Madeleine 24

Here is Madeleine at Day One of life. As any parent says: time goes by fast so enjoy the moment. I can say: when this photo taken time did not go by fast but there was enjoyment. Madeleine had lungs like a bull-horn and a stubborn personality from the git-go. She had no problem wailing for hours until given the midnight nip or a little comfort from mum. This holds remarkably true today where our little girl sets her mind to something and works hard for it - or screams murder otherwise. This morning, for instance, Eitan and I work out various clock times. Madeleine, who has not done this in school, sits on the side-line chirping her guesses: "1:05? 15:36? 100:45?!" She's not ready to call it quits when we move on to something else and I promise her that we will get the hours and minutes sorted out together.

Mel Ramos

The notorious and "utterly questionable" pop artist Mel Ramos has surfaced in the West End - pictured. The W1 showing is a first for the artist most famous for his 1960s sexy nudes and naked B-movie stars draped around over-sized cigars, cigarette packs, tooth-paste tubes and other familiar 1950s house-hold products. At the same time Andy Warhol was trolling pop culture with his Elvises and Marilyns, which netted greater introspection and long-lasting attention. Unlike Warhol, Ramos did not fuse depth and pop trash - he was only trashy and so objectionable to the critical masses. I, lighter than air, intend to ogle the great ogler.

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.

Will somebody make this bad weather go away? Who would have thought in April we worried about a draught after the driest winter/ spring in 200 years. Now the Midlands are flooded and Sheffield's river Sheaf over-flows. The city unprepared, of course, for the rising - people evacuated by helicopter and boat. In London it comes and goes but grey and overcast since April, it seems. Today the kids beg off football but I take them anyway. Madeleine scores a hat-trick (three goals) and is the Player Of The Day. From there we do various indoor activities as Sonnet is at her Choda conference. When Eitan attends a birthday party I take Madeleine for ice cream and we amuse ourselves making rock candy.

Poolside Olympians

Here are the kids after today's swimming lesson. Both now are part of the "Long Lane Club" which I made up on the fly and is self explanatory. Buy your T-shirt now. Following the pool we return home for dinner and a movie- our Friday evening tradition (tonight's showing: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"). Over dinner Eitan and Madeleine discuss who is smarter: Tony Blair or Santa Clause. I think it's a draw but I can't be sure.

“I swam my brains out.”
Mark Spitz

Today

Returning from Paris, I pick up Eitan and Madeleine this afternoon as Sonnet chairs the CHODA Conference at the Courdault Institute of Art. On the walk home I ask Madeleine if she has had any Big Thoughts like where the universe ends? She instead describes seeing an elephant swim with its nose above water (she then draws a picture for me when home). I sing during the walk, which raises Eitan's ire. When I ask if girls are looking for smootches I go too far and he sulks. Last night a car bomb in front of Mayfair's Tiger-Tiger club was foiled - the police estimate over 1,700 could have been killed.

Quai Branly

The Musée du quai Branly, nicknamed MQB, is in Paris seventh arrondisement and where I have a lemon cake and take this picture. Jacques Chirac was an influential proponent of the project which cost $236 million and opened in June 2006. As with Chirac, some French hate it. I also take a photo of the nearby Eiffel Tower for Madeleine. When I ask Mathieu, who is from Paris, what the French think of Americans he shrugs and says "boof." What he means to say is that the French feel culturally superior but cowed by US wealth and influence where they know deep-down that they will never compete. It is a love-hate thing.

"You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.”

“For glory gives herself only to those who have always dreamed of her.”

Both qoutes from Charles de Gaulle

Helsinki

I start today with a run along the Gulf of Finland by the Baltic Sea. Afterwards, I learn that Helsinki's early settlement in 1550 survived plagues, wars and poverty while overshadowed by its Baltic trading neighbors. It was not until Russia defeated Sweden in the 1809 Finnish War annexing Finland that the city began to prosper. Russia's influence remained strong and the city was eventually controlled by the Red Guard following the 1918 Civil War (German troops helped expel them). In WWII, aerial bombings of the Winter War (1939-40) and the Continuation War (1941-44) brought the Soviets who, at their worst in 1944, dropped some 16,000 bombs in and around the city. This trip I stay at the Hotel Kamp in the center of town.

