Monkey Business

Eitan goes to a costume party dressed as a monkey. Never again, I tell him, will he be able to complain about me taking him to school in a cow suit. Gracie lives on.

Since it's Saturday, Sonnet and I up early to take the dog for a walk and connect with Karen and Niki doing the same thing with theirs. We swap dog stories which is kind of like baby stories: what the dogs have eaten, their exercise routines and shitting patterns. It sort of makes me uncomfortable.

Madeleine off to rehearsal and tonight is her first of two performances. I ask, 'are you nervous'? and she shrugs it away. Business as unusual.

Eitan stumbles into the kitchen (in his monkey suit, which he wore to bed) and makes a bacon and sausage sandwich.
Me: "How was the party?"
Eitan: "It was OK."
Me: "Did you have any interesting conversations?"
Eitan:
Me: "Oh, right. Sorry. Did you talk to any girls?"
Eitan: "Yeah."
Me: "Are they interesting to you?"
Eitan: "Sort of. I guess."
Me: "Do you go up to them or do they find you ?"
Eitan: "A bit of both."
Me: "I bet."

Paris Morning

River Seine

Friday post. I'm up, 6AM, to power walk the 7e. The sun is shining and springtime almost here.

The Paris streets hum with activity as the delivery agents service the bakeries and cafes, jamming the narrow lanes, chatting (or arguing) with each other. The dog walkers out and the pets crap wherever they wish as the gutters run with water every day. I head by the National Assembly and La Defense with police noticeably present even at this hour (The American Embassy, on Place de la Concorde, a fortress). At the Musée Rodin, a side gate open and I poke my head in to see 'La Porte de l'Enfer'.

I spend my usual good time with Astorg who is moving towards a fundraising this year. It is pregnant with possibility and judging the launch an important consideration.

Kaleidoscope - Shard

The Shard

Sonnet and I join "Kaleidoscope", the Contemporary Art Society's annual fundraising auction at 1 Billings Gate in a marvellous converted space big enough to host the contemporaries and seat 200 people (our friend Veronique is on the Board). Outside : the Thames and the Shard.

How different a place London has become since I worked in The City and jogged along the riverside through 1950s and 60s concrete. Those ancient post-war relics are gone in a heartbeat to make way for the new and modern, steel and glass.

Kaleidoscope's dress code is "colour in motion" which neither I nor Sonnet consider until the day before so I buy a purple and pink paisley tie from Harvey Nics. For the men, I've done more than most. The women arrive in leopard skin or print, lace leggings and yellow shoes. Pink-dyed mink. Sonnet goes with blue and patterns.

I dine next to Louise Wilson, a British artist nominated for the Turner Price in 1999 for her work in video, film and photography.

Eitan prepares himself in the morning.

Me: "What are you up to today?"

Eitan: "I don't know, usual stuff."

Me: "It's a bit difficult being 14, isn't it?"

Eitan: "I guess."

Me: "Having to talk to adults and not really knowing what to say. Feeling something is expected of you."

Eitan: "Yeah."

Me: "I remember that time. But then you get your own stories."

Eitan:

Me: "And you will have plenty."

Date Night

My gal

I dash home, bike a loop of Richmond Park, make a few phone calls then dart out the door to meet Sonnet at the Tate Britain - date night. Following the exhibition we go to our favorite, The River Cafe which, amazingly, has a table for two available, just for us (our first time at the RC was 1997 which stimulates a certain amount of .. reflection).

The kids have an evening home without activities other than homework. A rare thing. I suggest Eitan use the time to read a book (eye roll) or to bed early (open protest). Madeleine needs no urging on either - she puts herself to bed 8:30PM sharp, no fuss about it. Smart kid, she knows the importance of sleep.

On a dull day in the news (thank goodness) the BBC reports that a giant dangerous newt possibly roamed the earth in the dinosaur era. The story in the newsloop.

Nick Waplington / Alexander McQueen Working Process

Sonnet and I join the opening party for Nick Waplington's photography exhibition at the Tate Modern.

"Nick Waplington/ Alexander McQueen: Working Process is the result of a unique collaboration between artist Nick Waplington (born 1965) and the fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010). Waplington, best known for his photographic work centred on themes of class, identity and conflict, was invited by McQueen to crate a photo book documenting the making of the designer's 2009 Autumn/ Winter women's ready-to-wear collection from start to finish. McQueen conceived the collection as an iconoclastic retrospective of his career, revisiting patterns and fabrics from his earlier collections.  Titled 'The Horn of Plenty,' the collection was fiercely satirical and deliberately provocative."
--Entrance placard

Ten Hut

Dog torture

Madeleine and I go to the Isabella Plantation, about one month before the rhododendrons bloom. Still, it is a peaceful area for a walk only disturbed by Rusty chasing ducks. Madeleine and I talk about school and sports, homework, goals. She notes that "everybody knows Eitan" even at her school. Well, of course it feels this way as the younger child. And besides, I tell her, she is known for her running and theatre; her teachers adore her and she is DDG (which gets an eye roll). All true.

Sonnet and I have drinks with a few Hampton School parents at The Plough. The chit chat is around the ESFA semi final defeat as well as various school gossips. I can't keep track of which parent owns whom but the mums sure know. Its disconcerting when someone I don't recognise is telling me how Eitan did on his Chemistry exam today. Thank God for Sonnet, who is on top of this like a moma bear.

