Return of the Jedi. Not really.

Hi there,

After - almost - two years of self-imposed hiatus, I decided to come back and post. But I also decided that if I do it, I need new rules. First one? No more posting discipline - I'll post when I like. And what I like. My new place in the world? Dubai, with a great job which doesn't allow me much posting leeway. But I'll still try.

What I am liking right now is this fantastic song by Gustavo Cerati, an Argentinian songwriter who formed part of Soda Stereo, one of the biggest Latin American bands ever. And I say formed because he died this year after a two-year coma due to an aneurysm. And to think a**holes like (insert preferred a-hole here) still roam the Earth!

Anyway, enjoy this song, I like to sing it at the top of my lungs.



To all my new followers after 2 years of hiatus - welcome! :-)

To my old followers - welcome back!

Farewell... for now

So, I have been offered a fantastic new position in a new country, which means I will leave Hong Kong after 4 years, 7 months and 16 days (or 1689 days, I'll have you know thanks to this gadget). I am extremely happy. The new role is in a (for now) undisclosed location, but let me just say it's a bigger role, and it's not in China or Southeast Asia.

The role starts on September 1st (tomorrow), so I will not post for a while, at least until things have settled down in the new role. Together with my co-bloggers Sergio and Jorge Sapio, we have written almost 1000 posts (950 to be precise), and have received almost 100k visits. To all of you, dedicated and casual readers, I say... thank you!


I need to go...

... but I will be back.


(I think).

Will you miss SapioBlog?

Song of the weekend: an optimistic tune with an amazing voice

I don't think there are many more beautiful voices in pop than the one from Eurythmics' lead singer, Annie Lennox. I absolutely love her deep, husky voice, and her style.

One of my favourite Eurythmics songs is the one below, slow, with a deep cadence, but still quite optimistic. And the harmonies! (You know by now I like them, right?)



Did you like it?

Fantastic comedy show

I was told by a friend the other day that Brian Regan was worth my time. I did see him and I loved his show so much that I saw all that was available from him. I especially love the fact that his shows are totally devoid of any bad words. He shows that you don't need profanity in order to make you laugh.



Did you like it?

Finding passion in work

Below, please find a list of fantastic quotes to find inspiration in our daily work... truly worth a read!

I particularly like this one:


And this one:


The rest (and source) after the break:

The art of photobombing

There is an art almost as ancient as taking pictures: photobombing them - or appearing in them in an awkward or funny pose, completely disrupting and usually ruining the photo. However, in the great compilation below, the photos are actually improved!


More pictures and the source to the full list of 28, after the break.

Light stopped for a full minute

So the New Scientist magazine reports that scientists at the Saint Andrews University in the UK have managed to stop light for a full minute. For comparison, in this period the light would have travelled 18 million kilometres - or one seventh of the distance which separates us to the Sun.

I mentioned the Sun just to put up this awesome infography...
Imagine the possibilities of light and power saving that this technology will have, when properly reined in! Amazing, huh?

Public service: how to make better decisions

This article tells the results of an interesting battery of studies performed to determine what affects decisions. Some are downright quirky (did you know that apparently leaning your head left makes your number decisions to go smaller?). But all in all, it makes some interesting conclusions as to how to make better decisions in general. Eat well, sleep well, and have a bladder full of pee (not joking!).

The only difference? In the "blue" countries, "Don't donate" is the default, in the "red ones", "Donate" is default.
Did you like it?

Found: the best opening paragraph in Wikipedia

I saw this here, and frankly I give them credit. I find it hard to believe there is a more impactful first paragraph in all of Wikipedia's articles:

Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963), was a British Army officer of Belgian and Irish descent. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War, was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear, survived a plane crash, tunneled out of a POW camp, and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. He later said, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war." -

This is the bloke the paragraph refers to:


Quite impressive, huh?

Song of the weekend: an inspirational song with an amazing voice

Every once in a while, voices come that make you listen, because they have a unique characteristic. Leonard Cohen, Rod Stewart, Frank Sinatra... and Tunde Baiyewu, the leader of Lighthouse Family.

Just listen to this (amazing) song by the band, and surely you'll feel goosebumps (if not for his voice and for the harmonies, at least for the inspirational lyrics).



Sorry for the cheesy video, but at least it has the lyrics! This is the band, by the way (it's a duo, really):


Did you like it?

Meme watch: That Escalated Quickly compilation

One of the funniest memes out there is the Ron-Burgundy-inspired "That escalated quickly". It comes from this brilliant scene of Anchorman:



Here find a list of some fantastic examples, such as this one:



Did you like them?

Nobel prize winners explaining why they won in one drawing

This is an original idea. The Smithsonian magazine asked several Nobel-prize winners to summarize their work (for which they had been awarded the prize) on a white A2 page. The results are interesting. I don't think most are immediately understandable but the below one is, at least its summary.


Did you like the idea?

Epic compilation of hyper-realist artists

In previous posts, I have clearly shown how much I love hyperrealism. This website is a compilation of several of them. Some of them you've seen here, some others you haven't. Enjoy - I know I did!

Art. It's important.

Not a photo!
Bonus: this 3-minute clip by Brian Regan discusses art in an extremely funny way. Worth watching.

Public service: 15 TED talks you need to hear

Y'all know TED, so I won't introduce them. I think they have expanded their scope, from strictly business, to more "inspirational" talks... and this page has compiled 15 of the most inspirational ones. Below the one I found more interesting:



Other 14 inspiring talks following the link. Which one did you prefer?

The best comic from XKCD - the evolving "Time"

Randall Munroe, the creator of XKCD, has done it again. He's created an "evolving" cartoon here. If you go there, you'll just see the last image of the cartoon. 

Not related but amazing
But if you go here, you can see the cartoon in an evolving way. You can press Play above left and see the 3005 images  (at the moment of writing) as a movie. Did you like it?

The full Cosmos trailer. DO WANT!

This is the full trailer they've shown at ComiCon. Some thoughts: Cosmos. Carl Sagan. Neil deGrasse Tyson.



Where do I sign?!??!

Song of the weekend: from Boston, with love

So this band Extreme is mostly known for one song (More than Words), which is nice. But for me, their nicest song, with fantastic vocal harmonies and a catchy tune, is the one below. Ideal to start the weekend.



Let me know if you liked it!

The 25 greatest unscripted scenes in movie history

I wouldn't know if all of these are that great, but some of them are literally awe-inspiring, or hilarious. Very worthwhile 6:24 minutes of your time, below:



Which one did you like the best? The Usual Suspects one is very funny.

How did Michael Jackson do it?

In this post we reveal how the genius of Michael Jackson actually did the moonwalking. How did he lean forward so far? The solution is after the break, and it's simpler than it looks.

How did he do it? After the break...

Public service: life hacks

These are 3 images chock-full of life hacks which are really worth trying.


(Click to enlarge). Two more after the break. Which one did you like the most? Seen here.