Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Today I continue posting my doodles from our trip to London and Paris.

British actor Peter Dennis passed away in California on April 18th. Dennis fell in love with the literary works of Alan Alexander Milne and Illustrator Ernest Shepard at an exhibition in London and gradually made it his life's work to tour America and Europe with his one man show of readings from Winnie-the-Pooh and other classics from A.A. Milne. He also appeared in dozens of television shows including Murder, She Wrote, ER and in the films Sideways and Shrek. He was 75.

Above, just beyond my doodle, is London's Green Park. Donna and I stayed in a hotel just a block away. One interesting dichotomy between London and Paris are it's parks and gardens. The French proudly proclaim man's triumph over nature, and what a triumph. It seems throughout the entire city of Paris, not a leaf is out of place. Each tree a large topiary standing in perfect rows. Every hedge, shrub and flower is perfectly manicured and strategically placed to please the eye and serve a grand design.

The English gardens and parks are more natural, designed to allow those living in a congested city to commune with nature without leaving town. Both provide valuable public spaces for people to gather and decompress, they just have a different philosophy about how to present it.

This concludes the vacation posts. Sorry for being even more self indulgent than usual, Next week I'll be back to doodling a daily portraits on my morning paper. Cheers, Au Revoire

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Ball point pen on the London Daily Telegraph

Today I continue posting my doodles from our trip abroad. Alan Bristow, a buccaneer leader of the British helicopter industry past away at the age of 85. Having pioneered helicopter flying during the Second World War, he went on to build the largest civilian helicopter fleet in Europe. A lifelong risk taker, Bristow was a man of a thousand hair raising stories. He thrived on adventures and survived any number of scrapes and air accidents.

On the subject of adventure - If you've traveled all the way across the pond, there's no reason not to visit Paris even if it's for a day. I did this doodle aboard the Eurostar traveling 186 miles an hour between London and Paris. We saw some beautiful English and French countryside, were served a wonderful breakfast of crepes and English sausage and were in Paris in a short 2 and a quarter hours. We spent nine hours in Paris, in which time Donna and I visited the Eiffel Tower, took a Seine River Cruise, visited Notre Dame, had a sandwich, a glass of wine and did some people watching in an outdoor cafe, and made a quick lap around the Louvre. On the trip back to London we enjoyed a late super of salmon and French wine.... Voila.

The Louvre has nine miles of corridors which is a lot to see. but in truth there is a lot that is filler that would never hang on the walls of the Met. (my favorite museum) If you have a game plan and know what you like, you'd be surprised at how much you can see in a short time. We had purchased tickets in advance and didn't have to wait on line. Everyone of course wants to make a mad rush for the Mona Lisa and I must admit we did too but I suggest seeking out the grand canvases of David. You'll see a fine painter and get a little history of France by viewing David's "Coronation of Napoleon", A Cecil B. Demille cast of thousands, each one a portrait.

Also, today is our daughters 19th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

The Swine flu was a very big story in London last week. A Scottish couple, honeymooning in Cancun Mexico, were the first known cases in Britain. They had the unfortunate luck of sharing the nine hour flight home near five guys who were coughing and shaking with the chills. The couple was recovering in quarantine but not before passing it on to members of their family, a six-a-side football team (soccer) and the best man.

Just beyond my doodle stands Big Ben and beside that, Westminster Abbey. Donna and I enjoyed visiting both the Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral on this day. The Abbey is of coarse older with it's flying buttresses reminiscent of Notre Dame Cathedral. The Abbey is where all the great and good of England are buried or memorialized.. Along side Kings and Queens lie Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Tennyson, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling and Sir Laurence Olivier. Many deserving are buried elsewhere but have memorials at the Abbey, include William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, John Keats, T.S. Eliot, Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, and Winston Churchill, who was offered burial here but declined.

Sir Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral completed in 1708 is a marvel in engineering, The dome is 173 ft high. We climbed the 259 stepped spiral staircase to the whispering gallery within the dome. The view from here is stunning, but many climb just to try out the acoustics that gives the gallery it's name. Words spoken to the side can be heard clearly on the other side of the dome... yes, it works. I think this is where Verizon got the inspiration for the "Do you hear me now?" campaign.

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Today, I continue my doodles on London newsprint.
I really liked the way the London media presents the news. No nonsense. Unfortunately the content these days is the same no matter where you travel. banking, and financial crisis.

From the Financial Times of London, (yes, it's salmon colored) Josef Ackermann accepted a new three year contract to continue his duties as CEO of Deutsche Bank. Ackermann has managed to steer his bank through the financial crisis better than many of his competitors.

But he's not without controversy. When Spiegel reported a statement made by Ackermann to Deutsche Bank's annual meeting of senior executives. "I would be ashamed if we were to accept government money in this crisis." it outraged German officials who believe that he undermined the bailout program by stigmatizing those companies who accepted aid.

Here my morning paper is pictured in front of the National Gallery. It houses a great collection of paintings by Valazquez, Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt and others. We continued viewing masterpieces at the The Tate Britain. Although Donna and I were disappointed that Waterhouse's Lady of Shalott was out on loan, some highlights from the Tate were the Sargent's "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose", Millais's "Ophelia" and Donna's favorite, George Clausen's "Girl at the Gate" (she's got good taste), BTW, admission to both museums was free!

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Ball point pen on the London Telegraph

Donna and I held our annual after-tax-season-pallooza in London and Paris. We arrived in London at 9:00 am Sunday, April 26th. Feeling a bit jet lagged, we thought we would keep the first day light. Sit in a pub, absorb some local atmosphere and make an early night of it. On the advice of my friend Stephen we headed out on the underground to Embankment Station to hang at Tattershall Castle - a floating pub just opposite the London Eye, we could have a few pints with a great view of London. When we exited the tube we found that the London Marathon was in progress and we were near the finish line. Even though we could see our intended destination we couldn't cross the street. We walked along the Embankment towards Westminster Abby and closer to the finish line. We snapped a few pictures of what was a beautiful day and spectacle, but the crowds got so heavy we ducked back down into the tube and headed towards a more peaceful part of town.

The Olympic Champion, Sammy Wanjiru from Kenya, won the race in 2 hrs. 5 min. 10 sec. Most of the news coverage however was about Great Britain's own Mara Yamauchi who finished second among women with a time of 2 hrs. 23 min. 12 sec.

Stay tuned for more doodles on the foreign newsprint.

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