September 1998

  • Diamonds in the Rough: Japanese Americans in Baseball
    After class today I stopped in at the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame (321 SW Salmon Street) to see this travelling exhibit from the National Japanese American Historical Society. Text, images (mostly team photos) and a video tell how baseball was a focal point of Japanese American communities in the pre-war period, a time of racial discrimination and exclusion from mainstream society. During the World War II internment, the game was a welcome diversion from camp realities. After the war, the JA league and the communities that supported it never regained their former vitality as the nikkei were dispersed across the country. The first JA to play in the major leagues was Hawaiian Lenn Sakata of the 1980 Baltimore Orioles, now a coach with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

    See the online exhibit: Japanese American Baseball
    Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

    The permanent Hall displays taught or reminded me about the high points of amateur and professional sports in Oregon: Bill Walton leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA championship in 1977; the rich track and field history, including the development of the Fosbury high jump flop, the Nike shoe and great runners like Steve Prefontaine (subject of Donald Sutherland's new movie Without Limits), Mary Decker Slaney and Alberto Salazar (winner of the 1980, 1981 and 1982 New York Marathons); Bill Johnson's gold medal in the Men's Downhill at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics. The Portland Rosebuds met the Montreal Canadiens in the 1916 Stanley Cup final, losing to the Habs 3-games-to-2. Soon after Oilers professional ice hockey arrived in Edmonton, the Oil Kings, the longtime junior team, left the 'Chuck in 1976, becoming the Portland Winter Hawks. There were a few interactive stations, including a simulation of being a baseball catcher (fastballs hurt!).
    (28 September 98)

  • Doraibu suru - Beach Day Trip
    I took my car out for its first spin with its new Oregon licence plates. The 1 1/2 hour drive out to the coast is via a pleasant road through a thick forest. At about the halfway point is the Camp 15 Restaurant, in a log structure on the site of an old lumberjack camp. Lots of strange-looking antique tree-hauling contraptions line the parking lot. Seaside is a little town true to its name, which has supplemented its natural attractions with a Factory Outlet Store Mall. The beach at low tide stretched out for miles and looked very ... clean. I had intended to help with the Great Oregon Beach Clean-up, but it had already taken place the day before! I knew roughly that it was this weekend, but to my thinking, Sunday had somehow seemed a more logical day for a general participation event like this. I neglected to consider that in America, Sunday is NFL Football Day! :-P On my way back to Portland, I was treated to a great view of Mt. Hood
    (26 September 98)

  • 12-1-A ****
    This afternoon at the Central Library I saw the Lewis & Clark College Theatre Department's presentation of this play by Wakako Yamauchi about a Japanese American family's experiences in the Poston, Arizona internment camp during the World War II. The title is the address of their assigned barrack, in and around which the action takes place. As is often the case with historical dramas, the script suffers a bit from being simply an inventory of major events and points of view at the expense of storytelling. Still, the characters are strong and believable, and there are moments of real emotional tension. Camp life is evoked though a mention of the dust storms, lineups for everything, mess halls, lack of privacy. Interesting was this production's use of a shakuhachi (bamboo flute) to play popular Western songs of the time, like Glenn Miller tunes. At the beginning of the play, eldest son Michio ("Mitch") proudly brings his school bowling championship trophy to camp as proof of his All-American status (Internees were only allowed to bring as much as they could carry from their homes). By the end, it is left behind, now a meaningless trinket, as the family is transferred to the Tule Lake camp prior to being deported to Japan. A good Internment primer.
    (26 September 98)

  • A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the US Constitution
    This afternoon I went to the Multnomah County Central Library (801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland OR) to see this travelling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institute. Posterboards tell the story of the Internment and later redress movement in words and images. Conversations is a collection of interactive touchscreen video interviews with five JAs who were interned.

    The Smithsonian's material was supplemented by local content, including a map of Portland's pre-war Japantown in the northwest part of the city, north of W Burnside and east of NW Broadway. The 42-block area was home to 119 businesses, all gone now. As in other west coast cities, the 3,676 nikkei from Portland, Oregon's Willamette Valley and Washington's Yakima Valley were rounded up and kept in animal pens at the Pacific International Livestock Exposition Hall in preparation for transfer to the internment camps. A 29 April 1942 headline in The Oregonian proclaimed that Portland would be the first city to rid itself of Japanese Americans.

