My London

I head into town to do a touch of shopping and by happy coincidence arrive at Trafalgar Square in time to see the Olympics parade and Dame Kelly Holmes address the nation on our "phenomenal success" at Beijing. GB was fourth in medals and the Special Olympics team second. Visa Card is kind enough to hand out Union Jacks and the square is filled with cheering fans awaiting their heroes who begin at Monument then Fleet Street and the Strand before finally us. The spirit is everywhere: face-painted youngsters, old-codgers in tweed caps, teen-agers playing hookie and everybody British and loving the autumnal day, which is warm in the sunshine. From there, I sneak into the National Gallery to visit a few Degas, Van Goughs and Monets as well as some older stuff by Peter Paul Reubens and David Teniers de Younger, both Flemish Masters. By contrast, I pop over to the Portrait Gallery next door to catch the Annie Liebowitz exhibition - her photographs are super duper chic and I love the shocking opening portrait of Johny Depp between then naked girl friend Kate Moss's legs -pictured - it sets the tone for the show. Leibovitz had a close romantic relationship with essayist Susan Sontag and she profiles their relationship in black and white, including Sontag's cancer which ended her life early. In no other place could I take in this much in just one block. Wow.

From Lord Nelson I cross Piccadilly on my way to Carnaby Street to buy some trainers (brown and purple - I ask the cool black kid who serves them up whether "a middle-aged white guy" can get away with the things and he smirks: "they're just trainers, man.") On a nice day, London is hopping and you would never know there is a financial crisis - the FTSE 100 down 5% at this morning's opening trade. Still, thinking about those Olympic athletes, especially the heroism of the handicapped athletes, life is in perspective no doubt it is. Plus England beat Belarus.

Roooney!

Striker Wayne Rooney, until this year's arrival of non-English speaking Italian coach Fabio Capello (earning BTW £6 million per year), has been a bust for his country despite spectacular figures for Manchester United. During a four year stretch with ManU he found net 80 times in 198 appearances; for England, until Capallo, 16 caps and zero strikes. Happily for England and Eitan, Rooney is now making up lost time with five goals in the last three matches of the 2010 World Cup Finals qualifier. Not coincidentally, we are having our best start ever at 4-0 and tops in Group 6. There are still another seven qualifiers to go before the finals but England looks confident. Belarus, who we defeated 3-1 last night at Minsk, has given some good teams a fight while Croatia considered a serious threat before our 5-1 dismantling at Wembley. For now, the team has earned a break and won't regroup until April when the qualifiers continue. Let us hope the lads do not lose their momentum. Eitan goes to bed late with a smile on his face. Seriously. A big one too.

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Sonnet v Sarah

Sonnet and Sarah Palin are both from Alaska (Sonnet attended a slumber party in Wasilla once). Both competed in a beauty pageant: Sonnet runner-up to a gay guy at T-shirt contest during a Beach Boy's concert in '82 while Palin third in the '84 Miss Alaska competition (she did win the Miss Wasilla Pageant). Each is in her 40s and, like, they both went to college: Sarah to five of them in fact. While Palin the first Governor of Alaska, Sonnet the first American curator of fashion at the V&A. Both have never seen Russia from the Alaskan border though Sonnet's' dad took a Pakistani up the Dalton Highway. Each owns a US passport while Sonnet has British citizenship too. On moose: Palin shoots 'em while Silver used to worry about their menacing the vegetables or shrubbery. Sonnet would never, ever, have a gun in or near our house. On sports or fitness, I don't know Palin's work-out schedule - she's pretty damn fit - while Sonnet ran a marathon this year and jogged into work just this morning. Both women are soccer-moms. Sonnet frequently worries about her work-mum responsibilities and whether she gives enough time to her family; I imagine Palin does too and Trig admirable. Sonnet during BBC interviews like Women's Hour (reach: 2-3 million) poised and collected. Sarah Palin on Katie Couric - Titanic. So who is qualified to be VP? Unlike Todd, I would never let mine go but I suppose he is more ambitious.. . . .

"Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon.
Going to the candidate's debate.
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose."
From "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel

Woody?

