West Coast Cruise Deals
What is the cheapest and the best way to get a great deal on a cruise?
Looking to 7-day cruise in the Caribbean easteren (Some where between December 16 to 26) live on the west coast of Florida. BALCONY CABIN MUST. Traveling with elderly parents. Can you point me to a website? Thanks!
"Vacations to go" specializes in cruises last minutes (90 days or less). I have also had good luck with Orbitz, 411 cruise, cruise only, Expedia and Travelocity. Hope this helps.
Tom Cruise, Paramount and Hollywood Power Exchange, and now Hedge Funds
Until the 1950's, Hollywood was controlled by seven major studios film. More importantly it was controlled by moguls, all of them were men of Eastern European descent, who ruled the studio in the same way that kings of their previous countries ruled the peasants. Creative control belonged to the mogul, while the money was always controlled by the bankers in New York, called "Suits."
This power alignment began with the beginning of Hollywood prior to 1920, and continued for 40 years. What place intact was the caste system in which the stars were controlled by individual studies. They were paid on an annual basis, and had no comment on the films that seems in. In essence they were slaves to the system, not very different from how baseball players have been handled until the Supreme Court banned the long captive players career.
The Hollywood caste system began to crumble in early 1950 when Kirk Douglas, the father of Michael Douglas went independent, and formed one of the first independent film companies called Bryna, for his mother. It produced the "Vikings", "Spartacus" and "Seven days May. "The so-called Studio system was dead. Power passed to individual actors, who became BRANDS own right.
Two events began in the 1960's. Hollywood studios would be taken by companies, and then reacquired by giant multinational corporations seeking influence throughout the world. The second was that the stars began to exercise their power. multinational giants like Sony, Newscorp, and Viacom hated the fact that the stars were much power. In the past ten years, the A-List actors like Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Robert Redford and started to receive profit-sharing, which studies was only grudgingly.
At first it did not matter because Hollywood accounting is such that somehow the studios could always show a loss in the film. The stars are wise to that very quickly, and started taking front units, a percentage of the ticket when movie goers bought their tickets. In my 35 years on Wall Street, who participated in financing many movies, and I have to say that nobody ever made money on the backend. No matter how big film is somehow the movie always lost money when it comes to the backend participations.
We have reached a point where large multinational control the means of communication on a worldwide basis is tired of what they are enduring in the name of the star mark. Mel Gibson as you know has encountered problems on the West Coast with his drinking and alleged anti-Semitic remarks resulting in the cancellation of a series of Disney Holocaust with Gibson's production company.
Now Tom Cruise has had a quarrel with Sumner Redstone, and Viacom. Redstone company said it does not like some of Cruise's actions in the past year. This makes no sense. Normally, when it breaks a study with a star, there is no public statement. None required to be given, and only forms a part. This is more personal.
It is rumored that Viacom had offered Cruise a $ 2,000,000 production deal, down from $ 4 million in the last agreement, and a fund of U.S. $ 6 million for the development of film projects. Here's the real deal. Tom Cruise did "Mission Impossible III" for Viacom, the movie grosses near $ 400 million worldwide. Cruise had negotiated as a quota, 25% of the gross income of Viacom in the film.
This is how it works. The movie has $ 400 million. The theaters get half, and Viacom medium, $ 200 million each. Cruise gets 25% of half of Viacom, which is $ 50 million. In the end Viacom gets $ 150 million, and Cruise gets $ 50 million. Sounds great for Viacom not that. Not really, Viacom must pay for the movie I had to be $ 150 million plus advertising. Viacom gets zero, and Cruise still gets $ 50 million. This is why Sumner Redstone of Viacom is annoyed, and Cruise is sitting on top of the world.
At the end Redstone last laugh, why do you ask? There is still Hollywood accounting to deal with. Remember that all original Hollywood studios were sold in the hands of multinational corporations (MNCs). Do you really think the MNC bought the studios for the theater gross? Of course not. In reality movie ticket sales represent a third of the energy of a film profits. Viacom can lose money in an image, and still make a fortune in sales DVD (third), and the future cable television and rights (a third).
The MNCs have never shared the benefits of these other two thirds of revenue, and never will. They refuse even to talk about it, and the numbers are buried in the financial statements of the corporation. Never divide, and are kept secret. Viacom has fact, and make hundreds of millions of dollars in Mission Impossible III.