    Japanese Immigrants in Oregon
    Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center
    Japanese American Organizations in Oregon

    The American Civil Liberties Union arranged a panel discussion, "Could It Happen Today?". The consensus was that given human nature, the answer was "Yes", and the only safeguards are public education and vigilance and strong, principled political leadership.

    This was followed by a showing of the NAATA video A Personal Matter: Gordon Hirabayashi vs. The United States. Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi, a university student in 1942, was one of the few Japanese Americans to fight President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which ordered the incarceration of all West Coast people of Japanese ancestry. His civil disobedience campaign questioned the constitutionality of the Internment and led to his conviction by the Supreme Court. This decision was overturned forty years later when sealed documents were released revealing that in order to allow the Internment to proceed, the US government not only ignored but also withheld evidence, actively suppressing military intelligence reports that the Japanese Americans were not a security threat.

    With "Trust No One" ringing through my head and a bad taste in my mouth *L*, I was pleased to find the Beverly Cleary Children's Library. Beverly Cleary grew up in Portland and is the author of a popular series of books about children growing up on northeast Portland's Klickitat Street, including Henry Huggins, Ramona the Pest and Ribsy. For a few minutes I was the biggest kid in the library as I read some of these stories again for the first time in almost thirty years.
    (25 September 98)

  • I've made a new page about my ODs.
    (23 September 98)

  • Lectures started today in the Master's Program in Medical Informatics at Oregon Health Sciences University. This year's incoming class (the third in the program's short history) has 12 students: 7 MDs, 1 lawyer and 4 fresh out of a bachelor's degree.
    (23 September 98)

  • Beyond Barbed Wire (USA 1997; Dir: Steve Rosen & Terri de Bono) *****
    An award-winning documentary about the segregated 100th Infantry Batallion/442nd Regimental Combat Team and Japanese American agents of the Military Intelligence Service. The story is simply and effectively told through the veterans' own words. We learn about the discrimination these nisei faced and why they volunteered and fought so fiercely in the European and Pacific theatres, becoming the most-decorated American unit for its size in World War II. Some had to guard German prisoners-of-war, and noticed that the prison camps were built from the same blueprints as the internment camps where their families remained detained back in America! The admiration and gratitude owed them by younger generations is movingly expressed through interviews with family members. Narrated by Noriyuki ("Pat") Morita.
    (20 September 98)

  • Insomnia (Norway 1998; Dir: Erik Skjoldbjaerg) ****
    A young girl is murdered in northern Norway, and a crack Swedish detective (Stellan Skarsgard) is brought in to investigate. Skarsgard looks a bit like William Hurt, and similar to the latter's DA character in Body Heat, Detective Engstrom finds himself caught in a deepening quagmire of ethical conflicts as he closes in on the killer. You don't know how this one will end until it's over! Northern Norway could pass for Newfoundland.
    (19 September 98)

  • Un Air de Famille (Family Resemblances) (France 1998; Dir: Cedric Klapisch) *****
    To truly know someone you must know their family. This dark comedy shows a family with three grown children getting together for Sunday dinner at the run-down cafe operated by one of the sons. The action is intercut with brief flashbacks, and we see how behaviour patterns created in childhood persist into adult life. It takes someone from outside, the cafe's waiter, to catalyse change, or so we hope, in the lives of some of the members of this dysfunctional unit.
    (17 September 98)

  • I think I've found my movie theatre of choice in Portland. Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Avenue, Portland OR (503) 223-4515), in the middle of the trendy Nob Hill district in northwest Portland, features offbeat foreign and domestic films, new and vintage, all for a reasonable price. The seat backs are springloaded!

