Oh Happy Day

Marcus and Adrienne arrive from Buffalo on their way to Barcelona and their honeymoon. This autumn, Marcus taking a few classes at Niagara University and working with a 501(c)3, supported with a fat grant from Knight Ridder, building a multi-media and information platform for five local charities; he is responsible for the project's design and delivery (NB Knight Ridder a US media and Internet publishing company and the second-largest newspaper business with 32 dailies).  Eventually Marcus's program may be rolled out across the country.

This morning the entire family on site for Elm Grove v. Ashford in the second game of the season. Unfortunately it is wet and cold so not much fun on the sidelines unless you are Rusty, who chases the other dogs across the pitch, buries his head into somebody's Starbucks pastry bag and jumps on Adrienne's white shirt.   The rest of us watch a gritty 2-2 draw highlighted by Eitan, who scores goal #2, coming off the sidelines, inside 30 seconds.  Elm Grove cheer and we dads pat each other on the back.

Madeleine in a tip top mood with her turtles to care for. This morning she de-frosts some blood worms (gross) and carefully measure the feeding amount. She peppers me with questions: where should I put their food? What if the turtles can't get it? Should I refreeze the blood worms and so on and so forth. I direct her to the pet shop - her turtles, her responsibility

Me: "Your turtles are going to live for 20 years."
Madeleine: "Yeah, so ?."
Me: "You will be, like, 30 when they die."
Madeleine: "I guess. .. "
Me: "By then you'll be done with secondary school ..  and your GCSEs, and A levels. University, your first job. First apartment. . . You may be married."
Madeleine:
Me: "You might have a kid. Or two."
Madeleine:
Me: "Holy catfish that is a lot of work. Does it seem that way to you?"
Madeleine: "The way you say it, it does."

King Kong Vs. Godzilla

I loved Godzilla and a highlight was the epic battle between the two greatest monsters : Godzilla vs. King Kong, which I saw at a now long-gone theatre on Cedar near 4th St in Berkeley (Katie set off the fire alarm going out the wrong exit).  That was '75 while the film from '62.

We had a wonderful carer, Taka, from Tokyo, and with us for maybe eight years including my parent's studio at 1530.  Taka taught me some simple Japanese phrases and translated the Godzilla picture books I bought in San Francisco's Japan-town : they were dense and pocket size, with photographs and cartoon caption in kanji.

Another way to catch the green lizard was Creature Features, hosted every Saturday from midnight by Bob Wilkins (w/ cigar), which occasionally showed Godzilla movies from the '60s. If not Godzilla, it was "13 Ghosts" about a haunted house with, well, 13 ghosts. And a Japanese film where some dudes in a boat land on a deserted island covered in toxic mushrooms .  Or "The Hand", which was a hand that could play the piano and stuff.

But nothing matched Godzilla : his mortal enemies included Mothra (giant moth), King Ghidorah (three headed fire throwing serpant. Real badass), Hedorah the Smog Monster (feeds on human pollution, super badass) and my favorite,Gigan, with his awesomeness abilities like flight, teleportation, abdominal buzzsaw, eye beams and stabby arms.

I've never been to Tokyo but I feel like I have known the Japanese forever.

The Turtle Has Landed

Madeleine gets her turtle(s).

Following a campaign that began early 2011 and moved from lizards to snakes to turtles, Madeleine finally has satisfaction in two musk turtles (she notes: "This is the second best day of my life". Dad's note: getting Rusty #1). The turtles will grow  to the size of a sand dollar (now they are quarter) and named 'Eric' and 'Nelson' on the ride home; they may live 20 years (or until I chuck them over the fence when Madeleine to college). Unfortunately they can't go in the pond , per original plan - apparently so many people have done this with the outdoor types that alien turtles have taken over Britain's rivers and channels - so instead we buy an aquariums kit complete with frozen 'blood worm' that the turtles eat. Or suck on or mash. Whatever the hell they do.

Madeleine thrilled by her new friends and, in truth, the set-up, with its glow light and lively water decorations, is pretty cool.  She has earned the pets, getting into Emanuel.

Madeleine: "Your memory is so much better than mine."
Me: "Are you kidding? You have a great memory."
Madeleine: "I can never remember anything. Like what I had for lunch Friday."
Me: "What did you have for lunch Friday?"
Madeleine: "Fish and chips. With ketchup, since it is only allowed on Friday."
Me: "How about Thursday?"
Madeleine: "I didn't really have lunch because it was some terrible Indian curie thing so I had a snack. Outside."
Me: "See?"
Madeleine: "It was raining, too."

Gucci, Baby

Sonnet returns, 12 Midnight, from Como, where she delivers the closing presentation for the RATTI Foundation's conference.  She speaks about how to display textiles within a fashion exhibition. Before that, she is at Milan fashion week and sees shows by Gucci, pictured. She is there with her new assistant, Lucia, who Sonnet hired for "La Moda". Lucia is a local, and smooths along the operations including organising top level meetings with archives, university profs and influencing agents.  She tells me: "it was a very attractive crowd and the heels were vertiginous." (Photo by Sonnet)

Madeleine and I hang out on her bed talking for 1.5 hours (I know the time because Madeleine says "Gee, Dad, we've been talking for 1.5 hours").  She has a lot on her mind, this kid, and I have to adjust myself : Madeleine is a little person and no longer a child (which she has not been for some time).

