Losing a $1,000 Bet

Sat 2-3-18

Subj:       Losing a $1,000 Bet

                After my accident last January which subsequently forced me to relinquish my place in the 2017 Certified Financial Planning (CFP) program at Oakland University which started last February, I spent the year with two main objectives – 1) Recover from my injury, 2) Make further preparations to enter the CFP.  The director of the OU program had told me last February that, despite my MBA and 37 years of financial management experience, I was not qualified to enter their program and should pursue my studies at an institution that offered an online self-paced option.  I was really quite put off by this in view of our previous discussions that if I completed the mentorship program which I did from May through September 2016 and then completed a subsequent internship, that I would then be sufficiently qualified. 

                Having completed those requirements with the exception that my mentor had not yet lined me up with an internship, it was with some disappointment and no small amount of disgust to learn that I was still deemed unqualified.  The second big shock came in April when I contacted my mentor to resurrect the search for an internship only to be told that he was leaving the program, leaving Michigan, and leaving his firm of 35 years to pursue “a new chapter in my life” (presumed translation: retirement) in Florida and would no longer be available either to work with me or even advise me. 

                Speak of feeling completely betrayed and abandoned.  I was genuinely counting on OU and that internship program to jumpstart my new career given the difficulties with age discrimination.  I was very much counting on OU to be able to point me towards firms that were actually looking for candidates my age (as I had been assured three years ago when I first became involved in the program) rather than me randomly contacting firms, 100% of which would claim they did not discriminate, 90% of which would discriminate.  I was going to be spinning my wheels a lot unless OU was willing to be an intermediary. 

                So being advised to go to another institution did not go over at all well with me.  I was no longer feeling at all favorable towards OU, in fact very much put off by the fact that I could not get accurate information from anybody there.  I was curious to talk to the director again to find out if I was still a candidate for internship, though I strongly suspected the answer would be no and, even if a yes, also suspected that I would just be given worthless leads without any vetting.  If that were the case, I would be better off just going my own way. 

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                Thus, by the end of the year I had pretty much decided that I would not attempt to return to Oakland University.  I had done a considerable amount of research regarding the online programs and though they looked suitable enough, I was put off by the lack of support they offered.  I am the kind of student who asks a lot of questions.  I was shocked to discover that both of the online schools that OU had recommended had a limit of just three 15-minute phone calls for each course to instructors to ask questions.  That was hardly adequate.  Both in undergraduate and graduate I routinely dropped in on my professors for 10 to 15 minutes before each class session to shoot questions at them, which they were always very happy to answer.  This was in addition to questions asked during class.  And it was this support system for having questions answered that put me on the Dean’s List at BU and the top ten percent of my class at USC. 

Perhaps for the online programs the material would prove to be self-explanatory and the need for questions would not be as crucial as I thought.  Still there was something about them that struck me as deficient so about three weeks ago I began rethinking OU.  After all, it would be providing live instructors to whom I could ask questions and the support of 15 to 20 fellow students with whom I would be sharing the experience for the next 14 months. 

It occurred to me a few weeks ago that it might actually be quite a good investment just to take the first course in February and March and see how it goes.  After all, my main concerns about the program being too intense or that I would find out that I wasn’t good at this stuff or, more to the point, didn’t even like it – all these could be answered very efficiently simply by taking the first course, especially since this year the first course was investments.  Though they did tell me last year that I lacked experience, I was still under the impression that completing the mentor program with a rave recommendation from my mentor solved that.  I even had a letter from the mentor singing my praises and stating his opinion that I would be a great success in the 14-month cohort.  

To find out for sure, it would cost $850 for the course and $150 for the textbooks.  So a gamble of $1,000 could finally set my mind at ease as to whether this was the right path for me.  Best case scenario: it turns out not only to be manageable but great and 14 months from now I become a Certified Financial Planner.  Worst case: it turns out disastrously so for the thousand dollars I get to find out that I belong on a different path; besides which I’ll also learn a lot about investments.  Either way, I win.  A thousand dollars is not a lot of money to get the answers to these crucial questions. 

Having made the decision, I actually for the first time started feeling very excited about starting the investment class on Wednesday.  Sunday night I registered online, paid the tuition and ordered the two textbooks.  On Tuesday, I received a detailed syllabus from the instructor along with the first assignment that would be due already when we come to the first class session on Wednesday.  As of Tuesday, there were 25 students registered for the class.  These were the 25 people I’d be spending the next 14 months with.  It was going to be a good program this year. 

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I’ve mentioned that I spent five months in 2016 taking the introductory course from my mentor.  We covered two very large textbooks in that class which was basically a condensed version of the entire 14 month program which itself is a condensed version of the original two-year program.  It was fascinating and I loved every bit of it except that we were covering 150-200 pages of technical material for each 45 minute session.  This was very intense, there was only time for one or two questions (when I had a dozen or more) and scarcely time to do any more than the most superficial overview of the material.  What’s more is that there was an exam at the beginning of each session on the material that was assigned but not yet covered.  The exam was very detailed so it was quite necessary to study all 200 pages very thoroughly to pass the exam; and did I mention that we were under threat of expulsion if we failed two exams?  Thus there was a certain amount of stress in each session.   (Now I know I need not have had any stress at all for now I know it would have not made a bit of difference.  They never had any intention of admitting me to the program.) 

But Tom, my mentor and instructor, was very amiable towards me; I got the impression very quickly that he was only looking for evidence of a commitment and that I would be passing as long as I was making an effort.  Besides, the only real objective was to pass the course as a prerequisite for acceptance to the intern program.  I could tough it out for five months to get into that program. 

Tom also assured me that the regular academic program would not be nearly as rigorous or intense, that we would be covering far less material for each session, the sessions would be 3 hours long and there would be ample time for questions.  Thus I was shocked last February when I signed up for the taxation class only to receive a textbook that was 1600 pages long (plus 1200 more pages of supplemental material) and a syllabus that had us covering about 300 pages per week.  Covering so much in so little time, the instructor was also quite candid with me that there would be little time for questions.  It appeared I had once again been given bum information.  The regular program was going to be even more intense than the introductory course.   

When on this past Tuesday I saw the preview of the investments textbook and received the course syllabus, I was quite relieved.  The book was only about 400 pages long and per the syllabus we would be assigned about 40 pages per week.  That seemed quite manageable.  In the intro course, we were assigned between 100 and 200 problems to do for each session.  For this course, we were being assigned about 30 problems each week.  That seemed entirely manageable. 

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Then, on Wednesday, the tables were rather abruptly turned.  I received an email from the program director who noted that she had seen my name on the registration list and was now telling me in very direct language that I was not qualified for the program.  When I first inquired five years ago, a high school diploma and working towards a bachelor’s was all that was required for admission.  Three years ago they were now recommending (but not requiring) two years of experience in the financial services industry for admission.  Two years ago it became more of a requirement but the intro course and internship was touted as a suitable substitute for the two years of experience.  Last year they made clear that they did not consider my successful completion of the intro course to be adequate preparation; but they also said that there were students in the program that also did not have experience and, though they were struggling much harder than the professionals, they were at least allowed to be in and complete the program. 

Wednesday’s email from the director stated a very different scenario.  Now they are saying that the candidates are expected to already have both insurance and stock broker’s licenses.  You are expected to already know how to analyze and select securities for your clients.  There is another item of curiosity in their statement that “students are required to be active in the industry and planning to challenge the CFP Examination.”  I don’t know what they mean by “challenge the exam” but the Financial Planning Association of America, the national governing body that oversees all the CFP curricula and credentialing, also uses that term but with a very specific definition.  To the FPA, “challenge” means petitioning the FPA to demonstrate that you are soooo knowledgeable in the topics that you can be excused from taking the national exam.  Is that what the OU CFP has evolved into, a program that will allow candidates to qualify to be exempted from taking the national exam?  Thus, I am being warned that if I insist on joining the program and taking the investments class that they will be watching me to see if I am able to keep up and, if they determine I am not, they will be expelling me.  No refunds. 

