Rakontur, the guys behind Cocaine Cowboys have launched their Clubland Miami series. Clubland Miami is the story of Mynt Lounge Owner Roberto Caan and his former Partners Nicola Siervo, former NBA player Rony Seikaly, Karim Masri (of Hotel Astor and Metro Kitchen + Bar), and Linley Edwards.
“The glamour is back,”an unseen announcer proclaimed to the crowd as the lights dimmed to start the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Surely she was speaking about the renovated Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, which hosted the event. The seductive lingerie line has always been about making the masses feel glamorous.
The runway show, with a pink-carpet entrance and supermodels including Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio, was the highlight of the Fontainebleau’s weekend-long grand reopening festivities, and it didn’t disappoint. Saturday night was packed with spectacle: raining confetti, a hot pop star (Usher), the Victoria’s Secret angel wings, a $5 million diamond-encrusted bra, even fireworks in front of the hotel’s famed facade.
It’s not the first time the annual event has hit Miami, but was the first time it was filmed here for television. In 2004, producers gave up the TV program in lieu of a four-city Angels Across America tour to promote the Victoria’s Secret brand, stopping in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Chris R sent me this must read article a while back by Michael Lewis. Michael Lewis wrote one of my favorite book’s Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street.
“When I sat down to write my account of the experience in 1989—Liar’s Poker, it was called—it was in the spirit of a young man who thought he was getting out while the getting was good. I was merely scribbling down a message on my way out and stuffing it into a bottle for those who would pass through these parts in the far distant future.
Unless some insider got all of this down on paper, I figured, no future human would believe that it happened.
I thought I was writing a period piece about the 1980s in America. Not for a moment did I suspect that the financial 1980s would last two full decades longer or that the difference in degree between Wall Street and ordinary life would swell into a difference in kind. I expected readers of the future to be outraged that back in 1986, the C.E.O. of Salomon Brothers, John Gutfreund, was paid $3.1 million; I expected them to gape in horror when I reported that one of our traders, Howie Rubin, had moved to Merrill Lynch, where he lost $250 million; I assumed they’d be shocked to learn that a Wall Street C.E.O. had only the vaguest idea of the risks his traders were running. What I didn’t expect was that any future reader would look on my experience and say, “How quaint.”
I had no great agenda, apart from telling what I took to be a remarkable tale, but if you got a few drinks in me and then asked what effect I thought my book would have on the world, I might have said something like, “I hope that college students trying to figure out what to do with their lives will read it and decide that it’s silly to phony it up and abandon their passions to become financiers.” I hoped that some bright kid at, say, Ohio State University who really wanted to be an oceanographer would read my book, spurn the offer from Morgan Stanley, and set out to sea.
Somehow that message failed to come across. Six months after Liar’s Poker was published, I was knee-deep in letters from students at Ohio State who wanted to know if I had any other secrets to share about Wall Street. They’d read my book as a how-to manual.
In the two decades since then, I had been waiting for the end of Wall Street. The outrageous bonuses, the slender returns to shareholders, the never-ending scandals, the bursting of the internet bubble, the crisis following the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management: Over and over again, the big Wall Street investment banks would be, in some narrow way, discredited. Yet they just kept on growing, along with the sums of money that they doled out to 26-year-olds to perform tasks of no obvious social utility. The rebellion by American youth against the money culture never happened. Why bother to overturn your parents’ world when you can buy it, slice it up into tranches, and sell off the pieces?
At some point, I gave up waiting for the end. There was no scandal or reversal, I assumed, that could sink the system. ”
Built on a classic brother-against-brother narrative, Danish filmmaker Asger Leth’s “Ghosts of Cité Soleil” is a forceful documentary set against the 2004 Haitian coup d’état that toppled the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. An expressionistic portrait of a society in violent chaos, the film blends cinéma vérité and newsreel footage to capture a modern-day tragedy with Shakespearean overtones.
As Haiti moves toward anarchy, the notorious slums of its capital, Port-au-Prince, are ruled by the chimères, ruthless gangs that largely support the Aristide regime. In Cité Soleil, described as one of the most dangerous places on Earth, 2pac and Bily are gang leaders on opposing trajectories. They also happen to be brothers.
