Omaha Beach Post D-Day

The invasion of Normandy saw 153k Allied troops land on a 50-mile stretch of beach (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword) delivered by 5,400 ships and landing craft, 50,000 vehicles and 11,000 planes. The US suffered 6,603 casualties including 1,465 killed (far fewer than expected).

Madeleine at the Friday market in Vologne: "Can we buy those crabs and lobsters and set them free in the ocean ?"
Me: "No way."
Madeleine: "Come on, Dad, you'll be a hero to these sea creatures."
Me: "Not going to happen."

Omaha Beach

D Day, June 6, 1944

We are at Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery and it is comforting to be an American on American soil (gifted "in perpetuity" by the French) and surrounded by Americans (talking about breakfast). There is a new visiting center (new since I was last here) that offers a shallow but enjoyable overview of events from Sept 3, 1939, when Britain and France declared war on Germany until D-Day. Most moving are personal recordings from the men in the infantry, on the ground, in the bombers, dropped by parachute and charging the beach.

Sadly no veterans.

Peddlerama

Madeleine: "What would take longer? Moving a pile of sand ten meters one grain at a time. Or digging a hole through a mountain using a needle. Or moving a well using a pipette?"
Me: "It's the age old question."
Eitan: "Definitely the mountain. That is like a lifetime."
Sonnet: "That's like two lifetimes."
Madeleine: "I think it would be quickest to move the well, and the mountain the longest."
Me:
Madeleine: "And the sand a pain in the butt."
Me: "Oh?"
Madeleine: "What if you lose the sand or something ?"
Me: "Makes sense."

Le Foot

And where would Eitan be without a football ?

Aneta reports on the pets: "Rusty is great! Likes to bark until 2AM almost every night. Turtle and fish is luckily still alive too."

Endless Beach

Cap de Carteret

Today we visit Carteret, on the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula, which has a salty, Atlantic feel. Flat sands stretch seven miles from Cap de Carteret, where we are, to Point Rozel or as far as the eye can see. The beach is wild and nameless (and protected), backed by miles of dunes, empty but for clouds of terns and a handful of walkers. It is almost our own.

Sonnet: "When I was your age, I had eight teeth pulled." [Dad's note: Sonnet had poor teeth]

Madeleine: "That must have hurt. " 

Sonnet: "I had lots of painkillers."

Madeleine: "I hate it when people collect old teeth."

Me: "They really do that?"

Madeleine: "Yes. I've seen it."

Me: "Well, you'll never guess what Gracie keeps. Above the fireplace."

Madeleine: "What ?"

Me: "Bateson." [Dad's note: Bateson was the beloved family dog, esp. loved by Grace]

Madeleine: "What!? I thought he was dead!"

Me: "His ashes."

Madeleine: "Oh. Aren't their two of them? Urns, I mean ?" 

Me: "And who do you think is in the other one?"

Madeleine: Eitan, Sonnet:

Me: "Your great Grandmother!"

Madeleine: "Oh My God!"

Sonnet: "Don't do that to the kids, really."

Madeleine: "Yeah. You can stop laughing Dad."

Utah Beach

bombs away

We visit Utah Beach, which was the code name for the right flank of the Allied landing beaches on D Day, 6 June 1944 - this is the 60th anniversary year. Utah was added late in the planning and only when more landing craft became available - Ike coveted the deep water ports at nearby Cherbourg which could take supply ships.

The non descript sandy beach is narrow unless the tide out, which adds 1 km (my estimate).  On a sunny peaceful day, like today, it is hard to imagine machines moving and men fighting for their lives.

The remembrances are simple with several statues and a plaque or two; a French and American flag are at full mast. There is a simple museum (groans from the Shakespeares).  Sadly missing are the Veterans. When Tim and I in Normandy 12 years ago we met a bunch of them, now many or most are gone.

"Plans are nothing; planning is everything."

--Dwight D Eisenhower

The Cows Come Home

Eitan: "And we're off for another Orenstein family vacation."

