Drury's Statue

A bridge has been at Vauxhaull since 13th century when the south river a swamp. Following numerous essays, a new bridge built to a starkly functional design at the turn of of the 19th century, and many influential architects complained about the lack of consultation during the design process. In 1903, during the construction of the bridge, the LCC consulted with architect William Edward Riley about the possible decorative elements that could be added to the bridge. Riley proposed erecting two 60-foot pylons topped with statues at one end of the bridge, and adding decorative sculpture to the bridge piers. The pylons were rejected on cost but it was decided to erect monumental bronze statues above the piers.

On the upstream piers are Pomeroy's Agriculture, Architecture, Engineering and Pottery, whilst on the downstream piers are Drury's Science, Fine Arts, Local Government and Education. Each statue weighs approximately two tons. Despite their size, the statues are little-noticed by users of the bridge as they are not visible from the bridge itself, but only from the river banks or from passing shipping.

I hung over the side of the bridge to get this shot.

Wud Up, Y'All?

And, yes, Friday. It is not entirely clear that I have moved the ball down-field this week but, then, nor has the world come to an end. Our family routine fixed: AM dog walk -> kids to school -> work &c -> swimming, football, trumpet, tutor, play-date(s) -> dinner -> reading -> lights out. The kids on half-term from Monday.

We have dinner with Peri and Jim who, when we last saw him, turning 5-0. Jim has handled the new decade magnificently. Recall he is Managing Director at Google since '05 (brother Richard since '01) and heads the company's syndication and diistribution teams across multiple platforms, products and ad formats. He always has great insight into where things are heading and enjoys the responsibility, which require him to spend a fair amount of time in Mountain View (he refuses to get a flat or car). Fortunately Peri a wonder women and well on top of the family while Jim away AND running her business which is the largest travel service to Turkey. Peri went to Smith. Power couple.

Water Colour

My photo from the museum's modern collection - the chandelier on-off like a Christmas tree and it takes about twenty shots to get with lights. Meanwhile I spend 20 minutes maximum in the Water Colour exhibition which I don't find particularly interesting, though the early maps of England and Norfolk from the 12th and 13th centuries, in water colour, pretty cool. Here is the overview from the Tate:

Watercolour at Tate Britain invites you to challenge your preconceptions of what watercolour is. The most ambitious exhibition about watercolour ever to be staged, with works spanning 800 years, this boundary-breaking survey celebrates the full variety of ways watercolour has been used. From manuscripts, miniatures and maps through to works showing the expressive visual splendour of foreign landscapes, watercolour has always played a part in British Art. Artists range from JMW Turner and Thomas Girtin to Anish Kapoor and Tracey Emin.

Battersea #2

Today is a London day, grey and dark - cold. This is what I and everyone thinks of when they consider here. I cross the Vauxhaull Bridge on my way to the Tate Britain to see the Water Colour exhibition and check in with some l'art. Seems like the right thing to do on a slow day otherwise.

Boxcar 2D

Below, a nifty program designed by Derp Bike Designer, learns to build a "car" using a genetic algorithm - the clip in its advanced stages. It starts with a population of 20 randomly generated shapes with wheels and runs each one to see how far it goes. The cars that go the furthest reproduce to produce offspring for the next generation. The offspring combine the traits of the parents to hopefully produce better cars.

It uses a physics library to simulate the effects of gravity, friction, collisions, motor torque, and spring tension for the car. This lets the car be a wide range of shapes and sizes, while still making the simulation realistic. There are also many extra variables because of the complicated car and axles and the color clearly illustrates the evolution.

Eric adds further: "initially the components are assembled randomly. different variables affect the wheel sizes, hub heights, etc.cars that fare better pass their genes along preferentially. over time they settle on optimal designs. it illustrates an software technique known as a genetic algorithm---the analogy to darwinian evolution is strong."

Madeleine's Crew

Pictured, outside our house.

