Best Picture Award - The Great Ziegfeld

This movie was the 1936 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  A long movie that was pretty boring to boot.  It is a musical and I admittedly don’t care for musicals but I think this one was worse than most.  The story line about Ziegfeld has some interest but not enough to keep me from dozing a couple of times.

The movie is named after the main character – Mr. Ziegfeld.

46 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 34 left to see.

Best Picture Award - Cimarron

This movie was the 1931 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie – the fourth year the award was given.  The movie is set in Oklahoma prior to 1900 when it was first opened up for settlers and takes the story through 1930.  There is a horrible love story about a guy that is never around and the lady that loves him.  It makes him out to be a star of some sort but I just think he was a jerk.  Interesting, at least to me, is that this movie also had a prominent character that had a stutter.  His stutter was different than the character in “The Broadway Melody” the movie that won the Academy Award two years prior.  Not sure I remember any other movies with a character that stutters.

The title of the movie comes from the name of the child of the main characters – although he doesn’t figure in the story very much.

44 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 36 left to see.

Best Picture Award - Annie Hall

This movie was the 1977 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  A love story between two very different people. The movie has its light moments, its humorous times, and parts that drag.  I picked up several lines and sayings from pop culture that obviously originated with this movie.  However, I didn’t like the movie.

Annie Hall is the name of the female character in the love story.

45 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 35 left to see.

Investment Club - Jan 2010

Investment Club YenoM recently met with 7 members in attendance.  Our portfolio is in pretty good shape based upon the criteria we are using to manage it.  We need to add more small cap stocks that are not in either the technology or healthcare sectors.

We decided to sell all of our Linear Technology (LLTC) stock and use the proceeds of the sale and $1,000 in cash to purchase Neutral Tandem (TNDM).  Neutral Tandem is a company that provides “interconnection services principally to competitive carriers, including wireless, wireline, cable, and broadband telephony companies in the United States.”

We made these decisions for the following reasons:

Sell LLTC:

1.      Lowers our technology holdings which were above the amount the club set as the upper threshold

2.      No one in the club has the background to properly understand and follow the products produced by LLTC

3.      Eliminates the next to the lowest PAR stock in the portfolio (PAR was 8.3% vs portfolio PAR of 14.3%)
 
The only downside of selling LLTC was it lowered our percentage of stocks of the mid cap size - something we are trying to increase.  However, the positive aspects of reducing the holding outweighed this negative.

Buy TNDM

1.      Adds exposure to a new sector (Telecom)

2.      Increase our small cap holdings which were well below the targeted amount

3.      Increases the overall PAR for the portfolio (PAR for stock is 19.2% vs 14.3% for the portfolio)

FW: Best Picture Award - The Broadway Melody

This movie was the 1929 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie – the second year the award was given.  It was a musical but not too much music so that part was OK with me.  However, it was a cheesy love story that centered around a couple of women trying to break in on Broadway.  The love story takes a couple of predictable twists.  One guy I liked in the movie had a stutter which was humorous.  He had lines like, “I’m going to shoot you with my gg… g.ggg… ggg…… revolver.”

The title of the movie is the same as the Broadway show that was depicted in the film – The Broadway Melody.

43 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 37 left to see.

Review - 2009 Goal 2

My second goal last year (2009) was to run a half marathon in under 2 hours. Goal was NOT ACHIEVED but I was still successful.

Running a half marathon in 2009 was going to be my fourth. When I set the goal I knew it was aggressive since my personal best time was time in the previous 3 half marathons was 2:05:43 and I’m not getting any younger. My running partner, Melodie, agreed to the goal and we started training in January. At the time it didn’t sound all that hard to knock 5 minutes out of a two hour time period.

Fast forward to May when we ran the Cellcom Marathon in Green Bay. To achieve the time of 2 hours flat on the half marathon (13.1 miles) we needed to average 9 minute miles for each of the 13 miles. We started the run on a sunny morning with a temperature of 37 degrees – about perfect for our run. At the one mile mark we were at 8:37 – much faster than we needed so we slowed down. At mile two our time was 17:40 or 8:50 per mile. At this point I said to myself and then to Melodie, “This is the perfect pace – we are right on target.” At mile four we were still on pace for 9:00 minutes per mile and I felt pretty good.

We crossed the 7 mile mark at exactly 54 minutes or 9 minute miles. It was shortly after mile 7 when the race fell apart for me. I remember it well. We were on a slight uphill just after crossing Lombardi Avenue in a neighborhood where an old boyfriend of my daughter’s lived. It was just a slight uphill but it took everything I had to make it to the top and that is when I was pretty sure we were falling off pace. I thought to myself – that’s what a running partner is for – Melodie will have to keep pace and I’ll just stay with her. At mile 8 we had fallen way off pace and I told Melodie to not worry about me, to pick up the pace so she could hit the goal. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any get up and go left either. After the race she related to me that she ran out of gas – “shortly after the slight hill right by the porta-a-porties” or essentially the same place as me. So neither one of us could “pull” the other one along.

