GOT FOOD??

Looking to do some wise investing for your retirement?
How about something safe that's appreciating in value far better than T-bills, annuities, passbook savings and lately...most hedge funds?

Get your ass to the nearest supermarket and get ready to HOARD! Food is just about the best investment we porky Americans can make.



Check out the average price increases for some common food items in cities across the United States:

Rice: up 9.8%
Beef roast: up 3.1%
Milk: up 13.3%
Bread: up 16.3%
Tomatoes: up 18.2%
Peanut Butter: up 10.9%



Don't be too surprised to see booze jump on the escalator too. Wheat, corn, rice and all the other goodies that we use to make delicious wobble water should soon make a trip to the liquor store as painful as an upper colonic.
Of course it does lend credence to the "whiskey is an investment" argument you've been meaning to try out on the wife. (Let me know how that goes.)


Of course most of this price escalation is a result of the weak U.S. dollar and our moronic insistence on burning nearly a quarter of our corn supply to make ethanol. This shameless pandering to farmers and "greenies" by the nitwits in Washington has resulted in a whopping one percent reduction in our oil consumption.

Thanks morons!


So, unless we come to our senses real soon and start drilling for oil here at home, the place to go for smart investing is your neighborhood grocery store. I say drill in Alaska, Boston, Detroit, schoolyards and cemeteries...whatever it takes.

GET SOME DAMN OIL!


Or, pass me the can of beans. And, while you're at it, see what they're getting for a pound of ground prairie dog.


(the other tan meat)

Until the next time...Thanks for the memories

It's in the books.
Clark & Copper and most of the live streamed Internet radio called SignOn is history.

In another couple of years we may all know the answer to the media question: "What next?" Right now the answer for newspapers, magazines, radio and TV is: "What the f***?"

Six months ago Clark Anthony and I joined other radio veterans like Charlie & Harrigan, Dave Mason and Harry Martin in a new kind of talk radio aimed at listeners who were computer savvy and newspaper fans.
The idea was the brainchild of Ron James, who can be seen here chatting with Clark Anthony. Ron may have been early in his timing, but he knows that something like this will make sense probably with the advent of universal wireless broadband. The guy was just ahead of the game.

The marriage of casual conversation and the available talent at the San Diego Union-Tribune was truly compelling. Hell, this was something I WOULD ACTUALLY LISTEN TO!
No dumb calls from marginal listeners ; ditto for dopey contests and screaming commercials. The whole thing was kind of like NPR without the phony somnabulistic delivery and left wing tilt.

The stars of the show were the gifted creative people who write the stories and features found in the Union-Tribune. Clark and I had it easy. We merely showed up every day and attempted to ask the questions that we thought the readers might ask. It worked.

The last couple of days I snapped a few pictures of the regulars that made Clark & Copper what it was. I regret that I didn't get pictures of Sandi Dolbee, Bill Holland, Michael Smolens, Gerry Braun, Mary James, Bob Hawkins, or Dave Ross. Either I or they were absent on a couple of occasions and, frankly, I didn't anticipate the suddenness of SignOn radio's demise. Sorry...

Here are a few of the Clark & Copper regulars:


Michael Stetz- A fine reporter with an eye for a goofy story.

(Thank him for exposing high prices and low alcohol at Petco Park.)








Peter Rowe- Beer reviewer, feature writer, smartass
(He should be institutionalized.)






Karla Peterson- Great TV critic and mom
(She needs to learn to watch TV without a bowl of Fruitloops.)








Allison DeRosa-former U-T travel writer
(They never should have let her get away! She is excellent!)







Ruben Navarrette- nationally syndicated columnist
(A wonderful talent loaded with common sense. Brilliant!)







Lee Grant- (NOT the actress!) Critic At-Large...Movies, TV, college hoops. You name it, he reviews it...WELL.
(Yes, he does look like Captain Kangaroo!)




Robert Pincus- Art critic
Bob is a gifted writer who can make a moron, like me, understand what he's talking about. (Also, the only man with both an art history degree and...A JOB!)






Steve Breen- Editorial cartoonist
This bastard not only does editorial cartoons he also writes children's books, a daily comic strip, and...oh yeah, HE WON A PULITZER! ( I hate him.)



My thanks again to all the wonderful people who joined Clark & Copper in this, now, bit of history that will be remembered as the early days of the media convergence of the 21st century. It was a great ride. I hope to see you all down the road.

Sign On...signs off

"Clark & Copper"
Too good for radio, TV and now...newspapers!







The news came down last week.
SignOn Radio, the San Diego Union-Tribune's effort to expand their media platform has fallen on the sword of budget constraints. After six months the paper decided to put the project on "hold" until wireless broadband becomes something more readily accessible. In other words, until you can see and hear the Internet on your toaster and in your car, the newspaper will hold off on offering everyday on-line audio programming.

It has been fun doing talk radio with my new friend, Clark Anthony. He and I spent years working at different radio stations in San Diego; yet never really knew each other. Doing a daily radio show has given us the opportunity to have an exceedingly good time, make lots of new friends and become buddies. He is a good guy.

In case you missed it, and I'm fairly certain you did, we have been hosting a midday radio show on the Internet website signonradio.com. We are on weekdays from 11A until 1P Pacific time and are also rebroadcast in the evenings.

This Friday, April 18, they pull the plug. There are lots of people Clark and I will miss. They have been wonderful supportive guests and I will have pictures and thank-yous as we wrap it all up.


"Clark packing his classic ride for the long ride home."






Producer "Sweet" Lou
(If you discover that your tires are missing, this would be where to start looking. Hey...the guy is out of work!)

Proxy THIS!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!
If you own stock, (and who doesn't these days?), each day's mail brings another annual report and proxy from at least one of America's finest companies. You know...those glossy expensive brag reports filled with pictures and incomprehensible figures tauting the many splendored accomplishments of said enterprise during the previous twelve months.

"Our far East division experienced a record breaking year for revenues this year and anticipates even greater success in '08." Blah, blah, blah...

After reading the glowing story of how much the company has done for the stockholder they then put the bite on you to vote the board of directors and corporate officers fat salaries, bonuses and stock options to show how much they are all appreciated by those of us lucky enough to hold stock in the company.
This is all well and good when the American and world economy is booming and any knucklehead can helm the everyday bastion of capitalism toward a banner year.

When a company's world is spinning in greased grooves and making me lots of money, (Okay, SOME money) I happily vote just the way the board of directors tells me to. Yes, yes, yes I check on all the proxies. I want to vote just the way the smart guys running this company want me to vote! Yes sir! Three bags full, sir!

Then, we experience a year like this one.
Each day I open my annual reports and proxies from all the rotten bastard companies that have done me wrong during the past several months. LOST my money mind you!
And...I HATE THEM ALL!
NO, NO, NO and again NO I vote on all their stupid proposals and stock options! And bonus???
You clowns want a bonus????
I got your bonus...RIGHT HERE!

So that is how I've been spending this afternoon. I've been voting NO and yelling "Up yours!" as I turn the pages of the flashy brochures of packaged lies these morons are trying to foist off on me. It probably doesn't do any good, but it makes me feel better.

The part that makes me feel A LOT BETTER happens in just a few moments.
Years like this...I open all of the annual reports to the page with the well posed pictures of the chairman of the board and the board of directors. Then I place them all face up in my driveway and back the car over them.

Several times!