Crime Stopper

From last week, Scotland Yard makes UK crime data available at the street level. I can punch in my postal code and see the number of burglaries, murders, rapes &c. that have taken place nearby my, or any body's, house. Pictured, drug use per 1000 Londoners. This is a bold move and we are the first metropolitan area to have access to such rich data at our finger tips. True, one can find similar reports on US cities via Google api but this culled from public information and misses smaller or petty crime. The Police hope transparency will help make our streets safer. I would not disagree.

KPR lose to the Barnes Eagles 2-1 in a game the boys never lead. None made happier by the windy cold which feels sub-zero. Eitan takes a ball to the face which leaves him dazed momentarily and the ref stops the action. He takes three strikes which miss and unclear whether the slap or frustration makes him hold back tears.

Sonnet and I stay up late to watch "On The Waterfront."

"I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. It's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor … and surviving."

--Marlon Brando, Apocalypse Now

Buck

I am within fifteen-feet of these mysterious, ancient, beasts.

Sonnet and I for a walk and must hold back Rusty from the deer. Eitan takes his 10+ exam for St Paul's and I think Sonnet and I more anxious than he is. Sonnet bolts awake, 11PM, to double-check the alarm. When I drop off the boy he is as cool as a cucumber, which is as it should be - so what? his attitude suggests. Eitan refuses to take a banana for a snack (the test four hours) until I threaten to tell the Head Master that he is diabetic and needs it for his blood sugar. He puts the banana in his jacket pocket. I don't help out by arriving at St Paul's in my w/e work jeans, hair uncombed - and look! there is the Head Master himself to greet us. The auditorium filled with yummie mummies in Armani Jeans filling their £1000 knee-high boots. Not feeling part of it.

But back to our stroll .. Sonnet and I once walked from Maida Vale to the V&A every day when I was between jobs before Trailhead Capital. It was an urban trek too from our leafy mansion block to the grungy Harrow Road, over the Paddington Canal and under the A40 fly-over then Bayswater and, heaven, Hyde Park and finally The Albert Memorial, built by Queen Victoria for her beloved husband Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. Unusually Albert faces away from the park so his view of Kensington and not the lovely fields he held so dear.

I pick up Eitan and he and pal Cyrus are buzzy. I am told the exam "Okay" while the reading comprehension and maths "hard". Eitan asked to choose one of three titles to write a story so he goes for "The Journey" and describes, in first person present, a six-year-old boy from a poor family left in England when his parents move to America. In the end the reader informed he is reading the boy's diary. A nice literary device, Sonnet says. About 120 kids sit the 10+ for ten spots.

Me, explaining why high taxes de-motivating: "Imagine if the government took 90p of every pound you earned?"

Eitan: "So?"

Me: "OK, so say you are a famous footballer making millions of pounds and the government takes 90% of it. Would you still be as motivated to play?"

Eitan: "Yes."

Me: "Well, Ok, but say it was your chores."

Eitan: "But you don't pay me anything to do my chores."

Me: "Let's say I paid you 20 pounds to sweep the backyard. "

Eitan: "That would be so cool!"

Me: "Yes but then you had to give 18 back."

Eitan: "I'd still have two pounds whereas before I was getting nothing. Are you really going to give me two-pounds if I sweep?"

Me:

Eitan: "Plus you owe me my allowance for the last four weeks. That's twenty pounds."

Me:

Eitan: "And you owe Madeleine's allowance too."

Me: "I'm glad we had this little conversation."

Big Board

Now this is a serious Board Room inside Doughty Hanson's offices on the Pall Mall next to St James's Park. It easily seats twenty. I am with Nigel who supported eZoka.com back in the day and we have remained fast friends since. DH, for her part, founded in 1985 by Nigel Doughty and Dick Hanson and has invested €23 billion in over 100 deals across nine funds. I first met Dick in '97, after business school and interviewing for entry-jobs in London, when he asked me to analyse his firm's performance using the capital asset pricing model and, quite specifically, the efficiency frontier - concepts I had learned in my advanced finance courses at Columbia most notably with Prof. Tsomocos whose wedding Sonnet and I attended on an island in Greece. But that is another story. Helpfully Dick suggested that I map my thoughts on the white board. I did not get the job, oh boy, but two years later DH invested nearly $10 million in my company. As Costa says and I repeat: "Careers are a long thing."

Me: "What do you want to do after 'performance class'"?

Madeleine, enthusiastically: "I don't know?"

Me: "Oh.. I hate to do this to you but chores."

Madeleine:

Me: "Don't give me that look."

Madeleine: "Well you're all like 'what do you want to do after performance class' and then you're like 'chores.'"

Me: "What don't you like about chores anyway?"

Madeleine: "I just don't like them. I'd rather be reading a book."

Me: "Boy you must really hate chores."

Madeleine directly: "You are trying to make me say I don't like reading. I love reading."

Me: "You're right. I'm sorry about that.

Sonnet: "We also have to find time to do your school work and tutor homework."

Madeleine: "Oh, Mom, you too. Don't do this to me."

Me: "It's only 40 minutes out of your whole week end."

Sonnet: "It's more like two-hours."

Madeleine: "My week-end is ruined and it's only Saturday morning!"

Holy Christ

I visit the VA yesterday and check out the European 11-13th century, which is in a neglected gallery off the main entrance. Shame, too, because there are beautiful treasures here from the High Renaissance including this c.1150 statue of Jesus. I wonder about the lone guard who sits in his chair all-day-long. From there I visit Raphael's cartoons ("cartones" in Italian) which are seven large cartoons for tapestries, painted in 1515-16 and showing scenes from the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. They are the only survivors of set of ten cartoons commissioned by Pope Leo X for tapestries for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Palace, which are still (on special occasions) hung below Michelangelo's famous ceiling. My visit less than 20 minutes but how lucky am I?

