Rough House

Madeleine and my rough-housing goes too far and she grabs my glasses, angry. I warn her that if she doesn't give them back NOW I am going to pin her to the ground and spit on her forehead. She throws the glasses, pictured, and I pin her down and spit on her forehead. I also tickle her mercilessly.  She is upset for at least the afternoon but that is how it goes in the Big Top.

Madeleine: "I know what we can do about the Christmas tree."
Me: "The Christmas tree?"
Sonnet: "You said you never wanted to see another Christmas tree in the house. Because it makes a mess."
Me: "I did?"
Madeleine: "We can get a fake one! Then there will be no leaves."
Me: "A fake Christmas tree?"
Madeleine: "Yeah! And we can use it over and over again."
Me: "Good plan."
Madeleine: "Thanks, Dad."
Me: "And why don't we put it on the roof of the house during the rest of the year?"
Madeleine: "Can we?!"
Sonnet: "Your Dad is just joking, Madeleine. Jeff now stop that."
Me: "Who said I was joking?"

Madeleine: "Do you think a fast dog or a slow car is faster?"

Chump Change

Madeleine and Tallie, who is about six months now, and otherwise belongs to Sonnet's cousin Maire and Turk (photo taken in Denver last month).

Really, these banks : a "rogue" trader in "Delta One" blows $2 B from the UBS balance sheet. This is a shitload of money for one guy even with the billions and trillions sloshing around to save our banks and i bankers. Since you asked BTW : Delta One creates securities that allow retail clients to instantly trade indices or other underlying assets like gold or shares, as closely as possible, which is not easy to do for the average punter. The banks responsible for hedging these exposures (hence , balance sheet exposure). The profit is made from the hedges and margins or fees from clients.  If the trade goes wrong, or the hedge not applied, the bank can lose a lot of money. The only good news from the UBS debacle is, once again, it suggests that i banks should be separated from commercial banks.

Three years ago Lehman went under. Three other banks failed, too : Citibank, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS. Without government intervention, our economy would have stopped, ie, we would not have had an economy.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

CYD

CYD, a 1962 Jaguar E-Type, with David since '97 and recently spruced up and glowing. The two-seater a proper touring auto with enough room in the boot for two leather week-enders and perfectly matched for the British countryside or the summer Alps.

Me, I had a vintage '73 BMW 2002 in college, purchased from a Brown prof with my own money in '87 , and only 25K miles. Unfortunately I was no mechanic and the machine spent some considerable time in the shop : like the time a water hose burst and melted the engine rods on the fist-day of classes with me caught at a cross-walk between the Sci Li and the engineering center. Not only embarrassing but costly : repairs about what I paid for the thing. Still, behind the wheel, I felt like a million bucks : young entrepreneur, in college , cool car. Life, ahead.

The Jaguar E-Type manufactured by in Britain between 1961 and 1975. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing established the marque as an icon of 1960s motoring. A great success for Jaguar, more than 70,000 E-Types were sold during its lifespan.

In March 2008, the Jaguar E-Type ranked first in the Daily Telegraph's list of the "100 most beautiful cars" of all time. In 2004, Sports Car International magazine placed the E-Type at number one on their list of  Top Sports Cars of the 1960s.

Butty

David, Eitan, Johny and I out the door to the Saturday farmer's market for a bracing cup of coffee and a bacon butty, which would be a bacon on two slabs of white, buttered, bread+HP Sauce, optional. The butty can also be sausage or, my favorite, a chip butty , to be read with The Sun and a black coffee , or beer, in a white van on the way to work somewhere, without seatbelts , middle passenger asleep over the gear stick and probably hungover.

Eitan realises mom not around so begs for a chocolate chip cookie, and I relent, followed later by lollies. Kids and sugar. I read an article that sugar is toxic which is not surprising as US sugar consumption increased from 30 pounds a year in 1980 to 84 in 2009, in line with obesity and diabetes. 16% of an American's daily caloric intake now comes from sugar additives, up from 11% in '77. Teens (ages 14 to 18) consume 129 lbs a year. Think about this at the grocery store as you handle a pound of it. A Dairy Queen Health Blizzard BTW has 24 added teaspoons of sugar; 20 oz Pepsi: 17. M&M's have 7 and one oreo: 3.5 (Sources: US Dept of Ag, Company websites)

"A chip sandwich, chip barm, chip cob, chip butty, chip muffin, piece-n-chips (Scottish), or hot chip sandwich (Australian) is a sandwich made with bread or bread roll (usually white and buttered) and hot chips (i.e. French fries), often with some sort of sauce such as ketchup or brown sauce. It was originally considered a working-class meal and was served in pubs. The word butty is a contraction of 'bread and butter', that came from northern England, perhaps Yorkshire or Liverpool. Variants include chip bap or barm, using a floury bap or barm cake instead of white sliced."

--Wikipedia

Whoop!

'Netta, who has given up Hanna Montana (Sooo yesterday) and now into Harry Potter and building forts bonds with Madeleine over Harry Potter and .. building a fort.  The latter made from sticks, straw and grass and leaves, behind a hedgerow, that provides further cover. Actually, Madeleine corrects me : "It is a camouflage, Dad". Eitan, excluded, tries to do harm and yours, truly, charged with yelps of rage from the gals. Yep, seems about right.

AC And The Microscope

We spend the weekend with Dave and Tabitha  - here, AC checks out a Corn Flake @ 40X.

Larry Lieberman

My uncle Larry, the husband of my Dad's sister, Joy, has passed. Larry's life blessed with family and friends as well as interesting work and causes. He made a difference, and will be missed by us all.

The St. Louis Today obituary by Michael Sorkin, below.

