Captain's Blog, stardate 1/10/07

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- YOUR LATEST ISSUE OF FORTUNE: Oh and what an issue it is. I'm delighted by our rockin' story about how Google (Charts) is America's best company to work for. Oh yes, it is! I should know, I was just out there. What an insanely great place to hang your hat! First of all, the food. Amazing! Bountiful! And free! And then there's the car wash, coolio scooters, and the massages. I could go on and on, but read the story. This company - filled now with zillionaires - really knows how to create an environment to keep young smart wealthy people engaged. I just had so much fun hanging out there at the Googleplex. And you know, Larry, Sergei, Eric and the rest of you, it really is true. You guys are doing your part to change the world! (Thanks to our friends at the Today Show and CNBC for their TV pieces) And mostly congrats to my main man Adam Lashinsky for a terrific read.

APPLE FONE FUN: I know you've already read about this ad naseum. But here are a few other points. 1) Damn the price! I'm buyin' one. (I just pray the company supports it.) 2) Wonder what this will do to Cingular? (will it get any money or just new customers), what does this mean for Verizon (Charts)? And RIMM (Charts)? And PALM (Charts)? And 3) What will this do to the iPod? Won't it just kill iPod sales--except for the shuffle or Nanos? I certainly don't plan on carrying two devices.

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GLOBALIZATION #52: Was speaking to Ken Moelis, now president of UBS's investment bank, (who I know from his days going to back to DLJ, and before that Drexel.) Great to catch up with him. He was just chatting with me about the incredible toll globalization can take on a thoroughly modern global investment banker. He told me that he used to think flying cross-country was tough. That was nothing. "Now it's like painting the bridge," Moelis told me. "UBS (Charts) has such an incredible global footprint. You fly to Mumbai in February then the Frankfurt. Then to London. Then to Moscow. And before you know it you fly back to Mumbai. It never stops." Ken says his wife thinks he's based in NYC, while his people think he lives in L.A. "In L.A. I'm up at 4 am taking calls from London...then after 6 pm the calls start to come in from Asia." So globalization is wonderful, yeah yeah, but try LIVING it!

JAPAN: Delighted to have Koji Omi, Japan's Minister of Finance, over to the magazine. The minister was sanguine about the elections next summer as well as his nation's economy. He's talking about 2% real growth next year. Hmmm, we shall see. Nice of him to squeeze us in around visiting the NY Fed and the U.N.

LOOSE CHANGE: Okay, so you have to read "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11" by Lawrence Wright. It just very clearly explains how we got here. Blows your mind, amazing. (Maybe I'll read 'em all, new Woodward, "Fiasco," Rory Stewart's Iraq book. All good.)...Was up at the Mohegan Sun again. It just keeps on cooking doesn't it?....Do you all dig Mitch Easter? I'm a huge fan. Can't find it on iTunes, right? Well, not exactly. Try Shalini's "We Want Jelly Donuts." It's from 2000, but I never knew about it. Mitch produced the album, and yes(!) it sounds like him. Very cool...Okay okay okay, GATORS are Numero Uno in everything. What about a double repeat in hoop and football? It's possible. Noah and Tebow!