Caper season in Malta

Capers are flower buds of caparis spinosa, which are pickled in sea salt and vinegar for the use of seasoning of traditional Mediterrainan dishes, salads, fish and even pizzas. The season for picking them in Malta started mid April and now you very often see people with a bag or bowl standing in the bushes to pick their little harvest. The pickling in salt water (about 2 table spoons per 100 ml of water in a covered bowl) induces a fermentation process which produces mustard oil and a strong taste within 3-5 days. Then rinse the capers and store them in salt water. At later stage you can pick the caper berries, which are also etible and used in Mediterranan cuisine.

Caper bush flower and flower buds

The flower of the caper bush is also caller Flinders' rose, named after the explorer Matthew Flinders (1774 - 1814).

Sea salt is in Malta harvested in traditional salt pans which are carved into the limestone rock. Even I get my salt there and grind it in a Peugeot mill for use in the kitchen.

Time does not fly

When I still had to do these dull corporate performance appraisals, staff often complained about working too long hours. I sometimes wanted to crack a joke by saying: "If time is an illusion, so what is overtime?" Quite often this resulted in a complaint to the Human Resource Department or even the Worker's Council, claiming that their manager (me) does not take them seriously. Of course, I do. But can they please first do some basic research on time before talking to me about overtime?

The same I think when I hear people say that "time flies". I know what they mean: they use "flying" as a metaphor for some object changing its location over a large distance in a very short time interval.

But time is not an object, or is that too much Newton? Time is the denominator in the equation: speed = distance/time. It's not speed = time/time ... because then ... pfff ... ! So, what are they talking about?

The clue came from a student who said recently: "I want to use my time to gain experience and not just to have meaningless activities. Then time stands still." He was referring to his meaningless use of social media in this context. Gotcha! Let's translate this into something we can understand:

time / (meaning x activity)  =  experience / time    (Eq. 1)

And derive a very simple formula for nothing less than the meaning of life by eliminating time from Eq. 1:

meaning = experience / activity                            (Eq. 2)

Time can't fly in this equation because it's gone anyway. Time management does not make sense either. Time Based Competition (a management classic by one of my former employers, The Boston Consulting Group) is not applicable. It's just about experiencing more per activity, no matter how long it takes.

As easily seen, there are two ways of increasing the meaning of life in Eq. 2:

1. Increase the experience per activity (you can think about what that practically means, next time you go about your daily routines, do admin, or watch TV, stand in the traffic jam, etc.)
2. Reduce your activities towards zero (that might explain meditation)

Just for the few of you, who took this serious now: it's not. But finding the right denominator in the target function, is fun. And for those who divide their life by time, I wish you all the best. Same to those who divide it by money. And the worst of course, is to divide money by time. That's what the billing department calls a time sheet.

Summer colors

Beginning of April, on my way to the grocery behind the village, strolling through the secret gardens, there were yellow flowers covering large sports of rural Malta. Now summer is coming and the blossum is largely gone, making space for a hot and dry season. It is the time when life turns its focus from inland of the small island state towards the azur blue sea. Soon most vegetation which is not irrigated or a succulent will hibernate in a yellowish tone to welcome the next rain. This year, winter was quite generous with water and the spring was exceptionally colorful. But now the colors are changing.

Compare the colors with photos from the same location, not long ago by clicking here.

Hompesch gate in the background

Moscow is the new London

An appearance in the People's Friendship University of Russia gave me an opportunity to update my impressions of Moscow. The first time I visited the city was more than 20 years ago, and of course, a lot changed, since the start of the post-Soviet era. Moscow is a lively, pulsating, cosmopolitan city with amazing culture and very friendly people. A trip there is a serious alternative to a visit to London, and should the Brexit agony continue to drive smart people out of the UK, I will clearly give Moscow the preference. At the Universiy, we were extremely kindly welcomed and guided, and I am looking forward to making this exchange mutual. Among the students, you find extremely capable ones and even exotic figures like a Georgian who studies international trade in Russia and imports pharmaceuticals from China to Uzbekistan. Today I got myself a Russian language guide, to see how much of my Russian course from my student times I can still activate. As I am slowly scaling down my use of English, Russian is a good option to fill the appearing foreign language gap. 

There are two quick Lackmus tests for a city's cultural level: 1) a view at the library and 2) a scan through the FM band on the radio. In both indicators Moscow did extremely well.

