Visiting Las Vegas
October 4, 2011 | Travel
I'm a live-in-the-woods and visit-the-city kind of guy, and visited Las Vegas twice this year. Vegas has never been a real draw for me - I only gamble with my time, not money; I don't drink all that much; I don't smoke; I don't eat a lot - Vegas couldn't compete with NYC, SF, or LA for my travel imagination.
But on these two trips to Vegas (in May, for TEDxSinCity, and in August, for the American Sociological Association meeting) I decided it might be the most creative city in America. I had a really good time (mostly) on both trips.
It's creative because there are hundreds of shows, each of which is employing dozens or hundreds of creative specialist professionals to do set design, acrobatics, acting, singing, makeup, lighting, multi-channel sound, etc. It's amazing. Even the malls and storefronts have a creative "take."
Here are my travel tips:
- Stay on the strip. The hotels are fun, it's great to be in the center of the action, and Vegas cabs are expensive. I stayed off the strip in May and it was a hassle, and way more money to get around.
- Did I mention Vegas cabs are expensive? It costs about $4 just to close the door, and in a morning of running errands between Caesar's, NYNY, and the Palazzo I spent about $40 including decent tips.
- Spring for a show. All the Cirque du Soleil shows are amazing. We saw Zumanity, which was amazing. A friend who has seen them all said "O" was the best because of all the water. Order tickets in advance online and get good seats. You're in Vegas, you may as well enjoy what they do best.
- If it's hot, and you don't like the heat, pay for the cabs. We had a lunch meeting at the Mirage, and we were staying at Caesar's Palace. Got in the cab, said, "Mirage, please." Cabbie said, "Buddy, it's right next door." I'm like, "Yeah, it's 110 degrees! Not walking to a meeting and arriving drenched." He shrugs. It was $10, and totally worth it.
- There are amazing high-quality restaurants in Vegas, and you should go eat at them! Don't go to the now-overpriced buffets, get a super-quality dining experience with killer service and awesome entrées. I don't know much about sushi, but friends who do took me to Sushi Roku and wow, it was great! I do know about beef, and splurged on the NY Sirloin tasting menu (pdf) at Wolfgang Puck's Cut and wasn't disappointed. Plus, where else can you decide to spend $400 on dinner for two? You don't get that chance every day. A friend's favorite restaurant is Craftsteak. Pick your favorite food style and I bet (heh) you'll find an exemplary experience in Las Vegas.
- In full disclosure, most days on the August trip we ate at the food court at Caesar's. It was good enough, and cheap enough.
- Shopping is amazing. I needed a new suit for my wedding, and bought it at the mall attached to Caesar's. It wasn't even that expensive, as suits go. There's all kinds of stuff you don't see every day, and because tourism is down, etc, there are sales and people are super-friendly and helpful. I dislike shopping completely, and found shopping in Vegas easy and essentially fun.
- Here are the Apple Stores in Vegas, 'cause you never know....
- People really like to show off their bodies in Las Vegas. Whereas in Boston, if you smile at someone because of what they're wearing you might get a black eye, in Vegas they smile back and slow down. Male, female, straight, bi, gay, lesbian, people are dressing for display, and enjoying the looks. I found this captivating and liberating. Much more of a "you look mahvelous, dahrling" vibe than any sort of creepy weird vibe.
- And, you can get anything you want, really fast and easy. K arrived with a really nasty knot in her neck, and had to do a presentation the next morning, so at 8pm I'm calling around the hotel to get her a massage. Being really clear that "my wife has a debilitating knot in her neck and shoulder" and we were not looking for a "massage" but an actual real neuromuscular style massage, someone was able to show up in our room in less than 30 minutes. It was amazing.
Here's a fun talk by the Mayor of Las Vegas from the TEDxSinCity event. And here's Fred Mossler, a senior guy at Zappos, describing why they're relocating their entire workforce to Las Vegas.
Of course, after a week on the ground in Las Vegas this introverted country-mouse was wiped out and ready for it all to end. I know that in a world where externalities were priced appropriately Las Vegas wouldn't exist. It's in the middle of the desert, after all. There's no water, except there's water everywhere. People shouldn't be able to survive there, except there are people all around. That said, since they built it, and people still hold conventions there.... The trips were super-fun, and I highly recommend planning to have a great time while visiting in Las Vegas.