Needless to say, all the ill will I had been feeling towards Oakland University throughout last year was now back with a vengeance.  On Wednesday I sent a letter to the instructor pleading my case, summarizing my very extensive background in finance, and asking him directly if I will be allowed to take his class.  Since the director has already stated her position, I doubt this instructor will go against it.  He has not yet replied.   

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Given this rather untidy reception, I have decided to withdraw from the program as I see no rationale for staying where I am not wanted.  So I have lost this thousand dollar bet as I will not be getting an answer to my concerns about whether I belong in this profession.  However, all is not lost.  I will be getting a refund of the $850 tuition and I could also be getting a refund for the textbooks except that, for the relatively modest $150 investment, I think I will keep the textbooks.  I have the course syllabus; I can teach myself the course.  I think by the time I finish with these books I will know whether this is what I want to do. 

Instead of gambling a thousand dollars, I will only be gambling $150 dollars.  If the answer is yes (and I very much suspect it will be), the online courses are suddenly looking much better.  In fact Boston University has a CFP program that is only $800 dollars more than OU, offers the option of both online study and to Skype live classes, you get four months to complete each course (though since it is self-paced, you can complete them sooner), access to instructors for asking questions, and a database of thousands of practice questions to help prepare for the national exam.  The American College also has an impressive program but it is about $1500 more than BU. 

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I’m no longer waiting on Oakland.  I’m taking the bull by the horns and moving forward.  So these past couple of days I’ve formulated a new plan.  First, take the next couple months to teach myself the investments course.  If that goes well, I will immediately sign up to take the online IRS courses to become a tax preparer.  There are three courses, each requires about 70 hours of online study after which you go to a testing center to complete a 3-hour exam.  You can take all three courses at once or one at a time.   Once I’ve completed the three courses and three exams, I will start work as a tax preparer whilst I begin the online CFP. 

Two years as a tax preparer is considered eligible experience for receiving the CFP credential.  Taxes are something I’m very comfortable with.  It is a rules-based profession where you are applying the book to client problems, calculating the numbers and entering them onto spreadsheets and forms.  This is what I did for 8 years as a financial analyst in aerospace.  This is what I have done for 37 years managing finances in my other enterprises. 

After that, there are any number of additional online tax courses and finance licenses I can test for to elevate my expertise and qualify for even better professional positions.  OU has done me a considerable service by kicking me to the curb where I must now go off on my own, something I probably should have done three years ago except that I had no idea that they would not deliver on a single promise they had made. 

And this business of needing both a license to sell insurance and a stock broker’s license just to be admitted to the CFP is really quite ridiculous.  What is the point of the classes if you’re expected to already know all this stuff?  I know a ton of financial professionals and nearly all of them have one or the other but very few have both.  If you’re going to be an insurance agent, why would you need a stock broker’s license?  If you’re going to sell stocks, why would you need an insurance license?  This is just another example of OU feeding me bum information. 

But I don’t regret it.  I learned a ton from Tom in the intro course and because of the accident I really wasn’t in a position to do much of anything last year anyway.  I will run with this under my own power and I may even get there in better shape than the OU route.  As for the age discrimination, I’m going to deal with that the same way I have dealt with every other challenge in my lifetime.  You put one foot in front of the other and just keep going until you accomplish the objective. 

The OU program begins Wednesday.  Wouldn’t it be interesting if I manage to complete my studies before they wrap up in March of next year?  It will be one step at a time. 

Addendum:           Sunday 2-4-18

                I have now received the email from the investments course instructor.  It was very amiably worded but as I suspected he took the same position as the director.  The final line said it all:  “It is advised that you do not take this program as you do not meet the requirements.”  Boston, here I come! 

Friday the 13th and Analysis Paralysis

It’s time for an update on some trying times I’m going through right now, since it may well impact my plans to travel later this month. I have written about my struggles in the past two years to figure out where my future lies with the CFP, but now it’s back to basics to discuss a new health challenge.  I am two weeks and three days into this new challenge that is supposed to last five weeks, though some of the literature I’ve read says it may last a good deal longer, and some has said it may be all resolved in the new few days. 

Ash Finale

On August 15^th, I submitted the 7^th draft of my screenplay “Ash Wednesday” to the Blue Cat competition in L.A. based on a critique they had sent me in June, a special perk they offered that I was welcome to submit a revised draft to see if the judges thought the revisions were or were not an improvement.  This one was cut to the bone at 106 pages and with a completely new and radically different finale.  When on September 2^nd I received yet another glowing review from the new judge, in fact the most glowing review yet, I decided Ash Wednesday was finally complete.

Turning the Page

I’ve had quite a lot on my mind since the accident in January what with beginning work on my second screenplay, continuing to submit Ash Wednesday, and trying to evaluate and choose between a number of options available to my future career whether that be the CFP or a different track.  Since the accident ended my plans to pursue my studies in 2017, I have time to figure this out.  And that is what I’ve been spending my time doing.  Thus, there's been no blog post since March.  But that’s okay.  I still have an awfully long way to go in getting the strength back in my left arm, something the doctor says could take six months, or a year, or two, or the rest of my life.

Unlucky Number 7 … or … so very close, but no cigar?

                Seven is considered a lucky number, but not for me, not this week anyway.  The list of the six winners from the WeScreenplay contest in Los Angeles was published very late Friday night and, as expected, my name was not present.  The reason I was not expecting to win was very simple.  I received the judge’s report a few days ago and it was not very good.  On a rating scale of “Recommend, Consider, or Pass,” he had rated “Ash Wednesday” a “Pass” (I had to explain to a very discombobulated Val, who initially thought it meant I had won the contest, that this was not a Pass as in Pass/Fail, but rather as in “taking a pass” or “you’re out!” ) which meant there was virtually no chance of winning a spot in the top six.

Ash Wednesday: Liberation Day!

                Yesterday’s Ash Wednesday was a very special Ash Wednesday as it was the first Ash Wednesday in 24 years in which I was not still hot on my mission of completing my screenplay “Ash Wednesday” that I had begun in August of 1993.  Last year had been my 23^rd Ash Wednesday still writing.  I was supposed to start the CFP last February but in January had been advised to postpone it until this February so that I could do the introductory course and internship program in May as a preparation for the formal cohort program. Since I did not anticipate having time to write after I started the classes, I had to finish the script before the intro class was to start May 14^th.  Indeed at 2 a.m. on April 29^th I typed “Fade Out, End Credits” on the bottom of page 148 of the script and the 23 year project was finally at an end.  A screenplay is supposed to be 120 pages but, given the fact that the consultant I was working with in Kansas City had agreed to read anything up to 150 pages, I now considered it done in terms of sharing it with industry professionals.  I had successfully cut a 441 page 2^nd draft to a 148 page 3^rd draft.

Lucky Number 13

When last weekend I published my “Change of Life” essay, I ended with the thought that my next piece of big news might be coming in as soon as five days.  The five days is now up and I’ve got the news.  The number 13 has had traditional superstitious roots as being unlucky but, this afternoon at least, it has proven for me to be very lucky. 

