Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Case for Paddington


In the 1950's a small bear traveled from darkest Peru to Paddington Station in London. He was met by Mr. and Mrs. Brown and all he had was a brown suitcase and sign that read, "Please look after this bear. Thank You!"











Now before I infringe on copy right issues, I will stop there. Growing up, my girlfriend hated this bear! Despised him! He was always getting into trouble and causing mischief she says. "Stupid Bear!" This pains me very much and could be a deal breaker in our relationship in the future (kidding Lena). Paddington is soooo adorable and how can she be so angry at something so cute.

Yes I am pandering to his looks but it's not totally his fault that he gets into so much "mischief." It's not so much that Paddington is a bad bear but that he is becoming acclimated to his new environment. Peter Drucker once said that if a person does not perform in an environment, the organization has made the mistake, not the person. Paddington could very well be a well behaved bear in his own right. Furthermore, Paddington is a very polite bear, he always address' others by Mr., Mrs., Sir, etc. These are words many of us don't hear anymore in modern society.

Drucker has it right though, for Paddington, it's not that he was a bad bear, its that he wasn't given the understanding of social norms in London. He doesn't know the new technologies and may at times misuse these technologies. It can be argued that if Mr. and Mrs. Brown taught Paddington social norms, he would have been better off and my girlfriend would not think Paddington was such a stupid bear. In this case, the Browns have a stake in Paddington's mischief.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Barcelona


My recent trip to Barcelona was filled with great food and great friends. The environment was exciting and fun and we did what we could to assimilate into the Catalonian culture. Spain has always been a destination that I have always wanted to visit and Barcelona seemed to be ideal given my love of food and my need for sun. The former satisfied my needs the, later....not as much as I would have hoped as it snowed the last day that we were there.


The local culture is practically the polar opposite of the United States. They eat dinner from 1030 to 130, they take mid day naps and sometimes shut their stores down after lunch for a few hours. Highly unconventional to the typical lifestyle of an American, in bed by 11, work from 9-? eat dinner, and go to sleep. It appears that the lifestyle of the typical American is centered around his job while the lifestyle of a Catalonian is centered around friends and family. You don't see the proliferation of fast food joints in Barcelona as you do in the US and when you order coffee, it's considered odd/rude to take that coffee to go whereas in the US they serve you a togo cup unless otherwise specified. Food in Barcelona is amazing at almost any venue because they view dining as an experience among friends and family and take extra time preparing their food.












The United States has companies like Google where employees are encouraged to stay later and work longer through free dinners, a full service gym, etc. Not that either culture is better but I find it interesting that two completely developed economies can have such competing interests and both are still sustainable. For more information about the Barcelona Trip check out my friend's blog (Keenan and Lily's blog).

All in all, it was a great trip that left us feeling overjoyed!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Spaghetti in Clapham


Thought I would share a spaghetti recipe I made for my friends in London.

Meatballs:
1 kilo ground beef
1 kilo ground pork
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cork flakes
1/2 cup parsley (chopped)
2 large eggs
4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

mash up corn flakes and add all ingredients. Mix well and make 3-4 inch meatballs. I tend to like making bigger meatballs but the size shouldn't matter too much. Heat a cup of olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add meatballs and do not disturb for about 3 minutes. Turn meatballs and brown for another 3 minutes. Remove meatballs.

Sauce
2 cans plum tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cloves of garlic (sliced)
1 large carrot (cubed)
1 large onion (sliced)
crushed red peppers
fresh basil (sliced)
parsley (chopped)
cayenne pepper
raw sugar
salt and pepper

Place canned plum tomatoes into a bowl and mash. Combine tomato sauce. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and add the onions, garlic and carrots cook for a few minutes stirring frequently so that the onions or garlic do not burn. Add the sauce and the meatballs and cook for about 30 minutes longer. Add the basil and the parsley towards the end. Season with the remaining ingredients to taste.