Saturday, December 11
Friday, December 10
Stéphane Rolland
"Brought up in the South of France, Argentina, and the West Indies, Stéphane Rolland’s destiny lay in Paris, where he studied fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. At the age of 20, his talent was recognised by Balenciaga, who hired him to work on the menswear collections, and promoted him to Creative Director within a year.
At 24, Stéphane Rolland left Balenciaga to design his own prêt-à-porter collection. Success came immediately and in its first year of existence, Stéphane Rolland was stocked in 80 boutiques and department stores world-wide.
At the same time, fired by his passion for the cinema and the theatre, Stéphane Rolland simultaneously worked as a costume designer – in 2006 and 2007 he was nominated for the prestigious Molière awards – and became an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival.
Later, Stéphane Rolland desired a new challenge: Haute Couture. It was in the house of Jean-Louis Scherrer that he would find his place. Aged 30, Stéphane Rolland was the youngest French Couturier on avenue Montaigne, in Paris.
Today, Stéphane Rolland has set himself the new task of opening of his own Couture House, with which he hopes to contribute something entirely new to an industry that has never stopped evolving since its conception in the Renaissance.
The House of Stéphane Rolland will represent a modern and original interpretation of Couture – all the while remaining true the bohemian outlook and luxurious extravagance which define his nature."
at 17:45
Trumpet Ensemble
Sonnet and I race to the school for Madeleine's "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer." Bravo, I say! Afterwards I tell Madeleine that she "blasted her little heart out" which gets a smile and roll of the eyes.
at 17:35
Trafalgar Sq At Sunset
at 13:28
Thursday, December 9
Girl Power - Grant
Cal's Teri McKeever, pictured, named coach of the U.S. women's team for the 2012 Olympics, the first woman to be selected for the post. This is McKeever's19th year at Berkeley and during that time she's coached six women who made U.S. Olympic teams and 11 others that represented their countries in the Games. She was named 2009 NCAA women's swimming coach of the year. McKeever's most famous pupil is Natalie Coughlin, who will participate in 2012. Photo from the www.
"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins. "
--Ulysses S. Grant
at 15:11
Monday, December 6
Stag Brewery
Beer has been made here, at the brewery in Mortlake, since 1487, making the Stage Brewery the oldest ongoing business in Britain. The Thames on the other side while my offices a hop, skip and a jump away. In spring, the park filled with daffodils and I eat my sandwich on one of the benches while checking my blackberry. By contrast, tonight will be -20 in some parts of the country. Scrooge would have been happy in this part of London.
at 14:21
Pick Pocket
TX Republican John Coryn on the left with Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader. Big business in little man's pocket is what I see. Can there be any question that the U.S. Senate Republicans block legislation to let upper-income tax cuts expire on Jan. 1, 2011? The US owes over $10 trillion, a figure that rose six-fold during the Bush administration. With the Republicans I agree that taxes should not go up during a recession but this is not Obama's plan : he aims to make taxes lower than Bush for 95% of Americans and up for the top 5% earning more. Even Warren Buffet agrees. Me, I should be fighting hard for tax cuts since I pay Uncle Sam for services I will never see in England+being an entrepreneur means some above-average risk which, in my humble view, should not go disproportionately to the government who has never provided me a dime during the down times. Yet the US has to get its financial house in order, and this starts with the politics.
In the United States, wealth is concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that 20% of the people owned 85%, with 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one's home), the top 1% of households own 42.7%. Edward N. Wolff at New York University (2010).
at 06:47
Sunday, December 5
Thames Kew - Magna Carta
The sun sets at 15:51 leaving us with 7 hour and 59 minute of daylight. Plus 20 seconds. I am reminded why people who grow up in California .. stay in California. But the UK does have its charms : cozy houses jammed together and gas fireplaces; the occasional smell of burning coal. Traffic jams, the Underground and a transport system that fails at the slightest snow. Shakespeare. Cheap alcohol and flat screen TVs. Thatcher, mods, North Sea oil. Oxford, Cambridge, Eton and St Paul's. Wayne Rooney. Claridges, the Dorchester and the Lanesborough. Dukes martini. Bond. Tesco and the paps. The NHS. Churchill. Owning India and Canada. The White Lies, Kooks and the Brixton Academy. 2012 Olympics - the V&A. Paula Radcliffe's Marathon. High finance. The Queen, Kate Middleton, Joseph Bazalgatte. Kidney pie; fish and chips in newspaper. The bobby and Big Ben; Kate Moss. The Rolling Stones. The Premiere League. John Lennon. Chatsworth. Suburban smugness, red mail boxes, clotted cream. Tea. A good ramble. Richmond Park and the Thames, pictured, the mightiest river of them all.
