Paul Douglas considers himself an "albino unicorn." A moderate Republican, he's also a meteorologist who believes climate change is real. That position was met with scorn by some of the right, who called him a "RINO [Republican In Name Only] climate poser," a "global warming hoax promoter," and worse. Theater artist and musician Cynthia Hopkins didn't need much convincing about the dire consequences we face if we don't address the climate crisis, but two events were pivotal in pushing her to take up the subject in her art--a talk on sustainability at the 2009 Tipping Point conference and a residency with Cape Farewell, a program that aims to "instigate a cultural response to climate change." In 2010, she joined Cape Farewell's Arctic Expedition, in which artists and marine scientists experienced the very environment most threatened by global warming.
While their career paths are sharply divergent, Douglas and Hopkins share twin tools when addressing climate change--science and spirituality. A longtime fixture in Twin Cities media, Douglas is founder of the Media Logic Group, which runs several companies dedicated to collecting, analyzing, and presenting weather data. He's also an evangelical Christian, and biblical principles of environmental stewardship shape his stance on global warming. While deeply informed by research, Hopkins aims for a "wider, vaster lens" in her new work, the Walker co-commissioned music-theater piece This Clement World, which she says looks at both the spiritual and scientific sides of the issue. In advance of the Midwest premiere of This Clement World, Douglas and Hopkins sat down with me to discuss their personal climate journeys and ways that art and science can cooperate in changing minds about a changing planet.
As soon as someone takes on "political" themes in their art, the perception of the work's goals often seems to change: it's not art for art's sake but includes an element of advocacy. Cynthia, do you notice that audiences or critics respond to the premise of this piece differently than past works? What is your aim with the work as a whole, and how does advocacy--the changing of minds--factor in?
I'm always baffled when I hear this issue is politicized. I think it's only politicized insofar as politics is so influenced by the financial markets, and I think that's sad and horrifying. I don't think of it as a political issue. I'm just transmitting a disturbance I've been learning about. I'm filtering that information through my own perspective and experiences and transforming it into a work that hopefully inspires people to learn more on their own. I wouldn't call it a political piece. In terms of effect, I make a strident effort to ignore any idea of how something might come across when I'm making it because I find that to be a poison that can destroy the process. I think that is the advantage of art as a form of communication, in distinction from political, journalistic, or even scientific communications, because there isn't an agenda. I'm in service to the work itself, and the work is like an organism. It's not a means to an end.
I was skeptical in the '80s. In the '90s, I saw evidence--just tracking the weather day in and day out--that something had changed, and these changes were consistent with what climate scientists have been saying for 20 or 30 years. Then I dug into the peer-reviewed research and came to the conclusion--independently, before Al Gore made his movie--that, hey, this is real. This is a real trend, and we ignore it at our peril. My politics are moderate. I'm fiscally conservative and socially progressive. I'm also an evangelical Christian and I'm concerned about climate change--which basically makes me an albino unicorn. I feel like that some days. "Wow, you're a freak!" But, you know what, there are a lot of Republicans out there, especially anybody under the age of 30 or 35, who still respect science and the scientific method.
A lot of this comes down to science literacy, and the fact that many Americans really aren't willing to dig into the science. It's much easier to turn on a cable news show with bloviating talking heads going back and forth, and it's kind of sad. You know what's ironic? Mother Nature is now accomplishing what climate scientists have had a hard time doing--getting people's attention. The past two years have been the most extreme, weather-wise, in America's history. In 2011, four out of five Americans surveyed personally witnessed severe weather. One out of three were personally injured by severe weather. We've had $188 billion in severe-weather damage in the last two years, so Mother Nature is accomplishing what climate scientists cannot, and that is, convince a majority of rational, god-fearing people that something has changed. It's not your grandfather's weather.
Environmentalists of the '60s, '70s, and '80s came to understand the power of imagery as a rhetorical tool. Striking photography of photogenic animals coated in oil, toxic rivers on fire, and formerly pristine forests clear-cut played a key role in changing minds on the environment. It was argued around the turn of the millennium that the gradual nature of climate change--as well as the distance we are from places where its effects are most prominent (the Arctic, say)--meant that those tactics were less effective. Perhaps that's changing again, with dramatic events such as Hurricane Sandy or Katrina, and with social media making us more connected. Take the movie Chasing Ice, about photographer James Balog, who documented Arctic glaciers melting using 25 time-lapse cameras over three years. One scene--showing the "calving" of a glacier the size of the island of Manhattan--went viral, getting more than 3.7 million views on YouTube. Could you talk about that--about how activists and artists have a new set of tools, which is a dramatic set of images and videos?
I've seen that. It's breathtaking. But I think the most effective image, especially for a denier over the age of 55 or 60, is a photograph of their grandkids. There are nearly 1,000 references in the Bible--Old Testament and New Testament--to caring for God's creation. A thousand. For me, that's powerful. Are you looking out for your kids or your grandkids, or is it, "Hey, let's get the most we can grab right now and to hell with future generations." We're accountable. My dad taught me that actions have consequences. You can't pump trillions of tons of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and pretend it's not going to come back and bite us. It's biting us in the weather.
[German philosopher Arthur] Schopenhauer said something once that really resonates with me: "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." And we are now coming out of phase two. And it's because--as Cynthia said--so much money is on the line. You've got the largest corporations that have ever been on the planet, and their business model is in danger. They feel threatened. They don't want to be regulated out of existence, so they're fighting back. They're keeping this confusion going, and they're funding this ongoing confusion. It's not just springing up organically. We're talking about tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars going into these think tanks, the Heritage Foundation-type enterprises that made the news last year, that are keeping confusion going. It's like the tobacco debate that Philip Morris had in the '70s times 10,000, because there's so much more money on the line. That's why we have so much push back right now in this country.
I often ask people, "How much evidence is enough? How much do you need?" The North Pole Arctic ice has lost four fifths of its volume since 1979. Ninety percent of the world's glaciers are shrinking. Sea level has risen 8 to 12 inches depending on the location. The oceans are warmer, the oceans are more acidic, coral reefs are dying. We've got all these fingerprints out there. For me, it's been an accumulation of coincidences.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Vue surges to 77 percent sold
The Vue, the new luxury condominium building in downtown New Brunswick, has become an icon in this dynamic neighborhood since its grand opening, a 23-story testament to the appeal of urban living.
Featuring a collection of just 42 penthouse condominiums, an exciting suite of amenities and services, street-level retail and direct connectivity to the New Brunswick Train Station via a pedestrian walkway, The Vue’s formula for a vibrant and convenient lifestyle has clearly hit its mark, with 77% of the upscale residences now sold.
Homebuyers can still secure their place in one of the region’s hottest luxury condominium buildings as premium ownership opportunities for prime upper-floor, two-bedroom residences are available at prices starting from $388,000. Immediate occupancy is available.
“The Vue has successfully introduced an upscale living experience in the heart of a dynamic downtown setting teeming with cultural, dining and recreational pursuits,” said Christopher J. Paladino, president of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), which developed The Vue in partnership with Pennrose Properties and retained The Marketing Directors as the building’s exclusive sales and marketing agent.
“The building’s direct walkway connection to the New Brunswick Train Station and convenient location just steps from a variety of retail and social establishments embraces the appeal of downtown urban living and provides residents with the lifestyle they desire,” Paladino added.
Residents of The Vue barely have to leave their homes to enjoy some of New Brunswick’s newest lifestyle attractions as the building features 57,000 square-feet of retail space in its first two stories, including a full-scale Barnes & Noble book store featuring a Starbucks cafe that is also serving as the Rutgers University Book Store, and a Brother Jimmy’s BBQ restaurant. There’s also a 657-space on-site parking garage. In addition, The Fresh Grocer, the first full-service supermarket in New Brunswick in more than a generation, and the 60,000 square-foot Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Fitness & Wellness Center, featuring a state-of-the-art workout facility, a Junior Olympic-size lap pool, a therapy pool and a therapeutic spa area, recently opened to the public a couple of blocks away.
The Vue’s collection of two-bedroom penthouse condominiums features upscale living spaces with lustrous wood flooring throughout the living and dining area, plush carpeting in the bedrooms, oversized windows, and the convenience of an in-home washer and dryer.
Open gourmet kitchens offer rich custom cabinetry, smooth granite countertops, porcelain tile floors and a top tier GE Energy Star stainless-steel appliance suite. Master baths with marble flooring have custom vanities with silver-gray granite countertops and oversized stall showers, while secondary baths are adorned with high-design choices such as sueded cappuccino hues, and an elegant soaking tub.
Kelly has been helping sellers prepare their homes for sale for 29 years. Kelly knows that most sellers want to improve their kitchens and bathrooms.
“Most of my clients need to spruce up their home and make it move-in condition,” said Kelly. According to Kelly, typical projects sellers will undertake include painting kitchen and bathrooms with more modern paint colors and putting in light switches.
In bathrooms that look dated, Kelly said he typically paints over the tiles in a neutral color and recaulks the tub. “These small fixes can make a big difference,” said Kelly.
“As a seller, you will want to address items like a door that doesn’t latch property or a window that is cracked,” said Kelly.
Loose handrails and outlets that are not in a junction box or affixed can be red flags to a buyer, according to Kelly. Luckily, small safety-related repairs like this can be done in day, he said.
Kelly said that by completing small projects like these, buyers get peace of mind when they walk through a house and see that most items are in good shape.
Kelly said a light bathroom remodeling job consisting of a new toilet, vanity, and a countertop can take a few days to a week. He suggests that home sellers should plan for at least 2 weeks for a kitchen remodeling job including a new floor, countertop backsplash and painting.
In addition to sprucing up the inside of the house, sellers may also need to address landscaping tasks.
Dave Plechner, Vice President of Operations at FJP Services Inc. in Southampton, Pa., has been in the landscaping field for 28 years.
“Filling in your landscape beds and putting flowers on either side of the entry door can make a big difference,” said Plechner. Plechner thinks by making your front door the focal point, this landscaping arrangement makes a home more inviting.
The spring clean-up service offered by FJP Services Inc. includes an exterior property inspection. Commonly found items that need addressing include busted hose bibs, broken gutters, and loose fascia board.
Plechner also recommends pulling up any weeds in your flower beds and remulching them. Another relatively simple idea is to add seasonal planters like palm trees around the patio or pool area for just a couple hundred dollars, he said.
A more complicated repair is a concrete walkway that is not level and has cracks, which Plechner says should be taken out and repaired. “Sellers can replace it with new concrete, pavers, flagstone, or even brick,” said Plechner.
Some jobs can take 2 hours or up to a week to complete, depending on the complexity.
When deciding what projects may need to be completed, you will want to consult also with your Realtor.
“If you are going to sell your home this spring, you need to look at your home objectively; if there are maintenance items in the house that haven’t been addressed and it’s bugging you, it will certainly bug a buyer,” said Realtor Lucia Jackson of Weichert Realtors in Moorestown, N.J. Jackson also serves as President-Elect at the Burlington County Association of Realtors.
Featuring a collection of just 42 penthouse condominiums, an exciting suite of amenities and services, street-level retail and direct connectivity to the New Brunswick Train Station via a pedestrian walkway, The Vue’s formula for a vibrant and convenient lifestyle has clearly hit its mark, with 77% of the upscale residences now sold.
Homebuyers can still secure their place in one of the region’s hottest luxury condominium buildings as premium ownership opportunities for prime upper-floor, two-bedroom residences are available at prices starting from $388,000. Immediate occupancy is available.
“The Vue has successfully introduced an upscale living experience in the heart of a dynamic downtown setting teeming with cultural, dining and recreational pursuits,” said Christopher J. Paladino, president of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), which developed The Vue in partnership with Pennrose Properties and retained The Marketing Directors as the building’s exclusive sales and marketing agent.
“The building’s direct walkway connection to the New Brunswick Train Station and convenient location just steps from a variety of retail and social establishments embraces the appeal of downtown urban living and provides residents with the lifestyle they desire,” Paladino added.
Residents of The Vue barely have to leave their homes to enjoy some of New Brunswick’s newest lifestyle attractions as the building features 57,000 square-feet of retail space in its first two stories, including a full-scale Barnes & Noble book store featuring a Starbucks cafe that is also serving as the Rutgers University Book Store, and a Brother Jimmy’s BBQ restaurant. There’s also a 657-space on-site parking garage. In addition, The Fresh Grocer, the first full-service supermarket in New Brunswick in more than a generation, and the 60,000 square-foot Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Fitness & Wellness Center, featuring a state-of-the-art workout facility, a Junior Olympic-size lap pool, a therapy pool and a therapeutic spa area, recently opened to the public a couple of blocks away.
The Vue’s collection of two-bedroom penthouse condominiums features upscale living spaces with lustrous wood flooring throughout the living and dining area, plush carpeting in the bedrooms, oversized windows, and the convenience of an in-home washer and dryer.
Open gourmet kitchens offer rich custom cabinetry, smooth granite countertops, porcelain tile floors and a top tier GE Energy Star stainless-steel appliance suite. Master baths with marble flooring have custom vanities with silver-gray granite countertops and oversized stall showers, while secondary baths are adorned with high-design choices such as sueded cappuccino hues, and an elegant soaking tub.
Kelly has been helping sellers prepare their homes for sale for 29 years. Kelly knows that most sellers want to improve their kitchens and bathrooms.
“Most of my clients need to spruce up their home and make it move-in condition,” said Kelly. According to Kelly, typical projects sellers will undertake include painting kitchen and bathrooms with more modern paint colors and putting in light switches.
In bathrooms that look dated, Kelly said he typically paints over the tiles in a neutral color and recaulks the tub. “These small fixes can make a big difference,” said Kelly.
“As a seller, you will want to address items like a door that doesn’t latch property or a window that is cracked,” said Kelly.
Loose handrails and outlets that are not in a junction box or affixed can be red flags to a buyer, according to Kelly. Luckily, small safety-related repairs like this can be done in day, he said.
Kelly said that by completing small projects like these, buyers get peace of mind when they walk through a house and see that most items are in good shape.
