Where do you go to?
You talk like Marlene Dietrich and you dance like Zizi Jean-Maire.
Your clothes are all made by Balmain and there’s diamonds and pearls in your hair.
You live in a fancy apartment off the Boulevard St. Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records and a friend of Sasha Distel.
You go to the embassy parties where you talk in Russian and Greek
And the young men who move in your circles, they hang on every word you speak.
But where do you go to my lovely… when you’re alone in your bed.
Tell me the thoughts that surround you. I want to look inside your head.
I’ve seen all your qualifications that you got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso. Your loveliness goes on and on.
When you go on your summer vacation, you go to Juan-les-Pins
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan on your back and on your legs.
And when the snow falls you’re found in St. Moritz with the others of the jet set.
And you sip your Napoleon brandy, but you never get your lips wet.
But where do you go to my lovely… when you’re alone in your bed.
Tell me the thoughts that surround you. I want to look inside your head.
You’re in between twenty and thirty, a very desirable age.
You’re body is firm and inviting, but you live on a glittering stage.
Your name it is heard in high places. You know the Agha Khan.
He sent you a race horse for Christmas and you keep it just for fun, for a laugh, aha aha.
They say that when you get married, it will be to a millionaire.
But they don’t realize where you came from and I wonder if they really care, or give a damn.
But where do you go to my lovely… when you’re alone in your bed.
Tell me the thoughts that surround you. I want to look inside your head.
Ah, remember the back streets of Naples, two children begging in rags
Both touched with a burning ambition to shake off their lowly-born tags, so they try.
So look into my face Marie-Claire and remember just who you are.
Then go and forget me forever
But I know you still bear the scar deep inside, yes, you do.
Ah, I know where you go to my lovely… when you’re alone in your bed.
I know the thoughts that surround you, cause I can look inside your head. na na na na na…..
Peter Sarstedt
X-Ray Photography
Internet is very useful for finding useless stuff… and this is the case of a gallery of images made with an X-Ray ‘camera’… Quite interesting, specially for people who like to break things up and figure out what things are made of 
You can view the full gallery here.
In an absolut world…
Absolut Vodka, world famous for its ads, had to remove this ad destined to the Mexican market due to the complaints received from americans. The ad features a real map of Mexico from 1830 when it included the states of Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Nuevo Mexico and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
I think its interesting to notice how fast they reacted to an ad of a real map, but invading another country is ok. Turns out its a relative world after all…
Expanding the limits of creativity!
Björk’s new video for the song Wanderlust of the album Volta has just been released… it is (in my humble opinion) a groundbraking video, and following Björk’s tradition it will make you either love it or hate it, but its hard not to notice it.
Not wanting to spoil it for whomever hasn’t seen it, I won’t say much about it, but I really recommend it. I personally liked it a lot, and yes, when you see it the first thing that comes to your mind is “What the hell did they smoke to make that??”. Well, as it turns out, they didn’t smoke anything… they just had some mushrooms Yes, you read that right hehe. The video was made by the duo Encyclopedia Pictura and as they stated in this interview by the NY Times, they did have some shrooms to write the video. What makes me wonder… is it ethical to create such innovative ‘art’ by using illegal aids? Its like going to the olympic games but on steroids don’t you think?
In any case, I think the video is great. You can watch it below from YouTube but I really recommend watching it HERE at a much higher resolution.
Enjoy (or not!)
Back to routine
Bueno, pues con el regreso a Madrid llego también el regreso al trabajo y a la rutina.
Esta semana finalmente comencé a trabajar asignado a un proyecto de verdad, y no a hacer propuestas. Por lo mismo, también fue la primera vez que trabajé directamente en cliente, lo cual debo decir que fue mejor a lo que esperaba. Desafortunadamente, al ya estar en un proyecto, pues ha habido bastante trabajo, y esta próxima semana que tenemos la primer entrega estará aún más pesada. Pero bueno, aún así estoy bastante contento… me la he pasado bien y creo que estoy aprendiendo bastante.
