The Comcast Empire Strikes Back

The enormous financial and popular success of Netflix's movie and TV streaming finally roused the ire of cable companies. Comcast finally struck back at Netflix's most sensitive area -- low-cost distribution into viewers' homes and computers. This commercial struggle is just warming up, and promises to be a slugfest along the lines of King Kong vs. Godzilla.

The corporate behemoths lining up their K Street dream teams would headline a Fortune (name your number) list. Hedge fund darlings Google and Apple, investment banks, and telecoms will step into the struggle. Media black hats, such as Comcast, Disney, and Fox will join in the fray. (The mainstream media's point of view on this conflict should be a fascinating study.) The feds will have their say. Oh, yeah, there's Netflix, playing the aggrieved party angle for all the sympathy it can muster. (I don't buy the strong version of Netflix's "purity" in this tale.)

Comcast's position is a delicate one. The Comcast/NBC merger has not yet been consummated. A number of observers found the concept of a big-time, monopolisitc cable player owning one of the major networks as inevitably inimical to unencumbered access to consumers. Of course, no cable firm wants, encourages, or welcomes competition. The success of Netflix's streaming product has shown that the public prefers entertainment choice to the free crap, subscription plan junk, or hardly better pay-per-view movies cable providers shove down their captive audiences' throats.

What's worse, from the cable providers' perspective, is that Netflix isn't paying very much for this access into people's homes, computers, and phones.

As a consequence, the Comcast empire has challenged Netflix by charging a "toll" for access. Zero Hedge, which took the story from Bloomberg, provides some of the dirt. The post from Nikki Finke adds some legal background; the reader comments are often thoughtful and often appear knowledgeable.

This story will be a long, complicated one. It's a story that will require some diligence to understand, as the media will have a profound stake in its outcome. That assertion suggests a reader has to question every point of view, check every fact, anticipate sudden shifts in declared positions, and have a taste for human weakness. The reward will be a heightened understanding of how we will obtain useful or trival information, and how much we'll pay for the privilege.

The chart above shows the value of Netflix common stock since January 2010; the chart on the right compares Comcast (blue) versus Netflix (green) since the beginning of this year.

Mario Monicelli R.I.P.

Mario Monicelli, the Italian director responsible for Big Deal on Madonna Street (the Italian title is I Soliti Ignoti, or Persons Unknown), committed suicide on Monday. He was 95 years old and was being treated at a Rome hospital for what The New York Times characterized as a "pancreatic condition that appeared terminal."

Monicelli was credited with directing 65 pictures in his career. He was generally considered a master of Italian film comedy, working with actors such as Alberto Sordi, Toto, and Marcello Mastroianni (shown at right in I Soliti Ignoti).

One of Monicelli's last public appearances this year was for the funeral of the great screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico.

The YouTube link connects to a 2008 television interview with Monicelli. It shows an engaged, intelligent person still quite active at age 93, and not simply coasting on his considerable laurels.

"Vogue Italia's" Fall Cocktail: Equal Parts Fashion Statement, Race, and Body Image

The Washington Post's Robin Givhan wrote a story for today's WaPo online edition, in which Vogue Italia and its editor Franca Sozzani were used as vehicles for a larger discussion of fashion, race, and body image.

You're welcome to comment on the issues raised in the piece.

Photo is taken from the recent online edition of Vogue Curvy. I link to the Italian language version; an English language version is available.

Atheist Billboard at Gateway to Midtown New York

Once again, New Jersey has produced a surprise from its collectively tricky sleeve. Its most recent example involves a billboard near the Garden State entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. The Star-Ledger of Newark published a brief story about the billboard in today's edition.

For those readers unfamiliar with this entrance to New York, the Jersey-side roadway is lined with billboards touting goods from mini-cams to casinos. The joker in the current billboard deck comes courtesy of an organization called American Atheists. The outdoor advertisement's content, which questions the religious basis of year-end holidays, is a curious contrast with the barrage of holiday gift-buying and vacation messages.

It takes chutzpah to position a challenging atheistic message in the midst of the Christmas season. One wonders how much web traffic will be generated from the billboard, and how many perspectives will be altered by the advertisement's message.

