BiromeIn Argentina we like to tell this urban legend that is somehow kind-of-true, that the ballpoint pen was invented there, thanks to the idea of a Hungarian-born man called László Bíró who moved to Argentina at some point during World War II.
TangoAh, so you think I’m going to talk about the dance called Tango; but no, this time I’m going to talk about an album called “Tango”, by those two towering figures of Argentine rock, namely Charly García and Pedro Aznar.
OktubreLet me tell you the story of what was sounding in Buenos Aires’ FM radios almost exactly 40 years ago.
Magdalena TempranísimoDuring most of the 1980s, I woke up every morning at 06:30. By then my mother was already awake, preparing breakfast and getting ready for work, usually starting her day half an hour earlier than me.
Celebrities Raving About ArgentinaIn this short article I’m going to link to some Instagram posts that show how some celebrities become obsessed with Argentina, in particular rock stars who cannot believe the level of energy they see in stadiums there.
Mud, perhapsI’ve mentioned previously my devotion and absolute awe around the figure and memory of the late Luis Alberto Spinetta; this time I’ll expand, focusing in particular on a specific version of one of his earliest songs ever.
Mirtha LegrandSo there’s this lady known as Mirtha Legrand; no, that isn’t her real name, but rather her stage name.
Andy KusnetzoffLet me introduce you to a national hero of Argentina. His name is Andy Kusnetsoff. Yes, obvious Russian origins, family name eventually butchered when his ancestors disembarked at the Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Ayre. He’s been a reporter and radio host for almost 30 years now.
FernandoThe national drink of Argentina is the Fernando, aka Fernet Branca with Coca-Cola: 3 parts Fernet, 7 parts Coke, fill with ice and serve cold. You’re welcome.
Drones Over Buenos AiresLet me show you the city I was born into. Well, not me, but through a lot of drone footage somebody else took and posted on YouTube and elsewhere.
Lucky ManI moved back to Buenos Aires in January 1998: merely 2 days before I boarded the last Swissair flight I would ever take, my girlfriend at the time (and, needless to say, one of the major reasons I had decided to move back to Buenos Aires for) called to tell me that she had unilaterally decided to break up with me.
My Grandmother Herta SchlerffThe name of my maternal grandmother was Herta Schlerff. She died 40 years ago, when I was 11 years old. She suffered a series of chronic health problems, including a couple of heart attacks and a broken hip, but she died peacefully, in her sleep, one morning of April 1985 at the Clínica Olivos, near the corner of Arenales and Maipú Avenue, in Vicente López, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Car Accident, 1976I was 2 and a half years old, almost 3. My mum had a small dark blue Fiat 600, very common in Argentina in those days. It was a dark winter night (that is, Southern Hemisphere, so around June or July) in Buenos Aires in 1976.
Memories of 1978, Paranoia and PainI am old enough to have memories of 1978, a time that happened 47 years ago; not figments, but scattered fragments, like the pieces of a shattered mirror, and here they are.
LumièreAstor Piazzolla is a name forever linked with the sound of tango. And this is even though some Argentines have done as much as they could for this not to be.
El EternautaSo, the first season is out, and I can heartily recommend it. The reviews are terrific; in my opinion, the first 2 or 3 episodes are a bit slow, but the 4th to 6th are such a blast… I couldn’t blink for a sec.
SheffieldOn Saturday, October 20th, 1979, around three o’clock in the afternoon, Marina Pueyrredón, distant great-great-granddaughter of some hero of the independence wars, sat with her friend Inés drinking mate in the balcony of her comfortable apartment overlooking Las Heras Avenue. It was a sunny day, outside temperature twenty-two degrees Celsius, humidity eighty percent, with fifteen percent chance of rain in the evening.
WFH in 1998The heated “Work from Home” debate of 2024 brought me back memories of my first programming job, when I joined a small “dotcom” startup in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and for the first few months of my employment I quite literally worked from home… in 1998.
Use a BidetOne of the things that I missed the most when moving from Argentina to Switzerland in 1991 wasn’t the meat, nor the alfajores, nor the dulce de leche, but the humble bidet in every bathroom.
Movies About Patagonia and a PictureI’ve written in the past about my recommendations for visiting Buenos Aires, and about my experience in Patagonia. Here go some movies to complement both explorations of the southernmost region of the Argentine countryside.
BorgesI didn’t grow up in a family where literature played any significant role, other than entertainment, that is. My mother enjoyed reading novels by Jacqueline Susann and Harold Robbins. My mathematician grandmother read French paperbacks from the collection “J’ai Lu” by authors ranging from Agatha Christie to Guy des Cars.
When My Grandparents Arrived to Buenos AiresAn article on the Argentine newspaper Clarín prompted me to visit the CEMLA search engine and search for the arrival details of my grandparents migrating to Buenos Aires, and guess what, I found them.
Going to Buenos Aires? Here to Help YouWhat follows is a set of recommendations I always give to those going to Buenos Aires; although there’s very little tango and football (or soccer, if you’re American), as I personally don’t dance (tango or any other dance, really) or play football.
El Imperio ContraatacaOn the early afternoon of Saturday, January 3rd, 1981, my mother took the 7-year old me to the “Atlas Belgrano” cinema in Buenos Aires (near the corner of Cabildo Avenue and Juramento street) to watch the recently released “The Empire Strikes Back”.
