American Express Member´s Project - International Medical Corps

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Once in a while I receive news of worthwile causes and after looking this one over I couldn´t help but write about it.

This non-profit came about as a result of the Afghan war. In the early 1980´s a UCLA emergency room physician read about the plight of the Afghans, who at the time were fighting the Russians. Hearing the news that "all but 200 out of 1500 physicians had been executed, imprisoned or exiled and relief agencies had been ordered out of the country" he decided that he needed to do something.

They now operate in over 40 countries and they are also one of the founding members of the One campaign and a Member of the Clinton Global Initiative.

International Medical Corps has been matched to one of the Top 25 in American Express’ Members Projects, ‘Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children.’  Chosen out of 1,190 projects, “Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children” is now eligible to receive up to $1.5 million in funding. The project with the most votes receives $1.5 million, 2nd receives $500,000, 3rd $300,000, and 4th and 5th $100,000. The funding – made possible by your votes – would bring a vital lifeline to hungry and malnourished children around the world.  We need your help between now and September 29th. Voting is easy and doesn’t cost a thing! In just a click, you can save the lives of thousands of malnourished children. Click here to vote:

So, if you have an American Express Card and the desire to some good please check them out and evaluate the possibility of helping them out. Remember they have until the 30th of September.

Debatin' Time

Actually all are welcomed, Republicans, Libertarians, Moose hunters...

Just know that the proceeds will go towards the Obama campaign.

I don't know about you, but wouldn't it be funny if McCain were to make another spectacular blunder on live TV?

I mean he did mistake Spain for a rogue South American country and didn't have the balls to say so and instead opted to stick to his guns and ally be damned

He invented the Blackberry, but yet has no clue on how to work the Google.

The Fundamentals of our economy are strong (mentioned on the 15th of September by the way) and since that day he has gone through the 5 stages of grief over the economy.

McCain got everything wrong on Iraq.

...I could go on and on.

Better to wait and come down to watch this all important event.

For just $10 pesos you get to share the experience in what looks like a nice posh setting. And I heard that Yanqui Mike was buying beers. Take him up on it.

September 26
The Sacramento
El Salvador 5729 (between Bonpland and Carranza)
just 3 blocks from Juan B. Justo
8pm

So let's have some beer and enjoy the show!

It Happened to Francis Ford Coppola As Well

A while back Francis Ford Coppola had his computer stolen when thieves broke into his property in Palermo Viejo. Being a neighbor of his (I live two blocks away) I have noticed how most of the businesses have been targeted and have been victims of theft. I knew it only had to be a matter of time before my own business was targeted.

Actually, last year, I did have some theft problems and those did catch me off guard. I never thought they would steal metal gratings???

This year the buggers got a bit more daring. They winched up the metal curtain, propped it up with a metal rod, broke the glass door and took off with the computer.

Could it have been a jealous competitor; a hungry dad wishing to feed his kids; or riff raff that hangs out at the train tracks across the boulevard?

I would put my money on that last option.

Between people calling me to tell me they have one of my relatives in the trunk of their car, being in a street that once a year turns into a river, and now this, I must be crazy to keep at it. But you know what? I would be crazy to do otherwise; I love this place.

I just have to come up with a better way to protect the store.

Below are some pictures of the aftermath. Later on I will upload a little video I shot of the store.

Time Out Buenos Aires 2008

click on images for a larger view

A while back I wrote about how we were starting to get noticed by the media, but Time Out, for example, did not know who we were; Well, they know us now.



They took a couple of pictures; chatted with me for a while over cookies and coffee; and they went back and wrote this about us:



Does this mean I better get cracking on making muffins? Should I take that as a hint?

One more further clarification. We are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 7pm and close from 1:30pm to 2:30pm for lunch.

We also are open on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.

I am still tickled pink that they thought of us and I love their description. They have just shot to the top of our short list of magazines that we are going to publicize in.

Lipstick on a Pig

"I’m not insinuating anyone is a pig. Nor am I suggesting you need to be wearing lipstick. I believe the saying ‘let’s put some lipstick on this pig’ originated in the brokerage/investment banking industry. Typically, the saying referred to promoting or selling a stock or investment product, which the broker didn’t believe in or which may not have been in the client’s best interest to buy."--Mark McGlinchey

That´s right Obama, only John McCain can use that phrase. Maybe that´s the real reason he is so angry about it. Oh wait, so can Torie Clark, Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Rep. John Mica of Florida and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, as well as the author Mark McGlinchey who is responsible for that book you see above.

But McCain's campaign is not about to let the issue go. They released a Web ad Wednesday that plays Obama's lipstick comments, then asks, "Ready to lead? No. Ready to smear? Yes."

