Friday, June 25, 2010

Young Folks




Walk In The Park
Freehand Exercise: 1,000 Push-Ups, 1,000 Squats, 1,000 Crunches
Brazil And Argentina: My Choices And Those Of My Favorite Actor
The Eyes Of Truth
Hey Now, Hey Now
Tomorrow
Samuel Eto'o

Watch The Games
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Walk In The Park



CBC FIFA







At this point it feels to me like this is Argentina's cup to lose, although it can be argued Brazil is just getting warmed up. Those are the two teams I am rooting for. (Brazil And Argentina: My Choices And Those Of My Favorite Actor)

Diego (Maradona) looks as majestic off the field as he used to look on the field: for the love of the game, he will do anything, even come back as a coach.

I own three Brazil shirts, two Argentina shirts.



France and Italy are out. Those used to be heavyweight teams.

The US team has surprised many people. I commend their spirit, and their victories. I don't expect them to win, of course, but it is possible they pull a few more surprises. Expect to see a lot of soccer in Central Park this summer.

Freehand Exercise: 1,000 Push-Ups, 1,000 Squats, 1,000 Crunches
Brazil And Argentina: My Choices And Those Of My Favorite Actor
The Eyes Of Truth
Hey Now, Hey Now
Tomorrow
Samuel Eto'o


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Thursday, June 24, 2010

My Secret Sauce


Manti (Central Asian meat dumplings, similar t...Image via Wikipedia

Do you want to know what my secret sauce is, and how I make it? It usually goes with steamed dumplings, which is one of my favorite things to eat. Chatfe dude Paul Orlando (Chatfe: Audio, Interest Based Random Connections On Skype?) introduced me to Lam Zhou on 144 E. Broadway in Chinatown. I get my frozen dumplings there. I steam them up at home. But dumplings need sauce. I make my own. You can't find anywhere what I make. How do I make it? It is not that complicated at all. You just need green chilli, tomatoes, and some salt.

I like my sauce really hot - not temperature, but spicey hot - and I get my green chilli from the Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights. I used to be Mayor of that place on FourSquare. But if you like it only mildly hot, jalopenos will also do.


Don't use oil at all. You feel healthier.

Gently fry up the chilli and grind it in a grinder. Cut up the tomatoes, fry them a little, grind them in a grinder. Put both into a bowl and mix, and add some salt.

See? That easy. But you can't get this anywhere. I like my sauce to look green - as in, heavy on chilli - but you could make yours look red. It is just that some like it hot.


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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Rich People's Kids

Macaroni and cheeseImage via Wikipedia
So Bill Gates is on my BlogRoll, (so is Amitabh Bachchan), one the richest dude on the planet, another a fairly rich dude, but the most recognized face on the planet. And I was just reading one of his blog posts for the first time. In it he talks of a Buffett son. "Contrary to what many people might assume, Peter won’t inherit great wealth from his father." Well, why thank you, Bill Gates!

Bill Gates: Life Is What You Make It
Contrary to what many people might assume, Peter won’t inherit great wealth from his father.
Warren Buffett gave most of his money to the Gates Foundation, an entity I am a fan of. I never called myself a fan of Microsoft, although I have admired Gates' path in business greatly. I hope Buffett left at least one billion, or half a billion for his kids. Or I am going to think the guy is cheap, a rich cheap guy. Buffett's logic has been, "but I did not deliver my children myself either." As in, his children perhaps are not the best professionals to be doling out money. Let Bill G do it.

Sam Walton went the other way. Many people don't know this but Walton created more wealth than Gates: there is more money in people skills than in software, always will be. That Republican dude left everything to his children. I don't approve of that either. That is taking family values a little too far.

An honest rich guy is Larry Ellison. He was not born rich. He was born in "Chicago's Jewish ghetto" - his words - where you could hear "gunshots." He talks of having to eat "macaroni and cheese" late into his 20s. He claims his first wife left him because he "did not work hard enough." He went ahead and bought a boat, and that sent the wife into therapy. His second wife left him because he "worked too hard."

About money and children he said, "I am not going to pretend that my children are going to have to work for a living." That's my kind of a rich guy: brutally honest, interesting.

Although, did I say, I am a huge fan of the Gates Foundation? I am a Third World guy, after all. Bill Gates has challenged many racist viewpoints about the "bottom two billion," as he calls it. He is not talking about the first two billion he made, but the two billion poorest people.

Steven Spielberg once said about his huge wealth. "It's just numbers. Some accountant takes care of it." Bill Gates said only a few weeks back about being rich, after a few million, it does not really matter. Makes no material difference to your life. I buy into the Spielberg line. I have 47,000 followers on Twitter. I remember being very excited when I hit 2,000 followers. Me? What? Popular? At 47,000 it just feels like numbers.

Larry, again, has quite another attitude. "There is nothing that can be bought with money that I can not buy," he boasted to a biographer. Well, that car you see is going down Larry Ellison Boulevard.

There has got to be joy in actively giving. Dying and letting others figure it out can't be joyous. You are not even around. But I am not against financial freedom for one's children. They can still end up normal people doing good, productive work. I think.

Larry Ellison

There are only two income/wealth brackets that fascinate me: the dollar a day people, and the self-made billionaires. In between lies the gray zone.
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