Captain's Blog, stardate 4/12/07

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- NEXT ISSUE: Coming up, THE (one and only) FORTUNE 500 issue!!! It is an honor and a pleasure putting it together. Truly. We have some wonderful surprises in store, graphics, wonderful archival and new photography (including the baddest picture of Steve Ballmer ever taken), great stories by award-winning journalists. Exclusives from San Francisco, Austin, Minneapolis, and one story that moves around three continents in one typical week. It's what we've been doing for 77 years here - now better than ever. And they can use all the fancy German words they want and it still ain't going to change THAT!

MARKETS: Pretty strong lately, though weak on Thurs. How about Citi (Charts) -news is they are laying off 17,000 and the stock doesn't move, but hey that's typical - the stock hasn't gone anywhere, point to point in five years (S&P's up 25% over same period.) Genentech (Charts) was strong - now there's a stock that has been on 'roids the past five years, up about 4X. Or how about RIMM (Charts), up over 1000% since 2002, they sold that off a bit on Thursday, even though sales were up 66% in Q4......Deep Blue wonders who would buy XHB, the S&P Homebuilders index security? It isn't dirt cheap, surprisingly. But a good play when you think this thing bottoms, which might not be for a while! (Deep Blue still grinning KFI - airplane parts maker - which as bought-out recently.) Why doesn't that happen to me????

THE POETRY OF DON IMUS: You what I'm really tired of? Celebrities saying stupid things then apologizing for it and the media going nuts over it. I mean SHUT UP!!! Mel Gibson, Kramer, Isaiah Washington (Gray's Anatomy dude), and now of course the I-man. First of all Imus should just retire. But who cares? Why are certain newspapers and TV networks just going on and on? (Actually there are some potential conflicts of interest here: MSNBC just dropped Don Imus's simulcast.) But really this is useless information. Want to know something important? How about this: Who is America's current poet laureate? Answer: Donald Hall. Want some more USEFUL information? Try this page: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1937-1960.html Cool, right? Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Robert Lowell (my mother's favorite), Elizabeth Bishop. Now THESE people are bad-asses. Creative geniuses that most of us, (including me), don't know diddle about. Spend time at this site. Forget the damn I-man.

LOOSE CHANGE: Okay, now I can die and go to heaven. I saw the Allman Brothers at the Beacon. (Like running with the bulls only closer and safer!) WHAT a great show! Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes and Greg. Oh and we had as guests: Maui's own Vince Esquire, Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi All Stars, AND Leslie West (of Mountain), AND Dave Mason, who played "All Along the Watchtower", and "Feelin All Right." Four hours of pure bliss. The Bros started out playing "Jessica" and it was the best. My buddy Dave D., went on Saturday night and one of the guests was Bernie Williams!! Wild, right? Not good enough to play for the Yankees anymore, but can do the Beacon with the Bros......So this book "Siro" is truly great, WOW! Lovin' it. You were right Kate Fleet.....Saw that Ice-Cube movie "Are We Done Yet?" Geeze, I shoulda had a V-8, does anyone say that anymore?....Hey a big howdy to Bill Collins at Ford (Charts), he knows ABB too!....And also to Bob Greifeld, the main-man of NASDAQ. What was with that white salmon? A little dry, no?