Bob

Madeleine gets a "bob". She shakes her hair into place noting "That's called a flick, Dad" and I could not possibly disagree.

Eitan and I place 47 and 46th, respectively, of 884 runners in yesterday's 5K race (Dad pips the boy but with no intention of doing so).  Eitan is 5th for Junior Men 14 and Under, and I am 7th for the 45-49 category. Our times are 19:17 and 19:16 - I'm just happy to be running injury free. The difference between me now and then, I observe over the last 500 painful meters whilst passed this way and that, is that I don't have the motivation to throw it into another gear requiring further pain.  I just can't be bothered.

In football action this morning Eitan's Elm Grove cranks a 6-1 home-field victory over the out-classed Woking Cougars.  The game notable for the glorious sunshine. I am accompanied by the dog and, unusually, Madeleine who does some homework in the car during the first half.  I give in to her request for "Millions" -" tiny little balls of candy" (her description).

Madeleine does her sciences homework: "Does a poisonous dart frog lay eggs?"
Me: "Do you really expect me to know that?"
Madeleine: "You can always guess."

Madeleine: "I am going to make a hat for Gracie and Moe."
Me: "That's nice. Just make sure I can mail it."
Madeleine: "OK."
Me: "And include directions."
Madeleine: "Directions?"
Me: "Yes, so when they open it they know what to do."
Madeleine: "Gracie and Moe: Put hat on head."
Me:
Madeleine: "What's so funny now, Dad?"

Hunter

Araneus Diadematus

I love these spiders, which appear for a month or so then gone until next time.  Sonnet hates them (of course) but I drop flies into the web to watch in horror : the spider races across its line onto its prey and stuns it with a violent sting. It holds the fly in place for a moment or two as the poison works then, in a professional fashion, wraps the victim in tight ball and lets it dangle until it can suck the juices.

Bushy Deer

Bushy Park settled for (at least) 4,000 years : the earliest archaeological records date to the Bronze Age. There is also evidence that the area used in the medieval period for agriculture.  When Henry VIII took over Hampton Court Palace from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1529, it came with Bushy. He stocked it with deer so he could hunt 'em.

The old bucks groan (NB A buck grunts to express dominance, to threaten another deer and as a means of locating other deer. A soft or low grunt is used by both bucks and does as a first act of aggression. When a dominant deer uses the soft grunt and the less dominant deer does not move, the dominant deer will either charge or hit the less dominant deer with a fore leg. Rusty has come to know this). I can hear them in Richmond Park from our bedroom.

Me, over lunch: "So, Madeleine, how would you rank my parenting on a scale of one to ten?"

Madeleine: "Is this a trick question or something?"

Me: "No, how are we doing?"

Madeleine: "I don't know. Nine maybe. Eight and a half ?"

Me: "That's what I thought. You guys are having it too easy."

Eitan: "Madeleine, quick, say five or four or something."

Me: "Time for more work for you kids - Madeleine, you can start by cleaning off the table."

Madeleine: "Five wouldn't be a lie would it Dad?"

5K Qualifier

Eitan and I up early to run the Bushy Park 5K, which is every Saturday morning, 9:00AM sharp.  Eitan must qualify for the London borough championships which is coming up later this year and this the last weekend to qualify.

Me, jogging with Eitan: "So how do you think your mother and I are doing?"
Eitan: "Huh?"
Me: "As parents. Are we doing a good job?"
Eitan: "I guess so. . ."
Me: "Well, give us a score. Grade us."
Eitan: "Eight."
Me: "Eight?"
Eitan: "Eight out of ten."
Me: "So we could better ?"
Eitan: "Yeah, if you weren't so angry and stuff. Because your job is pressurised."
Me: "So your mom is a ten and I'm a six while the average eight."
Eitan:
Me: "An eight seems too high."
Eitan: "Too high?"
Me: "Yep. I'd better be tightening the screws. It's not all fun and games."
Eitan: "Whatever, Dad."

Self Portait XXVIII

And so another Friday.  This time, Sonnet to Devon to spend the weekend with Halley leaving me with the Shakespeares and, boy, it is non-stop : Eitan runs a 5K, both swimming and football practice and an Elm Grove match. Conveniently all these things miles apart and at different times.

I arrive home to find Magda, Madeleine's hair-cutter for years, in the kitchen snipping her to a bob.  She sits there grinning and I agree : it is a fab look. I tell her she looks like a Beatle.

For all those worried about Rusty, the dog has his wag back.

Snorkel

Eitan with his swimming kit.

The dog is sick and looks at us with baleful eyes. I take him to the vets and they check his gums and tummy for hydration then give the pooch a couple of shots and some special dog food - £177.  Rusty rewards me by barfing dramatically in the zebra crossing.

Sonnet, in apron, prepares soup. Butter nut squash, which she roasts then peels then mushes and cooks with scallions and cream.  It is the perfect seasonal colour and ideal for a chilly London evening. With spoon to mouth "that is very satisfying", she says.

