The Sounds

This cool photo of the Sounds from Christian who notes : "straight from Sweden."

Madeleine: "Did you go to school with Harry Potter?"

Me: "Harry Potter?"

Sonnet: "I think you mean Emma Watson, who goes to Brown."

Madeleine: "Yeah. Did you know her?"

Me:

Madeleine: "I want people to know my face. I want to sign autographs. I want to be a famous actress."

Me: "What do famous people have in common?"

Madeleine: "They work hard?"

Me: "Bingo."

Madeleine: "In drama I never get the big parts."

Aneta: "My first part I was a river. Glug. Glug. Glug.. ."

Sonnet: "When you go into drama class next term, tell the teacher you want a bigger part."

Me: "Well, Kid, show us some acting."

Madeleine: "Like what?"

Me: "How about 'I love you?'"

Madeleine: "Dad!"

Me: "Ok, say 'I really love that red car.' You know, with emotion."

Madeleine: "I really looove that red car."

Me: "I luva that red car witha alla my heart!"

Sonnet: "I think your daughter is trying to have a serious conversation with you."

Me: "Madeleine, if you want something honey, you have to ask for it."

Madeleine: "Give me the £40 you owe me."

Me: Touché.

Adjusting To A Global Market (1974-2011)

(From the FT) The postwar consensus broke down amid the "stagflation" of the mid-1970s, as a full-blow recession, with double-digit rates of inflation, followed the quadrupling of the oil price in 1973. Government economic policy moved towards greater acceptance of market mechanisms.

While globalisation saw much of the world's manufacturing industry moving to the emerging Asian economies, the UK economy shifted away from traditional heavy industries towards services, particularly financial services. The first decade of the new century ended with the deepest peacetime recession in 70 years.
Photograph: Nils Jorgensen

Movie Night

Eitan: "Can I do football skills Monday afternoon?"

Madeleine: "You can't Eitan. You have cross country."

Me: "And how do you know that?"

Madeleine: "I'm not an outcast, Dad."

Eitan and Madeleine: "Family movie night!"

Sonnet: "Do you want to watch 'Ghost Busters'?"

Madeleine: "What about that other one?"

Sonnet: "'Whatever Works' by Woody Allen?"

Madeleine: "Yes! That one."

Eitan: "Is it rated?"

Me:

Sonnet: "It says it is rated 12."

Madeleine: "Eitan is worried that there is inappropriate material."

Me: "Eitan is worried that he is going to see a bottom."

Eitan: "Dad!"

Sonnet: "It says 'moderate sex references.'"

Me: "See, just like I said. A bottom . ."

Eitan:

Sonnet: "Eat your salad."

Madeleine: "I hate Salad."

Me: "Since when?"

Madeleine: "I've hated salad since last year."

Anthony Horowitz

The kids queue for hours to meet Anthony Horowitz, the author behind "Alex Rider." (Eitan, aware that Horowitz a Chelsea fan, was going to wear his ManU shirt so I am happy to see Sonnet ordered him to take it off). And who is Alex Rider, you might ask, as I once did ? Well, Alex Rider a teenage spy. In Britain. The series aimed primarily at young adults and, with nine novels, one of the most popular of its type. Both Madeleine and Eitan, especially Eitan, devour them.

Anthony Horowitz: "What's your name?

Eitan: "Eitan."

Alex: "What kind of a name is that?"

Eitan: "It's Hebrew."

Anthony: "Do you know what it means?"

Eitan: "No."

Anthony: "Have you ever been to Israel?"

Eitan: "No."

Anthony: "I've been there when I was writing the Alex Rider books and I think it is a very interesting country."

For the record, "Eitan" is a Hebrew name that means "steady" or "firmness", "long lived", "strength" and "forceful."

Photo by Sonnet

Prison If

We take a boat ride by the Château d'If, a fortress (later a prison) located on the island of If, in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille. It is famous, Dear Reader, from Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo where Le Monsieur de la Count jailed - I read the book a couple of years ago to my great delight. Recall the main character Edmond Dantès(a commoner who later purchases the noble title of Count) and his mentor, Abbé Faria, are imprisoned in If. After fourteen years, Dantès makes a daring escape from the castle, becoming the first person ever to do so and survive. In reality, no one is known to have done this. There is also a 33 Champs-Élysées BTW where Le Count lived in the story.

The château a square, three-story building 28 m long on each side, flanked by three towers with large gun embrasures. The remainder of the island, which measures about 30,000 square meters, heavily fortified; high ramparts with gun platforms surmount the island's cliffs.The isolated location and dangerous offshore currents of the Château d'If made it an ideal escape-proof prison, like our Alcatraz. Its was a dumping ground for political and religious detainees and one of the most feared and notorious jails in France. It was built in the 15th century and one may easily marvel at the effort this must have required.