Well, I am sure the ten of you are getting tired of my rants and raves about the financial crisis or Sarah Palin - It is just that Palin is so much fun. She ticks the boxes for any middle aged soccer-dad: sexy, confident, filled with with vile, conservative rhetoric and completely clueless. Did I mention she is good looking? Any ways, I take the kids to yoga this morning and we play "tag" while waiting for instructor Penny. I can no longer simply move to avoid being "it" and must apply a move or two. Luckily my Jewish basketball legacy is front-and-centre in testing moments like now - lest you laugh, Abe Saperstein (related to Guy) founded the Harlem Globetrotters back in 1926, now that Jew played ball even if he couldn't shoot hoops. The Globetrotters have enjoyed >20,000 exhibition games in 118 countries and I remember seeing them at the Oakland Coliseum when I must have been six or seven (that was also when the Golden State Warriors were good - they had all-white Rick Barry swooshing net. He was not Jewish. I don't think Bubbles Hopkins was either). Moe was a big basketball player too and rumour was he coulda been a contender back in the day when height was subservient to skill. Moe had a rim behind his house in St Louis, which I saw some years ago with him during my cousin DD's wedding.

Eitan and I prepare for tonight's World Cup Qualifier vs. Belarus. This should be a win for us but with England one never knows; adding to the uncertainty eam-captain John Terry remains injured (back) while left back Ashley Cole joins him on the bench with a hamstring pull. Come on England!

Class Rep

Eitan's teacher tells us that Eitan has been voted class-rep by his classmates (otherwise the boy has been quiet about his new honor). Once a month, he meets with the school's head-teacher, Mrs. E, and they discuss things like play and lunchtime meals. He then presents back to the class. On meals, our school is catered and the children encouraged to participate. We know Eitan takes his food seriously and accordingly he has recommended "biscuits, fruit salad, 'toad in the hole,' lasagna, spaghetti boulignase and macaroni and cheese." Cake too, he tells us, while ice cream rejected as too messy. He proudly wears his School Council pin and I know he worries about his responsibility: Sonnet and I overheard him talking in his sleep about the task (mostly he was scared to have mis-placed his badge). Bravo.

Both kids do well in their teacher review yesterday, which Sonnet and I attend. Eitan ahead of the curve while Madeleine slugs it out in the middle. We are way proud of the little pips.

"Toad in the hole" BTW is bangers and mash

By Jimmy!

Just tell any Republican who tries to blame the financial collapse on Carter's Community Reinvestment Act of '77 (and therefore on Democrats) to go review their facts (datas from the Federal Reserve Board):-

- More than 84 percent of the subprime mortgages in 2006 were issued by private lending institutions

- Private firms made nearly 83 percent of the subprime loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers that year

- Only one of the top 25 subprime lenders in 2006 was directly subject to the housing law that's being lambasted by conservative critics

-> Subprime lending offered high-cost loans to the weakest borrowers during the housing boom that lasted from 2001 to 2007. Subprime lending was at its height from 2004 to 2006

--> The "turmoil in financial markets was triggered by a weakening of underwriting standards for U.S. subprime mortgages, beginning in late 2004 and extending into 2007," the President's Working Group on Financial Markets reported Friday

Fiscally Conservative - Democrats?

US budget deficit, pre-Jimmy Carter: $660 billion

Added during Carter's four years: $337 billion

Added during Ronald Reagan's eight years: $1.6 trillion

Added during George H. W. Bush's four years: $1.6 trillion

Added during Bill Clinton's eight years: $1.5 trillion

Added during George W. Bush's seven years, nine months: $4.5 trillion

-> Portion of the $9.5 trillion added to the national debt during the past 31 years and seven months that came during Republican presidencies: $7.7 trillion

-->Percentage of that $7.7 trillion added during George W. Bush's two terms: 58%

Image from Disney.com

PS: I saw the movie "Black Hole" at the Laurance Hall of Science as part of a weekend sci-fi package including Star Wars, 2001 Space Odyssey and Planet Of The Apes. In between films, Berkeley professors lecturee. Cool.

Taxpayer In The Middle

Katie sends me this chestnut, from her Blackberry, somewhere in Manhattan. Oh dear.