En otros temas, ayer fuí a la super fiesta de M80 Radio… una estación de radio de Madrid que yo por supuesto que ni siquiera sabía que existía, pero que Alex consiguio entradas y me invito, a lo cual no pude decir que no Bueno, pues para los no-madrileños les cuento que M80 Radio es algo así como Mix FM de México pero con música un poco más vieja 
Tocan los “éxitos” de los 70′s, 80′s y 90′s… así que como se imaginarán la fiesta estuvo bastante alternativa a lo que estoy acostumbrado. Había gente de todo tipo: desde abueletes hasta super chavos… aunque en general la mayoría eran hombres cuarentones. No obstante, me la pase bien y con muy buena compañía: Alex, Virginia, Juan y Sandra.
Y bueno, no hay mucho más que contar… ha sido una semana tranquila, con mucho trabajo y poca fiesta. Hoy espero haya un poco más
Semana Santa @ Torrevieja
Well, it is monday late night (although feels like sunday) and I should go to bed soon but I didn’t want to miss writing about the last week’s trip to Torrevieja and Alicante. So I guess this will be a short post
Accompanied by Alex, Virginia, Miguel and Divya, we followed Tomtom’s directions to Torrevieja. Miguel was kind enough to offer us his place to stay, which is a very nice flat located in the party centre of Torrevieja, just one block away from the sea. Overall the trip was really nice… very relaxed. We didn’t do much except for sleep, eat, drink, play and party, but it was a very welcome break from work routine. We spent endless hours playing parchis (Ludo according to Divya ) and the only bad thing was the weather, which was very chilly, cloudy and with some rain. Still, lots of fun and looking forward to repeat the trip!!
Hope you enjoy the pictures, cheers!
Brainwash
Well, I think it was time for a change, so here it comes… hopefully for the better.
It has been a long time without really writing, and it comes to my mind the reason for this is (besides laziness) a fundamental change in my life… I am no longer ‘temporarily’ in Madrid, but it now has become a relatively permanent stay. Hence, I have decided to change the focus of my blog from a ‘postcard’ type of blog narrating events to a more personal one, where I will try to share what I think, my opinions, what I find interesting and yes, also what happens in my life.
For this, I believe it is important to try and write with a much higher frequency, but at the same time in a much more relaxed form. I don’t pretend to convert this into a twitter, but I may write very short posts from time to time. Also, I will try to alternate between english and spanish, depending on what is more appropriate for the corresponding post.
To emphasize the change in focus, I have also decided to change the look of my blog… of which some of you may have already noticed, but for the people using feeds please visit my blog and let me know what you think!
Cheers!
Love video-messages from Sarah & Jimmy
Well Sarah Silverman, decided to give a love message to the boyfriend-tv host Jimmy Kimmels…
and well, obviously Jimmy couldn’t stay in silence…
Funny videos
Bill Gates last day at the office…
Oh my god does he have a simple sense of humor…
Merry Christmas!
Christmas has finally arrived and the year is about to come to an end. Lately life has a been a bit crazy, with many things going on but definitely exciting and positive.
I have finished my internship at Nokia, which as always brings mixed feelings. After almost 6 months, I have made some very good friends whom I will miss but hope to keep in touch. However, although I was finally getting the hang of marketing, it is not really my passion, for which I am looking forward to moving on to a new challenge. Thus, overall it has been a very positive and rewarding experience which I will never forget. I have to sincerely thank Blanca Villamía and Elena Yndurain for being able to stand me for so long
And the end of the internship also brings the end of the master!! We had the graduation ceremony last friday 21st, and it was very exciting to finally see all the efforts realize into a little paper Only Divya and Anirudh were absent to the ceremony, with Gustavo coming from Ecuador and Rajesh back from India. However, it was a pity that due to the chaotic days it was impossible to meet and celebrate the whole class together. And yes, I am now officially a Master so please call me Master Leco
In other related news, I have finally received the work permit!! Which means I am going back to Mexico real soon! I need to go and request a work visa within a month (Spanish bureaucracy is terrible!) I already have an airplane ticket for the 30th of december! So I will be spending new year’s in México. I really miss Mexico, not only for the food but friends, family and even my bed!
Overall, this year was very good, with the completion of a personal project, my brother’s wedding, my sister finishing university, etc… Now comes the time to set new challenges and to work hard to complete them. So there is not much more to say than merry Christmas! As a goal for next year, I hope to stay more in touch with so many people, that due to distance, time zones and daily routine have made it difficult. I would also like to thank all my classmates from the master which have made this such an exciting and rewarding year.
