TJ's Terrific Travels and Terrible Travails

Wandering afresh, our hero came across a ginormous duck, with an oddly commercial sounding quack.  TJ stuck the monster mallard with his knife, striking it down.  The duck, refusing to stay down, popped it's bill up and made that annoying quack.  TJ struck it again.  TJ and the duck (good sitcom title) danced this dance several times, until the fowl was finished.  TJ stood smiling, glowing in his victory.  Unfortunately, he didn't notice the fast approaching Angry Irrational Giant on a steamroller.  So quick it came, not letting our hero get out of the way.  TJ was flattened.  And so was his ego...

Literary Tuesday - Beatrice & Virgil

So, I just finished reading Beatrice & Virgil by Yaan Martel, author of Life of Pi.  It was a fast, compelling read and overall, I would rate it "good".  I can't readily recommend it, however, because of its dark nature, including graphic violence.  Martel's effort was far-reaching, though sometimes feeling disjointed and contrived.  This absurdist, allegorical tale of a donkey and monkey was highly thought provoking and would make for a great book club discussion.

Josh has finished The Mixed Up Files....calling it "pretty good."  He also finished the 5th Harry Potter and can't wait to start the 6th volume.  In the meantime, he is reading The Phantom Tollbooth...one of my childhood favs....

Jillie just finished a chocolate cake...

TJ's Terrific Travels and Terrible Travails

Limping along determined, TJ encountered a fierce monster named Amed. The beast had been surrounded by other adventurers in the street. They were giving it quite the pummeling. When Amed was beat to a new low, TJ saw his chance and pounced. He tried to hit the scallywag but it was much thinner than he realized. TJ's attack missed it's mark. Not only was his effort in vain, but TJ did not notice Amed's hidden whip. With a surprising swiftness, it unfurled the weapon, snapping all in it's path aside, and soaring off into the sky - hopefully, never to be seen again. TJ called it an early day and vowed to fight other critters the next day.

Contribution from Wife

The sun was still sleeping under a blanket of fog when we left the house. The mom said to Jilly, "Hey Jilly. Do you know why the sun isn't awake yet?" And Jilly thought about it for a second and replied, "The sun is lazy. He's still tucked in. He doesn't want to get up."

Cubby had a Prince of Persia ( a lego set) appetizer.  Nooooooo, said the Dad.  Oh yes!, said the Mom.  I heard a LOUD crunch and then he looked at me with his guilty eyes. He dropped it out on the floor by my desk but Prince's arm was missing! It was a travesty! The colony moved their location high above ground to the Fireplace Mountain. The camel had the most difficult part of the journey. Prince was re-arranged with his pants on backwards. His missing arm was found near the stairs and was re-attached. His platinum sword was ever so slightly bent. 

Jillie:  Is this a mini-pineapple?
Mom:  No, you are just a giant.

List Monday - Best of the '60's

So, the decade of my birth is not my most favorite musically.  The only worse decade is the bankrupt 90's.  Yet the 1960's were sonically important - less so for the specific songs that came out, but more so for the bands/artists that emerged.  Therefore, I am listing my top 10 important musical acts, their most influential tunes, and my favorites from their repertoire.  Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know I left out Dylan, Hendrix, Jefferson Starship, Hollies, all of Motown....not my cup of tea.  And the Dead, they're in a special category, to be discussed later.....

1. Beatles -  Day in the life or Hey Jude.......my fav:  Tomorrow Never Knows
2. Stones - Satisfaction.......Moonlight Mile (and setimental fav Emotional Rescue)
3. Who - My Generation or Baba .......  Love Reign O'er Me (Emminence Front, close behind)
4. Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven......Boogie with Stu
5. Beach Boys - Good Vibrations......In My Room
6. Doors - Break on Through......Riders on the Storm
7. Kinks - Lola........Apeman
8. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Waters.......Late in the Evening
9. Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl..........Into the Mystic
10. Neil Diamond - Solitary Man/I am I said/Holly Holy..........too many to choose from...I'll go with:  Morningside

