The New York Times carries a review of the Super Bowl ads, which is already a comment on the American way of life – I rarely see reviews, in other countries, of advertisements. I love the first paragraph of the story (I’ll let you go there on your own) and maybe author Stuart Elliott is right in saying that “After Sunday, you could add Super Bowl advertising to that lengthening list of letdowns.”

But if you live outside the US and you get only sporadic American TV time, the case at our house, it’s great fun to watch these ads and be reminded of another way of life. Not that the Audi chase scene makes me think of US roads, where I mainly find that people drive too slowly. Or that I connect with the celebrities. I worked for People magazine off and on for several years, but I hardly recognize any of these people, which goes to show how short-lived fame can be.

I especially appreciated Elliott’s high point/low point remarks, including one about Pepsi rewriting history when it brings on Bob Dylan and crowd: it was known as the drink of the Republican party back in the days of Richard Nixon versus hippies and protestors (undesirables then, cool now). The ad didn’t do much for me.

GoDaddy‘s enhanced ad left me thinking geeeeeez guys, even if boys who like sports like pinup calendars like sexism, my post-feminist friends and I could have made an ad that got the message over a lot better and that was a lot more fun!

Was there an ad I loved, since there usually is at least one? I have to agree with Elliott in the end: not a single one. So now I’m worried that the glutten financial system has eaten alive not only the economy but the spirit of creativity in the US.

Ok, I admit it: I’m not a hockey mom. The closest one of my kids ever got to ice skates was this:

Snowboarding & skating in China, YouTube.

And my other child is a severely disabled special needs kid. But that doesn’t put me any closer to the woman who thinks Alaska is the heartbeat of the US. I grew up  in Iowa: I know better.

So when Janet, a friend in Paris, sent a message wishing us all “good luck” tonight, that included this video, I just had to sing along. Don’t cry for me, Sarah Palin . . . (thank you, Salon.com)

It’s obvious: people sit down for meetings. And then along come people who notice the obvious and think about it and suggest standup meetings. Martin Fowler and/or Jason Yip at Thoughtworks caught my eye with a post on the rights and wrongs of standup meetings, which it had never occurred to me is an option. The idea behind it is wonderful: if people stand up, the meeting will be shorter.

I came across this in an odd way, part of the joy of the Internet. I had googled "standing on hands too long" and came up with several links to Beatles’ lyrics ("I saw her standing there") and then the post from Thoughtworks. The only problem is that the post is too long so I started to glaze over just as I do in long meetings – and that is when I hit "Who attends? All hands" and then something about getting everyone moving in the right direction, so the image I’m left with is a little confusing but I can see why Google sent me here.

I still don’t know how long you can safely walk on your hands, at a meeting or elsewhere.

The day is getting long, the dishes aren’t done yet, the e-mails are not all answered -  and suddenly London’s Mail on Sunday offers the opportunity to sink into the black hole of learning more about the rich.

Photo (reproduced with permission, Rick Malman/Alinghi): Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi is the current holder of the sailing world’s America’s Cup. Here, October 2007, he looks at models of "J hull" sailing vessels in the model room of the New York Yacht Club, the Cup’s original home.

While the Sunday Times in Britain churned out its number-heavy list of the country’s wealthiest people the Daily Mail, true to form, spewed curious bits of information about them. We learn that Kirsty Bertarelli nearly died of meningitis when she was young. Her mother is quoted as saying of the daughter’s marriage to a wealthy Swiss man, "You never know what will happen in life. Nobody knows how they are going to end up." I hope she managed a brighter toast than that at the wedding, if women were allowed to toast. No news here on why the Bertarellis are suddenly considered British, while Forbes and Swiss authorities seem to consider them Swiss residents. Spain, France and New York seem to be the places where Ernesto Bertarello spends most of his time these days.

We also learn that Prince Charles is not listed despite having a sizable fortune estimated at

Two items about upcoming events, just in:

If you fly out the door you might make it to see "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith, in English with French sub-titles, at the Atlantic Cinema in Lausanne. Proceeds go to the Habitat for Humanity project at Brillantmont School, where a group of students and teachers are raising funds to go to Romania in June to build houses. Show time at 20:00 tonight, Thursday, tickets are CHF10.

