I dunno what it is with me lately. Maybe it's the fluffy white stuff we've seen in the last couple of days. Maybe going to the Christmas pageant at church. Maybe it's just the contagious excitement of our 6-year-old.
Anyway, whatever it is, it's enough to give an old cynic like myself a mild case of the Christmas spirit.
Don't worry. It's just temporary. I should be over it in a week or so. If it gets too bad, I'm sure a trip to the mall will cure me. In the meantime, here's an oldie but goody.
tagged: Bing Crosby, David Bowie, drummer boy, Christmas, carol
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
3AM Poll: Shoeblogga
How could you miss the recent video footage of Prez Bush deftly dodging a shoe-chucker's projectile the other day. If it wasn't his finest moment as president, then it was definitely up there in the top five.
Actually, I could see shoe chucking becoming quite the spectator sport in this country as well. I mean it's a little more practical than pie throwing and chicken tossing, but it makes the statement nonetheless.
Which begs the question: Given the chance, who would you want to sling your Sketchers at?
tagged: Bush, shoe, poll, Funkhouser, Carl Peterson
Actually, I could see shoe chucking becoming quite the spectator sport in this country as well. I mean it's a little more practical than pie throwing and chicken tossing, but it makes the statement nonetheless.
Which begs the question: Given the chance, who would you want to sling your Sketchers at?
tagged: Bush, shoe, poll, Funkhouser, Carl Peterson
Monday, December 15, 2008
My way or the Fairway
Back in the day, about a year and a half ago to be inexact, a group of Fairway residents protested a project to put a higher, longer bridge across a creek near where Mission Road meets Shawnee Mission parkway.
To them, the new bridge was too large and didn't fit the scale of the neighborhood. It would put a "Highway Bridge" in a residential area.
Fast forward to last Wednesday when the new bridge opened, and I have to say that overall I think it's an improvement. Sure the new bridge is higher and longer - about 100 feet longer and five feet taller for what its worth.
But the improvement in flood control should more than mitigate their concerns of a monstrous highway bridge. And to be honest, it still has the feel of a small-town residential bridge.
I think the key characteristic wasn't the length, but the width. At two-lanes, this bridge doesn't change the character of the neighborhood at all. Rather, it should help the houses maintain their value, now that the risk of flooding has been reduced.
tagged: Fairway, Kansas, bridge, Mission, Johnson County
To them, the new bridge was too large and didn't fit the scale of the neighborhood. It would put a "Highway Bridge" in a residential area.
Fast forward to last Wednesday when the new bridge opened, and I have to say that overall I think it's an improvement. Sure the new bridge is higher and longer - about 100 feet longer and five feet taller for what its worth.
But the improvement in flood control should more than mitigate their concerns of a monstrous highway bridge. And to be honest, it still has the feel of a small-town residential bridge.I think the key characteristic wasn't the length, but the width. At two-lanes, this bridge doesn't change the character of the neighborhood at all. Rather, it should help the houses maintain their value, now that the risk of flooding has been reduced.
tagged: Fairway, Kansas, bridge, Mission, Johnson County
Friday, December 12, 2008
Friday Blogthing: Leg warmers and Rubik's cubes
It seems the theme for today is 1980's pop music lyrics. Luckily, I'm quite versed in this topic. My performance in today's quiz is proof of that.
So roll up your jean cuffs, take the laces out of your Adidas, spray on a fresh layer of Aqua Net and jump in to the quiz. Good luck!
tagged: Friday, blogthing, 1980s, music, quiz, lyrics, pop culture, blog, meme
If you undertake this little trip down amnesia lane, you should know that the quiz has more than 100 fill-in-the-blank questions. But if your feeling nostalgic (like me), it will seem disturbingly fun and go by quickly.
So roll up your jean cuffs, take the laces out of your Adidas, spray on a fresh layer of Aqua Net and jump in to the quiz. Good luck!
tagged: Friday, blogthing, 1980s, music, quiz, lyrics, pop culture, blog, meme
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Top Ten Thursday: Top 10 Favorite Words from the Current Financial Meltdown
During our recent Grizwaldesque Thanksgiving road trip to North Dakota, I had a chance to catch up on all of the awesome NPR Planet Money podcasts. This is great programming and well worth the price of the download (it's free, btw).
Anyway, this crash course in the crashing economy gave me a new appreciation for some of the financial lingo. This week, I rank my Top 10 Favorite Words from the Current Financial Meltdown.
The main criteria was how cool I thought the words sounded, but I gave bonus points for the potential for double entendre.
tagged: economy, Top Ten, Ted Spread, glossary, Capital injection, Stimulus, Asset
Anyway, this crash course in the crashing economy gave me a new appreciation for some of the financial lingo. This week, I rank my Top 10 Favorite Words from the Current Financial Meltdown.The main criteria was how cool I thought the words sounded, but I gave bonus points for the potential for double entendre.
