Top Grossing Films

I was surprised when I saw the list....no Godfather? Goodfellas? Casino?

All Time Box Office
(U.S.) Rank Title Dist. Cumulative Gross Release Date
1 Titanic Paramount Pictures $600,788,188 12/19/1997
2 Star Wars 20th Century Fox $460,998,007 05/25/1977
3 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $441,226,247 05/19/2004
4 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Universal Pictures $435,110,554 06/11/1982
5 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace N/A $431,088,301 05/19/1999
6 Spider-Man Sony Pictures International, Sony Pictures Releasing $403,706,375 05/03/2002
7 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $380,270,577 05/19/2005
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $377,027,325 12/17/2003
9 Spider-Man 2 Sony Pictures Releasing $373,585,825 06/30/2004
10 The Passion of the Christ Equinoxe Films, Newmarket Films $370,782,930 02/25/2004
11 Jurassic Park United International Pictures, Universal Pictures $357,067,947 06/11/1993
12 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $341,786,758 12/18/2002
13 Finding Nemo Buena Vista Pictures Distribution $339,714,978 05/30/2003 14 Forrest Gump Paramount Pictures $329,694,499 07/06/1994
15 The Lion King Buena Vista Pictures Distribution $328,541,776 06/15/1994 16 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Warner Bros. Pictures International $317,575,550 11/16/2001
17 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $314,776,170 12/19/2001
18 Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $310,676,740 05/16/2002
19 Return of the Jedi 20th Century Fox $309,306,177 05/25/1983
20 Independence Day 20th Century Fox $306,169,268 07/02/1996

Freedom ?

Mary Anastasia O'Grady wrote a great article in the Jan. 4th issue of the Wall Street Journal - I encourage you to get a copy.

It deals with the 2006 Index of Economic Freedom, published by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. The annual report surveys 157 countries, grading property rights protection, the regulatory environment, tax rates, fiscal policy, etc. assigning each a numerical rating.

Each country falls into one of four categories: "free," "mostly free," "mostly unfree" and"repressed." The best are in this order: Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, Estonia, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Denmark, Iceland, Australia, Chile, Switzerland and U. S.

France came in 44th. Hello France. Estonia was the rising star. You would think a country like France or Germany might say "wow, wonder why we're in the second tier - we need to make some changes." Don't hold your breath. From the bottom up you find North Korea, Burma, Libya, Zimbabwe to name a few.

Some nations are so very, very bad they can't even be ranked such as Sudan. There is a positive correlation between economic freedom and personal prosperity. One especially interesting fact is in 1998 the U.S. was # 5 - in 2001 it was # 6 and today it's tied for # 12

I don't know if I trust the statistics quoted from the survey, but it doesn't surprise me that our freedoms have been eroding away over the past (8) years...

The Shield

It's funny how TV shows can suck you into them...I was addicted to Dynasty and St. Elsewhere....I love the Sopranos, Law & Order, West Wing, and 24....I never got hooked into Desperate Housewives or Friends .....but I am totally absorbed by the FX networks show "The Shield".

If you haven't seen it yet, and if you like police drama...You must watch it!!!

http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/the_shield/main.html

U.S. Population hits 300,000,000

As of yesterday, the Census Bureau officially pegged the resident population of the United States at closing in on 297,900,000. The bureau estimates that with a baby being born every 8 seconds, someone dying every 12 seconds and the nation gaining an immigrant every 31 seconds on average, the population is growing by one person every 14 seconds.

At that rate, the total is expected to top 300 million late this year. But with those projections adjusted monthly and the number of births typically peaking during the summer, the benchmark is likely to be reached about nine months from now....

China has over a billion people...India is next...and the USA is #3.......Our spaceship, Mother Earth doesn't have the resources, the clean air, the food, the fish in the sea to support all these babies...why don't our political leaders or the religous zealots ever focus on "real' problems, instead of wasting time and energy on bullshit? It seems like they are more like magicians perfecting the art of misdirection!

http://www.populationconnection.org/

Skipper Chuck is Dead!

