It's Monday

And we all know what that means. Time for another MOTW, Manager of the Week. This next manager's motivational methods wear thin very quickly, especially if you are a misanthrope. Even if you are not, the tiresome repetitiveness of constantly communing with coworkers gets old quite fast.

MOTW: Social Manager

Believes the way to keep everyone motivated is to have communal breakfasts, lunches and get-togethers after work, more often than not at the employees’ own expense and on their own time.

Weekend Haiku

Blow of an ax,
pine scent,
the winter woods.

Buson (1716-1783)

Losing Touch

The Killers performing Losing Touch. Enjoy and happy Friday.

It's Monday

And we all know what that means. Time for another MOTW, Manager of the Week. This next manager has an air of "noblesse oblige" about him/her and communicating with the little people is not his/her forte. Getting an audience with him/her is a significant feat and not an opportunity to be wasted.

MOTW: Lordly Manager

With his/her aloof demeanor Lordly Manager is a remote, distant character who seems to hold the keys to your very existence, but keeps these held closely to his/her chest. Never answers his/her own phone or emails. This manager can only be seen by setting an appointment with his/her secretary to see his/her assistant, who will then decide whether you merit an appointment with the Lordly Manager him/herself.

Weekend Haiku

From now on,
it's all clear profit,
every sky.

Issa (1763-1827)

Writing about his fiftieth birthday...

In a Lonely Place

The video of In a Lonely Place by The Smithereens. Enjoy and happy Friday.

41-15

The Miami Heat are 41-15 at the All-Star break. Not too shabby. See you in the playoffs Boston.

Bernard L. Madoff - 2 years later

Bernie Madoff has given a full-scale interview, his first since his arrest in December 2008. A lot has happened since Madoff's Ponzi scheme came crashing down around him, (and all of us) including the suicide of his son. In an about face from earlier assertions that he was the only person involved in the fraud, Madoff is now intimating that unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow “complicit” in his scam.

I have always suspected this to be the case. To my mind, it is impossible to run a scam of that magnitude for 16 years without having some "knowledge" leak to the institutions that comprise the financial infrastructure necessary for a fraud of that size to be perpetrated. It is somewhat similar to the Enron case in my view.

So, you can look at it in one of two ways. Either there were certain people in certain financial institutions that deep down knew or suspected this was happening, OR, the bankers, investment gurus, analysts and other drones at the regulatory agencies were incompetent and uninformed. Either way, it doesn't fill one with confidence about our financial system. It's a small wonder mattress futures have been up for so long.

He used to make a dollar...

But that's all over now. Uncle Vik's salary (CEO of Citigroup), which used to be one dollar, now sits at a cool 1.75 million according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, which we all know has its own problems, but as far as I know keeping records of C.E.O.'s salaries isn't one of them.

Accuracy at the quarterback position

After watching Green Bay's run in the playoffs and their win in the Super Bowl I think that at least for that run Aaron Rodgers was easily the most accurate quarterback in the NFL. His laser-like throwing prowess had much to do with their ultimate success. Check out the accuracy that this college quarterback has. It's quite uncanny and entertaining at the same time.

College football trick shot from Johnny McEntee @ Yahoo! Video

It's Monday

And we all know what that means. Time for another MOTW, Manager of the Week. If you have ever worked for this next manager you fervently hope that the formative event your manager observed was a positive one.

MOTW: Pigeonholing Manager

Never one to engage in a thorough, objective assessment of his/her staff, this manager forms an impression of an individual based on one event and his or her opinion is not easily subject to change. This results in staff members more often than not being unfairly classified.

Weekend Haiku

How awkward it looks
swimming-
the frog.

Buson (1716-1783)

Never There

Cake's video of their tune Never There. Enjoy and happy Friday.

The disappearing artist

This is wild. Check out artist Liu Bolin and how he melds into the background.

Irony defined

The agency charged with making sure companies books are in order can't keep its own books in order. You go S.E.C. Nice!

It's Monday

And we all know what that means. Time for another MOTW, Manager of the Week. This next manager makes you wish you had paid attention during the diversity seminar you were forced to attend.

MOTW: Culturally Different Manager

Brought in from some remote part of the globe, this manager looks at everything differently, has strange ideas and makes comments that mystify everyone. The jury is still out on what the purpose is of bringing in a manager of this ilk, other than to keep everyone guessing and talking.

Super Bowl - My pick

First of all let me just say I have no idea about this one. Second, I have not watched, read or checked any predictions by any sports writers and even if I had, what do they know. Having said that, I am picking Green Bay over Pittsburgh 24 - 21.

Weekend Haiku

This road-
no one goes down it,
autumn evening.

Basho (1644-1694)

The Final Song

From their final album Deadbeat Sweetheartbeat, here is a recording of The Final Song by The Juliana Theory. Enjoy and happy Friday.

What does Tiger have left?

A great article from S.I.'s Joe Posnanski reflecting on Tiger's career and accomplishments, his past travails and his recent struggles on the golf course. The article asks why we expect Tiger to come back and be as good or better than before. Many have anointed him as the best golfer ever to hit the links, but is he? If you follow golf the article is well worth the read.

New World Gnocchi

I love gnocchi and while gnocchi is an Italian dish, you haven't lived unless you have tried them in Argentina. Here is an article with a recipe and a direct South American connection from the WSJ and food writer Katy Mclaughlin.

Dilemma

When an atheist and an agnostic have a child together it is difficult because...they are unsure of which religion not to raise their child in.