Looking for that Perfect Christmas Compilation CD

I’m not much of a music person.

I own a total of two CDs. I rarely listen to either.

I don’t own an iPod or any other MP3 player. If I did, I’d fill it with books on tape (or books on MP3), not music.

But our kids love music. (They get it from Marathon Girl.) Lately I call home to chat with Marathon Girl from work I hear Christmas music from the radio in the background and hear the excited laughs of my kids as they dance to it.

So while doing some Christmas shopping for Marathon Girl the other night I decided to swing by the music section and see if I could find a CD that had a good compilation of holiday music by various artists that the kids could dance to.

Much to my surprise, there wants’ a single compilation CD to be found. There were lots of holiday CDs by every musician under the sun. But no compliations.

I guess the easiest way to do it would be to find the songs on iTunes or Amazon, buy them, then burn them to CD. But since my musical knowledge is limited, I’d have no idea which songs are good and bad and I don’t have time to figure it out.

In the meantime, my kids don’t seem to mind listening to the radio and the one Christmas CD we have though I think Marathon Girl would appreciate something new. If anyone has any suggestions, give me a shout out below. There’s still six shopping days ‘till Christmas.

Worth Reading VII

Pyramid Schemes Are as American as Apple Pie by John Steele Gordon (Wall Street Journal)But Wall Street's most famous Ponzi scheme was, like the present one, no small affair. And its principal victim was a man few associate with Wall Street at all -- Ulysses S. Grant.

“The End” As a Weapon by Tom Krattenmaker (USA Today) Some environmentalists have their own fixation with the apocalypse — just not the biblical one. This involves the wrath of nature and the ecological end times. But fear is an ineffective tool for any cause.

Apple and the Peril of Innovation by Don Reisinger (cnet) Although I'm sure that some Apple zealots out there won't want to hear this, I'm afraid that Apple's capacity to deliver groundbreaking products every few months at its various events is severely diminished.

More LOST

Only five weeks to go....

Bernard Madoff: The Ultimate Con Artist

There's a sucker born every minute. -- P.T. Barnum.

I’ve been reading with some interest the downfall of the aptly named con man Bernard Madoff (pronounced “made-off” as in he made off with your money) in part because some friends and acquaintances become unwittingly involved a less sophisticated, Utah County ponzi scheme. Of course Madoff’s con is more stunning because of the amount of money he took ($50 billion) and the length of time it went on (decades).

A Wall Street Journal editorial on Madoff seems shocked that such a renowned man could pull such a con on the super rich. Writes The Journal:

Capitalism runs on trust, so inevitably there will be men like Bernard Madoff who attempt to steal from the trusting. His alleged $50 billion ponzi scheme is exceptional mainly for its size, the length of time he was able to run his con, and the affluent and sophisticated circles in which he operated. There is something especially shocking when a man held in high esteem turns out to be a thief.

A con man held in high esteem? Either The Wall Street Journal editorial writers are extremely naive or have never been suckered by a con man. There is no way Bernard Madoff could have pulled off what appears to be the largest con in history without being held in high esteem.

Capitalism isn’t the only thing that runs on trust. So do con men (and women). Trust is the con man’s ultimate tool. It’s impossible to pull off a con – especially one like Bernard Madoff’s apparently did, without gaining the trust of your victims.

Madoff moved in affluent, “sophisticated” circles because that’s was the only place to find loaded victims. They wouldn’t pay attention to him if he was simply some rube off the street. He had to act like one of the rich elite in order to continue the scam.

And from what I’ve read, it appears Madoff didn’t have to do much conning after his ponzi scheme got started. He’d simply hobnob with the rich and famous in Florida and New York and have his investors tell their friends about the fabulous returns (about 1% a month or 12% a year) they were constantly earning and show off the fancy cars they were driving and more people would be brought on board.

To his credit, Madoff appears to have played his part to perfection by acting hesitant to take on new clients when a friend of a friend would approach him and ask if he or she could invest with him. Con men never act like it’s about the money. Instead they misdirect you into thinking they’re not interested or that they have your best interests at heart.

And just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you can’t be conned. The vaster your wealth, the bigger mark you are. One of the biggest cons of the 19th century involved Phillip Arnold and John Slack involved disguising a worthless piece of land as a diamond mind and, as a result ripping off U.S financier Asbury Harpending, Bank of California owner William Ralston and other “sophisticated” investors. (You can read a brief write up on their scam here. For a more in-depth look at the scam, see Law 21 in Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of Power)

Bernard Madoff proved that you’re never educated, sophisticated, or rich enough to avoid being conned. All he did was follow the age old tricks of playing to the victim’s fantasies and greed then gain their trust.

Bernard Madoff just did it better than most. The result was a scam that netted more money and lasted longer than other ponzi scheme and left a trail of lies, deceit, and broken dreams in its wake.

McDonalds: Four Bucks is Dumb

Whoever came up with McDonalds latest ad campaigns was a genius.

The message is perfect for these challenging economic times and by launching it in Starbucks’ home turf, it has generated the right kind of controversy.

And all the free press their ads are generating has just taken their campaign national at no cost to them.

Way to go!

Update: One of my readers asked for more details on why I like the ad campaing so much. Here's why.

First it drives home a message of getting the same or better product for less money – perfect for these challenging economic times we find ourselves in. McDonald’s isn’t saying do without, they’re simply saying pay less for it.

