A Shot Of A Shot
Another action shot from Eric and Simona's wedding, this time by the official photographer. Notable #1: Eric remarkably calm given ceremony inside an hour. Notable #2: I am going bald. No denying my mother's father's hairline.
London, England
Another action shot from Eric and Simona's wedding, this time by the official photographer. Notable #1: Eric remarkably calm given ceremony inside an hour. Notable #2: I am going bald. No denying my mother's father's hairline.
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This Greek eroticism from about 400 BC : a nympth pulls her charge inward; he resists and so a roll-reversal : usually (always?) the male the agressor. But a closer look finds the temptress has a .. penis. A hermaphrodite. The sculpture believed risquee and mothballed for >100 years until '09 - it is one of my favorites.
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My wise friend Xavier notes the importance of a "strong woman" in a partnership. I am blessed , having married one, and surrounded by others, like Ada and Mary - pictured. Ada Israeli (married to Shai) and her PhD on playwright Henrik Ibsen. Mary a Director at Thompson Reuters, one of the world's largest media and information companies.
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Finally! Some good news from California! Our very own 21-year-old auburn-haired gal wins the Miss USA crown on Sunday night and will represent The Nation in the Miss Universe pageant later this year in Brazil! Our darling from El Lay topped a field of 51 beauties to take the TITLE at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip! She strutted across the stage in a blue bikini with white polka dots and a dark turquoise evening gown with beading on its top! Her interests are history and the British monarchy! California is back, y'all!
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Arnaud and Julia's wedding at Château de la Napoule, an historical landmark whose gardens listed by the French Ministry of Culture as "among the Notable gardens of France." I do not doubt it. A warm sun sets over the lingering blue sky as vows exchanged (NB: the fellow above not Arnaud).
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I have lunch at Terminus, outside the train station, and snap this guy who I am pretty sure is a spy. I am here for meetings then back to London on the evening train.
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Sonnet and I decide to play hooky and here we are, buying .. shoes. She checks out some LK Bennetts. Sonnet: "they're alright. Upscale but not too upscale." I have learned not to render an opinion on these things. Instead, I sit on a lounge chair and make faces at a baby deserted by her mother. It's all good until the kid starts screaming and I am surrounded by six women and the sales clerk who drill into me with their eyes . What did I do ? From there we stroll along the Richmond High Street - more shoes! More clothes ! and then to Madeleine, who finishes football and needs a ride to swimming. Who is the passenger in this journey, I wonder ?
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Etan away Monday morning to the Isle of Wight for five days . Road trip, dude. We check, and double-check, the gear. His class+five adults picked up by coach at the school entrance. Also joining is Head Teacher Mr X who, I note , "a very brave man." X has heard my joke many, and many, times before : there is always one smart-ass dad on the playground and if you do not know who it is, well, it's you. So Eitan has no problem at the drop off - in fact, he happily joins his gang and gives me a sheepish hug and off he goes. One step closer to the exit, I tell a few of the choked up mums.
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<-- Chas
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Ben and I hang out for a bit - as much as he will let me, anyways : him being 16 and me , like, impossibly old. Ben is a strikingly good looking kid who is easy to photograph. He has also maxed-out on math classes at the Harvard Extension School and now contemplates theotrical maths for next year. Ben turned me on to a few good science fiction writers like Orson Scott Card whose Ender's Game I enjoyed then passed on to Eitan. Now he suggests Terry Pratchett, Gene Wolf and George RR Martin. And Harry Potter? I ask. Ben notes "structural flaws in the writing" and, besides, "Wizards are all, like, dicks."
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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."
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The dog worth his weight in middle-age therapy sessions.
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Me trying to look like Don Draper. Katie points out that I need a cigarette.
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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.
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Katie sends a smooch from the Upper West Side.
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The post-ceremony reception located in the mountains overlooking the lake and Tegernsee. Photo from a private dining room next to the dining hall.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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Ah, the spring of '11. Memorable. I now expect the morning sun which is when it gets dangerous.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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Bank holiday Monday. I drop Sonnet at the V&A, where I park the car, and begin my day with the Shakespeares. All mine. Sonnet prepares for a lecture tomorrow evening then ball gowns and Italy - her next major exhibition which she presents to the museum's Exhibitions Committee in June; the EC headed by new Director Martin Roth who replaces Mark Jones after ten-years. Roth the former Director General of the Dresden state art collections for the past 10-years and Italy will be his first Major expo. Sonnet feels that, word.
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I watch the sun set over the river from the Fulham football stadium, 7:50PM. We and the kids join about 50 neighborhood friends from Madeleine's football group to watch the women's UEFA Cup Championship between Potsdam, GD, and Lyonnais, FR. Craven Cottage, which holds 26,000 maximum, is maybe 2/3's full. Comp this to Saturday's men's final at Wembley Stadium which seats 80,000 : tickets on the open-market no less than £5 grand. Though under appreciated, it is an exciting match that the French win 2-nil. It is worth noting that, despite equally physical play, there is no winging, whining or diving which is prevalent in the men's game (and why most Americans think soccer players wimps); these chicas get on with business. Madeleine and Eitan happy to be with their friends eating (totally gross) burgers and (inedible) hot dogs. Me, I am glad to be sitting next to Sonnet and no rain. One hour ago - hail.
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