Sunday, March 7
Green Boots
Eitan shows us his new boots. He is now a size 'four' in juniors. I recall when his feets smaller than my hand. Our favorite flowers vase has the boy's foot imprints from age one month - Katie did this for us when she first met him. So any ways, Eitananticipates his semi-final Cup game in West Horsley or about an hour's drive off the M25. Late game time kicks off at 1:30PM.
at 09:38
Wednesday, March 3
Munich
at 20:56
David
Here is David, who I have been running around with this week. We are at the Paris airport heading for Copenhagen. David my age and investing venture capital for his career. Before HBS he was with start-up UroMed that went public; post business school he ran Forge Ventures which was a joint venture with Mayfield, Enterprise and Johnson & Johnson to buy medical companies. He then became Partner at Hamilton BioVentures, where he produced top-quartile results for the fund he invested and now Correlation Ventures.
at 19:59
Eiffel Tower
Eiffel kept a small office on the tippy top of his edifice. Presumably there was an elevator back then.
at 19:54
Rodin
In Paris, I have a few free hours and, since sunny and spring-like, we go to one of my favorite museums. I am reminded of how sensual Rodin's works - pictured. Rodin's sculptures warm and intimate, provocative, nothing like the base materials of his craft -we look at something otherwise a formless marble. I learn that Rodin's older sister Maria died of peritonitis in a convent in 1862. Rodin was anguished and felt guilty because he introduced Maria to an unfaithful suitor. From her death, Rodin turned away from art and briefly joined a Catholic order. Father Eymard recognized Rodin's talent and, sensing his lack of suitability for the order, encouraged him to continue his sculpture. Without the Father, there would be no Thinker. Or Gates Of Hell or The Burghers of Calais. These things often a razor's edge and, just sometimes, we may appreciate a gift to humanity.
at 19:53
Self Portrait XV
So I start my week with Correlation Ventures in London then the Eurostar to Paris that evening (photo in hotel). Travel takes its toll, so I better believe in the funds I am selling (and investing with) and with Correlation I do. Recall this a group who brings heavy quantiative analysis to VC, which has not been done before yet, we believe, holds promise given the industry's inefficiencies. Anybody who has raised venture capital, as I did with Ezoka.com, knows it is a disruptive if not torturous process (Ezoka was pain-free and I used to say the easiest thing I had ever done though my biggest mistake a piece of shit partner. But that was my decision and my responsibility).
at 19:51
Sunday, February 28
I Will Take You Down
I keep this pinned by my desk (thank you Stan and Silver for sending the best).
at 19:23
Saturday, February 27
Tommy The Hamster
at 19:40
Friday, February 26
The Arch
What a strange and wonderful monument at the heart of Paris that honors France's fallen soldier, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside top, a list of Generals and wars fought; underneath, the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I. Access is via an underground tunnel, thank goodness, as the circling drivers mad. I see two near collisions while another attempts a dramatic inside-to-outside move that earns little respect: "connard!"
at 17:51
Thursday, February 25
Paris - Omen
at 19:43
Wednesday, February 24
C'Est Etre L'Esclave Du Tabac
This Parisian anti-smoking ad receives critical attention which is not surprising as it equates fags and porno suggesting an abusive, submissive relationship. God bless the French, who have no problem putting it out there. At least they are not hypocrites.
at 12:45
Tuesday, February 23
Book And Bradbury
Madeleine gets her book on - I do not recall the title from work but it really does not matter. She is into it. London's grey cold weather continues and I am forced to wonder: am I participating in a Ray Bradbury novel? Who can forget "All Summer In A Day" which I read around the seventh grade. Recall the story about Margot, who has been relocated to Venus from Earth somewheres in the future. On Venus it is constantly raining and the sun visible for one hour every seven years. Margot is the only child in her class who remembers sunshine so the kids bully her, locking her in a broom closet. Suddenly the sun arrives, the teacher takes the class outside where they whoop for joy in their new freedom; then a girl starts crying, a raindrop falls and thunder. Everybody runs inside remembering Margot who they find pale in the gloom and darkness - the sun has come and gone.