    Go-nin (The Five) (Japan 1995; Dir: Takashi Ishii) ***
    The bursting of Japan's Bubble Economy has taken its toll, forcing a motley group of five -- an indebted disco owner (Koichi Sato), a male prostitute (Masahiro Motoki), a downsized sarariman (Naoto Takenaka), a disgraced ex-policeman and a small-time pimp -- to stage a daring robbery of a Tokyo yakuza den to get some desperately needed cash. They get it, but then they get it, each in their own way, from a coldy efficient avenging hit man ("Beat" Takeshi Kitano from Hanabi). Takenaka's character is the most interesting, using a darker way to vent stress than that of the role he played in Shall We Dansu?.

    There was a sequel, Go-nin II -- with a twist!

    (16 September 98)

  • PDX PDQ!*
    My sister came from Seattle WA on the morning jetcat to help me drive to Portland OR. We had intended to catch the mid-afternoon ferry to Port Angeles WA, but we learned it was already sold out five hours prior to sailing time! Americans have flocked to Victoria this summer to take advantage of the extremely favorable exchange rate (US $1 = CA $1.50), so there are more cars to take back across the Strait at the end of a weekend. The next ferry was in the evening, so we had plenty of time to tour around downtown Victoria:

    • Swan's Pub and Restaurant Previously praised in this space for its food and in-house brews. (The food is great even without an accompanying beer.)
    • Murchies Tea Shop Suppliers of a special blend for the famous High Tea at the Empress Hotel. You can enjoy a "cuppa" at their retail outlet without all the ceremony, and buy some to enjoy at home.
    • D'arcy McGee's A pub named after a famous figure in Canadian history. Great location at the foot of the Bastion Square steps, with a view of the Inner Harbour, peoplewatching potential along Wharf Street, and soothing Andean-flavoured new age music from a regularly present group of buskers from South America.
    • Inner Harbour A yacht from Japan was moored, flying koi nobori (carp banners) from the forestay. The skipper had his charts spread out on the dock. Was he planning his next step or was he trying to figure out how he ended up here?
    • India Curry House Conveniently located just off the Inner Harbour, this family-run restaurant serves flavourful curries. Extra basmati rice if you want it!

    Portland is a 3 1/2-hour drive from Seattle. We made it safely and unloaded my belongings from my rented U-Haul truck. After all that help, I couldn't very well put my sister on a bus back to Seattle, so we drove, getting a superb view of three volcanoes -- Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier -- in the setting sun. We arrived in time for the weekly practice session of her Japanese drum group, Northwest Taiko. Their repertoire is a mix of traditional songs and original compositions. They play at different events in the Seattle area -- go see them sometime!
    * PDX is the aviation code for Portland; PDQ stands for "Pretty D#$% Quick", i.e. ASAP ("As Soon As Possible").
    (14-15 September 98)

  • I Want My CBC
    This summer sans television in Victoria I've been able to reacquaint myself with CBC Radio, Canada's national public broadcaster. Canadians in metropolitan centres may question the need to pay for the CBC, however those in smaller communities know how it is a tie that binds the country together and that these are tax dollars well spent. Some of my favorite shows:

    Now that I'll be leaving Canada for a while, I am glad that I will still be able to listen to these shows thanks to RealAudio and the Internet.
    (11 September 98)

  • Atlantis (France 1991; Dir: Luc Bresson) ****
    I never got around to scuba diving while I was in Victoria, so the Cinecenta screening of this nature film about underwater wildlife was a welcome treat. The breathtaking footage from oceans around the world features scooting fish schools, playful dolphins, hypnotic water snakes, surfing sea lions, leisurely manatees and sea turtles, fierce great white sharks, majestic manta rays and the rare whale shark. If this doesn't make you want to learn to dive, nothing will!
    (09 Sept 98)

  • Between shows at the Victoria Fringe Festival, I had a chance to visit a few local restaurants:

    • Siam Restaurant 512 Fort Street, Victoria BC (250) 383-9911
      A reliable source of delicious, reasonably priced Thai food in the heart of the downtown tourist district.

    • Izumi Japanese Restaurant 739 Pandora Avenue (between Blanshard and Douglas), Victoria BC (250) 995-8432
      Slightly off the tourist beaten track and a bit expensive, but authentic Japanese taste. Sushi bar, Western and tatami room seating.