Eitan, wistfully: "I remember when we thought having a bagel on the cutting board a luxury."

Madeleine eats cereal reading 'Captain Underpants.'

Me: "Do you ever wake up and think about what's going on in the world."

Madeleine, without looking up: "No, not really."

Meanwhile Poolside

Sooo I spend 90 minutes watching Eitan go back and forth and back and forth. At some point I fall asleep. Sitting up.

Eitan: "I'm making dinner tonight."

Me: "Are you going to make your famous carrot soup?"

Eitan: "It's not famous yet."

Me: "What will make it famous?"

Eitan: "I don't know. I am also making desert. See, look at all the ingredients" (Eitan shows me the ingredients for 'fresh ginger bread and lemon icing')

Me: "Are you going to chuck it all in a bowl and start mixing?"

Eitan: "That's what I used to do. Look at the number of ingredients in this one . ."

Me: "Woa."

Eitan: "Prunes, currants, glazed cherries, egg whites, vodka . ."

Me: "You're under-aged for that one. Illegal, dude."

Eitan: "I could make it but I just couldn't eat it."

On Debt

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A funny thing happened along the way of this recession : UK unemployment has gone up surprisingly little - from 5% to 8% (compare this to the US's 4.5% to 10%) while company failures at near-30-year lows. The 1990s recession was only one-third as deep yet insolvencies six-times today's level. Similarly, housing repossessions are startlingly low given the financial mess. What gives? A reason, according to turn-around and private equity investor Jon Mouton, the result of near-term policies designed to lower UK interest rates to levels not seen in 30 years. One can manage a lot of debt if interest payments next to nothing. The Bank of England has printed money. And the government increased borrowing to avoid cutting spending to the public sector. All of which has reduced unemployment and avoided financial pain. But what cost?

We have tried to solve our difficulties with borrowing and use more borrowing to support existing borrowing. UK govt debt stands at 100% GDP - excluding public pensions obligations, private finance initiative commitments and bank support, which adds 3x. The US came back from the '70s because corporate America fired everybody resulting in the Rust Belt and creating Silicon Valley which has been a much better investment than Detroit, which we bail out again. Bad businesses should be allowed to fail redeploying resources elsewhere. This be capitalism

The debt we are accumulating means that we live better, no doubt. But those after us must deal with the same debt. The low interest rates hurt savers and pensioners and reward those who borrow rashly. Pain aversion, Molton argues, and not morality, is the abiding characteristic of current economic policies. Even today deficit reducing coalition has dodged hard decisions like cutting net investment by two-thirds over the next five-years. Cameron and Co. rely on low interest rates persisting on good economic growth (following December, this looks challenged) and stable financial conditions. Even if the planets align, we have a debt mountain to live with.

The UK, despite it all, is trying to avoid Greece and Ireland and maybe Spain, Portugual and Italy. The conservatives in power after all and they are lopping a third from the arts and public services, 20% from the NHS and 8% from the military (public education 'ring fenced'). They are able to do so, too, unlike the stymied USA. There we get the shrills at Fox News and the Tea Party wagging the Republican party doing nobody any good.

John Barry, Composer, 1933-2011

Eyes Of Laura Mars

My third "R" rated movie (after "Saturday Night Fever" and Clint Eastwood's "The Gauntlet") was "The Eyes Of Laura Mars," which I watched with Grace and Katie in '78, age 11. The film about Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) a fashion photographer who specializes in stylized violence. In her luxurious Manhattan apartment (so 70s!), Laura has a nightmare that her sexy model friend Doris is viciously murdered with an ice pick, her eyeballs stabbed. Laura wakes up and looks through a soon-to-be-published coffee table book of her photos, titled The Eyes of Mars, which Doris had edited. In it, there is a picture of Doris...identical to an image she had in the dream. Later Doris found murdered, eyes gauged out.

As a premise for a horror movie Laura works - this was John Carpenter's first major studio film, after all. It also had its intended consequences : I walked from the first violent scene and have had periodic nightmares ever since.

I watched Laura several years ago on late night tele and the film stands up, mostly, 30 years later and, surprise!, the violence barely mentionable against today's video gore. I still find the picture-poster terrifying and remain as fascinated by it now as then.

Rusty sick - again - after eating Hamster food - again.

Madeleine: "Why does he do that? He's not even allowed upstairs."

Me: "Unfortunately the one time he was upstairs he found the hamster food."

Madeleine: "So why does he do it again and again?"

Me: "Well, imagine I put a Snickers Bar on the top of third floor stairs. And let's say you went up there and found it."

Madeleine: "Yeah, so what?"

Me: "Would you go up there the next day looking for a Snickers Bar?"

Madeleine: "Yes."

Me: "And the day after?"

Madeleine: "Probably."

Me: "Well there you go."

Madeleine: "Can I have a Snickers Bar when we get home?"

Me: "I have a theory. Since I ask you over and over to do anything I think you have become dependent on my asking you to do things."

Eitan: "Well that is an idea."

Me: "If we took away traffic lights, for instance, I bet people would become better drivers."

Eitan: "That would wreak havoc upon us all."

