Happy Birthday, Mr Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer, the Brazilian architect (largely) responsible for such iconic constructions as his country's capital Brasilia and the UN Building in New York as well as countless others all over the world, turns 103 tomorrow Weds 15th and....be clear...is still out there, active and working on projects. Apparently he has 15 on the go right now. Here's a link to his organization's website and his most famous quote, repeated below:

"I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the winding course of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe, the curved Universe of Einstein."

Wishing you a happy birthday and many more to come, sir.

Happy Birthday, Miiiister Presideeeeeent....

In the Andean region there are a plenty of traditions to suffer through on your birthday. One is, when presented with your birthday cake, to take a big bite out of it. Then while you're taking your bite, some joker always sneaks up behind you and squishes your face into the cake, cream and all.

And thus President Evo Morales was caught by his people yesterday. He visited the altiplano town of Batallas and it didn't go un-noticed that his was his 50th birthday. Here's what happened:

Happy Birthday, Mrs President

Happy birthday, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. No snark in this post as it matters not what I think about your presidency and administration, I just hope you have a nice day. Eat some cake, put on a party hat, dance the conga.

Where were you on January 7th 2004 at 07:55 and 32 seconds?

Happy 5th Birthday, wonderful and blessed firstborn child. It is a great honour and a great privilege to be your father.