Filed under: Deals, Management, Marketing and advertising, Entrepreneurs, Small business

Monday-morning quarterbacking. Locker room talk about the best investment you’ve ever made. We all do it to some extent. How many of us would like to hit a true homerun?

Following up on a post I had earlier in the week on some of the changes in the music industry, I came across an exclusive on Bloomberg this morning. The article, titled “Want to Be a Motion picture Producer,” plays right into our fantasies about making homeruns with our investments.

The article profiles a new investment firm, called IndieVest, that targets movies. Individuals who pay an annual fee can select investments from a menu of films to be developed, produced, and distributed by the company.

Investors, wealthy individuals who must meet minimum net worth requirements, are guaranteed at least 50% of the profits after getting back their initial investment (along with a premium), with 40% going to the makers of the film and the remaining money, of course, to IndieVest.

Who knows, maybe you’ll strike it rich by going long the next Alvin and the Chipmunks?

Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

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A comment by Linda Johnson to one of my recent posts directed me to check out Bill Gates’ address to the graduates of Harvard in June 2007. In his address, he spoke about doing the most good for the most people.  The quote that particularly struck me was, “The barrier to change isn’t too little caring; it is too much complexity.”  In other words, turning caring into action should be a simple thing - you see a problem, and you act to change the problem.  But you may get blocked by complexities of the situation.  Gates says we need to cut through the complexity to find a solution.  Sounds simple, eh?

Like many other Baby Boomers nearing retirement (Gates was born in October, 1955), he has stepped back from active involvement in his company to spend time on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He states Warren Buffet influenced him to think more about giving back. You might say that, as the wealthiest man in the world, he should be doing more than anyone else to give back to the planet. In his Harvard address, he quoted his mom, who believed that “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.” Ok, but still, he goes way beyond that. His foundation is the largest in the world, with assets of over $33 billion.  He has won many humanitarian awards, including the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award in 2005(that is the pic above).

We too have been given a lot.  So what are we, you and me, going to do to improve the planet?

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Some people have their dream jobs.

Unfortunately, you might not be one of those people. You might be content with what you’ve or you may be slowly withering away in that cubicle without knowing it. Below is a compilation of symptoms that can help you tell the difference between “I’m going to settle with this job - for now.” and “I need to get out of here!”.

1) You hate Mondays and look forward to Fridays. In fact, you may be counting down to the weekend.

2) You spend an increasing amount of time chatting up coworkers, checking email, and hanging out in social networks like Facebook or MySpace.

3) You avoid new projects like the plague. This includes ducking behind a folder when the boss is looking for volunteers during a meeting.

4) When dressing up for work, you wear clothes that have the same color as the office walls. Logic: so that people will leave you alone.

5) Whenever you wake up on a workday, your morning starts with a growl. Sometimes, it starts with crying.

6) You don’t get any rewards or compliments when you accomplish something.

7) You bookmark Monster or JobStreet ads that you’re interested in. You fantasize about sending in your resume.

When you’ve idle time, you daydream about what you’d rather be doing.

9) If there’s an ear within a two-foot radius, you start mouthing off complaints about your job. Never mind that the only ear around belongs to your cat.

10) Your reflexes are astonishing when a supervisor suddenly pops in on you - it takes you only a nanosecond to hide that video game you’re playing.

11)You’ve maxed out all vacation leaves and sick leaves. (Even if you were never sick.)

12) You feel like a trapped mouse when your boss or coworkers add you on Facebook.

13)The thought of being laid off makes you smile. That is, until the reality of your finances set in.

14) The only time you ever worked hard on a project was when you wrote a 100 page proposal entitled “Why Telecommuting is Best for This Company”.

15) You are a religious reader of the following websites: Escape from Cubicle Nation, It Sure Beats Working, and I Hate Your Job. Also, you couldn’t care less on how you should pimp your work! (At least for your current job, anyway.)

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From Sangrea.net

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Filed under: Estates

We visited North Bay Road in Miami Beach last month for an estate of the day but a reader, Marie, sent me the link for this one. I figured it was worth sharing with you. I’m not quite sure what sort of happy money cocktail designers are sipping along North Bay Road but it makes for some interesting decorating decisions, especially as newer owners with lots of money try to bend older homes to their will. The last estate we saw in this area was a strange amalgam of modern and absurd baroque. This one is a less obvious and more lavish case, but there are still some interesting juxtapositions here. The current owners seem to have a hankering for the modern, hence the new spare and bare contemporary kitchen and bathrooms, but this home still has the particularly Miami affliction of gold paint details on the walls. The home is over 10,000 square feet with nine bedrooms and it has a nice chunk of bay frontage with a dock. This estate is listed at $18.9 million.

