Madness

Our day starts at Kew Gardens, where we go to see the pumpkins and other autumnal fair. Eitan and Madeleine collect rose petals, to be turned into perfume (it continues to rain, so anything occupying is good). Katie and I once did this at the Berkeley Rose Garden. A highlight is King George the III's Kew palace, which has undergone a full refurbishment and is now open to the public. It is a dramatic red. We learn that King George, who was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 1760 to 1801, sired 14 children, but enjoyed only one grand child. His wife loved him. Of course, he suffered from the blood disorder porphyria, which was mis-diagnosed as madness and so he became a recluse the later half of his life spending much of his remaining time at the Kew house. During this period, Britain lost many of its colonies including the one across the Atlantic.

Sonnet works away at her book, making last moment corrections before the plates go to print.

Kew Gardens photo from the web.

Power

Yesterday we check out the Battersea Power Station, which is open to the public for the "China Power" exhibition thru 5 Nov.

The BPS was completed in 1939 and the first in a series of very large coal-fired electrical generating facilities set up in England as part of the National Grid power distribution system. This sparked off protests from Londoners who felt the building was too large and and ugly, and from those who were worried about the pollution. When it first opened, the station had a 105 MW steam turbine, the largest in Europe, and expanded to 500 MW after WW II.

The turbines stopped turning in 1981 at around the time the BPS became a Grade 2 listed heritage site so saving it from the wrecking ball. In 1997, Parkside International purchased the BPS and its 38 acre lot to build a shopping mall and condo playground in around the building. So far, design delays and inadequate transportation links have prevented construction, but £1.1B has been ear-marked.

My photo BTW is taken from the southside of the BPS, facing North or towards the Thames and Pimlico on the other side of the river. To the left is the railway heading to Clapham Junction and outward South. Famously the BPS was photographed with a giant pig-shaped balloon floating gently above the smoke stacks for the cover of Pink Floyd's rock album "Animals".

Monkies

We visit the Battersea Zoo, immediately across the river from Chelsea. Sightings include monkies, lemurs, a goat, some otters, a Vietnamese pot bellied pig (remarkably clean despite the mud), an ecu (the fastest bird on the planet) and my personal favorite the African Giant Snail. To touch the snail, one must wet his hand so as not to make it uncomfortable. Hell, I was concerned about the thing going after my kids. After the zoo, we find a nearby park where Madeleine climbs a tree. We entertain ourselves with tackle-and-tickle as Eitan and Madeleine race between "homie", or two trees 50 meters apart. Eitan takes risks I have never seen when promised one pound for a successful crossing. He succeeds btw, to my surprise, applying new "moves". I will adjust of course, but hey that kid runs fast. We check out the Battersea Power Station then Tobias's birthday party. Sonnet finishes her book and all of us are glad to see her when she returns to us this evening.

Rainy day museum

On a wet Saturday morning reminding me of the Cat In The Hat, the kids scatter their junk, er toys, in the living room to create a museum (which I call "the Museum of Modern Junk"). First, the infrastructure is created with couch and other pillows, a blanket floor and of course the gates - 10 water bottles placed at the entrence. My two curators explain the items: scissors, spider man figure, six marbles, magic ink pen for drawing things, Action Man, a bread knife, a football, one slipper, the TV remote (damn- that's where it has been!), a tennis ball, one side of a walkie-talkie, some tape and other things. Eitan and Madeleine then get down to the busy work of labeling each item. Arts, you see, run in the family.

Arthur

Arthur is my first friend in London, whom I met and formed a warm friendship with around running until age and injury prevented this shared pastime. Then, Arthur was the project engineer at TRW (now Northrop Grumman) overseeing a joint venture with O2 to provide a closed wireless network to Britain's police force and ensuring 99% availability (consumer mobile is way less). Arthur today remains my go-to pal on anything geeky, and we often discuss the abstract on a good British ramble which we used to do quite regularly pre-kids (our last walk several years ago started at Waterloo station at 8PM, ending well after midnight. More recently we biked to Oxford). Arthur bikes everywhere on his 20 year-old trusty ten speed (geer shifts on bike frame), and has spent the past three years re-wiring his penthouse near Regent's Park, NW1. Recently I asked Arthur to describe electricity for Eitan, and his response:

"Two parts to the answer

1) ENERGY
Energy is a thing that makes things HAPPEN, MOVE OR CHANGE. Examples: toaster, when you run, growing plants, driving a car, heating the kettle, burning a candle, even light from a light bulb is energy, light from the sun.

