L.A.

I arrived in California Sunday, July 16 to do a few days work for the Walden fund, then welcomed the kids at SFO on the 19th. After a night in Berkeley, we headed south to L.A. for Catherine Majkit's wedding to Peter Ciao (more on this later). Here, I photograph the Disney Opera House in dowtown Los Angeles. We are connected to the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County via Sonnet's uncle Shelton Stanfill who was President and Chief Executive until 2001 when he left to run the Woodruff Center in Atlanta. Among other things, Shelton was responsible for funding the development of the music hall, famously designed by Frank Gehryand today home of the Philharmonic Opera. Our visit was yesterday, Sunday, so we had downtown to ourselves and could fully appreciate the beauty, and wackiness, of Gehry's design.

Spidey in the house

Eitan in costume. As at this writing, our web slinging hero has declined in popularity, replaced by the Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and (at my suggestion) Steven Gerrard, David Beckham and Frank Lampard (says he: "Dad! He's not a super hero!" Nb after this World Cup and 0 for 21 on goal shots I have to agree). For a while though every night was capped with a bedtime story about Peter Parker, Aunte May, Mary Jane Watson, a host of villians including Green Goblin, Vulture, Kingpin and others and of course our dear Spider Man.

Wren Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren, is on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London and the seat of the Bishop of London (nb to be a city in England, there must be a Bishop). The present building dates from the 17th century, and is generally reckoned to be London's fourth St Paul's Cathedral, although the number is higher if every major medieval reconstruction is counted as a new cathedral. This photograph taken from the Bankside Power Station; the Millenium Bridge crosses the Thames.

Turbine hall, Tate Modern

  

Oxford Or Bust

With long-time London friend Arthur Garrison, I bike to Oxford or about 100 kilometres. The trip begins from my house where we meet for a coffee, and passes through Richmond, skirts around Heathrow, crosses the Thames three times while traversing the countryside via Marlow, Fierth, Fingerest, Pishill and other charming and small villages then brings us to our destination via a dual carriageway and rather hard ride in. An occassional random red phone booth is spotted. Seven hours later we are at Oxford Startion and the train ride back to London. Arthur, fyi, is a satellite engineer at TRW and thanks to his mapping, compass reading and odometer, we are not lost even once.

Ynon

This photograph of Ynon taken today on the Chiswick High Road, London, following a late Sunday lunch at "the Giraffe" (yes, child friendly). Yuval sometimes belongs to Shai and Ada otherwise he is running around like crazy. Afterwards and with Mary and fiance Philippe we visit nearby Turnham Green to spend our Sunday afternoon. The green is wedged between a gothic church, the town center and the busy high street and brings back memories of lazy afternoons spent in Central Park, NYC.

Sunflower

My favorite plant, the sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is annual and in the Family Asteraceae, with a large flower head (infloescence). The stem of the flower can grow up to 3 metres tall with the flower head reaching 30cm in diameter. Sunflowers are native to the Americas, and were domesticated around 1000 B.C. Francisco Pizarro found the Inca subjects venerating the sunflower as an image of their sun god, Gold images of the flower, as well as seeds, were taken back to Europe early in the 16th century. Helianthus is the Greek word for "sunflower" (9/7/06; definition from Wickipedia).

Aggie

Our Agnieszka, or "Aggie," is from a small town in Poland and has lived in England for five years. She is well known in the community and still baby-sits for several nearby families. Aggie has a University degree in education, speaks three languages and is a delight with Eitan and Madeleine. While different from Letty's disciplined and direct approach, Aggie fills our house with her own warm vibe and keeps the kids on top of their game. This photo during books (NB Eitan saw the camera and bolted).

Farewell Montesorri

Madeleine wraps up her last day of school (7/7/06). While not an especially well framed image, the photo gives a broad range of action, which I like. The kids have fun, in the spotlight of their parents, who sit excitedly in the make-shift auditorium. Two years have gone by quickly, and now Madeleine is ready for reception (kindergarten).