Knit & Purl

My wife and I visited a local knitting store this afternoon. Neither of us have handled a needle and yarn in decades; the visit was prompted by the store's sponsorship of a musical event offered in conjunction with a holiday arts festival.

The space, gently lit from the afternoon sun, featured light wood floors and multi-colored spools of fabric. A smooth wooden table formed a common area where a half-dozen women and one man sat, absorbed in knitting and purling. Customers moved in and out of the store, while a pair of amateur musicians played baroque music.

I leafed through some knitting magazines and knitting books while my wife talked with a local librarian who knits in her time away from the stacks. As I considered the patterns, material, and suggestions from the writers and editors (including Vogue Knitting), I began to appreciate the curious world of the knitters. They have their own rules, their own milestones of accomplishments, their own understandings. In most ways, the world of knitting and purling has existed largely unchanged since antiquity. The behaviors of this afternoon's knitters -- calm, rhythmic, purposeful -- seem equally unchanged.

I can't say the event inspired me to pick up needle and yarn. However, I felt close this afternoon to something timeless, something humble, something beautiful and alive.

"Time Out" Finds Time to Sell Half Its Business; IPad-Only Publications Ready for December Launch

Time Out, the firm that churns out the Time Out (name your city) guides, just sold a 50% stake in its company to Oakley Capital, a London-based private equity group. The Financial Times, which reported the story in its Thanksgiving Day edition, noted that the publication intends to use the funding toward its shift to become "'a mini search engine or portal' for cultural listings. The brief, stealthily located sidebar on Time Out founder Tony Elliott, is also worth noting.

Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson intends to unveil an IPad-only digital magazine sometime next week. This would occur around the same time as Rupert Murdoch's IPad-only newspaper is launched. Neither publication will be free. Today's FT has the story.

The photograph shows Branson in 2006 during his involvement in Dubai real estate development.

Citigroup Settles with Aloha State for One Billion Plus

Keep your eyes on holiday news, as a great deal of unpleasant, "sweep-it-under-the-rug" information becomes public information during these "slow" news days.

Today's Exhibit A is provided courtesy of the Washington Post, in which they carry an AP story about Citigroup settling a lawsuit out of court with the state of Hawaii. The Aloha State sued the Federal government's leading financial ward for over one billion dollars lost in student-loan backed securities. The settlement provides that Hawaii get par value for the securities.

Of course, the Citigroup scam is another example of how deeply the corruption scoured our nation's institutions.

Major money market banks, including Citicorp, will quickly get over this depressing episode. It has been reported the Wall Street bonus pool for this year will, in aggregate, come in around $140 billion. That does take the luster off a mere one billion dollar settlement.

The photograph shows students celebrating Hawaii Pacific University's 35th anniversary in the year 2000. The institution is currently conducting a search for a new university president.

Brooklyn Townhouse and NYC Schools

NYC public schools has been in the perks business for a long time. To attract late 90's "savior" Joseph Fernandez from Miami, the city had to buy him a Brooklyn townhouse. The home's history since Mr. Fernandez had his brief Brooklyn Heights residency is a curious one. The New York Times, to its credit, recently ran a story on this subject.

One of the article's ironies involved Christopher Warren and "Good Morning America" talking head Tanya Rivero. They owned the home until recently. The home was sold so, as the Times story put it, the couple's children could be closer to the schools they were attending. Unstated in the article were the schools' names, but one can guess they were not in the P.S., I.S., or H.S. collection of New York public schools.

Unusual Holiday Gift

On last night's flight home from Florida, I read the in-flight sales magazine. Among the items was an item called "Dog-Off Deluxe". The item apparently emits a sound that freaks dogs out. In the words of the sales brochure, it's "the perfect gift for joggers, walkers, postal workers, and delivery personnel."

If you're interested, it's available on SkyMall.com, and in time for the holidays.

The photo shows a British postal worker and a dog, in presumably happier days.

Trade Show

For the past few days, I've been working a trade show. One unexpected occurrence was the exhibit hall's uncanny ability to block routine cell phone calls from my telephone service provider. The only way around that obstacle was to use my business phone for just about everything. That workaround only serves to annoy vendors and participants. What infinitely complicated matters was the convention center's and participating hotel's baffling lack of internet service. Even if one paid the ten dollar per day fee, the service did not include wifi, used a clumsy, antiquated cable in one's room, and impenetrably obscure usage directions. Room television consisted of a range of channels, many of which were dedicated to implicitly or explicitly presenting or promoting the parent company's marketing agenda.

