Commons

Eric picks me up at Logan following a kerfuffle caused by torential storms and a two-hour delayed arrival time.  Today we walk from Cambridge to Harvard Sq then MIT and over the Smoot Bridge to the Back Bay, Newbury Street followed by the commons (pictured), Beacon Hill, the Charles River and home.

Eric is writing code for a cool education focused website funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Here is what he does all day :

$.fn.summarize = function (mainOptions) {
   var $summarizingNode = this,
   options = $.extend(true, { }, { log: false }, mainOptions);
   $summarizingNode.find('.' + $.constants.misc.summaryControlClass)
     .each(function () {
       var $control = $(this),
       localOpts = $.extend(true, { }, { log: options.log }, $control.data($.keys.summaryControlOptions)),
       handlerName = localOpts.handler,
      
And so on and so forth.

Ravens Wood

When I worked in Sonoma, for that wonderful two years with Help The World See, I would jog along the valley's edge and, sometimes, into the Ravens Wood vineyard.  It is my always selection at the super market.

Me: "You know, your noggen is as hard as wood."
Madeleine: "Gee, thanks dad."
Me: "No, seriously, if you are ever in a fight, a good headbutt will end things right there."
Madeleine: "Really?"
Me: "Look at Zidane, he headbutted someone in the 2006 World Cup Final."
Madeleine: "I cannot believe he would do that."
Me: "Well, imagine you are in a game and the other player says your brother is an ape or something."
Madeleine: "I wouldn't do anything. I would agree with him."
Eitan:
Me: "Me, well imagine it was someone else then."
Eitan: "You would never get that far in football anway."
Madeleine: "Says you."
Me:

Farewell, Rusty

Carlucci's

Madeleine joins me to drop off the dog at the  kennel in Surrey.  Rusty knows something is up and pees everywhere.  Three weeks, Rusty free.

After the dog drop, Madeleine and I have breakfast in Richmond. She tells me she does not miss school and enjoying vacation and sleeping in.  Usual stuff. She craves an ipad or macbook but, for now, it is all about real books (Madeleine: "I promise to read every day if you get me a computer." Me: "That is exactly why I don't want you to have one.")

Summer Hours

Eitan contemplates chores

Madeleine: "Can we play the 'comparison game?'"
Me: "Sure."
Madeleine: "Would you rather fall in a pit full of spikes and rattlesnakes or get run over by a go-cart with electric things and stuff that would burn you?"
Me: "Would I die in both cases?"
Madeleine: "Let's say 'yes.'"
Me: "Go-cart.  Would you rather jump from the Empire State Building on to a bed of shattered glass or be eaten alive by a centipede?"
Madeleine: "Jump from the Empire State Building, if I didn't have a choice. Plus I would probably be dead before I hit the ground."
Me: "Good point, you are always two steps ahead of me."
Madeleine: "Yep."

Cecconi's

Mayfair, 9:40AM

Madeleine stumbles back to her bedroom, half asleep, 7AM
Me: "Want a hug?"
Madeleine pauses and turns in to me.
Me: "Sometimes a hug just feels good, doesn't it."
Madeleine:
Me: "For you and me both, kid."

Heat Wave

War 'on'

Madeleine and Nathaniel suffer the heat in their own way.  Nathaniel going to Latymer School next year which is, Sonnet notes, "a school for smart, sophisticated, urban kids".  We hope Nathaniel stops cussing like a sailor.

In other news, Detroit files for bankruptcy.  I have visited the Motor City once, maybe ten years ago, on an investment boondoggle. It was autumn and the foliage fluxed in colour - beautiful. The GM HQ an entire downtown block, impressive. My other recollection : jogging, 6AM, nobody minding red lights nor stop signs. Weird.

Monkeys

Museum Natural History via Katie

Sometimes we all feel like the dude behind Madeleine.

West Side, Manhattan

July is still a pretty busy month in some parts of Europe while August a complete shut-down.

I am with Ivor and Alison in the 16e the other night as they visit Paris for their 20th wedding anniversary - they spent their honeymoon here.  Ivor and I go back to at least 7 th grade; we both went to Brown and, on that fateful day, August 30, 1985, (or thereabouts) we were on the same dawn flight to the East Coast setting off for a new life. Only Ivor missed the plane. On the plus side, he had another 24 hours with Alison.