Somewhere In Normandy

Sonnet: "I remember a vacation in Ireland with the Orenstein family. Grace planned it for a year, and we went all around, staying in many beautiful places."
Me: "That was a fun trip . .. "
Sonnet: "My esteem for the Orensteins went up when we got a flat tire and - lickety split - Grace, Katie and Jeff got out and fixed it in 15 minutes. My family would have waited 3 hours for AAA."
Madeleine: "You fixed the tire?"
Me: "We did. We had a spare."
Madeleine: "What would happen if two tires went flat and you didn't have a spare ?"
Me: "You'd be out of luck."
Madeleine: "How about if the non-driving tires went out?"
Me: "You mean on a two wheel drive?"
Madeleine: "Yeah. Could you still drive the car?"
Me: "Probably not."
Madeleine: "How about only one then ?"
Me: "Well, the car might tilt a bit. It would be pretty uncomfortable if you were sitting in the back seat."
Madeleine: "So you could do it then."
Me: "If a four-wheel car, then no. If a three wheel car - yes."
Madeleine: "Thought so."

Astorg Partners

Dinner at the musée Jacquemart André

School's Out

Madeleine and Zara at Kew Gardens.

Me: "'The Women In Black' is not scary." [Dad's note: Eitan thinks the movie "The Woman In Black" is a scary movie.]
Eitan: "Well it's scarier than Psycho. Or Jaws."
Me: "Yeah, that's because you watched Jaws in the living room and not in the ocean."
Madeleine: "What?! You watched Jaws in the ocean?"
Me:
Eitan: "It wasn't scary."

Sarko

Me and Aneta

So I meet President Sarkozy last week in Paris and he is remarkable. Sure, one expects the charisma, but Sarkozy able to site history inter-twined with the leaders and events he knows or has influenced. Further, he is direct in his comments, no wishy washy here : Putin and Russia humiliated in the 20th Century and Sochi a slight too far : the Ukraine crisis a total misunderstanding of history.  Crimea is Russian, let them have it. The euro will last, the alternative is war, even if Europe's growth anaemic .. . France will collapse before she becomes better, perhaps social upheaval.

Plus the guy loves California.

What's not to like ?

And The Mini Marathon

Birdcage walk

Eitan runs a hard race placing somewhere in the top 30 (my estimate). His unofficial time around 17:30 for three miles.

Wilson Kipsang of Kenya wins the men's race in 2:04.29 (London course record) and Edna Kiplagat, also of Kenya, the women's in 2:20.21.

Mo finishes in at 2:08.20 - not a bad debut - but he says moments after ward interviewed by the BBC (barely in a sweat): "Bit of a disappointment. But you try new things. Live and learn." Just another day at the office.

London Marathon

Today is Marathon Day and Eitan and Zac line up for the "London Mini Marathon" which is the last three miles of the long race.  The boy picked up in Twickenham, 6:30AM sharp, and delivered to the start-line with Team Richmond.  His goal to be in the top 10.

Today's race includes Kenya's Wilson Kipsang, the marathon world record-holder, Ugandan world and Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich, defending London Marathon champion Tsegaye Kebede, of Ethiopia, and Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai, the London course record-holder and our very own beloved Mo Farah.

Paris In Springtime

Tuileries

I'm in Paris for the season's change and it is lovely.

Astorg's annual meeting takes place at some marvelous places: the Automobile Club on the place de la Concorde (Wednesday) followed by a gala dinner at musée Jacquemart André; Musée des Arts Décoratifs overlooking jardin tuileries and the sun takers  (Thursday) then dinner at la Tour d’Argent offering a magnificent view of Notre Dame from five stories up. Splendid.

And what have I missed at home? Madeleine: "Nothing."

"When spring comes to Paris the humblest mortal alive must feel that he dwells in paradise."

--Henry Miller from 'Tropic of Capricorn"

Streamline

Eitan, 200m freestyle

Following five weekends of competing at Guildford and Crystal Palace in individual and relay events, WSC finish 3rd in the medals and 5th in Tinlin Trophy.  Not bad for a reasonably small club (ca 150 swimmers) and achieved by just over 30 swimmers competing at the Championships.  The team scoops 31 medals including Eitan's bronze in the 200m fly.  The boy also set PBs in the butterfly and freestyle events.