Change of Life – Part III

Sat, 2-11-17

Part I:

                For those of you who have not yet been informed, one month ago today, January 11^th, I slipped and fell on the ice on the sidewalk in front of my house, fracturing my left elbow.  It was at the time a simple fracture which a cast would have properly remedied in about six weeks.  And had things in fact gone that way, it would have been a rather simple scenario that would not at all have interfered with my plans that had been four years in the making to begin the formal 14 month course work in the Certified Financial Planning program at Oakland University starting February 1^st.  But things did not go that way.  Not at all!

Electoral Math: Hillary May Have Won After All!

                So Hillary supporters got quite a shock yesterday, not so much because she lost an election in which she had widely been considered to be a shoo-in, but because all the many polls and indicators which showed that she would almost certainly win turned out to be quite completely wrong.  Or were they?

The Push for the Big 6-0!

                Tomorrow (okay, today!  I had hoped to publish this before midnight but missed by 12 minutes) is what has been arguably described in most circles as the most important presidential election in our lifetime.  For the Hillary supporters, it’s a clear choice between the superior competence of a highly intelligent candidate with 30 years of public service experience versus the total incompetence, total lack of government experience, downright awful ignorance, dangerous policy positions, and bigotry of her opponent.  To the Trump supporters, it is a very clear choice between a totally maverick outsider whom they totally trust to fix everything that’s wrong with the country or continuing with the corruption, lies, and special interests that they so strongly believe characterize the Clinton candidacy.  Despite this historically wide divide and the fact that the two candidates could not be further apart, there are still (unbelievably in my opinion) the undecided voters, and there are enough of them that they hold the potential for swinging the election either way. 

Freaky Freebies

Saturday night was the 75th anniversary gala at Our Lady of Refuge and also the rather inauspicious premiere of my latest video, a 20 minute history of 75 years at OLR.  It was quite disappointing.  After nine months and many, many hours of planning, photography and editing, AD really made no effort at all to publicize this very nice little production.

Ashes Fly!

                It’s been a busy week, the introductory course in financial planning is behind me and the wheels have been set in motion to find a placement for an internship.  The next course begins on Tuesday but I am putting the odds at 50/50 that Monday will bring an email that the class has been canceled for lack of sufficient enrollment, just as it was last time.  Meanwhile, in my last post I lamented that I had had a serious computer fart while submitting “Ash Wednesday” to my very first screenplay contest and thought I had ruined my chances.  I have taken delivery of my new computer but since it is missing some essential components, I continue to work on my laptop.  Since this debacle began, I have been sending weekly updates on Sunday but, today is September 30^th and, as was pointed out in last week’s update, September 30^th this year was destined to be special.  It turned out to be special in more ways than one.  So because of the special things that happened today, I am sending this week’s update on Friday instead.  The day’s events can be summed up handily in two words – Ashes Fly!

58 Hours: The Ecstasy and the Agony

It was just about 5 p.m. last Tuesday that my life changed, at least for this week.  I had just returned from Dr. C where we discussed my status in the CFP and the path I would be on for at least the next two years assuming things go well on September 21^st (or at least don’t go disastrously.)  I opened my email and found the announcement from MovieBytes.com about this screenplay competition in L.A. for which the deadline for submission is midnight L.A. time on Thursday, some 58 hours hence. 

Computer (& other) Updates

So come this Sunday, I have been without my Dell desktop, and subsequently practical use of email, for three weeks.  My tech called me yesterday to inform me the old Dell was shot and I needed a new computer.  I’m going in on Monday to lay out the specs and likely have him build me my new desktop.  I probably won’t have more details as to when I’ll be back online until after Monday’s meeting.  Meanwhile the CFP is consuming all my time.  This has been so much more difficult that I had been lead to believe but I am nonetheless loving it and looking forward to great things.  This posting is an update on both the computer issues and the constitution of this introductory CFP course. 

My Views on Patriotism - A Post 4th of July Post

So I’ve had a very busy week and this is getting out a few days late.  But last weekend my sister sent me a very entertaining animated video, in honor of our Independence Day (or as she liked to put it, our “Interdependence Day”), in which the famed progressive economist Robert Reich proposed his definition of what genuine patriotism was really all about. 

Giving Birth to a 15 Pound Baby (23 Years In Labor)

For those of you who may not yet have heard, April 29^th was a very special day for me.  Many of you have already received the announcement of the completion of my screenplay, “Ash Wednesday,” a project on which I’ve labored for 23 years, June 1993 to be exact.  At the beginning of this year, I had a banker box full of research, notes, and a nearly 400 page first draft, plus a separate box containing a 450 page second draft.  I had to reduce this all to a 120 page third draft that I could then share with industry professionals to initiate the process of a final polish.  My baby had become roughly 15 pounds of paper that I had to squeeze into a space a fraction of that size. 

The Week That Wasn’t (but was supposed to be)

                Some of you may remember the popular TV news magazine program from the 1960s that predated “60 Minutes” called “This Was the Week That Was.”  Well, for me, this felt like the week that wasn’t, even though it was supposed to be.  This is to say that six weeks ago today (December 17^th) I got an email from Oakland University that changed my entire life plan and sort of put everything else on hold for the next month as I tried to figure out what was going on and how I was going to manage.  

Manresa 2016

So it’s been since last May that I made a posting, at that time to announce my new documentary about pianist Vladimir Horowitz.  I have since turned the documentary over to West Bloomfield’s municipal cable TV station Civic Center TV and will be collaborating with them this winter on a modified version that they will show on the channel, thereby multiplying my viewers from the few dozen who have seen it on YouTube to perhaps thousands more. 

The Horowitz Steinway Experience

Thursday afternoon was my last piano lesson for the season as we go into summer recess right after next Friday’s big recital and will not resume until the end of June.   I will have a whole month off from lessons which I will spend memorizing and recording the pieces I performed at Guild last week, starting work again on the very lovely Beethoven sonata (my first sonata!) that I abandoned in January due to its severe difficulty, and learning Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” another gorgeous piece I had started last fall and then abandoned in order to concentrate on Guild. 

“Yes on Prop1! (why I have changed my mind)

Wow, it’s hard to believe that I haven’t made a posting since March.  And the last one before that was November.  But then I have stated my commitment to put these musings on hold while I continue progressing through the script.  In fact, so solid is this commitment that I just realized that I wrote my last blog about the Visual Land tablet directly on the blog site instead of first drafting it on Word before transferring it. 

My First Tablet

I have purchased my first tablet, really something for Val, who is completely computer-challenged so I thought a tablet would be easier for her to learn and use. Me too? 

Sci-Fi (for those who hate sci-fi!)

A few days ago, John, MJ and I had a reunion in Chelsea in which one of the topics under discussion were movies that we considered outstanding.  When MJ forwarded the list to me a couple days ago, I noticed she had a category "Sci-Fi: the Best and Worst" but no titles listed.  When I asked her about this, she admitted that she had no sci-fi on her list of outstanding films.

"Don't Look Now"

It's been a while since I've done a posting, mainly because I've been so busy doing other writing.  But this week, as usually does happen this time of year, my three favorite all-time horror movies have been shown on successive nights.  One of these, the 1973 classic shocker, "Don't Look Now," was on last night.  I hadn't seen  it since I was at Boston University 40 years ago and trust me when I tell you that it was totally revolutionary and shocking then, and continues to be so today.  I have now ranked it as the #3 best horror film of all time and will devote this posting to bringing it to the attention of you in my little orbit.