    • Pluto's Restaurant 1150 Cook Street, Victoria BC
      The breakfast menu features interesting variations on the standard eggs-and-toast formula. The unusual location in a converted gas station is fun, but at the same time annoying, as cars regularly drive through the middle of the outdoor seating area, serving up large portions of exhaust.

    • Le Petit Saigon 1010 Langley Street, Victoria BC
      Standard Vietnamese food in the downtown core. Friendly service.

    • Cafe de la Lune Douglas at Pandora, Victoria BC (250) 361-1450
      In the historic Hotel Douglas. Offered 2-for-1 cafe latte special on presentation of a Fringe ticket stub, so it became like a non-alcoholic Fringe Club. Open 24 hours.

    • Bean Around The World 533 Fisgard Street, Victoria BC (250) 386-7115
      A former store/warehouse in the heart of Chinatown, now a Bohemian java space. Doubles as an art gallery, thanks to the high ceilings.

    • Re-bar Modern Food 50 Bastion Square, Victoria BC (250) 361-9223
      This visually interesting space just off the downtown pedestrian mall serves up imaginitive, tasty fare for all levels of vegetarianism: vegan, non-egg, non-dairy, and non-land-meat (i.e. fish O.K.). Their use of cilantro gives coleslaw new meaning! They have an extensive list of health drinks and juices. I had a "Rocket Scientist", which contains carrot juice, ginko and ginger, and is supposed to help one's ... uh ... oh yes -- memory.

    (04-07 Sept 98)

  • Fringe Final:
    The 12th Annual Victoria Fringe Festival ended this weekend. The entire affair was a manageable size (slightly smaller than the Fringe of Toronto), with easily accessible venues that were big enough so tickets could be purchased for most shows without an outrageous wait. Credit the performers and audiences who survived the air conditioner-less Venue 6 inferno. Changes are rumoured to be in the works for next year's festival, with a new executive producer and a possible change of neighbourhoods.

    • Hitler's Women (Foursight Theatre, Wolverhampton UK) **
      The stories of the women of the Third Reich should be subject matter for a show that is fascinating, educational and enlightening. This two-woman play was none of these. A range of characters, from a rank and file mother and daughter to the Fuhrer's mistress Eva Braun, were portrayed in a superficial fashion that hit the same drab emotional tone throughout and left the audience none the wiser and yawning to boot.

    • Pleased To Meet You (Yes We Can Theatre, Victoria BC) ***
      A humorous one-woman show presents a series of loosely linked characters. Best was the foul-mouthed scriptwriter for a television soap opera: As she dreams up a fatal disease for one of her characters, one wonders if her bizzare thought process is any different from the people who serve up this stuff in real life.

    • This Is Your Life (With Special Guests, Calgary AB) ***
      A hapless young woman has her lifelong search for love replayed as part of a television game show. Stock characters (obnoxious French waiter, hockey-do headbanger, geek with hornrimmed glasses) and bizzare creations (Pig Boy). Memorable moments: her slow-motion, butter-lubricated first kiss with Harelip Boy and her introduction to a dirty-minded ventriloquist's puppet.

    • Would You Like Fries With That? (Saucy Siren Productions, Vancouver BC) ***
      Venting-as-therapy for those who work in the service industry. This one-woman show fairly bristled with the negative energy generated by having to deal with customers. The script unfortunately descended into vulgarity when it ran out of smart lines. Best self-promotion of the festival -- the company created its own "buzz" at the ticket lineups of other shows.

    • It's Uncanny! (The Weird Sisters, London UK) *****
      Best of the Festival! Two girls grow up under the watchful eye and influence of their witch godmothers. Great physical comedy, expertly portayed characters, seamless scene changes. Alison Goldie and Kath Burlinson are well-known in Britain, and rightly so.

    • Entitled (Far 'n' Away Productions, Victoria BC) *
      Two members of a band deal pick up the pieces following the death of the group's leader. The premise is good enough and the script has poetic moments, but the execution left much to be desired, from the acting (on the wooden side) to the set design (a large television at centre front guaranteed everyone an obscured view at some point).

