Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Seeding the Tip Cup (and the daily updates)
The other day, I was buying some groceries in my neighborhood C Town (149th and B'way!). All grocery stores in Manhattan are local, but C Town is local-er than most. All of the checkout girls (and they are all girls) live in the neighborhood and on Sunday there was at least 1 teenage boy bagging at each checkout aisle.
Now I remember reading a story in the Times a while back exposing a "scandal" prevalent in neighborhood grocery stores - baggers working purely for tips and not getting paid minimum wage. It's not clear if the kids at C Town are volunteering, looking for some spare coin to buy soda and comics*, or whether they are getting paid under the table, or what. What is clear, however, is that each station has a little plastic dish for tips.
*Do kids still buy comics? I bought pretty lame comics when I was a kid - mostly the conventional superhero type - Superman, Green Lantern, Spiderman, with lots of ads in the back for direct sale programs. I never got into the X-Men or Fantastic 4 or certainly not any of the alternative comics. If not comics these days, what are kids spending their hard earned grocery bagging tip money on?
There is a psychology to tipping that I learned as an oyster shucker in Faneuil Hall in Boston - this is called "seeding the tipjar". Lounge piano players, subway performers, panhandlers, all know that people are more likely to give someone money when they either see someone else giving, or see (via the seeded tip cup) that someone else has already. Now I am not the first to notice this, but it is not a staple solely of your local Starbucks.
The nudge blog asks what is the optimal amount seeding the tip jar to get the ball rolling. In my experience, it's not any particular amount - its more important to have a reasonable volume (but not too much, lest people think you've been tipped enough!) of small bills. A few crinkled ones in a 16 oz plastic cup usually was the routine when I worked at the Walrus and Carpenter 15 years ago.
Unfortunately the C Town kids didn't get the memo. Their tip bowl was empty when I arrived and empty when I left.
Of course, I didn't have any cash on me at the time.
The Baseball Update
President Obama did not bounce the first pitch. I don't care where Pujols was standing. President Obama's candor in the announcer booth was much more interesting ("we're out of money").
Hey, some Red Sox Blog links:
Red Sox Chick (blogging at Weei!!) on the relative lack of Red Sox participation in the ASG.
Red Sox Dad on the Sox all stars meeting the Prez.
Jere from Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory with a nice remembrance of watching the '83 ASG with his dad.
The Taxes Update
Seems like there may be some sort of tax hike proposed to fund health care reform? Anyone else know anything about this?
Recent coverage on other blogs:
Citizens for Tax Justice release (warning - pdf file). Editorially, the idea that it is tax justice for certain (but not all) taxpayers to be forced to "give back" some of the tax cuts they have received over the past decade is not "justice". That's a retroactive tax.
Don't Mess With Taxes also pointing out the multiple states in which a 50% marginal rate will be the new high.
Tax.com predicting that the surtax will never be enacted (I agree - and so does the taxgirl, I believe.
Finally, Megan McArdle with her thoughts.
The Death Update
After not blogging about my dad for a long long time, I had a weird dream last night - one of the increasingly rare dreams where he is an active present, walking, talking, like nothing ever happened - and I am always grateful that somehow he is among the living again. But this time, in my dream, I was reasoning with my brother, my mother, trying to get at whether he was really alive or not (again, in my dream). In my dream, we all saw him and thought he was there, but it turned out that we were each, separately, having Sixth Sense moments, when one of us saw him, it didn't mean the others did. We each were dreaming within my dream.
I feel like my subconcious had some sort of resolution.
Either that or I've got to cut down on the gin at night.
Your obit of the day belongs to Reggie Fleming, a hard-nosed hockey player from the 60s. He easily could have been the inspiration for Reggie Dunlop in Slap Shot, but apparently the first name was just a coincidence. He played professionally for 20 seasons (12 in the NHL) and led the league in penalty minutes his last season. Now that is dedication.
The obit is here
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Prince Fielder, PETA and the Truism about Publicity (and the daily updates)
Darren Rovell twittered last night that PETA would be happy with noted vegetarian Prince Fielder's win in the Home Run Derby.
They were.
Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like 80% of PETA's news releases are what people would call "puff pieces". Perusing the last 20 or so news releases on PETA's media center, I see the following hard hitting stories: Prince Fielder's home run derby win, Carol Liefer coming out as a Vegan, Woody Harrelson doing god knows what, Playboy playmate hosting veggie dog lunch, bikinis, sexy lettuce, and something called "bloody syrup" (apparently an objection to seal killing in Canada - yeah I don't get it either).
Are these actually successful press releases for PETA? Do they actually get attention? Do they raise money? At some point the cuteness factor must wear off, no? Yes, we liked the first 20 or 30 spots of a supermodel promising to go naked before she would wear fur (with Pics!!!), but eventually, the tongue-in-cheek too-cute-by-half copywriting and ultimately silly messaging (hey, maybe you should stop eating meat to be stronger!!!) would seem to be counter-productive. They undermine the seriousness of PETA's mission and raise questions about its credibility.
PETA has to walk a fine line. Its mission is basically to improve animal welfare and reduce animal cruelty. Most animal cruelty takes place on the factory farms and in the testing labs. People don't want to hear about that though - I imagine PETA has decided they get more traction with puff pieces than with exposes, or even worse, guerrilla operations against farms. The pieces though distract from PETA's message and in some cases seem to make light of it (nobody really thinks that Fielder's vegetairianism helped him win the Derby - so what's the point besides a cheap laugh?)
It seems like the ASPCA walks the line better - affecting spots with Sarah McLachlin, tugging on people's heartstrings with the shots of the poor abused puppies. Yeah, that's not exactly PETA's mission - I think PETA's plank technically would not allow for domesticated animals either - but it is a credible approach, not snarky and was a proven money maker.
This is a long way of saying I wonder if the old truism of all PR being good PR is still true? For an arguably "fringe" group like PETA, is it more important to make sure people know you're still around than to provide a credible argument/release (whereas ASPCA is surely more well regarded than PETA so does not care as much about exposure)? Or are today's consumers so well informed and looped in that they will tune out obviously hacky BS like the Prince Fielder PR linked above?
The Baseball Update
Short one tonight - just a classic case of Tim McCarver idiocy.
President Obama asked McCarver and Buck why they thought the AL had won the last 12 all star games. Now the answer was probably simply a combination of luck and the talent in the AL being somewhat better than the NL the past decade. McCarver said that he thought the NL was catching up, but that the AL had a head start due to the DH. Just let that sink in for a second.
This was idiotic on so many levels. First, the DH has been around since '73. Second, the DH is used by both leagues in AS games played in AL parks. Third, the NL went 13-1 from '72 to '85, during which time the AL had the DH. I really can't imagine what McCarver was thinking. Actually, I'd rather not try.
The Taxes Update
I've already blogged on taxes today. I note though that Taxgirl noticed something I didn't - the surtaxes suggested by the House today apply to investment income as well as wages - basically, once again, resulting in a 45% max marginal rate on wages and a 25% max rate on cap gains and dividends (if Obama's proposals on cap gains and dividend tax rates come to fruition).
Greg Mankiw adds sales and state/local taxes to arrive at a top marginal rate above 50%. I think we're already there in California by that math, actually.
Update: Howard Gleckman at the Tax Vox blog has a very good post on the topic.
The Death Update
Samuel Genensky, a near blind inventor and mathematician for the Rand corporation who invented a precursor technology to the magnification devices currently in use by the partially sighted.
I thought this quote from him was interesting:
I find it is true in all walks of life that the benefits we provide people are at the margins - the high achievers and the low achievers. I guess the idea is that the rest will muddle through - not a perfect analogy because here we are talking about the somewhat disabled (partially sighted) vs. the obviously disabled (the blind), but I do think as a society we provide more accommodation for the obvious cases than the harder, less obvious cases.
Oh, and as a parent who hated the mandatory ointment requirement for newborns, this is haunting:
Yeah. Um, sorry? The obit is here.
They were.
Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like 80% of PETA's news releases are what people would call "puff pieces". Perusing the last 20 or so news releases on PETA's media center, I see the following hard hitting stories: Prince Fielder's home run derby win, Carol Liefer coming out as a Vegan, Woody Harrelson doing god knows what, Playboy playmate hosting veggie dog lunch, bikinis, sexy lettuce, and something called "bloody syrup" (apparently an objection to seal killing in Canada - yeah I don't get it either).
Are these actually successful press releases for PETA? Do they actually get attention? Do they raise money? At some point the cuteness factor must wear off, no? Yes, we liked the first 20 or 30 spots of a supermodel promising to go naked before she would wear fur (with Pics!!!), but eventually, the tongue-in-cheek too-cute-by-half copywriting and ultimately silly messaging (hey, maybe you should stop eating meat to be stronger!!!) would seem to be counter-productive. They undermine the seriousness of PETA's mission and raise questions about its credibility.
PETA has to walk a fine line. Its mission is basically to improve animal welfare and reduce animal cruelty. Most animal cruelty takes place on the factory farms and in the testing labs. People don't want to hear about that though - I imagine PETA has decided they get more traction with puff pieces than with exposes, or even worse, guerrilla operations against farms. The pieces though distract from PETA's message and in some cases seem to make light of it (nobody really thinks that Fielder's vegetairianism helped him win the Derby - so what's the point besides a cheap laugh?)
It seems like the ASPCA walks the line better - affecting spots with Sarah McLachlin, tugging on people's heartstrings with the shots of the poor abused puppies. Yeah, that's not exactly PETA's mission - I think PETA's plank technically would not allow for domesticated animals either - but it is a credible approach, not snarky and was a proven money maker.
This is a long way of saying I wonder if the old truism of all PR being good PR is still true? For an arguably "fringe" group like PETA, is it more important to make sure people know you're still around than to provide a credible argument/release (whereas ASPCA is surely more well regarded than PETA so does not care as much about exposure)? Or are today's consumers so well informed and looped in that they will tune out obviously hacky BS like the Prince Fielder PR linked above?
The Baseball Update
Short one tonight - just a classic case of Tim McCarver idiocy.
President Obama asked McCarver and Buck why they thought the AL had won the last 12 all star games. Now the answer was probably simply a combination of luck and the talent in the AL being somewhat better than the NL the past decade. McCarver said that he thought the NL was catching up, but that the AL had a head start due to the DH. Just let that sink in for a second.
This was idiotic on so many levels. First, the DH has been around since '73. Second, the DH is used by both leagues in AS games played in AL parks. Third, the NL went 13-1 from '72 to '85, during which time the AL had the DH. I really can't imagine what McCarver was thinking. Actually, I'd rather not try.
The Taxes Update
I've already blogged on taxes today. I note though that Taxgirl noticed something I didn't - the surtaxes suggested by the House today apply to investment income as well as wages - basically, once again, resulting in a 45% max marginal rate on wages and a 25% max rate on cap gains and dividends (if Obama's proposals on cap gains and dividend tax rates come to fruition).
Greg Mankiw adds sales and state/local taxes to arrive at a top marginal rate above 50%. I think we're already there in California by that math, actually.
Update: Howard Gleckman at the Tax Vox blog has a very good post on the topic.
The Death Update
Samuel Genensky, a near blind inventor and mathematician for the Rand corporation who invented a precursor technology to the magnification devices currently in use by the partially sighted.
I thought this quote from him was interesting:
“When the partially blind went out in the world, they found that they either got no services at all or services that were appropriate for people who were totally blind,’’ Mr. Genensky told an interviewer this year. “Neither of these alternatives made much sense to me.’’
I find it is true in all walks of life that the benefits we provide people are at the margins - the high achievers and the low achievers. I guess the idea is that the rest will muddle through - not a perfect analogy because here we are talking about the somewhat disabled (partially sighted) vs. the obviously disabled (the blind), but I do think as a society we provide more accommodation for the obvious cases than the harder, less obvious cases.
Oh, and as a parent who hated the mandatory ointment requirement for newborns, this is haunting:
His eyes were burned shortly after birth when a delivery room nurse accidentally administered the wrong eyedrops to guard against infection.
Yeah. Um, sorry? The obit is here.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Death, Taxes and Such
Well it's been too long since I've updated, and it may be months again since I do another update, but I have a few minutes, so here goes..
The Baseball Update
David Pinto is doing a quick series over on Baseball Musings, reviewing each major league team at the all star break. So far, he's tackled just the AL West, but eventually he'll get to the Sox. He presents how a team ranks in several stats, OBP, SLG, etc. I remember as a kid noticing the Sox always seemed to be at the top of the league in AVG and 2Bs, but at the bottom of the pack in SBs. This is not news.
The interesting thing (to me) is how much the team has changed since those days (and even since '04 or so). Now, Sox are middle of the pack in AVG, but toward the top in SBs (the perennial success in 2Bs must be a function of the park).
Again, this is not news. Everyone knows that Theo Epstein has made a point of emphasizing OBP and, apparently, has embraced the speed game more than his predecessors (of course, it helps that he has Ellsbury who has by himself more than 1/2 of the team's stolen bases). This is to his credit, but I don't think he gets enough credit. It's one thing to espouse a philosophy, it's another to successfully implement it. And Epstein's been able to do that in spades.
The Taxes Update
For me, it's all health care, all the time. Taxgirl, the Tax Vox Blog, Kausfiles and Robert Ross at HuffPo all had interesting posts in the past few days regarding the various tax initiatives being put forth to fund health care reform
David Brooks had a great op-ed last week noting that the combination of the various tax increases leave Obama with precious little dry powder for future domestic spending initiatives.
I agree with this. To review the bidding, Obama has already proposed/assumed that the Bush tax cuts on individuals earning over $250K will expire in 2011. Added to that since he ran are: (i) a cap on the deductibility of itemized deductions for high earners, (ii) a "surtax" from 1% to 3% on income over $350,000 (ramping up based on income) which Rangel introduced last week (iii) a potential cap on the tax exclusion of employer-provided health insurance (for plans that cost > $25K/year in premiums) and (iv) rumblings about imposing payroll taxes on capital gains and dividends (i.e., nonwage income).
Neither Obama nor Congress has seriously considered any tax increases on the middle class (such as the total repeal of the tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance).
The price tag for the increased coverage Congress is discussing (which would *not* be universal) is ~$1 trillion (CBO estimate from July 3 reported $600M, but the $1T number is still the one that is most widely reported). Apparently gone is the argument that reform will actually save money (probably for good reasons politically, there was already too much discussion of which end of life interventions would not be covered by government provided health insurance due to lack of "efficiencies" - see below).
I am not morally against a tax hike to fund comprehensive health care coverage, but so far, the plans put forth would not accomplish that goal. It seems to me that if you are willing to wager the rest of your domestic policy agenda (because that is what Obama would be doing if all of the above tax hikes are necessary for a credible plan to be passed, which would leave room for no further hikes, probably including the expiration of the Bush tax cuts), then the payoff had better be more impressive than even the most recent CBO estimates of the increase in the number of people covered in this country. It had better be damned close to universal coverage (Medicare for all, as Mickey Kaus calls it).
I don't think that's what we will see.