1996My life rebooted in July 1996; the day I decided to drop out from college, to get my driving license, to start going out at least twice a week, and to take a sabbatical from everything. Yes, I pretty much took all of those decisions at the same time.
CholilaCholila is a little town in the province of Chubut in the middle of Argentine Patagonia inhabited by around 2000 souls. It is mainly known for its National Barbecue Festival and because Butch Cassidy lived there for a while.
Editorial KapeluszOne day, on a rainy Saturday evening in the autumn of 1989, I taught myself derivatives and integrals. Yes, I know, I didn’t have many friends back then, talk about peak nerd stuff.
The Argentine Brain DrainArgentina is currently experiencing a brain drain so strong that it made the headlines on Swiss television. 200 Argies, many with higher education degrees or quite a bit of professional experience, are leaving the country… every day. To put that in context, that’s around 6'000 per month, or 70'000 per year.
The End of the Tunnel?From a Swiss perspective it would be easy to think that the COVID-19 crisis is reaching its end. That’s a rather myopic point of view; the truth is that many places in the world are going through the worst patches at this point.
Thirty YearsAs the taxi rushed away from my old home along Avenida del Libertador, I looked through the rear windshield for one last time. My mother barely acknowledged my gesture. She was silent, and most probably did not want to turn around. She hid her eyes behind her sunglasses, trying not to think about what laid ahead of us, in a journey that, a few days later, would take us to Europe.
How to Desperately Suck at ClichesI was born in Argentina. This fact, all by itself, provides a rather unlimited amount of smiles in every person I meet.
12 Years of iPhone – A Developer's PerspectiveThis is the talk that I gave in the 4th MCE Conference in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8th, 2017 (conference organized by Polidea) and (with updates) at UIKonf on May 15th, 2018 and at NSConfArg on April 20th, 2019.
Rogelio Suárez y La Vida PeligrosaAcabo de publicar mi primer novela en castellano, titulada “Rogelio Suárez y La Vida Peligrosa”. Esta disponible en Leanpub. El arte de tapa y las ilustraciones dentro del libro son obra de la increíble y talentosa Yohanna Etchemendy.
20 Moments of Argie PaleomarketingFor the past 4 years I’ve been sharing old argentine advertising campaigns on Twitter, with the meme “Moment of argie paleomarketing brought to you by akosma™®©”. The jingles and slogans (mostly from the 80’s) would pop up in my head at any random moment, and would always be followed by chuckles, sarcasm, puzzled looks and sometimes even hatred from my argie followers.
20 Years AgoExactly 20 years ago, on Wednesday February 20th, 1991, my mother and I arrived to Geneva, Switzerland, from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Very Quick and Sloppy Guide to Argentine RockFrom Wikipedia: “The Argentine rock movement was truly one of the first non-English forms of rock to be commercially successful outside its own nation.”
On the Importance of Yerba Mate in the Software Development ProcessThis paper will highlight the results of an extensive research conducted since the mid 90’s, on the effects of the consumption of beverages based in the plant known as Ilex paraguariensis, in the framework of software development process activities in South America and some small parts of Europe.
Felicidades De InmigranteEste es un mensaje para SpinDoctor: en Ginebra se consigue Mantecol!!! He aquí la prueba (la latita de Aromat es para probar que la foto la saqué en Suiza ;)
Adrian PaenzaMe acuerdo de haber visto a Adrian Paenza en la television, cuando yo era pibe en Buenos Aires, alla por los ‘80; escucharlo en la radio o en la tele, hablando de futbol o de cualquier otro deporte, era parte de la cultura televisiva del domingo a la tarde, cuando pasaban los resultados deportivos y se acababa el fin de semana. Era como verlo a Macaya Marquez, a Fernando Niembro o a Pancho Ibañez.
Adios Nonino, Tal VezRaro destino el del abuelo de Piazzolla; tal vez la mayor razon que tuvo su ser, mas alla de sus logros personales, haya sido el de trascender para siempre en forma de cancion. Adios Nonino.
Justo Antes De IrmeBuenos Aires me despidió con un día espléndido. Estoy sentado delante de la puerta 8 del aeropuerto de Ezeiza, con los ravioles de la abuela en mi estómago y la imagen de ella y mi viejo alejándose, después del último abrazo.
Escrito en Un Barescrito en un bar, en la esquina de alvarez jonte y avenida san martin, barrio de la paternal, ciudad de buenos aires.
Primer Parcial de Historia Económica y Social ArgentinaEstos últimos cuarenta años, ricos en acontecimientos, vieron desfilar en el Gobierno Nacional a no menos de 16 presidentes, 37 ministros de economía y nada más ni nada menos que 5 unidades monetarias (con un factor de 10^13 entre el $ m/n y el $ de 1991…) De más está decir que en estas condiciones, el simple hecho de mencionar las palabras “Industria Argentina” significa reconocer innumerables escollos y dificultades de toda índole.
Tato Bores en Busca De La Vereda Del SolMonologo N° 2000 - Domingo 9 de setiembre de 1990 - 21 horas 30 minutos.
Mise à TerreEn Argentine, on les appelle “Mise à terre”. Ben ouais, un peu comme en Electro. On appelle ainsi, familièrement, ces gens qui nous déchargent du stress, qui nous font voir la vie du bon côté, qui nous font rire et pleurer en même temps. Cette personne qui nous aime, à qui nous pouvons faire entièrement confiance.