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On Holiday Travel
January 1, 2008 | People & Society | Travel
Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot, and the author of Salon.com’s weekly Ask the Pilot air travel column (and book of the same name). He's written an excellent essay for the NY Times on The Airport Security Follies.
Gift Hub takes it a step further, pointing out that this is not actually security screening, but obedience training.
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Firewalk'd
April 3, 2007 | Life | People & Society | Travel
On Friday night, I, along with nearly 4,000 other people, walked barefoot over 12 feet of hot burning coals. At least 1,200 degrees. About eight or ten steps. Barefoot. It's quite an experience.
You can imagine the legal disclaimer (edited for brevity):
In consideration of my participation in the seminar I agree to release and hold harmless RRI for any liability whatsoever for any damage or injury, personal or mental, which might incur as a result of my voluntary decision to walk barefoot on a bed of hot burning coals. I am fully aware and understand that, at a seminar sponsored by RRI and its promoters, I will be given the opportunity to walk barefoot on burning wood coals, which will range in temperature between 1,200 - 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. If I do choose to walk on the coals, I affirm that I have not been coerced or persuaded in any way to do so, and I acknowledge that I make this decision voluntarily and without reservation. I am fully aware and acknowledge that there is no guarantee regarding my safe passage. I am fully aware that I may suffer serious injury, including severe burns or other physical or mental damage.
Thirty lanes of firewalkers, in the first floor of a Meadowlands NJ parking garage, at midnight, in the dark, with loud drums pounding, people chanting, and dancers with glow sticks twirling about. Kool-aid; drank.
Update: Hannah posts (with good links); I comment.
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Tulsa Oklahoma
March 19, 2007 | Arts & Culture | Travel
Kathryn and I went to Tulsa for a few days to visit her parents. Other than picking up the flu en route it was a great trip. Here are some links to photos of our activities.
Last of the Breed Concert featuring Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price. Great show. True country. The show was at Oral Roberts University. Huh? Willie Nelson at Oral Roberts?
Maple Ridge Neighborhood. It's amazing what a boatload of oil money can buy.
Downtown Art Deco Buildings. It's amazing what many boatloads of oil money can buy.
Philbrook Museum. Someone's summer house, turned into a museum. The visiting exhibit, Changing Hands, Art Without Reservation, was fantastic. Very bright, colorful, modern, dramatic pieces. Bought the catalog.
Tulsa is a very enjoyable city. The downtown was a little deserted, and there's the usual city issues, but they've mostly contained the sprawl to one district on the south side, and there are a few interesting cafe and boutique districts. The quality and quantity of art deco was astounding. If you like interior architecture, it's a great destination.
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[Local] Good Thai Food In Concord NH
February 7, 2007 | Travel
Siam Orchid served us well last night. Flavorful, aromatic, and fresh ingredients. 158 North Main Street. 603-228-3633. It's on the same street as the courthouse. If you take the Louden Road exit on 93, turn left to head downtown, then turn left at the first traffic light – it's on the left. I think if you take the earlier ("downtown") exit on 93 then you'd probably be headed down Main Street with the restaurant on the right.
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Best Seminar Chair, 2006
September 23, 2006 | Life | Products & Opportunites | SoL | Travel
I sat in these chairs 32 hours last week. I would not want to work full-time in this chair, but it is, by far, the best seminar or workshop chair I have ever experienced. Very comfortable. They deserve an award for designing a chair that fits the body, and Ford deserves an award for purchasing decent chairs for large group meetings.
The Notio award for Best Seminar Chair, 2006, goes to the arper Pamplona, designed by G.Terin & G.Topan, made in Italy.
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Social Capital
September 19, 2006 | Life | SoL | Travel
I'm at a SoL meeting with about 60 people. About 20 of them are in my consulting convergence group, and we're meeting as a sub-group frequently throughout the four days. The schedule is fairly grueling for white-collar types, mostly 8 AM to 8 or 9 PM every day.
Tonight was the 'open' night, where we can have unscheduled dinner with friends and colleagues. I was exhausted, and was the first one on the 5:45 bus to the hotel. Next to me sat Joanne and Karen, and on the way to the hotel in talking about dinner options I said, "I'm exhausted. I want to walk to the Olive Garden, eat with one or two people, or alone, and do it soon so I can get some sleep." They thought that was a decent idea, and after a 15 minute wash-up we walked over there and broke bread.
