A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Since the late 1960's, Red Lobster has grown to become an American seafood institution with over 650 restaurants and tens of thousands of employees. It's also one of the most successful casual restaurant chains to ever exist. So it was pretty surprising to many when they filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in early 2024. However while many in the media reported on the famous Endless Shrimp as the culprit, the truth as to how this company fell so quickly is a bit more complicated. Join me today as we find out how this iconic chain ultimately declared bankruptcy.
I feel like no bankrupt company's story is fully told until both Company Man Mike and Jake Williams of Bright Sun Films have weighed in. Thanks to Jake's reporting, I have revised my opinion that private equity may not have been critical in Red Lobster's failure. Golden Gate Capital's decision to sell the properties the stores sat on and then lease them really did mess up the chain's cash flow. This was on top of the debt from the leveraged buyout. The only good news is that the bankruptcy didn't happen on their watch. Instead, Thai Union was left holding the bag, but not for long. As I wrote last month, "They're done with Red Lobster." Here's to hoping the new owners, whoever they are, have better luck.
That's a wrap for today's tale of the Retail Apocalypse, although I may return to restaurants to showcase Company Man Mike's video explaining why Red Lobster's former sister restaurant, Olive Garden, is still a success. Stay tuned.
In a recorded message from New Zealand, actor and ocean activist Jason Momoa said, “the human induced triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss continues to weigh heavily on the ocean ecosystems and the communities that directly depend on it. If we don't change course. The oceans dire state will continue to apply. Doesn't have to be that way. Through reimagining our relationship with the ocean and working together to better understand prioritize and protect it, we can rebuild a preserve that help the ocean both now for future generations. I'm honored to be joining the United Nations family World Oceans Day. Celebrate how wonderful it is to live our blue planet and underscore the importance of prioritizing the oceans help, our own health.”
World Ocean Day is celebrated worldwide on 8 June Every Year.
Award-winning actor, entrepreneur, and filmmaker Jason Momoa has long advocated for environmental issues and social justice. Of Polynesian and Hawaiian descent, he has lent his voice and platform to protecting the oceans and the rights of indigenous peoples and island nations. Momoa's entrepreneurial pursuits focus on advancing sustainable practices, products and packaging, including development of Mananalu, a water packaged in infinitely recyclable aluminum. His passion for environmental conservation is evident through his collaborations with organizations like Ocean Unite, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, Lonely Whale, and Kumano I Ke Ala. He advocates for marine protection, coral reef preservation, and global initiatives against plastic pollution and waste. Moreover, in addition to his direct involvement with SDG 14, "Life Below Water," and his profound dedication to ocean health and the protection of marine life, Momoa is actively involved in raising awareness of the issue of intersectional environmentalism and social justice through his production companies, Pride of Gypsies and On The Roam, which produces scripted and unscripted original content, branded content, and product collaborations.
Speaking of Aquaman, I predicted that "I'm looking for Aquaman 2 to earn a nomination at the next EMA Awards" in The 2023-2024 Environmental Media Association Awards nominees. I'm also looking forward to seeing the movie on the next Saturn Awards ballot. Too bad it's almost certain to get crushed by Deadpool & Wolverine. The Marvel streak will continue.
The United Nations features Momoa in more videos, but I'm also being a good environmentalist by conserving my resources for next year, when World Oceans Day will also be the subject of the Sunday entertainment feature. Speaking of which, stay tuned for that tomorrow. Daytime Emmy Awards winners, anyone?
A Boeing spacecraft carrying two NASA astronauts is on its historic maiden voyage. The landmark launch kicked off the first crewed test flight of the capsule and marked the culmination of a long and trying development process.
Boeing’s Starliner mission has safely docked with the International Space Station after navigating new issues that cropped up overnight en route to the orbiting laboratory. CNN's Kristin Fisher reports.
Not only am I happy that Starliner successfully docked with the ISS, I'm glad for the astronauts and cosmonauts on the station that they'll be able to recycle their water. I often jokingly gross out my environmental science students by calling water recycling "toilet-to-tap," but in this case it's not only justified, but necessary.
SpaceX achieved a new milestone with its mega Starship rocket, after both the booster and the spacecraft made controlled returns to Earth.
I watched the re-entry live and was amazed that Starship successfully splashed down after one of its flight control surfaces burned through but remained attached. Like the proverbial honey badger, the spaceship didn't seem to care!