Magna Carta was issued in 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions that omit certain temporary provisions, including the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority. The 1215 Charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no "freeman" could be punished except through the law of the land, a right that stills exists today. Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects (the barons) in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was preceded and directly influenced by the 1100 Charter of Liberties, when King Henry I had specified particular areas where his powers would be limited. Despite its recognised importance, by the second half of the 19th century nearly all of its clauses had been repealed in their original form. Three clauses remain part of the law of England and Wales, however, and are considered part of the uncodified constitution. Lord Denning described it as "the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot".The charter was an important part of the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in the English speaking world, although it was "far from unique, either in content or form". In practice, Magna Carta in the medieval period did not limit the power of kings, but by the time of the English Civil War it had become an important symbol for those who wished to show that the King was bound by the law. It influenced the early settlers in New England and inspired later constitutional documents, including the US Constitution. (Source: Wiki, edited)
at 17:23
Caterina
at 12:00
Saturday, December 4
Walk
We have the school Christmas fair to go to : merry-go-round, cake stalls, mulled wine (11AM), Santa's Grotto, local merchants, hung-over dads and Karaoke where Eitan is cheered to sing "Use Somebody" by Kings Of Leon (style points) and "Scooby Doo" (loss of style points). Madeleine uses her money to buy a few presents, God bless. Our first holiday card arrives. Festive season, dude.
at 17:01
Costantinos
Costantinos, Mirella and their daughter Caterina visit us for the week end and Friday we host a dinner party that goes into the late night. The Italians bring a treasure chest of gifts including home-pressed olive oil, sausages, lemon cake and chocolates. Eitan receives the Italian football kit (blue, white and green) and Madeleine, an animal book. They remember our kids. With joy I gesticulate like an Italiano and make up words on the fly like"automobilia" and "gardenera." Costantinos instructs me say "Mama Mia" properly : uuumma mia, with no inflexion, almost like a growl. He confirms this an expression he sometimes uses. Today they will check out the British Library, Hamleys on Regent Stree and Madame Tussauds while we are at the school Christmas Fair (hmm). As Costantinos a gardener, tomorrow will be Kew Gardens.
at 10:19
Friday, December 3
Katie Does Yoga
And so, Friday, as we have made it through another week.
--Ebenezer Scrooge
at 18:21
Waterloo Station
London Waterloo, pictured, is my lilly pad into London : the train dumps me at the terminus then I jump the underground usually to Green Park.
at 18:08
Family Passover - St Louis
at 10:44
Thursday, December 2
Aneta
Aneta has been with us since summer. She is our au pair from a small village somewhere in the Czech Republic. She is in London to learn better English. No doubt, Aneta an adjustment from Natasha from Romania but the kids are doing fine if confused by yet another accent (Before Natasha, Aggie from Poland). Aneta twenty years old and a brave soul to come Britain without knowing any one (been there, done that) - we found her through an agency referral. It is because of her that Madeleine's dream of a dog has come true - Aneta able to be with "Rusty" during the day - and in fact, they are great pals. "Rusty" refuses to walk beyond a half-block with anybody other than her.
at 17:06
Wednesday, December 1
Ann, The Queen, And Narnia
Ann, one of my oldest friends, is in London with her husband and two daughters for the world premiere of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." The Queen attends and Ann's daughter gives her a bouquet of flowers, pictured (Ann behind her). My photo taken from the Big Screen inside the Odeon Theatre where the Queen's greeting line transmuted. Narnia the child of CS Lewis and everything about it is English : the author, the story and setting, the actors and the Director Michael Apted who is from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. While Narnia may be a prototypical Hollywood blockbuster, it is also important for British film which struggles despite its creative talent and recognised actors. I cannot think of the last successful British export - "Shaun Of The Dead" or "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" maybe? Trainspotting, certainly, but that was 1996. Soo .. Leicester Square red-carpeted and blocked off for security; we pass inside along a row of 100 or so paps snapping away. The Queen and Prince Philip enter the theatre last, as is the custom, and enjoy a four-trumpet salute and the national anthem "God Save The Queen." We are twenty-feet from her and ze Prince who, as ever, is dashing and typically bemused - he is always smirking it seems. Sonnet thinks the Queen "regal;" me - I think she looks like a sweet grandmother. And, yes, she is moral backbone and guiding compass of the nation. May she live as long as the Queen Mum.
“Do you still throw spears at each other?”
at 14:06
The Dog Ate My Blackberry
My mobile finds "Rusty." Amazingly it works fine. At some moment I will ditch the Microsoft-Blackberry cabal and go all-Apple. Not having my Vaio for two weeks as the unit repaired for various faults one instigator (once returned from the repair shop my control-key functions inoperable - try going without cutting, pasting and printing short-cuts and not go mad. I dare you.) Apple products just plane cool is another. Who, from my era, can forget their first Mac? So simple, such love. Brown had two campus Mac stations opened, amazingly, 24-7, and always full. The worst having some deadline and being forced to wait for a computer to become available. Duane owned the first printer on my Freshman hallway which became communal and made him more popular than ever. Line-ups were often six or seven deep. Back then floppy disks ruled and could barely hold ten pages of memory. Now Students cull and synthesize Internet data, copy onto a synthetic sheet, summarise their findings in an efficient paragraph or two and submit to the prof electronically. Some credit their sources. Radical.
"Men are only as good as their technical development allows them to be."
at 12:38
Tuesday, November 30
@ Three Weeks
It is hard for Sonnet and me to imagine this little creature is now Eitan. We knew Eitan, and Madeleine, special at birth - every parent knows this about their child. And Sonnet sure had to work hard to bring them into this world (esp. Madeleine - a 90-minute delivery without epidural). The first night in the St Mary's maternity ward the doctor told us, gravely, that Eitan's heart valves not sealed and a 'clicking' in his hips. She noted "99% of the time things are fine in 24 hours." Sonnet spent an extra night at the hospital while I went home and worried. We were too stunned by it all to imagine a complication. And the doctor was right - two days later, everything fine.
at 16:21
Saturday, November 27
Wedding Post
at 17:26
Sports Day
at 16:30