The passing of Tom Clancy

October 2, 2013.  It was very sad to learn today about the passing of Tom Clancy one of our time's best writers, who wrote with such great skill and detail that it made him a natural to have his novels turned into films watched by tens of millions of people all around the world.

Here is a little bit about him and his work from the Associated Press.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Clancy, whose high-tech, Cold War thrillers such as "The Hunt for Red October" and "Patriot Games" made him the most widely read and influential military novelist of his time, has died. He was 66.
Penguin Group (USA) announced that Clancy had died Tuesday in Baltimore. The publisher did not provide a cause of death.
Tall and thin, with round, sunken eyes that were often hidden by sunglasses, Clancy had said his dream had been simply to publish a book, hopefully a good one, so that he would be in the Library of Congress catalog. His dreams were answered many times over.
His novels were dependable best sellers, with his publisher estimating that worldwide sales top 100 million copies. Several, including "The Hunt for Red October," ''Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger," were later made into blockbuster movies, with another based on his desk-jockey CIA hero, "Jack Ryan," set for release on Christmas. Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck and Harrison Ford were among the actors who played Ryan on screen. The upcoming movie stars Chris Pine, Keira Knightly and Kevin Costner, with Kenneth Branagh directing.

 A political conservative who once referred to Ronald Reagan as "my president," Clancy broke through commercially during a tense period of the Cold War, and with the help of Reagan himself. In 1982, he began working on "The Hunt For Red October," basing it on a real incident in November 1975 with a Soviet missile frigate called the Storozhevoy. He sold the manuscript to the first publisher he tried, the Naval Institute Press, which had never bought original fiction.
In real life, the ship didn't defect, but in Clancy's book, published in 1984, the defection was a success. Someone thought enough of the book to give it to President Reagan as a Christmas gift. The president quipped at a dinner that he was losing sleep because he couldn't put the book down — a statement Clancy later said helped put him on the New York Times best-seller list.
Clancy was admired in the military community, and appeared — though he often denied it — to have the kind of access that enabled him to intricately describe anything from surveillance to the operations of a submarine. He often played off — and sometimes anticipated — world events, as in the pre-9/11 paranoid thriller "Debt of Honor," in which a jumbo jet destroys the U.S. Capitol during a joint meeting of Congress.
Earning million-dollar advances for his novels, he also wrote nonfiction works on the military and even ventured into video games, including the best-selling "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier," ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction" and "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent." His recent Jack Ryan novels were collaborations with Mark Greaney, including "Threat Vector" and a release scheduled for December, "Command Authority."
As of midday Wednesday, "Command Authority" ranked No. 40 on Amazon.com's best seller list.
Born in Baltimore on April 12, 1947 to a mailman and his wife, Clancy entered Loyola College as a physics major, but switched to English as a sophomore. He later said that he wasn't smart enough for the rigors of science, although he clearly mastered it well enough in his fiction.
Clancy stayed close to home. He resided in rural Calvert County, Md., and in 1993 he joined a group of investors led by Baltimore attorney Peter Angelos who bought the Baltimore Orioles from businessman Eli Jacobs. Clancy also attempted to bring a NFL team to Baltimore in 1993, but he later dropped out.

Tom Clancy will definitely be missed.  RIP.

Joe Lizura
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What's the deal with this?

San Diego, ca December 31, 2012.  Wow, this is an interesting story, and not one I'm all that excited about.  Being taken advantage of because of my IP address is something I started noticing a few months ago, when I would search for something on "Google" and then with the next click I would get tons of advertisements and banner ads for the word I searched. 

For example, I remember searching for rums of Puerto Rico, and then within minutes, I was being bombarded with ads from resorts, airlines etc, that all were in Puerto Rico. 

Now, in this article, the location of the computer is determining what price you'll pay - yikes!  Here's the story, check it out: 

Why would Staples.com offer a stapler at $15.79 to one online customer but advertise the same stapler at $14.29 to another who lives just miles away? It appears that customers who live close to a brick-and-mortar store operated by a Staples competitor are presented with a lower price online, The Wall Street Journal reports.


