Monday, May 31, 2010

Daniel Silva






















I started reading all of Daniel Silva's books. He's great - they're quick reads and really interesting/entertaining. He writes mostly international spy thrillers and now focuses primarily on his main character - Gabriel Allon, an Israeli Mossad agent. His first novel though, the Unlikely Spy, takes place during World War II and he has two other books that feature an American CIA agent (Michael Osbourne).

So far I've read (click to buy at Amazon):

The Unlikely Spy
The Kill Artist
The Mark of the Assassin
The English Assassin

More to come...

Nike - "Write the Future" Clip (So Good!)



Nike recently released a 3 minute mini-movie/ad for the World Cup titled "Write the Future." Ad Age is reporting that Nike thinks it may be their best work ever and it's already beaten their most successful viral video to date. It's pretty sick - watch full screen for the best experience!

Click HERE for their YouTube channel.

David Butler - VP Global Design @ Coca-Cola







Last year, Fast Company's Masters of Design issue (October 2009) featured a cover story about David Butler, Coke's global design chief. He's responsible for "how they think and what they do with design at The Coca-Cola Company. This includes leading the global vision and strategy for design, building the organization's capability and external reputation as a design-driven company, and leading the global design function" (i.e., marketing, distribution, package design, etc.)

His most recent designs were developed for Coke's support of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Pretty awesome.

Read the article HERE. Check out the slide-shows and video clips too.

Remembering John Hughes



Vanity Fair did a great piece on John Hughes, director, writer and/or producer (or some combination) on major classics like Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the Breakfast Club, Home Alone, etc.

From VF: "After a wildly prolific decade of screenwriting and directing that made him the king of teen comedy, John Hughes receded from the cinematic landscape, his legend preserved by the classic 80s trilogy of Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Following Hughes’s sudden death, at age 59, last summer, the author delves into his intense connections and sudden breaks with his Brat Pack actors, as well as the essential anomaly of his brief Hollywood reign."

Read the article HERE.

Billionaire Iranian Art Dealer





Read this interesting article in Bloomberg Markets magazine about an Iranian-born Islamic art dealer who became a billionaire after having started with just $750. Lives in London, had ties with the Sultan of Brunei and turns out to be Jewish.

Read the article HERE.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Russian Owner of the Nets



Came across an interesting article in Bloomberg Markets magazine on the new owner of the Brooklyn Nets - Mikhail Prokhorov.

Read the article HERE.

Isaac Tshuva - Israel's "Gas King"



The first new issue of BusinessWeek (redesigned under new ownership by Bloomberg by new editor Josh Tyrangiel) featured a story on Isaac Tshuva an oil man in Israel whose company El-Ad also owns the Plaza Hotel.

Read the article HERE.

Profile of Haim Saban



The New Yorker did a profile on Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media mogul who's credited with bringing the Power Rangers over from Japan to the US. He has his sights set on expanding his media empire and exerting influence in domestic and international politics.

Read the article HERE.

World's Biggest Diamond Heist in Antwerp

















Read this really interesting article in Wired Magazine about a massive diamond heist in Belgium from a few years back. Apparently these 4-5 guys broke into a super-secret vault and made away with $100 million worth of diamonds. They were caught when a pile of their garbage was thrown on someone's property and the owner called the cops to report it. Nuts.

Read the article HERE.

First Post

Hey! Just set up my blog and am getting acquainted with all the features. Wanted to post my first entry and see how this works. Should be pretty awesome...stay tuned!