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Monday, April 30, 2007

Happy Birthday, Deborah!


Since I can't find a single picture of my friend Deborah, I'll have to salute her with some homemade cuisine from Venezuela, where she spent her formative years..
We'll start with Arepas de Quezo, Venezuelan Cornmeal Biscuits, filled with Fontina Cheese, Grilled Corn and Tomato Salsa (buttery, chewy, with a very nutty corn flavour.)

We'll follow that with Ceviche, which is marinated fish salad, with Ahi Tuna, Avocado, Red Onion, Diced Mango, and Achiote oil...

Finally, a Venezuelan food salute wouldn't be complete without Empanadas, in this case with Pork Picadillo, Pimiento Stuffed Olives, and Cinammon Mojo...


Cartoons du Jour:



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Sunday, April 29, 2007

Three Weeks Ago...


It really feels more like three centuries! Here are more Copenhagen Photos:

Exquisite architecture from the Rådhuset (City Hall) district:


Pretty row houses, not far from Tivoli, the world's original shlocky, kitschy 19th century amusement park. Tivoli's closed from October to April, so I'll have to see it some other time...

Quarters of the Royal Guard on the North side of town...






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Saturday, April 28, 2007

That's Entertainment


Psycho-thriller? Tabloid voyeurism? Vampire movie? "Notes on a Scandal" is all of the above, and a deliciously riveting, smart, and nuanced story. The acting fireworks are provided by Cate Blanchett as a fortyish art teacher drawn into a reckless affair with a 15-year old boy and Judi Dench as the manipulative, co-dependent colleague that uses this secret to insuinate herself into Blanchett's life.
Both performances are breathtaking and indelible, and were rightfully Oscar-nominated.


Quickly paced, the movie delivers suspense, wit, and the guilty pleasure of watching a likeable but flawed protagonist speeding toward a train wreck.











Salt of UES

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Friday, April 27, 2007

Copen-Art, Part 2


It's raining canine- and feline-Americans today. All day. To cheer things up, Here's more modern art from Denmark's National Art Museum.








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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Melting Away...


Hey there - I'm having an über-busy week here at the epicenter of 'The Battle for ABN.' In my quiet moments I've been seeing some excellent movies, including "Machuca," "The Good Earth," and "Notes on a Scandal," all of which I hope to tell more about...

"Pre-summer" finally ended here yesterday, with a patch of rain and temperatures descending from the mid-80s to the high-50s...

Apparently I have some public speaking ahead, as I'm participating in the EMTA Corporate Credit roundtale on May 9, and possibly yet another conference next week. Stay tuned...


Here's my friend Kevin Foley, getting down at a recent wedding in Mexico City:





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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

When Nature Calls...


....you'd better accept the charges. I think Best Western's Copenhagen decorators are ingenious.. Who wouldn't want to watch tropical fish while urinating?

Of course, London bathroom floral arrangements are nothing to shake a stick at..

It makes you feel like some exotic ancient prince, with dozens of robed peopel tossing rose petals in your path as you walk..






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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

What a Day for a Daydream



Does anyone remember that mid-60s song by Lovin' Spoonful? It's described New York perfectly Friday through yesterday, with the thermometer above 80F, shirts off and coats, a distand memory. Below, more pictures from London:

These colored ventilation objects remind me the Pompidou Center in Paris, the building with its insides on the outsides. Each of the Pompidou's bright colors indicates a function I hear, I'll have to look into this more.

Street advice depends which side of the street you're on (Where you stand on an issue depends on where you sit?)

Probably not.. I find it adorable when houses of worship reach out to modern culture...




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Monday, April 23, 2007

Happy Birthday, Dad


My Dad would have turned 71 today, it's hard to believe he's been gone for 16 years, never seeing his grandson, the Internet, an iPod, or a Starbucks latte. My father lived by "Carpe Diem," stop and smell the flowers, so I dedicate these exotic flowers from a Newport Beach hotel lobby to him:





This is from the New Yorker's weekly Caption Contest.. Any inspirations? My humor generation works more on 'verbal to visual' than vice-versa..

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Sunday, April 22, 2007

Copen-Art, Part 1


Some modern sculpture I liked at Denmark's National Art Museum. I'll have more of this later in the week...





Shotgun Bar-Mitzvah


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Saturday, April 21, 2007

Back to the Barbi-Future


Ah, the groovy curves and concrete of 70s Brutalist architecture. My friend David lives in London's Barbican, a residential and cultural complex erected during the 1970s and opened in 1982. People who didn't live through the 1970s often don't suspect just how futuristic these designs seemed to us at the time. Here are some exterior shots:




My gaggle of electronic entertainment and communication devices calmly recharge on David's gray floor.

And here's David himself...




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