The girls at Emanual (Madeleine now tells me) are in to Hollister, Gillian Hicks and Abercrombie & Fitch and "£84 purple leather bags", which Madeleine rejects. I wonder if this effects her friendships ? but she seems to be doing fine : no steadfast goofs like Marcus or Alex, but this will come.

Me: "What do you want now?"
Rusty: "Woof, woof, woof!"
Me: "There you go, let  me get you some breakfast."
Rusty: "Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Me: "Ok, Ok, I'll get the lead."

Taxi, Sir?

Madeleine and I to school.

I talk to James, a black cab driver, about "The Knowledge", which every driver must posses before receiving a taxi license.  It is by far the world's most demanding taxi training course requiring at least twelve 'appearances' (attempts at the final test), after preparation, which can take up to five years.  James took two years to complete his examination but "I was doing it full time", he tells me. The Knowledge based on learning 320 routes (or "runs") which help the driver learn the 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks and places of interest in the six mile radius of Charing Cross. Once licensed, the taxi can work anywhere in the Greater London area.  Taxi drivers have 3% more brain mass than the general public, according to taxi drivers.

James works the night-shift,  6PM until 4AM, which gives him more and better fares : after 8PM, rates increase 50%; after 10PM it's double until 6AM. Cabbies make a good living, too :  £70 grand on average or twice London's per capita.  James tells me of a friend who sold his house to train up for the license.

It works, too : I have never, ever, met a taxi driver unable to identify the most obscure London street.

So 80s

Since I am tripping nostalgic on '80s music , I continue this thread with a long old favourite, Morris Day and The Time, with its seminal '82 hit "777-9311".  This was a top choice from my vinyl collection.

After Prince hit the music scene in the early ‘80’s (the black girls at West Campus introduced us to "Controversy" in '81), he brought along an entourage that was part of the Minneapolis music scene. The Time was the first of several , which also included Sheena Easton.  I took these bands to college with me, dancing to their beats at Brown's Funk Night or Manhattan's Palladium.

The Time, led by the bold, outrageous and flamboyant swagger of lead singer Morris Day, had a funk/rock/dance sound with hard-driving guitar riffs, heavy bass lines, and toe-tapping drums. It was an all freak '80s competition with Rick James whose songs included “Super Freak” and “Give it to Me Baby”, which titillated me and my teen-age peer set. It also led the way for other genre-busting black artists like The Bus Boys and Run-D.M.C.  Not only was The Time blurring and blending music styles, but, like Prince, was making music that had no black or white label or specific audience.

"777-9311

I wanna spend the night with you if that's alright"

--Morris Day and The Time, the second track and lead single from The Time's second album, What Time Is It?

Coltrane And Prison

John Coltrane (who I listen to now) pioneered the use of different modes in jazz and, later, he was at the forefront of the free jazz movement of the '50s and '60s.

I try to get the Shakespeares to listen to Red Garland, Miles Davis and Coltrane but they don't get it, going for Capital FM with its same awful interchangeable screeching songs: Rihanna could be Nicki Minaj who is Katy Perry or Jesse J. It is all crap but, then, this is what my parents must have thought when Sheena E belted out "Come inside my sugar walls" in '84. Ghastly, but I loved it.

I take Madeleine to school on the No. 337 bus, upper deck, front row, staring into the glorious morning sunshine since it is 7:15AM. Madeleine and I practise spelling words from flip-cards, she reads some "Little House On The Prairie" and becomes concerned about the traffic in Wandsworth : tardiness merits a "signature", and she shows me her green-card which, so far, has 12 or 13 "accommodations" for good behaviour and no signatures. Madeleine proving herself to be a striver.

Me: "Don't worry, there are other Emanuel kids on the bus."
Madeleine: "If you get thirty 'signatures,' you are kicked out of school."
Me: "That is so harsh."
Madeleine: "If you get twenty, then you are expelled."
Me: "What happens then?"
Madeleine: "You have to stay in your room. And can only leave to go to the toilet and stuff."
Me: "Sounds like prison."
Madeleine: "It is worse. Plus you have to see the Head Master."

Sonnet And Rusty

Rusty nabs a treat.

I pick up Eitan from his first school field trip, an overnight to Avon Tyrrel, where the boys do team building exercises like building a raft, climbing structures, communication games - usual stuff. Eitan tells me it worked : "I now know everybody in my form."  In MBA school I had to do similar things usually with alcohol involved.

Eitan: "Rusty. Rusty. Rusty!"
Me: "What?"
Eitan: "He's digging into his balls."

Conference Party

Firing us all up, the cover-promo of the "Renewable Energy Forum 2012" notes : "Identifying value in a rapidly growing asset class."

