Big Money Tony

Review: Valkyrie

on June 23, 2009 5:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I am a history buff. So much in fact, that I think if there were a sure career path for history majors besides research or teaching, I would have been there. So Valkyrie was on my radar since I first heard about it, but not enough to catch it at the theater.

Prior to seeing it, the biggest obstacle in liking this movie was probably Tom Cruise. It was hard to imagine him as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the key to the Hitler assassination plot. After seeing it, that remains the biggest issue with the movie. The dancing old man from Tropic Thunder, Risky Business, Cocktail and Mission Impossible, all seem to come to mind before him being a serious, real-life character. Probably did not help that ESPN's Bill Simmons dubbed him "der Maverick" in a podcast as an homage to Top Gun.

Many World War II movies use Europeans to play Nazis. That would have helped here, since Cruise employed his American accent throughout the 120 minutes. Not that putting a fake German accent would have done better, so the point should have been, don't use Tom Cruise here.

Aside from Cruise, the movie still lacked some storyline. While we are told early on about von Stauffenberg's reasons to participate in the plot, we are not told how he got there. The first 45 minutes or so appear to set up the big event, but watching the whole movie, you realize none of it was necessary as you would understand just as much if it weren't there. Watching it with The Sports Freak, from the DC Sports Page, he noted that the movie could have been helped by reminding the audience of other key events happening in the war. We are only given a sparse timeline. With it, we are not sure if the plot took a week, a month, or a year to get in place.

While Valkyrie did not satisfy, it was still good to see a World War II movie. If you are a history buff, you should consider renting it. There are excellent actors in the movie, like Tom Wilkinson (Ben Franklin from HBO's John Adams) and Eddie Izzard, among other recognizable faces. Just ignore the fact that Tom Cruise is there.

Remembering

Big Money Tony

on June 10, 2009 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

This is a day I will never forget. Two years ago, my mother passed away. I am sorry to lay this heavy topic on you, but it is not to bring you down. It is to remind everyone that there are still causes that need your support even in the bad economy.

My mother was only 56 when the cancer took her life. It was a long year starting with her diagnosis in August 2006, which we found it had returned. She had originally been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in the 90's and fought it off. After the recurrence, months of chemotherapy, doctors appointments, and two trips to San Francisco to visit her ailing mother, and then attend the funeral, then we had to a face a terrible week. On the weekend, we went to the outlet mall and had a great Sunday brunch. By Tuesday, she couldn't get out of bed, and the following Sunday we lost her.

She was a hard working person who worked many different jobs. Finally, her last few years, she worked in retail and had time to spend on her hobbies. One she was really good at and that was Chinese art/calligraphy. She had intended to sell most of these paintings, but we decided to keep them in our family.

These are some of the places that deserve support in the fight against cancer.

John Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, where my mother got most of her chemotherapy. It is also where our Cousin H works. She graciously took time off from her job that last week to help us with our mother. Also helped us get in contact with Dr. Richard Ambinder who worked on the treatment for our mother.
Hospice of Frederick County who do not charge for their services but helped in decision making and home hospice care.
National Foundation for Cancer Research - working hard to raise funds for research.
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society because this is the form of cancer my mother had.

I'm sure there are many others, but these get my support every year. Some places do not just need money. Many hospices will be happy to get your volunteer time or even a box of tissues.

The Stock Market

Big Money Tony

on June 5, 2009 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I don't like to brag. Wait, I do, but I don't have a lot to brag about right now. Back to the subject. Since I was 18, I've had money in the market. No, I'm not Series 7 licensed, or a screaming (rich) lunatic like Jim Cramer. I was a poor kid working his way through college and decided to ride the .com financial wave.

And I did it well for years. Mutual funds at first, then I graduated to dividend reinvestment programs direct from the companies themselves. I owned Dial Corp, you know, the company that made Dial soap. Soap! Finally I got a real investment account from E-Trade. I became a high flyer with my $1,000 account. A funny thing happened along the way. Stocks soared, I earned more and invested more. All of a sudden, I'm watching stock prices every five minutes. Arrive at work, check messages for a bit, then check My Yahoo page for latest 15 minute delayed quotes. Run a report, check the prices again. Go to lunch, come back, check stocks before getting back to business. 4:30 rolls around, check for any end of day deals. Finish work, head to happy hour and go home to check closing prices. Repeat.

