Pacific Northwest Ballet: All Balanchine

(click to enlarge)
Last night, I took a date to see PNB’s All Balanchine, which featured music from Vivaldi, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky with choreography by the infamous George Balanchine, one of the founders of Amerian ballet. Before the show, we went out to a new Belltown favorite, Tavolàta.

(click to enlarge)

We had handmade mozzarella with red peppers in a striking artichoke sauce, and finished with a plate of fettuccine that came with onions and bacon. Both were mindblowing; kudos to my date for forcing me to try the mozzarella, I would’ve never thought of ordering it and it turned out to be remarkable. Overall, our meal at Tavolàta was fantastic. ****.

Alan Greenspan: Iraq War Motive Was Oil

This doesn’t exactly come as a shock. Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman under whose tenure saw much economic expansion, said in his new book that he is “saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”

I think it’s funny that it’s often the financial types who understand what’s really going on in politics. The reason, you ask? Those who are versed in business and finance assume that people and parties act in their own self-interest, and ask the question ‘qui bono?‘ to determine a list of suspects.

Now, I must say that his admission could be motivated by want of increased sales for his book, but I also believe Mr. Greenspan to be a straight shooter who wouldn’t be bullied by a publicity-hungry publisher.

Check out the book, I’m sure you’ll learn sometime after reading it.

The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan
Via The Times of London

Shakespeare or Seinfeld?

“What point of morals, of manners, of economy, of philosophy, of religion, of taste, of our conduct of life, has he not settled? What mystery has he not signified his knowledge of?” -R. W. Emerson

Is Emerson referring to Shakespeare or Seinfeld?

Indian Billionaire Mallya buys Formula 1 Team

If you’re not yet familiar with billionaire and all-around playboy Vijay Mallya, here’s a primer:

Mallya is Chairman of United Breweries Group, whose brands include the #1 selling Indian beer brand, Kingfisher, top Indian scotch and gin brands, and Scotch whisky distiller Whyte & Mackay (which he recently purchased for $1.2B). His two-year-old Kingfisher Airlines ingeniously acts as a marketing tool for his beer (alcohol advertising in India is heavily regulated and quasi-illegal). The airline, originally launched to promote his liquor and beer bottling business, is rapidly taking market share from the top private airline in India, Jet Airways, and is poised to overtake them in 2010 when its nonstop routes to North America begin service. He’s got a megayacht, the Indian Empress, which he uses to host lavish parties for high-profile guests. The hard-partying-billionaire reputation that Mallya has cultivated for himself serves to define his brand: he aims to convince ever-more affluent young Indians to move up to his level of luxury-by buying his brands of top-shelf hooch, naturally.

Mallya isn’t stopping at air travel: today he announced that he and a Dutch partner have bought the Spyker-Ferrari Formula 1 team for $110M. The purchase gives Mallya’s beer and spirits juggernaut another avenue in which to advertise its growing spirits business to the increasingly liberal Indian public. The deal cut with F1 boss (and fellow über-affluent) Bernie Ecclestone has deeper meaning, however. The whole world has been trying to secure annual visits from Formula 1 (Bahrain, Malaysia, and Turkey all have Grand Prix events), and so far, India has been left out of the picture. India’s dream of attracting a grand prix may have just been granted by virtue of this deal. Mallya is already planning a New Delhi street course not unlike that of Monaco, with a design budget of $100M largely to be shouldered by the Indian taxpayer. The Indian Grand Prix will surely be a knockout event, considering Mallya’s penchant for celebration and the strong role he’s sure to play in the GP’s planning.

Is it just me, or does this guy belong in Dubai?

City of Angels Photoroll