Sonnet in Milano this week for fashion week and to speak at a conference. She prepares for her 2014 exhibition "La Moda" and so meets lots of fashionistas from academia to aziendale. It's not all shirt skirts and ballgowns.

I wake Madeleine at 6AM (her request) since I run with Andrew. Our gal bravely nods "awake" then  sleeps for a half-hour.   Madeleine has a spelling quiz each week covering 15 pre-decided words. Missing two gets the dreaded "signature", which makes me think (for some reason) of the red light on my phone at First Boston : whenever blinking, some message, usually meaning more work or calamity. Stress.  Madeleine nailed 15 of 15 last week.

"A panel of LPs give their impressions of the current marketplace for renewable energy investment, where they see the value and risks unique to a renewable energy asset and the role of the investment in a wider infrastructure portfolio."
--Renewable Energy Forum 2012 (where I won't be going)

Footsie

Madeleine is 6.5 adults (green laces) and bigger than Sonnet's foot by a size. Go figure.

Madeleine: "At school, I was in the changing room with the year-nines, and a girl said  'OMG Those are clown's feet!' " 
Me: "And how did that make you feel?"
Madeleine: "Not amazing."  
Me: "I bet. What happened next?"
Madeleine: "Once the girl realised they were mine, she apologised. I told her 'it happens a lot.' "
Me: "You are going to be six foot tall kid."
Madeleine: "Six foot tall. Okay, Dad."
Me: "Just you wait and see."

Fast Food, American Style

Here is what we have for lunch in Delaware (Mind you, I am with a Parisian).

The remarkable thing about US cities, forgotten or unnoticed by Americans, is the homogeneity : Wilmington looks like Austin which looks like Denver which is like Columbus and so on and so forth. Outside of a few Big Cities (and there is an argument that NY or LA are not American but international megalopolises) each has the same nondescript modern skyline, eight or so tall buildings concentrated around each other, highways in and out .. an aiport. Inside one finds a museum, Radisson or Four Seasons, maybe a zoo and, of course, fast food including the Boston Market.

I choose Boston Market (formerly known as Boston Chicken) as I think it our healthiest option for a quick lunch.  I can barely understand the cashier who offers "getasaladandsouplunchcomboforonly4ninetyfive" Huh? My chicken Caesar sandwich something special and I let it be after several bites knowing it could still be there, waiting for me, in two years time.  (Thierry goes for BBQ, pictured)  It is unclear if my credibility enhanced introducing him to the modern American concept of replication/ commoditisation or falls given, well , the food.

In 2007, Boston Market (initials appropriate BTW) had over 600 restaurants in 28 states (last public filing).  No doubt there are more today.

Soda Fountain

From New York to New Haven to Delaware, Philadelphia and finally home - in this case, Berkeley - where I have dinner with Moe and Grace and here we are for breakfast at Saul's.  My parents celebrate their 50th anniversary in December.

Madeleine sits in front of her computer making a list and scratching off names.
Madeleine: "We definitely don't want a musk turtle."
Me: "hmm?"
Madeleine: "Because they are buried in the mud all day and they stink."
Me:
Madeleine: "They're also called a stink pot."

Madeleine: "I just thought of a great name for Rusty."
Me: "Oh?"
Madeleine: "Jimmy."
Me: "Jimmy?"
Madeleine: "I just thought of it. I don't know why."

New Day, New York

Thierry and I stay at the NY Palace Hotel on 50th between Madison and Park Ave (disconcertingly I can see my first offices on the 39th floor of Park Avenue Plaza). My room faces east with Queens and Long Island in the distance; the center tower is the old GE Building (570 Lexington) which is Manhattan's 64th tallest at 50 floors and built in 1931. It was bought by Columbia Business School for administrative offices but I don't think there are too many MBAs working there - though I see people shuffling about at this early hour (so clear, I can see the windows are open).  The Waldorf's twin peaks (47 floors) to the right.

We have a bunch of useful meetings : Guardian Life, Columbia, Dupont , others - and while all are welcoming, some more so than others.  Yale's endowment staffed by three Bulldogs who are direct and  serious despite one guy (class of .. '07) in a Patagonia sweatshirt which is a mis-match to my Hermes tie. When I joke the entrance sign states "no solicitations" we get barely a chuckle.

Me: "Madeleine, guess where I am?"
Madeleine: "New York?"
Me: "I'm on the 48th floor of my hotel!"
Madeleine: "Whoa."
Me: "What do you think of that?"
Madeleine: "Do you have to take the stairs?"

New York Minute

Katie has a perm

Katie and Bill, Katie's college thesis adviser with who she studied Dante, Shakespeare, Don Quixote and Little Red Riding Hood, in the late 1980s. So Wang Chung. Katie and I have dinner on Sullivan St at W Houston which is a trendy part of town not far from my sister's offices (I am saddened to see my favourite go-to diner from '89-90, 'Aggies', is gone). We are joined by Mike, who is lending Katie some advise on ways to invest her founder's richesse which makes sense given Katie's purse stuffed with checks for $37 grand.

