Paparazzi pics leaking out of Google:

Me, the Google team in Spain & some guy called Eric Schmidt

Somehow I can not get over this irony: Blogging is probably part of the reason why I have got my job, not only because I got excited about the internet through it but also because I spent hours reading other blogs and thus educated myself about so many things concerning this medium. Still, since I am working at Google, I spend more hours than ever before online but somehow still can not manage it to update my blog regularly. In the meanwhile, my girlfriend became quite a passionate blogger and it's well worth to check out her blog.

However, altogh I take mostly care of different stuff in my job (have a look here and here), I still have to do somehow with blogging, because I coordinate marketing efforts for this little, precious blog here.

When I am already doing some publicity: check out the web albums of Picasa. It's not that I say the product is perfect, but it has great potential. My fotos you can find here.

And last but not least, some videos from Google Video:

- James Bond Trailer
- Funny I
- Funny II

Hey everyone,

sure, it's pretty hot everywhere in Europe right now, but everytime I look on the weather map, Madrid shows up as the hottest city on the continent. It's really crazy hot here right now.

Yesterday I had the honour to try as one of the first people in Europe deliciously juicy chicken at the inauguration of the first Pollo Campero branch in Europe. I always have been a big fan of this Guatemalan fast food chain and I am really glad it came now to the city where I live. Especially, because in terms of home delivery Madrid is not a city with a lot of choice. Pizza and Chinese food, that's pretty much it. Here is one of the few articles (in Spanish) that report about the opening of the new store. I actually wonder whether there is a publicity strategy for the arrival from Pollo Campero in Europe because there is actually very few info to find on the net (not even on their website). It was really stunning for me that not even the people in the Call Center from Telepizza, the joint venture partner from Campero, knew about anything related to the topic.

Well, hopefully they have a lot of success anyways, I am sure it is good publicity for my beloved Guatemala.

A lot has changed. I feel that since I have started my new job everything has accelerated. In Google everything moves incredibly fast and to keep up with the pace, you have to adopt. However, private life is getting pretty racy as well, although everything seems to be under control still ;-)

In the future I hope, as always, to write on a more regular basis. Funnily enough, I have not had a lot of time to check out new products, read blogs on my blogroll and lose myself in the infinite space of the web since I have been working for an internet company. So this is gonna be one of the things that I have to change, although I don't have too much illusions that this gonna happen before the summer ;-)

To complete this post, here are some recoomendations:

Music:

Zero 7 - In the waiting line (a little older already, but a cool song for beautiful summer evenings in my oppinion)

Garish - Junge Roemer (FM4, a really cool cover from the Falco song; listen to it here)

Finally, I wanted just wanted to link to this blog post from a work colleague of mine. I have to say, on eof the most interesting articles about train door handles I have ever read ;-)

Isn't that funny? Before I started my new job, there was lots of time for private projects but I could not get most of the things done. Now, time is precious but I would love to update my weblog at least a bit more frequently. Well, I guess that's just the way of life and I am sure that when I get a bit more used to my new life, things will change.

Alfred
However, one thing already has changed and this is the head banner. Nothing against my beloved Wörthersee, but I always wanted to have a logo, a mascot or such and now I have kind of both. I proudly present Alfred, the Gorilla who will adorn my weblog from now on. Thanks to my lovely girlfriend for the design!!!

Txirimiri
I am continuing to give away all my secret restaurant tips for Madrid here. This time I wanted to recommend Txirimiri which is a tiny Basque restaurant close to my flat. Food is delicious, wine is great, service is good and it's not too expensive either. Here you can find a good review with adress.

Yo no sé nada
The person who is most special to me is writing a weblog and sharing her thoughts about private, economic and politic related matters. She is truly understating because she knows quite a lot. Definitely worth a read. Leave a comment, so you animate her to go on!

Series & stuff
Peekvideo is a site where you can find direct links to different series, music clips and TV shows hosted by other websites (Google Video, Youtube, Gomio, etc.). Unfortunately they erased (they probably had to) all episodes of Malcolm and Scrubs but there is still enough content to kill some hours (days ;-).

Busy days. Anyway, I don't complain, rather the opposite. I consider myself a very lucky man, I have not been feeling that great for quite a while now. Three weeks ago, I got accepted for my current job and as far as I can tell, I love it! I work now for Google in Spain and finally I found a company where the motto "People are our biggest asset" is not just a phrase. Sure, it is a lot of work and there are so many bright people around, it is frightening sometimes. But hey, it's a challenge ;-)

Fact is, that after a year in Spain, I finally have found a work which is exciting, challenging and fun! What do you want more? It was not always easy to start my career, that might be because of the situation in Spain here, but I heard it is not a lot easier in other places anyway. I think I have got this job because of a mixture of persistence, passion and....luck.

Last night I saw Match Point, which is by the way a horrible movie (yes, despite the good reviews), and there was one quote I found particular interesting. At one point the character of Jonathan Rhys Myers said: "What really matters in life is luck. Hard work is mandatory, but what really makes a difference is luck." Funnily enough, I totally agree, although I would add the factor "passion" to this statement, which is also very important if you really want to achieve something or do something really well.

On the other hand I have another worldly wisdom: Luck alone is not enough to succeed in life, as well as one good statement alone does not make a good movie ;-)

Lavapiés is one of my favorite barrios in Madrid. Nothing is more enjoyable than spending a sunny Sunday afternoon in this culturally so diverse district of Spain's capital.

As a home to thousands of immigrants, Lavapiés has earned itself a somehow seedy reputation. Nevertheless, I haven't had any bad experience there until last night when I became (indirect) witness of a homicide. Emiliano, a 20 year old guy from Ecuador was stabbed four times in the street where my girlfriend lives and right when this happend, some friends and I were in a bar about 20 meters from the site of the crime.. My friends even saw how the killer threw a stone on the head of the victim when he was already lying on the floor. The ambulance arrived really fast (especially for Spain), but apparently the kid died soon afterwards in the hospital.

Here is an article about the killing. My condolations to all friends and relatives of the victim.

I'm off to Marocco for the next couple of days. Have a nice Easter Weekend!!!

Here are some impressions of my last trip to Marocco in 2005:

As a passionate backpacker myself, the story of Katharina and Peter who were murdered on their world trip in Bolivia affects me a lot. I'd like to offer my condolations to everyone involved and I sincerely hope that the resposible person gets caught soon.