We've seen quite a few documentaries lately, enough so that a top ten is in order, ranging from politics to nature, business and the spelling bee.

1. Fahrenheit 9/11

Still among the elite in bringing home the horror of an unforgettable day, while stirring up the knowledge we all had that more could have been done, and that our filthy, guilty administration didn't go out of their way to protect us before or afterwards.

2. An Inconvenient Truth

As covered here before, a must-see film that will change the way you look at your role in the environment. I will be getting a hybrid car now. That's almost a given.

3. Super Size Me

A hilarious send-up of big fat America with McDonalds as the star. Not that it stopped me from continuing to eat fast-food.

4. Startup.com

Often hitting way too close to home, this film covers the rise and fall of GovWorks. We cringe at the CEO's hubris and feel for the office minions who get swept up in the dream, only to see it crash down.

5. Spellbound

Brings me back to win I was garnering trophies as a geeky elementary school super-speller. I made "states" twice, but no further.

6. Outfoxed

A stinging rebuke of the idea that Fox News is "fair and balanced". Exposes the network as a crock. Which we knew already, but loved seeing.

7. The Smartest Guys in the Room

A look into how Enron stole from California, Texas and pretty much everyone.

8. Bowling for Columbine

The American gun culture is ridiculous. Michael Moore makes Charles Heston look silly in his role heading the NRA, while also showing us why we all should just up and move to Canada.

9. March of the Penguins

A cute, Antarctic story following the hopeful trek to mate and reproduce, made more difficult by frigid winds, and the fact one has to waddle for miles.

10. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry

An almost-forgotten piece that tried to help Kerry when the liars behind the "Swift Boat Veterans" were running amok. Worth seeing, even now that he's lost.

After reading the book by the same name earlier this year (or late last year), it only made sense to bring the Enron story home, by hitting up Netflix again and seeing the exploratory documentary that aimed to help us understand how the once-proud energy giant fooled customers, employees, bankers and Wall Street, growing to the 7th-largest company in the world, only to collapse in a historic meltdown that wiped out pensions for thousands, and set the securities world on its ear - where repercussions are still being felt today in boardrooms across America.

As usual, I would defer to the book as being substantially more strong than the film. The book helps to fully comprehend the magnitude of the financial tomfoolery, well detailed and documented, and mastered by CFO Andy Fastow, CEO Jeff Skilling and the late Chairman Ken Lay. Yet, the film brings home the pictures and comments depicting scenes like the California rolling blackouts that occurred largely in part due to market manipulation by Enron, and more directly tying the federal government's enabling the illegalities, in large part due to the close ties between Enron and both George W. Bush and his father.

While one can't directly state that Enron was solely responsible for any of the activities, the way that the company influenced the recall of Gray Davis, the stock market's dramatic declines in 2001 and beyond, the annihilation of Arthur Andersen, and development of Sarbanes Oxley, is jaw-dropping.

It's hard to see really where the business ended and the fraud began, and even harder to see what could have been done to prevent it - especially in a fast-paced market that demanded ever-growing profits, profit margins, and an inflated stock price. We've seen other companies post-Enron, like Worldcom, Global Crossing and Tyco follow suit in the corruption chain, but we were all a part of it, from the lowly investor who sat mouth agape at CNBC's flowing ticker, to the highest positions in our national government, and in our financial institutions.

If you haven't read the book, do it. If you prefer the DVD, go get that. But make sure you take the opportunity to go beyond the headlines of Enron - and see how the smartest guys in the room took us all for a ride.

Listening to ''Tribe & Trance (Voyager Remix)'', by John Digweed (Play Count: 6)

If you are an avid Dilbert reader, then you know employees are frequently promoted up to the point of their adequate level of incompetence. And unfortunately, that can often be seen in the corporate world. Unfortunately, when companies begin to drag or decline, it is the low-level, hard-working stiffs who traditionally feel the sting during layoffs, while overpaid, overfed, underworked managers slide by. Interestingly, this isn't the case at Intel, who opted to cut 1,000 manager positions in a wide layoff announced last week, which may not be the company's last. Mini-Microsoft notes this fresh thinking, and says just about every project has one too many layers of management in between it and success.

Prior to growing too large, of course, there are a number of steps companies need to take in order to get on the right track in the first place. Though Guy Kawasaki has done a tremendous job with his famous "Top Ten" lists and "The Art of the Start", Red Eye VC outlines how those funding a venture need to trust person #1 - the entrepreneur themselves.

It looks more and more like Microsoft is aiming to compete directly with the iPod later this year, with a me-too MP3 player offering, with some new features including video games and WiFi. Even the most ardent of Apple rumor sites don't believe Apple will have WiFi by the time Microsoft does. The question is - will this be the one that finally knocks iPod off the medal stand? (GigaOM, Seattle Times)

My apologies - as this blog has hardly been updated at all this week - and I don't have any amazing stories of trips or excitement to blame it on either. It was simply a combination of spending too many hours at work, combined with evening activities nearly every day, and as you know, the evening is when the overwhelming majority of posts to the site take place, largely due to my "no blogging from the office" policy.

So here's a quick rundown on what you missed (you'll see it's not overwhelming)...

On Saturday, we attended "Chez Nico II", the twice-annual get-together of local Athletics Nation fans to watch a baseball game together at one of the site editor's homes. Though the group managed to cheer on Esteban Loaiza to a win against the rival Giants in the previous visit, this week's celebration was well.... less celebratory, as the A's flubbed their way to a 7-0 loss at the hands of the Red Sox, in a game that saw their leading hitter plunked by one of the most-hated men in all of professional baseball, Curt Schilling. On a more positive note, the team did take the other three games in the series, and are now a game ahead of Texas in the AL West standings.

On Friday, we had a fun evening at home while three friends came over for chatting and a good home-cooked meal (something my wife excels at). I, of course, monopolized the couple's eight-month old baby, and was only semi-joking when I said they could leave him behind when they needed to go. Sadly, they chose to take him with them. Friends from church, the pair were married only two days before we were, and they briefly interrupted their honeymoon to be at our ceremony. Good friends will do that.

Wednesday, however, was ridiculous. Under what I thought was a tight deadline at work, I hunkered down and spent several extra hours completing a project, not leaving until after 10 p.m., well beyond what anyone else had done, as I found myself in an empty building, and with my car being the only one in the parking lot. Though I had been told we had to finish up last week, my boss turned around and got a one-week extension, so the rushing just may have been in vain. Though buoyed by a routine of Diet Coke and PowerBars, by the time I had gotten home, and we had walked the dog, I was just ready for bed, waking up the next morning only to start the routine again.

This upcoming week should be a little better. There's always plenty to do, but I should make time for the blog. And we will.

Listening to ''Sombre Detune'', by Röyksopp (Play Count: 7)