Thierry and I to New Haven to visit Yale (all the endowment guys like way casual with the youngest in some logo'd polo shirt. I like).  From there, another meeting in Manhattan and tomorrow, California.

It is the 11th anniversary of 9 11 and small ceremonies mark the event on the local news; otherwise I am oblivious to the observances which do not reach Midtown. The Freedom Tower nears completion and dominates the down-town financial district. Two beams of evening light suggest the World Trade Center which is but a solemn memory.

Murray Wins

Andy Murray wins the US Open becoming the first British winner of a Grand Slam since .. 1936 (Murray a Scott). Thus caps a remarkable summer of British sport from Wimbledon to Chelsea, the Tour de France (won by Brit Wiggins), Elm Grove and the Olympics. Photo NYT.

It all makes sense somehow that Murray wins New York, too : everything bigger here, where I am now, for several days (Katie and I have dinner with Thierry). For instance : The larger-than-life bellhop (with moustache) at the NY Palace tells me, as I wait for our car, that for 15 years he has greeted some guy on his way to work .. . who turns out to be a producer for the Today program who invites him on the show for his good cheer. He has now done Letterman, Leno and other late night shows as the "happy guy." Of course he does. Just like Murray - it is all center stage, dude.

Still Groov'n

After all these years.

A Trip And A Turtle

Sonnet takes Eitan and Madeleine to Eitan's match against Elm Grove. I prepare for the US.

Madeleine: "Dad if you get a special pet passport can you bring a turtle back?"
Me:
Madeleine:  "I've heard it is so much cheaper to buy a turtle in New York."

Mazel Tov

Ben celebrates his Bar Mitzvah in Beliize Park, London. 

We have not raised Eitan or Madeleine with religion nor will they perform the Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies to mark their transition from childhood to adulthood (though they may choose to do so later of course).  Instead, the kids dedicate themselves to sports and drama and other city-suburban activities.  This is the way it was for me, this is the way it is for them. We do not belong to a Synagogue nor are we a part of the London Jewish community (mostly located in North London with its spiritual and physical center Golders Green).  It is an easy gift, religion, and, at Ben's services, I consider, not for the first time, that I have missed out on something easy, something good.

Madeleine: "Dad can we get a turtle?"
Me: "Not this again."
Madeleine: "They don't eat mice or crickets or anything. Plus they like water."
Me: "Yes?"
Madeleine: "Water, Dad, so they don't smell."
Me: "Can we get one and put it in the pond?"
Madeleine: "No. There are fish in there already and it might  not get along with the frog."
Me: "Madeleine, we have Rusty. We are not going to get a turtle."
Madeleine: "So does that mean I can't have one now?"
Me: "Yes."
Madeleine: "How about Christmas?"

Daily News

I snap this fellow on the afternoon train heading into town.

Friday evening and we sit around the table eating hamburgers and re-capping the week highlighted by new schools. Madeleine's favourite class, so far, is drama while Eitan likes Latin and chemistry.  Sonnet with the British Film Institute (BFI) to arrange an Italian film festival to coincide with her exhibition La Moda set for 2014.

Eitan: "Look at all the things you have to look out for in Chemistry [Eitan reads from his chemistry book]: harmful or irritant, flammable, biological hazard (biohazard), radioactive, corrosive, toxic, explosive and oxidising.. . ."
Me: "Sounds like a good class."
Eitan: "Apparently the teacher is a bit crazy.  Once he tried to shoot something across the room and it hit the lamp and it crashed."
Me: "The lamp blew up?"
Eitan: "Yeah. It exploded."
Me: "Did he get expelled or something?"
Eitan: "Our chemistry teacher?"
Me: "Yeah."
Eitan: "No. He's still at our school.  Teaching."

We drive to football practise with Joe.
Me: "So what do you boys do on the school bus?"
Eitan: "I don't know. Sit there."
Me: "You don't do homework or something?"
Joe: "The older boys are on the top of the bus. Towards the back. With the girls"
Me: "Do you guys sit with any girls?"
Eitan:  "Dad!"
Joe: "No, we don't really sit near them."
Me: "Where do the nerds sit?"
Joe: "What's a nerd?"
Me: "If you have to ask, it's probably you."
Eitan: "Joe is not a nerd, Dad."
Me: "It's not like an insult or anything. They just sit by themselves... "
Eitan, Joe:
Me: ".. . trying to avoid the spit balls."

Paralympics 2012

Richard Whitehead of Team GB wins gold in the Men's 200-meter T42 Final on day 3 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games (Michael Steele/Getty Images).  The athletes magnificent.

The one time everybody together, like most days now it seems, 7AM for breakfast. I run at 6AM and note the sunrise, which means soon it will be dark at this hour. Madeleine (decidedly not a morning person) downstairs at 6:30AM and Eitan a few moments after. We sit around the kitchen as Sonnet prepares breakfast, frets over an upcoming dinner party, tidies up and makes sure homework and etc. in the right place. She prepares a list for au pair Aneta. Rusty scratches the conservatory door with urgency as two doves scope the backyard - once open, he bolts, yap! yap! yap! (Sonnet: "The neighbours!).

