Eitan Hits The East Coast

Eitan continues his tour hitting Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Penn, Georgetown, Tufts and Princeton. He is accompanied by Sonnet and together they see Katie, Marcia and Larry, Sharon (team KKH), Diana and Simon (team ex London, saving Virginia from politics and the USA from Democracy), relatives and others.

Me: "Look, I've got the the Instagram app." [Dad's note: Madeleine and I are in a night taxi].
Madeleine: "Yeah, so?"
Me: "Are you going to let me join your Instagram?"
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "Why not?"
Madeleine: "I want to keep my life private."
Me: "Damn that's cold g." [Dad's note: Madeleine was calling me 'g' in her texts; she stopped but I continue to use it with her].
Madeleine:
Me: "Hey, have you ever heard of Snapchat?"
Madeleine: "Yes, Dad, I've heard of Snapchat."
Me: "How 'bout Facebook? That one is pretty cool."
Madeleine:
Me: "The best app though is Vodafone."
Madeleine: "Vodafone?"
Me: "Vodafone. Like, no typing."
Madeleine:
Me: "Why would I want to spend all that time typing? When I want to call my homies I just dial and talk. No typing."
Madeleine: "OK, whatever."
Me: "Typing is so last year. I thought you would now it, a 15 year old like you."
Madeleine: "Are we almost there yet?"

Backyard

It is a blustery fall day and, since Madeleine with friends and Sonnet/ Eitan in Bronxville, it is me and the dog, who I walk in Richmond Park - the largest of London's Royal parks.
Richmond Park was first founded by Charles I who, in 1625, got the hell out of London during a plague. He needed some sport so built a royal lodge (now the Royal School for Ballet) and, in 1637, enclosed 2,500 acres with a brick fence to contain red and fallow deer, which he and his guests hunted for pleasure (fence and deer remain today). It also kept the riff raff out.
Well, old Charles I was executed and the custodianship of the park passed to the Corporation of the City of London. A bunch of back and forths took place with the monarchy until 1872 when public access to Richmond Pk was assured by an Act of Parliament.
As commoners we enjoy it.

Korean Joint

Sonnet and I go to a totally legit Korean restaurant behind Waterloo station on an unloved and gritty street. It's a bolt-hole with a line out front and a family operation that does not offer much english. I stumbled on it a couple months ago and glad to be here with Sonnet.
I photograph this young women before she meets her friends.

Eitan and Eric

Eitan splits for the East Coast to check out some US colleges - in Boston he stays with Eric and Simona, who roll out the red carpet for our hero. I imagine Eitan will have a different view on his father following the visit.
Scott and Cindy take care of Eitan for Brown. Scott was on the Board of Trustees at Brown for many years and I imagine he enjoys picking up Eitan at Wilson Hall following the campus tour.

Soutine's Portraits

Sonnet and I visit her alma mater The Courtauld to hear the opening remarks from the curator of Soutine's Portraits.
Chiam Soutine was a Jewish Russian-French painter who made a major contribution to the expressionist movement while living in Paris. He was dirt poor and nearly destitute until Paul Guillaume, a highly influential art dealer, bought and championed his work. The exhibition shows paintings of hotel bellhops, cooks and servants which was an unusual subject for the time (and now).

Sonnet heads for Pittsburgh PA to open the V&A's "Underwear" exhibition at the prestigious Frick Museum. The evening party allows for sexy models, men and women, to mingle in their skimpy knickers with the guests. 

Life From The Top

My first visit to Hong Kong was in 1994 with HTWS when the airport was still a scary drop into the centre of the city. Now the island is a thing of concentrated efficiency with roads and walkways inter-connecting the hotels, office skyscrapers and, farther out, condominium towers that allow 7m people to work and live on a postage stamp or 690 persons per square kilometre.
I strain my head on the late night taxi-ride from the airport to get a sense of this enormity. What is equally striking: the highrises are lit up like Christmas trees. Nobody ready for sleep despite the late hour.
It is clear that Asia is the future.

Justin

I arrive in Hong Kong from Melbourne following a ten-hour northbound flight. Greeting me in HK is Justin, also on a world tour for business, and departing at 2AM. We connect in the hotel bar at Midnight for a drink then he is off to somewhere else. The day-night rhythm doesn't really exist here.

Sydney Opera House

This Dog's Life

The pooch gets a couple good walks a day but otherwise, during the week, he is solo during the daytime other than the dog walker.
What he really wants is to be on a farm running after a tractor or some sheep, rolling in deer shit and pissing in the tall grass. Living in the moment.

