A note from one of my heroes, Winnie (not from the Wonder Years, the one from World War II who saved the west):
I am easily satisfied with the very best
- Sir Winston Churchill
I think I am far too easily satisfied with not-the-best.
Sports illustrated recently named the 10 best goalie masks of the decade. You can find them all here. A couple of notes though, from my perspective:
Curtis Joseph's Mask
For me, Felix Potvin was the first Maple Leafs goaltender I remember wanting to be. Not wanting to be like, but wanting to be. As I got up in my teenage years, though, there was a new kid on the block… and I wanted to be him instead. That new kid was Curtis Joseph. With a nickname like Cujo, how could his mask have looked any different? It couldn’t have been awesomer… then again, neither could he.
But, if I was to pick a favorite:
Andrew Raycroft's Mask
Poor ol’ Raycroft. The guy really was promising. Then he fell apart in net. But, he had the greatest goalie’s mask I’ve ever seen. It shows class and a knowledge of the background of the game he played. An Ontario boy playing on the Maple Leafs had the old arena, Maple Leaf Gardens, front and center, with Leafs greats painted around the rest of the mask. Wendell Clark, Johnny Bower, Doug Gilmour, Felix Potvin. Razor’s mask indicated that he knew how awesome it was that he got play in the NHL for the Maple Leafs. If only he could’ve played well!
I’m going to play strawman so that I don’t offend anyone. I read certain discussions on the internet about what qualities a book needs to have in order for people to buy it. Some things that are discussed include: paper quality, softcover versus hardcover, author picture on the back or not, and other little things like that.
Here’s my take on it: there is a certain quality that the majority of book buyers expect from a book. A book meeting that standard doesn’t ensure it any sales what so ever. Not meeting the standard, though, will cost it sales.
The rest of the issue… the majority of the issue… is hinges entirely on marketing. Does the cover attract the right demographic? Are the right people talking about the book? Is the advertising effective? Does the author have the right people in his/her corner? Are the author’s fans actively pushing the book?
The notion that people buy books just for being at a bookstore is severely misguided, because it ignores the way that the book ended up in the bookstore. The buyers for the bookstores care a lot about the marketing plan and the platform that the author has. They care a lot about the cover. The bookstore won’t stock the book without good marketing. And good placement on the shelves… well, you either need to be Tom Clancy, or you/your publisher need to pay up… probably both for the best placement.
What does that mean for the little guys? It means invest as much money as it takes to make your book a quality product. If you’re doing it on your own, your goal should be to have as good a product as any of the big boys.
But don’t obsess over getting it beyond their product. They’ve been doing this for a while, and they’ve figured out where additional investment doesn’t result in additional sales (like nicer paper for a standard book). There’s a reason that most trade paperbacks from major publishing houses are on cheap-ish paper. It’s because the vast majority of the buyers of that type of book will never, ever notice what kind of paper it’s on.
There’s a little window to my take on the world for you.
There’s an interesting movement happening at www.moveyourmoney.info — several volunteers (including one Ariana Huffington, the editor in chief of the Huffington Post (which I won’t bother linking to)… if I had to describe how similar Ms. Huffington and I are philosophically I’d probably say, “Diametrically opposed,”) have started an effort to encourage people to stop dealing with big wall street banks and to move their money to independent, community banks and credit unions.
I’m not much for sticking it to the man. But, I can say that big banks are bad for their customers. I say this as one who has worked in banking until fairly recently, and has seen the impact from the other side of the desk. Here are just a few reasons big banks are bad news for everyone:
1. Fees. Big banks lead the way on raising fees. Take the infamous overdraft fee, for example. The national average for FDIC governed institutions is now $26 per instance (last I read, per the FDIC). However, if you change the sample group to FDIC governed institutions with more than 3 billion dollars in assets, the average goes up to $33 per instance. I think the common person would be shocked to find out how much a little bank branch generates from overdraft fees alone. I was shocked. Of course, banks will be reluctant to break it out for you… instead referring to it as part of the grand category, “Non interest income.”
2. An emphasis on “Non interest income.” Traditional thinking is that banks make most of their money by taking depositors money and lending it to borrowers. They charge the borrower 6-10 %, pay the depositor 2-4%, and the 4-6% in the middle is where the banks make money. The banking industry is changing though. See, deposit rates fluctuate. Banks can lock in loans for 30 years at 5% this year, and 5 years from now find themselves paying 4.75% for deposits. When the margin gets that narrow, the banks make less money. For most banks, that means that they pay less to their stockholders. Angry stockholders is bad. So, the banks realized they needed to find income they could control. And that, friends, is why you have free checking accounts that have more fee opportunities than any account your parents had when you were growing up. Non-interest income is a constant — unless consumers educate themselves. And as they do, the fee structure is changed to generate more fees.
