Learning to fly

It's been a while and I have much to write about. Last Friday, I had some people over. Everything was going well until my co-worker brought over the Bacardi Gold. The night then became a blur of dancing, Aaliyah, and firecrackers. Saturday, Koo, Nim and I played some basketball, and had a great lunch at Epic Burger. On Saturday night I surprised Allie with tickets to one of her favorite bands, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty put on a really good show. And, thanks to Nimit's contacts, I got a free upgrade on our tickets to pretty good seats. On Sunday, Allie and I walked around the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I have driven by it a million times on the way home to Minneapolis but never seen it. For those who live in the Midwest, take the time to go see the Gardens. The landscaping is breathtakingly beautiful. I'm not even much into gardening or landscaping and I thought these gardens were awesome. Plus, it's free.

1. I really saw the movie Inception. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. I give it a B+. The special effects and fight scenes are reason enough to go see the movie. Plus I think that Leonardo DiCaprio is a top five actor. There are some amazing holes left in the script that bugged me but not enough to take away from the movie. I also think this is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen.

2. I was reading in Escapistmagazine.com about what those nerds at MIT have been doing in their spare time. According to the article, this group has developed an algorithm on Facebook to determine if you are gay regardless of what you put down in your interested in section. Basically if you have a lot of gay friends and in your like section you like a lot of the same things that openly gay people like, then there is a good chance you are gay. Uh huh.

3. Speaking of Facebook, I was reading about some of the differences of Facebook in America vs. Facebook in other countries. One of the things that the U.K. Facebook has is a Panic Button. Basically if you are a target of cyber bullying, or some other verbal assault, you hit this Facebook Panic Button and immediately the police are notified of the exchange. I think this is a great idea and want it implemented in America. There have been too many stories of inappropriate activity that is beyond rude to criminal.

4. Congratulations Jerusalem for being the idiot city of the day. 30 year old Sabbar Kashur met a Jewish woman they had consensual sex. He lied and not only said he was single (he was married with two kids) but that he was a Jew (he is a Muslim). The woman went to the police and he was arrested and found guilty of by the Jerusalem District Court of "Rape by Deception". You mean that in other countries men have lied about who they are to have sex with a woman?!?! That would never happen here! Kashur was sentenced to 18 months in prison. But let's be honest here, this is not rape by deception - it is bigotry. I really wish these two countries would grow up.

financial regulation bill

It is not everyday that I congratulate congress for a job well done. Today, I will congress credit where credit is due. It is beyond obvious that we needed a financial regulation bill. Well, today congress passed a regulation bill with several things that I like. Being the uber politics nerd, I decided to read the bill and choose which bits I found to be interesting:

A) From December to early March of this year, I worked for a credit card processing company. I know that the whole processing industry is a giant scam. Businesses have to pay somewhere between 0-6-7% on all their profits to the credit card companies and additional fees to the processing company. This hurts small businesses and big businesses. Most European countries charge about 0.2%. In America, sometimes up to 7% of a purchase is lost in fees. Although, congress hasn't put a number on it, insiders are estimating that they are going to cap the fees to 0.5%. Sorry Visa and Mastercard. In addition, now businesses will be offered a discount if customers pay with cash or check instead of plastic. This was not allowed before.

B) Basically a bank will not get to be "too big to fail" anymore. First if a bank defaults, they have to begin selling off their assets and begin repaying their debts. Two, and most importantly, executives will no longer let their company fail. If you are a senior executive, and your bank fails, the government will have the right to pay back your debts by going after your salary and bonuses from the past two years!! Third, those executives will be permanently banned from working in the financial sector.

C) Every American will be allowed to look at their credit score for free once a year through www.annualcreditreport.com.

D) I truly believe that only like ten people in the world know why oil is priced the way it is. It is not just simple side economics. Instead, it is a handful of elite derivatives traders that decide what prices will be. Well, in this new law, trading of natural resources will be much more transparent.

E) There will be a new sub-branch of the SEC (Securities Exchange Committee) called the Office of Financial Literacy. There whole goal will be to teach Americans more about things like Roth IRAs, 401ks, liens, fees, et cetera. The whole financial industry is WAY too confusing. Hopefully this group proves beneficial.

To be honest there was a lot more stuff that was either above my head, or I found completely uninteresting. Bottom line, there is going to be a lot more financial regulation. Hopefully there won't be any more of these Citibanks, AIG's, Bear Stearns, and other companies hurting our economy.

1. Did you read Rush Limbaugh's latest gem? On Tuesday, referring to the late George Steinbrenner, "That cracker made a lot of African-Americans millionaires... He fired a bunch of white guy managers left and right." I am not going to pretend to be outraged. My favorite part is the fake outrage by the NAACP, and the Al Sharpton's of the world. Oh, Rush... you never cease to entertain me.

