movie is Wargames, 2001, and Failsafe in a blender. It's not as good as any of those movies, but it is a lot of fun.

I can't beat this nice IMDB summary: "Forbin is the designer of an incredibly sophisticated computer that will run all of America's nuclear defenses. Shortly after being turned on, it detects the existence of Guardian, the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners." And then, of course, Collosus and Guardian work together to take over the planet. Cha!

My favorite plot twist: Collosus demands that Forbin the scientist be under constant surveillance, so computer-controlled cameras are setup everywhere. But Forbin needs to communicate with the other scientists on disabling Collosus, so Forbin devises a plan: he'll select the hottest lady scientist and tell Collosus he needs private time alone with her because she's his "mistress". That way, he can communicate with the outside world without Collosus peeping. So, his hot colleague (Susan Clark below) comes over every night, and they, um, talk. Genius! He he.

I won't give it away, but the ending rocks!
Oh, and huzzah to Netflix for their treasure trove of old movies.

2. Brad Pitt, my hero
Baby, baby, baby... you know I can't marry you with all the inequity and suffering out there in the world. Baby, you KNOW this. Snort.

QOTD2

"I've said that we would not be getting married until everyone in this county has the right to get married"
- Brad Pitt, on why he's not married to Angelina Jolie... one of the greatest line of all time (stupid link)

my hero... yow, bill

Captain Kirk, HP CEO

1. Thanks for the walls
Naperville, IL (a wealthy community) got $11M from President Obama's stimulus bill to replace all our existing power meters with fancy wireless meters.

www.naperville.il.us/smartgrid.aspx

It's not just that Naperville is a wealthy community. It's also how stupidly the money is spent... on smart power meters. OK, so what's the punch line? The reason Naperville wants smart power meters is so that Naperville can, some day, charge residents for their power based on when they use it. Peak energy use doesn't fit the model of green energy sources like wind and solar. So, you hit consumers harder in the wallet during peak usage times. The double $$ hit here is that green energy costs more at any time, so consumers will pay more across the board.

Another more visible infrastructure project in Naperville (a wealthy community) is our new walls. Yeah, we now have nifty walls that now surround various streets and freeways. Naperville calls them soundwalls. Really nifty!

Well, of course, people have been living next to these streets for decades. This is the definition of do-nothing make-work projects. Federal stimulus money isn't well-spent, and the infrastructure in the US isn't crumbling. It's just more nonsense, but wait!

2. FEMA saves the world
We are just lucky that just enough funds are left for FEMA (the feds) to maintain their vigilance and ability to save the citizenry. Huzzah!

FEMA prepared for satellite's plunge to Earth this week

One, two:

1. "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is laying the groundwork for a fast response in case the 6 1/2-ton spacecraft falls over American soil."
2. "NASA experts forecasting a remote 1-in-3,200 chance of a possible injury from the satellite's debris."

Naperville's smart meters cost $11M. Did FEMA's preparation for satellite falling on someone's head cost $11M? One fed agency researches ($$$) and decides it's a 1 in 3,200 chance that a satellite is going to fall on somebody's head. And another fed agency researches ($$$) how to save the populace from this imminent threat. Sigh.

Now, President Obama is pounding the table for his Stimulus 2 bill.
Maybe Naperville can build some more walls.
Maybe FEMA can prepare for alien attack.
And maybe all this stuff will revive the economy, but I doubt it.
yow bill

PS - Almost forgot... a shout out to the citizen group (presumably idiots and racists) who are fighting the smart meter nonsense being doled out in Naperville:

www.napervillesmartmeterawareness.org/

PPS - Late, breaking news. HP is considering replacing their current CEO:

with a better, more aggressive candidate:

I'm tall!

1. Taller than average
So happy this morning. The WSJ has gleefully proclaimed me TALL!
Well, taller than average.
From wsj - Yes, you are getting shorter:

• The average US male is 5' 9.5" tall... I'm 5' 10" (woot!)
• The average US female is 5' 4" tall... hrmph, girls seem bigger than that.
• The article is about people shrinking over time... I'll skip that bit. Ha!
• 1 in 4 men over the age of 70 will have fractures due to osteoporosis... WTF?!?! It's 50% for women. Jeez.

