I never really liked the zoo...

So I'm addicted, I know I am, and I don't care. Apple has me hook line and sinker - I don't remember a product they've released in the last few years that I haven't either bought, or thought about buying. I've costed out a twin processor Power Mac with 30" Digital Display so many times now it's just getting ridiculous. Anyway, I went shopping today, and bought a new Tiger, and I love it. Took a while to install, but lots of cool stuff on there, and when it finishes indexing, I'll be able to find everything I haphazardly dumped on there.....

All in on a Saturday night

So the first ever Poker Party at the Patterson house (how's that for alliteration) was an all round success - lots of people trying it for the first time, lots of fun, and the luckiest Australian in the world (before he retired). Brecke ended up the winner (at 2.45am), Napoleon Dynamite made a brief but memorable appearance and Neil decided to play it close to his chest and call when he had 4 of a kind...

The one thing I still haven't worked out - how come no matter how much you drink and how much you tell your friends in advance there's no need to bring any drinks, you always end up with more alcohol at the end of the night than the start.......

And does anyone apart from Fatima read this thing??? Somehow I doubt it, but I'm not throwing in the towel like Nixta just yet.

It's my favourite....

And apparently it's on the rebound, according to CNN here.

As fas I'm concered, there can't be enough of these places, and the fact that I'm slap bang between 2 stores either means there's never going to be one closer to my house, or one could end up outside my front door - I'm hoping for the latter, although the doc would probably not prefer that.

Speaking of favourites, the best story I heard this week came from Kathy, who claims her brother is a little on the nutty side. One of his preferred methods of instilling humour into the most mundane of life's little treats is to always select the option on online applications of choosing your own security question (instead of the standard "What's you mothers maiden name?"). The question he uses is "What are you wearing?" - he then always calls up customer service instead of using the online options.. (think about it...)

They paid how much?

Although it was a bad day when we went, the selling of Jonathon Woodgate looks like the best bit of business we've done in a very long time (although the subsequent futile attempt at getting Rooney was a little on the unbelievable side). Now if we can get the same amount for Kluivert, Babayaro and Robert, we might get a decent squad next year.....

Christmas is coming

Well, slight exageration, but I'm already planning my Christmas list, and it only has one thing on it (unless I don't have the PSP by then). And to make sure I can get way too excited about it, I've found a couple of sites here and here to keep me up to date with what the final specs look like....

Things from the garden

No, not a post about my weekend activities to clear leaves, weeds and old cigarette butts from the yard, but a reference to my old friend The Onion. Introduced to me by Nixta almost as soon as I got off the plane in Denver, it was the closest thing we could find over here to true sarcasm and wit (although we may not have been looking that hard, given we had the around the world network of losers to email).

So two articles popped out today that caught my attention. Is life really worth living? - it is by the way - I think they just screwed up the maths (or math for my american friends (and herb has an 'h' in in case you were wondering...)), and a long held belief that the Catholic Church wastes way too much money on stuff than giving it to the poor was finally confirmed here. Not that I want to get into any kind of religious debate at all, so I'll stop here.

DollHouse makes it's mark

Carrying on from last weeks shameless plug, the Dollhouse Review got a roaring YES from the local press here in Denver. I have a feeling we'll be there for the May 13th show.....

Gutted

Beat up, tired, not caring enough (in the first half anyway) and outplayed to the point of embarassment. Sounds familiar, but I'm talking about today, rather than Thursday (or any other time Newcastle get remotely close to winning something). We were never in the game, which makes the 20 bucks I paid Comcast for the PPV showing all the harder to swallow. Anyway, report is here - off to drown my sorrows. At least the two losses have saved me a couple of grand in airfares next month....

Cardiff Here We Come

It's the big one tomorrow, everyone's expecting us to get beat, we've got more injuries than players, and we never really win anything ever..... So I think we're going to win. Eternal optimism has served me well over the years, but also cost me two weekend trips to Wembley from the US when I first moved here to see us get beat comprehensively in FA Cup finals. The performances on those days was a little on the embarassing side (especially the second one), but at least it was Wembley...

Anyway, rallying cry from my favourite web site

Here we go:
Once more unto the breach....

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Cardiff here we come.

Sunday gives us the chance to right the wrongs, to forget the damage brought upon this club by those charged with its stewardship. To show the world what Newcastle United is all about.

The thing that no-one can ever take away from us is that regardless of who is in charge, no matter who wears the shirt on the field, the club belongs to the fans. Without us it is nothing.

Make sure you go to Cardiff wearing the black and white with pride. Let's have a show of strength from the people that make the difference - us.

If you don't normally sing and make a noise, make this the exception, if you usually sing, make this exceptional.

If we go behind, double the volume. If we go two behind treble it. Even if we leave Cardiff with our tail between our legs, let's make sure we growl, snarl and bark out our message until the final whistle.

Let's make it clear that everyone knows who the real United is - 30,000 of us with one voice. It could be some time before we get the chance to do it again.

Regardless of what happens on the pitch we need to leave Wales with our heads held high - if we are failed by those on the field then we can still return victorious.