Marcus reports that he managed the car seat test and he and Adrienne now home with Willa Sofia. As I tell him, one day down and 18 years to go.

DDG=Drop Dead Gorgeous

Hello Willa Sofia

New parents

Marcus and Adrienne come home with a baby and Madeleine and Eitan get a cousin (Madeleine: "OMG she's beautiful!!). There is lots of excitement and love in our lives on the addition of Willa Sofia, a beautiful adopted child. Let the sleep deprivation experiment begin.

Madeleine's play, "I Am", recently cancelled due to the building burning down, but the show must go on. The troupe have doubled down on rehearsals having found an alternative location to practice, practice, practice! Madeleine's spirits soar to be back on stage. Today she talks to her form tutor and Head of Year to discuss raising money for the BAC.

ESFA Semi Final

Friday night boogie.

Eitan's Hampton U14 A squad plays Banstead School, Essex, in the Semi Final of the English Schools FA cup. To reach the final four, the boys have won eight in a row and qualified from a pool of 700 teams. Hampton School has never gotten so far in any age bracket.

The boys are nervous but not as much as the parents, as is usually the case. I fly in from Geneva and head for the pitch with Richard and Jack, who has cut school to watch. Sonnet joins and we bite our nails anxiously as Hampton breaks from the huddle, "Go Hampton!"

At half-time its 1-1 on two good goals but in the second half Banstead pulls ahead on a cracker - 25 meter free kick which hits the left goal bar and goes in. Another goal by them seals it and Hampton boys walk off the pitch, hangdogged. Eitan skips the customary post-game hot dog.

Well, what can one say? Hampton had a great season and did themselves and their school proud. Eitan played every game and made important contributions to the team - at center midfield, he is the backbone of the squad. And a pleasure to watch. We could not be more proud.

Geneve

Jet d'eau

I'm in Geneva and enjoy a familiar site taken for granted in my yuf - the Jet d'Eau, one of the largest fountains in the world and where Lake Geneva empties into the Rhone.  The jet sends 132 gallons of water per second to an altitude of 140 metres via two hidden pumps. The water leaves the nozzle at 124 mph. At any moment there are about 1,849 gallons of water in the air.

The first Jet d'Eau was installed in 1886 at the Usine de la Coulouvrenière, a little further downstream. It was used as a safety valve for a hydraulic power network and could reach 30 metres. In 1891, its aesthetic value recognised and it was moved to its present location to celebrate the Federal Gymnastics Festival and the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. 

Since 2003, the fountain has operated during the day all year round, except if frost or, particularly, strong wind

In the late summer, 1983, I swam across the lake, in preparation for the swim season, with Tony, a university student and distance swimmer who proudly drove a Mini Cooper the size of a doghouse. We were oblivious to the speeding motor boats that passed us by.

Thames Path

Sunday walk

Madeleine and I take Rusty for a walk along the Thames Path in Teddington starting at Ham House.

The Sheen Lions defeat the Met Police Blues, 2-0, in a league game. Eitan scores the second goal.

"There are three locks at Teddington and these represent the lowest and the largest on the non-tidal River Thames. Richmond Lock, three miles downstream, is only used at low tides. Mean river flow at Teddington is about 15,000 gallons (70,000 liters) per second but it can increase tenfold during high rainfall."
--Path signage

The Teddington Lock is 146 miles from source while the river's height above sea level is 14 feet.

The Black Feather Dress

The Black Feather Dress from the Horn of Plenty collection in 2009. It is the featured dress for the exhibition and on all the posters.

“What attracted me to Alexander was the way he takes ideas from the past and sabotages them with his cut to make them thoroughly new and in the context of today.” 

--Isabella Blow, patron and muse to Alexander McQueen.

Alexander McQueen

Plato's Atlantis

Sonnet and I attend the private view opening reception for Alexander McQueen at the VA. The exhibition already seen at The Met in 2011, curated by Sonnet's former colleague Andrew Bolton. Sonnet and Madeleine saw that show in New York. It was the tenth most visited show at The Met ever.

As McQueen from London, this opening like a home-coming. The designer, Sonnet says, left school at 15 to train on Saville Row. He grew up in the East End in a working class family, his father a taxi driver, all the more remarkable that he attended Central St Martin's fashion MA without a college degree where he excelled. His graduation collection, 1992, was bought in its entirety by Isabelle Blow, a fashion editor and career maker for designers. From there he started his own label. McQueen said, "to break the rules, one must know them."

And break the rules he did.  McQueen's tailoring impeccable while his story-telling skills extraordinary: everything he did was part of a larger narrative. His clothes not simply designed for provocation. McQueen's work included the armadillo boots, skulls and feathers and animal parts - even taxidermy - in almost every collection. His most famous creation, the bumster trousers, cut five inches below "hipster trousers" to elongate the torso.

Sonnet and I people watch while she greets the Italian Ambassador's family and introduces me to Jeremy Irons and his wife.

Pre Show

Mrs Robinson

Sonnet and I head into the evening, first the Alexander McQueen opening at the VA followed by Caribou at Brixton Academy.  The kids pysched because that means pizza (again).

Madeleine upset over losing her play, poor kid. There will be other shots but this one special, she had put a considerable amount of time into rehearsals and was emotionally committed. Sometimes random events feel terribly personal.