Whatever happened to Scrubby, Anne, Uncle Don, Freddie the Clown, Banjo Billy, and Captain Jack?
Chuck Zinc.....the classiest guy in South Florida

Miami to Bangkok - 30 Hours

It took over 30 hours.....flying from Miami to Minneapolis to Tokyo to Bangkok....Just to stand with over a million people in the crowded New Years Eve Countdown hysteria....

We celebrated Hui's 40th birthday at a great riverside restaurant....Shark Fin Soup is cheap in Bangkok...only $50/ bowl.

We took a (6) hour train ride (that only takes (2) hours by taxi) to the beach resort area of Hua Hin....Trains are just like the US.....always late! We flew back on a (12) passenger airplane that should have taken about an hour, but the pilots couldn't find the airport....and now we are in Chiang Mai at a boutique hotel called the "D2"..... www.d2hotels.com

Why Chiang Mai? Besides being the cultural center of Thailand....We are here to meet the world famous artist, Anan Saithong, that I commissioned to create a sculpture of me!

I've seen the pictures of the sculpture.....now I have to decide if I want to post this masterpiece on my blog....or have a Grand Preview party in Miami when I return???

Batista Vs. Stone Cold (w/ Goldberg)

Happy New Year

Last year at this time, I was visiting Koh Samui, Thailand when the Tsunami hit Phuket and the west coast of Thailand. I was sitting on the beach, drinking a cold beer, reading Jimmy Buffet's book, A Pirate looks at Fifty. I remember going back to the hotel room and watching CNN for the next few days as the scope of the world's worst natural disaster unfolded. I was in paradise, while less than 100 miles away people were in a water-logged version of hell.

Have a safe holiday.....I will be traveling in Thailand from 12/27 through 1/17.....not sure if I will be posting any updates for a while (30 hours from Miami to Minneapolis to Tokyo to Bangkok)....but will try to stay away from the bird-flu, terrorists, and any other disasters.

The Media & Democrats will blame Bush!

Happy Holidays from the ACLU

Priceless and Tasteless

Here is a web site filled with garbage...but
a few of the videos are very funny!

http://thisisyourworld.com/

What's in a nickname?

A few weeks ago, I posted a message about a trip to Las Vegas. I wrote that I was going with Scrapy, Bo, Corky, and Crispy.....Unfortunately, I have never had a good nickname that stuck.

I guess "Bob" is a nickname for Robert....and I leased a Volvo a few years back and one of my buddies still calls me, "The Big Sweede"....but that's not a nickname....it's more like a statement. On our annual company cruise, a few months back, I made a statement (while under the influence of JD) claiming to quit cigars, liquor, and food...so the boys started calling me "Will"....short for Will Power....Hardy-Har-Har.....cute nickname, but it didn't stick??? A few friends called me "Zoom'in Newman", but I guess I have slowed down a little bit for that one to stick? During the Star Wars craze in the late 70's, Neil Contess (marketing genius) started calling me Jaba-the-Hut. Although "The Schnalfer" still calls me Jaba, it didn't stick either.

For a nickname to "stick", it needs to be a little descriptive, it needs to fit, should have a little humor, and must be SHORT! Additionally, you cannot give yourself a nickname...someone has to start calling you the nickname....than other people must use it for a while to "stick".

I really don't think about it that often, but it seems that Wally and Crispy have been giving it a lot of thought and have come up with a new nickname for me....I got a strange voice mail from Crispy...."Bob, we got it! We have been trying to come up with a new nickname for you and finally got it".....I have some pretty strange friends...but for these guys to sit around and dream up a nickname for me might be the strangest?

No, thinking up a nickname does not put them in the "strange friend" category...most of my friends are a lot stranger! But the fact that they called me, left a message, and thought it was a funny name is a little screwy....But I will let my loyal BLOG readers determine if they like the new nickname they came up with......."Chewy"...short for Chewbaca from Star Wars. A little weak, maybe, but can you come up with something better?

It's all fun and games, till someone gets hurt!

Ric Flair, 16 time World Champion. High flying, limousine driving WWE superstar. The Nature Boy. Lacing up the boots for over 30 years. Putting it all on the line, every night, to entertain the fans.

