2009 Top 25 Most Liveable Cities (from Monocle)

2009 Top 25 Most Liveable Cities (from the July-August 09 issue of Monocle):
25. Lisbon
24. Geneva
23. Hamburg
22. Kyoto
21. Amsterdam
20. Auckland
19. Montreal
18. Singapore
17. Oslo
16. Fukuoka
15. Barcelona
14. Vancouver
13. Sydney
12. Madrid
11. Honolulu
10. Berlin
9. Melbourne
8. Paris
7. Vienna
6. Stockholm
5. Helsinki
4. Munich
3. Tokyo
2. Copenhagen
1. Zurich

Interesting. Honolulu is the only US city on the list...and London isn't even ranked (and Monocle is headquartered there).

Related:
slideshow

Transparency: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (from Good Magazine)

very interesting...
Transparency: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (from Good Magazine)

I also posted a video about it a while back - posting.

Darn!

Just got this email from Southwest:

Hello Andrew!

Your flight on April 13, 2009, is currently scheduled to be on one of our Wi-Fi enabled aircraft!* That's right...you'll be able to check e-mail, surf the Internet, and stay connected to the world below via your personal laptop or other Wi-Fi enabled device! (As a reminder, devices that exclusively use a cellular signal won't work with this service.) Don't forget to power up at the gate before you board!

Southwest is currently testing Wi-Fi on four of our planes. The service will be free of charge during this evaluation period; all that we ask is that you take a few minutes to tell us what you think! Your opinion will help shape the future of this exciting product. A link to a short survey will be available on the Southwest Airlines/Yahoo! Homepage once you log in inflight.

I'm bummed that I didn't bring my laptop w/ me this time!

The dark side of Dubai (from The Independent)

Fascinating article about Dubai:

The dark side of Dubai (from The Independent)

The article is quite long...the final paragraph sums it up pretty well -

I ask the Filipino girl behind the counter if she likes it here. "It's OK," she says cautiously. Really? I say. I can't stand it. She sighs with relief and says: "This is the most terrible place! I hate it! I was here for months before I realised – everything in Dubai is fake. Everything you see. The trees are fake, the workers' contracts are fake, the islands are fake, the smiles are fake – even the water is fake!" But she is trapped, she says. She got into debt to come here, and she is stuck for three years: an old story now. "I think Dubai is like an oasis. It is an illusion, not real. You think you have seen water in the distance, but you get close and you only get a mouthful of sand."

As she says this, another customer enters. She forces her face into the broad, empty Dubai smile and says: "And how may I help you tonight, sir?"

Massive basil!

Check out these HUGE homegrown basil leaves:

We used it this morning for a tomato and basil omelette. Very tasty!

Interesting fact about gold

From the article "The Real Price of Gold" in the Jan. '09 issue of National Geographic (highlights below are mine):

"In all of history, only 161,000 tons of gold have been mined, barely enough to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools. More than half of that has been extracted in the past 50 years."

That's crazy!

CityNorth a dud?

Long time no blog...

Stopped by CityNorth a few weeks ago (on a Saturday night). The first phase, called "High Street", just opened a month ago (on Nov. 13). What an incredibly unfortunate time to open a new mall! The place was an absolute ghost-town. Just prior to going there, we were at Kierland Commons, and it was such a contrast. Don't know how to describe it better, but Kierland has a much "warmer" feeling compared to CityNorth. The retail mix at CityNorth also puzzles me. We spent less than 10 minutes walking from one end of the street to the other and none of the stores appealed to us, so we left. I'm guessing we won't be back anytime soon...

CityNorth seems like a dud to me - similar to my opinion of Westgate and Tempe Marketplace.

I wonder if we will ever have anything here similar to any of the following:
The Grove (Los Angeles, CA)
The Americana at Brand (Glendale, CA)
Victoria Gardens (Ontario, CA)

BTW, I got a kick out of this recent article in the paper:
Westgate remains safe despite shooting, Glendale officials stress (AZ Republic)

Two links to share

Two interesting links to share (via maoxian.com):

Room With a View: A photo diary of Beijing's Air

Passing the Torch: An Evolution of Form (from the New York Times)
make sure you hover over the graphic - very nicely done!