Madeleine surprises Sonnet with a Mother's Day bouquet of flowers.

On minimal communication.
I find Eitan watching a recording of Arsenal vs. ManU, 9AM.
Me: "When was the game?"
Eitan: "Dunno."
Me: "Guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"
Eitan: "Nah."
Sonnet: "I'm going to make a big family breakfast. Are you hungry?" [Dad's note, Eitan has had breakfast."
Eitan: "Yeah, kind of."
Me: "Are you never not hungry?"
Eitan: "Not really."

Rehearsals Cancelled

The Battersea Arts Centre, where Madeleine has been rehearsing a play for the last three weeks, goes up in flames.  Madeleine receives an instagram delivering the bad news.

I used to develop black and white photos at the BAC and there were chemicals everywhere. The dark room on the very top floor surrounded by wood structures and with little foot traffic. The rest of the building also in need of modernisation which, in fact, the council trying to accomplish by raising funds. The building dates to 1891, was the former town hall, and became a community center in 1974.

"We will not be running any performances this evening."
--Battersea Art Centre

YMCA

Chelsea vs. PSG, an awful match

Francois and I prepare YMCA for a €40M investment in Astorg's next fund, inshallah.

Astorg's offices on Berkeley Square in a 300 year old building and the conference room, where our meeting takes place, is hot. I turn the wall heater "off" only it is the building's server. 45 minutes later, a loud knock, and a technician informs us we have taken down the Internet. Classic.

The YMCA founded in London during the Industrial Revolution to provide a healthy Christian alternative to the taverns and the brothels. Today it's the Village People and 57 million beneficiaries from 125 national associations. In the US there are 830 YMCAs (including Berkeley where Moe was a Director and works out daily, 5AM) each providing an employee pension scheme totalling about $6bn in assets of which ca. 8% invested in private equity. Hence our meeting.

Self portrait XXXXII

Roger's wedding gift

Whenever we wish to impress, Sonnet brings out The Spoon. It's big enough to use as a soup bowl. 

The idiocy of the Republican party, or specifically, the 47 Senators who wrote a letter to the Leaders of the Islamic Republic, is remarkable given that Obama is negotiating a no-nukes deal. No matter what the Senate may think of US foreign policy under Obama, the President is the authority to lead the discussion. Imagine if the Democrats did something so stupid. Think Fox would sit still?

Red Bag

Morning

The good news: sunrise 6:15AM which means we are out of .. darkness making a Big Difference to our lives. I am energised. Springtime is payback time. Even the dog happier.

Madeleine has her swimming kit, stuffed in a red bag, for a school gala she dreads. Last night, on the track, she delivered 1X 1500 followed by 400 plus 800 plus 300, all at or near race speed. The kid hauls ass.

Eitan and I have been watching FA cup action: last night it is Madrid vs. Shalke (Germany) who win 4-3 but fail to advance to the semis based on points and some formula that Eitan has explained to me 100 times. The night before ManU lose to Arsenal 2-1. The boy takes it stoically.

Over the weekend I meet Al in Bitburg who invites me and Eitan to a Real Madrid game. Al is a chain smoking, hard drinking Bureau Chief of the Associated Press's Spanish operations which is reason enough to go.

Bitburg, GD

Proud father

Our weekend in Bitburg uneventful - in fact, I don't even see Eitan, nor receive a call nor text, after I drop him off Friday morning leaving me with two full days of freedom! Boredom!

Bitburg barely has a shop to speak of and McDonald's is a big deal in this town of several thousand in the middle of nowhere once attached to a US military base now long gone (Reagan was going to visit Bitburg but he cancelled, last minute). There is a brewery in the middle of town which, apparently, is well known in Germany but otherwise that's it for the industry.

Fortunately there are some interesting Dads in the same boat and I meet John, whose family immigrated to the United States when he was six years-old. John recalls begging neighbours for food before he was ten. But he had a swift boot and his high school soccer team, Hartford Public High School, won the state championships back-to-back and John got a scholarship to college.

Today, he is a partner at Wellington Management which oversees about $1 trillion. He moved to London four years ago to oversee Global Fixed Income Trading. As we both agree, only in America.

Diamond Rolex

Rolex DateJust

Surfing I come across this diamond circled Rolex, pictured, on sale for $33,700, used.  I once owned the same watch, given to me by my Grandfather, George Manning, as a gift following a summer visit when I discovered the watch and other treasures in the bedroom suite of his home in Columbus, Ohio (me, age nine). 

George's watch, my Grandmother once told me, acquired in Las Vegas when, in the late hours and in an alleyway off the Strip (the alleyway may be my invention), George was approached to buy the Rolex for $500. Following a negotiation, the watch changed hands at $100.  My Grandmother new it was "hot" or a fake, but my Grandfather couldn't resist.

Well, the watch was a fake, otherwise it would have never been gifted to me. I lost it in the fifth grade on the Longfellow Elementary playground playing kickball. It amuses me to consider somebody found it, there on the cement, and for a moment, thought: "Holy Mackerel! I'm rich!"

Outbound

5c

Eitan and I head for Heathrow and a flight to Germany so the boy can participate in the Olympic Development Program training camp. After telling Eitan we have plenty of time and I do these trips every week, we arrive at T5 without my wallet (Fuck!) which necessitates a return home followed by a missed flight (Eitan: "That was kind of stressful.").

