♫ The GG Song ♫
How
I regret having introduced family and friends to George's
Gilder Technology Report in 1999.
Having done very well with it myself, I had hoped to share my
good fortune. Instead, the Crash of 2000 came along and made
me the donor of a gift from Hell. What I had let my friends in on
turned out to be a good way to lose money.
They were all very understanding, but the damage was done.
My hubris still sticks in my craw.
For a while I was the butt of local banter. One time a friend
drove by while I was running, and his six-year-old son leaned
out the
car window and shouted, "Hey, Dick, got any hot tips?"
What an ingrate, after I'd let him in
on Global Crossing and
Globalstar, when they were "priced to perfection." Yes, they
then went bankrupt, but how was I to know?
In recent years, the fuss had died down, or so I thought.
But
first, some background for what follows.
My wife Debbie and I live in a house called
Cliffside. It's
on
Lawrence Lane in the Hudson River hamlet
of Snedens Landing.
In August of 2004, we gave a
party for our neighbors. They all
brought picnics and sat on the lawn in front of the
veranda,
with the river behind them.
We provided a stage show and adult beverages.
The party had a French theme in honor of its star attraction,
René
Risqué.
Both the invitation and the program sported
a copy of Edouard
Manet's famous painting of a French picnic,
Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe.
To open the show, a friend and neighbor, the Oscar-winning
songwriter David Shire, braving a severe threat of rain,
played and sang "Dejeuner," a song he had written for the
occasion. Maurice
Chevalier couldn't have
done it any better.
But apparently my Gilder notoriety lives on.
♫
Dejeuner ♫
I've been asked to
introduce
This august, August occasion
This dejeuner sur l'herbe
For those of picnicking persuasion
And since the keynote seems to be
A Parisienne esprit
I've prepared a petite confection
To reinforce the French connection
Dejeuner
Dejeuner
Lawrence Lane
On the Seine
For a day
Dejeuner
I dare say
Me and you
We'll outdo
Ed Manet
Dejeuner
How outré
Deb and Dick
Do their shtick
We obey
So
as we sip our wines and cold beers
Let's toast those fabulous Sears
Dick is done
With his run
We can play
Start the fun!
Hip hooray
Oui, allez
Dejeuner!
Dejeuner
Come and stay
Gourmet fête
Plus we get
René Risqué
Beaujolais
S’il vous plait
Let's all drink
Til we stink
It's okay
Mes
amis
If I may
Though I sing
There's one thing
I must say:
Although Dick's a helluva mensch
He's really not all that French
And though Debbie bleeds savoir-faire
She rarely reads Baudelaire
But
in the Landing
We're not demanding
We drop our stiff side
And come to Cliffside
So cut your cheeses
Enjoy the breezes
As Venus rises
There'll be surprises
For as we get our stomachs filled here
Dick may share the latest forecast from
What a day! (Let it pour!)
Toujour gai! (I'm singing in the rain!)
Dejeuner!