Lamp

Madeleine after swim practice

Eureka

Archimedes chillaxes ca 230 BC

Eitan comes home filled with physics. "We are studying Archimedes theory that if you put a solid object into a liquid, you can find the mass of the solid object by seeing how much the water goes up" (now he watches the Simpsons - the one where Bart buys a python for $5 a foot that eats Martin's hamster in show-and-tell).

It all started when King Hiero II was sceptical about his new laurel leaf-shaped crown. The king wanted to know whether the crown was solid gold, or if some other metal had been added.  It was up to Archimedes to figure this out. Only there was one catch: he couldn't destroy the crown.  Now 25 more 12-year olds in on the trick.

My physics weak at best for what I learned en francais at College de Candolle.  Too bad as I find it interesting - certainly more so than chemistry which I pursued through several semesters at Brown despite the miserable lab work. Any case, no need to know physics when I can outsource to Eric.

Sir John Wins Nobel Prize

Sir John Gurdon shares the Nobel Prize for his stem cell work

"It has been a disastrous half.  His work has been far from satisfactory. His prepared stuff has been badly learnt, and several of his test pieces have been torn over; one of such pieces of prepared work scored 2 marks out of a possible 50.  His other work has been equally bad, and several times he has been in trouble, because he will not listen, but will insist on doing his work in his own way.  I believe he has ideas about becoming a Scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous, if he can't learn simple Biological facts, he would have no chance of doing the work of a Specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time both on his part, and those who have to teach him."
--John Gurdon's school report from Eton, 1949 (age 15).
Photo Eddie Mulholland

Viking Kings

Eitan does his history homework which is "to make top trump cards for Viking kings of England."

Sonnet: "I'm trying to get the printer to work. For some reason, I can't get it to print."
Me: "Have Eitan check it out. He knows more about these things than I do."
Eitan: "Huh?"
Sonnet: "See, it's not working."
Eitan plugs the USB into Sonnet's notebook.
Me, Eitan:
Sonnet: "Well there you go."

Madeleine: "What would you do if I got a letter to go to Hogwarts?"
Me: "You mean delivered by an owl?"
Madeleine: "No, Dad. I mean would you let me go?"
Me: "Would you have to go to Euston Station and catch the train? Through that wall?"
Madeleine: "King's Cross. And yes."
Me: "And gone for a semester?"
Madeleine: "Longer than that."
Me: "Are you willing to sleep under the stairs?"
Madeleine: "Huh?"
Me: "Under the stairs. For when you come home so I can use your bedroom."
Madeleine: "You are so cruel Dad.  So would you let me?"
Me: "I could not bare for you to be away."
Madeleine:

High Atlas

Sonnet in the High Atlas mountains, Morocco

We visited Morocco in '97 with Mary and Amado and some other MBA friends travelling mostly by train  and in several instances sleeping in our 2nd-class cabin waking in some new city like Marrakesh or Fez a bit strung out but happy to be there. The Atlas range a highlight requiring several days hiking into Toubkai National Park ending at peak Jbel Toubkai at 13,671 feet (Kilimanjaro is 19,341).  A warm up for the KKH.

Top Turtle

Madeleine feeds Eric the turtle. Zara over post Sunday swim-practise to catch the action, which includes blood worms. It is gross, but at least they are frozen, and the turtles gobble them up.

Eitan: "Can I watch TV?"
Me: "No."
Eitan: "Why not?"
Me: "Have you done your homework ? Have you done any chores?"
Eitan: "I can do them later."
Me: "You know, I have had this exact conversation before with my father. When I was your age."
Eitan: "Yeah, so?"
Me: "Do you know what daja vu is?"
Eitan: "I just want to watch television."
Me: "Well, do your homework then."
Eitan: "That is so unfair."
Me: "Do you think I just make this stuff up? You know, as I am going along ?"
Eitan: "I dunno."
Me: "I've had plenty of practice. You should have heard Moe Saturday mornings : 'Jeff ! clean up the front yard. Cut the grass !' when all I wanted to do was read a comic book."
Eitan:
Me: "I've had plenty of practice at this, believe me."

Opposite Sides of Saint-Honoré

Man pulls out wiring before the Chanel shop.

Women approaching the Hotel Crillon

Comme des Garçons

Sonnet photos a temporary exhibition at the newly constructed Cité de la Mode in Paris. CdG a Japanese fashion label founded by Rei Kawakuebo.

I recall Comme des Garçons when it hit the US (Macy's, San Francisco) the summer before college. I bought a pair of CdG khaki trousers for a fortune that had something like ten pleats and fell straight to the ankle. To make it work, I rolled up the bottoms and wore them with black espadrilles and a white La Coste. This the first day of classes. Oh, the weirdness of traipsing from my dorm room (Poland House, Keeney Quad, late summer, East Coast) to lecture theatre with everybody and everybody a stranger. The outfit worked in California but the Ivy League 'preppies' hated it. I could have cared less - all I wanted was to dance and have fun and study but, in hindsight, I probably could have left the fashion at home.