"When Larry Lieberman, who died this week, and his wife tried to get a loan in 1962 to build an addition to their University City home, they were turned down because "the neighborhood was changing."
That was the beginning of what became known as "block busting."
As African-Americans started to move into nearby homes, real estate agents offered nervous white residents low prices to move out. The agents then sold the homes to black families at higher prices and high interest rates.
"All the white families other than mine moved away," recalled a daughter, Denise Lieberman of St. Louis.
Larry Lieberman was appointed to the City Council in 1965 and was elected the following year. He served for a total of 29 years, with a 10-year break in the middle. He fought block busting and championed fair housing laws in University City, which became one of the first municipalities in the state to adopt an open-housing ordinance.
Lawrence Lieberman died Wednesday (Sept. 7, 2011) at Barnes-Jewish extended care facility in Clayton. He was 85 and was diagnosed in February with congestive heart failure, his family said Thursday.
Mr. Lieberman was the only son of two Russian immigrants who opened a corner grocery on the south side of Chicago during the Depression. They gave credit to so many hungry neighbors that they nearly went broke.
They were the only Jewish family in the neighborhood. Young Larry was short and carried a violin and often had to run home to avoid being beaten by neighborhood bullies.
At 18, Mr. Lieberman left college to serve as a radioman on the Indianapolis and other ships in World War II.
He returned to the University of Illinois, where he noticed Joy Orenstein on her first day on campus. He immediately asked for a date, proposed a month later and they married a year later.
They moved to her hometown, University City. He became a civil engineer at McDonnell Douglas and worked on the space and defense programs.
On the City Council, Mr. Lieberman cast the tiebreaking vote to give Joe Edwards the liquor license that enabled him to open Blueberry Hill in 1972.
"Larry was one of the few who thought that Delmar would come back," Edwards recalled. "He supported me then and over all these years."
Mr. Lieberman also supported the business district on the Olive Street corridor, now known for its many Asian shops and restaurants.
On race relations, Mr. Lieberman was always at the forefront of fighting for equality, recalled Paul Schoomer, a former book store owner who served on the City Council with Mr. Lieberman.
"In municipal politics, individuals don't do things," Schoomer added. "Decisions are collective. But he was brilliant at helping to form coalitions and consensuses."
Former state senator Wayne Goode recalled Mr. Lieberman's "caring nature about people. He always tried to do things well, do things right."
Mr. Lieberman was president of the Missouri Municipal League, president of the St. Louis County Municipal League and served on the governor's Council on Aging.

He was a founding member of the African-American/Jewish Dialogue Task Force, sponsored by the Urban League and the Jewish Community Relations Council, who have met monthly for 20 years to explore conflicts.
His wife, Joy Lieberman, served 24 years on the University City School Board.
Mr. Lieberman retired from the City Council in 2004. He continued to publish his popular "U City News" newsletter, which frequently described events in a sentence or two.
"He just got right to the point," Edwards said.

Survivors in addition to his wife and daughter include another daughter, Sharon Cohn of Tucson, Ariz.; three sons, David Lieberman of Portland, Ore., Mark Lieberman of Denver and Daniel Lieberman of Normandy; and nine grandchildren."

Slow Burn

Here is something I did which Sonnet didn't like too much, pictured. That would be  the "Rapidfire Chimney Starter"(TM) for the BBQ coals which I flame up on our stove-top.

Here are some further, astounding, stats from Uncle Sam  :
-America's entitlements (SS, Medicare and Medicaid) in 2010 equaled  India's GDP, the 9th largest economy in the world

-US interest payments would be 188% higher at historical rates (30 yr average) of 6%, which would add an $290 B to the 2010 budget (and $370 B to 2009)

-57% of US tax-dollars go to entitlements, 20% defense, 16% "other" and the remainder, 6%, to Interest

-America spent $97 B on education in 2010 and $724 B on healthcare or 7.5X more on healthcare

Is this the right way to spend our money?
Young people had better wake up and , at the very least, vote.

Self Portrait XX

Every day , until September 11, the BBC gives 30 minutes of prime morning time to 9-11, allowing ten artists, writers and poets to reflect upon the moment.  There are also interviews of survivors, their families, fire fighters and New Yorkers who remember the day.  Despite being an American tragedy, 9-11 owned by Britain and much of the world.

Madeleine and I walk the dog in Richmond Park.
Madeleine: "Can we talk about geckos?"
Me: "Sure. Aren't you going to get a Leapard gecko?"
Madeleine: "I like them but I would have to feed them a baby mouse. Every month."
Me: "Really?"
Madeleine: "Yes. They would be frozen."
Me: "That doesn't sound too bad. I bet they are like a gummy bear. You eat those, don't you?"
Madeleine: "A gummy bear dead mouse? Right, Dad."
Me: "I'm just suggesting. ."
Madeleine: "It would still be a dead mouse. And I couldn't do that."
Me: "You love animals, don't you?"
Madeleine: "Yeah."

Counter Terrorism

Members of China's armed police demonstrate a rapid deployment during an anti-terrorist drill held in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province July 2, 2008, roughly one month ahead of the Beijing Olympics.(Xinhua/Fan Changguo Photo)

US counter-terrorism spend since 9/11: $1 trillion (The Economist; estimate, true figures top secret and unknown). There is little to no oversight, either. Hi-tech equipment, often developed for Iraq or war, now used by contractors on US citizens outside the law and without a warrant, as reported by the Washington Post. The largest US anti-terrorist facility located next to the Baltimore airport and a massive complex housing communications, equipment and people and multiple programs outsourced by the Government often without Congressional approval. "Wastage" could be greater than 60% of expenditures.

"[After 9/11] The government said, 'We're facing an enemy we don't understand, we don't have the tools to deal with it, here's billions ... of dollars and a blank check after that for anybody with a good idea to go and pursue it,' Not only does the government find it difficult to get its arms around itself, [but now] it doesn't know what's inside, it doesn't know what works, it doesn't know what doesn't work. And nobody still, 10 years later, is really in charge of those questions."
--Dana Priest, co-author "Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State" and Washington Post reporter

Cord - Healthcare - A quote

After intense deliberation, anxiety and back-tracking : we choose an interior colour for 45, pictured. It goes on today.