PE

On today, the last day of Montessori, the school celebrates with physical education, known throughout the Western World simply as "PE." Races include the potato carry, hat-pick-up-and-cone-dash and relay. Some of the younger kids are scared out of their wits by the audience of enthusiastic parents clapping and encouraging onward their future Olympians. Madeleine was quite calm, winning her "competitions" handily and anchoring the final leg of the relay. It is hard to believe that following three years Montessori will no longer be with us. Both kids will attend "Big Boy School" come September. Happily many of Madeleine's friends will join her and of course Eitan will be able to help smooth the way (Eitan: "I won't!").

Tree huggers

The kids climb a treet (1/7/06) while I observe from away, and hope that there will be no broken bones. It is bound to happen and as my own doctor told me with a broken collar bone in third grade: "well son, no boy gets away scott free." And there you have it.

Local

Eitan at our local wine restaurant. Now that the sun sets at 2100 and the tempature warm-like, I take the kids for a lemonade and run-around while I answer emails. From this photo, Eitan's baby teeth are not falling out while his permenant teeth come in. This will require the old hook and tongs at the dentist (local anethestic to be applied). The Boy, well aware of his plight as he has been forced to wiggle the fixed whitecaps for some months now, is quite eager for the Tooth Fairy regardless.

LA Woman

Sonnet models her bride's maid dress and slippers for dear friend Catherine, who will be married this month in Los Angeles. Sonnet and Catherine are friends from freshman year at Smith, and the Stanfill-Orenstein London family are way excited for Catherine, the wedding and the beach. All equally good things.

Hotel

Madeleine proves herself to be a venerable traveler on her way to Denver, CO (19/6/06). Sonnet and her together for the week of Maire's wedding while I am Mano-a-mano with the Boy (me to him: "men together drink beer, look for foxy babes and stay up late watching TV." Eitan: "No way dad! but can we stay up late and watch TV?"). On the long-haul, Madeleine makes friends with two same-age girls and much of the trip is spent crayoning and watching in-flight entertainment. This photograph taken at the Marriot.

Agony

England's World Cup dreams end at the quarter-finals in the cruellest way - a penalty shoot out following extra time (2/7/06; photo from The Sun). The team played heroically weathering Wayne Rooney's ejection for stomping on the balls of Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho (red card; 10 on 11) and without captain Beckham due to injury. Despite the player disadvantage England kept the score nil-nil through regular time and two overages. Owen Hargraves, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville played decently and goal-keeper Paul Robinson above his average. Peter Crouch and Aaron Lennon came off the bench and nearly pulled an historic victory but, alas - the penalty kicks decided the game and we missed three of four attempts from 10 yards out. Sadly this was the same outcome in the '04 game vs Portugal (the most exciting I have ever watched) and before that Argentina (World Cup '98), Germany ('96), and West Germany ('90). Thus ends the run of perhaps England's best assembled team ever... at least on paper. 

Hello old friend

This ancient Redwood rests in Big Trees national park, California, in a grove well suited for the gentle sequoia. From Wikipedia 'it is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious treet living for up to 2,000 years, and commonly considered the tallest tree in the world, reaching up to 112 meters in height and 7 meters diameter at the base. It is thought to be named after the Cherokee India leader, Sequoyah." Cool.

Colours

Madeleine tries on finger paints during a play-date with Kitan (30/9/04), art-work thanks to nanny Aggie whose energy keeps the kids on their toes.

Zug

I attend a rather dry investors conference in the Swiss canton and town of Zug (22/6/06), where I recall from my year in Geneva that not much happens in Switzerland. Thus is the case here. The German-speaking town is next to the Zug lake, and foot of the Zugerberg (3,225 feet). The setting is charming, the people are fit and the vice underground. I took the photo with my phone camera, so the quality not as good as it could be. Still, I like the light reflected from the water, and the sunset quite lovely.