Mask

Madeleine and I end our afternoon together. Today I am off to Helsinki for work, returning tomorrow. Yesterday Gordon Brown became leader of the Labour Party and will succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister on Wednesday following a wait of ten years. There is speculation that he will hold a national election within twelve months to secure his base which has steadily declined following Iraq and the various scandals dogging Tony. Wimbledon begins today - it rains (of course).

Jelly

I take this photo at the Aquarium. Did you know that a jelly fish is 98% water and can be found in every ocean of the world? This little fellow's sting would kill you.

It rains today and I leave the house early to lift weights. The rest of the morning is spent doing a small computer chore which ends up taking all day. In the middle, Madeleine and I visit the London Aquarium catching the train to Waterloo- half the fun. She is enthralled by the sharks and rays and loves the "petting tank" where the fish come right up for a feel. Madeleine has her face painted and has no problem approaching strangers to discuss her condition. We return home and the kids compare their afternoons.

I ask Madeleine: "what time is it when Big Ben strikes six times?"
Madeleine: Five?

Me to Madeleine: "Do you know what month it is?"
Her: "One month until we go on holiday."

Playing twenty questions:
Madeleine: "Is it a boy?"
Me: No.
She: Is it girl?
Me: Yes.
She: Does she have straight hair?
She: Does she have curly hair?
She: Is her hair short?
She: Does she wear it in a bobbin?
She: Does she give me treats?
She: Is it Auntie Katie?
Me: Yes.

All England

Eitan and Madeleine yesterday, post-football. When I ask Eitan what he is thinking says he: "I was cranky because you are taking my picture." Madeleine scores a thumping goal that morning and is disappointed to learn that I did not see the action. She drags me across the pitch to her coach, to validate the score. "See, Dad! I did it!" (Madeleine has been known to create a goal or two).

Last night we have dinner with Scott and Cindy. Scott turned 60 in May and with my birthday we make up a Centaurian. A magnum of champagne is in order which I supply. Friday night we dine with Natalie and Justin beginning with a drink at Dukes. They too have something to celebrate: Justin's company (he is CEO) was sold last month to Allianz for €773MM. Cracking.

Solstice

This photo of Stonehenge taken from the side opposite the A303 highway, which is a travesty. The prehistoric monument is in the county of Wiltshire about 8 miles from Salisbury (famous for the Canterbury Tales). Archaeologists believe the standing stones were erected around 3200 BC and the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO'S list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. Every year freaks, hippies and tourists gather at the rocks to celebrate the summer solstice and the weirdness of being alive. Sonnet and I visited for the first time in 1998 with Mike and Gretchen Bransford.

Refreshment!

Eitan scores a Coca Cola at our new favorite bratwurst house Steinz. The restaurant is located on the River Thames in Richmond and presents a nice walk before a meal. On this particular day, the boy and I do some CD shopping and he picks out the new Gorillaz album while I choose something by Blur, Wilco and Feist. From Steinz we stroll to Richmond Square and sit in the sun for a while then ice cream and home.

Cardiff

Sonnet organises a Happy 4-0 where I celebrate my new life at a five star hotel and concert. She and I take Wednesday and today for ourselves, leaving London for room service and spa therapy easing my anxiety: can I really be this old? Normally I don't care about my age but somehow a new decade seems like, well, a milestone. When I visit Silicon Valley, one is assumed over-the-hill by 28. In London the hedge fund managers are in their early 20s. Happily, I think the most entertaining are ahead and certainly Eitan and Madeleine add to this fun.

Eitan has a play-date with school chum Harriet who says: "Lets do sums!" Eitan replies enthusiastically: "Mom! Mom! we want to do sums! May we have some paper please?" The rest of the afternoon is spent filling the white sheets with additions and subtractions.

Monkeys!

Paul and Lorena join us in Cardiff to see the Arctic Monkeys thanks to Christian Wright, who supplies us tickets God Bless Him to the sold-out concert. The Monkeys are a Sheffield phenom whose second album recently put 17 tracks in the Billboard Top 100 - the Beatles did not do that. The performance arena feels like a high school gym and is jammed with young people milling about drinking beer and smoking fags. The lads have perfectly mussed hair and stripy shirts while the girls are tarty- average age must be 22 or same as the band. The music is loud, fast and thumping and there is a crush towards the center stage when it starts. Sonnet and I dance wildly, looking at our youth.