The Death Update
Michael. Farrah. Ed. Oxy-Clean. Karl. Robert. Steve. And Waldo.
That would be Waldo McBurney, America's oldest worker. He was 106. He worked from age 13 to age 104. He took up distance running when he was 65.
I was listening to an Adam Carolla podcast on the way home from work tonight and in it he said he had asked his friend Dr. Drew, what was with the health care reform debate - what all the controversy was about, why costs were rising so much. Dr. Drew's answer was simple(istic). Everyone is living longer than expected. This *can* partially explain shortfalls in corporate and public pensions and of course the coming disasters in Medicare and Social Security. The cost issue though is extremely loaded when you start to bring patient age into the equation - issues of rationing and treatment decisions made by reference to the efficiency (or necessity) of a given treatment. Who knows how much "extra" costs we all bore to help Mr. McBurney live to 106. Surely he wasn't getting there solely on "juices and berries".
It's a difficult question. When dad finally accepted his likely fate (late stage small cell lung cancer), he decided he didn't want to pursue more chemo or crap that would just make him feel sicker than he was. That was his decision though. I can't imagine (and we're a LONG way in the discussion from this) someone else making that decision for him. Obama alluded to this in a discussion of his grandmother - even when it was clear she would not make it, she had a hip replacement. He admitted that he would pay for the procedure himself, but what if someone can't pay. As a lawyer, I hate slippery slope arguments and believe that we as rational humans don't need bright lines because we should be able reason between different cases based on their own facts, but that's much easier to do in the dry world of tax where it's just money, ultimately, and not someone's cancer-infected dad.
Addendum
This conversation on Slate.com is a good primer on where the Obama Administration (and Stephen Colbert, er, Peter Orszag in particular) thinks the cost savings will come from.
In addition, this blog post by Orszag lays out the ground rules for health reform being "deficit neutral". This is the corner they've painted themselves into.
The Baseball Update
David Pinto is doing a quick series over on Baseball Musings, reviewing each major league team at the all star break. So far, he's tackled just the AL West, but eventually he'll get to the Sox. He presents how a team ranks in several stats, OBP, SLG, etc. I remember as a kid noticing the Sox always seemed to be at the top of the league in AVG and 2Bs, but at the bottom of the pack in SBs. This is not news.
The interesting thing (to me) is how much the team has changed since those days (and even since '04 or so). Now, Sox are middle of the pack in AVG, but toward the top in SBs (the perennial success in 2Bs must be a function of the park).
Again, this is not news. Everyone knows that Theo Epstein has made a point of emphasizing OBP and, apparently, has embraced the speed game more than his predecessors (of course, it helps that he has Ellsbury who has by himself more than 1/2 of the team's stolen bases). This is to his credit, but I don't think he gets enough credit. It's one thing to espouse a philosophy, it's another to successfully implement it. And Epstein's been able to do that in spades.
The Taxes Update
For me, it's all health care, all the time. Taxgirl, the Tax Vox Blog, Kausfiles and Robert Ross at HuffPo all had interesting posts in the past few days regarding the various tax initiatives being put forth to fund health care reform
David Brooks had a great op-ed last week noting that the combination of the various tax increases leave Obama with precious little dry powder for future domestic spending initiatives.
I agree with this. To review the bidding, Obama has already proposed/assumed that the Bush tax cuts on individuals earning over $250K will expire in 2011. Added to that since he ran are: (i) a cap on the deductibility of itemized deductions for high earners, (ii) a "surtax" from 1% to 3% on income over $350,000 (ramping up based on income) which Rangel introduced last week (iii) a potential cap on the tax exclusion of employer-provided health insurance (for plans that cost > $25K/year in premiums) and (iv) rumblings about imposing payroll taxes on capital gains and dividends (i.e., nonwage income).
Neither Obama nor Congress has seriously considered any tax increases on the middle class (such as the total repeal of the tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance).
The price tag for the increased coverage Congress is discussing (which would *not* be universal) is ~$1 trillion (CBO estimate from July 3 reported $600M, but the $1T number is still the one that is most widely reported). Apparently gone is the argument that reform will actually save money (probably for good reasons politically, there was already too much discussion of which end of life interventions would not be covered by government provided health insurance due to lack of "efficiencies" - see below).
I am not morally against a tax hike to fund comprehensive health care coverage, but so far, the plans put forth would not accomplish that goal. It seems to me that if you are willing to wager the rest of your domestic policy agenda (because that is what Obama would be doing if all of the above tax hikes are necessary for a credible plan to be passed, which would leave room for no further hikes, probably including the expiration of the Bush tax cuts), then the payoff had better be more impressive than even the most recent CBO estimates of the increase in the number of people covered in this country. It had better be damned close to universal coverage (Medicare for all, as Mickey Kaus calls it).
I don't think that's what we will see.
The Death Update
Michael. Farrah. Ed. Oxy-Clean. Karl. Robert. Steve. And Waldo.
That would be Waldo McBurney, America's oldest worker. He was 106. He worked from age 13 to age 104. He took up distance running when he was 65.
I was listening to an Adam Carolla podcast on the way home from work tonight and in it he said he had asked his friend Dr. Drew, what was with the health care reform debate - what all the controversy was about, why costs were rising so much. Dr. Drew's answer was simple(istic). Everyone is living longer than expected. This *can* partially explain shortfalls in corporate and public pensions and of course the coming disasters in Medicare and Social Security. The cost issue though is extremely loaded when you start to bring patient age into the equation - issues of rationing and treatment decisions made by reference to the efficiency (or necessity) of a given treatment. Who knows how much "extra" costs we all bore to help Mr. McBurney live to 106. Surely he wasn't getting there solely on "juices and berries".
It's a difficult question. When dad finally accepted his likely fate (late stage small cell lung cancer), he decided he didn't want to pursue more chemo or crap that would just make him feel sicker than he was. That was his decision though. I can't imagine (and we're a LONG way in the discussion from this) someone else making that decision for him. Obama alluded to this in a discussion of his grandmother - even when it was clear she would not make it, she had a hip replacement. He admitted that he would pay for the procedure himself, but what if someone can't pay. As a lawyer, I hate slippery slope arguments and believe that we as rational humans don't need bright lines because we should be able reason between different cases based on their own facts, but that's much easier to do in the dry world of tax where it's just money, ultimately, and not someone's cancer-infected dad.
Addendum
This conversation on Slate.com is a good primer on where the Obama Administration (and Stephen Colbert, er, Peter Orszag in particular) thinks the cost savings will come from.
In addition, this blog post by Orszag lays out the ground rules for health reform being "deficit neutral". This is the corner they've painted themselves into.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Odd's 'n' Ends
Getting back into this "blogging" thing -- thought I'd fill out a few odds and ends I noticed the past few days...
Thoughts and prayers go out to Joe Ferguson and his family (Joe is battling complications from Leukemia). Joe was the first QB I remember for the Bills, and I distinctly remember that while he was generally mediocre, he had some great hook-ups with Frank Lewis and Jerry Butler (and, IIRC, set a record for most attempts without an interception). Best wishes Joe.
Derek Jeter apparently has settled his tax dispute with New York state on undisclosed terms. He clearly agreed to pay something - wonder if we will notice that Derek will be less of a presence in NYC (see this post for some background on the case)
Shhh - the Buffalo Sabres are coming. Look out NHL. I've been saying all season that they have had a positive goal differential and just a matter of time before they would creep back into the playoff hunt. Haven't lost since the AS break.
Tax news -- Sen. Grassley said in an interview with Reuters that the Blackstone Bill is essentially dead, but that he thought the deferred comp bill introduced by Rahm EMmanuel last year has some legs.
That's all for now - the Beatles' yogi passed away - I guess that's the big obit for the day. Still having dreams about dad, although not that often.
Thoughts and prayers go out to Joe Ferguson and his family (Joe is battling complications from Leukemia). Joe was the first QB I remember for the Bills, and I distinctly remember that while he was generally mediocre, he had some great hook-ups with Frank Lewis and Jerry Butler (and, IIRC, set a record for most attempts without an interception). Best wishes Joe.
Derek Jeter apparently has settled his tax dispute with New York state on undisclosed terms. He clearly agreed to pay something - wonder if we will notice that Derek will be less of a presence in NYC (see this post for some background on the case)
Shhh - the Buffalo Sabres are coming. Look out NHL. I've been saying all season that they have had a positive goal differential and just a matter of time before they would creep back into the playoff hunt. Haven't lost since the AS break.
Tax news -- Sen. Grassley said in an interview with Reuters that the Blackstone Bill is essentially dead, but that he thought the deferred comp bill introduced by Rahm EMmanuel last year has some legs.
That's all for now - the Beatles' yogi passed away - I guess that's the big obit for the day. Still having dreams about dad, although not that often.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Death Update
There hasn't been one in a while.
A very sad day in Macedonia, Croatia and the greater former Yugoslavia as Toshe Proeski died Tuesday in a car accident. He was 26.
Proeski was an extremely popular (apparently) pop singer who, in 2004, participated in the prestigious Eurovision singing competition (think Idol, then multiply by the EU).
He was buried yesterday in Macedonia with full state and religious honors.
Here is a sample of some of his work.
Here is an excellent article explaining better than I can why Proeski was an important figure in an area that has suffered extremely.
And here is the obit.
A very sad day in Macedonia, Croatia and the greater former Yugoslavia as Toshe Proeski died Tuesday in a car accident. He was 26.
Proeski was an extremely popular (apparently) pop singer who, in 2004, participated in the prestigious Eurovision singing competition (think Idol, then multiply by the EU).
He was buried yesterday in Macedonia with full state and religious honors.
Here is a sample of some of his work.
Here is an excellent article explaining better than I can why Proeski was an important figure in an area that has suffered extremely.
And here is the obit.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Late Thursday Night Update
First off, again, a shout-out to my boy Kevin Pritchard at Bflo blog for slapping a link to the Taxman up on his site. For those of you from WNY, I grew up in Newfane (north of Lockport), went to HS at Willy North (go Spartans) where my dad was an English teacher (Mike Naylor) and now live in NYC. Still root (painfully) for the Bills and Sabres and want to hear thoughts and suggestions for coverage of Buffalo sports. Please email me.
No posts yesterday as I was out golfing.
Please head over to Fire Dick Jauron to see my breakdown of how Dick Jauron, despite all evidence to the contrary, still has a head coaching job. It's a sordid story of secret societies and school ties (with apologies to Brendan Fraser).
Anyway...
The baseball Update
Just linking around tonight to some friendly blogs.
Jere at Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory is talking about Suzyn Waldman's crying jag.
A good back and forth from Fire Brand of the American League between a Sox blogger and Indians blogger. Y'all know where i stand - Sox in 6, mostly scoring early runs, the Sox win the battle of the bullpens.
Keep your Sox On's breakdown of the Sox-Indians.
An awesome post from Surviving Grady wherein he hopes that the Sox win the series so the Repo Man won't come take his furniture away.
And it comes with this awesome picture:
Go Paps.
So that's it for the baseball update for now. Again, for the hard of reading (i.e., Yankees fans), Sox in 6. Manny = MVP.
The Taxes Update
No Taxes update tonight as I have lost access to my work email with my summary of tax notes updates.
The Death Update
Red Shipley passed away last week. He was 70. I note his passing because of his promotion of bluegrass music, the same kind of music that led my dad to move to Missouri in 1973, pregnant wife in tow. He had some crazy idea that he and some buddies would start a bluegrass band and make their fortune (or at least fame). It didn't work out, and southwest Missouri was apparently desolate. Amish or fundamentalist Ozarkians ruled the area and my parents were woefully out of place (even though, as Vermonters, they should have been used to that). Anyway, he kept listening to bluegrass, but didn't live his dream.
As for Red, like my dad, he died from cancer, but lived a long productive life promoting the art he loved. The obit is here.
No posts yesterday as I was out golfing.
Please head over to Fire Dick Jauron to see my breakdown of how Dick Jauron, despite all evidence to the contrary, still has a head coaching job. It's a sordid story of secret societies and school ties (with apologies to Brendan Fraser).
Anyway...
The baseball Update
Just linking around tonight to some friendly blogs.
Jere at Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory is talking about Suzyn Waldman's crying jag.
A good back and forth from Fire Brand of the American League between a Sox blogger and Indians blogger. Y'all know where i stand - Sox in 6, mostly scoring early runs, the Sox win the battle of the bullpens.
Keep your Sox On's breakdown of the Sox-Indians.
An awesome post from Surviving Grady wherein he hopes that the Sox win the series so the Repo Man won't come take his furniture away.
And it comes with this awesome picture:
Go Paps.
So that's it for the baseball update for now. Again, for the hard of reading (i.e., Yankees fans), Sox in 6. Manny = MVP.
The Taxes Update
No Taxes update tonight as I have lost access to my work email with my summary of tax notes updates.
The Death Update
Red Shipley passed away last week. He was 70. I note his passing because of his promotion of bluegrass music, the same kind of music that led my dad to move to Missouri in 1973, pregnant wife in tow. He had some crazy idea that he and some buddies would start a bluegrass band and make their fortune (or at least fame). It didn't work out, and southwest Missouri was apparently desolate. Amish or fundamentalist Ozarkians ruled the area and my parents were woefully out of place (even though, as Vermonters, they should have been used to that). Anyway, he kept listening to bluegrass, but didn't live his dream.
As for Red, like my dad, he died from cancer, but lived a long productive life promoting the art he loved. The obit is here.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Rainy Tuesday Night Update
The Bills Letdown
It was quite strange when I turned to the Taxwife not 10 minutes after the Bills lost last night and said "well, they deserved to lose that game - if you can't win getting six turnovers, you deserve to lose". In other words, serenity now.
This morning, before even going on the blogs to check out others' reactions to the games (links below), I thought a little more critically about the game...
-- The Bills gave up an easy 3 at the end of the first half by attempting a 53 yard field goal on a 4th and 3. Not to go all Gregg Easterbrook or anything, but going for it on 4th and 3 has a higher positive outcome than attempting a 53 yarder. Punting may have been the best move there.
-- They sent Roscoe Parrish on an end around (it may have been a reverse) on 3rd and 2 in Dallas territory. It was predictably blown up and the Bills needed to punt. A simple run up the middle or toss over the middle to Lynch or Royal (who was a great weapon in the game (would have obviously been much more productive).
-- Jauron misused times out in the second half, resulting in a bad onside kick defense formation.
-- Defensive playcalling down the stretch was atrocious, giving up easy yards over the middle and then the inexcusable 8 yard sideline route with 7 seconds left. Again, they could have called a time out if they had the wrong personnel on the field, or to make sure the young defense was on the right page.
-- The decision to pass on third and medium deep in Dallas territory in the 4th quarter is inexcusable. That should have been a fireable offense.
I realize that most of the above decisions were not made directly by Jauron, they were made by his coordinators, Brian Fairchild and Perry Fewell (Dr. Z really tears Fewell a new one in particular). Still, Jauron is the HEAD coach and has to ultimately take responsibility for the overall schemes and the decisions to try trick plays on third and short. Most importantly, it is clear that the Bills young players are trying extremely hard and giving it all they have, but they are young. They need a solid gameplan that will not let them down and a coaching staff that knows when to take a breather, settle the troops down and focus that energy. That is sorely lacking this year and it is clear to me that Jauron is not the right man for the job.