Every now and then, point out examples of energy in action as you go through the day

Main types: HEAT, MOTION, LIGHT, ELECTRICITY,

Energy is conserved: it moves around between objects and changes type, but it never disappears. Examples:
a. The toaster turns electricity into heat
b. When you run, you turn energy in your food into movement AND HEAT (which is why you feel hot when you exercise)
c. Growing plants take light from the sun and make it into plant stuff (and we get the energy back when we run and "burn off" the plants we ate the day before
d. Motion of car comes from energy in gasoline
e. The kettle makes heat out of electricity
f. Candle makes light and heat out of the energy in the wax (which came from the bees which ate plants which got the energy from the sun)
g. A light bulb makes heat and light from electricity

SO ELECTRICITY IS ENERGY - IT MAKES THINGS HAPPEN

Part 2 ELECTRONS

First, rub two balloons with a piece of wool cloth and show that the balloons repel each other. Explain that there are tiny things called electrons that repel (very similar to little magnets) and that we've just put electrons on the balloons from the wool cloth.

Wires are full of electrons. There's a power plant where they have machines that push on electrons and because the electrons push on each other, a push at the power station appears as a push on the end of the wires in your house (demonstrate pushing electrons by putting Sonnet, Madeleine and Eitan side by side (not front to back) in a line pushing pushing against each other's hands. Then you as the power plant push at one end of the line. Your push should propagate through the line and appear at the other end).

Show wires by examining the plug and cords going to all the electrical devices in the house (including lamps in the ceiling)

So electricity is just pushing electrons. So a push at the power station is a push in your house. All your appliances turn the push into some other kind of energy that is useful. Heat from a kettle, the turning of an electric drill (or if you don't have one, show the motor in the vacuum cleaner turning)

Eitan may not get it all on the first pass, but the concepts of energy and electrons are worth getting used to from early on

Phew!"

Kick the dog when he's down

This cartoon was sent to me by Sonnet's mom Silver, and seeing how today I mailed my vote to the Montrose County Clerk & Recorder for the November 7 mid-term elections, I feel pretty good about this. Heck, if general incompentency and vacent policy can't get voters riled up, a nice scandel does the trick. No surprise here, I vote my party. And no, I do not wish the state to change its consitution to block same-sax marriage. And yes, soliders and ex-combatents should have special rights for access to housing. Furthermore, the minimum wage should go up a bit, and schools should be required to spend 65% of their budget on teaching. Aren't these things basics for a healthy-like society?

Sonnet jogs into work this morning, so the kids and I mess about before the school run. I make up a story on the fly about a talking owl named Sam, and how he meets the Queen. Eitan tells me I'm old, and when I ask him how he knows - he states: "you are losing your hair." Kick the dog when he's down, I say.

Celia and Ozzie

Ozzie Clark the designer has been in our house it seems like forever - at least since Sonnet curated an exhibition of his work in July '03. Ozzie dressed the rock stars, actors and celebs of the '70s, and his clothes are instantly recognizable to that era and more generally. Celia Bertwell, his wife and design partner, introduced the fabrics that made Ossie's work so distinguishable. Ozzie was gay and his life ended tragically with drugs and a knife in the stomach in '96; he was destitute. This painting which I saw yesterday, and perhaps David Hockney's most recognised, is on display with other works at the National Portrait Gallery in London until May '07. It shows Celia standing, with Ossie and their cat Percy - normally the woman is in the chair. Also the painting captures the separation between the couple, and indeed they split only weeks after Hockney's portrait of them completed.

Sonnet to Tate

Sonnet at the Tate Modern, which used to be the Bankside Power Station and was deceased in 1981, may she rip. The turbine hall, where Sonnet stands, once housed the electricity generators of the old power station, and is seven storeys tall with 3,400 square metres of floorspace. Now and thanks to Unilever, the Tate displays specially-commissioned work by contemporary artists and will continue to do so until 2008. A boat may take one from the Tate Britain, Britain's national museum, to the Tate Modern which we have done before and do again yesterday.

The fashion in London this season and the past is jeans tucked into knee-high boots. This look seems to be everywhere with the young people we see, and the museum is a magnet for the cool, bored and uncombed, as well as us older folks like us with kids (children, you see, can run around with impunity).