Richmond Ramble

Sonnet and I have several hours to ourselves and go for a walk - The White Lodge, pictured, is the backdrop. I am tempted to get in the face of a driver who brazenly swipes our parking space but since she is a she I desist. Given the Keys and Gray dismissal - am I sexist?

Eitan and I pick up Madeleine at Nicki's birthday party.

Me: "What are five good things in your life?"

Eitan: "Football, school and swimming."

Me: "Anything else?"

Eitan: "Cooking and my friends."

Me: "How about five bad things?"

Eitan: "Parsnips."

Me: "That's it?"

Eitan: "I can't think of any others."

Me: "Parsnips. Ok. That is pretty good."

Eitan: "And war."

Me: "Do you think about that?"

Eitan: "Yes, but I don't really understand it."

Me: "Most adults don't either."

On the walk home from Nicki's:

Madeleine: "What's for dinner?"

Me: "Your Mom's making fish."

Eitan: "I'm not eating it."

Madeleine: "Why not?"

Eitan: "Because I feel sorry for the fish. And because of over-fishing."

Madeleine: "Not fish fingers?"

Eitan: "No."

Madeleine: "Not fish 'n chips?"

Eitan: "Well, maybe."

Madeleine: "Look! Look at that!"

Me: "What?"

Madeleine: "It's a prisoner's gate. On that door."

Eitan: "Is that house a prison?"

Me: "I imagine not."

Madeleine: "It might have been. In the olden times."

Eitan's class continues to study Ireland.

Me: "What bodies of water surround Ireland?"

Eitan: "I don't know."

Me: "The Atlantic Ocean is one. Any others?"

Eitan: "The Pacific?"

Me: "Are you mad?"

Eitan: "Well, it could be sandwiched between the Atlantic and the Pacific."

Me: "Atlas, mister, when we get home. First thing."

Over dinner.

Eitan: "I'm not eating fish."

Sonnet: "Not fish fingers?"

Eitan: "No."

Sonnet: "Not fish and chips?"

Eitan: "No."

Sonnet:

Eitan, looking at his plate: "Poor little fishes."

That Dog

Our trusty pooch. Rusty has maybe doubled in size but still very much a puppy in nature. He jumps and yelps at other dogs and their walkers who are sometimes cool about this, sometimes not. He gets three bowls of food a day, devoured in under 30 seconds, and two or three walks of about thirty minutes. Aneta with him while the Shakespeares at school and Sonnet and I work. I sometimes find him lying on Madeleine herself horizontal on the couch. The dog knows how to sit, heal and wait for 40 seconds for our command. Not bad but could be better. He pees outside. He hasn't killed Tommy. Sonnet puts up with him. Overall so far a success.

Vs AC Fulham

I watch 'Transformers' last night after the kids to bed and Sonnet and Nita at their Smith dinner on Sloane St, the posh part of town. I am like three years late to the movie and Megan Fox who is, indeed, worth all the fuss. The film about a bunch of giant fighting robots and Megan's breasts which are often jammed together making .. cleavage .. oiled and slick as she flees the machines. This film meant for under 20s and the jokes, which make it bearable, are for them : my favorite when teenager Sam's parents think he is hiding in his room because he is mastrabating then Megan Fox appears and Sam's dad gives him the Obama rock. So why am I spending any time here, anyway? It is because the yuf culture marches onward. Without a personal investment in the bracket it is easy to lose track where the vast majority of our cultural resources deployed : teenagers. Last year, young Americans spent $170 billion at the mall - double the amount ten years earlier, according to ABC's 20/20. This a consumer-spender that demands respect. And of course there is our ever ongoing fascination with beauty and all that. As Oscar Wilde said, "youth this the only thing worth having." I do not entirely agree but I do enjoy Megan Fox - such pretty eye candy.

Eitan's KPR plays the most interesting and hard-fought game of the season against AC Fulham which ends nil-nil. While neither side can draw blood there were plenty of near misses including a shot by Jean-Luca which clanged off the top goal bar earning a groan from the sidelines. Will saved the day by putting his head between the ball and a sure goal for Fulham (cheers!) and Fred missed a clean shot from Eitan two feet from the keeper (groans). The boys exhausted by match-end but, given the last time's 6-1 thrashing by the same club, KPR happy with the draw.

Midlife Crisis

Paul, pictured, spends a good amount of his time in Asia and around the world so we see less of him these days. His company, ShipServ, which Paul started from nothing, doing $3 billion of business a year on its exchange and Lars has joined the board. If this a midlife crisis I want to have one.

Midlife crisis BTW is a term coined in 1965 by Elliott Jaques to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by men in the "middle years" or middle age of life, as a result of sensing the passing of their own youth and the imminence of their old age. Sometimes, a crisis can be triggered by transitions experienced in these years, such as extramarital affairs, andropause ormenopause, the death of parents or other causes of grief, unemployment or underemployment, realizing that a job or career is hated but not knowing how else to earn an equivalent living, or children leaving home. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day-to-day life or situation, such as in career, work-life balance, marriage, romantic relationships, big-ticket expenditures, or physical appearance. Academic research since the 1980s rejects the notion of midlife crisis as a phase that most adults go through. In one study, fewer than 10% of people in the United States had psychological crises due to their age or aging. Source: Elliott Jaques. "Death and the Midlife Crisis," International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1966

Madeleine: "Oh my God. Rusty just climbed on the table and ate the pizza!"

The dog apparently feeling better.

Eitan and Madeleine watch "Alvin & The Chipmunks, The Squeakquel."

Me: "You like this movie?"

Eitan: "Yeah, it's Ok.

Me:

Eitan: You hate it don't you?"

