Wednesday
We discovered this morning that our air conditioning unit, which we love totally, exits the bedroom through an open window. As a result, mosquitoes can get into our room at night and though we have one of those electric burner things going, they are able to inflict considerable damage before they are affected by the burner. So we each have lots of mosquito bites this morning and a purchase of cream is necessary
After a decent sized breakfast were I am cooked fried eggs served with a large amount of pepper on them, we are off to the Piazza Michelangelo again and a walk to the Piazza de Pitti and the Museum there, where we have discovered the Carravagio show is on - or at least half of it, the remainder being at the Uffizi, presumably aimed at making you pay twice? That said, the show is very good. I have recently bought Andrew Graham-Dixon's biography of Carravagio as part of my biography-project research and am now very keen to read it. We also went round the main Galleria though without a guide this was rather overwhelming. Next we wandered round the Boboli Gardens which we may have gone round on our honeymoon - we seem to remember that a wedding was taking place when we were there. But we're not sure
We stayed in the Gardens for quite some time, reading in the shade of some trees by the main fountain. It is incredibly hot again and Linda is finding it quite tough going. We make it to a cafe for pizza for Linda is too hot to eat there, though a large ice cream goes down quite well, as it should do since they cost E12! Then to a supermarket followed by the long walk back to car which is pretty tough when carrying heavy water
We have come to view this walk as like a walking version of a tour de france stage with a mountain finish. The steps up to the Piazza Michelangelo at the end of the hot walk are pretty intense. And once there, the car is typically roasting inside and too hot to drive - that said, this has caused me to think about bike riding again when we get home
I read most of Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius this afternoon - actually quite a light read, but not very interesting in the page after page where he is describing his observations of Jupiter. Still this is one of the all time great books and I so-rarely read primary sources. I also have Kepler's Six-Fingered Snowflake and Bruno's Ash Wednesday Supper if I fancy more primary documents.
Another really interesting read today is the The Time Higher Education magazine which has an article on academics writing for the general public - I should read this very closely
Dinner is outside on the terrace, this time in a quite high wind - and lots of wasps this time
Thursday
Today is our first changeover day in Italy. We have really enjoyed the "Five star villa" even though sightseeing has been very tough. Now for a few days with less driving and more relaxation
On the way down we called in at San Gigminano, one of the places we have been to loads from when we used to stay at the villa in Poggibonsi. This is the first time without Emma though, which seems a bit strange. The town now has two torture museums it seems.
At the Co-op at Poggibonsi we buy 18 bottles of wine and our first olive oil - we have been to this supermarket many times over the years, though that didn't stop us getting lost trying to find it
Past Siena this time (maybe visit later on our trip) to Pasignano and the Hotel Lido. By mid-afternoon we are nicely settled in by the pool for a very relaxing couple of hours in the sun.
Dinner tonight is at Il Molo, a place we went to last time we stayed here. I had the most amazing antipasto di mare followed by spaghetti with clams, while Linda had a really nice looking pork fillet meal with porcini mushrooms. An excellent start to our next part of the trip. Indeed we are thinking about amending the remaining trip - maybe stay here longer and Naples longer, cutting back on Rome which will be hot and sticky and maybe we won't enjoy?
And we finally have internet access, which reveals that Jerome can't put me up when I visit. So I will be sleeping rough that night (as originally intended). While online I try not to look at markets and see how the systems are doing.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Italy Holiday II - Monday & Tuesday
Monday
With another decent length drive ahead of us today, no time for breakfast at the hotel. Instead we are initially driving from Pont de Claix to Alpe d'Huez, scene of many famous Tour De France stages. It takes us an hour or so to get to the bottom and then the slow ascent to the top with the many hairpins - all named for T de F stage winners. It is hard to visualize cycling up it but I'm pretty sure that our friend Jerome said he managed it in 1hr 15? At the top we treat ourselves to apple pastries at a cafe
Somewhere between Bourg D'Oisan and Briancon
For the first night, we have a meal outside on the terrace. The view east is lovely
Tuesday
An email has arrived from Emma saying that she has arrived safely in Thailand. Not much other news, but that it enough for us
Breakfast is a buffett in a rather nice dining room - this must be a lovely villa when not bits of it are being rented out. A short drive down to the Piazza Michelangelo with its "iconic" views of the city, then a short walk down towards Santa Croce via the Jennings Riccioli hotel where we stayed on our honeynoon. Linda appeared to get really hot as we walked down and looked like she way melting when we were in the church.
