Massacre On The Pitch

Eitan's Elm Grove up against the Old Isleworthians Reds, a superior team, and buckle 5-nil in a game where our boys have two legitimate shots on goal.  Maybe. Even though EG physically bigger and equally capable, the other side skilled up and employ superior tactics : mainly, they "stick in" the action and make plays where there appears none.  Eitan chosen EG's "Man Of The Match" by Coach, who otherwise reads the Riot Act.

Madeleine and I have a Saturday evening "date" as Sonnet and Eitan at a swimming gala in North London (Wandsworth fourth of eight teams; Eitan swims the 50m breaststroke and his 11-unders win their freestyle relay).  We go for Harry Potter and the Deathly Gallows, Part 1, and pizza. Perfect evening in my book.

On Various Exchanges

Eitan decorates his homework books all "ManU."  His activities, which now include football, swimming, choir, in-door athletics and cross country, catching up to him: Poor kid is tired and not yet half-term.

We have a dinner party with Arnaud, Julia and Lorena. This morning over breakfast (Marcus sleeps over)
Me: "Were you two eavesdropping?"
Madeleine: "Of course: 'Ohhh we just LOVE giving Eitan and Madeleine chores la la la."
Me: "Do your parents have dinner parties, Marcus?"
Marcus: "Yeah. They always forget about me so I can stay up late."
Me: "Do they laugh  and act silly?"
Marcus: "Yeah, they carry on a bit."
Me: "Do they drink wine?"
Madeleine: "You were drinking wine."
Me: "Yep. That's what you do at a dinner party. Drink wine and act silly."
Madeleine: "That's what you do anyway."
Me: "Hey, Marcus, do you have to do chores at your house?"
Marcus: "No."
Eitan, Madeleine: "See?!"
Me: "I guess we just do things a little bit differently at 45 York Avenue."
Eitan, mumbling: "Yeah, like drink wine and do chores."

Eitan: "On our block there are four Jaguars, two Porche Carrera S's, one Porche 911, one Porche turbo 911, an Austin Martin and a Maserati quite near us."
Me: "Don't forget the VW Golf. Ooo! Check it out! There's another one! And a Volskwagon Polo!"
Eitan: "Dad . . . "
Me: "You just don't understand quality.  The 2002 Golf was a vintage year" (we walk by our car). "Look at the styling.  And the design of the head lamps.Ohhh. Ohhh."
Eitan:
Me: "Maybe we should get another one. We could have two 2002 Golf VWs!"
Eitan: "You're not really into cars, are you Dad?"
Me: "I'm not really a car hound. I had a fun car in college but I'm just not that interested now."
Eitan: "Why?"
Me: "I guess I am more interested in you and your sister and your mother."

Those '80s

Here I am, lover boy, dancing with my sister's best friend Megan at my parents' 25th wedding anniversary party at the Brazil Room.  That would be 1987.  I bought the suit and clip-on bow-tie combo at a favorite vintage shop on Thayer St in Providence, Rhode Island. Though baggy and ill-fitting, wearing it made me feel like a hundred bucks and not a dollar more.  I was into some sorta college style back then and a lot of it picked up at the second hand stores.  There was a great one in Berkeley, too : Aardvarks, on Telegraph Avenue, which racked all sorts of moth-ball smelling vetements and known for its Hawaiian shirts.

So, while I love dancing, I never did learn how to, you know, dance. Sonnet and I took a few lessons anticipating our wedding waltz to "Moon River" (of course) and , on at least one occasion, I aimed for the tango with some other willing friends. No, my "moves" honed at the yuf-ful discotheques of San Francisco and NYC; in college, it was "funk night" and now, the occasional PTA school party or, even more infrequently, a Soho night club. I have learned , to maintain any dignity, to slow down and channel John Travolta's Vincent Vega. It just about works and, hey, at least I am out there.

"Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair."
--Susan Polis Shutz

Porn Everywhere

Marcus joins us for dinner.
Me: "So you had fun in film class today ?"
Madeleine: "Yeah."
Me: "What did you watch?"
Madeleine: "Micro Cosmos. It's about bugs."
Marcus: "I watched 'Living On The Edge.' It was an 18."
Me: "You've watched an 18-rated film?"
Marcus: "Yeah. I've seen a lot of them."
Madeleine: "No, way."
Me: "Was it scary?"
Marcus: "Yes. And I have watched porn."
Me: "You've watched porn ?"
Marcus: "Yes. With our nanny."
Me: "You mean , like, by accident?"
Marcus: "No!"
Me: "So your nanny was showing you porn?"
Marcus: "Yes, and it was really good."
Me:
Marcus to Madeleine: "What's the big deal? It's only a movie."
Madeleine: "Yeah, Dad, what's the big deal?"
Me: "I am a bit surprised that Marcus watches porn at home."
Marcus: "Not porn. 'Paw.' The movie 'Paw.'"
Madeleine: "What's porn?"
Me: "So you don't watch porn?"
Madeleine: "What's porn then?"
Me: "Uh, it is when two people have intercourse."
Madeleine, Marcus: "Ewwww! Ugghh!. Don't want to know! Don't want to know!"
Me: "Thank goodness we cleared that one up before your mother got home."

Crawl

Madeleine freestyles. She trains three-days a week, which is more than I did when I was nine.  Her least favorite : Sunday, 7AM, which the poor kid dreads from Saturday morning. We are trying to find a better hour but Coach demanding.  Eitan at four sessions per week and could do five - soon, it will be seven.

Me: "How was film club?"
Madeleine: "It was Ok."
Me: "Did you watch a film?"
Madeleine: "Yes."
Me: "More, please."
Madeleine: "We watched 'Micro Cosmos'. It's about bugs."
Me: "Neat, that sounds like fun. Did you see insects crawling from cocoons and stuff?"
Madeleine: "Yeah."
Me: "How about a spider eating a fly?"
Madeleine: "We saw a spider eat a cricket. The cricket was trying to steal its eggs, jumping in and out, but then it got stuck in the web. So the spider killed it. And sucked its blood."
Me: "Gruesome."
Madeleine: "That's the way it is, Dad. In the bug world."

Me: "I thought you were doing your homework?"
Madeleine: "I am."
Me: "In the backyard?"
Madeleine: "We have to collect stuff."
Me: "So you're going to bring a whole lot of dirt into the house?"
Madeleine: "No. Rocks."
Marcus: "Can I have some rocks, please?"
Madeleine: "Rocks or paper?"
Marcus: "I'll take the rocks."
Madeleine: "We could also put dog food in there."
Marcus: "I don't think that's what they want."
Madeleine: "Just joking. We can put a sponge in our box."
Me: "A sponge?"
Marcus: "We have to decorate it (the box)"
Me: "With a sponge?"
Madeleine: "It's an experiment. We'll show you when it's done."
Me: "Just make sure it doesn't end up on the carpet."
Madeleine: "Oh, Dad."

Poor Rusty

The dog gets his nuts chopped off. Some days it happens to the all of us.

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

There has been some considerable blogging and obituary of Steve Jobs, who created Apple Computers from nothing to today : the most important and valuable high tech company in the world.  Apple changed my life in college when I waited hours for a Mac at one of Brown's two 24/7 "computer centers". In the '90s it was a PowerBook , and again the 2000s with the iPlayer, Macbook and now iPad.  No other company, save Microsoft or Volkswagon (my first car , in High School, a VW hatchback), has been in my life longer and made it better, cooler.

Jobs, 12 years my senior, may be a Baby Boomer but my generation knows the truth:  he belongs to us. Jobs emphasized style and marketing as much as substance . He wore running shoes to present at big conferences. And, of course, he was the dawn of our revolution that spread American idealism better than any military policy.  Thanks to Jobs, America grew during the '80s corporate down-sizings : Fortune 100s got lean and start-ups got their talent. We called on Jobs again after the tech boom-bust and he delivered , keeping Silicon Valley and the Californian dream alive. We have lost one of the great ones.
Photo: Jobs' first TV appearance in '78, six years before the first Macintosh, three years before the IBM PC.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice."

--Steve Jobs, to Stanford Business School in 2005

Gore

gore (gôr) n. Blood, especially coagulated blood from a wound.


