Mile High Inspiration before the Desert Lightning Storm

I watched Obama's speech from Mile High Stadium in Devnver tonight. What can I say? Of course it was amazing. Anyone who has been paying the least bit of attention the last 18 months wouldn't expect anything less. But, before mentioning any of the details, I have to say that getting 80,000 people to show up for a political speech, in a swing-state, is pretty astonishing.

Barack Obama seems like he's a character straight out of an Aaron Sorkin script. Just like President Bartlett, he exudes an ideal. Too good to be true, perhaps, but that's not the point. In his best moments he's embodying everything we'd want a president to be: he is thoughtful and he is passionate; he is self-confident and he is self-examining; he is intelligent and he is inspiring. And, tonight was one of those moments.

After eight long years he makes us feel that there's hope again. It doesn't have to get worse every year. We don't have to let the economy run into the ground. We don't have to continue watching the middle class slide into poverty. We don't have to lose all of our friends around the world. We don't have ignore the need to save us from irreversible climate change. We don't have to let prejudice and close-mindedness hold back equality and freedom for all sexual orientations. We don't have to let ignorance, fear and superstition rule over reason, facts and science. But more importantly than all of that, he makes us believe that we can be better than the past. "America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone."

Switching gears entirely, monsoon season continues unabatedly here in the desert. For those of you who are confused, here is a primer on Arizona weather. Most of the year the wind comes in from the west, and the moisture from the Pacific Ocean stops at the mountains leaving Arizona dry and almost rain-free. During the later summer months, though, Arizona gets so hot that the air rises and begins to suck in moist air from the Sea of Cortez to the south, creating a monsoon season. It's the same phenomenon as in India and other places, but not as severe.

Anyway, we've had a lot of nightly rains and thunderstorms lately, and tonight we had a good one. About an hour after Obama's speech I could hear the wind howling and the whole building seemed to be creaking and moving with the violent gusts while the sky lit up like a press conference. It went on for a good hour and I captured some of it on video from my balcony (using my regular camera).

First, here's an example of the wind, the rain and how frequently the lightning flashed. Because it was very cloudy, the lightning isn't very distinct:



Second, after a while the wind calmed down and it cleared up a bit, which made the lightning more impressive (mostly the last 15 seconds):

Ernold Same awoke from the same dream

in the same bed, at the same time
Looked in the same mirror, made the same frown
and felt the same way as he did every day
- Blur, Ernold Same

Hmm. It's one of those days. Monday. Neither a very good nor a very bad day. It was just there. Going through the motions at work. Like a clown at a birthday party or a choir boy during the ceremonies at mass. Sticking with the routine. I don't know. I can't explain what makes this day different than all the others. Or more the same than all the others?

Enough wallowing - I had a good weekend... I played a round of golf on Saturday - the first one in about a year. My co-workers Jason, Amit, Sai and I got a 9:20 AM tee time at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale only a few miles north of Old Town. It's a nice course - most places around here are desert courses where you have to contend with cactii, brush and dirt as soon as you miss the fairway, but this is a more traditional course. Ten water holes and the one on the right - the par 3 #8 - is one of the more scenic ones.

Normally we try to get out earlier in the morning to beat the heat, but we didn't plan ahead well so we had to take what was available. The first nine weren't bad - we'd brought plenty of water and the morning isn't quite as hot- but the back nine was pretty brutal. In 110-degree (43 Celsius) heat it doesn't matter how much you stay in the shade - it's hot! But I played pretty well and posted a 95, and any day I go below triple-digits is a good day for me.

Next weekend I'm taking Friday off to make it a four-day weekend. We have Monday off for Labor Day. I'm planning to drive out to Palm Springs and hang out with my friend Mike Donofrio. His wife works for Toll Brothers (the construction company) and every year Mike and Angela get to stay at one of their properties for a week. (Last year they came to Scottsdale.)

Palm Springs is a desert community in California (on the way from Phoenix to Los Angeles) mostly known as a resort destination for the retired, rich and famous: five-star hotels, restaurants, golf courses, high-end boutique shopping, etc.

It is also the setting for Douglas Coupland's excellent book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (which popularized the term Generation X.) It tells the story of three friends who are disillusioned with modern society and decide to escape the rat-race and move away from it all into the Mojave Desert. There, forced to work as bartenders (described as McJobs - another term popularized by the book) their existence and outlook grow bleaker, and much of their free time is spent telling each other stories about their lives. A postmodern answer to The Decameron, with commercialization substituting for the plague, if you will. Anyway, hard to make the book justice, but it's a great (and easy) read - recommended for all!

It Hertz! Exactly.

Harrumph! As I mentioned yesterday, I left my cell phone in the Hertz rental car and by the time I got back there the car had already been shipped off to Logan airport. They said they would look for the phone when they cleaned it and call me at my hotel. Well, this afternoon I hadn't heard anything so I walked over to Hertz again and found out that they never found it. I'm pretty sure it was in there so either they didn't look very hard or someone stole it.