The Journal has done a marvelous job explaining how our online activities -- including how we connect to the Internet and what we look at -- are used by companies to target ads at us. For instance, it reported last summer that Orbitz was showing rooms in higher-priced hotels to Mac users because they're inclined to spend more than PC users on accommodations.



In the latest report, the Journal says Staples.com appears to change online prices based on what it believes your proximity is to its own and major competitors' stores, as indicated by your computer's "address."



The Journal did exhaustive testing of online prices displayed to customers of Staples.com across the U.S. It said:

"In the Journal's tests, ZIP codes whose center was farther than 20 miles from a Staples competitor saw higher prices 67% of the time. By contrast, ZIP codes within 20 miles of a rival saw the high price least often, only 12% of the time.

"Staples.com showed higher prices most often -- 86% of the time -- when the ZIP code actually had a brick-and-mortar Staples store in it, but was also far from a competitor's store."

Not only that, but the Journal's study showed that those who live in higher-income areas are most often being shown the lower price. The Journal explained:

"In what appears to be an unintended side effect of Staples' pricing methods -- likely a function of retail competition with its rivals -- the Journal's testing also showed that areas that tended to see the discounted prices had a higher average income than areas that tended to see higher prices."
 

Here is a link to the story:  http://money.msn.com/how-to-budget/article.aspx?post=13c1e966-0339-4cf2-b3bb-1d93cb3c7398

Beach Boys not having "Good Vibrations"

Mike Love - Beach Boys

San Diego, September 27, 2012.  Okay, so yesterday I was surprised and saddened by the loss of Andy Williams, and today when I wake up I am dazed and confused about how the Beach Boys can fire themselves.  Alright, so they aren't exactly firing themselves, but one member of the Beach Boys is firing the other members of the Beach Boys, which will no doubt create TWO Beach Boys groups tourning as the original "Beach Boys" -- sound confusing?  Well here is the article from Spin magazine (on-line version) and a link to the story as well.  All I can say is don't penalize the fans because you guys are getting all grumpy with each other!

From Spin:

Mike Love refuses to tour with Brian Wilson, et al.

Mike Love apparently surprised his fellow Beach Boys co-founders Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, plus guitarist David Marks, when he announced on Sunday that all three were fired from the band. After the Boys wrap two London stops on their current 50th anniversary tour, Love will carry on with his own lineup. He cited greed, essentially, as the reason.

"You've got to be careful not to get overexposed," said Love in a statement issued the day the band's Grammy Museum exhibit opened. "There are promoters who are interested [in the o.g. lineup], but they've said, 'Give it a rest for a year.' The Eagles found out the hard way when they went out for a second year and wound up selling tickets for $5."

Love can do this because he has owned the Beach Boys name since 1998, after a series of hard-fought legal battles following the death of Carl Wilson that same year. Since then, Love has toured with his own version of the Beach Boys, featuring longtime member Bruce Johnston and a backing band including Love's son, Christian.

"I'm disappointed and can't understand why he doesn't want to tour with Al, David, and me," said Wilson, Love's cousin and the group's defining singer-songwriter. to CNN. "We are out here having so much fun. After all, we are the real Beach Boys."

As Rolling Stone reports, Jardine has gone as far as to petition his Facebook followers for signatures beneath a letter that reads:

"To Mike Love. In order to preserve the validity of 'The Beach Boys' as a whole, and not as a 'money saving, stripped down version' that only contains one original member, and one member that joined in 1965, we ask you to reinstate the three other members to the touring group for your final years performing. It's the right thing to do, and it's what the fans want!"
With the number of signees at 2,700 and growing, it'd seem that Jardine is right about what the fans want. And yet, Love insists, in the most codger-y voice we can muster up in our minds, that "the 50th Reunion Tour was designed to be a set tour with a beginning and an end to mark a special 50-year milestone for the band." Well, harrumph to you too, sir.

Lets see what happens,  Joe Lizura
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Andy Williams R.I.P.

Joe Lizura San Diego, California. September 26, 2012.  Well, it's late in the day here and before I go to bed I wanted to share a few thoughts about the passing of Andy Williams.  It's been sad lately with the number of very talented actors, singers, songwriters and comedians passing away - It's almost as though the "old guard" of entertainment, whom we usually forever remember as young, are slowly leaving us with memories that will never take the place of the real thing. 