The UK goes gay, notable as it is so un notable here. Andrew Sullivan points out that there are 362 million more people who live in countries with marriage equality than one year ago. The total population now living in countries with marriage for all is 641 million.

August '96

Polk St, San Francisco

That is Moe's 544 behind us which, by the way, got a flat on the Bay Bridge, post wedding.  Happily Moe and Ken together and their combined JD, MD, MBA and Rhodes Scholar able to solve the predicament.

Ray Bans

Portobello Rd

Eitan thinking about his look. Fun to watch.

Madeleine: "Look at those bugs."
Sonnet: "The little blood suckers."
Madeleine: "Wack 'em, Dad."
Me: "All creatures great and small."
Madeleine: "Accept for mosquitoes. And leeches. "
Me: "How about locusts?"
Madeleine: "No, they're too much like crickets and I like crickets."
Me: "How about their, like, eating an entire crop and killing some village in Africa?"
Madeleine: "OK, locusts too, Dad."
Me: "What about blood sucking newts?"
Madeleine: "Definitely not."

Madeleine: "Good night, Dad."
Me: "Madeleine, you are everything I could ever want."
Madeleine: "Cheesy."
Me: "But true."
[I get a direct look and a smile]

Summer Blues

English, Book 1

We make it to Friday so I hi-five Molly, over for the afternoon with Madeleine (I almost write 'play date' and, boy, Madeleine would not go for that). Both kids flushed after an hour on the trampoline. (Neighbour Helen: "The kids are welcome on the trampoline any time this summer as long as Martin is not sleeping on it." Dad's note: Martin is in his late 70s)

Eitan, never to be out excercised, joins Zak for a 5K run in Richmond Park then an afternoon of tennis with Shaheen followed by football training in Palewell Park. Sonnet and I watch five or six of them stroll home, not a care in the world, as it should be, this time of year.

Me (at football practise): "So should your mother and I walk 20 paces behind you so you can pretend we're not your parents?"
Eitan:
Me: "Or do you need 30 ?"

Talk To The Hand

I once paid the Shakespeares for a photo with a small coin or gum drop.  They outgrew that bribe pretty fast and are now resigned to the camera - most of the time.  I do hope they, as I, shall look back on the continuity of this blog and value it (as much as I do now).  Already I cannot believe we are nearing their adolescence.

More Fun

Harrods

Over lunch we create a new game requiring sixty-seconds of non-stop talking, no 'ums' nor pauses, using a word offered by us, the panel.  Madeleine goes first, bravely, and makes it 20 seconds before cracking like a walnut.  Eitan has success ("McDonalds") and Aneta nails it ("dog").  Me, I tackle 'glasses' by telling my life story. The kids blank face me.

Bowie Expo

South Kensington

We, the family+Aneta, to the VA and the David Bowie exhibition which is, by far, the most popular exhibition in museum history.  Bowie employs radio linked digital display combining music and voice over  bringing London's most eccentric and iconic '70s and '80s pop artist to centre front in a fusion of style, (bi)sexuality, platforms and psychedelic colour.  Wonderful stuff.

"This is a very pleasing end of year report of which Madeleine should be extremely proud."
--Mr R A L, Form Tutor, Year Six Full Report

"Madeleine thinks imaginatively. .. this can be seen in her idea for her animal puppet which is half ant-eater and half jaguar."
--Ms S, Art Teacher, Year Six Full Report

The Changing Faces Of Eitan

Hasta la vista, baby 

Arnold Schwarzenegger had 16 lines in The Terminator :

Nice night for a walk.
Nothing clean, right.
Your clothes, give them to me.

The 12 gauge auto-loader.
The 45 long slide with laser sighting.
Phase plasma rifle in 40-watt range.
The Uzi 9mm.
All.
Wrong.

Sarah Connor.

I'm a friend of Sarah Connor. I was told that she's here.
Can I see her please? Where is she?
I'll be back.

Fuck you, asshole.

Give me your address there.
Get out.

Dog Days

Rusty takes a break from Wimbledon

It is hot, hot hot in London and the temps to last for ten days. A miracle of sunshine and the Brits fry like lobster, God bless their merry chubby cheeks and sunburned scalps, made all the jollier with Andy Murray's Wimbledon victory - first Brit in 77 years to take top honours and so what if he is Scottish ?

