Eric Gets Hitched

Sonnet and I to Eric's wedding in Cambridge. I arrive Friday and Sonnet several days earlier to speak at the Costume Society's annual conference in Boston. I get my first glimpse of the bride, Simona, at dinner and am pleased, very pleased, that Simona is everything Eric says and more. They are, like, totally all over each other, too, which puts me and everybody in a festive mood. Love is in the air. Sonnet and I dance to great '80s beats before turning in at a reasonable 7AM GMT.

We are BTW at the Harvard Faculty Club which, conveniently enough, is where the ceremony and reception take place. The HFC a cozy brownstone surrounded by leafy trees in the middle of the Harvurd campus. There are imposing portraits hanging from the galleries; when I ask about the building I am handed a two-side, densely typed, narrative which does not get read, saving you, dear reader, the potted history of the place.

For many of us, Eric's wedding anticipated since July '10 when he and Simona met. I know Eric to be enthusiastic when it comes to spring love and watching him navigate the perils of true love, well, a harrowing experience for all involved. He, and Simona - and I - come through it and, now, joy.

Kate Bush

I am interested in Kate Bush, pictured, from the www, because of her '80s look - all that - and music, which I have grown to appreciate only recently. Bush is Britain's most successful solo female performer of the past 30 years who, at age 16, was discovered by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and picked up by EMI. In 1978, at age 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights," becoming the 1st woman to have a UK #1 with a self-written song. Many of Bush's songs have a melodramatic emotional and musical surrealism that defies easy categorisation (says me). She has influenced many of my favorites including Wild Beasts and Goldfrapp.

"The less you know about home computers, the more you'll want the new IBM PS/2."

--Edmonton Journal, 1987

Jeff+Rusty

The dog worth his weight in middle-age therapy sessions.

Sonnet away to Boston, leaving this morning, where she will speak at a conference.

We walk the dog after dinner.

Me: "Come on, Madeleine, I am tired of asking you to walk Rusty."

Madeleine: "Can I get an ice cream at the ice cream truck?"

Me: "Sure!"

Madeleine: "Really?! Wow, Dad, that is so nice!"

Me: "In fact, why not two?"

Madeleine: "Are you serious? Really? You have never done anything like that before!"

Me: "Pssst. Three!"

Madeleine: "The ice cream truck isn't even there, is it Dad?"

Me: "Well, let's go find out. Now get the leash."

Madeleine grapples with relativity.

Me: "There's Jenny."

Madeleine: "Who's that?"

Me: "Jenny. She used to be Jackson's nanny - you know her."

Madeleine: "Well, that was like two years ago."

Me: "Yeah, so?"

Madeleine: "Well, for you that is like nothing but for me, it is almost my whole life."

Me: "What's your point?"

Madeleine: "I don't know."

Self Portrait XVIII

Me trying to look like Don Draper. Katie points out that I need a cigarette.

Madeleine: "I met a new friend in art yard. His name is Hudson, like the river."

Me: "Cool name."

Madeleine: "Yeah. He's on crutches though."

Me: "Why's that ?"

Madeleine: "I think it's because blood is not going to his ribs or something."

Me:

Madeleine: "We played dominoes."

Me: "Thank goodness the strain didn't kill him."

Madeleine: "Oh Dad."

The Vaccines

Christian sends me this photo from the Vaccines concert at a small club in San Fran -- in the UK, they are coming up off a first album that hits.

Smooch

Katie sends a smooch from the Upper West Side.

I take the kids to their tutor Stephanie and have an hour free-time with each. Eitan and I go jogging along the Thames, starting around the Putney peers, which is a treat for me to have his companionship. The boy is a good runner, too. Afterwards, Madeleine and I head for Waitrose so she can talk me into buying her some "Strawberry string" (yuk). I give her one pound and tell her : "go for it." Sonnet works late on her next majah expo : Italian fashion, which is up for approval later this month.

Madeleine, out of the blue: "Dad would you have your wedding at the Putney Pool?"

Madeleine at Waitrose: "Look, Dad, the Jelly Beans Eitan got."

Me :

Madeleine: "And here it's 80p and he paid six pounds."

Me: "Sounds like a bad deal for him."