We had a lot of good conversation, and when I said George Bush was a war criminal we found out that Karen strongly disagreed—he is a man of faith who believes in democracy and freedom; gag me—but we were able to gracefully move on without too much politics or hard feelings. They were intrigued with my online dating story, and essentially outed the whole marriage story, the public parts anyway, and we had a very open and honest conversation about intimacy and relationships.
On our way out we ran into a table with 12 of our colleagues, and we stopped over to say hello. M.S. briefly surveyed the situation, called me over, pushed his chair out, and pulled me close. He whispered: "Notio, can you tell me how it is that you ended up with the two best-looking women in the entire conference, alone, for dinner?" I said, "I have no idea; it just happened." He replied, "More power to you."
Then I.W. called me over to the end of the table. She and I have had a kind of rocky relationship, because she's been around since the early days of SoL, and her 68 years of Croatian wisdom sometimes annoy my modern sensibilities. But she leaned over to me and said, "Notio, you are very lucky to have your supper with those two women. That is really quite something. Do you that that [x] used to be an actress?" No, I didn't know that. She looked me in the eye, "Well—you enjoy yourself." That whole end of the table was grinning and staring and generally letting their imaginations run wild to my great benefit. We three soon said our goodbyes, and walked back to the hotel, and each went to our respective rooms.
But the unintended social capital of that five minutes saying hello to colleagues will last the rest of the conference, without doubt. Tomorrow night is the party at the Model T museum, and I can already hear it now....
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Detroit, Motor City
September 18, 2006 | Life | Nature & Environment | Travel
Arrived at Detroit airport yesterday and called the hotel. "How do I get to you?"
"Okay, you take the south exit of the airport, get onto route blah, go 8.8 miles and take exit blahblah,...." I interrupted: "I'm not renting a car. Is there any public transportation?"
"Oh. Well, I think there are cabs somewhere near the Ground Transportation area." All-righty then. This is the first airport I've ever been to that didn't have a $15 bus that stopped at all the major hotels. Into the cab I got. Half an hour and $36 later I arrived at the hotel.
At the front desk after checking in I asked, "Is there an Appleby's or Chilli's or something around here to eat?" This was Sunday at 8:00 PM, I wasn't looking for a fancy wine list.
"Sure," he says. "Go out of the driveway, take a right. Go to the end of the street, take a left. Go 3 miles and there's a bunch like that right there." I said, "I didn't rent a car—is there anything within walking distance?"
"Oh. Hmm. Well; not sure. Just past that Best Buy I think there's something."
Cue Laurie Anderson: Hey Pal! How do I get to town from here? And he said: Well just take a right where they're going to build that new shopping mall, go straight past where they're going to put in the freeway, take a left at what's going to be the new sports center, and keep going until you hit the place where they're thinking of building that drive-in bank. You can't miss it.
Anyway, here's a guy who knows the restaurants three miles away but doesn't know what's next door?
And then I realized, hello, Notio, you are in Dearborn, MI, on Mercury Drive, just off of Ford Road, about 0.2 miles from the Ford world headquarters. No wonder there's no public transport. And hey, didya notice? There aren't any sidewalks either!
Welcome to Motor City.
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More Philling Photos
July 13, 2006 | Arts & Culture | Life | Travel
Executive summary: Wednesday July 12 at the Champlain Valley Expo near Burlington, VT. Live music mid-week and the guilty irresponsible feeling that comes with. Pouring rain all day and night. Dancing in the mud. Crowded covered grandstand. Happy happy people.
The Benevento/Russo Duo opened the show at 4:00. This was the scene during the middle of their set. We got there early enough to take third row seats in the grandstand. Most of the dirt you see will soon turn to mud and then be filled up with people.
Phil Lesh & Friends, first set. Songs: Good Lovin', They Love Each Other, Rubin and Cherise, Desire, Suraree.
Kathryn has seen a lot of live music, but none of the Dead- and Phish-related jamband variety. She is however a sociology grrl, and in addition to enjoying the music, high-quality people-watching ensued. The character in the foreground wearing the orange hat was dancing in the aisle, him bad, and as he noticed the usher coming he danced up three rows and into his section as she walked by. As she walked past he danced back down into the aisle. He was invisible as far as she was concerned.
Phil's second set. Songs: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, Scarlet Begonias, Viola Lee Blues, Phil & Mike Gordon Bass Duo, Help On the Way, Slipknot, Franklin's Tower, Not Fade Away. Midnight Hour.