 "Pool ball"

2. Quickies

Go!

a) Similarity between US and Greece:

"In these 12 months it has not fired even one civil servant. The only thing it is doing is trying to tax the private sector out of existence." -Greek response to their debt crisis. wsj - Why Greece won't reform

Look, I know we're not Greece, but... fucking hot damn tamale, this sounds familiar. Eurozone creditors are faced with "the unwillingness of the Greek government to fire civil servants, to stop subsidizing the unions and to close defunct state bodies." President Obama will say and/or do anything to preserve the size and specter of the federal government.

b) Fantasy health care:

"Fantasy baseball managers have far more data to evaluate players for their teams than patients and referring doctors have in matters affecting life, death and disability." - wsj article

Yeah, but fantasy baseball is life or death. He he. And for sure, Yahoo's fantasy baseball site is better run than any health care system.

c) The Netflix of books:

"We're thrilled to announce that Goodreads now offers personalized book recommendations. Tell us what you like and don't like to read, and we'll tell you what to read next! It's the Netflix of book recommendations." -spam from Goodreads

I have to do 2 more reviews to qualify. Should be interesting. Actually, maybe not. I don't recall the Netflix recs being all that insightful. There are way more books than movies though, so maybe Goodreads recs will be cool.

d) The Netflix of DVD's:

"Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies." - Reed Hastings, Netflix founder

In his infamous mea culpa, Hastings announced that Netflix DVD service would now be called Qwixster or something. I don't know, and I don't care... as long as I get my 2 DVD's a month for $5. It's awesome, and the selection is amazing, and I'll never watch more than 2 DVD's a month anyway.

En route to The Castle as we speak: "Colossus: The Forbin Project", made in 1970. Stay tuned!

tall... yow, bill

Pond froggie

From Logan Square in Philly...

"Pond froggie"

1. More global warming woes

Global warming is having a lot of problems these days: the dang Earth isn't warming, investments in various green companies are collapsing, fraudulent research is being exposed, and so on.

Well, global warmers (warmees?) have another problem. When you call everyone who doesn't agree with you an idiot and a racist and a non-believer and such nonsense... then it's kind of embarrassing when a few renowned physicists dispute the whole theory. Read on:

wsj - High School Physics

QOTD

"... the temperature has changed from ~288.0 to ~288.8 degree Kelvin in about 150 years, which (if true) means to me . . . that the temperature has been amazingly stable, and both human health and happiness have definitely improved in this 'warming' period."
- Ivar Giaever, physicist

Who is this nascent idiot/racist Ivar Giaever? From the article:

• Physics professor at RPI
• Won the nobel prize for physics in 1973
• An American Physical Society fellow, an honor bestowed on "only half of one percent" of the members

2. Jeez, Facebook is BIG

[Disclaimer: I dislike Facebook. He he.]
It's worth a click to see this graphic of Facebook's share of online photos:

Facebook's huge trove of photos

From the article:

• Facebook users have posted 140 billion (with a B) photos
• It will add 70 billion to that this year
• Facebook is hosting 4% of all photos ever taken in human history (3.5 trillion (with a T))

As a Flickr user, this does not make me happy. Neither does all the Yahoo chaos (Yahoo owns Flickr). I wish Picasa was nicer to look at. Bah. They can't just close my Flickr down one day with a sorry, tough luck and the boot. Right? Right!

3. Handling adversity

How tough is it to fail. Cha.
Imagine how much tougher is it to fail in front of everyone, everywhere. Yikes.