A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. As someone once said....

US v English

So this is the sort of thing that Nixta or Phil might post, but I laughed out loud, and then got scared about ever coming home (I presumed the world and England had changed in the last 7 or so years, but guess not). All stolen from Infectious Greed...

The following exchange is mentioned but not reprinted in the New Yorker piece, but it was emailed around quite widely. It isn't a typical Loeb-ian bit of writing, but it is a wildly entertaining email exchange between Loeb and a would-be Third Point hedge fund employee from the U.K. -- one that goes, well, slightly off-kilter:

From: Alan Lewis
To: Daniel Loeb
March 22, 2005

Daniel, thanks for calling earlier today. Enclosed is my CV for your review. I look forward to following up with you when you have more time.

Best regards, Alan.

----------------------

From: Daniel Loeb
To: Alan Lewis
March 28, 2005

What are your three best current European ideas?

----------------------

From: Alan Lewis
To: Daniel Loeb
March 28, 2005

Daniel, I am sorry but it does not interest me to move forward in this way.

If you wish to have a proper discussion about what you are looking to accomplish in Europe, and see how I might fit in, fine. Lesson One of dealing in Europe: Business is not conducted in the same informal manner as in the U.S.

Best regards, Alan.

----------------------

From: Daniel Loeb
To: Alan Lewis
March 28, 2005

One idea would suffice.

We are an aggressive, performance-oriented fund looking for bloodthirsty competitive individuals, who show initiative and drive, to make outstanding investments.

This is why I have built Third Point into a $3bn (£1.6bn) fund with average net returns of 30% over 10 years. We find most Brits are a bit set in their ways and prefer to knock back a pint at the pub and go shooting on weekends rather than work hard. Lifestyle choices are important, and knowing one's limitations with respect to dealing in a competitive environment is too. That is Lesson One at my shop. It is good that we learned about this incompatibility early in the process, and I wish you all the best in your career in traditional fund management.

----------------------

From: Alan Lewis
To: Daniel Loeb
March 28, 2005

Daniel, I guess your reputation is proved correct. I have not been in traditional fund management for more than 11 years. I did not achieve the success I have by knocking back a pint, as you say. I am aggressive, and I do love this business.

I am half-American and half-French, and having spent more than half my life on this side of the pond I think I know a little something about how one conducts business in the U.K. and Europe.

There are many opportunities in the U.K. and Europe, shareholder regard is only beginning to be accepted and understood. However, if you come here and handle it in the same brash way you have in the U.S., I guarantee you will fail. Things are done differently here. Yes, place in society still matters, where one went to school etc. It will take tact and patience (traits you obviously do not have) to succeed in this arena. Good luck! Alan.

----------------------

From: Daniel Loeb
To: Alan Lewis
March 28, 2005

Well, you will have plenty of time to discuss your "place in society" with the other fellows at the club. I love the idea of a French/English unemployed guy, whose fund just blew up, telling me that I am going to fail.

At Third Point, like the financial markets in general, "one's place in society" does not matter at all. We are a bunch of scrappy guys from diverse backgrounds (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu etc.) who enjoy outwitting pompous asses, like yourself, in financial markets globally.

Your "inexplicable insouciance" and disrespect is fascinating; it must be a French/English aristocratic thing. I will be following your "career" with great interest.

I have copied Patrick so that he can introduce you to people who might be a better fit. There must be an insurance company or mutual fund out there for you. Dan Loeb.

----------------------

From: Alan Lewis
To: Daniel Loeb
March 28, 2005

Hubris.

----------------------

From: Daniel Loeb
To: Alan Lewis
March 28, 2005

Laziness.

Shameless Plug

So Fatima and her friends worked pretty hard to get the Dollhouse Review up and running, so here's the shameless plug for it. Rise, every few weeks on a Friday night....

He's Australian!

So it turns out the guy who had the suitcases in front of the Whitehouse was actually Australian.
Seems like he got deported, even though he was legal here (on the visa waiver program), and only had a CD player in the cases, and asked to see the President. I'm not sure when asking for a chat became a big deal - better make sure you leave your luggage at the hotel until you're ready to go to the airport before talking to people......

Terri Schiavo's Blog

How scary is this - not the blog, which was pretty funny, but reading some of the comments was a little on the scary side....
Terri Schiavo's Blog

Video Poker

So, the snow's coming down like no-one's business here in Colorado today (the usual spring storm that arrives to make sure I keep my snow tires on longer than I want to...), so needed something to do for the afternoon. Turns out that you can play poker on-line without signing your life away. I always presumed that you had to give them a direct "take all of my money out of my bank account" card before you could get a game, but here they just ask for an email address (no spam yet), and you wait an hour or so for a password and you're good to go. They even give you free refills when you blow it all in a really bad bet. Username is stidriv3r if u wanna try and take my "fake" money.

Getting started

Well, no idea if this is ever going to work, but giving it a shot. I have a feeling this might get updated once or twice a year, but you never quite know - I might get addiceted. Anyway, first post over, might see you soon.