Pictured, a live work of art : a Japanese woman binds her wrists and legs, blindfolds herself red, and allows children to shoot her with mucousy syrup. The kids become increasingly aggressive : at first they are respectful of their charge and hesitant to harm her. By end, which is broken up by one of the photographers, her position disdained.

Eitan: "Have you tried these grapes?"
Me: "No."
Eitan: "Listen to my teeth delicately break the skin. .."
Me: "That's nice."
Eitan: "Good, isn't it?"
Me: "You certainly are a grape connoisseur."
Eitan: "Now I am crushing the flesh, scooping it out from the inside."
Me: "Can we stop this now?"

Sabi's Studio

We visit Sabi's open-house in W10, a cool space in a dense urban setting. Sabi new to this particular artist commune having spent the last number of years at the Wimbledon Art Studio. Last we were together : The Airborne Toxic Event.

Here is Sabi's profile on the Saatchi Gallery:
"My work lies between the practices of Abstraction and Ornamentation. It is influenced by both my Islamic sensibility and my Western art education.I use abstract shapes,pattern,all over surface decoration, architectural and calligraphic line and lots of colour.I have made this series of work in conjunction with Tamasha Theatre Company to complement their recent production of Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance'.I wanted to make work that alluded to the theatricality of both the story and Tamasha's adaptation of it."

Self Portrait XXI

This pretty much sums me up after VS20 from California. The teeth purchased in hopes of a repeat of Dracula : but next time in Madeleine's class.

Eitan: "What are we going to do this afternoon?"

Me: "You are going to be doing chores."

Eitan, Madeleine: "Aww, not chores!"

Me: "I remember hating chores too when I was your age. But I still did them."

Eitan: "Yeah but what's your point?"

Sonnet: "Do you know why we have you do chores?"

Madeleine: "Because you hate us?"

Sonnet: "No, silly."

Madeleine: "Because you want slaves?"

Sonnet: "Do you really think that?"

Madeleine: "That's what Dad said. He said he had kids so we could be his slaves."

Me: "So true."

Eitan: "I'm not doing them."

Me: "Fine. But no ManU game then."

Eitan: "You hardly let me watch Manchester United anyway."

Me: "Ok you have a choice: No ManU or hardly-any-ManU. What's it going to be?"

Eitan:

Me: "Well?"

Eitan: "Hardly-any-Manchester United."

Me: "Then chores."

Happy 01 01

I return in time for Eitan's birthday and ask what many parent's do when they see their kids growing up: "How did that happen?" Yes, eleven years old.  Madeleine gets him goldfish which Eitan names "Misha 1" and Misha 2".  Don't ask me why.  His other Big Gift a phone which  he selects with great care, Dear Reader, on the High Street , palming the many styles and cooing over each's "feel".  He chooses a "smart" phone "with games already there!"  I think three of his pals have a mobile and Eitan excited by the possibilities: three people to text! Anthony comes over to celebrate (his shadow, pictured) and we talk about apps and various models, why Macs rule and so on and so forth. I BBQ since London achieves record warm-temps for Sept. Eitan bakes his cake.

But let us not digress : Eitan goes into 11 full of joy and enthusiasm : he loves his football, Hampton School awaits, and ManU on top of the Premiere League.  He is a dedicated swimmer and can count his best friends on one hand which, Moe once told me for myself, counts him for a lucky man. I could not be more proud of Eitan.

Madeleine: "Mom, would you have wanted to get a dog?"
Sonnet: "It was three against one. I didn't stand a chance."
Madeleine: "Can we let Rusty upstairs?"
Sonnet: "No. I draw the line."
Madeleine: "Three against one. You don't stand a chance."
Sonnet:
Me: "I would back off on this one, kiddo."

Madeleine: "Is it true David Cameron wants to bring back the cane?"
Me: "Did you read that in the newspaper?"
Madeleine: "Eitan told me. He said David Cameron wants to cane some kid in school."
Me:  "I think you're safe."
Madeleine: "Eitan was probably lying anyway."
Me: "Probably."
Madeleine, after a thoughtful pause: "But I wanted to make sure."

Madeleine: "Why do they have poisonous snakes on a farm?"
Me:
Madeleine: "I guess they can have anything on a farm. If it's Australia."

Coaster

Cal steals the photograph.