A Tale of 5 in 10: Ruminations on Fate and Mystery

 

Incident #3: 7/27/14

It has been almost ten years since I have been living alone and completely on my own and, during this nearly ten year period, I have now had five experiences where I have been in perilously close proximity to a tree just as it fell. Three of those five experiences occurred just in the past month, two within hours of each other a few days ago. Such things are called "acts of God" and, given the brief reprieve between the two, I’ve taken time now to ponder the nature of fate and the mystery of why such things happen. On Tuesday night, one of those ponderings lead me into a discovery so shocking that it made me cry. I would like to say that it was something as simple as learning a good friend had died. But it was actually quite a lot worse than that.

John Lennon & Me: A Steinway Soliloquy

Lennon playing the famous
White Steinway

All right! Piano season ain’t quite over yet, though I have been enjoying almost an entire month off from lessons that I have used to play for pleasure and record my pieces. But last night, I took a break from piano and the editing of my three piano videos (when these are done, then the season is complete) and gave Val the treat of a video night. She’s been pestering me about Marley & Me for a while so last night I showed it to her. Like everyone else, she was overwhelmed and is in awe of all the talent we have in our family. I have told her we are all writers and artists. Now she’s urging me to write my own book, "Blinky & Me: The Feral Cats of Andre Street," Andre being the alley behind my house which has been home to the community of felines from which Blink came to me. Well, I don’t know about that but I thought that writing about my connection to John Lennon might be a good compromise. 

G - Damn! Guild & Recital 2014



Pam Tucker's Piano Students
Spring Recital 2014

 As of this Thursday afternoon, I now have a fire under my seat which has placed a certain urgency on completing and publishing this newest post ASAP since, by this time next week, I will hopefully have a very cool piano announcement to make, an announcement that I hope will make everyone say, "G - Damn! Good for you, Mike!" Hint: I have more practicing to do this weekend!

Potatoes, Respect & Getting Cazzoed

A few weeks ago, Obama raised a few good-natured eyebrows at the Women of Soul concert at the White House when in his speech, in giving tribute to Aretha Franklin and her signature hit "R-E-S-P-E-C-T," he unwittingly spelled respect as "R-S-P-E-C-T." This little slip brought an immediate knee-jerk from his political opponents who jumped directly to comparing the "respect" faux pas to Dan Quayle’s 1992 "potato" flub, which was not taken with such good-nature and which some more cynical election observers credited with Bush’s defeat just five months later. This was all contrasted with yet another amusing tongue-slip March 3rd, this time from none other than Pope Francis. But I will get to that one later.

Oscar 2014

And so once again, on this Oscar Eve, we embark upon Mike’s prognostications regarding which of the roughly 2,000 features films made this year, of which roughly 700 were deemed suitable for some sort of theatrical release, will be honored tomorrow as the best of the best, the creme de la creme, the most excellent of the excellent crop of titles that made the cut as Oscar nominees.

Nine films qualified this year for the Best Picture nomination:
American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years A Slave, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Manresa 2014: Rembrandt, Pascal, & World Peace

Pere Marquette's chalice
 in Manresa Chapel

 Mon 1-6-14: What else is there to do when it’s 30 below zero outside? So I am writing about my annual Manresa retreat which is always such a rewarding way to kick off the new year, and I am just hoping to get through this historic Arctic blast (they just said on the news that is now colder here than in some parts of Antarctica) which is due to last until Wednesday and am hoping to get through it without a power outage.
     I’m always somewhat hesitant to write on spiritual topics since, for each of us, our relationship to our Maker is a deeply personal, unique and intimate thing, something best confined to home and church. Or to the mountains and forests if that be your particular inclination. I know I personally feel particularly uncomfortable when people (and particularly political people) use a public forum to speak on religious matters and most particularly when asked to pray in a public forum, prayers that may not necessarily suit my individual sensibilities. 

Christmas $

This year Christmas was a simple affair enjoying salmon steaks at Fr. Vin’s place and the most delicious apple pie I’ve ever had courtesy of his neighbor who’s a real artist in the bakery.  Fr. Vin also entertained us with such gag gifts as an orange (all wrapped up fancy, even with ribbon and bow), no doubt inspired by a gag gift from his neighbors in which they gave him a stocking housing an actual lump of coal.  My favorite gag gift was a whiskey flask (given of course to the one family member who, with the possible exception of the occasional annual glass of wine, never goes near liquor.)  One thing you immediately notice about a flask is that there’s no way to clean them; so they really cannot be used for anything other than alcohol.  It’ll be fun to keep it on display or take it to parties and make everyone think I’m a boozer. 

The DaVinci Code (in C minor)

Slawomir Zubrzycki performing in Cracow October 18th

Most of you probably didn’t notice, but last week was quite an historic one for the music world, particularly for the piano community. And though most of you probably didn’t notice, it was of sufficient significance to have been featured on the evening news. I found the report quite fascinating and wrote to Pam about it last Wednesday evening, wondering if she had heard of it. (She had not.) But even as I was writing the email, Letterman was on and suddenly was talking about this thing. I knew it was big, but I had no idea it was that big. It even made Letterman.

#666: Religion, Politics & Halloween

A few days ago, I sent off the 660 page final accounting report for the closure of Mom’s estate two years 3-1/2 months after Mom died and nearly 9 years since Dad’s death started this enormous estate project. I’ve been working on it all year but with particular intensity since June and have been determined in the last couple of months not to have any other distractions until this was done. That is why this year, the year I turned 60, I did not write my traditional Halloween essay. Until now.

My Weekend With Michelle Williams

 

Michelle Williams in her Oscar
nominated role in
"Brokeback Mountain"

I had promised myself no more blog postings until the estate accounting was done (which it now very nearly is; my last post was in June and I've been doing very little other than accounting since) but I am making an exception now due to unusual developments over the weekend. As I’m sure I’ve written on a number of occasions, I very much admire the 32 year old film actress Michelle Williams who had already achieved stardom by age 15 and has gone on to such luminary roles as her Oscar-nominated performance in "Brokeback Mountain" and "Blue Valentine" among others. My very favorite film of her’s was 2011’s "My Week With Marilyn" in which she did a spot-on reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe (also Oscar nominated) in the "true" story of her "romance" with Laurence Olivier’s production assistant Colin Clark (and on whose memoirs the film is based) during the 1956 production of "The Prince and the Showgirl." 

More Views of 3535

It’s occurred to me that my May 19^th entry did not really include very complete coverage of the new landscaping at 3535. So when I did my usual drive-by on Saturday, I noticed Shaun’s rhododendron had more blooms on it and the new bush near the lavatory window was now in full bloom. And I realized I never gave anyone a decent view of the new front of the house, nor any view of the new view from the west.

Performance Anxiety

The German made Perzina grand piano

 

As it is every year, my Piano Guild audition, which was held last Friday at 4 p.m., is the most important day of the year for me. It is the culmination of a full year of work and is the only opportunity I get every year to get an opinion about my playing from some highly qualified person who is not my teacher. This year was particularly anxiety provoking as it was by far the most challenging program I’ve ever performed, 8 very difficult pieces and 20 minutes of continuous playing in front of a judge who is a concert pianist and who grades your performance. (By contrast, almost all other students play only 2-4 pieces.) 

Metamorphosis at 3535: A Photo Essay

Last night I did my usual Saturday driveby of the old homestead after 5:00 Mass at OLR and photographed some of the changes I observed, thinking you all might be interested in a preview of what our childhood home is metamorphozing into. I happened to run into Joe and he gave me another tour. His grand plan to move in by Easter had turned into Memorial Day and is now much more likely to be closer to the 4^th of July, possibly even Labor Day. Even from the nickel tour he gave me, it’s obvious that there’s still quite a lot to be done.

Oscar Picks 2012

The 85^th annual Academy Awards are this Sunday and the nine nominees for Best Picture are:

Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty.