"My partner is my master."

--The Count of Monte Cristo

Night Out

I prepare for the night's affairs.

Dance

Astorg out-performs so really their annual general meeting a pretty tame affair. Astorg's Chairman, Xavier, jokes with the owner/manager of the one company whose performance has slipped since last year's review. Otherwise it is mostly good stories and valuation mark-ups. Xavier takes it upon himself to show us the best of his country and this year special as his hometown in nearby Nice. By Thursday all investors to hand and the Astorg team flies in for dinner, which is at Palais du Pharo, built under Louis Napoleon Bonaparte for the Empress Eugenie. Before supper we have a private viewing of La compangnie Julie Lestel's "corps & 'âmes", a modern dance production (pictured) that has received awards around the world and, I might suggest, a bit risqué for the crowd. Unexpected and sublime.

Astorg's younger ranks fun to watch - 28 to 32 or so, very fashionable, young and attractive - it is clear they enjoy being around each other.

Eitan now swims five nights a week for the regional squad+football+cross country. He is as gung-ho as ever when it comes to sport.

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."
--Napoleon Bonaparte

Marseilles

I am in Marseilles from Wednesday for Astorg's annual investor meeting, which kicks off at Gerald Passedat's restaurant, Le Petite Nice, a three-star Michelin restaurant that even has the French going "oo la la." Passedat known for his fish work and so (of course) the fellow next to me does not .. eat fish. The rest of us marvel at his creations and accompanying wines which somehow improve the flavors. We have the restaurant to ourselves - about 30 of us - and drink champagne beforehand as the sun sets on the Mediterranean which spreads before us. Not bad for a Jewish kid from Berkeley.

I have not been to Marseilles since '83 when Geneve Natation participated in a competition at the then-new 50-meter Olympic pool built into the city cliffs. And there she is, looking a bit older maybe but connecting me to footsteps I walked 28 years ago.

Wednesday's menu:

Avant-goût (Foretaste)

Asperges de Pertuis au Naturel (Natural Pertuis Asparagus)

Truffe en Mini Brouillade (Mini scrambled of Truffle)

Cabris et petis pois (Goat meat, peas and vegetables)

Nouille fraîche aux Morilles (Fresh Noodles with morels)

Foie de Canard a l'inis étoilé (Foie gras with Star Anise)

Les fromage affinés (chees)

L'avant-douceur (pre-dessert)

Chrysalide de caramel au chocolat (Caramel chrysalis with chocolate)

Mignardises (Homemade delicacies)

Wines

Champagne De Souze Cuvée 3A

Cotes de Provence blanc Domain Mas de Cadenete Cuveé Mas Negrel de Cadenet 2097

Chablis premier cru Montmains 2007; Domain Jean-Paul et Benoit Droin

Cornas Les Ruchets 1999; Domaine Jean-Luc Colombo

Vin doux Naturel Rivesaltes Ambre 2006; Domaine Rossignol

(photo from the web, uncredited)

Broom

Eitan promoted to the regional swimming squad, which gets a bashful acknowledgement when Head Coach Mirella and club Chairman Nigel tell him he has earned his place "from hard-work and good progress." The boy now expected to train five or six times a week. We discuss his commitment to sport : swimming, football and cross-country, which he enjoys at school. At some point - not now, but soon - he will most likely have to make a choice between the three but for now, he is boundless energy and not enough hours in the day.

Rusty chases the broom - he can do this for hours.

Boob Tube

We have a fairly sharp policy when it comes to media: the less, the better. No Nintendo DS nor Xbox; no boob tubes in the kids' rooms (only one household television); one family computer which the kids use in the kitchen in the presence of an adult. Eitan and Madeleine have 'movie night' Thursdays and one-hour of cartoons Sunday mornings though relaxed around football, which Eitan cannot get enough of (+I enjoy watching with him). Madeleine gets her extra share, too, do not worry Dear Reader. The one exception radio : I have no problem with the wireless which, at least, exercises some imagination. They also go for CD boxsets of Hairy Potter or whatever (I sometimes find one or the other sound asleep with the player going). Sonnet and I figure the Shakespeares will spend half their waking life Facebooking and Twittering . . no need to rush them online when they should be reading and playing in dirt.

For the record, the British Market Research Bureau reports that Britain's children spend four-and-a-half hours a day in front of a TV or computer - one hour 50 minutes online and two hours 40 minutes in front of the television. It found that children spend more time in front of a screen in one day than they spend exercising in the entire week. 97 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds own a mobile phone – eight per cent more than the percentage of adults who own one.