Aneta

At the NPG

We join Tab and David who host the Sapersteins in Bath.  Now I am in Paris.  Eitan up at 4:30AM for a class trip to Barcelona, where he will be until Thursday.

Madeleine organising afternoons with her friends.

Peaches is dead.

"Peaches has died. We are beyond pain. She was the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us. Writing 'was' destroys me afresh."
--Bob Geldof

Me And Andy Warhol

Photo by David Bailey

And so it is Friday, an exhausting exhilarating week for Sonnet whom I and we could not be more proud of.

Stan, Aneta and I meet Jeanine, Sunny and Leon+Westlee for lunch at the Portrait Gallery Restaurant.

Leon continues to take beautiful photographs using swaths of light; his studio set up in Oakland while he keeps a foot in Paris.

Beforehand, Guy and I have lunch with Diana, a sworn progressive who was heavily involved in Obama's first campaign and on the Council of the Holocaust Memorial in Washington DC.  She is a force of nature, too, and perfectly matched with Guy on politics, insider connections and a desire to make things better.

Pre Show

The private viewing and reception fills the museum with the great and the good. Stan watches over the Shakespeares who mill about perfectly awkward, the little dears. They blitz the exhibition in two minutes and ready to split at 9PM.  We stay until the end then dinner with Spencer and Alex. Top evening.

The Sapersteins arrive from Northern California and we are honoured that they are with us. Guy wears Armani.

On The Board

Madeleine, Aneta and I sit around watching Modern Family and eating ice cream (thank you, Aneta). Before dinner. Madeleine has seen every episode of Modern Family, too - she says, 'more than a hundred ' - and never gets bored (today the first day of Easter Break so plenty of time to go comatose)

Me: "Do you have any gay friends?"
Aneta: "Like five of them."
Me: Men or women?"
Aneta: "Men."
Me: "Cool, every girl should have a gay friend. Sonnet does. Madeleine do you have one?"
Madeleine: "Huh?"
Me: "A gay friend. Do you have one ?"
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "How would you know?"
Madeleine: "I have no idea."
Me: "Right answer. Let's keep it that way."

Man In The Grey Flannel Suit

Stan

Me: "What did you think of mom's show ?"
Madeleine: "Great."
Me: "Anything else?"
Madeleine: "it was amazing."
Me:
Madeleine: "It was really creative and imaginative and a lot of thought went into it."
Me:
Madeleine: "And I liked the Vespa" [Dad's note: a Vespa 125 from 1949 on display].
Me: "What was your favourite?"
Madeleine: "The red dress with the big front bow."
Me: "Good one."

Red Dresss

Germana Marucelli, 1950

I imagine this dress sashaying along a bombed out block in Milan, post Second World War, suggesting the Italy's first spring in ten years.

Celebs

Eva Herzigová

Valentino at our table and barely says a word. His partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, however, is charming and smooth, with powdered white hair and an orange tan. His style impeccable and he glides thru the crowd - there's Liz Hurley and over there Naomi Cambell. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are at the next table while the Italian PM, Matteo Renzi, is in the house (he, with entourage; Sonnet with him for 45 minutes).

Sonnet in Versace.

The Glamour Of Italian Fashion

Sonnet's exhibition opens Tuesday with a bang and the red carpet, leading us to the Raphael cartoon gallery and the patron's dinner (Sonnet in sponsor Bulgari jewelry on loan). Yesterday it is a private viewing and cocktail reception underneath the Chihuly.  And today it goes public.

It is a week long party. Or wedding.  In between Sonnet is interviewed by the press, shows various designers, funders and dignitaries around the exhibition, and generally holds it together.

We are surrounded by friends and family who have gone out of their way to support our wonderful curator.