The New "Rich"

So what else do you do at 3 a.m. in the middle of a blizzard except write in a blog? And what’s more fun to write about than money? As the snow piles up, one of the more major stories in this week’s news has been the new Bloomberg Billionaires ranking which has for the first time named the 30 year old Lynsi Torres, owner of In ‘N Out Burgers, as the world’s first youngest female billionaire. I mention this recent news item since it illustrates a debate that has been raging in this country for over a hundred years, and has been particularly in the news since the economy crashed in 2008 - that is the wide divide between rich and poor in this country. This divide has gotten much wider in the last 20 years, which some would point to as proof that the American Dream is dead and maybe never existed at all. It has triggered the 99 Percenters movement which posits that most of the country’s wealth lies with the top 1% of the population. This debate is hardly new. We talked about it extensively in Poli Sci at BU in 1972 and it was a primary motivator behind the New Deal.

Piety and Pornography ... (plus a little art)

"Francesca"
Rare Masseria collotype at Manresa

It has been four weeks since my Manresa retreat and I am just now able to write about it. Not all my retreats leave me feeling like I’m on fire with the spirit. Most of the time I do leave the 40 hour weekend feeling refreshed, recharged, and quite a lot better about life than when the weekend began. Obviously if I was not having some sort of reaction along these lines, I would not have attended 19 years in a row. 
       But they don’t all turn out great. In fact some are downright miserable. One in particular in the mid-90s they put me in a room where the pipes were so noisy that I was unable to sleep. When I complained about it, they put me in another room that was even noisier. I was at the time in the depths of the CFS so not getting any rest for the weekend was not the right prescription for meditation and spiritual growth. I was miserable. I left resolved never to do another retreat there. However, by the time the following January came around, I solved the problem simply by requesting a room in the new wing, all of which were very quiet. They have been very good about accommodating that ever since.

Saturn Blues

It has now been two weeks since I brought my new used 2008 Saturn Astra home from Lunghamer GMC in Waterford and it is working out fine. So I thought it was time to share a photo of my new baby. So far the biggest problem has been that the car, originally sold in Quebec, came only with a French language owner’s manual. Every other piece of documentation in the car including the warranty book and the OnStar manual are bilingual. But not the owner’s manual, which has been a considerable obstacle in figuring out how the car works. For instance, it took me over an hour just to figure out how to open the hood. (Details below.) The French is rather quaint considering my background in and love of all things French but, still, I have no desire to teach myself how to use this car by translating this manual. I downloaded the free online manual the very night I took delivery and it has been helpful but no substitute for paper - it's quite difficult to read the instructions and then go out and try to remember how to do it in the car. (I think I just found an advantage to tablets.) Of course, I could make copies -- and I did just that at first -- but I've had so many questions that for all the copies I'd be making I might as well buy the book.

Blinkin' Lincoln

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I finally got the opportunity to catch Spielberg’s marvelous new film, "Lincoln," and what a thing to be thankful for, a powerful portrait of this incredibly gifted leader who championed the Union to one of history’s hardest fought victories. 2012, in case you don’t know it, is the year that has given us not one but two films about Lincoln, and they couldn’t be more different. "Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" was a sci-fi fantasy out during the summer and produced by Tim Burton, a film with the perfectly absurd premise that our 16^th president, from the time of his youth all the way through the end of his administration, had a secret double-life as a vampire slayer. It is the plot of this film that the Confederacy had a secret weapon in a vampire army and that the only reason the Union prevailed is that Lincoln personally left the White House every night to go kill rebel vampires. Perhaps I’d feel differently if I gave it a chance (a very mixed public reception and a blatant thumbs-down from the critics), but I would think any Civil War/Lincoln buff would be offended by this bastardization of one of the greatest U.S. presidents. I am very grateful to Steven Spielberg for offering his alternative in a very respectful and admiring story that could not be more different than vampires. I’m hoping that because of Spielberg, Vampire Hunter will now be forgotten in the blink of an eye.

Election Eve: Why I Know Obama Will Win

Four More Days, Four More Years, the slogans have been flying like crazy the last few days. This is the one election in our lifetime where the choice has never been so clear. Depending on one’s political orientation, it’s either painfully obvious that Obama is the vastly superior choice or just as obvious that Romney is. Depending entirely on which polls you’re watching, either Obama has a modest edge or Romney does.

A Tale of Three Cities



Pianoforte made of papier-mache
 for 1867 Paris World's Fair

Reunion season is officially over but I’m taking an extra couple days just for myself before the immersion into the final five weeks of the move. There have been three reunions in as many weeks but, of course, the big one was in Kansas City Wednesday thru Monday, from which I have just returned. It has been nearly 20 years since my last foray to KCMO and it is a delightful city. Since much of the reunion centered around art, I will be referring to this as the GroHo reunion, not only to protect the guilty (since this is a public blog, though I have intentionally disguised it so it should be next to impossible for anybody not on the list to find it) but because our excursions reminded me so much of Manhattan’s SoHo arts district that I thought it was an appropriate acronym.

Apartment Hunting in the 21st Century

Enough of you have inquired about my apartment hunt that I thought I’d make it easy and inform everyone all at once. Needles and pins anyone? That’s how it’s felt the past several weeks since our buyer first accepted our counter-offer and we signed the purchase agreement. The agreement states that I have until August 1^st to vacate, which was considered generous at the time but that of course assumed we’d have some finality within a week or two. I was hoping I’d have two full months to wrap things up. As things are going, it looks like that’s going to be more like five weeks. I was supposed to have the answer last week, now being told maybe next week. The good news: both the roofing inspector and asbestos inspector came by today and found no serious problems (or so they told me, but I’m not the guy they work for.)   But it’s not done until it’s done. There is so much that I cannot proceed with until we know the deal is done. One of those things is getting my new place.

Battling Bach

Bosendorfer Imperial 290 Concert Grand

It’s been quite a week, and getting our first (and hopefully final) offer on the house was, believe it or not, the least of it. This was the week that each year I spend the entire year preparing for, the week of the nationwide auditions of the National Piano Guild. Every year, at the first lesson after the June recital, we are assigned the four to six pieces that we will spend an entire year studying and practicing in preparation to perform before a concert pianist judge at the Guild auditions the following spring. This year – seven very challenging pieces from the likes of none other than Bach, Burgmuller, and Spindler, to name a few.

Oakland University Gone Wild! ... (or The One Thing Hitler Did Right)

As events have evolved, it turns out my piano Easter/Spring break is revolving largely around the Department of Music at Oakland University. Last Friday, I was privileged to be invited by Professor Yin Zheng to observe a masterclass conducted by concert pianist Dr. Solungga Fang-Tzu Liu of Bowling Green State University. During the next five nights, there will be four more piano events by way of year-end finals recitals and the annual departmental recital. This is the time of year that Oakland University goes wild with its performance arts offerings. You may be asking what all this has to do with Hitler? Did my headline work? Did it grab your attention? I’m actually not being exploitative here at all; there is a connection between OU and Hitler, but it’s a good connection. (Wow, now I’ve really got your attention!)

A Happy Ending

I’ve had a stomach flu all week so I have been feeling quite delicate. Since the discovery of my sleep apnea and subsequent treatment thereof, my overall health has been returning to a state of normalcy such that, during weeks like this when I am ill, it is a normal feeling of illness. During the depths of my Chronic Fatigue during the 90s and beyond, it was quite a different story.

And the Oscar Goes To ...

Ladies and germs, it’s that time of year again, one day ‘til Oscars.  Last year was easy.  "The King’s Speech" stood out so far above the rest of the crowd that it was quite a no-brainer to predict it would sweep the awards.  And it did.  But this year, it’s really a tough call.  Virtually all of the nominees are very good, and there are four that are simply outstanding. 