Here are the bullets on American healthcare you should know (source KPCB.cm, USA Inc.) :
- More Americans on government healthcare programs than ever : 1 in 50 received Medicaid in 1965. 1 in 6 in 2009

- Medicaid enrollment up 12X and benefits have increased 4X since 1966

-Enrollment has grown faster than the population over 40 years (12X vs 1.6X)

-Healthcare costs rising: 1.2% to 8.2% of GDP from 1960 to 2008, respectively (or 7X increase)

-We outspend other nations in healthcare:  US healthcare spending equals all 34 OECD countries (our Western World peer group) combined


-Yet this investment not paying off:  the US ranks #1 in MRIs, #30 in obesity and #22 in heart attack

And it won't get better somehow : Aging population+declining work support. Case study #1: Japan. Case study #2: Greece

Sonnet attends traffic school for various driving violations : Quote from her course leader, Angie, who says, in all seriousness with an East End accent, "You may think you're going out for a drive to admire the bluebells, but it's really the Killing Fields out there".

School, Day 1

We now have a fifth- and a sixth-grader in the house. Go figure. This morning the usual school-work day scramble as both kids up late having become a bit too comfortable sleeping in until whenever. Jackets lost, new shoes - misplaced! - bags filled. Of course : rain.  Sonnet madly blow dries her hair. Cereal! Toast! Juice! Bowls clatter, the counter covers w/ detritus. Madeleine debates walking to school by herself but we agree to wait a few weeks. The clock ticks to 0830h, which puts Eitan on edge: "We have to go!" I don't help things much by insisting on a photo, pictured.  Lee, who is painting our inside house "caramel" - drinks his coffee, in a protected corner, as the activity moves by him.  Rusty gets into the action, bouncing about with some rubber thing, then chews my back pack refusing to give it back.  Finally, all sorted, and everyone : Eitan, Madeleine, Sonnet, Kamila, Rusty gone.

Swoosh

Laurance in town for the day between Croatia and California so Lars and I visit him for lunch in South Kensington.  Laurance's career continues at hedge fund Passport Capital, which made a mint shorting the sub-prime market, while Laurance manages $700 M of energy stocks - specifically, horizontal drilling , which reminds me of my first valuation at First Boston, Burlington Resources, who introduced this concept increasing their proven and probable reserves but some factor.  That was 1989. Laurance up 60% this year and similar performance in 2010. Nice going.

I have known Laurance since the Internet go-go years when he started a company that made it out of block but failed to cross the finish line, like many of us early Internet jockies. From London he moved to San Francisco and investing, married in Carmel Valley, and bought a chunk of land off Lucas Valley Road which looks over rolling hills to the bay.  I had no idea you could still do this sort of thing.  Laurance designing, and building, a house so he and his wife take an architecture class. Now that, we can all agree, the way to go about it.

Me: "Are you ready to go back to school?"
Madeleine: "Yeah, I'm really excited about it."
Me: "Great, what are you looking forward to most?"
Madeleine: "Art class on Thursday. Every Thursday, at lunch, I think: Art class is next and I am really happy."
Me: "It's nice to have things like that."
Madeleine: "Yeah. But sometimes I don't  like Sundays though."
Me: "Me, too. I used to get really anxious. All that work ahead."
Madeleine: "Do you still have that?"
Me: "Not as much but sometimes. Monday is my second favorite day of the week. B/c I can get stuff done."
Madeleine: "What's your first?"
Me: "Friday."
Madeleine: "Me , too."

4 and 44

Eitan in Elm Grove kit. He is given number "4", same as Cesc Fabregas of Barcelona.

And a reality check : here are the things I like about 44 :
Not worrying about what I will become.  For most of my 20s all I wanted was out of what I was doing. My 30s : more of whatever it was. Now : it is what it is. A Chinese proverb, or so I was told 20-years ago by a Chinaman: "At 45 you know your destiny"


Loneliness: gone with Eitan
Financial security : some years good, others close. Badda-bing, badda-boom. Same as it ever was

Interesting, fabulous, friends in lots of cool places
Local state primary school
Being the oldest at a concert and not caring.  Going to a concert
Health : wife and kids. Mine, too
Making a perfect martini or Dukes
Having exactly the dog I have always wanted
Reading Gravity's Rainbow with 40 pages to go. Not caring ten years later

Comprehensive health care insurance. That didn't happen until, like, too recently
The world's important museums inside walking distance along the Thames
Lake Alpine, Big Trees and the Rockies' Western Slope
Going from 20-strokes for a 25 yd swimming lap to 12.
Five perfect photos from 1000s
The Globe theatre, Claridges and Richmond Park
Summer solstice
Not living in Ohio
The New Yorker
Sonnet

And things I don't:
Cal football: 53-years, no Rose Bowl
Running : tendinitis , both Achilles
London's cost of living. Most drivers
The Underground
Winter sunrise, 9AM
Not being near the Pacific Ocean
Failing to break 3-hours in the marathon
Anything beyond the M25
The Republican Tea Party
Pining for the California of my yuf
"Every age has its charms"

Jaws

Eitan, for these past several months, begs me to watch Jaws. And last night I relent. It is as good a time as any as Sonnet and Madeleine to Chichester to see the Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahla exhibition (Sonnet notes the gallery mainly Kahla's self-portraits from a collection in Mexico "and it is amazing that this little museum in Chichester can negotiate a loan of this size from a place like that.").  In 1975, when Jaws in the theaters, I, too, begged my parents to see Jaws but got a donut; said Grace: "No way." Instead we waited for "The Eyes of Laura Mars".

So me and the boy and Jaws. Inconveniently England plays Bulgaria in a Euro 2012 qualifier when we wish to watch the film and I tell Eitan: "Now or never" so we go with the shark. I am pretty sure he can handle it, BTW, save the first seen where the women gets munched in horrific fashion ("It hurts! Oh, God, it hurts!") but Eitan more concerned by any nudity.  By the time Quint chomped in two (blood spurting from mouth, mouth making funny sounds like "Arrgghh!" and "Glurgleglurgle!") we are familiar with severed legs, eyeball-less skulls and a 12-year old going under.

Afterwards I ask Eitan about the experience and he shrugs. No nightmares, either. This morning he is at a five-a-side football tourney representing his primary school. They end up second out of 25. How strange it will be, one day, when he and Madeleine off to college or where ever they go ?

