Gotham Gal: Business as usual?

Image via WikipediaSo yesterday the 3 CEO's from the auto companies road down in their American made cars. Should we applaud them that something finally got through to them? They have spend billions of dollars on lobbyists to make sure they never had to change a thing, just keep on forging down the same path without any eye to the future. Now, they want to change their companies when the future is here. The taxpayers should help them do that with our money. Hmmm. First, let's fire all 3 CEO's, and bring in some fresh innovative thinkers to figure out how to create a new car that people want to drive in less than the usual 5 years it takes. These guys have been living in a time warp.

When we (yes we) bailed out AIG, AIG took out a full page ad in the NYTimes, front page section, letting everyone know that everything is okay. They needed to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars of our money to do that? That seems pretty much like business as usual to me. Considering print is receding and the online readership is going up, perhaps they should have advertised online instead to get their point across. What exactly was the point?

Today, on page 11 of the NYTimes, UAW did the same thing. Basically letting us know that they were all hurting from the banking debaucle. They are main street. How much that ad cost could have paid a few of the peoples pictures on the advertisement for the year. Business as usual?

I have been working with someone who is determined we do print advertising in publications that are cutting back because less people are reading them. It is typical, business as usual. I felt like screaming WAKE UP!!!

The world has changed, the way people do business has changed, the way people make purchases has changed, the way people read their daily information has changed, conspicuous consumption is out. The best thing I read today was 60% off is the new black in NYC. If the companies I have listed above don't have the vision to see the future and where it is going then the people running those companies need to retire or resign before the Government gives them anymore of our money. Otherwise, it will be just business as usual.

Change was Obama's mantra and it was already happening right before our eyes.

books of the moment

Gail Simmons: Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater
Loved it. If you love food and the industry that has sprouted across the globe, read it!
Cristina Alger: The Darlings: A Novel
i LOVED this book. First time novelist. Well written. She does a great job of describing each character. The story is loosely based on a Madoff type character. Total NY story. Page turner. She knows her town and these people. Really LOVED this book.
Stephen King: 11/22/63: A Novel
This is my first King book. He is an incredible story teller. Quite a book, very creative, interesting idea and story. It is so long. 850 pages. I get why he is one of the best selling authors
Whitney L. Johnson: Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream
I was so graciously asked to write a blurb for this book. It doesn't come out until May when I will write a post but for the time being you can pre-order. Here is my blurb; Every woman, regardless of age or profession, should read this book. Through stories of real women, their dreams and their struggles, Johnson's book has created an instant community. What's more, she has opened the door for women to empower themselves to dare, dream and do.
Russell Banks: Lost Memory of Skin: A Novel
An interesting novel about the underground topic of child molesters. Banks takes on a disturbing topic as he weaves a variety of strange characters into the fold. Maybe I wanted some kind of closure from the book. The book is a big idea which really navigates a slice of America. Really well written but not so sure I'd recommend it. I stuck with the book but I didn't love it.
Susan Weissman: Feeding Eden: The Trials and Triumphs of a Food Allergy Family
The name of the book says it all. Every parent and every teacher should read this book.
Tom Perrotta: The Leftovers
I have read a few of Perrotta's books. He is an incredible writer but I always feel so unfulfilled when his books end. This concept of this book is that one day random people disappear and the world changes. The book focuses on one particular community and a few families. At the beginning I was wowed by the premise of the book but as always his books begin to ramble and the end was so bad it was if he couldn't figure out how to finish it. Literally the last paragraph made me say to myself, "seriously"?
Alice Hoffman: The Dovekeepers: A Novel
I wanted to finish it, I really did. But half way in I moved on. Really beautiful book. A story of four women who lived on Masada who are thrown together through fate as they tend to the doves. Wonderful history and interesting paths of each character. Just super dense. I hope to return to finishing it. After all...it is on my kindle.
Deborah Copaken Kogan: Between Here and April
This book tracks a terrible tragedy of a mother who took her life and her childrens in the 70s. I was interested in it because it happened where I grew up. Unfortunately the book bounces all over the place and only focuses on the authors own issues that she believes to be connected to this but in essence it is a serious reach and rambling.
W. Bruce Cameron: A Dog's Purpose
It took me a while to get into this but a very clever book. Life through a dogs eyes. Really well done.
Kyung-Sook Shin: Please Look After Mom
International best seller. Not only a peak into a past generation of Korean life but a disturbing look at alzheimers. Sticks with you.
Kathleen Flinn: The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks
Flinn writes about how she transformed 9 people to love cooking, understand food and what they are eating and basically changed their lives. Good book.
Julie Salamon: Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein
What a fascinating life. I actually liked the last 25% of the book the best. A woman of the generation that was told she could have it all and with all her success she still felt unaccomplished. A worthy read.
Michael Ondaatje: The Cat's Table
A beautiful memoir of Ondaatjes solo journey from Sri Lanka to London as a young boy of 11 to return to his mother who had been residing there for 3/4 years. Those 3 weeks made quite an impact on his life as he threads those stories back to his life as an adult.
Jeffrey Eugenides: The Marriage Plot: A Novel
loved this book. brilliantly written, great character development, literature references abound, questioning of religion, depression issues, post college angst. loved loved.

Gotham Gal

Business as usual?

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