HGTV and what a bunch of spoiled babies.

So we watch a lot of HGTV in our house. It’s family friendly (no chance of UFC or R-rated movie trailers) and generally we enjoy the shows.

But I’m starting to get really annoyed by shows like “Property Virgins” and their ilk. Folks out house shopping, usually for their first house.

I am basically stunned that these folks won’t even consider a house that doesn’t have stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, and perfection at every turn.

Huh? Really?! It’s your first house!!! What a bunch of spoiled babies.

I blame the McMansion’ing of our country during the real estate bubble, and HGTV themselves for this. It’s convinced an entire generation of home buyers that anything less then the finest materials is simply unacceptable, icky, and below consideration. It’s taught them that formica is trashy, and that a house that needs some careful renovation is not worth their money. That a shower that isn’t custom tile, or a fixture that isn’t special order is beneath them.

It’s appalling.

Today we watched show where the hosts were trying to convince teh about-to-buy couple that instead of putting the planned 20% down, and dumping “only” $25,000 into renovations, they should put just 10% down and double the renovation money… because… you know… how could they possibly move in with those dated bathrooms and {gasp} white kitchen appliances.

PAH-LEEZE! Did we learn nothing from the bursting of the real estate bubble??

Look… I understand that times have changed, I get that not everyone wants a fixer upper. But what we have here, the insistence on high end trim materials in particular, is just appalling. None of these folks would even consider my wonderful, modest home, with it’s mismatched trim, it’s half-refinished wood floors, it’s cracked plaster, it’s banging pipes.

Most of these young families will never know anything but cookie-cutter McMansion construction, perfect, featureless Sheetrock walls, and lighting and heating systems that are state of the art.

So color me a bit jealous I suppose, but mostly incredulous.

Goodnight Spenser

A quick note on the death of one of my favorite writers, Robert B. Parker.

I’ve read probably 35 if the 37 Spenser novels, most of them 2 or 3 times. I could pick April Kyle out of a police lineup. I’ve forever wanted a German Shorthaired Pointer named “Pearl the Wonder Dog.” I was lucky enough to find my own “Susan Silverman.”

I read them in my early teens initially and I thought Spenser was about the coolest character in the world, every day I wished I was as smart, tough, and dryly hilarious as that character. If a character in a book can truly have an “influence in your life then Spenser had that for me.

There has been many a moment in my life where I thought “What would Spenser say?” “What would Spenser do?” If only I were have as quick and witty as he was, or as I like to think I am.

I was saddened to learn of Parker’s passing and plan to head to the used bookstore and start reading the Spenser books beginning to end asap. I suggest you all do the same, you  won’t regret it.

Too early for car of the decade? Probably, but here goes…

Car of the Decade: Tie

Chrysler 300
In Chrysler’s case it was a rare home run that totally infiltrated pop culture, movies, music, ext. It caught fire with customizers, ‘ballers and average folks as well. It revived big, RWD family cars from a long slumber. It’s styling was defining for the decade.

Toyota Prius
The Prius popularized the Hybrid movement (sorry Insight 1) and defined what the average consumer thinks a “hybrid” is both visually and mechanically. Whether you like it or not, it was/is an industry game changer.

Honorable Mention:

VW New Beetle

“Flagship” of the “New VW” Perhaps the best of the “retro” recreations. The NB’s showroom-draw helped launch the B5 Passat and MkIV Golf/Jetta as well. A bit early to the decade, but it’s influence was strong through the 2000′s.

from: Car of the Decade on TCL

This is what happens when bubbles burst.

What’s interesting about the Dow and the housing bubble (entwined for sure)  is that most everyone agreed that housing prices were out of control and that the Dow was way overvalued. So how did folks expect this to correct without both coming tumbling down in a painful way? Did they think the markets would self-correct without loosing any value? That simply makes NO sense.

It’s certainly unfortunate the Obama was holding the hot potato when it happened, and you can argue that his policy of not “playing to Wall Street” hastened the correction in the markets… but still… it was going to happen at some point regardless of who won in November.

Where Obama can make his mark is how he guides us to recovery. He’s thrown in his lot with the Keynesians and that’s all well and good… if it works. That school of thought thinks big public spending will correct what ails us and that takes time to work so we’ll have to wait and see.

I actually welcome a President who isn’t being a slave to the markets… The White House should do what’s best for everyone, not just do what’s going to keep the Dow (artificially) high. It stands to reason that true prosperity begets wall street prosperity. A high Dow number based on credit swaps, debt bundles and paper pushing isn’t a strategy to long term prosperity for America, clearly.

GIVE IT SOME TIME TO WORK PEOPLE!

Then again, I’m about the farthest thing from an Economist so what do I know. I make pretty pictures for a living.

I wish this wasn’t so true . . .

Leahy & Sanders

Taking my cue from a Huffpo commenter I sent both of my Senators an anti-bailout email yesterday, imploring them to not allow this administration to use the current crisis as an excuse for sweeping policy changes (as Section 8 of Paulson’s plan would do) and a blank check to their cronies.

Got a long email back from Leahy’s office, specific, but clearly a form email. But got a CALL from Bernie’s office asking to use my email in their press materials. Both of my Senators are fighting Paulson’s blank check hard.

Gotta’ love living in a small state.

My email:

Dear Senator,

I urge you please do not support any bailout package for any financial institution that would contribute tax payer money to the bonuses and golden parachutes of any employee at any level of one of these failed institutions. I have worked for several companies in my career and some had earnings up and downs. During those down times employees were denied bonuses. We didn’t like but accepted that the purse wasn’t full and our bonus was directly tied to the success of the company holding that purse. To contribute tax payer money to the very people that through their greed knowingly took the risks that caused these companies to fail is unthinkable. I acknowledge the fact that a bail out is necessary to preserve our economy and mitigate the global effect of its failure. But to repeat, no contribution of tax payer money should be used to reward those that must bear responsibility for this failure, and unfortunately, the faultless victims that worked for them as well.

