Andres Carne de Res

Probably the highlight of my recent trip to Colombia was a visit to Andres Carne de Res. Let me preface that this was recommended to me by Colombians, not American tourists. And I went there with Colombians.
Once I got over my self-consciousness about sticking out so much, I started to enjoy myself, and even hit the dancefloor during MJ's Don't Stop ('til you get enough). More on that later.

The bar/restaurant/club had three floors and three themes: hell, purgatory, and heaven. Staff are dressed up in costumes and wait on you or just act weird. It had as much 'flair' as a American restaurant but it didn't seem so calibrated. Also, the patrons seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. Great food, too.

As far as the dancing, I explained to my two Colombian companeras that I've really only been comfortable dancing to disco music. I also think that disco was popular partly due to the fact that it is fairly free-flowing and free of rules. History has been kind to disco and will only get better. 15 years ago in college I have fond memories of going to Disco Night and getting dressed up as a disco dancer.

Colombians definitely have some of the same spirit that Americans did in the disco era.

Bogota, Colombia part one

I just completed what will hopefully just the first of many trips to Colombia.
First impressions: I arrived to Bogota at 6 am on a Wednesday morning and was shuttled from the airport to the Radisson Hotel. It was a cool cloudy morning in the city of 7.3 million people. It is temperate year round because it is 2640 meters above sea level.
The hotel is beautiful. After a nap I went to the office for a few hours and was immediately struck about by how kind everyone is. That was a recurring theme on the trip.
The rest will have to wait until tomorrow.

Pane e tulipani/Bread and Tulips

Bread and Tulips in an Italian movie from 2000. It's a slow, enjoyable movie about a lady that is left behind by her family on a vacation and then goes to Venice for a vacation of her own. My favorite character from the movie is Fernando, played by Bruno Ganz. Two adjectives used to describe him in online reviews are wistful and diffident. Fernando plays an Icelandic immigrant that is a waiter. He speaks in a roundabout way that seems from a time long since past.
I recommend it unless you're bored by slow, foreign films. Aren't almost all foreign films slow?

Sarcasm and irony

At dinner tonight the family had a short debate about the difference(or lack thereof) betweeen sarcasm and irony. As is common it was everyone against me. I was told that they are essentially the same. Eventually a dictionary was pulled and out and I'd say we reached an uneasy stalemate.

Let's first discuss the first point, and then we'll get to the dictionary. I strongly feel irony is an overused word. I regard it as a theme in a play or movie. I was taught that it simply means when the result is the opposite of what was hoped for. I don't throw the word around lightly. Many people mistake irony for coincidence, like when two people unexpectedly see each other in public. They say it's ironic when it's really just coincidental.
Sarcasm is different. I know it because I have been afflicted with it since I was a child. I guess it's part of having a dry sense of humor. Sarcasm usually shows itself in insulting remarks, sometimes exposing naivete or vanity. The tone of voice or inflection makes all the difference between someone being tiresome and negative or irreverant and funny. One can be sarcastic, but irony just is. It's not something you can be.

I suppose the dictionary is a good reference point for this type of debate. However I do feel there are nuances and that English is constantly evolving, so I don't put all my stock in what Webster says.