Aujourd’hui, tu nous as quitté, et un grand vide s’est créé dans nos coeurs.
Tes leçons de vie étaient simples. Respecter le travail du mineur, comprendre le sens de la retraite, découvrir une certain forme d’amour. Notre famille s’est agrandie au fil de tes voyages, et ta maison était la plus grande de toutes.
Respet. Générosité. Amour.
Aujourd’hui, tu es avec nous pour toujours, et nos coeurs sont pleins de joie.
With recent deliveries from Santa Claus, my little collection of Star Wars LEGO sets is shaping up nicely. It’s far from being complete, but I managed to get my hands on most of the Ultimate Collector’s Series sets that are still available for purchase from the LEGO store. Here is my current inventory:
Here are the available sets that I still need to acquire:
And finally, the sets that are discontinued:
These will have to be bought from BrickLink. Sealed boxes only!
On my way to my first meeting of the day with my friend Sawada San, I got to experience the unbelievably crowded subway in Tokyo. So many people are trying to get onto the train that pushers are required to squeeze them in when the doors close, sometimes leaving parts of jackets or suitcases hanging out. On our first attempt, the car was simply too full, and we had to wait for the next one. When it arrived less than 5 minutes later, we were first in line, which meant that we got pressed to the back of the car, only to find ourselves scrambling to make our way out at the very next stop. Some days, I’m really glad that I can walk from home to work…
Concluding a star-shaped trip around the world, I arrived in Japan earlier today, making it my second trip here this year, and my fifth visit overall. The tour started with Singapore, followed by Brazil, then Australia and Western Europe, with stops in San Francisco at every step along the way, usually for a single night back home, and once for as little as a two-hours layover at SFO on my way from Sydney to London. In Western Europe, I visited London, Hamburg, Paris, and Geneva in just three days, making it long enough to experience some nasty jetlag, yet too short to really enjoy any of it. Life as a globe trotter…
Tonight, my brother Nassim treated me to the premiere of Jean-Michel Jarre’s live concert for Oxygène’s 30th aniversary. The album sold over 12 million copies since its release in 1977 and has been re-mastered. It was played by Jarre and three other musicians, using vintage instruments in front of a small crowd of less than 300 people at the Théâtre Marigny. Oxygène was the LP that my brother and I listened to the most when we were kids, and to this day it lost nothing of its avant-gardist experimental spirit. So many memories are attached to this music that I shed a tear when Part II started playing. Thank you so much Nassim: you could not have given me a better gift for Christmas. Note to Jean-Michel: some friends and I would love to invite you for a performance in San Francisco.
One of the highlights of my trip to Sydney, Australia, was the fortuitous discovery of Monocle, a new magazine produced by Tyler Brûlé, founder of Wallpaper* and Winkreative. To me, the magazine is an attempt at discovering a contemporary, cosmopolitan ethos, infused with class and style. I had the same pleasure reading Monocle issue 07 as I had reading early releases of L’Autre Journal. Subscription is quite expensive ($150/year), but gives access to a complementary online edition, so I might add it to my list.
Sao Paulo, Brazil is the third stop in my round-the-world trip to launch Intalio|BPMS 5.0. Contrasts between extreme wealth and utmost poverty are shocking. Discussions with a customer make me discover the danger of traveling cross country, where cars and trucks can be mugged by gangsters armed with machine guns. More discussions with a TV producer teach me that most business people living in Sao Paulo hire armed bodyguards to protect them, and usually install tens of video surveillance cameras in their homes. Different world… Fortunately, other parts of Brazil are less violent, and my friend Mauricio gives me a great list of places to visit when May and I will find some time for a much-deserved time off. Bonito comes on top. Very much looking forward to it…
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