Others' more precise takes on last night:
Bflo Blog (special thanks to BfloBlog for linking to the Taxman, by the way)
Buffalo Rumblings
The Goose's Roost
I guess the silver lining I was looking for is that Jauron can't screw up the Bills this Sunday.
In happier news....
The Baseball Update
The ALCS and NLCS are set. Word from Boston is that Schilling will start Game 2 for the Sox, with Dice-K going in game 3. This makes sense insofar as Dice-K has been about 3/4 of a run better on the road than at home this year; however, the way the series lines up, that would have Dice-K going in game 7. I'm not sure how I feel about that, except that the Cubs-D-Backs series showed the fallacy of planning too far ahead in the tournament (although fundamentally, I think Lou was in the right pulling Z).
I'm sticking by my previous prediction of Sox in 6 over the Indians. I only got half of the NLCS teams correct, but I'll stick with the team I did get right - Rockies in 7.
The Taxes Update
Senator Reid announced today that no carried interest legislation would make it through the Senate in 2008. No surprise. Makes for an interesting election year issue. Romney has already pledged no new taxes if he is elected.
The Death Update
A rather obscure one today. Nolan Herndon passed away Sunday at the age of 88 from pneumonia. He was a member of the famed Doolittle Raiders who engaged in one of the most daring aerial missions of World War II. The mission, a bombing raid over Tokyo in the Spring of '42 was memorialized in the book and film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, with a screenplay by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (ironic that a writer of a film known as borderline propaganda was later blacklisted for refusing to name names).
Anyway, back to Mr. Herndon, he retired from the military shortly after the war ended and passed away apparently at his home in South Carolina. The obit is here.
It was quite strange when I turned to the Taxwife not 10 minutes after the Bills lost last night and said "well, they deserved to lose that game - if you can't win getting six turnovers, you deserve to lose". In other words, serenity now.
This morning, before even going on the blogs to check out others' reactions to the games (links below), I thought a little more critically about the game...
-- The Bills gave up an easy 3 at the end of the first half by attempting a 53 yard field goal on a 4th and 3. Not to go all Gregg Easterbrook or anything, but going for it on 4th and 3 has a higher positive outcome than attempting a 53 yarder. Punting may have been the best move there.
-- They sent Roscoe Parrish on an end around (it may have been a reverse) on 3rd and 2 in Dallas territory. It was predictably blown up and the Bills needed to punt. A simple run up the middle or toss over the middle to Lynch or Royal (who was a great weapon in the game (would have obviously been much more productive).
-- Jauron misused times out in the second half, resulting in a bad onside kick defense formation.
-- Defensive playcalling down the stretch was atrocious, giving up easy yards over the middle and then the inexcusable 8 yard sideline route with 7 seconds left. Again, they could have called a time out if they had the wrong personnel on the field, or to make sure the young defense was on the right page.
-- The decision to pass on third and medium deep in Dallas territory in the 4th quarter is inexcusable. That should have been a fireable offense.
I realize that most of the above decisions were not made directly by Jauron, they were made by his coordinators, Brian Fairchild and Perry Fewell (Dr. Z really tears Fewell a new one in particular). Still, Jauron is the HEAD coach and has to ultimately take responsibility for the overall schemes and the decisions to try trick plays on third and short. Most importantly, it is clear that the Bills young players are trying extremely hard and giving it all they have, but they are young. They need a solid gameplan that will not let them down and a coaching staff that knows when to take a breather, settle the troops down and focus that energy. That is sorely lacking this year and it is clear to me that Jauron is not the right man for the job.
Others' more precise takes on last night:
Bflo Blog (special thanks to BfloBlog for linking to the Taxman, by the way)
Buffalo Rumblings
The Goose's Roost
I guess the silver lining I was looking for is that Jauron can't screw up the Bills this Sunday.
In happier news....
The Baseball Update
The ALCS and NLCS are set. Word from Boston is that Schilling will start Game 2 for the Sox, with Dice-K going in game 3. This makes sense insofar as Dice-K has been about 3/4 of a run better on the road than at home this year; however, the way the series lines up, that would have Dice-K going in game 7. I'm not sure how I feel about that, except that the Cubs-D-Backs series showed the fallacy of planning too far ahead in the tournament (although fundamentally, I think Lou was in the right pulling Z).
I'm sticking by my previous prediction of Sox in 6 over the Indians. I only got half of the NLCS teams correct, but I'll stick with the team I did get right - Rockies in 7.
The Taxes Update
Senator Reid announced today that no carried interest legislation would make it through the Senate in 2008. No surprise. Makes for an interesting election year issue. Romney has already pledged no new taxes if he is elected.
The Death Update
A rather obscure one today. Nolan Herndon passed away Sunday at the age of 88 from pneumonia. He was a member of the famed Doolittle Raiders who engaged in one of the most daring aerial missions of World War II. The mission, a bombing raid over Tokyo in the Spring of '42 was memorialized in the book and film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, with a screenplay by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (ironic that a writer of a film known as borderline propaganda was later blacklisted for refusing to name names).
Anyway, back to Mr. Herndon, he retired from the military shortly after the war ended and passed away apparently at his home in South Carolina. The obit is here.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Late Night Updates
The Tax Update
No major news today (I'm not going to link to the tax cases the Supreme Court is hearing this term), so here are some blog posts from the past week:
Victor Fleischer on Senator Levin's bill to eliminate the book/tax disparity in employer compensation deductions for comp. paid with stock options (as a reminder, for financial reporting purposes, companies generally expense the cost of options upon grant, or sometimes over an exercise period, but can include the deduction for tax purposes only when the employee includes the comp. in its income - generally at exercise when the deduction will be greater than the initial financial reporting expense). I still am missing the "abuse" this is trying to get at there is tax parity on the employee/employer side for comp paid with stock options - not sure why GAAP and tax need to agree in all respects - GAAP is frequently a more realistic measure of economic reality than tax - there is nothing inherently wrong with that.
The Tax Policty Blog notices a bill proposed by Rep. Obey (D-WI) that would impose a "war tax" on the American people - progressively based. Good luck with that Obie.
And from Taxalicious is this clip from the Simpsons of Homer interacting with the IRS.
Check them all out.
The Death Update
Of course, the big name yesterday was Queens' own Al Oerter, who passed away from heart failure at 71. He, like Jim Ryun was frequently referred to as a "schoolboy champ" of his sport, the discus. He famously appeared in, and won golds in, four consecutive Summer Olympiads, a feat that has been matched only by Carl Lewis. The obit is here.
A less-known name belongs to Ralph Sturges. Anyone who has been to Mohegan Sun, however, has him to thank. He helped the Mohegan tribe achieve federal recognition, a precursor, in most cases, to receving a state license to construct and operate a casino on tribal land. I've been to Mohegan once - it was great (even if they stopped serving alcohol too early). Thank you Mr. Sturges. The obit is here.
The Football Update
A roundup of the Buffalo Bills blogs is here:
Bills Locker has the early injury report on Monday night's game against Dallas. Youbuty will be out again. Greer will get the start. He was tremendous against the Jets - we'll see how he fares against the Boys.
Brian Galliford at Buffalo Rumblings has the first quarter report card. Not too much to disagree with here - the Bills are, after all, 1-3 (albeit against 3-1 Pittsburgh, 4-0 NE and 2-2 Denver). I guess I'm not really as impressed with Lynch as Brian is. He's shown flashes, but has lacked consistency which has forced the offense into frequent third and long situations - of course, the QBs for the most part couldn't convert a third and 8 against the Dillon Panthers.
Bills Gab says Losman is worried about his job. He should give Drew Bledsoe a call for some inspiration.
And big props go out to the Goose's Roost for throwing a link to my blog up on their page. Go check them out (they're also over on the left). Right now, the talk is turning more to the Sabres - I need to dive back into hockey already? All I know is that my fellow Terrier Chris Drury is a punk.
and last, but not least:
The Baseball Update
Lots of great stuff from the Sox blogs over the past week celebrating the division. You've already seen my position by position breakdown - I predict Sox in 4 - here are what the other Sox blogs are talking about:
Jere from A Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory had an assload of pictures from Friday night's clincher. Click here and keep scrolling.
El Guapo's Ghost rightly notes that the underreported story so far is the Angels injury issues - Gary Mathews and Bartolo Colon will miss the series and Vlad the impaler is dinged as well - could be limited to DH duty (which would pust Chone "Sean" Figgins to the OF and require Kendrick and Izturis to play in the IF).
Keep Your Sox On (which is an excellent blog) has the breakdown of the series - concluding, obviously, that the Sox are the better team statistically and on paper (although I don't put any stock at all in the season series advantage the Sox have).
Aaaand.. Sawx Blog has the roundup of the rest (conventional media, other blogs, Angels blog - seriously - just one). Go take a look.
That's it for tonight. Quick predictions I guess are in order (for the record, I predicted the Sox, Cubs and Angels as division winners and nailed the Yanks as the wildcard. Unfortunately the rest of my NL picks were a mess - Mets to win the East, Houston to win the WC and LA to win the west).
Cubs over D-Backs in 5
Rockies over Phils in 4
Indians over Yanks in 5
Sox over Angels in 4
No major news today (I'm not going to link to the tax cases the Supreme Court is hearing this term), so here are some blog posts from the past week:
Victor Fleischer on Senator Levin's bill to eliminate the book/tax disparity in employer compensation deductions for comp. paid with stock options (as a reminder, for financial reporting purposes, companies generally expense the cost of options upon grant, or sometimes over an exercise period, but can include the deduction for tax purposes only when the employee includes the comp. in its income - generally at exercise when the deduction will be greater than the initial financial reporting expense). I still am missing the "abuse" this is trying to get at there is tax parity on the employee/employer side for comp paid with stock options - not sure why GAAP and tax need to agree in all respects - GAAP is frequently a more realistic measure of economic reality than tax - there is nothing inherently wrong with that.
The Tax Policty Blog notices a bill proposed by Rep. Obey (D-WI) that would impose a "war tax" on the American people - progressively based. Good luck with that Obie.
And from Taxalicious is this clip from the Simpsons of Homer interacting with the IRS.
Check them all out.
The Death Update
Of course, the big name yesterday was Queens' own Al Oerter, who passed away from heart failure at 71. He, like Jim Ryun was frequently referred to as a "schoolboy champ" of his sport, the discus. He famously appeared in, and won golds in, four consecutive Summer Olympiads, a feat that has been matched only by Carl Lewis. The obit is here.
A less-known name belongs to Ralph Sturges. Anyone who has been to Mohegan Sun, however, has him to thank. He helped the Mohegan tribe achieve federal recognition, a precursor, in most cases, to receving a state license to construct and operate a casino on tribal land. I've been to Mohegan once - it was great (even if they stopped serving alcohol too early). Thank you Mr. Sturges. The obit is here.
The Football Update
A roundup of the Buffalo Bills blogs is here:
Bills Locker has the early injury report on Monday night's game against Dallas. Youbuty will be out again. Greer will get the start. He was tremendous against the Jets - we'll see how he fares against the Boys.
Brian Galliford at Buffalo Rumblings has the first quarter report card. Not too much to disagree with here - the Bills are, after all, 1-3 (albeit against 3-1 Pittsburgh, 4-0 NE and 2-2 Denver). I guess I'm not really as impressed with Lynch as Brian is. He's shown flashes, but has lacked consistency which has forced the offense into frequent third and long situations - of course, the QBs for the most part couldn't convert a third and 8 against the Dillon Panthers.
Bills Gab says Losman is worried about his job. He should give Drew Bledsoe a call for some inspiration.
And big props go out to the Goose's Roost for throwing a link to my blog up on their page. Go check them out (they're also over on the left). Right now, the talk is turning more to the Sabres - I need to dive back into hockey already? All I know is that my fellow Terrier Chris Drury is a punk.
and last, but not least:
The Baseball Update
Lots of great stuff from the Sox blogs over the past week celebrating the division. You've already seen my position by position breakdown - I predict Sox in 4 - here are what the other Sox blogs are talking about:
Jere from A Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory had an assload of pictures from Friday night's clincher. Click here and keep scrolling.
El Guapo's Ghost rightly notes that the underreported story so far is the Angels injury issues - Gary Mathews and Bartolo Colon will miss the series and Vlad the impaler is dinged as well - could be limited to DH duty (which would pust Chone "Sean" Figgins to the OF and require Kendrick and Izturis to play in the IF).
Keep Your Sox On (which is an excellent blog) has the breakdown of the series - concluding, obviously, that the Sox are the better team statistically and on paper (although I don't put any stock at all in the season series advantage the Sox have).
Aaaand.. Sawx Blog has the roundup of the rest (conventional media, other blogs, Angels blog - seriously - just one). Go take a look.
That's it for tonight. Quick predictions I guess are in order (for the record, I predicted the Sox, Cubs and Angels as division winners and nailed the Yanks as the wildcard. Unfortunately the rest of my NL picks were a mess - Mets to win the East, Houston to win the WC and LA to win the west).
Cubs over D-Backs in 5
Rockies over Phils in 4
Indians over Yanks in 5
Sox over Angels in 4
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Day my Dad Died
This should have posted yesterday, but internet issues got in the way
One third of the focus of this blog is suppposed to be "death". When I sat down and composed the first post and set the settings (including adding the picture that is at the bottom of the first page), I thought that I would use this blog to post reflections of my dad (so as to keep his memory fresh and deal with sadness about his death that seemed to come and go like phases of the moon). I also thought how "neat" it would be to focus on the passing of one person a day - picking an obituary almost at random, and trying to learn more about that person. Because, while it is cliche, I am a strong believer that the dead have a lot to teach us.
Obviously this focus is only on one third (and some days less than that), and obviously, I have only scratched the surface of the things my dad and I did, or that he taught me (but again, this ain't no Big Russ blog). But before I continue with that stated focus of the blog, the time has come to write down, for my own sanity, and also for posterity, what happened on September 21, 2006.
As I have mentioned before, my dad had lung cancer. He was diagnosed in July, 2006, after going to the hospital with what appeared to be a relatively mild heart attack. The diagnosis seemed, to a certain extent, to be a bit of dumb luck (as many disgnoses of lung cancer are), as without the heart attack, it never would have been caught. Unfortunately, it came too late (as many diagnoses of lung cancer do) to be of any real use to my dad. He was diagnosed as terminal almost from the beginning. The beginning was the end.
I know he groped toward acceptance of his situation over time, and with the help of a good friend, Father James Massey (even as he eschewed his cynically held belief or trust in god). It never seemed real to any of us, though, even as we were researching non-small cell cancer studies and experimental drugs.
He was in and out of the hospital in August and early September, contracting pneumonia along the way. He decided not to proceed with chemo (radiation and surgery were not options). He was given a few months to live.