I join Rob and Sloan for rosh hashanah which, my Dad must tell me, is the Jewish New Year equalled only by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  I have many things in my life and religion not one of them.  Dinner joined by two neat families with kids about same as Sophie , gives me a big hug, and Jaimes and ours; afterwards we catch each other up : Sloan's exec advisory business jamming and Rob's trade finance business in vogue as returns consistent during troubled times.  We sit outside drinking in the warm evening , white wine, admiring the view.  California, baby.

San Francisco Is For Lovers

I am at a fancy cocktail for Industry Ventures and, before, I walk along a pier to look at the scenery and find these fellows enjoying themselves. That's my shadow in the forefront.

The Lawyer

Moe explains the legal battle for gay lesbian marriage which is, presently, working its way up the US Federal system with California playing a very major role. Moe tells me the legislative battle began with the California Court where San Francisco judges ignored the existing California State Law banning gay lesbian marriages. The case went to the District Court of Appeals, and then the California Supreme Court, who sided with the activists. The Court, we think, found the California legislative inactive unconstitutional , violating the California constitutional right to privacy. In response, the gay lesbian opponents put a constitutional amendment on the California ballot, and the people of Calif voted to amend the California constitution to ban gay lesbian marriages. This was Prop 8.

The opponents of Prop 8 then filed a suit in Federal Court in San Francisco claiming the law a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The Federal Court judge agreed. The proponent of Prop 8 then filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A question existed at that point as to whether they had "standing" to pursue the action in as much as the California Governor (Schwarzenegger) and the California Attorney General (Jerry Brown) agreed with the Federal Court Decision and refused to join in the appeal.

The 9th Circuit Court of appeals then sent the case to the California Supreme Court to determine if, under California law, the proponents of Prop 8 have standing to pursue the appeal. The decision has not yet issued but, in oral argument, the justices seem to suggest that the proponents have such standing. If the Calif Supreme Court rules in this manner, the case will go back to the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. This court will, then, decide the issue of equal protection under the law on the merits.

It is likely that, whatever the 9th Circuit decides, the United States Supreme Court will hear the case on a request for appeal. If the US Supreme Court decides that the California Prop 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution, all state bans on marriage between gays and lesbians will cease.

Moe thinks the case will reach the Supreme Court by 2013, if not earlier.

Sam

I see Sam at Peet's or "OP" as my father now likes to say: "Original Peet's", of course. 

 Last time I was with Sam my wedding so we have grown older and wiser, one hopes, and yet, he says, "I have yet to become an adult." Of course I wonder : Am I an adult myself ? Whatever does this mean in our late-blooming GenX (or Y ) era ? Kids, mortgage, job? I guess I am a triple-check so maybe I do qualify. Must file that. So , as now as High School, Sam a BMOC and , back then, a sprint freestyler who pulled a 21.04 in the 50-yards at the Northcoast Swimming Championships in '81.All this before the Biondi era as Matt from nearby Moraga then to Cal and the Olympics. 

Sam and I spent a lot of time together in our yuf then again when I returned to San Francisco for two years, pre-business school, and all that. Now he and his girlfriend Maria, who dated in High School, live in the North Berkeley Hills with their daughter Rosa, pictured.

Maggie To The Rescue

My mom flies to San Diego to pick up new family member "Maggie", a rescue dog she will use in her child-therapy sessions.  Maggie a mix between a bichon frise and a poodle , is super friendly and, unlike Rusty, gentle and well trained (NB Sonnet makes the appointment with the Vets : next week, our Rusty will be less of a man-dog). Even "Sweetie Pie" gets in on the love.  Here we are at Cordinices park.

All Aboard

When Madeleine mentions to me the other day that she does not want to be an astronaut, I know how she feels. The sheer weirdness of getting into a metal tube weighing  912,000 lb and holding 63,705 gallons of fuel at take-off .. with 300 other people .. well , madness, really. And, following ten hours, here I am on the other side of the planet. As I , and all travellers, take for granted : the odds of dying on this flight 1 in 9.2 million (vs.being murdered in your lifetime 1 in 140 or being struck by  lighting 1 in 10,456 or dying in a car crash 1 in 70). Once air-travel was pretty cool, like, hey - somebody will  pay for me to go to Cleveland! Now I miss stuff, like Eitan's cup match against Wangas Youth, or hanging about with Madeleine and Sonnet.