Post-War Stability (1950-1974)

(From the FT) This period was one of relative stability for Britain - with generally low inflation, and no significant recessions - and of relative decline, as other nations, in particular the resurgent Germany and Japan, overtook the UK in the international economic pecking order.

Political parties were in broad agreement that the state had a role to play in the economy, to fund the expanding welfare state and, by judicious use of fiscal and monetary policies, to maintain full employment.

Busy Day At Work

6PM and I am turning off my computer as I write thi . . . .

Summer '04 - Richmond Park

We host a martini fueled dinner party Saturday which goes until 3AM - 3AM! - which means Sonnet takes Eitan to swimming Sunday morning, 6:30AM. Made worse: Mother's Day. I slink around the house then take the boy to his football match against the Molesley Jrs which is on a lovely pitch next to the Spencer Estate - Spencer being Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, DL wh is a British peer and brother of Diana, Princess of Wales and an "author," "print journalist" and "broadcaster." Yeah, right. KPR lost to Molesley two weeks ago 4-nil without Eitan and yesterday the team gets one back: the blues dominate 6-1 and Eitan scores a hat-trick including a screaming header fed to him on a corner-kick. There are plenty of smiles afterwards.

The rest of the afternoon spent with Madeleine in the backyard hacking around the garden. Springtime in the air. We observe tadpoles spawned in the pond - Madeleine feeds them some ham.

Eitan, from the back seat of the car: "I always get excited when I see a theme park."

Eitan Mother's Day Card:

"Dear Mom,

Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for me.

You are a wonderful mother.

I love your hairstyle.

Love, from Eitan

"

A Sad Day, 1968

In 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.

Berkeley's Grove Street, running north-south a few blocks of Shatuck Ave connecting Berkeley and Oakland, was renamed Martin Luther King Jr Way in 1984.

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tenn.

Photo from the web.

A Lie In - On Kissing

Me: "Can you believe we ran that race a year ago? The one in Richmond Park?"

Eitan: "What?! I thought it was, like, five months ago."

Me: "That's the way it goes. Marching to the grave."

Eitan: "Yeah, for you."

Madeleine at an over-night and Sonnet and I watch the film "Facebook" with Eitan.

Me: "Did you like the movie?"

Eitan: "I guess so. Mom told me to put the blanket over my head during some parts."

Me: "Did you understand everything?"

Eitan: "Like what?"

Me: "It was sort of for adults. Young adults."

Eitan:

Me: "Like those things they were doing in college. At the parties."

Eitan:

Me: "How do you feel about the way the characters treated each other?"

Eitan: "I don't know."

Me: "Did anything go over your head?"

Eitan: "You mean the blanket?"

Me:

Me, walking home with Madeleine: "Your mom and I watched Facebook with Eitan."

Madeleine: "Really? Isn't it for the older ones?"

Me: "Well, there is kissing and stuff in the movie. Do you know about that?"

Madeleine:

Me: "Well, you can kiss for love and you can kiss for pleasure."

Madeleine: "And what was in the film?"

Me: "I think mostly for pleasure."

Madeleine: "I have only kissed you and mom. For love."

Me: "Someday you will find somebody to kiss for love and for pleasure. Both are perfectly Ok."

Madeleine: "Do people really like to do that?"

Me: "Yes. Now what happens if one person kisses for love and the other one for pleasure?"

Madeleine:

Me: "Could somebody get hurt?"

Madeleine: "Yeah."

Me: "It is all part of growing up, kid."

Madeleine And Katie

Katie ("The Intellectual") profiled in Delta Sky Magazine - pictured - with Catherine Hardwicke ("The Visionary"), the director of the Twilight series and most recently Red Riding Hood which opened in the UK last week.

We attend King Lear at the Richmond Theatre with Shai and Ada.

I ponder three disparate facts from the news:

- In the year to March 1, US corn stocks fell 15% while the global price of corn doubled over the same period (USDA)

- Nevada house prices have fallen 58% since their peak in April 2006 (S&P)

- Barclays' assets are 100% of UK gross domestic product (Barclays)

"A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?"

--King Lear

"Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest."

--The Fool

Oscar And The Aesthetes

I attend last night's opening party of the wonderful V&A exhibition "The Cult of Beauty, the Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900." The reception in the main entrance under the magnificent Chihuly chandelier, which is now a permanent fixture (previously on loan). The Great and the good ensemble drinking champagne flutes while nibbling hors d'oeuvres. We are escorted into the gallery and treated to romantic bohemians Dante Gabriel Rossetti, James Whistler and Frederic Leighton and G.F. Watts. Oscar Wilde surely has a part to play and so receives a commemorative (from the V&A gallery):

"Oscar Wilde, the Aesthetic Movement and Satire

"The figure of the Aesthete, with his super-subtle sensibility and passionate responses to poetry, pictures and interior decoration, had first appeared in the 1870s. Associated with "unhealthy" and possibly dangerous foreign ideas, he was greeted with suspicion by critics and public alike

"However, by the 1880s the long-haired, velvet-clad Aesthete had become the butt of more affectionate satire. Targeted with extraordinary precision, the Aesthetes were ridiculed for what Gilbert and Sullivan called their 'stained-glass attitudes', overly precious speech and enthusiasm for 'pale lilies', sunflowers, peacock feathers, blue-and-white chine and Japanese fans.

