Blog posts by category: Laura Berman's Blog
Category: Laura Berman's Blog
Posted by Laura Berman (The Detroit News) on Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 5:19 PMHigh finance, small net
This is a situation that others -- Angelina and Brad come to mind -- must face after getting married. Which partner's bank gets the new business? I don't know where Angelina's son Maddox does his banking, but my daughter, age 8, has her own bank account. Her elementary school has a deal with Chase to enlist little savers. That's where my husband banks, too. In other words, theirs became the lead bank, by default.
Chase, relatively new in town and eager to gobble up others, sent out a friendly bank manager to woo my business -- well, he came out from behind the counter. This led to delusions of grandeur and the inevitable comparisons to Angelina Jolie. Now the courting -- no toaster but a cash reward for opening an account --is paying off. After months of trying to assuage the old Brand X bank, I'm going for convenience over loyalty.
This leaves me with one question regarding high finance and bank profits: JP Morgan Chase earned $2.14 billion in the first quarter of 2009 and the business world cheered. But that piddling profit came after receiving $25 billion in TARP funds. If Treasury lent me $25 billion, I'd report a profit in excess of $24 billion. Wouldn't you?
In the meantime, here's a cheesy video of Angelina, Maddox and son Pax.
Angelina Jolie With Pax And Maddox - Watch more amazing videos here
Category: Laura Berman's Blog
Posted by Laura Berman (The Detroit News) on Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 6:08 PMFlower Child at 70
Judy Collins -- she of the cornflower blue eyes and coltish hair mane --will turn 70 on May 1. Even so, she's still a flower child. Her appearance at Planned Parenthood's luncheon at the Troy Marriott, when she entertained an audience of 325 people had a folkie feel: "Let's get this out of the way," she said, as she launched into her rendition of Joni Mitchell's, "Both Sides Now."
The long hair is now piled atop her head, all silvery and elegant, and people under 40 aren't quite sure who she is: One of the distinctive voices of the 1960s and '70s, the inspiration for Stephen Stills song, "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" ("I am yours/you are mine/you are what you are.)
Why was Collins' speaking to Planned Parenthood? I introduced her and was told she felt a strong connection to the organization. If so, she never explained the link directly. But she's writing a memoir -- her fifth --that she's calling, "Sex, Drugs and Folk Rock." She told a couple of bawdy stories, recalled meeting her husband at an Equal Rights Amendment fundraiser in 1978, and suggested that she's a woman who has lived and loved and survived.