Two Weekends Apart

As January of a new year draws to a close, there are two eventful weekends that occurred two weekends apart this month that I have been meaning to write about: my annual Manresa Jesuit retreat that was January 6-8 and Uncle Don’s funeral in North Carolina January 20-22. I had intended to write about them separately but as the month comes to an end, I will combine them. They are after all thematically similar. Both weekends had in common rituals we follow to seek out personal peace and harmony in a world that is full of change and disharmony.

The Brothers Kelly

    This is just a little change of pace, something too long for a tweet, but something I found so intriguing that I felt it deserved a short post.  Did any of you film buffs out there know that Gene Kelly had a brother, a brother who was almost as famous as he?  You say how can this be when we’ve never heard of him?  Indeed, before Monday night, I had never heard of him either.

No Pianist Left Behind

Yesterday was my first piano lesson for 2012.  Four years and four months after starting piano again after a 12 year absence (12 years by some measures, since 12 years old by other measures), I had my 168th lesson and estimate I’ve clocked close to 1,000 hours of practice.  The very first lesson after the New Year is a very important one, which I have been anxiously awaiting for months.  It is at this first lesson that we find out at what level we will be allowed to compete for the national auditions of the Piano Guild in May.  Since I got admitted to 7th grade last May, thus finally graduating from Elementary and officially becoming an Intermediate student, I was dearly hoping for the greenlight to pursue the 8th grade audition this year.  But alas, the answer is no.  I am being left behind to spend another year in the 7th grade.

Seven Years

I’ve never been one for plagiarism but I do firmly believe that, if you’re going to rip off, you should rip off only from the best.  So when I received John’s email today with the subject header, "Seven Years," I could not resist the temptation to lift the title.  It was at 1:15 a.m. (exactly four minutes ago as I am writing this) on Wednesday morning December 23, 2004 that Dad breathed his last, seven years ago at this hour.
    Dad had been diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (aka CLL) 26 months before that.  CLL we were told at the outset was deadly, having no treatment, let alone a cure.  That was the bad news.  The good news, and it was very good news, is that of all the cancers it was by far the slowest progressing, so slow it generally took the better part of 20 years to kill you.  Since Dad was already 87 years young at the time of the diagnosis, his oncologist Dr. Roman Franklin said he would almost certainly die of something else before the leukemia caught up with him.  He could still fully look forward to living out his natural life span, and there wouldn’t even be any symptoms until the end.

Michigan Leads 11-11

Look Mom, no leaves!

    C’mon!  Did anyone seriously think I was going to write about sports?  I know about as much about sports as most other people know about investing.  The difference is I don’t pretend to know about sports, or offer any opinions about it, except to occasionally express my dismay as to why it inspires such fanatical devotion as to provoke physical altercations.  Even if I don’t care for sports myself, I certainly understand why most other people like (even love) competitive athletics, if not as participants certainly as spectators.  And I certainly don’t hold it against anyone, except when it triggers assault and battery.  Truthfully, I prefer just an old-fashioned workout, but I do realize that most people find root canals more appealing than daily exercise.  But I love working out.  Frankly, sports were only invented as a way to make fitness fun.  Even the ancient Greeks appreciated that push ups and sit ups can be tedious and boring.  Thus, they invented the Olympics.  But I personally prefer skipping the formalities and public participation and simply pumping iron in the privacy of my own home.  I love my bike.  I love my Total Gym.  If Brother Rice had had a weight-lifting team, I would have eagerly gotten into shape to join.  As it was, it took the Navy to initiate what has since been a lifelong interest in fitness.

Two For the Road

There is a famous 1967 Audrey Hepburn film in which she co-starred with Albert Finney.  "Two For the Road" is a serio-comic tale about a couple facing divorce and how they use the experience of a road trip through Europe one summer to try to save their marriage.  Many think it was one of her best films, and I happen to agree.  Also it was the film debut of the fabulous Jacqueline Bisset who, though she plays a very minor character with only a few minutes of screen time, almost steals the film.  Is it any wonder Bisset quickly became an international star?  Even though she shared the screen with the likes of Hepburn and Finney, at the time two of the most popular and established actors in the world, audiences only needed a glimpse of Bisset to know they wanted more … a whole lot more!

Welcome to the 21st Century!

    Friday I took another foray into the 21st century.  I upgraded my DSL.  I started the century with a 28k dial-up connection and, in September 2007, finally entered the world of high-speed Internet by getting the lowest connection speed AT&T offered, a 768k DSL service.  768: that was 27 times faster than what I was used to.  I was overjoyed, felt like I had been shot out of a cannon. 

"Spooky" Halloween(s)

    I didn’t get a chance to do my traditional Halloween posting this year.  I haven’t had a chance to do much of any writing for a while.  I miss the writing.  So one week after the fact, I’m going to share my Halloween with you.  From past writings, I think I’ve mentioned that something unusual happens to me every year on Halloween, usually something unpleasant, but mostly just weird, sometimes even comically weird.  This year it was comically weird, even though there may be some of you who will take what happened to me as a definite bad omen.  So I can put your minds at ease and say right off the bat that it’s been a week now and nothing bad has happened.  Yet! …  oooooh, spooky! 

For Kent

Kent & MJ at Fr. Vin's birthday party, June 7, 2009

For those of you who may not be yet aware, Kent Ashton Walton, my sister’s longtime love, passed away at 3:30 a.m. Friday after a long battle with liver cancer. Kent was a Brit, and very much epitomized the archetypal English gentleman - very reserved, very cultured, very intellectual. His idea of a good time was a quiet evening at home with my sister in the company of a good bottle of wine. He had a particular liking for the Australian Shiraz. He was a homebody, to be sure, and if he HAD to go out, it was usually to haunt art galleries and poetry readings with my sister. That’s probably where he found his initial attraction to Marijo – they are both accomplished artists and poets.  

What A Difference A Month Makes

Six weeks ago tomorrow my mother passed away very suddenly at 95. That evening I wrote my last posting entitled "What A Difference A Day Makes" since she had been fine just 24 hours earlier. But the "difference" that July 25th had made for me went far beyond my mother’s passing. For me it meant my whole life changed, some for good, some for bad. While it was true that the nursing home bills now stopped and I no longer needed to be immersed in the daily process of generating capital to pay the bills, it was also true that I no longer had an unspecified period of time for wrapping up estate business. Indeed, now it was painfully specific and the several weeks that have followed have been a whirling dervish. What a different place we were in just one month later.

What A Difference A Day Makes!

My mother passed away very suddenly at 11:30 this morning. What a difference a day makes! At 7 a.m. this morning, she was fine. Last night at 11 pm, I got a call from Lourdes saying that she had had a difficult evening, nausea, a little vomiting, a little trouble breathing. But by the time they called at 11 p.m., she was doing much better, very comfortable, even smiling and conversing with the nurses.

A Sign of the Times

One of the signs of our times is without a doubt the unprecedented collapse in the real estate market during the last few years. Since 2007, many homes have lost about 40% of their pre-recession value. This was the direct result of so many people losing their jobs all at once due to so many companies downsizing or even going bankrupt all at once due to the historic credit crisis brought on by the subprime mortgage debacle.

In Defense of Flogging

On July 4th, I wrote about the crime problem and its facade of being a path to cheap freedom through easy wealth as the first part of my tribute to Independence Day and our traditions of liberty. My unorthodox tribute was inspired by what I considered a rather shocking story in last week’s news concerning crime in America. Much to my surprise the story took a surprising new twist this week so I now present Part Two of my tribute to the spirit of American independence. (And, no, I am not referring to the Casey Anthony acquittal.)