Madeleine Bakes

Me: "What's your favorite food."
Madeleine : "Chinese food."
Me: "Any particular dish?"
Madeleine: "Dim sum."
Me: "Anything else?"
Madeleine: "I like pasta pesto."
Me: "Coolio."
Madeleine: "Dad, do you know if we have sea salt? We have to put it in."
Me: "Put it in what?"
Madeleine: "In here." [points to her Tomato pesso]
Me: "What's the difference between sea salt and any other salt?"
Madeleine: "I don't know."
Me: "Does one taste more like the sea?"
Madeleine: "Yeah, I guess."
Kamila: "This one says 'from Atlantic.'"
Me: "Do you want to be left to your work?"
Madeleine: "Yes, please."

Eitan Cooks

We're back to our routine which means : Eitan cooks.  Here, the boy bakes a chocolate cream pie including the hard bit : the crust.  Says Eitan: "All you do, is, um, um, you crush the rich tea biscuits until they resemble fine crumbs. Then you mix it with soft butter. Then you bake it for eight minutes." Madeleine works on a Tomato pappa, using the last of the summer tomatoes which, by the way, have grown to my height and produce, so far, many tens of fruit. The secret, Aneta told me, to pick the small stalks from between the large branches then, once fully grown, strips the plants of their leaves.  Any way, it worked.

Me: "Anything you want to say for the blog?"

Eitan: "Poo!"

Madeleine: "First of all, I am getting a Gecko.  Also: Dad's hair is really messy at the moment."

Eitan: "Here's one: I don't know the difference between Tesco eggs and Able & Cole eggs."

Me: "Nice thoughts for the cosmos .. ."

Madeleine: "Thank you."

Mayfair

I'm back to work, sort of, and in Town for meetings &c. I sit in Green Park, pictured, answering emails and making calls - it is a glorious late summer's day and good to be alive.

Green Park in London's Mayfair  : beautiful people in expensive clothes. Everyone and everything on display : Range Rovers! Models! Ferraris! Mini-skirts! Toned physiques! At Cecconi's, where I breakfast, I recognise at least four investor heavyweights who munch on toast and drink coffee : Back to the salt mines, dude. England snaps to : the final summer bank holiday ushers in autumn, new school and old industry.

Europe's cycle differs from America which pretty much works all year round with a mere two-weeks vacation, on average, and Mom and Dad both holding jobs. Britain, by contrast, shuts for August along with France, Germany and Italy while the Scandis gone for July. The Greeks and Spaniards : well, they never work at all.  London's streets become navigable as traffic down maybe 15%; I get a seat on the train. Tourists pop up everywhere. The citizens chillax.

Taking advantage of summer's end , Eitan at Cyrus's over-night b-day party (probably doing maths tables) and Madeleine invites Marcus for an overnight : as Marcus has two older brothers, this like heaven for each. They watch a movie stuffing their faces with butterscotch "popcorn."

Ortho

I take Eitan to the Orthodontist.  This offers a nice reason to hang around the boy mid-week, mid-morning (In anticipation, Eitan brushes his teeth for six minutes ensuring unintentionally, Dear Reader, his gums bleeding for our visit).  Every six months or so since '08 we see the same dentist and have yet to be charged - a substantial investment for the Doc yet, given Eitan's boulders, I understand the bet: his an English smile.  But today yields hope - X-Rays show adult molars and encisors moving in perfectly repositioning teeth that otherwise go every-which-way.  Ortho rubs chin : "We still may need braces in a year or two. Definitely."


Eitan, for his part, all for braces or, at least, not concerned by the dentist who does work for the Chelsea squad and friends with Frank Lampard, Drogba and Stevie "G" (Of Liverpool).  Eitan thinks this is cool.  I think it means Expensive.

Aftewards we walk along Parsons Green in Fulham to a cafe for hot chocolate, pictured.  Eitan a delight and all sorts of curious in the innocent way a (soon to be) 11-year old can be. He refuses to discuss girls or puberty and I probably force too much on him but, as I tell Eitan, I would rather he be embarrassed now than ignorant later.

Glee

At Luton Airport. Madeleine: "Dad, do you realise you just left Eitan?"

Me: "It will teach that little chocolate muncher a lesson."

Madeleine: "No offense, Dad, but you are not very responsible to your kids."

Me: "What do you think Madeleine will be like as a teenager?"

Eitan: "Party animal."

Me: "Why do you think that?"

Eitan: "I dunno."

Bond

Nat and Noa @ 2,500 meters.

After Mont Fort, we bike a winding trail down from the snow capped mountain-peak through alpine terrain to lush grass valley fed by glacial streams; cows wander with large clanging bells. Just like Disney only here it is.

The Alps different, BTW, then the mesa or Sneffels Wilderness : the gradients steeper and the vistas cover multiple spiky ranges. From Verbier, the trails (or gondolas) take the hiker or biker to the top , no hesitation. Of course this is a ski resort : 35 lifts to 33 runs, two snowparks, one "Jardin de Neige" (a relatively flat area that is used for small children learning to ski), four cross-country pistes and two walking areas. But Verbier perhaps best known for its "off piste" trails which open the mountain in an entirely different way. Heli-skiing also an option.

Mont Fort

We visit Mont Fort at 3,300 meters, accessible by two gondolas, and snow capped despite August. The peak offers a world-class ski drop used for speed and, well, getting one's crazy on. A small hut (white arrows), reached by a third gondola, provides a 20 meter red "chute" where skiers drop in the one-kilometer piste : nearly straight down (NB there are about 30 of these courses world-wide and the distance standard for record-taking; most high altitude, reducing air resistance). Top speeds judged b/t 400-500 meters (the "timing zone") while the last 500m for slowing down. And stopping. One hopes.

The current world record for skiing is 251 km/h, held by Simone Origone. Speed skiers regularly hit 200 km/h , which is faster than the terminal velocity of a free-falling skydiver; about 190 km/h in the belly-to-earth position.

Speed skiers wear dense foam fairings on their lower legs and aerodynamic helmets to increase streamlining. Their ski suits made from air-tight latex or have a polyurethane coating to reduce wind resistance, with only a mandatory back protector to give some protection in the case of a crash. The special skis used must be 2.4 metres long and maximum 10 cm wide with a maximum weight of 15 kg for the pair. Ski boots attached to the skis by bindings. The ski poles bent to shape around the body, and must be a minimum of 1 m long.