Coup d'moi

So the little league team is 0 and 13.  Feels like 0 and a gazillion.  Tuesday night's game was one of the sloppiest losses yet.  Fortunately, Josh wasn't a part of this fiasco, as he was getting his braces on.  We should have won, but the kids were lethargic and unfocused.  They were playing tight.  The weather was also generally crappy.  So I decided to cancel the next night's batting practice and regroup the kids at Saturday's practice.  Well, one of the parents had a k'nipshit.  "We need more practices.  In football, when it get's tough, the tough get going.  You've given up on the kids.  You shouldn't be coach anylonger".  He wanted me to step down.  He even tried to run his own practice.  I told him to chill, respect my decision, and that I resented his accusations.  Fortunately, my highly vocal assistant coach backed me up.  The other dad eventually backed down.  Just more stress for a thankless, time consuming job.  Good practice today, though.  Off to certain defeat tomorrow....

TJ's Terrific Travels and Terrible Travails

After spending several years basking in the desert sun, our intrepid hero has returned for another trek through the foreboding fiscal canyons.  With a Scylla named Wall to his left and a Charybdis named Broad to his right, TJ bravely ventures in search of hidden treasures, wary of menacing monsters.  Although he has fearlessly faced these creatures in the past - demons as mysterious as the amazon, with misleading names like Mr. Softy, Beemer, Gold Man, Googly and countless other yahoos - these guardians of untold wealth have grown faster and fiercer since TJ's last encounters.

No sooner than he had entered the arena, TJ found himself face-to-face with a formidable foe:  Sandisk.  Now this beast, nicknamed Sandy, had an unusual power.  It would crash to the floor, suddenly and violently rise up to the ceiling, and take a step forward, destroying all in its path.  Yet TJ had seen this type of hellion before and was not afraid.  He saw his opportunity.

Sandy stepped towards TJ, crashed to the floor, and quickly jerked itself skyward.  Moments before it hit the ceiling, TJ launched himself on top of his foe.  Reaching into his pocket, he whipped out a vial labeled "Get Short."  It was a shrinking potion.  But Sandy, who didn't like being called Sandy, had earned the right to be immune to this potion.  With TJ perilously perched on Sandy's shoulders, the monster uncharacteristically did not crash to the floor, but instead, continued to rise.  Higher and higher, until it crashed through the ceiling, ripping the shirt right off TJ's back.  TJ went skyward with Sandy, until he was tossed aside, like day old meatloaf.  Our hero was badly bruised, but would live to fight another day.

Happy Erf Day

When I left my house, at 4:57 am, my car-mometer said 44 degrees.  WTF?

Today, my boy is a fountain pen...

I don't know what hurts worse:  that my baby boy has braces.....or my wallet.

Literary Tuesday - This is Where I leave you

Just finished a book so good that I could hardly wait for Literary Tuesday.  This is where I leave you by Jonathan Tropper.  So funny and so readable and filled with sex.  Reserve your copy today!  (This means you Bruce!) It is the story of Judd Foxman.  With his own life falling apart, he must sit shiva for his dead dad (who is atheist) and reconnect with his dysfunctional family.  A heartwarming story for the whole family.

Josh is now reading:  From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

List Monday - Jobs I Have Held

• Boiler Room Attendant - Current
• Switch Board Operator - Vanguard
• Casino Pit Boss - Market Making on the CBOE
• Man Servant - clerking on the CBOE
• Paper Pusher/Number Cruncher - Banking Analyst
• Golf Cart wrangler/bumper car driver - Banking Analyst
• Terminator/liquidator - Banking Analyst
• Steel Worker - Auditor for Inland Steel
• Telemarketer - schilling for Wash U
• Life Guard - BGHS pool
• Restauranteur - Burger King
• Bus Boy - Village Tavern
• Dish Washer - Nick's Pizza
• Baby Sitter - Henry Horner Day Camp
• Landscaper - Both front and back

Weekend in review

So, you think that I would be able to finally sleep in on the weekend.  You would be wrong.  Josh's little league team had a 8 am practice Saturday morning.