Kelly said a light bathroom remodeling job consisting of a new toilet, vanity, and a countertop can take a few days to a week. He suggests that home sellers should plan for at least 2 weeks for a kitchen remodeling job including a new floor, countertop backsplash and painting.
In addition to sprucing up the inside of the house, sellers may also need to address landscaping tasks.
Dave Plechner, Vice President of Operations at FJP Services Inc. in Southampton, Pa., has been in the landscaping field for 28 years.
“Filling in your landscape beds and putting flowers on either side of the entry door can make a big difference,” said Plechner. Plechner thinks by making your front door the focal point, this landscaping arrangement makes a home more inviting.
The spring clean-up service offered by FJP Services Inc. includes an exterior property inspection. Commonly found items that need addressing include busted hose bibs, broken gutters, and loose fascia board.
Plechner also recommends pulling up any weeds in your flower beds and remulching them. Another relatively simple idea is to add seasonal planters like palm trees around the patio or pool area for just a couple hundred dollars, he said.
A more complicated repair is a concrete walkway that is not level and has cracks, which Plechner says should be taken out and repaired. “Sellers can replace it with new concrete, pavers, flagstone, or even brick,” said Plechner.
Some jobs can take 2 hours or up to a week to complete, depending on the complexity.
When deciding what projects may need to be completed, you will want to consult also with your Realtor.
“If you are going to sell your home this spring, you need to look at your home objectively; if there are maintenance items in the house that haven’t been addressed and it’s bugging you, it will certainly bug a buyer,” said Realtor Lucia Jackson of Weichert Realtors in Moorestown, N.J. Jackson also serves as President-Elect at the Burlington County Association of Realtors.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Lennar begins building in Sonoma Village at Fiddler's Creek
Lennar Homes is initiating construction in Sonoma, a distinctive village of 30 classic Mediterranean-style coach homes in the luxury, master-planned community of Fiddler’s Creek.
The newly released village of Sonoma will offer two separate three-bedroom floor plans, with most homesites offering views of lakes and waterways. The national homebuilder expects to break ground this spring, with the first models available later this year.
The Florence is a single-family residence offering 1,883 square feet of air-conditioned space. The home will feature three bedrooms and two baths designed around a living room and adjoining dining room and kitchen. The home also will feature a covered patio area and a two-car garage. The base price of The Florence is currently $279,990.
The Verona is a single-family residence encompassing 2,141 square feet of air-conditioned space. The home will feature three bedrooms and two baths designed around a living room and adjoining dining room and kitchen. There also is an covered patio area and an expanded three-car tandem garage. The base price of the Verona is currently $299,990.
Each residence within Sonoma will be built of structurally engineered reinforced concrete block wall construction with concrete tile roofs. Each home will also feature a number of Lennar green features and energy-saving systems. Interior design features will include Colonial style wood casing and baseboards, GE kitchen appliances, walk-in closets, diagonal ceramic tile flooring, Roman tub in master baths and upgraded designer bath fixtures.
Located off Collier Boulevard between Naples and Marco Island, Fiddler’s Creek is an award-winning golf course community that received the 2012 CBIA Sand Dollar Award for Community of the Year, Best Special Event for Residents — New Year’s Eve Party and Best Community Newsletter.
Fiddler’s Creek comprises of nearly 4,000 acres and is zoned for 6,000 residences. Less than a third of the land will be developed, while the remainder is dedicated to nature reserves, lakes, parks, golf courses and recreational areas.
Amenities include the 54,000-square-foot Club & Spa, fitness center, multi-pool swimming complex, tennis courts, tot lot, restaurants and social calendar. Residents also have an opportunity to join the Golf Club, ranked in Golfweek’s 100 Best Residential Golf Courses in the country for the eighth consecutive year and the Tarpon Club, which offers a beach and boating lifestyle. Nonresident annual and seasonal memberships with term date flexibility are available at the Golf Club and the Tarpon Club.
Approximately one-third of the tiles are complete. If you are interested in putting your mark on the new art center by creating a tile, give us a call for the next event date. Tile makers include: Christelle and Rachel Bowerman-Lima, Sue Rakes-Napoleon, Toni Britton-Harmon-Wauseon, Scott Kraemer-Bryan, Anna and Jim Perry-Ohio City, Brendan Colley-Hazel Park MI, Erin McMillan, Adam Ries, William and Alexis Hawkins, and Hope Wallace all of Van Wert.
The Ohio Watercolor Society traveling exhibit will open on March 9 and continue through March 31. We invite you to attend the public opening reception on March 9 running from 1 to 3 p.m. where refreshment will be provided. We'll The Ohio Watercolor exhibit is comprised of approximately 40 of Ohio's best watercolor paintings. Winners of this competition go on to compete in national level competitions of the prestigious American Watercolor completion. The artists from all over Ohio and some border states that are represented in this show are just another shining example of the powerful talent Ohio has to offer. Additionally, we are excited to be hosting the future American Watercolor Society exhibit in early 2015.
During the opening reception of the Ohio Watercolor Society exhibit on March 9 we invite you to create a ceramic tile while you're here. We are creating these handmade tiles for use in and around our future home, the Van Wert Armory. Areas such as the stage front, restrooms and outdoor areas will receive a splash of uniqueness and further mark the Wassenberg Art Center as a community effort.
On April 24, our friends at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center will have international National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore for a color saturated presentation on photographing some of the worlds most exotic wildlife and another event, "Remembering Rockwell", presented by Ceci Wiselogel and scheduled for March 14 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Visit the Niswonger Performing Arts Center website for ticket information. Tickets are only $5 and this is a great way to learn more about America's favorite illustrator, Norman Rockwell and is the next best thing to a Rockwell museum visit.
The newly released village of Sonoma will offer two separate three-bedroom floor plans, with most homesites offering views of lakes and waterways. The national homebuilder expects to break ground this spring, with the first models available later this year.
The Florence is a single-family residence offering 1,883 square feet of air-conditioned space. The home will feature three bedrooms and two baths designed around a living room and adjoining dining room and kitchen. The home also will feature a covered patio area and a two-car garage. The base price of The Florence is currently $279,990.
The Verona is a single-family residence encompassing 2,141 square feet of air-conditioned space. The home will feature three bedrooms and two baths designed around a living room and adjoining dining room and kitchen. There also is an covered patio area and an expanded three-car tandem garage. The base price of the Verona is currently $299,990.
Each residence within Sonoma will be built of structurally engineered reinforced concrete block wall construction with concrete tile roofs. Each home will also feature a number of Lennar green features and energy-saving systems. Interior design features will include Colonial style wood casing and baseboards, GE kitchen appliances, walk-in closets, diagonal ceramic tile flooring, Roman tub in master baths and upgraded designer bath fixtures.
Located off Collier Boulevard between Naples and Marco Island, Fiddler’s Creek is an award-winning golf course community that received the 2012 CBIA Sand Dollar Award for Community of the Year, Best Special Event for Residents — New Year’s Eve Party and Best Community Newsletter.
Fiddler’s Creek comprises of nearly 4,000 acres and is zoned for 6,000 residences. Less than a third of the land will be developed, while the remainder is dedicated to nature reserves, lakes, parks, golf courses and recreational areas.
Amenities include the 54,000-square-foot Club & Spa, fitness center, multi-pool swimming complex, tennis courts, tot lot, restaurants and social calendar. Residents also have an opportunity to join the Golf Club, ranked in Golfweek’s 100 Best Residential Golf Courses in the country for the eighth consecutive year and the Tarpon Club, which offers a beach and boating lifestyle. Nonresident annual and seasonal memberships with term date flexibility are available at the Golf Club and the Tarpon Club.
Approximately one-third of the tiles are complete. If you are interested in putting your mark on the new art center by creating a tile, give us a call for the next event date. Tile makers include: Christelle and Rachel Bowerman-Lima, Sue Rakes-Napoleon, Toni Britton-Harmon-Wauseon, Scott Kraemer-Bryan, Anna and Jim Perry-Ohio City, Brendan Colley-Hazel Park MI, Erin McMillan, Adam Ries, William and Alexis Hawkins, and Hope Wallace all of Van Wert.
The Ohio Watercolor Society traveling exhibit will open on March 9 and continue through March 31. We invite you to attend the public opening reception on March 9 running from 1 to 3 p.m. where refreshment will be provided. We'll The Ohio Watercolor exhibit is comprised of approximately 40 of Ohio's best watercolor paintings. Winners of this competition go on to compete in national level competitions of the prestigious American Watercolor completion. The artists from all over Ohio and some border states that are represented in this show are just another shining example of the powerful talent Ohio has to offer. Additionally, we are excited to be hosting the future American Watercolor Society exhibit in early 2015.
During the opening reception of the Ohio Watercolor Society exhibit on March 9 we invite you to create a ceramic tile while you're here. We are creating these handmade tiles for use in and around our future home, the Van Wert Armory. Areas such as the stage front, restrooms and outdoor areas will receive a splash of uniqueness and further mark the Wassenberg Art Center as a community effort.
On April 24, our friends at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center will have international National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore for a color saturated presentation on photographing some of the worlds most exotic wildlife and another event, "Remembering Rockwell", presented by Ceci Wiselogel and scheduled for March 14 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Visit the Niswonger Performing Arts Center website for ticket information. Tickets are only $5 and this is a great way to learn more about America's favorite illustrator, Norman Rockwell and is the next best thing to a Rockwell museum visit.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
France Said to Consider Alcatel Stake After Patent Deal
The French government is weighing options including an investment in Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALU) as it looks to protect the unprofitable network equipment maker’s patents, people with knowledge of the deliberations said.
Taking a minority stake in Alcatel-Lucent, potentially through the Fonds Strategique d’Investissement state vehicle, is among alternatives being considered by the French administration, said a government official, who asked not to be identified as he wasn’t authorized to be cited by the media. Such a move would give France more influence at the company after a 2 billion-euro ($2.6 billion) financing deal criticized by officials, other people familiar with the matter said.
Other plans that have been considered by officials include encouraging a merger between Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent and rival Nokia Siemens Networks, or an investment in Alcatel- Lucent’s undersea cable business, said the people.
The government isn’t likely to decide which option to pursue before a successor is found for Chief Executive Officer Ben Verwaayen and the state may ultimately decide not to take a stake in the company or intervene, the people said. Verwaayen said this month that he would resign once a successor is found after a three-year turnaround plan failed to return the company to profit.
A government investment in Alcatel-Lucent would be a new chapter in the history of a onetime French industrial giant, with former operations ranging from spaceflight to cutting-edge theoretical physics, that’s been weakened by Asian competition and slower spending on network equipment by mobile carriers.
Alcatel-Lucent, created with the 2006 merger of Alcatel SA with U.S.-based Lucent Technologies, was removed from France’s benchmark stock-market index in 2012 as its value slipped to less than 2 billion euros, a decline of 70 percent since 2008. Since the deal, the combined firm has accumulated about 10 billion euros in losses, while its cash reserves have dwindled by an average of 700 million euros a year.
Last month, the French government unsuccessfully sought alternative solutions for Alcatel-Lucent’s financing needs, according to union representatives. President Francois Hollande’s socialist government has regularly opposed attempts by struggling companies to shut facilities or restructure assets, fighting job cuts at Peugeot SA (UG) and ArcelorMittal.
In late January, Alcatel-Lucent said it had expanded its initial financing agreement by 400 million euros, achieved an average price decrease of 90 basis points, and removed financial covenants, making a default the primary trigger for giving up its collateral. In a statement, French ministers welcomed the better terms and took partial credit for the adjustment after the government “mobilized itself and examined, in cooperation with the company, all the feasible options.”
Nonetheless, the changes to the terms were due largely to better market conditions following the avoidance of the so- called fiscal cliff in the U.S., according to people familiar with the transaction. The initial conditions, on which discussions with Alcatel-Lucent Chief Financial Officer Paul Tufano began in October, were reflective of the more risk-averse market environment of the time, the people added.
Alcatel-Lucent’s patent portfolio, partially inherited from New Jersey’s storied Bell Labs research center, touches on video-conferencing as well as data compression and transfer.
That intellectual property makes up a significant proportion of Alcatel-Lucent’s available assets, and was thus the logical collateral for a company unable to raise funds through a share sale and facing high costs for unsecured lending, the people said.
Patents with applications for mobile technology have gained in value as companies including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. repeatedly take each other to court over alleged infringements. Google Inc. cited the value of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio as a primary justification for its $12.5 billion acquisition of the smartphone maker in 2011.
Nonetheless, the changes to the terms were due largely to better market conditions following the avoidance of the so- called fiscal cliff in the U.S., according to people familiar with the transaction. The initial conditions, on which discussions with Alcatel-Lucent Chief Financial Officer Paul Tufano began in October, were reflective of the more risk-averse market environment of the time, the people added.
Alcatel-Lucent’s patent portfolio, partially inherited from New Jersey’s storied Bell Labs research center, touches on video-conferencing as well as data compression and transfer.
That intellectual property makes up a significant proportion of Alcatel-Lucent’s available assets, and was thus the logical collateral for a company unable to raise funds through a share sale and facing high costs for unsecured lending, the people said.
Patents with applications for mobile technology have gained in value as companies including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. repeatedly take each other to court over alleged infringements. Google Inc. cited the value of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio as a primary justification for its $12.5 billion acquisition of the smartphone maker in 2011.
Taking a minority stake in Alcatel-Lucent, potentially through the Fonds Strategique d’Investissement state vehicle, is among alternatives being considered by the French administration, said a government official, who asked not to be identified as he wasn’t authorized to be cited by the media. Such a move would give France more influence at the company after a 2 billion-euro ($2.6 billion) financing deal criticized by officials, other people familiar with the matter said.
Other plans that have been considered by officials include encouraging a merger between Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent and rival Nokia Siemens Networks, or an investment in Alcatel- Lucent’s undersea cable business, said the people.
The government isn’t likely to decide which option to pursue before a successor is found for Chief Executive Officer Ben Verwaayen and the state may ultimately decide not to take a stake in the company or intervene, the people said. Verwaayen said this month that he would resign once a successor is found after a three-year turnaround plan failed to return the company to profit.
