$125 … “Solid copper case features a Deep Carve Armor symbol beneath an epoxy Zippo flame icon.”
Honest Reviews of Martin Scorcese's Terrible Movie, "The Departed"
From Rick Groen: “Rumour had it that the source material - a rejigging of the tense Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs - was ideal for [Scorcese], a return to the mean streets and mobsters of his glory days. Rumour had it that the cast, including Jack Nicholson in his first teaming with the director, was exceptional. Rumour had it that God was in His heaven and Martin Scorsese was back on track. Rumour was wrong … Scorsese has been doing some channelling too - of Tarantino on a really off-day … As so often before, the body count is high in a Martin Scorsese movie. But where once the bodies pulsated with life in all its vainglorious furor, here they drop like wooden ducks in an artificial pond.”
From Stanley Kauffmann: “William Monahan’s screenplay is so full of cryptic pronouncements and swift portentous scenes that neatness is blown away … But [Sorcese’s] film is so frantic with plot jabs and counter jabs that the gravity of the theme is blurred in cop-and-criminal sorties. Even Scorsese’s usually gleaming direction is dulled to the Law & Order level, except for a few of his famous traveling shots … Jack Nicholson… virtually repeats his Joker in Batman … Is Scorsese desperate? This screenplay has the scent of it, as if he is scraping for material to feed his basic filmic interests. But the risk in this case—not evaded—was that his need led him close to painful strain. I can’t remember another Scorsese moment as shockingly banal as the finishing touch here. We look out the window of the stooge’s luxe apartment, past his terrace. Then a rat comes out and plays on the terrace railing.” [Yeah, I laughed out loud then.]
From Christopher Orr: “A remake of the sleek, superb 2002 Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs, the movie has been Nicholsonized across the board, becoming fatter, coarser, and more self-indulgent than the original.”
From The Standard: “Being a Scorsese fan these days is like sitting at the bedside of someone on a life support machine. As each new offering appears we look, desperately, for signs of animation. Sad news, my friends. On the evidence of The Departed, it's time to pull the plug … scriptwriter Bill Monahan (fresh from the yawn-fest that was Kingdom of Heaven) fails to do anything interesting with the characters in the second half … As in his remake of Cape Fear, Scorsese has mucked up a B-movie he professes to love: producing something full of twists but devoid of that lovely, fluttery, rare thing: surprise.”
Thoughts on the 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Sahara
An old lady ran over the front of my Miata while I was sitting at a stop sign, so my car had to go to the shop to be repaired and the insurance company gave me a rental car in the meantime. I got a 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Sahara because it was big and bright red and I was feeling jittery after the accident.
Things I like about the Jeep:
body on frame, it’s a real truck, 5,400 lbs with EV battery
you sit up high
roof over front seats easily removable making it a Targa — very nice … the thing I liked best about it
distinctive look, not cookie-cutter
it has many “oh shit” handles around the cabin, which is nice
has nice flat dash that I can put my radar beeper on
the big screen can be shut completely off with a single button push
physical HVAC controls and volume knob
plenty of outlets (USB, USB-C etc.) incl. a 120 volt outlet!
stereo is surprisingly good
sound insulation surprisingly good
back roof and doors can also be removed fairly quickly with Torx bit, but I didn’t do that
every other Wrangler owner waves at you, which gets tiring since there are a lot of Wranglers out there
inline 4 popper with turbo has surprising amount of zoot (375 hp, 470 lb/ft torque)
easy to get 5,400 lbs. hurtling at 100+ mph … scary
Things I don’t like about the Jeep:
terrible gas mileage
only 850 pounds of payload capacity
flashing gang sign at other Wrangler drivers becomes a chore
ride quality so-so, but you’re in a Jeep after all
no way to shut off the big screen completely if you’re listening to music
takes a long time to charge the battery using 120V outlet
full charge on battery gives you pathetic electric-only range of 27 miles max.
can’t think of a dumber vehicle to make into an EV (gets 1.5 miles per kW)
it gets some attention, esp. in Firecracker Red
vertical windshield collects a lot of bugs
Would I buy one of these? Not in a million years. The EV part of the car is going to break and cause horrible problems at some point. This Jeep costs $60,000, which is insane… I guess with the government EV subsidy it makes a little more sense if you’re buying this for your “business,” but not really. Plus it’s going to break. Did I mention that it’s for sure going to break?
