Class of 2008

My little Grad

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Travelers of the South

A couple of friends started the adventure of going from Bogota, Colombia to Miami, FL riding their motorcycles. Some friends joined them in California and rode altogether from the west coast to the east coast, arriving finally to Miami.

They kept a blog documenting all the trip, with detailed stories, photos and videos. Although it is written in Spanish, it's something worth to read.

Dos motociclistas salen de Bogota, Mauricio y Gonzalo, para el norte, en
Feb/28/2008. El primer trayecto, Bogotá- Panamá con sus motos en avión.
Recorreran Centroamerica por la via Panamericana,; en Mexico despues de
escudriñar la Peninsula de Yucatán y el centro del país (DF) entran por Baja
California a USA; Otro compañero, Jorge, sale de Miami, Fl hacia Los Angeles.
Simultaneamente, Laura, la hija de Gonzalo, se dirige desde NY a LA para
acompañarlos unos dias. Juntos van a escudriñar el oeste estadounidense, Valle
de la Muerte y Cañon del Colorado y finalmente hacer un "costa a costa" buscando
en Miami un vuelo de vuelta a sus origenes.

Link to Viajeros del Sur

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She Played Like A Pro

My daughter played Viola in a concert her Doral Middle School's orchestra performed together with the Miami Youth Symphony Project's orchestra.

Both directors, Mr. Custis Edwards and Mr. Alex Berti, marvelously conducted their kids to produce one of the best live performance I've ever heard.

Maybe it was just parent's pride, but for me these kids played like long time professionals.

Invention #4, directed by Mr. Curtis Edwards

Idylls of Pegasus, directed by Mr. Alex Berti

My most sincere congratulations to these two exceptional Directors and their magnificent orchestras.

More videos available at my YouTube Channel or after the jump:

Fables (part 1), directed by Mr. Curtis Edwards


Fables (part 2), directed by Mr. Curtis Edwards


Hungarian Dance, , directed by Mr. Curtis Edwards

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Me Too

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Soda Stereo... una eternidad esperé este instante.

A decade ago, the best exponent of the Latin Rock movement, the band that inspired every other band in Latin America, decided to separate. Gustavo Cerati, Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio couldn't withstand a single day together, they couldn't coexist any longer, they needed a break from each other and so they split, leaving behind 15 years of magical music, sold-out tours, platinum discs and millions of crying fans. Soda Stereo muted its voice.

De aquel amor de música ligera
nada nos libra, nada más queda.

Now, after a long decade, they revived our memories, they transported us to our recent past and made us evocate those wonderful moments in our lives, when we where younger, when we spent incredible nights just being ourselves, drinking beers and listening to Soda.

Golpean la puerta
Por décima vez
Es que falta alguien por venir
Cuando me suba esa cara de gaste
Y me baje el alcohol
Entre el alud podré asomar mi nariz
Y salir a la calle

The American Airlines Arena filled up with the best music any band in Latin America could only dream to produce, to play, to sing. Soda Stereo is back, and it doesn't matter if its voice mute again for another long decade, what we lived tonight was worth the wait.

Tarda en llegar
Y al final, al final
Hay recompensa
En la zona de promesas

Photos and videos after the jump...

Some Photos

Hombre Al Agua

Cuando Pase El Temblor

Persiana Americana

Y sin embargo esperas
Un laberinto sin sorpresas
Y sin embargo
Aun puedes abrir tu caja negra

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Bugatti Veyron spotted in Miami

Last week I was coming to my home when I saw something that caught my attention, a truck with the back door open and two rare cars in sight.

The car in the lower deck reminded me The King, the race car featured in Disney-Pixar's Cars, but it was only after I passed by that I recognized the particular B logo in the back of the car being transported in the upper deck of the trailer. It was a Bugatti Veyron!!!.

I circled the block and came back to snap a picture with my Treo's lousy camera. Don't blame me for the ugly picture, I tried my best.

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You're invited, but we know you're guilty

I got an invitation for attending the screening of Michael Bay's Transformers movie. What pisses me off is what is written in the ticket, a disclaimer that implies that they, the MPAA, Paramount Pictures and/or Cobb Theatres, just assumed I am already a criminal and I need to be scanned and profiled as one.

I know treating people like criminals is a common practice by the MPAA, and sometimes people attending the screenings are subject to all kind of degrading and abusive procedures, but anyway I will take the risk to go and "try" to enjoy this movie, despite my cell phone is a Treo 700wx and hence that instantly makes me a culprit.


The disclaimer (imputation?) textually says:

No recording of this motion picture, by electronic or any other means, is permitted. Your will be subject to search and inspection. Individuals entering the theater will be subject to physical search and inspection of their person and personal effects for recording devices and may be required to pass through a metal detector and/or subject to scanning via a handheld metal detection device. No one possessing any camera, recorder or any other device capable of recording sound or images, including without limitation camera-equipped PDA's and cellular phones, will be permitted to attend this screening.
This screening will be monitored for unauthorized recording. Anyone who uses a recording device or attempts to use a recording device during this screening will be subject to immediate removal, detention and civil and criminal prosecution. Any recording device (including its contents) discovered in the theater shall be subject to immediate forfeiture and/or destruction. Unauthorized recording will be reported to law enforcement, and nothing contained in this notice shall be construed to limit our available remedies and/or legal recourse, including without limitation a legal action for copyright infringement statutory damages of up to $150,000.00 per violation.

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But Dad... it's not an iPod!

Daughter: Look daddy, that's the iPod I want.
Me: uhm ...
Daughter: It's the iPod video 30 gigs. I think I'll ask Santa for it, again!.
Me: Ok, but look sweetie, there are another brands. For example look at this one, pointing a Zune, it has a bigger screen, FM radio, wireless connectivity, and....
Daughter: But Dad.... it's not an iPod!.
Me: You've got your point.


SIDE NOTE: I have never bought an iPod or any other Apple product, because I'm an soft-core anti-Apple advocate (long story). I have dodged my daughter's requests for an iPod for the last 2 years, and I even bought her a couple of cheap MP3 players that she gladly accepted but later "conveniently" lost.
I think she'll finally get what she wants, despite all my futile efforts to dissuade her from having it.... Apple: 1, Me: 0

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Fake Linux books, brought to you by Amazon.com

A friend of mine just received a book he bought from Amazon:

It was supposed to be a book about TrixBox, a telephone system for Linux based on the open source Asterisk PBX, but what he got was the legit covers with a weird printing inside:

They were the same two pages from another book about emotional techniques for kids, repeating over and over again along the whole book:

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Forbidden to Forget

A free country died today, a dictatorship has risen.

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