Today is the most beautiful day the year has given us yet. A cloudless sky, warm but not hot with a soft, gentle wind blowing across the landscape.
This morning, for the first time this year, I saw the hedgehog that makes my property his home. I watched him out the window for a while and then he ran off, quickly, as if he sensed me watching him.
Returning from an errand and before I left for a lunch, I stopped and introduced myself to the people who have moved into the house just east of me. John and Stacie, with two German shepherds. I think the dogs are the reason the deer have found a new route and keep away from my land. They stopped crossing the creek at that point once the dogs arrived.
Down in Rhinebeck, I met Jack Myers, an old business friend, at Market for lunch and we spent a couple of hours catching up and mutually ruminating about the media business, which is, as almost everyone knows, going through tumultuous changes.
Returning home, I closed my eyes for forty minutes and then got up to write, feeling invigorated and interested. On my way down to Rhinebeck, I was thinking how much I am enjoying this time in my life and how I am interested in seeing what comes next.
This morning, as I do mornings at the cottage, I read articles from the NY Times and from my BBC app, looking to see what was going on in the world.
A phalanx of Republicans is in New Hampshire, working to make their mark and stake a claim to the nomination. From Jeb Bush to Marco Rubio to Lindsey Graham, they are there to see what impact they might have and what momentum they might pick up. Rather than attack each other, they have been focused on their ire at Obama and sharpening their political swords for Hillary.
In Washington, DC there was a rally today for Earth Day, which is actually this coming Wednesday. There was an announcement from Earth Day officials and executives at Rovio that there would be an in game experience in Rovio’s Angry Birds game to raise environmental awareness. Angry Birds has been downloaded 2.8 billion times.
IS, seeking to grow its influence, has carried out an operation at a bank in Afghanistan that has killed 33 people. They also carried out a suicide attack in Iraq that killed two Turkish nationals.
Australia has arrested 5 young men, accused of planning an IS inspired attack on Anzac Day, celebrating the first military co-venture between Australia and New Zealand at Gallipoli in 1915. The Australians believe 150 of their countrymen are in Iraq and Syria fighting with IS and that 200 have been prevented from leaving Australia to join them.
Google’s regulatory problems in Europe could be pretty severe and alter the way the company manages search. The EU is thinking of attempting to break the company up.
Apple has pre-orders of over two million of its watches, surprising some tech pundits who didn’t think the watch would go this far this fast.
It appears that in the UK, Labour is slipping behind the Conservatives in the polls. Elections are May 7th and it is going to be a rough slide to get there for all concerned.
Migrants are flooding into Italy from Africa and the Pope is calling for the international community to help with the crisis. Prime Minister Renzi of Italy has stated the solution to the migrant problem rests with finding peace in Libya, which is absolutely true but it’s a far way off at this moment.
South Africa’s President Zuma cancelled a trip to Indonesia to stay home and deal with the anti-immigrant riots that are racking the country.
And now the afternoon is coming towards an end and I am going to get ready to go down to the Hudson Opera House to see if I can get a ticket for a young Russian exile who is going to appear tonight, playing contemporary and classic Russian composers on his violin. It should be good. I’m looking forward to it.
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 04 24 15 2015, a big year for anniversaries…
April 24, 2015First of all, my apologies…
I thought the Bruce Jenner/Diane Sawyer interview was last night and it is tonight. I misread the paper yesterday. Sorry about that.
But it is tonight and the Kardashians are gathering to watch it together. He’s their stepfather. Bruce says that 2015 is going to be a wild ride. And I am sure that it already has been for him.
2015 is a big year for a lot of things.
Los Angeles has a large Armenian community and thousands of them marched today to remember the Armenian Genocide. The centenary of that gruesome event is happening today.
2015 is also the centenary, celebrated tomorrow, of Gallipoli. The Allies in World War I wanted to break the back of Turkish participation by capturing Istanbul. They landed at Gallipoli and remained there for months, unable to advance, starving, dying and suffering from dysentery. Something like 45,000 Allied troops died there as did 80 some thousand Turkish troops.
Charles, Prince of Wales, and his son, Prince Harry, are there to lead the British delegation to the remembrance. Australians and soldiers from New Zealand died in the thousands there too. It was the their military debut on the world stage and it is remembered every year there and on the centenary, the Prime Ministers of both countries have traveled to Gallipoli to be present for the ceremonies.
While that conflict has long been ended, the one in Yemen seems nowhere near ending. The Houthis have advanced and the Saudi led coalition has bombed back. 150,000 Yemenis have been displaced and the country is collapsing. Nearly everything they need has to be imported and right now almost nothing is coming in as cargo ships are detained in the waters off Yemen.
A number of Afghans and Pakistanis were arrested in Italy today, accused of planning to carry out Al Qaeda attacks, including one aimed at the Vatican.
In the United States there has been a huge buzz all day about the demise of the Time Warner Cable and Comcast merger. Called off today, it once looked like a sure thing. But since the deal was announced the media revolution that is occurring caused the spotlight to shift from cable homes reached to broadband houses served. If the deal had gone through, the combined companies would have owned, according to some estimates, as much as 57% of broadband service to US costumers.
That was too much for anyone.
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota was a lonely voice a year ago in disapproval of the deal. He is hardly alone now.
Feeling a bit isolated today is Ed Miliband, Labour’s candidate for Prime Minister of Britain. He set off a row by claiming in a speech that the migrant disaster in the Mediterranean could be traced back to a lack of planning after the fall of Gadhafi. The Tories declared he had reached a new low.
We’ll see. The elections are two weeks away. A new low could be just around the corner.
Not going to Poland are the Night Wolves, a Hell’s Angels sort of biking group in Russia that is very fond of Putin as Putin is fond of them. They planned to ride through Poland on their way to celebrate Soviet victories in World War II, 70 years ago this year. Nope, said the Poles. Russia is “indignant.”
Less indignant will be some parts of American society now that Abercrombie & Fitch is set to dial down the sexiness of their advertising. No more male shirtless models everywhere.
The NASDAQ had its highest intraday moment in history today, propelled by Google, Amazon and Microsoft, the tech triumvirate. They all soared on individual good news.
Good news here is that sun is out. I saw “Ex Machina” last night and it was good; not what I expected but good and disturbing at the end.
In about an hour I will head over to Penn Station to take the 5:47 train up to Hudson. Lionel and Pierre will be home this weekend to attend a birthday party and we’ll all go to the Dot tonight.
Should be a good weekend.
Tags:Abercrombie & Fitch, Al Franken, Allies, Armenian Genocide, Bruce Jenner, Diane Sawyer, Ex Macnina, Gallipoli, Houthis, Kardashians, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, NASDAQ, Night Wolves, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Red Dot, Saudis, Time Warner Comcast Merger, Turkey, World War I, Yemen
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