In essence, the venue managed to isolate participants from the most routine communications. The saving grace was the staff, which was unfailingly polite, and helpful when they could be. Also, unlike most convention destination resorts, this particular venue was laid-back, which I appreciated.

Anyone who has done trade shows has their own stories about a phenomenon that, in one form or another, has existed since antiquity. You're welcome to share stories about convention venues/hotels in the comment box. Just

keep it clean.

By the way, the night sky this evening will feature a full moon that's known as a "blue moon."

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

More than four decades ago, a bad movie called If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium was inflicted on the public. The picture featured a parade of stars getting cameos and walking through a dreadful script. In case you thought John Cassavetes was a pure cineaste, he takes a turn in this movie, and there's nothing artistic about it. How nutty was the casting? Well, even the singer Donovan got into the act.

Beyond its kitschy bad taste, the movie is strictly memorable for its title. It has been quoted and used as conversational filler to indicate all the evils of package tourism. The title came to mind yesterday when I read the story of a Ryanair flight from Fez, Morocco that was scheduled to land at Beauvais, France. The flight was delayed beyond the time the Beauvais airport was open. Ryanair sent the plane to Liege, Belgium. The passengers refused to disembark. However, the crew locked the bathrooms and left the plane. Apparently, a "tense negotiation" took place and the passengers eventually got off the aircraft.

The episode demonstrates just how wacky air transportation has become. I don't even think a cast with the late Cassavetes' skill could manage to convincingly tell yesterday's 21st Century version of If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. Then again, it could be the in-flight movie.

Sid

I showed Shadow of a Doubt tonight at the public library where I live. It's fun to show Hitchcock movies every so often, and to see them on a relatively big screen. However, the truly special treat for me tonight was someone in the audience -- Sid. He's a 90-year-old man who happens to show movies at the library in an adjoining town. He remains active and engaged, and something of an inspiration for me whenever I get jaded or tired. Sid reminds me, by example, of how precious our lives are, how wonderful our daily lives can be, how much there remains to know, to learn, and to experience.

Thanks, Sid.

PBS Zips Tina Fey

PBS, which has lived off a rich, steady diet of political liberals' belief that the network reflects the good taste and sound judgement of "viewers like you," showed its less agreeable side over the weekend.

During a Kennedy Center event which honored Tina Fey, the comedienne/actress made some sarcastic remarks about Sarah Palin and conservative politics. PBS, as the Washington Post noted in its headline on the story, took a "political airbrush" to the segment. WaPo, to its credit, has made available both the unedited and edited versions of Fey's remarks. Unfortunately, the network supported by "viewers like you" didn't make the same offer.

Ms. Fey, by the way, received the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize at the event PBS couldn't quite bring itself to broadcast in an unexpurgated form.

Coney Island

My wife and I visited Coney Island this afternoon. We'd learned that a number of boardwalk businesses were getting squeezed out of New York's bastion of beach funk. Also, the city government has floated the notion that the boardwalk would become a cement walk. That combination of unsettling news concerned us, as Coney Island has been a primary inspiration for my wife's photography.

The boardwalk businesses, amusement parks, and city facilities were mostly closed, shuttered, and gated during today's visit. Some musicians played some rousing rock-style tunes appropriate for heavy drinking bars. A few people danced, some stood on line to purchase clams or bad fried food, and others enjoyed the brilliantly sunny November afternoon.

It was evident during our stroll that Coney Island's personality was about to change. Instead of a raw, rowdy feeling, we sensed a more subdued Coney Island was in the works. We wished it were otherwise.

Prix Pictet

The Prix Pictet, a high-profile environmental photography award, has released its list of qualifying images. The pictures, and useful explanatory background information, is available via the Asian edition of the Financial Times.

The photographers are hardly strangers in the art world night. Taryn Simon is represented by Gagosian; her image shown here is taken from her appearance on Charlie Rose. Edward Burtynsky's work was the focus of Manufactured Landscapes, an excellent movie about the environmental degradation of China that my wife and I saw at Film Forum in New York. Thomas Struth "studied under Gerhard Richter," according to the FT information.