Me: "Are you going to join us at the museum Friday?"
Madeline: "No way.'
Me: "I thought you were a cultured little dude."
Madeleine: "The last thing a kid wants to do is go to a museum."
Sonnet: "It pains me to hear that."
Madeleine: "None of my friends would be caught dead at a museum."
Me: "What do you guys like to do for fun anyway?"
Madeleine: "We like to go places and eat frozen yogurt and be crazy."
Me: "Sounds fun."
Madeleine: "That's just the way it is, Dad."

Golden Couple

NPG

Spencer and Alex in town for Sonnet's exhibition which is happening this week. We are friends from business school and spent the first two years in London together.  Back then, Friday evening cocktails de rigeuer.  Now they are in San Francisco, enjoying the good life, and raising their three fabulous children.

This is my 3,800 blog.

"It is to the curator’s credit that the exhibition can raise questions for the fashion cognoscenti about the state of the Italian industry, while allowing a more general audience to appreciate La Bella Figura."
--Suzy Menkes in the NYT on Sonnet's show

Centraal Station Rotterdam

Having visited Rotterdam's Central Station on many occasions thinking to myself 'what a dump' I am surprised by a new building which opened March 13, pictured. Pretty damn cool, too.

I have lunch, and talk some business, with Stichting Pensioenfonds Nederlands also known as Unilever also known as « Progress » (the cool name for the investment business). From there it is The Hague then Schiphol.  Been here, done that.

Eitan in the final day of the Surrey county swimming champs, attended by Stan, and it is all relays. The boy has qualified for a bunch of regional events which will take place later this year at the Olympics pool. He has a ways to go to qualify for nationals but it will come.

Hard At Work

Madeleine Skypes

Madeleine scores an 82% on a math's test, which makes her happy - one of the top scores in the class.  

There are two types of people really : those comfortable with maths and the rest of us. Generally the former end up at investment banks or hedge funds.

Stan arrives from Colorado. He is with us for the week and Sonnet's opening.

The photo above Madeleine mine btw. It is wall graffiti in Shoreditch, London.

The Carefree Lifestyle

Me, in the car: "So how are we feeling these days?"
Eitan: "OK, I guess."
Me: "Anything you want to be doing?"
Eitan: "Not really. I don't want to be, like, 30 and having missed something in the 'carefree lifestyle.' "
Me: "The 'carefree lifestyle' ? Like not having any responsibility ?"
Eitan: "Well, it's not like that. .. ."
Me: "So what exactly is this 'carefree lifestyle'? "
Eitan: "It's like in your 20s. And before you have a family and stuff."
Me: "So your 20s are carefree? That's news to me. I was working my ass off."
Eitan: "But you always talk about it like it was fun."
Me: "I was trying to eat. I had to pay for all that macaroni and cheese somehow."
Eitan: "Yeah."
Me: "So who do you know who has the 'carefree lifestyle'? "
Eitan: "Katie does."
Me: "Oh?"
Eitan: "She gets up when she wants, and she works with her friends. And she's not bossy. And she's really cool."
Me: "She'll like knowing that."

Me: "So your mother sent Clara an email about joining our family after Aneta leaves" [Dad's note: our fabulous Aneta is leaving in May; Clara, also from The Czech, will join us]
Eitan:
Me: "Do you think you will be able to ignore her?"
Eitan: "Huh?"
Me: "Ignore her. Maybe we should invite her over so you and your sister can ignore her for a couple of hours. If it works out, then we'll hire her."
Eitan: "Whatever, Dad."

Sonnet Gets Glossy

Harper's Bazaar

Our gal in the midst of installations - less than one week (but who is counting ?)

Dad Daughter Friend

Eitan has a busy sports weekend : Hampton defeats Glyn School 4-nil then I whisk the boy to the pool for the Surrey County Championships, where he goes 1:02.82 in the 100m freestyle (PB).  Today, Eitans home team, the Sheen Lions, have a double-header against Staines - our side takes both, winning 3-0 and 3-1. Eitan puts a 30m free kick over the keeper's finger tips, a hell of a shot, that decides the second match.

Aneta home, 7:30AM, following a rave in Shoreditch and me, I've been asleep 8 hours.

