Slog back home

Well I must be settling into LA with a title such as 'slog back home'




Morning spent exploring the wine region.



Chip Pankow 'the Car Guy' his wife Molly 'Pullitzer Winner' and their dog Chase.


Brunch and then farewells. Oh in the restaurant I suspected one of the waiters to not be Mexican but Nepali. I was right! There is a contingent of Sherpas who have settled in Sonoma - running the local 'India' - no surprise on the name 'the Himalaya.' It was great to have a gas in Neplese.





Left at 2.15 arrived home 10.00. Straight down the five, non stop. Knackered.

Suburban Sonoma and trouble at the ranch

Alex Jungk - 'The Organiser' - 'Schnat blattz'



Simon Holbrook - CEO Emotive - 'The Ideas Guy'



Nico - 'The Driving Guy' - Previously he raced competitively in Formula 3. Now 37 he instructs at Emotive, in the last four years he has completed five ironman's and countless triathalons. Had a fascinating conversation re his training methods. My enthusiasm for endurance sports after the marathon has somewhat waned - I have to admit it was hard work and hurt! Now Nico says this is the big problem. His method is driven by heart rate. Key to the process is keeping your heart rate low and slowly building up. So when you start training it will seem that you are hardly moving. You must persevere at this slow rate getting your heart used to the rhythm - it may take some months, but slowly your body becomes more efficient and can work at a higher rate for longer. The benefit - at the end of each session you should not hurt. Now at my age 39 - my heart rate training range should be between 125 - 141.



Downtown Sonoma - the central square looks as though its from 'Back to the Future'.




The Emotive lodging house - straight out of 'Desperate Housewives'



Julia having a bad day.

SF MOMA, Karl Knight and Emotive

Morning at SFMOMA - fantastic gallery with a wonderful permanent collection with the usual suspects - Donald Judd, Constantin Brancusi, Dan Flavin, Yves Klein etc




Lunch with Karl Knight - 21 years after Rendcomb - he hasn't changed a bit! Currently a CFO with a solar panel company backed by William Hearst. Girlfriend, Deborah, a lawyer with clients such as Mike Tyson! Lovely to catch up after so many years. Received a random e mail from Kennedy Taylor, a fellow old Rendcombian who was a couple of years above me. It seems he studied at the AFI and is now living in LA working as a 1st AD and script writer. Will hook up over the next couple of months.








Obligatory pit stop at the Golden Gate. Spotted this chopper - so Kat if you are reading it could be you and Tosten on PCH1!



San Quentin State Prison - The prison occupies 275 acres of oceanfront land overlooking the bay and is estimated to be worth $80 to $100 million, making it the most valuable prison in the world. On February 24, 1969, Johnny Cash played in front of the inmates.

Notable inmates include:

Charles Ng - serial killer who tortured and murdered 11 people.
Scott Peterson - convicted murderer of his pregnant wife, Laci and their unborn child, Conner.
Richard Ramirez - serial killer known as "The Night Stalker"; convicted of killing 13 people.
Morris Solomon Jr. - serial killer convicted of murdering 6 prostitutes in Sacramento.
Cary Stayner - convicted murderer who killed 4 women in Yosemite, California.
Marcus Wesson - convicted of killing nine of his family members.
David Westerfield - convicted of kidnapping and killing 7 year old Danielle Van Dam.
Brandon Wilson - convicted in the 1998 slashing death of 9 year old Matthew Cecchi.






Met up with Simon Holbrook, BMD & Emotive CEO. The company Julia works for, Pall Mall Partners, have invested in the motor racing events company. They also own a stake in the Sonoma race track, have a driving school and run 'driving experience' events for Audi round the US.

Road to SF

After a night at the Marmont, four hours sleep, we were up at 5.30am, on the road by 6.15 to avoid the notorious LA traffic on the freeway. By 7.30 at the end of the valley, Julia was half asleep and my eyes were heavy. So we pulled over at a gotty Karl Jnr hamburger joint for a 10 minute power nap. An hour and a half latter woke up to see a man letting his dog piss mext to the Yaris - nice! Oh as I settled down for a snooze I asked Julia to lock her door as you never know what weirdos are around - with this information I am not so sure she slept as soundly as I did.







Along Highway 5, through the desert with the big rigs bearing down on us. Then cut across to the coast and the last leg up to Half Moon bay.

Chateau Marmont

An LA evening at the Marmont. Supper with Sophie at the Bar Marmont, one of, if not the place in LA to go. For all the razzmatazz around the place it was truly average. Loud music, scruffy young clientele (one of the Hilton children was there with his posse) and average food. Sophie was explaining that the city is driven by famous kids and the entertainment is dumbed down to their level. The nearest analogy I could come up with was China during the culural revolution when children did the bidding for their great master in this case 'celebrity status'. In the background unkown executives make fortunes as the children dictate what is new and fashionable. Well it is the company that counts, had a lovely evening.