Andy Williams is someone whom I always admired and respected as a very talented singer, actor and performer.  His musical work was second to none with 18 gold records and countless television episodes and specials.  I can remember very clearly the sounds of Andy Williams playing on my parents record player even though I was just a little boy. 

His Christmas specials and albums were wonderful and two of my favorite songs - Moon River and The Theme From "Love Story" will always be remembered as though I was still a youngster.  Yes, it was a bit of a sad day for me knowing that the world lost such a talented man.


Here is big part of the story from the San Francisco Chronicle that mentions just a few of his accomplishments:

With a string of gold albums, a hit TV series and the signature "Moon River," Andy Williams was a voice of the 1960s, although not the '60s we usually hear about.

The singer known for his easy-listening style and his wholesome, middle-America appeal was the antithesis of the counterculture that gave rise to rock 'n' roll.

"The old cliche says that if you can remember the 1960s, you weren't there," he once recalled. "Well, I was there all right, but my memory of them is blurred - not by any drugs I took but by the relentless pace of the schedule I set myself."

Mr. Williams' plaintive tenor, boyish features and clean-cut demeanor helped him outlast many of the decade's rock stars and fellow crooners such as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. He remained on the charts into the 1970s, hosting hugely popular Christmas television specials and becoming closely associated with the holiday standard "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

Mr. Williams, who continued to perform into his 80s at the Moon River Theatre he built in Branson, Mo., announced in November that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and vowed to return to performing the following year, his 75th in show business.

The 84-year-old entertainer died Tuesday night at his Branson home, his Los Angeles publicist, Paul Shefrin, said Wednesday.

He became a major star in 1956, the same year as Elvis Presley, with the Sinatra-like swing number "Canadian Sunset." For a time, he was pushed into such Presley imitations as "Lips of Wine" and the No. 1 smash "Butterfly."

But he mostly stuck to what he called his "natural style" and kept it up throughout his career. In 1970, when even Sinatra had temporarily retired, Mr. Williams was in the top 10 with the theme from "Love Story," the Oscar-winning tearjerker. He had 18 gold records, three platinum and five Grammy nominations.

Mr. Williams was also the first host of the live Grammy Awards telecast and hosted the show for seven consecutive years, beginning in 1971.

Movie songs became a specialty, including his signature "Moon River." The longing Johnny Mercer-Henry Mancini ballad was his most famous song, even though he never released it as a single because his record company feared such lines as "my huckleberry friend" were too confusing and old-fashioned for teens.

"The Andy Williams Show," which lasted through the 1960s and into 1971, won three Emmys and featured Williams performing his stable of hits and bantering with guest stars.

He was born Howard Andrew Williams in Wall Lake, Iowa, on Dec. 3, 1927. In his memoir, Mr. Williams remembered himself as a shy boy who concealed his insecurity "behind a veneer of cheek and self-confidence."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Andy-Williams-Moon-River-singer-dies-3897683.php#ixzz27eJZiCSl

 

- Yes, we lost a good one today, but we get to keep the memories.  R.I.P. Mr. Williams.

 

Joe Lizura

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Stock Markets are going up and up and you'd better watch out

Joe Lizura's thought for the day:  Nobody wants to be the one to yell "fire" in a crowded room, but the fact that the stock market has been soaring when the economy has been relatively stagnant can NOT be a good thing.  Let's face it, the NASDAQ is the highest it's been since the year 2000?  Let me ask a simple question, "Does the economy feel like it's the best and healthiest it's been so far this century?  If you answered no, then chances are there's trouble brewing.  So all I'm going to say is - watch out.  Here is the story today from the Huffington post:

NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 jumped to a more than four-year high on Thursday as a new bond-buying program in Europe was hailed as an effective way to contain the region's debt crisis.

Positive sentiment was also lifted by bullish data on the U.S. services sector and labor market, the latter especially notable ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls report.

