Yoga

Eitan and Madeleine practice Yoga Tuesday mornings in the Tim Berners-Lee School Hall (Berners-Lee, FYI, is credited with inventing the World Wide Web and is an alumni of the school). At the same time as yoga, the school ochestra bangs together fight songs creating quite a ruckus. The Initially aggrieved yoga instructor and mum complained to our Head Mistress but to no avail - space is money, after all. The kids contort themselves in may favorite poses including the Downward Facing Dog, the Lotus pose and the Tree pose. I sit nearby and read a book.

In London I learn that it is illegal to hail a cab while the cab is in motion. The cab driver is supposed to ask each of his passengers whether they are suffering from any 'notifiable disease such as smallpox and the plague.' A driver is allowed to urinate in public, as long as he is on the rear wheel of the vehicle with his right hand placed on it (the cab, that is).

It is also illegal to be drunk in a pub. Or to serve somebody who is drunk. Or buy a drink for somebody who is drunk. It is also illegal to dance in a pub where dancing is described as "the rhythmic moving of the legs, arms and body, usually changing positions within the floor space available and whether or not accompanied by musical support."

Love

Watching Sir David Attenborough's "The Life of Birds" we see two Kirtland Warblers mating (neither kid has any interest in knowing). I ask Eitan if he thinks that there may be a connection between smootching, love and children and we agree that there are many mysteries yet to it all.

Skyline

Some of the world's most famous architects have thrown their weight behind plans for a 30-storey sky-scraper on the edge of the City of London. The public inquiry into the "Walkie Talkie" (pictured) at 20 Fenchurch Street opened yesterday. The inquiry, which comes amid a growing concern about London's changing skyline, is set to pit an array of traditionalists against modernists including Frank Gehry, Lord (Norma) Foster and Lord (Richard) Rogers who all support the building. London's Mayor Ken Livingstone is also an advocate as he tries to increase living and work space in the back-drop of the world's dearest property values. Against the structure are many local councils and heritage groups who bemoan the loss of London's flat line and mostly uninterrupted views of St. Paul's Cathedral. (Picture from the WWW)

Other London high-rise controversies:

• St George's Wharf, Vauxhall, where deputy prime minister John Prescott has given the green light for a 50-storey residential tower criticised for it 1960s-style architecture.

• On the South Bank, an array of new towers reaching 460 feet are to go up nearby the entrance to Waterloo station.

• A 51-storey tower south of Blackfriars Bridge will feature a hotel run by Dubai.

• A 46-storey residential tower in a mixed-used scheme next to Vauxhall station.

• A 48-storey residential and leisure development in SE1.

The Tie

But what is the tie for? “Neckwear has long been a way of finishing an outfit, displaying wealth, and drawing attention to the face and framing the head,” says Sonnet Stanfill, the Curator of Contemporary Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum, who refuses to take sides in the tie spat. “It allows colour into an outfit, and allows an expression of one’s personality. The contemporary interpretation of ties continues that tradition.”

Sonnet in The Times today. Photo from the V&A.

Father ~ son

Sunday, March 4

Goalie

Here finds Madeleine protecting goal. Otherwise she prefers racing back and forth on the pitch generally disrupting play to the advantage of her side. On occasion her fast-breaks elicit appreciative "ooos" and "ahhs" from us admiring dads. Practice goes for one hour Saturday morning rain or shine (Eitan also plays Monday afternoon with school). It's a nice way to start the weekend especially now, after three years, I recognise many of the fathers sidelined on the pitch.

Train ride

This photo from several weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon strikes me wistful and I think how quickly parenthood slips by - even while paying attention.

Teenagers in the UK blog 4.5 hours per week on average according to The Times. This compares to reading which occupies two hours - including homework.

Volvo 544

Moe's beloved car, purchased used in '63 to drive across the US of A with his young bride Grace Manning post-Peace Corps, remained parked in front of 1860 San Ramon or 1530 Euclid Avenue until sold in 2000. The 544 was the first production car with seat-belts as standard and I recall the smell of the red seats on a summer's day - or the hot black dash-board when parked in the sun. The thing had excellent gas mileage even then, a six piston engine I could understand, and rarely broke down (excluding an epic return-trip from Yosemite on the freeway in a snow storm, circa 1979). She was always reliable for the 0600 pool-run (Katie in the back seat, me up front) and afterwards Moe took her to San Francisco on the ferry or, when that service stopped, the North Berkeley Bart station. The 544 was profiled yesterday in the New York Times, which Moe points out, refers to her as "humpbacked" and treasured by many people today. While cars now may be more airo-dynamic or stylish, none elicits the short honk and quick wave of two guys passing each other in a vintage 544.

