The rest of the story
I saw "The Wolf of Wall Street" today. I refuse to buy the book it is based on because I won't put a single dime of my money into the pocket of Jordan Belfort (don't ask how I avoided doing so by buying my movie ticket today, and I won't tell).
The movie is good and I'll review it on www.tailslate.net in a day or so. But it's the true story I want to write about after seeing the film. Jordan Belfort is a real person who served a little over two years in federal prison for securities fraud. The only reason his story became so famous is that his prison roommate was Tommy Chong, who encouraged Belfort to write about his experiences. He wrote two books and now there's a movie. Estimates are that he's earned over $1.7 million from these endeavors.
The first problem is that he's supposed to be giving 50% of his income to the feds to be repaid to his victims. He swindled people out of over $200 million and was ordered by the judge to repay $110 million of that amount. So far he's paid a little over $11 million and most of that came from the court-ordered sale of properties that were seized from him.
Instead of repaying his victims, he's currently ensconced in a beachfront mansion in Manhattan Beach, is engaged, and is employing not just one but two good looking assistants to help him manage his various endeavors. He's also able to afford daily tennis lessons from no less than Jeff Tarango, one of the best teaching tennis pros around.
Pink sheets made him his fortune. They are the listings of stocks that aren't on one of the recognized exchanges, like the NYSE or NASDAQ. When I first learned about penny stocks I opined that the reason the sheets are pink is that they were originally white but now have been soaked in the blood of those who bet on penny stocks and are thusly pink. Companies whose stock trades through these pink sheets have no regulatory requirements in terms of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Playing penny stocks makes millionaires, out of those who sell them. Not out of those who buy them.
Belfort tapped into the dream. The dream that there is a fortune to be made easily, if you just believe in it, and want it badly enough. He sold hope. He sold a pipe-dream and he got rich. There is no free lunch. Many people found that out the hard way, thanks to the Wolf of Wall Street.
At the beginning of the movie, another broker told Jordan Belfort that he was pond scum. He was right.
* * *
Kourosh Keshmiri had no business being behind the wheel of a car this past weekend. Convicted of a DUI back in 2010 and arrested again for DUI this past June, his driving license had been suspended. But like so many others who like to drink and then get behind the wheel, he ignored that suspension. Now a man is dead as a result.
Mr. Keshmiri, a 27 year old, was driving so fast than when his late model Cadillac sedan plowed into the side of a house, almost the entire vehicle wound up inside of the building. A man sleeping peacefully in bed was killed. To die is tragic under any circumstance. But to die when our society can't stop people from putting the lives of others in danger boggles the mind.
We have overcrowded prisons. No argument there. Long prison sentences for DUI offenses where no one was hurt make no sense. However, the time has come where every single person who is convicted of DUI must be made to install an ignition interlock device on every vehicle they own. Anything else is risking lives. Needlessly.
* * *
The weekend box office numbers are in and they are quite a surprise. Last year, three of the spots in the Top 5 for the weekend after Christmas were movies that had been released on Christmas. One of those, "Django Unchained" actually challenged the first movie in "The Hobbit" series for the top spot. This year the second movie in that series has a death grip on #1, but none of the films that opened on Christmas Day came anywhere near its numbers. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", "Frozen" and "American Hustle" all outdrew every new release in total weekend receipts and on a per screen average.
I'm amazed at how many movies I see in the listings of what is currently in theaters will probably lose money or at best break even (more or less). "Walking With Dinosaurs" cost $80 million and may never get close to break-even, even with Blu-ray and DVD sales. "Ender's Game" is a money-loser. So is "Escape Plan", in spite of having Stallone and Schwarzenegger on screen at the same time. Same for "Out of the Furnace", which has earned box office receipts of less than half of its production budget.
What I'm having trouble understanding is that in spite of all these money-losing films, and the fact we've been in an economic downturn since 2008, domestic box office gross totals for the year are over $10.8 billion and may set a new annual record. Movie ticket prices didn't rise that much over last year, when the total gross was $10.837 billion.
Local and state government here in California need to do more to stem the tide of movie production which is leaving for other states with more favorable conditions... i.e., tax breaks and cooperation.
By the way, look for lots of big sequels to dominate the box office in 2014 and possibly push the domestic gross for the year over the $11 billion mark. The sequels coming out next year are:
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
"300: Rise of An Empire'
"The Amazing Spider Man 2"
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"
"Transformers: Age of Extinction"
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 1"
"The Hobbit: There and Back Again"
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I believe we need to work to preserve our environment, but I like the plastic bags the grocery stores use. I'll miss them as they disappear.