QOTD

"I just want to say I'm sorry for the year I've had. You guys have been really supportive and I appreciate that. Hopefully when we get into these playoffs, I can be the real Carl Crawford that I know I am. We'll see."
- Carl Crawford, on his disappointed first season as a Boston Red Sock (yahoo link)

That's sounds like a two-fer to me. Classy move by Crawford. And apparently, kudos to the Boston fans for their behavior as well.
yow, bill

Lucas Duda

1. My Lucas Duda jersey

When I win in fantasy baseball or football, I buy a jersey. I buy a jersey of a player on my fantasy team that I really liked or that put me over the top to win the title. I have my K-Rod jersey from the 62 save season. I have a Julius Peppers from my Chicago defense last year in fantasy football. So, I had my Lucas Duda #21 all queued up, ready to order. OK, just kidding, but still...

I picked up Lucas Duda as a playoff fill-in. He was having a strong 2nd half with a .950 OPS and usually batting either before or after David Wright in the hapless NY Met lineup. Also, Mr. Duda is 6'4" and 250-something pounds (yahoo link). He he. Well yesterday, Lucas Duda, improbably, hit a 2-out 9th inning home run at Atlanta off the best closer in the game, Craig Kimbrel. This home run, at around 4:00 yesterday afternoon, propelled the Naperville Oriole into first place in the final hours of the LetsPlay3 championship battle. Get that Duda jersey ready!

Alas, it was not to be. Just an hour or so later, Adrian Beltre countered with a homer off King Felix, and the Naperville Oriole were done for 2011. Next year. You can't beat fantasy baseball for fun and excitement!

2. Lost Horizon, the movie

Movie: "Lost Horizon" (directed by Frank Capra)
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... OK.

"Lost Horizon" is a book I reviewed... 3 bill-stars (williamt post). It's the one with Shangri-La and heralded itself as "the first paperback ever published". Oh yeah, that one. Anyway, this is the movie (imdb).

I give the movie 2 stars for entertainment value, and 1 star added for historical and social interest. The movie isn't as good as the book, but it was interesting to watch. This was supposedly a pretty popular movie in 1937. I can see why it was thrilling back then: planes, exotic locations, strange people from faraway lands, etc. The Capra production is HUGE and lavish.

The movie reflects the time.

1. The Great Depression: In the film, Shangri-La promotes the (silly) message that all the world's ills will go away (crime, etc) when people's material needs are met.
2. Isolationism: There's a strong anti-war message throughout the film, strongly promoted by the leading man.

Some weird things:

• It's always weird (and annoying) when old movies have a hysterical woman that gets settled down by one of the men in the movie. Most of the acting is more dramatic, than realistic.
• It was weird seeing Capra use some of the same specific devices as he did in "It's a Wonderful Life". There was a scene with the flashlights bobbing about in the dark, ala Burt the cop tracking Jimmy Stewart in his old, abandoned home. And Capra has the same actor as Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) saying the same exact line: "Don't take any wooden nickels"
• The DVD started with 3-4 pages of text describing the restoration process for the movie. There were about 5-6 minutes of the film where only the soundtrack remained. So, they kept playing the music and dialogue, and flashed still photos instead of the video. I've never seen that one before. 

 

In this scene from the movie (above), the girl in front plays (hot) Maria in the movie. The actress' name is:

María Marguerita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado Castilla y O'Donnell

Nice last name. O'Donnell. He he. Her stage name is Margo. Just Margo. He he. She was married to Eddie Albert of Green Acres fame. Good for Eddie! He he.

1. Lost Horizon is an old book.
2. It's a movie.
3. And Lost Horizon is a totally gay, I mean, lame Swedish metal band: www.oncelosthorizon.com.

QOTD

"This Website wasn't produced for prehistoric screen resolution formats. Adapt to 1024x768 or beyond, otherwise browse with misery!
- Lost Horizon website gay, I mean, lame warning, www.oncelosthorizon.com

next year... yow, bill

Doctor, Dentist, Karate

1. This weekend

Fantasy baseball championships conclude this weekend. I found myself rooting for the Cub this week. Well, rooting for them to win by 3 runs or less, so they could employ my closer, Carlos Marmol. I also send the stink eye to any player named Gonzalez (aka Adrian and Carlos) who I spy on ESPN. He he.

Fantasy baseball rules!

