May 1999
- Memorial Day: American Obon?
Today is Memorial Day in America. This holiday was originally meant to remember those who gave their lives in wars past. More recently it has become a day to celebrate ancestors, and so in a way resembles Obon, the Japanese Festival of the Dead. Here is some more background information I received from the newsletter of the Tripod Genealogy Pod:Memorial Day History
(31 May 1999)The American tradition of Memorial Day began more than 100 years ago. It was at the end of a brutal war, a war in which brother fought brother and the best of friends became the worst of enemies. It was the Civil War, one of the worst wars ever fought by the people of this nation, and it was fought on our own soil. At the end of this war, family members of the many soldiers slain in battle would visit the grave sites of their fallen relatives or friends and decorate their graves with flowers.
On May 5, 1868, General John Logan proclaimed this day a holiday through his General Order No. 11. The day was entitled Decoration Day. Decoration Day was first observed on May 30, 1868. The northern states celebrated this day every year, but the southern states celebrated a day similar to this on a different day until sometime after World War I.
In 1882, the name Decoration Day was changed to Memorial Day, and in 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be held on the last Monday of May every year.
The modern celebration of Memorial Day is similar to the original celebration, but today we have expanded upon the original idea. Today, Memorial Day is a time of the year when people come together to honor their close friends or relatives who have died. It is still very much about honoring America's fallen soldiers, such as in gatherings at places like the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia to visit such moving memorial tributes such as the tomb of the unknown soldier, which represents "everyman" who with bold patriotism laid down their life for this country. But in addition to this, Memorial Day is about celebrating all people, all of our ancestors and forefathers who have created the world we live in today, who have paved the long road we walk down into the future. It is a day to celebrate and thank all these people who died to create what we have today.
Many people travel to the graves of their dead relatives or friends in cemeteries around the country to decorate their graves on this national holiday.
This day of memorial is a tribute, to honor the people who embodied the dreams and the passionate fire of an entire country.
- I am just back from the
AMIA 1999 Spring Congress in Chicago IL. This year's theme,
"Health Informatics Education: Current Issues and Future Prospects"
was discussed by guest speakers and "breakout groups" of those who attended.
It was generally agreed that all health care professionals will require
some form of informatics training in order to practice effectively in the
information-rich new millennium. Those specializing in informatics will
require skills such as project management, cost analysis and strategic thinking,
which are usually associated with Master's of Business Administration degrees
and not presently addressed by most medical informatics training programs.
The host hotel, The Drake, provided excellent accommodation, food and service.
After nine months in sedate Portland, Chicago felt like a big, busy city.
The people dress so well! The weather was perfect -- sunbathers sprawled on
Oak Street Beach downtown and the outdoor bars and cafes were full.
(28 May 1999) -
Cookie's Fortune (USA 1999; Dir: Robert Altman)
In small-town Mississippi, a self-aggrandizing amateur theatre director (Glenn Close) is prompted by the suicide of Cookie, her elderly aunt (Patricia Neal) to create a fictional account of the event. Of little concern to her is the fact that an innocent black man (Charles S. Dutton) will be charged with the "crime" -- family reputation is more important. The film introduces various quirky characters as it ambles to a rightful, if too-neat conclusion. Pleasant inconsequential fluff.
(26 May 1999) - Summer Slopes: Backcountry Skiing on Mt. Hood
What does it take to get me to wake up at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning?
My first experience backcountry skiing on nearby Mount Hood, along with
and under the supervision of my Medical Informatics classmate
Jim.
The early start was necessary to allow us to ascend the mountain
by walking on top of the snow which had hardened overnight.
We reached our destination (elevation ~8000 feet) near the summit after about four hours.
By that time the snow had softened nicely for a smooth descent,
but only after we had enjoyed the panoramic view of Mts. Adams, St. Helens
and Ranier, three neighbouring snow-covered volcanos.
I rented a randonee ski package for $40 from The Mountain Shop. The rental amount can be put toward the purchase of alpine touring equipment, but the store wisely suggests one should rent at least twice before deciding to outfit oneself. This demanding (and sometimes dangerous) sport is not for everyone! After we got home, we heard that earlier in the morning two climbers had fallen to their deaths not far from where we had been.