"Oscar Wilde, inventing himself asa the first celebrity style-guru, astutely adopted the role of the Aesthete and rose to prominence through lecturing on Aesthetic ideals. His name and appearance became synonymous with the movement to such an extent that his fall in 1895 discredited the Aestheticism for a generation."

Mercury And Barney

NASA's Messenger spacecraft began orbiting Mercury on March 17, and will remain here for another year or so taking photographs and measurements. The Messenger arrived at its final destination after a 6.5-year loop the loop through the inner solar system. A 15-minute engine burn slowed the spacecraft sufficiently for it to be captured by Mercury’s gravity. By design, the Messenger circles around the planet on a highly elliptical orbit, dipping down as close to 160 miles to Mercury’s surface and rising as far up as 9,300 miles.

Says mission chief scientist Sean Solomon: "Mercury has had an exposed surface for at least 3.5 to 4 billion years and some of those surfaces are extremely cratered to the point where there are so many craters they start to obscure one another."

My genius friend Barney, who sold his search company to Microsoft and now the chief architect for Bing local search, tells me he is"moonlighting" as co-founder and CTO of Moon Express which is building an autonomous robotic lunar lander to support exploration and resource development on the moon (Think: mining platinum from the asteroids that impacted the moon). The company is now 8 FTE and has contracts with NASA.

Since Barney's bio on the web, here is a relevant interesting paragraph paragraph on Barney:

"

From 1993-1998, Dr. Pell worked as a Principal Investigator and Senior Computer Scientist at NASA Ames, where he conducted advanced research and development of autonomous control software for NASA's deep space missions. Dr. Pell was the Architect for the Remote Agent and the Project Lead for the Executive component of the Remote Agent Experiment (RAX), the first intelligent executive to fly onboard and control a spacecraft (the Deep Space One mission). Remote Agent is widely considered one of the top achievements in the history of Artificial Intelligence and was awarded NASA's "software of the year" award in 1999. Dr. Pell was also Co-Lead for the Autonomy Integrated Product Development Team for NASA's New Millennium Program, responsible for planning and managing technology maturation and demonstration of autonomous systems technology for future use by NASA."

Marc; Eitan Does Whitney

This one of my favorite photos : Marc in Singapore. He is a wheeler dealer in advertising media and owns a small agency.

Eitan at the Rose Theatre in Kingston to sing with his and other borough quires. I fail to get a ticket in advance and so do what my mother would have done: sneak into the circle box for the final song. Good lessons BTW. A couple hundred kids on stage accompanied by a orchastra. It takes a couple moments to identify Eitan then I spot him in a middle row and get a timid wave then the peace sign, which he has seen me do on occasion. They sing Whitney Houston's "One Moment In Time" which Whitney performed at the Grammy's where it won an Emmy. The song for the '88 Seoul Olympic athletes and equally appropriate for the little tykes on stage.

Eitan Butterflies

My photo from the school borough swimming championships last week - Eitan (green cap) places sixth overall in the butterfly.

Meanwhile, Cal held off defending champion Texas 493-470 1/2 to win its first men's NCAA swimming championship in 31 years Saturday night. The Bears' Graeme Moore, Josh Daniels, Tom Shields and Nathan Adrian clinched the title by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay in 2 minutes, 47.39 seconds. Je-sus that is fast. Adrian also won a third straight 100 freestyle in 41.10 and was named the meet's top swimmer. Cal's women's team took their second NCAA swimming in three year the week before. Holy Catfish.

“It's kind of like a funnel. Meets are just stops along the way and everything funnels down to that goal.”

--Nort Thornton, Cal mens head swim coach, 1974-2007

"My goggles came off and I couldn't really see anything."

--Eitan

Wars And Depression (1914-1950

(From the FT) In common with the rest of the world Britain suffered severe dislocation during the two world wars and the intervening years. The unemployment rate rose to 15% during the Great Depression, but in many ways the early 1920s were even worse, with deflation exacerbating the postwar recession. An inflexible exchange rate caused problems of adjustment throughout the period and the 30% devaluation of sterling in 1949 finally underlined that Britain was no longer a dominant power. The return to a peacetime economy after demobilisation saw a populace determined not to repeat the experiences of the past 30 years.