Still, on the other side of my journey is Berkeley and my parents+childhood friends, a few timeless running trails and, there in the distance, seen from the bay windows of the house I grew up in, is that defining construction: The Golden Gate Bridge; just beyond her, the Pacific Ocean and the setting sun.

5 A Side

The Sheen Mount squad finishes second of 20 teams at the five-a-side competition in Hampton.  From top left : Jack, Sam, Harry and Alex; bottom left: Eitan, Tryggvi, Oscar and Stanley.  Eitan says : "the pitches were amazing and we won every game accept one that we tied."  Collis wins on goal points.  A proud day for the state primary. Photo from Cliff.

Me: "This darn  pooch. He never listens - Heal, Rusty!"
Madeleine: "Dad, he's having a pee. That is so mean."
Me: "The dog has to listen."
Madeleine: "That would be, like, if there was a free house that you really wanted and your dad did not let you buy it."
Me: "But if it's free, I don't have to buy it. ."
Madeleine: "Whatever. You know what I am saying."

Madeleine: "What would happen if we put Tommy in a rocket ship?"
Me: "He would be one freaked out hamster."
Madeleine: "Yeah. Do you think it would be fun to be in outer space?"
Me: "I don't know. It might be kind of scary."
Madeleine: "I would definately not want to be an astronaut."
Me: "Well, what do you want to be?"
Madeleine: "I don't know."
Me: "Well, what are some things you  like doing. You know, things that don't feel like a chore."
Madeleine: "Legos?"
Me: "Maybe you could be an architect? You know, build buildings and stuff."
Madeleine: "Maybe.  I like lizards."
Me: "A vetrinarian. You love saving animals."
Madeleine: "Do they get to play with lizards?"
Me: "The only problem with a vet is that you would have to put your hand up a cow's ass."
Madeleine: "To take an elephant's temperature, they put the thermomemeter in the elephant's butt."
Me: "Just make sure you don't have to put your hand in a cow's ass."
Madeleine: "Maybe. Thanks, Dad."

Interview

Sonnet and Celia.

Celia

Ossie and Celia in Notting Hill in the early '70s.

My Friday afternoon : Dash across Surrey to retrieve Rusty from the kennel (traffic); dash home to pick up Madeleine and Zara for swimming (traffic); dash to South Kensington to see Sonnet interview Celia Birtwell at the V A (traffic!); then across town to Simon and Diana's new house on The Mall, in Chiswick, overlooking the Thames, for dinner which , BTW, interrupted so Diana can take a call from Barack Obama, which she puts on speaker phone.

Rusty in the coop as we finish the kitchen floors in the never-ending interior design project. The dog likely more comfortable than us.

Celia Birtwell, a CBE, meanwhile, has been in our house since the Ossie Clark exhibition in '03; she was Ossie's partner - he doing the style and she the textiles, which are known for their distinctive bold, romantic and feminine designs, which draw influences from Picasso, Matisse and from the classical world, she tells Sonnet and us.  Celia particularly famous in the '60s and '70s for prints which epitomised the glamour of the hippie era. She has been described as 'the face that launched a thousand prints' and 'the most important textile designer of her generation'. After a period away from the limelight, in the 21st century she has returned to fashion , partnering with UK retailer Top Shop in '06 and opening a new shop on Westbourne Park Rd.

Sonnet's interview praises Celia's work , and complements the museum, which owns a large collection of her designs. The audience, sold-out on a Friday evening, young and cool : one dude in orange wingtips, red trousers, orange blouse and orange beenie; another, a Jap , in black turtleneck and clunky glasses. Loves it. There are platform shoes galore and big hair styles; the afterwards q&a covers David Hockney to internships; one lady asks if women over 50 can wear her designs? Yes! says Celia. We are all beautiful. And we are.

Eitan: "Can't you just get Rusty now?"
Me: "What do I do during the day?"
Eitan: "I dunno. Work?"
Me: "Yep."
Eitan: "Well you can still do it."
Me: "What do you think I do - faff about and read books?"
Eitan: "Is that a real question?"
Me: "And money grows on trees. Do you believe that, too?"