My cousin Frank

I talked to Frank today on the phone. That was really cool. He is like a big brother to me. Since I left home I don't get to see him much. I miss him. Of course we get to talk on the phone but it's not the same. He went to Morroco for a wek and had a great time, life is apparently pretty cool there and pretty cheap too. He is thinking about coming over for graduation...he wants to meet Bill Clinton... well ...good luck buddy !
On a more interesting note he is thinking about getting married with a girl he met last year, Marina. It's going really well between them apparently. That's great news ! I haven't been to a wedding for quite a while and that would be cool to get the family together for the event. It's going to take quite a bit of planning and logistics though to fly everybody from all around the world. More about it later....

Bravitude

After much debate with myself I had decided to wear an OSU jersey for the NFC and burn it right after. The way it goes, and OSU showing who they really are, I won't even have to do that, so I'm going to bed, that'll be a better use of my time.
I thought I'd take a break tonight after 3 full days of class. Being with my friends in AA was great but getting back to work right away on Monday wasn't at all... The good thing is that it still hasn't snowed so at least we don't have to deal with that. On Friday night Brian, Aaron, Jim and I went out to the FC. That was pretty good except that we had to wait like an hour to get a table.
I can't believe that we're graduating in 3.5 months, I can't wait but at the same time I feel kind of sad that it's almost over. So I'm going to have to start thinking what I want to do next and where I want to be. There's a lot of options but I'm still undecided. After so many years traveling the world, actually since I was a kid, I feel ready to settle...sure ? well...
I'll have to think about it again :)

One more exam and I'm ready to go...

Dear Old Europe,
Be ready...I'm on my way, just a few hours before I board the plane. I can't wait. I talked to David today, we have tons of things to do. Mostly skiing and partying. I'll probabnly go to Paris for a couple of days to visit Steph as well, we have some Middle-East politics conversation to catch-up with. I'll spend the rest of the time with the family and Fred relaxing and shopping. I like Christmas in the Alps, it's a lot of fun and a friendly atmosphere... and last but not least I'll probably go to the UMP meeting in Lyon to support Nicolas ! - Sarkozy for President ! - And Fabrizio no worries, I swear I'll call as soon as I land. I'll post as much asd I can while I'm in Europe promised !

Praat jy Afrikaans?

Jy kan nou enige plek In die wêreld regstreeks na RSG luister.
Voor luister click hier -> http://www.rsg.co.za/

Back on popular demand

What a week that was ! Getting ready to leave on Dec. 10th is quite a challenge. I spent most of the week trying to get things done at work. Year end is always super busy for Finance people, but this year just seems crazy. Hopefully I will have all the reporting and filings done on time. School is going well, actually it will be going well after we're done with the Corporate Governance exam this week-end. I haven't done much reading yet and it's about time to start. On another subject I am pretty disappointed by the BCS ranking and Florida ended-up 2nd. This is totally ridiculous and not based on a fair evaluation. After UCLA did its job and killed USC, Michigan should have moved back to number 2 and gone to the National Championship. Instead we're 3rd. We'll still play the Rose Bowl, which is cool but still...and guess who we'll play ? USC. We'll still what Californian are really made of :)
Friday night Team Chiasma went to Canada for our monthly gathering (except Brian who had major stuff to take care of). It was an absolut blast. A lot of friendly people there hey. Jim lost his phone for the 2nd time in 2 weeks....unbelievable. I'll have to post the pictures when I have time. I also called Sophie and it was great to talk to her. I hope her new job interview goes well. Well I guess I'd better go and do some studying !

A great day !!!!

His answer is yes.
Sarko President !

Lebanon. How much longer...