Spotlight on Beijing (only two and a half days to go!)

First the reports that China is censoring media internet access... (even though they promised unrestricted access)

followed by many stories about terrible air quality (even after the government has spent over $17 billion to clean up the air)

...today's news about members of the U.S. cycling team arriving in China wearing face masks:
U.S. Cyclists Are Masked, and Criticism Is Not (from the New York Times)

and now this latest news:
China revokes visa of gold medalist, Darfur activist Cheek (from Yahoo!)

Only in Phoenix...

Rain halts Sky Harbor landings, takeoffs (from AZCentral.com)

Phoenix's airport has been closed a few times due to excessive heat...but rain?!?
I was in the area when the closure was announced and didn't notice any severe rain.

National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet Earth: Plastic Plague

Another interesting (and equally frightening) video about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch:
Any parents with young babies, soon-to-be parents, and sometime-in-the-future parents definitely need to watch this...


Thanks to the anonymous person who sent this!

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Interesting video about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a "massive stew of unwanted waste" estimated to be twice the size of Texas, floating in Pacific Ocean...

What’s Lurking in Your Countertop? (from The New York Times)

Interesting (and rather alarming) article about possible radiation and radon emissions from granite:
What’s Lurking in Your Countertop? (from The New York Times)

Thanks to JT for sharing this one w/ me...

San Francisco most walkable U.S. city, website says (from Yahoo! News/Reuters)

Lots of interesting articles today!

Here's another one...

San Francisco most walkable U.S. city, website says (from Yahoo! News/Reuters)

From the article:
Scores greater than 70 indicate neighborhoods where it's possible to get by without owning a car, while scores greater than 90 qualify communities as a "Walker's Paradise."

Our current house has a score of 51 (Phoenix scored a 50). The area we are in is pretty convenient - we could actually manage to get around with only our bikes (except during the summer!).

Our previous house had a dismal score of 9. That's one of the main reasons we moved.

Find your "Walk Score" here.

Related:
Rankings of the 40 largest U.S. cities

Anheuser-Busch: The Incredible Secret Story of the Fish That Got Away (from the Wall Street Journal)

Very interesting story...

Anheuser-Busch: The Incredible Secret Story of the Fish That Got Away (from the Wall Street Journal)

Owners make sure stranded, wet diner gets his meal

A nice story from the AZ Republic/AZCentral.com:
Owners make sure stranded, wet diner gets his meal

I've only been to Marcellino once before - quite a long time ago. Need to go back one of these days...

I am a what?!?

According to an online quiz I just took...

I'm a Mandarin!

You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now. You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational. You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking. It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power. You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try.

Talent: 51%
Lifer: 26%
Mandarin: 59%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

Six Ways in Which the World is Different from the Way You Think It Is

Very interesting article (especially #1 and #2):
Six Ways in Which the World is Different from the Way You Think It Is (from Nicholas Vardy's - The Global Guru)

Taipei 101 damper in action

Found out about this one via maoxian.com...

Video taken of the giant damper ball in Taipei 101 during the recent Sichuan earthquake:


For those who have never seen it in person, this thing is massive - 728 tons, 18 ft. diameter.

This page has a good overview of the system (along w/ the same video):
deputydog - in action: a skyscraper's amazing 728-ton stabilising ball

Joe is in Money Magazine!

My friend Joe is featured in the July 2008 issue of Money Magazine!

You can read portions of the article via the following links (both from CNNMoney.com):
Life without Plastic
They cut out the their credit cards

Way to go Joe!

Joe is also the author of the book "I Was Broke. Now I'm Not!". In it, Joe tells the candid story of how he and his family were losing out on the "money game". If you need help with your money, read this book! By following the clear, easy-to-follow methods in the book, you can take control of your finances. You can find more details about the book on his website - http://www.josephsangl.com.

The preceding was a completely unsolicited recommendation. =)