England v. Portugual

England awaits the World Cup quarter-finals tomorrow Saturday. Eitan's heros include the obvious David Beckham who, despite general mediocre performance, remains a world-class set-player and has kept England in the tournament with two excellent bending corning kicks against Paraguay and Ecuador. Michael Owen, another favorite, is out following a freak accident in the opening minutes against Equador. We also pull for Wayne Rooney, Stephen Gerrard and Joe Cole, who are playing to expectations and carry the weight of England's dreams. Dear reader do not under-estimate how important this game is.

Main Street

Le Veta Colorado (elevation 7,000; population 924). Madeleine, Bella and Lola consume home-made ice cream . The high street includes the local grocery, a hard ware store and a diner or two. From here one can see the West Spanish Peak, 13,625 feet.

Home on the range

Madeleine and her second cousins Bella and Lola take a ride on Charlie, a patient 26-year old horse at Aunt Martine and Bill Minnis's ranch in Colorado.

Wedding Bells

Participants gather for the wedding rehersal - 22/6/06. Maire and Scott's wedding took place in this field next to the Minnis ranch. The vista included rolling clouds, mountain ranges and tall grass. The ceremony was conduced by Maire's father, an Episcopal priest. The bride was delivered to the site in a cart drawn by Charlie and driven by her sister Molly, maid of honour. The bride wore a white full-length gown trimmed with blue and white check gingham ribbon, along with cowboy boots.

Cherry Coke

Madeleine and Sonnet spend the week in Colorado at Maire Minnis's wedding and celebration (25/6/07). Sonnet's family is re-united including mom Silver and her three sisters Robin, Missy and Martine and their husbands, brother Marcus, cousins Bru and Brooke and Molly and many others. This photograph taken in front of the local drugs store on a lazy afternoon.

Omaha Beach

Tim Larrison and I visit the Normandy beaches (17/2/02). We were blessed with fine weather, and guidance from uncle Larry Lee who provides a schedule of must-see places (Larry went to the 50th anniversary with John Eisenhower and Bill Clinton). What strikes immediately is the emptiness of the place, and the sand cliffs which provide the perfect vantage point for a downward pointing gunnery.

Hello day!

This photo taken in our Maida Vale flat, July 17, 2001.
Sonnet is under the covers likely exhausted.

LOLLY

Eitan scores a giant lolly at the the school fair, organised in part by your's truly. On a hot day in the UK (ok, about 85 fehrenhait) the community turns out to support the local institution, participating in auctions, inflate-a-slides, jumpy-castles, bbq and of course candy floss, popcorn and other forms of junk food. The fair is the school's largest money rake, beating out Christmas by a whisker. There is a lovely sense of community as mums and dads sweat out the stalls, while the kids run amok wired by sugar and the heat. The theme this year was 'circus' and while there were no cages nor animials, Zippo's suppled a cadre of clowns and jugglers. All in all, an A+ afternoon.

England vs. Trinidad-Tobago

Christian Wright visits Germany and the World Cup (15/6/06), which began 9 June and matches the 32 qualifying clubs vying for the championship one month later in Berlin. Christian's itinerary includes London to see his England play in a proper setting - a smokey pub filled with maniacal fans drinking, cursing and sweating for the red and white. Fortunately for this afternoon, the boys eek out a 2-nil victory against Trinidad & Tobago, a team they should have beat handily. Still, the Capital erupts in joy; we celebrate at dinner on the Marlybone High Street.

LOLLY II

Madeleine get's in on the action (17/6/06). Unlike Eitan who scarffed his treat on the day, Madeleine savours the experience and lords it over her brother' the rest of the weekend. The sticky gathers dirt, hair, dust... but this fails to pursuade Madeleine to throw the thing out. Sonnet and I try, but the screeches of protest unbearable. The final straw is the trail of blue, yellow and red across the couch, wall and any other exposed space under five feet.