A government investment in Alcatel-Lucent would be a new chapter in the history of a onetime French industrial giant, with former operations ranging from spaceflight to cutting-edge theoretical physics, that’s been weakened by Asian competition and slower spending on network equipment by mobile carriers.
Alcatel-Lucent, created with the 2006 merger of Alcatel SA with U.S.-based Lucent Technologies, was removed from France’s benchmark stock-market index in 2012 as its value slipped to less than 2 billion euros, a decline of 70 percent since 2008. Since the deal, the combined firm has accumulated about 10 billion euros in losses, while its cash reserves have dwindled by an average of 700 million euros a year.
Last month, the French government unsuccessfully sought alternative solutions for Alcatel-Lucent’s financing needs, according to union representatives. President Francois Hollande’s socialist government has regularly opposed attempts by struggling companies to shut facilities or restructure assets, fighting job cuts at Peugeot SA (UG) and ArcelorMittal.
In late January, Alcatel-Lucent said it had expanded its initial financing agreement by 400 million euros, achieved an average price decrease of 90 basis points, and removed financial covenants, making a default the primary trigger for giving up its collateral. In a statement, French ministers welcomed the better terms and took partial credit for the adjustment after the government “mobilized itself and examined, in cooperation with the company, all the feasible options.”
Nonetheless, the changes to the terms were due largely to better market conditions following the avoidance of the so- called fiscal cliff in the U.S., according to people familiar with the transaction. The initial conditions, on which discussions with Alcatel-Lucent Chief Financial Officer Paul Tufano began in October, were reflective of the more risk-averse market environment of the time, the people added.
Alcatel-Lucent’s patent portfolio, partially inherited from New Jersey’s storied Bell Labs research center, touches on video-conferencing as well as data compression and transfer.
That intellectual property makes up a significant proportion of Alcatel-Lucent’s available assets, and was thus the logical collateral for a company unable to raise funds through a share sale and facing high costs for unsecured lending, the people said.
Patents with applications for mobile technology have gained in value as companies including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. repeatedly take each other to court over alleged infringements. Google Inc. cited the value of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio as a primary justification for its $12.5 billion acquisition of the smartphone maker in 2011.
Nonetheless, the changes to the terms were due largely to better market conditions following the avoidance of the so- called fiscal cliff in the U.S., according to people familiar with the transaction. The initial conditions, on which discussions with Alcatel-Lucent Chief Financial Officer Paul Tufano began in October, were reflective of the more risk-averse market environment of the time, the people added.
Alcatel-Lucent’s patent portfolio, partially inherited from New Jersey’s storied Bell Labs research center, touches on video-conferencing as well as data compression and transfer.
That intellectual property makes up a significant proportion of Alcatel-Lucent’s available assets, and was thus the logical collateral for a company unable to raise funds through a share sale and facing high costs for unsecured lending, the people said.
Patents with applications for mobile technology have gained in value as companies including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. repeatedly take each other to court over alleged infringements. Google Inc. cited the value of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio as a primary justification for its $12.5 billion acquisition of the smartphone maker in 2011.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Step Wisely When Adding a 2nd Story to House
Adding a second story raises issues of structural soundness, building codes, stairway access and occupancy during construction.
The first step should be to consult a structural engineer to make sure the foundation will support the added weight of the new walls and living spaces between them, says Robert Criner, president of Criner Remodeling, a home remodeling company in Newport News, Va.
"A lot of people think that because they have an attic, they can just floor that in and move on up. They can't. Attics are designed to carry less weight than a bedroom," Criner says.
Building code requirements -- such as minimum room sizes, minimum ceiling heights and staircase dimensions -- must be taken into consideration. Some states impose the same rules in every community. Others allow localities to adopt their own rules.
"You could drive five miles and there is a different code, and in another five miles, it's another code," Criner says.
Homeowners should hire a contractor who's familiar with the codes where the home is located. The contractor should be licensed in that jurisdiction.
"You want to have a good, permanent staircase," Criner says, "Just because you have a staircase that goes to the attic doesn't mean it qualifies as a staircase to go to a second floor."
The staircase can be positioned inside or outside the existing ground floor. Fitting it inside means other space, such as a bedroom, hallway or breakfast area, must be sacrificed. Adding it outside requires room on the lot and removal of whatever currently occupies that space, be it a walkway, landscaping or other structure. Either way, carving up space to accommodate the stairway can be a challenge, Henley says.
Space also must be found for new ductwork for the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. Some homeowners want a separate system for the second story; others prefer one whole-house system. Either option requires planning before construction begins.
"I honestly don't know how they've come close to doing that because by the time you turn off the power, water and gas, how could they live comfortably?"
There's a concern about the effects of rain, snow or wind after the house has been opened to the elements, says Jim Bateman, owner of Bateman Custom Construction, a home remodeling company in Fairfax, Va.
Emptying out the ground floor can reduce the risk of rain or wind damage. If the homeowner hasn't yet moved into the residence, that might not be difficult to do. If the house is occupied, furnishings can be packed into sections of the house that won't be exposed, relocated to another residence, or stored at an off-site facility or in temporary containers on the property, Bateman suggests.
The job's duration depends on the size and configuration of the house and second story, and whether portions of the new space are pre-built.
"If the homeowner is amenable to modular construction, we can bring the second floor in as a modular and that would be much faster," Bateman says. "The roof can already be attached to it, and it just has to be lifted up into place."
Adding on a second story isn't cheap. Builders say the cost of a project depends on the scope and scale, quality of materials and finishes the homeowner selects, labor costs, and myriad other factors.
Another test reflects concern about the potential formation of by-product ozone by HRV/ERV blower motors or by supplemental electronic filtration systems that may be incorporated into the unit. The inclusion of this indoor contaminant in the protocol reflects the recent decision by Health Canada to reduce its indoor guideline level for ozone from 120 ppb to 20 ppb.
The third test addresses the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aldehydes from the complete HRV/ERV system into the supply air. These emissions normally originate from building materials, furnishings and consumer products used indoors and can be a major source of health-related contaminants. But HRV/ERV systems and associated ductwork may also be a contributing source, as they have a significant surface area with diverse materials being in direct contact with the ventilation air. If system emissions are found to be high relative to recognized guideline levels, additional testing to determine the source is recommended; individual HRV/ERV components such as filter assemblies, casing materials, and flex duct used in installation may be tested.
The first step should be to consult a structural engineer to make sure the foundation will support the added weight of the new walls and living spaces between them, says Robert Criner, president of Criner Remodeling, a home remodeling company in Newport News, Va.
"A lot of people think that because they have an attic, they can just floor that in and move on up. They can't. Attics are designed to carry less weight than a bedroom," Criner says.
Building code requirements -- such as minimum room sizes, minimum ceiling heights and staircase dimensions -- must be taken into consideration. Some states impose the same rules in every community. Others allow localities to adopt their own rules.
"You could drive five miles and there is a different code, and in another five miles, it's another code," Criner says.
Homeowners should hire a contractor who's familiar with the codes where the home is located. The contractor should be licensed in that jurisdiction.
"You want to have a good, permanent staircase," Criner says, "Just because you have a staircase that goes to the attic doesn't mean it qualifies as a staircase to go to a second floor."
The staircase can be positioned inside or outside the existing ground floor. Fitting it inside means other space, such as a bedroom, hallway or breakfast area, must be sacrificed. Adding it outside requires room on the lot and removal of whatever currently occupies that space, be it a walkway, landscaping or other structure. Either way, carving up space to accommodate the stairway can be a challenge, Henley says.
Space also must be found for new ductwork for the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. Some homeowners want a separate system for the second story; others prefer one whole-house system. Either option requires planning before construction begins.
"I honestly don't know how they've come close to doing that because by the time you turn off the power, water and gas, how could they live comfortably?"
There's a concern about the effects of rain, snow or wind after the house has been opened to the elements, says Jim Bateman, owner of Bateman Custom Construction, a home remodeling company in Fairfax, Va.
Emptying out the ground floor can reduce the risk of rain or wind damage. If the homeowner hasn't yet moved into the residence, that might not be difficult to do. If the house is occupied, furnishings can be packed into sections of the house that won't be exposed, relocated to another residence, or stored at an off-site facility or in temporary containers on the property, Bateman suggests.
The job's duration depends on the size and configuration of the house and second story, and whether portions of the new space are pre-built.
"If the homeowner is amenable to modular construction, we can bring the second floor in as a modular and that would be much faster," Bateman says. "The roof can already be attached to it, and it just has to be lifted up into place."
Adding on a second story isn't cheap. Builders say the cost of a project depends on the scope and scale, quality of materials and finishes the homeowner selects, labor costs, and myriad other factors.
Another test reflects concern about the potential formation of by-product ozone by HRV/ERV blower motors or by supplemental electronic filtration systems that may be incorporated into the unit. The inclusion of this indoor contaminant in the protocol reflects the recent decision by Health Canada to reduce its indoor guideline level for ozone from 120 ppb to 20 ppb.
The third test addresses the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aldehydes from the complete HRV/ERV system into the supply air. These emissions normally originate from building materials, furnishings and consumer products used indoors and can be a major source of health-related contaminants. But HRV/ERV systems and associated ductwork may also be a contributing source, as they have a significant surface area with diverse materials being in direct contact with the ventilation air. If system emissions are found to be high relative to recognized guideline levels, additional testing to determine the source is recommended; individual HRV/ERV components such as filter assemblies, casing materials, and flex duct used in installation may be tested.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Under Ogawa's Macabre, Metafictional Spell
It used to be a truism among critics of British poetry that Keats and most of his fellow Romantic poets worked in the shadow of John Milton. I'm not making a perfect analogy when I suggest that most contemporary Japanese writers seem to be working under the shadow of Haruki Murakami, but I hope it highlights the spirit of the situation.
You certainly get that feeling of being haunted by Murakami when you begin reading the "Eleven Dark Tales," as she calls them, in this story cycle by Yoko Ogawa. The situations seem made for Murakami's particular blend of the real and the fantastic. In the opening story, "Afternoon at the Bakery," a customer comes into a shop to buy strawberry shortcake for, as it turns out, a child who died years before. Or there's the story "Old Mrs. J," in which the narrator's landlady grows carrots in her garden in the shape of human hands.
But as you read along, you find Ogawa ascending into an orbit of her own — one that's at least as high as Murakami's — as in the story "Sewing for the Heart," which features a bag designer whose customer is a woman with her heart growing on the outside of her chest; or in the flatly told but utterly bizarre trio of linked stories "Welcome to the Museum of Torture," "The Man Who Sold Braces" and "The Last Hour of the Bengal Tiger."
By the time you meet that tiger pacing about the garden of the two old women who founded the Museum of Torture, you may find that you're already in an alternate universe, something akin to Murakami's world with two moons in IQ84. But there's a telling difference: More and more incidents appear that have already occurred in other stories. The Torture Museum happens to be run by the brace salesman. The bakery shop of the first story turns out to be a location in a novel carried around by a mysterious woman with a dog in another story. A garden of kiwi fruit links a couple of tales, as does an overturned truck that spills tomatoes across a highway.
And that Bengal tiger? In one story it's alive and vital; in another it has died, and its pelt has become a coat that warms — before it chills — the narrator of the brace-salesman story.
When the woman whose heart is outside her body reveals it to the bag maker, whom she engages to cover it with one of his creations, he sees it above her breast "pulsing and contracting." He says it "seemed to cringe under my gaze. ... It could fit in the palm of my hand. A pale pink membrane of delicate muscle tissue surrounded it." A doctor believes he can operate on the woman successfully and place her heart in her chest cavity, but we hear — in another of the stories — that she is murdered in her hospital bed.
These and other links lead you, the reader, to recognize a strange and eccentric truth about this collection. Ogawa makes each of the stories seem like odd, if convincing, standalone works of short fiction and at the same time like metafictional products created by the characters in several of the stories. Are you reading about a trip to the zoo in a novel by one of the characters, or a trip to the zoo in a story by Ogawa? By the time you begin to recognize this paradox as the guiding principle of the stories, you're in too far to stop.
So, really, it's not just Murakami but also the shadow of Borges that hovers over this mesmerizing book. And in that telltale heart, one may detect a slight bow to the American macabre of E.A. Poe. Ogawa stands on the shoulders of giants, as another saying goes. But this collection may linger in your mind — it does in mine — as a delicious, perplexing, absorbing and somehow singular experience.
Look no farther than the NOVO 1 Inc. contact center’s expanding operations inside the state-of-the-art, 37,000-square-foot facility at 1351 S. Waverly Road, just north and east of M-40. The Forth Worth, Texas-based company, which contracts with outside businesses to provide call support, continues to repatriate full-time jobs, including 348 of them at its Holland location so far, after seeing those jobs shipped off to foreign countries during the recession.
And there are plans to fill all 450 seats — and beyond — at the Holland facility as NOVO 1 reaches further agreements with new business partners to let more American workers handle customer-service calls at home.
It’s the success stories of places such as NOVO 1 that prompted a television crew from Japan to travel to Michigan last week in an effort to chronicle the influx of jobs back into the U.S. as the economic forecast continues to brighten.
“I see lots of new opportunities here,” said Nobuyuki Kubo, production director for the NHK Network, which is the Japanese equivalent to PBS in the U.S. “We wanted to come here to begin to understand and to show how the state of Michigan is bringing jobs back and how successful it has been. Maybe we can learn something from here.”
In Japan, there is an aging population — people are living longer, getting better health care and remaining in their jobs longer than previous generations. As a result, salaries and health-care expenses of employees who are staying in the workforce longer has pushed costs so high that Japanese companies have had to send all sorts of jobs offshore to China, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines to remain competitive.
It has hampered the ability of younger people to enter the Japanese workforce, leaving a generational gap as companies struggle to find skilled and properly trained workers at home to replenish their ranks when older employees retire.
“We have similar problems in Japan,” Kubo said. “A lot of jobs are going to other places. Most of the manufacturing jobs are gone. Our population is getting much older. That’s why we’re here — to maybe learn something from the American people.”