With another decent length drive ahead of us today, no time for breakfast at the hotel. Instead we are initially driving from Pont de Claix to Alpe d'Huez, scene of many famous Tour De France stages. It takes us an hour or so to get to the bottom and then the slow ascent to the top with the many hairpins - all named for T de F stage winners. It is hard to visualize cycling up it but I'm pretty sure that our friend Jerome said he managed it in 1hr 15? At the top we treat ourselves to apple pastries at a cafe
Linda at the finish line of the Alpe d'Huez climb
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Scrummy pastries at the cafe to the lower right
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Back down at the foot of the climb we stop off at a supermarket at Bourg d'Oisen for wine, cheese, bread, etc. We always enjoy supermarkets overseas and were now stocked up if we didn't want to go out tonight. The next stage of our drive is the scenic route to Turin via Briancon. This involves several high passes - indeed we passed very close to another famous T de F climb, the Col de Galibier. While driving, L sleeps on and off - catching up no doubt
Once on the motorway we make pretty good time, passing Turin, Alessandria, Piacenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna, and finally to today's destination, Firenze.
We are booked in for three nights at the oddly-named "The 5 star villa", found off Expedia. We have the "Red suite". This is not a hotal as such but a sort of shared villa, where we do get breakfast. The hotel is south-east of the city centre in the hills and only about 10 minutes drive from the Piazza Michelangelo. We are most impressed
We are booked in for three nights at the oddly-named "The 5 star villa", found off Expedia. We have the "Red suite". This is not a hotal as such but a sort of shared villa, where we do get breakfast. The hotel is south-east of the city centre in the hills and only about 10 minutes drive from the Piazza Michelangelo. We are most impressed
The tiny terrace - scene of three meals
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View from the terrace as the sun goes down behind us
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Why our room is called the Red Suite?
Early morning - the view from our window
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Florence city centre is just to the left of this view from the terrace
For the first night, we have a meal outside on the terrace. The view east is lovely
Tuesday
An email has arrived from Emma saying that she has arrived safely in Thailand. Not much other news, but that it enough for us
Breakfast is a buffett in a rather nice dining room - this must be a lovely villa when not bits of it are being rented out. A short drive down to the Piazza Michelangelo with its "iconic" views of the city, then a short walk down towards Santa Croce via the Jennings Riccioli hotel where we stayed on our honeynoon. Linda appeared to get really hot as we walked down and looked like she way melting when we were in the church.
The traditional Florence photo from the Piazza Michelangelo - the Jennings Riccioli hotel is the left of the two yellow buildings in the foreground
Now apartments - the Jennings Riccioli Hotel, where we stayed on our honeymoon in 1988
We have been to Santa Croce many times, my most recent visit being two years ago on the way back from Perugia. It never fails to impress me. This visit, a large area was scaffolded off as restoration work is taking place on some of the frescos.
More traditional Florence photos - the Duomo
We have been to Santa Croce many times, my most recent visit being two years ago on the way back from Perugia. It never fails to impress me. This visit, a large area was scaffolded off as restoration work is taking place on some of the frescos.
I always love illuminated manuscripts - especially musical ones
I was really excited to see the sequence of tombs again. Dante, Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo - quite a sequence
Machiavelli's tomb
Dante's
Michaelangelo's
and Galileo's
The restoration work on the frescos is mainly taking place near the main alter
and Galileo's
The restoration work on the frescos is mainly taking place near the main alter
A girl working on a fresco - now that must be tense work - imagine if you made a bad mistake
Having failed to visit it last time I was here, the Museum of Science was my main goal for today. And it didn't disappoint. It was a real highlight for me - very exciting
Photos of the great flood of 1966
Various works in the museum
Having failed to visit it last time I was here, the Museum of Science was my main goal for today. And it didn't disappoint. It was a real highlight for me - very exciting
The Museum of the History of Science, next to the Uffuzi art gallery
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An Orrary
A much-bigger orrary!
The entrance to the Galileo section of the museum
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Galileo's finger - removed for some reason when his body was transferred to the main tomb above
A first edition of Sidereus Nuncius
A first edition of Dialogue on the Two World Systems
Loads of Galilean-style telescopes
A beautiful quadrant
Linda in front of the biggest telescope in the museum - try finding Jupiter through this one!