Madeleine: "Can I buy some?"

Me: "If it's less than £1, sure."

Madeleine: "Look at this one. It is one pound and 1p."

Me: "Mmmm"

Madeleine: "Can I have one p?"

Me: "Nope."

Madeleine: "You are so cruel, Dad."

Madeleine: "You're the math guy and mum's the literacy girl."

Madeleine: "Are you going to be a butcher?

Me: "Um. ."

Madeleine: "Didn't you say you were going to learn how to be a butcher so you can cut up a cow?"

Me: "Right, good memory - I was thinking about a class for that earlier this year but I don't think I am going to do it."

Madeleine: "Good because I don't want you to bring home a dead animal."

Silvio Undone ?

Last week Il Cavaliere lost Milano, something unheard of for his PDL party and not inside 20 years. And let us remind ourselves of the final straw:

In November 2010, teenage Moroccan belly dancer and alleged prostitute Karima El Mahroug (better known as "Ruby Rubacuori") claimed to have been given $10,000 by Berlusconi at parties at his private villas. The girl told prosecutors in Milan that these events were like orgies where Berlusconi and 20 young women performed an African-style ritual known as the "bunga bunga" in the nude. It was also found out that, on 27 May 2010, El Mahroug had been arrested for theft by the Milan police but (being still a minor) she was directed to a shelter for juvenile offenders. However, following two telephone calls by Berlusconi to the police authorities (in which, in particular, he falsely indicated that El Mahroug was a close relative of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt), the young woman was released and entrusted to the care of PDL regional counselor (and Berlusconi's personal dental hygienist) Nicole Minetti. The investigation of Berlusconi for extortion and child prostitution regarding Karima El Mahroug has been referred to as "Rubygate". MP Gaetano Pecorella proposed to lower the age of majority in Italy to solve the case.

Source : New Yorker and The Times

Stephan And Barbara Get Married

The Catholic ceremony in German and so I tell the groom congratulations, noting that I have no idea if they are actually got married.

The Shakespeares with Aneta. I leave them a page of chores and a stern address: done by my return. Or else. To ensure compliance, each completed item to be "checked" with a thick, black, marker. Just like my banking days.

Leeberghof

The post-ceremony reception located in the mountains overlooking the lake and Tegernsee. Photo from a private dining room next to the dining hall.

Stephan and Martin

Stephan on his wedding morning. Martin, supplying the booze, the Best Man. I have known Stephan from '03 when we met by work and friends ever since. He began his career shifting €millions for Swiss Re then Horizon21; he is now with a pe advisory firm in Mayfair.

So we meet John first : John at Proctor & Gamble selling "chemical products" which I think means hair and beauty products. He tells me of his time in Cincinnati which amuses him as much as me. No doubt, a lot of drinking involved. His girlfriend, Alex, at the Gagosian which is London's most important art gallery. Then James in Manhattan who started a nuts business now in 600 stores across the Big Apple. James's wife in Singapore trying a case for the United Nations, where she works "with a smile on her face" , James tells us (before that, she was at the fearsome Latham & Watkins Law). Esther, from Scotland, had to change her honors thesis on the Middle East thanks to the Second Intifada in '00, which forced her to re-write several chapters ("it could have waited a year" she says); more recently Esther trekked across Iran and before that, investing money for one of the world's richest men. Ryan flies in from Portland, Oregon, where he is @ WebMD and Magnus, from Singapore. I don't know what Magnus does but he reminds me of The Matrix. Martin received his PhD from St Andrews and adds a further quiet elegance to the group.

Tegernsee

Sonnet and I depart T5 on Friday for Bavaria, pictured, and Stephan and Barbara's nuptials. I have not been to Tegernsee which is 50 km south of Munich and a gateway into the Alps which tower, layered, before us. A drive would eventually go from our 700 ft sea-level to the Jungfrau in Switzerland at 4,158 m. Austria not far away either.

Upon arrival in Munich, we catch a train from Munich Central on the BOB to our destination - Seehotel Luitpold on the lake - with just enough time to change for an Oktoberfest themed get-togteher at Gebirgsschutzenhutte in the mountain forests. The suggested attire "Lederhosen" but I demure - in fact, no way, Dear Reader, am I getting into leather knee-length breeches and Timberland boots. I draw my age-appropriate limits at tapered jeans and Converse "All Stars."