"I liked the unusual presentation of the blow up bubbles though it does make it difficult to see the clothes.  Rei Kawakuebo explored the colour of white in this collection"
--Sonnet

London to Paris

Here we are this morning at St Pancras off to France.  Sonnet has a number of museums to visit and tomorrow we will see the recently opened Islamic art wing at the Louvre.

Last Summer

A couple of French dudes enjoy the Indian summer in the 8e.

Summer is certainly over for French private equity as the Hollande government introduces an onerous tax framework that goes to the business like a laser guided torpedo : capital gains increase 45% to 65% (and may be considered income - if so, 75% over €1 M).  The tax deductibilty on interest for company debt to be reduced to 80% from 100%.  Then there is a social charge of up to 28% for every beneficiary of carried interest paid by the management company who oversees the funds.  In short, the socialist demand that the country's producers, who are also often rich, either cease operations or move to London (where capital gains fall to zero) or elsewhere.  France, one of the most attractive country's in the world for global foreign investment, may suddenly become the least.

I return from Paris to find Eitan, hair wet from swimming, hunched over his homework (Spanish : "I am nearly fluent" he offers, counting to ten) and Madeleine fast asleep - she puts herself to bed at 8:30PM which makes a big difference in the morning.

Eitan: "I thought I had turned in my chemistry homework two days late but actually I am two days early.  I am so relieved." [He hums]

Spaghetti

Me: "It must be nice to be a dog. All you have to worry about is your next meal. You don't care where you live. All you want is a little bit of affection .. . "
Eitan: "Yeah."
Madeleine: "Rusty wasn't very happy when you got him neutered."
Me: "Good point."

Game Girl

Madeleine plays 'Vertical Jump', which she says "is a fun game." She sings while she "jumps and tries not to get killed by skeletons."  Normally the rule is no computer games but she finished "Little House on the Prairie" and "Schooled" so I give her a break.

Eitan celebrates 12 - 12! - by making dinner (spaghetti and meatballs), a cake (sour cream chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream icing) and picking a  movie ("Tinton").  Elm Grove, after dispatching Bretford 3-nil, toss Eitan in the air.  Sonnet, Madeleine, Rusty and I on the sideline to cheer along the boy.  He also hums.

Yesterday was Katie's birthday - happy birthday Katie!

Red Robe

Eitan back from a Hampton match (the boys wear their school uniform since an away game) which Hampon wins 3-nil. He now pads around, "Man of the House", Sonnet notes. We watch  the '54 Godzilla, which is dark and awesome : remarkably made within nine years of Hiroshima and Nagasaki : the monster being the bomb unused on Tokyo.

Eitan on the 'A' squad and, he notes, three of his teammates play for academies.  Unlike most public (ie, private) schools, Hampton excels in football which is otherwise considered a sport for the masses - like baseball in the US.  The posh kids choose from rugby, rowing or maybe sailing. Hampton's intake is 50% state schools and so follows demand : in Eitan's year there are six soccer squads.

Madeleine joins the Barnes' Eagles and today has her second practise. Games to follow.

Madeleine: "Do giraffe's eat meat?"
Me: "Hmm?"
Madeleine: "Giraffe's. Are they vegetarian or something?"
Me: "I've never seen one eat a burger."
Madeleine: "Do they sleep in the grass?"
Me: "Doing some homework, are we?"
Madeleine: "I have this new game. Where do Giraffe's sleep ?" (Dad's note: Madeleine has an electronic game)
Me: "In a bed?"
Madeleine: "You are not helping my score."

Bluto and Brown

"Animal House", 1978

A further sign my alma mater losing out : Brown not ranked in the Playboy-Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Top 10 party schools (Univ of Virginia #1).  When I was in college , we took some pride in being #13 and sniggered at places like Columbia and their uptight core curriculum and Latin requirements.  This was Brown in the '80s, trendy and full of confidence : the "experiment", introduced in '68 by Ira Magaziner, of zero academic requirements, pass or no-pass classes and no pluses nor minuses on traditional alphabet grades and anything lower than a "C" gone from the transcript  - well, that was all so vanguard. ..

I still get a lot of heat from my i banking friends who went to Harvard or Wharton Undergrad or some such place where the students forced to, you know, show up.  I recall, post college, interviewing candidates for Financial Analyst jobs and, without exception, the UPenn applicants presentable, able to use an HP12c, and could tell me the difference between a stock and a bond. Brown, on the other hand put up some awful kids ( tweed jackets, corduroy trousers .. one gal told me she had dyslexia) but also the very best . Brown always had something interesting to talk about.

Overall I felt the school got it mostly right : a fun place to learn, be challenged, find one's way and to party. This is all a part of the growing up (of course I did not think this at First Boston, where I was murdered for not knowing a balance sheet . .. ).  And these memories become all the more valuable the farther from the experience