Outside, I saw a few posters for a Carravagio show in Florence, but it wasn't clear where this was. We will look again tomorrow and try and see this
We made our way past the Duomo towards San Marco, unfortunately arriving too late to visit (it closes at 1:30). So we had a meal in the square, by which point Linda was rather flagging. So back to the car (quite a long walk in the heat) via a Supermarket near the Doumo and enough stuff to enable us to eat out again at the Villa
Both of us spent the afternoon quietly reading. I am reading a history of hedge funds and have reached a much-anticiapted chapter on the high-frequency trader, Renaissance Technologies - the sort of thing I aspire to do in miniature!
Dinner outside again and very nice - except for the wasps we attracted. Both of us have also been bitten by mosquities that probably got in through an open window last night. Not good!
We made our way past the Duomo towards San Marco, unfortunately arriving too late to visit (it closes at 1:30). So we had a meal in the square, by which point Linda was rather flagging. So back to the car (quite a long walk in the heat) via a Supermarket near the Doumo and enough stuff to enable us to eat out again at the Villa
Both of us spent the afternoon quietly reading. I am reading a history of hedge funds and have reached a much-anticiapted chapter on the high-frequency trader, Renaissance Technologies - the sort of thing I aspire to do in miniature!
Dinner outside again and very nice - except for the wasps we attracted. Both of us have also been bitten by mosquities that probably got in through an open window last night. Not good!
Italy Holiday I - Saturday & Sunday
Saturday
Emma has finally done her packing for her first four week trip of the summer - leaving it to the last minute which results in some tensions rising as always. Both Linda and myself are somewhat nervous for her - so many bad things could happen, and she will be so far away. Things are not helped by Emma joking about being jailed in Bangkok
Down to Heathrow and Emma wants to do everything herself rather than us assist her. We suspect she is a little nervous while we are there with her but will be fine after we've gone and she has to manage on her own. So she eventually marches off, with no looking back to where her anxious parents are!
Aftrewards, we are off to Dover and one night at a Premier Inn - our first ever visit to one. We had a meal at a service station on the way intending to contrast this with the ones in France which can be excellent. All set for the ferry tomorrow and a long driving day.
Sunday
We have a "priority" exit from the ferry and are first on this morning, ready to be the first off later. As a result, we get the best seats on the boat, with a fine view through the glass front of the lounge. Reading the papers, having breakfast, we are starting to relax already (esp Linda)
At 11:00 the big drive begins. Today we do 560 miles down to Grenoble, via Reims, Dijon, and champage country. Our much-anticipated lunch at a service station turns out to be that quinessentially French dish of paella!
Music for the journey is provided by the Yonder Mountain String Band and Uncle Earl - a solidly bluegrass feel to the first day
Our first driving mistake occurs near Grenoble when I take the wrong turn thinking we were closer to Grenoble than we really were. We lose 20mins and it is 8:45 when we arrive at the hotel, just in time for last orders at restaurant - steak for me, fish for Linda, and some really nice wine
Tosca is on TV when we are settled in but I can't stay awake, even though Act 2 is just about to start and is superb
Emma has finally done her packing for her first four week trip of the summer - leaving it to the last minute which results in some tensions rising as always. Both Linda and myself are somewhat nervous for her - so many bad things could happen, and she will be so far away. Things are not helped by Emma joking about being jailed in Bangkok
Down to Heathrow and Emma wants to do everything herself rather than us assist her. We suspect she is a little nervous while we are there with her but will be fine after we've gone and she has to manage on her own. So she eventually marches off, with no looking back to where her anxious parents are!
Aftrewards, we are off to Dover and one night at a Premier Inn - our first ever visit to one. We had a meal at a service station on the way intending to contrast this with the ones in France which can be excellent. All set for the ferry tomorrow and a long driving day.
Sunday
We have a "priority" exit from the ferry and are first on this morning, ready to be the first off later. As a result, we get the best seats on the boat, with a fine view through the glass front of the lounge. Reading the papers, having breakfast, we are starting to relax already (esp Linda)
At 11:00 the big drive begins. Today we do 560 miles down to Grenoble, via Reims, Dijon, and champage country. Our much-anticipated lunch at a service station turns out to be that quinessentially French dish of paella!