Mary Poppins

Sonnet and Madeleine in front of 123 Lauderdale Mansions (19/10/02). Madeleine up from a nap, and collecting herself before letting loose.

Conked out

The ongoing buggy debate: side-by-side or long and narrow? We choose the aircraft carrier, which is what our stroller feels like fully loaded cruising Maida Vale (19/10/02). Our Sunday walks passes Little Venice, Paddington basin, Primrose Hill and Regent's Park. One fall evening as the sun sets we stumble upon a black congregation singing gospels next to the Paddington Green and the Edgware fly-over; another we discover the house where Nepoleon III lived in Exile (now a re-hab). Nearby is the Grand Union canal connecting London to the North and industrial revolution, and St. Mary's hospital where both kids born.

Jump!

Eitan discovers the sand-trap at the local race track in Maida Vale (5/10/02). For a good hour or more he amuses himself - impressive when one considers that he has been walking for six months. Nb this is where Roger Bannister trained to become the first person to break the four minute mile. For my part, I pound away on the stationary bike or treadmill at the adjacent gym while recovering from various running related injuries.

Homework

Eitan reads a book...

Homework II

Madeleine spells her name (June 2006)

Shopping

I took this after-hours photo of two Mannequins on rue du Faubourg St. Honoree in Paris (9/6/06).

Crayons

The kids hard at work at our local wine restaurant. Outside of the photo - dad with his glass of chianti.

Damien Hirst

This sculpture at the Royal Academy by Damien Hirst, b. 1965, perhaps the best known of YBAs (Young British Artists)(7/6/06). Death is a central theme in his work. He is best known for his Natural History series, in which dead animals (such as a shark, a sheep or a cow) are preserved, sometimes cut-up, in formaldehyde. His iconic work is The Physical Impossibility Of Death In the Mind Of Someone Living, an 18ft tiger shark in formaldehyde in a vitrine.

Summer arrives

A beautiful day in London sees us in Richmond Park for a picnic and some piggy-backing. This weekend otherwise spent watching England vs.Jamaica, known here as the "raggae-ists," in a "friendly" football match before next week's World Cup. England's 6-0 victory spreads hope and elation across the island. Eitan, Madeleine and I have our all-England gear for Paraguay 9 June. Other activities include pool-side romp, bbq and Sonnet's chocolate pudding pie and Steve & Louisa's 10th anniversary party. To work tomorrow for some rest.

Geneva 1984

Switzerland October '05 where I visited rue de l'Ecole-de-Médecine, my high school jr year address chez Tendon (to orient yourself, think Springstein's "Born in the USA", Yvan Lendl, Margaret Thatcher and the good 'ol USSR). To my surprise Yvette greeted me at the doorway. The apartment remains the same, though smaller (Msr. Tendon died several years ago). I'm reminded of my step-sister Joelle, 15 years old and having a torid affair with 24 year-old Theofile David, a strapping 200 meter butterflier ranked top 25 in the world. Or Etienne Dagon who earned Switzerland's first Olympics swimming medal - bronze in the 200m breast stroke in L.A. I watched Dano Halsell set the world record for the 100m short-course free, broken by Matt Biondi. All team-mates on Geneve Natation 1885. I also re-visited College de Candolle whose sciences track compared favorably to my first two years of college - combined. Mostly I was happy to be in Geneva on a nice day, able to use my french, and feeling the distance between that time.

London Fashion Week

This photograph taken on the runway during London's Fashion Week. The catwalks take place in February and September at changing venues such as the Natural History Museum, showcasing upcoming and established designers like Vivianne Westwood here. As curator of contemporary fashion, Sonnet is able to get passes which makes her particularly popular amongst her (female) friends.





