Ecuador Default

Felix Salmon on the coming chance of Ecuador defaulting:

that there's only one person with the ability to tell [Ecuadorean President] Correa to get a grip -- and that's Hugo Chavez. When Chavez is bondholders' best hope, you know things are pretty desperate.

Link

A Casting Choice

In Hollywood’s imaginings, over the past decade, a black President is no longer a fantastical premise; it’s an incidental plot point, a casting choice.

From David Remnick's very long piece in this New Yorker on Obama's win and what it all means..

My boyfriend, who's Brazilian and 21, said he expected Obama to win because, afterall, the president is always black in movies.

Sexy Tango Solo

Talento Argentino, the local version of America/Britain/Australia's Got Talent shows a lot of Tango and folclore related performers. Definitely a plus. [Via Tangocherie]

Iceland Winter 2008

Recent events had savaged my net worth by 60 per cent and pushed up my cost of living by more than 20 per cent. Iceland’s plight was mine, too.

On life in Iceland, after the crash. Reminds me of Argentina 2002.

"No pictures, no pictures, the boss doesn't want any pictures." ...

"Fuck the bosses! Every boss I have ever had sucks and you know what guy, your boss sucks too, he don't pay you enough for all your hard work, fuck him."

Will Steacy rants on photographing in the public domain. I like his approach.

Pared Mutante - Pintada Politica

Here in Buenos Aires (where I'm living these days) it's common to see walls which have been white-washed and then painted with large bubble letters, half-filled with some color, usually blue. They're called pintadas politicas and are usually supporting some Peronist politician but can also be for other political parties or even factions for the president of a football club [thanks Albano]. The fotolog Pared Mutante documents the successive messages painted on a single building in Buenos Aires since 2006. [Via PeruFotoLibre]

PeruFotoLibre

PeruFotoLibre is my favorite new blog. Check it out! Fascinating stuff both in Peru and around Latin America

Maciek Jasik - Lima, Peru

I've been to Lima twice, in 1997 and 1999 and I don't remember as a terribly pleasant city; big, ugly, out of control. Still, I remember even then being taken with certain visual aspects of the place. New York based photographer Maciek Jasik has a fantastic series on the so-called Pueblos Jovenes, hastily built shanty-towns on the outskirts of Lima. Lima's perpetual fog and desert, mountainous landscape give these photos an otherworldly quality, like favelas on Mars. [via Shane Lavalette]

Delaney & Bonnie - When this Battle is Over

I've been rediscovering all the classic rock I used to listen to in High School. Check out this video from Delaney & Bonnie, a southern soul/rock group from the late 1960s & early 1970s. Forget everything you know about Karen Carptenter and check out their original version of Superstar.

Pablo Cabado

This series by Pablo Cabado portrays the decay of Argentina as seen through a derelict amusement park. The guy on the right kinda reminds me of Dan Hedaya. [via Heading East]

Monkey Puzzle Desert

Image from Tacna, Peru, formerly part of Chile but before that it was Peru [long story]. I like that they planted a Monkey Puzzle Tree in the middle of the Atacama desert. Like Tequila in Alaska.

Obsession

Richard Avedon didn't just take mind-blowing portraits with an 8x10 view camera against a white background. He also made absurdly campy commercials for perfume.

Here's the SNL version:

Actually, no, that was another real one. Hard to tell the difference between camp and reality 23 years on.

Warren Buffet 1977

from the footer to some long article published by Fortune in 1977 about how stocks are like crappy bonds:

Buffett, who is now forty-six and still operating out of Omaha, has a diverse portfolio. He and businesses he controls have interests in over thirty public corporations. His major holdings: Berkshire Hathaway (he owns about $35 million worth) and Blue Chip Stamps (about $10 million). (link)

Smart guy, maybe I shoulda bought some BRK back then.

Foto sweet spot

from a photo editor:

Photography is the key. Figure out how to use it. Video online is TV. We already know that works. Text online is, well, it’s great to read at a certain length but you know, it’s always going to work better printed. Photography is the perfect medium for communication online.[link]

Disco Camel

My Brazilian friend Emerson is currently living in Dubai. I these pictures are from a nighttime camel ride. I like the flash in these pictures. You don't usually see animals photographed in this way. It's like they were props at some wild, Studio 54 type party, thrown in the desert.