The lovely bride surprised me with a date night of dining out at Eva's Caribbean Kitchen in Laguna Beach.  It was her way of continuing our Bahama's trip.  Very thoughtful.  Good caesar salad, so-so catfish.

Woke up this morning to old dog peeing in the bed.  That's always a good time.

Jillie wanted everyone to check out the Dana Point Tidal pools.  So, we went to a side of Dana Point harbor that we had never been to check it out.  Very cool, but rough seas.  Have to go back at low tide.

Josh's little league team, now 0 - 12, were on the verge of a comeback and first win when the game was halted due to time.  Victory will be so much sweeter when it finally comes.

It is after 5 and time for bed.  That is all.

 

Don't Catch a Falling Knife

"If a stock doesn't act right, don't touch it; because, being unable to tell precisely what is wrong, you cannot tell which way it is going. No diagnosis, no prognosis. No prognosis, no profit." - Edwin Lefevre


"I made my money by selling too soon. " Bernard Baruch


 In this business if you're good, you're right six times out of ten. You're never going to be right nine times out of ten.
Peter Lynch


The market does not beat them. They beat themselves, because though they have brains they cannot sit tight.
Jesse Livermore 


It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong.
George Soros


October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.
Mark Twain


Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.
Warren Buffett


If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn't be in stocks.
John (Jack) Bogle


"Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered." Anonymous

School of Rock

It all began with Frank.  Ol' Blue Eyes.  The Voice.  The Chairman of the Board.  Without Frank, there would be no Rock & Roll.  And he hated rock, calling it music for "cretinous goons".

Sure, most people would argue that rock was directly derived from rhythm & blues - the music that came out of the Mississippi delta, itself a descendant from slavery work songs and spirituals.  Of course, this music was a highly influential ingredient; it was often stolen/copied/gentrified.  But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Back to the Hoboken crooner.  Sinatra's career took off as a singer for a big band.  Swing music.  The pop of the 1940's.  But he became bigger than the band.  His first step towards launching rock was being responsible for the bobby soxer craze.  Singing directly to teen girls, when pop music had previously been directed toward a more adult audience, a sexual energy or tension was created - a prerequisite for rock.

He took this energy a step further.  As he aged, his popularity with the teen girls waned.  He had to re-invent himself.  He began to sing darker songs which featured a bluesy, heartbreaking longing.  Songs with attitude and sexual overtones.  And as his career was reinvigorated, he developed a hip, swinging persona.  A coolness.  Partying with his Pack:  drinking, smoking, gambling, womanizing - a real rock lifestyle.

Meanwhile, the songs of the south were working their way northward.  A perfect confluence of a promoter, a writer and a gaggle of blues singers converged upon Chicago.  Leonard Chess matched the writing ability of Willie Dixon to such blues legends as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.  Great blues was being made that would later be sampled by Elvis, the Stones, Zeppelin and others.

It was Elvis who became the king.  Despite the often copied and innovative song stylings of Chuck Berry and Little Richard, Elvis led the way for rock.  He took the sexual energy of Sinatra many steps further and combined it with the negro musical sounds he had heard growing up to popularize rock with the country's majority white population.  Elvis even appeared on Frank's TV show.

Sure, Frank's was "The Voice" of the 20th century.  But his songs and his lyrical interpretations made them timeless.

Trader Joe: the sequel

So after 4 days back on the job, I'd rate my performances to date as:  bad, awful, bad, ok.  A lot of work and stress for swinging 100 lots.  They're keeping us on a tight string so far.  It's good practice, but difficult to make any real money yet.  The hardest thing, however,  is waking up at 4:30 a.m.  That's going to take some getting used to.  Seriously, some severe sleep deprivation going on.   zzzzzz

Literary Tuesday - White Tiger

Manage to get quite a bit of reading done while on vacation.  Finished reading The White Tiger by Adiga, for which he won the Booker prize.  It was an amusing, sardonic romp....enjoyable, but forgettable.  Story of an a servant  from India who manages to rise above the caste system.  Makes one appreciate the good ol' USA (and so does the Bahamas, in general).

