Grown Ups Talking

Check out this website: glossedover.com. It’s a very silly look at fashion magazines by someone who is actually into reading them, but takes shots at their more ridiculous pronouncements.

I, Pomerol, have had occasion to work at fashion mags as well. They spend money on classy design and imaginative photoshoots. They celebrate luxury and trend-setting creativity. They are frivolous, silly, expensive, and spread scary images of anorexic teenagers and low-self esteem. They are also lots of fun.

This is the modern woman’s dilemma. You like some aspects of the mainstream and you despise others. Hard to be a hardliner these days.—Pomerol

I was never a big fan of A-Rod (New York Yankees slugging third baseman Alex Rodriguez), and I feel no need to drone on about his status as a fallen hero. I think the guy did the right thing by coming clean about his steroid use between 2001 and 2003. He has nipped all the controversy in the bud. It is hard to keep the rumor mill pumping when the truth is out there quickly.

Instead, I’d rather address the issue of hero worship. My thoughts: Stop it.

If you need a hero, don’t pick the athlete that makes the most money or the one with the most trophies or endorsements. Look up to someone because they give their time to charity (Roberto Clemente), have a formidable work ethic (Cal Ripken), come to the ball park everyday for the love of the game (Joe Jackson), or do their job with quiet grace and toughness (Joe Dimaggio).

Professional athletes may be super human on the playing field, but they are human, with all the blemishes and faults the rest of us have – only they are in the spotlight. Remember, Ty Cobb was a bastard; Mickey Mantle was caught carousing drunk in public, a lot; and the 1919 White Sox threw the World Series.

Do they have a responsibility to young people who may idolize them? Sort of. It’s just decent to be nice to kids and if you are in the glare of the spotlight, it’s probably a good idea for your career to try to do the right thing.

But ultimately, kids need a bit of guidance when hanging all their hero hopes on one superstar that most adults can clearly see is sending the wrong message. We all might just do better to look around at the people we work and play with every day, and find the hero in them.

In that way, we can leave all the hype created around pro athletes where it belongs: in the world of entertainment, somewhere between American Idol and Survivor. – Chianti.

If I hear one more word about how it is UnAmerican to cap executive salaries my head is going to explode. I am talking about, of course, President Obama’s new rules to limit executive compensation at the financial institutions that took government bailout money.

As you know, one of my pet peeves is the claim that America is a free market. It is not. It may be the closest thing the world has to a free market, but it is not the Real McCoy. If it was, we would have let dozens of big banks – and hundreds of little ones – fail. But we did not.

No, the great free market cheerleader, Cowboy Bush, rushed to rescue the banks, which was probably a good move. Then yesterday, President Obama placed rules around executive compensation for any company that took taxpayer money to prop up their bank.

That too is a good move. Until the company pays the taxpayers back, they have to be responsible with their money.

The big outcry over the cap – including all the jabber coming from Fox Watchers (my friends and relatives that watch Fox News and somehow think the reporters and commentators have something valid to offer) – is that these financial institutions will not be able to retain competent managers if they cannot use golden handcuffs. In other words, if the banks don’t offer huge pay and perk packages, these captains of the banking industry will walk away from their jobs.

That argument falls flat on its face. If these guys were so competent in the first place, then why did their banks nose dive as soon as the economy got shaky, and insist on a government handout to survive. You say it’s the economy? Well, not exactly – big banks like the Royal Bank of Canada and little banks like Kearny Federal Savings and Loan – are doing just fine. That’s probably because some banks had competent managers.

Let’s face it, paying someone a lot of money was never a true measure of competence – it was just a measure of bold deal making and aggressive negotiations. And that’s what got banks into trouble in the first place.

If the bigwigs don’t like the salary cap, let them leave; within 5 minutes of their departure, 100 more bank executives will be lined up to take their place. After all, that’s how the free market works. – Chianti

All hail the conquering warriors – weekend, Monday night, and some Thursday warriors that is. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal both ran front page stories on the Super Bowl this morning. I suppose the World Cup champions get the same kind of royal treatment.

Don’t me wrong. I watched most of the game, and enjoyed it, even after Springsteen performed at half time. I understand the nuances, and appreciated how Pittsburgh Steeler’s linebacker James Harrison faked a blitz, fell back into the pocket, snagged Kurt Warner’s short pass, and ran it back for the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history. I know that Santonio Holmes’s end zone catch will be forever linked with Franco Harris’s 1972 Immaculate Reception. I get it.

But I think the nation, and perhaps the world judging by the front-page status the game received by two international newspapers, is more enamored with victory than with football. The world loves a winner.

As put so succinctly by Sean Connery’s character John Mason in the movie “The Rock,” after Nicholas Cage’s character insists that he is doing his “best,” Mason spits back: “Your best! Loser always whine about their ‘best!’ Winner go home and f#*k the prom queen.”

And so it goes, winners and their macho sycophants are measured in victories. Not by the effort and pure grit expended by someone that overcomes a lack of talent with pure determination; not by the time spent with an ailing friend or loved one in place of schmoozing with clients; not by making the decision to stay home to read a book to your kids and tuck them in, rather than work late for the 20th time this month.

Well, I guess I just define winners a little differently, and I am unapologetic about believing that nice guys very often finish first in life – it’s just that those types of winners never make front-page news. – Chianti

After eight long years of Cowboy Bush’s self-aggrandising claims that he was a “uniter” we may actually have someone in the White House that unites the nation.

Yesterday, President Obama was said to “woo” Republicans ahead of the House vote on the stimulus bill – which is now up to $900 billion.

To do that, Obama went to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers, which is an unusual move for a president. This trip to Congress seems to indicate that he is the roll-up-your-shirt-sleeves kind of guy he professed to be during the campaign. He is a do-er and a uniter, in Bush parlance.

This reminds me of an old boss I had, one that I appreciate more as I get older. Super smart, funny, great with people, a real straight shooter that ran a division of a Fortune 200 media company where I used to work.

When a pipe burst in the old New York building that we called our office (causing one of our back rooms to flood), he was the first one into the water, socks and shoes off, pants rolled up, giving orders to the underlings about calling the facilities department and forming an assembly line to clear out the stock room which contained the books, reprints, magazine back issues, and other things we sold.

He was a do-er, not afraid that doing real work would tarnish his lofty Group Vice President and Publisher title. In a nutshell, he had intelligence, confidence, and the respect of the people that worked for him – a mix that is hard to beat.

From up here in the cheap seats, I’d say Obama has that same mix of qualities, which means that the stimulus bill may be passed in record time. If that’s the case, it will put unemployed people back to work, and bring financial relief to others. That would be a great way to kick off the new year – with hope. – Chianti