What to do?

Bonus photo

Eitan loves the slide and with his pals makes um-teen runs down the shoot gleeful and vocal all the way.

Little Dancers

Our Fair earns about £16,000 ($32,000) which goes straight to the school. The community turns out in force and everybody seems to have a good time. At one point, I lead a parade of cowpokes and Indians on a rousing victory lap around the school grounds (oh, pied-piper I) then tell an on-the-fly story of Kit Kat Cowboy and Jesse James indoors as the rain falls. We have the fancy dress competition which goes to two well costumed and wide-eyed five year olds. Personally I am exhausted by day's end and glad it is done with so that I may now concentrate my time on .... work!

Cotton

Sonnet and the kids arrive at the fair and go straight for the junk food. They also pick up some junk including a bike, green stuffed turtle, hand-held pinball, tea cups (which Madeleine hides under her bed), and other various treasures. Overall and despite the weather we have a great turnout and good spirit- when the torrential rains arrive nobody bails (sorry). There is a scramble to the indoors school hall and me shutting down the sounding and electrics ordering the surprised kids to drop their electric guitars and other accoustics. Of all British stereotypes this one true: summer fair - England - June - RAIN.

Octopus

Worker bees arrive at 0700 yesterday morning to set up for the fair. On offer is one large bouncy castle, space-ball, cotton candy, shoot-the-goalie, jousting, 15 stalls, make-up, open bar, tambolee, BBQ, prizes, cakes, candies, good humour, various activities and this here two story giant octopus slide - pictured. Hanging over us are enormous grey clouds floating across the sky. We discuss the weather and everyone positive "no rain". The fate is opened at 12noon by Angie Best, who tells me she spent the better part of her life in Malibu. She speaks. It rains.

Fair Tomorrow

The Summer Fair which I am organising, is nigh and tomorrow represents three months hard-work by the school community. The mums, and some dads, are out in full force today setting up and installing their stalls, shows, dances, parades, games, stages and other activities. Angie Best will open the grounds at 12 noon Saturday and then it's a free-for-all. Today, in preparation, is a strangely named "Muftie" which is an English thing where the children don't have to wear their school kit. Instead, the kids arrive in cowboy and cowgirl outfits (some Indians too). Madeleine shows off her pink cowboy boots and pink western shirt from Colorado (all the mums coo over the boots) and wears her red bandanna train-robber style - I tell her she looks like Jesse James which she does not like (He's a BOY, dad!). Eitan sports his red cowboy hat and we all look fab. The program cover pictured selected from a school competition.

The Duck

Today I listen to a program on BBC Radio 4 about ducks. I learn that the fowl is considered the most amusing in Britain. Of all animals, mind you. Supporting the BBC is a scientific survey of 46,000 because this is Britain, after all. We love, for instance, Donald and Daffy while Jamima Puddle Duck has been a bed-time companion for many generations including Eitan and Madeleine. The favoritism, apparently, stems from the word: "duck" or "quack." When said, one is forced to smile. Try it. The sounds are forceful and resounding and quite silly and so suited for comedy the experts say. No other culture BTW values a duck.

Yoga

Here's Madeleine at Yoga Bugs, which she enjoys several early mornings a week before school. The class is led by local mum Peggy and attracts some dedicated yoga die hards - who bring along their kids. For the most part it is easy fun and requires Madeleine to concentrate for 45 minutes on herself, which I like. Usually I or Sonnet sit on the side-line reading a book or whispering to the other parents.

The Hague

I have dinner in Rijswijk (about 20km from Rotterdam) with Jos van Gisbergen who in 2000 founded MN Services which administers the pensions of more than a million people in the Netherlands with assets of €33 billion as at now. Jos and MN are some of the largest private equity investors in Europe. We share notes on the market and people and discuss how things have changed these last ten years (more money!). We also compare funds and talk about US venture and why it does not seem to work in Europe. An enjoyable evening spent.