In ancient times Hannibal gave birth to modern war strategy. Leading Carthage through the Alps and Pyrenees with War Elephants to earn many decisive victories against the Romans, he was calculating and fearless.
In today’s market, skilled marksmen/traders/PE bankers know to be the same. Only the war is not fought with swords and shields, its derivatives, the VIX, and economic data a-la durable goods. If you’re longhorn like Texas, you got impaled. Hopefully for your sake you ultra shorted it with SDS, SKF and DXD. You are not wearing armor to the Punic war, it should be Paul Stewart suits, Gucci loafers and you too can live life. Salvatore Ferragamo ties. I’m just saying, I’m trying to maintain my seat at Da Silvano, it is pike mackerel season.
We all know bloods been spilled and it’s still spilling. 7 MC’s have been put in the line and executed. Here’s where you remember that you were born on The Street. With that as your birth right, you need to remember to flex with the market.
If it’s selling join the herd. If it’s rallying, play your pipe. Don’t be in love with your positions. Keep your love locked down and I mean your bank account. That is why you woke up in this life. It’s what provided the villa in Mykonos to meet Mediterranean chicks while having a meze.
I know the hysteria’s bad, the media can’t keep your name out its mouth. But remember, they chose to report, you chose to scalp. They’re wearing Men’s Wearhouse shirts, not even suits, shirts. You’re killing them scooping chicks at the Conde Nast Travelers Awards after party suited down. They’re writing about places you go. The summation of their life decisions led them to media. You’re trading Tribune leverage loans and Petros Brasileiro LEAPS. Convert vanilla CDS from spread to points upfront.
And when you collect, Nas already told you, take it in blood.
Days of Grace tattooed like Cus D’Amato on my arm.
President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others convicted of misdeeds ranging from drug offenses to tax evasion, from wildlife violations to bank embezzlement, The Associated Press learned Monday.
Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 and eight commutations. That’s less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents.
On the latest pardon list were:
Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo. She was convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D. Cordes was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits importation into the country of wildlife taken in violation of conservation laws.
Richard Micheal Culpepper of Mahomet, Ill., who was convicted of making false statements to the federal government.
Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas, for reporting or helping cover up a crime.
Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va. Harley was convicted of wrongful use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine.
Obie Gene Helton of Rossville, Ga., whose offense was unauthorized acquisition of food stamps.
Carey C. Hice Sr. of Travelers Rest, S.C., who was convicted of income tax evasion.
Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla., convicted of bank embezzlement.
William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland, Texas, who was sentenced for making false entries, books, reports or statements to a bank.
Paul Julian McCurdy of Sulphur, Okla., who was sentenced for misapplication of bank funds.
Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, who was convicted for unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony.
Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas, convicted of illegal treatment, storage and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit.
Orion Lynn Vick of White Hall, Ark., who was convicted of aiding and abetting the theft of government property.
Bush also commuted the prison sentences of John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., and James Russell Harris of Detroit, Mich. Both were convicted of cocaine offenses.
Ricky Hatton defeats Paulie Malignaggi in the 11th Round
Turns out Ricky Hatton didn’t need to change much to take care of Paulie Malignaggi.
Looking much like the fighter he’s always been, Hatton dominated the fight from the second round on Saturday night before Malignaggi’s trainer came into the ring 28 seconds into the 11th round to stop the lopsided bout.
Fighting in the same ring where he suffered his only loss against Floyd Mayweather Jr. a year ago, Hatton stunned Malignaggi early and dominated him the rest of the way in a fight that was never really in doubt. He was ahead by wide margins on all three ringside scorecards in staking his claim as the best 140-pounder in the world.
“I enjoyed this fight a lot more than the last time I was here,” Hatton joked after the fight. “I’m in a new camp with Floyd and it showed in the things I was doing tonight.
“I was getting frustrated in the fight because Paulie’s a lot tougher than you’d think. Maybe I hurt him too early in the fight [and lost my composure] but slowly but surely Floyd got me back to the new me.
“I dropped my shoulders and allowed my punches to go. I slowed down, I was more composed, and I used my left jab.”
Even Malignaggi, whose record dipped to 25-2 (5), gave Hatton his props. The New Yorker just wished that he was able to finish the fight.
“Ricky fought a great fight,” he said. “Maybe I wasn’t going to win, but I’m better than this. I’m better than getting stopped.