Full house. Not sold out, but comfortably full. You can see in the foreground the grandstand has become much more crowded in the aisles. Trey played onstage for the whole set. During Help I remembered walking across Main Street last week, crossing between the Post Office and Molly's, and suddenly, in the middle of the crosswalk, the startled opening of Help On the Way popped into my consciousness. I remember thinking, "That's probably the one song I'd like to hear Wednesday." So, I got my wish, even though I forgot I had one.
Remember that "dirt" we saw earlier? A fond memory. Dancing, walking, running, and standing in the mud. I think you get the idea.
Trey and Mike, with the Duo. Songs: Drifting, Trouble, Tuesday, Hap-nappy, Goodbye Head, Something for Rockets, Shine, Mud City, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, Dragonfly. Who Are You (with Page).
Two things seem to happen at rainy outdoor shows: 1) The band plays really well, being sympathetic with the audience outdoors in the rain; and 2) They play it loud. I don't know why this is, but it was damn loud during this set. The music was driving, rock electronica, with many minor chords and dissonant sounds. Some of the light show was beautiful, rainbow fingers playing over the audience for instance, but some was a blinking brutish barrage of colors and intensities. The music was assaultingly loud, and when I found myself wincing and twitching every time this one particular drum was hit (every few seconds), I dug around the backpack for hearing protectors. We smiled. We could listen now. Even wearing hearing protectors it was plenty loud enough. And this was 200 feet from the stage. I can only imagine up front. People seemed to like it, but my left ear was ringing a bit even 12 hours later when I woke up. Ugg.
When we left after the "first" Trey and Mike set, we thought there might be a big jamed-out second set with the hometown boys – Page McConnell had already joined Trey and Mike onstage with Phil's band for Midnight Hour and there might be more. But we decided to beat the traffic and it's good we left early because it rained hard for much of the drive home, slowing us down. And it turned out they only played the one encore, so we missed almost nothing and saved an easy hour, maybe more, getting out of there. The audience had a great time. The rain was an annoyance but didn't affect the mood. People were happy, smiling, dancing. Top-notch live music in northern New England doesn't happen every day, so let's enjoy ourselves.
The one downside: "I tell 'ya sonny, back in the day, I could stay up until 2 or even 3 AM and still go to work the next day. Now, I go to bed at 1 AM and I'm a-wiped out the whole next day. I am not getting any younger for these things."
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Concert Etiquette
July 3, 2006 | Arts & Culture | Life | Travel
Overheard at SPAC:
Why do you carry a lighter to rock concerts? You don't smoke.
—Sometimes people ask for a light.
But smokey rooms suck. Why would you help smokers by offering them a light?
—Because if, at a rock concert, someone asks for a lighter, the chances are good that you'll have the option of getting a toke on a joint, should you so desire one at that particular moment in time.
But don't people smoke cigarettes at concerts? You don't want a toke on a Winston. Don't the chimneys ask for a light more often?
—Well, that happens sometimes, but not that much.
That doesn't make any sense. A lot more people smoke cigarettes than smoke pot.
—Yeah, but, cigarette smokers are addicts. They usually have their kit prepared to keep the juices flowing. Pot smokers are, by definition, stoners. And stoners usually forget stuff like lighters back in the van.
That's kind of funny you're gaming them like that.
—No gaming here. It's all about catalyzing the win-win.
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Fire Dance With Me
June 11, 2006 | Arts & Culture | Cooperatives | Life | Travel
The CCMA party was held at The Compound in Atlanta. Weird place. Had fun. The tent had fans, but acted like a greenhouse, so it was pretty hot in there. The indoor area had A/C, but they left the doors open so it wasn't that cool. Really loud; hard to talk. Kind of a weird smell in there. Good dance band. There are apparently secret rooms that some people saw before the lockdown that had large beds and huge monster showers with five showerheads and stuff.
Reminds me of the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, TX which had some odd rumors and secrets surrounding it for years—there were tales of rites and rituals and various Magik. Marla and I saw a memorable Horace Silver performance there in 1987. After the waiter stopped by a few times and we hadn't ordered anything, I called him over, put a $20 bill on the tray, and said, "We're not drinking anything but water tonight, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get a tip." He was very happy at this, and offered to move us to a more private table in a darker spot with a better view. We took it, and he was able to put a higher-profile couple in the prime real estate we had been holding down.
