Investing in antiques may sound like an elitist pastime or an activity for the sophisticated layer of the Bourgeosie. My intention today is showing that it's a valid investment option for nearly everybody who would like to diversify their portfolio and learn about History and Art at the same time.
As a way to explain (and proselytise) the aforementioned idea, let's compare the hypothetical patterns of behaviour of two people:
Person A - Common middle class who has little interest in art and history and live in a cookie cutter home in the suburbs.
Person B - You, educated person who reads this blog religiously and with endless devotion.
Situation 1
Person A spends US$2500.00 on a nice set of sofa, loveseat and armchair. Five years later, once the set looks dated and old, the person decides to resell it to recover some money and buy a new set.... good luck with that!!!
Used furniture, even if kept in good shape, will only get a small fraction of its iniital value, once it's back on the market. The person ends up selling the set for 300 dollars and spending another US$2500 on a nice new set of sofa, loveseat and armchair.
Person B, in turn, decides to buy antiques (see our articles about antiques to understand the difference between antiques, collectibles, vintage, old furniture etc). He/She takes a bit longer looking for different kinds of armchairs and settees, which is actually a very pleasant activity on the weekend. Since they have been antique hunting for quite some time, they had the chance to find a wonderful couple Chippendale style armchair from the early 20th century for a very good price (US$500, a miracle) and a comfortable settee with handcarved wood from the 1920's for US$1000.00 (in good shape, it's another miracle). Total expense: US$1500.00
But hold! The person invested in antiques. It does not have to be six-figure items from the 17th century, nor it has to be much more expensive than modern high-end furniture. But that Chippendale style chair will HOLD OR INCREASE its value, as time passes, while the modern counterpart will be worth less everyday.
Person A : Due to unexplained impulses (common in those types of people), person A tends to feel the irresistible need to change their furniture at every number of years... over 15 years, the average Person A spent approx. US$10,000.00 on pieces of furniture whose reselling prices are on a falling curve.
Person B : Due to his/her higher level of education and good taste, person B understands that the wonderful antique pieces he/she bought are so special and unique that they don't need to be changing or replacing them at every couple of years. Actually, a good antique can be passed to descendants for generations... and their price will only increase!
Person A makes several purchases for the same item over his/her lifetime, under the spell of that urge to "renovate" the room or because their furniture looks "old, dated or cheap" after a certain number of years.
Person B invests the money less often, buying only very good pieces, and his/her house looks like a million dollar home, due to the beautiful details of a handmade piece of old furniture. If they ever have or need to resell their items, they can expect similar or higher prices to what they had to pay initially.
Both person A and B need to buy furniture to their house, so that expense (for person A) or investment (for person B) would have to be made anyway.
Well, have I already convinced you to at least CONSIDER antiques as a valid investment move?
If I have, don't miss the second part of this subject, where I will discuss the best way to begin your antiques collection.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Brazil with an European accent
It's different, but it's still Brazil, so nature is as exuberant as in the rest of the country.
Canela's neogothic cathedral.
Southern Brazil: cool weather, European architecture, warm people: a different way to experience the "Brazilian way of life".
No, it's not a postcard. But it could very well be.
NOTE: All pictures belong to a good friend (Gerson) and I was authorized to publish them. All rights reserved.
Brazil is hosting both the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup (in 12 cities) and the 2016 Olympic Games (in Rio de Janeiro). With such a busy agenda for the next decade, the world is now rediscovering the Tropical Giant of the South ... visiting and loving it!
Despite being one of the largest countries on earth, with an incredible varieties of human groups and landscapes, most travelers still tend to connect the term "Brazil" to the country's most obvious features, such as its tropical beaches, the Amazon, or Rio's worldwide famous Carnival parade. Or, as a friend of mine rigthteously puts it, the South American country is seen by many as "an exuberant tropical place, where the sun is always shining and the warm seas are welcoming us for a dip".
Yet as poetic as those words sound, Brazil is now present in many businessmen and world leaders' minds for a much more prosaic and material reason: with a booming economy and a stable democracy, the largest Latin American nation has emerged, in recent years, as a major global powerhouse.
Those who have accompanied this blog know that I defend traveling as an important way to learn about other cultures and countries, not only as a way to improve our ability to understand and analyze the world we live in, but also as a way to go beyond the stereotypes and preconceived ideas we have about different cultures.
Southern Brazil represents a wonderful change to "go beyond the stereotypes".