Of course baby-boomers are big investors in shares. According to the Federal Reserve, the average 50-year old has $174,000 in IRA or 401K retirement plans. But that is skewed by the mega-rich - the median is more like $60,000. This only tells a part of the story though: in fact, the Fed likes to measure "comprehensive wealth" which includes present values of salaries, pension funds, social security insurance, welfare benefits and so on. Houses and cars are thrown into the bucket. By this measure, the wealth of the average 50-year old is $900,000, of which only a quarter has anything to do with financial assets; worryingly, however, almost half of the rest comes from property and wages. The first keeps falling, and the other requires years of work.

"Whoever wins this election, Bush's impact has changed the world. This man has left us with three wars — in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror — and the legacy of the pre-emptive strike. These are legacies that will haunt his successor for years. It's good for people, before the election, to think about who they elected eight years ago and about where we are as a country right now."
Oliver Stone, promoting his film "W."

Atlantis Dubai

Now here is a piece of shit if I have ever seen one. The Atlantis announces in the Sunday Times "Now Open" and I wonder: who on earth would want to go there? The hotel, designed from Atlantis in the Bahamas, connects to the the environmentally unfriendly Palm Jumeirah which, of course, is in the shape of a giant palm tree consisting of a crown with 17 fronds and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometres long breakwater. The island is 5KM by 5KM and its total area is larger than 800 football pitches. The crown is connected to the mainland by a 300-metre bridge and the crescent is connected to the top of the palm by a subsea tunnel. Units began selling in a frenzy in 2004/05 to intelligent investors like Elton John and David Beckham, who own plots then-valued at over $30 million. Now there was a sure sign to run for the hills. Anyways, if the gaudiness of the thing doesn't do it in than the global economy will: oil, Dear Arab, is once again below $90 a barrel.

"Nothing concentrates the mind like a good hanging."
Samual Johnson

Ruby Red

Eitan is reading lengthy books, as he does here, while Madeleine shows us her ruby ring purchased the other day at the toy shop. We have their parents-teachers meeting this afternoon and will get some feedback on the Shakespeares progress into the new academic year. Eitan, we know, remains scared of his new authoritarian teacher Mrs. Cory ("you may only interrupt me in the event of fire, blood or vomit"). We like her. Otherwise it is Monday as usual, accepting the nationalisation of Britain's iconic banks HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB who have been bailed for £37 billion. Their share prices now in the pence. I own 'em.

Top-Ten reasons to trust the British bail-out:
1. Gordon Brown cracking jokes for the first time in his Prime Ministry
2. World's fourth biggest economy responding like a cutter
3. Sarkozy and Super Gee like each other: both dour pragmatists though the French distracted by Carla and who wouldn't be?
4. Battle scarred nation best when the chips are down
5. English football #1 in Group 6 : 5-1 trouncing of hapless Kazakhstan a moral booster we can take to the bank
6. New water pipes! London replacing the Victorian system all at once deconstipating the nation
7. £450 billion shot in the arm - who needs the jab?
8. David Cameron and the opposition party on board: "this a time for the British people and our government to come together"
9. Oxford and Cambridge
10. What, me worry?

"We must, in an uncertain and unstable world, be the rock of stability on which the British people can depend."
Gordon Brown

Titanic

Hedge funds, who can borrow to "short" stocks and again leverage themselves further, will be the next shock (most have three to 12 month "lock ups" on investor withdrawal allowing a delay to now's market). These "liquid" vehicles have been forced to sell aggressively driving the collapse in equities; further revealing, the stocks where hedge funds hold the largest stakes massively under-perform the wider market: the 50 stocks where hedge funds are most exposed, for instance, slumped 19% in September while the S&P 500 fell 9%. Hedge managers are today forced to liquidate hundreds of billions of positions as thousands of investors, particularly high-wealth individuals, redeem together in fear. The effect intensified by the ongoing withdrawal of credit by prime brokers, further forcing funds to cut positions. Funds-of-hedge funds, who pool capital for the industry, are also a problem thanks to their own leverage which juices returns on the up. Such gearing means that halving the hedge fund industry to $1 trillion will net larger asset sales still. The party continues.

photo from British Film Institute

"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."
Arthur Miller

"Ever noticed that 'what the hell' is always the right decision?"
Marilyn Monroe in the Daily Telegraph

Indian Summer

Season's change is upon us; photograph on the toe-path in Richmond.