I have some extra stats and stuff that I create here: www.williamt.com/fantasy/baseball/index.htm. Yahoo has added the option of making league sites visible to people who aren't playing. I'll light that up next year. Fun!

I do this guy's "Z-Score" at my aux fantasy baseball site: A second look at Ian Kinsler. Their Z-Score is my NIPR ranking which calculates a guy or team's scoring compared to the mean for the population, divided by the standard deviation. So, a NIPR score of +1.0 means that the guy/team does 1 standard deviation better than the average guy/team in the given category. Nerd out.

Go Naperville Oriole!

2. DDK
Doctor, dentist and karate yesterday. Argh.

• Doctor - I can't pay the doctor. It's not allowed. I assume this goes hand-in-hand with the whole, "no, we don't know how much anything costs" mantra. Meditation or no, I was on edge at the doctor's office. It's just a negative deal that absolutely demands your patience (patients) and submission. You are not a customer. You are a patient... and you're not paying for any of this, so sit there, wait and shut up.
• Doctor - It's not all the doctor's fault. When you have a run of (50-1) years of incredible health that completely devoid of disease or or even injury... well, the words "regression to the mean" are my enemy. That and "getting hit by a bus".
• Doctor - On the plus side, I don't have any doubt that the care is good. It's just cranky care.
• Dentist - You pay the dentist. It is good. On a recessionary note, my hygienist noted that the dentist was experiencing his first real slowdown in patients this year.
• Karate - I'm no geezer (cough), but I swear I'm going to fall down in karate one day and not get up. That said, we finished the hour with some faux suicides, a sort of shuttle run 20x across the mat and back. The geezer got a bee in his bonnet and I lapped the

Bah. Whining. I'm healthy as a mule. My teeth are shiny. And I survive to karate yet another day!

My whirlwind day ended on a wonderful note... some Chinese dinner with my two tulips. SMILE.
I quickly re-established myself as the luckiest guy on the planet.

And, for jiminy sake... hit zee ball, boys.
go oriole... yow, bill

PS - I'm considering a move to Denmark. To the right, that's the new leader of Denmark. Hey Denmark, nice voting. 44 yo and way hot. Yow!

The Ikea Effect

Shouldn't there be an option on iTunes to disable the play counts... at least for specific artists. Ha!

QOTD

Even now
When I have come so far
I wonder where you are
I wonder why it's still so hard without you

Even now
When I come shining through
I swear I think of you
And God I wish you knew
Somehow
Even now
- anonymous, unknown artist that I can't recall (he he), "Even Now"

1. (Positive) Spin

Susan Sarandon is an investor in bars that feature ping pong tables called Spin NY. Great idea!

newyork.spingalactic.com/spingalactic

2. Couple-a (Positive)Links

Some linky goodness...

Four lessons from Druckenmiller - Stanley Druckenmiller is an All-Star investor for decades. He's retired now and his 4 lessons are spot on:

1. Size matters - small investors have an advantage in being able to make concentrated investing bets.
2. Out-performance is possible - the Druck-ster average 30% returns for 30 years without a single down year. Jeez. 
3. Excellence take hard work - see QOTD below
4. The money doesn't matter - It's enjoying the chase and winning (baby)

QOTD

"Intensity of engagement makes the yoke easy and the burden light."
-  Four lessons from Druckenmiller

 

And this one... Why making dinner is a good idea - too much jammed in this tiny article:

• The Ikea Effect - we love things more that we work to create ourselves (or in the case of Ikea, things we put together our self). It's amazing to read that mice have an Ikea Effect too. So, this is nature, not nurture. My own Ikea Effect pops up in so many areas: music, photography, this stupid blog, fantasy baseball, investing, running, etc.
• We are fatter because calories have never been cheaper. But the paper argues, that perhaps we eat more because we don't get the Ikea Effect out of fast food or pre-processed food. So, 1) we don't feel like we made it, like its ours, so 2) it's less satisfying, leading to, 3) we eat more because we don't get that satisfaction.

Good one.
If true, it's another testament to ownership over renting your . 
So, here's a diet for you. Only eat food that you prepare yourself.
hmm... yow, bill

PS - Bah. What the heck.
Movie: Bull Durham
Review: 5 bill-stars (out of 5)... the best.