¡Feliz Navidad y un Próspero Año Nuevo!
Electrical Mario Bros
It is amazing what can be done for science experiments…
The sound is actually generated by varying the voltage on the two solid-state Tesla coils.
Achmed the Dead Terrorist
with Jeff Dunham…
Time flies…
…and in a blink of the eyes, another month has passed. However a lot of stuff has happened, with several good news
First of all, I can now say I have a job! I have accepted an offer to work at Everis, an IT consulting company, and I will be working in the Management Consulting area which really thrills me a lot. So this has several implications… first of all, that I will be staying in Madrid a bit longer , which is very good although I definitely miss México. For this, the company is going to help me do all the necessary paperwork for the work visa and all. This is very good, but unfortunately Spanish bureaucracy is amazing… and it is gonna take a few couple months to get all done and ready so I can start working. The bad side of the change, is that obviously I will miss quite a few friends from Nokia, with whom I’ve only been working a few months but feels like such a long time.
In other news, last week I had a couple days off from work and decided to go to Rome. It had been a long time since I wanted to visit the city, so I thought it was the perfect time to go. Also, this was my first trip completely on my own after a long long time, and although worried at the beginning, I had an absolutely great time. The city is amazing, with lots of things to see in every corner… from ancient Roman ruins to impressive monuments. The city has a bit for every kind of taste, and it is almost impossible not to like it, in spite of its dirtiness and crazy lifestyle.
I spent three full days walking around everywhere… it is really a small city, although by the end of each day I was dying. Of the places I highly recommend are Fontana di Trevi, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Castel Sant’ Angelo, Trastevere and of course Vatican City. The great surprise was Fontana di Trevi, of which I had seen pictures but it is much more amazing in real life. A letdown was Colosseo, which is nice and in a way amazing, but I imagined it much bigger, and there is not much left anyways 
Vatican City was impressive… it is a lot bigger than it seems… and I loved it. It almost makes you convert to catholicism! St. 
Peters Basilica is huge, beautiful and elegant… it reminds you of the amount of power the church once had. I went up to the top of the dome, and I also visited the tombs of the popes, including John Paul II… and it is breathtaking. I also went to the Vatican Museum, which I liked a lot, although it sometimes feels just like a art depot since it has rooms stuffed with figures that it seems they couldn’t find any place else where to put them. Still, very nice and highly recommendable… tops was the Maps room, simply amazing.
And well, I obviously ate lots of pizzas and lots of Gelatto chocolate fondante! jeje I went to a pizza place recommended to me by my boss called Pizza da Baffeto and it was absolutely amazing… typical Italian place, very small with every waiter shouting at each other and the pizza was fabulous. And I also took too many pictures… so for those interested you can check out the best ones in my Flickr account. So overall I had a great time, and I definitely feel I need to go back to Italy to visit so many other places… which I will hopefully do sometime soon!
Gone
You gotta feel so guilty
Got so much for so little
Then you find that feeling just won’t go away
You’re holding on to every thing so tightly
Till there’s nothing left for you anyway
Goodbye
You can keep this suit of lights
I’ll be up with the sun
And not coming down
I’m not coming down
I’m not coming down
You wanted to get somewhere so badly
You had to lose yourself along the way
You change a name but that’s okay
It’s necessary
And what you leave behind
You don`t miss anyway
Goodbye
You can keep this suit of lights
I’ll be up with the sun
And not coming down
I’m not coming down
I’m not coming down
And I’m already gone
Felt that way all along
Closer to you every day
I didn’t want it that much anyway
You’re taking steps that make you feel dizzy
Then you get to like the way it feels
You hurt yourself you hurt your lover
Then you discover
What you thought was freedom is just greed
Goodbye
No emotional
Goodnight
We’ll be up with the sun
Are you still holding on
I’m not coming down
I’m not coming down
I’m not coming down
iPod Touch
Ad for the iPod touch…. Mr. Bean style!