I decided in early September to go visit him, even though he told me it wasn't necessary, don't worry about it (he originally did not even want to tell close family members he was sick. I think he was embarassed). I bought my ticket on American Eagle.
I flew out on a bright, warm September Friday morning on an American Eagle puddle-jumper. (As an aside, I find it interesting that the suspense movie trope is not a bright and sunny morning (You just KNOW something back is about to happen) rather than a "dark and stormy night" (now mostly a cliche to be mocked in movies like Scary Movie 3).)
I landed mid-morning, picked up my rental car, and headed for Burt, NY. I called ahead and learned that dad was getting out of the hopsital after stopping off and visiting his doctor, so I stopped by my brother and sister-in-law's house and saw my nieces. It was the first time I had seen their house. It's cute - small, on a corner lot at an intersection, but a nice yard and lots of space in the basement.
I drove home to an empty house and waited for mom and dad. There was some medical detritus sprinkled about, but for the most part, the place was in good shape.
After what seemed like hours, mom and dad got home. Dad looked terrible. He had to be helped from the car and had what looked like a somewhat scared (or at least surprised) look on his face. I now know what the word "Ashen" means. He was gray and his hair had gone gray as well. He had trouble walking, and as we led him up the steps, he had to stop to breath. It seemed like he couldn't catch his breath and had to cough into a cup, but my mom said that he would be better once he was able to sit down.
We sat on the porch for a bit before my mom said she had to go get some medicine that the doctor prescribed for dad. Now if you don't know the geography and demographics of Niagara County, you don't understand that you can't just run down to Duane Reade or CVS. A trip to the pharmacist can take 25 minutes each way. Mom said that he still had the pneumonia and needed some sort of fog machine to help clear his lungs. We got dad inside and she left. This was the first even that I think could have changed the outcome - if she stayed and I left.
So dad and I sat on the couch. Actually, he was in his chair (a somewhat beat up glider) and I was on the couch, watching him struggle. He was clearly not well. Selfishly, I was annoyed that I had come all this way and that we were not going to have time to talk and hang out (baseball was still on tv, although the Sox were out of it). Obviously I was a jerk for even thinking that, but as George Benson sang, hnidsight is 20/20.
He had to move from the chair, to the couch, to the couch in the living room, to sitting up, to lying down, all in an effort to get more comfortable and assist in his breathing. I gave him water, tried to get him to cough into his cup. He couldn't eat anything. He asked me where mom was. I said she would be on her way. He seemed a little out of it.
I called mom and told her that he was asking for her, and she said she would be there as soon as she could. She needed to get the medicine.
Dad was gasping a bit, struggling, telling me a couple of times that he couldn't breathe. This was mistake #2, not calling 911 right then. I thought he would be o.k. once mom got home, that she would give him the medicine, hook him up to the fog machine and he would be o.k. I told him that and he said that she had better hurry.
I read a bit from an survey on American dialects, while I sat with dad. We watched a replay of the previous night's Jays game. I callled mom again and told her to hurry. She did. When she got home, I was more worried. Dad was on the living room couch.
She unpacked this breathing machine which was supposed to open up dad's lungs. At this point, I don't recall the medical reason for the machine, other than it was supposed to help. I think it produced a fog that helped fight against the pneumonia. In any event, it wasn't really working and dad started to silp away. Mom said "I'm worried about you Mike", as she felt for his blod pressure. She raced upstairs and grabbed the BP machine as I stood there and tried to get my dad to breathe. She strapped it on him and tried to get a BP, but couldn't.
His eyes started to flutter as she grabbed the phone and called 911. He was still with us, but barely. By the time the paramedics came, I'm not sure he was still really conscious. They moved him to the floor as the room filled with the volounteers and professionals. It did not seem real. They tried to get a response from him, but I think the most they got was perhaps a hoarse whisper. He had stopped breathing. They did CPR. They gave him a shot of adrenaline. They eventually moved him to a backboard and into the ambulance. I was suddenly on the phone, dialing my brother and sister, as my mom accompanied my dad in the ambulance. I raced to the hospital too after a quick call to Daphne. My voice caught in my throat as I did.
I got to the hospital and raced into the emergency room. They were doing serious compressions on him as my mom stood there silently. Two docs and a bunch of nurses and paramedics. His belly was grotesquely distended, shaking violently with each downward compression. They brought out the paddles which was when I realized that he may die. Until then, I had been shouting encouragement, hoping he could hear me, knowing he would pull out of it and worst case - he would be in the hospital again. In reality, he was probably gone before he reached the hospital (the paramedics were not precise with the timeline). They called it a little after 3 pm.
Melissa (Justin's wife) was in the parking lot when I walked outside. I just shook my head back and forth. In a total state of disbelief. She started crying. I went back in and tried to console my mom. I just couldn't believe it. I had just landed a few hours earlier. I called Jessica. Justin was already on his way. He absolutely lost it when he saw dad. I talked to Daphne and talked to a partner at work. We all stood around dad for two hours before starting to move on.
The single worst day of my life. And many immediately after that were in the top 10. I try to remember him and try to move forward, but those two are mutually incompatible. As long as I remember him, I will feel sorrow, but I wil be able to remember him. I guess the cost of being able to remember and cherish someone is the pain that took that person away from you. The further away from his death, the less that cost is, but it is, and always will be, there.
One third of the focus of this blog is suppposed to be "death". When I sat down and composed the first post and set the settings (including adding the picture that is at the bottom of the first page), I thought that I would use this blog to post reflections of my dad (so as to keep his memory fresh and deal with sadness about his death that seemed to come and go like phases of the moon). I also thought how "neat" it would be to focus on the passing of one person a day - picking an obituary almost at random, and trying to learn more about that person. Because, while it is cliche, I am a strong believer that the dead have a lot to teach us.
Obviously this focus is only on one third (and some days less than that), and obviously, I have only scratched the surface of the things my dad and I did, or that he taught me (but again, this ain't no Big Russ blog). But before I continue with that stated focus of the blog, the time has come to write down, for my own sanity, and also for posterity, what happened on September 21, 2006.
As I have mentioned before, my dad had lung cancer. He was diagnosed in July, 2006, after going to the hospital with what appeared to be a relatively mild heart attack. The diagnosis seemed, to a certain extent, to be a bit of dumb luck (as many disgnoses of lung cancer are), as without the heart attack, it never would have been caught. Unfortunately, it came too late (as many diagnoses of lung cancer do) to be of any real use to my dad. He was diagnosed as terminal almost from the beginning. The beginning was the end.
I know he groped toward acceptance of his situation over time, and with the help of a good friend, Father James Massey (even as he eschewed his cynically held belief or trust in god). It never seemed real to any of us, though, even as we were researching non-small cell cancer studies and experimental drugs.
He was in and out of the hospital in August and early September, contracting pneumonia along the way. He decided not to proceed with chemo (radiation and surgery were not options). He was given a few months to live.
I decided in early September to go visit him, even though he told me it wasn't necessary, don't worry about it (he originally did not even want to tell close family members he was sick. I think he was embarassed). I bought my ticket on American Eagle.
I flew out on a bright, warm September Friday morning on an American Eagle puddle-jumper. (As an aside, I find it interesting that the suspense movie trope is not a bright and sunny morning (You just KNOW something back is about to happen) rather than a "dark and stormy night" (now mostly a cliche to be mocked in movies like Scary Movie 3).)
I landed mid-morning, picked up my rental car, and headed for Burt, NY. I called ahead and learned that dad was getting out of the hopsital after stopping off and visiting his doctor, so I stopped by my brother and sister-in-law's house and saw my nieces. It was the first time I had seen their house. It's cute - small, on a corner lot at an intersection, but a nice yard and lots of space in the basement.
I drove home to an empty house and waited for mom and dad. There was some medical detritus sprinkled about, but for the most part, the place was in good shape.
After what seemed like hours, mom and dad got home. Dad looked terrible. He had to be helped from the car and had what looked like a somewhat scared (or at least surprised) look on his face. I now know what the word "Ashen" means. He was gray and his hair had gone gray as well. He had trouble walking, and as we led him up the steps, he had to stop to breath. It seemed like he couldn't catch his breath and had to cough into a cup, but my mom said that he would be better once he was able to sit down.
We sat on the porch for a bit before my mom said she had to go get some medicine that the doctor prescribed for dad. Now if you don't know the geography and demographics of Niagara County, you don't understand that you can't just run down to Duane Reade or CVS. A trip to the pharmacist can take 25 minutes each way. Mom said that he still had the pneumonia and needed some sort of fog machine to help clear his lungs. We got dad inside and she left. This was the first even that I think could have changed the outcome - if she stayed and I left.
So dad and I sat on the couch. Actually, he was in his chair (a somewhat beat up glider) and I was on the couch, watching him struggle. He was clearly not well. Selfishly, I was annoyed that I had come all this way and that we were not going to have time to talk and hang out (baseball was still on tv, although the Sox were out of it). Obviously I was a jerk for even thinking that, but as George Benson sang, hnidsight is 20/20.
He had to move from the chair, to the couch, to the couch in the living room, to sitting up, to lying down, all in an effort to get more comfortable and assist in his breathing. I gave him water, tried to get him to cough into his cup. He couldn't eat anything. He asked me where mom was. I said she would be on her way. He seemed a little out of it.
I called mom and told her that he was asking for her, and she said she would be there as soon as she could. She needed to get the medicine.
Dad was gasping a bit, struggling, telling me a couple of times that he couldn't breathe. This was mistake #2, not calling 911 right then. I thought he would be o.k. once mom got home, that she would give him the medicine, hook him up to the fog machine and he would be o.k. I told him that and he said that she had better hurry.
I read a bit from an survey on American dialects, while I sat with dad. We watched a replay of the previous night's Jays game. I callled mom again and told her to hurry. She did. When she got home, I was more worried. Dad was on the living room couch.
She unpacked this breathing machine which was supposed to open up dad's lungs. At this point, I don't recall the medical reason for the machine, other than it was supposed to help. I think it produced a fog that helped fight against the pneumonia. In any event, it wasn't really working and dad started to silp away. Mom said "I'm worried about you Mike", as she felt for his blod pressure. She raced upstairs and grabbed the BP machine as I stood there and tried to get my dad to breathe. She strapped it on him and tried to get a BP, but couldn't.
His eyes started to flutter as she grabbed the phone and called 911. He was still with us, but barely. By the time the paramedics came, I'm not sure he was still really conscious. They moved him to the floor as the room filled with the volounteers and professionals. It did not seem real. They tried to get a response from him, but I think the most they got was perhaps a hoarse whisper. He had stopped breathing. They did CPR. They gave him a shot of adrenaline. They eventually moved him to a backboard and into the ambulance. I was suddenly on the phone, dialing my brother and sister, as my mom accompanied my dad in the ambulance. I raced to the hospital too after a quick call to Daphne. My voice caught in my throat as I did.
I got to the hospital and raced into the emergency room. They were doing serious compressions on him as my mom stood there silently. Two docs and a bunch of nurses and paramedics. His belly was grotesquely distended, shaking violently with each downward compression. They brought out the paddles which was when I realized that he may die. Until then, I had been shouting encouragement, hoping he could hear me, knowing he would pull out of it and worst case - he would be in the hospital again. In reality, he was probably gone before he reached the hospital (the paramedics were not precise with the timeline). They called it a little after 3 pm.
Melissa (Justin's wife) was in the parking lot when I walked outside. I just shook my head back and forth. In a total state of disbelief. She started crying. I went back in and tried to console my mom. I just couldn't believe it. I had just landed a few hours earlier. I called Jessica. Justin was already on his way. He absolutely lost it when he saw dad. I talked to Daphne and talked to a partner at work. We all stood around dad for two hours before starting to move on.
The single worst day of my life. And many immediately after that were in the top 10. I try to remember him and try to move forward, but those two are mutually incompatible. As long as I remember him, I will feel sorrow, but I wil be able to remember him. I guess the cost of being able to remember and cherish someone is the pain that took that person away from you. The further away from his death, the less that cost is, but it is, and always will be, there.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
I'd prefer Greg Gagne
.... if i had to choose...
The Baseball Update
The Sox made a tremendous showing tonight, going down miserably 4-3, mainly due to Eric Gagne's incompetence. He ruined a fantastic start by Jon Lester. I question why he was even in there - Papelbon had not pitched since Saturday. Now should not be the time for experimentation, Tito.
From Brooklyn to Boston has the game story, as usual. Well done recap, by the way. I think the Sox are the Scanners.
And Jere at Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory has a similar take. I love the characterization of Gagne "pulling a himself".
Update: Drunk Jays Fans just posted their take from tonight's game. It's apparent what Ricciardi was paying for in Burnett. His hook was, well, off tha hook tonight.
The Taxes Update
I must be a pretty shitty tax/sports blogger to not have posted thoughts about whether Bill Belichick can deduct his fine. Personal income tax really isn't my bag baby, but the consensus among tax profs and commentators seems to be that it should be deductible on the theory that it is an ordinary and necessary business expense under Section 162 (subject to Secttion 67 and 68 limitations). The Tax Profs Blog had a discussion here and here.
And the always enjoyable TaxGirl (no relation) has her discussion with comments here.
Of course, the Patriots are not allowed by league rules to pay his fine, but they could gross up his salary for the fine and deduct the bonus as a comp expense.
The Death Update
So today is September 18, 2007. One year ago was a brutal week at work. One particular deal was out of control. I was looking forward to visiting mom and dad for the weekend. Dad was in and out of the hospital at that point, with, let's see.. the cancer, a heart arrythmia, and at this point, pneumonia from the hospital stays. He still sounded relatively o.k., if down, and had recently finally come to grips with his diagnosis, through conversations with a relatively down to earth priest. He had decided no chemo or radiation treatment, so the diagnosis was down to months.
Anyway, I was figuring that the visit would be one of the last times we would be able to hang out and talk before he ended up in a hospital for good (maybe Thanksgiving, and we were thinking, maybe, maybe something for their anniversary in October, but only if he was feeling up to it). I did not have an agenda or anything in mind - just wanted to see him, to talk movies and sports, to mow their lawn.
The Baseball Update
The Sox made a tremendous showing tonight, going down miserably 4-3, mainly due to Eric Gagne's incompetence. He ruined a fantastic start by Jon Lester. I question why he was even in there - Papelbon had not pitched since Saturday. Now should not be the time for experimentation, Tito.
From Brooklyn to Boston has the game story, as usual. Well done recap, by the way. I think the Sox are the Scanners.
And Jere at Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory has a similar take. I love the characterization of Gagne "pulling a himself".
Update: Drunk Jays Fans just posted their take from tonight's game. It's apparent what Ricciardi was paying for in Burnett. His hook was, well, off tha hook tonight.
The Taxes Update
I must be a pretty shitty tax/sports blogger to not have posted thoughts about whether Bill Belichick can deduct his fine. Personal income tax really isn't my bag baby, but the consensus among tax profs and commentators seems to be that it should be deductible on the theory that it is an ordinary and necessary business expense under Section 162 (subject to Secttion 67 and 68 limitations). The Tax Profs Blog had a discussion here and here.