Do not allow this administration to use the current crisis as a blank check for sweeping policy changes (as Section 8 of Paulson’s plan would do) and a blank check to their cronies.

My sincere thanks for your consideration and service,

David R. Morin

Email back from Senator Leheay’s Office:

From Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator_Leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Dear Mr. Morin:

Thank you for contacting me about the federal government’s response to the financial crisis on Wall Street.  I appreciate knowing of your views.

It is abundantly clear that eight years of the Bush Administration’s hands-off economic policies have been disastrous.  Millions of hard-working Americans now find themselves faced with strained mortgages, rising gas and food prices, and declining incomes.  On top of that, years of risky investment schemes and mismanagement by our nation’s financial institutions have put the world’s financial system on the brink.  With Wall Street and Main Street reeling, putting our economy on an even keel is an urgent priority, and every Vermonter has a stake in the outcome.

I share the concerns I have heard from many Vermonters about the Treasury Department’s $700 billion blank check bailout plan.  Congress’ response to this crisis must be fair and responsible.  As Congress examines the Bush Administration’s proposal closely, I hope there will be no reluctance to work in good faith to make the necessary improvements to ensure that the legislation actually will stabilize the financial markets and ensure these problems will not happen again.  In the turmoil that followed the attacks of September 11, I was willing to support assistance to the airline industry, as long as that legislation was balanced with support for the victims of 9/11 and their families.  That is why I led the effort to create the 9/11 Victims Fund, which accomplished that goal.

While a problem of this magnitude requires a swift legislative response, I was extremely disappointed that the President’s proposal left out many important issues, such as making needed reforms to the banking industry, capping executive pay for companies that receive bailout money, providing stimulus money to help ease the burden on hard-working Americans and Main Street, and allowing the U.S. court system to review corrupt deals made by government officials.  I have been working with Senator Dodd, Chairman of the Banking Committee, on an alternative stabilization proposal that includes language to allow the courts to review actions by the Treasury Secretary deemed to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or not in accordance with the law.

As Congress continues to debate these significant issues, I would like to see progress toward a balanced bill that also helps overburdened middle-class families.  It should not include get-out-of-jail-free cards for those whose greed caused this mess, and it should not lessen accountability for those responsible for this crisis in our financial markets.  The outcome of the negotiations in the coming days will guide my decision about supporting the overall package.

Thank you again for contacting me.  Please keep in touch.

And here was Senator Sanders’ email reply, received after the phone call:

Email from Senator Sanders
Senator@sanders.senate.gov
Dear David:

Thank you for writing me about the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.  You should know that my office has received over a thousand emails and phone calls – virtually all of which are opposed to giving the Bush Administration a blank check.  In addition, over 20,000 people from Vermont and across the country have become citizen co-signers of my letter to Secretary Paulson, which insists that the cost of this bailout not be shouldered by middle-income families.  If you have not co-signed you can do so at my website: www.sanders.senate.gov.

Attached please find a copy of an op-ed article that I authored and that appeared in a number of Vermont papers.  It lays out my alternate plan for ensuring the stability of our economy in a way that asks the wealthy to pay any losses suffered by the government, among other provision.

Again, thank you for contacting me.  It is always important to me to hear from people outside the Washington Beltway.  Rest assured, I will keep fighting to protect hard-working families from having to pay for this Wall Street bailout.

Sincerely,
BERNARD SANDERS
United States Senator

Live Blogging HCI’s 2008 Talent Management Forum for Government

Geoff Livingston of Livingston Communications and Amy Lewis of HCI are live-blogging HCI’s 2008 Talent Management Forum for Government today. Check it out!

Quick Madden09 Review (PS3)

Had no problem buying the game at Best Buy on the way home last night, plenty of copies in stock.

Let me preface by saying that while I’ve been playing Madden since the 90′s I am not an elite player. I’ve never been the best among my friends or the guys in my dorm. I guess I just don’t play enough to get to that level. However I am a huge NFL fan and a decent enough video game player that I have always enjoyed the Madden games. I generally play against the computer at home, or 1-on-1 with friends in person and online.

Got about 4 hours in on the game last night. I skipped the “Madden Test” and jumped right into the game. I played a number of halves so I could sample different players and play styles. (Pats. Eagles, Raiders, Vikes, Colts, Chiefs, Texans, Falcons)

I was having a hell of a time running with my beloved Pat’s but the passing game with that team is just sick. I was a much better runner with better RB’s not surprisingly (Purple Jesus, McFadden, LT, LJ)

First off, the GRAPHICS are just phenomenal. The variation in player sizes, faces, and details is excellent. Animations are very smooth and the game seems to run at a consistent frame rate this year. Details while players are on the run and in the pile are much better this year.

The only place where it gets wonky is the sidelines. While the sideline guys look a lot better, I found my players were walking through them frequently.

Running is tough but seems consistent with good variation from player to player, just as it should be. You’ll need to be more patient this year for sure.

Passing seems harder but again, more “realistic.” Your QB needs to be planted and needs proper time to get a throw off. It’s much tougher to beat corners and safeties deep now as well.

I had read about there being “no interceptions” but I managed to make 2 and throw 2.

A few small issues: I was unable to enter the online lobby to find a game and that is being widely reported.

Also, it took me about 30 tries to get the first update/patch to load, it would hang up after a variety of different percentages. Finally, at the end of the night I got it to go through and update all the way. So all of my play last night was before the first patch was applied.

Seems like server overload for sure and hopefully EA gets that addressed asap.

I’ll have more as I dig deeper and play more.