The following continues the serialization of the final chapter from SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity:
g. London
Next, London was experiencing frigid conditions, but, with no wind and a lot of sun, walking around was a very tolerable experience. This was about the tenth time I had visited this sprawling city. I had the pleasure to have lunch with Don Lennard (who has since passed away), the OTEC guy from the U.K., at his stately club: dry sherry, followed by a bottle of Claret (British term for Bordeaux), with a kind of cream soup and hare—a large bunny, which tasted exactly like the Minke whale I had in Bergen, both of which had the odor and consistency of a tough piece of beef liver. So much for trying the food of the region.
We connived on the future of OTEC, which appears now to be experiencing a measurable revival. I chatted with Professor Bill McGuire of University College of London, who gave the annual Science Museum lecture on monumental disasters, two chapters of my upcoming book. I saw THE PRODUCERS, to next month (remember, this is the continuation of my letter to colleagues) be released for the second time as a movie, with Lane/Broderick, and SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, probably the best stage musical I have ever seen, mostly because the sound (there were 20 foot tall speakers—if you have a pacemaker, don't go) was incredible, and the cast, after the usual bows, kept singing and dancing, with the audience, for another half an hour, they said, because it was Saturday night, which it was that night.
In London, reading newspapers like the Financial Times, I noticed that gold, at nearly $500 / troy oz, is the highest it has been in 18 years (in 2008, the price rose to $900 / toz), and copper hit an all time high. In case you don't keep up with these things, almost always, these signs mean that inflation is coming. (Well, it never came, but wait till 2012!) The Japanese Nikkei hit a 4.5 year high and the South Korean stock market has never, ever, been any higher. Sell!!! On the other hand, I'm usually wrong on stock prices. Google, which was less than $100/share a little more than a year ago, is now at $400 (but soared past $700 in 2007, dropping some in 2008). Of course, I didn't buy. [Google is back at $450 or so in August of 2010] Twelve of the most respected fifteen international companies (Toyota at #3; British Petroleum, an oil company that has a progressive view on sustainable resources; and Siemens, also a company with good attitude are up there) are U.S. corporations, with Microsoft as #1. I guess we're doing fine as a Nation, even though no one likes us. [Remember, this was written in 2005. Since then, the stock value of Microsoft has remained in the range of $25, while Toyota and BP certainly ran into problems.]
This entry completes my travel report to the Indian Ocean and Europe. A few of the stops were ideally arranged for me to confirm decisions for this chapter. I took the trip, I guess, at least partly, for this purpose.
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Nothing has changed for those 5 storms mentioned yesterday. Hurricane Earl remains a concern.
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