I wanted to wait a little before writing this and get a chance to read the comments here and there in the international press. Pierre Gemayel was shot in his car last week and is the 6th Christian personnality to be assassinated. Instead of constantly blaming Israel for all the troubles of the middle-east it is high time that Europe took some actions against the true criminals of the region. When Israel defends itself against terrorists attacks the European newspapers are covered with articles denouncing once again the Isreali agressions. When Christian get slaughtered in Lebanon what does Europe do ? Nothing. What is going on with the international investigation of the assassination of Rafic Hariri ? Nothing. What is going on with the disarming of Hezbollah ? Nothing. What has been done to stop Syria and Iran from supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, and fueling the civil war in Irak ? Nothing. Well. leaders of the EU, it's about time you stop wasting everybody's time and let the only true democracy in the middle east do what it has to do. So, I ask again, for how long is this situation going to be tolerated ? Fouhad Siniora is unable to do anything other than whining on TV when Israel takes measures to stop the rain of katoushias falling on Galilea. Emile Lahoud will do everything he can to protect his Syrian friends and their criminal actions...in the meantime Hezbollah sits back and relax, enjoying the show....and Iran continues to expand its influence beyond Persia. The chiite revolution was never successful to take root beyond the Iranian borders, thanks to the western cacophony it now has its dream served on a silver tray.

Yeah right.... the best ever !

Fred, thanks for your comment.... I didn't even watch the last quarter, Notre-Dame was pathetic and they dserved to get trashed by USC. Brady Quinn should go and play marbles... So now USC will probably move to the second place and Michigan will have to say good-bye to the national championship.... I am not happy :( Also it is not fair, as well pointed by one commentator on ESPN, Michigan is tied 11-1 with USC and had a much more impressive season, with a 3-point only loss to OSU. So now what ? Support OSU ? Never.
The good news is I won't have to sing and it won't rain. (I had already picked up my song though: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" from U2... well they are Irish so it qualifies

Listen carefully...

...Because I'm not likely to say that again in the next century : "Go Notre-Dame". OK that's it. If the fighting Irish win I promise I will sing an Irish song. Won't happen twice.

La llama que llama for Melissa

Jim...

...can you send me the pictures from Friday night ?
thanks

I'm back

After a few days of traveling (I went to Boston) and a few days in class I am back !Things have been piling up on my desk at work but I hope it won't take too long to catch-up. At least it was good to take a few days off, relax and reflect. While in Boston I drove by my old house and it brought back a lot of memories. I also went to "La Bouchée", the best restaurant in Boston, in my opinion. It's on Newbury Street. I highly recommend it ! It was a lot of fun. I also met with my friend Carter. I hadn't seen her for a couple of years but we reconnected instantly...who said time and distance erase everything ?
Anyways the Finance exam is over and we have only 2 classes left for the year (with finals of course otherwise it wouldn't be fun!!!!). Only 19 days before I leave for France. I hope everybody is well and wish y'all a Happy Thansgiving.

One more Victory for the Wolverines

BCS Standings
1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. USC
4. Florida
5. Notre Dame
6. Rutgers
7. Arkansas
8. West Virginia
9. Wisconsin
10. Louisville
11. LSU
12. Boise State
13. Texas
14. Auburn
15. California
16. Wake Forest
17. Oklahoma
18. Georgia Tech
19. Maryland
20. Boston College
21. Virginia Tech
22. Tennessee
23. Nebraska
24. Oregon
25. Brigham Young

To remember Benjamin - I miss you my friend

Jean Jacques Goldman - puisque tu pars
Uploaded by cladstrife

Stewball

tvm-HuguesAufray-Stewball
Uploaded by damdamboy

The University of Michigan

here are a few pictures of my U.

