Egypt

I am utterly fascinated by the events in Egypt. It took 18 days and no military offensive to get Hosni Mubarak to step down. Egypt is at a milestone in its great and glorious history dating back as one of the world's first civilizations.

How will we remember Egypt? Will it be the new Berlin... when, in 1989, a fall of a wall led to a democratic revolution and reunification of a country? Or will we remember it more like China in 1989, where a group of students, if only for a brief moment, captivated the world? In one place, we see sweeping change and progressive improvement. In the other, we were left with continued oppression of the population.

Today, the military announced that parliament is dissolved and their constitution suspended. Egypt is at a crossroads. Beyond pharaohs, pyramids and the Nile, how else may modern society remember Egypt?

Egypt, it's your choice. Don't screw it up.

These photos were taken from flickr. I did not take these photos nor did Iask permission of the artists. Sorry. Click to see who deserves the credit.

Sunday Observations - Apr 19

- Spring Break is over. It was low key, but it was good. I mean, I got in 3 bicycle rides, 2 motorcycle rides, 2 rounds of golf, 1 night of Quizzo, 1 College Football Spring Game, 2 pounds of crawfish, a great cookout and 1/2 of my house cleaner than it was before.

- Speaking of the Spring Game, made it to Atlanta for Tech's T-Day game. Gold defeated White 31-28. It was a sloppy game. First play was a fumble. It kinda of set the tone for the rest of the game.Offense made some good plays, even without Josh Nesbitt playing and Jonathan Dwyer Demaryius Thomas getting limited reps. Defense was okay. Special teams atrocious. The Spring Game is just a glorified scrimmage, but for a fanatic like me, it's a fabulous football fix in between the bowl games and the start of the season in August.
- Part of my weekend in Atlanta entailed going to the High Museum and seeing the First Emperor exhibit. China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, was a brutal tyrant who basically conscripted an entire nation to either work on his Great Wall, his Burial Tomb inside manmade Mount Li, or a vast army of clay that were to guard his tomb in the afterlife.
Despite being a ruthless despot, Qin managed to unify feudal China, standardize writing, weights, and measure. Qin (pronounced chin) left a lasting legacy through his unfication of China and this incredible terra cotta army.

- If you are in Midtown Atlanta, you have to eat at the Flying Biscuit. It has been a longtime favorite of mine.
- I sat at the bar in the Flying Biscuit and talked to a guy from Colorado named Richard. He worked in the tea industry was in Atlanta for a coffee convention. How do you get a job where you fly around the world tasting coffee? Sign me up!

- Did you know that the NBA is having a playoff? It's dumb that their first round games are best of 7 series. The whole thing takes to long. Make the first round best of 3. Then it would be more interesting!

Crush of the Week:
Read this entry from my friend Kate. I agree. Michelle Obama does the whole role of first lady well. She's classy, smart and was a hit with the Queen Mum. I like her. She's this week's crush.

Ping Pong

In anticipation of the Beijing Games, watch the video below of China's pastime. It's pretty dang amazing: