Dr. Norman Borlaug - RIP

As a longtime Iowa resident, a graduate of the University of Minnesota, and frankly as a citizen of planet earth, I note with sorrow the passing of an absolutely remarkable man. Norman Borlaug died yesterday. Among other things he was a country boy, wrestler, scientist, teacher, humanitarian and statesman.

The man was a stud, the likes of which, the rest of us can only aspire.

God rest his soul.

Banff

Tricia and I returned from a really enjoyable tip to the Banff, Alberta area. For me it's as fun to see snow in the summer as it to be on a tropical beach in the winter. . . .well almost.

Here is Tricia on the beautiful Iceline trail in the amazing Yoho valley.

Not ahead of its time

A truly obscure point, but when did they last update the White House's barware inventory? While these clunky handled chunkers continue to be the perfect way to enjoy A&W, the last time I drank beer out of one of those mugs was sharing a pitcher of 3.2 at Shakey's Pizza Parlor in 1983!

Doesn't nearly everyone use these (see right)?

And correct me if I'm wr0ng, but isn't drinking out of a bottle the most friendly and the most eco?

News you can shoes

Never a good way to start the morning . . . .seeing this face.

Why a part of his punishment is not having to take off and then put on his shoes every five minutes is beyond me.

Here's his beef.

Ahead of his time

I just finished "Go Like Hell".

Stating the obvious, Enzo Ferrari was a genius. This car debuted in 1966! Unbelievable.

This was a terrific read indeed. Go out and buy it. Per my earlier post on the book, it uses the car, the race and the personalities to foreshadow the globalization of the auto industry. An interesting follow up book might be one that describes the path that brought Toyota and Honda into the formula one world.

See 'em BS

Good update on the state of (and prospects for) the CMBS market.

Money quote - "To the extent that CMBS investors are able to buy and sell the securities again, spreads will tighten, the Fed and the industry argue. That will allow financial institutions that make loans backing the CMBS to free up their balance sheets and make new loans to the industry or refinance existing debt."

It's not too hard to a tighten a spread from infinity. That is to say they are not trading at all (an overstatement, but not much of one). Also, forget about new loans it's a forced refi world out there.

If the value of US CRE is $6.7 T and the leverage is $3.5 T, that's debt ratio of 52%. If property values fall by the noted 45% then the debt ratio climbs to 95%. For all intents and purposes that means no equity and the next stop is the B pieces. That's the way it's supposed to work! That tranche is for speculators anyway. Any institution dumb enough to be larded with B paper deserves to have to drive through this mess. Regulators should ease up on the banks on this until the B piece investors are gone. That's what they're there for. Then of course it will be OK to panic. It will be difficult on all, but it will get done and the pain will work it's way up the credit structure as it was intended.

Bat outta . . . the UK?

I'm looking forward to reading "Go Like Hell". It's surprising that this book hasn't already been written. It's such a great story (big personalities, business grudges, crazy Italians, maniacal Americans and of course lots of horsepower).

I was privileged to see one of the original Ford G40s at the terrific Blackhawk museum . It was even more beatiful in person than it had been in my mind. As a boy, I was spellbound by the car's feminine lines and absolutley perfect-for-the-times color scheme (Gulf & Western orange and blue). Later I came to appreciate the power and toughness of the car, which really exceeded its beauty. This car is a grossly under-recongnized icon of the mid-sixties.

There is a pretty inticing review of the book in the WSJ. I'm surprised there was not a bit more reverence for the car itself in the review, but maybe that's in the book. Also, the review notes Carroll Shelby's involvement in the project. I guess I was unaware that he had much to do with it; not surprising that he did - I just didn't know about it.

I'll know more when I read it, but it would seem too that it would be worth exploring the Ford G40 an early example of a "world car" (American horsepower, British chasis, Italian styling, and New Zealand drivers)

Nose news is bad news

I'm a huge skeptic on most pharmaceuticals, (OTC, prescription and alternative). There have been two exceptions to this rule for me - Tylenol 3 and Zycam. Tylenol 3 without question relieves pain. Zycam, in my mind benefited from its modest (and unprovable) claim; it shortens the common cold.

