Prune That Tree So The Truck Can Be Parked & The Hoop Can Be Played

 

The Historic Wall At Fort Worth Central Station

 

Recent Studies Have Shown...

 

No matter how well you take care of yourself

No matter how much you exercise

No matter how well you regulate your diet

No matter how carefully you go about your day to day activities

Minimizing risk, avoiding anything that could be remotely dangerous

Filtering the water you drink fifteen times

Growing your own food

Never letting anyone touch you

Never letting anyone breath on you

Washing your hands every ten minutes of every waking hour

Sleeping on antibacterial sheets

None of that will matter one single bit

When it's your time to go, you'll be gone

The Spent Cicada Shell

 

The Kid At The Train Station

   I have one of those faces - fairly non perturbing, blasé if you will, which makes me approachable it seems. At least that's why I think people from all walks of life walk up to me and start conversations with me as if I was a long-lost friend.

   Wednesday morning I'm at the train station minding my own business when a kid (by kid, I mean a young man probably around 22 or 23) approached me carrying a skateboard deck - just the deck, no trucks or wheels attached.

   He looked up at me and said straightaway, "I have come to believe that this skateboard is the root cause of all of my problems, would you like to have it? If you don't want it, I understand. But can I leave it here anyway. I cannot have it near me any longer."

   I looked at the skateboard deck being presented to me - it was ratty, torn up by long use, and quite frankly just about as useless as a skateboard deck could possibly be.

   Without taking the pro-offered deck in hand, I replied; "No, don't think I want that deck, accursed as you make it out to be. If it's the source of all your troubles, maybe you should put it in the trashcan over there." 

   I said that while indicating a trashcan less than 5 feet from where we were standing.

   The kid looked at me for a few seconds and then did not put the skateboard deck in the trashcan. Instead, he propped it up against the wall of the depot and turned back towards one of the rows of long benches, and took a seat next to a suitcase and a couple of small backpacks, which I assumed were his possessions.

   He sat there on the bench staring at the skateboard deck he had propped up against the wall for awhile, then he got up and walked back over to me.

   "You know I am not crazy or anything like that, right? I mean, I'm a normal person, but I've done a lot of thinking about all the bad things that have happened to me, and all of them have one thing in common, and it's that skateboard."

   With a deep sigh I looked back at the skateboard deck and then back to the kid, and I said, "If you believe that skateboard has been the bane of your existence, then by all means, rid yourself of it. But again, it might be best to rid the world of it, too."

   He stared at the skateboard deck propped up against the wall for a long minute, and I swear I saw tears welling up in his eyes. He walked over to the skateboard, picked it up and walked over to the trashcan and tossed the beat up deck in.

   Turning towards me, he said, "You're absolutely right, that is where it belongs. I feel such amazing relief. Thank you."

   Then he walked back to the bench and sat next to his stuff and remained there, staring off into space. He was still sitting there staring off into space when I boarded my train.

The Correction

 

What Are You Thinking For Lunch?

 

A Salute To Brad Wegscheider, The Best Man I Ever Worked For

   I received news today that Brad Wegscheider, the best man I ever had the pleasure to work for, passed away yesterday.

   Which saddened me immensely, even though it was not unexpected, as Brad had been ill for some time.

   He was a big man with a great big personality and even greater, bigger integrity and character. His demeanor was as even-keeled as it gets, and in the five years I worked for him I never once doubted I was working for one of the best there was at what he did.

 

   He was that rare person who, as a manager, made you feel that he was not only always in your corner, he was actually always working for you - doing everything he could to make you the best you could be, motivating you, encouraging you, challenging you, rewarding you. 

   I am most definitely a much better person for knowing Brad, and his influence on me will last forever.

   There are a few stories I could share about Brad that are funny, inspirational, and even poignant, but this is not really the time or place for them. All I really want to state here is that the world as a whole lost one of the good ones yesterday, and the world as a whole is the worse for it.

   R.I.P. Brad, you earned it.

 

   

It Was Bernie Madoff & Co. Who Was At Fault, Not The SEC

   Watched the Netflix miniseries Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street the other day, and it was a joke.

   Not because the documentary was poorly made in itself - production values were high, actors who represented historical figures were good, well-known facts of the story were accurately portrayed (as far as I know...), and the pacing was sufficient to keep attention focused on the screen

   Nope, the miniseries was made by adept professionals, that much is undeniable.

   The part that made the miniseries a joke was the allegation/assigning of the blame for the success of Madoff's financial crimes on the SEC and other governmental agencies that failed to adequately scrutinize Madoff's investment firm despite being alerted to the highly improbable rate of return he was offering (allegations made by competitors...), and the insinuation that various officials in the SEC were overwhelmed by Bernie Madoff's apparent success and stainless reputation to the point they deliberately allowed Madoff's scheme to persist.

