Author: Michael Belinsky

Trip to Asia

I have an exciting trip to east Asia planned for this August.  I am flying from Boston to San Francisco to visit friends there, then to Bangkok, Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Hanoi, Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, and finally home to Boston.  Orientation for my graduate school program starts on August 24; my plane lands in Boston at 1:30 pm on Aug. 23.

I plan to spend about two non-travel days in each city in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and then about three or four non-travel days in cities in China.  In Cambodia, I will follow the typical tourist route of visiting the temples at Angkor Wat; in Vietnam, I am deciding between the train from Saigon to Hanoi and the plane.  The plane is pricier and faster, while the train affords better scenery and costs less.

The Docks in Accra

Fishermen leaving the docks in Accra, Ghana. Personal photograph by Michael. 19 May 2008.

The docks were buzzing with activity when we arrived there around six a.m. Fishmongers were readying their tents. Fishermen–all men–were cleaning their boats and pushing them out to sea. Soon they would return and the women would start their work. They would relieve the men of their morning catch and proceed to scale and fry the fish on their charred makeshift grills.

One man stood out in particular. He was taller and larger than the others, and the rest. Perhaps he was a Lord of the Docks, doling out fish and responsibilities. Or perhaps he was a drug dealer. There were several men wandering the docks who offered us to get high.

The entire morning made for a wonderful sociological experience. Somehow, everything seemed to fit — parts of a complex mechanism that hummed along just fine without anybody’s help. The men worked in tandem. The women picked up baskets of fish, balanced them on their heads, and started on their long treks to the villages. The kids would chase stray dogs in and out of rickety huts set up along the shore. Stacks of narrow, charred smoke from the grills wove themselves into the fresh air. It was a sight no picture could fully capture.

Witty Lampposts

Israeli lamppost at Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Personal photograph by Michael. 14 October 2006.

The Israeli sculptor Frank Meisler was commissioned by the Israeli Ambassador to the UK to create the bronze sculptures of Bottom and Topol mounted on the Stratford lamppost pictured above. I remember visiting Meisler’s shop-cum-museum off a humble street in Jaffa in Israel. His most ubiquitous work is the Jerusalem Sphere, below.  He gifted a modified version of the sphere to then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  Meisler turned his incredible imagination toward a craft that has elevated the Polish-born sculptor to the honor of the best Israeli sculptor. I am, frankly, amazed that there is no English Wikipedia page for Meisler. I was able to find one in German and another in Russian. No English page exists. 
Sources
1. Public sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull

Stone of the Sun



Mexica Sun Stone at the Museo National de Anthropologia, Mexico City. Personal photograph. 22 November 2009. 

This stone was discovered on December 17, 1790 under the Zocalo, Mexico City’s main square, just several miles away from its current residence at the National Anthropology Museum. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the stone weighs 25 tons and spans 12 feet in diameter. The stone was originally believed to be an Aztec calendar because it contains references to dates and seasons. The museum, however, describes the stone as an unfinished sacrificial altar of the Mexicas, the immediate predecessors of modern Mexicans. By that interpretation, the altar, now hung vertically, was intended to lie flat on the ground for sacrifice.

The best of times and the worst of times for startups

As expected, many startup companies are faring poorly in this economic downturn.  Venture capital funding is drying up as VC firms shore up market loses and become more reluctant to lend.  VC funding fell 28% from 3Q to 4Q of 2008, according to the WSJ.  Twitter stands as a counter-example, having raised $35 million in February 2009, despite having no known business plan for generating revenue.  

Right time to enter?  If not for the financing problem, this would be a great time to start a new company.  Although less capital is available, startup costs are drastically lower.  Quality labor is becoming increasingly abundant and cheap as many employees in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street get the pink slip and start looking around for alternatives.  Real estate prices are also near-rock bottom, and equipment manufacturers are offering large discounts.  
Start-ups may also face the problem of fewer and pickier early adopters.  Typically, early adopters have the greatest need for — or greatest want of — the start-up’s product.  They are also the most tolerant of product shortcomings and more likely to provide feedback for product improvements.  These early adopters should still exist in a market downturn, but the general public’s unwillingness to spend money suggests that early adopters will not only buy fewer products, but will expect discounts commersurate with those offered for more mature retail products.
Right time to exit? Although companies like Sherwood Partners, a “firm that specializes in winding down start-ups,” are seeing more business, now may not be a great time to exit.  First, the average price for a startup sold in December 2008 is 20% of the price for an average startup sold 5 months before.  Second, that average price is showing signs of rebounding, rising 20-30% over the past month.  Further, no one really knows the speed and magnitude with which the recently-passed stimulus package will affect VC funding and start-up value.

Cheap theater in DC

After going to Mike Daisey’s performance, “How Theater Failed America,” at the Woolly Mammoth theater, I decided to test out his claim that theaters are increasing ticket discounts for young audiences (and stretching the definition of “young” in an effort to increase attendance). I am really excited by the discounts I found in DC: 

  • Shakespeare Theater Company.  $10 tickets for people under age 35, for all of their performances!  These tickets are available every Thursday, starting at 10:00am, for performances through the following Sunday, by calling STC at 202-547-1122.  More info here. 
  • Woolly Mammoth.  $15 tickets for people under age 25, for all performances except opening weekend.  Tickets are available anytime by calling Woolly box office at 202-393-3939.  More info here.
  • Kennedy Center.  50% discount off full price for undergrad and graduate students, available through Kennedy box office at 202-467-4600.
  • Theater J. Half-price tickets for people under age 25, with their upcoming performance, The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall, at half-price for all under age 35.
  • Email listings.  Theaters have cross-promotional discounts.  For example, Woolly emailings this week give $10 discounts for Theater  J and Synetic Theater for all who enter the Woolly promotion code (sign up for Woolly mailings for receive code).
Updated.  Thanks Rebecca.