Eitan has the inconvenient swim practice of Sunday, 2 to 3:30PM and yesterday he is wiped out from A) Saturday morning Delta Force paint ball; followed by B) Elm Grove Awards ceremony; followed by C) Overnight birthday party at Luke's resulting in D) six hours of sleep.

Good thing he and Madeleine on summer break starting now.

Recognitions

Eitan and Marc

Eitan and I at the Elm Grove home pitch for the final wrap on their wonderful, magical, season.  Today, a hot day, is filled with team spirit, BBQ and beer; the women bring all sorts of foods and dips and we sit under canopies and re live games and goals covering two years.  It is a good crew, a group I will miss next season and beyond as Eitan no longer with the Allstars as Marc stepping back as coach.

Eitan selected the 'Player's Player 'and the 'Parent's Player' of the season, unusually taking the two most coveted awards, and Coach unable to chose a Manager's player as every lad deserves it.  There are smiles and hi fives all around as Eitan's teammates and everybody clap him on the back and congratulate his and their success.

I am filled with pride at Eitan's comportment - he allows himself a bashful smile - then off the stage as quickly as possible. This has been his style always.

Summer Shakedown

Rusty unwinds

DC and I have a ramble which begins at Cliveden House (surrounded by 400 acres of National Trust gardens), along the Thames Path, ending in Bray and Heston Blumenthal's pub, The Hinds Head - Blumenthal's next door "Fat Duck" has three Michelin stars and a perfect score of 10/10 every year since 2007 in the Good Food Guide.

David back from Lake Como, where he and Tab spent a few days after a drive from Geneva through the Alps; they and family are off to Martha's Vineyard next week for the summer.  He builds his consulting business, full steam ahead.

The best part: Summer has arrived in the UK - glorious sunshine and all day sunsets. Wimbledon finals and a holiday spirit, August yet to come.

And It Was

Guy Sap

Here is Guy, backbone of the Northern California liberal establishment, former legal defender of the Black Panthers, ex President of the Sierra Club, part owner of the Oakland A's, on the Board of the Oregon Shakespeare festival, friends with Lew Wolff, Alice Waters and Jerry Brown, Governor of the Great State of California.

Guy's survival given less than 5% following multiple organ failure during a routine operation several years ago. Last week we walk the Huckleberry Trail in the Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve in the East Bay.

Me: "Hey, Madeleine, I've got a big surprise for you."
Madeleine races into the kitchen, breahless: "What is it?"
Me: "You are going to love it. We can get started on it right now."
Aneta:
Madeleine: "Is it a mini iPad? Is it?"
Me: "Books. Maths. English and history."
Madeleine: "Thanks, Dad. Won't be reading those."
Me: "Now that it's summer vacation, let's get going today."
Madeleine races up the stairs.
Me: "I am serious, you know . .!"

So Far Ago

Matt Dillon is old now

Nothing makes one feel, well, old, than seeing a film cherished from  way back when. In this case, Madeleine and I watch "My Bodyguard" about a bully who gets his comeuppance - in short, something an 11 year old can get into, as I did in 1980 and Madeleine does now. 

I saw "My Bodyguard" with Katie and Maggie and a bunch of Barracudas on a summer week night, no school, but morning swim practice nonetheless. We exited the Oaks Theatre (long gone) on a warm night ,  all the world good.  The film a hodgepodge of future talent: Matt Dillon, Jennifer Beals (Flashdance), Joan Cusack . .  kids reading this blog now have no idea who these people are but for me it was our yuf.

Me: "Let's watch a movie, me and you kid."
Madeleine: "Yep."
Me: "You're going to love it, though there is a lot of sex."
Madeleine: "No there's not! It's PG."
Me:
Madeleine: "Really, Dad, that's not very funny."

Mother Daughter

My gals

Z over last night while her older sister (age 12) at swim practice so I use the opportunity to ask Z whether older sister is texting boys, to Madeleine's eternal mortification. Z's older sister is, in fact, texting boys and, in addition, they have gone to the movies. You know, on a date. Seems OK to me. These days information comes in snippets.