    • Bonnie Dangerously: Fast Times With That Guy Clyde (Shameless Hussy Productions, Vancouver BC) ****
      The real story of Bonnie and Clyde is told in rapid-fire fashion. Tight production, smooth staging, great characters. Actual photos of the infamous couple are flashed up as the backdrop.

    • God: The Unauthorized Biography ( The Wombats, Edmonton AB) **
      Two young angels come to earth to present a light-hearted modern retelling of the Bible story. This production has toured Fringe Festivals across the country, but it doesn't show. Things start off amateurish and forced. The second half is marginally better, with more structured sketches like "Arriving in Hell". The Wombats are an improvisational group, so perhaps a scripted play isn't the best showcase for their talents.

    (04-07 Sept 98)

  • Further Fringing:

    • Tired Cliches (Big Sandwich Productions, Vancouver BC) *****
      Great one-man (plus percussionist) show features what at first seem to be disjoint Seinfeld-esque observations and reminiscences about topics ranging from traffic lights to cat vomit to birthday cards. T.J. Dawe brings these elements together in a calamitous conclusion with action so frantic that the lighting director had trouble keeping up towards the end.

    (03 Sept 98)

  • More Fringing:

    • Dish The Dirt (Sensible Footwear, Toronto ON) ****
      "Ode to the Aging Woman": Two women on the verge of forty (they vow to learn by then to spell it without a "u") humorously reflect upon life and love through sketch and song. Low-tech production but a captivating performance of material with universal appeal. Memorable tunes: "Mother You Were Right (But I'll Never Tell You So)", "Unrequited On-line Love Song"

    (02 Sept 98)

  • The 1998 Victoria Fringe Festival is on! Almost every city in Canada has a Fringe Festival now. These gatherings of one-act theatre and performance companies are usually entertaining and at the very least stimulate discussion. Discovery is half the fun! The staggered timing of the festivals (roughly East to West over the course of the summer) allows some shows to appear across the country. This is my first chance to attend Victoria's version. Here are the offerings I've been able to see so far:

    • Leather Leather (Landlocked Theatre Company, Lethbridge AB) **
      Two friends (and an ex-girlfriend) explore the meaning of loneliness, connection and commitment by dealing with a dead pet cat, starvation, poisoning and -- cosmetic eyebrow surgery?!? Too many things don't make sense in this show, which swings widely from physical comedy to absurdist theatre. Best scene: the opening, where the two actors try different animal calls until they find one in common -- like modems negotiating a linkup! Best line: wasn't even by the playwright, but rather quoted from Rousseau.

    • Jockey Night in Canada (The Spleen Jockeys, Winnipeg MB) ***
      Sketch comedy from a group of four energetic guys who play a wide range of characters in rapid succession. Some hits, some groaners. Particularly effective were: "The Plague" - an infectious ditty wipes out humanity; "The Sketch Is The Thing" - a patient is diagnosed with Shakespeare Simulosis Syndrome, dooming him to forever speak in iambic pentameter; "The Sermon" - a preacher's fiery anti-pornography talk ignites his congregation in unintended ways.

    • House (Theatre Bagger, Vancouver BC) ***
      One-man show featuring Peter Scoular as an ignored septic tank company employee-unloved husband-forgotten son on the edge of sanity. The acting is great, and carries this show. Unfortunately the script resorts to gimmicks like the "offstage walkaround" to hold the audience's attention for the entire one hour running time. Best line: "Like I need this!" on discovering that his wife is a for-hire dominatrix whose clients include his boss and his office rival.

      ***** = Excellent; A good time AND original; No suggestions for improvement.
      **** = Superior; "What, is it over all ready?" And yet some things could have been better.
      *** = Good; Enjoyable, but let my mind wander at times.
      ** = Fair; I didn't walk out, but considered it a couple of times.
      * = Poor; I could see the point of it, but still wanted my money back.
      0 = Abysmal; No redeeming qualities.

    Some of these were part of the Toronto and Edmonton Fringes earlier this summer; some will appear at the Vancouver Fringe next week.

    Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals
    The Edmonton Fringe Festival - The Big One
    The Fringe of Toronto Festival
    The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival
    Saskatoon International Fringe Festival

    (31 Oct-01 Sept 98)

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