Me: "Do you think Phil is a good dad?" [Dad's note: Phil is the father in CBS comedy 'Modern Family']
Madeleine: "He's more a friend than a dad."
Me: "Oh? Which one am I ? "
Madeleine: "Definitely 'dad'"
Me: "How about Sonnet?"
Madeleine: "I don't know."
Me: "Can you tell her anything?"
Madeleine: "Yes."
Me: "Friend. Do you lie to her ?"
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "Friend. Who takes you out to sushi all the time?"
Madeleine: "Mom."
Me: "Best friend."

Madeleine: "What would happen if your skin wasn't water proof?"
Me: "It's a good question."

Red Pepper

Katie and I join David at the River Cafe. David's firm, Macro Advisory Partners, advises clients on geopolitical risk, macro intelligence and investment strategy and is going great guns. Mona Sutphen, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, recently joined as a partner.

Sonnet working on the installation for The Italians.  Her book is now on Amazon.

Battle Of The Brains

Katie with us since Sunday after leading a seminar at Cambridge U.  We take Monday afternoon to watch Eitan's Hampton U13s play St Paul's in the geeks versus the geeks.  Our geeks win, 4-1.  On my way to work same morning I bump into Syrus (at St Paul's playing for the B team) buying a couple packs of cherry-flavoured bubble gum at the local newsagents.

Eitan Takes A Bronze

200m butterfly, county champs

I buy a pair of Bass flat-panel penny-loafers which I had in high school and my parents wore in the '50s. To break them in, I wear wool calf-hi socks and walk around the house otherwise in shorts since a nice day in London - Aneta cracks up, which makes me realise: usually I know when I'm being a dork but now , maybe not so much.

Me: "So what's your favourite band these days?"
Madeleine: "I don't know. I like a lot of music."
Me: "How about if I tell you mine?"
Madeleine: "Oh, right, from the 1960s."
Me: "The 1980s."
Madeleine:
Me: "So I made you laugh. That's a good thing, right?"

Disco Party II

Selfie

Madeleine has her own disco party tonight at the Broomwood Methodist Church Hall in Clapham.  Our gal meets several friends to put on make up, do their hair and get ready.  She then has a sleep-over with the disco host. Madeleine wears a dress.

I give Eitan some (expensive) English cologne.
Me: "You may want to try it out first. Don't douse yourself in it" (Dad's note: Eitan has been wearing 'Lynx', which is an older lad's perfume known for it's "sex panther" scent. Eitan's year laps it up)
Eitan:
Two weeks later, Madeleine: "OMG. Eitan was wearing this new smell in the car to swim practise. You could smell it in the pool."
Me:
Madeleine: "Poor Georgia. She was in the back seat."
Me: "There goes that relationship."
Madeleine: "I'll say."

Me: "Come on, Eitan, do the dishes. That is a request."
Eitan: "But it's not an order."
Me: "Is that your objective - to get out of every chore asked of you ?"
Eitan: "It's every kid's objective."
Me:
Eitan: "it's just the way it is."

Good Day, Sunshine

6:14AM sunrise

Earlier this week I am in Abu Dhabi which is like a giant 5 star shopping mall (Rolls Royce's newest car, the 'Wraith", advertised in the airport and on the streets : this is its natural habitat, after all). My hotel (54th floor) offers views of the Persian Gulf and .. the desert. Strangely , several towers block my vista.

From A D to Dubai, which is more of the same. Then Kuwait City which I like. Despite Kuwait's vast wealth it is still Third World and the airport a complete shambles. Visitors require a visa so I queue in three lines before my passport stamped then another line for passport control.  It is 10PM and the airport heaving. And hot. And it smells. Getting a taxi not a problem but exiting the airport like threading a needle through the traffic. I'm at the nicest hotel in town, a Sheraton, which is designed for Westerners so gauche brown marble, gold and 14th century French decoration. A trio serenades us with pop songs at the hotel Italian. No Alcohol, of course.

Despite the crumbling eye level, Kuwait has some of the world's tallest and sleekest skyscrapers in the world. They shoot up like sprouts through mold.

