A Night in Orlando

I’m in the midst of my second trip to Orlando in the past six months. My trips here involve attending trade shows; the hotels where I stay are either inside a theme park or close to one. My issue is that I never know where to go at night. Sometimes, business schmoozing means my evening journey goes no further than the hotel bar. That makes a night in Orlando a simple, vanilla proposition. However, there are times when business conversations work out better in more imaginatively selected venues. Where are they in Orlando? Let’s say it’s a challenge for me to find them, as I have no expertise whatsoever regarding Orlando’s nightlife outside the hothouse world of the theme parks.

I realize I’m kvetching about something I basically enjoy. Nonetheless, I just don’t have a feeling, any touch, for Orlando after sunset. Maybe this trip will be different: we’ll see.

George Clooney at 50

The LA Times entertainment blogger site noted that George Clooney recently threw himself a 50^th birthday party at an area restaurant. The invited guests were supposedly sworn to secrecy for the run-up to the event and during the celebration itself. Of course, the idea of discretion in Hollywood is elusive to manage. The word did indeed get out, not that anyone east of the San Fernando Valley and west of the Hudson River greatly cared.

The birthday party, however, does provide an opportunity to consider Clooney’s career. He has managed to successfully navigate the small screen (ER) and the big screen, something of a rare event in the entertainment business. I have not watched his TV work; I have seen some of his motion pictures. His best role was the cynical, world-weary legal fixer Michael Clayton. His performances in the flawed, but interesting Syriana, the cautionary tale Good Night and Good Luck, and the curious O, Brother, Where Art Thou? deserved more credit than he received. His skillful touch in Up in the Air showed a willingness for self-effacement that one wishes Clooney would exhibit off-camera.

Clooney also has earned praise for his work illuminating the Western world to the ghastly Darfur conflict and the repellent neo-colonial mineral grab pursued by the world’s principal economic powers.

Yet, Clooney remains something of a pariah among his peers. Why? The words “difficult,” “arrogant,” “abrasive” are too frequently associated with him. Even in a business filled with equally “difficult” and “demanding” individuals,” Clooney stands out near the head of his class. That’s not a competition that’s desirable to win. The reputation has cost Clooney any realistic chance at winning major awards from his peers or from unforgiving movie critics.

In the end, non-insiders don’t care about any of Clooney’s personality flaws. We do care about his next projects, and can only hope he’s made better choices than The American.

Wisconsin GOP Rushes Legislative Agenda Before Recall Elections

The Badger State's Republican party, with a standing governor and legislative majorities in both houses of the state legislature, is running scared. Clearly concerned about the state's potent recall movement, the GOP has hastily put its "urgent" bills into the legislative process, in some cases offering minimal time for public comment.

The AP story, courtesy of Yahoo, provides details.

The image shows Wisconsin state senator Alberta Darling. The GOP legislator represents a suburban Milwaukee district and is widely considered vulnerable to recall.

World Record Cigar

Havana cigars, the gold standard for tobacco, are about to again find their place in the Guinness Book of World Records. A Cuban man, who already holds the Guinness record for cigar length, is rolling a stogie that will shatter his own mark. The plan is to have the new record setting cigar to reach 268 feet in length. How long is that? Imagine Shaquille O'Neal. Now imagine more than thirty of Mr. O'Neal, one on top of the other. You'll need a cherry picker to light the cigar. I imagine it would be a long, satisfying smoke.

The brief story appeared in the Mercury News.

DC Gets Younger Still

A very interesting story in the Washington Post noted that the District's population is currently skewing to the younger adult ages. In fact, "people in their 20s and early 30s make up almost a third of the District's population," according to the article. Given Washington's focus on political power, which generally is found among middle-aged adults, the District's swelling, young demographic is a fascinating phenomenon. It has certainly come a long way from the days when foreign diplomats were given incentive pay to agree to be stationed there.

Other youthful cities in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave include university oases, such as Ann Arbor, hybrid cities such as Austin, and cool coastal zones such as Boston. Curiously, empty nesters enjoy living in the very same metro areas as the twenty somethings. They just don't go to the same bars.

The photograph shows DC's popular Dupont Circle.

Dunkin' Donuts' Pricetag for One Billion Cups of Coffee

Dunkin' Brands, which owns Dunkin' Donuts, is preparing to raise $400 million in a public offering later this year, according to a story in today's Financial Times.

The salient fact in the article was DD's claim that it sells one billon cups of coffee per year. That comes to $2.50 per cup. Who said there wasn't any money in selling a characteristically dark liquid that tastes better with a milk product and a sweetener?

The 400 Club

How much wealth does the top one percent of Americans possess? It's a tough question to accurately answer, given the realities of complex holdings and offshore accounts. However, the legitimate financial world provides a clue into this ambiguous, labyrinthine world.

According to a post in Zero Hedge, in tax year 2007, 400 Americans paid 10% of the nation's total capital gains tax. That translates to $91 billion in pre-TARP dollars. That's over $227 million in cap gains tax per person, if one crudely divides 400 into the government's take.

One wonders what the take-home pay was for each of the Fortunate 400. And then one ponders which of the fo' hundred were Bernie Madoff's special friends.

The photograph shows a bank building in the Cayman Islands.

David Einhorn: The Market Doesn't Make Sense

David Einhorn, who called Lehman Brothers' multi-billion dollar bluff in 2008, has released his quarterly newsletter. His work is usually interesting and provocative; this newsletter is no exception. The link to his comments is via the financial blog Zero Hedge.

One troubling market sign, as Einhorn points out, is its illogical interpretation of bad news as a reason to buy more and more, at higher and higher prices. This produces a sense of good news in the midst of plenty of reasons to question the seeming optimism.

Many market directions in the past year or so have confounded many wise Wall Street heads. Very few market moves makes sense, unless one works for a high frequency trader. It's a puzzling time, even for the so-called "smart money."

The photograph shows Einhorn at a poker event. He is an excellent player, and has reached at high at 18th place in a World Series of Poker contest.

HBO Coming to an Apple, Google Device Near You

HBO, which has resisted putting its programming outside the pay-TV circuit, has decided to join the media surge into Apple and Google-driven devices. The story made its quiet way into today's LA Times.

This is a big deal for the cable-only programmers, such as HBO, Showtime, and others. In essence, HBO has offered a white flag to the new, increasingly dominant media device providers. One impact of the decision will be HBO's sales team can now approach prospective and existing advertisers and tell them about the new audience they can now reach via devices such as the phone and tablets. That audience will happen to be defined by, from an advertising perspective, a very desirable demographic profile.