Nail Soup and Other Tidbits....

Friends: Nail Soup and Other Tidbits….

Weird stuff this week…it happens that way sometimes. What, with the meltdown of the credit markets, havoc in the financial streets of the world, racial beatings in Louisiana, tortures in Virginia, O.J. back in jail and a weirdo arrested at the airport with Asian snakes in jars of formaldehyde…why would my visit to Atlanta this week not be filled with strange events?

Sitting at the City Grille at Five Points with 3 other members of my investment team, sipping Perrier and “appearing connected” (which is what you must do at all costs to be successful in Atlanta), the subject of “nail soup“ came up. “Men, it’s all ‘nail soup’,” Kirby said.
“What, are you some kind of nut,” I replied? “Nail soup?” He said, “That’s right…we are no different from a group of hobos, sitting out yonder among their pasteboard edifices under the interstate overpass, dreaming of the great fortunes they are destined to make with these investment schemes.”
Tom shouted, “Explain yourself, you fool, just what are you suggesting? We’re first-class businessmen here, concocting fabulous ideas to help the poor sub-prime victims escape jail, albeit at a profit to ourselves…it’s a humanitarian effort.”
Kirby said, “OK, you Pretenders, let me tell you a little about ‘nail soup,” and he went on to explain the receipt for the witches brew:

“It’s simple: We take a big pot, fill it with water and set it to boiling, put a rusty nail in it and call it ‘Nail Soup.’ Immediately we create some carnival-like excitement among the other hobos, and they begin to flock over to our ‘office’ to see what’s going on.” One comments, “What’s in the pot?” We say, “Nail Soup,” to which we add that it’d be a little tastier with some carrots thrown in. Carrots miraculously appear.
The Fat is now in the Fire, so to speak, and other ingredients begin to show up from some “reinvented” hobos who want to join the “bailout” party…some potatoes, some onions, maybe some celery, a little seasoning and finally some meat. “Viola,” we have Nail Soup.

“What are you trying to say, Chef,” Elliott said. “Only this,” Kirby says: “We’re starting out with a good idea, but we’ll need the help of some others to really make an edible stew out it.”
We returned to lunch of quiche, salads and fine coffee on a white linen tablecloth. But we left with a new appreciation of how ideas really come together. And Friends, we’re boiling up a big pot of water up here in the city right now! Nail Soup’s on the menu!


Bud
September 20, 2007