Douchebag

This little prick, Eduardo Saverin, born in Brazil, comes to America to study at Harvard and live the American dream, co-founding Facebook, then relinquishes his U.S. citizenship to avoid taxes off the company's IPO. He moves to Singapore where there are no capital gains. Nearly 1,800 other Americans did this last year BTW - up from 235 in 2008. Good riddance - I hope he is ushered out on the next flight. Photo by Jason Kempin.

Eitan and I to run the school "Fun Run", which is three miles (reduced from five) through Richmond Park starting at Sheen Gate. Eitan's stated ambition to win, so I kid him : he must beat me first.

Ralph And Russo And Beyonce

On the same floor of my office building is Ralph And Russo who design dresses and gowns for ladies that lunch and celebrities who, on occasion, are out-shown by their costume. I often observe slender women slinking about, draped in sequins and cloth, making calls on their mobile or , you know, lounging. It stimulates the day. One of Ralph And Russo's big clients is Beyonce, pictured in a R&R dress, who will wear a Ralph And Russo for her first post-delivery concert in several weeks ( I ask if Beyonce around for the fittings ? but it is always a stand-in model). The dresses sell for a cool $10G and, Michael Russo tells me, "usually worn once" (NB NBC's Access Hollywood star Maria Menounous's Ralph & Russo gown, seen at the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards, was $35,000).

Not surprisingly Ralph & Russo working with Sonnet, who will display one of their coutures in her Ballgown exhibition. Others who have worn Ralph And Russo : Angelina Jolie, Eva Longoria, Penelope Cruz, Kelly Brook and Elizabeth Hurley though, unfortunately, none have found their way to the Mortlake Business Centre. Go figure.  Photo from Michael.

Mortlake Green

Rusty gets excited about the week end.

Eitan and I have dinner mano-a-mano (Sonnet at a museum opening w/ Madeleine). Eitan a private kid so I find myself making most of the conversation. He is uncomfortable when I ask him to lead our discussion or, even, the subject matter. Once the table cleared, though, he seems reluctant to leave and so I wait silently. I am rewarded for my patience. 

Moe, 1962

My dad, pictured, entering the Peace Corps shortly after JFK announced the program at Univ. of Michigan, where my father was a law student.  This is where he met my mom.

From the Peace Corps' first facebook:

ORENSTEIN, MORTON, 26, is a lawyer from St. Louis.  He received his formal education at University City High School, Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan Law School, maintaining consistently high averages at all three. After receiving his LL. B. in June 1961, he practiced civil law with a firm in St. Louis until he entered the army for six months in January of this year, where he served in the Judge Advocate General's Office.  His summer jobs have ranged from legal clerk to machine operator to camp counselor.  Mr. Orenstein's leisure interests lead him outdoors as often as possible to enjoy camping, hiking, hunting and fishing.  He has traveled in Europe for a short period of time."

Vidal

Britain notes the passing of Sephardic Jew and early hard-knocks East Ender Vidal Sassoon, inventor of the 'bob', and part of the original "Cool Britannia" - one of the top icons of the Swinging Sixties with the Beatles, Carnaby Street, Twiggy and the Union Jack, says hair designer and friend Nicky Clarke in today's Times. Sassoon threw out the daily maintenance required for the 1950s perm or "beehive" - my Grandmother - preferring "wash and go" styles that liberated women from the hair salon , freeing their time to smoke Virginia Slims, roll marijuana cigarettes and participate in free love. Also work. Sassoon, of course, made instantly famous from Twiggy followed by Mary Quant then Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" where he was flown to LA to create Mia Farrow's pixie cut.  He never looked back.

I love this photo of Sassoon, from the ap, especially the tie and matching kerchief. From a hair salon on Bond St to a £300 million fortune : he was an original.

"If you don't look good, we don't look good."
--Vidal Sassoon

The Coach

David coaches the Sheen Lions.