Packing

Madeleine's backpack filled with 16 books and is as heavy as a rock with which, she notes, "I have to walk up four flights of stairs."

Madeleine: "Do you know socks?"
Me: "Hmm?"
Madeleine: "They are like the least important part of the PE kit."
Me:
Madeleine: "And if you forget your socks you get a signature."
Me: "That is so harsh! What is a 'signature'?"
Madeleine: "I know! If you get three signatures you get detention."
Me: "Whoa. Good thing Alex isn't in your class."
Madeleine: "I know. Or Nathaniel.  And guess what - I have four accomodations already. Today I got one for helping the teacher get paper and pens."
Me: "That's great. And what does an 'accomodation' mean?"
Madeleine: "Five accomodations is a treat. Ten you see the head of the year. And 20, the head of the school."
Me: "I can see you are really going for it."
Madeleine: "Yeah."

Italians Are Mad

One more from Italy. Marco (purple shirt) crazy, just like everybody else I meet here. It is a wonderful spirit and how different from anywhere else. I could live in Italy no problemo.

Off To The Races

And another sprogue to middle-school. Eitan, up at dawn, readies himself, ties his tie and straightens his jacket.  His back-pack neatly arranged at the front door, pencils counted and necessary forms double-confirmed.  The only thing missing is a shiny red apple.  Sonnet has a wistful look in her eye - proud, yet knowing, in the way that all mothers do : a marathon no longer a marathon once the first steps taken.

Me: "Ready for school?"
Eitan: "Yeah, I guess so."
Me: "Nervous about anything?"
Eitan: "Nah, not really.  Mom how long until we have to go?"
Me: "What are you looking forward to?"
Eitan: "Football try-outs. Meeting the other kids in my form. Mom!"
Me: "I remember the first day of seventh grade.  It was hot and I walked by myself to King Jr High. We got out early and I mowed the lawn when I got home."
Ein: "Bye Dad."
Me: "I was exactly your age now.
Eitn. "See you tonight Dad."
Me:

Second Floor

Madeleine on the level-two of the No. 337 bus; she reads "The Great Brain".  Photo from Sonnet who accompanies her then catches the train from Clapham Junction to South Kensington.

Silver loved the upper deck of the modern red buses, where she would sit in the front row offering a forward sweeping view of the street below.  She and Stan toured London in this fashion.

Back To Work

Elm Grove in action against Middlesex champions Wembley in a "friendly" on the home pitch. Our side yet a bit creaky, despite a 3-nil victory, following six weeks of holiday (Eitan (and I) ran the 3 mile Park Run yesterday 2 minutes slower than April).  Getting back into shape never easy.

Sonnet takes the family berry picking while I prepare for a Sunday evening return to Paris. Beforehand I will plant some pansies.  Madeleine remains on a high from school and does some homework while noting: "French and Spanish this year, Dad, and maybe Latin next year". I can only marvel.  Labor Day weekend in the US hardly registers though of course I am excited for the college football season despite unranked Cal's opening day loss to WMC conference Nevada at home in the new-stadium opening; ESPN doesn't bother to post the score so I have to search the Internets.  My parents at the cabin.

Madeleine: "Mom, Eitan is licking the table."

Eitan: "Dad pull up your shorts. That is so embarrassing."
Me: "What, did they come down?"
Eitan: "Yes. What if there were people around?"
Me: "So what? Why is that so embarrasing - you see pants all the time."
Eitan: "Yeah, but they're not my dad's pants."
Me: "If that bothers you, then you have no idea how much embarrasment lies ahead."
Eitan: "What do you mean?"
Me: "Imagine, in the future, assuming you like girls, and you are on a date."
Eitan:
Me: "So, Eitan, why don't you introduce me to your little friend?"
Eitan: "That is, like, so never going to happen."

Twins

Mark (the white guy) a pal from Brown where he set the men's pole vault standard at 16' in '89, a record that held until 2003.

Mark and I shared a Manhattan tenement in Greenwich Village, 373 Sixth Ave, from '89-90 with two other college friends : What a dump but we had some wild parties. During that time  Mark lived in a walk-in closet because he was either i) at work or ii) at his girlfriend's.  Today, he is with hedge fund investor ABS and lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, with wife and four daughters, each named with first-letter beginning 'm.'   Old friends are the best friends.

Madeleine panic-texts Sonnet from Emanuel: "Mom please help me. I have forgotten my PE kit" which sets into action a series of events culminating in our au pair, Aneta, driving to Clapham to deliver the goods.  Who can forget that feeling? It is a bit like Astorg, where I am today : everybody excited to be back from summer but anxious, too, for being away and anticipating the fall. Or homework missed or forgotten.

New School, Day 1

Madeleine readies herself for Emanuel School, which begins with orientation at 11:30AM and pick-up at 3:15PM.  Tomorrow, it starts for real : 8:15AM registration and six classes before lunch.  It seems like yesterday she was starting reception at Sheen Mount.