Then 2008 came around. Does anybody but the media and those that work in the market check prices anymore? I just realized I haven't looked at my dismal portfolio since Thanksgiving. Sure, I hear or see prices in passing, but I'm not hung up on it. What's the price of Apple today? Who knows, who cares. Sure the recession sucks, but it helped me in one aspect. I saved time checking stocks. Unfortunately that time got filled pretty quickly with Twitter and other time-sucking activities on the Internet. Market please come back. At least that obsession earned me money.

TMI Thursday: A Date You Don't Want

Big Money Tony

on May 28, 2009 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Those of you familiar with TMI Thursday know that Lilu gets this train rolling here. As she says, "Join us all in humiliating the crap out of yourself every Thursday by sharing some completely tasteless, wholly unclassy, 'how many readers can I estrange THIS week??' TMI story about your life. Or hell, about someone else's!"

As you have read here before, I used to work at CVS. We once opened a brand new store in Maryland. The key in retail when opening a new store is to hire as many people that appeared qualified, then the cream of the crop usually rises to the top. We fired some people quick, like the guy who slept on the job, when he should have been watching out for fires (sprinklers not yet installed), and the kid who stole products from us before the store was open for business. But we did keep some, including a hispanic woman in her late 30's. We'll call her M. M had 2 kids, I think. Her oldest was at the time, a 17 year old daughter we'll call D.

After a few months the store was open, we hired D as well. D was hot. All the guys working at the store, most of whom were high school kids, wanted to go out with her. I was a college senior, and will admit she was attractive. I was trying to go out with college women, not high school girls, so she wasn't on my radar.

However, apparently I was on hers. One day, so came into work and checked in at the office, like she normally does. I was in there doing some paperwork.

D: Want to go dancing tonight after work?

Me: <stammers> Uh, um, uh!

D: I know this great club.

Me: <now composed> No thanks.

D: <walking out the door> You're cute!

Me: <red faced and totally embarrassed>

There is a reason I was stammering and then embarrassed. More on that in a minute. The next day, M came up to me.

M: Why won't you go out with D?

Me: Nothing personal, but....

M: <cuts me off> Don't you find her attractive?

You are probably thinking what's wrong with you BMT? Aren't you a man? A woman and her mother are pushing her on you. Why are you telling me this boring story?

Me: Yes, but...SHE'S PREGNANT!

To clarify, D was pregnant, showing, and no, I was not the father. Not a chance, because we were never together. When I mean showing, it wasn't like she put on weight. She was really showing. I have nothing against pregnant women except I don't like to date them while they are pregnant with someone else's kid.

It didn't take long for me to figure it out. D's baby daddy had left her and wanted nothing to do with the kid. She was looking for a replacement. Flattered as I might be, I don't need instant family. Mom decided to try to help fill that void by trying to coax me into dating D. Weeks later, D went out on maternity leave and I was transferred to another store (Whew!). Never saw either of them again.

Maybe I should have named this "TMI Thursday: A Date Men Don't Want".

Review: Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown

Big Money Tony

on May 15, 2009 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was never really a fan of Green Day. OK, so "When I Come Around" on Dookie was a pretty good single 15 years ago. Then American Idiot was released in 2004. That put Green Day in a whole new light for me. American Idiot hit all the right notes, with great songs thoughout the album.

21st Century Breakdown, in contrast, is a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong, the album is good and true Green Day fans will appreciate it. But after the American Idiot, I expected another leap. The new album breaks no ground for Green Day. It's Green Day. There are hits on it. I bought the Deluxe edition off iTunes. "Last of the American Girls" has a pretty good beat to it. "Know Your Enemy" feels much like all of American Idiot with it's pace. Good reason it was picked as the pre-release single. On the Deluxe Edition, it comes with "Like a Rolling Stone", which is kind of a slow pop ballad. It was good and still distinctly Green Day in sound, but not exactly all there. And that's just the problem.

21st Century Breakdown sounds like Green Day, but isn't any different from any other Green Day. If you are a Green Day fan, you'll probably want to buy it. If you are a casual fan, like me, you might like it, but it's no American Idiot. Buy it here on ' or use the Amazon link above.