The Prix Pictet winner will be announced in March 2011.

The Cisco Kid That Isn't Kidding Anymore

Cisco Systems rocked the stock market yesterday, with a big miss on estimated earnings and an announcement that the coming quarters would basically suck.

Why is this a big deal?

Well, Cisco noted that public sector spending would not meet projections, and would not be robust for a long time. That bad news hits the core of the argument that "infrastructure" spending, laregely stimulated by government investment, would be strong, and would benefit firms such as Cisco.

Further, Cisco estimated that state and local tax revenues would not reach "pre-Lehman" levels for another five years. Ouch. That's one year after President Obama's presumed re-election. I emphasize the word "presumed."

The Bloomberg story, included in today's Washington Post, has the details.

Of course, the lurking story is the "recovery" from the Great Recession that no one except financial cheerleaders and those with a vested interest in boosting Manhattan real estate values has detected. Never mind how the cheerleaders haven't defined where the money will come from to pay for what's owed, and what's needed.

Dino DeLaurentiis

Dino DeLaurentiis passed away at age 91. The LA Times obit offers a reasonable overview of his life. The article includes a quote from Arnold Schwartzenegger, whose Conan the Barbarbian was a DeLaurentiis production.

Agostino DeLaurentiis (his original name) came from the Naples area and, like Sophia Loren and other Neapolitans, went to Rome and made it big in the movie business. DeLaurentiis had many faults and was not easy to like. However, he produced two of Italy's best post-war movies: Bitter Rice with Silvia Mangano (who later became Mrs. DeLaurentiis) and Nights of Cabiria, a Fellini picture that splendidly captures the Roman sensibility of the time.

The photograph shows Ms. Mangano in a scene from Bitter Rice. The animal is uncredited, hardly an unusual situation for performers in a DeLaurentiis production. Another Bitter Rice curiosity is that the Italian language version does not feature Mangano's voice. Lydia Simoneschi, Italy's grande dame of vocal dubbing, was the voice of Mangano's character. This vocal substitution was not unusual: Simoneschi dubbed Sophia Loren, Lea Masari, and Gina Lollobrigida, and other marquee Italian actresses in a variety of pictures.

Teotihuacan Tunnel

The Associated Press reported today that Mexican archaeologists used a robotic vehicle to explore an ancient tunnel in the sacred precincts of Teotihuacan, one of the country's most spectacular collection of pre-Columbian ruins.

The robot returned images showing what the story characterized as a "perfectly carved arch roof." The tunnel and the grave sites it most likely connects probably predates the birth of Christ. It also, potentially, offers some tantalizing hints into an epoch as enigmatic as any in human history.

If you're unfamiliar with Mexico's existing pre-Columbian art, visit the Wikipedia link to the country's National Museum of Anthropology (NMA).

When my parents visited Mexico many decades ago, they visited this museum. The exhibits bowled them over. I inherited their coffee table book on the museum's collection. The works in it are powerful, beautiful, mysterious as only objects from a lost world can be.

Perhaps the tunnel will reveal something of this ancient society. In the meantime, we'll have to be satisfied with the sculpture of the Olmec wrestler. (Full disclosure: the tunnel builders were probably not Olmecs. I just happen to like this piece, and it is in the NMA.)

New York City School Shuffle

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke volumes about his city's school management when he tabbled magazine publisher Cathy Black to take over from Joel Klein. Black's appointment suggests there will be more data-driven management in Gotham's schools.

Most media stories have focused on Black's qualifications and her shaky status at Hearst Magazines. Curiously, Klein's next move was reported in The New York Post: he's going to be an executive VP at News Corp., which owns the Post.

One wonders why these moves were made. What is Black's rationale? What does Bloomberg have in mind for the schools? And what will Klein bring to Rupert Murdoch?

When Brother Becomes Sister

Mary Norris, a copy editor at The New Yorker, recently published an article about her brother's decision to become a female. The piece appears in the November 5th New York Times.