Next time you have travel to Brazil, I recommend a visit to the not very publicized South of the country, where you will be able to learn a bit more about this vibrant and continental nation and see much more than what is conventionally linked to that country's image.
Granado and Canela.
Many people ignore that our tropical South American neighbor has areas where it snows in winter. Most travelers still look surprised when they see German or Italian architecture in little towns on the mountains that could very well be located in Austrian villages. But most of the population (immigrants from countries as diverse as Ukraine, Germany, Polland, Russia, Spain, Japan, Korea, other Latin american countries, Lebanon, Portugal and Italy) speak Portuguese and their original country's language. Visiting the South of Brazil will give you a better idea on how diverse and multiethnical the country is, with large numbers of immigrants from virtually every single human group. The region is also extremely beautiful and charming, so it's worth a trip.
Going south.
Located in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Gramado and Canela are picture perfect towns, with beautiful parks, scenery, food and cultural attractions. There are many beautiful towns in Southern Brazil, but they should give you a good idea of that part of the country.
From there, you can explore nearby cities to visit Brazilian wineries or drive to one of the other states of the region: Parana (don't forget the visit the worldwide famous "Iguaçu Falls", the largest show of nature) and Santa Catarina (a small state with an incredibly diversified array of natural sceneries and towns).
Since Brazil is one of the largest countries on earth, visiting one region at a time is also a practical piece of advice. For the suggested trip, the name of the states are:
1 - Parana - Capital city: Curitiba.
2 - Santa Catarina - Capital city: Florianopolis.
3 - Rio Grande do Sul - Capital city: Porto Alegre.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Good old wine, bad old wine
If you happen to drink one or two daily glasses of wine, as I do, for pleasure, health or both, you might have realized that the wine does not taste as good after a few days as it did the first time you opened the bottle.
Since wine, as any other alcoholic beverage, should be enjoyed in moderation, it's very likely that you will always end up having some wine in the bottle once it's been opened. The question is then inevitable: how to preserve an open bottle of wine?
First of all, let's identify the period after which the wine is no good for daily consumption.
Technically, oxidation begins to occur at the very same moment we open the bottle, but the point at which this chemical process REALLY begins to affect the taste and quality of the wine is not a consensus by any means.
Some purists (and most wine snobs) won't touch a bottle that has been open for more than 6 or 8 hours. That's a radical position that magnifies the problem. I think this belief is exaggerated and too extreme.
Even though it's correct to assume that most not-so-good wine do begin to die within a few hours after the bottle has been opened, it's also true that good wine could be kept "alive" for a longer period. Most wineries keep their bottles available for tasting for 3 or even 4 days, and that does not mean they are serving a bad product.
Some tricks will help you to preserve your daily wine as tasty as it is healthy.
1) Drink one bottle at a time. You can still try different types of wine every month, without having to open them all at once. By keeping only one bottle open at a time, you will certainly finish the bottle relatively soon, thus minimizing the risk of a strong oxidation.
2) If the type of wine requests cooling (generally, white and light red wines), the refrigerator will become a good ally, as cooling slows the oxidation process. Re-cork the bottle and put in the fridge. More complex reds should not be chilled, regardless of your desperation to preserve it.
3) If you sense you will not be able to finish your bottle of wine within 6 or 7 days, buy a smaller bottle and fill it up to the very top with the remaining wine, so there will be no headroom. It might not be the most practical way to deal with your open bottle, but it's still better than just leaving the wine exposed to oxidation.
4) Do not waste money on magic vaccum pump or hand vaccum devices... the negligible amount of air it pulls doesn't create vaccum and does little good in preserving the liquid. It's more a marketing trick than the real benefit.
5) Ignore the wine snobs around you who will swear the wine is "undrinkable" the day after you open the bottle. With some precautions like the ones mentioned above, you can still enjoy a good glass of wine for 4 or 5 days, and a "toughie" (and chancier) glass, after 6 or 7 days after the bottle is open.
6) In drastic or lost cases, check if the wine is still good for consumption and use it for cooking.
7) Tricks are useful, but keep in mind oxidation is essentially unevitable once the bottle is open. Therefore, if you need a winey "orgasm" everytime you open a bottle, drink the whole thing at once.
And NO, I am not suggesting you should consume an entire bottle on your own. If the bottle is too good to be true, invite some nice friends over (I am usually free on Friday nights!) and share this orgasm with them.