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Filed under: Estates, Journeys

What’s the cut-off for size for boutique hotels? I generally think it is under 150 rooms but a new multi-use project in Knoxville, Tennessee bills itself as having a boutique hotel even though it’s got 200 rooms. The Metropolitan Plaza project is actually a fairly massive project, including a 15-foor tower with as many as 32 condos above the hotel room as well restaurants, a bank and retail shops on the lobby level. There is also an office tower planned that would stand about 7-8 floors tall. The $78 million project from Knoxville-based Commercial & Investment Properties also includes an enclosed pedestrian bridge linking the complex to the Knoxville Convention Center.

The proposal beat out two other proposals for the redevelopment of the downtown say Supreme Court Building.The project does not have a hotel brand linked to it yet but the developer says that several are interested. Once approved, construction on the project could begin as early as this fall and be finished by early 2010.

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Filed under: Estates

This one in Cohasset, Massachusetts is an interesting example of what happens when an older house meets a new owner with a taste for the modern. This home sits on a promontory called Cary’s Point, which overlooks Sandy Cove. The current owners purchased the home around 2003 for about $4.75 million and gave it a total renovation and expansion. Believe it or not, this home was built in 1903-04 but has been totally renovated with new floors, new windows, new heating, audio, video and lighting systems and more. The details here are pretty fantastic; the kitchen counter for example appears to be composed of agate slices. The windows are all custom made with curving metal accents. There is not just a heated three-car detached garage but also a two-car garage with a turntable floor so the owner never has to back out of the garage again. The reflecting pool has a big sculpture. The current owners have a taste for modern design and so the home is currently a showcase for all sorts of contemporary furniture and an expansive art collection. The property has a dining patio and gazebo with perfect views of the water. The property has access to two private beaches and two moorings. The owner is even offering his 46-foot Sunseeker powerboat along with the estate. The estate is listed at $19.5 million with Dean and Hamilton.

[via Wicked Local]

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Filed under: Estates

Why this one? Because it’s a lighthouse, in Bigfork, Montana. Okay, it’s not so much a lighthouse as a house with a lighthouse-like structure appended to it. Still you have to admire the commitment to the nautical in this one. Most of the houses we see in Montana are full of antler chandeliers, roughhewn logs and western fabrics. Not so here. this one could easily be plunked down on an East Coast shoreline. Boat-shaped bookcases and nautical art add to the rather relentless theme decorating. The house is located south of Woods Bay and is perched above Flathead Lake for some truly beautiful views. The home is under 4,000 square feet and sits on one acre. It is listed at $2.95 million.

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Filed under: Estates, Wine

Some people finally go for the dream of owning their own winery but don’t get to like it for very long. Such is the case with retired executive director of Omaha’s Metro Area Transit Robert Curttright, Jr. who spent his very short retirement planning and creating the Whiskey Run Creek winery outside Brownville, Nebraska before he succumbed to cancer. Now the small winery is on sale for just $1.6 million. The winery is on 3.8 acres, and includes a 100-year-old barn, a 5,400 square-foot steel production building, a 100-year-old brick cave, a wishing well and a waterfall. The winery can produce up to 10,000 gallons of wine per year and there are around 60 vines of Chardonel and Chambourcin on a quarter acre just outside the barn. Eight miles away is another Curttright property which is 122 acres and includes a house and machine shed. This property is on the market for an asking price of $650,000.

[via Wines and Vines]

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Filed under: Estates, Sports

The Real Estalker Mama was a tiny harsh on this one but I don’t think the Westlake,Texas home of baseball player Mark Teixeira is all that bad. Especially if you’re a golfer. It’s located in the posh Vaquero development which offers residents a Tom Fazio golf course, swim center, fishing ponds a fitness center and a clubhouse. The house itself has four bedrooms and is almost 7,000 square feet. Teixeira, who is a first baseman, used to play for the Texas Rangers but currently plays for the Atlanta Braves (he recently signed up for a one-year contract so he’ll be there a while longer. He and his wife bought the home in 2005 for $3.99 million. His Texas home has a bit of that dreaded modern Tuscan look going on but it really isn’t terrible. It’s got a nice negative-edge pool with a nice outdoor pleasing area. Sure it’s a little stodgy and Pottery Barn catalog-like but it seems like a home that looks care about it would be on MTV Cribs and many people would find it charming. Not my taste perhaps, but not bad at all. As the Real Estalker Mama did mention, the couple did show admirable decorating restraint when they could have really could have ridden the train to tackytown. And although the library has a staircase in it, the wood-paneled walls are delightful. It is listed at $5.75 million.

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