Rana - Darya - Madeleine

Somewhere in the 7th arrondissement.

French fund Astorg Partners closes last week at €1 billion. Otherwise it is interesting times for the 1,600 or so buyout firms worldwide raising $600 billion when cash-strapped institutional investors have already spent much of their allocations for 2011. Industry insider Prequin notes that only 33% of institutions have money for pe funds. Yet partnerships that raised in '06-'07 face the opposite problem: they can't spend their money fast enough. Buyout businesses reluctant to invest in '08 and '09 due to the economy and reduced borrowing now sit on a record $958 billion cash - which they either have to sink or give back to LPs, along with the fees.

Sea Snake

Snails In Paris

Madeleine leaps into my arms following her week-end in Paris. Snails! Post cards! The Eiffel Tower! Room Service! Here is our darling woofing down a snail at Terminus du Nord.

Last night I go to Lisa's 40th surprise party which is anything but. Without Sonnet, I fend for myself. It brings back the best of the old days when the cocktail party schmooz-fest sooo much part of the Internet. I meet a bunch of husbands, backs against the wall, nursing spirits and I jump in .. about the dog. Somehow this more neutral than the kids. Paul runs the UK and European operations of some company he describes as "an enterprise cloud computing company that distributes business software on a subscription basis." And: "we are known for its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) products, like Salesforce.com." I have never understood CRM. Maybe Roger can explain it to me. Paul's company floated on NASDAQ in '07 and has a market cap of "two or three billion" - you know, give or take a couple hundred million. He joined after the IPO which may explain his detail. Ah, the go-go years still alive for some.

Eitan sings: "Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't. Almond Joy has nuts, Mounds don't."

Life Is Good

After the races we head to Bellini's, the neighborhood pizza joint. Madeleine reports from Paris that she has enjoyed "snails in butter and oysters."

Crystal Palace

Eitan and I are mano-a-mano as Sonnet and Madeleine in Paris to see Rana and her daughter Darya. Rana a London friend who lives in Brooklyn's Park Slope with her children; she worked for Newsweek (business editor) until poached by Time when Newsweek merged with The Beast in one of those weird new media meets old media deals.

So I have the boy and the dog. This morning we (me and the boy) head to the Crystal Palace National Sports Complex for the Surrey Swimming Championships. Eitan in two relays swimming freestyle and butterfly. The pool a proper 50-meters encased in concrete which must have been a marvel in '64, when it opened, but now dated. Soon the palace will be superseded by the new athletic complex for the 2012 games including a sw-e-et pool. Eitan tells me he's nervous before his race then looks at me suspicously when I suggest us middle-aged dads would kill to be on the pool deck, a part of the competition. This isn't really the encouragement he seeks.

Meanwhile the transmitting station above is (only) London's third tallest structure at 720 feet behind One Canada Sq (771) and Heron Tower (756); it was, indeed, the tallest when it went up in the '50s. Though hideously ugly without an ounce of the Eiffel Tower, the structure useful : it carries London regions of BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 and Channel 4 in analogue, as well as all six digital terrestrial television multiplexes, with range of about 30 miles for DTT and 60 miles for analogue. The tower is also used for FM radio transmission of several local radio stations BBC London 94.9, XFM, Choice FM and Absolute Radio, as well as a low powered relay of the 4 BBC national FM services and Classic FM.

Notting Hill

I walk about Notting Hill before a late afternoon meeting at Electric. The sun is shining and this a lovely part of town where I have not been in maybe three years. We used to frequent this neighborhood following a stroll along Portobello Road from the flea markets on the Golborne Road side to the antiques in North Kensington. While the weekends draw crowds, it is otherwise a somewhat lazy, affluent, and fashionable part of London with attractive terraces of large Victorian townhouses (A Daily Telegraph article in 2004 used the phrase the 'Notting Hill Set' to refer the young Conservatives including David Cameron and George Osborne. It captured the idea perfectly). My friend tells me (with a twinkle) that he bought his house in '78 for 78 Grand and it is now worth around £8 million. This was not a certain bet given the IMF bailed out the UK in 78 and the Notting Hill race riots of '58. Notting Hill's fate sealed by Julia Roberts and her "Notting Hill" movie in '99. The consequences : Starbucks, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and American Apparel.

Nineteenth Century Pre-eminence (1850-1914)

(From the FT) Britain 160 years ago stood alone as the first industrial nation, with the highest output per head in the world. 1851 was perhaps the zenith - the Great Exhibition underlined the astonishing scientific and industrial innovation in the "workshop of the world", while the census of that year revealed that for the first time a major nation had most of its population living in cities and towns. Government involvement in the economy was essentially restricted to maintaining order at home and extending the empire abroad, with minimal social protection from the vagaries of the business cycle.