Self Portrait XXXVI

Eitan goes to Luke's disco party with Joe and Shaheen; Joe shows up at our house first.
Me: "What's up?"
Joe: "Nothing."
Eitan, Joe:
Me: "Well this is awkward."
Eitan: "Yeah."

16 Candles

Hampton 5, Sutton 1

Sonnet, Madeleine and I watch the late John Hughes' film "Sixteen Candles" with Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall - excellent. Madeleine seems about the right age to appreciate Samantha's world, surrounded by awkwardness and embarrassments of family, school and being a teenager.  The movie from '84 or 30 years old - the equivalent of looking back to 1954 when I first saw it.  It doesn't seem to have dated but then what do I know ?  

I reference a poster of Cheryl Tiegs and music from Spandau Ballet, The Specials, Oingo Boingo. Samantha uses a phone to .. talk, something neither Eitan nor Madeliene have ever done with their friends.  Floppy disks, also something the kids have never heard of, noted 'kind of expensive' by the geek. All in, not a bad decade.

Madeleine absorbs it all.

Grandpa Fred: "Hey Howard, there's your Chinaman."

'Sup

Spain

Friday night.  Madeleine faints in hockey practise and Rusty comes down with a bad vibe - the pooch is bedridden and looks at me mournfully.  Serves him right for spreading the kitchen garbage across the hardwood floor.

Sonnet: "So what's your plan for Sunday?"
Madeleine: "Jack and Williby are coming over."
Me: "You're having a play date?"
Madeleine:
Sonnet: "Dad's just teasing."
Madeleine: "No he's not."
Me: "Actually I wasn't."
Madeleine: "See?"
Me: "So where are you going?"
Madeleine: "Hammersmith. And then Westfields." [Dad's note: Westfields is the largest shopping mall in Europe, located in Shepherds Bush, London]
Sonnet: "You are not going to Hammersmith." [Dad's note: Hammersmith is urban]
Madeleine: "You let Eitan go by himself."
Sonnet: "Your brother is a year older than you. A year and a half, actually."
Me: "Plus you might be tempted to do some busking."
Madeleine: "So how about Kingston?" [Dad's note: Kingston is shopping mall outside of London]
Me: "Why don't you just go to our High Street? You could go to Boots and Party Palace. And there's a wonderful WH Smith."
Madeleine rolls her eyes.
Sonnet: "You're not going to Kingston Either. It's too far away."
Madeleine: "But it's on the train. It's only four stops from Richmond." [Dad's note: Richmond equals shopping]
Me: "She's got a point. It's a safe area."
Sonnet: "I will think about it."

Close Shave

Kashgar, Xinjiang, China, 1997

Me: "How was your race today?" (Dad's note: Madeleine runs a 3K race)
Madeleine: "It was so hard. I had asthma."
Me: "Were you OK?"
Madeleine: "Well I finished the race, didn't I?"
Me: "Asthma can be dangerous. And frightening - there was an adult there to help you ?"
Madeleine: "Yes, I finished and somebody got me my inhaler."
Me: "That's good to know."
Madeleine: "There was a stream and we had to jump over it and I almost fell in."
Me: "Woa."
Madeleine: "And I almost fell into a bramble bush."
Me: "Yep. Sounds like cross country."
Madeleine: "And I got to the finish and fell to the ground."
Me: "Quite an experience." (Dad's note: Madeleine in the top 5 finishers)

Barnes Railway Bridge

Facing West, from the Barnes embankment

The original bridge at this location was built in 1849 to a design by Josephe Locke followed by a replacement bridge, designed by Edward Andrews in 1895 for the London & South Western Railway. The original Locke span still stands unused on the upstream side. The bridge is still in use by the London overground rail and I pass it twice during a running loop from my office.

Goalkeeper

Madeleine is chosen goalkeeper for Emanuel's A squad.  She rolls with it.

Our gal takes a few minutes to kit up as the girls play the Harrodian School in Barnes which looks like a Ralph Lauren set, nestled between the river and the Barnes village (the grounds once a private estate until acquired, in the 1990s, by a local philanthropist opened an alternative school that concentrates on languages - Russian, anyone ?).