Readers

Justin and I hang a print (behind the kids) - real man's work, which requires a new drill, leveler and various other power tools. I apply my metro-sexual as we contemplate this, and other hangings, in the apartment sans fee, as I indicate to Natalie.

Me: "This is good cake."

Sonnet: "It's chocolate cake and chocolate icing."

Madeleine: "And coconut."

Me: "Well , it's good. Well done."

Madeleine: "It's called a chocolate mountain cake."

Me: "Oh, yeah?"

Madeleine: "Because it looks like a chocolate mountain."

Sonnet: "If anybody comes into our room tonight I will kill them."

Madeleine: "Really?"

Me: "I wouldn't mess with mom right now."

Eitan: "Can we watch 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' on the computer?"

Madeleine: "Yeah, dad can we, please?"

Me: "Sure, watch the movie."

Sonnet: "What happened to no-movies on the computer because you'll go blind?"

Me: "You can't watch the movie."

Eitan, Madeleine: "What!?"

Eitan: "Mom you are such a tell tale."

Madeleine: "And you never want us to have any fun!"

Sonnet to me: "what's up with that?"

Me: "I can't keep track of this stuff."

Verbier !

We spend the long week-end with Justin and Natalie at their fabulous chalet in Verbier. The village on a south orientated terrace at 1,500 meters facing the Grand Combin massif. We are on the slope, and one feels the altitude esp. when moving. To get here we drive straight up a winding road on the east side of the Val de Bagnes, a valley south of Martigny. Justin guides us in. Sonnet cannot look, Dear Reader. And, since it is dark, I drive slow-lee, mon dieu.

Surrounding Verbier, further up the mountain and above the village, are 400 km of hiking trails, covering the chamois and ibex through the mountains, some of them covered with snow all year round. I see a number of healthy middle-age and elderly people powering along with sticks or ski poles eating fromage or salami and skipping to their joie de vivre. They will live forever. Another 200 km of mountain bike piste , carved into the mountainside, offers sweeping views of everything below. Our luck with us, too, as the weather mostly pristine accept a few puffy clouds on Saturday that break the endless blue.

Photo, from Nat and Justin's deck, of wester Pennine's Grand Combin - at 4,314 meters, one of the largest mountains in the Alps - eternally covered by snow and glaciers (hidden by the cloud bank).

This evening, Madeleine: "I did something bad today."

Me: "Oh?"

Madeleine: "I tried to dig up Monty. To see what his bones look like."

Me: "And?"

Madeleine: "And there wasn't anything left. Only one bone."

Me: "Thank goodness."

Madeleine: "Are you going to put that on your blog?"

Me: "Yeah, so?"

Madeleine: "Don't!"

Me: "It's my blog. Why not?"

Madeleine: "Dad, I don't want everybody to know that I dig up dead hamsters."

15 Short Years

Sonnet and I celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary yesterday with a glass of Champagne at Claridges then dinner at Beirut Express, a Lebanese on the Edgware Road. Our tenth was at the "Pub and Grub" in La Veta. Photo next to blacktop exiting Utah.

Eitan spends five hours baking a surprise anniversary berry pie only to find the pie on the kitchen floor with Rusty's head, shaking back and forth furiously, covered in it. The boy cries (he tells us) but also has a sense of humor about the whole thing which, really, is quite funny. The dog looks at us, balefully, as Eitan describes the drama.

So, to Sonnet : It has been the best.

Tolstoy's "War And Peace" arrives in the poste.

Me, at the kitchen table: "Now THAT is a book."

Madeleine, distractedly, playing a video game on the iPad: "We have it already. In my room."

Me: "Really?"

Madeleine: "It's on the shelf. In my room."

Eitan: "Are you going to read it?"

Me: "It's my project for the fall."

Madeleine, matter of factly: "I've already read it."

Me:

Eitan: "You have not!"

Camilla: "What's it about?"

Madeleine: "It's about war."

Me: "And peace?"

Madeleine: "Yeah, whatever."

Eitan: "What's the last letter then?"

Madeleine: "A."

Eitan: "No it's not!"

Madeleine: "YOU wouldn't know, Eitan, since YOU'VE never read it."

Eitan reads the first sentence and marvels at the book's size.

William Bradford

Robert Weir's painting, "Embarkation of the Pilgrims" (1844), located in the Capital Building rotunda n Washington DC , which we see during our recent visit. Of particular keen interest , Katie and I direct descendants of William Bradford (white arrows in photo).

The painting depicts the Pilgrims on the deck of the ship Speedwell on July 22, 1620, before they departed from Delfs Haven, Holland, for North America, where they sought religious freedom. They first sailed to Southampton, England, to join the Mayflower, which was also making the voyage. After leaks forced the Speedwell to make additional stops in Dartmouth and then Plymouth, its passengers boarded the Mayflower. Five months later the Pilgrims settled the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. (source: US Gov)

William Bradford , an English leader of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts , elected thirty times to be the Governor upon the death of John Carver, who was Governor of the Mayflower and first-Governor of Plymouth. Bradford signed the Mayflower Compact and designated the first Thanksgiving. (Source: Wiki)

Grace, 1962

My mom , pictured, entering the Peace Corps shortly after JFK announced the program at Univ. of Michigan, where my father was a law student.

From the Peace Corps' first facebook:

"Grace, 22, was a member of the class of 1958 at XYZ High School, Columbus, Ohio. Except for a semester spent at ABC College, Switzerland, her college work has been taken at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana. She graduated in 1962 with a B.A. in English. During the summers while in College, she worked as a lifeguard instructor at a camp and also in Columbus. In addition to enjoying canoeing, swimming and camping, she finds pleasure in piano, modern dance, and painting."

From the John F. Kenney Library:
"On October 14, 1960, at 2 a.m., Senator John F. Kennedy spoke to a crowd of 10,000 cheering students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor during a presidential campaign speech. In his improvised speech, Kennedy asked, "How many of you, who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world?" His young audience responded to this speech with a petition signed by 1,000 students willing to serve abroad. Senator Kennedy's challenge to these students—to live and work in developing countries around the world; to dedicate themselves to the cause of peace and development—inspired the beginning of the Peace Corps."