Since wine, as any other alcoholic beverage, should be enjoyed in moderation, it's very likely that you will always end up having some wine in the bottle once it's been opened. The question is then inevitable: how to preserve an open bottle of wine?
First of all, let's identify the period after which the wine is no good for daily consumption.
Technically, oxidation begins to occur at the very same moment we open the bottle, but the point at which this chemical process REALLY begins to affect the taste and quality of the wine is not a consensus by any means.
Some purists (and most wine snobs) won't touch a bottle that has been open for more than 6 or 8 hours. That's a radical position that magnifies the problem. I think this belief is exaggerated and too extreme.
Even though it's correct to assume that most not-so-good wine do begin to die within a few hours after the bottle has been opened, it's also true that good wine could be kept "alive" for a longer period. Most wineries keep their bottles available for tasting for 3 or even 4 days, and that does not mean they are serving a bad product.
Some tricks will help you to preserve your daily wine as tasty as it is healthy.
1) Drink one bottle at a time. You can still try different types of wine every month, without having to open them all at once. By keeping only one bottle open at a time, you will certainly finish the bottle relatively soon, thus minimizing the risk of a strong oxidation.
2) If the type of wine requests cooling (generally, white and light red wines), the refrigerator will become a good ally, as cooling slows the oxidation process. Re-cork the bottle and put in the fridge. More complex reds should not be chilled, regardless of your desperation to preserve it.
3) If you sense you will not be able to finish your bottle of wine within 6 or 7 days, buy a smaller bottle and fill it up to the very top with the remaining wine, so there will be no headroom. It might not be the most practical way to deal with your open bottle, but it's still better than just leaving the wine exposed to oxidation.
4) Do not waste money on magic vaccum pump or hand vaccum devices... the negligible amount of air it pulls doesn't create vaccum and does little good in preserving the liquid. It's more a marketing trick than the real benefit.
5) Ignore the wine snobs around you who will swear the wine is "undrinkable" the day after you open the bottle. With some precautions like the ones mentioned above, you can still enjoy a good glass of wine for 4 or 5 days, and a "toughie" (and chancier) glass, after 6 or 7 days after the bottle is open.
6) In drastic or lost cases, check if the wine is still good for consumption and use it for cooking.
7) Tricks are useful, but keep in mind oxidation is essentially unevitable once the bottle is open. Therefore, if you need a winey "orgasm" everytime you open a bottle, drink the whole thing at once.
And NO, I am not suggesting you should consume an entire bottle on your own. If the bottle is too good to be true, invite some nice friends over (I am usually free on Friday nights!) and share this orgasm with them.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Extra Virgin AVOCADO oil
For those who love Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but want to try something slightly different (and equally healthy), take note of what I "discovered" in one of my trips to Chile: Extra Virgin AVOCADO oil.
I have been using it as dressing for salads and pizza (yes, I pour colossal amounts of olive oil on my pizza) and it could not get any better.
It's cold-pressed oil extracted from avocado, which is been proved to assist in lowering cholesterol levels and has powerful antioxidants. You can either find it in Natural Health stores or order it online.
I have been using it as dressing for salads and pizza (yes, I pour colossal amounts of olive oil on my pizza) and it could not get any better.
It's cold-pressed oil extracted from avocado, which is been proved to assist in lowering cholesterol levels and has powerful antioxidants. You can either find it in Natural Health stores or order it online.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The cultural "gap"
The magic of traveling and visiting other countries goes far beyond the obvious pleasures of sightseeing and postcard-quality pictures of you in front of a famous monument. Seeing different ways of life, surprising cultural practices and habits or peculiar social relations will certainly increase your awareness of the world, while improving your ability to judge, with a more educated level of scrutiny, your own society.
Even apparently simple details of your daily life can change, and the old views you had about them can suddenly become more acute or critical.
I still remember a conversation I had with some close friends a few years ago, when they were asking me to enlist the things I liked or disliked the most about living in 4 different countries. I then began to enumerate details that I liked about each country and also elaborated a short list of things I did not appreciate. Many "items" were new for them, as some countries have customs, habits or even laws that can be or sound very "weird", exotic or even surprising, for visitor or foreigners.
When debating my life in the United States, however, one particular item of my list became the central subject of discussion, as among the few things I don't particularly like here, I mentioned the following item:
"The common practice of allowing wide gaps between the door and the door frame in public restrooms, like the ones in airports, malls and other businesses, which allows incoming people to clearly see if there's somebody in a certain bathroom stall".