Madeleine is good in the box, too - she blocks six shots including a sequence of four which has us parents ooo-ing and ahh-ing from the sidelines. The end result: 2-2.

Grace nails six-for-six at my parents' Oscar party in Berkeley.

An interesting experiment: The world's 1,645 billionaires are worth $6.4 trillion at 2013 year-end, up from $5.4T in 2012.

Love

Glass cutter, SW London

Eitan's favorite bands (in no particular order) :
The Kooks
London Grammar
Bastille
Arctic Monkeys
The Vaccines
Passion Pit
Cold Play
The American Authors
The Gorrillaz

Me: "How about Justin Bieber?"
Eitan:
Me: "Do you listen to a lot of music?"
Eitan: "Yeah, quite a lot."
Me: "And how do you share music with your friends?"
Eitan: "We don't really share music. Most people like pop music, anyway, but I don't like the electronics and stuff.  I don't like the 'crappy pop music' as you might say."
Me: "I'm glad some of my training is sinking in."
Eitan: "It's not training Dad."

Sprezzatura

Why can't I have a cat?

Madeleine and I walk the dog then go for sushi. Over lunch we discuss pets (Dad's note: at Madeleine's age, I was somehow allowed a snake, a tarantula and three iguanas who each died an early death). Madeleine wants a cat and, momentarily, it was considered until Madeleine hit a wall: Sonnet. Plus Rusty would probably grab the thing by the throat and shake it to death, blood and fur everywhere. Ok maybe not.

Eitan in swimming action at the Univ. of Surrey for the Surrey County Championships, which are spread across five weeks. This weekend he swims the distance races : 1500 and 400 meter freestyles and the 400 IM in 19:42, 4:45 and 5:46, respectively.  Showing he is a multi-talented guy, Eitan now prepares tortilla de patatas.

Sonnet's exhibition gears up : today a five page story in the Financial Times Sunday insert.

Eitan on the tortilla de patatas: "I'm not really sure how this is going to work out." 

"Sprezzatura. It means nonchalance. It's the way in which clothes are worn - a mood, an attitude.  If you go to the financial centre of Rome on any given morning, you can watch this senses of easy elegance in action. Its a fashion parade."
--Sonnet, 'Moda Operandi' in the Sunday FT

Pow Wow

A discussion takes place around Madeleine's 5AM swim practise - it's either Friday morning or Sunday, which she dreads.  So Sonnet will take her since I am on a plane to Dublin for the day. Our gal now practises the trumpet putting the dog on alert.

Eric the turtle finally leaves the earth (Dad's note: Madeleine's pet died three weeks ago). His body 12 inches deep, under a stone-of-remembrance. Somber proceedings. The good news : Nelson's life expectancy another 30 years.

Me: "Say something about your turtle."
Madeleine: "Huh?"
Me: "Say something, anything."
Madeleine: "I don't know. He's a turtle dad."
Me: "That's all you've got?"
Madeleine: "He can swim."
Me: "Is he cuddly?"
Madeleine: "He's a turtle. Turtles aren't cuddly."
Me: "Fair enough."

More Weirdness

At the Courdault

I return from two nights in Berlin for the Super Return conference - the largest private equity gathering in the world with over 1,100 delegates including the good and the great. The highlight returning from dinner one night, 11PM, and finding Todd in the hotel lobby, in from Boston. We stay up late catching up.

Me: "Come on Rusty, you wanker."
Eitan: "Dad!"
Me: "What? What did I say?"
Eitan: "Do you know what 'wanker' means?"
Me: "Yeah, it's like what they used to call the guy who mixed the household butter. He was usually pretty low in the family hierarchy, so it's kind of a derogatory word."
Eitan: "Well that's not how it's used now."
Me: "Oh?"
Eitan: "It means 'mastrabation."
Me: "No, way. I am shocked."
Eitan: "Yeah, it's like, 'you're a wanker.'"
Me: "Boy it's a good thing you told me."