There you have it. As always, if you think I'm wrong on the ranking or if I missed something, feel free to say so in the comments.Top 10 Favorite Words
from the Current Financial Meltdown
10) Collateralized Debt Obligation
9) Mortgage-backed security
8) NINJA loan -- No Income? No Job or Assets? No problem.
7) Swap line -- I've heard of parties in Overland Park where these were popular.
6) Troubled Asset -- Do these jeans make my assets look troubled?
5) Naked Short Selling
4) Deflation -- "I swear baby, this has never happened to me before..."
3) Stimulus package -- We've covered this before.
2) TED Spread -- That TED is such a floozy
1) Capital Injection
tagged: economy, Top Ten, Ted Spread, glossary, Capital injection, Stimulus, Asset
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Thainfully employeed
I've tried to stay quiet on this one, but I can't just sit here while the angry mobs unjustly go after an upstanding citizen without saying a few words.
The media and bloggers have gone after John Thain pretty aggressively in the past week or so, and I'd just like to take this opportunity to suggest that a little slack cutting might be in order.
For those of you who haven't been paying attention, Thain is the embattled CEO of Merrill Lynch who has had everyone up in his jock simply because he requested a salary bonus that was rightfully his.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that:
From Donkelphant:
I mean, shouldn't we look at the entire body of Thain's work at Merrill Lynch when assessing his bonus request? He was there for an entire year, after all.
Sure, maybe his company losta few 11 billion dollars while he was the boss. Okay, granted the company's stock lost 80 percent of it's value, dropping from about $50 a share to (one sec while I check)... $14 bucks. Maybe he was forced to sell his company at a steep discount and risk the jobs of 30,000 employees.
But c'mon guys. This is America. We all about giving people a second chance. We're about understanding when someone has bad luck, not kicking them when they're down.
We're not going to fire you just because your wife ran around the office barefoot, insulted your coworkers and employees and performed ancient Druid rituals to try to get a tenant for the Sprint Center.
We still support you even if your pro-football team only wins six games in the last two years.
We don't blame you for having a bit too much to drink and driving your oil tanker into a mountain, despoiling pristine Alaskan wildlife habitats.
What we need to remember is that without his $10 million bonus, Thain only makes about $750,000 a year. Anyone care to tell me how he's supposed to replace the leather on the seats of his private jet on only $750,000 a year? Do you know how much it costs to pay illegal aliens to clean his 29-room Central Park West condo?
All I'm saying is that before we start criticizing Thain, we should all walk a mile in his Berlutis.
tagged: John Thain, Merrill Lynch, bonus, economy, Berluti
The media and bloggers have gone after John Thain pretty aggressively in the past week or so, and I'd just like to take this opportunity to suggest that a little slack cutting might be in order.
For those of you who haven't been paying attention, Thain is the embattled CEO of Merrill Lynch who has had everyone up in his jock simply because he requested a salary bonus that was rightfully his.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that:
Suddenly everyone was jumping on Thain's case for having such hubris, asking for a $10 million bonus while the economy, led by the banking sector that he was a major player in, when down the crapper.Merrill Lynch & Co. chief John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million...
The committee and full board are scheduled to meet Monday to hear Mr. Thain's formal bonus recommendations for himself and other senior executives of the New York company. No decision has been reached, and it isn't known what Mr. Thain will recommend, but the compensation committee is leaning toward denying the executives bonuses for this year...
From Donkelphant:
Why? Because he set up a deal for Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch. That’s right. The firm was in dire straits and needed somebody to save them. That’s why this guy thinks he’s entitled to this cash.From WSJ Blogs:
there will probably be a scant few who judge that in a time of turmoil, a few phone calls to BofA CEO Ken Lewis is worth an extra $10 million..."There are many more examples of people eager to place their dagger in Thain's back. But I come not to bury Thain, but to honor him.
I mean, shouldn't we look at the entire body of Thain's work at Merrill Lynch when assessing his bonus request? He was there for an entire year, after all.
Sure, maybe his company lost
But c'mon guys. This is America. We all about giving people a second chance. We're about understanding when someone has bad luck, not kicking them when they're down.
We're not going to fire you just because your wife ran around the office barefoot, insulted your coworkers and employees and performed ancient Druid rituals to try to get a tenant for the Sprint Center.
We still support you even if your pro-football team only wins six games in the last two years.
We don't blame you for having a bit too much to drink and driving your oil tanker into a mountain, despoiling pristine Alaskan wildlife habitats.
What we need to remember is that without his $10 million bonus, Thain only makes about $750,000 a year. Anyone care to tell me how he's supposed to replace the leather on the seats of his private jet on only $750,000 a year? Do you know how much it costs to pay illegal aliens to clean his 29-room Central Park West condo?
