blue moon on new year's 2010

twitter is a big pile of #fail

GAH!

sporking an afternoon delight

omg, gloria's on the radio!

no baggage without therapy

Thanks, LAN, for my lost suitcase. Other than this I gotta say you
have one of the best services anywhere!

Got to LAX this morning and much to my surprise, my suitcase was
missing. I had to wait for the next LAN flight to see if they'd put it
on that plane instead. After two hours of waiting in Customs, all
sweaty and feeling bloated from all the plane food and the changes in
pressure, I just wanted to get home.

And I did and I miss Buenos Aires already.

Sent from my iPhone

aeropuerto de ezeiza

felfort

This is my last time at my favorite coffee shop in Recoleta, just as the waiter started smiling at me. It took him five days!

leaving buenos aires

I'm getting mixed emotions knowing it's my last night in Buenos Aires.
I would love to stay here but there's work. And my bed. UGH

Sent from my iPhone

museo de historia natural de la plata

one more day in buenos aires

I have walked around all the major districts in Buenos Aires. I've
lost track of how many hours and how many blocks I've walked, but the
scenery has had lots of contrasts.

San Telmo was the first settlement and it is a very popular town with
lower middle class people; it is next of city center. They say this is
the birthplace of the Tango. There, I was able to see the new
sculpture honoring the cartoon character Mafalda, created by Quino. I
grew up with those comic strips that are basically a critique to
society and politics in the 1960s' Buenos Aires; its content is pure
irony and sarcasm.

I will post a picture of the bench were Mafalda is seating down,
almost right outside the building on Chile St. were "she grew up".
Quino grew tired of the strip and wanted to move on to other things
and, well, basically got rid of her when she was still little.

I also went to La Boca, home of La Bombonera, the soccer stadium. This
is a tourist trap. Oh, yes. It is home for low class people and they
say it is dangerous after 6PM.

The first inhabitants built their houses out of scraps from the boats
in that bay. It was until last century that someone had the idea of
using the paint remnants from those boats and used it to paint their
metal sheet and wood houses. It is a colorful place.

Barracas is also a place for poor people but it is going through some
gentrification especially on Lanín Street. There, the neighbors have
consented to let an artist redo their façades with little pieces of
ceramic tile.

Palermo is the biggest district, and it subdivides in three areas:
Palermo, Palermo Hollywood (because all the TV studios are there) and
Palermo Soho (as in NYC's Soho).

Palermo Soho is the bohemian district, full of galeries, antique
shops, bars and restaurants. It is where all the bohemian burgeoises
live, kinda like Los Feliz and Silverlake in LA. There, I had the best
meal at La Cabrera.

Once is mainly the Jewish district: synagogues and shops are
everywhere. There is even a Kosher McDonald's at the Abasto Mall. This
is where two terrorist attacks happened after 9/11.

Recoleta is one of the nicest districts (where I stayed). It is upper
middle class people with all the luxuries of a big city. Restaurants,
bars, the biggest bookshop, clothing shops, etc. Lots of flats all
over and lots of dog walkers.

El Rosedal is the posh district. Boutiques like in Rodeo Drive, luxury
car dealerships, mansions, museums, parks, lofts, you name it. The
rich people who lived here one century ago, lost all their money on
the 1929 market crash and had to sell their mansions.

Most of these were bought my different countries and they now house
embassies from all over the globe. The Vatican owns one of the most
lavish ones, really disgusting.

And of course, the city centre with the Plaza de Mayo were all the
Madres de Los Desaparecidos get together and keep protesting and
demanding to locate their children. It is located right across from
the Casa Rosada, the office of the President, the Cathedral and City
Hall.

Nearby, the Plaza de la República, this huge obelisk where people
unite to celebrate and also to protest. It is on Avenida 9 de Julio,
the widest street, 12 lanes wide.

I will go to La Plata this afternoon, located in the suburbs. I have
no idea what it'll look like so I'm excited.

Gotta finish up my coffee (it is always served along with a mini scoop
of ice cream, or a tiny pastry, or a bite or chocolate, etc, and a
shot of fissy mineral water) and continue with my day.

Sent from my iPhone

santa fé at callao, recoleta

the place for good wood in palermo soho

at la cabrera norte in palermo soho

my view at la cabrera in palermo soho

ojo de bife

choricito

plaza naciones unidas - buenos aires

postcard from an iPhone - buenos aires

buenos aires in a lofty way

postcard from an iPhone - santiago de chile

sans memory

I can't recall when was the last time I posted here. I should visit this site and get it going again.

Sent from my iPhone

twitter failed

Twitter has been down this morning, and I just had to post something, somewhere. UMPH

Sent from my iPhone

the rusty anchor

Bea Arthur (née Bernice Frankel) passed away early this morning. I am not trying to make this about me (THIS TIME), but I cried when I read about her death on Twitter. She was a few weeks shy from turning 87. She was everything that I admire about a comedian and there will be no one like her again.

What'll I do? seems the perfect way to pay my respects. You will be missed, Bea, Maude, Dorothy, Pussycat.

RIP, Queen Bea.

tweenbots

This is great! http://www.tweenbots.com/

twitter update

I have to say it's been a lot of fun spending time on this Twitter thing.  Whoo-hoo!

I've managed to build an eclectic but solid list of people I am following.  There's people from different sorts of lives: political bloggers and commentators, comedians, writers, actors, geeks, cute geeks, and even Supernatural freaks, err, uh, fans.  I am even following what the characters from Mad Men have to say from time to time.  There is always something interesting and funny that catches my eyes.