“I tip my hat to Ricky, but I was worse off in the Miguel Cotto fight. They didn’t stop it then, why should they stop it now? This goes down as a knockout on my record but it shouldn’t.”
Ricky “The Hitman”Hatton VS Paul “The Magic Man” Malignaggi
PAUL MALIGNAGGI (KEYS TO VICTORY)
For Paul, this fight basically comes down to pure execution. No one disputes the fact that Paul is the better pure boxer of the two, but how well he deals with the constant pressure of Hatton will effectively dictate the final outcome. The last time Malignaggi dealt with a fighter this aggressive it didn’t end up too well as he would suffer his first and only defeat, which came at the hands Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto. Hatton is not Cotto, and certainly not as big in size, so Malignaggi will need to use this somewhat neutralized size effect to his advantage. Against a much bigger Cotto, Malignaggi was bullied, but against Hatton, Malignaggi’s 5 inch reach advantage paired with slick boxing skills should help him.
RICKY HATTON: (KEYS TO VICTORY)
For Hatton, there are many paths to victory but the one that will work the best for him is the same blueprint that he applied to the 44 other men who fell victim….Pressure. Hatton comes into this fight with a corner adjustment that could prove to be precisely what the doctor ordered, as Floyd Mayweather Sr. takes over the helm in place of former trainer Billy Graham. What Mayweather brings to Hatton’s corner is a controlled and more skilled element to his aggression. Hatton will need to infuse his patented pressure style with his newly acquired ability to know when to assert that pressure and perhaps when to substitute it with a few jabs or trap shots.
Here is my brief tale of the tape, along with some analysis on each boxer as well as the outcome of the fight.
Size: Hatton is a slightly more compact, 5’6” and 140 pounds while Malignaggi goes 5’7” and also 140 pounds.
Power: This category isn’t even close as Hatton possesses the punching power of a much bigger man and Malignaggi possess almost no punching power at all with just five career Kos.
Speed: This category is also a mismatch as Malignaggi is much quicker with his hands than Hatton. Still, Malignaggi won’t be able to hurt Hatton at all.
Age: Hatton is 30-years-old and Malignaggi will turn 28 one day after their bout on Nov. 22.
Brains: Some may think that Malignaggi is the smarter of the two because he has to ‘out-box’ his opponents, but I fully believe that Hatton is just as smart, usually setting his opponents up perfectly – before summarily knocking them out!
All you hear these days is Regular Guy whining about having no Dough in the Down Economy. More negative energy floating around than at Biggie’s funeral. But everything is going to be alright this morning.
As you know by now, The G is a breed apart. We got our Mojo working. G’s are kneading more Dough than Wolfgang Puck at Spago’s in the 80’s.
Sure G’s like to diss things that need dissing: Bottle Service, Mortgage Brokers, Restaurants serving crappy Dungeness crab cakes, Police, Guys wearing Glittery Christian Audiger shirts, white girls who can’t dance and favor flip-flops over high heels etc. But generally speaking we like to keep positive vibrations.
The Up Economy was cool (actually it has been stylistically, culturally and intellectually the worst decade yet, but that is neither Marinella ties nor Colombian Pies. I will address in a future Manifesto), but the Down Economy is even better:
Girls coming out the Woodwork
I am sure everyone has noticed this. Ever since the Down Economy has been in full effect, girls have been coming back like Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins. At least twice a day, I get little girls lost re-contacting me with calls and texts. It has gotten to be so sublime and ridiculous that I am actually kicking around the idea of out-sourcing to India a secretary to field all my incoming calls and texts a la The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. I think the reason for this goes something like this:
Honey dip settled for some striped shirted fool in the wack BMW whip during the Up Economy. Now “Guy” is out of work, out of dough and can barely afford his sparkly Ed Hardy shirts and queer ripped jeans, let alone a night out on the town or his condo mortgage payment. Now girl remembers you as the brutally handsome, sharply dressed G who was LA, next week MIA, the week after BA. Little does she know, as far as giving up green, “I ain’t the one”. But, I will get Brain like a “know it all”.
Heists
“Note Jobs” are up at Banks. So are “Smash and Grabs”. This only makes it easier for high-end Heistmen like your humble author to ply his trade, as police resources are being used up. Drug dealers are making more money these days, too. Independent dealers are on the rise. All the better to Standover, Oh my Brothers. If you want some pretty polly…you take it.
