It turns out that recently missing South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (right), who supposedly had gone off to hike the Appalachian Trail in order to clear his mind, had actually come to Argentina for a bit of unannounced R&R. Sanford had last been seen at work last Thursday. This Monday, a state legislator asked where he was after hearing from security officials that the governor could not be contacted and his whereabouts were unknown. The governor's wife, Jenny Sanford, told The Associated Press she had not seen him since Thursday but was not concerned because he'd told her he wanted to get away and do some writing. Today the Republican governor returned to work, telling the local newspaper The State that he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail but had decided at the last minute to come to our South American country because he wanted to do something "exotic."

I'm not a Republican, but this guy is almost weird enough to vote for.

Radio and stage comic Fernando Peña, 46, died this afternoon. While working as an airline steward/purser, Peña amused passengers (and himself) by playing the role of outrageous Cuban stewardess Milagros López over the plane's loudspeaker system. Argentine radio personality Lalo Mir used to travel on Peña's flights and when he discovered that not only did Milagros López not exist, but was also played by a man, he helped Peña launch a radio career that soon moved into acting. Well-tattooed, vocally gay and openly battling HIV, Peña provided some of our favorite controversies during our time here (like this battle with Luis D'Elía). He'd been suffering from liver cancer and undergoing chemotherapy when he died. A very funny guy who at speaking engagements would forgo the customary water for a liter of Stella Artois, he will be missed.

When Bill Clinton passed through Buenos Aires on June 2 to raise money for his Clinton Global Initiative, it seems the ex-President may have had a boys' night out as well. Local press like Perfil report that after his speech and fundraiser, Clinton and friends went to the Barrio Norte cabaret/strip joint Cocodrilo. There, Peril says, Clinton fell for the dancing of Andrea Rincón (above) a former Gran Hermano participant who does some sexy dancing at the club. Clinton apparently had the VIP sealed off and Ms. Rincón was paid $1,000 to do a five minute show (including an on-stage shower). She and Clinton, it seems, never spoke. In the US, the Washington Post (and then Gawker) picked up on the story. Here's the Clinton denial from the WaPo.

A Clinton spokesman in New York, however, said yesterday that her story "is completely false. They were at the hotel playing cards with the former and current presidents" and "a small group of staff and friends." They were playing "Oh, Hell," he said.

No word on whether Clinton beat Los K at cards.

While it may not seem like much these days, during Argentina's "Dirty War" the Buenos Aires Herald stood up heroically against the dictatorship when few others in media did. The editor at the time, Robert Cox, risked his own (and his family's) life to tell the truth, and now his son, CNN Web producer David Cox, has written a book about his father's life reporting on the run-up to a 1976 military coup and the chaos that ensued, "Dirty Secrets, Dirty War - The Exile of Editor Robert J. Cox". (The book came out in December, but the first article I've seen about it--this AP story--came out today.)

Why did the son and not the man himself write it? "This is the book that I could not write," the elder Cox, 75, says in the foreword. "I still find it too painful to relive those malevolent times by writing about them."

Just wanted to give a quick call-out to Daniel Karlin of Anuva Wines, who's just launched Expat Argentina with some nice meditations on Argentine customer service (or lack thereof) and contrasting visions of work held by Americans and Argentines (i.e. What does "What are you doing?" really mean.)

Welcome to the scene.

In the first four months of 2009, the average cost to dine in a Buenos Aires restaurant has risen between 25% and 50%, 425 restaurants have closed, and the average menu has seen 75% inflation over the last 18 months. That's according to an article in today's Crítica that traces the declining fortunes of the Buenos Aires restaurant industry. Booming until recently, the restaurant industry is being buffeted by overexpansion, rising costs and falling demand. It's not a pretty picture.

Según analistas de Claves, la industria gastronómica –que facturó 38.429 millones de pesos en 2008– espera cerrar 2009 con una contracción del consumo del 30 por ciento.

(Photo: Crítica)

Yesterday evening, I received this press release from the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires regarding its rockin' goodbye party for departing Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne (above).

Esta tarde, en la sede de la legación diplomática en Palermo, la Embajada de EE.UU. despidió al Embajador Wayne y a su esposa Pamela en ocasión de finalizar su gestión en la Argentina con una fiesta a puro rock.

Los grupos “Infierno 18” y “Virgin Pancakes” animaron con sus temas la festiva recepción, haciendo bailar tanto a los empleados como al mismo Embajador.

You got to like an ambassador who kicks it with undefloured breakfast food, no?

Photo: Infobae.com

A new musical comedy about Evita's postmortem travels opens this week in Washington D.C. Here's a story from the May 29 Washington Post:

"It feels like a story Monty Python could have told," says Mariano Caligaris, director of a dark musical comedy recounting Evita's posthumous exploits that has its world premiere at GALA Hispanic Theatre next week.

"Mummy in the Closet: The Return of Eva Peron" attempts a tonal balancing act similar to that of Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins." Like that tuneful profile of president-killers, "Mummy" aims to be a whimsical, if macabre, retelling of tragic events. There is even a zombie number.

Hat tip: jdanky
Photo: Washington Post

This week's New Yorker sports a Financial Page piece by James Surowiecki on Argentina's much-lamented coin shortage. It's a interesting take (albeit six months behind and far less amusing than this Slate piece), in which Surowiecki blames the hoarding on psychological reasons to do with Argentina's constant economic problems. But while this may be partially true, Surowiecki misses or plays down some basic reasons for the shortage. As the Slate article notes, bus companies were hoarding coins to the extent that one was caught with 13 million monedas in October. And, as we pointed out, Argentine simply doesn't have enough coins in circulation. Since that bus company was busted for its hoarding, the shortage has eased (though not entirely disappeared). Once again, Occam's razor--that the simplest explanation is usually correct--seems to be right.

(Image: The New Yorker)

“It is a myth that countries don’t go bust, you only have to look at the history of Latin America to see that they do. When you look at the financial position of many European countries today, especially east European countries but also some west European countries, it’s every bit as bad as Argentina was in 2002.”
-- Harvard University professor Niall Ferguson to Bloomberg Television.