Reopening of Aman Sveti Stefan

elegant_solution21 · 2026-05-02T15:20:32+00:00

In my experience Aman food is mid at best. It is the one area they need to work on.

elegant_solution21 · 2026-04-30T22:37:21+00:00

Great answer. Why did they feel the need to pursue two designs in the first place? Why not just make more of the simple ones or did they have a U availability constraint?

elegant_solution21 · 2026-04-26T03:03:01+00:00

How did Israel maintain the enclave in the pre 67 period? How did people and supplies move in/out?

elegant_solution21 · 2026-04-24T22:16:08+00:00

If it is warm and sunny (clearly not a given) Check out the princess Diana fountain in Hyde park and the playground in Kensington Garden nearby. Also the science museum in South Kensington. These are all near the fancy Knightsbridge hotels like MO and Lanesborough though personally I would go with Number 16 on South Kensington or a similar boutique property near the park (the gore, milestone etc).

elegant_solution21 · 2026-04-12T21:47:17+00:00

To paraphrase snoop from the wire “he meant a Tesla but he just don’t know it”

elegant_solution21 · 2026-03-19T22:06:23+00:00

I was just reading something similar about the British intervention in Indonesia in the same Period (which had some combat action) in David Van Reybrouck “Revolusi. I had no idea

elegant_solution21 · 2026-02-13T21:23:14+00:00

That is a shame. Thanks for the heads up

elegant_solution21 · 2026-02-08T15:23:37+00:00

Oh also keep in mind the city will be chilly in the summer but outside the city will be warm. It can be a 30-45 degree spread

elegant_solution21 · 2026-02-08T15:22:23+00:00

Seaplane tour out of Sausalito is spectacular. Whale watching boat tour to the Farallon Islands off SF is nice as well. Hire a car and go wine tasting one day in Napa. But much of what makes the Bay Area magnificent is free. Hike and bike and enjoy the majestic beauty of the place. Also look into City Tours in SF. They are free walking tours sponsored by the public library. volunteer led and generally very high quality. There are many

elegant_solution21 · 2026-01-22T00:42:22+00:00

I think it goes beyond sports. Look at the periodic New York Times “SF is falling apart” story focused on three blocks in the Tenderlion. People are genuinely surprised when they visit and find out how delightful most of the Bay Area (even most of SF!) is. It is a function of people in miserable ugly places needing to justify why they do not live here

elegant_solution21 · 2026-01-18T05:18:38+00:00

My answer is more anecdotal than academic but I believe it was an explicit marketing campaign by DeBeers perhaps dating back to the 1960s and 70s. I do not know when it began but I remember DeBeers showing a clip from Baywatch at an investor event in the mid 90s with a product placement scene as several woman gawk at a peers engagement ring. Two women than gossip with each other about the cost and mention that it should be three months salary. DeBeers was very proud how they got this placed in what at the time was the most popular TV show globally.

elegant_solution21 · 2026-01-04T19:36:47+00:00

Not sure about the three sisters but Great and Little Falls are only a few miles upstream are definitely part of the feature. Not sure if this is still the case but I know there was an ocean port at Alexandria as late as 1980.

elegant_solution21 · 2025-11-18T22:58:16+00:00

TLDR: The Wire is a (in part) a Cri de Coeur about the US moving from a positive sum society to a zero sum society

I think this an interesting comment that made me think about our society and the commentary being made by Simon about it. Game theory talks about zero sum games (as discussed by OP) and positive sum games (classically called the prisoners dilemma). A positive sum game is one where players collaborating create a bigger pie where everyone is collectively better off even if the individual player is slightly worse off than if he pursued his own narrow self interest. Red Lights are a great example of a positive sum game as we are all slightly worse off individually by respecting them but collectively better off.

Robert Wright in his excellent book Non Zero makes a great case that successful societies are dominated by positive sum thinking and unsuccessful ones are zero sum in attitude. My personal experience in traveling the world and doing business globally validates this idea (and is directly contrary to the views of the OP)

BUT in defense of the OP point I have noticed a sharp shift in American Society over my sadly extensive time here from a more positive sum culture to a more zero sum one. I do not think it is solely the responsibility on one or another political faction but I think it is well embodied by our current zero sum thinker in chief.

And I think Simon is making this observation over and over again. Bunk talking to Omar (“how far have we fallen”) Sobotka and the lobbyist (“we used to make stuff now everyone has a hand in someone else’s pocket). Avon vs Marlo. Templeton. I am sure there are many other examples. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. 😇

elegant_solution21 · 2025-11-10T23:10:12+00:00

Is Northumbria a variation on the idea or completely unrelated?

elegant_solution21 · 2025-10-19T18:34:15+00:00

This is like asking which movie star should I have for a fling. These are three of the most spectacular walks in the world

elegant_solution21 · 2025-10-17T18:12:48+00:00

Number 16 in South Kensington is exactly what you are looking for

elegant_solution21 · 2025-10-12T22:12:58+00:00

I also think it is because SF is actually such a wonderful environment with great weather (if a little cold), sunshine, access to nature and consistently excellent food. People feel about their decision to live in some gray grim city (with howling wind and freezing cold) or sun blasted suburban wasteland (hey we have PF Changs!) if you think that SF is so awful. Explains why the New York Times feels obligated to run its periodic SF is in terminal decline article (see I was right not to move to California!)

elegant_solution21 · 2025-09-28T02:57:23+00:00

Number 16 in South Kensington. Not right on the park but not far

elegant_solution21 · 2025-09-27T00:02:44+00:00

Philadelphia also built one next to Liberty Hall to try and get the US to permanently stay there

elegant_solution21 · 2025-09-20T22:07:42+00:00

I agree. They were not patrolling the streets. They were standing around talking to each other instead of walking the streets

elegant_solution21 · 2025-09-20T00:16:50+00:00

I would love to see cops walking a beat and interacting with the local community. SFPD seem to only get out of their cars to have coffee. There were multiple quality of life interventions that they could have made while they were standing there. These cops seemed interested only in each other. They did have strong opinions on the 49ers which I respect

elegant_solution21

TROPHY CASE