Number 145

Somewhere up around Channel 300-something on basic cable, Neil Patrick Harris is still child-prodigy Dougie Howser, MD. At the end of each show, Dougie would sit down at his computer and, in two or three sentences, sum up the moral of the story. I was always impressed by that. It was an online journal...a log, if you will. On the worldwide web, it became a web log and then was eventually shortened to simply a blog.

In this, the 145th edition of whatever you want to call these missives that I've been posting for almost eight years, I'm still searching for the moral of the story. Today's blogs are mostly reiterations of basic business principles or lists of five or ten things that the author has learned or discovered from his or her vast corporate or start-up background. Some time ago, I made the decision not to jump into this myriad of wisdom-filled ramblings. I enjoy much more taking a look at the world around us and relating pieces of my life that at least contribute to the search for a moral to the story.  It's not business.  It's personal.

These and all my social postings do not go to the "public at large". I doubt the world cares much about little ol' me. "Friends" has become a very loose term online for many today but I do try to keep track of who receives my writings. And I'm always quick to say that the delete key is only an inch away, should you have no interest in the subject...or me.

As 2015 comes to a close, travel has been on my mind.  Year-end is a big travel season and, throughout my life, it has been consumed by travel. To a great degree, travel has been a means to an end. Culture, sport and art have all influenced my personality and the exposure that travel offers to the differences in all of us brings a richness to life that is hard to find any other way.

That said, travel is not what it used to be but it's still there. We may have to take more care in how and where we travel.  But that experience, whether it's for business or pleasure, close to home or thousands of miles away, makes us more aware of those around us who look at the world differently than we do. And, with a little effort, we may learn to, at least, understand why they think the way they do.

Travel has found friends for me in places I had never been before.  Some of those people don't speak the same language. Some don't have the same ideals. Some have a spiritual way to live life that is most enviable. Some have shown me that catching a fish symbolizes all the challenges we face.

Travel has allowed me to witness history when Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa and when Phil Ershler became the first American to climb Mt. Everest from the Chinese North side. I've listened to Mozart Symphonies in the Salzburg town square and I've watched a sushi chef pound a ten-penny nail into the head of a live eel, immediately cut a filet out of the fish's side and offer it to me on the end of the knife. There's no hesitation. You just eat it (chewy!).

When I sat next to Thor Heyerdahl at dinner in a small french village, all the adventurer, who sailed 8000 km across the Pacific Ocean on a raft, wanted to talk about was Seattle and the Space Needle. Travel makes you curious.  And I just keep getting curiouser and cursiouser. The mode of travel is what is causing most concerns today. Travel by air, train and auto all have their dangers.  Even cycling and walking are hazardous in some locales. I can't stop though.  I'm not afraid. I'm cautious and aware but the value is too high to refrain from it.

Just a few days ago, Jane and I were walking a remote beach in the Hawaiian Islands when we encountered another couple. We wanted to trade photos of each other with our cell phones.  In what was good English in my mind, the gentleman told me they were French but he thought he understood.  We traded phones and took pictures of each other. I pulled out my pidgin French from the recesses of my mind and told them we were from Seattle. They nodded "oui" to the reference,

Then I ventured on to try and say that we had flown a huge French flag on top of the Space Needle after the Paris terrorist attack.  Again they nodded and said they were from Paris. Finally I said we had the French Consul deliver that flag to the president of the Eiffel Tower just a week before. After a moment of thought, the reply with a smile was "Nous avons vu le drapeau a Paris...Merci beau coup." (We saw the flag in Paris.  Thank you very much.)

That is why travel means so much to me.  I would not trade that experience for anything. I hope that 2016 brings good health and happiness to all of us. And that our world becomes a more peaceful and safe place. Travel will definitely be in my future and I hope it's in yours. Keep on, keeping on. And look out for Number 146.

Taking a chance...

Investing in the stock market is not much different than putting your money in a slot machine at the local casino. It's a game of chance.I'm much more of a mutual fund guy, who spreads his money across the field but, every once in a while, I'm coaxed into rolling the dice.

For a few years, I headed the investor relations department during my corporate days and spent many waking hours working with the New York Stock Exchange and the institutional analysts who feed the machine. During one of my weekly visits to the Big Apple, I got into a conversation with one of the market soothsayers about the movies.

I love movies.  They are a true escape for me. So, when the guy in the other overstuffed chair said, "Hey, I've got a movie tip for you,", I listened. It seemed that 20th Century Fox had been on the downslide with a series of box office disasters and was relying on movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" to keep the cash flowing. But my colleague said that the studio had decided to take a real flyer, literally and figuratively.

Space movies were not even in the lexicon at the time and one with an ensemble of unknown actors and a director with barely a decent credit to his name seemed far from a good bet. My friend said he didn't know much about the film himself but one his co-workers in Hollywood had read the script and seen some sample footage that looked pretty exciting.

If it hadn't been a movie, I'm sure my interest would have ended then. And if I hadn't like "American Graffiti" from director George Lucas, I wouldn't have gone one step further. But if the studio, with its stock selling for $6 a share, was taking a gamble on this film, why shouldn't I?

The film, which hadn't been named at the time, would come out in theaters in a year. If nothing unusual  happened before its release and I still felt uncomfortable after a few months, I figured I could get my $6 a share back before it tanked.

I really need to finish this story now. I did invest. At $600 per block of stock, all I would be losing was a new car. There was really no great fanfare for "Star Wars" the movie until it hit the theaters. As it turned out, it was a game changer for the film business. It's wide release across the county set the standard for blockbuster films for years to come.

20th Century Fox stock doubled in a week.  It tripled in six weeks and a year later, it was four times what I paid for it. 21st Century Fox, the parent of the film studio now owned by Rupert Murdoch, is still selling for $28 a share.  It no longer owns the Star Wars franchise. That has gone to Disney. But it still holds the rights to the first 3 movies in the series.

I haven't taken too many flyers in the stock market and certainly never expected this one to do what it did. A movie that you can see in a theater and hear people talk about is much more fun to me than investing in the latest app or a new processor. Don't worry, the 401K is still mostly in mutual funds...but I did invest in Marvel Comics before the Avenger series was brought to the screen by my old friends at 20th Century.  The latest news is that Disney is buying out Marvel stock at a 30% premium.

It's a good thing that I just like movies. But I've at least had two fun rides on the roller coaster I'll see you in line as "The Force Awakens".  I'll be the one with the blue light saber and the smile on my face.