So, I'm still under contract and not eligible for any discounted phones (I think I want the iPhone!) until October. However, when I walked into the AT&T store here in Boston - to lock the SIM-card - they told me I could get a new SIM-card from them and walk around the corner and pick up a phone for $13.99 at F.Y.E. It's meant to be used for their GoPhone plans (no contract/pay-as-you-go/refill...) but they'll accept any AT&T SIM-card. So, I picked up a Motorola c168i and it's a surprisingly good phone: color screen, very small and light, all the common features... It's missing bluetooth, but I can live without that for two months.

If it isn't fresh, it isn't Legal!

I'm sitting in my room at the Boston Park Plaza and it's been a long day. I got up at 5:30 AM (which is 2:30 AM Arizona time) and took a 6:00 AM car service to Penn Station, took a train to Hartford, Connecticut (with a connection in New Haven), met with a client from 10-3, took a shuttle to the airport, picked up a car and drove to Boston (in the rain), returned the car right next to the hotel, and checked in.

When I got to my room I realized I'd left the cell phone in the car - I hurried back but they'd already taken the car to Logan Airport. They've put a hold on the car so they won't rent it out without looking for my phone, but they closed for the night so at best I'll be getting it tomorrow. Annoying.

Better, though, was my dinner. My coworker, Priya, and I went to Legal Seafoods and had a really nice dinner. I started with a cup of the clam chowder (obviously!) and ordered a crab cake combo: one crab cake prepared using a magnificient, subtle, mustard sauce; scallops that nearly melted in my mouth; and perfectly cooked grilled shrimp. I really enjoy scallops, but it's the kind of ingredient where the quality of the product and the preparation make all the difference in the world. When it's good, it's heavenly, but all too often they can be chewy and uninspired. Today, they were as good as you can hope for. Likewise, shrimp are often overcooked and stringy, but these left little to desire.

Also, I need to return sometime with some wine buddies, because the wine list was phenomenal. Lots of great selections and many of them at or below retail prices. Typically, restaurants charge 2-3 times the store price for a bottle. At Legal, most of the less expensive bottles were priced well, but not out of the ordinary, but as I moved up in price I found many surprising bargains. A number of aged bottles in the one-to-several-hundred-dollar range were actually priced well below their current retail prices. Still a lot of money, obviously, but you're not going to find the opportunity to drink world-class wines in a nice restaurant at these prices in many places. Kudos to Legal! This wasn't the right night for it, but I shall return.

Mattias Mattias? Mattias Mattias!

I just spent a weekend in New York visiting my old college room-mate Petter, his wife Laurie, and their one-year old son Mattias. Big Mattias meets Little Mattias.

Unfortunately, Petter - the investment banker - was forced to work most of the weekend. Some utility wants to build a new transmission line and needs financing or something like that. But, I got to hang out with Little Mattias and Laurie, and had a nice relaxing weekend.

We took walks both days out here on Roosevelt Island (where they live), which is a very nice place. In case you're not familiar with it, it's an island in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. It feels like you've left the city - lots of greenery, playgrounds, tennis courts, etc - but you're still only minutes away from Midtown.

To many, the island is known for the lunatic asylum that used to reside here. Over the last 20-30 years the island has had a big upswing and many residential apartments and condos have been added. Petter and Laurie live in a new building that has a wonderful view of Manhattan and the East River.

On Saturday, Laurie, Mattias and I took the tram into Manhattan and walked around for a while. It was a beautiful day - sunny and neither too warm nor too cold. I checked out a few wine shops in Midtown: Sherry-Lehman on Park Ave (fantastic selection - verticals of first-growth Bordeaux, etc - but horribly overprices) and Crush on 57th and Lex (passionate and knowledgeable staff, and a great cooled room in the back). Laurie and Mattias went back (naptime) and I took the subway down to Astor Place to check out Astor Wines (big store with a good selection) where I bought a couple of bottles for the weekend: a 2007 Giacosa Roero Arneis (a nice little Italian white that I've enjoyed in previous vintages) and a 2003 Lagier-Meredith Syrah from Mt. Veeder in Napa Valley. The latter wine was quite a find - not only is it very difficult to find, but it was also marked down from $55 to $35. We enjoyed it tonight with a lamb stew and it showed very well.

I continued walking down to SoHo and immersed myself in the frenzy of it all - the people, the smells, the energy - before I ducked into a little place on the corner of Bleecker and Broadway for a late lunch. It was a charming little place with large open windows towards both streets. I ordered a truffled burger with aged brie, carmelized onions, with garlic fries, and had a Leffe to go with it. Unfortunately the burger was overcooked (nearly well done while I'd asked for medium rare) but otherwise a very pleasant experience.

On the way back, my subway train was diverted to a different track - apparently there was a message but I and about ten other people missed it - so I suddenly found myself in Queens. I thought about going back into Manhattan and trying again, but saw on the map that I was pretty close to Roosevelt Island so I took a taxi instead. $10 and 10 minutes later I was back.

Ok - catch you on the flip side.

