Ask any gym rat and he'll tell you that the key to a good basketball shot is the arc on the ball, and he'll also tell you that achieving a good arc is often easier said than done. Well, as with many other things these days, there's an app for that.
As I threatened this morning here's the first of what promises to be many video posts with my gift from Celeste this year: the Sony Bloggie.
Look what CelesteSanta brought me.
Wachovia/Wells Fargo apparently doesn't require its branches to display Christmas trees and apparently that's a problem for ten people who marched in front of the Wachovia building in Winston-Salem. That was enough to attract some local news folks, but I don't think the "War on Christmas" story they were hoping for materialized. From the story:
Ten people gathered Tuesday in front of Wachovia's offices on West 4 ½ Street to protest a company policy they said doesn't allow branches to recognize the Christmas holiday.
Joyce Krawiec organized the event after she said the company banned the display of Christmas trees in its branches…
It should be noted that the Wachovia offices where the protests were held do display a Christmas tree inside. But, Krawiec said she's checked in branches throughout the area and found very few that were displaying Christmas trees…
Wachovia, acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008, said in a statement that the decision to display poinsettias in branches was to achieve a common look within the markets in which the company operates.
The statement from the company also said that company policy doesn't prohibit Christmas trees from being displayed.
Okay, I think we need to come up with a few news rules here:
If these kind of stories keep showing up I think I'm going to grab four of my friends, a six pack, a couple of hand drawn cardboard signs and head over to the mall to walk around and air our various grievances about saggy drawers, terrible Christmas music, terrible tattoos, nasty body piercings, etcetera, etcetera. See you on the 6 o'clock news.
Below is popcorn popping in super-slomo. I l-o-v-e popcorn, so much so that I only eat the microwave variety when I have no other choice. Needless to say my Stir Crazy popper gets a regular workout. All that said, even I am a little turned off by the voice over on the video below, especially when the narrator describes the inner part of the kernel as "starchy endosperm." Seriously?
Found the video below at Fec's place. Sadly unsurprising.
From an interesting piece (found via Ed's blog) reacting to the Republican reaction to the Financial Crisis Commission's findings:
After 20 years of free-market fervor, the world of the mid-’00s had become one of overleveraged banks too big to regulate and trillions of dollars worth of derivatives bets that no one had track of — which in turn were helping to accelerate huge flows of capital coming in from abroad — and a Fed and government regulators who weren’t aware or weren’t watching.
And that was the real cause of the crisis, whose aftereffects continue to drag on the economy today. Fannie and Freddie were, like almost every other big player, both culprits and victims, but just two of many.
Sedgefield Country Club has been sold by its members to McConnell Golf of Raleigh. From the Biz Journal article (subscription required):
Sources did not disclose the amount offered, but it is believed that McConnell will assume Sedgefield’s $2 million debt and invest at least that much in course and clubhouse upgrades.
Sale talk has been extremely heated at Sedgefield, known for its Tudor-style clubhouse, Donald Ross-designed course, rich golf history and being the founding location of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. Older members believed the current debt was manageable and were not eager to cede control of their home away from home. Many such opponents aren’t fans of the Wyndham, either, disliking how it disrupts their access to the club for two weeks a year.
But advocates, including the board leadership and local Wyndham officials, have maintained for months that selling to McConnell could be the last best chance to keep the club not only vital but solvent.
Read more: Sedgefield approves sale of country club | The Business Journal
I'm hoping someone does a case study on the process the Club's board went through over the last year, because I suspect it would be a lesson in how to lead an organization through the process of making a drastic shift in strategic direction due to a changing business/economic environment.
Befuddled 