China’s Chang’e lunar probe has taken off from the far side of the moon to return back to earth, according to China’s national space agency. If China successfully makes it back to earth, it will be the first country to have gathered samples from the far side of the moon. China’s previous lunar mission, Chang’e 5, gathered samples from the near side of the moon, but collecting samples from the far side has required additional technical know-how as well as operating on more challenging terrain. According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Chang’e 6 “withstood the test of high temperature on the far side of the moon."
We have a space race!
I expect to report more on the return to the Moon on Moon Day and recap these missions in this year's edition of 2023 in space. In the meantime, stay tuned for WorldOceansDay.
Biden greeted surviving members one-by-one, thanking them for the service on that fateful day.
As an expatriate Californian, who loves entertainment nearly as much as my country and tells my students you can take me out of California but you can't take California out of me, I appreciated the name checks of The Longest Day and Band of Brothers. I'm only surprised he and his speechwriter(s) didn't manage to mention Saving Private Ryan as well. I guess one Tom Hanks show was enough.
I also appreciated how President Biden related D-Day to the present day, especially the domestic fight to protect democracy against authoritarianism at home and foreign aggression in Ukraine. May we be up to the task.
Follow over the jump for videos representing France, Canada, and the United Kingdom at the event.
Jon Stewart tackles climate change over the years including seasonably cold weather somehow invalidating global warming, Republicans using a secular argument to counter the Pope's statement about climate change and a House of Representatives committee struggling with the basic principles of global warming.
All of that was from the previous decade and some of the politicians and media figures have retired since then, but the basic conflict remains. Sigh. Here's to Americans as a whole getting the message — my regular readers almost certainly already have — and to this post being as well-received as Jon Stewart devours the fast-food industry, parts 1 and 2, which currently has 215 default and 224 raw page views. May people care about climatechange as much as they care about food.
Camden County, New Jersey's Jersey Surf perform a segment from the corps' #DCI2023 production, "Express Yourself," during the 2023 DCI World Championships hosted August 10-12 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Camden County, NJ | 23rd Place | 75.488
By coincidence, this happened to be a great selection for Pride Month.
Normally, I'd continue with the Garden State's other DCI corps, the Raiders, but New Jersey is such a great state for all-age corps that I'm embedding 2022 DCA World Championships | Hawthorne Caballeros (World Class) - Timeless from Drum Corps Associates (DCA) next. Don't worry, I'll get to the Raiders.
Presenting selected clips from their 2022 Production "Timeless" in partnership with Box5 Media.
The Caballeros perform at the 2023 Plymouth Show part of the Americas Hometown Thanksgiving Celebrations in Plymouth Ma.
I count this as a semi-official upload. Also, the sound of late 20th Century drum corps lives on!
I wrote above that I would get to the Raiders, so here is 31st Raiders 2023 from Drum Corps Library.
I enjoyed this show concept and found the performance fun!
Since this is an unofficial upload, it may not last long, so enjoy it while it lasts. I just hope the account persists until Canada Day so that I can use the videos of Les Stentors for this year's drum corps Canada Day to begin July.
Follow over the jump for the marching bands from the District of Columbia and the rest of today's primary states, including an encore from the Rutgers band.
Stephen recaps the drama that followed the jury's verdict in Donald Trump's election interference trial, the former president claimed he never used the phrase "lock her up" in reference to Hillary Clinton, and former Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch has tied the knot with his fifth wife.
"[J]ail to the chief" is a great line, but it's going to be a while. I expect he'll be sentenced to house arrest in Trump Tower with the Secret Service as his guards, at least for this set of crimes.
I stand by that prediction with the possible addition of $170,000 in fines, $5,000 for each conviction, although Jimmy K's desire for community service to be part of the sentence would work for me, too.
I'll have more on his potential sentence over the jump.
Jon Stewart breaks down the response to Trump's guilty verdict from Joe Biden and the media, as well as the GOP's vow for revenge and hypocritical complaint about Democrats pursuing "political prosecutions." Plus, Jon pleads with the media to act a little more like the court system and examine evidence and reach conclusions, instead of wildly speculating on future realities.
*Snork* I'm a biologist, so I appreciated the Bonobos reference. It was funnier than Banana Republic — more projection!
Follow over the jump for two bonus clips from Stephen's show last night.
Pearl the Prius's odometer will roll over 64,000 miles by the time I return home from work today, so it's time for a driving update. I begin with Ray "CityNerd" Delahanty naming (and shaming) 10 Cities Where Driving Consumes the Most of Your Life.
In 1974, Ivan Illich wrote that the typical American male spent 25% of his waking life either driving a car or working for the income required to pay for one. 50 years later, is this true? And, which cities consume the most -- and least -- of our time with driving?