You certainly get that feeling of being haunted by Murakami when you begin reading the "Eleven Dark Tales," as she calls them, in this story cycle by Yoko Ogawa. The situations seem made for Murakami's particular blend of the real and the fantastic. In the opening story, "Afternoon at the Bakery," a customer comes into a shop to buy strawberry shortcake for, as it turns out, a child who died years before. Or there's the story "Old Mrs. J," in which the narrator's landlady grows carrots in her garden in the shape of human hands.
But as you read along, you find Ogawa ascending into an orbit of her own — one that's at least as high as Murakami's — as in the story "Sewing for the Heart," which features a bag designer whose customer is a woman with her heart growing on the outside of her chest; or in the flatly told but utterly bizarre trio of linked stories "Welcome to the Museum of Torture," "The Man Who Sold Braces" and "The Last Hour of the Bengal Tiger."
By the time you meet that tiger pacing about the garden of the two old women who founded the Museum of Torture, you may find that you're already in an alternate universe, something akin to Murakami's world with two moons in IQ84. But there's a telling difference: More and more incidents appear that have already occurred in other stories. The Torture Museum happens to be run by the brace salesman. The bakery shop of the first story turns out to be a location in a novel carried around by a mysterious woman with a dog in another story. A garden of kiwi fruit links a couple of tales, as does an overturned truck that spills tomatoes across a highway.
And that Bengal tiger? In one story it's alive and vital; in another it has died, and its pelt has become a coat that warms — before it chills — the narrator of the brace-salesman story.
When the woman whose heart is outside her body reveals it to the bag maker, whom she engages to cover it with one of his creations, he sees it above her breast "pulsing and contracting." He says it "seemed to cringe under my gaze. ... It could fit in the palm of my hand. A pale pink membrane of delicate muscle tissue surrounded it." A doctor believes he can operate on the woman successfully and place her heart in her chest cavity, but we hear — in another of the stories — that she is murdered in her hospital bed.
These and other links lead you, the reader, to recognize a strange and eccentric truth about this collection. Ogawa makes each of the stories seem like odd, if convincing, standalone works of short fiction and at the same time like metafictional products created by the characters in several of the stories. Are you reading about a trip to the zoo in a novel by one of the characters, or a trip to the zoo in a story by Ogawa? By the time you begin to recognize this paradox as the guiding principle of the stories, you're in too far to stop.
So, really, it's not just Murakami but also the shadow of Borges that hovers over this mesmerizing book. And in that telltale heart, one may detect a slight bow to the American macabre of E.A. Poe. Ogawa stands on the shoulders of giants, as another saying goes. But this collection may linger in your mind — it does in mine — as a delicious, perplexing, absorbing and somehow singular experience.
Look no farther than the NOVO 1 Inc. contact center’s expanding operations inside the state-of-the-art, 37,000-square-foot facility at 1351 S. Waverly Road, just north and east of M-40. The Forth Worth, Texas-based company, which contracts with outside businesses to provide call support, continues to repatriate full-time jobs, including 348 of them at its Holland location so far, after seeing those jobs shipped off to foreign countries during the recession.
And there are plans to fill all 450 seats — and beyond — at the Holland facility as NOVO 1 reaches further agreements with new business partners to let more American workers handle customer-service calls at home.
It’s the success stories of places such as NOVO 1 that prompted a television crew from Japan to travel to Michigan last week in an effort to chronicle the influx of jobs back into the U.S. as the economic forecast continues to brighten.
“I see lots of new opportunities here,” said Nobuyuki Kubo, production director for the NHK Network, which is the Japanese equivalent to PBS in the U.S. “We wanted to come here to begin to understand and to show how the state of Michigan is bringing jobs back and how successful it has been. Maybe we can learn something from here.”
In Japan, there is an aging population — people are living longer, getting better health care and remaining in their jobs longer than previous generations. As a result, salaries and health-care expenses of employees who are staying in the workforce longer has pushed costs so high that Japanese companies have had to send all sorts of jobs offshore to China, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines to remain competitive.
It has hampered the ability of younger people to enter the Japanese workforce, leaving a generational gap as companies struggle to find skilled and properly trained workers at home to replenish their ranks when older employees retire.
“We have similar problems in Japan,” Kubo said. “A lot of jobs are going to other places. Most of the manufacturing jobs are gone. Our population is getting much older. That’s why we’re here — to maybe learn something from the American people.”
Daugherty returns to work for county
Daugherty lost his Precinct 3 seat, which he had held since 2002, to Karen Huber in the 2008 election. Last November, he ran against her in a very tight race, winning by a narrow margin to become the only Republican on the court.
It’s not easy being the odd man out, but Daugherty is used to it.
“I feel like the odd man out, even when I’m not in office,” he said.
Daugherty didn’t start out wanting to enter the political spotlight. He started out his career as a catcher for the minor league arm of the Boston Red Sox, where he played for three years.
“I figured out I wasn’t going to the big leagues, and I didn’t want to play minor league ball my whole life,” Daugherty said. “I told myself it was time to grow up and get my life started.”
He studied at the University of Texas and worked at Rooster Andrews Sporting Goods, where he learned all about how to run a business. After a few years, he set out to open his own sporting goods store, South Austin Sports Center. Later, he opened a bar and grill with batting cages called The Dugout and built a popular sportsplex on Pleasant Valley in 1984.
“It was during the time that I was doing business in the ’80s and ’90s that I found myself always interested in what was going on with city politics with how it affected businesses,” he said.
He was not in favor of the transportation fee that was included in utility bills and disliked the smoking ban that came into effect.
“I thought it was a little onerous to go and tell the businesses what they could do,” he said. “I was one of those people that would go down to the council and say this is really not very fair.”
Traffic was the issue that finally prompted him to run. Over the years, Daugherty has made roads his number one priority, saddling him with the label of “road warrior,” a label he doesn’t think is necessarily accurate or fair.
“I was wondering along with everyone else, why in the world do we have all of this traffic?” he said. “As early as the ’90s, it was real obvious that we were not keeping up with our roadway network. I do think this community needs a roadway champion, and I’m happy to wear that.”
Being the expansion of roads, such as Texas 71 in southwestern Travis County, is among some of the proudest accomplishments from his first period in office.
When he was ousted from the court in 2008, he decided to take on a different challenge. Having sold his sportsplex before joining the commissioners court, he turned his eyes to his next business venture. He decided to open a restaurant in one of the worst economic recessions in history, and he picked a location, the Y in Oak Hill, that had seen a string of failed restaurants.
“It just never had the right thing in it,” he said.
He and his wife, Charlyn, became the primary investors and lined up additional funding. Daugherty is a shrewd businessman and knows what he doesn’t know. He set out to hire some of the best restaurateurs in the business to help make the new venture a success.
“I wanted grade A operators, and I went looking,” Daugherty said. “I found the two guys that made Z’Tejas work.”
Jack Allen’s Kitchen opened in Oak Hill in 2009 and a second location recently opened in Round Rock.
But he was still frustrated by what he described as a lack of interest from elected officials in road projects and made the decision to run for office again in 2012.
He pulled off a narrow victory, he believes, by focusing on roads.
“Traffic is never out of sight or mind because you’re always in it,” he said.
During his next term on the court, he hopes to tackle the growth of the county government, get more youth sports facilities for western Travis County and tackle water issues. But foremost on his mind are roads, projects such Highway 45 Southwest, which would connect FM 1626 and Loop 1 South. He is also eyeing improvements to Texas 71, 290, Loop 360, RM 620 and more.
“The first thing I think you have to do to have any positive movement at all with roadways is that you’ve got to have a leader,” he said. “You’ve got to have someone willing to say that this is my number one goal.”
It’s not easy being the odd man out, but Daugherty is used to it.
“I feel like the odd man out, even when I’m not in office,” he said.
Daugherty didn’t start out wanting to enter the political spotlight. He started out his career as a catcher for the minor league arm of the Boston Red Sox, where he played for three years.
“I figured out I wasn’t going to the big leagues, and I didn’t want to play minor league ball my whole life,” Daugherty said. “I told myself it was time to grow up and get my life started.”
He studied at the University of Texas and worked at Rooster Andrews Sporting Goods, where he learned all about how to run a business. After a few years, he set out to open his own sporting goods store, South Austin Sports Center. Later, he opened a bar and grill with batting cages called The Dugout and built a popular sportsplex on Pleasant Valley in 1984.
“It was during the time that I was doing business in the ’80s and ’90s that I found myself always interested in what was going on with city politics with how it affected businesses,” he said.
He was not in favor of the transportation fee that was included in utility bills and disliked the smoking ban that came into effect.
“I thought it was a little onerous to go and tell the businesses what they could do,” he said. “I was one of those people that would go down to the council and say this is really not very fair.”
Traffic was the issue that finally prompted him to run. Over the years, Daugherty has made roads his number one priority, saddling him with the label of “road warrior,” a label he doesn’t think is necessarily accurate or fair.
“I was wondering along with everyone else, why in the world do we have all of this traffic?” he said. “As early as the ’90s, it was real obvious that we were not keeping up with our roadway network. I do think this community needs a roadway champion, and I’m happy to wear that.”
Being the expansion of roads, such as Texas 71 in southwestern Travis County, is among some of the proudest accomplishments from his first period in office.
When he was ousted from the court in 2008, he decided to take on a different challenge. Having sold his sportsplex before joining the commissioners court, he turned his eyes to his next business venture. He decided to open a restaurant in one of the worst economic recessions in history, and he picked a location, the Y in Oak Hill, that had seen a string of failed restaurants.
“It just never had the right thing in it,” he said.
He and his wife, Charlyn, became the primary investors and lined up additional funding. Daugherty is a shrewd businessman and knows what he doesn’t know. He set out to hire some of the best restaurateurs in the business to help make the new venture a success.
“I wanted grade A operators, and I went looking,” Daugherty said. “I found the two guys that made Z’Tejas work.”
Jack Allen’s Kitchen opened in Oak Hill in 2009 and a second location recently opened in Round Rock.
But he was still frustrated by what he described as a lack of interest from elected officials in road projects and made the decision to run for office again in 2012.
He pulled off a narrow victory, he believes, by focusing on roads.
“Traffic is never out of sight or mind because you’re always in it,” he said.
During his next term on the court, he hopes to tackle the growth of the county government, get more youth sports facilities for western Travis County and tackle water issues. But foremost on his mind are roads, projects such Highway 45 Southwest, which would connect FM 1626 and Loop 1 South. He is also eyeing improvements to Texas 71, 290, Loop 360, RM 620 and more.
“The first thing I think you have to do to have any positive movement at all with roadways is that you’ve got to have a leader,” he said. “You’ve got to have someone willing to say that this is my number one goal.”
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Small Coopersville company gets the nod from Honda
SelfLube, a small company in Coopersville that manufactures components for metal stamping dies and molds, was recently informed by Honda that it is now an approved vendor for the Japanese company and its tooling suppliers.
“They are a world-class company, so anytime a small company becomes a supplier to a very large, well-respected, quality-oriented company, it’s a vote of confidence,” said SelfLube owner and founder Phil Allor.
Getting the nod from one of the world’s largest and most successful automakers is not a cinch.
“We’ve been working on it for a long time,” said Allor, adding that he and the staff at his 35-person shop have been talking to the Japanese auto giant “probably for a good 10 years.”
SelfLube also is an approved supplier for Chrysler and General Motors tool-and-die suppliers. It produces standardized parts used in metal-bending dies and plastic injection molding dies. The parts range from wear strips and wear plates to bushings, blocks, gibs and gib assemblies, parking line locks, lifter slides and other related items.
“We make about 10,000 part numbers,” said Allor, which means a lot of variety in what SelfLube can make for use in dies.
But don’t visualize huge production runs like a stamping plant churning out car parts. “It’s very low volume for any particular item,” he said.
When a car company comes out with new models or changes vehicle designs and engineering, it needs new machine tools and dies to make the parts, and that’s where the tool-and-die industry comes in. SelfLube supplies that industry or the auto companies directly when they build their own dies.
Allor, 64, is a Detroit-area native, an engineer who was working as a consultant to the manufacturing industry when he founded SelfLube in Coopersville in 1990.
“The quintessential ambition of a consultant is to go on his own” and actually make the items he or she is presumed to be expert at making, said Allor.
While still doing consulting, he took the plunge with a small manufacturing company, Midwest Fabricating, located on Bond Street on Grand Rapids’ north side. SelfLube was started later almost as a sideline, he said, and though at first it employed only Allor and one other person, “it seemed like it had a little promise.”
The name comes from the fact that many of the die parts it made, and still makes, are self-lubricating.
SelfLube became known through word-of-mouth, selling to a few tool-and-die shops in the area, according to Allor. It grew steadily, expanding with more customers and more products, finally to the point where he sold Midwest Fabricating to focus on SelfLube.
That SelfLube survived at all since 1990 is probably a significant indication of how well it has been managed, because some of its earlier customers are undoubtedly gone from the landscape today.
Michigan’s tool-and-die industry began to suffer in the 1990s as American manufacturing began investing in foreign countries where labor costs were low. Many domestic tool-and-die companies went under, to the point where, today, it is generally agreed that about one-third disappeared — and Allor said that number might actually be closer to 40 percent.
“The industry is growing again, but it’s a much different industry,” he said. “The companies are leaner. They operate much more efficiently, and there is more use of purchased components such as the types we make.”
The adoption of standardized die components makes the shops “much more efficient,” he added.
Then came the Great Recession, some of the darkest days of U.S. industry, and of the auto industry in particular.
During the recession, the “transplant” automakers — Japanese, Korean and German companies that set up shop in North America — “fell off somewhat, but they were not nearly in the dire circumstances as were the domestic companies,” said Allor, referring to Detroit’s Big Three.
Now automakers “are a lot leaner, a lot more efficient, and they’ve got better products,” he said, so there seems to be more consumer excitement about their cars these days.