John F Kennedy
"Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed—doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.

"But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land—will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace."

Thank You's

Sonnet in black pearls @ Stephan's wedding in June.

Eitan: "I'll do three."

Me: "You will do all of them."

Eitan: "Three, Dad, that's what I agreed with mom. Three a day."

Me: "I remember having to write thank you letters. But you know what? One day you'll actually want to send them."

E: "No way."

Me: "You'll enjoy writing them because you have been brought up to be civilised."

Eitab: "No I haven't!"

Madeleine: "Yeah, Dad, he was raised by a pack of wolves."

Eitan: "A pack of wolves."

Me: "Just finish them please."

Eitan: "I have to do this one again because I drew a picture of Rusty [Eitan shows me his letter] and it looks like he's having a pee. "

Me: "It looks like his willy."

Eitan: "It's his tail!"

Me: "Oh, great : Dear grandma and grandpa, thank you for all the presents this summer. Here is rusty peeing."

Eitan: "Ha ha ha!"

Me: "Well I'm glad you think it's funny."

Madeleine: "You're not going to send that, are you Eitan?"

Eitan: "I don't know."

Me: "Ever want to watch TV again?"

Eitan: "Yes."

Me: "Start over and draw the dog . Without his willy."

Eitan: "I hate writing letters."

Madeleine: "Are you going to punish Eitan?"

Me: "Look, you two, just finish your letters."

Eitan: "OK."

Me: "Thank you."

Eitan: "But only three."

Mercury Blast Off!

Mercury Redstone blasting off, November 29, 1961. The Redstone used Alcohol as its fuel and liquid oxygen as its oxidizer. At launch the vehicle weighed 60,000-pounds, stood 83.38 feet tall and produced 78,000-pounds of thrust. The Mercury Redstone engine burned for 142 seconds.

My model, the Mercury Redstone V, a direct descendant of the German V-2, designed by the German rocket engineering team led by Wernher von Braun and , from the Army's point of view, was to act as a long range artillery piece. The first Redstone flew successfully on August 20, 1953, from Cap Canaveral. In the years that followed the Redstone was developed into the tactical weapon that the army wanted, but it was never used as such. Instead, the Redstone found a better way to serve its country -- the duty of sending the first two Americans into space.

Boosting the first of the Project Mercury spacecraft into space on a sub-orbital trajectory would be the new role that the Redstone would play. Originally it was planned that all seven original astronauts would each fly atop the Redstone before each would fly an orbital mission. The first Mercury Redstone flight glitched at liftoff, only rising 2 inches - enough to pull two plugs out of the tail that were supposed to come out simultaneously. Instead they came out a micro-second apart and the abort system sensed the difference and shut the engine down - it also sensed its own shutdown and jettisoned the escape tower on the pad.

The next Mercury Redstone flight, MR-1A, was another test and was successful. Following that, MR-2 lofted "Ham" the chimp, but suffered an over-boost problem. MR-3 was scheduled to fly Alan Shepard on March 24, 1961, but when the von Braun team saw that there were ten data points of failure on the previous flight , they demanded another test. This delay in the schedule really ticked many in manned spaceflight operations who refused to give them a real Mercury capsule or let them use the MR-3 designation.

Still the von Braun team went ahead using a boilerplate capsule from the Little Joe 5B flight, an inert escape tower, and the designation MRBD for Mercury Redstone Booster Development. The flight proved out the ten corrections the team had made and effectively set the dominoes in motion that landed Americans on the moon. You see the delay it caused on Shepard's flight allowed the Russionas to place Yuri Gagain into space first. This turned a tepid US space program into a red hot space race and forced JFK to challenge the nation to go to the moon.

Politically, if Shepard had been first the attitude of the public and the politicians would have been "We won so the race is over" and landing on the moon may have remained just a dream to this day. In retrospect MRBD was, historically, the most important of the Mercurty Redstone flights for its delay.

On May 5, 1961, Shepard got his ride into space on MR-3. Only July 21, 1961, Gus Grissom flew aboard MR-4, but then the space race was so heated that the Mercury Redstone flights for the other five astronauts were cancelled as Project Mercury sped toward orbit and the use of the Atlas Booster.

Source: Flier included with Rocket Kit

My Mercury Redstone V Kit Specifications:

Skill Level 5: Extremely Challenging
Length: 13.75” (34.93 cm)
Diameter: .95" (24 mm)
Motor Mount Size: 18mm diameter
Fin Span: 2.00" (5.08 cm)
Weight (without motor): 1.25 oz (35.5 g)
Recovery Method: Plastic Parachute

Mercury V, Baby

Prior to America, I spend a good month building the Mercury V, a model rocket that broke me in my yuf. My 11-year old fingers, and patience, unable to construct the red escape tower, pictured : then, tears. This time I demonstrate , ahem, maturity, and allow, you know, glue to set or paint to dry before moving forward - basic stuff that drives me nuts.

And speaking of immediate rewards : I plan to jam a "D" engine into the thing's ass and watch it rip 1,500 ft into the air at 1,000+ feet per second. God damn I am excited by this.

Leaving Home

Russ Ellis's "Leaving Home - Scenes of Emigration, 2007-2011," on display at Smith Anderson North in San Anselmo, California (unfortunately Sonnet and I cannot attend the opening). Russ's abstract paintings and sculptures beautiful and haunting. I am struck by the inside front cover of the catalogue, pictured , taken of Russ by William Russell Ellis, Sr, in Fontana, California in 1945.

"Russ tells the story about how his daughter, Zoe, at the time about eight years old - reflected to her brother David (during a traumatic few hours of jointly sensed abandonment) that "when daddy gets home, we're going to have to talk in straight lines." Now here we are, some three decades on, and Russell the Artist has demonstrably abandoned the "straight-line" of linear communication in favor of something so different that the medium bursts to generate The Artist, Formerly Known as Russ. In this new incarnation - some would say re-incarnation - linearity is low on the totem pole of aesthetics, priorities, sensates. And the results, with no apologia, to straight-line narration, are sesate-tional. You seem to know what you make of it, and then you don't."

