I have two confessions to make.
First of all, I have been a fan of Trey Parker and Matt Stone since the premier of the first episode of South Park on August 13, 1997 - nearly 14 years ago. I love everything they've ever written themselves (note to those who don't know: they did not write BASEketball, which I hated) and my feelings for them were only further solidified in Eugene O'Neill Theater two weeks ago, when they nearly killed me with The Book of Mormon.
I count them among a small number of the most brilliant people in entertainment and consider their satiric abilities unmatchable. But it's not just that. They are incredibly sharp intellectuals, which, in my book, is probably the biggest compliment. They just get shit like only very few people do. And don't get me started on the courage - these two do not bow their heads in front of anybody: whoever deserves it, gets it. It's really breathtaking.
The second thing I have to admit is that I am sick and tired of people still (for nearly three years now) asking me the same questions about the Global Financial Crisis (aka Credit Crunch). Just the other week someone wanted "to pick my brain" about it again. So, I started explaining (again!), trying to make it simple, but still using unavoidable terminology so familiar to my fellow CFOs and Controllers, but apparently still a foreign language for the laymen: federal reserve rates, sub-prime lending, securitization, predatory lending, blah, blah, blah... I am looking into the man's eyes and see no understanding of what all of this has to do with his pension fund. Why am I doing this?
And then... Eureka! "Margaritaville!!!" In the aftermath of The Book of Mormon, I re-watched a few of my favorite South Park episodes, including the blessed Episode 3 of Season 13 (2009), Margaritaville. The boys did it better than all analysts on screen or in print (of course!), but more importantly, they made it comprehensible like nobody else can. As always, they managed to marry their uncanny perceptive powers with the signature concise delivery, which resulted in the most brilliant analysis and summation of the bizarre economic situation.
So, please people, don't ask me anymore about this. Click on the video below and you can have a four-minute taste of the Misters Parker and Stone's genius, and then go to THIS LINK and enjoy the full episode, so generously provided for your viewing by SouthParkStudios.com.
And if you still don't get it, then, pretty please with the sugar on top, don't talk to me anymore - I don't have time for your lame asses.