Kike Gavilan’s Egotrip

That was on the cover of a magazine. And it’s probably been on the cover of thousands of magazines in the past few years. And the "secret" is pages and pages of, rather difficult to follow, recommendations.

I think all these "lose x pounds" articles should only say:

"Exercise.

Stop eating crap (you know what that is, way before it’s in your mouth).

And eat half of what you normally eat."

That’s as long as any article about losing weight should be.

I’m setting up my auto reply since I’m taking time off for the Thanksgiving break (happy Thanksgiving everyone!*) and that made me remember this auto reply message I received about two months ago:

"I’m currently out of the office until Monday January 5, 2009."

That’s what it said. And yes, I said I saw this message about two months ago. In early October. So there’s someone out there that hasn’t turned off the auto reply in nine months. I think it’s kind of funny.  

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*"everyone" on this blog, in this context, means one or two people that actually read this blog. The blog is an egotrip, remember?

So, happy Thanksgiving to the two or three readers of the blog. 

I think I’ve finally figured out the problem with the display of this blog, in Internet Explorer. Some of you told me that you could not see my posts. In fact, anyone using Chrome, Safari and Firefox was seeing the blog with no problem, but Internet Explorer users could not see anything below the first title. 

I think it’s fixed. It turns out there was a lot of garbage in the HTML at the top of my lasts posts. I have no idea where it came from. It may have come from using copy/paste from MS Word. So I went to the HTML of all the latest posts and deleted the garbage from the posts that had it. It seems to be working now…but let me know if it’s not solved.   

It’s 10:26 p.m. in Cambridge, Massachusetts and I’m working at the MIT Barker Library. Instead of going back to the hotel and work in my room –typical business trip scenario- I’m working here, right under the dome, surrounded by a bunch of quiet students. Brings back so many memories! And it keeps you motivated to work instead of being pulled away from the computer by the bed or the remote. Actually, going to bed would be nice….

I can’t believe how much I like it here. My hours in this same building were rather stressful. But the memories have nothing to do with stress and all to do with two amazing years in which a bunch of good things happen. Not the least one of which is that here (Boston/Cambridge) is where I met Maga.

Back to work.

My brother Gabo posted on his blog that he has a hard time understanding lyrics. Not only understanding the meaning of lyrics but the actual words. And when he understands the words, many times he doesn’t understand the meaning.

Well, there is hope. He needs to become a fan of Ben Harper. Many people in my generation and younger (actually, in Gabo’s generation) adore Ben Harper. And when I complain about how basic his lyrics are they say things like “he sings from the heart.”

What “he sings from the heart” means to me is that he has the sophistication of a 3^rd grader. It’s equivalent to saying that George W. Bush is “a regular guy.” Same thing. No sophistication in speech. You think Thom Yorke doesn’t sign from the heart? Or Bono, or Sting? Of course they do. They just happen to be able to read books and have an interest in reading them. And that has given them the ability to express ideas poetically. Not with the language of an 8-year old.  

Consider the lyrics below:

    “it’s funny when you think it’s going to work out

    Until you chose weed over me. You are so lame”

Well, that’s stupid but it’s not Ben Harper. That’s Avril Lavigne and the song was written when she was 17. The same people that love Ben Harper criticize Avril Lavigne’s lyrics. Now let’s go to Exhibit B, from 40-year old Ben Harper:

    “Well - The good Lord is such a good Lord

    With such a good mother too

    They have blessed me

    They have blessed me

    In the good graces of you

    Now I have heard a hundred violins crying

    And I have seen a hundred white doves flying”

Dude! What? Seriously!

I rest my case.

(Gabo: I think you will be able to follow his lyrics)

Hay una escena en “Where the Wild things Are” que me gusta mucho. Un dialogo entre uno de los “wild things” y Max. Sirve en la película entre otras cosas para mostrar cómo los wild things son emocionalmente complejos, con un pasado emocional y con capacidad de empatía. Y es un diálogo sobre lo que hay más allá de nosotros.

Max y Carol van caminando entre dunas y el diálogo va más o menos así:

Carol: this part of your kingdom is not so good

Max: why?

Carol: Look this used to be all rock and now it’s sand and then it’s gonna be dust and then the whole island will be dust and then I don’t even know what comes after dust.

Max: Carol, did you know the sun was going to die?

Carol: what?  I never heard that.

Pause

Carol: C’mon that can’t happen. You’re the king and…look at me! I’m big! How could guys like us worry about a tiny little thing like the sun.

Así está el diálogo. Y me hizo recordar una frase del tío Pasitos. El tío Pasitos es el tío chihuahuense de un buen amigo. Creo que vive en la sierra de Chihuahua.   

Si la conversación de Max hubiera sido con el tío Pasitos, hubiera acabado así:

Max: Tío Pasitos, did you know the sun was going to die?

Tío Pasitos: Qué?

Pausa

Tío Pasitos:…No pinchi sol!…Cabrona la luna que aluza de noshe!

