TechZati

January 6, 1997

Volume II of my travels.

Travel Journal - Volume 2 cover

Coming from Livingstone, Zambia, the other side of Victoria Falls, I ended up in Lusaka. I decided I was going to try and meeting Lisa and Terrence.

Swimming around in the Zambezi above Victoria Falls was quite an experience – Random thought.

Anyway, I met a bunch of Swedish med students in Livingstone on their way to Lusaka. We all jumped in a bus together. One of the baggage handlers dropped pack on my Zebra masks and cracked them – no hard feelings. But, I made him pay me. I figure if you make a living out of hustling people, if you broke something the person would be very compassionate and perhaps a fool if they let it slide. I didn’t give him too difficult a time over it.

Getting into the bus, the first sign that we were going to have trouble was probably the fact that they had to push start the entire bus. We went along well for a while, and then it happened. The big breakdown. It was raining and we had to get our bags down. One thing about these African rains is they come hard and fast.

Push Starting the Bus - Lusaka, Zambia

We ended up having to hitch ~200KM back to Lusaka. No problem, I guess Lusaka is like Jo-burg -lots of crime. I got sorted out with the Swedes at the hospital. All the students are women and they’re all beautiful and all extremely nice. I’d date a Swedish doctor!

• Listening to Whitney Houston's pre-launch site-www.whitneyhouston.com. Is it me, or is she not hitting those high notes like she used to? #

• At LGA. Traveling again. This time to Minneapolis. #
• Hello Seattle! #

• http://twitpic.com/5c1zp – Stroller parking lot at Red Robin #
• Building a Giant BBQ at my brother’s house. #
• Wow. Earythquake in orange county, CA. Just felt the car shake. #
• Lunch at Sauce on Hampton #
• http://twitpic.com/5ifk9 – Ketchum office in LA, CA where I just gave a digital innovation and strategy presentation. #
• http://twitpic.com/5ksem – Out for lunch in Santa Monica #
• In Colorado Springs – a little rainy. #

• Tired but satisfied – busy week cranking out digital strategy plans. Getting ready for a multi-city tour. #
• At Laguardia on my way to Houston, TX #
• Just landed in Houston. Hot and humid. Hello summer! #
• http://twitpic.com/55yfw – Onsite in Houston at the Dtv booth #
• http://twitpic.com/56jwx – Big watermelons in Pearland, TX #
• Up before the sun in Houston. Now, headed to SLC for a day. #
• http://twitpic.com/57sfj – Ain’t it the truth. USA Today #
• http://twitpic.com/58vi1 – Salt Lake Public Library. Interesting architecture for a small place. #
• At NTIA Dtv coupon event in Salt Lake City. At the SL Public Library. #
• http://twitpic.com/59266 – Experiential artists in Salt Lake!?! Love that art is alive and well here. #
• Headed to Gallivan Center to run SMS projector at 8:30. T. I am only here for a day. #

• The Times gets tough with Boston Globe http://bit.ly/13eTes. The big question is – where will people get investigative news? #
• VC and the world of start-ups. http://tinyurl.com/d92lhh #
• Wet, early morning! Off to play rugby in the Mother’s Day Long Island tournament. Go Gotham #
• Recovering from a slight rugby concussion. What was that? #

• The Murchison asteroid in Australia contained amino acids. Did human life start in outer space? #
• Had a great time at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center. Guest of F.I.T. board director Frank Zambrelli for the scholarship prgrm. #
• Wondering if I sounded nuts when partial thoughts articulated themselves yesterday. #
• @GregBloomRocks thanks, sir! It’s still a little wonky and sore, but hope to play this weekend. #

I just had homemade tostones for the first time. I thought I was buying green bananas and they ended up as green plantains (not clearly marked) – an opportunity to try cooking a new food presented itself.

Plantains are a type of banana – starchy when green, sweeter when ripe. Ripe=brown/black.

Plantains sold at the Cubano bodega around the corner

I’ve had them before and they’re delicious, but apparently there’s some tricks ‘o the trade to making the crispy and flavorful. A dear friend, whose friend is a pro, (yes that’s two degrees of separation) lent some tips.

