Swann-Upping

The Queen's annual swan count began yesterday at Sunbury and the whole country is a-twitter. Passing through Berkshire to Abingdon in Oxfordshire, a boat of loyals (dressed in their scarlet uniforms) and children count, weigh and ring each bird while checking for signs of injury and disease. The ceremony dates from the 12th Century when the Crown claimed all unowned mute swans in Britain to ensure a ready supply for banquets and feasts. Nowadays, the Queen retains the right to ownership on some stretches of the River Thames and tributaries. For the record and the most recent data I could find, in 1991 there were 116 cygnets and in 1992 the total number of new cygnets marked was 136. There is as yet, no answer to the problem of those that are strangled by fishing lines. Photo from Londondiary.com.

Smokes

Eitan and I go to Eddie Katz's this afternoon. EK offers kids a giant play area complete with slides, bouncy castles, hockey, video games and other must haves for a six year old (Madeleine is at a birthday party). On the way home, we discuss cigarettes and I ask Eitan if he understands a craving. "Is it like sucking my thumb?" he asks adroitly. We then touch on addiction: "only when I suck my thumb I can stop" he adds. We compare TV and chocolates to smoking and I use our car ride to touch upon drugs. "Some kids, even your friends, will want you to take pills and you will have to decide" I say. Eitan comments on a school story about a boy and an apple. If eaten, the apple will bring a long life of unhappiness.. I ask if he would eat the apple. Eitan: "No, I'd rather die now but happy."
Photo from the WWW.

Champions

Yesterday is the final day of football as the summer break is upon us (Kids last day of school: Wednesday). Eitan and Madeleine play in tournaments and each's team takes second place in their division. Eitan scores a terrific side-post goal that makes him visibly happy as the other kids high-five him. For the record, Madeleine enjoys footie, effectus, but is now aware that she is one of two girls on the pitch. Some discussions have taken place about swim-club and tennis, which I would enjoy with her later on. Stay tuned, dear reader.

The artist formally know as "the squiggly thing" angers the high street by giving away his latest album In today's Sunday Mail - Prince will play 30 gigs in London this August. The Mail paid Prince £500,000, a small figure for His Purple Squire, but the stapled controversy has produced enormous free publicity feeding concert attendance as each show has sold out. Sonnet and I will probably see him in September, though I generally shy away from big venues like the 02 center, formally known as the Millennium Dome.

Gold

Here is yesterday's sporting result where Madeleine takes first and second place in her races. This photo is from my mobile camera as I forgot the DSLR - but I think it gets the point accross. Picture taken on the school grounds, post pick-up.

Sports Day

I arrive from Copenhagen in time for Sports Day at our primary school. The kids are organised by class and compete in heats - events which include the full-on dash and the obstacle-challenge. The children wear their PE outfits and School Colours, which takes place on the green field. Eitan wins his two races while Madeleine takes a first and second. There must be over 200 parents and they all buzz about MY kids performance: "Eitan won his race! Madeleine is sooo fast!" I explain it must be the Saturday football but deep-down I know the kids compete.

Sonnet begins an early freak-out for our five weeks in the US'A. Clothes, swim suits, cowboy boots, goggles and other crap litter our bedroom to be organised, packed, re-packed and finally stuffed into suitcases and an over-sized duffle bag. I stay away from this hurricane, BTW. It is only trouble for me and the kids.

Madeleine saves a spider, racing outside to deposit the creature on a leaf next to a lady bug.

Eitan cuts his hair to have a "spikey look" like his class-mate Joe-Y-H (there are two Joe's in Eitan's class with the same first and last name- go figure). In honesty, it doesn't look bad. Madeleine follows suit and this morning cuts her bangs - Sonnet finds clumps of hair but in the morning rush refuses to put two-and-two together. The last time Madeleine self-inflicted was 2004. Aggie is aghast. Sonnet and I threaten consequences but really I find it funny. Let the kid do what she wants when style-related. Why not?

