May 2001

We were there to see my sister's boss play with his band, Little Dogs, as they provided the music for an hour of square and round dancing in the Flag Pavillion. It was a glimpse into a scene I knew little about. The hall was full of people of varying ages milling about. Many had dancing shoes on, even if they were wearing shorts! When the time came to dance, the caller announced from the stage what kind of dance was coming up, and the people arranged themselves appropriately. First was a contra dance = two rows of partners facing each other. For the square and round dances, groups would put their hands up showing with their fingers the number of couples they needed to complete their group. When the dancers were set, the caller slowly walked everyone through the steps of the dance, after which the music and the dancing started. The caller would say single words or short phrases to remind the dancers what they were supposed to be doing. One had to understand the meaning of "swing your partner", "sashay", "doe-see-doe", "allemagne", and "promenade"!

Everyone looked to be having a wonderful time. For some, it even seemed to be exercise (mostly younger ones; the old folks moved smoothly and effortlessly)! I can imagine the social role this kind of dance would have had in early village life: every villager would have to dance with everyone else at some point in the dance. You would certainly get to know your neighbours this way. I don't know of any Japanese dance analogous to this.

• A Brief History of Square and Round Dancing
• Square Dance History in the United States
• CALLERLAB: International Association of Square Dance Callers
• 50th National Square Dance Convention
• Oregon Square Dance Magazine

Square dancing is a regular feature of the Northwest Folklife Festival, but the special focus of this year's iteration was on Korean culture, with exhibits of contemporary Korean American art and film, and performances of traditional song and music. We saw the last half of a special concert in the Opera House by folk singers from Korea. It was well attended, but would have been more of an educational experience if only the announcer had explained the meaning and context of the songs.

(27 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

• Japanese Americans Right To Worry About Pearl Harbor
  Three reasons to be wary of Disney's summer blockbuster
• National Survey on American Attitudes towards Chinese Americans and Asian Americans
  The Committee of 100's benchmark study shows prejudice is still a part of the American landscape

(23 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

(19-20 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

Dr. Smith recruited me into the University of Toronto Pathology Residency Program back in 1986. I remember he took very seriously the role of the autopsy pathologist as an advocate for the deceased, especially in cases of child abuse. He was also one of the few computer-savvy pathologists at that time, which probably planted the seed for my interest in medical informatics. Even though I have long since graduated, what he is experiencing continues to teach me: the importance of at least periodic peer review of one's work, the need to keep one's knowledge current and view findings objectively, and a reminder that pathologists' diagnoses can have repercussions, not only for the patient, but also those around them.

Dr. Smith has voluntarily stopped forensic work while his past cases are reviewed by an independent party. I hope they find these few cases were the exception rather than the rule, so that Dr. Smith can resume serving the people of Ontario.

• Dead Wrong
  How the faulty findings of an eminent pathologist led to erroneous murder charges and ruined lives

(16 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

• FDA Approval of Gleevec "Leukemia Pill" Fastest Ever For Anti-Cancer Therapy
• OHSU Oregon Cancer Institute

(14 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

• Himalaya: l'enfance d'un chef (Himalaya: The Childhood of a Chief) a.k.a. Caravan (France/Nepal/Switzerland/UK 1999; Dir: Eric Valli)
  A beautiful film that shows the centuries-old traditions of the Dolpopa, people who live in the Himalayas in northwest Nepal, and who survive by harvesting salt from a high saline plateau, then taking it by yak caravan to the lowlands, where they trade it for grain. A conflict arises when Karma, a young emerging leader, starts the caravan trip before the good luck date determined by the village lamas. Tinle, the aging chief, sticks with tradition and heads out on the appointed date with the few who remain, a ragtag group of mostly older followers. They pass through some stunning mountain scenery, and on the way, Tinle's knowhow saves the caravans from a killer blizzard. Karma and Tinle's grandson, the next chief apparent, thus learn to respect and value tradition.

  Director Valli spent 15 years in the Himalayas and came to know the Dolpopa when doing photo essays about them for National Geographic magazine. Valli and Dolpopa elders wanted to make a film that preserves the Dolpopa traditions for future generations. The salt caravans of Dolpo are a dying tradition now that Nepal's goverment is subsidising the spread of iodised salt from India as a public health initiative. Ironically, the film has unintentionally also had a negative impact on Dolpopa tradition it seeks to preserve. During the panel discussion by local experts that followed the screening, we heard that Karma Wangel, who plays the grandson, caught the acting bug and, rather than being a yak herder, is pursuing a career in movies!