Given Friday's misery, Europeans are whispering "what next?" should a unified bail-out not pull things forward. Gordon Brown and G7 meet in Paris today to hammer out a solution while Super Gee's rescue scrutinised as the Bush-Paulson plan has so far netted zero while in fact wasting critical weeks. The depth of this thing depends on a global, unified government action which, fortunately, seems to be happening following a rocky beginning (Europe initially watched America with mouth wide open: couldn't happen here, dog gonnit). This is probably how Berlin felt in the fading days of the 1930s... in '39 many Germans went to the forest to enjoy an unusually warm "Indian summer" with no idea what their autumn would bring... or if they did, not wishing to acknowledge it. Of course the Nazis invaded Poland that September.

England is finally coming down hard on the drinks industry, announcing there will shortly be a ban on free drinks for women and other bar give-aways; elimination of price-reductions or freebies at "happy hour;" and aggressive on-site advertising including, perhaps, notifications on every restaurant table regarding the menace of "over indulging". I often, in fact about every week end at the pool or football pitch, hear some dad sheepishly say "I had a bit of a late night of it." This could be England's moto given the extreme levels of intoxication and especially with da yuf who indulge and fornicate like nobody's busines. One might think that the neighborhood dads might be a tad more responsible but no way. In the conspiratorial huddle they smirk: "can't let life get in the way of beer." The financial crisis only gives license to drink more, and indeed super market Waitrosse reports a 15% increase in wine sales (interestingly champagne up too by 13% - maybe the poorer classes Shadenfraud?). Anyways, the social costs of alcohol in this country runs to the billions of Stirling per annum. The idea of a drinking-caf society with 24-hour licenses now completely debunked. All one has to do is enter any central town, post-midnight, to see the wastage.

Driving by an old cemetary:-
Me to Madeleine: "What do you want on your gravestone?"
Madeleine: "Dad, I don't even want to think about it."

Me to Eitan: "And you?"
Eitan: "Here lies Eitan. He lived at Old Trafford" (Old Trafford being Manchester United's stadium)

Pandemonium

It is a beautiful day which makes football this morning a pleasure. The kids descend on the park with joy in their hearts, and mine too: I kick the ball around with Eitan, Bertie and other kids before their session which follows Madeleine. I chat up the other dads, who are mostly pre-occupied with the financial mess but what me worry? At the Richmond Bridge we seat ourselves on the embankment and people-watch (me, really) while the kiddos collect polished glass. Meanwhile beforehand, we visit Pandemonium which is our local toy store similar to Mr Mopps in Berkeley. Eitan has 5X ten-pound vouchers+his allowance which is a fortune for him. He is giddy with excitement, and chooses a Ferrari GT-Active race-car set complete with track and slot cars. Ah, yes - every boy's dream-come-true. I had mine in '78 when we bought a used set in Carmel Valley at a yard-sale. Grace made a felt-covered platform and I spent hours racing various Hot Wheels, oh yea (30 years later: thank you mom!). I get excited just thinking about it. In the end and after the eventual 11-year old's boredom settled in, I made Evil Knievel ramps over fire burning, oil filled pans and jumped the cars over the flame. Not sure where my parents were when doing this. Madeleine has her own money to spend or about ten quid, which goes to "crazy bones" and a red-ruby ring. Everybody happy though of course Madeleine a tad jealous of her older brother. Same as it ever was.

At the Richmond Green I watch a group of teen-agers similar to Paris. I don't think they can be much older than 15 but they are clearly in their own world and the boys are comfortable with the girls and vice-versa. They lie on top of each other, literally. The boys sport a mussy-hair style with stripy sweaters and tight, low hung trousers while the chicas wear black-tights under short-shorts- provocative comes to mind. I missed these exciting times due to swimming but hey, I am not complaining (I think). Eitan decides to run around the green which is perhaps half-mile circumference and does so eight times. He is motivated. Madeleine and I watch together she sitting in my lap as the sun begins to set towards the river. Magic.