We arrive in Frankfurt too late to drive to Bitburg and stay at a airport hotel.  It's 11PM and the hotel parking lot empty so I take a place marked, in German, for some company. I ignore it. Next morning 7AM (still no cars) a woman knocks on the car window as I am pulling out to inform me that I am not allowed to park there. And so, with the sweetest tone I can muster, I tell her that there are so many spaces the only polite thing to do is share and share alike.

Same thing happens again when I leave the car in front of the hotel to load bags with the permission of the front desk only now its the bus driver though I am not blocking his path. Is it me or the Germans ? I certainly couldn't be the problem. Eitan, of course, mortified.

British Passports

American Embassy in London

Here we are, looking like your typical American ex pat family, on our way to renew the kids' passports (Klara takes the photograph). Sonnet, like a territorial bobcat, has her back up as we spy other (perfectly presented) American mums and their (well behaved) children also getting their renewals.  Sonnet notes that she was unable to get an appointment at the Embassy during the recent half-term break when the children out of school and therefore more convenient: She waited 24 hours after the booking window opened six months ago and they were all taken. Somehow it is a victory that the other families here, today, also failed to secure a half-term slot.

American Embassy

24 Grosvenor Square

The American embassy moved to Grosvenor Square (from Great Cumberland Place, Piccadilly, Portland Place and the Grosvenor Gardens) in 1938. During this time, because of the storm clouds over Europe, Grosvenor Square began to accommodate a number of U.S. government offices including General Eisenhower's HQ and the European headquarters of the US Navy. 

The building, pictured, was constructed in the late 50s, opening in 1960,  designed by Finnish American modernist Eero Saarinen. The building is nine storeys, three of which are below ground. A large gilded aluminum blad eagle by Theodore Roszak, with a wingspan of over 35 feet is on the roof.

In October 2009, the building was granted Grade II listed status, which is gonna make it difficult when the developers try to convert the land to a 5* hotel.

In 2008, the Americans announced they will move the Embassy to 9 Elms in Wandsworth (South of the river !) in a secure compound.

When Sonnet and I first arrived in London, we walked right up the steps into the building. Now there are several layers of security and access for a pre arranged appointment takes 30 minutes (at least).

War On Drugs

Sonnet and I meet in Brixton to see mind blowing band War On Drugs, introduced to me by Christian. The band formed in Philadelphia in 2005.

Lost In Dreams, their third album and my favourite, written and recorded following extensive touring and a period of loneliness and depression for primary songwriter Granduciel, was released in 2014 to critical acclaim and increased exposure. 

The crowd young with some middle-age long hairs who round out the crowd. It's a Monday night and a good vibes mood all around.

Brixton has moved from a blighted neighbourhood (the Eurostar once cut through the village on brick arches) with riots in the 60s to now, a vibrant gentrifying urban community with a mixture of peoples, restaurants and shops. The The high street offers hair salons for black people and halal butchers for the Muslims. In between the yuppies revel in the grittiness of it all. Moving things along, the Underground station, where I meet Sonnet, went through a modern rebuild ten years ago and people spill forward into the night. 

The ten most expensive cities in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit:

1. Singapore
2. Paris
3. Oslo
4. Zurich
5. Sydney
6. Melbourne
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Hong Kong
10. Seoul

Nutford Place

Global HQ

Hard to believe it was 15 years ago that I founded eZoka during Web 1.0. In tech years, a lifetime. Our offices on the Edgeware Road, convenient to W9 where Sonnet and I enjoyed our first apartment. I caught the No. 6 bus (red, double-decker) for the 15 minute commute to work. 

When eZoka moved in, Nutford Place was in need of a renovation and we were one of the fresh new companies they were looking to attract (I netted us a substantial rent reduction by introducing other start-ups). Our floor had a prayer room and my first day I interrupted a guy washing his feet in the bathroom sink. Awkward. Halal Fried Chicken across the street and The Beirut Express restaurant next door.

By the end, we took over the top floor with our venture cash and created a substantial open space for working and goofing though no ping pong table nor been bags. It was a serious outfit with an engineering center in Swindon where our CTO located. We had good people, accepting one, with considerable momentum until it ran out. A grand adventure regardless.

The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters

Plate 43 of the 'Caprichos' prints, 1797-98.

Originally intended as an introductory self-portrait to a series of 'suenos' ('dreams'), this iconic print was published as part of the celebrated satirical 'Caprichos.' The central figure, surrounded by the swarming owls and bats, accurately symbolises an overarching theme of the 'Caprichos': the rise of monstrous forces when reason is absent. As such, it is emblematic of much of the content of the "Witches and Old Women" album. 

--British Museum, London

"Weird and creepy but I liked it."
--Eitan

Goya

Despite the weekend inertia, I convince (coerce ?) Eitan to join me at the Courtauld Gallery to see Goya: The Witches and Old Women Album . And it is wonderful.

Goya produced some 600 drawings which ended up in eight “albums.” After his death, the albums were disbound and their sheets dispersed. Some have ended up in public collections, others in private collections, and a few have disappeared altogether.

The exhibition assembles all 23 drawings from “Witches and Old Women” (bar one, which is lost) and runs them in their original sequence around the gallery walls. It’s the first time that a full Goya album has been exhibited. Even Eitan entranced.

