Mark Kolier’s Blog

Archive for November, 2009

This is a longer post than normal – and could have been longer!

In addition to doing the touristy things and drinking what seemed to be a boatload of Heineken, my wife Michele and I enjoyed some very good dining while in Amsterdam over the weekend.    A sleek new restaurant called Envy Friday night, (which had a very nightclub-like feel but NO music – it was very strange and we asked the server about it and she rolled her eyes and said she thought the same thing – it was strange), and a Michelin one star restaurant called Vermeer, Saturday night (the 5 course vegetable inspired tasting menu was great paired with wine although there was a scallop in there along the way).    

But we went for something completely different (ode to Monty Python) Sunday night.   I had heard of but never experienced a ‘house’ dinner.   They apparently exist all over the world but I had little knowledge of how they worked (or why for that matter).    Through a friend of one of my wife’s friends we were told to go and have dinner at Angelo Agnello’s outside the city center.   His reputation as a chef was glowing from those that eaten there.   The Hotel Pulitzer where we stayed had not heard of him at all.   It sounded interesting if not a bit daring.   It was much more than that. 

We took a fifteen minute taxi ride to get there.    A nondescript apartment building in a non-descript Amsterdam suburban neighborhood.     Up three flights of narrow, twisting stairs and we met Angelo.   And he offered a memorable dinner and show.   Just the two of us.  No menu.   He did ask Michele on the phone if we liked curry.  Hmmm.  No pricing (he told us to leave whatever we thought we wanted to pay – the Priceline model of eating dinner).  

Starting with caviar and crème fraiche, prawns in a mild garlic and olive oil reduction, salad with tomatoes and homemade feta cheese, a spicy chicken curry, a wonderful lemon tart with meringue, and the offer of cheese (which we simply could not eat).  Two bottles of wine (a Greek red and French Red) as well as a glass of port which he got from friends in Portugal.  

But what was more interesting was the conversation.   Angelo claimed to have lived in 16 countries, spoke 7 languages (he grew up in Mozambique and is of Indian descent), played professional soccer (injuring himself which ended his career) and has cooked in London, France and a host of other places.    He has cooked for dignitaries and people from all over the world.    He had just catered (all by himself) a dinner for 150 people.    Angelo told us that he normally does not sit down with people but we had asked him to join us and he felt comfortable enough to do so.   Music played in the background (he regularly asked if we liked the music).    Dinner was a 4 ½ hour deal. 

We left what we felt was a fair price for the dinner.   He seemed quite pleased.  In addition to making the feta and cooking the whole meal, Angelo gave us a bottle of the Porto, a host of the Dutch wafer cookies (that he made himself), a bottle of the French red and tried to send us off with a bunch of other parting gifts which we politely declined.    

The experience of not knowing what to pay and putting down what we felt was a fair value was truly interesting.    My wife and I both felt there was a fair amount of embellishment by Angelo of his exploits.  And yet that did not take away from the charm of the evening – it added to it.   In fact in one conversation Angelo offered to show us around Amsterdam Saturday night (we declined) and was ready to walk us back to our hotel (we declined that too) after showing us the park that Anne Frank played in near her actual home which was far from where she was hiding in 1942-1944.  

I feel that those people that have dinner at Angelo’s miss out on an unusual yet deeply memorable experience.   I hope we get the chance to meet Angelo again.   And I wonder if there is a model there for name your own price dining?  Would you be willing to offer customers the opportunity to pay what they think is fair for your service?    Would I?   I can’t say I am completely comfortable with the notion but it is interesting to consider. 

If ever you get the chance to dine at a local’s house when traveling I suggest you say yes.  It will be weird at times but an experience you will never forget.  

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thursday November 19^th – Whenever I get to travel someplace I’ve never been I always try to capture my impressions of the place BEFORE I get there.   So as I headed to Amsterdam I thought about what I know about Amsterdam and the Netherlands (or sometimes Holland and that’s odd in and of itself as I cannot think of too many countries that have two names besides Burma/Myanmar). 