Driver’s side
Passenger’s side
Rear view, Note 4xe badge and pretty blue tow hook
Closer look at badge and pretty blue hook
Front view, note pretty blue hooks which means this beast is eco-friendly
Charging port, 120V will take overnight and give you a whopping 27 miles and only if you drive downhill with a tailwind
Cute blue Jeep outline on center caps to let world know you’re eco-friendly
I would remove all the badging except for the top one which has an indent in the body
Quick release roof panels over front seats means it turns into a Targa top like RF Miata, very nice.
“Oh shit” handle for rear passenger (on both sides), nice
Cute Jeep outline in bottom corner of windshield
Contrasting gray cloth on dashboard is a nice touch … note size of passenger’s horizontal “oh shit” handle
Physical HVAC controls nice, and awful giant screen can be shut completely off with one click
Cute flip-flop “Easter egg”
Cute “Easter egg” inside charging port area
Consolidated Tape Association Tape A 2024 Q1 Revenue
BaT Top 80 of the '80s Car Index
I recently bought Bring A Trailer’s first coffee table book, titled: Top 80 of the '80s. I was surprised that they didn’t include an index of the cars featured in the book in any of the promotional material, so I’ve made my own below.
I’m surprised the Pontiac Fiero is not included — it’s an obvious selection to me.
BMW R80G/S Paris-Dakar (motorcycle)
Buick Grand National
Buick GNX
Chevrolet Camaro Z28 IROC-Z
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet K5 Blazer
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet Suburban
DeLorean DMC-12
DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S
Dodge Ram
Ferrari 308 GTB QV
Ferrari 328 GTS
Ferrari 512 BBi
Ferrari F40
Ferrari Testarossa
Fiat Panda 4x4
Ford Bronco
Ford Mustang LX 5.0 Convertible
Ford Mustang SVO
Ford RS200
Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
Ford Taurus SHO
Honda Accord
Honda CBX Super Sport (motorcycle)
Honda Civic Si
Honda CRX Si
Jaguar XJS V12
Jeep XJ Cherokee
Jeep Grand Wagoneer
Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV
Lamborghini Jalpa
Lancia 037 Stradale
Lancia Delta Integrale
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution I
Mercedes-Benz 300E
Mercedes-Benz 560SEC
Mercedes-Benz 300GD
Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R
Peugeot 505
Renault R5 Turbo
Toyota Celica All-Trac
Toyota Celica Supra
Toyota Supra Turbo
Toyota Corolla GTS
Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60
Toyota MR2 Supercharged
Software That Sends Orders to Interactive Brokers
AbleTrend $7190 (lifetime)
AmiBroker $499
ATAS - Over Flow Trading $40/month
Bracket Trader $100 [but defunct?]
Button Trader [defunct?]
Cool Trade $4995 (three year license)
Ensign Software $499 (annual)
eSignal $4,258 (Elite) (annual)
Investor/RT LinnSoft $125/month
Medved Trader $240 (Premium) (annual)
MotiveWave $99/month (Pro)
Ninja Trader $1499 (lifetime)
Quantopian [looks defunct? no product?]
Sierra Chart $56/month (top package)
TradeIdeas $2136 (Premium)
Trade Navigator $1495 (Platinum)
XLQ (Q-Matix) $299
Notes for Chat with Traders, Episode 67
Episode 67 ... "Jerry Parker" (60:57)
Parker is one of Richard Dennis's original Turtle Traders
1983 ... Dennis ran ad in Wall Street Journal and New York Times
Parker was a public accountant working in Virginia when he saw the ad in the WSJ
"Rich" was a very smart and nice person
Parker has mild Southern accent
Jan. 1984 Parker started trading in Chicago using Rich's money after 2-3 week course
12 people hired
"Rich" visited turtle farm in Asia, that's where the turtle nickname comes from, raising traders not turtles
1988 program ended, Parker went out on his own
Turtle name has a lot of cachet, everyone knows about it
Fall of 1984, second group of really smart nice people, second turtle group even sharper than first
Don't get drunk on good performance
Parker definitely wanted to exit the accounting business
How to size the trades is something he may not have gotten right if not a turtle
Trading is hard, trading is uncomfortable, do the hard thing, trade small, don't risk too much
Build systems that can last for a long time
Trading shouldn't be easy
Low win rates, frequently give back all your profits
Idea of finding a trading method that fits your personality is silly
Finding a trading method that works at all is incredibly hard, forget about your personality
Buy the highs, sell the lows
Add to winners, never add to losers
Lose 30% you'd be in trouble, if you lose 50% you'd be in big trouble
Are you following the rules but losing money? It's fine said the mentors
1986 Feb or March and crude was going from 40 to 10 and they were up 200%, looking at a million dollar bonus
Experienced a 60% down day, so ended up 140% on the period ... didn't do anything wrong, was just leveraged
Wrong means you don't follow the system
Only one or two people had a computer and the ability to program it
Used moving averages as targets?