Painting by LS Lowry, "Canal and Factories"

The Brass And Liz Taylor

Madeleine performs and I dash home from Eitan's swimming gala (Late!) then across town (Traffic! Madeleine fidgets) arriving in a nick of time (Sonnet worried look; music teacher irritated !). Once seated, the brass plays Miles and we are treated to "Kind of Blue" including a wonderful trumpet solo by Madeleine, which she nails. The large dedicated audience cheers the kids - there are five or six ensembles covering various different instruments - and we stay until the very end including a synthesizer "display." All in the name of art and love.

Liz Taylor passes at 79 - the last of the Hollywood Greats from a bygone era. The kids have no idea. I recall a sunny morning at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd and Burt Reynolds lounging in the pool talking to three young bikinied women who, when given Burt's name, are like: "who is Burt Reynolds?" For all of us who have seen "Deliverance," which in 2008 selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "Culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," this comes as a blow. Worse for the actor.

Borough Finals

Eitan competes four events in the borough swimming finals following the trials two weeks ago. The gala opened to all local schools, state and independent ( US private), drawing maybe 600 kids. I see happy healthy faces at the finish line - no obesity here, which is fast becoming a problem with UK youngsters. Yesterday's 65 events cover years 4, 5 and six with finals in each discipline+relays. Eitan is sixth in the 33 meter butterfly (year 5) and second in the backstroke though I have never seen him actually train backstroke. Eitan's year-5 squad place second overall earning the boys a plaque - I overhear a referee: "you have done your school proud" she says. The Mall's year-six boys break the 4X33 meter freestyle relay record which has stood since 1983.

Aneta - Madeleine - Rusty

1965

Grace and Moe land in San Francisco following the Peace Corps and traveling around the world.

"I want a big career, a big man and a big life. You have to think big - that`s the only way to get it."

--Mia Farrow, 1965

200 PSI

I haven't held this much force since my painting days when I power-washed a house before the job. Back then we had a gas fueled machine that blasted 300 pounds per square inch and man, that could strip about any one's paint (often unwantedly). Oh how I recall hanging my bare ass off a soffit trying to hit some impossible spot on the third floor, live power lines everywhere and more likely than not, clinging to an aluminum ladder. If it had come to an end, it would have been quick. As for today, my rental just fine for the backyard stones which take seven hours to clean - six hours more than anticipated. The neighbors look at me curiously but walk quickly by when they see my half-crazed glare. Just any DIY Sunday.

Eitan completes the 200-meter freestyle in 2:38 at the Surrey Championships, "a personal record by ten seconds" he exclaims.

Eitan, over dinner: "I have to write one thing I learned about from the Roman visit."

Me: "What's that?"

Eitan: "The guy who came into our classroom dressed as a Roman. We have to say what we learned."

Me: "And?"

Eitan: "Well, I learned that there was a woman named Bouddica, who was a Celt, and when the Romans invaded Britain she got really angry and so she did horrible things to the Roman and Celts.

Me: "Why the Celts?"

Eitan: "Because she did not know they were Celts."

Me: "What did she do?"

Eitan: "She popped their eyeballs out. She peeled their skin off. And she slit them open and put burning coals in their stomach so that they burned from the inside."

Me: "Woa."

Sonnet: "They're teaching you that?"

Eitan: "The Roman guy was quite obsessed with the executing and stuff."

Sonnet:

And Here We Go Again

Madeleine adds it up.

"Today I authorized the armed forces of the United States to begin a limited action in Libya in support of an international effort to protect Libyan civilians. That action has now begun."

--President Barack Obama, from Brazil, March 18, 2011

“In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General MacArthur so delicately put it.”

--Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, West Point, New York, February 25, 2011.

Bus

Eitan has a swimming gala so the morning logistics complicated. Sonnet up at 6:05AM to drive Madeleine to the pool then returns to get me and the boy, returning to the pool so she can pick up another swimmer then Guildford and me with Madeleine to bring her home on the bus, pictured. We take the the top of a double decker which, even to this day, thrills - look out, said the passenger, we're going to hit those tree branches. Busdriver don't care.

We visit Cafe Nero for a hot-chocolate and a chocolate muffin.

Last night Sonnet and I make an appearance at a school fundraiser themed "Robbie Williams" which means dancing and an open bar. The DJ plays Big Band a la Frank Sinatra - he's pretty good, too - while I watch Sonnet shimmy in front of me, high heels accentuating her curves. How lucky I am. Aneta remains with the kids and surprised - surprised! - when we walk in the door at 10:45PM. In her book, the evening just starting at this hour for Pete's sake and last weekend she tip toed upstairs, 6AM. If ever there was a reminder I am on the other side of youth it is her incredulous look: "you are home already?" she asks redundantly.