  The discussion was followed by Himalaya: The Making Of, a behind-the-scenes video documentary short by Debra Kellner which shows the tremendous logistical challenges Valli and his team had to overcome to bring this project to the screen. It also gives a more realistic picture of what the Dolpopa are like today: they wear sunglasses, parkas and boots, and some can speak English. We see chief Thinle riding in a helicopter with Valli to scout out filming locations, and Karma Wangel wearing a Kansas City Royals baseball cap and wanting to take control, saying, "Quiet on the set!" The film closes with one of the Dolpopa playing guitar for the crew between scenes: Eric Clapton's Tulsa Time. Himalaya is already a historical film.

  • Himalaya: l'enfance d'un chef
    Official website with sound and film clips (En francais)
  • At last: Himalayan cinema
    Can Kollywood’s filmmakers get out of the rut of parodically copying Bollywood?
  • Rethinking Himalayan Cinema
    Storm brewing concerning film proceeds and intellectual property issues

• Tashi Jong (USA 1998; Dir: Barbara Green) 1/2
  "Tashi Jong" means “Auspicious Valley” and is the name of the place in Northeast India where approximately 600 religious refugees from Tibet have established a monastery, with a supporting village for the lay community. This documentary shows what life at the monastery is like, and centers around the preparation for a festival. The rituals and artifacts of Tibetan Buddhism are quite different from Japanese Buddhism, possibly because to encourage adoption, Buddhists incorporated/adapted elements of the indigenous Tibetan religion, just as what happened with Shinto in Japan.
  • Tibetan Video Project: Tashi Jong
    Official webpage
  • An Insight into Tashi Jong
  • Images from Tashi Jong

• À la recherche de Kundun avec Martin Scorsese (In Search Of Kundun With Martin Scorsese) (France/USA 1998; Dir: Michael Wilson)
  A very entertaining documentary about the filming of Kundun, Martin Scorsese's 1997 biographical film about the 14th Dalai Lama. Scriptwriter Melissa Mathison tells about her dilemma of how to prove Scorsese was the right person to direct a film about the Dalai Lama, a man who promotes non-violence. Which film would she cite? Raging Bull? Mean Streets? GoodFellas? Because permits could not be obtained in Tibet, the film was shot in Morocco, where Scorsese made The Last Temptation of Christ. I enjoyed seeing Scorsese's work habits and his encyclopedic knowledge of film history. One of the Buddhist monks is a film buff, and asks Scorsese how his cameo as the irate passenger in Taxi Driver came about (the actor cast for the role didn't show up). Portions of an interview with the Dalai Lama are included. (BTW I love the name of this fiilm's distributor: Hollywoodn't.)
  • The Auteur Director and the Buddhist Philosopher

• Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy (USA 1994; Dir: Ellen Bruno)
  A short documentary about Buddhist nuns remaining in Tibet, who recount the abuse they endure at the hands of the Chinese authorities. A non-dramatized version of the story told in Lungta (Windhorse).

• Phörpa (The Cup) (Bhutan/Australia 1999 ; Dir: Khyentse Norbu) 1/2
  A heartwarming film about Tibetan monks exiled in Bhutan. Life in their monastery is like a boarding school, with the usual characters that implies. The younger monks-in-training are soccer crazed -- the story is set during the 1998 World Cup tournament -- and they arrange to have the final match shown at the monastery via rented satellite TV. Apparently the plot is based on actual events. The tone is lighthearted, but the serious message is never far below the surface: the abbott packs his belongings every night, in hopes that the next day will be the one when he can return to Tibet; he wonders if the young monks-in-training will ever see Tibet.

• The Reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche (UK/India 1991; Dir: Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam)
  A documentary about an exiled Tibetan Buddhist monk's search for the reincarnation of his master, Khensur Rinpoche, the abbot of Sera-Je Monastery in South India ("Rinpoche" means "treasured one"). He finds his master in the form of a delightfully impish four-year-old boy, and is assigned to care for him. Suddenly at the age of 47, a man who has devoted his life to religion has to be a father.

• Dao ma zei (The Horse Thief) (China 1986; Dir: Zhuangzhuang Tian) 1/2
  A Tibetan man makes his living as a horse thief, but at the same time is a devout Buddhist. His clan banishes him, but not in time to avoid the bad karma his thievery provokes. Slow moving, with irritating dubbed Mandarin dialogue. Lots of unexplained rituals: throwing paper squares (with prayers printed on them?) from the hillside; wrapping rope around a pole, bringing sheep into the enclosure; floating a skull raft down the river and throwing stones at it. Are these real or made up? Some shots looked like they might have been impressive, but the print shown was scratched up and faded.

