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Showing posts from July, 2008

Les Trois Rois

Les Trois Rois is where Herzl stayed in Basel for the First Zionist Conference. His portrait taken from the balcony was on the wall of Dr. Bernard Kaufman's home. Dr. Kaufman fought for his life as a boy scout in Vienna when Nazis came to attack a celebration of the anniversary of Herzl's convening. His father brought him to meet Dr. Freud. Dr. K just died before we left California. He was 94.

Fest im Basel...

...tomorrow's August 1st.

Eiger, Munch und Jungfrau

The view from Gurten...still not sure which is which.

werner niklaus manuel (1484-1530)

who is this?! O.K. Now that I am back from Switzerland, I am back to update this blog posting with an answer. Werner Niklaus Manuel was: Niklaus Manuel (probably born in 1484 in Bern; died 28 April 1530 in Bern), was a Swiss dramaturg, painter, graphic artist and politician. And you can also find him listed under the "List of Swiss People" page. Very useful. I remain curious and would like to know more. I mean check out the image above...and from 1520?!...maybe I'll update this furtehr at some point or expand in another format.

La vie, c'est un chanson...

In the Rosengarten there will be ten boys and girls, according to Li'l E. This used to be a best spot for K's grandmother. Now we have a son. Mueti is gone and Karen's godmother has two new hips. And this wonderful, small woman in her modernist dress plays Alpenhorn. She practices in the park, and the gardner trims each day. At the end of this foreign film, I cry cuz it's jus' so pretty.

La vie, c'est simple...

Rosengarten, Bern (CH)

Off to Lac Luzern

Cousins on a Train

The Freddie is All

Our dear friend Lottie was an au pair for the folks who developed this musical -- We Will Rock You . It amazes me that Freddie Mercury now looks over a London street like Lenin. A New National Socialism esthetic, based on the dreams of Farrokh Bulsara (5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991), born in Zanzibar -- does it make any sense? Does THIS Lenin need to be torn down? Is he transcendent? Would he live longer in Nietzche's vision than any of these other world leaders pretend? THE FREDDIE IS ALL!

travelin' man

Back to Town

Good times out in Marlow. One of the best days yet in Li'l E's short life to-date...mine too. Now off to meet Lottie & Darren at the British Museum to see an exhibition on Hadrian and meet their small man Baby J. Out tonight for Thai downtown. Off to Swiss on early flight in the morning.

Just off the Thames in Marlow

Common Place Poetry Names

pubbin' it

in the Tube with Susan

To Camden Town and the zoo!!!

Late Night London Walk

sometimes Li'l E can't sleep when we travel overseas so we stroll in the wee hours. We've done it now in London and in France...something, something, something "underpants.&quot. It's late.

Golders Green?!

Cricklewood?!...definitely England. We're on this side of the pond, visiting dear friends...all blessed-the little ones abound and surround what used to be just "us."

Preparing for the U.K.

To start preparing for my trip to the U.K. to visit my dear friends Billy, Susan and their new and dearest little girl (whom our li'l E has yet even to meet!...), I am starting "at home," so to speak, namely Thomas the Tank Engine . Our Li'l E has tons of Thomas stuff. Our house is crowded with it. Li'l E loves Thomas OnDemand . He can name every single engine on the island of Sodor. On all Thomas books, movies and paraphernalia credit is given, "Based upon the works of Rev. W. Awdry." There is something ominous about the reference to me, because the Reverend Awdry is not really known to me or others in the U.S., like Milne or Barrie might be. Is he real or some strange moral foil? The Thomas works are remarkably bland, uniquely unimaginative and purposefully pedantic and repetitive -- promoting usefulness over all other virtues. The language is terse and full of strange, onomatopoeic verbs like "chuffing." The trains are always chuffin

MAGNES exceeds Oakland Museum of California

THIS JUST IN! Despite the herculean efforts of Oakland Museum of California's Marketing Manager Adam Rozan , the tiny, little Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley has exceeded the Oakland MuseumCA 's number of facebook members as of this writing. We love Adam at MAGNES. We wish him luck in his efforts to keep pace with "the little engine that could" that is MAGNES. Really, we do. Many have thought the MAGNES efforts are remarkable given their resources, including The New York Times . (image: Rozan and Senior Curator René de Guzman "in the swim," so to speak...)