Planes

This is a picture of Katie's cat who is very cosmo. My day starts in Amsterdam, peaks in Munich and I now write from Copenhagen. Hans and I have a number of meetings with pension funds and money managers, which we hope will pay off later in the year when Industry Ventures raises their fifth fund. I am helping Industry bring in the dough while also a Venture Partner sourcing deals in Europe. Tomorrow we return to London and Sonnet and I have a dinner-date in town, assuming we can work out the baby sitter. Gordon Brown has only worn a BLUE tie since becoming Prime Minister. As the Echequer, he only wore a RED tie. Is something going on here?

Rotterdam

This ghastly photo of Rotterdam was taken after the German army invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940 (I am now with Hans Swildens of Industry Ventures) Germany I learn forced the Dutch army to surrender on May 14, 1940 with the Bombing of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe, and threats to bomb other cities. The heart of the city was almost completely destroyed, 800 people were killed, about 80,000 others were made homeless. The City Hall - pictured - survived the bombings.

Instrument

At the arts college, Sonnet has a pow-wow with the kids asking them what instrument they would like to play. Both reply: "Guitar!"
Sonnet: "You may have to play different instruments. "
Madeleine: "Trumpet!"
Sonnet: "What if there is no trumpet?"
Madeleine: "Drums!"
Sonnet to me: "There is no way in hell Madeleine will play the trumpet or the drums in this house."

Tour de France

Yesterday the 2007 Tour de France began in Hyde Park blocking traffic for those foolish enough to venture into town. Today the pelaton left the Capital for Canterbury. The race will take on its familiar settings from tomorrow when the bikers will rev their wheels in Dunkerque. The race continues for twenty days ending famously on the Champs-Élysées. Sloggi "the young underwear brand for boys and girls" capitalises on the excitement with several well-placed billboards - pictured - along the route. Dear reader, I will report to you if this add increases traffic to this website.

Madeleine rides her bike and tells us that she is very proud of herself. With determination and a little push, off she goes no problem. Eitan experiments with his roller blades and he too has success.

Snitch

Nobody likes a snitch and unfortunately the UK has a lot of them. Grinding yet further towards Big Brother, last year the Inland Revenue opened a line, staffed 24/7, to anomalously receive data on island tax evaders. In its first year of operations over 200,000 Brits ratted on their neighbors, colleagues and friends raising £26 million for the government on a private target of £107 billion (which Fleet Street exposed via the Freedom of Information Act). While of course I pay my 40% and am against those rat dodgers, turning Britain into East Germany for a couple hundred million quid or less than .01% of Inland receipts seems far and away short-sighted. Breshnev would be so proud.

SW20

It's hard to miss Wimbledon which brings excitement to London's southwest. This has been a paricularly wet year and at least one match was played over five days (Nadal's five set win over Soderling). Things have mostly caught up with players being forced to play at the ungentlemanly hour of 11AM. The finals are this weekend and Venus Williams wins her fourth title beating French 18th seed Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-1 with a commanding performance. Tomorrow is a rematch of last year's finalists Nadal and Federer. This photo taken by Ray Giubilo of Federer on Center Court. FYI SW20 is Wimbledon's poste code.

School Drop

I take this photo of Madeleine at 0900 this morning in front of her classroom (Eitan hamming it up in the background). As one can see, there is a lot of action on the playground and this is the power-center of the neighborhood where the moms share gossip and information while administering their influence over the school community. Unless you're in - you're out. Clawing my way on the edges via the PTA, I host a post Summer Fair gathering at the nearby caf, post-drop, to wrap things up and receive feedback. The Class Reps and other volunteers are happy and nobody can argue with the rake, which was about the same last year at £15,000 despite the ghastly weather. My Big Initiative is to put all instructions etc. on the PTA website (and to pawn the Fair off on the next unsuspecting bugger).

We have been interviewing a new nanny now that Aggie is required part-time and has an office job. Sonnet extends an offer to Natasha from Macedonia who is otherwise earning her Masters degree in London. She speaks four Slavic languages along with perfect English. Natasha appears adequately serious yet relaxed and comfortable with the kids, who are happy she will join our family.