It's disturbing as hell, to. Goya produced the drawings during a period of convalescence shortly following a near-death illness. Take 'Wicked Woman' depicting an ancient hag about to devour a baby child. In Madness, an old fool appears behind the bars of a prison-like enclosure, pleading at us, seemingly for his freedom. Stuff of nightmares.

Park Run

Madeleine and I compete the weekly Park Run  in Richmond Park so Madeleine can qualify for the London mini-marathon run in April. She is not particularly keen on cross country or longer races preferring, instead, the certainty of the track. She's a 800 runner which, in my opinion, is the most painful distance. Soon the outdoor season starts.

Madeleine bolts leaving me and the dog in her trail (Rusty goes berserk trying to catch her dragging me along. He's like a muscle with claws). I finish in 23:12.

Sonnet at Somerset House to give a talk on Alexander McQueen to a sold out ("packed") audience.

Super Return

Steve Schwarzman made $690m last year

I am in Berlin last week for the Super Return conference, the largest private equity conference in the world which brings together the rich and the very rich. The mood this year is vibrant and upbeat despite Russia and Greece and all the other various crisis that plague our news. How can one be downbeat when interest rates at nought percent and money is free? The deals are flowing. 

Another sign that the industry returning to worrisome levels is fund raising: in 2014, firms raised something like $550bn compared to $640bn in 2007, the peak. Not too far off. Unsurprisingly, acquisitions multiples, relative to EBITDA or free cashflow, now exceed 11X. Once an 8X deal thought high. 

Here is something to ponder: The richest people on Earth got richer in 2014, adding $92 billion to their collective fortune. The net worth of the world’s top 400 billionaires on Monday stood at $4.1 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking.

As for Steve Schwarzman, he founded Blackstone, one of the most powerful investment firms in the world.  His net worth is $11bn (photo from the web).

Ultra Races, The Lions And Madeleine's Reaction

Eitan pulls it down

I've been doing a spot of running and slowly up to 25 miles or so a week. This morning I connect with Alex for a seven mile loop of Richmond Park. Alex ran the Marathon des Sables in 2013 finishing 9th overall (des Sables is a six-day, 156 mile ultramarathon in the Sahara desert. It is considered the toughest footrace on Earth). We are joined by four other ultra- runners including Zoe who was third in des Sables last year. To join us, Zoe runs 13.5 miles and, I assume, she will run 13.5 miles afterwards to get home. I suppose if you love running, four hours of it is pure pleasure.

The next ultra race these guys will do is the Peak District 100. It ain't level.

The Sheen Lions host The Barnes Eagles on a muddy pitch on a freezing morning and lose 2-1 against a team in the bottom of the league table.  On the bright side, I am writing this from inside.

Me: "Your mother has something to tell you."
Madeleine: "Mom?"
Sonnet: "You go the part in the play!"
Madeleine: "Oh my God! Are you kidding?!"
Sonnet: "No honey."
Madeleine: "I am so happy."
Me: "Congratulations kid. You earned it."
Madeleine: "I can't believe it."

I Am

13 candles

We celebrate belatedly Madeleine's 13th birthday; Eitan bakes a vanilla cake and we watch 'Moonstruck'.  

Both kids meant to run the English National Cross Country Championships, which they have qualified for and representing the Hercules Wimbledon, but neither make it to the start-line: Eitan recovering from his chest cold and Madeleine for lack of racing shoes, which have gone missing.

Instead, Madeleine auditions for the play "I Am" at the Battersea Arts Center. 16 selected out of 40 and our gal makes the grade despite being the youngest by four years. She - and we - could not be more proud. There will be four performances at the end of March.

On Spider Man

Madeleine: "How much do you think the first Spider Man is worth?"
Me: "'The Amazing Spider Man' or 'Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider Man?'" [Dad's note: my Spider Man collection includes 'Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider Man' in vintage condition from 1-50. I also own 'The Amazing Spider Man' from around #100]
Madeleine: "'Peter Parker.'"
Me: "I don't know. Maybe 75 dollars. .."
Madeleine: "What!? Is that all ?"
Me: "That's a lot considering I paid 25 cents for it."
Madeleine: "I thought it would be worth more."
Me: "How many times is it worth now to when I first bought it?"
Madeleine: "Oh, no, not that !"
Me: "A figure, please."
Madeleine: "Uh, 300?"
Me: "Wow, you're right. That was one hell of a guess. What are the odds on that?"
Madeleine: "Is it right?"
Me: "How did you get 300?"
Madeleine: "It was easy. 25 goes into 75 three times and, um,  I added two zeros to go from 25 cents to dollars."
Me:
Eitan: "What's so funny Dad?"
Madeleine: "It's still right isn't it ?"

We watch a TV add for L'Oreal's "Punky" mascara. Me: "Do you wear it? You're the target audience."
Madeleine: "No. And I'm not the target audience because I don't wear mascara."
Me: "All these ads do is sell junk."
Madeleine: "Wouldn't it be cool if you didn't have to pay for it? What if you could trade for other stuff?"
Me: "That's a great idea. You could call it junk-for-junk dot com."
Madeleine: "I would use it."
Me: "So would I."