Anyway, back here in 2006, the highlight at the CCMA party was a fire dance.
There were two performers, and they had several sequences. It was pretty fun, and they got a big response. I uploaded eight photos. Four of the photos are at standard shutter speed, and the other four are at eight-second exposures. And here is a low-res five-minute movie of one of their sequences.
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Never a Still Moment
June 8, 2006 | Arts & Culture | Life | People & Society | Travel
To give you a flavor of the multi-media nature of modern baseball, here is a short video clip of the national anthem from the game last night.
Notice the thin horizontal video screens over the third-base line (and presumably over the first-base line where we were sitting). The effect of these was to have motion in your peripheral vision at all times. This is where the hatchet icons marched, like the hammers in Pink Floyd's The Wall and where all manner of on-going stimulation appeared.
The video was shot with my still camera, and compressed by YouTube, so the quality is not up to reference standards, but I think you get the idea.
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Home of the Braves
June 8, 2006 | Arts & Culture | Life | People & Society | Travel
Thanks to my friends at CDS, I was able to enjoy The National Pastime tonight: The Atlanta Braves vs. the Washington Nationals at Turner Stadium in Atlanta. I uploaded 15 photos to Flickr.
There's so much to say, and it's so late to say it. Even though we were outdoors, watching a live event, it was unbelievably multi-media. The screen was huge and bright. In the photos, you can see the sun shining on the field, and it's brighter than the screen in my living room.There are cheerleaders now in baseball—someone said, "You gotta stick with the National League, they're more misogynist." Every moment of the game is branded—the Holiday Inn Instant Replay, the NAPA Cap Shuffle, fireworks coming out of a Coke bottle. I can't even begin to name them all. There were all sorts of behavioral conditioning—short snippets of songs that had specific audience responses, an electronic repeating tomohawk logo that ran around the horizontal screens in a chopping motion that cued the audience to make a chopping motion with their arms, etc.
It was a fun time, especially going with a dozen people, some of who were big baseball fans, and some of whom hadn't been in 10 or 20 or 40 years. The game itself was fairly pedestrian, with hardly any hits, but it had its moments of excitement and tension. It was faster-moving than I remember it, and I missed a couple of big plays just because I was exploring camera settings for a moment. The irony level was set to max pretty much as soon as we walked in the place (see the photo of the booth selling "The future of Ice Creme" for instance) and it was so American you couldn't believe it. I'd go again, especially with a better camera and an attitude to drink Budweiser in plastic bottles washing down a big honking hotdog and a $6 bag of peanuts. Who knows, I might even go for some cotton candy and a Sno Cone for desert.
[Update: Kottke & Megnut and friends attended the Yankees/Red Sox game at the same time.]
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Walking in Atlanta
June 7, 2006 | Life | Travel
Flight from Boston landed early. Forgot to make reservations for the hotel shuttle, so rather than take a taxi I headed for the Marta subway. Helpful employee guided me to the stop I wanted, even calling a secret cell phone number to verify my destination and best stop.
Arrived at the stop and asked another employee which direction to head. "Left; three blocks...." Okay, 10:00 PM, downtown – Midtown N3 stop, for you locals – dragging my roller suitcase and oversized computer bag. Past the construction zone, past a monster gas station convenience store, over 8 lanes of highway, down a long hill, past student apartments, into a neighborhood, past the football stadium. Have I walked three blocks yet? At least I'm near Georgia Tech, which is supposedly my destination.
At around 10:25 I decided that I had walked way more than three blocks, and I hadn't seen anything close to a hotel and conference center. I took a left and headed into the campus. Eventually I decided I had no idea where I was, it was only getting later, and I was only looking more like a target. So I called the hotel. "Uh, I walked down Tenth Street for a while, and now I'm on Atlantic. How do I get to you?" First words: "Oh, wow."
Well, it turned out to be back on the other side of the highway. It was about "three blocks" from the Marta stop, but I wanted to take a left after two of them. Oh, okay. So he gave me directions from where I am to where I'm going, and I hike it over there. Remember that long downhill? It's just as long two blocks west. And it feels a little steeper going up, though maybe that's just my suitcase arm talking. Past the baseball stadium, over the highway again. Down a very nice side street and bingo, hotel appears. Relief. I walked about 45 minutes dragging about 75 pounds behind me. Bonus adrenaline boost from being lost in the city. Considered going to the bar and getting a strong drink, but decided to blog this and head for bed instead.