Driving to football practice.
Me: "So, Jack, does your dad embarrass you?"
Jack: "Yeah, I guess so."
Me: "Like what does he do?"
Jack: "I don't know. He talks all the time and stuff."
Me: "That doesn't sound too bad."
Eitan: "He doesn't wear his swimming suit to drive us to football."
Me: "It's because I couldn't find my running shorts.  So who is the coolest dad?"
Eitan: "David."
Me: "Why's that?"
Eitan: "Um, he's witty."
Me: "I'm witty. I just made a wit an hour ago."
Eitan: "And he doesn't, like, sing in front of Joe's friends."
Me: "Fair enough."
Jack: "He's a football coach too."
Me:
Eitan: "Can you keep Rusty on the lead during football practise? It's kind of distracting when he runs after the trains."
Me: "I'm not putting the dog on a lead in a park."
Eitan: "Well can you at least go on a really long run then?"

RFH - Inside

The interior public space at the Royal Festival Hall, where I camp for a few hours to work and write some emails, pictured, buzzy with mothers, non-profiteers, students, artists and a few old age pensioners.  Several coffee shops do a brisk business (the friendly African who serves my espresso spills about half on my (new , white) lacoste and I am more concerned about him being in trouble than my shirt as the manager offers to pay for it). The space fills with light , despite the grey day, and offers electrical sockets and telecoms ports, free wi-fi and all sorts of cool stuff from film (matinees!) to theatre and music and dance.  Best, the northward facing windows have big views of the Thames from Charing Cross to Waterloo Bridge and beyond.

Susannah And Megan

"Susannah And Her Bath" painted by Francesco Hayez in 1850 and displayed at The National Gallery.  It pre-dates Megan Fox by 160 years.

A curator describes the portrait to a bunch of eager sixth formers : "The virtuous Susannah (she says) "bathes in her garden and is approached by two corrupt elders who, lusting for her, threaten to accuse her of adultery if she does not give into their demands. She refuses and is falsely accused by them, but her innocence is proved, preventing her from being stoned."

Here is Megan Fox in Rolling Stone magazine :

Tuesday

Here we go this morning - kids off to school, me to work with the pooch. Sonnet in Milano meeting with fashionistos in anticipation of her exhibition on Italian fashion, circa 2014.

Somehow it's mid-May giving us a 5:19AM sunrise and 15-hour day (January: eight-hours).  Not that the extra daylight matters much in April or for the early May bank-holiday w/e : record rainfalls, dude, and blustery winds.  Despite the cold and clammy, spring a tough time to self-motivate.  I watch my tadpoles, now pollywogs, grow up and set free - free! - in the pond; my tomatoes look for the summer. Other projects on the hop: War & Peace (never-ending), photography (must find more time), this blog and the usual stuff : family, work, kids. The occasional walk with Sonnet keeping it all real.

"The time for fear has come for those who betrayed this homeland. We are coming."
--Nikos Michaloliakos, neo-Nazi leader of Greece's Golden Dawn party, which won 21 seats in parliament  (8.5% of the vote) on May 6

My Garden

Rusty digs himself into a hole, which is about where we are in Europe, following this week's elections in the UK, France and Greece. Germany will be 2013.

Me: "France has a new President."
Madeleine: "Who's that?"
Me: "Francois Hollande.  He wants to take money from the rich and give it the poor."
Madeleine: "That's nice."
Me: "Do you think it's a good thing?"
Madeleine: "I guess so."
Me: "What if the rich all leave France? Is that good?"
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "What if they no longer want to work since their taxes are so high?"
Madeleine:
Me: "So it's not such a simple question."
Madeleine: "Yeah. I give it 50 50."
Me:  "50 50 ?"
Madeleine: "Some of it is good, some is bad."
Me: "Seems about right to me."

In Preparation

Marc On Taxes

Marc, pictured, I have known for many years, to my benefit, via Eric (who slyly forwards my last blog to him, which is like a red-flag before the bull). He is one smart Brooklyn Jew who went to Cornell and the Harvard Kennedy School and has spent his life in public service (while working for Nancy Pelosi: "“For me it comes down to basic issues of social justice and working for impoverished folks"). Now Marc is an analyst for the AFL-CIO. We were together at Eric's wedding. 