3. Your big bank is sticking it to small businesses and loving it. Did you know that there’s some pretty heavy risk involved in handing out those little machines that process credit card transactions? Sure enough. Small banks have to be particularly careful, since they can only afford so much liability. So, the big banks get the small business who are new, or have less-than-perfect credit. And they charge… you guessed it! Fees! That’s right, your local small businessman who fixes your computer, does your taxes, sells you your newspaper, he pays (probably 3-5%) per transaction you do with your debit or credit card. If he chooses not to accept cards for payment, people go elsewhere. So, he gets killed, and the big banks get bigger. Want to make a locally owned business person’s day? Pay them with cash.
4. Big banks can afford not to pay you fair rates for your deposits. “But, I thought you said banks make money by taking my money and lending it out for more than they’re paying me?” Somewhat true. But, banks have lots of creative ways to make their balance sheets work these days. They can borrow from the federal reserve (at .25% overnight, depending on their creditworthiness). They can borrow from other banks who are “deposit rich.” All of the sudden, it’s not so necessary that they pay you 2% for your money… in fact, they’re better off NOT paying you 2 % for your money.
5. Big banks can afford not to lend to you. See point #4, but reverse it. Banks can invest in all kinds of bonds, lend to other banks, etc., all of which is safer than lending. So, if you’re not right in the “ideal borrower” category, they might just decide to do something else with the money.
6. The people who make decisions at big banks have no idea who you are. This is possibly true at smaller banks too, depending on just how “community” your community bank is. At big banks, lending decisions are made by trained risk analysts who look at your credit report, the request, and the documentation and compare it to a matrix of “yes/no” statements. Hit too many “no”s (or “exceptions”), and the answer is no. No matter what. A community bank lender is much more likely to have some degree of discretion and familiarity with your situation. That’s good for you, and good for the community.
7. Big banks invest deposits all over the place. Banks have lending territories. To my admittedly limited understanding, this is usually the states the bank has branches in, and bordering states. That means that a bank that exists only in Kansas might lend also in Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado. If they’re small, chances are that they reinvest (through lending) most (if not all) of their deposits right there in their home state. That means that when you deposit your nest egg, you’re building a house across town, not in New York, LA, or Dallas.
There are some inconveniences with small banks — ATM fees, limited locations, lack of advanced services. But, if you want to know that your money is staying at home, the best thing to do is to bank with a small, local institution. Credit unions are probably the ultimate — they have no stockholders except the members, so there’s no one to keep happy except for the customers. Either way, you can feel much better about the people you’re dealing with (not necessarily locally, but corporately) dealing locally.
The folks at moveyourmoney have a local bank finder that can help. Think about it — not as a way of sticking it to the man, but as a way of investing in your local economy. That’s a good thing!
Ah, the library. I was writing the other day about how I’m frequently trying to find book recommendations before I go to the library. It occurred to me that there are people (possibly even some of my 12.67 readers) that haven’t darkened the door of their local library in years.
I want to encourage you to go to the library! Statistically speaking, we’re all buying fewer books. By and large, we’ve replaced books with digital media (tv, the internet, etc)… but the quality of the content we’re consuming is definitely in a downward spiral. 30 minutes consuming even good fare on blogs is seldom the equivalent of, say, 30 minutes reading 1919, Mere Christianity, or even the King of Torts (Grisham pulp).
Libraries are these bizarre repositories of publicly owned books, available for free (well, for your tax dollars, but it feels free). You can learn a lot by spending a little time in your library’s aisles. You can expand the breadth and depth of your reading. You can be exposed to ideas you’d never otherwise come across. How is this a bad plan? Go to the library!
I’m always looking for good tips on things to read, watch, and listen to. Of course, you expect to get different kinds of advice from different people. When it comes to things that will make me artsier and cooler, there’s no better place to go than the Rabbit Room. Last week, they posted Best of Lists from all of their contributors. Interesting lists… I should have some options at the library for weeks to come. Go check it out. Now!
I have a new (and hopefully not long-lasting) daily routine. It involves removing snow from my front walk. But, as part of this routine, the blinds have to be drawn so that my little boy can “Watch Dada.” When I go out the door, I get a very sweet, “Bye, Dada!” and when I come back… well, the excitement is over-the-top.
It’s a good reminder that everything I do is being watched. I am exerting influence even when I am shoveling snow. That’s a little intimidating, but it is a good reminder to do everything to the standard of excellence I want to set for those I influence. Especially that little boy.
I’m kind of at a loss here, folks. I mean, hockey talk is reserved for Saturdays… but yesterday, a Friday, we had a hockey post. We certainly can’t take two days in one week to talk about a sport — even if it is my favorite sport. But, I’m so programmed to give you hockey on Saturday, that I’m struggling for alternatives.