Five Rings

This week tickets for the 2012 games went on sale, online, and Visa cocked it up, unable to take payments from cards ending August 2011 or in like five months. If that weren't bad enough, the Omega count-down clock in Trafalgar Square quit inside 24-hours. It is all starting to feel a bit like the Millennium Dome and boy oh boy that is another something we don't need. Still I and we have great faith in Seb Coe, the games organiser, and no doubt the glitches will be worked through. Meanwhile, the Olympic-rings greet passengers arriving to London St Pancras from Paris, as I did yesterday following a return voyage and lunch.

Said Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games and designer of the Olympic rings in the 1912 Revue Olympique:

"The emblem chosen to illustrate and represent the world Congress of 1914...: five intertwined rings in different colors - blue, yellow, black, green, and red - are placed on the white field of the paper. These five rings represent the five parts of the world which now are won over to Olympism and willing to accept healthy competition.."

Elvis

Parent Teacher Consultations

Sonnet and I attend the kids' mid-term parent-teacher consultations. How strange that such things now "old hat" as we look upon anxious moms and dads whose children in the earlier years. Madeleine has made big improvements in spelling, hand-writing and concentration. She enjoys drama and wants to participate in class discussions. We are told her hand always up for participation and "she is an enthusiastic contributor to the classroom discussions." Eitan, meanwhile, continues to be an imaginative writer who excels "in punctuations." We're told he recently scored 20 of 20 on a "mental maths" test and, strangely, 17 of 25 when solving the same equations on paper (Eitan says: "I hate showing my work - it is so much easier to do it in my head."). We are delighted with the reports, which we convey to the kids over dinner.

Toga

Eitan has been studying the Romans and today .. dressed as a Roman.

Me: "So what did you do for Roman day?"

Eitan: "We did chariot races."

Me: "How'd you do that?"

Eitan: "We learnt the rules, then we did it."

Me: "More, please."

Eitan: "So, like, there were three people on each team. And there were two teams and each team had a horse and one charioteer. The teams had to keep hold of each other and run around the loop four times."

Me: "Horses?"

Eitan: "For 5B, it was Sophia and Tobias."

D-Day: "War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one."
Bluto: "Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"
Otter [whispering]: "Germans?"
Boon: "Forget it, he's rolling."

--From National Lampoon's Animal House

Oh π

Pi (π) is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. And Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th (In the mm/dd date notation: 3/14); since 3, 1 and 4 are the first three digits of π. March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein and the two events are sometimes celebrated together (Freaky, dude) Pi = 3.1415926535.

With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal. Pi is an irrational and transcendental number meaning it will continue infinitely without repeating. The symbol for pi was first used in 1706 by William Jones, but was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737.

There are a large variety of ways of celebrating Pi Day and most of them include eating pie and discussing the relevance of π. The first Pi Day celebration was held at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies. The museum has since added pizza to its Pi Day menu. The founder of Pi Day was Larry Shaw, a now-retired physicist at the Exploratorium who still helps out with the celebrations.

MIT often mails its acceptance letters to be delivered to prospective students on Pi Day. Of course they do.

Transonic Go!

An F/A-18F Super Hornet crosses the speed of sound while performing at New York Air Show at Jones Beach in Wantagh, New York on May 23, 2009 (photo credit?). The condensation of water we see around the plane caused by a rapid expansion and consequent adiabatic cooling of air parcels induced by the shock (expansion/compression) waves caused as the plane outruns sound waves in front of it. Me, I just thought this was a cool photo for a Wednesday.

Emanual School

Sonnet and I visit Emanuel School for Madeleine. Emanual located in Battersea near Clapham Common, southwest London - an area that boasts the highest concentration of young families in Europe, so I am told. Consequently the school's intake of 680 from the excellent local state and public primaries like Honeywell, Thomas's and Eaton House. The grounds are, strangely, on an elevated triangle-wedge bracketed by two rail lines heading to Clapham Junction. Yet, for an urban school, the trees and greenery bountiful with rugby, football and cricket pitches next to tennis courts. The towering red-brick main building imposing especially on a grey London day like now. Of importance for our girl, Emanual emphasizes art and drama; it is not inclined towards league tables, which it removed itself from last year. Despite this, the academics very good and, while not equal to London's best, Emanual offers students a rounded experience"Just like an American high school," Sonnet observes. The gal who shows us around certainly sensible - she fields my usual queries covering physics, "clicks" and cigarette smoking without batting an eye.

Here is what is on the brochure: "Emanuel School is a co-educational, independent school founded in 1594. At the time Lady Dacre wrote that one of the main aims of the Foundation was 'for the bringing up of children in virtue and good and laudable arts so that they might better live in time to come by their honest labour'.