The Gipper

US Embassy, Grosvenor Square

Ronald Reagan gets respect and why not, given the special relationship with Margaret T, RIP, which defined the 1980s and the backbone of the Western World. Remarkable that two democratically elected leaders could have such an influence on us all.  And how rapidly the world's focus has moved from cold war Chess to fast moving revolution across the Middle East. A slow train coming.

Egypt's President Morsi taken into military custody.

Skip

Monday Madeleine plays trumpet in her school's Junior Brass Ensemble and the Sumner Concert. We recognise the theme song from the Titanic. She also sings in the Junior Choir.

Before, Sonnet and I arrive on Emanuel's campus, and observe her playing kickball with a group of Hill formers. She is happy as only a kid can be happy in the summertime with vacation right around the corner.

The Mall

Horse brigade

The Mall connects Buckingham Palace to the Admiralty Arch and on to Trafalgar Square. Notably, the London Marathon ends here and I found myself in a First Aid booth about where the horses are now, 2009. I was in bad shape, man.

I first became aware of The Mall via David, a Euro fag in my college dorm; David had a lion's main of hair, a trust fund and a cocaine habit.  He breathlessly informed me of "shagging" a girl he had met on the day off The Mall, in St James's Park, after dusk.  I thought, back then, wow! now that shit would never happen in Berkeley. But I was probably wrong.

Ouch

It is a concrete jungle out there.  Fortunately no stitches though I am informed: "blood everywhere."  Sonnet and Aneta rush to the scene and our gal makes the trip to the A&E.

Me: "Nice to have so much sun in the morning."
Madeleine: "Yeah, I like it too."
Me: "Do you prefer summer or winter?"
Madeleine: "Summer, definitely."
Me: "Spring or autumn?"
Madeleine: "Sometimes, late at night and I am reading in bed, and it is raining really hard, that is cool."
Me: "Yep."

East Bay

We all have a restful place somewhere in the mind's eye and mine is the Nimitz Way off Wildcat Canyon Road in Tilden Regional Park.  I have been coming here since age four, made out with girls in high school in the dry grass, trained up for several marathons on the ancient cracked blacktop, and Sonnet and I visited inside one week of knowing each other.  I can rely on it.

Madeleine sets new school records in the 100 and 200 m dash for Hill Form (under 11s) during Emmanuel's sports day.  We are thrilled for our gal.

The Forecast Is Sunshine

Moe this morning

Moe is all about the routine, which is up at 4AM to hit the Berkeley Y by 5AM where he is part of a crew of the fit and the young at heart. This morning I meet Willis, a former Navy SEAL, who tells me his 200 missions in the '70s left his knees shot and we joke about push ups : his qualification was 1000, which he did in increments of 100 straight, with 15 minutes in between.  The next day, 1000 pull ups.

From there I go to Peet's coffee and observe three guys playing Frisbee in the intersection. Why not? A suburban pulls up with a dog in the front seat, the wife and kid in back. Another wears a Chinese hat I've seen only on the rice paddies and always there is talk talk talk.  These hippies don't go away though now their homes make them millionaires.

Industry Ventures

Justin works a deal

I arrive in California on a beautiful day, blue skies and 80 degree temperatures. It even smells good, like home. On the way to 1530 I pick up flowers for my parents and think how it might feel to be them, waiting for their kid to arrive. It is a nice feeling.

In London : At a Hampton School competition Eitan runs the 1500m in 4:59 setting a new course record for the Under-12s (Sonnet says he is not impressed though we are). Otherwise Eitan off to Kew Gardens on a biology field trip and Madeleine practicing with the Brass Band for Monday's summer concert.  It rains.

"The State Capital"

 I write from Tallahasee, Florida, where Thierry and I stay at Hotel Duval, one of three four-star hotels and billed as the city's best.  It was formerly a Howard Johnson's.  Before our meeting with the Florida State Administration, a potential LP in Astorg's next fund, I bone up on my local knowledge : The Seminoles won the Orange Bowl last season. Disclosing this as important as anything else we discuss. And so it goes.

The friendly young women at the hotel front desk looks at me like I have grown horns when she hears me talk in French.  Every now and then the dog has his day.

Southernmost Tip

A jogger in Battery Park.

I am still not used to being downtown without the WTC towers; it is a strange feeling not to have them. 