Summer Fair

I am responsible for the school's summer fair, which is the largest money raiser of the year (in 2006 it netted $25,000). Our theme is Wild Wild West and the kids will celebrate with a Western-style dance, parade and costume competition while us dads drink Pimms at the bar (fully licensed, thank you). The Class Reps and volunteers have come out in full force and have done a marvelous job collecting prizes, selling raffle tickets and finding sponsorship from the high street. Angie Best, wife of now deceased football legend George Best, will open the fairgrounds. The neighborhood now anxiously watches the weather forecast as there is no Plan B.

Barney

My friend Barney Pell invites me to screen-test his company Powerset, which provides internet search using natural language algorithms. Barney is a former NASA scientist and entrepreneur who I know from London though he now lives in SV. If anybody were to take on Google, he's your guy. Barney recently raised $12.5MM from Esther Dyson and the founders of Paypal and other investors.

Biotech

Today Mathieu and I model a life sciences portfolio that we may bid for Friday. The value of the thing is around €30MM give-or-take and we are trying to get it on the cheap - but value is in the eye of the owner. Biotech has been a terrible place to be an investor the last seven years and Europe can count on two hands its successful IPOs. M&A, while also limited, has been more robust. Nobody doubts Europe has its share of brains. What it lacks is a vibrant entrepreneurial attitude and one big public market like NASDAQ providing liquidity. The two of course go together: it is much easier to start a company if the road is riches.

Tomorrow I fly to Amsterdam to see several pension fund investors in The Hague.

Mike

Mike is an American in London as long as us - 1997 a.d. We met at the Columbia business school and our families began at around same time: his oldest is seven. Mike will leave London 16 June for Minneapolis-St. Paul where a house with front porch and oak tree awaits on a quiet neighborly street nearby family. In other words, an easy transition. Photo before Kensington Palace just off Kensington High Street.

Busker

I walk the neighborhood with Eitan and Madeleine selling raffle tickets for the school fair. The kids get their pitch down and avoid the temptation to bolt after the hard-sell. Tickets are 50p and prizes include a weekend at Glenn Eagles home of the last European summit, theatre, bikes and other enticements. Most people buy one or two, digging deeep into their pockets for the change. Still, it is a good lesson for the kids I think.

Madeleine at dinner asks very seriously: "do people hurt penguins mum?" When Sonnet says perhaps and asks ways how, Madeleine says: "kill them!" Eitan weighs in: "they chop of their beaks and head!" and finally Madeleine: "make them into coats." (photo from US govt antarctic library)

I ask Madeleine for a favorite hobby and she says the "flower store" (she loves choosing). When asked why she replies "because they don't have to work."

Saturday

Here's Sonnet in 2003 during Eitan's infamous Hollywood try-out. Sonnet tells me just now that she does not like this photo: "I look tired" she says. I tell her she was tired - the kids were one and two.

This morning begins with wild parrots who perch in a nearby aspen . Eitan and I consider this from his bed while thinking about our day beginning with football. Both kids play hard and during a game Eitan makes a terrific cross-pitch pass to team mate Harry who thumps in a goal. Bravo! us dads cheer. Madeleine's side fairs less well: 1-5 against us. Oh well. Everybody in good spirits and we celebrate with Cokes and crisps.

From football the kids help me with yard-work then Sonnet takes Madeleine for some chores while the boy and I go to the dump to recycle our earthens and wash the car. Finding ourselves with time to spare, we go to the neighborhood common to practice football. I must admit my frailty: after an hour in the muggy heat my shirt is soaked and I am easy prey.

Seizures

Adding to the absurdity of the London 2012 brand, The Times reports that the logo may cause epileptic seizures. My complaint is that it is miserable. This brain lateral cross section taken from neurology.edu. In approximation, the more dense a material is, the whiter a volume of it will appear on the scan (just as in the more familiar "flat" X-rays). CT scans are primarily used for evaluating swelling from tissue damage in the brain and in assessment of ventricle size. Modern CT scanning can provide reasonably good images in a matter of minutes, like this one.