• NPR Morning Edition: Letters From Camp (REALAUDIO)
  News clip with Elizabeth Yamada reading from her letters to Miss Breed
• Interview with Elizabeth Yamada (REALAUDIO)
  Full, unedited recording of the NPR interview
• Forwarding Address Required
  Online version of the exhibit, for those who cannot go to Washington DC

(09 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

• Itai-itai disease surfaces in Toyama

Itai-itai disease is characterised by brittle bones, considerable pain (hence the name), and kidney failure. During the Japan's rapid economic growth period in the 1960's, people living along the Jinzu River in Toyama Prefecture developed these signs and symptoms. They had osteomalacia due to disturbed phosphate reabsorption resulting from atrophy of the proximal tubules of the kidney, which was caused by cadmium. It was subsequently found that the river, which they used for drinking water and rice paddy irrigation, had been polluted by industrial cadmium discharged from Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co.'s Kamioka mine, located in adjacent Gifu Prefecture.

Itai-itai disease was registered as Japan's first pollution-related disease in 1968, and Toyama remains one of two well-described instances worldwide (the other was in New Zealand). Understandably, Toyama prefectural representatives made no mention of it at a 1997 goodwill meeting I attended! Of Japan's industrial environmental disasters, Minamata disease (mercury poisoning) is known to more people in the West as a result of W. Eugene Smith's famous photograph for LIFE magazine of a mother bathing her afflicted daughter. In 1998, after decades of cleanup efforts, Minamata Bay fish were declared safe for human consumption again.

• Image of person with itai-itai disease and map of affected area
• Adverse Health Effects of Heavy Metals
• A long-term study of patients with itai-itai disease
• Japan Through the Eyes of Eugene Smith
• Mercury poison still haunts Minamata
• David Suzuki Foundation
  A Canadian environmental research and education organization

(06 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

This morning I tagged along to a lecture that provided PCPA volunteer tour guides with background on the Folly Bollards, a whimsical piece of public art that lines Main Street between Broadway and Park Avenue (between Arlene Schnitzer Hall and Newmark Theatre). Bollards are the usually utilitarian posts that separate pedestrian and motor traffic. What makes the Folly Bollards special are their bronze caps: each has a sculpture of a "wise fool" character from the mythology of a different culture. They were installed in 1998, the year I came to Portland, and I have always wanted to learn more about them.

PCPA arranged for the creator of the Folly Bollards to give the lecture. I was surprised (but in retrospect shouldn't have been) to learn that the speaker was Valerie Otani, a Japanese American artist I have met before through her involvement in local Asian American drumming group Portland Taiko! (Last summer, we built a taiko drum together.) She explained her inspiration (the harlequin pattern of the pavement along that stretch of road), her research, a bit about each of the 10 characters, and the physical process of casting the figures. She also touched on an unfortunate but necessary design consideration for public art -- making it vandal- and theft-proof.

Valerie has also participated in school art programs and other public art projects, such as the 7th floor elevator lobby of OHSU's Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, the artwork for stations along the Westside MAX light rail line from Portland west to Hillsboro, and the new Interstate MAX, from Portland north to the Expo Center. Her artwork for Expo Center Station is particularly significant, as this was where Portland's Japanese Americans were rounded up in World War II, prior to being sent to internment camps further inland. Outside of Oregon, Valerie also co-created a work called Bridge Between Cultures, a series of metal grillwork panels lining the Weller Street Pedestrian Bridge in Seattle WA, which links the International District and Pioneer Square behind King Street Station. The panels highlight the active exchanges of culture and trade goods between Asia and America.