And the always enjoyable TaxGirl (no relation) has her discussion with comments here.
Of course, the Patriots are not allowed by league rules to pay his fine, but they could gross up his salary for the fine and deduct the bonus as a comp expense.
The Death Update
So today is September 18, 2007. One year ago was a brutal week at work. One particular deal was out of control. I was looking forward to visiting mom and dad for the weekend. Dad was in and out of the hospital at that point, with, let's see.. the cancer, a heart arrythmia, and at this point, pneumonia from the hospital stays. He still sounded relatively o.k., if down, and had recently finally come to grips with his diagnosis, through conversations with a relatively down to earth priest. He had decided no chemo or radiation treatment, so the diagnosis was down to months.
Anyway, I was figuring that the visit would be one of the last times we would be able to hang out and talk before he ended up in a hospital for good (maybe Thanksgiving, and we were thinking, maybe, maybe something for their anniversary in October, but only if he was feeling up to it). I did not have an agenda or anything in mind - just wanted to see him, to talk movies and sports, to mow their lawn.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The Baseball Update
Flipping around the games tonight. Sox are still down 4-3 in the 8th as I write this but, you know, It's the Devil Rays.
The NL Central and wild card races are a mess. I just caught a little of Cards-Reds, but the Cards look horrible. I can't figure out where the runs come from in that offense, and at this point, I've lost track of how many retreads they have in their rotation. Looper? Pineiro? (who I actually like). The Brewers seem fun to root for and will be amazing on offense for a long time (the guys who aren't already signed to long-term contracts won't be free agents for a while). The Cubs, hey, what can you say. I picked them to win the division at the beginning of the year, so of course I'm rooting for them (and for the story as well). But they have significant flaws (the Big Z, the way he is going, the pen, offensive balance). Fun chase, the best going, but no worthy playoff teams.
Last I checked, the Yanks were having their way with the Jays. The Jays really are a sad story. Kind of like the Bills in a certain respect. Neither has been relevant since the early '90s, and while both teams make significant moves/splashes (Jays: B.J. Ryan, A.J. Burnett, Bills: Takeo Spikes, Peerless Price), the guys they get, aren't nearly as good as how they played before they arrived. The Bills, of course, have had more near-misses and have never attained the prize (although, as a former Jays fan, I think their "prize" was tainted in that they basically bought the championship and then pulled a '97 Marlins following '93 - even without the lockout they would have had to drastically slash costs). I don't know. Seems like a lot of moving sideways, which is worse in my book than tearing it down and starting over.
So.. Three things I noticed: (1) Following on this post, tonight, the little things went the other way tonight - Youk getting called out on a horrible mis-call by the first place ump on a checked swing. Totally changed the momentum of the inning. There were first and second with one out when Youk struck out. Who knows how that AB would have ended up had the ump gotten it right ... Then Varitek, grounding out on a 2-0 pitch (it was ball 3) after back to back walks by the TB pitcher. HOW DO YOU NOT TAKE IN THAT POSITION? Or at least "cut down the zone". Instead, he swings at a pitch practically in the dirt. Again, he is slipping. Big time. Anyway, the little things made the difference tonight. (2) I shouldn't rag too much on the TB pen. They had a good night tonight. Ed. Note: Until the last hitter. YEAH!!!! Actually, Edwin Jackson had a great night, the HR to Papi notwithstanding. He's a beacon of hope for the Rays. The guy is 23 years old and after starting the season 0-8 has gone 4-6 since with a 57/39 K/BB ratio (it was better before a couple recent starts). Not great, I know, but (i) he's dropped his ERA by more than 2 runs since starting 0-8, (ii) he, like Kazmir, is only 23 and (iii) had sick numbers for the Dodgers in the minors before being prematurely called up. (3) The Sox should shut Lester down for the rest of the year. He's not particularly effective and just hasn't seemed right since he came back. Great story and all, but there is no need for him to pitch in games right now. They can have him throw on the side and pitch sim games if they want, but him pitching in these games is doing no good. Tavarez would be fine in that role.
Some links:
A Sox Fan in Hell with a great haiku - I particuarly like the fifth stanza (do haikus, or senryus, for that matter, have stanzas?)
I have no idea what the guys at Maldanado over everything are talking about, but it seems fun. I like the idea of a blog dedicated to a slightly-above average outfielder who just happened to have posted the best OPS among Jays OFs since 1992.
An EPIC Take down of a Mike Pagliarulo site (apparently offering scouting services or something) by Ken Tremendous at firejoemorgan.com. A bit long, but worth the read. And no, I've never heard the phrase "money blanket" before.
The Death Update
Joe Zawinul, fusion keyboardist. Played with Miles. I don't have any of his tracks, other than "Birdland" when he was with Weather Report (see below). I will need to get some. Forerunner to Herbie. Solid. Obit is here
/HOLY &!%!&! PAPI HITS A WALKOFF
The Taxes Update
No update. Slow day today. New farm bill to be introduced
So, to recap. Devil Rays pen? Not so good. Papi? The MAN.
/Night
Flipping around the games tonight. Sox are still down 4-3 in the 8th as I write this but, you know, It's the Devil Rays.
The NL Central and wild card races are a mess. I just caught a little of Cards-Reds, but the Cards look horrible. I can't figure out where the runs come from in that offense, and at this point, I've lost track of how many retreads they have in their rotation. Looper? Pineiro? (who I actually like). The Brewers seem fun to root for and will be amazing on offense for a long time (the guys who aren't already signed to long-term contracts won't be free agents for a while). The Cubs, hey, what can you say. I picked them to win the division at the beginning of the year, so of course I'm rooting for them (and for the story as well). But they have significant flaws (the Big Z, the way he is going, the pen, offensive balance). Fun chase, the best going, but no worthy playoff teams.
Last I checked, the Yanks were having their way with the Jays. The Jays really are a sad story. Kind of like the Bills in a certain respect. Neither has been relevant since the early '90s, and while both teams make significant moves/splashes (Jays: B.J. Ryan, A.J. Burnett, Bills: Takeo Spikes, Peerless Price), the guys they get, aren't nearly as good as how they played before they arrived. The Bills, of course, have had more near-misses and have never attained the prize (although, as a former Jays fan, I think their "prize" was tainted in that they basically bought the championship and then pulled a '97 Marlins following '93 - even without the lockout they would have had to drastically slash costs). I don't know. Seems like a lot of moving sideways, which is worse in my book than tearing it down and starting over.
So.. Three things I noticed: (1) Following on this post, tonight, the little things went the other way tonight - Youk getting called out on a horrible mis-call by the first place ump on a checked swing. Totally changed the momentum of the inning. There were first and second with one out when Youk struck out. Who knows how that AB would have ended up had the ump gotten it right ... Then Varitek, grounding out on a 2-0 pitch (it was ball 3) after back to back walks by the TB pitcher. HOW DO YOU NOT TAKE IN THAT POSITION? Or at least "cut down the zone". Instead, he swings at a pitch practically in the dirt. Again, he is slipping. Big time. Anyway, the little things made the difference tonight. (2) I shouldn't rag too much on the TB pen. They had a good night tonight. Ed. Note: Until the last hitter. YEAH!!!! Actually, Edwin Jackson had a great night, the HR to Papi notwithstanding. He's a beacon of hope for the Rays. The guy is 23 years old and after starting the season 0-8 has gone 4-6 since with a 57/39 K/BB ratio (it was better before a couple recent starts). Not great, I know, but (i) he's dropped his ERA by more than 2 runs since starting 0-8, (ii) he, like Kazmir, is only 23 and (iii) had sick numbers for the Dodgers in the minors before being prematurely called up. (3) The Sox should shut Lester down for the rest of the year. He's not particularly effective and just hasn't seemed right since he came back. Great story and all, but there is no need for him to pitch in games right now. They can have him throw on the side and pitch sim games if they want, but him pitching in these games is doing no good. Tavarez would be fine in that role.
Some links:
A Sox Fan in Hell with a great haiku - I particuarly like the fifth stanza (do haikus, or senryus, for that matter, have stanzas?)
I have no idea what the guys at Maldanado over everything are talking about, but it seems fun. I like the idea of a blog dedicated to a slightly-above average outfielder who just happened to have posted the best OPS among Jays OFs since 1992.
An EPIC Take down of a Mike Pagliarulo site (apparently offering scouting services or something) by Ken Tremendous at firejoemorgan.com. A bit long, but worth the read. And no, I've never heard the phrase "money blanket" before.
The Death Update
Joe Zawinul, fusion keyboardist. Played with Miles. I don't have any of his tracks, other than "Birdland" when he was with Weather Report (see below). I will need to get some. Forerunner to Herbie. Solid. Obit is here
/HOLY &!%!&! PAPI HITS A WALKOFF
The Taxes Update
No update. Slow day today. New farm bill to be introduced
So, to recap. Devil Rays pen? Not so good. Papi? The MAN.
/Night
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The Baseball Update
I don't believe in curses, so I am fine with saying that the Sox will win this game (currently up 16-9 in the 8th). By the time I got home, I had missed Wakefleid entirely and got to see the glorious comeback.
Three things I noticed: (1) Aggressive baserunning. I know I've heard some people complain about Demarlo Hale as a latter day Send 'em in Kim, but the aggressive baserunning paid off. Lugo first (although he should have been nailed - Upton has an absolute gun) and Youk second. Key plays. (2) Man, is the D-rays pen awful. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Some power arms (Dohmann in particular had a nice hard FB going), but can't spot, bad command (Dohmmann's 2 walks to start the fifth started the carnage). Did them in. (3) As much as I hate people who say this, because usually they're advocating something silly like "Smallball", it was the little things that made the difference - Navarro dropping Upton's absolute strike from 300 feet, but then Upton giving up on Youkilis's triple to center. The former would have gotten the Rays out of an inning where they gave up 2 more runs. The latter would have been a momentum killer.
The Taxes Update
Not much new today. The goverment's case against KPMG and R.J. Ruble (et al) seems to be turning slightly back in its favor with David Makov, a former promoter of the Blips shelter, agreeing to testify for the government.
The Death Update
Nobody in particular I want to talk about today. On 9/11/01 I was home watching the Today show when they cut to coverage of the first plane hitting the WTC. Like most people, I imagine, I assumed that it was a pilot error and headed into work. Even by the time I got to my desk at 9:30 or so, the news hadn't really broken in Boston. It was only after breathless emails to the whole firm from our lovable, but horribly not competent physical plant folks, that the truth became clear.
Around 11:30 or so (maybe closer to 12) building security ordered an evacuation. By then, we were all trying to make calls on our cells, unsuccessfully. I walked with a small group of friends to the Back Bay. Nobody really knew what was going on. We decided to have lunch. If you can believe that. After realizing that the Parish Cafe was shut down, we had Thai on Newbury. Then we went back to the apartment of one of the folks and were glued to CNN for the next 5 hours. We knew when we were having lunch what happened, and it was then that some of us tried to get in touch with friends and family in New York (TaxSis worked in the village. TaxBro lived uptown - both were fine).
I suffered no personal loss that day. I did not know anyone in the WTC or on any of the flights who died (although I went to school with Mark Bavis, I didn't really know him). Still, I, like many people I am sure, went to church on Friday following Tuesday, at a hastily arranged memorial service. And prayed. Not knowing what for or really even whom to.
I find that now, after I have experienced real tragedy, real loss, I still cannot find the words (and often go out of my way to find really vile words because of my anger). Whether that's struggling with faith or a lack of imagination, I don't know. I do know that it sucks and I imagine that many people who had the misfortune to really experience 9/11 knows that it sucks. No matter how much you try to close your eyes to it.
I don't believe in curses, so I am fine with saying that the Sox will win this game (currently up 16-9 in the 8th). By the time I got home, I had missed Wakefleid entirely and got to see the glorious comeback.
Three things I noticed: (1) Aggressive baserunning. I know I've heard some people complain about Demarlo Hale as a latter day Send 'em in Kim, but the aggressive baserunning paid off. Lugo first (although he should have been nailed - Upton has an absolute gun) and Youk second. Key plays. (2) Man, is the D-rays pen awful. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Some power arms (Dohmann in particular had a nice hard FB going), but can't spot, bad command (Dohmmann's 2 walks to start the fifth started the carnage). Did them in. (3) As much as I hate people who say this, because usually they're advocating something silly like "Smallball", it was the little things that made the difference - Navarro dropping Upton's absolute strike from 300 feet, but then Upton giving up on Youkilis's triple to center. The former would have gotten the Rays out of an inning where they gave up 2 more runs. The latter would have been a momentum killer.
The Taxes Update
Not much new today. The goverment's case against KPMG and R.J. Ruble (et al) seems to be turning slightly back in its favor with David Makov, a former promoter of the Blips shelter, agreeing to testify for the government.
The Death Update
Nobody in particular I want to talk about today. On 9/11/01 I was home watching the Today show when they cut to coverage of the first plane hitting the WTC. Like most people, I imagine, I assumed that it was a pilot error and headed into work. Even by the time I got to my desk at 9:30 or so, the news hadn't really broken in Boston. It was only after breathless emails to the whole firm from our lovable, but horribly not competent physical plant folks, that the truth became clear.
Around 11:30 or so (maybe closer to 12) building security ordered an evacuation. By then, we were all trying to make calls on our cells, unsuccessfully. I walked with a small group of friends to the Back Bay. Nobody really knew what was going on. We decided to have lunch. If you can believe that. After realizing that the Parish Cafe was shut down, we had Thai on Newbury. Then we went back to the apartment of one of the folks and were glued to CNN for the next 5 hours. We knew when we were having lunch what happened, and it was then that some of us tried to get in touch with friends and family in New York (TaxSis worked in the village. TaxBro lived uptown - both were fine).
I suffered no personal loss that day. I did not know anyone in the WTC or on any of the flights who died (although I went to school with Mark Bavis, I didn't really know him). Still, I, like many people I am sure, went to church on Friday following Tuesday, at a hastily arranged memorial service. And prayed. Not knowing what for or really even whom to.
I find that now, after I have experienced real tragedy, real loss, I still cannot find the words (and often go out of my way to find really vile words because of my anger). Whether that's struggling with faith or a lack of imagination, I don't know. I do know that it sucks and I imagine that many people who had the misfortune to really experience 9/11 knows that it sucks. No matter how much you try to close your eyes to it.
Monday, September 10, 2007
The Baseball Update
Didn't get to see much of tonight's 1-0 loss to the Rays. And that would appear to have been a good thing. 7th time shut out this season. Kazmir's stuff did look nasty.
