Odds And Ends

Lulu Sit

About two months ago a very nice man stopped to chat with me while I was walking Lulu.  He gave Lulu a dog biscuit.  One thing about Lulu is she never forgets!  Everytime we walk by his RV she wants to drop in for a visit, which I will not allow her to do.  One time he dropped by my RV and gave her a biscuit.  He has become Lulu's newest and bestest friend.  She sees his truck and she is on point and tries chasing it, if she sees him from her doorway she will bark at him.  The other day her friend came out and in her excitement Lulu started walking on two legs, which was funny but not as funny as when her friend said "Sit Lulu" and intstead of dropping down to four legs she just squatted on two.

Pretty good explanation of the financial crisis

"Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin Germany. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar.

Taking advantage of her customers’ freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit.

He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.

One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager (subsequently of course fired due to his negativity) of the bank decides that the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi’s bar.

However they cannot pay back the debts.

Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy.

DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95%. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80 %.

The suppliers of Heidi’s bar, having granted her generous payment due dates and having invested in the securities are faced with a new situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.

The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties.

The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the non-drinkers.

Finally an explanation I understand…"

Two Nights Two Good Movies

I love Silent Sunday and this past Sunday they had a fantastic movie, Nosferatu.  A vampire movie where the vampire, Count Orlock, is not the sauve debonair vampire we are all accustomed to.  The Count is truly a frightful creature but he looks like a rat because he fangs were so close together.  Frequently he was just a shadowy character in the film.  The symbolism, the filming techniques, and the characters made this a wonderful movie. 

Second movie was Show Boat.  The one filmed in 1936 and told the entire story.  As much as I loved the newer version this one is the best.  Paul Robeson, Irene Dunne, Helen Morgan, are just some of the actors/actresses in this movie.  

As always Life Is Good.

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Paul Robeson
Helen Morgan
Nosferatu
Pretty good explanation of the financial crisis