There have been cases when I have opted to "un-follow" some people, not because I take offense on what they say (actually, I love it when they call things by their name), but when they either get sappy or arrogant.  Or when they brag about the shitload of followers they have, and how they just can't keep up with all them; how they would love to reply to all, but they simply can't find the time or the way to interact with all their followers while they are traveling from cook-off to cook-off wearing pink Crocs and hair like Mary from There's Something about Mary, or swimming with dolphins and shit.  Assholes.  Posers.

And then, there are folks who follow you.  Lovely and fun party of five, but the rest are mostly spam robots.  One example: The board certified clinical sexologist who did it in the luxury hotel in Santa Monica with the wholesale linens and accessories. What. A trip.

All this collage makes Twitter interesting and worth the while.  The ups and downs, the Blip.fm songs and the shameless plugs.  I still have to read someone talking smack about Jeremy Piven.  But I'm hopeful.

make me into a hero

That's me when I go to Trader Joe's.

(SO wishful thinking)

http://cpbintegrated.com/theherofactory/

You gotta love they brought Bonnie Tyler from the dead.

melinda and melinda

Bill Gate's wife Melinda has a dirty little secret - watch more funny videos

what? you couldn't find a sheep?

This is in Bilbao (Basque Country) and the feed is from etb (Euskal Telebista).

addicted to twitter

My name is Patxi, and yes, I am addicted to Twitter.  

Several friends have reproached me why I haven't kept on with this blog, and the answer has been plain and simple: just follow me on Twitter.

Now, if my posts consist of more than 140 characters (why 140, anyway?), you will certainly find me here.

what elegance

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie

political spectrum quiz

According to this quiz that I took today, I am a "left moderate social libertarian", a long name for a Liberal. So, nothing new here as I know I am a Liberal, but it was fun to take the quiz nonetheless. And it turns out that, compared to the average of all quiz-takers, I am way to the left. Nice.

My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 6.19, Libertarian: 3.25

Political Spectrum Quiz

My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -6.16

Political Spectrum Quiz


My Culture War Stance
Score: -7.83

Political Spectrum Quiz

cow parade

El chico de la banca - Sërch / Flicker

CowParade is a public art exhibit with fiberglass sculptures of cows which are decorated by local artists. It started in Zürich in 1998, based on a previous exhibit with lions all over the city (lions are the symbol of Zürich).

It was in 1999 when they decided to exploit the idea and this concept became international and featured in many major world cities. At the end of the event, these cows are auctioned and the proceeds go to charity.

I had a chance to look at some of the cows when CowParade was in Tijuana, Mexico. It was such an incredible experience to see all these creatures with different styles and colors all over the city, outside the Cultural Center (pictured), by a shopping mall, at the airport, etc. Click here to take a look at the many designs featured in Tijuana.

I read that CowParade is in Madrid now and will soon be in San Diego, where artists from both Tijuana and San Diego will conveniently place their new cows all over La Jolla. I can't wait to go take pictures of them!

sísifus

A few weeks ago, I started following the blog of this guy who calls himself Sísifus, and who lives in Sabadell, Catalunya. His whole blog is in Catalan, so I get to read and stay in touch with my beloved català. I must have always lived in Catalunya in my past lives, because I adore all things Catalan. I miss living in Barcelona.

I found him because we share not just one, but two favorite movies. I have to admit that finding someone who actually knows what I am talking about when I say that my favorite movie is Rouge (everybody thinks I mean Moulin Rouge), but finding someone who not only knows and likes that movie happens to like Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien (or With a Friend Like Harry, in English) as well, is extremely unusual; I thought it impossible before this.

Then, I read that he talked about Astrology and, check this out: Quantum Christmas. Based on this, Spain's lottery winning number this year would have been 50060, which is the zip code in Corydon, Iowa. That really intrigued me because I am a numerology freak who put all his money on Mulberry Grove's 62262. The actual winning number was 32365, oh, well...

Oh, and he is a placomusophile, someone who collects metal caps or cork wires covering the top of cava and champagne bottles. How cool is this guy???

Y para responder a tu curiosidad, Sísifus: fueron un par de películas, la astrología, la numerología y las placas de cava lo que me hicieron ser tu primer seguidor. No hay mucha selección de cava por aquí, pero brindo por tu blog y tus interesantes historias con un poco de Freixenet que compré en el supermercado esta tarde. Salut, amic meu!

the hills

My friend Harlot Queen will move to a new place soon, and I got a chance to look at it yesterday. It is a fabulous condo in the Hollywood Hills designed by Ray Kappe in the 60s, and the place could not be any better; I took pictures of it, but don't want to disclose the location for those of you who are eager to know the identity of Harlot Queen.

Being there made me think of the apartment building where I grew up living, and not because of the astonishing architecture, but because that building is also a product of the 60s. Cottage cheese ceilings, steel profile staircases, open floor plans, ivy landscapes. Being there took me back for a while and it felt great.

One thing that caught my eye and I still can't put my finger on what it is, is what looked like the mailboxes in my old building, but that is located in the back next to the pool. There is a set of 12 compartments that go with the 12 condo units in the complex, along with 12 bulbs on top of each. Why next to the pool? Why a bulb? It kinda looked like what Jane Jetson used to cook with, but I hardly believe it served that purpose. If any of you know what that was used for, please tell me.

.

Congrats on your new home, Harlot Queen!

going downhill

Okay, I haven't blogged for about two weeks, because I was incredibly busy keeping up with all the House episodes that I recorded on my DVR. They were all out of sequence, so one episode I was watching something from the second season, the next, I was watching something stupid from season five. Not that the show was intelligent --because it clearly was not--, but it used to be less retarded before.

The three characters that substituted Cameron, Chase and Foreman (doesn't it sound like a law firm?) are, Dear Lord, so not appealing. And how about that moron Lucas character? They killed the show, and even deity Hugh Laurie can't save it from going downhill.

I am disappointed beyond belief.