I always thought this very common practice in the United States is invasive, insulting, dictatorial and against the most elementary principles of individual privacy. Why can't all the doors have the strictly minimum necessary gap to open and close, thus blocking the view from the outside world and vice verse? Who decided that somebody else has the power, right or authority to see the person in a bathroom stall? The gaps are so wide that I would be able to recognize my high school friends if they were there! It would not be the most appropriate moment to say "hi", but that gives you an idea of how intrusive that gap is.
My friends were mostly surprised... they had never considered or evaluated the subject, since they "did not know any better" or how this "gap between the door and door frame in public restrooms" was dealt with in other countries. Why was I so keen to see that level of invasion? And why were my friends so "surprised"?
Probably because I have been in many other countries, and therefore have realized that it's socially unacceptable, in most of them, to have a bathroom with such a wide gap between the door and the door frame...
My friends began to give possible explanations for this practice: that the airports and businesses' supervisors might need to inspect bathrooms for drug use or other illegal acts, or that the gaps I saw were probably a construction defect, not an intentional feature (they were not, I have seen them in virtually any airport and mall in the US, and I travel a lot). They would sound convincing at first, but the truth is none of these explanations would justify such an invasion of a very basic individual right... the right to do our business in a bathroom without putting up a public show!
Well, this ended up being more than a cultural "gap". It became a discussion about the ways authorities and managers can eventually create a social pattern. You will fit, comply, obey and implicitly accept it, especially if you have never lived or experienced something different, or seen an alternative approach a social situation. Why isn't there a public discussion in the United States about this very clear invasion of our individual privacy? Why is this practice so widespread?
The main message here still validates the importance of traveling as a way to learn more about the "outside" world. But it can also be useful to discover new things about your own natural and social environment. It gives you a more educated view, a more resourceful power to judge and analyze, a more informed basis on which you can make your life decisions. And that's what educated taste is all about.
Even apparently simple details of your daily life can change, and the old views you had about them can suddenly become more acute or critical.
I still remember a conversation I had with some close friends a few years ago, when they were asking me to enlist the things I liked or disliked the most about living in 4 different countries. I then began to enumerate details that I liked about each country and also elaborated a short list of things I did not appreciate. Many "items" were new for them, as some countries have customs, habits or even laws that can be or sound very "weird", exotic or even surprising, for visitor or foreigners.
When debating my life in the United States, however, one particular item of my list became the central subject of discussion, as among the few things I don't particularly like here, I mentioned the following item:
"The common practice of allowing wide gaps between the door and the door frame in public restrooms, like the ones in airports, malls and other businesses, which allows incoming people to clearly see if there's somebody in a certain bathroom stall".
I always thought this very common practice in the United States is invasive, insulting, dictatorial and against the most elementary principles of individual privacy. Why can't all the doors have the strictly minimum necessary gap to open and close, thus blocking the view from the outside world and vice verse? Who decided that somebody else has the power, right or authority to see the person in a bathroom stall? The gaps are so wide that I would be able to recognize my high school friends if they were there! It would not be the most appropriate moment to say "hi", but that gives you an idea of how intrusive that gap is.
My friends were mostly surprised... they had never considered or evaluated the subject, since they "did not know any better" or how this "gap between the door and door frame in public restrooms" was dealt with in other countries. Why was I so keen to see that level of invasion? And why were my friends so "surprised"?
Probably because I have been in many other countries, and therefore have realized that it's socially unacceptable, in most of them, to have a bathroom with such a wide gap between the door and the door frame...
My friends began to give possible explanations for this practice: that the airports and businesses' supervisors might need to inspect bathrooms for drug use or other illegal acts, or that the gaps I saw were probably a construction defect, not an intentional feature (they were not, I have seen them in virtually any airport and mall in the US, and I travel a lot). They would sound convincing at first, but the truth is none of these explanations would justify such an invasion of a very basic individual right... the right to do our business in a bathroom without putting up a public show!
Well, this ended up being more than a cultural "gap". It became a discussion about the ways authorities and managers can eventually create a social pattern. You will fit, comply, obey and implicitly accept it, especially if you have never lived or experienced something different, or seen an alternative approach a social situation. Why isn't there a public discussion in the United States about this very clear invasion of our individual privacy? Why is this practice so widespread?