Beautiful. Positive. Fun and funny. An easy 5 bill-stars.

Cranky post

1. Following Europe's lead
We seem to be following the European model in one odd way. Disability.

The Freaks note that European experts (cough) find that "38.2% of Europe’s population grapples with some kind of psychiatric problem".

freaks - Europe's gone crazy, literally

The European solution: treatment!

"Concerted priority action is needed at all levels, including substantially increased funding for basic, clinical and public health research in order to identify better strategies for improved prevention and treatment for disorders of the brain"

We in the US are on the European path. Did you know that the number of Americans on social security disability has almost doubled in the last 10 years? Yeah, me neither.

Source: wsj - Puerto Rico disability claims probed

2. Negative two-fer
I don't usually do this, but too much kismet as these stories flashed by nearly simultaneously. It's an entitlement ugliness two-fer:

1. A fat guy sues White Castle because their booths are too small: www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/oversize-man-sues-white-castle-over-seats-20110911-NCX
2. A couple-a black guys sue a bar when they're asked to give up their seats for a couple (white) women: sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-restaurantdiscriminationlawsuit

Um... (cough) losers (cough)... cha.

3. Get it over with
One last nugget of negativity. Blech. Let me just get it over with.

This is an President Obama story that is gaining traction: Obama is still the smartest person in the room... it's just that the economy was too broken to possibly be fixed by anyone.

mad hedge fund guy - My take on the 2012 elections

Well, I don't know economics from a hole in the ground, but off the top of my ill-informed head, I can come up with some things that a president could have done to improve the economy:

• Open drilling for oil and natural gas in the US
• I would not have passed Obamacare
• Reform entitlement programs, ala Paul Ryan's plan
• Reform the tax code to make it simpler
• Those banks that almost failed in 2008, how about actually reforming the system so that it doesn't happen again.
• Offer school choice

And so on. Cmon, Obama shouldn't be running anything. He should be having a concert in self-praise for all his good works, just like Bill Clinton: yahoo - Clinton foundation concert

Good lord. What a cranky post!
negativity... yow, bill

Reasonable

"Fine dining"

1. The coolest

Ya think Jim Cornelison was a little emotional yesterday singing the national anthem before the Bear game... a little fired up. Cha!

trib - Cornelison anthem caps emotional pregame 9/11 ceremonies

or

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIO9DLe_-rY

Awesome!

2. Dr. Watson
Watson is the coolest, too. First it whooped up in Jeopardy, and now it's training to become a doctor.

IBM putting Watson to work in health insurance

Watson will be used to help human doctors diagnose patients.

QOTD

The WellPoint application will combine data from three sources: a patient's chart and electronic records that a doctor or hospital has, the insurance company's history of medicines and treatments, and Watson's huge library of textbooks and medical journals.

IBM says the computer can then sift through it all and answer a question in moments, providing several possible diagnoses or treatments, ranked in order of the computer's confidence, along with the basis for its answer.
- ap story

Even I have enough imagination to put this puzzle together. Doctors will work with Watson to diagnose patients. When the doctor deviates from Watson's recommendation, maybe another doctor is called in to double-check. This should have the double impact of 1) improving care, and 2) reducing costs.

3. Be reasonable

Greece total debt burden is 140% of their GDP.
Their deficit this year is 15% of their GDP.

QOTD

"Anyone reading my letter for the last three years cannot be surprised that Greece will default. It is elementary school arithmetic. The Greek debt-to-GDP is currently at 140%. It will be close to 180% by year’s end (assuming someone gives them the money). The deficit is north of 15%. They simply cannot afford to make the interest payments."
- John Mauldin, Preparing for a credit crisis

America's debt burden is 100% of GDP. Our deficit is about 10% of GDP.

freaks - A reasonable plan

This word has become the latest siren song of the media: "reasonable". The attack word du jour used to be "racist". Now, it's "reasonable". Yet, in the last 10 years or so, our debt level has increase $10 TRILLION. That does not seem reasonable to moi.

