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Thursday March 31, 2011
Donald Trump is a bit more shrewd than his son in law. This is how to invest in
real estate. One well to do Ms. Merriweather bult this in Palm Beach in 1924.She left it to the government which decided it was too much to maintain. The Donald shrewdly bought it in 1985 for a mere $10 M. If you think that is high, click and take the tour, it was a steal.
Today it is a private club run by the Donald. Buy low, that's the trick.
Tuesday March 29, 2011
William Burrus, Education Outreach Chair for San Antonio Institute of Internal Auditors spoke to our accounting classes Tuesday March 28, 2011. Internal Audit is one of the fastest growing segments of accounting. The SA IIA Chapter website is linked on the sidebar of this blog.
We have a fine relationship with SA IIA and Texas A & M SA. This is the third visit to our campus by some of their representatives. Arlena Sones Past President of the group has also addressed our students.
SA IIA has generously decided to split their scholarship alocation between our campus and UTSA, thanks!
Special note, my iPhone clearly lacks a white balance adjustment to work properly under fluorescent lights!
Monday March 28, 2011
David E. Davis is probably not a name most of you would recognize. This is regrettable as he loomed large as the premier automotive journalist ever since I started reading about automobiles about 1962. Great writers can write on any topic as the byline linked so mentions. But he chose to write about cars which as he says can be a journey in themselves. Going great places in great transport with great friends, yep that's what the journey is all about.
He mentioned Tom Wolfe as an inspiration when he began as Editor of Car and Driver. Wolfe was certainly one of the premier writers of the last half century. And indeed he made his mark with the also writing about cars in The Tangerine Flaked Streamlined Baby. What you don't know Tom Wolfe, well put his name in search at Amazon and learn a bit.
Great writing to me is simply that which attracts the reader and calls for more of the same, a page turner to be sure and another installment around the bend, that's the ticket. Davis created that Theater of the Mind, letting me tag along on his adventures in Europe, reflecting on what a reincarnation as a sea otter might hold, and even recently why Gaddafi should be held for trial by murdering a friend, an exec at VW of America in the Lockerbie case.
I can recall being the object of some ridicule in my UT Austin MBA class by quoting Davis, (what could a car mag writer know they chorused) but I don't recall a single student advancing another author as writing mentor, so there.
Should my writing grow boring or pedestrian or assume that gosh awful academic gotta write it this way, I can only hope that the ghost of this fine journalist will look over my shoulder, gently tut tut me for veering into boredom or some such, and remind that great writing is both educational and entertaining, thanks, don't let me forget.
Monday March 21, 2011
I caught this squirrel in action yesterday. He could not climb down the wire to the bird feeder
But he was able to manage to just reach it, knocking some grain to the ground where he retrieved it.
This went on until I moved the feeder further out on the limb.
The Marines have a saying about this
Encounter, Improvise, Overcome
We can all learn from motivated beings, determined to succeed.
Sat March 19 2011
Derek Miles and I have concocted a Socionomic look at Black Etertainers. One was clear in compiling that presentation, there is endless material. A prominent actor we left out was Sidney Poitier.
I agree with the review that the racial side of the story is pretty heavy handed. But going back to see films made at extreme junctures of history should be viewed as a sort of Time Machine. The theme of the movie reflects the socionomic mood of the time, which is why this was a Best Picture candidate.
TCM airs this movie this afternoon at 3 PM.
Hmm, were I in charge I would create various classic film series illustrating different themes. One might be business ethics, another might be Black Entertainers or Civil Rights. Students would view the film in the library and then we would use a discussion board to comment. These could be non credit courses as evidence of stretching one self to learn more about life and films and history. That is an essential part of college now seeing films and visiting in the coffee shop afterwards, that is gone now. Ironic in that we now have more coffeeshops than ever but fewer film seminars.
Friday March 18, 2011
No not the one in the 1980s about the Huxtables, the short lived two season Bill Cosby Show from 1969-70
which followed Cosby's success on I Spy. Interestingly the co creator of this show would help fashion the latter Hustables show in 1984. By that time the bear market had ended and upbeat outlook was in fashion. The result of course was a smash hit as it was in tune with the prevailing mood.
We recently did a presentation using Socionomics, the social science of prediction based on exogenously formed mood, to examine the careers of Black Entertainers. We noted that Cosby was a bull market figure. He came to prominence in the mid 1960s and I Spy went off the air in 1967 as the mood turned more negative. He had clout at this point but even that apparently faded in his arguments with NBC over including a laugh track in the series, he did not want one. The description says this may have been the reason the highly regarded series was not renewed. We would contend that Cosby's typically family friendly upbeat outlook was out of step with Woodstock, Viet Nam, and the Chicago Seven that were grabbing headlines at the time.
In the link above note the power cast Cicely Tyson and a music track by Quincy Jones no less. His star power was such that he attracted Wally Cox, Lou Gossett Jr. and Henry Fonda as guests. This is an interesting addition to the transition from Cosby's hit comedy spot in 1964, Noah, to the dark side of the human experience showcased by Richard Pryor.