It is a loud, raucous, and happy evening which Stephan begins by tapping the keg. And off we go.

"If a playwright tried to see eye to eye with everybody, he would get the worst case of strabismus since Hannibal lost an eye trying to count his nineteen elephants during a snowstorm crossing the Alps."

--James Thurber

Wimbledon Club

Martin, as you may recall, our neighbor who was born in the house he lives in and remembers The Evacuation during the Great W. His mother, Kiddee Godfree, won Wimbledon a couple times in the '20s so Martin a Wimbledon member and, since this is quite a thing, I wonder : how I can become one, too?

So the club has 375 "full members," (including Martin, Martin tells me) and about 100 temporary playing members and a number of honorary guys like past Wimbledon singles champions (not doubles - too dilutive). In order to join, an applicant must obtain "letters of support" from 4 existing full members, two of whom must have known the applicant for at least 3 years. The name then added to the Candidates' List. And then you wait, Martin says smiling, "30, 40 or 50 years. "

Photo of a streaker during a match between Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementiva in 2006. They probably chucked the dude in The Tower.

Another Day, Another Sunset

Ah, the spring of '11. Memorable. I now expect the morning sun which is when it gets dangerous.

Thames at Putney.

Yo, Groceries

The last time I saw John, pictured, he was the finance director for a friend's family business. Now he is the CFO of Sainsburys, the UK''s 3rd largest grocery with over 900 stores (16% mkt share) and 150,000 employees turning £20 B sales earning shareholders £710 M in 2010. Yesterday's market cap : £6,339 M. Not too shabby. John perfect for the role, too - neither showy nor overly enthusiastic. He instills confidence and .. calm. Let the CEO do all the drama and John Davan does just that - Davan viewed as one of those "celebrity CEOs". Sort of like a celebrity chef. But together they get the job done son nobody's complaining.

Photo from Sainsburys.com

US house prices down 33%. This worse than the decline during the Great Depression.

Par

Par Ardvisson from Sweden, pictured - my idol in 7th-8th grade. Ardvisson won the 100 m butterfly at the 1980 Moscow Olympics having set the world record two months earlier in Austin, Texas. He held the record 12 months until broken by American William Paulus who swam 53.81 vs. Arvidsson's 54.15 (Phelps went 49.82 in August '09). Between 1976 and 1983 Ardvisson was Swedish champion 22X and held the Swedish record in the 200 butterfly until 2008. Holy catfish. After graduating UC Berkeley he went to HBS and now business somewhere.

Madeleine and I walk the dog. Madeleine: "Why do people shave their pubic hair?"

Me: "Um . . ."

Madeleine: "I mean like swimmers. And bicyclist. Why do they do that ?"

Me: "Oh, well, it makes swimmers go faster and I guess cyclist feel different, like, smooth or something. When they shave their legs."

Madeleine: "Yeah. I wonder what it's like."

Me: "It is kind of silly, really. One day you will shave your legs every day. Just like I shave my face."

Madeleine: "That's a lot of work, isn't it Dad?"

Me: "Yep."

Madeleine: "Do you have to do it?"

Me: "Shave?"

Madeleine: "Grow up."

Me: "What do you think Auntie Katie does?"

Madeleine: "Does?"

Me: "Yeah. During the day. For work."

Madeleine: "Op Ed Project."

Me: "More, please."

Madeleine: "Well, first she sleeps in. Then she gets up and goes to her office. And talks on the phone and works on her computer and stuff."

Me: "That's pretty good. Do you think she works late at night?"

Madeleine: "Yes. She's a night owl. Like me."

Me: "Yep."

Madeleine: "And she's a movie star."

Jelly Beans

One more from bank holiday Monday, this time outside Harrods in Knightsbridge. There is a moment, before lunch, without a plan. This the best part of the day.

Pieter Hugo

We visit the V&A's "Figures & Fictions, Contemporary South African Photography" yesterday. Pieter Hugo's image, pictured, from "The Hyena and Other Men" series extraordinary - "it represents one of the travelling sellers of traditional medicines from Nigeria who tame hyenas for street performances" (the guide tells us).

