2011
– Last 100 Days
Prodigal
Altar Boy Countdown
T-24
Days to Go
7
December 2011
Goal:
1 hour per day working on the film
Details:
Re-digitize
footage from October 2008
Continued
work on the assembly edit
Total time: 2 hours
Goal:
30 minutes per day music practice
Details:
Warm
up on the MojoCaster
“So
What” – Miles Davis
Pat Metheny Etude #1, bars 1-4 30X
“It’s Your Thing” – The Isley Brothers
“Talking Loud and Sayin’ Nothing” – Living
Colour version
Total time: 30 minutes
Goal:
15 minutes exercise per day
Viking
Warrior conditioning
15:15
protocol
7 reps
per set
42
sets
Notes:
Decided
to move from the 36:36 protocol to the 15:15 protocol because I have not made
much progress toward the goal of 35 sets since the summer. The 15:15 moves
faster and judging from just today’s workout, recovery is faster. The goal for the 15:15 protocol is 80 sets,
and I have done it before. Eighty sets
is a long-range goal, and the short-term objective is to wring as much benefit
from the conditioning as possible.
Total time: 21:21
Goal:
15 minutes per day working on the score for the movie
Details:
“Dies
Irae” – 25X on the MojoCaster
“Granby
Street” – on the MojoCaster – Lyrics work
“Dies Irae” – octaves, dyads and
opening/closing chords
A
Dorian riff
Am
– D7 chord work for A Dorian riff
Total Time: 30 minutes
Notes:
Twenty-six
days and counting.
BRD: More Effective Than Sanctions on Iran?
Yesterday, I presented my plan to turn the recent wave
of metal thefts in Baltimore into a foreign policy coup by emphasizing how valuable
Uranium enriched uranium and (slightly) used centrifuges are, and how Uncle
Sugar (the U.S. government) would be an eager, lucrative customer.
However,
Baltimore is no one trick pony of creative policy solutions. The December 4th Baltimore Sun
showed how (ahem) legitimate businesspersons can get in on the Iran foreign
policy game.
Jay
Davidson’s op-ed piece, “Grand Prix needs more from city,” while characterized
by newly inaugurated Mayor Rawlings-Blake as “nonsense,” should be a primer for
U.S. policymakers on how things are done in Charm City.
Mr.
Davidson states early on that the primary goal for the Baltimore Grand Prix was
to bring “a world-class event to Baltimore in the hope of changing certain
perceptions about our city.” A noble
statement, but nowhere in my meager prospectus reading experience have I ever
read the goal of any investment group as being to change perceptions. The primary goal for an investment group is
to make money. If that was not his goal,
then we already know what the problem was.
Jay
goes on to admit BRD’s organizational structure was not efficient, but also
blames (his quotes not mine) “professional” consultants who led BRD to believe
income from the race was going to be “millions of dollars” higher than they
turned out to be. I am sure these
consultants did not work for free, so what was the vetting process for the
consultants?
The
city and the state also get a drubbing for the audacity to demand payment for
the services provided to support the race.
Jay lays out a litany of cities he claims provided considerable
concessions/subsidies beyond providing a race ready track, and intimates
Baltimore should have done the infrastructure work and provided city services
gratis. When I lived in Denver (one city
not mentioned in his letter), promoters tried to bring Grand Prix racing there
as well. After the first two years, the promoters
canceled the third (and subsequent) years because it was not financially
feasible.
The
remainder of the piece is a ledger listing of all the things city and state
charged BRD compared to the money BRD raised through private investment. Mr. Davison ends the piece suggesting a
waiver of fees in exchange for “a greater participation in profits by the city…” Right now, I have an old Billy Preston song
running through my head. The name of the
tune is “Nothing from Nothing (leaves nothing).”
What
are the foreign policy implications? My
suggestion would be for Jay Davidson and his BRD cronies approach Iran
suggesting a Grand Prix race in The Islamic Republic of Iran. Convince
President Ahmadinejad or better yet, The Supreme Leader Khamenei Grand Prix
racing could help Tehran rehabilitate its image and bring untold wealth to
the Republic. I am sure the State
Department would help you sell that plan, because if you can get them to commit
to Grand Prix racing on your terms, Iran would be out of business in three
years and would not have a dime to spend on a nuclear program. Jay, your country needs you. Go east, young man, Near East!