Photo from work shop, using my bb.

Yohji Yamamoto

Thinking of Japan, which was struck by a 9.0 undersea earthquake that caused a giant tsunami, killing thousands and, possibly, damaging a number of nuclear power plants.

Sonnet takes Madeleine to the opening last week Thursday, the night before everything changed.

"The V&A presents one of the most influential and enigmatic fashion designers of the last forty years, Yohi Yamamoto. Yamamoto is a visionary designer who has made a vital contribution to fashion, challenging traditional norms of clothing with his avant-garde style. This is his first major solo show in the UK and is an installation-based retrospective showcasing over 80 women's and menswear garments, which are most representative of his work.

Central to Yamamoto's design are bespoke textiles made to his specifications by crafts people in Japan. Over the years, Yamamoto has also worked with a number of collaborators in photography, film and theatre to produce iconic works and images. The exhibition will explore the work of a designer who has proved and inspired the fashion world."

--V&A brochure; exhibition from 12 March to 20 July, 2011.

Reading Bowl

Sometimes I wonder who has better manners - Eitan or the dog. At least the boy can read.

Yankee Doodle

I am reading Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With The Wind" which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 (it was her one and only book). Anybody who thinks this a frilly romantic novel sorely mistaken. It is the story of the rape of Georgia during, and after, the Civil War. But this is not my blog. Instead, I have often wondered about the lyrics to "Yankee Doodle" sung by the Confederates known by every American grade-schooler:

Yankee Doodle went to town

A-riding on a pony

Stuck a feather in his hat

And called it macaroni

Why did yankee doodle stick a feather in his hat and call it macaroni? In Pre-Revolutionary America the song not referring to a pasta "macaroni"; rather, "macaroni" a fancy ("dandy") style of Italian dress widely imitated in England. By sticking a feather in his cap and calling himself a "dandy," Yankee Doodle was proudly proclaiming himself to be a gentleman of some social standing though, as known by the Southerner humming the tune, he had none.

Japanese Tsunami

Waves from the 8.8 earthquake off northwest Japan Friday are off the charts reaching 12 feet in some locations. The above graphic, by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, shows the wave sizes as they move halfway around the world.

The waves at their highest point near the earthquake's epicenter, then taper as they travel across the Pacific reaching South America 24 hours later. My Dad reports minimal damage in Northern California but the coastline a mess in some areas and dozens of boats damaged or sunk.

NOAA monitors wave heights by using buoys that are strategically placed across the Pacific rim.

Japan's estimates for dead and missing surpass 10,000 people most of whom killed by the tsunami that followed the earthquake.

Pancakes And The River Café

Our Sunday morning so far: Sonnet up at 0620h to wrestle the kids from bed and swimming practice. Myself, I awake an hour or so later to make coffee and a run with Rusty, who resists for all his life (strangers in the park look at me kinda funny as I drag the unwilling pooch). Rusty supposed to enjoy these things I thought. Sonnet makes pancakes etc. and I read the Sunday Times which I have come to enjoy though a poor comparison to the NYT. Last night we join friends at the River Cafe, which has become our favorite; The RC our first "serious" restaurant in London back in '97.

"The River Café specializes in Italian cuisine and owned and run by chef Ruth Rogers and until early 2010, Rose Gray. Located on the north bank of the Thames in Hammersmith in the former Duckhams oil storage facility modified by architect Lord Rogers, the husband of Ruth Rogers (Lady Rogers). Opened in 1987 as the employee café of the architectural partnership, there is a garden with views of the River Thames.

River Café brought to London the flavours of Italian home cooking with an emphasis on the finest ingredients, and an all-Italian wine list. The restaurant also brought to London a modern, open-plan kitchen and dining room with a buzzy atmosphere. "Sourcing, sourcing, sourcing" is the mantra of Rogers and Gray. Menus are tweaked constantly (sometimes twice a day) to respond to the seasons and what is best in the market, with simplicity the key. Signature dishes include: wild mushroom risotto; Dover sole (which I have last night) and John Dory smoked in the restaurant's own wood stove; and rich Italian desserts including lemon almond cake or the chocolate "Nemesis" cake.

The restaurant earned a Michelin star in 1988 and is critically acclaimed, although sometimes criticised for high pricing.

"

--Wiki

Water Can

Hmmm Madeleine and Nicki upstairs washing Rusty while I sit in the kitchen, here, at my notebook, writing. The boy and I spent the last couple hours getting the garden ready for spring. Our big excitement this morning the discovery of frog spawn in the pond - yes, they are back and this time we will aim to have a frog unlike last year's failed nurtury (I hear screaming and yelping so upstairs I go).