Another plus-factor for companies like SelfLube is that U.S. car makers are “making a little money right now, which is always good for the tooling industry,” said Allor. Members of the auto industry generally have a wish list of new cars they want to make, he said, but that takes significant investment in tooling.
“Because they are making some money, they can afford to buy the tooling,” he added.
Another factor helping the U.S. automotive industry is that costs are going up around the world, with Allor noting that “there are 15 percent annual increases in labor cost in China right now.”
It’s also becoming more expensive for American companies to send management, engineering and other technical staff to work with suppliers “in another country that’s half a world away.”
SelfLube is a privately held company that does not reveal its annual sales numbers, but it was investing in new equipment in 2012 and hired six new employees during the year. “Percentage-wise, that’s a pretty big bump for us,” Allor said.
“We will be hiring some people this year,” he said, although it is a general increase and not necessarily a result of Honda granting SelfLube approved vendor status.
Is Allor confident the U.S. auto industry is truly back on a permanent basis?
“The country goes through business cycles, so nobody is permanently back. There is no permanent anything, really. For the foreseeable future, this year and next, it’s probably in pretty good shape,” he replied.
“They are a world-class company, so anytime a small company becomes a supplier to a very large, well-respected, quality-oriented company, it’s a vote of confidence,” said SelfLube owner and founder Phil Allor.
Getting the nod from one of the world’s largest and most successful automakers is not a cinch.
“We’ve been working on it for a long time,” said Allor, adding that he and the staff at his 35-person shop have been talking to the Japanese auto giant “probably for a good 10 years.”
SelfLube also is an approved supplier for Chrysler and General Motors tool-and-die suppliers. It produces standardized parts used in metal-bending dies and plastic injection molding dies. The parts range from wear strips and wear plates to bushings, blocks, gibs and gib assemblies, parking line locks, lifter slides and other related items.
“We make about 10,000 part numbers,” said Allor, which means a lot of variety in what SelfLube can make for use in dies.
But don’t visualize huge production runs like a stamping plant churning out car parts. “It’s very low volume for any particular item,” he said.
When a car company comes out with new models or changes vehicle designs and engineering, it needs new machine tools and dies to make the parts, and that’s where the tool-and-die industry comes in. SelfLube supplies that industry or the auto companies directly when they build their own dies.
Allor, 64, is a Detroit-area native, an engineer who was working as a consultant to the manufacturing industry when he founded SelfLube in Coopersville in 1990.
“The quintessential ambition of a consultant is to go on his own” and actually make the items he or she is presumed to be expert at making, said Allor.
While still doing consulting, he took the plunge with a small manufacturing company, Midwest Fabricating, located on Bond Street on Grand Rapids’ north side. SelfLube was started later almost as a sideline, he said, and though at first it employed only Allor and one other person, “it seemed like it had a little promise.”
The name comes from the fact that many of the die parts it made, and still makes, are self-lubricating.
SelfLube became known through word-of-mouth, selling to a few tool-and-die shops in the area, according to Allor. It grew steadily, expanding with more customers and more products, finally to the point where he sold Midwest Fabricating to focus on SelfLube.
That SelfLube survived at all since 1990 is probably a significant indication of how well it has been managed, because some of its earlier customers are undoubtedly gone from the landscape today.
Michigan’s tool-and-die industry began to suffer in the 1990s as American manufacturing began investing in foreign countries where labor costs were low. Many domestic tool-and-die companies went under, to the point where, today, it is generally agreed that about one-third disappeared — and Allor said that number might actually be closer to 40 percent.
“The industry is growing again, but it’s a much different industry,” he said. “The companies are leaner. They operate much more efficiently, and there is more use of purchased components such as the types we make.”
The adoption of standardized die components makes the shops “much more efficient,” he added.
Then came the Great Recession, some of the darkest days of U.S. industry, and of the auto industry in particular.
During the recession, the “transplant” automakers — Japanese, Korean and German companies that set up shop in North America — “fell off somewhat, but they were not nearly in the dire circumstances as were the domestic companies,” said Allor, referring to Detroit’s Big Three.
Now automakers “are a lot leaner, a lot more efficient, and they’ve got better products,” he said, so there seems to be more consumer excitement about their cars these days.
Another plus-factor for companies like SelfLube is that U.S. car makers are “making a little money right now, which is always good for the tooling industry,” said Allor. Members of the auto industry generally have a wish list of new cars they want to make, he said, but that takes significant investment in tooling.
“Because they are making some money, they can afford to buy the tooling,” he added.
Another factor helping the U.S. automotive industry is that costs are going up around the world, with Allor noting that “there are 15 percent annual increases in labor cost in China right now.”
It’s also becoming more expensive for American companies to send management, engineering and other technical staff to work with suppliers “in another country that’s half a world away.”
SelfLube is a privately held company that does not reveal its annual sales numbers, but it was investing in new equipment in 2012 and hired six new employees during the year. “Percentage-wise, that’s a pretty big bump for us,” Allor said.
“We will be hiring some people this year,” he said, although it is a general increase and not necessarily a result of Honda granting SelfLube approved vendor status.
Is Allor confident the U.S. auto industry is truly back on a permanent basis?
“The country goes through business cycles, so nobody is permanently back. There is no permanent anything, really. For the foreseeable future, this year and next, it’s probably in pretty good shape,” he replied.
Scarier Than Freddy Krueger
I’M used to horror. I’m the father of Freddy Krueger, for Pete’s sake. But the horror of retirement? I didn’t see that one coming at all.
I haven’t actually retired, but my wife, Iya, would just as soon I did.
In the past three years we made two brutally difficult films back to back, with her producing and me directing, and we’re both thoroughly wrung out. So retirement is tempting — in a way. Plus, our new house is nearing completion on Martha’s Vineyard, a place that we knew, even if we didn’t say it outright, we could make our final stand.
But that might be years from now. Or...maybe sooner. I am 73, an age you see in obituaries a lot. Maybe it’s just conductors who live into their 90s.
So Iya and I decided to take the summer off, move in to our cool new digs and forget the insanity of the film business. The plan was to relax, really relax, maybe for the first time in more than 40 years of filmmaking.
Iya seemed happier as soon as we resolved to do it, and “happy wife, happy life” is a mantra it seems unwise to ignore. Trial retirement made sense all around.
We started hanging out with everyone we knew but had never had time to hang out with before. Fun, interesting people, almost none of whom had seen a single movie I’d ever made. I built a woodworking shop in the basement. It was fun. Iya and I went for walks, read books, watched movies — we even had our kids and grandkids out for a weeklong visit in August. It was wonderful. And we had the Vespa Iya had given me for my 70th birthday shipped out from California. Ah, tooling around the island on a Vespa. Perfection!
I used to ride a motorcycle in the ’60s, so I was no stranger to two-wheeled transportation. But a scooter is a different animal. The Vespa manual strongly advised against off-road driving, but half the roads in the Vineyard are dirt. Soft sand, gravel, rocks — the kind of stuff the manual advises riders to avoid.
I was very cautious the day we took friends up to see the new house. Ten miles an hour on the Vespa, and doing just fine on the dirt road leading to our house. But suddenly the front wheel hit soft sand. The back end skidded off the road, throwing me sideways. Hanging on, I inadvertently gave it the gas. (Funny place for an accelerator — on the handlebars.) I took a quick glimpse at the road’s steeply rising shoulder and the boulder at its top. The next thing I remember was finding my face planted on the far side of the road. I was wearing a helmet and all that, so by the time Iya and our friends ran up, I was up and righting the scooter, feeling nothing more than embarrassment.
“I’m fine,” I muttered. “No you’re not!” Iya cried, pointing to the blood gushing from my cuff like rain from a downspout. I lifted my pant leg. And we all gasped: there was a gash the size of a coat pocket and something gray and gory sticking out from inside my leg. It looked like a shot in one of my movies.
Turns out, somewhere in those missing seconds the bike put its kickstand through my calf, splitting the muscle sheath. That’s what was poking out. There was a good surgeon at the hospital, and after a rather intense session of stitching, he had me on my feet again. Or at least on crutches.
I asked him how many stitches, and he said he’d stopped counting after an hour.
Well, talk about tipping points. My retirement tipped me right over the cliff. And the left leg with all the stitches wasn’t much good holding me up, which put a lot of strain on my right knee, which was kind of in bad shape on its own. I’d been ignoring getting a torn meniscus fixed for years because, well, there was work to be had and I love to direct.
But since we were now retired, sort of, it seemed wise to have the knee checked out. Off to New York to the Hospital for Special Surgery. H.S.S. is a way cool place with some of the best doctors in the world for knee work, so what better place to have a meniscus trimmed? Except they took one look at my knee and said that though indeed I did have a “shredded” meniscus (their term), its repair wouldn’t mean anything because the knee itself had gone to hell in a handbasket (my term). So, what to do? T.K.R., baby.
Total Knee Replacement. Check it out on YouTube. Interestingly, it’s one subsection of drawing and quartering that has survived into the modern age. Before I knew it, I was walking around (on a walker) with a titanium and plastic knee, and another huge scar.
Now retirement meant being unable to walk better than Quasimodo, and feeling as if I’d been jumped by the Oakland Raiders twice, once for good measure.
I SETTLED down to watching movies, except the television was on the lower level of the house and one day I was carrying things in both hands going down the stairs when I slipped. Crash, right on my butt, then down to the bottom of the stairs like a crash test dummy. Back to H.S.S. Cracked pelvis. No use operating, just take it even easier. Unless you want hip replacement? No, thank you!
Now, 13 months later, I’m back on my own feet and ready to stop relaxing. It’s too dangerous.
“Trial retirement” had a nice ring to it, but it ended up feeling like the Liberty Bell hit me in the head.
Give me the insanity of impossible schedules, screaming studio heads, script pages never showing up until the morning we’re to shoot them — anything but the horrors of retirement. These are scarier than any horror movie I can dream up.
I haven’t actually retired, but my wife, Iya, would just as soon I did.
In the past three years we made two brutally difficult films back to back, with her producing and me directing, and we’re both thoroughly wrung out. So retirement is tempting — in a way. Plus, our new house is nearing completion on Martha’s Vineyard, a place that we knew, even if we didn’t say it outright, we could make our final stand.
But that might be years from now. Or...maybe sooner. I am 73, an age you see in obituaries a lot. Maybe it’s just conductors who live into their 90s.
So Iya and I decided to take the summer off, move in to our cool new digs and forget the insanity of the film business. The plan was to relax, really relax, maybe for the first time in more than 40 years of filmmaking.
Iya seemed happier as soon as we resolved to do it, and “happy wife, happy life” is a mantra it seems unwise to ignore. Trial retirement made sense all around.
We started hanging out with everyone we knew but had never had time to hang out with before. Fun, interesting people, almost none of whom had seen a single movie I’d ever made. I built a woodworking shop in the basement. It was fun. Iya and I went for walks, read books, watched movies — we even had our kids and grandkids out for a weeklong visit in August. It was wonderful. And we had the Vespa Iya had given me for my 70th birthday shipped out from California. Ah, tooling around the island on a Vespa. Perfection!
I used to ride a motorcycle in the ’60s, so I was no stranger to two-wheeled transportation. But a scooter is a different animal. The Vespa manual strongly advised against off-road driving, but half the roads in the Vineyard are dirt. Soft sand, gravel, rocks — the kind of stuff the manual advises riders to avoid.
I was very cautious the day we took friends up to see the new house. Ten miles an hour on the Vespa, and doing just fine on the dirt road leading to our house. But suddenly the front wheel hit soft sand. The back end skidded off the road, throwing me sideways. Hanging on, I inadvertently gave it the gas. (Funny place for an accelerator — on the handlebars.) I took a quick glimpse at the road’s steeply rising shoulder and the boulder at its top. The next thing I remember was finding my face planted on the far side of the road. I was wearing a helmet and all that, so by the time Iya and our friends ran up, I was up and righting the scooter, feeling nothing more than embarrassment.
“I’m fine,” I muttered. “No you’re not!” Iya cried, pointing to the blood gushing from my cuff like rain from a downspout. I lifted my pant leg. And we all gasped: there was a gash the size of a coat pocket and something gray and gory sticking out from inside my leg. It looked like a shot in one of my movies.
Turns out, somewhere in those missing seconds the bike put its kickstand through my calf, splitting the muscle sheath. That’s what was poking out. There was a good surgeon at the hospital, and after a rather intense session of stitching, he had me on my feet again. Or at least on crutches.
I asked him how many stitches, and he said he’d stopped counting after an hour.
Well, talk about tipping points. My retirement tipped me right over the cliff. And the left leg with all the stitches wasn’t much good holding me up, which put a lot of strain on my right knee, which was kind of in bad shape on its own. I’d been ignoring getting a torn meniscus fixed for years because, well, there was work to be had and I love to direct.
But since we were now retired, sort of, it seemed wise to have the knee checked out. Off to New York to the Hospital for Special Surgery. H.S.S. is a way cool place with some of the best doctors in the world for knee work, so what better place to have a meniscus trimmed? Except they took one look at my knee and said that though indeed I did have a “shredded” meniscus (their term), its repair wouldn’t mean anything because the knee itself had gone to hell in a handbasket (my term). So, what to do? T.K.R., baby.
Total Knee Replacement. Check it out on YouTube. Interestingly, it’s one subsection of drawing and quartering that has survived into the modern age. Before I knew it, I was walking around (on a walker) with a titanium and plastic knee, and another huge scar.
Now retirement meant being unable to walk better than Quasimodo, and feeling as if I’d been jumped by the Oakland Raiders twice, once for good measure.
I SETTLED down to watching movies, except the television was on the lower level of the house and one day I was carrying things in both hands going down the stairs when I slipped. Crash, right on my butt, then down to the bottom of the stairs like a crash test dummy. Back to H.S.S. Cracked pelvis. No use operating, just take it even easier. Unless you want hip replacement? No, thank you!
Now, 13 months later, I’m back on my own feet and ready to stop relaxing. It’s too dangerous.
“Trial retirement” had a nice ring to it, but it ended up feeling like the Liberty Bell hit me in the head.