   Which not only comes across as sycophantic apologist propaganda created by the filmmakers for Madoff and his co-horts, but also pretty much amounts to cinematic gaslighting.

   There are interview snippets with people who lost boatloads of money to Madoff who literally state that if the government (SEC) had done their job properly then Madoff wouldn't have been able to steal their money.

   The filmmakers go to great lengths to make the allegations of incompetence/impotence on the part of the SEC not just palatable, but plausible.

   However...anyone, man, woman, or child, who even puts as much as a little toe in the waters of Wall Street learns very quickly that they, and they alone, are responsible for whatever happens to their money once they have committed to investing in the Stock Market on any level. 

   Caveat emptor. If it seems to good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. Due diligence. Look for the man behind the curtain.

   Avarice is not a virtue.

   The filmmakers gloss over the fact that ultimately, the truth for anyone who deposited money in Madoff's scheme was that, as someone giving him money and expecting him to give back more money (much, much more money), then you were of one of two classes of investor - you either were in on the scheme early and benefited from it (Jeffry Picower), or you were a sucker.

   To state the SEC was responsible for anyone losing money in Madoff's Ponzi scheme is to state that the local cop who pulled you over for erratically driving your vehicle is responsible for your DUI. 

   There is also a strong suggestion that Bernie Madoff was the only one responsible for being able to bamboozle innocent investors and government watchdogs alike - which is preposterous. 

   The basic logistics of the scheme - producing forged financial documents showing securities with just enough of a gain/loss ratio to make them appear to be not only wise investments but also the result of the work of a wizard who knew how to get in and out of specific financial vehicles both before anyone else is on the train and right before the particular train falls off the tracks, were incredibly involved and overwhelmingly well-crafted.

   To state that it was the work of one man is a thousand times more incredulous than stating that bigfoot exists or aliens are visiting earth to steal cows.

   Asset management firms around the world (numbering in the thousands) employ tens of thousands of the best and brightest fiscal minds - lawyers, accountants, market analysts, economists, risk managers, marketeers, etc. to create investment products that can not only pass the scrutiny of wary investors, but that can also pass the scrutiny of myriad government agencies. 

   Tens of thousands of people working long hours, day after day, to produce everything from a basic prospectus to quarterly or annual reports, as well as boatloads of financial transaction documentation.

   There is no way one man can, or could have, done that. Madoff had to have a lot of help, and for the most part, those co-monsters almost all got away with aiding and abetting a vast criminal enterprise that spanned decades and harmed thousands.

   That should have been the focus of the miniseries - the unnamed and unpunished co-conspirators. But that would have been, I assume, a bit more of a legal risk that slapping blame on a government agency. 

   Government agencies don't sue for libel or slander.

The Lighter & Brighter Sculptures Seen In Philadelphia

   An email showed up this morning that asked the question, "Surely you had to have encountered sculptures in Philadelphia that were a little lighter and brighter than what you posted in the previous two post?"

  Too which I replied, "Yes I did, and please don't call me Shirley".

  The thing is, I didn't encounter a whole heckuva lot of lighter and brighter sculptures, but those that I did will be showcased here. Remarkably, the color of choice for the sculptures I did see was pretty much a variant on the orange that is seen on public art in nearly every major city I've visited.

   Well, that's it - those are all the even remotely lighter and brighter sculptures I saw in Philadelphia. Which doesn't mean there aren't more, it just means I didn't see 'em. Maybe there's some secret trove of lighter and brighter sculpture in Philadelphia I am simply not privy to. 

   There is a lot of lighter and brighter public art in Philadelphia however, such as mural work I'll feature soon, and the public art seen at the Philadelphia airport (which, btw, is in the running for the "Most Improved Airport" award).

   I'll get all of that up as time allows.

Through The Sculptures, Darkly (Part II, Not As Dark)

 

Through The Sculptures, Darkly

   Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the U.S., and arguably was the single most important city during the infancy of the nation. 

   Philadelphia is also arguably the best walking city in the U.S., as it's nearly impossible to walk a single block in the heart of the city without encountering a historically significant site, an amazing museum or two, terrific restaurants, and boatloads of great artwork.

   Especially sculpture. Philadelphia has sculpture for days. It's a broad collection of work that spans hundreds of years and just about as many artistic movements/schools. However, there does seem to be a commonality, a singular unifying theme if you will, that ties all the sculpture together.

   And that is, dark and brooding.

   Take a gander at a just a small sampling of what can be seen along the streets of Philadelphia and tell me I'm wrong.