--Introduction to "Leaving Home - Scenes of Emigration, 2007-2011"

Rusty Comes Home

Madeleine and I drive into Surrey and the kennel where Rusty has been these past five weeks. Madeleine can barely contain herself as the handler retrieves the pooch. We hear Rusty first - yap! yap! yap! - and then mother and child reunion is only a moment away.

"now is a ship

that Captain Am

sails out of sleep

steering for dream"

--E. E. Cummings

"No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine"

--Paul Simon

Housework

Radio 4 reports on "safe places to keep valuables" and notes, when traveling, the hotel front-desk may be the least safe place for a simple reason : the traveler might forget one's items. Funny, then, that I check the family passports (American+British) at our hotel and, impatient to hit the road for Utah, engine revving, Sonnet remembers - passports ! No doubt my error otherwise discovered at DIA on the other side of the Rockies. An inconvenient, expensive, family-taxing instance narrowly averted; a marriage saved. Thank you, Sonnet.

Note from Ms. D, Madeleine's Yr 4 teacher re Madeleine's spelling : "Madeleine has made such great progress, she is showing a lot of maturity, taking responsibility for her spellings. Well done Madeleine!"

Eitan: "It would be so easy to rob the neighbors."

Me:

Eitan: "All I would have to do is climb over the garage and jump into their backyard. They never lock the doors."

Me: "That's a nice idea."

Madeleine: "Would you do it, Eitan?"

Eitan: "Well, I wouldn't get caught."

Madeleine: "They have gadgets and all kinds of stuff ."

Sonnet: "May we change this conversation, please?"

Denver Airport

Awaiting the over-night long-haul flight. These are words , Dear Reader, I do not like to put together referencing me.

Since most everywhere interesting, even an airport, here is Denver :

By land size, at 53 square miles, DIA is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel International Airport. Runway 16R/34L is the longest public use runway in the US. Denver clocks in as the ninth-busiest airport in the world with 12,873,681 passengers. It is the fifth-busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements with 606,006 movements in 2009 (source: Wiki).

Summer Groove

It has been one great , long, month as we pack the SUV for one last trip : DIA. Been here before, I feel. Our flight departs 8PM so we go to Whitney's pool club to burn off energy (kids) and sunbathe (Sonnet) before the long-haul home. Me, I swim some laps and contemplate my office and the future : summer almost over and another year nearly gone by somehow.

Me: "Looking forward to going home?"

Eitan: "I am looking forward to seeing my friends and Elm Grove [new football team]. I can't wait for Elm Grove. Also the Premiere League and seeing Manchester United on the TV.. and baking a cake. And swimming, and school I guess.

Me: "Cool, it's nice to have those things before you. And you, Madeleine?"

Madeleine: "I've got one word to say , Dad."

Me:

Madeleine: "Gecko."

Forest Rd

We head to Denver - Beecher and Whitney, pictured - where we enjoy a Sonnet family reunion : Robin, Bill, Bill, Martine, Frank, Maire and Turk and their tots. This has not been a year without cancer and loss but we are together and happy to be so. Bill's cancer has caused cracks in his upper vertebrae which require cement fillings : The good news : His mind sharp as ever and his doctor allows him to ride. Bill a photographer and we compare notes on practices and places to shoot; his backyard not so bad. Beecher makes a huge spread followed by strawberry shortcake and ice cream; the kids chase each other around the backyard despite the heat.

On Stage

Madeleine and I at a local park inside Moab.

Madeleine gets a hair-cut (feathered, like Sean Cassidy, I tell her) and (continues to be) mistaken for a boy. Waiters, cashiers, strangers overheard calling her "pal," "bud," and "dude" . , which gets a raised eyebrow from Eitan : to laugh or be respectful to an adult? Conundrum. As for Madeleine , she enjoys the recognition: Tom boy. I have been calling her "Milo" this trip, a name, we both agree, boyish. Unclear whether this will stick in London. She ditches her one-piece swimsuit for trunks and a black "Quick Silver" top; she buys black Nike trainers. Yep, that's my girl, and I could not be more proud of her. I drive her nuts with practice times-tables and various commands, teasings, and orders but she still wants my attention which, I note to Sonnet, may not be the case in a few years.

Me: "Do you think I look fat?"

Madeleine: "No, Dad, you don't look fat."

Me: "Thanks, Madeleine, that's very nice of you."

Madeleine: "If you shave off all your hair than you would look even more fit."

@ the pool.

Eitan: "Can I go on your shoulders Dad?"

Me: "No."

Madeleine: "Can you give me an underwater ride?"

Me: "No, not now. Just let me swim."

Eitan: "Let's play chicken. Or shoulder ride!"

Me: "If you don't get off me, I am going to take off my swimming suit."

Madeleine: "Quick, Eitan, let go of Dad."

I drop my swimming trunks.

Eitan, Madeleine: "Aaaaaahh!"

Balanced Rock

4AM, hello!, and I am up for Arches National Park. Eitan, who beforehand agrees-interest in joining me , immobile and snoring , so I leave him be. It is pitch black upon exiting Moab, Sunday morning, and not a car on the 191. Since 70 degrees I am in shorts and a tee-shirt and have the air conditioning "on" as I pass the deserted park-entrance (Arches open to the public 24/7, 365 days a year ) and curve up a windy rd on to the mesa. Adding some drama , my SUV informs me with a loud "beep" : no gas. I figure the fumes can get me to where I wish to be, and back , but my calculation based on nothing other than a hope , and a prayer, with a slight anxiety expressed in my mid-section.

And so here I behold Balanced Rock . The height of this magnificent ancient geo formation about 128 feet, with the balancing rock rising 55 feet above the base. The big rock on top is the size of three school buses and weighs 3,577 tons. Until recently, Balanced Rock had a companion - a similar, but smaller balanced rock named "Chip Off The Old Block", which fell during the winter of 1975/1976. It is a spiritual place and I remain in darkness , awaiting sunrise. To pass the time I do some deep breathing and yoga exercises. Magic, man. Plus I make it to a gas station.

Dead Horse Lookout, Utah

View of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park from Dead Horse Point.