Give me the insanity of impossible schedules, screaming studio heads, script pages never showing up until the morning we’re to shoot them — anything but the horrors of retirement. These are scarier than any horror movie I can dream up.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Washington’s invisible ‘broker king,’ finds outlet as an author
The three billion dollar man has something to say.When Marvin H. McIntyre III came back from Vietnam, tooling around in a convertible Corvette he won in a poker game, he tried to say it in song. He drove down to Nashville to become a star.
The radio DJs played anti-establishment anthems, screeds against the war, songs about love-ins and peace-ins and hippie picnics. But McIntyre was having none of that. He penned patriotic melodies, with titles such as “In the Face of a Child” and “A Soldier’s Story.” And he flopped.
The Corvette is long gone. It has been replaced by the sleek car-service sedans that collect McIntyre each weekday morning at his Potomac home and squire him to his downtown Washington brokerage office. There, he invests $3 billion for an astounding array of wealthy clients that has included best-selling authors and nearly 100 professional athletes, such as basketball stars Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Joakim Noah, and tennis legends Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith.
McIntyre’s friend and client Kitty Kelley, the celebrity biographer, calls him “Wizard.” Business types have called him the “Broker King.”
Yet in the back seat of those comfy sedans, a convenience that he’s enjoyed for the past three decades but is bashful about discussing, he’s still working through those same creative urges that drove him to Nashville. Scribbling in longhand on legal pads, he conjures thrillers set in the darker recesses of the financial and regulatory worlds, the latest of which, a page turner called “Inside Out,” came out in late January.
McIntyre embodies a kind of Washington archetype. In a town preternaturally attuned to the men and women who occupy a single building on Capitol Hill and another on Pennsylvania Avenue, he represents a sort of durable power impervious to the vagaries of election cycles. Inside all those shapeless downtown office buildings are masters of various universes, business powerhouses who make millions of dollars, discreetly control industries and move markets but hardly draw any notice.
“You can be a rock star in this industry and be unknown here except to your family and friends,” McIntyre says one afternoon in the conference room of his tastefully appointed suite of Pennsylvania Avenue offices, a short walk from the White House.
McIntyre, a ruddy 69-year-old with an informal manner and a master pitchman’s quick, rascally wit, springs from a family with Washington bona fides to spare. His grandfather Marvin H. McIntyre, a onetime newspaperman who did a stint as The Washington Post’s city editor in the early 1900s, served as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s personal secretary. The Navy named a World War II attack transport ship after him. McIntyre’s father, later an IBM executive, used to splash around in the White House pool.
As a young man, McIntyre thought it might be fun to go by his middle name, Hunter, but opted for his stodgier full name because he thought it would stand out more. He followed his father’s footsteps to the Citadel, a “brutal” place he despised but has come to appreciate now as a member of its business school advisory board. He became a first lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division and ran night patrols in Vietnam, but he figures he never managed to hit anyone with the shots he fired. “My main goal was to hide,” he cracks.
Decades later, he’s fond of saying he has a PhD in BS. He can get away with a wisecrack (or a dozen) because he brings in the megabucks, routinely placing in the upper echelon of the Barron’s list of the nation’s biggest brokers. He is such a behemoth that a few years back his blessing was widely considered a key indicator of whether the corporate marriage of Legg Mason, where he was the star broker, and Citigroup would go through. In a now legendary dinner before the deal at Shula’s in Baltimore, Charlie Johnston, the head of Citigroup’s Smith Barney brokerage division, planted himself next to McIntyre all night.
“Charlie Johnston sure wasn’t going to leave until he had his blessing,” says Donald Metzger, a top financial adviser on McIntyre’s team.
For all his bonhomie, McIntyre, the broker king, sometimes has to watch what he says, lest the corporate compliance folks fuss and grumble. But his alter ego, McGregor, the hero of his novels, can blast away.
In McIntyre’s first novel, “Insiders,” published in 2011, McGregor channels McIntyre’s pique at largely unregulated corners of the markets that contributed to the financial apocalypse of 2008. The villain in “Insiders” and in McIntyre’s new book is a rogue billionaire hedge fund manipulator who taunts the hero/broker with pathological phone calls and holes up in a mansion in Cuba.
It helps to have uber-best-selling authors, such as David Baldacci, as clients. At his first-ever book party, Baldacci’s wife, Michelle, leaned over and whispered to him about which page he was supposed to sign, McIntyre recalls.
One recent afternoon at Equinox, the upscale downtown Washington power-lunch hub, celebrity chef Todd Gray comes out of the kitchen to greet McIntyre at his table, naturally.
“I thought I might get a free lunch since I mentioned the restaurant in my book,” McIntyre yuk-yuks to him.
Gray, whose cousin is on McIntyre’s brokerage team, just smiles.
Once he’s talking about his books, McIntyre allows himself a bit of latitude, complaining about the “misuse of power” he’s observed over the years in Washington.
“You see sort of the climbers that are seeking power,” he says. If you talked with almost any members of Congress, he says, they would be likely to vouch for entitlement reforms. But they worry and do little, he says, because they know “you’re going to have AARP on your back.”
What would grandpa, a right-hand man of the father of the New Deal, think about all this?
“Do you think he’s turning over in his grave?” McIntyre asks.
“Are we the 1 percent?” says McIntyre, who is donating proceeds from his new book to charity. “Sure we are. But if we are enhancing people’s lifestyles, enabling them to have a comfortable retirement, pay for their college education, and we’re getting reviled for that, it’s worth it.”
“You look around at all the horror stories,” says Donald Dell, the former Davis Cup captain, tennis TV commentator and renowned sports agent who is a McIntyre pal and neighbor. “They have not kept track of their money. The smart ones want to be stable and solid.”
Over the years, McIntyre says he has steered clients away from dubious investments in everything from thoroughbred racehorses to puppy farms.
“Money is the last taboo. They’d rather talk about their sex lives than money,” McIntyre says. “Unsophisticated people are easier to deal with unless they think they’re sophisticated.”
McIntyre can ponder all of this on his choice of many, many fields of green. He is, after all, a member of three country clubs — Congressional, as well as clubs near his vacation homes in Naples, Fla., and Bethany Beach, Del. He jokes that he wants to be the worst golfer at three of the best clubs. But Dell — who has referred numerous athletes to his buddy — says McIntyre is actually one of the most competitive people he’s ever met, whether on the golf course or the tennis court, where McIntyre has won club championships.
Their golf matches got so intense that they had to cool things by not giving each other strokes. (They were arguing too much about how many.) Once, Dell says, he nipped McIntyre and collected a $5 bet by kicking his friend’s ball into a sand trap on the 18th hole when McIntyre wasn’t looking.
The radio DJs played anti-establishment anthems, screeds against the war, songs about love-ins and peace-ins and hippie picnics. But McIntyre was having none of that. He penned patriotic melodies, with titles such as “In the Face of a Child” and “A Soldier’s Story.” And he flopped.
The Corvette is long gone. It has been replaced by the sleek car-service sedans that collect McIntyre each weekday morning at his Potomac home and squire him to his downtown Washington brokerage office. There, he invests $3 billion for an astounding array of wealthy clients that has included best-selling authors and nearly 100 professional athletes, such as basketball stars Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Joakim Noah, and tennis legends Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith.
McIntyre’s friend and client Kitty Kelley, the celebrity biographer, calls him “Wizard.” Business types have called him the “Broker King.”
Yet in the back seat of those comfy sedans, a convenience that he’s enjoyed for the past three decades but is bashful about discussing, he’s still working through those same creative urges that drove him to Nashville. Scribbling in longhand on legal pads, he conjures thrillers set in the darker recesses of the financial and regulatory worlds, the latest of which, a page turner called “Inside Out,” came out in late January.
McIntyre embodies a kind of Washington archetype. In a town preternaturally attuned to the men and women who occupy a single building on Capitol Hill and another on Pennsylvania Avenue, he represents a sort of durable power impervious to the vagaries of election cycles. Inside all those shapeless downtown office buildings are masters of various universes, business powerhouses who make millions of dollars, discreetly control industries and move markets but hardly draw any notice.
“You can be a rock star in this industry and be unknown here except to your family and friends,” McIntyre says one afternoon in the conference room of his tastefully appointed suite of Pennsylvania Avenue offices, a short walk from the White House.
McIntyre, a ruddy 69-year-old with an informal manner and a master pitchman’s quick, rascally wit, springs from a family with Washington bona fides to spare. His grandfather Marvin H. McIntyre, a onetime newspaperman who did a stint as The Washington Post’s city editor in the early 1900s, served as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s personal secretary. The Navy named a World War II attack transport ship after him. McIntyre’s father, later an IBM executive, used to splash around in the White House pool.
As a young man, McIntyre thought it might be fun to go by his middle name, Hunter, but opted for his stodgier full name because he thought it would stand out more. He followed his father’s footsteps to the Citadel, a “brutal” place he despised but has come to appreciate now as a member of its business school advisory board. He became a first lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division and ran night patrols in Vietnam, but he figures he never managed to hit anyone with the shots he fired. “My main goal was to hide,” he cracks.
Decades later, he’s fond of saying he has a PhD in BS. He can get away with a wisecrack (or a dozen) because he brings in the megabucks, routinely placing in the upper echelon of the Barron’s list of the nation’s biggest brokers. He is such a behemoth that a few years back his blessing was widely considered a key indicator of whether the corporate marriage of Legg Mason, where he was the star broker, and Citigroup would go through. In a now legendary dinner before the deal at Shula’s in Baltimore, Charlie Johnston, the head of Citigroup’s Smith Barney brokerage division, planted himself next to McIntyre all night.
“Charlie Johnston sure wasn’t going to leave until he had his blessing,” says Donald Metzger, a top financial adviser on McIntyre’s team.
For all his bonhomie, McIntyre, the broker king, sometimes has to watch what he says, lest the corporate compliance folks fuss and grumble. But his alter ego, McGregor, the hero of his novels, can blast away.
In McIntyre’s first novel, “Insiders,” published in 2011, McGregor channels McIntyre’s pique at largely unregulated corners of the markets that contributed to the financial apocalypse of 2008. The villain in “Insiders” and in McIntyre’s new book is a rogue billionaire hedge fund manipulator who taunts the hero/broker with pathological phone calls and holes up in a mansion in Cuba.
It helps to have uber-best-selling authors, such as David Baldacci, as clients. At his first-ever book party, Baldacci’s wife, Michelle, leaned over and whispered to him about which page he was supposed to sign, McIntyre recalls.
One recent afternoon at Equinox, the upscale downtown Washington power-lunch hub, celebrity chef Todd Gray comes out of the kitchen to greet McIntyre at his table, naturally.
“I thought I might get a free lunch since I mentioned the restaurant in my book,” McIntyre yuk-yuks to him.
Gray, whose cousin is on McIntyre’s brokerage team, just smiles.
Once he’s talking about his books, McIntyre allows himself a bit of latitude, complaining about the “misuse of power” he’s observed over the years in Washington.
“You see sort of the climbers that are seeking power,” he says. If you talked with almost any members of Congress, he says, they would be likely to vouch for entitlement reforms. But they worry and do little, he says, because they know “you’re going to have AARP on your back.”
What would grandpa, a right-hand man of the father of the New Deal, think about all this?
“Do you think he’s turning over in his grave?” McIntyre asks.
“Are we the 1 percent?” says McIntyre, who is donating proceeds from his new book to charity. “Sure we are. But if we are enhancing people’s lifestyles, enabling them to have a comfortable retirement, pay for their college education, and we’re getting reviled for that, it’s worth it.”
“You look around at all the horror stories,” says Donald Dell, the former Davis Cup captain, tennis TV commentator and renowned sports agent who is a McIntyre pal and neighbor. “They have not kept track of their money. The smart ones want to be stable and solid.”
Over the years, McIntyre says he has steered clients away from dubious investments in everything from thoroughbred racehorses to puppy farms.
“Money is the last taboo. They’d rather talk about their sex lives than money,” McIntyre says. “Unsophisticated people are easier to deal with unless they think they’re sophisticated.”
McIntyre can ponder all of this on his choice of many, many fields of green. He is, after all, a member of three country clubs — Congressional, as well as clubs near his vacation homes in Naples, Fla., and Bethany Beach, Del. He jokes that he wants to be the worst golfer at three of the best clubs. But Dell — who has referred numerous athletes to his buddy — says McIntyre is actually one of the most competitive people he’s ever met, whether on the golf course or the tennis court, where McIntyre has won club championships.
Their golf matches got so intense that they had to cool things by not giving each other strokes. (They were arguing too much about how many.) Once, Dell says, he nipped McIntyre and collected a $5 bet by kicking his friend’s ball into a sand trap on the 18th hole when McIntyre wasn’t looking.
This Is Why Your Kickstarter Project Is Late
Twine is exactly the type of sensor-stuffed, Wi-Fi-connected gadget you would expect to take off in Kickstarter's tech section. The device promises to make your washing machine tweet when the laundry is done and your basement send an email when it floods. Blogs called it “the future” within a week after debuting. Nobody was surprised when it raised more than half-a-million dollars--except for its creators.
When John Kestner and David Carr posted Twine on Kickstarter in November 2011, they had set their fundraising goal at $35,000. Their plan was to produce about 200 units using the same process that created the prototype. But six weeks later, having raised $556,541, they were now committed to shipping almost 4,000 units. The homemade wax mold used to create Twine's prototype was no longer going to cut it, and there wasn't another plan. “We were definitely not thinking of the risk of being too successful,” Kestner tells Fast Company.
In scaling their manufacturing process, tasks the team of two hadn't considered--customizing a $15,000 set of tooling, designing packaging, communicating with backers, and searching for components--added up to an unmanageable number of full-time jobs. Twine’s estimated delivery date of March quickly became unrealistic.