Michael Schumacher was wearing a helmet and still suffered a serious head injury. So do helmets need to be made better, or are there some situations you just can't protect against?
Jon and Kate Gosselin's 15 minutes were up long ago.
Designer sweatpants, for men? $750 a pair? Gebe mir eine Pause, laß mich in Ruhe.
Why would a member of the Saudi royal family be exempt from facing execution for murder? It is only a rare thing because royals don't often murder, and if they do, they can usually offer enough "blood money" to avoid punishment.
The Chinese Communist party telling political leaders they can't buy cigarettes with public funds is good. Telling those leaders not to smoke in public?? Dunno.
I don't like Japan's new idea to solve homelessness. They're offered work cleaning up the radioactive mess at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
On New Year's Eve, dining at the Applebee's in Times Square is $375 per person. But you can get a bargain down the street at TGIFridays where it's only $225.
* * *
December 30th in History:
1066 – Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.
1460 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield.
1702 – Queen Anne's War: James Moore, Governor of the Province of Carolina, abandons the Siege of St. Augustine.
1813 – British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.
1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis (1816) between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed.
1825 – The Treaty of St. Louis (1825) between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed.
1853 – Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.
1896 – Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila, Philippines.
1897 – The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.
1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.
1905 – Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated at the front gate of his home in Caldwell.
1906 – The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India. It went on to lay the foundations of Pakistan.
1916 – The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita.
1919 – Lincoln's Inn in London, England, UK admits its first female bar student.
1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed.
1927 – The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo, Japan.
1936 – The United Auto Workers union stages its first sitdown strike.
1943 – Subhas Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.
1944 – King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.
1947 – King Michael I of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania.
1948 – The Cole Porter Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate (1,077 performances), opens at the New Century Theatre and becomes the first show to win the Best Musical Tony Award.
1958 – The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing 3 and sparking international tension.
1965 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines.
1972 – Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
1977 – For the second time, Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
1981 – In the 39th game of his third NHL season, Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, giving him 50 on the year and setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 games.
1993 – Israel and Vatican City establish diplomatic relations.
1996 – In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, killing 26.
1996 – Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.
1997 – In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people from four villages are killed.
2000 – Rizal Day bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
2004 – A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.
2005 – Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.
2006 – Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed.
2006 – The Indonesian passenger ferry MV Senopati Nusantara sinks in a storm, resulting in at least 400 deaths.
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.
2009 – A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 150,000 l (40,000 US gal) of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River.
2009 – A suicide bomber kills nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.
2011 – Owing to a change of time zone the day is skipped in Samoa and Tokelau.
Famous Folk Born on December 30th:
Titus, Emperor of Rome
William Croft
Rudyard Kipling
Carol Reed
Jeanette Nolan
Bert Parks
Jo Van Fleet
Seymour Melman
Jack Lord (Book em Dano, Murder One)
Barbara Nichols
Skeeter Davis
Joseph Bologna
Del Shannon
Russ Tamblyn
Sandy Koufax
James Burrows
Mel Renfro
Michael Nesmith
Fred Ward
William J. Fallon
Lloyd Kaufman
Concetta Tomei
Jeff Lynne
Clive Bunker
Barry Greenstein
Patricia Kelember
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Matt Lauer
Tracey Ullman
Sean Hannity
Heidi Fleiss
Tiger Woods
Tyrese Gibson
Eliza Dushku
Kristin Kreuk
LeBron James
Movie quotes today come from "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" because Fred Ward is celebrating his birthday. Thankfully for fans of the Remo Williams novels, the movie adventure began and ended in this one film.
New York City traffic control cop: Excuse me. What are you doin' to that boy?
Remo Williams: Oh, uh, unnecessary use of the horn, officer.
New York City traffic control cop: Well, I'll be unnecessary use of my nightstick on your thick skull if you don't let him go.
Remo Williams: Whatever happened to police courtesy and that kind of stuff, huh?
New York City traffic control cop: We save that bullshit for the Upper East Side.
#2
Chiun: Professional assassination. It's the highest form of public service.
#3
Remo Williams: You know, Chiun, there are times when I really like you.
Chiun: Of course. I am Chiun.
Remo Williams: And there are times when I could really kill you.
Chiun: Good. We will practice that after dinner.
#4
Chiun: It would be better for you to eat this can than what is inside of it. Why must everything in this country be coated with monositi-... monosoti...