Where Freedom Is Cheap

Freedom is cheap, sometimes, and in some places. This may be the first time many of you have heard such a sentiment. We typically celebrate the opposite: freedom is very expensive and has been purchased time and again with the blood of our service members. It was certainly originally purchased for us at the hugely expensive price of our Revolutionary War, expensive not just in blood but in money. We went hugely in debt and spent the better part of the 19th century paying it off, mostly to France which financed most of our war against England. But on this 235th birthday celebration for our nation and our freedoms, I did something that, on the surface, may seem a little out of spirit for the holiday.

The Chronicles of Tau

I was wondering if I’d have a topic suitable for hailing in July and it turns out I do. Thursday being piano day, I thought it was particularly appropriate that I stumbled onto this fascinating video on YouTube, a video that proves you can marry art and science. There is so much math in music that I thought it would be of interest to all of you to see a music video that was produced entirely with a mathematical algorithm based on tau.

The Ultimate Writer's Fantasy

It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a film so inspiring that I’ve devoted a post to it. But Sunday I saw the film that has been touted as Woody Allen’s best film yet - and I have to agree, It was a near perfect portrayal of the ultimate writer’s fantasy - that is to be magically transported to a time when you could rub elbows and commiserate with all of history’s most famous writers and artists. Only movies can offer such magic.

Lower Education

There was a very insightful article in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal regarding the latest achievement test scores for the nation’s elementary and high school students and that there has been no improvement since the tests were last given in ’06. The Journal writer was making the case that "No Child Left Behind" is an utterly failed policy. Specifically, the article referenced the miserable scores on the history section of the exam, in which some 65% did not know what the Declaration of Independence was. This all brought back memories of another achievement test made up and given by brother John to high school honors students in South Florida in 1997 and published exactly 14 years ago yesterday. I say forget about 2006 and No Child Left Behind. They’re irrelevant. One need only revisit the "John Pop Quiz of 1997" to understand that the problem goes much deeper than even the Journal would have us believe.

A Legend In My Own Mind

The last four weeks have been quite eventful for me, many accomplishments, many recognitions. But tonight took the cake, and in a rather hilarious way if it turns out to be true. Tonight, while attending the retirement party at Orchard Lake Country Club for Jan Green, our longtime City Clerk, I received some news about myself, from none other than our second-in-command, that frankly shocked the hell out of me. I’ve requested verfication. If true, then it appears I’ve become a minor local legend. (If not, of course, then simply a legend in my own mind.)

Rhapsody in C minor

My third Piano Guild audition is now behind me for a week now and it was indeed rhapsodic. Besides the major accomplishment of mastering the entire "Sonatina in C" by classical Italian composer Muzio Clemente, I also had to perform Bach, Schumann and the very beautiful "Melody in C minor" by the great contemporary Russian composer Aram Khatchaturian. And C minor is no piece of cake. It’s been my most challenging scale yet. The piece itself is nothing short of a rhapsody.

E.T. Phone Berkeley (quickly!)

One small item in the news last week that rang at least a temporary death knell on still another casualty of the Great Recession was the announcement that funding has been cut for the SETI Project out of UC Berkeley. For those of you who have never seen films like Deep Impact, E.T., Close Encounters, or Contact - to name just a few - SETI is the acronym for Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and has been an ongoing research project for some years now.

Controversy at 3535

I published a letter in yesterday’s Oakland Press on the subject of this so-called "Birther" issue. I have published a number of letters over the years on subjects far more important than I consider this one to be and nary has there been a peep from anyone. But this one – 11 impassioned replies on the OP web site, from both sides!

A Good Month For Piano (... & justin bieber ... )

March ended with my piano teacher affectionately scolding me for my failure to identify one of the chords in the E minor scale. "You’re supposed to know this stuff! What am I going to do with you?" It was the V7 chord and you can bet I’ll never forget that one again. But tell me all you music lovers ... do any of YOU know what a V7 chord is? (Except I’m sure my nephew Conor does.)

iPod/iPad - Tomaytoe or Tomahtoh?

"I say tomatoe, you say tomato. I say potatoe, you say potato. Tomatoe, tomato, potatoe, potato, let’s call the whole thing off!"   We all know this song and it’s recently gained a new relevance in view of my long-held intransigence against both the iPod and iPad.  

A Helluva 24!

The crisis is over now, everything’s back to normal, but had a real scare with Mom this week. The 24 hour period between 5 pm Monday and 5 pm Tuesday was particularly harrowing. I’ve spent the last couple of days bringing the immediate family up to date. Now it’s time for the rest of you.

Oscar Night

A number of you have commented to me that you miss me publishing my film reviews. Well, there are ten films up for Best Picture at the Oscars and I’ve seen nine of them so you’re about to get a whole slew of film reviews plus my two cents about the new Academy rules.

Manresa 2011: An Experiment In Beauty

It’s been two weeks since I returned from what was near the top of my list as the best and most inspiring of the 17 or so odd Jesuit retreats I’ve been on since Dad first took me in 1990. Why do we go? Why do we submit ourselves to 3 days of silence? What is the appeal of three days of doing nothing but attending lectures, liturgies, bible studies, meditation, and for a brief time some individual counseling?

3 Years, 4 Januarys, 5 Days



January 5, 2011


As we enter a new year, it is time to replace my profile photograph (far right), taken four months ago, with the current me – bearded now for 3 years and 5 days. This is my 4^th January since starting this thing (the last day I shaved was 1-1-08) and I sincerely hope to have an entirely different photo for the 5^th January. But, for the record, since this is a major objective of mine for 2011 (and, hopefully, for April; it would be a nice birthday gift for Mom), I thought I would remind everyone what I used to look like and present a little show-and-tell of the progress over the last 3 years. 

A Different Kind of Holiday Cheer

As we bring in a New Year, grateful for the blessings we’ve had in this tough year and hoping for better in the new, I am reminded of an intriguing article that was in the paper a couple weeks back about the residents of the small town of Skidmore, Missouri and how this month marks for them 30 years of an entirely different kind of holiday cheer.

Santa College

It’s appropriate that my photograph is directly to the right of each new blog entry. Looking at that beard every day like I must reminds me that I have to finish that damned screenplay. As I’ve mentioned many times, I made a commitment January 1, 2008 not to shave again until Ash Wednesday is done. I also pledged long ago not to mention the script again until it is completed. But I’ll make an exception today. On this Christmas, I must confess that the one overriding reason I feel motivated to keep writing is so people will stop calling me "Santa Claus." I get it every hour of every day.

A Very Special Christmas Greeting

This is a truly heart-warming video that I felt everyone must see. This is what is known as a "flash mob" and happened five weeks ago in a mall on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Speak of tidings of comfort and joy, this is it! Merry Christmas everyone!

John Lennon Redux (& other tributes)

      

I’ve been waiting for weeks to make this posting, a tribute to John Lennon on December 8th, the 30th anniversary of his assassination, but I had a terribly busy Wednesday and Thursday this week. Pearl Harbor, JFK in Dallas, the Moon Landing, John Lennon being gunned down while entering his Manhattan apartment. All of these were iconic events. All of these had in common the singular reality that literally everyone in its respective generation remembers it like it was yesterday and knows exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the shocking news. And it was shocking, like losing a best friend or an idolized older brother who was so cool, so beyond cool, that you wished everyday you could be just like him.