Public Opinion Improved
Girls are so desperate these days, you can actually, finally, tell the truth about what you do for a living. Just the other night, as an unofficial case study, I told a fly Platinum Digger with light Grey Eyes and lies, when she asked me what I did for a living I said, “I rob Drug Dealers.” The Platinum Digger actually responded, “Wow. That seems like a good job… must pretty recession proof”. In 2005 she would have been running away like Usain Bolt, had I been honest.
Suits have more punch these days than Andre Berto. Everyone, and I mean everyone loves the well dressed, International Playboy/Heistman/Peoples Champ in these grim economic times.
Bring terror, like C4, and boom step in the room with a Custom one button Saville Row suit with Claret red interior, Borelli shirt, Brioni Pocket Square, Berluti shoes, and lighting a cigarette with a Dunhill lighter and you will have girls locking jaws on you like one of Michael Vick’s prized pitbulls. It’s mad Scary. Like Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, lyrical poisonous darts or macroeconomic charts.
And with Great Britian’s Drop in currency value since a year ago at 23%, it’s about time to pick up some new Saville Row suits. Trust me, they will pay for themselves.
CASH
Having a huge Bankroll these days is more rare than the seared Ahi at Masa in NYC. So it goes without saying, that having a huge Bankroll is going to drive girls wilder than an opium dusted, bi-polar-crack head drinking Cisco waving around a malfunctioning deuce-deuce. Mascara is melting off China Dolls when you flash rolls. And I am not talking about Beans either.
Music
It hasn’t happened yet, but with tough economic times comes better music. Hip Hop has had an atrocious decade, but with DC’s own Wale and some other dope new school non-hip hop shit, I think we are going to see a turn around. Like Immortal Technique says “The bling-bling era was cute but it’s about to be done, I leave you full of clips like the moon blocking the sun”.
Wale Feat Duffy – Warwick Avenue
Money Making
Making money is actually easier in many ways in a Down Economy. Less clowns all up in the Game. Less talkers. More takers. (See The Top Ten Ways to Make Money in a Down Economy). Just don’t forget to give back to the less fortunate.
Smoking
With less liquid CASH around (and I don’t mean Chris Paciello’s 90’s Miami Beach Nightclub Liquid that I used to hold court at as a young Proto-type G either) girls have less money and get more fiendy for cigarettes. Which means you will have more little girls “setting out that line” at the witching hour every night. Which means you have more chances to throw Voodoo on Fly Girls. And you know I got the Black Cat Bone, mojo bag, the John The Conqueroo and I am going to mess with you. Mean Mannish Boy. Hoochie Coochie Man and all that.
Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy (1971)
Also, in the Down Economy, restaurateurs have less say on whether or not you can smoke jacks in their spots. What are they going to do? Tell you that you can’t smoke when you are their best customer? Light up. And feel the elegant nicotine high. Fly pelican fly.
Rivals
I would love to say I don’t feel pleasure in others failure. But to be honest, I do. I love to ash on my rivals mangled and bloodied bodies decaying in a 5 foot deep lime pit. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
Travel
Traveling is so much easier these days. Way shorter security lines. Sick Hotels, in sick trouble, are offering rooms at prices akin to a mean streets Ghetto flop house. Even Las Vegas can be done on the cheap. Wynn Las Vegas was offering rooms for $169 on a Friday recently. I felt like I was pulling a Heist. (I don’t have to tell you I got my Encore Tower Suite Deluxe King comped. Over 2,200 square feet of Luxury, in case you didn’t know.)
Getting your favorite table at a restaurant is even easier than swooping a slip-sliding Nightlife Princesses in a Down Economy. Restaurateurs even pro-bono you more. Plus, you don’t have as many Red State tourist yokels leaning over your shoulder asking, “Whaat is thaat your eatin’?” when you are trying to relax and enjoy some Foie Gras and a glass of Red.
More Foreign Girls
The Down Economy has made more Euro girls come to America (we will see if it holds up), so you can swoop way more of them without leaving the USA. They may call you a Lothario, a seductor, a séducteur or a freak but the fact remains I swoop a different fly girl every day of the week.