Here is Marc's take on the US tax system:

"... Overall, Americans pay taxes in relative proportion to their income and it is a myth that the bottom 50% pay nothing in federal taxes. 

For example, the federal tax code is only slightly progressive and total American taxes even less so. The richest one percent of Americans pay 21.6% of the total taxes in America, but they also take in 21% of the total income in America. That's barely progressive and it is because , when you add up all the different federal, state and local taxes that Americans pay, you find that America's overall tax system is just barely progressive. On the bottom end, the share of total taxes paid by the poorest fifth of Americans (2.1%) is only slightly less than this group’s share of total income (3.4%). Remember also that the total effective tax rate for the richest 1% (29%) is only about four percentage points higher than the total effective tax rate for the middle fifth of taxpayers (25.2%). So the richest rich are paying an effective rate in the same ballpark as the middle class.

Tax Policy Center data show that only about 17% of households did not pay any federal income tax or payroll tax in 2009, despite the high unemployment and temporary tax cuts that marked that year. In 2007, a more typical year, the figure was 14%. This percentage would be even lower if it reflected other federal taxes that households pay, including excise taxes on gasoline and other items.

As for your comment that "Obama, afterall, transferred $1 T of wealth following Bush and the '08 crises" - what are you talking about?  The late 2010 two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts, ensured that the wealthiest 2% would continue to reap disproportionate tax benefits from temporarily reduced marginal income tax rates, reduced tax rates on capital gains and dividends, and other tax loopholes."

Perspective

Rusty checks out the drop from my office.

I walk from meeting to meeting in the rain, no umbrella, taking note of a fellow, or at least his legs since he is wearing shorts, in a Porsche Carerra. He shifts gears at the lights and I curse my fate. But, once inside George on Mount Street, the fantasy returns : I am ushered to my table, chair pulled and napkin placed in lap. I order an orange juice and look around : it is a confident chatty crowd in suit and tie or blouse and skirt. I recognise a few faces. Were this evening, they would hold Martinis or Old Fashions but, since breakfast, it is double espressos.

According to the IRS, the top-1% of US tax payers ($343K income or higher) paid 37% of Federal taxes in 2009 while the bottoms 50% about zero. Regardless of what one thinks about the 1%-ers, the Republicans have done a number on the country: how else does one explain Mitt Romney polling even with the President, as he does now ? Obama, afterall, transferred $1T of wealth following Bush and the '08 crisis. Go figure.


Me: "Anything you want to say for this blog?"
Eitan: "No."
Me: "Nothing at all?"
Eitan makes farting noises with his mouth while watching football.
Me: "Fair enough."

Eric's Cat Dingo

Upper Arlington, Ohio

It takes a village, right ?

Me: "Got any secrets?"
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "Nothing at all?"
Madeleine: "Well, I have one, but I am not telling you."
Me: "Come on, you have to tell me now."
Madeleine: "OK." [Madeleine shares her secret with me]
Me: "Wow, that is a good one."
Madeleine: "Yep, but it's a secret, Ok Dad?"
Me: "Between us. So do you fancy any one?"
Madeleine: "No, I am just a kid still."
Me: "That doesn't mean you can't have a special someone."
Madeleine: "And I have the extra problem that the boys all think that I am a boy."
Me: "Good point. Why do you think it might be nice to have a boyfriend any way?"
Madeleine: "Texting. Skype, kissing and wine."
Me: "Sounds about right."
Madeleine: "Lying in bed all day with nothing to do."
Me: "Let's not get ahead of ourself kid."

"We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company."
--UK panel

Jacmal

Me (left), Katie and Reed Brody, in Jacmel, Haiti. The photo taken ( as Katie now reports) following the end of the military regime, and the US invasion. Katie, who had been at the UN covering Haiti, and Reed were working together to help the victims of coup crimes build cases against the alleged perpetrators, in 1996. Katie was the trench-digger on the team, mostly doing interviews and taking notes and depositions, setting up meetings, bugging the judges. Reed was one of the international human rights lawyers who flew in to help guide the work (he was already well known for doing this kind of thing in other countries in Latin America). Reed is currently at Human Rights Watch.

