>>>>>>>>
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110707/03264014993/riaa-accounting-how-to-sell-1-million-albums-still-owe-500000.shtml>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>The movie business operates the same way. You can do boffo box office, a certifiable hit, and by the time the accountants are done with it it lost money.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Not necessarily. That only happens when the actors or writers have contracted for a percentage of the profits.
>>>>>
>>>>>No, that's not the only time it happens. Of course the studios are more motivated to monkey with the numbers when someone is in line for a %.
>>>>>
>>>>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting>>>>
>>>>Guess I should have used a smilie.
>>>>
>>>>BTW, I was at the Jays game last night (the 14th). What a fun game! Unfortunately, Bautista got hurt, but 16-7 Jays. What a hoot!
>>>
>>>Gotta love a 16-7 game. Bartolo Colon, phone home....
>>
>>And then today, once again, the Jays, after scoring 23 runs in the previous 2 games, manage 1 run for Ricky Romero to drop him into another loss. They're doing to Ricky this year what they did to Doc when he was here - "Hey man, we got you a run. What more do you want?" Over Romero's 9 losses, the Jays have gotten him something like 12 runs.
>
>Halladay is getting plenty of run support with the Phillies. He is also pitching very well, no question. He may wind up with another Cy Young award if that kid in Atlanta falls apart faster than you can say Ubaldo Jimenez.
>
>My team, the Brewers, are reliably pedestrian. Playing in a weak division they are right in the thick of the pennant race. What's weird is they have the best record in baseball at home (the last I knew) and one of the worst on the road. They must miss that home cooking, or that home whatever. If they don't win the division it would be very cool for the Pirates to take it. That team has been bad for so long it's not even funny. Now they have some seriously good young players. They are this season's breath of fresh air.
>
>The Chicago teams are nothing but drama. It's not just the brutal Chicago sports media, either. The Cubs and Sox are both seriously dysfunctional. Ozzie Guillen, the most quotable man in sports, is one meltdown away from snapping. Somehow they are only 5 or 6 games out. New Cubs manager Mike Quade must wonder why this seemed like a good idea. They have the second worst record in baseball -- thank you, Astros -- and are afflicted by a number of really bad long term contracts. These guys are unmovable and will weight the team down for years. Soriano, they're stuck with him. Ramirez, stuck, although his recent hot streak gives me hope they might be able to dump him. There was reportedly some interest out east in Carlos Zambrano, the human Roman candle, then he gave up 8 runs in 5 innings yesterday. If Quade weren't already bald he would be by now. He has a rare skin condition which prevents hair growth, even eyebrows.
That reminds me of one of the great stories of all time. When I worked at a company called Canadian Surety here in Toronto, the Auto Insurance manager was Roger Long, and the Property manager was a guy named Donald Plummer. Anyway, Don was distinctive. He had no hair at all. No eyebrows, no lashes, nothing. Anyway, he was a very straight laced church going type of guy. Didn't smoke; didn't drink, etc. etc. We had a bunch of our out of town branch managers coming into Toronto for a conference and Don got elected to take care of them for dinner in the evenings and like that. They all, of course, wanted to go to strip shows. At that time there were a couple of fairly notorious ones on Yonge street. "Starvin' Marvin's" and "Tracy Starr's". The kind of places where you would go upstairs and be met by a hostess who would seat you (I hear). Of course, Don had never been to a stip show in his life, but that was what the out of towners wanted. So he asked Roger where to go. Roger gave him the names of those clubs.
When they got to Starvin' Marvin's, they went upstairs (wish I'd been there to see it), and the hostess took one look at Don and said, "Your usual table, Mr. Plummer?" Don apparenty turned red as a beet and tried to explain to the others that he'd never been there before. While there they were treated royally. So later, they left and went to Tracy Starr's where, you guessed it, "Ah, Mr. Plummer. Your usual table?"
Of course, it was Roger who called ahead and set it up easily because Don was, as I said, so distinctive.
One of the finest practical jokes I wish I'd been party to.
>
>Quade's predecessor, Lou Piniella, was never accused of being calm. Managing the Cubs took it to a whole different level. Within a month of taking the job he got in a rhubarb with the third base ump in which he kicked dirt on the umpire, threw his own cap in the dirt, and kicked it. Classic.
>
>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VO8MAnS4tM&NR=1
