chacal la chaise's blog

Love in the Time of Cholera

Love In The Time Of Cholera

I finally saw a television commercial for this film, and look forward to seeing it in the theater. Once I finish reading The Book Thief, another book slated for film release (2008), I think I'll try to reread Love in the Time of Cholera before I see the film, slated for US release on November 11. 

Life in "New Texico"

Now this one is a new one on me. In this New York Times Real Estate article that appears under the headline:

Two Border Cities, One Shared Lifestyle, Lisa Chamberlain reports how real estate agents and executives treat this region as one location that encompasses international and national political boundaries of Southern New Mexico, Far West Texas, and Northern Mexico. The new one is how they refer to the area.

[...] relatively affordable housing prices have protected the entire region — northern Mexico, western Texas, southern New Mexico, locally referred to as “New Texico” — from the downturn in the real estate market that has affected other parts of the United States, according to Charles de Wetter, the principal of Coldwell Banker de

Scenic Drive :: Faces walk to the ledge's edge and view the cities spread before them.

Wetter Hovious in El Paso.

While Juárez is generally still a poor city, housing options have improved as the Mexican middle class has grown. Where there used to be only cheap or very high-end housing, now there are more American-style subdivisions and gated communities, brokers say, and the prices are comparable to similar homes in El Paso.

[...]

He explained that the proximity of El Paso to Juárez creates an ideal environment for a dual-city culture, whereas “in San Diego there’s a separation of 10 to 15 miles” from the Mexican border, he said. “Since the beginning, this has been viewed as one place, as one city.”

We've know that for years. Many people, born in the U.S. who are bilingual, dual citizenship, and have family in Juarez sometimes decide to live in Juarez if only to save money on housing. Later, they return to El Paso to send their kids to private or public schools. It is a fallacy to think that all Mexican license plated cars sitting in driveways here are owned by "illegals."

Corporate disconnects found every day...

...with the help of focused and very smart people. Most evident is this entry by Marc Andreesen who caught a disconnect between what M$ Balmer said on October 2, and what transpired with that company late last week:
On October 2, Balmer noted

[...] that there was little in the way of technology to justify the lofted valuation attached to a site expected to achieve revenues of only $150 million this year.
[...]

"There can’t be any more deep technology in Facebook than what dozens of people could write in a couple of years. That’s for sure," he said. (from the Times of London article, Ballmer: Facebook risks being 'a fad')

Then on October 23, WSJ online reported:

Microsoft Corp. agreed to invest $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook Inc. that values the social-networking site at $15 billion, beating Google Inc. in a closely watched contest.

As part of the deal, the two companies expanded their existing advertising agreement. Microsoft, which previously handled Facebook's U.S. ad sales, will now also sell the site's international advertising.

(note: the link is Marc's, but WSJ amended the article October 25.)

thank you Marc!

matt and his around america in 2.0 project

Well, the verdict is in...

Well, the verdict is in...