Green Grass

The kids romp around in the park. Gordon Brown's first Q&A in parliament the other day was universally panned by everybody - no sharp tongued Tony he. David Cameron of the opposition party walked circles around our new PM leaving the fellow tongue tied and grasping on several awkward occassions. Still, it is refreshing that within his first five days, Brown moves to introduce a modern British constitution to rebuild voter trust in politics following the Blair years (I remember 1997's failed pledge: "whiter than white!"). In a new constitution, Brown proposes, among other things, to move the war decision from him to it thereby reducing his own powers of state. What would Dick Cheney say to this I wonder? (but not really)

Happy Birthday

Of course the Red Coats got their ass kicked so the perspective over here is a tad different. It is the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that is special (in my opinion): "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."(
(Photo by Morgan Webb, taken at Eagle Lake, Michigan)

Eitan and Madeleine receive glowing reports from their teachers in Hedgehogs and Squirrels, respectively. Eitan's first line from Mrs Reynolds: "Eitan is a kind, considerate and friendly child whose behaviour is exemplary at all times." While Mrs. Seddon says of Madeleine: "I have loved having Madeleine in my class this year and I will miss her shy, sweet smile."

I learn that we have made it to the final round of bidding for a $40MM life sciences secondary deal.

June sets the U.K. rainfall record dating from 1814: 135 cm.

Mittens

Madeleine, age three. I recall this photo taken during a rare London snow storm which put an inch or two on the ground. According to cab drivers, London used to get two or three feet of snow as recently as the 1970s. Now it is either draught like or wash-out, which gives the Islanders something to talk about. My French intern comments on the English: "Beer drinking, happy-go-lucky, drunk."

Harrods

London's most famous department store - pictured. Harrods was established in 1834 in London’s East End when founder Charles Harrod set up a wholesale grocery with a special interest in tea, which he moved to Knightsbridge to escape the filth. Today, the store is owned by Mohamed al-Fayed who bought it for £615MM in 1985. Separately that year, Fayed was involved in the cash-for-questions scandal having offered the Conservative MPs Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith money for asking questions in Parliament, in what some observers saw as a sting intended to incriminate ministers in a government that had deemed him to be unsavoury. Fayed, despite also owning a London football club and other interests in the UK has begged for British citizenship- only to be endlessly rejected. His son Dodi dated Princess Diana and died in the Paris car crash ten years ago August.

Glace

This photograph taken from my mobile phone yesterday after I pick up the kids from school and Eitan football. They know all rules are off when Dad is the Sheriff and indeed we go for ice cream and a run around in Richmond Green until it starts pouring rain. Still, they love it and we get home in time for dinner and bath. BTW Eitan's cone is milk chocolate and Madeleine experiments with orange sorbet.

Thames Sunday

After seeing Shrek 3 we stroll to the river bank in Richmond, where Eitan and Madeleine busy themselves collecting stones and ground glass to make a nice neat pile (I keep an eye that they don't go in). Otherwise the afternoon has turned warm with large fluffy clouds floating by - which look, in fact, like the shape of Britain (think: Yellow Submarine). We are not far from the Richmond Bridge which was built in 1777 and the oldest still in use. Before the bridge a ferry operated by the Crown was used frequently by King Henry VIII and his daughters, who spent much of their time at Richmond Palace.

Love British Style

Marriages in the UK fell to 244,710 in 2005 - the lowest figure per population since 1897, according to The Sunday Times. The popularity of marriage has been declining since 1972 when there were 426,241 weddings. The proportion of married people in the adult population is 50.3%. In the 1970s the figure was over two-thirds. The decline means more children born out of wedlock and, according to the ONS, 327,000 children were born to unmarried parents last year, nearly half of all births or about 43%. Two out of three of the babies outside marriage will be born to couples with one eye on the benefit authorities, according to the think tank Civitas. These children will more likely be single parents themselves. The average cohabitation couples last three years, while the average marriage lasts 12. This ain't good.

Lips

Another dreary day in London sees a white, overcast sky. Madeleine and I go for a walk to buy the Sunday papers and have a coffee/ treat at Cafe Costa on the high street. Madeleine spots: "teenagers, dad!" and we discuss what they are up to and why they are delaying the queue. I send Madeleine on an infiltration and she returns breathless with the after-action report: "love!" I ask what else: "kissing!"

Madeleine shows off her work from The Art Yard. She says art is her favorite thing.