New York's Fashion Week takes place twice a year: the fall shows are held the preceding winter (February). The spring shows are held the preceding late summer (September). The event takes place in Bryant Park, which is converted to a temporary arena with tents covering the park's 8 sq. acres. The individual venues - ranging up to 12,000 square feet - come complete with runway, seating for attendees, backstage areas, lighting and sound. Influentials include Oscar de la Renta to Zac Posen and P Diddy. And of course our very own Sonnet.





While these photographs are not technically inspiring, shot from a poor position and with a c****y digital camera, I like the outcome nonetheless. It shows (me anyway) that the subject matter counts for the majority of an image's value, and the steps to get there only get in the way. A rule of thumb seems to be one good result for every 200 shutters, though this final number might be low.

Bank Holiday Weekend

Eitan watches the rain and television (28/5/06). While the long-weekend brings a break from the working life, inevitably so to the rain. Somehow, and without fail, the weather turns on the holiday. One would never know that the Southeast suffers a drought prompting the weather neutral friendly comment: "this is the wettest dry-spell I've ever lived thru."

Tussle

Moments before going to the pool, Eitan and Madeleine have a 'battle' (their expression). The thought was to capture a happy photo together, but I found this animated shot presents more accurately their essence. Eitan and Madeleine play well together, unless bored then they fight. Both use tears to their advantage - Eitan perhaps more so as he likes to play by the rules. Madeleine is not above lying to sway 'the law' in her favor. This weekend, while driving to the coast, I found myself in the timeless and classic move of trying to drive and strike the backseat kids at the same time while shouting 'knock it off.' History repeating itself, or are we simply programmed to act so?

Seaside

Our urban kids seem somewhat befuddled by the idea of the beach. I admit that this photo saddens me when I consider their now distant roots to California. Photo taken at Bournmouth, where we spent our 'bank holiday' weekend (why do the Brits not name the holiday?). It was family style all the way at the Bay Side seafront hotel, pool inclusive. From the beach, we watched the large cumulous clouds roll in (yes, rain), the cliffs of Dover and The Needles, which are chalk stacks at the western most point of the Isle of Wight. It was nice before we had to flee the weather - but not until after a beach-front lunch at the local chippie.

Pretty in Pink

Madeleine on her way to a birthday party (25/7/05). The girls are into dress-up these days, and the princess motif is the resounding favorite (does this change from generation, I wonder?) Madeleine balances her feminity with football, tree climbing and general stubborness. By English standards, she qualifies as a Tom-Boy. For us, she is a well balanced kid.

Our Own Steven Gerrard

On a drizzly Sunday, we visit the common o practice some moves. It is also Sonnet's birthday. The common has a series of 'secret fields'; the main pitch is occupied by a cricket club who fills their time with tea and biscuits and the occassional bowl. Eitan has no time for this. The rest of the afternoon is spent at our favorite local pub-restaurant. Nb Steve Gerrard is an England footballer who plays for Liverpool, and recently scored a remarkabe equaliser in extra time of the 2006 FA Cup final.

Bricks

Madeleine in front of sculpurist Rachel Whiteread's exhibition at the Tate Modern (Feb'06). The museum is in the resurrected Bankside Power Station built in 1947 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, also the architect of the Battersea Power Station (and the cover of Pink Floyd's 'Animals') and designer of the red telephone box. For the millennium, the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron remodeled the building at a cost of £134 million. the Turbine Hall is 500 feet long and 100 feet high and has housed works by Bruce Neuman (Raw Materials, 2004), Olafur Eliasson (The Weather Project, 2003) and Anish Kapoor (Marsyas, 2002).

6 days and counting

Madeleine makes her appearance to the world (12/2/02). Born at St. Mary's hospital in Paddington, she weighed in at 3.3 kg (7.3 lbs) and arrived with eyes wide open and a loud whoop of joy. On the day, Kate Larrison arrived at our house at 4:45AM to watch Eitan while we dashed to the hospital. The delivery was fast - less than three hours - and our lives have been filled with joy since.