One WTC is nearly complete yet its 105 stories hardly leave an impression, so like any Midtown or modern skyscraper anywhere. Sure, the WTC website tells us, it is America's tallest building - and an indelible New York landmark. But it also lacks any kind of magnificence.

"We remember, we rebuild, we come back stronger."

--Barack Obama, on a steel beem hoisted to the top of the tower.

Cafe Flesh

Sheep Meadow

Along with the usual sunbathers, some gay dudes strike yoga poses, a couple practise martial arts, the entrepreneur makes the rounds ("Ice cold water! Mohitos!") with his ten year old son carrying the load.

We watch a comedy troupe including some of NY's best who have a hard time keeping it PG for the Sunday afternoon. On another patch, we see a sword fight with maybe 12 participants dressed in medieval costume.  It lasts maybe three minutes.  Bikers, joggers, power walkers and roller bladers whizz by navigating the pedestrians. A skinny black dude with over-sized headphones stands in the middle tarmac singing full volume.  Nobody cares.

Upper West Side

Cafe Con Leche @ 81st and Amsterdam

I arrive Manhattan Saturday afternoon and it is a proper summer's day: hot. I drop my bags at Katie's flat and, since she returns from South Africa Sunday morning, head to 22nd St and 7th Ave to drink champagne cocktails and a 2009 cru with Kelly and Christine, who recently had twins, and I am impressed by the peace & quiet.

Katie arrives around 8AM and we go for a morning run in Central Park and coffee at neighbourhood bakery Silver Moon, which has created a special corner on B'way and 106th. From there it is a walk southward via Riverside Park and the Riverside Walk then across midtown to Central Park.

Red House

The Red House, on the corner of York Ave, designed by architect Arthur Young and built in 1904 when there was surely nothing else around.  Since we are on a hilltop, the views of the river (now not visible) would have been superb. It remains a convenient several hundred yards into Richmond Park. Yours for £7M.

Tomato Stalks

The tomatoes about half mast or behind pace for this time of year since there has been little sun this summer so far.  I still have hope that this will be a vintage year.  For all of us.

I am off to America in an hour.

Toothy Grin

Eitan will have braces

The kids and I to The Plough - burgers and chips for them, salad for me as I (barely hang on) to Sonnet's low carb diet.

The kids have swim practise, 5:30AM, so up at 5 to ensure a 5:20 pick up.  Then a 45 minute nap and to the pool to facilitate the transfer to their respective school buses (Sonnet's egg-bacon sandwiches devoured).  Sonnet and I stumble through the rest of the day. TGIF.

London On My Birthday

Justin and I have lunch at Sotheby's then walk about Mayfair taking a few photos. He wonders if one has permission to post pictures of strangers on the Internet (blog). A bit of research and I am home free : In the UK it is perfectly legal to take and also to post pictures of members of the public if they are taken in a public place.

Dog Days

Rusty gets in on the summer

People talk about the weather all the time in Britain, I observe, sitting in a cafe eavesdropping. It is like Seinfeld in the 90s or baseball maybe. If sunny, nod knowingly : "Let's hope summer lasts longer than today." If rain, nod knowingly: "Well, summer has finally arrived." And so on and so be it.

The protests in Brazil remind me of Brad Pitt's movie "World War Z" where zombies climb over each other to mount a wall. I would be pissed, too, knowing that the Brazilian government has spent billions in preparation of the 2014 World Cup and little or nothing on education or the banlieues. Won't be going there any time soon.

Any Given Monday

At Madeleine's school

Our week begins with the usual news about Syria (US to arm the rebels, the Russians support Assad); the NSA (who wire tapped world leaders at the G20 Summit in 2009 ); a week end massacre in Omaha, Nebraska. And so on and so forth.

What to tell one's kids these days ? The cost of education soaring, jobless ness in the Eurozone is 24% for the U25s (20% in the UK), cities and living un affordable and then there is the debt for the their generation . Global warming, too. Me, I say : go to work.

Teen Boy

Chillax

At a cocktail party I meet fair skinned Rose, who sings at St Martin's On The Field.  In confidence, she informs me, she and her choir have recorded the gospel for Nelson Mandela's passing. They did this four years ago so it is 'off the shelf.'