Three Things I noticed: (1) Coco was again fantastic. Great catch in center against the garage door, then another SB in the 8th to try to keep the Sox's hopes alive (unfortunately Lowell struck out - and, ahem, Lowell is 3-27 in his last 7 games). (2) Man, but is Pedroia fiery. That should shut Eric Wilbur up (he had this typically annoying Dirt Dog-esque piece about the Sox' lack of identity). Between Pedroia's "F*CK" after striking out in the 8th and his comments about Daniel Cabrera from over the weekend ("he's a moron") I think we have our fiery mascot. Move over Hudler, here's the new wonderdog. (3)(a) Andy Garcia was in the crowd at Fenway and man has he gone to hell. (b) The NESN cameraman has a knack for focusing on an attractive woman right before a pitcher pitches at a crucial moment. Without fail, he pans around the crowd for a bit, then just before the pitch, zooms in on some blonde. I guess it must take the rest of the time between pitches to find an attractive woman at Fenway.
The Taxes Update Finished my client alert today. Won't be posted until tomorrow. Here is Proskauer Rose's alert on the new rules applicable to tax exempt investors in funds.
The Death Update Jane Wyman, Ronnie's first wife, passed away today at the age of 93. Here is a piece on the lesser-known Jane Wyman-Lew Ayres romance. And the obit is here.
Didn't get to see much of tonight's 1-0 loss to the Rays. And that would appear to have been a good thing. 7th time shut out this season. Kazmir's stuff did look nasty.
Three Things I noticed: (1) Coco was again fantastic. Great catch in center against the garage door, then another SB in the 8th to try to keep the Sox's hopes alive (unfortunately Lowell struck out - and, ahem, Lowell is 3-27 in his last 7 games). (2) Man, but is Pedroia fiery. That should shut Eric Wilbur up (he had this typically annoying Dirt Dog-esque piece about the Sox' lack of identity). Between Pedroia's "F*CK" after striking out in the 8th and his comments about Daniel Cabrera from over the weekend ("he's a moron") I think we have our fiery mascot. Move over Hudler, here's the new wonderdog. (3)(a) Andy Garcia was in the crowd at Fenway and man has he gone to hell. (b) The NESN cameraman has a knack for focusing on an attractive woman right before a pitcher pitches at a crucial moment. Without fail, he pans around the crowd for a bit, then just before the pitch, zooms in on some blonde. I guess it must take the rest of the time between pitches to find an attractive woman at Fenway.
The Taxes Update Finished my client alert today. Won't be posted until tomorrow. Here is Proskauer Rose's alert on the new rules applicable to tax exempt investors in funds.
The Death Update Jane Wyman, Ronnie's first wife, passed away today at the age of 93. Here is a piece on the lesser-known Jane Wyman-Lew Ayres romance. And the obit is here.
Friday, September 7, 2007
The Baseball Update
Quick one tonight. Sox just won 4-0. Solid, if unspectacular performance by Lester against the Orioles. Three Things I noticed: (1) Coco My man. He Loves us. I don't even mind if he dances with my date. Another great scrappy hitting night. No spectacular defense tonight, but that's o.k. (2) I am now convinced that Jim Palmer is probably the second best ex-player analyst in any sport (Jaws, so far, is number 1, but I'LL BE WATCHING MONDAY). He was spot on on why Cabrera balked (didn't pitch from the stretch) and generally was witty, candid (noting the reason why Devern Hanseck threw the no hitter in a monsoon on the last day of the season last night was because the Sox didn't want to give up their $2.5M gate) and generally smart. I dig Remy, but I could get used to a guy like Palmer too. (3) Daniel Cabrera is an idiot. Not sure what the hell happened there, but he's starting to remind me of a famous quote about Rod Stewart. i'm paraphrasing... very rarely is a man so gifted with talent and even more rarely does someone screw it up so badly.
The Taxes Update
Huge day today.
(1) Fallout from yesterday's Congressional hearings. The House had a marathon hearing on all kinds of tax issues, none of them I have confidence they will actually solve. Thankfully, my man Charles Rangel (D-Harlem BABY!) wants to totally revamp (renovate, novate?) the AMT in connection with any tax reform. Well, I fully applaud that, but am skeptical that this Congress with this President would be able to push something like that through without any obvious revenue raisers out there to offset the cost.
(2) Senate also held hearings yesterday, more focused on the effect raising taxes on carried interest would have on pension fund investors. Answer - not much. Well, duh. The big gorilla (I don't like elephants) in the room is that private equity, while extremely important in mergers and acquisitions and turnarounds, still is a niche investment allocation for most investors. 10% or so for pension funds. I'm still surprised that this is a surprise.
Anyway, my &*!# IT department failed to record the hearings for me, and I don't expect that C-Span will rebroadcast the hearings, so I will see what I can find online and review the prepared testimony from the hearings.
The ever indispensible Dan Primack did a liveblog of the hearings here which has links to lots of other good stuff. Check it out. He really is the man.
(3) Rep. Sander Levin has on his website text of a bill that may or may not have been introduced in the House today which would extremely liberalize the rules on tax-exempt investments into private equity and hedge funds. You can find the text here. The issue is that tax-exempt investors are taxed on proceeds from leveraged investments (i.e., any buyout deal, or investments on margin). As a result, many tax-exempts invest through cayman corporations to avoid the tax (the corporation blocks the negative tax effect). This bill is an attempt to bring these investments back "onshore" by eliminating this tax, at least for "securities". There are important technical requirements that need to be met for this new beneficial tax treatment, but it's an auspicious bill. I will have a client alert on this Monday which I will link to here.
Lots of other small things too, but a big Friday for taxes.
The Death Update
Of course Pavarotti died the other day. God bless. Today, however, Madeline L'Engle, author of "A wrinkle in Time passed away. She was 88. Basically, if you've ever been in 4th grade, you've read this book, even though it was repeatedly rejected by numerous publishers. Funny story, the TaxWife presented this book (actually the whole series (!)) when she was a skirt-wearin' catholic school kid and apparently repeatedly mis-pronounced the O'Keefe family as the "O-Keefe-eys". whoops. Apparently the teacher was a bitter repressed, um. woman. Anyway, the obit is here.
Quick one tonight. Sox just won 4-0. Solid, if unspectacular performance by Lester against the Orioles. Three Things I noticed: (1) Coco My man. He Loves us. I don't even mind if he dances with my date. Another great scrappy hitting night. No spectacular defense tonight, but that's o.k. (2) I am now convinced that Jim Palmer is probably the second best ex-player analyst in any sport (Jaws, so far, is number 1, but I'LL BE WATCHING MONDAY). He was spot on on why Cabrera balked (didn't pitch from the stretch) and generally was witty, candid (noting the reason why Devern Hanseck threw the no hitter in a monsoon on the last day of the season last night was because the Sox didn't want to give up their $2.5M gate) and generally smart. I dig Remy, but I could get used to a guy like Palmer too. (3) Daniel Cabrera is an idiot. Not sure what the hell happened there, but he's starting to remind me of a famous quote about Rod Stewart. i'm paraphrasing... very rarely is a man so gifted with talent and even more rarely does someone screw it up so badly.
The Taxes Update
Huge day today.
(1) Fallout from yesterday's Congressional hearings. The House had a marathon hearing on all kinds of tax issues, none of them I have confidence they will actually solve. Thankfully, my man Charles Rangel (D-Harlem BABY!) wants to totally revamp (renovate, novate?) the AMT in connection with any tax reform. Well, I fully applaud that, but am skeptical that this Congress with this President would be able to push something like that through without any obvious revenue raisers out there to offset the cost.
(2) Senate also held hearings yesterday, more focused on the effect raising taxes on carried interest would have on pension fund investors. Answer - not much. Well, duh. The big gorilla (I don't like elephants) in the room is that private equity, while extremely important in mergers and acquisitions and turnarounds, still is a niche investment allocation for most investors. 10% or so for pension funds. I'm still surprised that this is a surprise.
Anyway, my &*!# IT department failed to record the hearings for me, and I don't expect that C-Span will rebroadcast the hearings, so I will see what I can find online and review the prepared testimony from the hearings.
The ever indispensible Dan Primack did a liveblog of the hearings here which has links to lots of other good stuff. Check it out. He really is the man.
(3) Rep. Sander Levin has on his website text of a bill that may or may not have been introduced in the House today which would extremely liberalize the rules on tax-exempt investments into private equity and hedge funds. You can find the text here. The issue is that tax-exempt investors are taxed on proceeds from leveraged investments (i.e., any buyout deal, or investments on margin). As a result, many tax-exempts invest through cayman corporations to avoid the tax (the corporation blocks the negative tax effect). This bill is an attempt to bring these investments back "onshore" by eliminating this tax, at least for "securities". There are important technical requirements that need to be met for this new beneficial tax treatment, but it's an auspicious bill. I will have a client alert on this Monday which I will link to here.
Lots of other small things too, but a big Friday for taxes.
The Death Update
Of course Pavarotti died the other day. God bless. Today, however, Madeline L'Engle, author of "A wrinkle in Time passed away. She was 88. Basically, if you've ever been in 4th grade, you've read this book, even though it was repeatedly rejected by numerous publishers. Funny story, the TaxWife presented this book (actually the whole series (!)) when she was a skirt-wearin' catholic school kid and apparently repeatedly mis-pronounced the O'Keefe family as the "O-Keefe-eys". whoops. Apparently the teacher was a bitter repressed, um. woman. Anyway, the obit is here.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Baseball Update
All glory be to Rick Ankiel on a truly massive day today. 2 HRs, 7 RBIs. Cards win. Still have hope. He was the first starting pitcher I took in my roto draft the year after he melted down in the playoffs (I had taken Benitez before him - ugh). Needless to say, my pitching was not fantastic that year. Anyway, it really is a tremendous story - not quite the real life Natural (maybe Tommy John is a better analogy - someone who truly had to reinvent himself), but quite impressive.
The Viva el Birdos blog captures the true excitement and joy of a fan watching an amazing event involving his team better than I could. Check today's thread out here and scroll down to the comments around 4:30. Just tremendous.
Sox, as I write this, are p 7-6 in the top of the 9th against the Orioles. Covelli (a/k/a Oscar Gamble Jr.) is having a tremendous night - 3 run HR, 2 singles, stolen base, fantastic catch of a Tejada liner on a dead sprint toward the centerfield wall. I like him better and better each game, even with his struggles. Three things I noticed: (1) I think we are seeing the beginning of the inevitable Mike Lowell slow-down. I think at age 33 (my god - I am older than someone who has gray hair in his beard), on pace for high ABs, and based on his second half track record, he appears to be slowing down and needs rest down the stretch, the race for top 5 in the MVP vote notwithstanding. (2) The Sox have at least 3 guys who do not use batting gloves - Crisp, Mirabelli and Kielty. This must be some kind of high among major league teams. I wonder if they all do the Alou to keep their hands supple. (3) Gary Thorne is possibly the worst play by play guy in MLB (yes, I am including Michael Kay who at least tries to instigate discussions among his myriad color guys). He insists on calling a three run home run a "3 RBI home run". He also continually misidentifies hitters, pitches, etc. Palmer is especially prescient, so he almost covers for him, but yeesh. Awful.
The Taxes update
Huge day in Congress as twenty witnesses testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee regarding all manner of tax issues, from taxation of carried interest in investment funds to AMT to taxation of publicly traded partnerships. I'll have a full report later once I am able to review the testimony, but initial thoughts after reading prepared remarks and seeing initial commentary is that nothing will get done this year unless it is part of an enormous tax bill which proposed a major overhaul of the AMT, nothing will ultimately end up getting done on taxation of carried interest because (1) not enough revenue there to make it worthwhile and (2) lawmakers will be convinced that taxpayers will just develop a workaround anyway (which they will) and (3) they're deathly afraid of doing anything to harm the economy in the current climate. This is an initiative that would have better been taken up when consumer confidence was higher, people could feel comfortable spending against the equity in their houses and the debt markets weren't in the crapper.
IRS also released more liberal rules on reverse 704(c) allocations for hedge funds. I am reviewing.
The Death Update
Former DC first lady Effi Barry passed away today at the age of 63. She had been suffering from Leukimia. To paraphrase Dave Chappelle as Rick James, Cancer is a hell of a disease. One could argue that Ms. Barry did more for the poor of DC than Marion ever did. Anyway, the story is here and of course my thoughts and prayers go out to her entire family.
It was about a year ago, after we told that the TaxBoy was in fact going to be a boy (and hopefully a lefty), that I decided I'd better fly home and see dad. We knew he was terminal at this point, but didn't know how long he would have. Patients with small cell lung cancer at his stage have an amazingly short life expectancy so I figured 6-12 months, even with treatment. Maybe double that if we were lucky. Anyway, I hadn't seen him since the July 4 holiday (and a stressful one at that) and so wanted to see him. I booked a flight on American Eagle for the week of 9/22. I really wanted to show him the movie review book Ernest Ng and I had put together (ranking the Top 10 movies each year since the advent of commercial film - to see how many I had wrong). Didn't get to really show it to him.
All glory be to Rick Ankiel on a truly massive day today. 2 HRs, 7 RBIs. Cards win. Still have hope. He was the first starting pitcher I took in my roto draft the year after he melted down in the playoffs (I had taken Benitez before him - ugh). Needless to say, my pitching was not fantastic that year. Anyway, it really is a tremendous story - not quite the real life Natural (maybe Tommy John is a better analogy - someone who truly had to reinvent himself), but quite impressive.
The Viva el Birdos blog captures the true excitement and joy of a fan watching an amazing event involving his team better than I could. Check today's thread out here and scroll down to the comments around 4:30. Just tremendous.
Sox, as I write this, are p 7-6 in the top of the 9th against the Orioles. Covelli (a/k/a Oscar Gamble Jr.) is having a tremendous night - 3 run HR, 2 singles, stolen base, fantastic catch of a Tejada liner on a dead sprint toward the centerfield wall. I like him better and better each game, even with his struggles. Three things I noticed: (1) I think we are seeing the beginning of the inevitable Mike Lowell slow-down. I think at age 33 (my god - I am older than someone who has gray hair in his beard), on pace for high ABs, and based on his second half track record, he appears to be slowing down and needs rest down the stretch, the race for top 5 in the MVP vote notwithstanding. (2) The Sox have at least 3 guys who do not use batting gloves - Crisp, Mirabelli and Kielty. This must be some kind of high among major league teams. I wonder if they all do the Alou to keep their hands supple. (3) Gary Thorne is possibly the worst play by play guy in MLB (yes, I am including Michael Kay who at least tries to instigate discussions among his myriad color guys). He insists on calling a three run home run a "3 RBI home run". He also continually misidentifies hitters, pitches, etc. Palmer is especially prescient, so he almost covers for him, but yeesh. Awful.
The Taxes update
Huge day in Congress as twenty witnesses testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee regarding all manner of tax issues, from taxation of carried interest in investment funds to AMT to taxation of publicly traded partnerships. I'll have a full report later once I am able to review the testimony, but initial thoughts after reading prepared remarks and seeing initial commentary is that nothing will get done this year unless it is part of an enormous tax bill which proposed a major overhaul of the AMT, nothing will ultimately end up getting done on taxation of carried interest because (1) not enough revenue there to make it worthwhile and (2) lawmakers will be convinced that taxpayers will just develop a workaround anyway (which they will) and (3) they're deathly afraid of doing anything to harm the economy in the current climate. This is an initiative that would have better been taken up when consumer confidence was higher, people could feel comfortable spending against the equity in their houses and the debt markets weren't in the crapper.
