I worked through Gladwell’s new book quickly.  I was half way done by the time we landed in Barcelona and finished it off on Tuesday.  The book actually read a little like Freakenomics with a ton of ah-ha moments and insight backed by data driven analysis.  The purpose of the book is to explain how people become “Outliers” and really stand out as extraordinary and accomplished.  People like  Bill Gates, The Beatles, Mozart, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are a few names that come to mind in this context.  Gladwell uses several examples to prove that it isn’t a case of natural ability, but a set or circumstances (that may happen by chance, or maybe carefully planned) that leads to success and above all, it is experience, practice and preparation.  He says that the magic number is 10,000.  If you spend 10,000 hours practicing something, you can likely master it at the world class level.  In addition to the practice, your timing has to be right as well.  Bill Gates couldn’t have become BIll Gates at any other point in history (or in the future).  It was a very interesting read and I highly recommend it along with Gladwell’s other two books.

The second book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded”, I’m about a third of the way through.  It’s also quite good, although not really a light read.  Friedman’s latest book takes a look at population growth, oil consumption and global warming through the eyes of a foreign affairs columnist.  One of the ideas he develops is a correlation between freedom and democracy in oil producing countries and the price of a barrel of oil.  When the price of oil is high, freedom is relatively low.  When oil is cheap, measures of freedom, democracy and human rights rise.  He explains the tie and provides a compelling case that the collapse of the Soviet Union was not tied to diplomacy, military power, the rise of democracy or anything else, but rather to the fall in the price of oil in the 1980s.  I’ll give a more full review once I’m done with it, but right now I strongly recommend it.

Barcelona is a beautiful city.  Depending on what area of the city you are in, everything seems to have been designed by artists.  The lamp posts are ornate and beautiful, streets are tree-lined and the buildings are incredible.  We took a bus tour yesterday of the city and realised how much there was to see.  We’ll have to come back again.  The 1992 Summer Olympics had a lasting effect on the city including new buildings, art, transportation and the development of the areas around the beaches.  Unfortunately, a lot of the city is under construction with many of the historic buildings lined with scaffolding.  I’m guessing they do most of the refurbishing in the off season.

Today we’re going to take it easy.  We’ve been told that most things will be closed for Christmas so we loaded up on some fruit, meat and bread at the market.  We also picked up a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the day.  We’ll probably head down to the beach, pop the cork, and enjoy another beautiful day in Spain.

Tomorrow we head back and get ready for Jim, Joslyn and Dad to show up.  It’s going to be a bit crowded in the one bedroom flat, so wish us luck!  Merry Christmas!

This week was nothing like I expected.  Melisse left on Tuesday for France with one of her art school friends so I’ve been a bachelor all week.  I thought it was going to be a very slow week since we have really been ramping down to Christmas holidays at work.  I was going to do a bit of internal development work followed by a few Christmas parties before taking three weeks off.  Things got off to a good start on Tuesday when a few of us went out to celebrate Olli’s birthday.  We had a great time, but didn’t get home until around 3:30 after hitting several bars in London.  I was a bit tired on Wednesday which was no big deal until we got the call at noon that a big project was kicking off that would require most everyone that was available with a deadline before Christmas.  Cancelling of Holidays, Christmas Party’s and working weekends were all mentioned in the kickoff meeting.  We worked late that night and I was glad when my head finally hit the pillow.  Thursday wasn’t too bad, so we hit the pub again after work.  It was supposed to be just for a quick pint, but it turned into several.  Friday was another 2AM night after we wrapped up our project work around 6:30 or 7 and decided we had enough done to take the weekend off, so today, I’m taking it easy on the couch trying to stay warm and dry.

One of the problems with where we live is that I can’t get anywhere without walking.  That is good when the weather is nice and I get some exercise.  It sucks on a day like this when I decide not to leave our 600 sqft for fear of being soaked by the time I get to wherever it is I was going.  Damn…that reminds me that I need to get a Secret Santa present for the office party next week!  Maybe the weather will clear up tomorrow.

Jim - “Tom?”

Me - “Yeah, are you at your computer?  Log onto steep and cheap and buy the sunglasses and bring them over when you come”

Jim - “Don’t you have the internet over there?”

Tom - “Yeah, but I don’t have a credit card or shipping address”

Jim - “Damn you…I’m on it”

Tom - “Thanks, let’s catch up later this weekend, I’m off to the pub”

THANKS JIM!!!

Starting with Thanksgiving, it’s a holiday that is difficult to celebrate abroad.  This is my second international Thanksgiving (2005 in Costa Rica), but at least in ‘05 I was able to celebrate with friends before I left.  This year, Melisse and I had dinner at an Argentinian restaurant.  The food was good, but I was really craving some turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pumpkin pie and football. 

Moving forward a few days to Melisse’s birthday.  She turned 33 on Saturday and we celebrated most of the weekend.  Starting on Friday night, we attended a musical at the Phoenix Theatre titled Blood Brothers.  It was a pretty good show, but don’t expect a happy ending to this tale of twins that were separated at birth and raised on opposite sides of the tracks.  Following the show, we headed to a Spanish restaurant near the theatre for some Tapas and wine before calling it a night. 

On Saturday we continued the celebration.  We started with some coffee and pastries before heading to the Tate Britain for the Francis Bacon exhibit.  Melisse loved it, but Bacon was definitely a twisted dude.  Lesson learned was that I should study my artists before agreeing to go!  We followed up the trip to the museum with some champagne, cheese and olives back at the flat before dinner at Numero Uno.  Dinner was good, we drank plenty and Melisse had a happy b-day although I’m not sure she’s that excited about 33. 

We wrapped up the weekend with a run on Sunday morning before Melisse going into school to work on a project and me hopping a train to Brussels for a training class. 

London - Britain is considering a ban on “happy hour” discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesperson said on Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic.

Health officials will decide on whether to ban the happy hours - designated times for discount drinks - once an independent policy review is published in coming weeks, a health department spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.

The proposal was one of several aimed at stemming a trend in binge drinking in recent years, particularly among teenagers and young adults. The government also plans to spend £10m on a new public awareness campaign, and wants to improve enforcement of laws against underage drinking.

A health advocacy group said some of those young people were now showing signs of liver-related damage usually seen in older people.

Given that it can take 15 to 20 years for liver disease to develop, the British Liver Trust warned that the figures suggested the problem would only get worse.

“We’re seeing a steep increase of deaths in people in their 20s and 30s,” Trust spokesperson Imogen Shillito said. “This indicates a big problem for many years to come.”

National statistics show a steady rise in the number of alcohol-related deaths that typically fell heavy drinkers in their 40s and 50s who have abused alcohol for decades. From 1991 to 2006, the number of such deaths more than doubled to 8 758.

Alcohol-related deaths among people aged 25 to 29 were 40% higher in 2006 than the year before, Shillito said, citing national statistics.

Shillito said low prices for alcohol had helped encourage drinking among British youths, noting “they can buy alcohol with their pocket money.”

The government plans to base its new alcohol policies, including possible new programs to help people reduce consumption, on the upcoming review by the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield.

Officials say the report should clarify whether retail practices lead to excessive drinking. They are considering a ban on a number of practices, including drinking games and speed-drinking events popular at some British pubs.

- AP