Redstone got fed up and threw Cruise off the lot. Currently there are statements being done by the production of Cruise, Paula Wagner partner. He says that Cruise is to raise $ 200 million hedge fund to finance Cruise's future projects. Wait Wall Street until these hedge fund types learn about Hollywood accounting. They will lose their shirts funding movies. This is not an industry that Wall Street you want to get involved with. The loss of the shirt is one thing, but even knowing that you've lost until you are standing naked in the street is another.
 More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: A Drop-Top Culinary Cruise Through America's Finest and Funkiest Joints List Price: Sale Price: $11.43 You save: $8.56 (43%)  Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours See Reviews For This Product DescriptionJoin New York Times bestselling author and Food Network star Guy Fieri for a second helping of the best diners, drive-ins, and dives across America!Guy Fieri strikes again with More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, giving you a road map to road food that's earned its culinary citizenship in "Flavortown." Join Guy on a cross-country noshing parade, mapping out the best places you've never heard of—more than fifty establishments off the beaten path. Compete in a (no hands) apple-pie-eating contest at Bobo Drive-In in Topeka, Kansas, dip your taste buds in Sweet Spicy Love sauce at Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken in Memphis, Tennessee, and get a load of the killer four-cheese mac-and-cheese at Gorilla Barbeque in Pacifica, California. Filled with Guy's hilarious voice and rampant enthusiasm for these hidden culinary gems, More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is the perfect book for lovers of the American food scene and fans of Triple D. Book Description Join New York Times bestselling author and Food Network star Guy Fieri for a second helping of the best diners, drive-ins, and dives across America! Guy Fieri strikes again with More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, giving you a road map to road food that's earned its culinary citizenship in "Flavortown." Join Guy on a cross-country noshing parade, mapping out the best places you've never heard ofmore than fifty establishments off the beaten path. Compete in a (no hands) apple-pie-eating contest at Bobo Drive-In in Topeka, Kansas, dip your taste buds in Sweet Spicy Love sauce at Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken in Memphis, Tennessee, and get a load of the killer four-cheese mac-and-cheese at Gorilla Barbeque in Pacifica, California. Filled with Guy's hilarious voice and rampant enthusiasm for these hidden culinary gems, More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is the perfect book for lovers of the American food scene and fans of Triple D. Pleasure Cruising Through More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives by Guy Fieri Dear Amazon Customers, My drop-top culinary cruise to America’s most fun and funkiest joints is the adventure we’re all looking for--and I’m having the time of my life. I’m glad to get out there because it reminds me of what a great country we have. I have five restaurants of my own (three Johnny Garlic’s and two Tex Wasabi’s), and as a chef and restaurant owner, let me tell you, it’s a tough business. You really have to love it to keep with it. I thought having my own restaurants in Northern California’s wine country couldn’t be beat, but sharing these mom and pop joints across the country and highlighting not just their food but their stories is probably the greatest experience I’ve ever had. And on top of it all, the show results in an increase in their business and ends up changing their lives. We get stories emailed to us all the time: I opened a second location, I bought the building, I bought my wife a new Mercedes. One of these folks was Gorilla Rich, owner of Gorilla Barbeque in Pacifica, California. I met him while at a NASCAR race, and I knew this guy had to be on television. I didn’t even know he had a barbeque restaurant at the time, so I wasn’t even thinking of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I even called my producer from the track and said, “I met this dude and we’ve got to get him on television.” Long story short, turns out he’s doing some slammin’ BBQ, we end up highlighting his restaurant on the show, and things are blown out! They’ve got a second smoker now and are looking into another location. Gorilla and I have become really good buddies, so when I’m home in California he’ll drive up to my house and we’ll hang out. Making these connections is one of the neatest things about doing the show. It can’t happen with all of them, of course, but at some of the locations--like Voula’s, Panini Pete’s, Grinders, Luigi’s Pizzeria, and Hodad’s--these people have become really close friends. And it’s not that we’re great friends because I came to shine a light on them and change opportunities for their business, it’s because they’re brothers from another mother. We’re all in this industry to make people happy, that’s what we love to do. So when you find these other brothers that are out there doing that same thing, it’s a culinary family reunion in flavortown. Features
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