New Is a Relative Term...

We live in a "Here Today Gone Later Today" society. Folks are all geared up to see the new Batman movie that opens Friday. But know this, as sure as I am typing this we will be saying the same thing 2, 3 or 4 years from now, Can't wait to see the new Batman or Hancock 12 or get the new CD from our favorite artists.

This really got me thinking; to quote (or massacre a theory) from Einstein, time is relative. What is new, won't be later, the other thing that changes is our knowledge and perception.

OK enough of the deep stuff.

The wife doesn't like "old" movies, she like the new stuff, don't blame her, she is in the majority. Sure she has a few favorite DVDs that she'll watch a few times, but she isn't a nostalgia hound like me. I, on the other hand, love old (2-50 years) movies that I have seen a bajillion times. Are the effects as cool? Probably not, but the stories are there and they are still great.

So two weekends ago I had the two younger kids all day while the wife was picking our 15-year old up from her visit at Grandma's for the month (separate post!). I decided that I was going to indoctrinate the two into the movies I loved in my youth. It went over like gang-busters to where I am working the 15-yr old now as well.

As you who are old enough, probably can guess one of the moviews based on the pic, but here are a great 5 DVDs to buy (they aren't new so cheap!) or rent and enjoy these comedies:

• Ghostbusters - The kids flipped! I had a good time as well. Still very funny. A little dated, but great mix or light fright and silly.
• Back to the Future - Real soft spot in my heart for these movies. Longer story to be shared later, but the kids jump and cheered when Marty decks Biff!
• Planet of The Apes - A HUGE personal favorite. All-time twist at the end, best line ever "Get your paws off me you damn dirty ape!" and for the older viewer great subtext. Plus written by Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame!
• No Time for Sergeants - Andy Griffith at his funniest. Hard to get the wife past the Black and White cornyness, but the kids loved it!
• Ferris Beuller's Day Off - Gosh this movie is funny and now a favorite of my 15-yr old. I feel sorry for today's teens not having John Hughes movies!

I currently have a touch over 1,000 DVDs (we bought most of them dirt cheap) and some special set boxes as well. Sure I could sell the less watched ones, but they really are a collection for me at this point and I happily lend them out when asked, "What's a good movie to watch!"

The first time you see a movie, or if it has been purged from the memory banks, it is new to you! So seek out those movies you either missed the first time, or loved and need to revisit. And if you do, expose someone else to it as well. It just might become a favorite for them as well!

One side note, the kids really loved that if they liked a movie, they could see the sequel right away!

Personal Finance QuickTake: RIP HD DVD

Wal-Mart announced today that they will only carry Blu-Ray next Generation DVDs moving forward. Frankly, this is the death knell for the format. This is just the latest defection from major retailers. Best Buy and NetFlicks have also discontinued stocking the product.

From the report:

The so-called format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray has been a thorn in the side of retailers, which have had to commit shelf space to devices from both camps even as they field complaints from frustrated and confused customers.

Next-generation DVDs and players, boasting better picture quality and more capacity, were expected to help revive the $24 billion global home DVD market. But Hollywood studios had initially split their alliances between the two camps, meaning only certain films would play on a consumer's DVD machine.

So Why Different Formats?

To be fair to Toshiba and the HD-DVD format, the split between formats comes from one thing, IP, or Intellectual Property. Sony/Philips invented the CD, and the DVD. This means that every blank CD or DVD generates partial pennies for Sony/Philips. If you are Toshiba or any of the other electronics manufacturers, or studios, do you want to pay Sony? No. But CDs caught on, then DVDs did as well.

When it came time for the next-gen DVDs Sony said, "Here you go!" And...to make sure it does well every PS3 will have a player built in. So the studios couldn't just ignore the format. But at the end of the day all this dual format stuff did was to scare off the consumers from buying...and no one wants that.

RIP HD-DVD...We hardly knew ya!

Learning Finance from the "Smartest Guys in the Room"

I was looking for a movie to watch tonight. I going through our DVD library I hit this one. Maybe it was the 60 Minutes thing yesterday about Mortgages, but I guess I wanted to see what started a different economic mess.

"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" is a documentary, and before you roll your eyes and start thinking about those horrible ones in school with the hand-cranked filmstrips, or Michael Moore knocking on doors looking for a sandwich (kidding!), this is pretty darn captivating stuff.

What separates this one for me is that it really is the people involved discussing in archival footage what went on. The sub-title sums it all up; "It's Only Business."

Enron wasn't always a punchline. It was the seventh largest company to ever declare bankruptcy. A company so powerful they created the California rolling power outages!

So what can we learn from the movie in regards to personal finance. I think that here are some great lessons:

• 401K investments - Never over invest in your companies stock! People thought that they were missing out if they didn't. That they weren't showing company spirit! Meanwhile the Executive team was selling as fast as possible, often after telling the rank and file to buy!
• Don't be afraid to ask questions - This is a great story of the Emperer Has no Clothes. When a couple (and it was VERY few) analysts asks questions on how they were really making money, Enron talked to them like they were too stupid to understand, and killed most probing into the company until it was burning. There are NO stupid Questions.
• New Economy - There is no new economy. You have to make a profit, if you don't eventually, and sometimes in spectacular ways, you will run out of money. Money is finite...even when there is a lot of it. For your finances this means you cannot continue to charge things without paying it back, because...money is finite, whether it is yours or the banks!
• Integrity is Everything - There are no get rich schemes, no magic new ways to riches. You certainly can lie for a bit to get ahead, but it will catch up to you, or if you are one of the very few and lucky, everyone around you.
• Slow and Boring - Which stock would you rather own, Enron or GE. GE has been going nowhere for a long time, no rapid movement, but...it makes money day in day out. Any other kind of investing is gambling!

The other side note, which was interesting, Ken Lay died before he could go to trial. Given that he was never convicted, he is innocent, so no one can go after his estate. Pretty hard way to protect your family!

Slow and steady is boring, 5-10% a year is boring. But Personal Finance is not a Video Game that needs to go back to GameFly tomorrow. Risk=Rewards, but excess Risk=Broke!

How about you? Any movies inspire your Personal Finance choices?