Visit to the Kremlin

For those who wonder why Ivan the Terrible had this suffix in his name. He blinded the architect of this St. Basil Cathedral to protect the IP how to build it. 

Back then these were the big guns

View from the window of the faculty residence.

Slow motion Malta

A friend from the Netherlands visited over the Easter holidays, and it was a nice opportunity to stroll along Malta's beauty spots - of which there are many. Malta has a slow side, which is very nice. A good distraction from the little island state which is stretching itself and having Europe's fastest growing economy.

View on the Marsaxlokk fishing village

My favorite hiking landscape on Malta, just beside my favortite bay. As it is largely "undiscovered", let me keep it that way and not disclose the exact location.

Xlendi watchtower on Gozo

Rocky coastline flora

The Malta business model has actually not changed much over the centures. It just has been spread to other industries and services.

Gardens and markets

This year, thanks to ample rainfall in spring, local havests in Malta are good. There are two main farmer's market in Malta: one in Ta' Qali Attard (Tuesday 16:00 - 19:00, Saturday 9:00 - 17:00) and the other one at Birgu, St. Edward Street (Saturday, 7:00 - 12:00). This year's first local patatoes are available and grains will follow soon. Both markets have a decent supply of local vegetable and fruits. And of course such markets always teach you a lot about traditions and culture. It is good to see that the demand for such products is growing. The easy acess to junk food and degraded eating habits are already a public health issue in Malta. And also a success in local agriculture will return the value of agricultural and garden land, which otherwise turns too easy into a rubbish tip here.

Barley field, garden and fortress on the way to Rinella Bay.

View from the kitchen window.

The American University of Malta

The American University of Malta (AUM) is going to have two campuses in Malta: one in the Cospicua Docks and another in Marsaskala. This morning I saw the construction in the docks and I had a longer glimps on how it develops. I am sure it will become a major stepstone of further development of the Three Cities, the South of the island, and a major national milestone. There are debates about aspects of the institution and the construction, and some of them are constructive, but others not helpful. Too often good ideas have been grinded up between the parties in Malta, or by entry barriers with Maltese characteristics (like setting your car on fire). It reminds me of the words of David Martin, the former CEO of Arriva, who explained the failure of delivering a decent bus service in Malta with the words: “Incredibly bad drivers [and] parasitic consultants” who created a system that was “totally unworkable”. Formerly a British colony, Malta unfortunately has carried forward a culture of misusing "the system" into independence. Now, of course it is just self abuse.

Education could definitely be a major pillar in the Maltese economy. 4000 students and 750 jobs are anticipated. In a recent survey we conducted at FEMA's Business Forum at the University of Malta, 85% of local companies responded that they face or will face a talent shortage, specially when it comes to "higher order skills and competencies". There is a lot of room for improvement. I would not waste my time arguing that the AUM figures are wrong, but better spend it to make them become true. Because that's for the benefit of everybody.

The plans and rendering of the Dock 1 campus look really great and it fits well into the beautiful Cospicua. I can imagine that this will become an excellent learning environment and beyond that I am looking forward to see student life in Birgu, Isla and Bormla. Given that many of the students will come from the Middle East, I am expecting we will also get some excellent new food choices (which Malta needs darely). And it might well the critical step to return the Grand Harbour to its past cosmopolitan flair, which was sadly ended around 70 years ago by German bombardment. 

Dock 1 at Cospicua: The construction of one of the campuses of the American University of Malta.

Secret gardens

Malta is having the EU Presidency, and just now all the small country is doing its best hosting a series of events. Sometimes it paralyzes other parts of public life quite a bit. The EU Presidency has become one of the "P-Words". But that's how it goes, when you want to be a good host and honor your guests. I will get involved in a session on Foreign Direct Investment in the EU on Friday, and spent some time preparing for my speech on Chinese ODI (Outbound Direct Investment) with focus on the EU. 

After having done further research, the best way to think through the event, is to go for a stroll through my secret gardens in Is-Sabbara. It makes me forget the buzz on the island. 

Gate to fields behind between Kalkara and Zabbar, with view on Valletta in the background.

Dead Leopard snake (Maltese lifgħa), probably run over by a vehicle. No snake is venomous here. Shotgun shells you find everywhere in rural Malta. Shooting birds is something like a National sports. Don't know what kind of "hunting" this is, but I would not be surprised to see somebody standing in a field shooting grasshoppers. 

View on Kalkara and Valletta from the South.