Hmm, lately McCain´s ads seem to describe McCain more than his intended target. Would that be calling the kettle black?

Now let´s see a classy, Presidential type response from Obama. This guy sounds more and more like a President than his counterpart:

Time for Some Campaignin´

I found this video amusing and wanted to share. Thanks Christina!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Rain of Biblical Proportions

Maybe if the rain doesn´t work they can switch to voodoo dolls. Meanwhile we still have States that would rather have our teachers not teach evolution.

At least there was a reply on Television to this sillyness and I post it below:




I know I seem to be all over the place with this, but really people. There is something wrong when we have to argue about the validity of teaching Evolution in our schools and having a segment of the population praying to their God for a political prank. Believe me, voodoo dolls are not that far a stretch from this.

I am currently living in one of the most religious countries on this continent and I don´t see nearly the same level of idiocies as I see coming from the religious right of the United States. Grant it, this group has it´s baggage ( a lot of bad history here and plenty to criticize), but that is a whole other ball of wax that I can´t tackle here.

Well if you must and you know Spanish you can go to Alerta Religion for that. If you want to read from the same author, but in English then you can click -here- and get a whole slew of material.

Meanwhile one of the most trusted names in the news industry is a comedian (Jon Stewart). He held a breakfast with the news media and my favorite quote from that event was "Why do I take this more seriously than you?".

Way to go Jon!

Maybe we do need rain of biblical proportions, but I would like this rain to wash away this idea that the church and the State have anything to do with each other and that it gets some reporters wet. I am a "Glass half full" kind of guy so I will take this as a good start.

El retrato y el cuerpo - Gallery Nights

Click on picture to enlarge.

This seems to be an Art theme going on recently and that is most likely due to so many artistic events happening around this time. This unique event is part of Gallery Nights. The show starts the 29th of August, 7pm at Arenales 1415.

This time around this show is interactive. You the visitor, if you want to obviously, will have some makeup applied on the second floor, then on the third floor you will have your picture taken.

I don´t want to give anything away, but as you can imagine it´s not just a plain picture that will be taken. The third floor will be set up just for these pictures that will use the space, or the background as part of the total effect.

These pictures will be displayed simultaneously on an LCD screen downstairs for all to see and you could have your particular pictures e-mailed to your friends and family.

The pictures will form part of the show that will be exhibited for the whole month. I am sure to go to this one.

There will be champagne as well as Sugar & Spice cookies to nibble on while exploring the show. Anyone who takes their picture with a cookie and sends me the picture can have a free pack of their favorite cookies (the largest size pack of course to be picked up at our store).

pedidos at sugar and spice dot com dot ar

The show is organized by Omnes Artes, and Marca Futuro Arte, and held at La Europea.

This show is also sponsored by:

Sugar & Spice
Chandon
Maxim Store
Bodega Sur de los Andes
CeeLite
ICAP
2MG NET
among others.

Hank & Maraya

I used to think it was the air that was special here. If it were up to these two, the city would have most likely been called Buenas Luzes instead of Buenos Aires.

Hank is a professional photographer. Having worked for National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, PBS and The Travel Channel, his *girlfriend had to have picked up the shutter bug along the way right?

*correction: I just found out that Hank & Maraya are not partners. My mistake, sorry.

Actually, she is an artist in her own right as well. She received her BFA in art education from the University of Calgary in 1989. She is also a published poet and this couple is currently having their work in photographs displayed at the Edea Art Gallery in San Telmo. The collection is called "The Light is Special Here" and it is a collection of photoshop free highlights of their travels through Argentina and Central America.

The show has already started and it runs from the 14th through the 24th. On the 24th between 4:30 and 6:30pm Hank and Maraya will treat their guests to some Sugar & Spice cookies so you can satisfy any cookie craving you might have while admiring their handy camera work.

Just to give you a taste of what you can see at the show I have included some pictures below, as well as the picture above. You can click on them to get a much larger view:

El Corte Ingles

From the 26th of September through the 18th of Octobre, El Corte Ingles will celebrate 3 weeks of Argentine products in their stores; this includes Sugar & Spice products in the offering.

This will include 8 stores in Madrid, 5 in Barcelona, and 4 in Valencia.

El Corte Ingles is Spain´s largest department store and is also one of its oldest and most prestigious stores. There is an article on the history of this department store in Spanish.

The following are some numbers that represent this event:

390 products purchased and represented during these 3 weeks
34 companies represented in this purchase
21 wineries
7 distributors who end up representing another 20 food companies
600,000 euros was the aproximate amount of their total purchase

Sugar & Spice ended up sending the largest number of pallets (about 15 pallets) of all the participating companies in this round.

Thank you Fundación Exportar for including us in this round of negotiations with El Corte Ingles!