Tokyo Living

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f00a9f76-ab21-11df-9e6b-00144feabdc0,_i_email=y.html    I was sent this link by a friend the other day.  It's about a Brit who lives in Tokyo with his Japanese wife and young family.  I recognize some of his experiences.

Dog Friendly?

I was asked by a friend the other day if I knew any dog friendly restaurants locally.  Now this is a concern as I believe health departments are not keen on man's best friend sharing feeding bowls with their owners - at least in public.  It's a problem.

My son Michael and his wife Eiko have a wonderful little King Charles Spaniel, and as urban dwellers, they also eat out quite a bit.  Mostly they look for restaurants with patios outdoors.  But from time to time they have to resort to stealth.  It entails a small gym-type bag.  Jazzie is quite used to the bag and in fact looks forward to it as it means an outing and of course, treats.  So they slip her inside and park her under the table.

Now who could resist these little fellows?

Now the problem arises when Jazzie drops off, as she is known to snore quite loudly.  Servers are often seen to look around at the customers to see who has fallen off their chairs.  Michael has to then resort to talking loudly or even snorting a bit.  I wish I had a solution for my friend.  It would also be nice to be able to take out Frankie and Johnnie from time to time.

Naps

I have to confess to a certain love of afternoon naps. Most of the people I know seem to regard this pleasure as a weakness. Maybe it is. But I ignore the criticism.

I believe I am not alone in this habit; Churchill, Napoleon and other famous people have been known to get their "heads down" from time to time. It has also been followed by most of the male members of my family. My father had a sofa in his office for years and his staff were most protective of his need for "forty winks." Grandad's preferred spot was an arm chair in the front room. I can do the sitting up job, but much prefer the horizontal method. Usually no more than 20 minutes though.

From time to time reports come out praising naps and I have yet to find a negative report on them. Sometime they are called "power" naps, and I did know one business in Canada years ago that acknowledged their use. This small firm had a nap room with several sofas where employees could relax when the need arose.

I did wonder if I would grow out of the habit, but so far there's no sign. What are your feelings on naps?

The Dodgers

There are few truly inspiring moments in the life of a Dodger fan.  Mostly it's a long series of disappointments.  For instance, how can a team with a 9 to 1 lead in the ninth inning see it go to an 11 to 9 loss?

How can all our best players either be on the DL or fail to swing the bat effectively?  Even against the poorest opponents.  How can a team with such a supposed reputation fail to win a world series since 1988?  I watched that series, and foolishly thought it was going to happen most years!  Had I known the dearth of positive results, I would have savored the win more.

But there is one huge lift for all of us depressed fans - the continuance of Vin Scully for anther year.  His decision was announced at Sunday's game - a true gleam of light in yet another bad performance.  He is 82, and now only calls home games and those on the right side (Actually left side) of  the mountains.  He doesn't go on  the long trips.  Who can blame him!

Scully has been calling Dodger games for 61 years and is a true national resource.  He brings a color and a grace to the game that is usually missing from other commentators, who seem to think a lack of skill can be balanced by a recitation of statistics.  Long may he continue as he is truly unique, and he enriches the game.

White Space

Readers of this blog may have noticed that there was a huge amount of white space at the end of the postings and before the final part.  This has been fixed.  Also "Alternative Tracks" has been renamed  "Local Tracks" as it's really only for readers in So Cal.  Unless you want to start jumping on planes, of course.

To find details on any of these places go to www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels to access all my columns and also hear the Podcasts.

The big photo just before Local Tracks has a hot link on it - just click there for details.  This week it's the Integratron - quite an experience!  Believe me!

Jensen Alvarado

This Sunday's column was about the Jensen Alvarado Ranch in Riverside.  It's the first brick building in the area.  Captain Jensen, who was a Danish citizen, learned that adobe bricks dissolve in heavy downpours, hence his choice of brick.

The Captain had come down from the Gold Rush, having made a great deal of money from selling things to the miners.  He had in modern parlance "A ton of Whack!"  He lacked social position however.

Now, it so happened that the Alvarado's had lots of position but were a trifle lacking in the whack department.

Their daughter Mercedes was only 16 but up for marrying the 40 year-old Captain - today it would be called statuary rape, I believe!  She was staggeringly plain and from the photos somewhat hirsute.  However, they had 12 children, ten of whom made it to adulthood.  So who's to judge! To read the rest of the story go to www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels

MUSIC TRACK

This week's music track will get your motor running.  Check out the Boogie Woogie here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QQzbCmlZM4

It's done in Switzerland and the pianist is Silvan Zingg. He's something of a hero in the country, but I think the dancers are amazing, particularly the young man.

It's hard to keep your feet from tapping to this one!

Seventy-one

Today is the day I officially go into "the red." Three score years and ten is the oft quoted span for us, and so today being my birthday I have run over that number by hitting 71. It's not as traumatic as last year's was. Seventy was a hard gate to go through. There's no escaping that number. Sixty you can still kid yourself a little, but not the big seven-oh!

So having had a year to adjust to the fact that my age now starts with a seven, I suppose adding a small "one" on the end is not too bad.

I now have to work hard to beat the statisticians' predictions and continue to hurt the government by taking more of my allotted social security than they calculated for me. I also have to keep "the old man out!" Once you let him in he'll stay. So if any of you locals find me shuffling around, please administer a well aimed boot to my posterior and tell me to get a damned grip!

Directions?

There is definitely a change in the way people perceive where they are in the world. I mean exactly where they are in terms of their geographical location. And the younger they are the poorer it is.


Perhaps it has something to do with all the electronic devices out there that tell them how to get to a particular restaurant or cinema. But I fear they may be counter productive. No one seems to use maps any more - how are Rand McNally and Thomas Guides doing these days, I wonder? Maps do create a picture in your mind of where you sit on the globe.