Me: "A few words come to mind."

Madeleine: "Like dumb? Horrible or boring?"

Me: "Pretty close."

Blues And The Story Of Monty

I ask Madeleine's mood and get a "thumbs middle," even though Saturday. A blue vibe has caught our family - lots of home work, freezing temperatures and a white, low-ceilinged sky which drags for days. I recover from food poisoning. Even Rusty gets in on the scene - the pooch eats hamster food and sick all morning giving me forlorn looks whenever our eyes meet. Sometimes you just have to work through the days and hope for the better.

The Life and Adventures Of Monty. By Madeleine (for her tutor)

When we got Monty she was very small. We took her home and made her cage. Then we named her "Monty"!

She was brown, black and creamy white. She had beedy black eyes and razer sharp teeth.

Monty smelt freedom every where! She loved to try and break out of her cage. She gnawed all night. I have to say ... it was much quieter without her!

One morning I went to check if Monty was OK. Her cage was open. We searched everywhere. After one week we though she died because she went in our boiler but really she was under my bedroom floor scratching at my carpet. Two weeks had past. I woke up on a Friday and Dad came in my room and said: "You are the first to know." "What?" I said. "It is Friday" then he ran off and came back with ... Monty.

Five weeks later I was holding Monty when she sank her teeth in to my thumb. I yelled and tried to pull her off but she would not budge. At last I flung her off. Blood splattered the wall. There is still blood on my wall because the cleaner cannot get it off.

We went away to Bath for two days leaving Monty on her own. When we got back her cage was open. After we looked all over the house I wanted to watch TV. When I turned it on, only the sound came out. I walked in to the living room and I saw the TV cable was chewed. I went back in to the kitchen. Mom turned on the oven and then suddenly there was a loud squeak and out came Monty with burnt whiskers.

The day before Monty died she could not move. We took her to the vet and the vet gave her medicine. The next day she died.

Life Is Cotton Candy

Madeleine from the summer of '05 reminding me these kids are growing up.

I have an interesting Friday beginning at 4:45AM when the alarm goes off resoundingly. I do up my tie knot in darkness and Sonnet drives me to the train station - in pajamas - and not a soul around. The train hosts a few day labourers and weirdo insomniacs. I am on my way to Paris and the trip takes a turn when, happily seated, I realise: bad oyster. I make it to Gare du Nord then Astorg's offices (they are none aware of my predicament) then back to the terminus then London, an underground, train and taxi home where I am now, gratefully, happily in bed, listening to Radio 4 under the covers with the chills. I had the afternoon pegged for a museum and jog along the Seine; instead, I am grateful for the 1513 departure instead of two hours later.

Madeleine informs us matter-of-factly that she is going to have her hair-cut like a boy. I suggest to Sonnet that we cannot allow Eitan to grow his hair like some kind of animal and not allow Madeleine to do herself the same harm.

I call a family assembly: "After you use the toilet, put the lid down and flush. I am tired having to repeat myself!"

Eitan: "You always say not to flush so we don't waste water."

Me:

Madeleine: "Yeah, Dad. What about that? Should we flush or not flush?"

Me: "That's a good point. I will consider it."

Eitan: "Same as it always is."

Video Killed The Radio Star

Eitan bakes a cake and I play us music on YouTube including favorite "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles. The Song released in '79, was the 444th number one in the UK charts, spending one week at the top and shooting The Buggles to fame. I've never heard of them since. At the time of the single’s release, The Buggles did not have an album’s worth of material so they wrote most of the other tracks for their debut record The Age of Plastic (1980) while travelling around Europe promoting their hit. We also listen to Human Leagues' "Don't You Want Me Baby," Devo's "Whip It" and Madness' "My Girl." Like all parents before me I cannot stand the stuff Eitan listens to on Capital Radio. At least the '80s was original.

Madeleine greets me sprawled out on the hallway stairs.

Me: "Hi Madeleine and how was your day?"

Madeleine: "Fine Dad. Aren't you going to ask me?"

Me: "Ask you what?"

Madeleine: "You know."

Me: "What did you have for lunch?"

Madeleine: "No."

Me: "How is your arm?"

Madeleine: "Nope."

Me: "Is it your birthday?"

Madeleine: "Dad!"

Me: "I give up. What?"

Madeleine: "If I need glasses."

Me:

Madeleine: "They aren't sure if if I do so I am going back."

Me: "Did you lie to them about the letters?"

Madeleine: "It would be so cool if I had to wear glasses."

Me:

Me: "Madeleine it's dinner. Get off the floor!"

Madeleine: "But I'm picking up a needle. You know it could hurt if somebody stepped on it."

Me: "Stepped on it with their eyeball?"

Eitan: "Remember when you stuck a needle in Madeleine's knee?"

Me: "I did?"

Eitan: "Yeah. She had a wart or something."

Me: "That one must have hurt."

Madeleine: "You don't even know Dad."

Me to Rusty: "We'll love you even when you are old and stinky."

Eitan: "Dad!"

Me: "And hopefully that is how you will feel about me and your mother when we are old and stinky."

Eitan, thoughtfully: "How do you know you aren't already?"

My girl's mad at me
I didn't wanna see the film tonight
I found it hard to say
She thought I'd had enough of her
Why can't she see
She's lovely to me?
But I like to stay in
And watch t.v. on my own
Every now and then

--"My Girl", Madness

Clare Shillard

Since I have meetings in town and no office in town, I find myself at the National Portrait Gallery to see the “Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010” with 60 portraits on display from nearly 6,000 submissions entered by 2,401 photographers from around the world. Law firm Taylor Wessing sponsors the competition for the third year. Photograph by Clare Shillard, which is my favorite - she has shot for Marni, Hardy Amies, Warner Music, Lyle & Scott and H&M, and her photographs have been published in i-D, Italian Rolling Stone, GQ Style and Teen Vogue amongst others.

