Consuming passions

I'm an Amazon addict .. and that's not even counting my Kindle obsession (see earlier post). Amazon's consumer product reviews and corresponding rating system are  pure genius. Like many men, I always hated "shopping" but Amazon has totally changed that. I don't feel like I'm schlepping around with a dreary to-do list and a probably pointless series of physical journeys from A to B to C to Z. Now it's more like hunting, which we males are supposed to prefer: stalking your prey, assessing your chances and then - attack ! Shoot that poison arrow. Often at night and from the comfort of one's own cave. I'm about to capture some sticky-backed cork tiles, which is a deeply satisfying feeling. But even better when you then stumble across a product review like this one. Shopping and anti-shopping all delightfully gift-wrapped in one seamless experience. It doesn't get any better than that.

Happy Birthday

Dear Grandma, in less than two hours you will be 94. You died on July 25th, just after midnight. I wasnt very good at remembering your birthday but you always remembered mine, even the one in July. Rest in peace Grandma.

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

Let's take a little drive into the future.

Safe as BRICS

Article in Daily Telegraph on Brazil's overhyped and dangerously bubbly economy ... catching up with what this blog was saying a year ago. Interesting readers' comments too.

Finally !

Received an email from the lawyer this morning and once again braced for more unpleasant news: more bureaucratic madness, more twists and turns in a long and winding road to nowhere. But what I actually got this time was the unbelievably good news that P is now able to stay longterm in the UK, and to stay without feeling like a prisoner devoid of rights and status. Ten months after our visa application nightmare began and eight months after entering the UK (an entry fraught with anxiety and so nearly denied to P and Sam), it looks like we can finally breathe out and inch closer to the kind of normality that most people take for granted - especially me before all this happened. Many thanks to our lawyer Philip, to my MP and his right-hand woman, Simon Hughes and Magali, and above all to my parents for supporting us every step of the way in this trip through hell.

Car crash

Eike Batista has been bragging about his vast wealth and its inexorable rise. Hubris swiftly followed by nemesis, as his son is all over the headlines - international as well as Brazilian - for killing a cyclist while driving daddy's supercar. An unfortunate accident ? Of course. Always, when you're part of Brazil's elite class. I was drawn to the second-most popular readers' comment in the Daily Mail coverage:

Big Brother v. mugger brother

At my grandma's the other day, where once again she received cold calls from faceless salesmen. The first claimed to be from her phone and internet provider, TalkTalk. Acting as her call screener, I had my doubts about this man's credentials: why was he bothering a 93-year-old, whose telephone and internet use are extremely uninteresting, with go-faster products ? Not nice ... even if he was an actual TalkTalk employee.