The topic of transsexuality is outside my usual areas of interest. If I had not known Mary, I doubt I would have read the piece. However, Mary and I were neighbors in Astoria over two decades ago. I'm still a little sentimental about my Astoria experience, as well as The New Yorker, where I worked for a few years. So, if I see something with Mary's byline, I'll take time to read it.

I hope you take a few moments to explore Mary's well-written, moving article.

Bud Powell and mysterious brother Bill

I purchase music online, which involves searching for songs within my preferred merchant's site. That process has its strong points and its flaws. Here's an example of an algorithm gone wrong.

For some time, I've been on the hunt for Jazz at Massey Hall, featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Mingus, Bud Powell, and Max Roach. I have possessed a re-released vinyl version of this recording since my high school days. (The link's history of the recording is incomplete, by the way.) It has gone just about everywhere I've lived. Let's just say the music has powerful sentimental value for me. Among digital recording's virtues is its ability to preserve what might be lost in a vinyl medium. Once upon a time, I collected 78s and 33 1/3s, and I've understood from that experience how precious, fragile, and fleeting these artifacts can be. This awareness led me to begin purchasing music I love that has every potential to slowly vanish from public access.

Theoretically, Jazz at Massey Hall should have been an uncomplicated search and purchase, given the recording's prominent personnel. It turned out to be quite difficult to find, thanks to its confusing repackaging. (The repackaging of music from its original release information is an interesting, involved subject.) I was happy when "Volume One" became available, and I gratefully pounced on it. However, there was no "Volume Two," (which featured an exceptional session with Bud Powell, Mingus, and Roach) even though the original vinyl release was a two-album, unified title release. The search, despite all the algorithmically suitable search terms, produced dead end leads.

One day, during an unrelated search for "Bud Powell," I saw an entry for "Bill Powell." Curiosity led me to Mr. Bill. His one entry was the missing Massey Hall numbers, along with four "bonus" tracks from Billy Taylor that had absolutely no connection with the Massey Hall concert. I bought the music, and felt a great sense of relief.

However, my experience shows the limits of algorithmically-based logic. Its weaknesses, such as the impact of inaccurate information on web "certainty," circumscribes the strong case for this means of preservation and access. On the other hand, I do have the real Bud Powell, even if he's entered under an assumed name. Phew!

Hartley 2

Looking up has its rewards, as NASA dramatically demonstrated this week.

The space agency released splendid photographs of the comet Hartley 2 taken by NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft. These images offer a rare look at this type of celestial object. The investigation is intellectually significant, partly because some scientists speculate that information about a comet's composition provide clues into the creation of the solar system.

I wouldn't know; I'm not an astronomer. I do like looking into the night sky and opening myself to wonder. The NASA photographs bring the sky to earthlings, encourage us to reason about the universe, help us appreciate what we have, and what unknowns we might still understand.

Record Number of Americans Apply for Food Stamps

According to a Department of Agriculture report, the number of Americans receiving food stamps has reached an all-time record. Over 42 million Americans, courtesy of government assistance, now get just enough to eat. Zero Hedge, the financial blog where I originally saw the notice of the Agriculture Department report, observed that the 42-million-plus roster represented a 17% increase from the same period in 2009. If you're keeping score, that's definitely not good news for the home team.

Do you still think the Great Recession is over?

China "Suggests" Euro Governments Boycott Nobel Ceremony

The New York Times reports today that the government of the People's Republic of China has issued a diplomatic note to its European counterparts, requesting their boycott of the upcoming Nobel Prize ceremony. The cause of Beijing's ire is Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiabo, a Chinese dissident who has publicly advocated for democratic reforms in the world's most populous nation. He has also called for the end to the Communist Party's monopoly on power in China. The black and white photos show Mr. Liu in 1989, and a recent demand for his release from prison.

The PRC's economic leverage, compelling in these hard times, might be hard for the Old World to resist. Given that unsavory prospect, European citizens should speak out against Beijing's political extortion. Chinese citizens who imagine something better for its country than this embarrassing, counterproductive episode, should also denounce its government's heavy-handed power play.

The color photograph shows Vaclav Havel attempting to present the Chinese Embassy in Prague a petition for Mr. Liu's freedom. Havel's visit took place in January 2010. To date, Mr. Liu remains incarcerated by the Chinese government.