Eitan: "What kind of vegetable should you not let on a boat?"

Me: "Yes?"

Eitan: "A leek."

Me: "That was pretty good. Got any others?"

Eitan: "I just want to watch the football."

Me: "Here's your chance to shine."

Eitan: "What's a cats' favorite TV program?"

Me: "What?"

Eitan: "The evening mews."

Me:

Grace And Moe

Grace and Moe in Berkeley- I am guessing 1983 or '84?

Eitan and Madeleine have no idea of time - I ask Madeleine what it must be like to be Aneta's age (Aneta 20) and she shrugs her shoulders: "How should I know Dad?" and she is absolutely right. Around the corner incomprehensible to our dear. Eitan, for his part, spent a couple of years trying to sort out where space ends but gave up. Madeleine sees no need to be drawn into something equally stupid. She'll know soon enough already.

Throw Down

Sonnet will kill me for this photo taken at Justin's 40th last summer. I post since we are with Justin and his family for some non-competitive Sunday evening family bowling at All Star Lanes in Bayswater. Last year's practice pays dividends as The Kid here bowls five-strikes including three in a row - a "turkey" for us in-the-know - which gets respect from Madeleine who gives me the 'Obama Rock'. Our team crushes the opponents and we celebrate over a Victory Cheeseburger.

Soooo since I am curious .. In 1930, British anthropologist Sir Flinders Petris discovered primitive bowling balls and bowling pins in the grave of an Egyptian boy dating to 3200 BC shortly before the reign of Narmer, one of the very first Egyptian pharaohs. Their discovery represents the earliest known historical trace of bowling. Others claim that bowling originated in Germany in AD 300. A site in Southampton, England claims to be the oldest lawn bowling site still in operation, with records showing the game has been played on the green there since 1299. The first written reference to bowling dates to 1366, when King Edward III of England banned his troops from playing the game so that they would not be distracted from their archery practice. It is believed that King Henry VIII bowled using cannon balls. Henry VIII also famously banned bowling for all but the upper classes, because so many working men and soldiers were neglecting their trades. (sources: Bowlingmuseum.com and Hunsinger, Earl. "Bowling – The Sport of Kings and Working Men." Article at www.buzzle.com)

"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules."

--The Big Lebowski

Joe

Joe's Dad John is one of KPR's two coaches and from Scotland ("hit the bloody thing!" he once bellowed in a game. Today he called me "daft" when I offered to pay for a white coffee). Joe plays left-wing and whenever he gets a touch there is never a doubt. He and Eitan feed each other opportunities as often Eitan plays right-wing or center/ striker. The better kids can drop a floating ball to the pitch with the adroit placement of the boot, advancing quickly around the defending player, moving the ball up-field. The best players, including Joe, see the play unfold two or three ticks before the action and work towards some idea in their head. The set-up, after all, being equal to the strike.

Dog Fight - Fire Brigade

KPR back to its winning ways defeating the Twickenham Tigers 4-2 in an away game. The Tigers score first but KPR answers with four goals (Eitan sets up two and takes KPR's second goal himself). James, the tall fellow pictured, a taxi driver and fireman who tells me that the London's Fire Brigade installed 500,000 fire alarms across London last year. Mostly, he says, for elderly people or poorer neighborhoods. Government knows, from our property insurance, who is protected and a state goal to make it everybody. Alarms last ten years (tested and installed for free upon request) while a database delivers an auto-letter when a replacement due.

The London Fire Brigade is the world's fourth-largest (after the Tokyo Fire Department, the New York City Fire Department and the Paris Fire Brigade) with nearly 7,000 staff, of which 5,800 are operational firefighters and officers. In 2008/09 the LFB received 229,308 999-calls, mobilising to 138,385, including 29,215 fires (13,841 of a serious nature), making it one of the busiest fire brigades in the world. In 2008/09, it received 6,022 hoax calls, highest in the United Kingdom, but only mobilised to 2,653 of them. As well as firefighting, the LFB responds to serious traffic collisions, floods, 'shut in lift' releases, other various rescue operations and hazardous materials incidents; it conducts emergency planning and performs fire safety inspections and education. It does not provide an ambulance service as this function is performed by the London Ambulance Service as an independent NHS trust, however all firefighters are trained in first aid and all fire engines - or 'appliances' as they are known - carry first aid equipment including basic resuscitators. (souce: London Fire Brigade websites)

James tells me he has never rescued a cat from a tree.

Just Another Day At The Sex Palace

Jihad? Nuclear Iran? Kate wedding dress? All brushed aside for reports that Silvio hosting "bunga bunga" parties at his 145-room, 16th century Villa outside Rome. Milan prosecutors are into an investigation, begun in May, of prostitution and orgy parties preceded by pole dancing, strip tease and "lesbian displays" at the PM's house. The case began when Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug arrested on suspicion of theft - Berlusconi telephoned the police asking to free her, claiming she was the niece of Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt and a bold faced lie. 100,000 leaked wire taps and text-messages include Ruby who, when shagging the PM for bracelets and cash, was inconveniently 17. Consent in Italy is 14 and the legal age for being a whore 18. Berlusconi denies the orgies took place and that, anyhow, he thought Ruby older than 17. He said this in the same breath. Most Italians, based on an Istitutio Piepoli poll in January, think Berlusconi will fight on - this his style -or, if government dissolved for an early election, his Freedom Party will remain in control somehow (today it has a three-vote majority in parliament). Umberto Bossi, head of the Northern League, and Berlusconi's biggest ally, jokes: "Silvio should go and rest somewhere, we'll handle things." And Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes. More ominously this month, Italy's Constitutional Court struck down key parts of a law that would protect Berlusconi from prosecution.