at 08:10
Monday, February 22
Louise Goldin
Of the photos I take yesterday from my mobile, this one captures the strange lonely scene best. The young woman pictured perfectly miraged: connected to us and yet a million miles away. The models tone dark - expressionless with heavy eye-shadow never making eye contact as is the norm at these things. A jutted walk makes their appearance all the more alien. Designer Louise Goldin's clothes dazzle, too: slinky, shiny leggings, wedge shoes and padded curves. The show in Covent Garden in the basement of a deserted building off the square and ideal for runway lighting and atmosphere. I am invited by new friend Izzy, from Croatia via Duane so not surprising his friends ueber cool; Izzy is dating Goldin.
at 10:27
Sunday, February 21
Chrome
Reviewing Madeleine's photo from this morning, and all my photos for that matter, I realise many (most?) are a battleship grey. A combination, no doubt, of reduced sunlight and rain+dull overcast skies. At the fashion show I meet a single-mother living in Shoreditch (the cool part of town where all the gays are) whose older boyfriend in a band in Los Angeles. They commute. I am surprised to learn she does not like El Lay - most Brits adore the idea of California and all else unobtainable to them. But don't we all? I digress. She finds the relentless sunshine monotonous and lack of seasons unsettling. What do people talk about? she laments. And the traffic - nobody has time for the beach. It cannot all be Baywatch, I admit, but my high school experience pretty 90210. We compare notes on working and child-raising but, in honesty, I cannot imagine being solo for the biggest Project of one's career. It would not be half as much fun, for one. And requires tremendous courage and fortitude. Respect.
at 19:25
Fashionista
We have your typical London Sunday: up at 6:30AM for Eitan's swim practice; Sonnet takes Madeleine to the Betty Jackson catwalk at Somerset House; Aggie arrives 9:30AM to take both kids to the Waterloo IMAX where they see African Safari 3D then lunch at the dreadful Giraffe ... meanwhile, I go to the afternoon Louise Goldin show who is the fashionista of the hour and the pap there in full force, as are the celebs, but I will post something on them or this tomorrow.
And here is Madeleine on the Waterloo Bridge. I ask her about her day and get the usual "good." I probe: "'Good' like what happens every day at school?" (she now sits on the counter next to the oven, which is the warmest spot in the kitchen). Sonnet reading "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" which is the seventh of seven volumes (just asking the title, interrupting Sonnet's flow, gets screeches from the Shakespeares). Any attempt to gather more insight into Madeleine's (or Sonnet's) day for the next 100 pages null and void. Like Louise Goldin, I shall revisit.
PM Gordon Brown under fire for abusing his staff. I can see this - he seems to me a dour personality. Sure, his style maybe suitable for a good financial melt down but who would want to work for him? Despite it all, the Tories indefensible 28 point lead over Labor six months ago fallen to a measly six. They panic and David Cameron promises us, the people, stock in the banks we have baled out. Free money! Go figure. For the record: I will vote, for the first time in my life I might add, conservative in the June elections. A 50% tax rate does that to a fellow. Conservatives commitment to junk Heathrow's third-runway another. Most recently, Govt. has introduced a car-park charge in Richmond Park despite massive local resistance and protest (a rally drew 1,000 old-age pensioners and a few families). Unfortunately for us, the over-flow will be on our block as visitors attempt to avoid the charge. Conservatives have said bluntly they will repeal the charge earning my and a few other votes.
at 18:09
Gone Bowling
Eitan has been clamoring for bowling so yesterday we do. Here we are on Queen's Way in Bayswater touching Hyde Park's north side. Queen's Way is one of those strange, incredible streets found only in London. Crowded, a bit run down and rather low-brow (as is the neighborhood, despite Tony buying a pad on Connaught Square) it attracts young people from everywhere by the horde. As it should: the other side anchored by Whiteley's shopping mall - London's first mall suffering from the economy and Westway which opened in Sheperd's Bush and home of Tiffany, Apple and everything bling. In between, the street has restaurants and pubs from every quarter: Lebanese, Italian, German, Japanese, American (Subway, Starbucks, KFC - fast food), Iranian, Chinese, French, Scottish, Dutch .. it is the only place in London as Cosmopolitan as we know the city to be - over 250 languages spoken here after all, making us the most linguistic capital in the world [An aside: in 2000 Government surveyed 850,000 London school children's first-language finding Lugenda (Uganda), Ga (Ghana), Tigrinya (Sudan), German and Japanese equal at 800 per tongue; English 608,500.]
at 13:12
Friday, February 19
Thursday, February 18
Sugar High
at 19:38