Just found this on YouTube. Have seen it a long time ago, still very touching...

I finally find myself with a little time on my hand. The YTSO has finished (for now), Thailand was amazing (pictures here and here) and everything's a bit quiet at work due to a re-org. So while I am waiting for the next big project to come, I am dedicating time to surf the web and shake my Google goggles off a bit again. Also, I have sat hours and hours reviewing my photos of the last three years and preparing some nice collections. It's not quite finished, but I hope I stay on it and will be able to post something soon.

Generally, it's an exciting time as I feel that Rocio and I are about to settle in London for the first time. Lots of plans on the way!

Very curious: I found a comment about a perfect day in Madrid on Dopplr today and I could have sworn that I have said or written something similar before. In fact, I really thought it was a quote of mine, but unfortunately I don't have any evidence to prove it.

Anyways, I completely agree ;-)

Parque Retiro and a perfect day in Madrid.

You have to start it like this on the first day you arrive because any day after that you will wake up in the afternoon because you were out until 7 AM. In my opinion Madrid is not as much about where you do it, but how you do it.

Have a nice lunch in Malasaña. If the weather is nice, eat on a terraza in Plaza Dos de Mayo.

Take the metro to Parque Retiro and walk your lunch off.

Take a nap.

Meet friends for beers. Maybe back at Dos de Mayo.

Go to dinner at 10. Have some nice tapas and wine.

Go out for copas at midnight. My preference is for gin tonics.

Go dancing at 2. Stay awake somehow until 7 and pass out.

These two guys make a good living giving speeches about classical music. I slightly favor Benjamin Zander's video, but both are very recommendable to watch.

I can't believe that it's over a month ago that this project has come to an end. It truly has been the best professional experience of my life and it has raised the bar incredibly high for things to come.

Check out this playlist to get an impression of the concert, which has been an amazing success: link

Alternatively, if you prefer UGC, you can go to my YouTube account and watch some videos filmed with my FlipCam: link

The YouTube Symphony has experienced such an incredible amount of press coverage, it surpassed even our wildest dreams. Although mostly positive, of course there also have been some critical voices (which are very appreciated by the way). What's most impressive though is that no one doubts that it has been the biggest thing in the classical music industry in years (some say even centuries!). I will abstain from linking to specific articles (I wouldn't even know where to begin) as I am confident that you can get a good impression by simply watching the concert on YouTube or googling the reviews.

For more data and fromal info, you can also go to the official press site.

a great article from my "special" blogger friend qcyo.twoday.net

De todos estos "diarios" que estoy llevando, el que ha demostrado sacar más de mí es el octavo. Curioso que ese haya sido precisamente ese el número de diario que le asigné subconscientemente a Guatemala, mi amor/tormento, porque por lo general el número 8 es mi número favorito; la explicación más lógica e inmediata sería que, habiendo nacido un 8 de noviembre, el 8 es "mi" número. Y aunque es cierto que me siento de esa manera (como que el 8 es "mío"), esa no es la única ni la principal explicación- a mí gusta el 8 por muchas razones, siendo una preferencia pensada, racional y voluntaria. Me gusta porque es un número par, que es bueno porque es fácil de dividir en partes iguales y justas; es un número de un solo dígito, no muy bajo, tampoco muy alto, pero sí abundante de alguna manera; es el doble de 4, que siempre fue el número favorito del amor de mi vida, mi abuelito Coqui. Está compuesto, en mi mente, por la suma de dos números: el 5 y el 3, ambos números también importantes en mi vida; no sólo es redondo, es además simétrico; es bello, representado visualmente por la figura esencial, el círculo: dos círculos, unidos. Representa así la unión de dos elementos, ya completos en su individualidad, que juntos forman algo aún más especial. Esta última impresión que tengo del número 8 es trascendental, al menos para mí: representa el balance, que es mi ideal ideal de pareja, un ítem compuesto por dos sujetos independientes que se unen de manera voluntaria, unidos, pero no enredados, que mantienen límites, manifestando un inquebrantable respeto, siendo balance y brindándose mutuamente apoyo y estabilidad.

I admit I've been playing with the thought of abandoning my twoday blog and move to Tumblr or Wordpress. The reason is simple: in a lot of aspects twoday.net seems outdated and while I understand why this is, I just can't stay around for nostalgy.

Yet, this is what I'll do for now. In a period where I can't find the time to write posts, how will I find the time to create a blog from scratch? Also, the other services didn't convince me entirely either (although some stuff is seriously impressive, like Wordpress being Google Gears compatible), so I guess I will wait (tumblr is a hot bet).

In the meanwhile, I updated my blogroll and added a section linking to my profiles at Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.

P.S.:
I am writing this from NYC, where I am in the midst of the preparations for the YouTube Symphony event at Carnegie Hall. This is definitely the coolest project I ever worked on, the press impact was huge and I will post more about it soon.

The Outreach video:

It's weird. We launched the YouTube Symphony Orchestra on Monday and for the rest of the week I was congratulated and complimented. Nevertheless, I wasn't really happy, but just worried about the remaining bugs and exhausted...very exhausted.

Today, after another 14 hours of sleep I woke up and felt better for the first time this week and in the afternoon I went for a run and finally felt really happy. I think it takes a while until you realize what you've accomplished, because everything goes so fast. Fortunately, Christmas is close and I'll have plenty of opportunities to celebrate.

Die Presse

derstandard.at

After four months of hard work, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra project launched yesterday with press conferences in London, New York and Korea. It's such an exciting project and I am really happy to be part of it.

Go to: http://youtube.com/symphony

NYT article: link

TechCrunch: link