Jacmal one of the most beautiful cities I know : pastel walls, surrounded by water and banana plantations; exotic and friendly people. The buildings are historic and date from the early nineteenth century; the town has been tentatively accepted as a World Heritage site and UNESCO reports that the town sustained damage in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Madeleine Reports On Snakes

Madeleine has snakes on her mind.
Me: "Did you write your snake report?"
Madeleine: "It's five pages long! Want to see it Dad? Can I read it to you?"
Me: "Of course, honey - what did you write about?"
Madeleine: "Poisonous snakes, wild snakes, venomous snakes, constrictor snakes. I also wrote about shedding and a snake catching its prey."
Me: "How do they do that?"
Madeleine: "They wait in one place for a long time. About two or three days. And when their prey comes, for instance a humming bird, the snake lunges out and catches it. But, faster snakes, chase their prey. They have two long fangs for poison and holding the prey in place."
Me: "Wow. Will the cage have a lock?"
Madeleine: "Hopefully."
Me: "And how often do you feed a snake?"
Madeleine: "Well, because we're getting a smaller snake, one pinkie-mouse, which is a mouse with no fur, once a week."
Me:
Madeleine:  "You can get the frozen mice from the pet store."
Me: "Good to know."
Madeleine: "They are much cheaper than maggots."
Sonnet:
Me: "Well, at least we won't have maggots in the house."
Sonnet: "I should hope not."


"Some snakes also eat prey that is already dead. For example, animals that have been run over on roads."
--Madeleine, "Snakes"

Dad's note: the snake around Madeleine's neck a gift from Auntie Katie and comes from Nairobi, Africa, where Katie was in December.  It is made of bottle caps.

Torch

Sunday, rain. The Shakespeares and I  up at 0630h where they swim while I read 'War And Peace" (five months, 400 pages to go).  Despite the foul weather, the hose-pipe ban remains in place: April only the fourth month in two years with 'above average' rainfall, according to the Met. London no longer wet and dreary, as Americans like to think, but every now and then we still get warnings of 'Gale force winds" and "Amber Warning Rainfall!" and even "chance of flooding!!" which keeps the weather gals busy. A country that takes its climate seriously.

At school, Eitan and Madeleine hold the Olympic Torch that turns out to be one of 8,000 replicas which, Eitan tells me, "are carried by celebrities or famous people that run in a relay across England beginning at Land's End and ending in London."  He adds: "It starts in Greece, where it goes around for seven days, before being handed off to the hosting country." (the Olympics website notes that the official torch will "come within ten miles of 95% of the UK population" which is impressive until one considers that standing on any London street-corner puts you within 15% of the British population ). The kids homework : make a torch, which both do with gusto, Madeleine's pictured.

Me: "What does the Olympics Torch symbolise?"
Madeleine: "What do you mean?"
Me: "What does it stand for?"
Madeleine: "Sports, running. Getting on."
Eitan: "A flame?"
Me: "That's not what I'm after. What do you think of when you see the torch?"
Madeleine: "It represents .. 
Me: "Excellent."
Madeleine: "It represents courage and hard work. And winning."
Me: "Bravo."

Madeleine: "Guess what Alex is feeding his snake?"
Me: "What?"
Madeleine: "A rat!"
Me: "A live rat?"
Madeleine: "Of course not Dad, that would be illegal."
Me: "What if we get a snake and feed it a live animal?"
Madeleine: "It's against the rules."
Me: "Nobody will know. And what's the difference? The call of the wild ...  ."
Madeleine: "The difference is I would never let it happen."
Me: "We can go to the pet store and get a couple hamsters.. . "
Madeleine: "You are so cruel."
Me: "Hamsters are pretty clever, though. The snake might not catch them."
Madeleine: "Okay, Dad. Why do snakes smell with their tongue?"
Me: "Well, that is where their sensors are, and they are super sensitive. For us, it is the nose and tongue. Like, when you pinch your nose, it becomes difficult to taste your food."
Madeleine: "So if you put a big slab of meat under a snake's tongue, what would he smell?"
Me: "Probably a big slab of meat."
Madeleine: "Thought so."