Here's my shocker: 140,000 hard drives crash every week in the US (Mozy.com, thank you very much). Last month I came within an inch of losing everything since my hard-drive back-up and online back-up incorrectly partitioned preventing me access my data. $%^&* Sony re-installed my op-system while repairing my (*&^*£ non-Mac notebook. Saving my bacon: the discovery that my backed up files being continuously deleted so when I click the Mozy dust bin, there is was my data. I could give a toss about everything accept my contacts and photos, whose loss would have haunted me to the grave.

Eitan, over breakfast, looks up from his book: "Mom what would you do if I became a robot probe?"

Sonnet: "You mean like a space robot?"

Eitan: "Yes. Like a robot probe."

Madeleine, not looking up: "Order you around, of course."

Me: "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Madeleine: "Yep."

Me: "What would you have him do?"

Madeleine: "I'd order him to the store to buy all the chewy sweets that I like."

Self Portrait XV

Somehow I find myself in the middle. 43, after all - half way to the end zone, contemplating secondary schools for the kids, watching Sonnet in her museum career and working on mine. Waiting for Cal in the Rose Bowl. Admittedly, my generation off to a late start - many of us remaining at home until our 30s, avoiding occupations and marriage until later still. The delay perhaps due to a stagnant US economy in the early '90s, but my suspicion simply that many of us could. Or maybe the stall from some sense of entitlement, passed down from our comfortable parents, who instilled in our psyches the belief that our lives would be more interesting, more rich, more exciting than theirs. Such expectations high enough to be unobtainable and so .. why bother?

My years at home, age 26-27, were two of the best: I met Sonnet, traveled the world and visited a few dodgy third-world bars, reconnected with Northern California. .. and even saved some money somehow. Most of all, I got to know my parents in a different way. For one, I had a job. Those sunny afternoons, usually following a return-commute from Sonoma where Help The World See and Dr Wayne Cannon located, as simple as a glass of Chardonnay or picking up Sonnet at the BART station. I drove down the coast by myself or with friends to catch waves with Danny in Santa Cruz. Or drink coffee at Cafe Royal in Rockridge discussing, for hours, life-or-death decisions : make money or do good? Where? When? How? My biggest commitment to running a marathon. Yes, there was a lot of slack but some meaningful exploration, too.

Maybe this all ties together with a Brown interview this morning - the kid 18 years old, on his "gap" year in Australia, and everything ahead of him.

Show Down

The 2012 Olympics schedule posted today and 30 July may be the Biggest Day of many Big Days. This, Dear Reader, the final of the men's 200-meter freestyle which may see Michael Phelps against Ian Thorpe, who un-retires for one more essay at glory.

Tickets priced accordingly - top seats are £450 but will go much higher on the day.

Russia's Wealth

Here is a thing to consider if you are Russian: there are 114 Russian billionaires, more than ever, despite the financial collapse (source: Financial Times). The top 10 Russians in 2010 were worth $182 billion, up 30% from '09, but still below 2007's peak of $221 billion. The resurgence from the 20% rise in the Russian stock market last year and China's growing need for raw materials. The rest of the country: nominal per capita income $10,522 (2010, IMF) and life expectancy under 60. Fortunately for Chelsea football fans there is Roman Abramovich (#4, $11.2 billion) who has spent an estimated £900 million on the club since arriving en scene in 2003.