Half Term Break

Madeleine and Willoughby

The kids on half term break and Eitan watches four hours of television which really means six. Or 7. In fairness the poor kid is recovering from a cold and he (and Madeleine) have been working hard in school, sports and extracurriculars.  Each have a running schedule to keep them sharp and, yes, there is some homework. Eitan is re reading 'Lonesome Dove' but it has been slow going: after several weeks he's on page 76 of 945. Still, it is not Harry Potter (Thanks God).

Willoughby over for the afternoon. When not hanging out, he designs graphics for different merchandise sold on redbubble.com (he and Madeleine lie on the floor reviewing traffic statistics and listening to music).

We pile into the car to buy another turtle (pre named Alfonzo Smith). Madeleine: "At Sheen Mount we used to get house points for good behaviour."
Willoughby: "At my school, we got to be a Mexican for the day."
Me: "Oh?"
Willoughby: "We were studying the Mexicans or something. We also had a Mexican Of The Year but they just decided to give it to everybody."
Me:
Willoughby: "By being good, you got Mexican points. If you got enough points you got a prize."
Me: "Like a taco?"
Willoughby: "Like your picture with a golden Mexican moustache."
Me: "So did you learn anything about the Mexicans?"
Willoughby: "Um, no. But we got to dress up like them."
Me:
Willoughby: "I guess that's kind of racist. Stereotyping them like that."
Me: "So you did learn something."

St Louis Re Union

David and Moe

David is Moe's sister Joy's oldest child, ie, my cousin.  Both are from St Louis. I saw David last summer in London.

David's special interests include esophageal diseases, colon cancer screening and outcomes in endoscopy (his website bio says). He has has been a member of the OHSU faculty since 1982, and Chief of the GI Division since 1998.

David's research into colon cancer (VA Cooperative Study on Colon Cancer Screening, 1993 to 2002) changed the way colon cancer screened in the US. His work has saved tens of thousands of lives. Famously he gave Katie Couric a colonoscopy live, on air, during the Today Show (Couric's husband died from colon cancer).

David is also a walker and whenever together we try to organise a hike of some sort. Some years ago we marched across London covering the West End to East London. My earliest memories of David from visits to St Louis when I was maybe 4 or five.

Abstract from David's research:

Background Aims: The relative efficacy and effectiveness of different colon screening programs has not been assessed. The purpose of this analysis was to provide a model for comparing several colon screening programs and to determine the key variables that impact program effectiveness. 

Methods:  Five screening programs were compared: annual fecal occult blood test (FOBT) alone, flexible sigmoidoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy and FOBT combined, one-time colonoscopy, and air-contrast barium enema. Key variables were adjusted for sensitivity analyses. Cost-effectiveness was defined as the cost per cancer death prevented. 

Results : FOBT alone prevents fewer cancer deaths than the other programs. The addition of flexible sigmoidoscopy to the FOBT increases the rate of cancer prevention. One-time colonoscopy has the greatest impact on colorectal cancer mortality, largely because of assumptions that cancer would be prevented in most patients who undergo polypectomy. FOBT alone is the most cost-effective of the programs, but the cost is sensitive to several key variables.

Conclusions: The model shows key variables that impact the cost-effectiveness of colon screening programs. Compliance is an important determinant of effectiveness of all of the screening programs. Future study should be focused on methods of patient education that improve patient compliance with screening.

Portland

 Shoes

Photos from Sonnet and Madeleine's trip to Portland are coming in - these are from my cousin David, where our gals stay during their visit.  They are visited by Moe, Sloan and Mary and other local and far away friends who lend their love and support of Sonnet.

From Oregon, Madeleine and Moe head for the Bay Area to join Gracie, Maggie and the cat Sweetie Pie in Berkeley while Sonnet in Los Angeles meeting with museum directors.

Sonnet, I am told by someone not Sonnet, forgets her opening-evening gown and has an afternoon find a loaner from a friend.

Her exhibition goes off with a bang! as the opening dinner draws Portland's Good and The Great. Over 400  guests- "as big as London", she notes.

The following day Sonnet presents to 500 people on the  exhibition's opening day, giving "the back story on Italian fashion" Madeleine now says. "It went amazing. And people were lining up to get her autograph."

Grandfather, granddaughter 

Oasis Or Mirage

What would Bond say?

I return to the land of the weird and the strange. A gold Porsche Carrera greets me at the Abu Dhabi airport along with a third-world scrum.  It is a most inglorious welcome to the wealthiest city in the world (2007), according to Fortune Magazine.

Once outside, the temps are a pleasant 80 degrees in the late evening. In several months, during the daytime, the thermometer will climb above 130 degrees. I think of this as I jog, the only pedestrian for miles. It takes me two hours to stop sweating afterwards and the dude at the gym looks at me as though I have taken a shower in my suit. In fairness, it looks like I have taken a shower in my suit.

Abu Dhabi is under construction, fueling its economy, as buildings compete to reach the highest mark (the Khalif's benevolent terrifying face looks down upon us from twenty painted stories on many building sides). None can compete with Dubai's Burj Khalifa yet my hotel room, on the 37th floor, looks up a further 33 stories.

Next to the four magnificent Etihad towers, where I am staying, is the ugliest building I have ever seen : gold plated, ten story exterior atrium on the middle floors, a Battlestar Galactica design. 60 floors of pure shiet. Towers, it seems, are in such high demand that anyone can build one. I can't imagine that Abu Dhabi's real estate is anywhere near half filled.

