The Epicurean Dealmaker: More of a Kickin' Sitcheyation
Pappy O'Daniel: "I signed that bill. I signed a dozen aggeyculture bills. Everyone knows I'm a friend of the farmer. What I gotta do, s...| epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com
I met a traveller from an antique land Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things, The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and des...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
“Sure, sure.” — Sidney J. Mussburger, The Hudsucker Proxy Apparently some doddering old fart in Omaha, Nebraska published a celebratory letter yesterday in connection with an obscure anniversary some of you might have heard about. Something to do with a mid-range furniture store or failed textile mill or something. Anyway, I felt compelled to read it, if only because every financial pundit in the Western Hemisphere has been recommending its salutary virtues to me with a fervor approachi...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
A cat may look at a king. — English proverb So, in an apparent effort to raise its rank in the Most Recognized Polling Firm in America Sweepstakes, Harris Poll recently published a survey of 27,278 individuals across this fine land to determine America’s 100 most- and least-loved corporations. Bloomberg Business subsequently took time out of its busy day to gleefully report that Goldman Sachs, investment bank and über squid of the global financial markets, finished dead last:People hate ...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
What though the sea with waves continuall Doe eate the earth, it is no more at all ; Ne is the earth the lesse, or loseth ought : For whatsoever from one place doth fall Is with the tyde unto another brought : For there is nothing lost, that may be found if sought. ― Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene Municipal bond market maven, government official, and longtime Twitter fixture Kristi Culpepper penned an interesting riposte yesterday to Leon Wieseltier’s recent jeremiad against the disrup...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Infancy is not what it is cracked up to be. The child seems happy all the time to the adult, because the adult knows that the child is untouched by the real problems of life; if the adult were similarly untouched he is sure that he would be happy. But children, not knowing that they are having an easy time, have a good many hard times. Growing and learning and obeying the rules of their elders, of fighting against them, are not easy things to do. Adolescence is certainly far from a uniformly ...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Frans Hals, The Laughing Cavalier, 1624 There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill. The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle; And up and down he runs his bow, Now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle. The landlord keeps a little dog that is mighty fond of jokes; When there’s good cheer among the guests, He cocks an ear at all the...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
“I think it’s just elegant to have an imagination. I just have no imagination at all. I have lots of other things, but I have no imagination.” — The Seven Year Itch Yes, O Dearly Beloved, it’s that time of year again. Time to dust off the circuit boards of the dedicated Google Analytics server farm for this two bit opinion emporium and determine which of my 37 beautiful children attracted the most attention from you delightful readers, spambots, and web crawlers in the Year of Our L...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
“Money changes everything.” — Some guy, probably without any money Andrew Ross Sorkin, access journalist extraordinaire and alleged shill for the Great and Good,1 put up a sensible op ed this morning to which I thought I would contribute a few brief supporting remarks. It seems Mr. Sorkin has taken somewhat of a shine to Antonio Weiss, a successful Lazard investment banker whom the current Administration has advanced as its candidate for under secretary of the Treasury for domestic fina...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Joseph Wright, Arkwright’s Cotton Mills by Night, c. 1782 The best one can hope for as a human is to have a relationship with that emptiness where God would be if God were available, but God isn’t. … He’s not available because he’s not a being of a kind that would fit into our availability. … If God were knowable, why would we believe in him? — Anne Carson * * * All religions [have] at least one common commandment: “Thou shalt not disfigure the soul.” — Frank Herbert, Dune...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Auguste Rodin, Orpheus and Eurydice, 1893 Martin Blank:“I’m sorry if I fucked up your life.” Debi Newberry:“It’s not over yet.” — Grosse Pointe Blank Why do we regret life choices? In retrospect, some are decisions with serious and long lasting consequences we make carelessly, hastily, or without due consideration to relevant factors clearly available to our decision making process at the time. They are important choices poorly made. These are good candidates for regret, because...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Conscious experience is a widespread phenomenon. — Thomas Nagel, inveterate optimist Whilst conducting primary research into the ontological foundations of metaphysical epistemology recently, O Dearly Beloved, Your Dilatory and Shockingly Remiss Correspondent happened upon a previously unpublished draft of Thomas Nagel’s seminal paper, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” I found upon examination of the disintegrating foolscap moldering in dank archives that this eminent philosopher had ini...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Auguste Rodin, The Age of Bronze, 1876 “If you meet a thief, you may suspect him, by virtue of your office, to be no true man; and, for such kind of men, the less you meddle or make with them, why the more is for your honesty.” — William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing Francine McKenna of re: The Auditorsrecently expressed her dismay that the Big Four accounting firms have continued to be noticeably remiss about engaging reputable accounting firms to audit their own in-house broker ...