"When [Berlusconi] wants to, he calls; when he doesn't want to, he doesn't call. For the love of God, he's building us a career but then you need to see if that career leads somewhere. What if it doesn't lead anywhere?"

--Barbara Guerra, pictured

Lars Anna Sophia

The last we saw Lars at his book launch on the Strand and here he is yesterday with the twins. Lars and Puk bought a house not far from us after many years in Bayswater and Notting Hill and now they are in the cool part of London. Not. Lars sits on five boards, including a publicly traded company, and engaged in various interesting activities like triathlons. He follows a 26-week "Iron Man" schedule which, he tells me sheepishly, accelerates rapidly to three-hour runs and five hours of biking at a go. Edwin an inspiration. Me, following 2009, I am glad to do some push-ups and the occasional jog usually while waiting for Eitan to finish football practice. It seems to be enough yet Eitan gleefully points out to Shai and Ada the other night: "Dad has has a beer belly." His contribution to the adult conversation, the little rat.

To Wit

We spend Friday cedar with Shai and Ada in their new home in Chelsea, which they have redone from top to bottom. Shai told me a year ago that from the basement he could see the blue sky. Now, it is a wonderfully designed modern house in a smart part of town. Shai raising his next clean energy fund with Richard Branson. He has a big IPO in ten days and soon he will be the Chairman of a publicly traded company. That doesn't happen every day.

Sonnet up early to jog Richmond Park and I follow her with my trusty companion, Rusty, who is always good company. I take his lead off and he immediately runs for a herd of deer, me chasing after him pointlessly. Same old. I find it amazing how friendly dog-walkers are - these Brits who otherwise don't give the time of day take delight watching Rusty sniff their dog's ass, smiling approvingly. I take the opportunity to comment on the day's weather or how nice it is to be alive. It's like watching the circus : different sizes, shapes, colors .. young and old .. some grumpy others exuberant. And you should see the dogs. Ar ar.

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.

--Confucius

SciLi

Since I am interviewing kids for Brown U, I do my annual posting of college factoids sent to me by Dean of Admission Jim Miller, '73 - below. Probably most interesting for us parents is the cost - over $50K per year. That is the Science Library behind me, affectionately known as the "SciLi" where Roger and I studied usually on the top 13th floor. During exams, the carols filled and so I would walk down floors to find a free desk space. There was a student lounge half a floor up from the reception entrance which was claustrophobic and popular. A rumor when I was at Brown that the SciLi sinking a couple inches into the ground every year and maybe tilting. (photo from Flickr)

Founded in 1764, Brown University is America's seventh oldest college, and a member of the

Ivy League. To this day, Brown remains committed to the words of its charter, which called

for the education of individuals "duly qualified for discharging the offices of life with

usefulness and reputation."

• "Ivy League" was first a general reference to the older, and therefore "ivy covered," schools

in the Northeast. Part of the Ivy League athletic association since1954, this group of

academically rigorous institutions now comprises eight schools: Brown, Columbia, Cornell,

Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania.

• Brown's 238 buildings, nearly 100 of which were built before 1900, occupy a 143 acre

campus in Providence, the capital of Rhode Island.

• Brown currently enrolls approximately 5900 undergraduates from all 50 states and more than

90 countries.

• Gender breakdown of undergraduates in the Class of 2014: 52% female, 48% male.

• Brown's Graduate School enrolls approximately 1700 students, and its School of Medicine

approximately 300.

• About one-third of undergraduates are people of color.

• An additional 10% hail from abroad.

• About 93 countries are represented in the Classes of 2011-2014.

• The College employs 679 full-time faculty members, and 133 adjunct and visiting professors.

• Brown's student to faculty ratio is 8:1.

• 100% of Brown faculty members teach undergraduates.

• The graduation rate in 6 years is 95%.

• On-campus housing is guaranteed for all 4 years.

• Students are required to live on campus for their first 6 semesters.

• Freshmen students live in doubles in freshmen dorms.

• 85% of all undergraduates live in residence halls.

• About 10% of students belong to fraternities or sororities; there are 10 fraternities, and 3

sororities.

• There are more than 250 student organizations at Brown.

• The largest student organization is Brown Community Outreach, within the Swearer Center

for Public Service. In excess of 150,000 hours of community service work is rendered each

year by Brown undergraduates.

• 2010- 2011 tuition and fees: $40,820

• 2010- 2011 room and board: $10,540

• 2010- 2011 average amount for books and personal expenses: $3,010

• Average financial aid package for scholarship recipients in the Class of 2014 in

2010-2011: $36,000. This year, the average is made up of average need-based scholarship of

$31,950 work of $2550 and average loan of $1,500.

• Average need based scholarship in 2010-2011: $31,950

• Brown awarded approximately $76 million in undergraduate scholarships in 2009-2010 and

is budgeted for $81.5 million in 2010-2011

• 43% of undergraduates receive financial aid packages that include University scholarship

grants.

• 45% of the Class of 2014 receives need-based financial aid.