Teddy

Teddy the bear

Eitan takes this photo of Teddy, who has been with us since 2001 when he was chosen from the town hall market in Topsham, Exeter. It was love at first sight. Eitan continues his cherished friendship and will not go to bed without the bear. Part of the ritual used to be a thumb-suck and a grip on the left ear (right in the photo) and we can see the wear-and-tear (Eitan stopped sucking his thumb six months ago when we agreed that I would give up beer). Further strain to Teddy has come from the washing machine and life. I now call him "Open Heart Teddy" while Sonnet rolls her eyes.

Madeleine, in a serious voice, confides to me: "Dad, I learned on TV - and I am not happy about it - that Scooby Doo is going to be on every day." (Madeleine was once frightened by the cartoon)

Madeleine: "Do you know what day I wish it was? Halloween, Christmas and Easter!"

Eitan: "I don't want to go over there to see the deer because they poo a lot."

Eitan: "Dad I know how to use the (TV) remote control. Now I do not need you any more."

Self portrait

Eitan takes a photo of himself and Teddy. "I am thinking about me curled up on the coach. I feel very comfortable. I am spending the afternoon with daddy as Sonnet is picking up Madeleine from a birthday party. I hope that Madeleine is having a very nice time at the party."

Caulkins

Tracy Caulkins, who I recall vividly from my swimming career in the late 1970s and '80s, was born in '63 and is widely regarded as one of the best American swimmers of her era. She was the first to set American records in all four racing strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly), and she won 48 individual (nonrelay) United States national swimming titles during her career. 

Caulkins was born in Winona, Minnesota and became a leading swimmer as a teenager. In 1977 she won her first national titles, capturing the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke races at the U.S. indoor championships and the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley races at the U.S. outdoor championships. A

t the 1978 world championships in West Berlin, West Germany (now Berlin, Germany), Caulkins won the 200-meter butterfly race and the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley races. She was also a member of the winning 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter medley relay teams. That year she received the James E. Sullivan Memorial Award, given annually by the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAU) to the outstanding amateur athlete in the country. 

At the age of 16, she was the youngest athlete ever to win the award.Although Caulkins was favored to win several medals at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, the boycott of the games by the United States caused her to miss the opportunity. She then enrolled at the University of Florida, compiling 12 individual collegiate championship titles there in various events from 1981 to 1984. 

Caulkins also won the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley races at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. By 1984 she was not as dominating a swimmer as she had been earlier in her career, but at the Olympics that year in Los Angeles, California, she won the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley races. She earned a third gold medal as a member of the winning 4 × 100-meter medley relay team. Caulkins retired from competitive swimming after the 1984 Olympics. (Photo from the US Swimming archive)

Print

The most popular tabloid daily in England is Rupert Murdoch's The Sun - famous for The Page 3 Girl which show-cases a pair each morning and includes the model's thoughts on daily events or Prince Harry. Every lorry has the rag stashed on the front dashboard while business men on the tube unabashedly check out the the day's selection. Of cultural interest Tanya Robinson's breasts - pictured - are chosen the best in Britain.

Daily circulation - National Morning Popular press - June '05
Daily Mirror 1,742,378
Daily Record 462,472
Daily Star 855,612
The Sun 3,230,652
Total of average daily net circulation: 6,291,114

Booz

The above cartogram redraws each country according to how much alcohol is drunk (figures from 2001). Compare a bloated and distorted Britain with a shrivelled Australia. Sadly in this category, our little island punches above its weight. (image from University of Michigan)

From England's Department of Health:

• In England in 2002, around two fifths (37%) of men had drunk more than 4 units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week: just over one fifth of women (22%) had drunk more than 3 units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week.

• In England in 2002, 21% of men had drunk more than 8 units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week, and 9% of women had drunk more than 6 units.

• In 2002, average weekly alcohol consumption in England was 17.0 units for men and 7.6 units for women.

• In England in 2002, 27% of men and 17% of women aged 16 and over drank on average more than 21 and 14 units a week respectively. Drinking at these levels among men has remained stable at about 27% since 1992: for women it has risen from 12% to 17% in the same period.

• In 2003, a quarter (25%) of pupils in England aged 11-15 had drunk alcohol in the previous week; the proportion doing so has fluctuated around this level since the mid 1990s.

• In the United Kingdom, expenditure on alcohol as a proportion of total household expenditure has fallen from 7.5% in 1980 to 5.7% in 2003.