Remo Williams: Monosodium glutamate. You can't even say it.
Chiun: I can say "rat droppings." That does not mean I want to eat them.
The movie is good and I'll review it on www.tailslate.net in a day or so. But it's the true story I want to write about after seeing the film. Jordan Belfort is a real person who served a little over two years in federal prison for securities fraud. The only reason his story became so famous is that his prison roommate was Tommy Chong, who encouraged Belfort to write about his experiences. He wrote two books and now there's a movie. Estimates are that he's earned over $1.7 million from these endeavors.
The first problem is that he's supposed to be giving 50% of his income to the feds to be repaid to his victims. He swindled people out of over $200 million and was ordered by the judge to repay $110 million of that amount. So far he's paid a little over $11 million and most of that came from the court-ordered sale of properties that were seized from him.
Instead of repaying his victims, he's currently ensconced in a beachfront mansion in Manhattan Beach, is engaged, and is employing not just one but two good looking assistants to help him manage his various endeavors. He's also able to afford daily tennis lessons from no less than Jeff Tarango, one of the best teaching tennis pros around.
Pink sheets made him his fortune. They are the listings of stocks that aren't on one of the recognized exchanges, like the NYSE or NASDAQ. When I first learned about penny stocks I opined that the reason the sheets are pink is that they were originally white but now have been soaked in the blood of those who bet on penny stocks and are thusly pink. Companies whose stock trades through these pink sheets have no regulatory requirements in terms of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Playing penny stocks makes millionaires, out of those who sell them. Not out of those who buy them.
Belfort tapped into the dream. The dream that there is a fortune to be made easily, if you just believe in it, and want it badly enough. He sold hope. He sold a pipe-dream and he got rich. There is no free lunch. Many people found that out the hard way, thanks to the Wolf of Wall Street.
At the beginning of the movie, another broker told Jordan Belfort that he was pond scum. He was right.
* * *
Kourosh Keshmiri had no business being behind the wheel of a car this past weekend. Convicted of a DUI back in 2010 and arrested again for DUI this past June, his driving license had been suspended. But like so many others who like to drink and then get behind the wheel, he ignored that suspension. Now a man is dead as a result.
Mr. Keshmiri, a 27 year old, was driving so fast than when his late model Cadillac sedan plowed into the side of a house, almost the entire vehicle wound up inside of the building. A man sleeping peacefully in bed was killed. To die is tragic under any circumstance. But to die when our society can't stop people from putting the lives of others in danger boggles the mind.
We have overcrowded prisons. No argument there. Long prison sentences for DUI offenses where no one was hurt make no sense. However, the time has come where every single person who is convicted of DUI must be made to install an ignition interlock device on every vehicle they own. Anything else is risking lives. Needlessly.
* * *
The weekend box office numbers are in and they are quite a surprise. Last year, three of the spots in the Top 5 for the weekend after Christmas were movies that had been released on Christmas. One of those, "Django Unchained" actually challenged the first movie in "The Hobbit" series for the top spot. This year the second movie in that series has a death grip on #1, but none of the films that opened on Christmas Day came anywhere near its numbers. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", "Frozen" and "American Hustle" all outdrew every new release in total weekend receipts and on a per screen average.
I'm amazed at how many movies I see in the listings of what is currently in theaters will probably lose money or at best break even (more or less). "Walking With Dinosaurs" cost $80 million and may never get close to break-even, even with Blu-ray and DVD sales. "Ender's Game" is a money-loser. So is "Escape Plan", in spite of having Stallone and Schwarzenegger on screen at the same time. Same for "Out of the Furnace", which has earned box office receipts of less than half of its production budget.
What I'm having trouble understanding is that in spite of all these money-losing films, and the fact we've been in an economic downturn since 2008, domestic box office gross totals for the year are over $10.8 billion and may set a new annual record. Movie ticket prices didn't rise that much over last year, when the total gross was $10.837 billion.
Local and state government here in California need to do more to stem the tide of movie production which is leaving for other states with more favorable conditions... i.e., tax breaks and cooperation.
By the way, look for lots of big sequels to dominate the box office in 2014 and possibly push the domestic gross for the year over the $11 billion mark. The sequels coming out next year are:
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
"300: Rise of An Empire'
"The Amazing Spider Man 2"
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"
"Transformers: Age of Extinction"
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 1"
"The Hobbit: There and Back Again"
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I believe we need to work to preserve our environment, but I like the plastic bags the grocery stores use. I'll miss them as they disappear.