We kept running and at each mile marker we were falling further and further off our hoped for 9:00 minute per mile pace and then the goal became to finish the race. Running is as much a mental exercise as a physical one and the realization that we weren’t going to achieve our goal weight heavily on me. However, I’ve never quit a race and this one was no exception. We kept at it and much to my surprise and delight we crossed the finish line at 2:04:59 beating my previous personal best time by almost a full minute. In retrospect, I’m very proud of that time and I still have hopes of improving on it. However, my goal for 2010 is to complete my first full marathon (26.2) miles.

My training for the run began on Jan 4 2009 and will be tested at the Cellcom Marathon on May 2010.
Here is another person's 2009 Cellcom story.

Review - 2009 Goal 1

My first goal last year (2009) was to read four non-fiction books.  It was ACHIEVED.

I read plenty of fiction books but it is just harder for me to want to sit down and read a non-fiction book.  

In February I read “My Life on the Run” by Bart Yasso.  Bart was the guest speaker at the Cellcom Marathon kickoff party in January so I decided to read his book about running.  If you are a runner I think you will like the book.  I also learned how to request a book at the library.  No not how to find it on the book shelf rather how to submit a request for the library to purchase a book so it can be loaned out.  Bart’s book had just recently been released and the library didn’t have a copy.  I didn’t think I wanted the book for my library and, being cheap, I wasn’t going to buy it.  The process to request a book from the Brown County library is real easy and, in this case, worked quickly.

In April I read “Lost!” by Thomas Thompson.  I found this book in a old Readers Digest condensed book we had around the house.  It didn’t have much of an impression on me as I don’t remember anything about the story and I’ve given the Readers Digest to Goodwill.

After taking the summer off from reading non-fiction I completed “The Intelligent Asset Allocation” by William Bernstein in September.  An excellent, excellent primer on how and why to do asset allocation as an investment strategy.  William Bernstein is an excellent author and this book as well as some of his others is currently guiding my personal and professional investing portfolio.

Finally, in November I completed reading “48 Days to the Work You Love” by Dan Miller.  An well written book to provides practical guidance on conducting  a job search.  I liked the book so much that I’ve purchased additional copies and have started giving them to people that have lost their jobs to help them get back in the game.  I would also recommend someone reading this that wanted to find a different job.  Great advice on networking.

Running Recap for 2009

For Christmas 2008 my wife gave me a Garmin Forerunner 305 exercise watch.  I had been looking at it for some time but just couldn’t justify spending that much money for a running watch.  Since it was a gift I was “obligated” to use it. 

Best Picture Award - Crash

This movie was the 2005 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  This is a very interesting movie and well worth the time to watch it.  From the title I thought the movie was going to be some cheesy story about cars and crashes.  But it wasn’t and that is a good thing.  The story reveals and revolves around many ethnic and racial stereotypes.  No current stereotype is left untouched.  The movie is well done and not offensive.  In an interesting twist the characters portrayed initially as “good guys” end up being bad and “bad guys” as good, although some of them die.

The title Crash comes from the different people, cultures, and races all “crashing” into one another over a 36 hour period of time.

41 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 39 left to see.

Best Picture Award - Gigi

This movie was the 1958 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  A musical - I don’t like musicals and this movie was no exception.  The setting was France, a young girl maturing, and a rich guy falling in love with her.

A couple of interesting observations (at least to me).  First, several people were described as gay.  Most younger folks would not recognize the use of this word to describe someone as happy and carefree.  Secondly, the age of the young girl was never revealed but she seemed to be in her teens.  Today an older guy (late 20’s or 30’s) would be considered a pedophile for pursuing her.

Title for the movie is easy to determine its origin.  The young girl’s name is Gigi.

40 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 40 left to see.  I’ve reached the half way point.

Best Picture Award - A Man for all Seasons

This movie was the 1966 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  A movie that depicts the struggle between Henry the Eighth in England and one of his close friends.  In the end the friend is imprisoned and beheaded for his failure to sign an oath to the king.  I had trouble understand some of the dialogue due to the accents and the plot was hard to follow, although in the end I figured it out.  I’m not sure this movie is worth watching.

A Man for All Seasons – Not sure where the title came from.  In one scene when the “friend” was in jail the story showed a tree changing through all of the different seasons.  I guess the title could also reference the fact that the “friend” was steady in his belief system-even though he lost everything by holding on to it. 

39 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 41 left to see.

