a dancing star!

30th October to 5th November. IMD offers a wealth of learning; the Beau-Rivage Palace is as heavenly as the ?ırağan Palace on the Bosphorus. Learn more about Lausanne.

10th August 2004:
Regretfully, one was unable to enjoy the eulogies for the out-going Senior Minister over the National Day weekend. Luckily we have not seen the last of him. A new imprimatur rises from the ashes, more senior than “Senior Minister”: he remains as “Minister Mentor“, the final battle against senescence.

We are easily programmed to forget. It’s 20 years since the Ethiopian famine and Band Aid. The BBC screened a compelling retrospective this weekend, narrated by Michael Buerk, whose initial reportage brought dying onto our screens and the temporary retreat of cynicism.

So our friend has been re-elected. Why this should be so remains a mystery to most of us present here at IMD. What is our response? Do we shrug our shoulders and wander our own way? Do we condem democracy - or the democratic process - for its apparent irrationality? Indeed, can we not [...]

21st to 29th October. Work is far more enjoyable and productive with such beautiful sights.

The year’s end is near and so is the Thai Prime Minister’s. I wonder what the ubiquitous international community has to say about the Thai approach to conflict resolution.
Sometimes I despair. Religious conflict is part of South East Asia’s awakening, as much as the Inquisition, the Templars and Cathars were constitutive of Europe’s medieval making. [...]

Music never saved anyone
There are few bands you are lucky enough to grow up with, bands which evolve and create a tempo, an aural sense apace with yourself. Unfortunately, The Replacements came a decade too early; I started when they ended, in 1991. Just as well, since the 80s would not have kind to me, [...]

While not usually susceptible to the sway and spell of portends, serious doubts settled uncomfortably comfortably in my mind. The airline we chartered to take us to our destination was called SMAC, an irrelevant acronym for an airline perhaps, yet worryingly apt given our destination was the province of Aceh.
Hampered by forces natural and [...]

This Guided by Voices bootleg captures the band on one of their earliest tours (in 1994), breaking the mold on stage at Stache’s in Colombus, OH. Has it been ten years?
How cool is Tom Verlaine? The ex-Television man’s “critical acclaimed” Flash Light is tough, quite unlike Kobe beef.

First steps: (24th October 2004)
It started innocently enough with a Sunday shopping sojourn; it started entirely aimlessly and proceeded to spiral out of control, ending only when the plastic cried out.
One of the assorted nothings was a sleek coffee machine. The logic was quite simple: why let the 21st century equivalent of McDonald’s ruin my [...]