I know! How about 5 good reasons to have a hockey stick around the house:
1. A hockey stick is an incredibly useful tool for icicle removal from your eaves. Particularly if your eaves are overflowing with ice. (How’d that happen? I think it probably started with the end of the eaves being frozen in snow, then what little run-off there was just froze on top of it. That’s my theory, anyway.)
2. A hockey stick is great for reaching toys that have managed to find their way all the way underneath the couch or the bed. Can’t reach it with your arm? Don’t grab for the broom… get a hockey stick! Brooms are for guys who play curling.
3. A hockey stick gives you the aura of a hockey player. Particularly in areas of the world where they don’t play a lot of hockey… like, say, West Virginia. My neighbors probably think I was a superstar in another life!
4. A hockey stick is useful for getting rid of crab apples in your yard. Particularly if your neighbor isn’t home. Enough said.
5. Last, but certainly not least, it’s a good idea to keep a hockey stick around the house in case… a hockey game breaks out. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but… any day now, someone will knock at my door and say “Wanna play some hockey?” After all, Kevin Costner’s baseball players walked out of a corn field. C’mon. If that can happen, random people could show up at my door wanting to play hockey. I eagerly await the day.
This one is for Ken. Ken pointed out that I didn’t blog at all about the results of the World Junior Hockey Championship. Thanks Ken. That wasn’t at all like rubbing salt in a wound.
Just kidding! Seriously though, how about that. Let me tell you my story: I had a job I was doing (side-work like) that needed to be completed in time for Wednesday morning delivery. So, Tuesday I worked on it from 5 – 10pm. At about 10:10, I got it done, and pulled up TSN.ca (my favorite sport site because hockey is not an after thought. I’m looking at you ESPN.com). I said to myself, Let’s just make sure that Canada won, and then I’ll go to bed. I saw that overtime was about to start.
No Canadian could go to bed having just read that a championship hockey game — between the US and Canada, no less — was going into overtime.
I pulled up the game and watched on edge as the play went back and forth. We looked like the better team for the early minutes. I watched as we got a beautiful odd-man rush… and then…
Here’s the thing about odd-man rushes in hockey. What happens is, you end up with 3 of one team in the other team’s zone, with say, one defender back. What that means is, if the team on offense can keep the puck, they have a good chance at a clear shot on the goalie.
It also means that in the event of a strong rebound or a good poke-check, the opposing team (who only had one defender back) will turn the tables quickly.
Our beautiful odd-man rush turned into another beautiful odd-man rush. The jerseys were just the wrong color. This time, the puck went in the net.
With that, the game was over. I’d say the audience in Canada, a nation of 30+ million, was millions of people. I doubt if the audience in the USA was even hundreds of thousands. Canada is a nation so in love with ice that men would trade their children for a zamboni. America is a nation where ice related sports are generally relegated to the crowd who loves sports, hates basketball, and needs something to do over the winter. And Minnesotans. But they’re practically Canadian anyway.
We didn’t expect to lose. We’d won 5 tournaments in a row, or something obscene like that. Yet, we lost.
Sometimes, losing when you expect to win is good for you. It builds character.
At least, that’s what I’ll be telling myself next January, after we’ve taken back the championship. Until then… We shouldn’t have lost that game!
Tim Challies is me, but awesomer. He’s Canadian. I’m Canadian (I just don’t get to live there any more). I blog. He blogs (and has tons and tons of readers. In fact, he’s referred to as “the internet’s most popular Christian blogger” by the pyromaniacs). He reads books. I read books (he reads more… see his 10 million words project).
I like technology, Tim Challies likes technology. He’s writing a book about technology, and I can’t wait to read it. He wrote at length about it here, and a little more here, but I’ll give you some details:
Even the least technical among us are being pressed from all sides by technology. Like it or not, we rely upon it in unprecedented ways. Many people feel that they are analog creatures in a digital world. Christians are beginning to awaken to this reality and are trying to think critically and biblically about many new realities brought about by technological developments. Yet, there are few helpful and sympathetic voices for those who wish to do so but have no idea how. I’m hoping to fill this gap, creating a book that will help Christians think well about technology.
This is good stuff. As a believer and a parent, one of the challenges I face is how to think right about technology in relation to my family. Tim’s exactly right, there aren’t exactly many people saying “read me! I can help!” So, Tim Challies (me, but awesomer) is going to help. I can’t wait.
Oh yeah, he’s hoping that people will commit to praying for him while he writes. I think that’s a great idea. I can think of a few other writers you could be praying for too. Some of us just aren’t quite as awesome as Tim Challies.