Its goodness is a decision for the mouth to make

- Lu You, 12th Century Chinese poet (Song Dynasty)

I only watched part of the Olympic opening ceremony - these things normally bore me - but I have to say what I saw was very impressive. Some of the best visuals I've ever seen - here are some amazing pictures: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony.html

And, while the Swedish outfits were unremarkable, at least we didn't look like flight attendants being splattered with machine gun fire. Yes, I'm talking to you Hungary: http://z.about.com/d/fashion/1/0/w/4/3/82219961.jpg

The Screaming and The Dreaming

(Written Friday afternoon - while offline.)

I’m sitting 30,000 ft over New York City and we’ve just been told we’ll be circling for another 45 minutes due to congestion at JFK. And, this is after taking off about an hour late for the same reason. And, I’m sitting right behind an infant who has been screaming her lungs out for most of the trip, and my iPod ran out of juice about an hour into the flight. So, life could be better at the moment. But, she seems to have calmed down now so I’m hoping for the best.

On the brighter side, I’m in the middle or re-reading Neil Gaiman’s brilliant Sandman graphic novels. I just finished the eighth book out of ten, World’s End, and I’m reminded of what an incredibly rich world he has created, with complex, mysterious, appealing characters, many based on existing mythologies, but he’s made them entirely his own.

Sandman goes under many names, the most common being Dream and Morpheus. His charge is to rule the dream world, and his realm, The Dreaming, is inhabited by an interesting cast: Lucius, the librarian, tending to countless books filled with our dreams; Abel and Cain in the Houses of Secrets and Mysteries (Cain maintains the nasty habit of killing his brother, over and over again), to mention a few. Dream, along with his six siblings, is one of the Endless, each with a different responsibility: Destiny, Destruction, Desire and Despair (the twins), Delirium (formerly Delight), and Death. Besides Morpheus himself, Death is the most commonly recurring character, and what a character! Instead of the old man with the scythe, she is a goth-looking, but very attractive, woman. My personal favorite is Delirium. She is a young girl with several-colored eyes and hair, her body sprouts butterflies, frogs and flowers, and her speech is mostly seemingly incoherent nonsense, and she provides the stories with much of the subtext.

Argh, the child in front of me has started screaming again, and I’m finding it hard to concentrate. I’m done, for now…

Go East, Young Man!

I'm about to leave for a seven day, six night trip to the East Coast. I hope I don't end up on a deserted island with Harrison Ford, because that would be really awkward. "Oh. You expected Hot Blond Girl half your age? [Pause] Sorry. [Pause] I am half your age. No? Ok - I'll shut my trap now."

Anyway, work calls me back east so I go. Specifically, to Hartford, Connecticut, and to visit a client. I'm taking advantage of the trip and am heading to New York for the weekend to visit my old college room-mate Petter Skantze, his wife Laurie, and their 1-year old Mattias. Big Mattias visits Little Mattias. I'm leaving tomorrow and staying until Monday morning when I take the train up to Hartford for a day of meetings. Then, I'll get into a car and drive to Boston to visit another client. In Cambridge, actually, right next to the MIT campus, like many of the Biotech companies. I'll be staying two nights in Boston so I can meet up with some of the old college gang, before I take the train down to Philly to spend a couple of days at HQ before I fly home Thursday night. It's only my second visit back to Philly since I moved away four years ago, so I'm looking forward to it.

Stay tuned, boys and girls...

Oh, before I go, my cousin Åsa had her first daughter, Edit, a few weeks ago - there's a link to her blog on the left...

You don't have to be afraid, love...

...cause I'm a safesurfer, darling

I bought the Julian Cope album Peggy Suicide in 1991 based on a review in a British music magazine. I listened to the album over and over trying to appreciate the supposed genius. I listened to it and I listened to it and I listened to it. But I didn't get it. I put the disc back on the shelf, and a couple of years later I sold the CD in a store.

Some time ago I heard a song from the album again and this time I really liked it. Maybe, just maybe, I was even "getting it." So, I got the album again and have started to like it a lot more this time around. Today one of the better songs came up on the iPod when I was driving on the highway and I was really digging it. Safesurfer starts with a long instrumental crescendo: drums, electric guitar, and keyboards; slowly, slowly working up toward a frenzy, and almost three minutes in, Julian begins with about 30 seconds of spoken word droning over the musical madness before he launches into the repetitive, mantra-like, 2-line chorus for the remainder of the 8+ minute song. Impossible to describe, really, but genius usually defies caption.

Normally, I'm somewhat allergic to long instrumental sections, and if you enter into jam-band territory I break into hives, but this is a different animal. Very few artists or bands pull it off. The few examples that come to mind are: The Cure who linger for 2.20 before It's opening time, down on Fascination Street; Death Cab for Cutie who wait 4 minutes and 34 seconds before the opening stanza takes us to the brilliant You gotta spend some time--love, you gotta spend some time with me / And I know that you'll find--love, I will possess your heart; and Radiohead's hypnotizing National Anthem which starts with a mere 90-second intro but ends with 2+ minutes of reckless (and Thom-less) cacaphony.

If you were lucky enough to catch Radiohead doing National Anthem and Idioteque on SNL in 2000 you know what I'm talking about - two of the greatest performances I've ever seen. If that's not catharsis, I don't know what is.