Aquí está la escena en youtube.

By the way, I haven’t found a way to increase the font size for the blog templates in Blogsome. Or a way to really customize them. And I know the font size on this blog may be on the small side. 

For those of you that may not know, if you use "Ctrl + +" on your keyboard (as in the Control key and the plus sign at the same time), the font size increases. That works for any website of course. And it works much better in Firefox, Chrome and Safari than in Internet Explorer. I guess what I’m saying is that it works better on pretty much all browsers that are not developed by Microsoft. But then again I may be stating the obvious. What doesn’t work better on browsers that are not developed by Microsoft?

The point is, use "Ctrl + +" to read this better. To go back to the original display you can use "Ctrl+-" (as in the Control key and the minus sign at the same time).    

A lo mejor porque me identifico con Max; o porque identifico a Quique de 8 años con él; o poque “the wild things” viven dentro de mí, y como en la película buscan desesperadamente un líder que los ayude a vivir en paz, felices y entendiéndose unos a otros; pero la película de “Where the Wild Things Are” me encantó. Es una película extraordinaria.

El director Spike Jonze ya me ha dejado inspirado y feliz con otras de sus películas. “Being John Malkovich” me parece una película increíblemente creativa. Y en “Where the Wild Things Are” queda claro que no le tiene miedo a su creatividad y que primero que nada le interesa hacer buen cine.

La música, por si fuera poco, es también maravillosa. Y Max, el niño que hace el papel de Max, que por cierto también se llama Max en la vida real, es un pequeño Robert Downey Jr. Un pequeño Sean Penn. Extraordinario actor que no necesita decir nada para transmitirnos lo que siente y lo más importante de la escena. Le basta una mirada. Un gesto.

Véanla. Van a salir inspirados y felices.

Maybe because I see myself in Max; or because I see my 8-year old self in him; or because “the wild things” live inside me and, just like in the movie, they desperately long for a leader to guide them to live in peace, happily and understanding each other; but I loved the movie “Where the Wild Things Are”. It’s an extraordinary movie.

Director Spike Jonze had already inspired me and moved me with another one of his movies. I think “Being John Malkovich” is an incredibly creative film. And with “Where the Wild Things Are” he makes clear that he’s not afraid of being creative and that, before anything else, he is interested in making a great film.  

An added bonus is the soundtrack, which is wonderful. And Max, the kid playing Max, which name in real life is also Max, is a little Robert Downey Jr. A little Sean Penn. Great actor that can convey feelings and deliver a scene by just having the right expression on his face. Without having to even speak.

Go see it. You will leave the theatre uplifted and with a smile on your face.    

The recent trend about dark, high percent cocoa chocolate being the "gourmet" chocolate -the good stuff- and considering milk chocolate as an inferior form, almost as low in culinary scales as ketchup, is nonsense.

A friend that claims to be a chocolate lover was disappointed about me, another chocolate lover, preferring milk chocolate over the bitter, 80 percent cocoa, she was eating. Well I’m sorry.

Around the world, who would you say associates Mexico with great chocolate? Nobody? Exactly. No one sees Mexico as a country producing great chocolate, even though the consumption of cocoa in this planet started in Mexico when the Olmecs not only realized that they could eat it and derive great pleasure from its consumption but learned also how to cultivate it. That was at least 2,400 years ago.

The Aztecs (around 400 AD), even used cocoa beans as currency. That’s how prevalent and abundant (and important) cocoa was for the Mesoamerican cultures.

So we have centuries of chocolate production and consumption in Mexico. Cocoa and chocolate are used in many recipes. More than a few moles include chocolate. And when you prepare mole from scratch in Mexico, you start by making chocolate from scratch. Yes, you have to make chocolate from scratch and you can. The tradition and know-how is there. Not like a friend here in San Diego that told me she knew how to make mole poblano from scratch using peanut butter and Nestlé’s Quick. God bless her soul….

So, why is it that no one associates Mexico with good chocolate? Because we - I’m Mexican- don’t make any.

Which country do we associate with the best chocolate? (and army knifes and watches)….Switzerland. What did the Swiss have in the 1800s when cocoa finally became available and popular there that Mexico didn’t have? Cows. MILK.  And the Swiss started producing milk chocolate, and we all loved it and have loved it for two centuries. Good chocolate is milk chocolate and vice versa.

- "…But dark chocolate brings more health benefits…"

Yes. So does broccoli.

Los seres humanos somos unos tragones. Y no nos damos cuenta. Nuestro sistema nervioso se encarga de eso. No nada más nos tragamos unos tacos o unas tortas o una pizza. Nos la pasamos tragando. Todo el día. Y Mariana no puede….. Y todos echamos porras y mandamos buenas vibras y escribimos en el blog, y realmente deseamos que pronto, muy pronto, ya pueda. Que se nos una al montón (como tú dices, Mariana) de los tragones. El montón de deglutones.