TedBotha

Mongo – Thanks for stealing the idea, Oprah.

tedbotha — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:53:38 +0000

This word is New York slang for something that is thrown away by one person but found by another person and used again. Before recycling became de rigeuer, there was ‘mongo’. It can be anything from a soda can to a sofa, from a magazine to a first-edition book by Henry Stanley worth $4,000. It’s all out there, on the streets! Read the book about it, Mongo, Adventures in Trash (Bloomsbury). Oprah and Ellen de Generes did programs on the phenomenon after the book came out, without giving credit. No wonder authors get pissed. Nice!

: Mongo, Adventures in Trash

Murder in Mexico

tedbotha — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:35:25 +0000

In ‘Girl with the Crooked Nose,’ a nonfiction thriller that came out several months ago, I follow a forensic sculptor as he tries to put the faces on numerous women murdered in the Mexican town of Juarez. Watch the video that will give you an idea of how mysterious, complex, and exciting this case is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlGdwpThOTw

: The Girl with the Crooked Nose

Newsweek reviews “Girl with the Crooked Nose”

tedbotha — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:07:07 +0000

In a fairly indepth article, Arlene Getz of Newsweek, writes about my book The Girl with the Crooked Nose, about the forensic sculptor Frank Bender and how he became involved in the mysterious, seemingly unsolvable case of the murdered women of Juarez, Mexico. http://www.newsweek.com/id/141051

New York Coffee

tedbotha — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:06:14 +0000

As part of staying up to date with coffee wherever I am, I recently wrote an article for the New York Times about the coffee renaissance (or rather, its birth) in New York. You could do worse than try the coffeeshops mentioned in the article. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/nyregion/thecity/26coff.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=ted%20botha%20coffee&st=cse

Go doubleshot

tedbotha — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:10:36 +0000

In South Africa, in a little town (big beach resort) called Plettenberg Bay, there is a coffee house called doubleshot. Yes, that’s the spelling. It’s well worth a visit. So is their website, www.godoubleshot.com.

The Mirage Espresso Machine at doubleshot

New in the Desert

tedbotha — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:56:52 +0000

There are few places in Dubai where conservation seems to matter. Except in Al Maha, that is. In this tiny emirate that is leaving one of the biggest carbon footprints in the world, Al Maha is a wilderness area – the first – and resembles an African safari lodge than something you’d find in the Middle East. Moroccan a bit, yes, but canvas,

The Camels of Al Maha

eco-friendly. Go ride a camel. www.al-maha.com