Tycho

Self portrait XXXXI

Friday. And here we go.

The boy and I are down with the bug. Eitan misses his second day of school and comatose under his duvet where he has been all day and I find him this evening. Whimpering. Me, I power through meetings. Now we watch repeats of Modern Family and Big Bang Theory.

The good news: no plans for the weekend and the kids officially on half term break (do they go to school more than vacation?) and Sonnet returns Sunday afternoon. God bless.

Me: "Eitan how's your state of mind?"
Eitan: "Huh?"
Me: "Your state of mind. For the blog."
Eitan: "Spacey."

Mindfulness

Noontime, Piccadilly Circus

It' is cold and grey in London. Yep, February. And March. And April . . . The British cheer themselves up with red buses, red poste boxes and red phone booths. I like this about Britain.

I spend the afternoon at Oxford with Willem who, as we know, runs The Oxford Mindfulness Center "that works with partners around the world to prevent depression and enhance human potential through the therapeutic use of mindfulness."  Think meditation meets mind control.

Mindfulness is getting a lot of attention these days too.  The UK, for instance, wrote 47m prescriptions for anti-depressant drugs in 2011 - as popular as M&Ms.  OMC research shows that mindfulness reduces the recurrence rate of of depression by 50% over 12 months in patients with three or more previous episodes of depressions. In other words, mindfulness is as effective as the drugs without the side effects. 

It is all very Northern Californian ish.

On The UK Deficit

The IMF thinks that the UK will have the largest budget deficit, excluding the effects of the economic cycle, in Europe in 2015 putting Britain's finances in worse shape, in this regard, than Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece or Spain. Among the major developed nations only Japan is running a bigger deficit than the UK.

So far, the public sector deficit has not deterred investors from buying UK govt bonds, which have soared to record levels, buoyed by low inflation and a perception that the UK is a safe haven underpinned by an aggressive deficit reduction programme. Since the financial crisis, the UK has effected the seventh-largest fiscal consolidation among 31 advanced economies tracked by the IMF. 

The success of the reduction programme has, however, been blunted by a lopsided economic recovery with falling wages and lower-than expected tax revenues.

The remaining consolidation will therefore likely come in the next parliament via spending cuts. The IFS estimates that public spending, as a share of national income, may fall to its lowest level since 1948 resulting in 900,000 public-sector job losses reducing the government workforce to its lowest point since 1971 (Deloittes).

Enter the May elections: to reach its targets, Conservatives would cut spending by 6.7% from 2015 to 2019; Labour could hit its less demanding goals by cutting 1.4%. According to the Financial Times, this implies that, by 2019-20, Labour will spend £27 billion a year more than the Conservatives.

Get out the vote.

Taking Care Of Business

Richmond Gate, Richmond Park

Eitan and I bachelors since Thursday as Sonnet and Madeleine in Portland, Oregon, for the opening of The Italians.  We keep it together, going to a pub for dinner last night, staying up late watching TV. Sleeping in. Usual stuff.

Eitan runs the Surrey League Division 1 cross country race, placing 9th out of 29 in a competitive race.  He is glad it's over.

Adventure, Stage Two

Tom's Cafe

I say a momentary good-bye to our dear friends Cindy and Scott, who I first met via the Brown community (Scott on the Board of Trustees and friends with Ira Magaziner who created Brown's "new curriculum).  They arrived in London same time as us, 1997, as Scott opened the law offices of Brown Rudnick.  

Scott and I share a liberal agenda and stories of Providence. He is on the museum acquisition committee of the Rhode Island School of Design where my sister spent a semester in college - I sent Scott a paper Katie wrote on the museum in .. 1987. He turned sixty when I turned 40 and we had a 100 celebration.  Cindy and I share gossips about Brown interviews and London celebrities and today we chuckle over the evening we sat next to Sean Connery and his wife at a Knightsbridge restaurant.

Scott and Cindy returning to Boston for their new careers and next adventures. A small project is the ancient school in Newport, RI, that Scott is turning into their next home. With basketball courts. It will engage him for a while.

Eitan thrilled to be in Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea famous, dear reader, in "Made In Chelsea."

Madeleine Teenager

Madeleine turns 13.

We could not be more proud of this confident, intelligent young woman who has grown up before our very eyes. From the minute she was born, an intense one hour delivery, I knew we had something special: Madeleine was all in from her first loud cry "I'm here, take notice!"

Madeleine's fearlessness evident from the early days when we worried about her trust in strangers, who she approached with a scratchy "hola" or "hello, mister." Her tree-climbing often found me exasperated at the school entrance trying to coach her down from 20 feet. And then there were the battles to get her to wear a dress to a wedding or some party - no way. Not even a lifetime of no-television could budge her.

Madeleine for a long while was a tom-boy happily digging holes in the backyard with her (mainly) boy friends, looking for worms or burying treasures. She was fascinated by bugs which she examined under the microscope. Her love for stuffed animals ("buddies) transferred to fish, hamsters, turtles and, of course, Rusty who she battled for for two years to bring home. How could I say no?