Michael Schumacher was wearing a helmet and still suffered a serious head injury. So do helmets need to be made better, or are there some situations you just can't protect against?
Jon and Kate Gosselin's 15 minutes were up long ago.
Designer sweatpants, for men? $750 a pair? Gebe mir eine Pause, laß mich in Ruhe.
Why would a member of the Saudi royal family be exempt from facing execution for murder? It is only a rare thing because royals don't often murder, and if they do, they can usually offer enough "blood money" to avoid punishment.
The Chinese Communist party telling political leaders they can't buy cigarettes with public funds is good. Telling those leaders not to smoke in public?? Dunno.
I don't like Japan's new idea to solve homelessness. They're offered work cleaning up the radioactive mess at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
On New Year's Eve, dining at the Applebee's in Times Square is $375 per person. But you can get a bargain down the street at TGIFridays where it's only $225.
* * *
December 30th in History:
1066 – Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.
1460 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield.
1702 – Queen Anne's War: James Moore, Governor of the Province of Carolina, abandons the Siege of St. Augustine.
1813 – British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.
1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis (1816) between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed.
1825 – The Treaty of St. Louis (1825) between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed.
1853 – Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.
1896 – Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila, Philippines.
1897 – The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.
1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.
1905 – Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated at the front gate of his home in Caldwell.
1906 – The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India. It went on to lay the foundations of Pakistan.
1916 – The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita.
1919 – Lincoln's Inn in London, England, UK admits its first female bar student.
1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed.
1927 – The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo, Japan.
1936 – The United Auto Workers union stages its first sitdown strike.
1943 – Subhas Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.
1944 – King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.
1947 – King Michael I of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania.
1948 – The Cole Porter Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate (1,077 performances), opens at the New Century Theatre and becomes the first show to win the Best Musical Tony Award.
1958 – The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing 3 and sparking international tension.
1965 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines.
1972 – Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
1977 – For the second time, Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
1981 – In the 39th game of his third NHL season, Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, giving him 50 on the year and setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 games.
1993 – Israel and Vatican City establish diplomatic relations.
1996 – In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, killing 26.
1996 – Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.
1997 – In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people from four villages are killed.
2000 – Rizal Day bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
2004 – A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.
2005 – Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.
2006 – Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed.
2006 – The Indonesian passenger ferry MV Senopati Nusantara sinks in a storm, resulting in at least 400 deaths.
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.
2009 – A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 150,000 l (40,000 US gal) of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River.
2009 – A suicide bomber kills nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.
2011 – Owing to a change of time zone the day is skipped in Samoa and Tokelau.
Famous Folk Born on December 30th:
Titus, Emperor of Rome
William Croft
Rudyard Kipling
Carol Reed
Jeanette Nolan
Bert Parks
Jo Van Fleet
Seymour Melman
Jack Lord (Book em Dano, Murder One)
Barbara Nichols
Skeeter Davis
Joseph Bologna
Del Shannon
Russ Tamblyn
Sandy Koufax
James Burrows
Mel Renfro
Michael Nesmith
Fred Ward
William J. Fallon
Lloyd Kaufman
Concetta Tomei
Jeff Lynne
Clive Bunker
Barry Greenstein
Patricia Kelember
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Matt Lauer
Tracey Ullman
Sean Hannity
Heidi Fleiss
Tiger Woods
Tyrese Gibson
Eliza Dushku
Kristin Kreuk
LeBron James
Movie quotes today come from "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" because Fred Ward is celebrating his birthday. Thankfully for fans of the Remo Williams novels, the movie adventure began and ended in this one film.
New York City traffic control cop: Excuse me. What are you doin' to that boy?
Remo Williams: Oh, uh, unnecessary use of the horn, officer.
New York City traffic control cop: Well, I'll be unnecessary use of my nightstick on your thick skull if you don't let him go.
Remo Williams: Whatever happened to police courtesy and that kind of stuff, huh?
New York City traffic control cop: We save that bullshit for the Upper East Side.
#2
Chiun: Professional assassination. It's the highest form of public service.
#3
Remo Williams: You know, Chiun, there are times when I really like you.
Chiun: Of course. I am Chiun.
Remo Williams: And there are times when I could really kill you.
Chiun: Good. We will practice that after dinner.
#4
Chiun: It would be better for you to eat this can than what is inside of it. Why must everything in this country be coated with monositi-... monosoti...
Remo Williams: Monosodium glutamate. You can't even say it.
Chiun: I can say "rat droppings." That does not mean I want to eat them.
posted by me at 6:50 AM
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