Dad's note: In the UK, it is considered inhumane to feed live animals to pets, and therefore against the law.

Caught Inside

Summer '93. Dan, pictured, went on to write about the California surfing culture in his second book : "Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast", which I love.

We became friends from High School, sharing the same circle, and swimming : he played water polo to my distance freestyle. Since Dan went to Cornell, we left adolescence behind at the Oakland airport, flying together to JFK, where we spent a week in Bronxville, soon after joined by Ivor and John.  Yes, we danced at the Palladium and other big '80s discotheques until 5AM , drinking Long Island Iced Teas ( though we were minors) during that exciting pre-Freshman year moment, now held in time only by us and my memories.

From Ithaca, Dan returned to the West Coast and climbed El Capitan in Yosemite (and wrote is first book, the acclaimed "Lighting Out") then UC Santa Cruz for his PhD (when my photo taken).  While a graduate student, he structured his days around pre-dawn surfing and writing; some of my happiest moments were joining him (this during my two-year sabbatical which came to an abrupt end when I chose business school over a different life).  Danny continues to write and surf from his home in Bernal Heights, SF, marrying a Manhattanite who writes about, amongst other things, him and his family - they were recently interviewed by Matt Lauer live on the Today Program. 

Last I saw Dan was in London several years ago when he profiled chef Fergus Henderson  for Outdoor Magazine.

Me: "You know, Madeleine, one day you will love coffee."

Madeleine: "Not everyone does."
Me: "True, but most people enjoy it. Especially in the morning."
Madeleine: "And coming from parents who need coffee to survive I probably will."


Dad's note: Here is the jimmy on "Caught Inside" :
"A wondrous, uproarious, and surprisingly informative account of a year spend surfing, Caught Inside marks the arrival of an exuberant new voice of the outdoors. This remarkable narrative of Daniel Duane’s life on the water is enhanced by good-humored explanations of the physics of wave dynamics, the intricate art of surfboard design, and lyrical, sharp-eyed descriptions of the flora and fauna of the Pacific wilderness. From Captain Cook and Mark Twain to Robinson Jeffers and Jack London, from portraits of famous (and infamous) surfers to an analysis of Gidget’s perverse significance, Duane expertly uncovers the myths and symbols bound up in one of our most vibrant and recognizably American subjects. "
-- Farrar, Straus and Giroux 

Helmut Newton

I am with Astorg and so, rather than lunch, Stéphane and I sneak across the 8e to the Grand Palais to see the Helmut Newton exhibition on my idea. Pictured, my favourite photo and, funnily enough, the lady fully clothed. Otherwise his photographs are pervy. Beautiful, too, of course. Perhaps his most famous portraits are 23 full scale nudes shot in the 1970s and 1980s - the women defiant, toned (bushes trimmed) and stare directly at the viewer daring us .. to do what ? Look at their vaginas in front of all these people? Newton would have been delighted.

Having never seen an image of Newton , I considered him to be, well, like his subjects, so it was a surprise to see his belly hanging over his Bermuda shorts, thick glasses, unusual hat.  He looks like a dirty old man and he certainly had fun with his models, which included Cindy Crawford, Natassia Kinski and Kristine DeBell, who he shot for PLayboy. Many of his photographs have a sado-masochistic theme and they are all sexually charged. Even his Polaroids, which he took in abundance.  Less well known are his portraits of Margaret Thatcher, Jean Marie Le Pen and Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Anthony Hopkins . ..Mick Jaeger.  All on display.

Newton gets a nod in The Eyes of Laura Mars, which sees a photographer taking erotic photographs of women (who have their eyeballs gouged out).