Short trip to Milan

Feibai had a workshop and conference in Bocconi. So, I also took the opportunity to visit Milan and so we met half way between Malta and Frankfurt. I don’t fancy conferences and did not participate, but really enjoyed re-exploring the city. Just ahead of the coming art week a lot was in preparation. From the past, I remember Milan rather industrial. But a lot changed and the formerly abandoned industrial premises experienced gentrification, with small specialised shops (I hesitate to call them boutiques, as what you can see is beyond fashion), restaurants and bars. Also, Bocconi made impressive progress, and it was the first time I was on campus since the University was rising to the top of many rankings. A friend showed me also around the campus of the National University of Milan, which was lively with graduation celebrations, and has an outstanding flair of a traditional comprehensive institution. But the best, was the introduction to Cantina della Vetra (www.cantinadellavetra.it). Normally, I don’t try the Tiramisu in restaurants, but here it was one of the greatest surprises. 

Finally, I met Mr. Ray Ban on the Plazza Duomo.

Pets in a garden in Milan.

Path through the Is-Sabbara Woodland between Ħaż-Żabbar and Bormla

Behind the house there is a path leading along thick fortification walls to a small land of pines, olive trees and secret gardens. It is still the green season in Malta. Soon, the temperatures will rise into a Mediterranean summer, and the colors will be dominated by the yellowish limestone. It is said that the village name "Zabbar" derives from the Maltese 'tiżbor', which means pruning trees and goes back to the Middle Ages. I have my own paths through Malta, which keep me away from the noisy and congested traffic. This is one of them. In Malta you have to connect the dots in your own way. And that's not just when looking at the map. 

Path through the Is-Sabbara Woodland

A garden in the defense trench between Haz-Zabbar and Bormla.

Your jobs are too boring for the robots

A recent topic to whine about for undergraduate business students is, that robots could take their jobs in the near future. But let's think about it. Robots fly into space and land on Mars. They dive into the deep ocean and explore places on earth where no human has ever been. They repair leakages in nuclear power plants when no human can go there. Robots are adventurous and perhaps even "want" to make the world a better place. Why should a robot sit in a cubical, be a financial controller, a banker, a salesman or accountant? That's very boring for a robot. I guess, they have higher aspirations. So, you are perfectly safe. No contest. No worries.

Selfie of "Curiosity" at the Gale Crater, Sol 85, Mars (2012), (Photo in public domain under NASA image policy)

The most beautiful dairy in the world never had an elevator pitch

Somehow I suddenly got overrun by startups, entrepreneurs, innovators, people who think out of the box. They are creative and challenge the status quo. Some of them even have a University degree in innovation and creativity. Further, they are disorganised, unprofessional, talk too much, and they are a complete waste of time. And as they are mostly looking for funding, they are very likely also to be a complete waste of money. Can't they just start a company like everybody else? What's all this noise for? It's like the world became a giant TED-Talk. This would fit well the fact that US politics became a reality show. 

It all reminds me very much of standing in the Taschenbergpalais in the 1990s and people talking me dizzy about "tech". It was a venture capital conference. Then came a man in a black shirt to me and said: "I have the most beautiful dairy in the world". I was surprised: "What are you talking about?". "Milk, cheese, anything with milk or related to dairy products ... and it's beautiful. The most beautiful shop in the world", he replied. "Do you take me there?", I asked. "Yes", and so we went straight away, leaving all that would later become the first internet bubble behind, and had a glass of Champaign or two, cheese, olives, and homemade bread.

A tile of the most beautiful dairy in the world (courtesy of Gebrüder Pfund Molkerei)

When I am in Dresden, I always go to The most beautiful dairy in the world. It is the only company, which is still around. All the Internet thing passed, but people still eat cheese. The shop is a landmark of the city, has wonderfully restored Meissen tiles, and absolutely great food. And you know, there was never an "elevator pitch". 

"Das, was bleibt" in Port 25, Mannheim (Germany)

We are the only ones who have seen "Die grosse Chance" by Dieter M. Gräf and Nina Zlonicky in both: Beijing and Mannheim (Germany). In Mannheim, it is a group exhibition joined with Marvin Hüttermann and Irina Ruppert at Port 25 Raum für Gegenwartskunst. The exhibition will last until March 5th and circles around material remains of loved ones after they died. It creates a bridge between the environment they lived in and what it becomes when they are gone. Dieter re-published his book from Beijing in German with an appendix of the Beijing setup in The Three Shadows in Caochangdi, in the North-Eastern outskirts of Beijing.

