No, this is not about Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine – who actually never said this line in the movie Casablanca 😳 – but my exhortation after a thrilling come-from-behind win for Sam Buttrey:
Actually, it is Ingrid Bergman’s llsa Hund who says: Play it once, Sam.
Sam Buttrey is an associate professor of Operations Research – that is why I had been following him – and had been performing very well, losing (closely) twice in the first four games, much to my chagrin (and also may others), in this new format – which is good as one cannot carry winnings from one game to another, and the first contestant that wins 3 takes the trophy – and, coming into the Friday game, the evolution of the tournament was as follows, using vector notation (Amy, Andrew, Sam):
(0,0,0) (0,1,0) (1,1,0) (1,2,0) (2,2,0), (2,2,1).
The tournament continues now to next week. 😊
For it not to end on Monday, Sam has to win again, and hence the title of this post.
I had driven around the Naval Postgraduate campus – in Monterrey, California – more than 15 years ago, the tour given by (now late) Rick Rosenthal (see Mike Trick’s post) where Sam Buttrey is an associate professor in the same department. We then drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea like the winning answer Newcastle upon Tyne – where Clint Eastwood had been a Mayor – before dining at an Indian Restaurant back in Monterrey. (I was in the area because of a software entrepreneurship conference as Founder/CEO of SmartOps, staying at Pebble Beach.)
The first Clint Eastwood movie that I recall seeing is the first in this series:
Dirty Harry is an American neo-noir vigilante action thriller film series featuring San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan. There are five films: Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool (1988). Clint Eastwood portrayed Callahan in all five films. It had a box office revenue of over $309 million on a budget of about $70 million.
The most famous line from Dirty Harry is also frequently misquoted as:
Do you feel lucky, punk?
The actual lines are:
“You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’. Well, do ya, punk?”.
Indeed, for years, I had myself been misquoting (the catchphrase from Sudden Impact) as (there is no punk):
Go ahead punk, make my day.
Talking about frequent misquoting, nothing is probably more so than this attributed to Sherlock Holmes:
Elementary, my dear Watson.
The actual dialogue (the closest from The Crooked Man):
“‘Excellent!’ I [Watson] cried. ‘Elementary,’ said he.”
If you like shows with cops like Harry Callahan, you will probably enjoy:
Bosch: Legacy is an American police procedural streaming television series developed. A spin-off of the Amazon Prime Video series Bosch (2014–2021), it stars Titus Welliver as former LAPD detective Harry Bosch.
In addition to Jeopardy!, what made yesterday wonderful was related to supply chains, as product shortages have begun to be become less frequent. I am not talking just about Infant Formula – see Three Men and Baby Formula – whose availability has improved, and I am happy about that, but something that matters to me more personally, as I was pleasantly surprised to see on the shelf (missing since May):
Hendrick’s Gin.
Indeed, many of the shortages are turning into glut, notably in semi-conductors, as noted in this WSJ article about Micron (a SmartOps customer):
Micron to Cut Production of Memory Chips.
You also know that Fridays are frequently my movie matinee days, and have been for over two decades. Notwithstanding the WSJ review that I had already read (which is quite accurate), I went to see The Menu:
Though its black comedy is a bit nonsensical in spots, it’s certainly one of the most memorable cinematic experiences of the year. Mr. Fiennes, a delightful presence who plays his role with fierce concentration, has never been more sinister, and we’re talking about an actor who played Voldemort and an SS officer in “Schindler’s List.” Margot (the superb Anya Taylor-Joy), who is an unexplained substitute for the girlfriend of an overeager gastronome named Tyler (the equally good Nicholas Hoult)…
You know I really liked Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit. Here is another film that she is in that I thought was quite good, although it was not a box-office success:
Last Night in Soho.
As I wrapped up a pretty good Friday, I saw this in my email (you may recall my August trip in À la recherche de Dieu à Harvard):
Hi Sridhar,
It was wonderful having you join us for the Schwab program this summer. As always, your case had a real impact on the program participants. Thank you again for your contributions.
I’m excited to let you know that we confirmed our 2023 program with WEF, and the Schwab fellows will be back on campus from Saturday, March 18-Saturday, March 25. I would love to start the program again with your case on Saturday, March 18. Will you be able to join us…
Warmly,
Julie
Looking forward to it!