“The price of your hat isn't the measure of your brain.”
African-American proverb

Selfish Gene

Emily Kasriel invites me to the BBC World Services Book Club at Bush House to hear Richard Dawkins speak about his evolutionary theory: "all life evolves by the differential survival of replicating entities" most famously put forward in The Selfish Gene" in 1971. I happily agree as Arthur Garrison and I read the book in 2003 which we discussed on one of our many London walks. The show will broadcast 29 July and to reach 60 million; I ask a question: "how does the selfish gene reconcile non-propagating traits like homosexuality." Woo-hoo! Following Dawkins, I jump a taxi and tell the driver I have seen the world-famous writer. His reply: "He can't be fuck'n famous, mate, cuz I've never heard of 'im". We then have a rousing conversation about England football, project houses and the troubles with Britain. At the end he shakes my hand as I receive my change which is something quite extraordinary, really.

After Dawkins, Sonnet and I say goodbye to Mike and Gretchen Bransford, who have a going away party in South Kensington Mike is a friend from business school and the Bransfords are our longest-held American friends in London. It is sad for us to see them go.

Cemetary

Katie and grace in front of tombs in new Orleans' St Louis #1 cemetery. In the background is the tombof Marie Laveaux, the famous voodoo queen. According to Katie, "you make an offering to the queen of one penny and three marks on her tomb. In return, Laveaux might do some black magic and grant your wish. The tomb is covered in marks."

Madeleine contemplates Santa Clause this morning, noting that St Nick "doesn't know everything." I ask Madeleine if Claus knows whether she has shouted, cried or pouted and she replies: "of course dad, that's his job." I push a little further to see what happens if there is a fire in the fireplace? "Well" says Madeleine, "first he would try another chimney and then he would knock on the front door. Or go through an open window." And there, I might add, you have it.

Gore

Katie crashes her rental bike in a trolley track and has to go to the emergency room. They glue her chin back together, instead of stitches. Research in the UK, based on hospital based samples, finds that 72% of cyclist accidents involved no other vehicle at all, and that 7% were claimed to be caused by motor vehicles. This contrasts with another analysis which found that between 60% and 85% of serious cyclist injuries are the result of negligence by a motor driver. A study conducted in 2000 by the Institute for Road Safety Research in the Netherlands found that single bicycle accidents accounted for 47% of all bicycle accidents, collisions with obstacles and animals accounted for 12%, and collisions with other road users accounted for 40% (with the remaining 1% having unknown or unclassified cause).

New Orleans

The Orensteins in New Orleans doing construction work, painting and other like-related repair projects and to see again the city. Grace says: "We are on our way to a great restaurant, Matt and Naddie's, then to hear a jazz protoge' of Ellis Marsellas." Dad says: "great Creole food, hard work, lots of fun." Katie: "one of the rotary guys has nick named dad "mo-town."

Bubble

From Wolfram's MathWorld, a bubble is a minimal-energy surface of the type that is formed by soap film. The simplest bubble is a single sphere, illustrated above by J. M. Sullivan. More complicated forms occur when multiple bubbles are joined together. The simplest example is the double bubble, and beautiful configurations can occur when three or more bubbles are conjoined. An outstanding problem involving a bubble is the determination of the arrangements of bubbles with the smallest surface which enclose and separate n given volumes in space.

While on the subject, a one-bed flat is being marketed in Central London for £3 million or about $6 million. Guests presumably would sleep on a fold-out futon.

2012

This piece of shit is the Olympic brand for our 2012 games after £400,000 invested and 12 months of PR work. Unveiled yesterday by Olympian and Olympic custodian Seb Coe, the design has been called a "broken swastika", a "scribbled joke" and even a "toiletting monkey" by Fleet Street. When asked, London's communist mayor Ken Livingstone says he is not going to "get into a sub-orgasmic state over it." Amen. Already an online petition protesting the logo has attracted 10,000 signatures in 24 hours. Our original logo during the candidacy phase was brilliant:The ribbon of course represents the Thames and the downward loop the Isle of Dogs.

April 2003

Here's Madeleine on 21 April 2003, or when she was 14 months. Doggie of course is ever present. For those keeping score as at today, Eitan weighs 26.4kg and and is 132cm (58 lbs and 4 feet, 4 inches) and Madeleine is 22.5kg and 120cm (49.4 lbs and 3 feet 11 inches). This is a 3-4% increase across the board since January.

Katya

Here are Katie and Katya, a friend from Capoeira in New York and Berkeley. The two are in New Orleans and have finished painting one of the school rooms of Warren Eastern High School on Canal St, which was flooded by Katrina.