Madeleine: "Who's been searching for 'making out' and 'how to kiss better' on the computer?"
Me: "Huh?"
Madeleine: "Right here, see in the search history, 'making out.'"
Me: "When was it?"
Madeleine: "Um, last Sunday. At 8 o'clock."
Me: "It could have been me, so I know how to kiss your mother" (I kiss Sonnet)
Sonnet: "Mmm"
Me: "How do we know it wasn't you?"
Madeleine: "Yeah, right Dad. It must have been Eitan."
Me: "Well you are the problem child."
Madeleine: "Whatever."

Post Play

Madeleine at school

An example of a morning discussion, on the walk to the train , which Madeleine now takes to school.
Madeleine: "What would Rusty do if he caught a cat?"
Me: "Grab it by the neck and shake it to death, probably."
Madeleine: "Yeah, probably so."
Me: "All creatures great and small. How about that snail there, would you kill it?"
Madeleine: "No. It is still a creature."
Me: "What about a swarm of veg destroying locusts? "
Madeleine: "So?"
Me: "Without crops, people will die."
Madeleine:
Me: "Death is never an easy subject."
Madeleine: "Of course I wouldn't want people to die. So I guess I would kill the locusts."
Me: "A wise decision."

A Play

Madeleine is Dandini

Madeleine in play "Cinders," a spin on Cinderella, which the drama class has been working since winter.  I rush to join from ..  Amsterdam and meet Sonnet and the other parents who mingle over luke warm white wine and nibbles.  Madeleine is Dandini (male character), the confident to the princw (played by the dreamy Jack) who is looking for a bride at the ball and the glass slipper and all that. It goes down well and afterwards the three of us have sushi. Nice way to end the week.

Exams In

Madeleine reviews her report card

Sonnet and I have a date to catch ourselves up on work, the Italian exhibition, neighbourhood gossips - usual stuff.  We consider strategies for the kids' school work - the Shakespeares are committed yet we are rarely together evenings as they swim etc.  This makes it difficult to help with their studies, something we would wish to change, in these important next several years.

Me: "How was your trumpet lesson?"
Madeleine: "Fine. I'm learning 'The Star Spangled Banner.'"
Me: "Excellent. I used to sing that to you when I was changing your diapers."
Madeleine: "TMI, dad."

Terminus

I always think of Star Trek at the abandoned Eurostar platform, Waterloo Station

I visit Stuttgart for lunch with Armin. New airport, new city. Unfortunately the weather kills any charm : I arrive, it is sticky hot, then it rains. Buckets. I go for a concrete jog dotted by sun fading 1970s objets d'art and graffiti here and there. A palpable sense of : nothing going on, as young people hang by the tramway smoking fags or drinking coffee at sidewalk cafes. It is 2:30PM. Otherwise there's "Das Broadway Musical: Sister Act!" postered everywhere. Robbie Williams visiting in September. I avoid the Mercedes and Porsche museums - both have mfr plants outside Stuttgard , employing ca. 37,000. I am sure there is Hanzel und Gretyl but today I do not have the time to find it.

"Worlds are conquered, galaxies destroyed...but a woman is always a woman. "
-- Captain James T Kirk in 'Conscience of the King'

Queen's Guard

St James's Palace, entrance from Pall Mall

Our beloved backyard Scots Pine, which reminds me of Northern California, is toast.  She took a heavy hit when the crown hived off, losing 30% of its volume and becoming unbalanced. Despite the violence, we clung to the tree but no more.  Jamie, the doe eyed arborist, took one climb then dashed all hope, giving us two options: take the tree down or leave the stem, which is what we choose to do.  Perhaps, as he suggests, we will install a climbing pulley for the kids. Or the story.

Ian M Banks, 1954-2013 RIP

Ian M Banks passes from cancer. Banks a prolific British author who is celebrated for his fiction but I know him best for his science fiction, specifically "The Culture", an evilly benign utopian world :

"The Culture is characterised by being a post-scarcity society (meaning that its advanced technologies provide practically limitless material wealth and comforts for everyone for free, having all but abolished the concept of possessions), by having overcome almost all physical constraints on life (including disease and death) and by being an almost totally egalitarian, stable society without the use of any form of force or compulsion, except where necessary to protect others." Wiki

"Law abiding citizens have nothing to fear".

--Foreign Secretary William Hague responds to the NSA's clandestine recording and analysing of global communications