(05 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

• Yam Yam's Southern Barbecue
  Locals rave about this northeast Portland eatery's homestyle southern fare, though I have trouble seeing its appeal. It isn't the decor -- Fast Food Basic: ordering counter at the front and numerous seating booths. The service is friendly and the portions are big, but the flavours are either absent -- bland jambalaya and rice and beans -- or garishly overdone -- pork ribs slathered in a ketchupy barbecue sauce, perhaps in an attempt to moisten the dry meat underneath; collard greens so salty it should come with an extra glass of water to wash it down; and candied yams that are more sugar than vegetable. Still, there was a line of customers out the door who clearly feel otherwise.
  Yam Yam's Southern Barbecue, 339 NE ML King Blvd Portland, OR 97211 (503) 978-9229

• Tongue of a Bird
  This relatively new play by Ellen McLaughlin explores parent-child and, more specifically, mother-daughter relationships. Dessa (Ithica Tell), a mother whose daughter (Angela Rollins) has been kidnapped, hires Maxine (Sherry Okamura), a search-and-rescue pilot, to find the missing child. Maxine stays with her grandmother (Trish Egan) while on the mission, which stirs up some unresolved issues surrounding Evie (Julie Cowden), the mother of Maxine and daughter of her grandmother.

  It is a wordy play -- for much of the 2-hour running time, the main characters take turns delivering monologues. Maxine is the hub of what little action there is, speaking with a different one of the other characters in successive scenes. Those who don't love language are apt to be bored, despite some strong performances. The role of Maxine is the meatiest, and Sherry certainly explored its full emotional range. Tell's booming voice and heartfelt emotions as Dessa were a good foil to the initially reserved Maxine. Rollins is just 11 years old and in her first play, but seemed like a veteran. Cowden's Evie didn't rate with the others, but how much can one do while suspended from a wire?

  Judging from the reviews of previous productions (see below), it seems that director Carmella Lanza-Weil's staging was fairly standard. A unique and effective aspect of this production was the original music by Portland composer Stephen Hoyt.

  The play was not written multiethnic, but the producer, MediaRites, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote acceptance, understanding and education between communities, and so a diverse cast was assembled. Maxine calls her grandmother something that sounds like "Baa-chan", Japanese for "grandmother". We thought maybe Sherry had inserted some of her heritage into the play. But she was actually saying the name as written -- "Babcia", which is Polish for "grandmother"!
  Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center 5340 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217-4571 Phone: (503) 823-2000. Tongue of a Bird closes 12 May 2001

  • Flight Deconstructor
    Interview with actress and playwright Ellen McLaughlin
  • Search Drama Rescued From Pretension
    Review of a 1997 London production of Tongue of a Bird
  • Tongues and tails: Tongue of a Bird edgy and haunting, but not that good
    Review of a 1997 London production
  • Tongue of a Bird flies high
    Review of a 1999 New York City production
  • Tongue of a Bird never gains altitude
    Review of a 1999 New York City production, from CurtainUp, "The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings", which explains the play's title
  • Tongue of a Bird is not a good play
    Review of a 1999 St. Louis production
  • Tongue of a Bird thorny but very interesting
    Review of a 1999 St. Louis production
  • Tongue of a Bird pseudo-poetic, wordy, and mostly just boring
    Review of a 1999 Los Angeles production
  • Flight From Life: Tongue of a Bird helps us decide which memories to keep and which to let go
    Review of a 2000 Denver production
  • Tongue of a Bird poetic, powerful
    Review of a March 2001 Dallas production
  • Flying Blind: Airy dialogue twists Tongue of a Bird
    Review of a March 2001 Dallas production quotes line used for play's title
  • It Never Bloomed For Babcia
    A Story Bytes very short story -- just the right length for my attention span!

• Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
  We wound down at the home of what I consider some of the best local microbrew beers, in a renovated brick heritage building with high ceilings and great view of the Fremont Bridge. Dorami-chan was pleased to see that, unlike most of the bars we have been to in Portland, this one has a dessert menu. The chocolate mousse cake and rasperry cheesecake were very good and went well with the full-bodied, coffee-like stout I sampled.
  Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, 929 North Russell Street, Portland, OR 97227-1733 Tel: (503) 281-2437

(04 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]

Much as I would like to see POSA succeed, I don't like their campaign's chances. From what I have seen, hockey is not very high in Portland's consciousness. (TRUE STORY: Dorami-chan and I were in a sports bar watching the tense final minutes of regulation time in Game 4 of the Oilers-Stars series, when some latecomers tried to switch the channel of our screen -- the only one in the place showing hockey -- to basketball. When we protested, they were incredulous: "You're watching this? Are you serious?") Furthermore, the NHL is the most troubled of the major sports circuits, and prospective owners (at least those with business smarts) will steer clear until the league gets its financial house in order.

• The Oregonian: Group to gauge interest in NHL
• NHL to Portland : A Matter of Time
• The Waiting Game
• Offseason will raise new set of questions for Blazers

(02 May 2001)

Discuss This Topic

[Back to TOP]