Sascha Weidner - Was übrig bleibt (What remains)

Sascha passed away on the 9th of April, 2015, aged 40. We last met a year earlier to his final day in Beijing, during his residency in the Three Shadows in Chaochangdi. The Fotografie Forum Frankfurt shows some of what remains: his photos. The exhibition will be still on until January 29th. As Sascha has put it before: "The perfect moment has to vanish. Otherwise we would just stay". Sascha was a romantic traveller with a camera.

1001 photos by Sascha Weidner.

Mount Etna and Taormina

The closest neighbor to the Maltese Islands is Sicily. In 2015 we spent a few weeks in Palermo and Elizabeth Briel's Artist's and Writer's Studio in Cianciana. We then also explored the South and Agrigento, but skipped the island's East and Mount Etna. This is why I took the ferry connecting Valletta and Pozzallo on Friday 13th to spend a prolonged weekend in Taormina. There is superstition around this day, but I assume that the outbound trip has been moved to the middle of the night, and the return sailing has been canceled has been due to bad weather, and this not connected to a number, but is a result of the seasonal meteorological constellations. I made it back with a flight from Catania. 

Hiking trail at the North-East Etna.

I had only postcard impressions of Mount Etna, but was amazed when I stood in front of it. The 3300 meters make it as impressive as Mount Fuji. I could not reach the crater and the Vulcanological Observatory, as of heavy snow and storm. I even had to assist a few Land Rover Defenders to be pulled out. It was not the car which brought them into this, but some points where the drivers put coolness before competence. 

Taormina seen from the mountain side.

Also Taormina and Castelmola are very nice, not just because of their location between the sea and the volcano, but also the towns themselves. It was clearly off season now, but I can imagine how popular this must be from spring to autumn. I will for sure return, and then also take a hike to the crater. 

Castelmonte on January 15th

Landscape of volcanic ashes, approaching the higher regions of Mount Etna.

Mount Etna seen from Taormina in the early morning of January 16th. For many other days the summit was in clouds.

Gallic Music for Cello & Piano

If you google "Gallic Music", you might end up with "Gaelic Music", which is about the Scottish equivalent of German humpapa music (better though). This is how the google algorithm, by following the masses, can put you on the wrong track. Of course you don't google anyways but you ixquick, if you don't want somebody advertising you the wrong music for the rest of you life.

When I bought myself a ticket to the Teatru Manoel for yesterday's performance of "Gallic Music for Cello & Piano", I just wanted to have something to ambulate to, between campus and home. Had no expectation. Then, it was great! Of course, I knew it would be Gallic (not Gaelic) and turned out to be an homage to La belle Epoque, in an extremely good interpretation. The cellist was Sebestian Hurtaud, a young man with a special style of expression with his instrument, and at the piano was Bruno Canino, who was of amazing lightness and you could feel the twinkle in the eye of a master who has "seen it all". It was also my first visit to the Teatru Manoel, built in 1731 by Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta. It is a wonderful wonderful place. 

I was thinking of how to illustrate this post graphically, and lacking an own photo, I took a painting of Giovanni Boldini in the spirit of La Belle Epoque, portraying the perhaps first "Supermodel" in history: Cleo de Merode. 

Giovanni Boldini (1901): Cleo de Merode. Perhaps the first "Supermodel" in history (Copyright creative commons)

Random Salt Pans

Along the coast of Malta, you often find stone pans carved into the rock, from the time of former salt production - some of them up to 350 years old. The Mediterranean has with > 38 ppt a very high salinity, given high evaporation, low rainfall and being except the Gibraltar strait cut off from the Atlantic. But I guess, the main reason why they exist is not the salt content of the sea water, but the need for Maltese to take any business opportunity and no other significant resources on the island. The salt pans pictured below, are no special ones, but just a structure you find walking South of Fort Rinella - here taken on the New Year Walk 2017. Of course, now is not "salt season", but in the hot summers.

Salt pans South of Fort Rinella (Malta)

Dov H. Levin's Dataset on U.S. and UDSSR/Russian electoral interventions 1946 - 2000

Since I can remember, manipulated elections, orchestration of military coups, foreign support of political parties, funding of terrorism, political infiltration by means of NGOs ... that's where the U.S. is the usual suspect; if not more. This is why the current self-victimization of parts of the U.S. political world, that Russian hackers would have manipulated the U.S. election, is quite amusing to me. So "the Russians" did it? Okay. 