I'm not surprised that the Inland Empire has the cities that require the most time spent driving or working to support a car. It's one of the things I miss the least about southern California after moving to Michigan 35 years ago.
That's the overall driving picture. Follow over the jump for my personal update.
Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold off his entire stake in Disney (DIS) after the entertainment giant successfully fended off his proxy battle. Morningstar Senior Equity Analyst Matthew Dolgin joins Catalysts to discuss what this move means for the company and its future.
Dolgin notes that while current Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company is on the right track to develop from the linear media landscape to the streaming world, it will continue to remain a challenge industry-wide. He adds, "We weren't sure if Peltz had the answer either," saying the company's transition is a still "a work in progress."
"He identified several missed steps in the past, but those are easier to identify in retrospect. He didn't necessarily have solutions," Dolgin says of Peltz. He adds, "He thought that the company should do something with its non-sports entertainment linear network, so ABC, Disney Channel, FX, those types of stations. And we don't think that would have been the right move. They still make up about a third of the company's operating profit, so to get rid of that cash now, we don't think was the answer."
Dolgin says that bundling is key in the streaming era: "It actually ends up being the most cost-effective way for consumers." He explains that bundling delivers consumers more streamlined and efficient user experiences while providing great value.
He believes that Bob Iger is the right CEO to transform the business in the streaming era, saying, "The most important thing is that someone with the entertainment background... is critical to Disney's future."
"He didn't necessarily have solutions" as Morningstar Senior Equity Analyst Matthew Dolgin said of Peltz. Disney CEO Bob Iger said something similar when CNBC Television interviewed him in Disney CEO Bob Iger: Nelson Peltz didn't bring any new ideas after the proxy fight concluded.
Disney CEO Bob Iger joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the company's proxy fight win against activist investor Nelson Peltz, takeaways from his engagement with shareholders, the company's top priorities, succession plans, state of the streaming landscape, new sports streaming alliance, future of ESPN, navigating America's culture wars, and more.
Mentioning Ike Perlmutter, who "spent 'years' reportedly frustrating Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige before the lucrative film business was moved out from under his purview in 2015, and more recently wielded influence behind the scenes as his friend, activist investor Nelson Peltz, made a play to join the Disney board" makes me think that Peltz was more interested in reinstating "old" ideas than promoting new ones. It also reminds me that Peltz was a Trump supporter, as he himself stated in CNBC Television's interview on election night 2020, saying A Donald Trump win is good for America: Trian Partners CEO.
Nelson Peltz, Trian Partners CEO, joins CNBC's presidential election coverage to discuss why his support is behind President Trump as election results roll in.
Parody of “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee” from GREASE (Warren Casey, Jim Jacobs)
Parody Lyrics by Randy Rainbow
Randy created this video fast enough that he referenced the spat among MTG, Jasmine Crockett, and AOC that prompted Crockett's "Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body" remark. I might embed some of the videos using her phrase as a song inspiration when I get a chance. For now, I'm going back into Randy's archive to share GURL, YOU'RE A KAREN - A Randy Rainbow Parody as an encore.
The Randy Rainbow Show
: "Gurl, You're a Karen"
Executive Producer Randy Rainbow
Producer Victoria Varela
Producer Michael J. Moritz Jr.
Producer Jesse Kissel
Credits:
Parody Written and Performed by Randy Rainbow
(Based on "Dentist!" by Alan Menken & Howard Ashman from Little Shop of Horrors)
Song Produced, Orchestrated, Mixed, Mastered By Michael J Moritz Jr @michaeljmoritz
Vocal Arrangement: Jesse Kissel
Piano:Michael J Moritz Jr
Guitar :Jakob Reinhardt
Bass: Adam DeAscentis
Drums: Tom Jorgensen
Sax: Ryan Saranich
Engineer:Jakob Reinhardt
Kevin McCarthy is not only no longer Speaker of the House, having been ousted and replaced with Liar for Jesus Mike Johnson, but also out of Congress entirely, and MTG and Boebert are no longer friends and allies because of McCarthy, but the meme still generally works.
That's it for today's musical comedy interlude. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature. I might examine the Daytime Emmy Awards for once.
*Randy's plug of Ground News reminds me of what I wrote in Future Proof examines 'The RISE and FALL of Malls in America,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, "the paid promotion by Ground News reminds me that I promised a comparison and contrast between AllSides and the Media Bias Chart three years ago." I still haven't done that, but it really is time. Maybe when I make my monthly page view goal and write evergreen entries near the end of the month.