The rally was broad, with materials, financials and industrials-- all groups tied to the pace of economic growth-- leading the way with gains of more than 2 percent. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a ratio of more than 4 to 1 while the Dow had its biggest gain in two months and the Nasdaq advanced to its highest level since 2000.

ECB President Mario Draghi, seeking to back up his July pledge to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro, said the central bank's new plan of potentially unlimited bond-buying would address bond market distortions and "unfounded" fears of investors about the survival of the euro.

"We think this is a credible plan to addressing the issue, and while there are still political hurdles we expect those will be addressed," said Alec Young, global equity strategist at S&P Equity Research in New York.

U.S. companies added staff in August at the fastest clip in five months, according to the better-than-expected ADP report, while a gauge of employment in the service sector also improved more than had been anticipated. Another report showed new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in a month.

Even with Thursday's encouraging numbers, economists think the payroll report will show only modest hiring of 125,000 jobs and the unemployment rate holding steady at 8.3 percent. Investors will scrutinize the details for clues as to when the Federal Reserve may provide more stimulus to prop up economic growth.

"ADP doesn't correlate perfectly with payrolls, but people are feeling better about the jobs market these days," Young said. "There was confidence we would see jobs in the mid-100's even before this."

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 217.11 points, or 1.66 percent, at 13,264.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 26.43 points, or 1.88 percent, at 1,429.87-- its highest level since May 2008 as the financial crisis began to gather pace. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 62.52 points, or 2.04 percent, at 3,131.78 -- its highest level in 12 years.

The ECB's program, which Germany's Bundesbank is known to have opposed, would focus on bonds maturing within three years and was strictly within the ECB's mandate. Draghi said only one member of the ECB Governing Council had dissented.

The ECB also announced that it will keep its main interest rate at a record low of 0.75 percent, holding fire af a pick-up in inflation last month offset pressure to breathe life into the flagging euro zone economy by easing borrowing costs.

Tech shares helped lift the Nasdaq to its best daily performance since July 27. SanDisk Corp climbed 8.3 percent to $43.97 and Micron Technolgy Inc added 7 percent to $6.63. The Dow was lifted by Walt Disney Co, which advanced to an all-time high of $51.75.

In company news, Supervalu Inc said it would close about five dozen stores as it works to turn around its grocery business, which lags Kroger Co and Wal-Mart Stores Inc . The stock was up 2.2 percent at $2.33.

Realty Income Corp plans to acquire American Realty Capital Trust Inc for about $1.93 billion as it looks to diversify its portfolio outside of the retail industry. Shares of Realty Income slipped 0.05 percent to $42.46 and Capital Trust rose 1.9 percent to $12.19.

Joe Lizura
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Phyllis Diller Passes Away

Phyllis Diller, a very rare lady passes away.  Joe Lizura, August 20, 2012.  One of my favorite entertainers has passed away, but I will always remember here fondly.  When I was a child growing up on the 60s and 70s, Phyllis Diller was always a comedic fixture.  You could find her on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at least 3 or 4 times a year, as well as on any special Bob Hope was performing on as well.  She led a wonderful life and was a Vegas regular entertaining hundreds of thousands of people a year. 

Here is the story from Yahoo:  Legendary comedienne Phyllis Diller, who blazed a trail for a generation of female comics with her self-deprecating stand-up routines, has died at age 95, according to TMZ.

Diller had been suffering health problems as of late: She recently hurt her hip and wrist in a fall and has been living under hospice care at her home. She passed away there, surrounded by family.

FAMOUS QUOTES FROM PHYLLIS DILLERThe wild-haired comedienne enjoyed a six-decade-long career: She started out in stand-up in 1952, and first rose to fame on TV with a series of TV specials alongside Bob Hope in the 1960s. She starred in several TV shows based around her act ("The Phyllis Diller Show," "The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show") and often appeared on the seminal '60s variety show "Laugh-In."

In recent years, Diller reveled in her role as an elder statesman of comedy, outdoing much younger comedians in the 2005 documentary "The Aristocrats" and even performing a routine on "The Tonight Show" in 2007, at the tender age of 90.

She is an entertainer I will very much miss, RIP - Joe Lizura

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