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The Most Thankless Job in Tech Support
June 5, 2006 | Life | Technology | Travel
Tried to use the web without paying the $10 extortion tonight. No go; way slow. So I went to the upgrade screen and authorized the billing. But nothing changed—still super-super-slow, as billg would say.
So I called the tech support line, cringing all the way. Can you imagine a worse job in tech support than fielding calls from semi- to fully-clueless people paying $250+ per night at random hotels, trying to get their hopeless Windows laptops onto the web? People in airports and hotel lobbies regularly ask me, "Can you help me get the wireless working?" And I say, "Windows? Sorry, I use Mac, no idea. Would help if I could." The support guy was not totally clueless, but he was basically working from screenshots, and I'm running down ping speeds (1,500 ms!) and packet loss (35%) and MAC addresses, and sub-netted IP addresses, and he's not sure what to do with it all. The symptom presented as if the hotel network had cached my MAC address and was routing it through the old connection and slow equipment. The ideal "hit it with a hammer" fix would be to clear the router cache located somewhere in the bowels of the hotel. Good luck with that, Notio!
What worked was to plug in an ethernet cable, fooling the laptop into thinking the network port had changed, then switching back to wireless, which for whatever reason got things working again. At least it's not as bad as Minneapolis in 2004, when Internet service was provided by housekeeping. OMFG, that was scary, but worked out okay in the end.
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Royal Sonesta Boston
June 4, 2006 | Life | Travel
Unlike the Hotel Marlowe across the street, the Royal Sonesta is not a particularly engaging hotel. It's essentially generic, if upscale. Yes, I'm sitting in an Aeron chair, but it's one of the cheap models that is only somewhat adjustable. And, as usual, working at a desk that is too high for typing. Confidential to hotel decorators: The age of lovingly writing postcards by hand is over. Give me something that is typing height for email and blogging, especially if you're going to put a $1,000 chair in front of it.
Anyway, all I really want to do in this post is make two complaints:
- $25 a day for parking. Why? "Real estate is too expensive to offer free parking." Really? The Hampton Inn, four blocks away, at half the price, offers free parking. The Sonesta should just say, "Because we can," or "Because most people staying here are on expense accounts and it doesn't matter to them."
- $10 a day for high-speed Internet. They have free wi-fi, but it's slow as hell ("good for email and surfing") , and so they upsell the premium service. How's that for price discrimination—offer a free crappy product to make me feel better about buying the overpriced product you've always offered. BTW, the Hampton Inn also has free high-speed Internet.
So why am I here and not at the Hampton? My friend Stephen told me about the Sonesta's "individual traveller" rooms, which are small, and next to the elevator, and about half-price. In-season that puts it at $139 (+$25 +$10 +tax). I wanted to check it out, because in the off-season it's only $99. These mini-rooms, which are plenty big enough for a few nights at a time, are more comfortable for about the same price as the Hampton. But with the $35/day additional fees, it's more expensive. The Hampton is a low-budget generic hotel, but somehow they get points for not being pretentious about it. The Sonesta is pricing-high and delivering-middle. I guess I prefer the price-low / deliver-low model better. Or better, the price-high / deliver-high model of the Marlowe, but I can't regularly afford that option....
Bonus link: If you're going to write a post card, make one for PostSecret. [via tip from Ashley]
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Fun While Flying
April 26, 2006 | Arts & Culture | Business & Commerce | Travel
Chris Pirillo mimes the airplane safety instructions. Hilarious. [via Scripting News]
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An Awkward Third Bridge Steak
April 12, 2006 | Arts & Culture | People & Society | Travel
Idle Words ("brevity is for the weak") brings us Argentina On Two Steaks A Day:
The classic begginer's mistake in Argentina is to neglect the first steak of the day. You will be tempted to just peck at it or even skip it altogether, rationalizing that you need to save yourself for the much larger steak later that night. But this is a false economy, like refusing to drink water in the early parts of a marathon. That first steak has to get you through the afternoon and half the night, until the restaurants begin to open at ten; the first steak is what primes your system to digest large quantities of animal protein, and it's the first steak that buffers the sudden sugar rush of your afternoon ice cream cone. The midnight second steak might be more the glamorous one, standing as it does a good three inches off the plate, but all it has to do is get you up and out of the restaurant and into bed (for the love of God, don't forget to drink water).