Let’s see – before I get on the plane – I recall that if one goes to Europe from the U.S. Amsterdam is a gateway to cheap airfares – but I don’t know why.   They have canals that freeze sometimes in the winter and people skate around to work and play.   Heineken and Amstel beer (I found out that the Amstel river is the primary river in Amsterdam – did not know that).  Van Gogh museum.    Anne Frank’s hideout house.   The red light district.  Coffee shops that are smoking lounges and cafés which serve food.    It’s cold and rainy a lot.   That would be about the sum total of my intimate knowledge of Amsterdam.   How provincially American am I?  

Tuesday November 24^th – While I had intended (ok maybe pondered is better) on posting from Amsterdam, it just didn’t happen.    We were having too good a time.   Yes we went to the Van Gogh (they pronounce it Van Huff) museum, the Rijksmuseum, did the canal cruise, the visit to the Heineken brewery (complete with 3 samples!), and Anne Frank’s hideout which was in her father’s office.    We also went to the red light district which was actually a bit pathetic.  We walked by large picture windows in the red light district each having a lingerie-clad working girl on display one looking more bored and morose than the next.     The coffee shops were not nearly as plentiful as I imagined but the scent emanating from them was unmistakable.   Oh and it was cold and it rained every day but one out of 3 ½ that we were there.    

Like most cities that I have recently visited in Europe the international flavor of the city comes through quite notably.   Many different languages were heard with visitors prominently from the U.K., France, Belgium and Germany.  Apparently many Europeans think Amsterdam is fun for a weekend.   And what a ‘biking’ city.  I have never seen so many beat up bicycles (even those get stolen I was told) with people from 6 to 76 riding them around at high speeds, riding in all kinds of weather, ringing their little bells just as they swerve to avoid unknowing pedestrians (like me).  

Amsterdam (also like most cities I have visited in Europe recently) is expensive.   Not only because of the U.S. dollar’s slide vs. the Euro.   We went into a grocery store and saw that basic staples are substantially more expensive than in the U.S. ..    Perhaps people get paid a bit more but I think they also live in much simpler quarters so that their income is spent more on consumables than rent or mortgage payments.    Things we forget about here in the land of plenty and cheap.

As I posted recently I have reconsidered my relationship with the Amazon’s Kindle. Having read the limited warranty that came with the device as well as what is posted on the website it seemed clear to me that after one year there was no guarantee. At the time I was aggravated, unhappy and perplexed. I was wrong too. Sometimes you have to make that phone call.

Of course I did not make it. My wife did since she had originally bought me the Kindle and had worked out the (now) 3 replacement Kindles. She spoke with them (although finding the right customer service number was a little bit tough) about the fact that my Kindle had simply died. They said no problem and sent a replacement Kindle to arrive THE NEXT DAY at Amazon’s expense. It was already loaded with my contact information such that as soon as I charged it up and turned it on it was easy to download the books that I had previously purchased into the replacement device from the content manager.

I am pleased, impressed and yes still a little perplexed. While I still hold that Amazon should send a replacement Kindle to any customer that complains their Kindle has stopped working (which they have done) as long as the customer sends back the old one (still at Amazon’s expense which is the case). But I have two questions.

1) Why don’t they publicize this feature? Possible answer – Amazon does not want to advertise that the device is somewhat fragile since that could undermine overall customer perception particularly in view of the new e-reader devices on the market. Anyone that calls will receive a replacement Kindle but one HAS to call.

2) Did anyone from Amazon actually read my blog post such that they decided to send me a replacement Kindle? I’m hardly one to be over-impressed with my own impact or self-importance so I highly doubt that.
Sales of e-books had reached just shy of $ 100 million as of August 2009 according to the Association of American Publishers. Additionally analysts are calling for sales to triple again over the next 13 months. And the Kindle is Amazon’s best selling item across ALL of its markets.

The Kindle aims to be the I-pod of e-readers. I think Amazon has a good shot there. However I do think they missed an opportunity with me to ‘buy’ up to the newer device the Kindle 2 or large screen tablet. I would have paid 50% (or less) of the purchase price of one of those newer devices. Instead I have a refurbished original Kindle – which I am grateful for but it was an opportunity lost as far as I am concerned.
Of course I could just be being greedy. Amazon continues to prove to be one of the leaders in customer service and satisfaction. And that’s high ground to hold.