"Feast your eyes on this!"
Eitan regarding his new race track

Shop

While Sonnet at the hair-salon I take the kids to Richmond Green - here we are shopping at Uni Qlo which BTW is Japan's number one clothing retailer in sales and profits. It offers trippy Nippy styles and not particularly expensive - it prices itself below the Gap which means the clothes are mostly throw-away but this a reason I like it. Eitan and Madeleine run around the store hiding: each time I turn an isle one of them "rears his head" then darts between a clothes rack or something else. I ignore them and get funny looks from customers which suggest "take care of your kids" but hey, I am beyond that - the monsters are not upsetting anything so let them have their fun. For the record, I buy a blue zip-hoodie just like in seventh grade; I also purchase a hot pink v-neck which may (or not) make the rotation.

Eitan and I watch England v. Kazakhstan at Wembley Stadium. When Eitan hears Wembley he growns: "they lack confidence there" and indeed the game gets off to a poor start- nil to nil at the half even though England heavily favored. Rooney finally breaks the stalemate seven minutes in the second and England goes on to win 5-1, thank goodness. Kazak plays 17 new guys called up from their under 21s, so us fans are rather non-plused by the outcome. An announcer notes: "it is not always easy rooting for England; indeed sometimes it needs a considerable amount off patience." Amen.

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state."
Sarah Palin on Foreign Affairs, spoken to Katie Couric

Palin - Some Maverik

Well the Troopergate Report is in and given the haliba-hoo I thought it would be more severe. The Republican Party's efforts to block the result until after the election childish.

Here is the LAT:

"...investigator Stephen Branchflower documented that former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was subjected to a veritable barrage of demands from Palin, her husband and her staff to fire the trooper, Mike Wooten, whom they saw as unfit for the job. Wooten had been involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister. The report found that his refusal to fire the trooper was "likely a contributing factor" in Monegan's termination in July, but it also concluded that the governor's decision was "a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority" to hire and fire department heads. "

McC's vetting team gets an A+++ you betcha. My English friend Justin says "Democrats do love their culture war too... "

Photo-shopped image from the WWW (Palin will appear on the cover of Vogue before November). As Halley says - "she's juicy."

"Such impermissible and repeated contacts create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior's displeasure and the possible consequences of that displeasure."
Alaskan Ethics Committee

80s

Madeleine over breakfast with Doggie and Kumon; picture from Christian.

My receptionist tells me she is going to a "jumble sale" which, I learn, is a flea-market (I think). She says sellers "chuck everything into the middle" while buyers buy it. This different from a "boot sale" where vendors arrive at some pre-arranged field in the middle of no where and sell their crapola from the car-trunk. Ghastly. In high school and college I shopped the second-hand for vintage - a favorite being Aardvark's on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. This was was pre-Gap and the street decidedly grungy. Aardvark's was the best place around to buy Hawaiian shirts and worked-over blue jeans. The trick was to find a nearly bleached washed pair with another few washes to go - not easy, Dear Sister. Not easy. I also trolled around for wing tips or funky jackets to cultivate my strange college style. Yes, it was unique - 80s hair (long on top, razor short on the sides), Funk Night and everything all that. Sonnet BTW prepares for her next exhibition at the V&A which will be on... 80s fashion, so maybe I can help her out, oh brother.

"Were no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do i
A full commitments what Im thinking of
You wouldnt get this from any other guy

"I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you"

"Never Gonna Give You Up", Rick Asterly - best-selling single of 1987

Sia

We see Sia last night at the Shepards Bush Empire, which launched The Who. We are joined by Tilly and Eric, who is an economics advisor to Barak Obama; Jennifer and Ramsey, who invested for the Prince Al Walid; and Erik. Sia Furlow is from Australia and while there made several acid-jazz records but did not reach commercial success until her move to the UK and kick-starting a solo career. She signed with Sony Music in 2000 and away we go. I first became aware of her via Showtime's "Six Feet Under" where her song "Breathe Me" concluded the series in a haunting life's fast-forward. I'm also in tune with Zero 7 (thank you Christian) where she has been the lead vocals. So, her voice: powerful, rich synthetic, which contrasts with her bubbly, girlish stage presence. The audience in rapture generally and turned out: the show sold-out and a good vibe surrounds us.

"Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And, the worst part is there's no-one else to blame

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
Warm me up
And breathe me"

Sia, Breath Me

Photo from Sia website

Gulp

“Not only have individual financial institutions become less vulnerable to shocks from underlying risk factors, but also the financial system as a whole has become more resilient.”
2004

Photo from The Observor