Cb Hounslow Blues

The Sheen Lions are back in action in their first game since December.  The wettest January on record, which has cancelled games left and right, has set the season back six or seven weeks.

Were it another week.  The Lions go down 4 nothing, opting to play against the wind in the first half (3-nil at half). The 30mph gusts wreak havoc on the defense and the boys only start playing as a team towards the end of the game, which brings them tantalisingly close, 4-3, as the whistle blows. Etian scores a PK and hits the bar on another, which proves to be the difference.  And that's football.

Kids back to school, Sonnet interviews with The Guardian, and I to Berlin for a conference. And so it goes.

Marscape

Sunrise, Mars (NASA)

When I was 10, 11 or 12 I remember pondering, "what will it be like when the year turns 2000? " And now : who will be the first to make it to another planet ?  Somebody must do it given the planet's dire flight path.

This morning I listen to  Elizabeth Kolbert interviewed by Terry Gross. Kolbert writes for the New Yorker and recently published 'The Sixth Extinction.' The amphibians (who btw survived the dinosaur wipe out) are being hit hard. Equally bad or worse: the oceans are acidifying which will roll back the barrier reefs where the aquatic food chain begins. And so on and so forth.

I'm with Shai who has been investing in green-energy since 2006 for Richard Branson. In short, he says, nobody cares.

"We are effectively undoing the beauty and the variety and the richness of the world which has taken tens of millions of years to reach ... We're sort of unraveling that. ... We're doing, it's often said, a massive experiment on the planet, and we really don't know what the end point is going to be."

--Elizabeth Kolbert

SuperDry Is Super Fly

Madeleine discovered brands last year but really she prefers one: SuperDry, which is like so now and Japanese. All the groovy cats have the SuperDry jacket, maybe a SuperDry sweatshirt and a SuperDry book bag.

In my day, which would by 1982-85, the outfit was an alligator shirt (collar up), canvas Sperry topsiders, Levi's 501s (shrunk-to-fit) and (for the real players) a Derby jacket. Of course I am working my way through these items again, age 46.

The kids have been on a one-week half-term break and Madeleine at school all week, all day, for theatre. She wasn't too happy when it looked like she would have two lines in "London Calling" ("one of them, like, two words") but now she's been assigned a monologue of some sort.  Eitan is invisible until 11 or 11:30AM when he stumbles downstairs for food.  I double-check that there is an air-hole as he is otherwise covered by his blanket.

The Meeting Place

Paul Day's sculpture, The Meeting Place, greets me and everyone from Paris at St Pancras Station, London. It is 9 metres tall surrounded by a frieze. I hate it.

Firstly, there's nothing unique or interesting about the couple - he's bald and wearing baggy trousers. As if. She looks like an investment banker.  What's to love here? Where are the idiosyncrasies that make the individuals rise above themselves creating something special even memorable? Not here.

Coming from Paris where the city drips with serious art, one would think one's introduction to London would give us more.

Living Large

California -> London -> Paris

Texting with Madeleine:
Me: "How was your day sweetheart?"
Madeleine: "Pretty good."
Me: "Who did you have lunch with?"
Madeleine: "Jack and Aiden."
Me: "The crew. Were you rehearsing all day?"
Madeleine: "Yep."
Me: "What's the name of the play?"
Madeleine: "London Calling."
Me: "Calling what?"
Madeleine: "I have no idea."

Bay Bridge Moonrise

Eastward

The new Bay Bridge, connecting Oakland to Yerba Buena or "Treasure" Island, finally completed in 2013 after ten years construction and $6.5b of investment. It is the the world's widest bridge, says the Guinness World Records.

The old bridge, to the right, was completed in 1936 and runs parallel to the new bridge. Not anchored in bedrock on the Oakland side, the bridge collapsed in the '89 earthquake - an image beamed around the world and now forgotten to many greater calamities.  Seeing the old thing gives me a shiver.  It is being disassembled, no easy task.

The bridge is white and modern and makes me think of Apple - good design. Plenty of room and well lit all the way.

Madeleine, reading, from the back of the car: "Do astronauts have to know how to kill each other?"

Me: "It's a good question."