IRS also released more liberal rules on reverse 704(c) allocations for hedge funds. I am reviewing.
The Death Update
Former DC first lady Effi Barry passed away today at the age of 63. She had been suffering from Leukimia. To paraphrase Dave Chappelle as Rick James, Cancer is a hell of a disease. One could argue that Ms. Barry did more for the poor of DC than Marion ever did. Anyway, the story is here and of course my thoughts and prayers go out to her entire family.
It was about a year ago, after we told that the TaxBoy was in fact going to be a boy (and hopefully a lefty), that I decided I'd better fly home and see dad. We knew he was terminal at this point, but didn't know how long he would have. Patients with small cell lung cancer at his stage have an amazingly short life expectancy so I figured 6-12 months, even with treatment. Maybe double that if we were lucky. Anyway, I hadn't seen him since the July 4 holiday (and a stressful one at that) and so wanted to see him. I booked a flight on American Eagle for the week of 9/22. I really wanted to show him the movie review book Ernest Ng and I had put together (ranking the Top 10 movies each year since the advent of commercial film - to see how many I had wrong). Didn't get to really show it to him.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I am NOT Etta James
But at last..the updates.
The Baseball Update
Nobody reads this blog, but if they did, they would say "wow you suck at blogging" and "why are your baseball updates Red Sox updates?" Point taken.
My man Yovanni Gallardo pitched great for the Brewers tonight as they took the Astros to the woodshed 14-2. It appears that his confidence was not bruised that much by being left in to be pasted by the Rockies a few weeks ago.
Yankees. Screw them.
John Maine continues his downward spiral tm NIN in the second half of the season. Doesn't matter though as the Mets are in like Flynn to the postseason.
And yes, the Sox blew it tonight against the freaking Jays (ahhhh my first love. Wherefore art though Jorge (nee George) Bell?). I didn't see the bloodyshow aftermath, but it appears that Okie-dokey is Okie-Nofuckingwayhehaveupanotherhit. Mildly worried about pen depth now. Three things I noticed: (1) Varitek has become an all-or-nothing guess hitter. More of his ABs have resulted in the Three True Outcomes lately than ever before (check it out - last 10 games, 41 PAs, 3 HR, 10 BB, 9 Ks. More than 50%. (2) Ellsbury stands to become a folk hero in Boston, almost regardless of performance - a Dykstra/Hudler type, which would be unfortunate because he could be so much better and deserves not to instantly get labeled with the Damon, Jr. stereotype. (3) Schill isn't sharp, but generally will keep teams in games (like tonight) until the Sox have a chance to come back. Anecdotal jibber-jabber, I know (who said jibber jabber besides, or better than, Mr. T, anyway?).
Links - A funny riff from Jere at a Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory (dude, I feel your pain) on the disconnect between certain commercials and the show they are interrupting. I hear that, although I never run into that problem when I'm watching lifetime. The flammable mattresses must be a big seller...
A view from across the border at Drunk Jays Fans. That is. Just wrong. Some view.
The Taxes Update
Big day tomorrow as the House holds a marathon hearing on the taxation of carried interest, impact on the investment world, impact on workers, etc., with two tax professors, Jack Levin, pe folks from Carlyle, etc. I actually asked our legislative affairs liaision whether it would be televised on C-Span.
In any event, the whole thing is smoke and mirrors. The JCT and CBO have come out with estimates of the revenue raisers from changing how carry is taxed - hold on to your hat, $3 to $5 billion. Total. A far cry from a dent in a chink in the armor ... o.k.. anyway, a far cry from the amounts that would be required to substantially reform the AMT (estimated in the $100 billion range). Click here for a link via Victor Fleischer's Conglomerate blog to a paper estimating the revenue that could be raised.
Update (11/9): These numbers need clarification. The estimated revenue raised is $25.6 billion over 10 years
The Death Update
Finally, the death update. Not a household name, but William Hudgins died last Friday in New York. He, along with Jackie Robinson founded Carver National Savings Bank, the largest black-owned bank in the country (there is a branch in the building at 145th and Bradhurst, I believe). He helped move the black community in Harlem in the mid-20th century into the traditional bank lending market and away from traditional lending arrangements. A fantastic success story and a man who did good for his community and his Community. He was 100. The obit is here.
Coming up shortly on the 22nd. Can't believe it has been almost a year. Mom leaves town tomorrow to go home for the weekend. I felt worst for her when dad died last year. Will feel extremely bad for her as the anniversary approaches. Hopefully little Jackson/Luis Junior/Sam (a friend suggested Samuel Luis Jackson as a compromise - funny) will come before then and occupy her.
All for now - need to fix the links.
The Baseball Update
Nobody reads this blog, but if they did, they would say "wow you suck at blogging" and "why are your baseball updates Red Sox updates?" Point taken.
My man Yovanni Gallardo pitched great for the Brewers tonight as they took the Astros to the woodshed 14-2. It appears that his confidence was not bruised that much by being left in to be pasted by the Rockies a few weeks ago.
Yankees. Screw them.
John Maine continues his downward spiral tm NIN in the second half of the season. Doesn't matter though as the Mets are in like Flynn to the postseason.
And yes, the Sox blew it tonight against the freaking Jays (ahhhh my first love. Wherefore art though Jorge (nee George) Bell?). I didn't see the bloody
Links - A funny riff from Jere at a Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory (dude, I feel your pain) on the disconnect between certain commercials and the show they are interrupting. I hear that, although I never run into that problem when I'm watching lifetime. The flammable mattresses must be a big seller...
A view from across the border at Drunk Jays Fans. That is. Just wrong. Some view.
The Taxes Update
Big day tomorrow as the House holds a marathon hearing on the taxation of carried interest, impact on the investment world, impact on workers, etc., with two tax professors, Jack Levin, pe folks from Carlyle, etc. I actually asked our legislative affairs liaision whether it would be televised on C-Span.
In any event, the whole thing is smoke and mirrors. The JCT and CBO have come out with estimates of the revenue raisers from changing how carry is taxed - hold on to your hat, $3 to $5 billion. Total. A far cry from a dent in a chink in the armor ... o.k.. anyway, a far cry from the amounts that would be required to substantially reform the AMT (estimated in the $100 billion range). Click here for a link via Victor Fleischer's Conglomerate blog to a paper estimating the revenue that could be raised.
Update (11/9): These numbers need clarification. The estimated revenue raised is $25.6 billion over 10 years
The Death Update
Finally, the death update. Not a household name, but William Hudgins died last Friday in New York. He, along with Jackie Robinson founded Carver National Savings Bank, the largest black-owned bank in the country (there is a branch in the building at 145th and Bradhurst, I believe). He helped move the black community in Harlem in the mid-20th century into the traditional bank lending market and away from traditional lending arrangements. A fantastic success story and a man who did good for his community and his Community. He was 100. The obit is here.
Coming up shortly on the 22nd. Can't believe it has been almost a year. Mom leaves town tomorrow to go home for the weekend. I felt worst for her when dad died last year. Will feel extremely bad for her as the anniversary approaches. Hopefully little Jackson/Luis Junior/Sam (a friend suggested Samuel Luis Jackson as a compromise - funny) will come before then and occupy her.
All for now - need to fix the links.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Once again, I've been away/busy, so haven't posted... Here are today's updates
The Baseball Update
Since my last post the Sox have gone from 5 up to 8 up back to 6 up, just the typical late season swings. Their pitching is still, for the most part, their main strength as the offense comes and goes. Watched most of yesterday's game against the O's. Three Things I Noticed: (1) Lester still doesn't have a lot of arm strength back. His fastball isn't really fooling anyone and his control isn't really there right now. Luckily he was able to strand 8 of the 10 baserunners he allowed. (2) Ellsbury looks like a real player which will make personnel decisions interesting for next season. Everyone knows the club has a 20M option on Manny next year, Coco is signed through '09 at 10.5M (plus a 500K buyout for '10). Drew... well, let's not talk abut Drew. Unless the Sox let Manny go or deal Coco (which wouldn't make a lot of sense because he is the cheapest of the incumbents), Ellsbury will be without a position next year. 4th OF, coming in for speed and defense, and to spell Drew, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but the kid has nothing left to prove, except my contention that he doesn't really look like Damon. (3) Pedroia is the AL ROY. There are about a half dozen legitimate candidates. Here they are in a fancy chart (please scroll down - not sure why there is such a huge gap):
10/4/07 - Just figured out how to format so there are not breaks - table fixed
Pedroia has the best OPS of any AL rookie, and, as I write this, is tearing Jays pitching a new one tonight - 3-3 with 2 RBIs. He's also had some memorable defensive plays in the middle of a pennant race, which voters can't help but ignore (as an aside, I love how the bar is set higher and higher each year for winning any of these awards - individual excellence itself is not enough - you need to perform in the crucible of a pennant race. Tough luck if you're a Royal competing for one of these awards - or as the TV voice over guy used to say, "Sorry Tennessee").
In any event, as I (now) finish this, the Sox are up 7-1 and the Yanks have lost, so it's 7 games up with 24 left. Go Sox.
The Taxes Update
Quiet last couple of weeks on the tax front. There were various reports that came out the last couple of weeks indicating that tax revenue from a tax on carried interest would be a few billion at best, and likely less (perhaps even revenue neutral) because of likely tax planning around any new bill. So any idea that a tie-in to AMT relief (which would cost hundreds of millions to even Band-AidTM) is just plain silly-talk. Horse-hocky, if you will.
Also, Lee Sheppard looked appropriately stlyish, if a little deer-in-the-headlights in a NYT business section profile earlier this week. Click here for the story an a look at her gorgrous Gaultier outfit to which page C6 did not do justice.
The Death Update
Michael Jackson died. No, not that Michael Jackson (hee-hee). Michael Jackson, the beer conniouseur and advocate. I used to own one of his beer guides through which I learned that mead wasn't just what Beowulf had for dinner. It was an actual brew still in prodiction in various vampire-infested areas of Central Europe. Anyway, the obit is here. Raise a glass to Mr. Jackson.
Also, in the death update, mom is in town this weekend, getting ready for sis to have her baby. It was about one year ago (Sept 6 actually), that we found out Rex was going to be a boy, and that I found out my dad definitely was terminal with small cell lunch cancer - advanced stage. I remember how bummed out he was on the phone talking to him and remember how happy he was when we told him we were having a boy. I knew then that it was extremely unlikely he'd ever get to meet his grandson, but I was happy that at least for that day, some sunshine broke through the gloom. I miss him.
The Baseball Update
Since my last post the Sox have gone from 5 up to 8 up back to 6 up, just the typical late season swings. Their pitching is still, for the most part, their main strength as the offense comes and goes. Watched most of yesterday's game against the O's. Three Things I Noticed: (1) Lester still doesn't have a lot of arm strength back. His fastball isn't really fooling anyone and his control isn't really there right now. Luckily he was able to strand 8 of the 10 baserunners he allowed. (2) Ellsbury looks like a real player which will make personnel decisions interesting for next season. Everyone knows the club has a 20M option on Manny next year, Coco is signed through '09 at 10.5M (plus a 500K buyout for '10). Drew... well, let's not talk abut Drew. Unless the Sox let Manny go or deal Coco (which wouldn't make a lot of sense because he is the cheapest of the incumbents), Ellsbury will be without a position next year. 4th OF, coming in for speed and defense, and to spell Drew, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but the kid has nothing left to prove, except my contention that he doesn't really look like Damon. (3) Pedroia is the AL ROY. There are about a half dozen legitimate candidates. Here they are in a fancy chart (please scroll down - not sure why there is such a huge gap):
10/4/07 - Just figured out how to format so there are not breaks - table fixed
| Player | Team | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedroia | Bos | 68 | 137 | 32 | 1 | 6 | 42 | 5 | .324 | .393 | .447 |
| Willits | Ana | 65 | 107 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 25 | .292 | .394 | .342 |
| Iwamura | TB | 67 | 111 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 10 | .282 | .359 | .410 |
| Gordon | KC | 55 | 115 | 29 | 4 | 14 | 50 | 13 | .249 | .319 | .420 |
| Player | Team | IP | H | ER | BB | K | W | L | SV | ERA | |
| Dice-K | Bos | 176.1 | 151 | 76 | 66 | 174 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 3.88 | |
| Bannister | KC | 148.1 | 135 | 52 | 36 | 72 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 3.12 | |
| Okajima | Boston | 63.1 | 41 | 11 | 16 | 55 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1.56 |
Pedroia has the best OPS of any AL rookie, and, as I write this, is tearing Jays pitching a new one tonight - 3-3 with 2 RBIs. He's also had some memorable defensive plays in the middle of a pennant race, which voters can't help but ignore (as an aside, I love how the bar is set higher and higher each year for winning any of these awards - individual excellence itself is not enough - you need to perform in the crucible of a pennant race. Tough luck if you're a Royal competing for one of these awards - or as the TV voice over guy used to say, "Sorry Tennessee").
In any event, as I (now) finish this, the Sox are up 7-1 and the Yanks have lost, so it's 7 games up with 24 left. Go Sox.
The Taxes Update
Quiet last couple of weeks on the tax front. There were various reports that came out the last couple of weeks indicating that tax revenue from a tax on carried interest would be a few billion at best, and likely less (perhaps even revenue neutral) because of likely tax planning around any new bill. So any idea that a tie-in to AMT relief (which would cost hundreds of millions to even Band-AidTM) is just plain silly-talk. Horse-hocky, if you will.
Also, Lee Sheppard looked appropriately stlyish, if a little deer-in-the-headlights in a NYT business section profile earlier this week. Click here for the story an a look at her gorgrous Gaultier outfit to which page C6 did not do justice.
The Death Update
Michael Jackson died. No, not that Michael Jackson (hee-hee). Michael Jackson, the beer conniouseur and advocate. I used to own one of his beer guides through which I learned that mead wasn't just what Beowulf had for dinner. It was an actual brew still in prodiction in various vampire-infested areas of Central Europe. Anyway, the obit is here. Raise a glass to Mr. Jackson.
Also, in the death update, mom is in town this weekend, getting ready for sis to have her baby. It was about one year ago (Sept 6 actually), that we found out Rex was going to be a boy, and that I found out my dad definitely was terminal with small cell lunch cancer - advanced stage. I remember how bummed out he was on the phone talking to him and remember how happy he was when we told him we were having a boy. I knew then that it was extremely unlikely he'd ever get to meet his grandson, but I was happy that at least for that day, some sunshine broke through the gloom. I miss him.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Sorry about the lack of updates since Friday. Sunday was my 7th anniversary to the TaxBabe and yesterday was pure hell at work (f*cking laptop crashed in the middle of the day). Anyway... here you go
The Baseball Update
Wow. What a whirlwind last few days. Friday night was a rollercoaster. Encouraging that the Sox are managing to hit a bit more "in the clutch", or at least late (which makes the stupid 1-41 stat so ridiculous). Still - Gagne was bad and had a little bad luck. The Guerrero base hit was off a good pitch - that guy is just a monster and routinely hits balls off his shoetops. The other hits, however, were on lame fastballs that didn't move and offspeed stuff that stayed too high in the zone. He's still not locating consistently. The rest of the weekend was a bit of a letdown as the Yanks climbed back to within 4.