• Brown meets 100% of a student's demonstrated financial need.

• Each year, over 3,300 undergraduates receive over $85 million in financial assistance from a

variety of University and outside resources.

• There are more than 6 million items in Brown's 6 libraries; the John D. Rockefeller Library,

the Sciences Library, the John Hay Library, the Orwig Music Library, the Annmary Brown

Memorial Library, and the John Carter Brown Library.

• 300 members (20.8%) of the Class of 2009 completed double (or triple) concentrations.

• Brown offers 57 study abroad programs in 14 countries, including Cuba. An additional 150

programs are pre-approved programs run by other US universities. Over 1000 other

programs may be approved after a student submits a petition to request approval.

Approximately 40% of students take advantage of these programs during their time at

Brown.

• 35 varsity athletic teams compete in the Ivy League at the NCAA Division I level;

additionally, there are 15 club sports and 8 intramural teams.

LIFE AFTER BROWN

Employment and Graduate/Professional School:

• 83 % of students responding by April 2010 reported they were either employed or

pursuing graduate/professional studies full time--27% in graduate professional studies,

56% in employment

Medical and Law School

• Brown students and alumni earn admission to medical school at a rate significantly

higher than the national average. Admission rates for Fall 2009 (most recent data

available): Brown graduate 81% vs. national average 46%

• Brown students and alumni earn admission to law school at a rate significantly higher

than the national average. Admission rates for Fall 2009 (most recent data available:

Brown graduates 86% vs. national average 67%

Fellowships/Scholarships

• Brown was #1 in the Ivy League for earning Fulbright Scholarships in 2009, with 23

seniors and 30 total Brown students and alumni earning Fulbrights

• A Brown senior once again won a Rhodes Scholarship, the fourth in the past four year

La Rue De Paris

Just any old storefront on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré - pictured. This one happens to be across the street from Sarkozy's office. Difficult not to love this city.

The rue is one of the world's most fashionable thanks to the presence of virtually every major global fashion house from Lanvin to Cartier to Hermes. Like nearby Avenue Montaigne, the street is dedicated, throughout its length, to haute-couture and other exclusive establishments. The rue Saint-Honoré ( of which the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is an extension) began as a road extending west from the northern edge of the Louvre property. Saint Honoré is the popular French saint, Honorius of Amiens. At the other end is Madeleine. 55 is the Élysée Palace evidenced by the abudance of gendarmes. Other notables:

No. 22: The flagship boutique of Lanvin

No. 24: The historic flagship boutique of Hermès, a Parisian luxury-goods company

No. 29: The registered office of Lancôme, a prestige cosmetic brand established in 1935

No. 31: An annex of the Embassy of Japan

No. 33: Hôtel Perrinet et de Jars, the headquarters of the Cercle de l'Union interalliée

No. 35: The embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

No. 41: The Hôtel de Pontalba, originally designed by Louis Visconti, now the residence of theUnited States Ambassador to France

No. 56: The offices of the Paris edition of Vogue magazine in the Publications Condé Nast Building

No. 71: Former address of Galerie J. Le Chapelin, 1950s (now closed)

No. 96: The Ministry of the Interior (on the Place Beauvau.)

No. 101: The prestigious flagship shop and tea room of Dalloyau, a Parisian luxury gastronomic brandname

No. 112: Hôtel Le Bristol, a luxury hotel

No. 135: The residence of the Canadian Ambassador to France

The perfume manufacturer, Jean-François Houbigant, set up his shop, "À la Corbeille de Fleurs" ("at the sign of the basket of flowers"), on this street in 1775

Conchoid

Eric sends me a conchoid, pictured, as a fine example of his Mac's built in graphing-calculator capabilities.

For those of us not teaching maths at Harvard or writing Calculus books (and pinched from the Internets), a conchoid is a curve derived from a fixed point O, another curve, and a length d. For every line through O that intersects the given curve at A the two points on the line which are d from A are on the conchoid. The conchoid is, therefore, the cissoid of a circle with center O and the given curve. They are called conchoids because the shape of their outer branches resembles conch shells.

The simplest expression uses polar coordinates with O at the origin. Ifr = α(θ) expresses the given curve then expresses the conchoid. Parametrically, it can be expressed

asx = a + cos(t) and y = atan(t) + sin(t)

All conchoids are cissoids with a circle centered on O as one of the curves.

The prototype of this class is the conchoid of Nicomedes in which the given curve is a line.

A limaçon is a conchoid with a circle as the given curve.

The often-so-called conchoid of de Sluze and conchoid of Dürer do not fit this definition; the former is a strict cissoid and the latter a construction more general yet.

Vallejo, Ho

Vallejo filed for bankruptcy two years ago. It ain't pretty either : the police 50% staffed; the fire department closed; public teaching posts unfilled, vacant houses and pot holes everywhere (three guys to fill them). Untidy lots, garbage uncollected and general malaise. Citizens abandoning ship - at least, those who can. A sad state of affairs for a once proud blue coller community on the northern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area where HW 80 and 780 connect. 

Vallejo across the Cartinez Bridge and Katie and I competed at the neighboring Benicia Blue Dolphins Aquatics Center - I recall hot summers, green grass lawns, a beautiful outdoor 50-meter pool, healthy kids and families - all seemed Ok. Vallejo today follows a dwindling property tax base from a decline in industrial activity+the after-math of decades of generous pay and pension deals for city workers - many allowed, for instance, to retire in their 50s with 90% of their salaries. 