Best Picture Award - The Greatest Show on Earth

This movie was the 1952 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  In case you didn’t know the Greatest Show on Earth is a reference to the circus which is what this movie is about.  A couple of love stories and the love of the circus are all unrolled with the back drop of the circus.  The stories are predictable and enjoyable all at the same time.  I don’t feel as though I wasted time watching.

As I’ve already indicated the title of the movie is a reference to the circus.

38 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 42 left to see.

Shrimp Cocktail Sauce Recipe

We took cold shrimp to my daughter’s house for Christmas dinner and I decided that it was time to get a shrimp cocktail recipe that I liked.  I’ve always just purchased the stuff from the store but never liked the taste – regardless of brand.  I went on the web and found several recipes and combined what I liked about each of them.  Below is the recipe – which I loved – but my wife still prefers the store brand.  I guess you’ll have to make your own decision about whether this is good or not.

3 TBS ketchup

1 TBS horseradish sauce

1 TBS lemon juice

1 tsp minced garlic

½ tsp dry mustard

Celery salt to taste (I think I used about a ¼ tsp)

Tabasco sauce to taste (I used 5-6 generous shakes)

Mix all the ingredients and let set for an hour or so for the flavors to mingle.

Best Picture Award - Casablanca

This movie was the 1943 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  A very famous movie that is shown on TV all the time but I have never watched the entire movie.  I did that today and came away not sure why there is so much hype around the movie.  The setting is during the Second World War and involves a love story.  I kept waiting for them to escape on the African Queen when my wife advised me that I was mixing up my Humphrey Bogart movies!

The movie is set in Casablanca Morocco from which the title is derived.

37 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 43 left to see.

Best Picture Award - The Best Years of Our Lives

This movie was the 1946 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  A movie about three soldiers returning from World War Two and the struggles they have adjusting to civilian life.  Employment was hard to come by (kind of like today) which created issues.  There are three different love stories and all are successful.  Different than today’s movies – almost every scene involved someone smoking a cigarette, men wearing suits and hats all the time, and women in skirts or dresses.  I enjoyed the movie.

The title “Best Years of Our Lives is a combination of the soldiers wondering if the war years were the “best” or if the years ahead would be the “best”.  In the end it became evident that the future years were going to be best.

36 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 44 left to see.

Best Picture Award - Terms of Endearment

This movie was the 1983 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  Somewhat of a chick flick, this was a funny and sad story all weaved together.  I enjoyed watching it and was left wanting more when the film ended.  I think that is a good thing.  Three different relationships are revealed in the story – the relationship between a mother and daughter, the mother and a neighbor man, and the daughter and her husband.

Terms of Endearment – hard for me to gather where the title comes from.  Maybe it is supposed to refer to the different “terms” that each of the persons in the relationships endeared themselves to the other?

35 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 45 left to see.

Beer Bread

Here's another recipe using our homebrew beer.

I got this recipe from zestycook.com.  It was very easy to make and ended up being a bit dry but good none the less.

1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup brown sugar
12 oz beer (I used stout beer)
olive oil
parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix all dry ingredients together.  Add beer and stir until moist throughout.  Place the mixture in a lightly greased loaf pan.  Drizzle the top with parmesan cheese and olive oil (the original recipe called for pouring 1/4 cup of melted butter over the top).  Bake for 60 minutes till golden brown.

Best Picture Award - Grand Hotel

This movie was the 1932 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  The movie starred five of the biggest names of the era: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Berry, and Lionel Barrymore.  It started slow but was interesting from the middle until the end.  The setting is a fancy hotel in Berlin where lots of rich people and want to be rich people hang out.  There is a weak love story and the bad guy getting his due involved in the story.

The movie is named after the hotel setting, Grand Hotel.

34 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 48 left to see.

Best Picture Award - The Departed

This movie was the 2006 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  I did not enjoy watching this movie.  In fact, I had already seen it once and couldn’t remember the movie until about a quarter of the way through the movie.  The movie was not memorable, in my opinion, so had forgotten that I had seen it.  I watched it a second time and it is no better.  Lots of blood, use of the “f” word, and killing.  I could not pull a message from the movie other than “Being a bad guy doesn’t pay, being a good guy doesn’t pay”.  Not much of a message.

So where does the movie title come from?  Early on in the movie Matt Damon, when talking about a deceased person, puts emphasis on calling the person “departed” OR it could have come from the fact that so many people we killed in the movie.

33 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 47 left to see.

Best Picture Award - in the Heat of the Night

This movie was the 1967 Best Picture Academy Award winning movie.  I really enjoyed this movie and recommend it to all.  The movie exposes the prejudices of the South (Sparta MS) and how one black Philadelphia police detective (Sidney Poitier) changes the opinion of the white Sparta police chief as he helps him solve a murder.

Much of the movie takes place at night, in the South, during the summer which is where the name comes from.

32 Best Picture movies seen.  Only 48 left to see.