Hugo born in '76 and began his career as a photojournalist.

Carlie Gidman / LinkedIn IPO

2004 photo of diver Carlie Gidman by Anderson & Low benefitting the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Gidman competed in the Sydney Olympics. Since, she has been a "Senior Account Manager" for a number of Aussie companies including GAS, Q Ltd, and 3D Interactive. From November '10, she chucked all that and now backpacks the world, returning to Sydney in 2012. Good on her. Source: LinkedIn.

So... LinkedIn . . becomes the first social media company to list, which it does 19 May. LinkedIn priced $45 a share by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase , raising $352 M. Trading's first-day sees the stock hit $92 suggesting the underwriters mis-priced the deal. And why care? Founders rich and vc's happy etc. &c. But consider : most IPOs enjoy a modest 15% bump post IPO, according to Richard Green at Carnegie Mellon. LinkedIn could have raised more money instead of giving it away to day-traders. The company paid 5% of the offering to i banks, afterall - cannot LinkedIn expect a minimum professional expertise ?

And here is the further rub : LinkedIn's IPO created hundreds of millions of dollars for special clients of the banks, who receive allotments of pre-IPO stock . I was gifted these shares back in the day (not enough, never enough) and it is, indeed, a risk-free participation in a hot listing. What's a little dilution among friends ?

The i banks argue that tech cos. difficult to value given the early-ish nature of these businesses but this is their job, to price fairly, and build a book. If Wall Street wants to keep SV it needs to get real. Google took shares strait to the public and I think more similar ballsy moves to come. Hope so.

South Ken

We head to Chinatown for dim sum and pig out on all sorts of things I cannot recall. Chinese food, dude. Madeleine wants chicken's feet (which I reject) since I dared the kids to try it a couple years ago now they think it is some kind of delicacy. I think the Chinese are even, like,woa, somebody ordered that shit.

But anyways, here we are, giving each other the Obama rock over our meal , gluttons that we are. After that it is South Kensington and a coffee bar for Dad (pictured) then the V&A where I let the children run the center courtyard+fountain unencumbered.

How lucky Sonnet and I are to share these glorious precious personalities right on the edge of change. We are well aware the teenage years at the next corner and the spirit sooner, still. I dance around subjects which mortify Eitan while Madeleine keen ; better left no surprises nor confusions and I ask Sonnet : What will you divulge of yours? Average age of menstruation in the USA, I read in USA Today, ten-years, seven months. 15% of girls begin puberty age-8. Me, I can't wait for what they become.

Escalator Underground

These kiddos are cool cats, pictured. Did you know under-11s free on the tube? First time I've gotten anything for free in this city.

Madeleine has suggested hints of interest in Justin Bieber and who can blame her? I come down hard on Eitan's snarky remarks "Everybody hates him" and so fair enough. To the boy's credit he can name 3 Bieber songs. Yet it is Madeleine's decision to check out the tweenie heart-throb so I happily buy her Bieber's CD @ HMV Picadilly. I further get on Eitan's case as the boy refuses to visit the impressionists @ the National Gallery choosing, instead, to sit on a bench. Madeleine's mind open , at least, to Bieber and the finest paintings on offer anywhere. My opinion. She and I see van Gogh's "Sunflowers", Monet's "Lilly Pads" and Pissaro's "Paris Street in Winter." I promise to keep the tour to three only but slip in another handful. We walk hand-to-hand through the crowds - mainly, you see, to pull me along.

Me: "There is a reason people from all over the world come here, the National Gallery, to see the paintings."

Eitan: "Yeah well they are boring."

Me: "You haven't even checked them out. How do you know?"

Eitan: "We studied them in school"

Me: "You should appreciate these treasures are right in front of you and for free, for Pete's sake."

Madeleine: "Yeah, Eitan, for Pete's sake."

Eitan: "It's not my fault that I don't find them interesting."

Me: "Well too bad for you."

Madeleine: "Yeah too bad for you."

Me: "Thank you Madeleine but I've got it covered."

Madeleine: "Can I go to the gift shop now?"