Trading a few million with Rich was fine, but not hundreds of millions
Turtle trading was mathematical, systematic, diversified, rule-based ... no discretion whatsoever
Feb. 1988 went out on his own ... involved in grain markets that year
Four year track record gave instant credibility
People are greedy so they threw money at him
25 markets when he started, now trades 120 futures markets
Trades 100 single stock futures
We're in a zero interest rate world [interview in 2016], so 12% returns amazing
Average holding time of a year
His win rate in the low 40s
Tries to take optimal losses, not too tight, not too loose ... 20% is too tight
Average win 2-3x the average loss
5-10% of your trades will make all the money, it's very hard to stick to it without monkeying
What's the sample size in your backtest?
Entry parameter, exit parameter, stop loss parameter, that's it... don't add more
Don't get fancy and eliminate trades, get the largest sample size possible
Don't try to develop systems by market, make something that works in ALL markets
You have to go both short and long, adds diversification and increases sample size
Risk profile rises dramatically if you just trade one market or trade one side only (long or short)
Don't fall in love with numbers or think the future will look like the past
Zero interest rates force one to think outside the box
Managing other people's money is a great business
More rules, more regulations, more compliance
Fire your bad clients
Don't promise returns
Most important question to ask a CTA: can you maintain your faith in your system when you're losing money?
You can't succumb to fear and abandon your system when you're losing
It's a huge edge if you can trade like a robot
If you trade too large, then you can't stick with it
Be mechanical, be robotic
What he learned in 1983 still works today
Website: Chesapeake Capital
Twitter: @rjparker09 … looks defunct, new one: @rjpjr12
Movies Watched -- The Headless Woman (2009)
In Spanish. 89 minute running time so the perfect length. SPOILERS … this is art house stuff from Argentina, shows you what Argentine society is like… a professional woman (a dentist) (probably) hits and kills a peasant boy and his dog and gets away with it (I say probably because it’s never made clear what actually happened, which is part of the movie’s charm) … her brother is also a dentist, and her lover (not her husband) is a doctor and they both help her cover her tracks, but the victim is just a peasant boy so no authorities would ever pursue the case, but just in case, they do manage a pretty thorough cover-up … but the woman, the killer, she’s sort of a basket case (the woman lost her head, get it?) because of the accident, or maybe she was always a basket case, it’s hard to tell … it wasn’t bad, just very art-housey, so not good for a Murkan audience.
Argentina is all screwed up because of the time when political enemies were “disappeared.” The class differences in Argentina are stark. This is a movie about guilt. I thought the kid’s handprint on her car window was a little, er, heavy-handed, but this woman director is talented, no doubt.
UPDATE: I’ve been thinking about this movie a lot since I watched it and decided to upgrade it to green-go as a result.
Movies Watched -- Queen of Hearts (2019)
In Danish. 122 minute running time which means 20 minutes too long… I love Trine Dyrholm (born in 1972), I think she’s super talented (even though in this movie she is an amateur blowjob giver) … this is a disturbing movie, a story that will make you deeply uncomfortable, it gets very dark … didn’t really click when some of the Scandinavians (her sister, for example) got on their high horse about sex … this is a movie that could never ever be made in Murka … I’ve been watching a lot of true crime interrogation sessions, so seeing people lying on camera is getting old and may have made it even harder for me to watch this… the movie is well made, though a little overly long, but it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s not bad, but not good enough for a green-go. Solid yellow rating.
Movies Watched -- After Hours (1985)
97 minute running time… this started out wonderfully weird and stayed pretty good for a lot of it, but ultimately was unsatisfying … definitely someone involved in this was a pothead, mid 1980s pot smoker for sure, before pot became nuclear strength … Griffin Dunne with his uni-brow and imperfect teeth … all the women in this had nice tits, with Linda Fiorentino going full frontal… strong 1980s vibe.
Did John Farr recommend this? No, so I have no idea how this got into my queue. Drives me nuts when I can’t remember how I learned about a movie. This was weird. Not terrible, but also not good enough to recommend.
Where are those plaster-of-Paris paperweights, anyway? That's what I came down here for.