Anniversaries…
Time goes by really fast, and when you turn around and look you realize how much has happened… how much you’ve changed, how much you’ve learned and how much you’ve had fun. Well, it turns out it has been already a year since I came to Spain and although I have a great time here I also miss many many things and people. Life outside home changes… a lot, and although you try to build a new home for yourself, it is not an easy task, specially living so far away. But you try and manage to do the best you can…
In a happier note, there is also another anniversary… my father has just celebrated his 30th year working at 3M, for which I want to congratulate him. My respect for him is only surpassed by my love to him (yeah, I know it sounds cheesy but its true). So congrats! and on top of that, he has appeared on the Mexican newspaper Reforma… so below you can read the article
Running to stand still
Well, today sunday I participated in the race organized by BBVA bank. It was a 5 km race for beginners (obviously) and I went with the only purpose to exercise and have some fun… and it was! Although the idea of waking up Sunday at 7:30am is not very appealing, it was really nice to see the streets of Madrid empty.
The race was good also… with a lot of people: 5,400 people registered for Madrid. It started from Paseo de la Castellana and I finished the 3km in about 30 minutes (the official times are not yet posted). Also, testing Nokia’s technology I tracked the race using the application Sports Tracker and a GPS device. I have to say I really like the application, and professional runners should find it really useful. However, there is still the inconvenience of having to carry the phone and GPS receiver, or a bulky phone with integrated GPS. So below you can see the route of the race, with low, high’s and fast points, as well as a graph and the summary. And yes I know… there is a lot of noise specially on speed measurement… unfortunately GPS is not extremely accurate at low speeds (needs more precision) and even less in the city.
Kent – Ingenting
Kent’s new album, Tillbaka till samtiden, will be released soon and they will start touring Scandinavia… so keep your fingers crossed so I can go or they come to Spain!
Below is the video for the new single: Ingenting.
Eurobasket and more…
Well, a few weeks ago there was a contest at work in which the person that made the best pictures (with a Nokia phone obviously ) would win tickets for the Eurobasket tournament here in Madrid. And yes, you guessed right, I did win tickets for 2 quarter-final games! My pictures were not that great, but considering not many people participated hehe, I won 7th place! With this, I won two tickets for the two games on thursday: Russia-France, Spain-Germany.
The first game, Russia-France, was not that good… but the two teams were very close to each other and the match was decided on the last few seconds, which made it quite interesting. Finally Russia won and is today playing the final The second game, obviously Spain won… It was a great game, and at one point Spain had a lead of almost 40 points! Great plays and a great atmosphere!
(You can see the pictures in orginal size at my Flickr page: http://flickr.com/photos/jlecanda/ )
In other news… work at Nokia is going ok. This was a tough week with a lot of work, and as always some tasks are better than others but overall it is going good. Now, I am also taking charge of organizing Nokia’s participation at the Movilforum event of Telefonica. It is something completely new for me (which doesn’t drive me crazy), but I think I will learn a lot from it.
And finally, as you should know, today is Mexican Independence day!! Unfortunately I didn’t had the chance to celebrate it properly (although I did had a lot of fun), but instead I got (a bit) drunk with caipirihnas and surrounded by Spanish people saying stupid comments about Mexico… así que ¡Viva México Cabrones!
Google Earth Flight Sim
Well, as it has recently been published on several sites around the Internet, there is an easter egg which has been discovered in Google Earth that enables a flight simulator. Well, I have been trying it and although it is very basic, it is absolutely amazing. To start it, you need to press Ctrl-Alt-A (or Cmd-Ald-A in a mac) and it will show you a dialog box to pick the plane and starting location. And that is basically all that its needed.
Although not a very advanced flight simulator, it is extremely fun to fly over cities with all the real satellite imagery, and what’s best, with all the 3D buildings directly from Google Earth! I think it is very easy to switch from a “mapping” application and just add some movement and physics functions to turn it into a flight sim, but the result is absolutely amazing. Check out the pics!
And why not fly over your house? or on top of the Aztec stadium? and land on Av. Reforma!
And what amazes me the most, is how the flexibility of Google and the power of communities is enabling it to release all of this cool stuff, but at the same time it is starting to compete with a new set of players… If they only add a bit more code and make it a little more complete, why buy a flight sim game if you can play this for free and with real, updated data!? Only God knows what will happen with Google as it keeps on groing.
Young Frankenstein
Really a walk down memory lane…
and yeah, trailers really sucked. Some still do but usually they put more effort into them… marketing obviously.
Abbreviations
A video about abbreviations in the Internet era… specially useful for SMS
Found thru Dvorak Uncensored.