Now, President Obama plans on throwing another half a TRILLION on the pile... to "create jobs"... again. Stimulus 2. Reasonable?
Bah. I'm looking for an unreasonable pol out there... an unreasonable plan.
yow, bill

Crunchy, Creamy, Cookie, Candy, Cupcake

"Couple-a flags"

QOTD

"Crunchy, Creamy, Cookie, Candy, Cupcake"
- Rango

1. Moonbeam common sense
Hey, give it up to Gov Moonbeam, Jerry Brown of CA. He vetoed a bill that would have criminalized children under 18 not wearing a helmet while skiing or snowboarding.

QOTD

I believe parents have the ability and the responsibility to make good choices for their children.
- Jerry Brown, free range kids post

Odd to the casual observer that the pols in CA don't have more pressing items to consider, but kudos to Jerry Brown on the common sense.

2. Book review

Book: "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... good.
Goodreads link: www.goodreads.com/review/show/207123588

This book seems to be somewhat famous. It touts itself as "the first paperback ever published." It has a Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Horizon. Wikipedia says it wasn't the first paperback; it was the first really popular paperback. It was also a movie, directed by Frank Capra: www.imdb.com/title/tt0029162/.

This was a light, enjoyable book. It's from the 30's and about 4 passengers on a plane that are abducted to "Shangri-La", a mysterious monastery in Tibet. There are a couple of twists and turns, but all in all, just a pleasant, average reading experience.

The book feels very old, which is fine. Set in the 30's, travel and communication are difficult. Many of the characters, including the lead guy Conway, are colonial English-types.

I wish I could remember why I got this book. It was referenced in something else I read, but I can't pull it out of my creaky, old memory. Good read though.
peace... yow, bill

PS - Headline contest... which do you prefer? "Miss Universe contestant reminded to wear underwear while in public" or "Miss Colombia rebuked for going pantyless". Hmm.

The 9/11 Memorial

1. Rebuilding after 9/11

Hey, this PBS/Nova documentary is worthy:

Engineering Ground Zero

Here's the website for the 9/11 Memorial that is the centerpiece of reconstruction at the World trade Center site: www.911memorial.org. These pools with a waterfall surrounding them are built in the footprint of the old World Trade Center skyscrapers. Around them, etched in brass, are the names of everyone killed in the 9/11 attack.

This documentary is a two-fer:

1. It talks about the architecture and construction details of rebuilding the World Trade Center site. It is fascinating. I admire people who build stuff. Amazing!
2. They have interviews of people who had family members killed in the 9/11 attack. They asked about the memorial and their memories, etc.

All the 9/11 attack stuff is tough viewing, but this show was both moving and educational.


2. Investing since the 9/11 attack

This is pretty sobering too. It's a different kind of sobering, but sobering. These are investment returns since 9/11/2001 in a variety of asset classes.

bespoke - Asset class performance since 09/11/2001

The dollar has lost 1/3 of its value in the last 10 years. This is due 1) to the easy money policies of the Federal Reserve and 2) to the nearly $10 TRILLION in debt the feds have piled on in the last 10 years.

3. Executroid alert
My new fave executroid is female and currently unemployed.

QOTD

"These people fucked me over."
- Carol Bartz, Yahoo ex-CEO, Fortune mag interview

So, Carol Bartz gets fired as CEO of Yahoo. Meh. You can wrap Yahoo in a burlap sack and drown it in the river as far as I'm concerned. OK, not Yahoo fantasy leagues... and not flickr... oh, forget the whole thing and lets keep Yahoo around.

Anyway, when Carol Bartz got fired as CEO, she reacted as a gol dang human being and not a politically correct robot. Carol, I don't know a dang thing about you or the inner workings of Yahoo, but I heart you. Thanks for dropping the F bomb like the rest of us. Ha!

QOTD2

"Fuck you, yeah."
- Carol Bartz, when her interviewer notes that she is 63 years-old

I heart Carol Bartz.
Fuck yeah.
yow, bill