Great Week-end

The week-end was a lot of fun. Friday night Aaron, Brian, Jim and I went to see the premiere of Borat, which exceeded all our expectations...How does he get away with all that stuff? The best was undoubtedly the scene with Azamat Bagatov. We all gathered at the Movie Theater in AA, sat in the last row and bought 3 liters of coke and 2 buckets of popcorns...your average American movies night out! The theater was 100% full, with 4 theaters premiering the movie, in other words half of U of M students were probably there. It was a good laugh and a good time. In the car Jim mentioned how funny it was to be here now. We had planned to go and see Borat during the project and it seemed like ages ago. It's funny because I had thought exactly the same thing on my way to AA. On Saturday I tested a new Sushi restaurant with Hope: "Take Sushi" which was really good. Very nice people and a real Japanese chef, synonym of excellent sushi.
Next week-end is the Finance Exam so I'd better get started and read the case...I can't wait for Christmas vacation. I am seriously saturated. I have a lot of things to do in Europe. Visit friends, take a walk in the mountains and go skiing, go to Italy (probably Genoa) for 2 or 3 days and Nice (the picture). I love the Mediterranean coast in winter, it's not crowded, the weather is usually pretty nice and the atmosphere is amazing. I like stopping is small towns of Provence or Liguria on the way for a good dinner or a little espresso...40 more days!

For Fred et Steph.

http://www.paroles.net/chansons/14847.htm

Ciao Youri et merci !

Youri Djorkaeff has retired from football after a glittering career that saw him play in the French international teams that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. The 38-year-old Djorkaeff had been due to play for the New York Red Bulls against Washington in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference semi-finals on Sunday but was unable to do so due to an ankle injury. The Bulls lost and Djorkaeff confirmed his earlier decision to retire at the end of the US season. "I feel great even though I was unable to play in this last game." he said. "I have no regrets and achieved all I wanted to achieve in my career playing in all the top leagues of Europe. "But I felt that the time had come to call it a day. Physically I am still on top of my game but mentally it's more difficult."Djorkaeff, whose father was also a noted French international, began his career at Grenoble in 1984 going on to play for Strasbourg, Monaco and Paris St Germain. He moved to Inter Milan in 1996 for a successful three-year stint during which he played a key role in the France side that won the World Cup in Paris in 1998. He moved to Kaiserslautern in Germany from 1999 until 2002 before joining Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers in the English Premiership for two years. After a brief spell with Blackburn, Djorkaeff joined the New York Red Bulls in April, 2005. He played 82 times for France between October 1993 and June 2003 and scored 28 goals. Asked what the highlight of his career had been Djorkaeff replied: "Winning the World Cup with France. "Each and every footballer dreams of doing that one day. The European title in 2000 was the icing on the cake. There was something magical about the French team in those days." Djorkaeff's retirement comes hard on the heels of that of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and leaves just four of France's World Cup winning squad - Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Liliam Thuram - still being considered by coach Raymond Domenech.

A Favela da Santa Rocinha

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite paintings! I bought it in 1998 in Rio de Janeiro from an artist called Teobaldo. The combination of colors on the original is just amazing. It represents the Favela of Santa Rocinha which is the largest favela in Latin America. More than 100,000 people live there hanging on the hillside of a Moro. In addition to being a nest for all sorts of traffic it has also become a city of its own where poor people mostly immigrants from the Nordeste live. Teobaldo grew up in this favela but managed to get out of it thanks to his amazing artistic talents. A portion of all the paintings he sells is used for schools in the favela. He wants to give education to children of the favela so that they don't become drug dealers, some of them as young as 10 years old (!). If you are interested in the subject, which involves many interesting sociological and political issues I recommend a movie called "City of God" ("Cidade de Deus" in Portuguese) and a book from Caco Barcelos. Barcelos is a journalist from O Globo, the Brazilian giant media conglomerate. He spent one year with one of the godfathers of the favela, Juliano V.P. and wrote a book about this experience. I started reading this book during my summer vacation in Rio a couple of years ago. The book is fascinating. One morning, during my stay there, the friend I was staying with brought me the newspaper saying that a leader of the Sta. Rocinha favela who had been incarcerated a few months earlier was found dead in his cell with a note saying "you talked too much". This guy was no other than Juliano V.P. That was kind of a shock. I guess I got so much into the book that I sort of suddenly got caught up by reality. In the article they mentioned the fact that Juliano V.P. had told the story of his life to Barcelos and some of the secrets of the favela... since then I can't help thinking about this strange story every time I look at my painting...