The afternoon steak is the workhorse steak, the backbone of the day. It's the steak that gets you around the city, ensures a successful nap, steers you into the bar and (most importantly) gives you the mental clarity to choose the right cut of meat in the restaurant that night. Misorder the first steak and you will either find yourself losing steam by eight o'clock, when no restaurant is open, or scampering to find an awkward third bridge steak, to tide you over until dinner.
It's a great bit of food writing.
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N-Dimensional Web 2.0
April 5, 2006 | Arts & Culture | Business & Commerce | Life | Nature & Environment | People & Society | Products & Opportunites | Science | Site Maintenance | Software | Technology | Travel
Many people are trying to define "Web 2.0" – what it is, what it means, how to build Web 2.0 apps, what makes a company a Web 2.0 company, etc. All of those efforts fall short, because Web 2.0 is n-dimensional. Web 2.0 is "reflecting more complex multivariable situations.1"
Today I learned of a new dimension to Web 2.0. Chris2 invited me to join a beta of CollectiveX, a new Web 2.0-ish social widget. To invite someone you have to set a temporary password, and when they log in they change it to whatever they want. Chris set my password to "ratdoggy." Ha! Now that's a good one. This made me laugh out loud, and when I told Meg3 she lost it too. What's so funny?
Well, it creates a strong but secret connection between the title of a recent post I wrote – wherein "maybe too much information" was offered4 – and an unrelated client task. Chris' password was an acknowledgment that he read the post. Maybe even he liked it. And he certainly knew it would make me think of that post in the middle of the workday. But in any case "ratdoggy" is not in frequent usage (Google: "Did you mean: ratdog?") and his reference expanded its sphere of influence.
Which is like a link, just not a web hyperlink. It was a link from one mind to another, from one blog post to a work moment, from a concert review to a social software login, from my original post written on a couch in the lobby of a cinderblock hotel in Charlestown to my colleague's laughter at the password in an office building in Hanover, from all that to this post which you are reading now. Links, links, links, everywhere you look. Which makes me smile.
And that seems to be the common element of a Web 2.0 app – that it makes you smile, somehow, in some way that maybe you never have before.
1) An Introduction to Chemometrics. A report given as Session F of Educational Symposium No. 17, The Use of Statistical Methods in Formulating and Testing of Rubber at the 130th Meeting of the ACS Rubber Division by Brian A. Rock, Ph.D. in October, 1985.
2) Blog updated according to a complex precision timing schedule involving the highway, the moon, the clouds, and the stars.
3) I did not invoice for this minute of laughter, nor did the client utilize any official company time or resources in reaction to the laughter event.
4) Plausible Story, personal communication.
Now, how many new links can you find in the above footnotes?
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Beautiful Photos
March 25, 2006 | Nature & Environment | Travel
Of China. Amazing.
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Photos of Cuba
February 21, 2006 | Arts & Culture | People & Society | Travel
Hannah has posted her photos from Cuba. I'm waiting to hear the whole story - I thought it was illegal to visit Cuba, or something. Maybe W made an exception? In any case, they're great photos! Update: More photos from someone else on the trip.
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Let's Talk About the Weather
February 4, 2006 | Life | Travel
Or, better, let's bitch about it. We owe it to ourselves – it's February, and it's 45 degrees again. If it had been below freezing yesterday we would have two feet of new snow. Instead, inches of rain. My dirt road is a real mess, and when I go out to see friends tonight I'm wondering if I'll get back without a long walk and a tow truck. More rain scheduled for tonight, and tomorrow. Sigh.
Growing up, two hours south of here in Connecticut, I remember building snow forts that I could stand up in, during Thanksgiving weekend! I don't think you could have built a fort at all for the past several years. I was so looking forward to skiing this winter, but it's hard to get excited about skiing for the first time in 26 years when it looks like April in January and February. [Plus, I can't believe I'm so old that I can write about something I did 26 years ago. That has its own grim reality.]
I can't be the only one around here thinking about this. Nobody I know has been complaining about it much, maybe because it's so obviously crazy – why bother? But I for one am ready for a few cold, crisp, blue-sky and yellow-sun days, after a couple of big monster dumpings of snow, where I can snowshoe, take a ski lesson, and revel in the beauty of frozen ice crystals. Until then, we're just slogging though the mud up here, and I'm browsing places that have 1) more urban culture, and 2) better weather.