The plateau, where I stand now, surrounded by 2,000 ft cliffs with a narrow neck of land maybe 30 yards wide connecting the mesa to the main plateau. It was easy for cowboys to fence off the neck and round up wild horses. Legend has it that one group of horses left fenced and eventually died of thirst in view of the Colorado River - hence the name. This where final scene of Thelma & Louise filmed.

There is a fabulously designed Ranger Station which offers the American flag, a look out deck, and, of course, all the stuff Madeleine has come to expect from a well stocked gift shop. We spend about an hour here awaiting the sunset , which disappoints thanks to a horizonal cloud layer that lessons the hues anticipated from this hour. I meet a retired couple, from Georgia, who return to this spot after 40 years; now they spend their life in a Winnebago visiting National Parks and filming, with a 16mm, what they see "for posterity".

The strata measure geo-spatial time covering 75 M years at the top to 250 M years at the band rising ten feet from the river bed (visible on the left side of the photo)

Grand County

Our first night in Moab, >100 degrees, Sonnet, Madeleine and I explore a local park behind the fancy part of town (Eitan remains in the room, smartly, to watch TV). Our reward : a brilliant sunset followed by the moonrise, pictured, which otherwise appears much bigger than my camera records

The Biblical name "Moab" refers to an area of land located on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Some believe the name used because of William Pierce, the first postmaster, believing that the biblical Moab and this part of Utah were both "the far country". However, others think the name has Paiute origins, referring to the word "moapa" meaning mosquito. Some of the area's early residents attempted to change the city's name because in the Christian Bible, Moabites are demeaned as incestuous and idolatrous. One petition in 1890 had 59 signatures and requested a name change to Vina. Another effort attempted to change the name to Uvadalia. (Source: City of Moab website)

La Sal Jnct

La Sal Junction, pictured, connects routes 191 and 46 in San Juan County, Utah, 5,886 feet altitude.

I order Eitan, who idles, to write one full page about something he has seen in the past 24-hours (mind you, Dear Reader, that we are in Arches National Park and the Canyon Valley) :

"I saw a really cool breakfast bar. It had really nice food. I had fruit salad, a blueberry muffin and hot chocolate and a really delicious cream cheese pastry and chicken sausages which I unfortunately couldn't find any ketchup for. All in all , it was a delicious breakfast that I would recommend to all my friends for the Hampton Inn breakfast bar. Plus they give out free peppermints in the lobby."

--Eitan

"Serves you right."

--Sonnet

Flume

Behind the mesh, pictured, is a 1,500 foot vertical drop to the Colorado River, whose wide swathe chisels the red sandstone.

"In need of water to work the Dolores Canyon gold claims, the Montrose Placer Mining Company built a thirteen-mile canal and flume to deliver water to from the San Miguel River. The last five miles of the flume clung to the canyon itself, running along the cliff face below. Constructed between 1888 and 1891, the four-foot-deep, five-foot-four-inch wide "hanging flume" carried 23,640,000 gallons of water in a 24-hour period. Its construction dazzled mining pros with its sheer ingenuity. The placer claim, unfortunately, dazzled no one; after three years of indifferent yields the company folded, abandoning the flume to the ravages of weather and time. Now listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this engineering marvel symbolizes the twists of fate so often encountered in the pursuit of Rocky Mountain gold."

--US National Parks plaque

"This work will show how easy it is, when backed up by engineering capital, to bring water from and to points which were always thought to be inaccessible."

--Engineering and Mining Journal, January 1890

"We're looking pretty good for mid-40s."

--Sonnet

Gateway

Gateway Canyon Resort, and its surrounding area, owned by John Hendricks, the founder of the Discovery Channel (Hendricks got his start, in '85, with a $5 M investment from Allen & Co, whose partner - Botts & Co. - my first opportunity in London. Allen's investment worth $ billions ). Hendricks' father, a home builder, knew of the area and , since public land, told his son that, should he ever have some money, he must own it. The rest of the story, as they say, history.

Rte 90/141 takes us by Ridgeway (where John Wayne's "True Grit" filmed), the 17,000-acre Ralph Lauren ranch, Telluride, Naturita, Uravan and other postage stamps which make me wonder : how do people live in small towns with a gas station , liquor store and US post office ? There is charm to the beauty but services narrow to non-existent : schools, grocery stores, Pete's Coffee and public amenities a long drive - 20s of miles, maybe. Cowboy country , I would last a week. Naturita has one of the best libraries in the state, Stan tells me, and Silver checks it out.

"Ma'am, I don't know much about thoroughbreds - horses or women. Them that I did know, I never liked. They're too nervous and spooky; they scare me. But you're one high-bred filly that don't. 'Course, I don't know what you're talking about half the time."

--Rooster Cogburn

“I've had three wives, six children and six grandchildren and I still don't understand women”

--John Wayne

44 Road

Photo from 44 Road, of Route 141, in Gateway Canyon, mid-day.

The Orenstein-Stanfill roaming family circus picks up sticks and heads for Utah via Route 141/90, taking a scenic detour to Gateway Canyon Resort, on Stan's recommendation. We caravan with Stan and Silver and Marcus.

As the Shakespeares' changes shall be upon us, their transition discussed (or ignored) by the family. Thackery gives us guidance, Dear Reader, below, which I read to the kids, who cover their ears:

"James Crawley, when his aunt had last beheld him, was a gawky lad, at that uncomfortable age when the voice varies between an unearthly treble and a preternatural bass; when the face not uncommonly blooms out with appearances for which Rowland Kalydor [anti-zit cream] is said to act as a cure; when boys are seen to shave furtively with their sisters scissors, and the sight of other young women produces intolerable sensations of terror in them; when the great hands and ankles protrude a long way from garments which have grown too tight for them; when the presences after dinner is at once frightful to the ladies, who are whispering in the twilight in the drawing-room, and inexpressibly odious to the gentlemen over the mahogany, who are restrained from freedom of intercourse and delightful interchanged of wit by the prescience of that gawky innocence; when, at the conclusion of the second glass, papa says, 'Jack, my boy, go out and see if the evening holds up', and the youth, willing to be free, yet hurt at not being yet a man, quits incomplete banquet. . . ."

--William Thackery, "Vanity Fair", 1848