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Contrary to the cynicism that can pervade discussions of [mergers and acquisitions], many top level M & A advisors have a genuine concern about the integrity of large scale transactions and a desire for the fiduciaries involved to serve the interests they represent in a good faith and effective way. This is not to say that they do not seek to advance the interests of their clients in obtaining legitimate economic advantage, but they do want the game to be a fair one. — Leo E. Strine, Jr., C...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning, 1930 “Then I need say no more,” said Celeborn. “But do not despise the lore that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know.” — J.R.R. Tolkein, The Fellowship of the Ring Periodically, O Dearly Beloved, I take a leisurely stroll through the carefully stacked and organized pixels of my back catalogue, clicking from link to link in a solipsistic jo...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Diego Velasquez, Portrait of Pedro de Barberana, 1631 No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; At times, indeed, almost ridiculous— Almost, at times, the Fool. — T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” So The Blackstone Group decided yest...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
“Aha! Now we see the violence inherent in the system!” — Monty Python and the Holy Grail Yes, it’s true: I’ve left Twitter. No special reason. All of a part with my reasons for terminating this blog,1 which boil down to being tired of it. I no longer get enough out of the service to merit the near constant immersion and distraction which it seems to elicit from me. I have better uses for my time. And the more substantive readings and links of interest which used to attract me I have...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man. — Frank Herbert, Dune I have used the preceding epigraph before, as some of you Delightful Readers may recall. It is a versatile a...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
“I am old, Gandalf. I don’t look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed! Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can’t be right. I need a change, or something.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings When I launched this blog seven and three-quarters years ago, O Dearly Beloved, my first post incorporated the following mission statement: I have started this ...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are, One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. — Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” Ever since the release of Dr. No in 1962, the James Bond 007 films have acted as a touchstone and running commentary on popular culture and society. For over half a century, a parade of different Bonds, Bond Girls, and increasingl...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Thomas Nast, Mr. Moneybags “If you were sensible of your own good, you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up.” “In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter; so far we are equal.” “True. You are a gentleman’s daughter. But who was your mother? Who are your uncles and aunts? Do not imagine me ignorant of their condition.” “Whatever my connections may be,” said Eliz...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Diego Rivera, Melancholy Promenade, 1904 Thomasina:“Oh, Septimus! — can you bear it? All the lost plays of the Athenians! Two hundred at least by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides — thousands of poems — Aristotle’s own library! … How can we sleep for grief?” Septimus:“By counting our stock. Seven plays from Aeschylus, seven from Sophocles, nineteen from Euripides, my lady! You should no more grieve for the rest than for a buckle lost from your first shoe, or for your lesson book...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Adolphe-William Bouguereau, The Birth of Venus, 1879 Mildred:“That Ted Forrester’s nice-looking, isn’t he? Veda likes him.” Monte:“Who wouldn’t? He has a million dollars.” — Mildred Pierce (1945) Wall Street has a problem. Kevin Roose, who wrote the definitive bildungsroman/sob story of early-2010s twenty-somethings on Wall Street, nails it. Finance is no longer the first choice of ambitious, high-achieving college graduates. Technology is:Hyperdriven, multitalented young peop...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Messenger:“I see, lady, the gentleman is not in your books.” Beatrice:“No; an he were, I would burn my study. But, I pray you, who is his companion? Is there no young squarer now that will make a voyage with him to the devil?” Messenger:“He is most in the company of the right noble Claudio.” Beatrice:“O Lord, he will hang upon him like a disease: he is sooner caught than the pestilence, and the taker runs presently mad. God help the noble Claudio! if he have caught the Benedick,...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Korbin Dallas:“We need to find the leader. Mangalores won’t fight without the leader.” Mangalore Leader:“One more shot, we start killing hostages.” Korbin Dallas:“That’s the leader.” Mangalore Leader:“Send someone to negotiate.” Security Chief:[to Dallas] “I I I I I’ve never negotiated I…” Korbin Dallas:“Mind if I… try?” Security Chief:“No, no, sure, sure. Sure. [to Mangalores] We’re sending somebody in to negotiate!” Korbin Dallas:[walks into room, sho...| The Epicurean Dealmaker
Liberal Education makes not the Christian, not the Catholic, but the gentleman. It is well to be a gentleman, it is well to have a cultivate...| epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com
An occasional review and commentary on Wall Street, global finance, markets, and their participants, by a pseudonymous investment banker. Sometimes we will venture out into the broader landscape of society, culture, and politics to poke and peer at their curious denizens and bring back amusing reports. * * * Names will be changed to protect the innocent, if we find any.| epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com
Pappy O'Daniel: "I signed that bill. I signed a dozen aggeyculture bills. Everyone knows I'm a friend of the farmer. What I gotta do, s...| epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com