Music for the journey is provided by the Yonder Mountain String Band and Uncle Earl - a solidly bluegrass feel to the first day
Our first driving mistake occurs near Grenoble when I take the wrong turn thinking we were closer to Grenoble than we really were. We lose 20mins and it is 8:45 when we arrive at the hotel, just in time for last orders at restaurant - steak for me, fish for Linda, and some really nice wine
Tosca is on TV when we are settled in but I can't stay awake, even though Act 2 is just about to start and is superb
Friday, 16 July 2010
Last trading before our break - ramp up imminent
Last "real" trading days before the three week holiday break. Tuesday and Thursday were very good days leaving me +800 pts for the week in total (250 per market or between 2% and 3% on an unleveraged basis). But it has been a very bumpy ride - for instance, on Thursday, a +120 becomes -200 then becomes +300, down to +150, before ending at +250. Not for the fainthearted
I am very excited about the next blind test (for the three weeks we are away on holiday). My latest ideas cover the final versions of the counter-trend systems I have been working on for the last couple of months. In theory, this should be the last blind testing period. Then I intend to have a final bedding-down trading period at current sizing, then have the first ramp up to a higher trading size. Eight such ramp ups should leave me making a very decent weekly return.
The question of speed of ramp-ups is one I have been thinking about alot after re-reading The Predictors a few months back- the aim is to ramp-up as fast as possible but tempered with the need to continue to get statistical validation. But my conclusion is that what was to have been an 18 month ramp, may now become a 6 month one - such is my confidence in the results so far
Our last bit of packing is taking place with the selection of books - Linda has 12 books, mostly crime thrillers, while I have 9 so far, a mixed bag (as usual) with one or two history books, some science ones, two novels, and so on - plus the usual selection of philosophy magazines from the past year or so.
We also need a selection of movies on the laptop, should we decide to stay in some nights. I have selected around 30 of various genres plus some episodes of the original series of Star Trek! But hopefully we won't want to watch too many
Our front garden has had its finest ever poppy blooms. We are collecting the seed heads for distribution elsewhere in the garden.
I am very excited about the next blind test (for the three weeks we are away on holiday). My latest ideas cover the final versions of the counter-trend systems I have been working on for the last couple of months. In theory, this should be the last blind testing period. Then I intend to have a final bedding-down trading period at current sizing, then have the first ramp up to a higher trading size. Eight such ramp ups should leave me making a very decent weekly return.
The question of speed of ramp-ups is one I have been thinking about alot after re-reading The Predictors a few months back- the aim is to ramp-up as fast as possible but tempered with the need to continue to get statistical validation. But my conclusion is that what was to have been an 18 month ramp, may now become a 6 month one - such is my confidence in the results so far
Our last bit of packing is taking place with the selection of books - Linda has 12 books, mostly crime thrillers, while I have 9 so far, a mixed bag (as usual) with one or two history books, some science ones, two novels, and so on - plus the usual selection of philosophy magazines from the past year or so.
We also need a selection of movies on the laptop, should we decide to stay in some nights. I have selected around 30 of various genres plus some episodes of the original series of Star Trek! But hopefully we won't want to watch too many
Our front garden has had its finest ever poppy blooms. We are collecting the seed heads for distribution elsewhere in the garden.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
The band I'd most like to see play live
It has occured to me that it has been a year since I last saw a live concert - there was once a time when I would see 400 bands a year! Not that I have stopped listening to live recordings. It is now coming up to 30 years since I obtained my first every "recording of independent origin" as they are now called - I remember it was a recording of New Order at the Hacienda.
Of course the internet is a superb source for this sort of thing. I probably download 30 shows a week at the moment - far more than I can ever hope to hear properly - most get burnt to DVD and are never heard - a few for a permanent part of my listening.
I first came across the Yonder Mountain String Band back around 2000 on a website to do with various "jam bands". The idea of a bluegrass jamband was instantly captivating and I have collected several dozen YMSB since then - including the show where they played Pink Floyd's "Pigs" and several New Year's Eve shows. This band also fitted in with my views of how the music industry should develop, through touring, and selling live show cds through their website. I loved the whole beat generation, hippie, beer and dope feel of the band.
Four years ago I was supposed to travel to the USA to see the Telluride Bluegrass festival but when the time came, Dad was too ill for me to feel comfortable being away on such a trip, so I cancelled it. But now I am beginning to hatch a plan to go next year, when it starts on my birthday. Maybe that and Bonnaroo if they are on consecutive weekends, as they often are.
So today I have been listening to the YMSB at this year's Telluride festival. Perhaps this means they won't be playing next year's? But one way or another, I intend to see them live one day (perhaps I should have gone to see European tour a few years back but somehow I missed that this was occuring - like I missed when String Cheese Incident played Oxford)
Cool or what?
Nice concert tour artwork too
Of course the internet is a superb source for this sort of thing. I probably download 30 shows a week at the moment - far more than I can ever hope to hear properly - most get burnt to DVD and are never heard - a few for a permanent part of my listening.
