The King of Pop

Today, Michael Jackson passed away. Its a very surreal feeling as he was an icon and a huge contributor to music and the world. Of the few records I had as a child, Thriller and Bad were in my collection. While the last several years proved to be tumultuous for Michael Jackson, we will never truly understand what it was like to be in his shoes. In my eyes, he will always be the King of Pop!

iGoogle goes to the artists!

The world is now personalized, and moving further in this direction with 'i' at the center of everything. iGoogle (personalized web page) hosted a contest, asking students to submit themes, using photography. The digital photography art will go into the library of personalized iGoogle page themes. The result was 3,000+ entries from 80 different countries.

I attended the event last night at the amazing Saatchi Gallery in London, where the winner was announced, Daniel Halasz from Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest. The panel of judges also chose a special winner, Aliyah Hussain from Manchester Metropolitan University. All of the finalist entries were very cool.

We also got a personalized tour of the collections at the gallery which are hand picked by Saatchi and his curators. The philosophy of the Saatchi gallery is to host pieces created by artists that would rarely have the opportunity to show their work in a this forum. The gallery gives a voice to the youth, women, unknown and international artists.

I'm a huge fan now and very inspired!

Going Mobile - HTC Hero Launch Event

Occasionally I get to bask in the benefits of working for a cool company...most days its just regular old hard work.

This morning I attended the product launch event for the HTC Hero mobile phone. As the room filled up it was exactly like the movies or TV...lots of camera people jocking for their spot, journalists with their microphones ready to pounce the CEO and everyone with their laptop and mobile phones out taking pictures and shooting video they were instantly uploading and sending back to the home base.

For me, it was exciting because in a time when we are all just sick of the flat-lined economy, there are still companies innovating (if you look closely there actually are many from small start ups to the beloved apple).

The phone is launching in Europe first, which is rare as many products make their debut in the US.

All in all, a very exciting morning!

Modern Madrid

One of my favorite European countries is Spain. The history, heritage and traditions of Spain are fascinating and always continues to intrigue me. Madrid is a magical city that is developing into a modern metropolis, offering an amazing lifestyle, new and old art to enjoy and a diverse crowd. When I arrived in Madrid I got an instant feeling of happiness (maybe it was the cloudless sky and warm sunny rays) and the need to explore.

For those of you who know Spain well, you know that eating tapas, going to the Reina Sofia museum to see the Guernica, one of Picasso's most moving and well known pieces, watching or going Flamenco dancing and enjoying the warm nights with no worry of bringing a jacket, are the staple activities when in Madrid.

If you are able to stay in an apartment (hotels are nice, however with Madrid being business and art/design hub it can get pricey) I do recommend staying in the city center. It feels very much like SoHo in New York. Its super trendy with small side street packed full of shops and cafes. It has amazing tapas bars and new modern restaurants that stay full long into the night. And in the summer there are always shows or music in the plazas.

One of the things I try to do more of when I travel is stay on my work out schedule. I know it sounds sort of boring but it keeps me energized. I found a nice indoor/outdoor pool (which, in a city, far from the beach, is popular) and was able to get a nice swim in and then lay out and enjoy the sun.

Happy travels!