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First Impressions of Europe
September 21, 2005 | Life | People & Society | Travel
There are many interesting aspects of this first trip to Europe that caught my eye. Many would be worth elaborating on, but probably i won't have time and the following annotated list will have to do.
Cool small cars of Europe. Why can't we get some of these in America? There are so many kinds! Sporty, cheap, practical, extravagant. To take just one company for example, VW in America offers the Golf, Jetta, and Passat, from small to large. In Vienna, I also saw a VW Polo, smaller than the Golf, and the VW Lupo, smaller than the Polo! VW also makes the Sharan mini-van, which looks like it could compete will with the Dodge Caravan. And, a small delivery truck, and a larger delivery van around the size of the Eurovan.
Most cars in Vienna (and here in Strasbourg) are diesel, but there's absolutely no diesel smell. It's because the diesel fuel is higher quality, with lower sulfer. Why the heck can't we get better quality diesel fuel in the States? Answer: Energy lobbyists. "Too costly." Funny how smaller countries can afford it, but not the US. I think we're supposed to get low-sulfer diesel in 2006 or 2007, if they don't push the regulations back due to the costs of Halliburton's Iraq budget, the New New Orleans patronage act of 2005, and the on-going "sacrifice nothing" tax cuts for the top 1%.
Combining the two above: Wake me up when I can buy an Audi A3 four-door with a diesel engine in the US. I am prepared to sign papers immediately.
Small increments for energy savings. For instance, at Hotel Europa when you enter the room there is a key-card slot just inside the doorway, where the light switch would be. I didn't immediately notice this, but I did notice that upon arrival none of the lights or electrical outlets worked. Thinking maybe there was an outage (but i just got off the elevator, duh), I called the front desk. They asked, "Did you put your room key into the activation slot?" Uh, no. This handy convention means two things: 1) you cannot leave a light on wasting energy when you leave the room; 2) it's pretty hard to forget your room key, being that it's right next to the door handle as you exit. That's pretty cool.
Focus on style over size. Things are smaller, and things are cooler. What "things?" Buildings, cars, objects, coffee's, chairs, food portions, desserts, windows, shopping malls.
Focus on compliance over control. Two examples: 1) On the "U" (subways) you buy a ticket, but there are not always turnstiles to take them, you can just walk on. Occasionally a conductor will ask you for your ticket. If you don't have one, you are fined (somehow, I didn't learn that!). In other words, trust the 99% of the honest people, and don't slow them down due to 1% taking advantage of the system. Further, some of those 1% are, to take just one reasonable example, poor people trying to get a job – better to let them ride for free to a job interview, than to not be able to get there, eh? 2) People drink beer and wine on the pedestrian shopping street, on the subways, anywhere in public. In other words, they are not regulating consumption, but behavior. The focus is on outcome, not input. How much money might this save, were we to focus on the outcomes of our efforts, rather than the efforts themselves. Instead of hearing, "It's hard work," we might hear about tangible results, spin-free. In the world of public policy, the focus would be on governance, not politics.
Solar panels everywhere. On the train from Vienna to Strasbourg (nine hours), we saw hundreds of them. A few panels on houses, and whole house roofs covered with them. Industrial factories with solar roofs. Freestanding solar arrays near large commercial office buildings. Also, a few windmill clusters on ridge lines. This "alternative" energy thing isn't so alternative over here.
Lots of gardens. Again, on the train ride, most people had gardens, both flower and vegetable. Large and small. Elaborate or simple. Large houses or small. Didn't seem to correlate to home quality or upkeep. Just part of the fabric.
Multiple transport lanes. I posted a photo showing a lane for cars, one for light-rail trams, one for walking, and one for biking. This is common, and in addition to the energy savings, the increased exercise, and the reduced pollution, it also adds a great flavor walking around. There's just a lot more motion, of different frequencies, with different sounds, at human scale.
Summary: We like visiting here! While there's still enough oil to fly commercial airplanes, this is a great way to spend vacation dollars.
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Today's News
September 18, 2005 | Arts & Culture | Life | Travel
The short version:
- Lynne has arrived.
- Over a dozen new photos loaded onto Flickr.
- The Internet connection at the new hotel is terrible, making more than brief interactions smash-things frustrating.
Monday is more Vienna, Tuesday is an 8-hour train to Strasburg France.