Ruthie Makes the Big Time! (and other things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving)

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! On this the first official day of the holiday season, I am privileged to report that Mom was featured in the Sunday Oakland Press on the 21st. A rather nice photo of her alongside Lourdes hefe Sr. Frances Mary Kernasovich, which I have posted to the right. I was completely unaware of this until one of the nurses informed me of it on Tuesday. Fortunately, I do take the Oakland Press (as you all could see from my November 9th posting in which I included my letter to the editor which they published on November 3rd.) So I was able to resurrect the Sunday issue and scan it and provide the article in its entirety on the email link that lead you to this posting. Mom is not mentioned in any of the rest of the article but it’s still worth reading for how highly placed Lourdes is among Michigan’s nursing homes.

Leaving Michigan 2010!

No, this isn’t about me pulling up stakes and moving back to sunny California. Not that it would do any good. California’s in worse shape than Michigan. No, this is my annual "leaves" shot of the autumn harvest here at 3535 in Michigan, or more accurately my annual project dispatching of all these piles. As I tell my friends in L.A. every year at this time, "you’ll never see this in Southern California!" Behind the large pile I’m standing next to, there are some twenty more just like it.

Beethoven's Progeny

Piano day again but I’m going to do a little change of pace here and talk about something that’s only tangentially related to piano. I’ve discovered e-readers and, though, I haven’t yet had the pleasure of using one, Kindle, by far the top-rated reader, just announced about a week ago that their latest and greatest, the Kindle 3, has been dropped in price from $189 to $139. I’ve not yet joined the 21st century as far as HDTV goes, or the iPod, or data phones, or texting. (I’ll never do texting! I see no need for iPods, and I have no desire to do Internet on my phone.) But I think I’ll probably soon be joining the Kindle Kraze!

John Lennon's Piano

Okay, it’s not really John Lennon’s piano in the photo at the right. It’s not even a copy of John Lennon’s piano. But last month, October 9th, would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday and, in honor of that, Steinway is offering an exact commemorative replica of the Steinway grand piano that he gave Yoko for her 38th birthday in 1971. That’s the piano on your right and Steinway is selling it again.

It’s been a while since I’ve laid out any piano musings. But Thursday is usually the day for it, (though this will probably be published Friday since it’s already 11:30 p.m.) Today was my 123rd lesson and the beginning of our annual intense marathon holiday push to learn one carol a week to give a family concert on Christmas Day.

More On Finance (plus George on podcast)

Today I bit the bullet and subscribed to 3 months of FastTrack. I’m hoping that I can spend the next three months completing at least a preliminary learning curve and backtesting some of the simpler strategies so that I can then start doing some real trades. First, I have to complete my little mini-course on finance so that I can describe in more detail last month’s FastTrack seminar in Auburn Hills. But tonight I am officially a FastTrack user.

A Terrible Way To Govern

29 million Democrats! That is the official number that the three networks all reported last week. That is the official number of Democrats who stayed home one week ago today and did not vote. You’ll recall that I ended last Monday’s posting with the rejoinder, "if the polls are right and the Democrats do lose, they’ll have nobody to blame but themselves." Well, the polls all said that so many Democrats were so discouraged that a record number would not bother. The Republicans were very much counting on this. On this one point anyway, the polls were absolutely correct with but one proviso – as if anyone thought this was possible, their estimate was actually way under!

Government Belongs To Those Who Show Up

Tomorrow we go vote in what everyone is calling "the most historic election of our time." The only problem with this pronouncement is that I cannot recall any election in my 39 odd years of voting that was not called "the most historic election of our time." This, of course implies that, if things go the way the prognosticators want them to, then big sweeping change is heading our way. But, in truth, this is very rarely the case. The reality is - governing is hard! Whoever gets in, that is any newcomers (as the veterans already know it), will be smacked with this from their first day in office.

Halloween & Me-ven

Here we are in the Season of the Witch, a time of year that since the early 20th century has been completely secularized but was actually a deadly serious religous observance throughout most of history. Now it’s a time for putting on cool costumes and partying. And we love this ritual we go through of doing horror movie marathons. Last night I published the list of 16 of my personal favorite horror movies of all time. But in modern times, I think the world has lost sight of why we party, why we wear all these weird costumes, why we carve up pumpkins and decorate our houses with all kinds of symbols of death, decay, and corruption, why we give out treats and why oh why we have this affinity for watching horror movies and scaring ourselves silly at this time of year. No, I doubt there are many people who know why we do and why we are. We just know it’s fun.

The world by and large has forgotten the origins of Halloween, probably the oldest of all holidays save Passover, older than Christmas. So tonight I am going to pay tribute to this wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) holiday that is so popular that it has long since become the biggest party night of the year, and talk about where it came from and how it personally affects me.

Mike's Picks for the Best Horror Films of All Time

This is a very long post, the longest I’ve ever made and probably ever will make as a single event. But Halloween is soon upon us and as a post about what I consider to be the best horror films of all time, it is timely and will no longer be relevant after this weekend. So I’ve been writing this all day determined to publish it tonight since I’ll be writing about the origins of Halloween tomorrow.

They’ve been running horror films on all the cable channels, as they always do, all month long. This used to bug the hell out of Dad. He hated horror films and he hated the fact that so many were on all October, couldn’t wait until Halloween so they would end. I felt pretty much the same way. I’ve never been a particular fan of horror movies, but I do like them when they’re good. But they do have to be really good.

Mike's Finance Primer: Ch. 3A - "Lust for Gold!"

Just kidding. This really isn’t part of my finance primer at all. Rather, it’s about this terrific film I saw on TCM the other night called "Lust for Gold." It was such a remarkable story that the actual events that the film was based on may be the subject of one of my future screenplays. This is a film that is screaming to be remade. This is a blockbuster in the making.

Mike's Finance Primer: Ch. 3 - The Technicians

In the last two postings, as an introduction to my experience at the Michael Price investing seminar earlier this month, I’ve talked about the two opposing types of investors, fundamentalists and technicians. The last posting was devoted to a discussion of fundamentalism, a school of finance that uses the strategy of "buy and hold" to analyse a company’s "fundamentals," then buy quality companies and hold on to them for long periods of time. Buy-and-hold assures reliable annual returns over a long period though there will certainly be many dips, sometimes significant dips, over short periods. And it’s not even necessary to understand fundamentalism to effectively use buy-and-hold. Just choose the quality companies that have already been selected by the Dow index. What could be simpler?

Today I will discuss the flip side of the coin - the technicians.

Mike's Primer on Finance (Chapter Two)

Last Wednesday's posting gave everyone a prelude of how I came to be in Bert Ward’s seminar on Michael Price’s investment strategy and FastTrack after a ten year association with the West Bloomfield chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII). But for any of what I’m about to discuss to make sense, a basic primer on finance is a necessary prerequisite for those of you who may have a very sparse grounding in investing. So what follows is Mike’s Five Minute course on an Introduction to Finance. And the Five Minute course really boils down to just one sentence: at its bare bones basics, investors fall into two major categories: fundamentalists and technicians.

Warren Buffett Is a Socialist!

For over ten years now, I have been a member of the West Bloomfield chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII), a group I began attending as a first step in exploring a career move I’ve been deliberating upon most of my life, that is transitioning from the business management side of industry (which is where I’ve made my career for 35 years) over to the portofolio management side.

George Goes Global!

Due to taxes and other pressing issues (but mostly taxes), I have been unable to publish a posting for a month now. I am especially anxious to give everyone a detailed report on this amazing seminar I took over two weekends on the very powerful investment strategies of Wall Street guru Michael Price. For immediate publication, my friend George in San Diego (also a fellow USC alum) has asked me to pass along to everyone that he will be the featured guest on the radio program "Live An Inspired Life" on this coming Saturday morning October 23rd.