After Joanna cleaned up the city at the farmers' market, we came to my place and later James joined us. Yet even later Clayton was supposed to come as well. As soon as my doorman called me and told me that Clayton was on his way, James' idea was to play Clayton's theme song as soon as he walks into the apartment. I cued it up and started it as Clayton walked through the door. The rest is on the video:

Last year on the eve of Halloween I had a Pumpkin Carving Party in my apartment. This year I did not have it, but some other people did. They decided to create a Jack-O-Lantern computer. It actually glows in the dark just like a real Jack-O-Lantern. Step by step assembly process is here.

Gulliver and I are getting to know each other. And no, this is not my dog.

Now this is one of the most hilarious gadgets that I've seen. It is actually sold here.

Playing with my co-worker's new 8.2 megapixel camera.

Click on the picture below. If you don't see the animation,

On Tuesday (two days ago) just before leaving the office to go to the Quadrille rehearsal I discovered that I lost my wallet. On that day I only used it in the morning to get my usual breakfast at a deli. Since we had an in-office lunch, I have not been using the wallet throughout the day. I tried to look for my wallet all over my desk and in all my pockets and bags, but could not find it. I had to borrow $10 from my colleage Sarah and head out not to be late for the rehearsal. My friends suggested I call the banks and cancel my credit cards. So I did, and fortunately no unauthorized charges were made. But unfortunately I will have to update all of my automatic payments with the new credit card information once I get it in the mail. The next day I started a new monthly unlimited $70 metrocard. The one I had in my wallet would still be usable for 13 days. I also had to go to the bank and get a temporary ATM card. I also tried to mentally prepair myself for the trip to the DMV to get a duplicate drivers license.

But today after I came back from lunch, my co-worker Arthur said, "Raphael, I have bad news for you!". Then he pointed at my chair. The moral of the story is: When you lose something, always check underneath your butt first.

My colleague Christine has given me the nickname Pumpkin years ago. We've been working together since JPMorgan times. So today, in advent of my holiday, she gave me a nice pumpkin cup cake! It was veeery yummy. Thanks Christine!

Ever wanted to call someone and conceal your real voice? You can type a short text message below and click on the SPEAK button to hear it spoken by the selected voice.

Text:


Voice: Crystal ... US English Mike ...... US English Rich ...... US English Lauren .... US English Claire .... US English Rosa ...... Latin Am. Spanish Alberto ... Latin Am. Spanish Klara ..... German Reiner .... German Alain ..... French Juliette .. French Charles ... UK English Audrey .... UK English      

Display the link for the audio file.

This is really cool stuff to play with. The speech is amazingly clear, yet still sounds quite funny. My favorite is Audrey - with her impeccable Queen's English pronunciation :)

To save the audio file on your computer, check "Display the link for the audio file" before clicking SPEAK, right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..."

Don't forget to turn on the volume on the computer and make sure you have the speakers or headphones plugged in.

SIZZLINGCROTCH: man
SIZZLINGCROTCH: I cant cancel an AOL subscription online
JakeD409: try to do it over the phone
SIZZLINGCROTCH: no cuz they ask for the screenname

Photos taken at the weekly Monday night Hustle party at DanceSport.

I was being sizzled on the frying pan at Pier 63 Spice Summer Festival. Actually there were hardly any people that showed up at the opening night of the weekly event. I was there until about 10:30 PM. So far it looks like Monday is not a good day for a night out dancing.

Good thing that they did not charge you to go on the pier. You only had to pay if you wanted to get on the dancefloor. So it was nice to hang out on the pier for a bit and enjoy the views of the river at night and get some fresh air.

Today at work we had a birthday celebration for two of my coworkers. This was the first time the tradition of having a birthday cake was broken.

Only In Japan... Only In France... Only In Amsterdam... Only In Thailand... Only In Australia... Only In Hawaii... Only In India... Only In Africa... Only In Mexico... Only In Spain... Only In Texas... And finally..... Only In America...

In the office we noticed tonns of smoke outside the windows. As my collegues pointed out, it turned out to be coming from the roof of a building which was next to ours. Nevertheless a fireman came in to check it out. I started to get worried. What if the fire spreads to our building!. Better be safe than sorry! The fireman tried to examine the situation in greater detail, but concluded that we were in no danger and left. Christine was sharing the terrifying experience.

that's what their costumes would look like.