Word: whims
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...Jane Byrne is a different sort of mayor. Daley gave Chicago two decades of predictability. Byrne has given Chicago two years of ceaseless, sometimes wacky, surprise. Daley believed in saying little, honoring promises, maintaining grudges. Byrne snaps out her feelings and shifts alliances without warning. Byrne has a whim of iron: in just two years she ran through four police chiefs, three planning directors and five press secretaries. Said one bitter alderman, asked to list her strong points: "Vengeance, audacity and total disregard for human relationships...
Mostly, the contents of these books are beyond a dreamer's imagination. Teen-agers with guns kill civilians on order, on whim, on dope. Rage explodes in all directions. Barracks arguments escalate into fatal shootouts. Corpses are mutilated for sport and trophies. A dead man is not allowed to fall but kept dancing grotesquely on a stream of bullets...
...Verdi for Italian opera. Conductor Carlo Maria Giulini said, "It is no fabricated legend. In my entire experience of the theater, I know of no artist like Maria Callas." Her private life, much of it conducted in public, was also the stuff of legend. She had the iron whim and comet-like will, the greed, love and hatred of someone strong enough to overturn the laws of life...
...evil spirit, Mephostophilis (Courtney Vance), accompanies Faustus after he has signed with Lucifer. Mephostophilis attends on Faustus, but it soon becomes apparent that he does not cater to Faustus' every whim and often berates Faustus rather than serving him. Faustus' "all-power" seems to have limitations. Vance makes Mephostophilis a perfect foil to Faustus, his measured cynicism playing off Faustus' flippancy. To Faustus' declaration, "I think hell's a fable." Vance responds by filing his nails as he destroys Faustus' illusions, adding a chilling glee to the audience's first glimpse of the possible outcome of Faustus' decision...
Another problem looms, though--it is not inconceivable that Granville, or someone like him, could manage virtually to take over the market, sending it up and down at his whim. Think of it like this--now that Granville has a track record (augmented by a 13-point increase when he advised "buy" last spring) investors should be flocking to his newsletter and eagerly seeking his advice. And even those who view him as a joker will follow along, for fear of being left out of the action. If it becomes a given that the market will make like a submarine...