It is not easy to casually read on the topic of foreign electoral interfierance: too many conspiracy theorists and also bad journalism are in the public domain. This is why I was happy to find publications by Dov H. Levin which are related to his doctoral dissertation at UCLA, Department of Political Sciences, titled "George Washington Must Go": The Causes and Effects of Great Power Electoral Interventions and his research interest in "The causes and effects of partisan electoral interventions; Interventions (general); Regional war and peace; Nationalism, Ethnicity and conflict; Terrorism" now as a a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie-Mellon University. He is in the process of publishing his datasets on his website (http://www.dovhlevin.com/datasets) and wrote an interesting non-academic article in the Washington Post (published September 7th, long before the current diplomatic fallout between the U.S. and Russia): Sure, the U.S. and Russia often meddle in foreign elections. Does it matter? He predicted that in this case a manipulation would not be effective because 1) it is covert, 2) foreign electoral interventions in the U.S. are historically ineffective or even counterproductive and 3) the hacking was partly exposed. In other settings a foreign interference may modify election results up to 3 %. 

"Management theory is becoming a compendium of dead ideas"

This week's Economist gives a compelling comment to the guru business in management, by drawing the parallel to the reformation of the Catholic Church. Obviously management education also gets its part of criticism. No surprise. But to be fair, the "theories" quoted here, and those often taught, are not theories. Or does anybody seriously believes in Porter's Five Forces? Or thinks that SWOT-Analysis is an analysis? Or Blue Ocean Strategy is a strategy? The "World is Flat"? Big Data? Not even to talk about the mantras of people like Jack Welch and newly also the Donald Trumps? Leadership! The Art of the Deal? Think Big and Kick Ass. Come on! That's just story telling. Nobody with a brain takes this serious. It is just picking a few handy things out and putting them into a framework, or developing an ideology around them. Like "competitive theory", which already mutated into an ideology long ago. Or "entrepreneurship" which is a cult. It is just meant to sell a few ideas to a boarder audience. Nothing serious. Just a reality show. Not reality. Think of it like of Santa Claus. Nice story, specially at this time of the year. That's it. The rest is just a different costume: one is red, the other one gray or navy blue.

But there is a lot of serious work done to understand the mechanisms of businesses and markets better. It is just not done by Santa Claus in a suit. People work on this and do come to meaningful conclusions. And then there is the "academic research" which is often used as a synonym for "useless". My observation is, that this is because often academics in this field, choose research questions which give them a quick paper in a journal with a high "impact factor". We know the game, right? We know what "impact" this impact factor has. 

But this does not mean to abolish the scientific method, common sense, evidence, math. What I always found interesting is that in the practice of natural sciences, we try to strip down complexity to bare fundamental principles. By contrast, "management theory" tries to cover up weak fundamentals by a big narrative body. 

I was often thinking, why these guys don't go deeper. From the few I have met, I have an impression: because they can't. Not smart enough. The second reason, maybe that they are not really interested. They are happy with some fame, and then they start to believe in themselves. Reform needed, or to put it in church terms: Reformation. But again, it is more who we listen to, than what to believe in.

Starting the Christmas baking season

We have an excellent little bakery in the village, named "David's Bakery for Maltese and Fancy Bread". So there is no wish unfulfilled. But today, I wanted to test the Panasonic NN-DF383B as an oven by baking a bread. Think of it as the MiG-35 or F/A-18E Super Hornet of the kitchen: multi-role, high tech, compact. Exactly what a German-Chinese household needs! Once the needed capabilities were found in the manual, it was just about getting ingredients and a recipe. 

Obviously Italian wheat flour, Type Double Zero.

For an easy bread baking recipe, I asked my sister and it goes as follows:

1. Dissolve 1 table spoon of dry yeast, a bit of salt and sugar in 1/4 litre of water. Add 500 grams of flour and make a dough. I added a hand full of walnuts, as I had spare ones from my muesli production.

2. Let the dough grow one hour in a warm place.

3. Bake it 45 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Pardon me for quoting metric units, but perhaps like this it is safer that it does not turn into anything like "English bread".

Finished. Is good. Added 15 minutes to the baking time. If you knock on the bread and it sounds "knock knock knock" then it needs more baking, until it sounds "bumm bumm bumm". Hope that is clear. No? Try.

Simple bread baked in a Panasonic NN-DF383B.