The main message here still validates the importance of traveling as a way to learn more about the "outside" world. But it can also be useful to discover new things about your own natural and social environment. It gives you a more educated view, a more resourceful power to judge and analyze, a more informed basis on which you can make your life decisions. And that's what educated taste is all about.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wine Night
For those who want to learn more about wine but do not have the time for long theoretical dissertations, here is a hint on how to use your friends' knowledge to your favor.
Invite them to go to your house. Organize a Wine Night!
First, you choose a day and time and invite 3 or 4 of your friends to show up. A good day and time would be Friday or Saturday, at 6 PM or 7 PM (you should start this relatively early).
Every friend/couple that will attend the event must bring one bottle of their favorite wine. The maximum number of invitees is important, as they all should have the chance to try at leat a glass of all the bottles of wine. Therefore, too many people would imply having too many bottles and the main purpose of the event is learning more about good wine, not getting totally drunk and putting on a show.
When inviting your friends, explain CLEARLY that the main subject of conversation is ***NOT*** necessarily their particular knowledge about wine and the wine culture. You certainly want to learn more about the wine world, but that diplomatic warning will keep those boring "PHD in Wine" from monopolizing the conversation. The idea is talking about the subject as PART of a social event. You don't need to get your Masters degree in wine culture in just one night.
Prepare LIGHT appetizers to eat during the event, dividing them into 2 rounds. A first round would come with the first round of drinks, where everybody will try the available types of wine, so they can begin to identify their favorite bottles. Then conversation should flow espontaneously for a couple of hours, after which a second and final round of appetizers will create the perfect moment to close the night. A light dessert would do it just fine.
Since it's wine night, not a formal dinner, you have to provide several options of appetizers, but no main course is mandatory or necessary. You can even request your attendees to bring something to eat as well, in addition to the bottle of wine.
Finally, 2 important considerations:
1) Plan the initial round of wine tasting for the very beginning of the event. For most people, those first 2 or 3 glasses are more than enough for a pleasant evening.
For the rest of the night, offer several non alcoholic alternative drinks, in such a way your guests have the chance, time and opportunity to enjoy the visit without drinking too much.
2) Be ready or willing to allow a few of your friends to sleep in your house, especially if they drank too much and no one is available to drive them home. DO NOT ALLOW your friends to leave your house if they are visibly or clearly drunk and/or select somebody in your family who DID NOT DRINK to drive them home, if necessary. They should not have drunk that much to begin with, but those cases happen sometimes.
Invite them to go to your house. Organize a Wine Night!
First, you choose a day and time and invite 3 or 4 of your friends to show up. A good day and time would be Friday or Saturday, at 6 PM or 7 PM (you should start this relatively early).
Every friend/couple that will attend the event must bring one bottle of their favorite wine. The maximum number of invitees is important, as they all should have the chance to try at leat a glass of all the bottles of wine. Therefore, too many people would imply having too many bottles and the main purpose of the event is learning more about good wine, not getting totally drunk and putting on a show.
When inviting your friends, explain CLEARLY that the main subject of conversation is ***NOT*** necessarily their particular knowledge about wine and the wine culture. You certainly want to learn more about the wine world, but that diplomatic warning will keep those boring "PHD in Wine" from monopolizing the conversation. The idea is talking about the subject as PART of a social event. You don't need to get your Masters degree in wine culture in just one night.
Prepare LIGHT appetizers to eat during the event, dividing them into 2 rounds. A first round would come with the first round of drinks, where everybody will try the available types of wine, so they can begin to identify their favorite bottles. Then conversation should flow espontaneously for a couple of hours, after which a second and final round of appetizers will create the perfect moment to close the night. A light dessert would do it just fine.
Since it's wine night, not a formal dinner, you have to provide several options of appetizers, but no main course is mandatory or necessary. You can even request your attendees to bring something to eat as well, in addition to the bottle of wine.
Finally, 2 important considerations:
1) Plan the initial round of wine tasting for the very beginning of the event. For most people, those first 2 or 3 glasses are more than enough for a pleasant evening.
For the rest of the night, offer several non alcoholic alternative drinks, in such a way your guests have the chance, time and opportunity to enjoy the visit without drinking too much.
2) Be ready or willing to allow a few of your friends to sleep in your house, especially if they drank too much and no one is available to drive them home. DO NOT ALLOW your friends to leave your house if they are visibly or clearly drunk and/or select somebody in your family who DID NOT DRINK to drive them home, if necessary. They should not have drunk that much to begin with, but those cases happen sometimes.
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