from venice to xanadu

Between some time off last week and a conference the week before -- I find myself happily disconnected from the deluge of things that generally weigh on my mind. I visited my father for his 71st birthday in New York and it was great reconnecting with my family. I finished reading Marco Polo From Venice to Xanadu by Lawrence Bergreen on the plane ride back to Portland. I picked up the book soon after returning from China this past spring. I am convinced that he just might be the greatest explorer of all time. The Age of Discovery in Europe almost lines up perfectly with his return to Venice with stories of Kublai Khan and the enchanting Mongol Empire. I was surprised that advancements such as the use paper money, burning coal, and the printing press were well established practices in Khan's empire -- long before they found their way to Europe. Marco's dizzying adventure on the Silk Road was driven by a quest for trade and commerce. I'm not sure he even appreciated the historical record he was keeping and how human civilization moved forward though the free exchange of ideas and culture. I heard Tim O'Reilly speak last week at conference about the importance of "documenting your history" and how the open culture of the free software movement is changing everything. Come to think of it -- the free software movement is really about unobstructed access to new ideas and technology-- not unlike Marco Polo's first encounter with the printing press in his travels through the Mongol empire. It was a system that facilitated the free exchange of ideas and could support concurrent input of different agendas and priorities. I wonder what it would be like if the Mongols had a patent on the printing press and restricted how it could evolve in the west. Would things be different today? Better? I leave that for the copyright attorneys to argue over. I'm adding a few trading posts along the Silk Road (namely Constantinople - modern day Istanbul) to my list of have to see places.
In other news I had a chance to visit the MET and meet up with an old friend in New York over pizza; I even took my four nieces to the Bronx Zoo which was thoroughly entertaining. The roof of the Met in the summer is great fun. In other news, the Summer Olympics is commencing in Beijing on August 8. and I'm look forward to to it.