I first noticed the problem when I stopped at a gas station to check directions. Mostly the attendants didn't have a clue. To get to their jobs, they knew they got on the freeway then got off at exit 46 for instance. Anywhere else they were clueless.


We are often shown interviews of people in the street telling the camera that they think Canada is south of us and Mexico to the West. As for France - forget it! It's not just a stunt, people really don't know.

We are always being told education needs more money. Maybe we could try and teach geography the way it was rather than mixing it up with social engineering. How about getting some maps, they're cheap and it would be a good start.

Riverside Metropolitan Museum

This Sunday's column is on the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. It's right in the downtown section of the city and was once the post office there.

Cornelius Rumsey was the original owner of much of the permanent collection. He was the NABISCO cereal magnate. It was given to the museum by his widow in 1948 and displayed in the basement. The building was deeded to the museum in 1966.

Currently there is a display on show through January on self adornment. It has brought a large number of young people to see it. One of the main features is a collection of photographs on tattoos, together with letters explaining the designs. www.riversideca.gov/museum

Music Track - Tom Waits

I first heard this fellow as the credits rolled for the movie Pollock. He's very unusual, but compelling - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4CzLh-pLAE

Tom Waits has been around for a long time; have a listen to some of his other stuff - it just goes to show what several packs of cigarettes and a bottle or two or bourban a day can do to your voice!

Wolves!

Evan, my grandson is about to leave us, as it's the start of a new term. We shall miss him. But before he disappears down to the flatlands again, I took him on one last assignment. It's a column that will come out in about six weeks.

It was a visit to the Wolf Mountain Sanctuary in Lucerne Valley. It's run by Tonya Littlewolf and she's been caring for these big beasts for the last 25 years.

I told Evan we would no doubt go into a cage or two and that the wolves were pretty big. At 15 of course, he's bullet proof and said it wouldn't be a problem for him as he had a big dog at home. Yeah, right!

When Istas the wolf came out to greet him some of that bullet proofness fell away. But after a little time they settled down and everybody relaxed.

Istas gave me a good check over but no doubt he could detect the smell of "Poodle" and knew not to mess with me!

Pool v Snooker

I was sorry to see that we lost an icon of Snooker a week or so back. "Hurricane" Higgins died at 61 - I'm surprised he lasted that long. A diet of 60 Marlborough's and a bottle of booze a day can't help with longevity. (This picture is not of the Hurricane - see note below.)

He was a phenomenon of the 70's snooker scene and helped take the game to another level. He received his nickname due to the speed of his shots. He was very dominating.

I had to make a decision back around that time; to keep on playing snooker while lacking the skills to take me to the top, or get into business seriously. Thank Heavens, I chose to straighten up from the green baize table and grasp the attache case. It was a wise choice.

Coming to the US, the transformation was complete, as although pool shares much of the same aspects as snooker, there is something about the proportions that just doesn't raise it to the same level. This link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McThDshEgU0 shows the best example of snooker with a maximum break by Ronnie O'Sullivan. Pure magic!

The photo is of Chris Ross, my old snooker chum. He became English National Snooker Champion and also he was the Billiard Champion too. This was taken about five years ago - he could still knock down a mean ball!

Bureaucracy

Coming back from Japan, we had a wonderful example of bureaucracy and how it helps "improve" our lives. I had gone cheap on the fares and used Air Canada for the journey as it was almost half the price of Singapore Airlines; naturally there had to be some punishment to go along with this decision; apart from the staggeringly bad food on the Canadian flight that is.

We returned via Calgary with about a two-hour lay over - time enough for maybe a little walk around and some light refreshment. It was not to be, the bureaucrats were lying in wait for us.

Firstly, we had to fill in a form for the Canadian customs and immigration. On it I was forced to declare a rather tacky little six-inch ninja I had bought in Narita. We stood in line to be interviewed by an agent - it was rather pathetic considering we were only going to another gate - had these people never heard of a transit lounge? But worse was to follow. In it's wisdom, the US authorities had brought their service to Calgary to avoid long lines at LAX. (Not to avoid long lines - just ones at LAX!)

After filling up another form, we queued up with all the other people to be scrutinized, not by an agent but by a Canadian, who was there to look at our US immigration and customs declaration form. Naturally I had failed to put that day's date on it and I also put the incoming flight, not the outgoing - bad boy!

With passports and forms held high we lined up in the snake to zig-zag our way with the other thousands to the six agents to interview us. There were 12 booths but only half manned. A slightly fraught official lady was trying to jostle some passengers ahead of others so that their flights could leave on time.

We wound around the zig-zag and eventually reached a customs agent who somewhat sneered at my ninja declaration. He also seemed disappointed that we were not carrying any financial instruments over $10,000! Finally, we were through and with twenty minutes to spare - maybe time for a beer!


Oh no! Security; and very long lines before and after our documents were once again checked. Did no one tell these people that we were in the damned computer complete with our grandmothers' maiden names? Not only did we have our boarding cards read by some machine, we had to stand in a booth and be gawked at - I'm told it shows us naked! They really must be bereft of visual stimulation if they get anything out of my aged body!

Back to the line with our bags waiting. Naturally we looked very suspicious so all our luggage was gone over. The ninja was found. Tearing open the nice cardboard box, it was laid bare, complete with its small plastic sword! No way that could get through without someone agreeing. A supervisor was called. He looked at the offending article carefully and decided that it passed - just! We had to repack all our cases and then we had an entire five minutes to get to the plane. A real eye opener for how bureaucrats work. Lots of forms for useless information that is available with a click of the button.