Last night, I could only listen to the Sox at work, but watched the Yankees. Three Things I Noticed: (1) Glenn Gefner is a freaking baby - apparently spooked out by a mouse in the Trop press box last night, his voice went about three pitches higher the rest of the game. What's really annoying about him though is that he does not appear to be connected to the game or to Castiglione at all. This piece at Sox and Dawgs.com makes the point much more insightfully than I can, but I have to say (again) that I actually miss The Trup. (2) Lowell keeps proving my point. Big hit after big hit. (3) The Yankees pen still is their achilles heel. They put 6 on the board and lose with Sean Henn in a high leverage situation. For all the talk about how great it is that the Yanks are promoting from within (Hughes, Chamberlain, Ramirez), but does anyone think any of those guys will be in high leverage situations in the postseason? No. It's Rivera, Farnsworth and pray for the ghost of Mike Stanton (circa '98-'00). It's admirable that the Yanks are bringing Chamberlain along slowly, but let's not all go blanking each other's blanks just yet, Yankees fans.
Blogs du jour: Blood Sox echoing my point regarding Lowell. Wouldn't go so far as to call him the MVP, but it could be close (Pedroia, Lowell, Ortiz, Papelbon, Beckett).
Fire Brand of the AL reports on the PTBNL that the Sox received for Wily Mo. Welcome to Boston, Chris Carter.
More on Gefner at 38cliches.com.
The Taxes Update
Again, not much in the world of taxes to report on. Well, one that is also part of the death update (see below). I have an interesting puzzle here at work though...
Partner in partnership has bargained for a preferred equity investment that returns capital plus an 8% accruing preferred return. On liquidation, partner is entitled to greater of 1.5x capital or capital + accrued preferred return. Partner gets this return regardless of profits (i.e., can receive it out of other partners' capital if the investment goes sideways or goes down).
The obvious concern is capital shift - in two respects - first, a portion of the other investors' capital is arguably being shifted on an annual basis as the preferred return accrues. Second, is that on a hypothetical liquidation analysis, preferred partner would be entitled to 1.5x its investment, regardless of profits.
Partner does not want to have a capital shift today to it. So, one could characterize the 1.5x return as first coming out of profits of the venture, but to the extent there are insufficient profits, it will receive a 707(c) guaranteed payment for the difference. The guaranteed payment ideally will not be includible until liquidation (or at least some later time when the partnership will deduct it).
Concerns that the 707(c) payment is just recharacterized as a distribution preference, which could force a capital shift, but at least it's a position.
The Death Update
Big death over the weekend was Leona Helmsley. The obit is here.
And a great piece by the Taxgirl is here. Check it out. I particularly like the Queen of Spades playing card. Looks like it's right out of the Saddam deck of cards.
The Baseball Update
Wow. What a whirlwind last few days. Friday night was a rollercoaster. Encouraging that the Sox are managing to hit a bit more "in the clutch", or at least late (which makes the stupid 1-41 stat so ridiculous). Still - Gagne was bad and had a little bad luck. The Guerrero base hit was off a good pitch - that guy is just a monster and routinely hits balls off his shoetops. The other hits, however, were on lame fastballs that didn't move and offspeed stuff that stayed too high in the zone. He's still not locating consistently. The rest of the weekend was a bit of a letdown as the Yanks climbed back to within 4.
Last night, I could only listen to the Sox at work, but watched the Yankees. Three Things I Noticed: (1) Glenn Gefner is a freaking baby - apparently spooked out by a mouse in the Trop press box last night, his voice went about three pitches higher the rest of the game. What's really annoying about him though is that he does not appear to be connected to the game or to Castiglione at all. This piece at Sox and Dawgs.com makes the point much more insightfully than I can, but I have to say (again) that I actually miss The Trup. (2) Lowell keeps proving my point. Big hit after big hit. (3) The Yankees pen still is their achilles heel. They put 6 on the board and lose with Sean Henn in a high leverage situation. For all the talk about how great it is that the Yanks are promoting from within (Hughes, Chamberlain, Ramirez), but does anyone think any of those guys will be in high leverage situations in the postseason? No. It's Rivera, Farnsworth and pray for the ghost of Mike Stanton (circa '98-'00). It's admirable that the Yanks are bringing Chamberlain along slowly, but let's not all go blanking each other's blanks just yet, Yankees fans.
Blogs du jour: Blood Sox echoing my point regarding Lowell. Wouldn't go so far as to call him the MVP, but it could be close (Pedroia, Lowell, Ortiz, Papelbon, Beckett).
Fire Brand of the AL reports on the PTBNL that the Sox received for Wily Mo. Welcome to Boston, Chris Carter.
More on Gefner at 38cliches.com.
The Taxes Update
Again, not much in the world of taxes to report on. Well, one that is also part of the death update (see below). I have an interesting puzzle here at work though...
Partner in partnership has bargained for a preferred equity investment that returns capital plus an 8% accruing preferred return. On liquidation, partner is entitled to greater of 1.5x capital or capital + accrued preferred return. Partner gets this return regardless of profits (i.e., can receive it out of other partners' capital if the investment goes sideways or goes down).
The obvious concern is capital shift - in two respects - first, a portion of the other investors' capital is arguably being shifted on an annual basis as the preferred return accrues. Second, is that on a hypothetical liquidation analysis, preferred partner would be entitled to 1.5x its investment, regardless of profits.
Partner does not want to have a capital shift today to it. So, one could characterize the 1.5x return as first coming out of profits of the venture, but to the extent there are insufficient profits, it will receive a 707(c) guaranteed payment for the difference. The guaranteed payment ideally will not be includible until liquidation (or at least some later time when the partnership will deduct it).
Concerns that the 707(c) payment is just recharacterized as a distribution preference, which could force a capital shift, but at least it's a position.
The Death Update
Big death over the weekend was Leona Helmsley. The obit is here.
And a great piece by the Taxgirl is here. Check it out. I particularly like the Queen of Spades playing card. Looks like it's right out of the Saddam deck of cards.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Quick updates today as I am slammed at work - Sox play 2 though, so I'll be listening on mlb.com
The Baseball Update
No game yesterday as the Sox gear up for the Angels. 1:05 start today with Clay Buchholz set to make his major league debut against John Lackey. The game could also see Jacoby Ellsbury's return to Fenway (just short-lived, according to the Herald's blog - Bobby Kielty will soon be called up.
I read on Sox Nest (go visit) and elsewhere that Ellsbury shares a resemblance with Johnny Damon. You be the judge.
Personally, I think Buchholz looks like Tom Glavine
Go to Keep Your Sox On for a Live Blog of today's games.
The Taxes Update
Literally nothing of note today in the tax world. Andy Stern of the Service Employees International Union spoke up today concerning taxes paid by private equity funds - tying it to job cuts and instability (and a nice jab at KKR for its problems with hung bridge debt). Another log on the fire.
The Death Update
One big notable - legendary drummer Max Roach passed away yesterday in an undisclosed hospital here in Manhattan. He was 83. He was a founder, with Bird, Diz, and all the others, of bebop. I like his work with Abbey Lincoln the best. I never saw him play, or even really heard him much, except on specific recordings, but I distinctly remember a 60 minutes profile of Johnny Carson who is kind of an amateur jazz drummer, sitting at his kit with headphones on. The interviewer asked him who he was listening to and Carson said Max Roach - that he was trying to play like Roach. The obit is here.
And the video is here. Enjoy.
The Baseball Update
No game yesterday as the Sox gear up for the Angels. 1:05 start today with Clay Buchholz set to make his major league debut against John Lackey. The game could also see Jacoby Ellsbury's return to Fenway (just short-lived, according to the Herald's blog - Bobby Kielty will soon be called up.
I read on Sox Nest (go visit) and elsewhere that Ellsbury shares a resemblance with Johnny Damon. You be the judge.
Personally, I think Buchholz looks like Tom Glavine
Go to Keep Your Sox On for a Live Blog of today's games.
The Taxes Update
Literally nothing of note today in the tax world. Andy Stern of the Service Employees International Union spoke up today concerning taxes paid by private equity funds - tying it to job cuts and instability (and a nice jab at KKR for its problems with hung bridge debt). Another log on the fire.
The Death Update
One big notable - legendary drummer Max Roach passed away yesterday in an undisclosed hospital here in Manhattan. He was 83. He was a founder, with Bird, Diz, and all the others, of bebop. I like his work with Abbey Lincoln the best. I never saw him play, or even really heard him much, except on specific recordings, but I distinctly remember a 60 minutes profile of Johnny Carson who is kind of an amateur jazz drummer, sitting at his kit with headphones on. The interviewer asked him who he was listening to and Carson said Max Roach - that he was trying to play like Roach. The obit is here.
And the video is here. Enjoy.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Your Taxes Update
Two things today as well. First, the IRS is suiing Darryl Strawberry for $115K in unpaid taxes and $350K in penalties. This after he's already spent 6 months in home confinement after pleading guilty to criminal tax fraud charges. The unpaid taxes derive mostly from unreported earnings at card shows. Sad. He still hit 8 homers in the Simpsons softball game, so he's got that going for him. Maybe his son can help bail him out with that second round NBA money.
Next, Senator Charles Schumer is reportedly working on a bill to tax carried interest as compensation. He's flip-flopped on this issue, having previously come out against Rep. Sander Levin's bill. He claims that he has always supported the tax increase in theory, but wanted it applied to all industries (oil and gas, etc.), not just private equity and hedge funds. This is worrisome news, but I still think nothing will happen on this in '07.
Your Baseball Update
Watched the last few innings of the Sox last night. Even though they were 1-41 in "comeback" games this year (i.e., games where they were trailing after7 8), I just knew the D-Rays pen would blow it.
Three things I noticed: (1) Gagne's slider/curve/change was nasty. The pitch he struck out Pena on was just filthy. If he can spot his change like that and use his heat effectively (he was hitting low to mid-90s with his fb), he'll be fine. I think the high leverage closer-type situation also suited him well. (2) Varitek is an immensely boring interview. I know this isn't news, but man, he can't even show a little emotion on the night Lester returns to Fenway and the Sox finally come from behind and win? And I am certain that he toned it down even further once he realized the NESN feed was being played over the stadium loudspeakers. I'm not asking for Kevin Millar-style antics, but cut the Bull Durham cliche crap. (3) What happened to Gagne's goggles. He's wearing regular glasses now? Maybe that's his problem.
Some links: Surviving Grady's Take - celebrating the "at last" feeling - I agree - I was pumping my fist when Coco hit the gamewinner. Although I didn't think it was really ever in doubt.
Singapore Sox Fan rightfully notes the Al Reyes-Nomar connection. I had forgotten about that. I can't believe that guy is a major league closer.
Yanksfan v SoxFan Scroll up though for the nice remembrance of Rizzuto
Your Death Update
Which brings us to your death update. The first thing the Taxbabe (D-Nice) said to me when I mentioned that Rizzuto had passed away was "The Money Store" (take a look at Phil in action here). Not to get all Ruth Fisher on you, but it's little remembrances like that that help deal with death and loss. I almost forgot, and had to be reminded by someone, about one of the things I found most endearing about someone who just passed away. His hilarious Money Store commercials. Never mind that he was shilling for a bunch of predators. He was our shill. Here is a nice remembrance of his work for the Money Store.
I wonder what the first thing people think of when my dad's name is mentioned. I wonder how many of those things are things that I would remember or immediately recall. As it gets further and further away from his passing, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities to reminisce. I need to take better advantage of the ones I have.
Your Bonus REX Update
He hit the 15 lb mark yesterday (double his birth weight) at 6 months and 16 days. Very excited given how slow he was to put weight on. He gets cooler and cooler every day. Hard to remember how tiny he was when he was born even though it was just 6 months ago. Pictures help, but they're not perfect (picture-perfect? no such thing).
Two things today as well. First, the IRS is suiing Darryl Strawberry for $115K in unpaid taxes and $350K in penalties. This after he's already spent 6 months in home confinement after pleading guilty to criminal tax fraud charges. The unpaid taxes derive mostly from unreported earnings at card shows. Sad. He still hit 8 homers in the Simpsons softball game, so he's got that going for him. Maybe his son can help bail him out with that second round NBA money.
Next, Senator Charles Schumer is reportedly working on a bill to tax carried interest as compensation. He's flip-flopped on this issue, having previously come out against Rep. Sander Levin's bill. He claims that he has always supported the tax increase in theory, but wanted it applied to all industries (oil and gas, etc.), not just private equity and hedge funds. This is worrisome news, but I still think nothing will happen on this in '07.
Your Baseball Update
Watched the last few innings of the Sox last night. Even though they were 1-41 in "comeback" games this year (i.e., games where they were trailing after
Three things I noticed: (1) Gagne's slider/curve/change was nasty. The pitch he struck out Pena on was just filthy. If he can spot his change like that and use his heat effectively (he was hitting low to mid-90s with his fb), he'll be fine. I think the high leverage closer-type situation also suited him well. (2) Varitek is an immensely boring interview. I know this isn't news, but man, he can't even show a little emotion on the night Lester returns to Fenway and the Sox finally come from behind and win? And I am certain that he toned it down even further once he realized the NESN feed was being played over the stadium loudspeakers. I'm not asking for Kevin Millar-style antics, but cut the Bull Durham cliche crap. (3) What happened to Gagne's goggles. He's wearing regular glasses now? Maybe that's his problem.
Some links: Surviving Grady's Take - celebrating the "at last" feeling - I agree - I was pumping my fist when Coco hit the gamewinner. Although I didn't think it was really ever in doubt.
Singapore Sox Fan rightfully notes the Al Reyes-Nomar connection. I had forgotten about that. I can't believe that guy is a major league closer.
Yanksfan v SoxFan Scroll up though for the nice remembrance of Rizzuto
Your Death Update
Which brings us to your death update. The first thing the Taxbabe (D-Nice) said to me when I mentioned that Rizzuto had passed away was "The Money Store" (take a look at Phil in action here). Not to get all Ruth Fisher on you, but it's little remembrances like that that help deal with death and loss. I almost forgot, and had to be reminded by someone, about one of the things I found most endearing about someone who just passed away. His hilarious Money Store commercials. Never mind that he was shilling for a bunch of predators. He was our shill. Here is a nice remembrance of his work for the Money Store.
I wonder what the first thing people think of when my dad's name is mentioned. I wonder how many of those things are things that I would remember or immediately recall. As it gets further and further away from his passing, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities to reminisce. I need to take better advantage of the ones I have.
Your Bonus REX Update
He hit the 15 lb mark yesterday (double his birth weight) at 6 months and 16 days. Very excited given how slow he was to put weight on. He gets cooler and cooler every day. Hard to remember how tiny he was when he was born even though it was just 6 months ago. Pictures help, but they're not perfect (picture-perfect? no such thing).
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