As someone who used to catch a lot of colds, I've used it a dozen or so times though the years off and on. I thought it worked. I guess it still might but with a big side effect. It potentially kills off the sense of smell. It's not worth missing out on the bouquet of a nicely aired out Bordeaux.

Today's new word is . . . .

"Ringelmann Effect". This is a new one for me.

Back in B school, we were taught this was something called the "diminishing marginal utility of labor", and it had more of a manufacturing sensibility to it. The naming convention that I learned also has a more sterile, less judgmental tone to it than Ringelmann's flavoring of the idea . His incorporates the notion of "social loafing", which I can't argue with but consider to be beside the point in any practical applicaton.

By whatever name though, it is a tremendously useful management insight. It is also habitually ignored. In my experience it's pretty astounding how often this time-tested, never-fail concept is not even considered. Almost always the response to project stall out is to "throw more bodies at it". I have never seen that work, and it almost always makes things worse.

If you want something done (and probably done mostly right and fast) in an organization, assign it to either one or three people.

By the way, the concept showed up in a new business book with the off putting yet begging for attention title of "I Hate People" With that as the title it will be interesting to see how it sells.

The good, the bad and the ugly

I had a phone interview for a pretty cool job this morning. Some good folks I've met through networking helped me get to that point. Many thanks to Chris, and Mike. I made 13 outbound networking calls today. That is a near capacity for me. That's the good.

Only spoke with 4 of the 13. That's the bad.

The ugly is this weather! It just goes on and on being gray!

The race does not alway go to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,

but that's the way to bet.

Beat 'em on both counts this week.

I was proceeding at a safe and legal speed the other day on westbound I-80, when "the man" pulled me over on a trumped up speeding charge. Had to fight that one. Even though it meant going up against the formidable Dallas County prosecutorial machine. The officer noted on the citation that my court appearence was at 9:30 PM. I showed up and I was alone in that! No prosecutor. No judge. No arresting officer. Turns out the courthouse (picture above) closes at 4:30 PM.

Net result? Case dismissed.

Slow and weak takes this round. Nice looking courthouse though, isn't it?

I know that we promised to be upbeat here. . .

but this a pretty cool graphic. At least it's in happy colors.


Double click the image to see the whole thing or here is the link.

The surprising thing to me on this representation is that the auto company asset base has shrunk so much.

And look how big Refco was. It didn't strike me at the time, but that should have been more of a coal mine canary than it was. Oh well, none so blind . . . . .

WaMu and Lehman combined tip the scale at just over a Trillion. Sounds about right, but that is a very serious number.

Sunday morning coming down

I probably spent too much time with the paper version of the WSJ yesterday, but:

1. P. J. O'Rourke's article on cars nearly brought tears to my eyes. Though not from laughter as one would expect from his work - although it was funny. This was a unrequited love story, so they were (nearly) tears of sadnesss. P. J. is a terrific writer. Everything of his is informative, funny, well-crafted and surprising.
2. Also, Peggy Noonan chimed in on Judge Sotomayor. Peggy's speaches, when delivered properly, are a real thing of beauty. How can her prose meant for reading be so . . .so . . . just above average?

What's in a name?

Why Alpha Ursa Minor?

Well, it is less pretentious than "Alpha Ursea Minoris", the star's more technically correct name. Its more common names: Polaris, North Star, Pole Star and Lode Star were already taken. The anglicized version, which I've gone with is a little more accessible, but it is a mouthful isn't it?

Whatever name it goes by though, the brightest star in the little bear constellation's attributes include near wobble free resoluteness, broad and time tested practical usefulness and a subtle complexity (it is a multiple variable) in its makeup. Admirable traits all. Certainly ones that I hold in regard.

Also, following this star leads north. By doing so, you'd avoid "going south". No offense intended to the fine people and culture of the south, but when thing start to "go south", no one wants to be a part of the plan. Going north, by the law of inverse then is a journey of optimism. I like that.

That's the thinking behind the name of the blog. Those are the attributes it and I aspire to. Stop by as you'd like, and see how it's going. Lend a hand in correcting navigational errors as they occur.