Hope

Well, the news these days is diabolical : Napa and Sonoma counties in flames; 3.5 million American Citizens in Puerto Rico left on life support; major US cities destroyed by hurricanes and a President who does not care nor understand any of it.
Then there is the derailing of NAFTA, Las Vegas and still no gun-control; the un-funding of UNESCO obligations, North Korea madness, killing the EPA and destroying Obamacare and the US health insurance market with it. All the while weakening the free press, which is about the only thing that holds the US 'democracy' together.
While the White House's actions damage all American citizens, they harm the Trump supporters the most, these morons. The blade goes in deep between their shoulders.
Still, with young people and Eitan and Madeleine I have hope for a future. May they unplug and rise up as a generation before did in the 1960s.

Little Arc

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is located between the Louvre and tuilleries gardens. It was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories from the previous year. The big arc (Arc de Triomphe de L'Etoile) was designed the same year at twice the size, but not completed until 1836.

Looking west, a straight line passes perfectly through the big and little  arches, aligned with the Obelisk in the Place de la Concord and threaded by the Champs Elysees.
The colour of the Little Arc is not red or orange but a kind of white with maybe a golden tint. In the sunrise the arc, and the clay ground surroundings, have a beautiful hue.

Beautiful Paris

As my running days are mostly behind me, I am up early to power walk tuilleries, which opens before sunrise. I now mostly take the 8e for granted - the Louvre, I.M. Pei's striking pyramids, the Seine, place de la Concorde and always the Eiffel Tower reminding us it is no ordinary city.
This morning is no different but for the sunrise.

Back To Hair Basics

I suggest Madeleine bring back the pig-tails

The hair, an ritual before bed, is something we will miss when our gal goes to college or California (or both).

Off Roading

AlpInvest, one of our largest investors, hosts a day-outing for clients, including us. As in the past, the day includes activities. Last year it was chariot racing with purebred horses; this year,  it is driving outback jeeps around a muddy course on the outskirts of Amsterdam. That's me driving.

We team up into groups of four and given our marching orders: keep thumbs up on the steering wheel (so they won't get snapped off), don't gun the gas pedal and keep the wheels in the tracks.

My adrenaline gets the better of me and, for a brief moment, I am that dude in those ancient Camel cigarette adds. The heroics make me famous for the day.

A bunch of burly guys - four of them - rock the vehicle as I (gently) move the jeep forward.

All in, a fine day's work.

Easy Like Sunday Morning - An Outtake

Eitan 17

Eitan turns 17. From the soul who cautiously arrived into the world at St Mary's hospital, taking a full 360 look before allowing for his first breath, Eitan has become a thoughtful, intelligent, young man who has lived up to every potential - school, football and running; now piano and choir. I do not forget when, in year-three, the children asked to write down areas where they wished to improve; for Eitan it was simple: "everything."
It has been our joy to have been along for the ride, which is yet only at the beginning.
Sonnet is on the Board of the Yves Saint Laurent foundation in Paris, which she visits for the annual meeting extravagance timed for Paris Fashion Week.

New Look

Adam, Katie, Madeleine and I go to the tamescal barbershop in Oakland. I am advised on the beard and hair-cut which, after the shock of it, I decide to keep.
The first day back in the London office is rather surreal with images of the Sierras seared into my mind's eye. The train commute jammed with a multiple more people than I saw on the JMT; looking from my desk at stone and glass buildings. Life moves forward.

Sixth Form

Eitan is 6'2"

Eitan's first day of sixth form. The boys required to wear a suit and Hampton tie.

The young man is now in his final two years of preparation for University - in the UK called sixth form - where he will study four subjects for his A-levels (history, politics, geography and Spanish).
He did fine on the GCSE exams (results back Aug 24) and we are proud of him - Eitan is probably more relieved than anything else.
Our re-entry into the UK goes without a hitch. Madeleine and I are greeted at 45 by Sonnet with open arms and Rusty who cannot contain himself. It is nice to be home.

Grandkid - Grandparents

We have dinner at Berkeley Jewish deli Saul's.
My parents have had an active year health wise; Grace is through her cancer treatments and recently underwent back surgery, now in recovery mode. Both have Parkinson's. They take care of each other in a wonderful and loving way.
Katie joins us in Berkeley - extra treat - between various deal-makings for The Op Ed project. She is fired up.
Soon it is time to fast-forward to London and leave California, and summer, behind.

Oakland Is Brooklyn

My childhood memories of Oakland: Sears, the 1970s Raiders and Billy Martin's A's in the 1980s; Oakland Airport and Lake Merit which, for a while, was completely clogged by algae leaving the Berkeley High crew team shit out of luck. There were some legit bbq shacks. The occasional movie at The Grand Lake Theatre.
But how the city has changed ! From Rockridge to Tamascal (profiled by the NYT as the home of the hipster), it is vibrant and young and multi-racial. The Fox Theatre a great venue for live music and the martini bars serve a young crowd. The buildingss are funky and disjointed. There is a Greyhound station. It is affordable, and finally the Big Tech is moving in. Uber is across the street.