Whoooo......To be the Man...You gotta beat the Man!

Flair got arrested last week after a little road-rage scuffle....Time and traveling on the road has taken a chunk out of him....but no entertainer has have been a better promoter.....At 56, he still has the best "rap" in the business.

An Act of Treason?

As a proud Democrat, I am embarrassed. The party leadership has morphed into a "hate Bush" lynch group . They are now acting more like a party of "treason" instead of a party of reason. The "leaders" are void of any ideas or concepts to set a new agenda for America. Instead, they criticize every problem in a cheap and sleazy method that they must think will win future votes....Even if it costs the lives of our troops....How tragic.

Our party leader, John Dean claimed, "we cannot win the war"...What affect does that have on our troops?....and what affect does that have on the insurgents?

Our party candidate, John Kerry, was on TV this past weekend calling our troops in Iraq "Terrorists".

Have they lost thier minds?

It has gotten so bad, that the usually supportive Hollywood elite are running for cover. It's fun to see Barbara Striesand, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Jerry Springer, Michael Moore, Alec Baldwin, etc run for cover. Tim Robbins got so frustrated about the overall situation, he exploded on Air America radio, stating that Hillary Clinton could "Kiss his Butt".

The anti-war wing of the party is pushing an agenda of immediate pull-out...pressuring celebs to take an even more radical stand, an irresponsible solution. I wouldn't leave the future of the middle east to these idiots and I could never spend a dime to see any of their films ever again.

If I walked into a party, a classroom, a poker room, a chamber meeting....and saw the party leadership John Dean, Ted Kennedy, Al Sharpton, Al Gore , Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Dick Durbin, John Murtha, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Charles Rangel, Harry Reid, Robert Byrd, Mark Foley, Alcee Hastings, Jon Corzine, Robert Wexler, or Former President Jimmy Carter ....I would walk out....I would rather talk with used car salesmen.

The voice of moderate Democrats like Joe Lieberman, Joe Biden, Bob Kerrey, Barak Obama has been silenced.

The Bad News.....Our country is in trouble, our troops are at risk, and I am sick and tired of the behavior of our democratic leadership.

The Good News.....Therefore I am dropping my affiliation with the Dems.

The Really Good News ....No, I didn't save a bundle on my car insurance, but I can't stand the Republicans either. The religious zealots, the "Conservatives", the Christian Coalition, have hijacked the Republican Party (Robertson, Ralph Reed, and Falwell can all kiss my butt).

Our country is in trouble. Relying on these narrow-minded, self appointed morality police to get us out can only lead to further problems (Social Security, Stem Cell Research, Schools, Health Care). Therfore, I have decided to become a Libertarian joining independent thinkers like Jesse "the body" Ventura... If he runs in '08...I'll be there!!!

http://www.lp.org/

A time for caution?

According to Andrew Tobias.....

Warren Buffett is sitting on something like $43 billion in cash. If he can’t find good things to invest in at today’s prices, it gives me pause to think we can. This is one reason that I recommend about a quarter of your portfolio in 20- and 27-year TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) that guarantee 2% above inflation . . . why I like my shares in PCL (I figure that, whatever happens to the stock short-term, the trees will keep growing) . . . and why I sleep okay with wildly speculative things like BOREF and the NTMD puts. Both could go to zero (really!), but certainly not because of any financial meltdown, in case we were to have one someday. In a financial meltdown, our NTMD puts would do brilliantly (if they had not already expired); and while BOREF shares might fall by 90% or 95% (on volume of 1200 shares, no doubt), it wouldn’t affect the value of the company’s underlying technology (whatever that value may or may not ultimately prove to be).

http://www.andrewtobias.com/cgi-local/display_col.pl?051208

The Great Malenko

Boris "The Great" Malenko

Larry Simon was the creator of ‘The Great Malenko’, no better heal graced the wrestling mats in the 1950s-60s and 70s. He could work a crowd into a frenzy.

Professor Malenko was a huge contrast to the real Larry Simon. Larry Simon was a family man whose pride and joy were his 2 sons Jodie and Dean. Both were into wrestling, trained by Malenko himself and the legendary Karl Gotch.