Here’s the process:
1) Peeling green plantains is not the easiest task – make sure you’ve got mad knife skills.
2) Slice diagonally so the pieces are ovals, not circles
3) Soak for 15 mins in water. Add Adobo powder for flavor (keep the water handy).
4) Fry in vegetable oil – medium heat to soften the plantains for about 5 mins (browned slightly on each side)
5) Squish the plantains in a tostanera and throw back into water for a minute or so – take out and set aside (apparently the second water bath helps make them crispy)
6) Turn up the heat and fry the flattened plantains until crispy.
7) I used a garlic and olive oil dipping sauce.

Here’s what they look like – yum. They had the texture of french fries.

Not a fan of cooking? It’s much easier to order tostones from the nearest Dominican/Cuban/Puerto Rican restaurant you can find.

Green plantains and the finished product

• Hopes his shoulder didn’t get too messed up playing against Suffolk Bull Moose. That was a wicked tackle! #
• Fantastically creative film movie showcasing Philips TV’s – experience it! http://www.cinema.philips.com/?ls=gb_en #
• Icing my shoulder from last week’s injury. Figuring out if I’m going to make it to the Brooklyn v Gotham rugby match. #

• RT @alleyinsider: Mobile Barcodes: Big In France! http://bit.ly/k37H5 #
• VC Fundraising – http://tinyurl.com/czkrcc #
• RT @alleyinsider: eBay Dumps StumbleUpon http://bit.ly/18cql #
• My colleague Daniel Dworkin on Riding the Social Media Wave on Huffington Post http://bit.ly/3GCuf3 Huffpost #
• http://twitpic.com/3d4ki – #
• Getting ready for GDX at SCAD #
• http://twitpic.com/3dwf9 – Scad web site #gdx #
• RT @Techmeme: Facebook rejects funding at $4 billion valuation, may not raise more (Eric Eldon/VentureBeat) http://bit.ly/1cEHY7 #
• At Laguardia flying to Savannah, GA #
• Just watched John Sharpe talk about top design flaws in game design #gdx #
• Wow Andrew Bains from Epic Games just walked into the river club in savannah! #gdx #
• http://twitpic.com/3ezz1 – A couple SCAD students. #gdx #scad #
• Just about to listen to George Sanger – legendary game music composer at Game Developers Exchange. #gdx #scad #
• @jonjones: What advice can you give seniors looking for a job? #gdx #
• @scaddotedu. Michael, what inspired the xbox intro? #
• Showing students at SCAD the power of twitter at gdx. Sitting with jon jones and michael sweet #gdx #
• rt @scaddotedu: Jason Rohrer’s #gdx lecture from #scad will be webcast live this morning at 9 on http://www.scad.tv #gdx #followfriday #
• http://twitpic.com/3gb70 – Jason rohere talking about immersion project and parental concerns about kids and gaming #gdx #
• Jason Rohrer speaking @gdx talking about old Cornell dormmates who got addictde to gaming. #gdx watch on http://www.scad.tv #followfriday #
• RT @scaddotedu: http://twitpic.com/3gekf – Gamers getting ready for jon jones! Great guy-met him during a GDX Twinterview #gdx #scad #
• RT @scaddotedu: Harmonix : scheduled release for Beatles game is 9.9.09 #gdx @scad #
• Just saw an interesting presentation on video game animation by one of the lead creators of #Rockband at SCAD #GDX #Harmonix http://www.scad.tv #
• Listening to Michael Sweet – xbox intro creator! #
• rt @scaddotedu: Space invaders music was based on a regular heartbeat – as it got more intense, your heartbeat went up. #gdx Brilliant! #
• Michael Sweet’s music scoring presentation and demonstration are amazing. #gdx #
• Looking forward to Andrew Bain at SCAD GDX at 5pmEST. Live streamed on http://www.Scad.tv. #gearsofwar #gdx #
• On my way out of Savannah from SCAD GDX. Amazing conference. #
• Waiting to get on the plane in Charlotte. Back home to NYC! #
• On my way back from a rugby game with the Suffolk Bull Moose. Great game! #