Enquiring Mimes» Weekends

Maybe Ikea is just a damn comfortable store

Dan Perlman — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:44:47 +0000

Much was made of photos showing the new Beijing Ikea store being less about shopping and more about being a good place to take a nap.

Ikea Beijing Picture LA Times

On a recent visit, it seems the Ikea store in E. Palo Alto, CA had the same soporific effect.

Ikea, E. Palo Alto, CA - photo android phone

IKEA In Beijing Is More Like A Giant Public Living Room [Window Shopping] (consumerist.com)
Honey, We Holidayed At IKEA Last Year (paul.kedrosky.com)
Ikea as tourist attraction (kottke.org)

Productivity Tips for Bananas

Dan Perlman — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:12:18 +0000

It seems people don’t tend to peel bananas in the most efficient way. If you want to get to your banana quickly you should be peeling from the bottom the way monkeys do it, not from the top.

This tip was revealed today on lifehacker.com, thanks guys.

Mother, you didn't peel that banana efficiently!

Planning Vacations via Social Networks: How I’d Plan Mine

Dan Perlman — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:21:31 +0000

I don’t think there is a vacation in our plans for this family of Mimes this summer, at least not until the Fall – but if we were planning one this is what I’d do. I’d go see a couple of my favorite friends, who I’ve never met, at least not in person.

Living my life working via the Web, why shouldn’t I have friends the same way? I have met two folks via the vast Internet who are thousands of miles apart. I’ve known both for many years and visiting either would make an ideal vacation.

I met Jon Watson via a help desk request at my company, Virtual Bridges. He was living in Calgary, Alberta at the time. He’s a Linux techie, he’s written about our software products in the tech press, he’s a blogger – he once had a network of Linux blogs for which I wrote. He and I keep in touch via Facebook, Linkedin and email. I once had a plan to hire him and move him to our offices in Austin but he had other ideas. He and his wife, Kelly, wanted to move 5000 miles to Canada’s Atlantic provinces and start a Bed and Breakfast in Nova Scotia. They did.

I could visit them at their Phoenix Hollow B&B in Windsor, Nova Scotia.

“Built circa 1873, the “Lion House” has undergone extensive renovations in order to offer the modern amenities of today while keeping the stately grace of yesteryear.

The Phoenix Hollow began life as a personal residence for ship owner and merchant Mark Curry and is now a Canada Select 4-star rated B&B.

The Hollow has also served its community well as both a boarding house and a refuge for the homeless after The Great Windsor fire of 1897.

Jon and Kelly are proud to be the 14th owners of this wonderful home and enjoy inviting people into our beautiful house.” From phoenixhollow.com.

I think the whole family would enjoy that vacation, except maybe the dog. Jon has pups of his own so doesn’t have facilities for visiting pups.

If I wanted more of an urban vacation I could visit another friend and engage in one of my favorite past times – eating.

I’m Dan Perlman, but it seems not the only Dan Perlman. If you Google the name you would probably find me, but also several other “Dan Perlman”s. One once contacted me because he kept a web page of “Dan Perlman”s and wanted to see if I had any interest in giving up the domain name danperlman.com for his Dan-Perlman collection. I didn’t, but we kept in contact. As Facebook became more popular we both connected on the site — constantly confusing our friends with wall posts from multiple “Dan Perlman”s.

Dan writes about food and wine and is Chef at his “closed door” restaurant Casa Salt Shaker in Buenos Aires. While Jon is a mere 3000 miles from me in California, Dan is a bit further at about 6500 miles.

Having read Dan’s SaltShaker.net blog about food and about Casa Salt Shaker on its Facebook page and seen his food pictures on his Flickr pages, I know I could spend some very pleasant time exploring Buenos and enjoying eating and drinking wine at Dan’s restaurant.

Here’s how they describe Casa SaltShaker, the closed door restaurant:

“Welcome to Casa SaltShaker. We offer a unique dining experience in Barrio Norte. In essence, you are being invited to a dinner party in our home, where you will be seated at one of our two communal tables, with other guests. The setting is casual, the food eclectic, the conversation lively – and generally in a mix of languages. We consider our food “fancy home cooking” – we’re not trying for a multi-star experience – it’s about good food and wine, and meeting new friends.” From casasaltshaker.com

Here’s this weekend’s menu, celebrating Sunthorn Phu Day in Thailand,

Egg Net with Shrimp Salad
Tom Kha (peanut-tomato based soup)
Vegetable Pad Thai
Mussel Curry
Banana Springrolls in Coconut Caramel

Anyway, that’s how I would spend my vacation.

Off topic: Since Dan and I keep in contact via Facebook, I recently had the mischievous pleasure of beating Dan to the Facebook “vanity” URL of our name and in doing so met another Dan Perlman who is studying for the Bar in Boston.