Vallejo should have seen it coming, too, with the '95 closure of the naval base but somehow never got around to adjusting itself. Marc Levinson, Vallejo's banruptcy lawyer, notes that "Vallejo is just the first, the [union] contracts were the most outrageous and the resources got exhausted first." A friend recently pointed an accusatory finger at me : "California is a mess."

Californians tried to change with the "recall" in 2003 that made Arnold "Girlie-Girl" Schwarzenegger Governor with his central pledge to reduce California's indebtedness. During his seven years, the state's debt trippled. So let us remember that, As of July 1, 2003, California had a total of $27.6 billion in general obligation bonds and a total of $23.2 billion in authorized but unissued bonds.

Today, it is $77.8 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds and an additional $42.8 in authorized but unissued bonds according to state Treasurer Bill Lockyer. General obligation bonds are paid from revenues coming from the state's general fund, meaning that debt payments reduce funds available for other services. In fact, along with its overall debt burden, California's debt payments have tripled, from $1.8 billion paid in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, to $5.5 billion in the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2011. In June 2009, Schwarzenegger, facing state insolvency, called for $24 billion of budget cuts or one-fourth the state's budget. Moonbeam to the rescue.

Sacramento's inability to raise taxes (Prop 13 comes home to roost) or cut spending or just plain govern has left the Golden State on its knees. The political parties refuse to meet in the middle somehow and bonds roll things over .. again .. and again. The first cracks occur in small towns like Vallejo but eventually we may see the state's credit rating harmed (currently A1 and A- by Moody's and S&P) making borrowing more dear. And so downward, ho.

One day I hope to fight the battle for the state I love dearly but that may prove to be another life.

"Our wallet is empty, our bank is closed and our credit is dried up."

--Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Chatter Birds

I pick the kids up from their weekly tutor class. Walking to the car,

Me: "We are not getting a bird. That's final."

Madeleine: "You didn't even hear me ask for one!"

Me: "Ok, what do you want then?"

Madeleine: "A bird."

Eitan: "And I am going to save my money for a hamster."

Me: "We have a hamster. And a fish and a dog."

Eitan: "Well, Stanley has nine pets."

Me: "Nine pets? It must be a zoo at his place."

Eitan: "He has four cats, three hamsters and two guinea pigs."

Madeleine: "He could have 32 cats if they all got preggers."

Me: "You can save all the money you want but we are not getting a bird. We have plenty of pets."

Madeleine: "I am going to keep the bird in my room. And take care of it."

Me: "What about Rusty? Are you bored with the dog already?"

Madeleine: "No!"

Eitan: "Well, you never walk the dog in the morning."

Madeleine: "Yes I do!"

Eitan: "Did you go this morning? Nooo."

Me: "Okay, that. Is. Enough . . !

Me, over dinner (Sonnet works late): "What book are you reading?"

Madeleine: "Mr Gum."

Me: "What's it about?"

Madeleine: "Mr Gum."

Me: "A little more please?"

Eitan: "Actually it is more about Polly."

Me: "What do you like about it?"

Madeleine: "I like the characters. And the story."

Eitan: "It doesn't really have a plot. It's about parrots and rainbows and stuff."

Madeleine: "A book doesn't have to follow the rules, Eitan."

Me: "Excellent point, well said."

Madeleine to Aneta: "Do you know any names for a little red bird?"

Eitan: "I wish everybody would stop telling me what to read."

Me: "Do they?"

Eitan: "Yeah. Like you're always buying me books."

Me: "I think of them as gifts. You don't have to read them."

Eitan:

Me: "Why do you think people give you books to read any way?"

Eitan: "To bother me?"

Me: "Well, I want you to enjoy them. And discuss them with you. What happens when you read a book?"

Madeleine: "You become a part of the story."

Me: "Excellent, you are two for two. And what then?"

Eitan, Madeleine:

Me: "You know that expression, 'you are what you eat?'

Madeleine: "Pasta pesto?"

Me: "Some people also say 'you are what you read.'"

Madeleine: "Good one, Dad. Do you really think we're pasta pesto though?"

Madeleine: "Once, when I was with Auntie Katie in New York, we went into a pet store and there was a talking bird."

Me: "You mean a parrot?"

Madeleine: "Yeah. And guess how much he was?"

Me: "I don't know - two hundred bucks?"

Madeleine: "Six hundred dollars!"

Me: "It could be six dollars for all I care. No bird."

Madeleine: "I can still think about it can't I?"

Me: "Madeleine! What are you doing down here? It's bed time."

Madeleine: "Where do you keep the duck tape?"

Me: "Go upstairs. To bed.

Madeleine: "Do you have any fishing wire?"

Me: "Fishing wire?"

Madeleine: "Do you have anything that claws can grab on to?"

Me:

Madeleine: "Okay, okay - I am going. You don't have to look at me like that."

Me: "Oh, gross. Rusty threw up in the back of the car."

Eitan: "That's like the tenth time. Why does he do it?"

Me: "I think he gets car sick. Or maybe he's anxious."

Eitan: "That's like Stanley - Stanley threw up twice on the first day of school."

Me:

Eitan: "The teacher had to clean it up."

Photo from the web.

Speed Demon

We meet newborn Alexander, the son of Effie and Edwin, pictured, at the World Duathalon Championships in Concord, NC, where he is 5th in the over-40s. No doubt Alexander will be a chip off the old block. Today he is mostly asleep and angelic. Eitan and Madeleine equally fascinated by the baby and Nason, the family dog which, in fairness, is also pretty darn cute. I end the happy weekend watching the NFL playoffs.