Super Return

Here I am taking a welcome break from the Super Return conference in Germany. I feel in camouflage as the audience is 98% white male wearing same dark suit and hermes tie... 50% with spectacles. A female speaker referencing fund-raising quips: "in this audience, size really does matter." Ar ar. We hear about why mega-funds are better than regional funds, the amount of private equity raised for buyouts, how the industry is transforming Europe for the better and the negative press surrounding above average rates of return - in short, just what one would expect from a mature, wealthy industry. I spend most of my time out of the conference hall catching up with friends and discussing various opportunities.

Heathrow

I spend my Sunday afternoon at Heathrow - picture from Terminal 4, Gate 15. I learn from my driver that T4 opened in 1984 and the airport paid for the installation of sound-proofing for the houses that seem to end at the run-way. Heathrow 5 and the third runway will open in '08 while the airport remains the busiest in the world. Lucky us. To make up for the latter half of my day, I bike Richmond Park in the morning then take Eitan to the common to play football. Sonnet makes Sunday waffles and bacon - the English kind that is thick and salty (not those skimpy strips in the USA). Now I eat French fries at The Westin and watch a French program on killer whales.

Netherlands

I am off to Rotterdam today then Germany for the Super Return Conference. Most of us ex-pats, even after ten years, don't know where Holland is or the difference between Holland and The Netherlands. So here it is:

Holland occupies an area of 41,160 square kilometres and is home to 16 million people. Partly reclaimed from the waters of the North Sea, it is Europe’s most densely populated country. The Netherlands enjoyed a golden age from around 1580 to 1740 when the Dutch East India Company sent ships to the Far East in search of spices and other exotic goods, while colonising the Cape of Good Hope, Indonesia, Surinam, the Antilles, and New Amsterdam (now New York). Today, only the Antilles remain a Dutch colony and are really self ruling. Disaster hit the country in 1953 when a high spring tide accompanied by a severe storm broke the dykes in Zeeland. 1,835 people drowned. To make sure such a tragedy would never occur again, the Delta Project blocked the southwest river deltas using a network of dams, dykes and 3.2km storm surge barrier.

Eitan and Madeleine watch the movie Babe about a pig on a farm. Madeleine asks: "where do sausages come from, mum?" and the film takes on new meaning.

Madeleine excitedly asks: "Eitan after you have had a bath and changed your clothes do you want to play tea parties with me?"

I look under Eitan's bed to find British and American money (coins and bills); a "stash" of Halloween candy and various treasures including music CDs, polished rocks, toys and toy bits, a shield, a compass and some marbles.

Smoking

According to the World Health Organization, China has one of the highest rates of smokers among its male population - more than two thirds of the adult males are smokers. Only Russia and some eastern European countries come close to this high prevalence of smoking in China. In India, by comparison, the percentage of smokers among adult males, is less than half of China. Only some 30 percent of the adult males are smoking in India.

In the European nations of Germany, France, and Spain around 40% of the males are smoking - some 15% more than in the United States of America. Only the United Kingdom and Finland have rates of male smokers that are comparable with the USA. In Sweden, on the other hand, less than 20% of the males are smoking.

The situation among females is completely different: In the WHO selection of countries, China and India have the lowest rates of female smokers - only 3 to 5 percent. Female smokers are also rare in Russian . Very high rates of female smokers, however, can be found in Norway, Germany, and France - where roughly 30 percent of all adult females are smoking. In the US the proportion of female smokers is around 22 percent.

In any case, I am in Paris tonight for meetings, returning tomorrow. This airborn shot of Eitan taken in '04 on holiday in the Sierras.

Fashion

Two models, photographed by Sonnet last year, wearing designs to be featured in Sonnet's upcoming book on New York fashion.

Richmond

How did this late-summer photo get by me I wonder? Taken in Richmond nearby the High Street and our house, Eitan, Madeleine and I burn off some Sunday afternoon energy during the fading sunshine. While winter arrived disturbingly late in '06 the farmer's day-light savings nets dark mornings and early sunsets. We take what we can get outdoors. I note that Madeleine wears her All-England gear, excluding the sandals of course.

Katie leaves for Miami today to cover the trial of Carl Dorelian who was a wealthy member of the Haitian military regime’s high command, promoted for his role in staging a violent coup d'etat. Not only was he granted amnesty in the United States, he won $3.2MM in the state lottery.

I ask Eitan and Madeleine how we can reduce garbage and help the planet. Madeleine suggests: "if you love a rabbit, keep it."

Maida Vale

This photo taken May 24, 2002, at Lauderdale Mansions. Eitan about 18 months and seems to be happily adjusting to his sister, who would have arrived three months prior.

Hard to believe but the UK is third for global venture capital. Last year's 515 vc deals, worth €1.8BN, was comfortably the largest market in Europe (source: Library House). California topped the list with 1,367 deals valued at €9.1BN followed by Massachusetts with 338 worth €2.1BN.