"Nobody and nothing will stop Russia on the road to strengthening democracy and ensuring human rights and freedoms."
--Vladimir Putin

"A left turn in the fate of Russia is as necessary as it is inevitable."
--Mikhail Khodorkovsky (#1 Russia in 2004, $15 Billion, Forbes, before his arrest)

"People who know me said I will win one or two Premierships and will not be interested after that."
--Roman Abramovich

Thought Leadership

Changing the world ----->

"There has been a long endless debate about why there are so few women in thought leadership. Is it sexism? Is it socialization? Is it biology? All of those questions aren't so interesting to me. Yes, I think sexism exists and I think it has a lot to do with it. Do I think there are biological differences? Sure. Does socialization makes a huge impact? Yes, it does. But I also feel like that is a circular debate. I think there are more pro-active, more results-oriented approaches to the problem. Our answer at The OpEd Project to the circular debate is: Who cares? What if we could just increase the numbers of women submitting? If you are not submitting to the front door of public conversation -- if you are not getting your ideas out there -- then there is no chance for them to become influential and there is no chance for you to become a thought leader. Our approach looks at submissions as a starting point."

--Katie Orenstein

Coming Up

Christian sees Yuck in San Francisco; they play at Bush Hall, London W12, Friday.

T. Rex’s Secret

Eitan submits a story, limited to 200 words maximum, for a national school competition. The winning stories professionally illustrated and published. Here is the boy's lance:

T. Rex's Secret, By Eitan

THERE WAS ONCE a dinosaur named Tyson. Tyson was 6 years old and his friends looked up to him.

Tyson had a secret. He didn’t tell anyone because he thought they wouldn’t like him. He was afraid of the dark. Every night when his mum closed the door to his room he’d pull his blanket up to his chin and hugged his teddy.

One day his class went on a treasure hunt, Tyson leading.

“Have you seen any treasure around here?” Tyson asked a snake sitting on a log. “No” hissed the snake.

“Have you seen any treasure here?”Asked Tyson, to a squirrel in a tree . “No” chirped the squirrel.

Finally the class came to a cave.”This is it” said Tyson’s friend Colin. “Let’s go in” “In there?”asked Tyson. “Of course” said Colin.

Tyson walked, trembling, into the cave. This isn’t bad ,he thought. Everyone looked for the treasure . At last Tyson found the treasure!

Again everyone looked up to him . He didn’t have to worry about night time. Tyson journeyed into the dark forests and the deep caves. He was never afraid of the dark again.

Louise NY

Louise in New York for Fashion Week - no surprise there. She created the knitwear for Versace's spring/summer 2011 collection and will present her autumn/winter 2011-12 offering in the Big Apple rather than in London. Definitely coming up. She is now engaged to Izzy. Photo from Vogue.

Partay

And now nine is official.

Eitan's worst nightmare comes true: the birthday-party-movie the same time as the Manchester darby pitting Manchester United versus Manchester City. I try to find a home that will take our disconsolate lad but the usual suspects not around. In the end, Eitan manoeuvres "delayed viewing" on the set-top box which enables him to watch the game .. delayed. What young people can do with wirefuls nowadays. As for our birthday gal and par for the course, eight boys and Molly who, I tell her, "is very brave." The kids play "It" and their screeches attract neighbor Martin who notes wistfully over the fence "It used to be like this all the time around here." And: "When I was a boy . . ." Martin recalls being evacuated during the London bombings.

Farewell To The Fairground

Sonnet and I see the "White Lies" at Sheps Bush last night. We muscle our way to the front stage and the closest I have been to the band (the show sold out and a wall of energy behind us yet strangely not there). Their second album released this month but it is the first I recognise with songs: "Death", "To Lose My Life," and "Farewell To The Fairground," sung with joy. The band from Ealing, London, and the audience young Brit hoppers. They know the words to every song. My ears still ringing.

Egypt

Madeleine's 9th birthday party today and we prepare ourselves for an afternoon of 10 kids, the movies (Gnomeo & Juliette in 3D, groan), pizza and an overnight. Our gal excited.

Hosni Mubarek steps down as President of Egypt after 18 days of mass demonstrations.

High Fashion And Dog Hair

Me: "Madeleine please remove the dog hair from your jumper and trousers before leaving for school."

Madeleine: "But any kid with a dog has dog hair on them."

Me: "Not in this house. Besides, it is not respectful to your teacher."

Madeleine: "That is so unfair! All the other kids can have dog hair on them but not me."