Moe notes that Emanuel's colours, blue and gold, the same as Cal.

Me: "I wish I could be a photographer."
Eitan: "Why don't you?"
Me: "Soldi . .."
Eitan: "You could still do it. Don't photographers make money?"
Me: "You have to be very very very good."
Madeleine: "You are Dad."
Me: "Madeleine I love you for that."

Middle School

Last days of freedom : Madeleine begins Emanuel tomorrow and Eitan at Hampton next week.  Sonnet furiously stitches name-tags in to the Shakespeares' uniforms, socks, pe gear, etcetc. Both kids seem pretty chill about the whole idea that everything about to change. Dun dun dun.

Me, I remember the weirdness of 7th grade, King Jr High, with its school-yellow exterior+white trim surrounded by dry crabgrass and concrete playing fields, bungalows and a quarter-mile track; inside - polished oak hallways, lockers and that smell unique to public education : fear. Navigating the dangerous, unfamiliar, corridors stressful and the grafitti-covered bathrooms a no-go but also: there were some angry kids : mostly black and unlike my black friends from Longfellow primary, who were my best, these were unruly and violent. My first week I got tossed against a wall, jeered, stripped of my back back and left for miserable.

Eventually I found a base of friends, mostly from the North Berkeley hills, whose professional parents believed in public education, and we huddle together with our Top-Siders, Vaurnet sunglasses and Donnay rackets; collectively, we were "the benchies", a name that stuck through high school.  That year I found swimming and that was all she wrote.

Neil Armstrong, 1930-2012

Photo from NASA

Parasols

Countryside

We spend the afternoon with Costantinos and Mirella, whose house in the countryside always filled with people, laughter and cheer (Says Mirella: "Better a noisy home than a lonely one"). This afternoon it is Costantinos parents, Mirella's work colleague Alesandro from Milan .. .another couple I don't quite place and, of course, the bambinos... a few cats and the five dogs, which Madeleine feeds under the table, and Penelope the pig (who Eitan names).  This also means amazing food - Costanatinos father a retired restaurant chef while Mirella - umma mia! - and, for Eitan and Madeleine, 5 kg of .. . Nutella.

Tuscany draws the attention but Abruzzo the same rolling countryside with similar white beaches (that still have fish).  A 30 minute drive takes one into the mountains. There is no Florence but far fewer tourists, too. Certainly no Chinese which the Italians now complain about.  Costantinos shows me a villa with 360 panoramic views of olive trees and sunflowers; he notes: "half the price".

Below, Abruzzo countryside:

Middle Age

This is what it looks like to turn 50 in Italy.

The Republicans, whose party argues global warming a farce, cut their Tampa convention one-day due to Tropical Storm Isaac (NASA reports that the Arctic ice caps summer surface area reached its lowest size ever in 2012).

Republicans want to entirely repeal Obama's heath insurance making health care available to 30m working poor; a constitutional amendment to ban any legal recognition of gay rights, including civil partnerships; a commitment to more Jewish settlements in the West bank . .. a war against Iran's nuclear facilities .. the return of torture as an instrument of war .. . assualt rifles on our streets, a ramping up of the Afghanistan war . .. immediate confrontation with China over trade and Russia over, well, everything.  The "Arab Spring" envisioned by George Bush seen as a radical threat to American interest .. and Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" defines the party's views towards women reproduction , ie, women.

No, the real amazement that Republicans own half of the United States. Each party so entrenched and filled with hatred for the other, there is no punishment for catering to the extremes. 

"I oppose the attempts of homosexual activists to treat homosexual activity as a civil right to be protected and promoted by the government."
--Todd Akin

Baywatch

I send Madeleine off to take some pictures from the beach seeing how the sun has set and the hazy glow near perfect for photos. She protests vehemently.  A chore : the lifeguard, and eventually I give her a hand as I watch our gal stalk the booth pretending to take shots of the sea etc.  I march up, point at my camera to get permissions, snap-snap, then a thumb's up and "California, dude" which gets a large toothy smile. All I have to do is say that word, "California", and we are all part of the club.

White Shades

Eitan buys himself some new sunglasses this morning at the local market which runs down the block outside our hotel.  They go with his pink Converse high-tops and I note: the kid is putting some style on.  Given he will be wearing the same monotonous wardrobe for seven years, I am down with this (Hampton school's colours BTW are black and gold; coat and tie).  Madeleine, for her part, purchases a magnet with a molded plastic platter containing a wine, prosciutto and melon dinner plate, hooks in the shape of garlic and a bunch of tomatoes, and a T-shit for Auntie-Katie.  Me, I get two pork sandwiches.

From there it is more gelato and the beach.

Madeleine: "Dad are you going to go on the paddle boat with us?"
Me: "No. .."
Eitan: "Come on, Dad. All your troubles will disappear."
Mom: "That's quite a proposition."
Madeleine: "Mine didn't.  Two years ago they multiplied because I cut my big toe on the propeller. And then I got sand in it."