Centrifugal force

The Flying Steamroller: we stumble on this strange art-work, owned by a private collector and family in Switzerland. Designed by Chris Burden, the steamroller is a huge sculpture of a twelve ton steamroller that is attached to apivoting arm with a counterbalance weight. The streamroller is driven in a circle until its maximum speed is reached or about 15 mph. At the same time, a hydraulic piston is activated and pushes up the beam from which the steamroller is suspended, causing the steamroller to lift off the ground. Because of the combined weight of the steamroller and the counter-balance, which is approximately 48 tons, the steamroller, once lifted off the ground, contineus to spin, or "fly". On this evening Chris Burden "drives" the thing, and we chat with him afterwards. Neat.

Today we meet Mike & Gretchen Bransford with their kids William (3 mos.), Rose and Henry. After lunch, we go to their closed garden in Kensington where the boys make a "potion factory and a dirt factory" from water, dirt, sticks, rocks, leaves and berries. When asked what for: "you poor it on the badies - it will kill them" (duh).

That river

Madeleine and us find a stairway to the Thames embankment by the Shakespeare Globe Theatre and Bear Wharf.

From the web: the river's name appears always to have been pronounced with a simple "t" at the beginning; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. The "th" lends an air of Greek to the name and was added during the Renaissance, possibly to reflect or support a belief that the name was derived from River Thyamis in the Epirus region of, whence early Celtic tribes are thought to have migrated. However, most scholars now believe Temese and Tamesis come from Celtic Tamesa , possibly meaning 'the dark one'.The name Isis is given to the part of the river running through Oxford, may have come from the Egypti an goddess of that name but is believed to be a contraction of Tamesis, the Latin (or pre-Roman Celtic) name. Richard Coates has recently suggested that the river was called the Thames upriver, where it was narrower and Plowonida down river, where it was too wide to ford. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium from the original root Plowonida (derived from pre-celtic Old European 'plew' and 'nejd,' meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river).

Slide

"Voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind" this quote by French writer Roger Caillois perhaps best sums up Carsten Höllers seven story slide at the Tate Modern. There are four of them, and impressive sculptures in their own right. To date Höller has installed six smaller slides in other galleries and museums, but the cavernous space of the Turbine Hall offers a unique setting for his idea. Already there is talk of making this a permanent fixure, similar ot the London Eye. The line is murder and anyway, when asked if he wants to go down the thing Eitan replies "No-o-o way, dad!" Madeleine is a bit more open to the idea, but even she hesitates: "will I die?" she asks.

Tate

Today we went to the Tate Modern to see the Carsten Höller five-story slides, which have received a fair amount of attention since the opening this week. Following a foggy football morning, we drive to Chelsea and take the Tate-to-Tate boat, or aproximately 12 minutes East on the Thames. Favorite sightings are the London Eye, Big Ben (of course) and Parliament, Westminster Bridge and barges passed along the way. This photo taken in the turbine hall at the museum, while I chase the kids around while they dart between tourist and other visitors.

Art Yard

Madeleine, not to be out-done by Eitan below, shows us her best impressionism in a missive for Sonnet. Madeleine attends Art Yard once a week, where the kids make paper mache monsters, pictures from glue and sand, and finger paints and colourful drawings. Some time ago I introduced the kids to 'ooblix' - a home-made corn starch and water mixture which has the nifty property of being gooey and solid depending on hand pressure (Sonnet has put a ban on this, by the way). It's fun to watch the kids take in their surroundings and produce stuff that means something to them (and us).

Eric Connally, who lives in Somerville and teaches math at the Harvard extension school, has been writing a book for some many years (he is also a member of a group of authors of a series of math books used in high schools across the country). We have known each other from college, when we painted houses in Providence. Back to the story: Eric's book agent called today praising his work. Knowing Eric, a space will be made in our minds next to Pynchon and Vonnegut and others of same edgy and dogged style.

Robeco

I spend the day in Rotterdam, at this weird 30 story building which has wi-fi, with Hans and Mike who are partners at Industry Ventures. We meet with Robeco, one of three AAA rated, non-goverment banks in the world, to see if they wish to invest some money in Industry's fund. The presentation goes well, and I spend the afternoon at the Rotterdam airport to catch a late-afternoon delayed flight to Heathrow.

Sonnet and I drop the kids off at school. Madeleine is having hard time of it in the mornings - getting dressed, breakfast, putting on shoes - all these things are met with protests and tears. I recall that Eitan went through the same adjustment to kindergarten, so we cut Madeleine some slack.

