Tuesday, July 31, 2007
And Then...
From a Subway ad about a local group that, years ago, successfully shut down a fiendish plan to build a skyscraper at Columbus circle that would have cast a shadow across Central Park...
And Then You're Scheduled
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Monday, July 30, 2007
Closer
Approaching a flower bed in the tranquil inner courtyard of Mexico City's lovely Four Seasons Hotel. In two weeks I'll be on vacation in Mexico, in less luxurious digs, but having a much better, more carefree time...
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Sunday, July 29, 2007
Quote of the Day:
"So many riders in the Tour de France have been tossed out because of drugs, the overall leader is now a delivery guy from Empire Szechuan."-David Letterman
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"So many riders in the Tour de France have been tossed out because of drugs, the overall leader is now a delivery guy from Empire Szechuan."-David Letterman
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Saturday, July 28, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
The Flowers! The Flowers!
To flash, or not to flash. That is the question.
Oops!
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
A Neon Nebula...
...under the sun... worked past 10pm last night. deal madness.
C.P.Bs
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Wednesday, July 25, 2007
I'm Busy, Too
and then some... the all-consuming deal... August can't come soon enough...
over-reliance on China:
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Tuesday, July 24, 2007
No 'I' In Threesome
That's a song by Interpol, which this polar bear photo reminded me of. I'm still ridiculously busy, in the whirlwind of a major deal...
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Monday, July 23, 2007
Dhinner Thime
Last night, with David, Alex, and their friends, I feasted at Chennai Garden over dhosas - Southern Indian vegeterian kosher food centered on crusty oversized paper-like pancakes filled with a swirl of spiced potato. What a treat ! Now I finally understand why my friend Sunil raves about dhosas.
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Sunday, July 22, 2007
Eastward Ho
It'll be a social Sunday today, first brunch with my friends Karen and Donna, who just moved into together... and later dinner with David and I meet his boyfriend Alex... and Friday I saw my friends Bart and Ashley, back from their long-delayed honeymoon in London and Paris (where they saw Denis!). I'm feeling conspicuously single!Last night was Andres' graduation party, as he begins life as a freshly-minted psychologist. Hope to have photos and color on the festivities.
My friend Emerson is moving from Brazil to Singapore at the end of August, for an extended assignment.. This is exciting for him and probably a bit scary. Emerson's traveled everywhere and done stints in the USA & England, but this is something altogether different. I saw Singapore for 7 hours during a long lay-over - the airports offer a free bus tour for anyone stuck there longer than 3 hours, or at least they did, back in 1996. I'll have to go back there and visit Emerson at some point..
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Saturday, July 21, 2007
It's Very Sunny Here...
It's very sunny here. (Brian pointed out that in this picture, that statement is tautological, since it's actually ON the sun.) So why am I indoors, I ask you? : - ) Last night I got in at midnight from evening with Bart at a show tunes bar and then for late dinner at French Roast.
And then I stayed up an hour or so watching Battlestar Galactica's Season 2 cliff-hanger on DVD. That show is so addictive...
Watch the video for Spoon's "Underdog," in which the brilliant and quirky indie rock legends use clever lyrics to stay true to themselves while channeling both Billy Joel and ersatz Tijuana horns.
Watch this hilarious video snippet about a progressive Mom, courtesy of avant-garde gay musicians Deerhunter and their envelope-pushing blog.
Solutions are sometimes so obvious... : - )
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Friday, July 20, 2007
Happy Friendship Day - ¡Feliz Día del Amigo!
It's celebrated throughout Latin America - Happy Friendship Day, everyone...
Oddly, we Americans are indirectly responsible for this Latin informal holiday (like Valentine's Day, not a day off), since the event that inspired it was the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969..
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Accounting For Taste
I was totally fascinated by a randomly-chosen topic, how our taste buds work.
Still crazy busy, I worked til 10pm last night, and ate dinner standing up, allowing deep-fried food into my digestive system and (sniff) on to my expensive new tie.. : - )
Sweet, sour, bitter, tangy, spicy, each taste with its own particular flavor.
10,000 taste cells which cover the tongue, palate, epiglottis, and pharynx, help us to determine the flavor of our food. Each taste cell consists of small hairs that lie in the taste pore.
There, dissolved food or drink binds to a receptor, like a key in a lock. If the key fits, then the taste cell sends a signal to the brain, telling it that this morsel is sweet, salty, sour, or bitter (the four basic types of taste cells).
With thousands, perhaps millions of flavors, we only only four types of taste buds! The vast combinations and strengths of each contribute to those vast numbers. Even if each of the basic flavors always had equal strengths, there still would be 256 different flavors. But with a hint of sour, a dash sweet, a pinch of bitter, that number increases exponentially to a gastronomical feast.
To read more about the sense of taste and smell, read In The Realm of the Chemical.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007
I Don't Want To
I'd get sick of paddling and eating crackers. I tried to google an image of 'Crazy Busy,' which is how I've been for two weeks now. This is all I found. So much for Michael Caine. Here's a great article on avoiding 7 traps that make you crazy busy. It is aimed at retirees, but a quick skim revealed much wisdom for us all..
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Monday, July 16, 2007
Wee Hours
Still sleep-deprived here, I worked all day yesterday/Sunday and into the wee hours of the night...
Are they still celebrating my 40th birthday at Buenos Aires' state-sponsored San Martin theater?
Their exhibits are interesting, including the oddly-English-named 'Selling Democracy' about the use of documentaries by the US in the Marshall Plan to war-scarred Europeans possibly tempted by the promises of Mr Stalin and communism:
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Sunday, July 15, 2007
Four Seasons In A Day
That's the cliche about Mexico's ever changing weather. Coventional wisdom is to dress in layers. The "double entendre" here is that I'm staying at the Four Seasons, at I observed these sunny and stormy moments over during the six hours between lunch and dinner, in the hotel's inner courtyard and out the window of my room. Dig the creative silhouette shot of a milk decanter shadowing the Torre Mayor...
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Saturday, July 14, 2007
The Doctor and The Businessman
Congrats to Licenciado Andres Paredes, now a newly-mined psychologist after graduating today! Andres has been studying for this for about seven years, including preperatory work. Its an inspiration for me, being about the same age, to see Andres take such an impressive leap forward at this stage in life.
Meanwhile, about 4,000 miles Northwest of Buenos Aires and about 3,200 miles Southwest of New York, I gave my presentation to ABN's Latin American Sales offsite in Mexico City. Here I am in my brand new suit. Brian called me 'Dapper Dan.' I'm so tired, and there's much work to be done on other projects this weekend. Hope to complete some of it on the plane home tomorrow morning...
More presentation photos:
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