Finished Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre.  Interesting stories of a turn of the century stock market maker and goes to show: the more things change, the more people stay the same.

Also managed to skim through Value in Time, a trading textbook that was homework from the new firm.  Very analytical and perhaps more valuable to hedge fund managers.


Josh just finished a book, Where the Red Fern Grows -  something about a boy and his dogs and the death of said dogs.  Needless to say, he was bawling.  Sensitive kid.

List Monday - The Blues

Coming of age in Chicago and St. Louis, I spent a lot of time listening to the blues and hanging out in Blues bars.  Blueberry Hill in St. Louis was one of my favorite.  I used to go hear Rondo's Blues Deluxe and drink boiler makers.


Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy

B B King - The Thrill is Gone

Howlin' Wolf - Evil

John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom

Koko Taylor - Wang Dang Doodle

Ruth Brown - If I can't sit on it...

Willie Dixon - You Shook Me

Stevie Ray Vaugh - Pride and Joy

Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind

Little Walter - Juke

Date night date night

Saw the Tina Fey movie with the bride last night.  The movie was fairly amusing.  Steve Carrell (?) generally annoys me, but I am never disappointed by the depths of Tina Fey's intelligent talent.  Also, went out for chicken parmigiana.  Unfortunately, mine was served cajun style.  Gramma took the kiddos to Red Robin and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Fun night for all.

A letter

Dear tooth fairy,

Not 1 of my tooth's fell out. Maybe you can use some of your magic to make 1 fall out.

from,

Jillian

p.s. I am in the Bahamas. Come there soon. I want a loose tooth.

And now for a haiku...

Soft sugary sands

blue jello-like sea ripples

palms frolic with glee

List Monday

Top 10 Things about being in the Bahamas

1. 
   
   Soft sandy beaches with crystal clear turquoise waters
2. 
   
   Pools with crazy slides
3. 
   
   Fruity drinks
4. 
   
   Bahama breezes
5. 
   
   kiddos having a blast
6. 
   
   playing with dolphins
7. 
   
   Fried Conch
8. 
   
   Lazy river ride with rapids...
9. 
   
   ....and waves
10. 
    
    Not being in an earthquake.
    
    

    

    
    

5 Corpulent Porpoises

Josh has been spending his vacay memorizing Groucho Marx's radio announcer memorization game list.

Kids were pretty brave and pysched to swim with the dolphins today.  Our's was named Isis, who was a bit moody, yet kissable......hmm, who does that remind me of?

Lost child of Atlantis

The intrepid wife braved the New Providence transportation system to venture to the citimarket this morning, returning with a week's provisions.  Now that's some Bahama Mama.

Went up the Power Tower waterslide with J and J today.  Big J changed his mind at the last second and took the stairs down.  Took us a half hour to find him.  He was freakin'.  I was freaking that he was freaking.

Lasted less than 4 minutes at the craps table tonight.  Tomorrow's another day in paradise.

Atlantis Squarepantis

It's like a screensaver here.

Around the world in a day...

Took the kiddos to EPCOT today. Yeah, it's a little dated. There was a 90 minute wait for Soarin' which is funny because you can go on the same ride in Cali with no wait. No one goest to CA Adventureland. Nemo ride kind of babyish. Went to Mexico. Now I don't have to go to Puerto Vallarta. Kids liked Viking boat ride in Norway although I remember it being cooler. Skipped China cause we are having it for dinner. Hung out in France and breezed through the UK. Mothership Earth ride was nicely updated. Florida - it's not the heat, it's the stupidity. And it's seriously swampy. Off to NY China Buffet.