Despite the disproportionate attention that superstar Kickstarter projects like Twine get, they're rare. Most projects raise less than $10,000, and until last year, none had raised more than $1 million. But as Kickstarter's scale rockets, breakaway projects like Twine are becoming not only more visible but more common. Seventeen Kickstarter projects passed the $1 million (or euro equivalent) milestone last year. Six of them, like Twine, were gadget projects, which are arguably left in the most awkward position after breakout success. When a Kickstarter project involving hardware takes off, what started as a dream and a prototype can morph into a mass-manufacturing commitment within a couple of weeks. It’s something of a Cinderella story--but one in which Cinderella must learn how to navigate mass manufacturing overnight. Here is how it worked out for Twine.
Prototyping Twine cost a few hundred dollars. Recently graduated from MIT’s Media Lab, Kestner and Carr “squirreled away” a space to work in the basement of a Harvard dorm. Carr already owned a soldering iron and the electronics equipment for Twine’s circuit board, and he carved a wax mold for Twine's blue outer casing using a milling machine that he had built himself. Silicone and urethane cost about $100 at a local supply shop, and the toaster oven where Twine's first casing baked for six hours cost another $20.
It wasn't until the third day of the Kickstarter project, when Twine's funding passed three times the original goal, that the pair of inventors realized Twine had scaled past this manufacturing process. “If we had done 4,000,” Kestner says, “it would have taken months just to physically manufacture them. That’s not including all of the development time.”
3-D printing, Github-type sites for creating hardware such as Upverter, and makerspaces like Boston-based Artisan Aylum have all made the path to creating a functional prototype or a small batch of gadgets easier. “But the big gotchya,” says Scott Miller, the CEO of a production consultancy called Dragon Innovation that has about 20 Kickstarter projects as clients, “is that is really just the beginning, and there’s a tremendous amount of work to do after that. Because the entrepreneurs have a lot of unknown unknowns, they don’t really know how far along the timeline they are. And typically they will think they’re a lot closer to getting volume on the shelf or e-commerce than they actually are.”
All of Twine’s manufacturing partners and most of its component sources are located in the United States, which successfully avoided the problems with language, time, and cultural barriers that Kickstarter projects such as Pebble and LIFX have dealt with while manufacturing their products in China. Even without overseas manufacturing, however, there were plenty of unanticipated challenges.
The company that manufactured Twine’s outer casing, for instance, didn’t design the tooling it used to shape them. Kestner did. Whether or not his designs ended up being functional, they each would cost $15,000. Twine’s gut, the part that holds its circuit board, is made of hard plastic and was easy to test with a 3-D printer before putting money down for the real deal. But only one 3-D printer would prototype the tooling for Twine’s rubber casing, and the results weren’t nearly as accurate as the gut prototypes. When the actual metal tooling arrived, it was a disaster. The case was too tight, and it looked terrible. Problems with the manufacturer’s preview software got the team a refund, but the lost cost could have killed the project. Even with the refund, it cost time. All together, it took five months to just design Twine’s outer casing.
Meanwhile, Twine’s first employee coordinated the delivery of 100 components to the factory that assembled Twine’s circuit boards--a job that was part scavenger hunt and part logistical Olympics. Kestner worked on a design for Twine’s packaging and put together a website for managing Twine backers’ new addresses and international shipping costs.
By the time the casing and circuit boards began arriving in June, the team had moved to Austin. Boxes started piling up in their new workspace. The casing arrived from an injection molding plant in Minnesota. Circuit boards came from a manufacturer in New Hampshire. And the 8-piece boxes that Kestner designed himself came from North Carolina in large flats. Supermechanical, the company behind Twine, had already spent nearly all of its Kickstarter money. It had overshot its estimated shipping date by three months, and it hadn’t even started putting devices together.
It isn't just first-time hardware entrepreneurs that struggle with the manufacturing demands of surprise scaling via Kickstarter. Pebble Technology's CEO, Eric Migicovsky, has been working on smartwatches for four years. The company manufactured about 1,500 units of its first product, InPulse, at a Bay Area manufacturer. But the 85,000 Pebble smartwatches the company owes Kickstarter backers after raising $10 million on the site required a shift to an overseas manufacturing process, and--though Migicovsky says this plan B existed in advance--the company missed its September estimated delivery date.
In fact, most breakaway hardware projects have missed their deadlines. iPhone station Elevation Dock shipped about six months late. Virtual reality headset Oculus Rift initially set its expected delivery date for October, but announced recently that it now expects to be delivering developer kits by March 2013. By one estimate, only 25% of Kickstarter’s design and technology products deliver on time.
Being late is not necessarily a big deal. Kickstarter is, after all, designed to support unfinished projects. A bigger problem is reaching a Kickstarter funding goal only to realize that the funding can’t come close to covering your costs. Twine, for instance, set its goal at $35,000—aiming as low as possible in order to avoid missing it.
“If we had gotten less than we did, but still met our goal, that would have really hurt us; we would have lost money,” Kestner says. “There’s an uncomfortable valley between hand-making stuff and being able to have the capital to invest in tooling and all the stuff that goes into mass manufacturing that you just can’t get good prices on without mass production. So what do you do? You can’t afford to hand-make 1,000 of something.”
When John Kestner and David Carr posted Twine on Kickstarter in November 2011, they had set their fundraising goal at $35,000. Their plan was to produce about 200 units using the same process that created the prototype. But six weeks later, having raised $556,541, they were now committed to shipping almost 4,000 units. The homemade wax mold used to create Twine's prototype was no longer going to cut it, and there wasn't another plan. “We were definitely not thinking of the risk of being too successful,” Kestner tells Fast Company.
In scaling their manufacturing process, tasks the team of two hadn't considered--customizing a $15,000 set of tooling, designing packaging, communicating with backers, and searching for components--added up to an unmanageable number of full-time jobs. Twine’s estimated delivery date of March quickly became unrealistic.
Despite the disproportionate attention that superstar Kickstarter projects like Twine get, they're rare. Most projects raise less than $10,000, and until last year, none had raised more than $1 million. But as Kickstarter's scale rockets, breakaway projects like Twine are becoming not only more visible but more common. Seventeen Kickstarter projects passed the $1 million (or euro equivalent) milestone last year. Six of them, like Twine, were gadget projects, which are arguably left in the most awkward position after breakout success. When a Kickstarter project involving hardware takes off, what started as a dream and a prototype can morph into a mass-manufacturing commitment within a couple of weeks. It’s something of a Cinderella story--but one in which Cinderella must learn how to navigate mass manufacturing overnight. Here is how it worked out for Twine.
Prototyping Twine cost a few hundred dollars. Recently graduated from MIT’s Media Lab, Kestner and Carr “squirreled away” a space to work in the basement of a Harvard dorm. Carr already owned a soldering iron and the electronics equipment for Twine’s circuit board, and he carved a wax mold for Twine's blue outer casing using a milling machine that he had built himself. Silicone and urethane cost about $100 at a local supply shop, and the toaster oven where Twine's first casing baked for six hours cost another $20.
It wasn't until the third day of the Kickstarter project, when Twine's funding passed three times the original goal, that the pair of inventors realized Twine had scaled past this manufacturing process. “If we had done 4,000,” Kestner says, “it would have taken months just to physically manufacture them. That’s not including all of the development time.”
3-D printing, Github-type sites for creating hardware such as Upverter, and makerspaces like Boston-based Artisan Aylum have all made the path to creating a functional prototype or a small batch of gadgets easier. “But the big gotchya,” says Scott Miller, the CEO of a production consultancy called Dragon Innovation that has about 20 Kickstarter projects as clients, “is that is really just the beginning, and there’s a tremendous amount of work to do after that. Because the entrepreneurs have a lot of unknown unknowns, they don’t really know how far along the timeline they are. And typically they will think they’re a lot closer to getting volume on the shelf or e-commerce than they actually are.”
All of Twine’s manufacturing partners and most of its component sources are located in the United States, which successfully avoided the problems with language, time, and cultural barriers that Kickstarter projects such as Pebble and LIFX have dealt with while manufacturing their products in China. Even without overseas manufacturing, however, there were plenty of unanticipated challenges.
The company that manufactured Twine’s outer casing, for instance, didn’t design the tooling it used to shape them. Kestner did. Whether or not his designs ended up being functional, they each would cost $15,000. Twine’s gut, the part that holds its circuit board, is made of hard plastic and was easy to test with a 3-D printer before putting money down for the real deal. But only one 3-D printer would prototype the tooling for Twine’s rubber casing, and the results weren’t nearly as accurate as the gut prototypes. When the actual metal tooling arrived, it was a disaster. The case was too tight, and it looked terrible. Problems with the manufacturer’s preview software got the team a refund, but the lost cost could have killed the project. Even with the refund, it cost time. All together, it took five months to just design Twine’s outer casing.
Meanwhile, Twine’s first employee coordinated the delivery of 100 components to the factory that assembled Twine’s circuit boards--a job that was part scavenger hunt and part logistical Olympics. Kestner worked on a design for Twine’s packaging and put together a website for managing Twine backers’ new addresses and international shipping costs.
By the time the casing and circuit boards began arriving in June, the team had moved to Austin. Boxes started piling up in their new workspace. The casing arrived from an injection molding plant in Minnesota. Circuit boards came from a manufacturer in New Hampshire. And the 8-piece boxes that Kestner designed himself came from North Carolina in large flats. Supermechanical, the company behind Twine, had already spent nearly all of its Kickstarter money. It had overshot its estimated shipping date by three months, and it hadn’t even started putting devices together.
It isn't just first-time hardware entrepreneurs that struggle with the manufacturing demands of surprise scaling via Kickstarter. Pebble Technology's CEO, Eric Migicovsky, has been working on smartwatches for four years. The company manufactured about 1,500 units of its first product, InPulse, at a Bay Area manufacturer. But the 85,000 Pebble smartwatches the company owes Kickstarter backers after raising $10 million on the site required a shift to an overseas manufacturing process, and--though Migicovsky says this plan B existed in advance--the company missed its September estimated delivery date.
In fact, most breakaway hardware projects have missed their deadlines. iPhone station Elevation Dock shipped about six months late. Virtual reality headset Oculus Rift initially set its expected delivery date for October, but announced recently that it now expects to be delivering developer kits by March 2013. By one estimate, only 25% of Kickstarter’s design and technology products deliver on time.
Being late is not necessarily a big deal. Kickstarter is, after all, designed to support unfinished projects. A bigger problem is reaching a Kickstarter funding goal only to realize that the funding can’t come close to covering your costs. Twine, for instance, set its goal at $35,000—aiming as low as possible in order to avoid missing it.
“If we had gotten less than we did, but still met our goal, that would have really hurt us; we would have lost money,” Kestner says. “There’s an uncomfortable valley between hand-making stuff and being able to have the capital to invest in tooling and all the stuff that goes into mass manufacturing that you just can’t get good prices on without mass production. So what do you do? You can’t afford to hand-make 1,000 of something.”
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Bridger 'probably killed' April
Former lifeguard Mark Bridger is "probably responsible" for the death of five-year-old April Jones but denies her abduction and murder, a court has been told.
Bridger, of Mount Pleasant farmhouse in the village of Ceinws, near Machynlleth, will stand trial later this year accused of murdering April, who went missing in mid-Wales last year.
April was last seen playing out on her bike on Machynlleth's Bryn-y-Gog estate, where she lived, on the evening of October 1. Bridger was arrested the following day, but the search for April's body goes on.
Bridger entered not guilty pleas to abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice at Mold Crown Court.
But Brendan Kelly, defending, told the court his client's defence involves him "conceding that he probably killed the child".
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams said: "That matter can be reported. You have indicated that the defendant's case is that he was probably responsible for the death of April." The judge ordered that no other evidence in the case can be reported.
April's parents Coral and Paul Jones were in court as Bridger, 46, entered his not guilty pleas. The case sparked an outpouring of support for April's family, with hundreds of people joining the search. April's parents were led into the court before Bridger was brought up. Mrs Jones, wearing a black cardigan, pink T-shirt and black trousers, and Mr Jones, wearing a salmon pink shirt, sat to the side of the dock, just 10ft away from Bridger. The defendant, with short cropped hair and goatee beard, was then brought in and confirmed his name to the court.
Both parents stared at Bridger as the charges were read to him. Bridger stood, his arms behind his back, and looked forward as he entered not guilty pleas to abducting and murdering April and a further charge of perverting the course of public justice. At one point Bridger, wearing a navy blue jumper with a pair of spectacles tucked into his collar, appeared to be making an effort to compose himself as he entered his pleas and looked up towards the ceiling as he entered his final not guilty plea. At one point during the hearing, Mrs Jones wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue.
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams refused an application from the defence to move the trial out of the North Wales area. Mr Kelly said the defendant was of the belief that his right to a fair trial "would be better served elsewhere". But the judge said Mold Crown Court was an appropriate venue for the trial and that he was satisfied the jury system was "more than sufficient" to address any concerns about prejudice to the defendant.
Each prize is a 24-karat-gold-plated statuette atop a marble pedestal, and since 2009, the production of this iconic trophy has been the business of Society Awards, a New York-based design and manufacturing company catering to the awards industry.
David Moritz, CEO of Society Awards, founded the company in 2007 and has since become something of a trophy tycoon, manufacturing prizes for the American Music Awards, MTV Movie and Video Music Awards, the Sundance Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards, among many others. His company also makes the awards for some of reality television’s most famous competitions, such as “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
Despite his busy pre-award-season schedule, Moritz took some time to talk with BusinessNewsDaily about his role in creating one of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards and how a one-time entertainment lawyer found his niche in an antiquated industry in need of an upgrade.
Moritz said it took some doing to persuade the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the awards show, to put its trust in his young company. But after many months of unrelenting salesmanship, the association agreed to give Society Awards a shot.
“I promised them that I would always personally take care of their every need and always think of new ways to make things better, and I work hard every year coming through on that promise for them,” Moritz said.
The first thing Moritz did was to provide the statuette with a much-needed face lift. The design of the globe, which features the earth encircled by a film strip atop a marble pedestal, didn’t change, but the process of making the statue underwent serious improvement. The award is now more lustrous and as durable as a car engine part.