All I'm saying is that before we start criticizing Thain, we should all walk a mile in his Berlutis.tagged: John Thain, Merrill Lynch, bonus, economy, Berluti
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
TV tech
KCTV Channel 5 was pimping some kick-ass new technology on their news cast last night.
Seriously, every five minutes the announcers were dropping in mentions of this new, cutting edge technology that they were debuting, just in time for the first major snowtastrophy of the season.
What was this new technology? A new form of super live action laser Doppler radar? Pffth, that's yesterday's news. A bitchin' new weather control device? Still in development unfortunately.
Nope, the new technology was a video camera affixed to a news van, the pictures of which show you the road conditions at any given moment.
AWESOME! KCTV5 has invented duct taping a video camera to your bumper.
Actually if my pop culture history serves me well, I'm pretty sure Tony Soprano invented this about 10 years ago.
tagged: KCTV 5, weather, media, technology, Sopranos, video
Seriously, every five minutes the announcers were dropping in mentions of this new, cutting edge technology that they were debuting, just in time for the first major snowtastrophy of the season.
What was this new technology? A new form of super live action laser Doppler radar? Pffth, that's yesterday's news. A bitchin' new weather control device? Still in development unfortunately.
Nope, the new technology was a video camera affixed to a news van, the pictures of which show you the road conditions at any given moment.
AWESOME! KCTV5 has invented duct taping a video camera to your bumper.
Actually if my pop culture history serves me well, I'm pretty sure Tony Soprano invented this about 10 years ago.
tagged: KCTV 5, weather, media, technology, Sopranos, video
Monday, December 08, 2008
Indicator
Hey people in case you haven't noticed, the economy is bad.
It's so bad that the KU basketball program has decided to lay off three refs this year. I mean it's rough. A buck is so hard to come by that Walt Bodine has taken a job moonlighting as The Crypt Keeper just to make ends meet.
But over the weekend I saw a true sign of economic meltdown while on a quest for super cheap headphones for my six-year-old daughter todestroy use.
What was this sign? I'm glad you asked. Allow me to illustrate via camera phone:
That's right, Big Lots is having a FREAKIN' LIQUIDATION SALE!!!
Now, I don't know if you've ever shopped at a Big Lots. This is the bottom feeder of the U.S. retail distribution system. So if the American consumer-driven economy were an ocean, all of the chum deemed inedible by big fish like Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware or FAO Schwartz, would filter down to smaller fish like Target, K-Mart and Walmart.
The dregs unworthy of even these "value" retailers sinks to the bottom of the sea, where Big Lots picks it ups, dusts if off and puts it on the shelf and ludicrously low prices. This place is one step up from the weekly Lee's Summit swap meet.
You always hear that when the economy starts to sag (much like Larry Moore's chins), consumers flock to the value (cheap) retailers. Yet, here in good ol' OP, the throngs of shoppers seeking disposable grass trimmers aren't enough to keep the doors open.
Still, I could be misreading this. It could be that the store is closing due to the long-rumored "renovation" of the strip mall at 95th and Nall. I hope that's the case and that in a few months we'll have a newer, brighter Big Lots to get cheap junk from.
If the economy keeps going the way it is, we'll need it.
PS -- I got the headphones. Four bucks.
tagged: Big Lots, economy, liquidation, Walt Bodine, KU, Bush, environmentalist
It's so bad that the KU basketball program has decided to lay off three refs this year. I mean it's rough. A buck is so hard to come by that Walt Bodine has taken a job moonlighting as The Crypt Keeper just to make ends meet.But over the weekend I saw a true sign of economic meltdown while on a quest for super cheap headphones for my six-year-old daughter to
What was this sign? I'm glad you asked. Allow me to illustrate via camera phone:
That's right, Big Lots is having a FREAKIN' LIQUIDATION SALE!!!
Now, I don't know if you've ever shopped at a Big Lots. This is the bottom feeder of the U.S. retail distribution system. So if the American consumer-driven economy were an ocean, all of the chum deemed inedible by big fish like Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware or FAO Schwartz, would filter down to smaller fish like Target, K-Mart and Walmart.
The dregs unworthy of even these "value" retailers sinks to the bottom of the sea, where Big Lots picks it ups, dusts if off and puts it on the shelf and ludicrously low prices. This place is one step up from the weekly Lee's Summit swap meet.
You always hear that when the economy starts to sag (much like Larry Moore's chins), consumers flock to the value (cheap) retailers. Yet, here in good ol' OP, the throngs of shoppers seeking disposable grass trimmers aren't enough to keep the doors open.
Still, I could be misreading this. It could be that the store is closing due to the long-rumored "renovation" of the strip mall at 95th and Nall. I hope that's the case and that in a few months we'll have a newer, brighter Big Lots to get cheap junk from.
If the economy keeps going the way it is, we'll need it.
PS -- I got the headphones. Four bucks.
tagged: Big Lots, economy, liquidation, Walt Bodine, KU, Bush, environmentalist
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