Rana and Kambiz welcome their second - Alexander (Iskander) Foroohar, who is delivered at St Mary's and weighs in at 3.83 KG (8.4 lbs). Congratulations!

Sponge Bob

Sunday morning and the kids settle in front of the TV for one hour of cartoons. This after waffles, which they help prepare with Sonnet. Favorite programs are Spider Man and Ninja Turtles for Eitan, and Sponge Bob Square Pants for Madeleine. This morning, Eitan in our bedroom early and when he fails to convince me and Sonnet from bed, says: "What, are you going to just hibernate?" School comes with its good, and its bad.

I leave this afternoon for Paris to rejoin Industry Ventures.

Cool cats

Madeleine's binoculars a present from my trip to Dublin (Eitan got a walkie-talkie). There was a scramble of course around who could use the binocs when we arrive at the wetlands, but quickly I allow Madeleine to make the decision to share. Responding in her self-interest of course, she spends some time spotting a rock, a pigeon and some pond algae. Gone missing are the 160 bird species. Most of the ducks, geese, swans, warblers, kestrels and falcons are free to come and go. Only 20 to 30 rare birds have been brought in specially. Before becoming a bird sanctuary, the land hosted the Barnes-Elms reservoir, which ceased in 1989. Through the miracle of Sir Peter Scott, urban build was checked and the wetlands development cost of £26 million was covered by selling a bit of of the land. The wetlands opened to the public in 2000, and in 2002 was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Tonight Sonnet and I dress hip and have dinner at the Barnes Grill with Dana and Nathan to celebrate his 34th.

Susana Hong and Marco Rodzynek have their first baby 30/9 - Sophie Hong. Congratulations!

London Wetlands

We have a busy day, beginning at 0700 when the kids are up and active. 

After breakfast, Sonnet runs to the V and A to do some work while I take the kids to soccer. Eitan and Madeleine are in different groups at different times, so each finds an hour of free-time for themselves. Afterwards and lunch, we head to the London Wetland Centre in Barnes - 40 hectares (105 acres) of created wetland in the center of London supporting "nationally important" numbers of Gadwell and Shoveler duck. 

Yes, here the true British eccentrics (wackos?) turn out in their hi-tech bird-watching gear including various camouflage, army-spec observation equipment, tri-pods and cameras. For us, the centre offers a beautiful setting to run around and spot fowl, huge dragonflies, frogs and other creatures. There are inter-active spots where the kids can feed the animals, or scoop pond water to observe life in action. 

 Contentment occurs on the way out, when we share lollies and ice cream on the way to the car.

Der Fußball

This photograph of Allianz Stadium is taken with my mobile phone camera and from a taxi as we wisk by on the Autobahn towards Munich's center city. Home to professional football clubs FC Bayen and 1860 Munich, the arena holds 69,901 fans and hosted a number of this year's World Cup games, but not the final between Italy and France which was in Berlin. Depending on the time of year, or celebration, the arena changes color from red to blue to white - it makes me think of a weird cocoon. My driver reminds me that Octoberfest ended yesterday - a national holiday. 17 days of drinking from 1100 to late-night: "by then, the girls dance on picnic tables taking off their bras." He informs me that it is not unusual to drink ten liters a day. The Germans, you see, like their beer.

I am here with Industry Ventures who is raising ther fourth fund.

Rocket man

Eitan and I have been discussing the solar system and gravity this past year. To explain gravity in action, we watch the Thames, a tidal river, and discuss how the moon "pulls" the water in and out - gravity. This Sunday drawing pictured brings together Eitan's understanding of the planets around our sun, which is also now being discussed in school.

Yesterday afternoon we attend Dakota's first birthday party. Dana and Nathan have lots of friends over for the celebration, and there is an abundance of cakes and warm cheer. The kids play with Dareya and children they meet at the party. We, too, make some interesting new friends but refrain from playing hide-and-go-seek, and wolf-wolf-pig.

Gift wrap

Madeleine gets wrapped during Sonnet's birthday party festivities. Mostly she has done an excellent job accepting Eitan's center stage today. There were some tears this morning on our return from football, when she blurted out that "none of Eitan's friends will play with me." But I assured her that I would be there for extra time with her, and that she too would receive a present. This, and a promise of her fair share of cake seemed to do the trick.