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The Road To Astana (From Doug In Kazakhstan)

My friend Doug works in London doing research on Russian and Central/Eastern European corporations that issue bonds. These are his notes and pictures from a recent trip to Kazakhstan, which is the size of Argentina or India with the population of Texas.

"A typical example of Kazakh restraint, here reflected in the architecture of a restaurant in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan that they are building in the desert. "

"Horse milk on the left, camel's milk on the right. No, it does not taste like cow's milk. Blaring music, lasers, and an elaborate Las Vegas-style show at this restaurant helped prepare us for the evening's adventures in Almaty (biggest city and former capital of Kazakhstan) "


"This is warmed horse fat. Thankfully, the flavor is not intense as that of horse stomach (consumed but not photographed). The texture was neither better nor worse than you might expect."

"Stories of high vodka consumption in Kazakhstan are apparently overblown. : - )"
"Later, at a karaoke joint, a spirited local girl challenged every man in the group to an arm-wrestling match. In our sample study, the formerly nomadic race prevails over the Poles and Germans regardless of gender. As the sole representative of the sole super power, I was relieved to fare somewhat better than my colleagues. We would have gotten married but there was a 4:20am plane to catch."

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Turned off the VP debate after 20 minutes, was getting too worked up, needed rest. But... woke up at 4am and had to log in and check the spin.. Oh, well. As ABC sang in 1985, 'If the blast don't get you / then the fallout will'...

Answer 3: "I'm glad the provision was deemed illegal, because it would've forced my phone provider to lie to me. I just couldn't handle knowing that Verizon had lied to me."

Open Up, Open Up, New York

Mark Your Calendars. This weekend is "Open House New York," when many places normally off-limits to visitors open their doors; others merely drop their fees. Attractions include seeing the edge of the High Line, that defunct elevated rail and park-in-waiting, as well as Chelsea lofts, design institutes (near left)Loisaida's Eldridge St Synagogue, tour of St John the Divine, Lux Studios, Fireboat, High Bridge Watertower (middle), and that Library Tower in the Village you've always wanted to see (far left).

Busy week. Asked what's new, only work comes to mind.. Must change that... Might see a movie tonight as a Deba-ternative. Andres, my ex, who lives in Argentina, is headed for Paraguay this weekend - his half-sister's getting married. Andres' life would make a good Dickens novel. Check out picture of moi on Thomas' blog - from Saturday's gallery hop.

Cartoon:

Coming Soon?

I'm so stoked by Kerry's debate triumph! The polls are even again, and the momentum is with the forces of good... : - )

Nice Sunday. Out on Hudson River Park piers with Christi, soaking in the overwhelming sunlight, light so intense and refined that every little detail shimmered.

And now, facing a mountain of work like a hiker faces Storm King Mountain - upwards, ho!

Here are some cartoons:

Where The Sun Hits The Sky...

Another crisp, cloudless, autumn day in NY... My weekend, delightful and interesting so far. Last night, I had the thrill of watching Supergrass perform 20 feet in front of me at Webster Hall, with my pal Thomas, to an enthusiastic crowd of 300.(meaning Thomas watched it with me, not that he performed with the band... :-). These precocious lads, who fill stadiums in their native UK, are celebrating 10 years and four solid albums of clever, melodic rock that combines influences as diverse as Buzzcocks, Stones, Jam, John Lennon, and Madness, creating something uniquely they're own. If anyone wants to hear a sampling, let me know, and I'll gladly pour some sugar in your bowl... : - ).


Earlier, I visited galleries with Thomas and met Morgan Friedman, the ingenious sui generis behind Overheard In New York and many other clever web ideas. Checkout his main page as well, a treasure trove of delightful miscellany, including etymologies, Simpsons quotes, Borges poetry, and his new Cyranet, greeting cards for every situation that "say what you think, with the wit that you don't have" : - ) At left, Pheobe Washburn's shantytown-like wood-block collage-sculptures, inspired by Rio de Janeiro's favelas. It closed yesterday. But check out her site.

Even earlier, had breakfast with Jon, just back from China and Vietnam, and basking in the pleasures of grad school and an increasingly likely Kerry victory (yes!). Jon is both a passionate Democrat and an independent mind that thinks out of the box, something sorely lacking in both parties. He is wisely pursuing a masters in international relations and public policy at NYU.

Spanish Sunday / Domingo en Castellano

Un fin de semana muy divertido hasta ahora. Anoche fuimos a ver a Supergrass, un cuarteto ingles de rock melódico, conocidísimo en tierra suya, pero casi desconocido acá. Asi que estuvimos (con Thomas) a 6 metros de músico que llenan estadios en Europa. Y qué buenos.. Con menos de 28 años, ya van 4 CD excelentes y una década en gira. Combinan influencias diversas, desde John Lennon y los Stones hasta los años 80s. Por la tarde, dimos una vuelta por las galerías de Chelsea, donde vimos la escultura-collage de Pheobe Washburn, con bloques de madera, que interepreta las favelas de Rio (la foto está arriba, con las de Supergrass). Y conocí por fin a Morgan, el amigo de Thomas que redacta un site de diálogo sorprendente escuchado por las calles, tiendas, y subtes de NY. Morgan, tal como Thomas y yo, pasó una temporada en Argentina y su site es bilingüe y hasta tiene una poema de Borges. Con cariño - Aaron