Me: "Sorry, those are the rules."

Madeleine: "You just never understand, do you Dad!?"

Viktor & Rolf

Sonnet and I visit Musée de La Mode et du Textile, which is a wonderful museum inside the Louvre (She gave a lecture at Les Arts Decoratifs at the Institut National du Patrimoine at the Louvre in 2009). The exhibitions include various famous designers like Viktor & Rolf, pictured, augmented by video display of their costumes on the catwalk. I find the image one of the creepiest I have taken. V&R's work strongly influenced by The Eyes of Laura Mars.

Viktor Horsting (1969) & Rolf Snoeren (1969) met at the Arnhem Academy of Art and Design in The Netherlands. They began working together after graduation, relocating to Paris in 1993 to launch their careers. Their first collection 'Hyères' (1993) based on distortion, reconstruction and layering won three prizes at the Salon Europeen des Jeunes Stylistes at the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie. The subsequent presentation of four collections in experimental art spaces led them in 1998 to show their first Haute Couture collection (Spring/Summer 1998).

Viktor & Rolf returned to ready-to-wear in 2000, with 'Stars and Stripes' (Autumn/Winter 2000-01). The menswear line 'Monsieur' was added in 2003 (Autumn/Winter), modelled entirely by Viktor & Rolf in a mirrored performance. The Viktor & Rolf range has since grown to include shoes, accessories and eyewear.In addition to their own lines, Viktor & Rolf have collaborated with a number of other well known brands including Samsonite (2009) with whom they produced a luggage line, Shu Uemura (2008) for a range of couture false eyelashes, Piper Heidsieck (2007) for the iconic upside down bottle and, in 2006, the line for high street chain H&M which greatly extended their appeal to the general public. With the desire to expand, in 2008 they entered into a partnership with Italian clothing magnate Renzo Rosso of Only the Brave, allowing the company to develop new product ranges, extend distribution and open further boutiques.

A true man hates no one.
--Napoleon Bonaparte

L'Art

Here Sonnet in the French Paintings, the largest of its kind anywhere.

More on the Louvre: Following the French Revolution, the museum opened in 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings mostly being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum closed in 1796 until 1801. The size of the collection increased under Napoleon and renamed the Musée Napoléon. After the defeat of Napoléon at Waterloo, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII andCharles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown through donations and gifts since the Third Republic, except during the two World Wars. As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts;

Paintings; Prints and Drawings.

"A picture is worth a thousand words."
--Napoleon Bonaparte

The Louvre

We give the Grand Dame a full day. I am pained to acknowledge that despite my visits to Paris I have not been to the Louvre once though within walking distance of my hotel. In fact the last time I was here, I believe, 1989 when my family on a lay-over en route to Africa. I was so jet-lagged I could not see straight let alone contemplate the enormity of the museum - 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres.

My photo taken from the Egyptian collection on the fourth floor. In 1983, French President François Mitterrand proposed the Grand Louvre plan to renovate the building and relocate the Finance Ministry, allowing displays throughout the building. Architect I. M. Pei proposed the glass pyramid which stands over the new main entrance of the main court, the Cour Napoléon. The pyramid and its underground lobby inaugurated October 15, 1988. The second phase of the Grand Louvre plan, La Pyramide Inversée, was completed in 1993.

Sonnet and I focus on the Vermiers - two of his 26 existing paintings here - and the Italian Renaissance with extra attention to El Greco, Bertolucci, and da Vinci. I see the Mona Lisa which is now in a protective bullet proof casing and a guard rail of ten feet. The first time I saw her, in 1984, she was unprotected. During World War II, the painting was removed from the Louvre and taken safely, first to Château d'Amboise, then to the Loc-Dieu Abbey and Château de Chambord, then finally to the Ingres Museum in Montauban. And now there she is, 500 years after Leonardo painted her, looking at us strangely and us none the wiser.