Often times you would find Larry with his sons and wife at a bowling alley, or at a movie. What a shocker to the many wrestling fans who thought he was the second coming of the Devil.

Malenko and Eddie Graham had some of the greatest blowouts in Fort Homer Hesterly Armory history. Sold out shows when these two would tango. The relationship ended on a sour note and Malenko never wrestled for Championship Wrestling from Florida again. Til the day he died he had a bad spot in his gut for Eddie.

Malenko passed away in the mid 90s from Leukemia. I visited him in the hospital and he told a reporter, “I would not wish this disease on my worst enemy’. He fought hard, but at the end it took his strength away.

He would be very proud of his sons, one a pharmacist who became a millionaire through one of his inventions, and the other an international wrestling star.

Larry Simon, The Great Malenko, thanks for the many fond memories.

For additional research, please follow the link.......
http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/profiles/b/boris-malenko.html

Do something good, today!

When it's over, it's over. You don't get a second chance. Live every day, every day!

Here is an interesting web site that projects your life expectancy http://www.nmfn.com/tn/learnctr--lifeevents--longevity_game

Happy Thanksgiving...

It doesn't get any better than Thanksgiving in Las Vegas....thanks to Bo....the boys are headed for another "road trip". Participants (so far) include Crispy, Corky, Scrappy, Chop Suey, and a very brave woman...Chris

Watching football at the sports book, playing poker, lounging in the Spa, driving to Hoover Dam, visiting the Grand Canyon, eating too much at a buffet and hearing Bo destroy a public restroom, and maybe seeing a few shows?

A few of my favorite headliners are playing including.....George Carlin, Penn & Teller, Three Dog Night, America, Celine Dion (just kidding) and maybe even see one of the cool hypnotist shows? Maybe even try to get tickets for the Paul McCartney concert.

If anyone wants to join the insanity...we'll be staying at the Monte Carlo.....have a great Thanksgiving!

The bigger they are........

Business and ethics classes have a new chapter to add to the curriculum thanks to corporate CEO's that allow power and greed to consume them.

The most recent example......Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco, owner of ADT, the world's largest security contractor (I love irony). Mr. Koslowski was convicted for stealing (estimated around $600m) from he stockholders and investors. Why did he need a $2,000 shower curtain? Why did he need to pay Jimmy Buffett a $1m to sing for his wife's birthday?

Dennis will have (8-25) year's to ponder his stupidity at a NY state prison not the comfy minimum security "Club Fed". The state prisons do not have the facilities..... Former prosecutor David Gourevitch, however, said there were no facilities in the state system comparable to federal minimum-security prisons such as the one where entrepreneur Martha Stewart spent her five-month sentence.

"In the federal system, outside of maximum-security places, generally people are physically safe. I don't think anybody would say that about New York state prison," Gourevitch said. "And from a state perspective, this is one of the longest sentences in a corporate fraud case that I can recall."

Foglia said that in most cases, defendants sentenced to more than six years are sent to maximum-security prisons. She said it would be several weeks before the state decides where to send Kozlowski and Swartz. In the meantime, they will stay at a holding facility known as the Tombs in Lower Manhattan and then be sent to Rikers Island, the temporary jail for New York City inmates before they are sent to state prisons.

In June, a jury found former Tyco chief executive Kozlowski, 58, and former chief financial officer Swartz, 45, guilty of criminal counts of grand larceny, conspiracy, securities fraud and eight of nine counts of falsifying business records.

Obus imposed the same prison sentence on both men. He ordered Kozlowski to pay a $70 million fine and Swartz to pay a $35 million fine. He ordered both men to repay Tyco a combined $134.4 million in restitution of illegal bonuses and other illicit payments.

Haven't we had enough?

Maybe Pat Roberson is right?

Tropical Storm Gamma is headed towards South Florida and this time I am leaving! If it doesn't change it's path...I am packing up and headed North.

During Wilma...my (18th floor) condo was shaking, the power went out, and the emergency generator ran out of gas...No lights, No emergency lights in the stairwell, No elevators, and No water...and no cable TV.....enough is enough!