I first came across the Yonder Mountain String Band back around 2000 on a website to do with various "jam bands". The idea of a bluegrass jamband was instantly captivating and I have collected several dozen YMSB since then - including the show where they played Pink Floyd's "Pigs" and several New Year's Eve shows. This band also fitted in with my views of how the music industry should develop, through touring, and selling live show cds through their website. I loved the whole beat generation, hippie, beer and dope feel of the band.
Four years ago I was supposed to travel to the USA to see the Telluride Bluegrass festival but when the time came, Dad was too ill for me to feel comfortable being away on such a trip, so I cancelled it. But now I am beginning to hatch a plan to go next year, when it starts on my birthday. Maybe that and Bonnaroo if they are on consecutive weekends, as they often are.
So today I have been listening to the YMSB at this year's Telluride festival. Perhaps this means they won't be playing next year's? But one way or another, I intend to see them live one day (perhaps I should have gone to see European tour a few years back but somehow I missed that this was occuring - like I missed when String Cheese Incident played Oxford)
Cool or what?
Nice concert tour artwork too
A general catch up before the holidays
Our main holiday is fast approaching and the usual pre-holiday things are getting done. Of course while we are driving to Italy, Emma is off to the Far East for just over a month. She has been reading some guidebooks and is now really looking forward to it. We have our anxieties about her being so far away, but have our fingers crossed it goes well.
My trading programme will finish its first block this week. The latest results are fine, entirely in line with the testing. I have, for the first time in many months, no significant pending research projects and am just about set for the first "ramp-up" which is scheduled for the week commencing August 9th.
We have just received planning permission to knock down our old garage and erect a new one with a gym on top. Work on this is also tentatively set for August 9th, though we are not very advanced with our clearance work. I can see that being pushed back
There was an article by Naomi Wolf in this weekend's Times about returning to Oxford to finish her D-Phil. I remain really disappointed about not getting on my chosen programme, and articles like this don't help. Still I am a huge fan of her book The Treehouse and had I known she was in Oxford, I would have kept a look out for her - perhaps I would have seen her cycling through the centre as per the photo in the Times.
We have some pictures like this from our recent trip to New York
My trading programme will finish its first block this week. The latest results are fine, entirely in line with the testing. I have, for the first time in many months, no significant pending research projects and am just about set for the first "ramp-up" which is scheduled for the week commencing August 9th.
We have just received planning permission to knock down our old garage and erect a new one with a gym on top. Work on this is also tentatively set for August 9th, though we are not very advanced with our clearance work. I can see that being pushed back
There was an article by Naomi Wolf in this weekend's Times about returning to Oxford to finish her D-Phil. I remain really disappointed about not getting on my chosen programme, and articles like this don't help. Still I am a huge fan of her book The Treehouse and had I known she was in Oxford, I would have kept a look out for her - perhaps I would have seen her cycling through the centre as per the photo in the Times.
Emma has filled the time since term finished by embarking on a plan to learn how to cook a wide variety of tasty meals. So far she has made scones, a vegetarian mousakka, a chilli dish, butternut squash risotto and a curry. All good stuff. Plans continue for her to share with several of her Cambridge friends when she moves to London in the autumn - they are currently looking at Clapham, Shoreditch, Fulham and Camden - typical young professional places
My current reading is mainly from a selection of biographies, early prep for starting my biography project in the autumn. So I am slowly working through biographies of Maurice Bowra, Spinoza and the newest Carravagio, studing the form and structure of each as per the critical facilities I have developed from my recent course. I am really enjoying the Carravagio book, a painter who I have long wanted to find out more about
Carravagio's St Jerome and Judith beheading Holofernes
I am also reading Sebastian Mallaby's history of the hedge fund industry, More Money than God, which looks very promising so far
My annual watching of the Tour de France has been curtailed by trading. Over the last seven or eight years I have watched this quite religiously, and have really enjoyed Armstrong's dominance - but this year he is out of contention after not being able to stay with the leaders on today's climb (probably the effects of the three crashes he was involved in - that would never have happened in the "glory days")
The continual interest in maids had thrown out a picture of Marilyn Monroe from the 1950s in a fine costume
And a long interview with Isabella Rosselini has reminded me how gorgeous she is
Finally, I, like many, have been rather taken with the Anna Chapman spy story. I can see how she might have been very successful at seducing important people - I wonder if our spies look like this? And the fact that most of the media's pictures come from her Facebook page adds an extra attraction to the story. Her tourist shots are extremely un-spy like!
We have some pictures like this from our recent trip to New York
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