The Geneva Welcome Center has 50 tickets to give away to the Switzerland-Sweden rugby match in Nyon Saturday 19 April. Details they’ve sent us:

We have 50 tickets for a RUGBY match SWITZERLAND-SWEDEN  that will take place on Saturday 19 April 2008 from 15:00 at the Stade de Colovray in Nyon.
If you are interested you should be quick. The tickets can be picked up at the Geneva Welcome Centre (106 route de Ferney, 1203 Geneva, tel: +41 22 546 1400) from 09:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00. Important: Please bring your legitimization card from your mission, organization or NGO. This offer is available on  Friday 11 April 2008.

We will not be able to reserve any tickets. Have a good match. And a big thank you to our partner "Rugby Club Nyon" for their generosity.

Lake Geneva (GenevaLunch, by Laila Rodriguez) – The first signs of spring have arrived: tree buds and terraces (or open-air cafes). In July most "beaches" around Lake Geneva will also re-open.

For many residents in the city of Geneva the sight is quite familiar: Paquis and Geneve Plage but there are a lot more places that come to mind: Coppet, Nyon, St Prex and others in cantons Vaud and Geneva.

If you are new to the region or simply looking for new places to visit, L’Illustr

How did I miss this bit of hot news? I was clearing focusing on the hard stuff when I should have been talking turkey. So here it is folks, the next maybe-winner of the Eurovision music contest which has brought us all those winners, such as, such as.

Um, well, this one is memorable: Ireland is sending Dustin Turkey to the contest this year and not everyone is happy about it. Some don’t like the fact that he’s a puppet and not a real man (or woman). Some don’t like his behaviour, but that’s hardly a first for Eurovision. Some don’t like his voice. The color of his skin? His politics? Doesn’t have the right attitude towards St Paddy’s day, coming up?

Come on, let the poor fellow sing, I say.

I was shooting pictures of the spectacular dawn Monday for a short article on the snow falling in the Jura and the Swiss Alps when I turned around and took this photo in Etoy of the lake and mountains and clouds and richly green field. I kept looking at it, trying to work out why it seemed to be a familiar view. I will confess to having an allnight wedding party in the woods next to this spot some years ago, but I wasn’t looking at the scenery much that night.

Here it is: I finally remember that Ferdinand Hodler’s painting of St Prex, one of my favourites by a Swiss painter whose work I love, went for nearly CHF11 million at auction in June 2007. Ok, he has a little more distance, a little more lake, a bit more light and summer flowers are in bloom. But it’s pretty much the same spot and if I keep shooting it maybe I will have a photo worth that much plus interest in 106 years, which is the age of his "Lac L

GenevaLunch’s newest contributor, photographer Michel Bobillier, aka Athos99, has just posted a great tip and map on his blog, showing where to shoot fireworks pictures this weekend at the Fetes de Geneve. Now I’d like to read tips from him on getting wonderful shots like the ones he shows. Mine always show the beautiful clusters fizzlling out. When I try to time it to shoot earlier I get a couple little sparks. Out of about 80 shots I took during the recent 1 August fireworks in Sierre, Valais, I had two that were recognizable as fireworks.

Check out his other excellent images of Geneva, Switzerland and more. And if you haven’t noticed, his Elvis in Geneva shot just ran on GenevaLunch’s front page.

Welcome aboard, Michel!

This came in a little too late for me to run it as news but if read the story last week about amazing diamonds going under the auctioneer’s gavel, you might like a closer look at them, especially now that we have the final pricetag. Two sets of diamonds, whose origins are a matter of speculation, were sold for SFr5.7 million and SFr3.96 m, well above their expected combined sales price of SFr4 million. Here is the set of jewels, made by Chaumet into jewelry for the courtesan La Paiva in 1878 and remounted for a European princess 10 years later. The pear-shaped yellow diamond is 82.48 carats and the cushion-shaped one is 102.54.

The jewels were sold by an unknown  "European princely family" to an unknown buyer.