Father’s Day Update – Blog Style

Dan Perlman — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:56:17 +0000

I got to do Father’s Day again yesterday. That was the 2d one for me as Jake nears his 2d birthday. Some of my presents came by way of blog posts since both “kids” blog — that’s Jake and Kaley corgi.

Here’s a preview if you’re looking for the inside story.

So what i am saying, is, i do not say “dad” yet, but he knows i love him and i know how to show it!

i do not want dad to over sleep….so i sorta bang him with the hotel clock…i think he is surprised to have to wake up early….?? [17 months old] [from jakechow.com]

dad and me on a bike ride/walk the dog excursion??? No! I snuck out and dad thought to ride round the block to find me after someone called and said I had been captured…. so dad pushed his bike and i had to walk! —maybe dad should get a bike basket???? [from sansanpups.com]

Hope all you other dads had a great day yesterday.

Culture of Availability or Making Technology Insipid

Dan Perlman — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:35:31 +0000

With cellphones and now smartphones comes a “culture of availability”. That’s what social strategist Renny Gleeson discusses in this under 4 minute TED talk. It’s an amusing and somewhat sad take on what it really means when we constantly check our email on our phone and miss the occasion while we’re so busy trying to capture it, also with those darn phones.

Sad for me was the guy checking his mail while facing a little kid who looks like she’s trying to get his attention. I hope I’ve never done that to my Jake, but suspect I have – I mean, I do have this really cool Android phone, yada, yada, yada.

In a similar vein, The Onion shows how inane we make our technology.

Police Slog Through 40,000 Insipid Party Pics To Find Cause Of Dorm Fire

Chef makes great scrambled eggs

Dan Perlman — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:01:18 +0000

Just in case you have a need for more Gordon Ramsay now that his loud and disturbing ”Hells Kitchen” reality TV show is over, or you’d like to observe that the total dick Chef, is a persona and Ramsay can appear fairly human — or just want to make great scramble eggs for tomorrow’s breakfast take a look at this short video.

Here are Chef’s high points:

Whisk the eggs in the pan, don’t mix them before
Salt and pepper the eggs in the pan
Don’t let them overcook, keep taking the pan on and off the stove
Treat them like risotto as in make them creamy and fluffy

Enquiring Mimes scrambled egg pointers

He adds chives — green onions work, too
Add a splash of hot sauce to the eggs in the pan while whisking for a little zing , Tabasco or Thai Sriracha

Yes, Chef!

It’s the weekend, time to sharpen the saw

Dan Perlman — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:22:07 +0000

Thinking more about Stephen Covey and his 7 Habits for Highly Effective People, the weekend gives a chance to work on Habit 7, Sharpening the Saw, which might be the most important habit since it’s pure “Quadrant 2″.

Covey sets the stage this way.

Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree.

“What are you doing?” you ask.

“Can’t you see?” comes the impatient reply. “I’m sawing down this tree.”

“You look exhausted!” you exclaim. “How long have you been at it?”

“Over five hours,” he returns, “and I’m beat! This is hard work.”

“Well why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?” you inquire. “I’m sure it would go a lot faster.”

“I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing!”

Maybe that reminds you of the business cliche, “too busy to plan”.

So, Covey is saying, the way to make your work easier is to improve the quality of the tools you use. He’s not just suggesting the guy take a break and then go back to sawing with the same dull saw. He says improve the tool and then the work will be easier.

Covey suggests that working in these four areas will make the work of life easier.

Physical
Taking care of your body, staying healthy, focused on vitality
Spiritual
This is at the core, your life’s direction, your inner journey
Mental
Taking care of your brain and your acuity
Social / emotional
Investing in relationships and interdependence

So what better time than this weekend to take a walk, do a little exercise, meditate or go to your church/synagogue (remember, one of the positives of organized religion is the sense of community as well as the spiritual), read a book, spend time with friends?

Does Your Business Ever Sleep? (mikemoran.com)

Making your music with iPhone

Dan Perlman — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:14:25 +0000

An all-female band (girl band?) from Great Britain, called The Mentalists, re-create “Kids” by MGMT with only their iPhones and iPod Touches. Imagine the possibilities.

[via cnet]

Our Sunday walk through Palo Alto mapped via Google My Tracks

Dan Perlman — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:58:21 +0000

Our Walk

It’s Sunday and I took a morning walk with Jake, San and Kaley the corgi.

Just to play, don’t want to leave technology too far behind, I turned on Google My Tracks on my Android G1 phone. The phone’s built-in GPS kept track of our route, kept statistics and then sent the map to Google Maps and stats to Google Docs.

Undoubtedly overkill for a walk around Palo Alto and playing in the park, but would be fun on a hike. Maybe, I’ll sneak away from work and try that later this week.
Our stats

My Track turns Android phone into GPS device (news.cnet.com)

I’m rich, who needs the stimulus?

Dan Perlman — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:19:22 +0000

Just reading my morning email, I find I have a wonderful business opportunity waiting for me.