A Coldplay evenin

Started our day at the offices of ClientEarth in preparation for our Board meeting tomorrow, left by 3:30 to reach the Oxford Pub as a point of congregation for board and senior staff before attending a private rehearsal concert for ColdPlay before they head off to a world tour starting in Germany later in the week.     Why were we part of the private concert?  Because one of ColdPlay's band members is on our board and though he can't make the meeting, hoped we would be able to attend as special guests.  Hell   yes!

I can guarantee you that ColdPlay's next album, to be released very soon, will be another world hit.
The concert was glorious, and I met Chris Martin's mother who sat in front of us.  His wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, also sat in front of us and cared for her two young children early in the concert before letting them go home and finish the concert enjoying her husband's accomplishments. It was a small theater and therefore hard to hear the words to the music because the acoustics were calibrated for a larger venue.  In spite of that, we recognized several songs that will surely compete for "hit status", and their drummer was especially amazing in his energy and talent.
Michael "jigged" to the music and is caught here on camera!

Needless to say, the day was a good one.  I have to end the day now in preparation for a full day of board meeting tomorrow.  Probably no blog tomorrow either.  Cheers to all and look for ColdPlay's next album.  It will be a good one.

James and I preparing for ColdPlay concert

street sights in the morning

It is amazing what you can see on the streets when all the Londoners are still asleep in their beds!  Since today is a bank holiday and the end of a long 3-day weekend, I had the streets to myself for my morning power walk.  I'm pretty slow right now and only covering 3 miles in about an hour.  But hey, there's much to see and appreciate and I don't go anywhere without my camera to capture those special sightings!

Where else can you be listening to the Bee Gees on your ipod, walking briskly and run into the Queen's Guards on their horses on their morning walk down Curzon Street in Mayfair?  Don't know where they were going, but lovely to see in the cool sunny morning.  Top of the day to you, mates!

And I couldn't help but notice the extraordinary artwork on Park Lane at the base of Hyde Park...

Looping back down Oxford Street, I was thrilled to see Selfridges exterior all decked out in a month long Fish Campaign that ClientEarth is a key partner in....The marine program of our attorneys is credited with the most comprehensive, reasonable, and promising long term plan to aide EU countries and their respective small fishing fleets in reforming the Common Fisheries Policy.  A part of that is coalescing 90% of the supermarket distributors of fish into a campaign to encourage/educate consumers to the need for support to eliminate needless by-catch of fish caught but discarded.

The afternoon found us at the Hot House (office building in Hackney), home of ClientEarth.  Three hours of meetings later, we adjourned to a local pub for wine and dinner.  Of course,  I had "fish and chips" and enjoyed the company of talented, passionate, smart, and committed environmentalists with superb skills that make ClientEarth the "game changer" it already is in only its three years of operation.
Thanks, James, for your extraordinary leadership.  Now if we can only get that glass of wine away from him......

a Jersey Boys day

Watching the Brits "licking their wounds" over their loss last night to Spain in soccer championships.  All taken in good spirits though.

Went for a power walk this morning early through Green Park and the West End.  It's lovely before the crowds begin to build.  The trees in Green Park are very old, obviously well cared for, and majestic in their presence.  Can you imagine the history they have witnessed?

Walked through the park to Buckingham Palace then through the streets of the West End.  Jermyn Street, reknown for its men's ware is a joy to window shop, admiring the exquisite clothing for the fine British gentleman.  It reminds me of the wonderful (I thought) birthday present I got for Michael last November:  a pair of velvet lounging slippers with the crown embroidered on them.  So beautiful and British!  Next will be this elegant dressing gown, for sure!

After spending the morning doing our homework preparing for staff and board meetings this coming week for ClientEarth, we ventured out to the theater to see Jersey Boys (for my fourth time).  There is nothing as easy and non-rushed as a Sunday matinee followed by a leisurely Italian dinner in Soho.  Because I still well remember my pre-teen days as a child witnessing the birth of rock and roll, I couldn't sit in my seat without singing along to the words of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  It was a glorious visit to my past.

Tomorrow is a Bank Holiday here in Britain.  They have a lot of them, it seems and makes for a fair amount of four day work weeks or three day weekends.  We should be so sane and lucky!  Time to slip into something comfortable and read my book:  Almost French by Sarah Turnbull, an American girl who fell in love with a Frenchman, moved to Paris and has lived there raising a family of boys for the past 20 years.  It's a wonderful sharing of insights of the very different cultures of the US and France and the challenges of both adapting somewhat to each other's cultures.

Great show/good meal....life is good!

Saturday at the Market

Well, after another really good nights sleep, I feel normal again.  After a slow morning learning a bit more about blogging, I took off for the Apple store on Regent street to seek help/guidance with my iPhone which looses power in a matter of hours with no use!  Unconclusive analysis (casual without an appointment) sent me back to the manual for myself.  I think I need a new battery, but will not get it while on travel because when that "operation" is done, all my data is erased and I can't afford that right now.  Not able to sync until I get home.  Oh well....

Then on to Nottinghill and the Portobello Market, one of my favorite sites to mingle with the international crowds, peruse the antiques and junk on display, visit the wonderful small specialty shops up and down the street and drink in the English way of life.  I bought stocking stuffers for the family next Christmas, vegetables and fruit from the food stands, and a Starbucks frappachino to boost my energy.  On my feet all day and the "dogs" were howling by 3!  Everytime I come here I'm reminded of my Mother (90 yrs and kicking) coming to London to visit her first grandson, Mark while he was here attending his junior year of law school on an exchange program.  She took him (and his girlfriend Barbara now his wife) on a Saturday to Portobello Market.  He loved it and returned repeatedly during his stay returning home with a prized antique fly fishing rod and reel.

Returning back to our temporary apartment in Mayfair to rejoin Michael, who spent the day on the computer and phone on business, we tried out the kitchen and produced a decent meal to go with a futile search for CNN and some news.  This establishment has a steady clientele of Arabs and a majority of the satellite stations are in that language!  Probably do a lot more reading here.

What news we could find was all sports focused on a European Championship football (soccer to us) match.  That explains all the men on the streets today running around in football jerseys and downing a lot of beer in anticipation of the evenings event.

London work with ClientEarth

We arrived in London yesterday morning, and ofcourse, had to wait 4 hours to get into our rental apartment in Mayfair.  Gave up on sleep for the day and toughed it out.  Caught up with 12 hours and feeling better today.  Off to Reading to visit with Sarah Ridley who runs the Tubney Trust and does a great job for bio-diversity and farm animals.  Learned a lot.
Will have the weekend off and play a little.  Antiquing on Saturday and Jersey Boys on Sunday.  Thanks, Lauren Embly, producer and fellow board member of Women's Campaign Fund.  A terrific show and accomplishment of a savy, talented woman.
Dinner in neighborhood and then time to figure out the television over here.  I seem to see a lot of Arabic through the channels.