Moritz, who is involved in every aspect of his company’s design and manufacturing process, explained the finer points of making a Golden Globe. The core of the globe is die-cast zinc. The zinc is injected under heat and pressure into a tool steel mold. The globe gets its gold sheen once a 24-karat electroplating is applied over the core. The globe is then hand-polished and lacquered and placed atop a base. The base, made of muted brown marble, comes from Eastern Europe.
Moritz said that before Society Awards came along, no one in the industry would have gone to so much trouble to produce so few statues. But one of the secrets to Moritz’s success seems to be his willingness to go out of his way to make clients happy.
Moritz has a grand vision for his company, and this is reflected in all of his business decisions, from the industrial production of every award to the immaculate interior of his offices.
Committed to excellent service, Moritz said he considers himself and his employees to be the awards' “custodians,” responsible not only for manufacturing each award but for personalizing it and storing it until the ceremony.
Society Awards also works with its clients on marketing initiatives, collaborations with product designers, and ideas for new projects. While all these extra services clearly represent an effort to create the best possible relationship with clients, they also do a lot to further Society Awards' image as a luxury brand.
Bridger, of Mount Pleasant farmhouse in the village of Ceinws, near Machynlleth, will stand trial later this year accused of murdering April, who went missing in mid-Wales last year.
April was last seen playing out on her bike on Machynlleth's Bryn-y-Gog estate, where she lived, on the evening of October 1. Bridger was arrested the following day, but the search for April's body goes on.
Bridger entered not guilty pleas to abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice at Mold Crown Court.
But Brendan Kelly, defending, told the court his client's defence involves him "conceding that he probably killed the child".
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams said: "That matter can be reported. You have indicated that the defendant's case is that he was probably responsible for the death of April." The judge ordered that no other evidence in the case can be reported.
April's parents Coral and Paul Jones were in court as Bridger, 46, entered his not guilty pleas. The case sparked an outpouring of support for April's family, with hundreds of people joining the search. April's parents were led into the court before Bridger was brought up. Mrs Jones, wearing a black cardigan, pink T-shirt and black trousers, and Mr Jones, wearing a salmon pink shirt, sat to the side of the dock, just 10ft away from Bridger. The defendant, with short cropped hair and goatee beard, was then brought in and confirmed his name to the court.
Both parents stared at Bridger as the charges were read to him. Bridger stood, his arms behind his back, and looked forward as he entered not guilty pleas to abducting and murdering April and a further charge of perverting the course of public justice. At one point Bridger, wearing a navy blue jumper with a pair of spectacles tucked into his collar, appeared to be making an effort to compose himself as he entered his pleas and looked up towards the ceiling as he entered his final not guilty plea. At one point during the hearing, Mrs Jones wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue.
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams refused an application from the defence to move the trial out of the North Wales area. Mr Kelly said the defendant was of the belief that his right to a fair trial "would be better served elsewhere". But the judge said Mold Crown Court was an appropriate venue for the trial and that he was satisfied the jury system was "more than sufficient" to address any concerns about prejudice to the defendant.
Each prize is a 24-karat-gold-plated statuette atop a marble pedestal, and since 2009, the production of this iconic trophy has been the business of Society Awards, a New York-based design and manufacturing company catering to the awards industry.
David Moritz, CEO of Society Awards, founded the company in 2007 and has since become something of a trophy tycoon, manufacturing prizes for the American Music Awards, MTV Movie and Video Music Awards, the Sundance Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards, among many others. His company also makes the awards for some of reality television’s most famous competitions, such as “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
Despite his busy pre-award-season schedule, Moritz took some time to talk with BusinessNewsDaily about his role in creating one of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards and how a one-time entertainment lawyer found his niche in an antiquated industry in need of an upgrade.
Moritz said it took some doing to persuade the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the awards show, to put its trust in his young company. But after many months of unrelenting salesmanship, the association agreed to give Society Awards a shot.
“I promised them that I would always personally take care of their every need and always think of new ways to make things better, and I work hard every year coming through on that promise for them,” Moritz said.
The first thing Moritz did was to provide the statuette with a much-needed face lift. The design of the globe, which features the earth encircled by a film strip atop a marble pedestal, didn’t change, but the process of making the statue underwent serious improvement. The award is now more lustrous and as durable as a car engine part.
Moritz, who is involved in every aspect of his company’s design and manufacturing process, explained the finer points of making a Golden Globe. The core of the globe is die-cast zinc. The zinc is injected under heat and pressure into a tool steel mold. The globe gets its gold sheen once a 24-karat electroplating is applied over the core. The globe is then hand-polished and lacquered and placed atop a base. The base, made of muted brown marble, comes from Eastern Europe.
Moritz said that before Society Awards came along, no one in the industry would have gone to so much trouble to produce so few statues. But one of the secrets to Moritz’s success seems to be his willingness to go out of his way to make clients happy.
Moritz has a grand vision for his company, and this is reflected in all of his business decisions, from the industrial production of every award to the immaculate interior of his offices.
Committed to excellent service, Moritz said he considers himself and his employees to be the awards' “custodians,” responsible not only for manufacturing each award but for personalizing it and storing it until the ceremony.
Society Awards also works with its clients on marketing initiatives, collaborations with product designers, and ideas for new projects. While all these extra services clearly represent an effort to create the best possible relationship with clients, they also do a lot to further Society Awards' image as a luxury brand.
Rudy Gay heads to Toronto in Grizzlies' makeover
Rudy Gay is on his way to Toronto in the latest and most dramatic move in the Memphis Grizzlies' money-motivated makeover.
The Grizzlies agreed to trade their star swingman to the Raptors on Wednesday, parting with the leading scorer on a team that has aspirations of making a run in the powerful Western Conference.
The Raptors gave up point guard Jose Calderon and forward Ed Davis in the deal that also included Grizzlies backup center Hamed Haddadi, and Memphis then shipped Calderon to Detroit for Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince. Memphis general manager Chris Wallace thanked both Gay and Haddaddi for their time with the Grizzlies.
"We are excited to add three players who bring with them a tremendous amount of value to our team and have achieved incredible success on the pro, college and Olympic levels," Wallace said in a statement Wednesday night. "In these players, we welcome NBA Champion and Olympic gold medalist Tayshaun Prince, as well as up-and-coming athletic forwards Ed Davis, who won an NCAA title at North Carolina, and Austin Daye."
"It's been my home for eight years," Calderon said in Atlanta, shortly before leaving the arena. "I've done everything possible for this team. It's tough. The fans have been with me since Day 1. It's tough."
Prince and Daye have both spent their entire careers with Detroit, and Prince was the last link to the proud championship team of 2003-04.
"Trading a player like Tayshaun Prince, who has meant so much to our organization and contributed to our championship success, is never easy," Pistons president Joe Dumars said in a statement. "We want to thank Tayshaun for his professionalism and contributions over the last 10 years. We also appreciate everything that Austin Daye has done for our team both on and off the court over the past three-plus years."
Gay, averaging 17.2 points and 5.9 rebounds, signed a five-year, $82 million maximum contract in July 2010 with Memphis. The 6-foot-8 small forward is due $16.5 million this season with $37 million more over the next two years. That's a big number for new owner Robert Pera, who took over the franchise last November and has quickly started addressing the team's salary situation.
Just over a week ago, the Grizzlies sent valuable reserve Marreese Speights and two other players to Cleveland in a move that cleared $6.4 million in salary and avoided a $4 million luxury tax hit this season. Team officials said that move put the Grizzlies in position not to have to make a move this season.
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins had been lobbying to keep his five starters together the rest of this season, but he apparently lost that fight. It's a significant move for a team that was fourth in the Western Conference and three games behind the third-place Clippers.
Trading away Gay also eases a luxury tax hit due next season, while concentrating the team around center Marc Gasol and All-Star forward Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies had their best playoff run in 2011 when they knocked off then-No. 1 seed San Antonio before losing to Oklahoma City in seven games in the Western semifinals — all with Gay on the bench after needing season-ending shoulder surgery.
The collective bargaining agreement negotiated after last year's lockout makes the penalties for exceeding the salary cap far more punitive, and the system begins in earnest next season. Playing in a smaller market, the Grizzlies don't have the extra revenue from lavish television contracts like teams in Los Angeles or New York, which makes it that much more difficult to go over the cap. But even teams such as the Lakers and Bulls will likely have to be more responsible with their spending under the new deal, where repeat offenders are taxed at rates that multiply with each consecutive year they go over the cap.
The first domino fell before the season, when Oklahoma City sent James Harden to Houston instead of signing him to a big-money extension, and more are sure to follow.
All told, the Grizzlies shaved nearly $40 million over the next three years after the two trades.
They'll get a hard-nosed defender in return in Prince, the 32-year-old forward who was drafted by the Pistons in the first round in 2002. He is averaging 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season. Bringing in Calderon gives them a veteran mentor for young point guard Brandon Knight.
"We are pleased to welcome Jose Calderon, knowing that he fits our mold as a high character individual who is a great competitor," Dumars said. "Jose is a great facilitator at the guard position and a player that we feel gives us tremendous flexibility on the court when added to the core of guards we have on the roster."
Calderon joined the Raptors from Spain in 2005 and has been a fan favorite and trusted veteran on the team. He is averaging 11.1 points and 7.4 assists this season for the Raptors (16-29), who are desperately trying to scratch their way into the playoff picture. Toronto was in 11th place before the games were played Wednesday, 5? games behind Boston for the eight seed.
Calderon and Davis had both been starting for the Raptors, but they do have Kyle Lowry waiting in the wings at point guard and likely see Gay's scoring punch as the key to vaulting back into the discussion in a mediocre conference.
Coach Dwane Casey will have to deal with a bit of a log jam with Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Landry Fields and Alan Anderson as wing players with similar skill sets. But getting a player with Gay's natural scoring talent, even at the expense of parting with a valued player like Calderon, proved too enticing to pass up.
The Grizzlies agreed to trade their star swingman to the Raptors on Wednesday, parting with the leading scorer on a team that has aspirations of making a run in the powerful Western Conference.
The Raptors gave up point guard Jose Calderon and forward Ed Davis in the deal that also included Grizzlies backup center Hamed Haddadi, and Memphis then shipped Calderon to Detroit for Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince. Memphis general manager Chris Wallace thanked both Gay and Haddaddi for their time with the Grizzlies.
"We are excited to add three players who bring with them a tremendous amount of value to our team and have achieved incredible success on the pro, college and Olympic levels," Wallace said in a statement Wednesday night. "In these players, we welcome NBA Champion and Olympic gold medalist Tayshaun Prince, as well as up-and-coming athletic forwards Ed Davis, who won an NCAA title at North Carolina, and Austin Daye."
"It's been my home for eight years," Calderon said in Atlanta, shortly before leaving the arena. "I've done everything possible for this team. It's tough. The fans have been with me since Day 1. It's tough."
Prince and Daye have both spent their entire careers with Detroit, and Prince was the last link to the proud championship team of 2003-04.
"Trading a player like Tayshaun Prince, who has meant so much to our organization and contributed to our championship success, is never easy," Pistons president Joe Dumars said in a statement. "We want to thank Tayshaun for his professionalism and contributions over the last 10 years. We also appreciate everything that Austin Daye has done for our team both on and off the court over the past three-plus years."
Gay, averaging 17.2 points and 5.9 rebounds, signed a five-year, $82 million maximum contract in July 2010 with Memphis. The 6-foot-8 small forward is due $16.5 million this season with $37 million more over the next two years. That's a big number for new owner Robert Pera, who took over the franchise last November and has quickly started addressing the team's salary situation.
Just over a week ago, the Grizzlies sent valuable reserve Marreese Speights and two other players to Cleveland in a move that cleared $6.4 million in salary and avoided a $4 million luxury tax hit this season. Team officials said that move put the Grizzlies in position not to have to make a move this season.
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins had been lobbying to keep his five starters together the rest of this season, but he apparently lost that fight. It's a significant move for a team that was fourth in the Western Conference and three games behind the third-place Clippers.
Trading away Gay also eases a luxury tax hit due next season, while concentrating the team around center Marc Gasol and All-Star forward Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies had their best playoff run in 2011 when they knocked off then-No. 1 seed San Antonio before losing to Oklahoma City in seven games in the Western semifinals — all with Gay on the bench after needing season-ending shoulder surgery.
The collective bargaining agreement negotiated after last year's lockout makes the penalties for exceeding the salary cap far more punitive, and the system begins in earnest next season. Playing in a smaller market, the Grizzlies don't have the extra revenue from lavish television contracts like teams in Los Angeles or New York, which makes it that much more difficult to go over the cap. But even teams such as the Lakers and Bulls will likely have to be more responsible with their spending under the new deal, where repeat offenders are taxed at rates that multiply with each consecutive year they go over the cap.
The first domino fell before the season, when Oklahoma City sent James Harden to Houston instead of signing him to a big-money extension, and more are sure to follow.
All told, the Grizzlies shaved nearly $40 million over the next three years after the two trades.
They'll get a hard-nosed defender in return in Prince, the 32-year-old forward who was drafted by the Pistons in the first round in 2002. He is averaging 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season. Bringing in Calderon gives them a veteran mentor for young point guard Brandon Knight.
"We are pleased to welcome Jose Calderon, knowing that he fits our mold as a high character individual who is a great competitor," Dumars said. "Jose is a great facilitator at the guard position and a player that we feel gives us tremendous flexibility on the court when added to the core of guards we have on the roster."
Calderon joined the Raptors from Spain in 2005 and has been a fan favorite and trusted veteran on the team. He is averaging 11.1 points and 7.4 assists this season for the Raptors (16-29), who are desperately trying to scratch their way into the playoff picture. Toronto was in 11th place before the games were played Wednesday, 5? games behind Boston for the eight seed.
Calderon and Davis had both been starting for the Raptors, but they do have Kyle Lowry waiting in the wings at point guard and likely see Gay's scoring punch as the key to vaulting back into the discussion in a mediocre conference.
Coach Dwane Casey will have to deal with a bit of a log jam with Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Landry Fields and Alan Anderson as wing players with similar skill sets. But getting a player with Gay's natural scoring talent, even at the expense of parting with a valued player like Calderon, proved too enticing to pass up.
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