GALFROMDOWNUNDER UPOVER

The Galfromdownunder rides with the Man from All Over in Singapore First published 10/6/2009, with updates below MOVIE: Meeting Mark Mobius in Singapore   I've just landed in Singapore and hit the ground pedaling, meeting and riding with customers Mark Mobius ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Mobius ) and Richard Piliero from Franklin Templeton  (the "Gain from our Perspective" people). So who is Mark Mobius, and more importantly, what am I doing hanging out with the likes of  him? Mark is considered "The Father of Emerging Markets," credited with coining the phrase that refers to investing in "developing" countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). Of course, this acronym is becoming obsolete as these economies rapidly accelerate towards first-world cushiness. He travels globally and constantly, frequenting 24-hour gyms while investigating promising companies - and rides his small wheels whenever he can. Mark with his third F...

On becoming an accidental candidate at a job fair at the height of the 2009 recession UPDATED 2023 with additional intel.  Originally published: 2/25/2009.  Read an edited version of this post on Fastcompany We interrupt this program for a report from the cold, hard pavement outside your window. A jobseeking friend invited me to join her at a Women for Hire Career Fair  2009 at the Sheraton New York. Thinking it might provide a palpable insight into the current state of the nation for my FastCompany blog , I hastily printed out my resume as required (complete with a nice glaring typo - doh!) and jumped in a cab to make it by curtain call. Might I add, my color printer suddenly chose to malfunction that day, and printed out a resume striated in red, white and blue, like a glorious 8 1/2 x 11" American flag. No matter, it's a just a formality for my friend's benefit, right? On arriving at the entry cutoff time of 1.15pm - 45 minutes before the advertised closing time of 2pm...

2020: The year a Xmas tree costs more than a NY cocktail... STICKER SHOCK isn’t something  the average New Yorker complains about day to day, let alone at Christmas.  As demonstrated by the fabled ”New York Meter” (a man ka-chinged his way around NYC to prove the cheapest day is spent holed up in a cinema watching back-to-back movies) everything is so hyper-inflated that a $16-not-$18 hamburger is considered a bargain.   But this year, what’s causing us to drop our $6 pumpkin-spice latte in the snow? The price of Christmas trees.    I’m not talking about the $6500 Rockefeller center lookalikes destined for cavernous corporate lobbies and Tribeca penthouses. I’m talking about the modest, 3-4-footer for the typical Manhattan studio or 1-bedroom apartment.  This kiddie size – still taller than a child who still believes in Santa - enables you to slide 3.5 gifts under it and hang more than a single  Charlie Brown red bauble without it falling on its tin...