Second, it’s the perfect billboard message. When you have about three seconds to capture someone’s attention while they’re driving, McDonalds got their message across and leaves the reader a little bit more to chew on as the drive down the road.

Third, the ads are so good, they’re getting national publicity and driving home McDonald’s message beyond western Washington.

Snow in Houston

A hurricane passes through the Houston area and Marathon Girl and I don’t blink an eye about wanting to move there.

However, this headline on the Drudge Report changes everything. Snow in Houston? This is what we want to get away from!

Widow’s Friends Disown Her for Having New Relationship

In my latest post on the OpentoHope site, I answer the following question from Anne: I lost my dad and husband within a week of each other three years ago, and life has been a battle. My dearest friends (a couple that my husband and I used to do everything with) won't accept the fact I am seeing another man and have been for nearly two years. The husband told me the other day never to come back and see them. I have given them space and continue to love and support them, Please help. I am just so sad about it. I have tried talking to them but they won't. I am also their daughter's godmother and she is heart-broken her parents are doing this. Help me.

You can read my answer here.

Where's Abel?

Q: It’s been awhile since you updated your blog. Where have you been? A: Writing, writing, writing. Oh, and did I mention I was writing? Just not on my blog.

Q: Can you give us an idea what you’ve been working on?

A: Aside from all the direct response marketing writing I do at work, I’ve picked up a bunch of new freelance copywriting clients. Oh, and I started a new book.

Q: I had no idea you do freelance copywriting. How long have you been doing that?

A: A couple years. It’s a fun way to stretch my writing abilities and pad my writing portfolio. Oh, and the extra money is nice too. I spend it on Marathon Girl and my kids.

Q: Wait, what was that about starting a new book?

A: Yeah, I’ve started a new book.

Q: What happened to the book you were working on this summer?

A: I finished it. Right now a 95,000 word manuscript is sitting on my hard drive – backed up, of course – waiting for me to do something with it.

Q: How come you haven’t submitted it to agents, publishers, or others who might be interested in it?

A: Because something’s wrong with it. I don’t know what, exactly, but it’s not ready to send out. I’ll probably rework it after I get book done.

Q: Can you give us a preview of this book?

A: Not at this time. I can say that I’m very happy with this manuscript and hope to shop it around in January 2009. Look for more information then.

Q: So have you given up writing on the blog?

A: No, of course not. I love writing on my blog.

Q: What can we look forward to on this blog in the coming weeks?

A: An essay on the selfishness of grief, my curiosity over Hillary Clinton accepting the Secretary of State job, and (hopefully) and update on baby #4.

Q: I’m glad you haven’t given up on the blog. When can we expect to see your next post.

A: Early next week.

Q: Do you –

A: Sorry, there’s no more time for questions. I have a lot of copy that must be finished by the end of the day. Catch up with me later.

Q: Thanks for the update. Looking forward to your next post!

When Less is More at the Gym

My gym’s going upscale.

In a bad way.

They’ve spent the last few days adding flat screen TV monitors to the treadmills. By the end of the Thanksgiving holiday they’ve promised us that these sets will be functional and we’ll be able to stare blankly at whatever channel we want (Really? Any channel? I see a lawsuit coming.) from a screen 12 inches from our faces instead of staring blankly at the ones on the wall.

Here’s the problem: When I worked on the other side of town, the gym on that side of town did exactly the same thing.

I hated it.

Since running on a treadmill is infinitely more boring then running outside, I can see the need for a distraction. When Marathon Girl was forced to use the treadmill in our basement, you can bet she has a move playing to distract her. When I run at the gym, I usually find a treadmill near to the TV with ESPN so I can glance at the football highlights (or whatever they’re showing) while I run.

But I don’t plug in the earphones to listen to the sound because I’m usually 1) thinking about what I need to write that night in my book 2) silently mocking the people on the treadmill who are trying to talk on their cell phone and “run” or 3) checking out how fast other people nearby are running and, if they’re running faster, seeing if I can keep up with their pace for five minutes. All of these are in infinitely more interesting than staring at a TV screen.

Now instead of having a TV monitor that I can glance at occasionally, I’m going to have a screen right in front of my face.

It wouldn’t be too bad if I could move the monitor and push it out of my way, far from my line of sight, so I could glance at it occasionally like I do now. Instead they’re attached to some kind of titanium bracket which I doubt even the Incredible Hulk could bend.

Then to rub salt on the wound there’s no way to turn the TV sets off.

So you have to stare at something, even if you’d rather stare at nothing.

At the very least, it would have been nice if they left a handful of treadmills without the TVs for the few souls like myself who would rather do something than watch television. But no, they converted every damn one of them.

The elliptical machines are next.

It makes me glad I cut the number of runs I do each week at the gym from five to three and replaced the two runs with two 30-minute swims. As far as I know, they haven’t found a way to put TV screens in the pool.

Worth Reading VI

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt by Mitt Romney (The New York Times)In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

Screenwriting Guru McKee Says Hollywood is Finished (Breitbart.com) Robert McKee contends that today's most creative writers have sought refuge in television.

The Right to Win by Thomas Sowell (JewishWorldRewiew.com) When the majority of the people become like sheep, who will tolerate intolerance rather than make a fuss, then there is no limit to how far any group will go.