Helter Skelter

Since the hotel stations in Italian we listen to music from on line : the kids fire off songs including Maroon 5, Rihanna and other such junk which I veto (Dad's computer).  We hit a good vain with the Beatles: "Here Comes The Sun", "The Long And Winding Road," "A Day In the Life" and "Lucy In The Sky Of Diamonds" which was banned by British radio in '67 for its reference to drugs (Lennon says: no).  Any case, The Beatles impact on people's lives cannot be under-stated : even now, doing a quick Internets search, I come across heartfelt letters thanking the band for saving their lives . . .

Sgt Peppers in my parents living room stack (of course) and one of the first albums I recall (also: "This Is The Dawning Of The Age of Aquarius" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" ).  That would have been around age seven or eight.. a good introduction to pop culture and its positive vibe , which must have influenced me then and so now. How remarkable that two of the greatest lyricists of all time , Lennon and McCartney, should be in the same band.

The Fab Four, pictured, in '68 or 69 , memorable for the My Lai massacre, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations and "Abbey Road" with quintessential songs "Helter Skelter" and "Come Together", when the band produced some of its best music , as if sensing their time together soon to end : A year later, "Let It Be" (my favourite ) would be their last. And what fashion ! Gone the good-natured outfits of Sgt Pepper's , replaced with four distinct fellows each having a unique style to showcase,  presumably, their increasingly disparate personalities.

This is the end
Of you and me
And everything I used to be
Back then it meant something
But you're living a lie, you just can't hide from me
--The Doors

Tonino

Tonino, born in Tortoreto and from Naples, spent his career at Pirelli on a boat laying cable. Tonino's boss, Captain Monti, met Stan in Alaska, in '65, when Stan a member of the Anchorage Junior Council.  Later, following Marcus's operation, Stan asked Monti for a place to stay in Italy "with the people" and Monti suggested Tortoreto, where Sonnet's family spent two summers and here we are now.

Tonino long retired and scoops up the bambinos in his fat arms, pinches Eitan's cheek several times and marvels at Madeleine's beauty.  He yells at his wife Delia on the top floor of the building, who leans over her balcony and yells back "Ciao! Ciao !"  Delia, learning that we share an interest in tomatoes, gives me thirty seeds held in newspaper  : her vines fill the backyard with giant red fruit. A precious gift indeed.

The Shakespeares roll with the attention. They have no choice, really.

Prick

The US Anti-Doping Agency will ban Lance Armstrong for life for using drugs to win the Tour de France from 1999 to 2005 - charges that Armstrong denies, noting he has not failed a drugs test. USADA said in June it had evidence, including information supplied by former teammates, that Armstrong had used banned substances.  This is the Madoff of sports frauds and yet another American. WTF? Next (my guess) will come the improprieties with Armstrong's foundation, Live Strong, which has raised ca. $430 million for cancer survivors.  Where have the heroes gone ?

Wally World

"Hell is other people" -- Jean-Paul Sartre

We head for the Aquapark along with every Italian in Tortoreto and maybe Abruzzo. My life has become an episode of The Simpsons.  On the plus side, it is ca. 40-degrees and the kids love splashing about and daring each other down the long slides, which drop six or seven stories. It ain't California.  

Still, the Italians are a sexy people :

Prega

The church open 11PM and we sit for a moment and listen. It is a warm night perfect for strolling about this 14c villa. Locals sit outside their homes, which spill onto the cobblestone, smoking and chatting.  I do not have religion in my life and how simple it would be - to believe it is all taken care of somehow.

We finish dinner with some Goccia di Genziana "Liquore Tipico D'Abbruzzo" which, Costatinos tells me, is from the roots of the Ginzino flower only found in the Grand Sasso mountains of Abruzzo. The original 'formula', once produced at home, is now found in restaurants or local stores; otherwise it is moonshine (which Costantine has often made before). A wonderful digestive however prepared.

Centro Storico

We are at L'Antico Portone pizza al metro primi piatti close to the best I have ever had and right up there with Napoli in '92 with Katie (one remembers these things). 

Madeleine: "Are you taking pictures of me?"

Me: "No."

Madeleine: "Dad! You just took one."

Me: "Must have slipped."

Madeleine: "Well stop."

Me: "OK. Hey, what about the 20 pictures you owe me for getting you on 20 questions?"

Madeleine: "You've taken loads already. What about the Christmas photo today? That was way more than 20."

Me: "That was so outside the arrangement. We never agreed the Xmas photos reduced your number."

Madeleine: "That is completely unfair. If you want to take more pictures then give me your pillow."

Me: "Sleep without a pillow? Are you mad?"

Madeleine: "Just negotiating Dad. You can use a towel."

Me: "Nice try kid."

Madeleine: "Fine. No pictures. See how far you get then."

Me:

M: "See? And no trying to take them when I'm not looking."

Me: "You got me kid."

Madeleine: "Can I have the pillow?"

Me: "Dream on. "

And Now

back to the Royal Family. Prince Harry takes a holiday in Las Vegas following some hard work at the London Olympics.