So maybe you are skeptical that content matters? Here’s food for thought. According to Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had already sold over 1.2 million copies the first day of release in the U.K. alone.

There are some experts questioning the reporting data and how those numbers could be tabulated so quickly. I’m no expert but am questioning them too. Are they counting units shipped? If so, that should be pretty easy. The fervor is a demand creator. Clever don’t you think?

Extrapolating from the U.K. sales data and the approximate 2-to-1 relationship between Modern Warfare 2 and the previous U.K. record holder Grand Theft Auto IV, Schachter has estimated that Modern Warfare 2 has sold around 7 million units across the globe in its first 24 hours. For comparison purposes, GTA IV sold “only” 3.7 million units on its first day. The game costs U.S. $ 60 (or you can buy the Prestige edition for $ 160) – if you can get it at all. Analysts are saying that MW2 will sell over $ 1 billion dollars of the game in just a few months.

How many products do you know of that have the capacity to sell a billion dollars in as short a time frame as several months? My 20 year old son has obtained the game and rates it a WOW! (not World of Warcraft which is another HUGE franchise). He is not at all surprised the game is doing so well – it’s that good – or so he says since I have not seen nor played the game and likely will not ever do so.

My WOW was the speed and breadth of how MW2 caught the attention not just of gamers but business people (jealous ones no doubt). What it means to me is that if a company comes up with the right product, at the right price, for the right audience, amazing success is still possible.

In a constantly changing world some things won’t change so much. And that’s reassuring to me. Is it to you?

I got 7 ½ hours last night and almost always get from 7-8 hours of sleep nightly. I have been thinking about how people sleep today versus throughout human history. Full disclosure – one of our clients Tempur-Pedic is a highly successful manufacturer of mattresses but they know nothing (and are not the least bit concerned) of my blog posts.

What got me thinking about the history of sleep was something I read not long ago about Ben Franklin and sleeping during the time of the American Revolution. Apparently there was a ‘first sleep’ and ‘second sleep’. Such that people would get up after sleeping for several hours in the middle of the night and be awake for some period of time prior to going back to sleep after sleep halftime.

From Wikipedia – Segmented sleep, divided sleep, bimodal sleep pattern and interrupted sleep are modern Western terms for a polyphasic or biphasic sleep pattern found in medieval and early modern Europe and many non-industrialized societies today, where the night’s sleep is divided by one or more periods of wakefulness. This is particularly common in the winter. Maybe they were talking about NFL coaches who seemingly sleep in their offices in season.

Because members of modern industrialized societies, with late hours facilitated by electric lighting, no longer have this sleep pattern, they may misinterpret and mistranslate references to it in literature. Common interpretations of the term ‘first sleep’ are ‘beauty sleep’ and ‘early slumber’. A reference to first sleep in the Odyssey was translated as such in the 17th century, but universally mistranslated in the 20th.

Far be it for me to get into things like REM (Rapid Eye Movement), Circadian rhythms, and dreams (I will leave that to Aristotle and Freud), but it is interesting to me that in all of human history only over the last 200 years (gas lighting came into practice in 1807) or so have humans sleep habits dramatically changed. It seems to me that many people do not value sleep as much as they should. The health benefits of a good night’s sleep are fairly well documented. It also helps make people less cranky (maybe President Obama should mandate sleep for Congress as they seem particularly cranky although it might be due to them getting too much sleep in House and Senate sessions).

But the notion of a true ‘first sleep’ with an ‘awake’ period in between and a ‘second sleep’ is foreign to me and, I would imagine, most people. I wonder how Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan ‘slept’. Did they get their 8 hours? Rampaging and pillages is very tiring after all. Maybe it is that since there was so much less to do at night before the advent of electricity, sleep was valued more as a pastime? After all, until recently people did not have Facebook to keep them up at night.

How about you – do you have a nightly targeted sleep amount? And are you cranky when you don’t get it?