2. Currently listening to "move your feet" by Junior Senior.

The Boss

It is shame that on the eve of baseball's all-star game, the greatest owner in the history of sports, George Steinbrenner, passed on at the age of 80 following a massive heart attack. Since buying the team in 1973 for about $9 million, Steinbrenner has turned the Yankees into the model organization for all of sports. During Steinbrenner's tenure, the Yankees are now worth almost a billion dollars, they have their own TV network, and have won seven World Series championships. The Yankees are the ultimate team that fans love to hate. But fans didn't hate the Yankees and George Steinbrenner, they hated how jealous they were. It was easy to hate the Yankees while growing up in Minnesota when we had an owner who was actually wealthier than Steinbrenner but viewed the team more as a business than as a love. Steinbrenner loved the Yankees and loved winning. He would do whatever it was in his power to win a championship every single year. What fan would not love that in an owner? This is not to say he was not a little crazy. He was known to be incredibly demanding of his managers and players. He had 17 managers under his watch. He was suspended from baseball on numerous occasions for things like bribery and slander; and had several infamous feuds with baseball legends like Joe Torre and Daryll Strawberry. But at the end of the day he just wanted to win. That is all I want out of my owner. R.I.P.

Monday musings

Once again, I apologize for the long delay in blog posts. I have had a very nice week. On Wednesday, Allie and I went to Six Flags. I had not been there in about ten years. I really love amusement parks; and it was fun to enjoy the nice weather, people watching, and of course the rides. My weekend was good. Allie had a party on Friday night, I worked all day Saturday, some friends and I went to a party at Ann's sister's apt on Saturday night, and on Sunday I worked, and then came back and watched a little Harry Potter. Yeah, I know what I am.

1. Mel Gibson is one of my all-time favorite actor/directors. Movies like We Were Soldiers, The Patriot, and Braveheart are some of the best movies ever made. However, there is no other way around it... Gibson is crazy. Have you guys been reading about some of the audio that his ex-girlfriend has of him? Forget the racist rants... Forget the DUI... Forget the anti-semitism... There is audio of Gibson physically hitting his girlfriend and yelling such things as, "I will bury you in my rose garden"... "You need a f*ckin bat to the side of the head"... You can read more examples, or youtube the audio, but I think you get the idea. There is one audio where he is literally breathless after screaming, and most likely beating up his girlfriend. Don't get me wrong, Gibson is almost a billionaire and will likely never see a minute in jail... but I hope I am wrong. Gibson needs to be locked up and get a lot of professional help.

2. The LeBron James "decision 2010" episode is a sad indictment on how much importance we pay to athletes in 2010 in the United States. Like a hypocrite, I had to tune into the NBA reality show last week to see where he would sign and then immediately text/call my friends with my thoughts. Yes, as a fan of the NBA, I am intrigued to see how the Heat will do next year. No, I do not think LeBron made the best decision. If I were him, I would have gone to Chicago. After that I would have gone to the Knicks. The Heat now have ten million to give to nine players. Their only hope is that a bunch of talented players take enormous pay-cuts. (Editor's note: It looks like Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller have taken huge pay cuts to sign with the Heat.) And will someone please tell Cavs owner Dan Gilbert to chill.

Slice of Americana

This blog used to be a vehicle for me to vent to all of you about all that is going wrong with the world. In particular, all that is going wrong with me. It's hard to do that now. Life is pretty good. Actually, life is really good. I was kind of reminded of that this weekend.

On Friday afternoon, Allie, Brittany, and Jason Crystal and I loaded up my Toyota Scion and headed for Lake Leelanau, Michigan - a small town in Western Michigan. I had been there twice before and knew how much fun it was going to be. Once again, the trip lived up to my sky-high expectations. One thing I kept mentioning over and over again was how American the trip was - s'mores over the campfire, small town parade, roadtrips with classic rock over the stereo, reading on the hammock, fireworks, grilling burgers and hotdogs, and drinking local beer. The trip was an A+. Yes, I still love doing things like jet-skiing and speed boating; but that is not what I will miss when I think about that small Michigan town. Living in the big city, I had all but forgotten how beautiful the stars look in the middle of nowhere. I had forgotten how amazing it is to wake up and see the sun rise over a lake. Or, to see a sunset among the rolling hills of southwestern Michigan. It also made me appreciate Chicago, too. When we drove back, exhausted from an adventure filled weekend and a long car ride to see the fireworks from U.S. Cellular Field and the skyline from Lake Shore Drive, we all sat back and appreciated living in one of the most exciting cities in the world. Absolutely, this weekend was one that made me sit back and appreciate how amazing the world can be sometimes when you take a few days to forget about the pressures of work, cell phones, internet, TV, the news, and instead focus on friendship, family, and experiences.

1. Earlier last week when Allie invited me to go see a concert headlined by some band named Pinot (like the wine), I was hesitant. But, I like concerts and I like making Allie happy, I decided why not go. It's not like I had anything else to do on a Thursday night. I was extremely happy that I went! The guitarist is a friend from Allie's high school but the band formed in Los Angeles. They are kind of like a 2010 James Brown with incredible guitar, saxophone, and vocals. They are currently touring all over America from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Minneapolis. I highly recommend you go to www.pinotfunk.com to find out when they are next coming to your city and checking them out. Really outstanding music.

2. Currently listening to "Somewhere over the rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.