Self Portrait XXVII

hotel capitano tortoreto lido

Madeleine: "I just read that 'the more a French man knows, the less he talks.'"

Me: "That's a good one. Or 'The less a man knows, the less he talks.'"

Madeleine: "Yeah."

Me: "The worst combination is 'the less a man knows, the more he talks.'"

Madeleine: "What about Richard?"

Me: "Richard ?"

Madeleine: "He sure talks an awful lot."

Eitan Reads

Eitan reads 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' on his Kindle, which is ongoing from summer's beginning at my command (Eitan notes : "70% finished" which, for us old-schoolers, is page 205 of 293). Leave it to Dad to steal the joy from one of America's greatest novels.

I read Huck the first time post college (Eitan: "What!? You said you read it when you were seven!") then again a few years ago when I really enjoyed it. Given Huck 13, it seems the perfect vacation book, er, download - whatever - but Eitan prefers 'Holes' by Louis Sachar which is about "a boy called Stanley who is wrongly accused of .. what are you doing ... . nothing. .. ." My blog stops there.

Stanley Yelnats was given a choice. The judge said, "You may go to jail, or you may go to Camp Green Lake." Stanley was from a poor family. He had never been to camp before.
--From 'Holes' by Louis Sachar

Eitan: "I've had four showers on this trip."
Sonnet: "Wow, Eitan, that's incredible."
Eitan: "None of them with soap."

Italiano

Costantinos, Moretti and Montepulciano Abruzzo

Sagre de lla porche tta Italica

We join Mirella and Costantinos who invite us to the 41st sagre de lla porche tta Italica - pork festival, dude! The celebration in a 14th century village in Abruzzo , central Italy, inside Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga with its mountain peaks and rolling hills. The center piaza surrounded by ancient buildings and, of course, a towering cathedral with Jesus Christ looking down upon us lesser mortals. The celebrations last four nights and we are here for the finali - a band sets up to play local favorties while picnic tables fill the open spaces. Ours next to a group of teens who giggle and flirt while an older couple, maybe 14 or 15, demonstrate seniority by suggesting their intimacy.   Flames are lit along the church and alleyways while stalls set up by regional butchers who carve their roasted pig for sandwiches (pork+crusty white roll, nothing else though Madeleine does put ketchup on hers to the consternation of Costantinos). Each competes for for the honor of migliore. It feels like a college campus the night of graduation.

I amuse our table with my various interpretations of Italian and two handed gesticulations learned from Bru. Mamma, mia. As Sonnet says, "you out-crazy the Italians." One would never find this spirit in England and I like it.

Summer Seaside

We arrive Sunday to Tortoreto, Italy, on the Adriatic side, for a simple late summer holiday.  We stay at the Hotel Capitano, who knows us from last time, and 30 years ago when Sonnet's family spent several summers in this beach-side town, which retains its charms from yester-year.  Roberto picks us up at Pescara for the 45 minute drive from the airport; though late, he offers to make us spaghetti while AC Milan v Juventis on the television.  The hotel staff remember the bambinos from when they were about four inches smaller, and Eitan endures some cheek pinching in that awkward way of every 11-year old.  The men kiss three times which is a custom I like.

Madeleine: "You do not speak Italian."
Me: "I do. It's second nature."
Madeleine: "Mom does dad speak Italian?"
Sonnet: "If he says so .. . "
Madeleine: "Say something in Italian then."
Me: "Like what?"
Madeleine: "Say 'can I have some ice cream.'"
Me: "Scoosi ice-a cream-a por favori."
Madeleine: "That is hardly Italian, Dad."
Me: "How would you know? Unlike me, you don't speak Italian."
Madeleine: "Say something else."
Me: "Roberto tell-a Madeleine I dis-i Italiano. Grazi bello. "
Roberto:
Me: "See? I speak so fast he cannot understand me."
Madeleine: "Mom is that true?"
Sonnet: "Whatever Dad says honey."

Madeleine And The Pooch

Almost two years into the dog and Rusty has proven himself to be a success : sure, he craps five or six times a day, scratches himself in front of our guests, jumps on everybody and occassionally pees on the kitchen floor. Sonnet generally hates Rusty but puts up with him too.  On the plus side, he gets me out of bed in the morning for a sunrise run or walk; follows me about the house silently, making himself comfortable wherever I am; is loved by the kids and gives us a lot to laugh about (Eitan: "Look, Dad, Rusty is licking his balls! Ha, ha, ha!").  As Roger likes to say about a dog:  worth its weight in middle-age therapy.

Madeleine gets full credit for pushing the dog through. Without  her persistence, it would not have happened. Now the pooch is part of la familia.

Katie In Spain!

Katie spends the last week in Espanol with her Harvard undergrad thesis advisor Bill, who she has remained friendly with all these years, and Susan, pictured, with sexy camera. Katie tells me they are in parc gruel, " with tilted pillars and building walls that aren't flat and straight but rather organic shapes -- designed by famous kooky beautiful Barcelona architect Gaudi." Sounds about right.  Barcelona a favorite city though I have been only once.