Double Down

The Fed's QE2 announcement reminds one of a gambler who doubles down after a loss. One can only hope the Fed is "on the money." If the Fed rolls snake eyes, the consequences are very bleak for the country. It won't matter which political party is in power.

U.S. Banks Bulk Up Mortgage Departments

The Financial Times reports that major American banks and mortgage lending institutions, having suddenly discovered that gambling takes place in their casinos, have embarked on a hiring binge. Their goal is to bulk up their mortgage lending departments, so that inconvenient details, such as accurate documentation, are properly handled by qualified personnel.

This curious development comes on the heels of certain banks' statements that they had all the mortgage experts they needed. Those assertion now appears in play. (For more on how both political parties were notably absent from expressing election year dismay over Foreclosuregate, read Francesco Guerra's FT piece.)

As the mortgage scandal unfolds, its unsavory narrative is akin to bad news that only gets worse. One incredible aspect of the mortgage story involves the qualifications one needs to become part of certain institutions' mortgage team. This excerpt from the FT story sums up this sorry situation:

A posting for a bankruptcy document preparation expert on the website of Everbank, a financial services company based in Jacksonville, Florida, describes a job opening: “Provide temporary relief to the document execution team. Access various systems and print out supporting documentation necessary for the signing officer to review, thus enabling them to attest to personal knowledge of loan status....”

Everbank said that all new employees are required to go through formal training and that on any given day it posts more than 100 job openings.

Most of these jobs are lower level and require no more than high school diploma, according to advertised listings. Mr. Bove said that banks have a good reason for not wanting to talk about their hiring plans. “Saying you are hiring is the same as admitting you have a problem,” he said.

Maurice Lucas

Maurice Lucas, one of my favorite pro basketball players, recently passed away at age 58. The cause of death was bladder cancer.

He died in Portland, Oregon, the city where "Luke" made his NBA mark as a key member of the TrailBlazers' only championship team. He was the team's power forward, leading rebounder, a capable scorer, and on-court bodyguard for Bill Walton and Portland's other finesse players. He was an iconic figure in a city and region as distant from Lucas' childhood in Pittsburgh's Hill district as possible.

Lucas' rise to the pro game, his adventures in it, and his life after it, do not lack for colorful anecdotes. The New York Times ran Luke's obit, but managed to distill most of the jazz out of his story. The Oregonian ran his obit, a memoriam from their basketball beat writer, and features interviewing people who knew Lucas well: his former coach Jack Ramsay and current Portland coach and former teammate Nate McMillan.

I only saw Luke's game via TV. However, I loved reading stories about him. David Halberstam's excellent The Breaks of the Game offers a wonderful, understanding portrait of Lucas. The author describes, among other things, Luke's days as a star Marquette University player. The college team's coach was Al McGuire, whom Halbertstam noted was the rare coach who "played five" -- that is, five African-American players on the court at the same time.

Halberstam also describes Lucas' time with the Spirits of St. Louis, an aptly named American Basketball Association team. The team's roster included Moses Malone, Marvin Barnes, Don Cheney, M.L. Carr and was coached at one point by Rod Thorn. The radio announcer was Bob Costas. The RemembertheABA link has more very entertaining stories and rare player photos.

It's easy to think that Luke's style of intimidating play doesn't really fit into today's pro game. While that notion may be desirable for the NBA league office to promote, today's game is just as harsh as it was in Luke's day. Players fight and work hard to physically and mentally intimidate their opponents, just as Luke did. The dirty work just wasn't as expensive when Lucas was in his prime as it is today.

Luke said as much to the current Portland team, a good, talented squad that Lucas helped coach and guide. The Oregonian's beat writer relates this story, and it neatly characterizes Lucas and an era:

During the 2008 season the Blazers got intimidated by a screaming, posturing, trash-talking Kevin Garnett in a loss at Boston. Rookie Greg Oden was on his first NBA road trip, and his eyes were wide as saucers after the game.

Lucas, then a Blazers assistant, walked past and said that nobody trash-talked like Garnett during his career. “Back then,” Lucas said, “it was only a $50 fine for punching a guy in the mouth.”

I will never forget the looks on the faces of the young Blazers.