Since secondary school, Madeleine has blossomed into a committed student with top marks in all subjects and rave reviews from her teachers who appreciate her enthusiasm and fast-hand for the question or answer. We are delighted with her friends who are often the class eccentrics ("the cool of the uncool") interested in drama and theatre and sport. She has thrown herself into running and has demonstrated talent on the track and cross-country piste. She attends drama class Saturday mornings. She dreams of California and, like me, is a dreamer.

Some years ago I recall peaking out a window to observe a ring of teenagers. Madeleine, age 8: "I don't wanna be a teenager Dad!" And now she is. And it is glorious.

A Beautiful River

The tide is out

It is a cold morning and I cross the Waterloo Bridge from Waterloo station heading to Sommerset House where it all began: This is where the Courtauld Art Institute located. 

Beneath me, the River Thames flows East as the tide goes out, towards the North Sea. From now, low tide, the water will rise as much as 23 feet during high tide. 

London is uniquely intertwined with the river, similar to San Francisco and the bay: It is unimaginable to consider one without the other. Human habitation dates back to neolithic times; Julius Caesar was here in 54 BC. And of course Shakespeare.

The Thames tidal flow makes it both interesting and rejuvenating - it charges the city (for some, south of the river a no-go area; East London the new hot spot while the Isle of Dogs equals Canary Wharf) and sweeps away, at least spiritually, London's cares (no longer sewage, fortunately). 

Final 8

Hampton "A" Squad. Photo from Mark Boyle

In an exciting day of football action, Eitan's Hampton Under-14s "A" squad take on Bishop Stortford High from Hertfordshire which is somewhere north of London (I'm in Amsterdam for meetings never to be recalled on my deathbed). This the Final Eight of the English Schools FA Cup (the "ESFA Cup") for all independent and states schools in the country or 610 teams.

The boys have won ten games to get here and are fired up: they win 5-2 in a game, Eitan says, much more competitive then the score. Shaun-Chris the game's star (black kid in middle) who scores four goals. Eitan plays "holding mid-field" and disrupts the action with searing tackles.

Eitan notes that at this level Hampton playing schools associated with the professional football academies - Bishop a feeder for Tottenham Hot Spurs.

Next step: the Final Four.

Eitan flops on the couch, homework done, for some well deserved TV.

It's Snow

False dawn

Madeleine gets her wish - snow! Somehow it is nicer when the sun is up. Of course this means the trains are late and traffic piles up. Planes delayed. By 10AM it's slush.

The kids have discovered eBay and Eitan makes 40 bob (split 50:50 with Dad) selling one of Dad's shirts, never worn by Dad due to some fancy stitching that does not go with Dad's style. Now the kids go through their rooms, attic and garage to convert lost treasures into cold hard cash. They cooperate, agreeing to split any proceeds (after I take my cut). We discuss whether it is right to sell Madeleine's "buddies" instead of donating the stuffed animals to charity. She has turned ruthless. Capitalism in its most naked form.

More Debt

No. 31

According to a recent report from the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the ratio of global debt, excluding financial institutions, now stands about 210% of global GDP, up from 175% on the eve of the financial crisis. The CEPR report's title, "Deleveraging? What Deleveraging?" captures its key finding. It could have also been, "What, me worry?"  How daja vu.

Here is what President Hoover's Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon, advocated: 

"Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate... it will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up from less competent people."

Party Talk

Auntie Katie's Xmas Slippers 

Sonnet and I pick up Madeleine from a Saturday night party. 

Me: "What did you guys talk about?"
Madeleine: "Nothing."
Me: "Nothing? So what did you do all night ?"
Madeleine: "I don't know. Stood around and pretended we knew each other."
Sonnet: "You must have talked about something."
Me: "Seriously. How about school? Or the weather?"
Madeleine: "Kids don't do small talk, Dad."

Math Is Fun!

Fibonacci is everywhere

Prof Golé warms up the Smith crowd with an overview of phyllotaxis which is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem - Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. We are enthused. From there we hit the Fibonacci numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ... add the last two to get the next, just make sure you start at 0) and the Golden Rule (Divide two lines where the longer part divided by the smaller part is also equal to the whole length divided by the longer part). Then we nail patterns from accretion. The crowd goes wild ! We are on our feet pumping fists like it's the Super Bowl !!

An interesting observation, being in an audience of mainly women, is how supportive the sisterhood is of each other. Speaker makes bad joke, everyone laughs.

Smith Annual Dinner

Sonnet at Paradise Pond, Smith College, 2013

Sonnet and I join Nita and Alain for the Smith College annual dinner at the Sloane Club. The guest speaker, Christophe Golé, a French mathematician and professor at Smith, whose interests are in the theory of dynamical systems as it applies to Hamiltonian systems and Mathematical Biology. (Dynamical systems, dear reader, is the mathematical theory that studies time evolution of systems. They have been used to model many systems from physics, economics, biology etc. The theory's claim to fame is to be the proper setting to the mathematical notion of chaos). I already look forward to Eric's commentary. 

Prior to dinner I chat with a tall blonde, Smith class of '11, with an alluring smile and brimming with confidence. 23 years old. I start to get some swagger until she informs me she "does" algorithms for Google. Hmmm, good to know I now have nothing to say to young people. Sonnet chides me anyway: "you needn't have to do that anymore." Am I relieved by this?

Eitan: "What band is this?"

Me: " 'War On Drugs'. You're mom and I are going to their concert in March. Want to join us?"

Eitan: "I'm OK."