We returned to Portland via the pastoral and fertile Hood River valley, driving by profitable fruit orchards growing on land that once belonged to Nikkei pioneers.
- Hood River Issei by Linda Tamura and Roger Daniels
- Japanese Immigrants in Oregon
- Today What's New? officially joins the
Open Pages Webring.
Click on the ring navigation bar to see journals that people have posted on the Web.
(16 May 1999) -
Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant) (Deutschland 1972; Dir:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
"Show some consideration." This is the first line of the title character, a self-centred, much in-demand fashion designer, as she is abruptly woken up by her wordless assistant Marlene. As the story unfolds, we see that she doesn't follow her own advice in any of her relationships, which she uses for personal power. Then the tables are turned by her protege. Typewriters and rotary telephones -- things have really changed in 27 years! Fassbinder's adaptation of his original stage play effectively uses framing and camera angles to enhance the presentation. Much has been made of his use of an all-female cast, but this is really a universal story with lessons for everyone. The film is dedicated "To he who would be Marlene." Fassbinder's star shone briefly but brightly -- though he died at age 36, he is considered my many to be Germany's best post-War film director.
(14 May 1999) - There's an update at the
Nikkei Nexus
(09 May 1999) - Ame doesn't always mean rain
Most JAs and JCs lack complete knowledge of their heritage language and culture, so being Nikkei revolves largely around edibles. The subject of food was passionately discussed by the JA*Net Ties Talk e-mail list a few months ago. More recently, the topic of Japanese candy brought back many memories of unique childhood treats.
(09 May 1999) -
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (UK 1998; Dir: Guy Ritchie)
Quentin Tarantino with a humourous British twist. Four East London friends try to win some easy money in a high stakes poker game and instead wind up 500,000 quid in debt to a local porn king and his ruthless henchmen. With only one week to repay the money, they devise a daring scheme that when executed has many unexpected twists and turns. This enjoyable film is populated with colourful cartoon-like characters who get to say some great lines. Hip soundtrack and fashion magazine style. Look for Sting in a small role.
(07 May 1999) - Alpine Post:
Lost On Everest
I heard on the news last night about an expedition that is up on Mt. Everest looking for the bodies of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, two British climbers who fell to their deaths on 08 June 1924. Whether they reached the summit (almost 30 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay) has been a mystery all these years. The expedition found Mallory a few days ago, and the answer could be soon at hand, if they can locate Irvine and the duo's camera, which may contain a valuable Kodak moment. The PBS television show NOVA is filming the expedition and is posting up-to-date dispatches sent via satellite.
(06 May 1999) -
"A Clash Within A Culture"
The Nikkei community of today falls into two general groups: those who came to America in the early part of this century and their descendants, and those who have immigrated since the end of World War II. A recent article reported on the less-than-smooth interaction of these groups in the setting of a prominent cultural institution. The Immigration Act of 1924 stopped Japanese immigration to the United States. Those immigrants already in the U.S. coalesced into stable communities, which found themselves faced with new, culturally different immigrants when immigration from Japan recommenced in 1965, forty-one years later. These racially based peculiarities of American immigration policy of years past may have delayed the onset of problems that might have occurred anyway. Or were they partly to blame, in that no bridging generation exists as a result? You can read comments from the JA*Net Ties Talk e-mail list on the Clash Within A Culture page.
(05 May 1999) -
eXistenZ (Canada/UK 1999; Dir:
David Cronenberg)
Sometime in the near future, a celebrity computer game programmer (Jennifer Jason Leigh from Single White Female) becomes the target of those who believe that virtual reality is evil, and finds herself on the run accompanied by a marketing man from the company that sells her game (Jude Law from Gattaca). They escape into her game -- or should that be "further into her game"? Or is it actually her game at all? The blurred imagination-reality border is thematic ground previously covered by Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall (for which Cronenberg was a screenwriter) and, more recently, The Matrix. Canada's master of the science fiction-horror-schlock genre adds his own characteristic visceral touches, such as a placenta-like game pod with umbilical cord hookups, a gun which is made of bone and fires teeth, and mutant amphibians.
(01 May 1999) - OHSU Healthy Talks
Oregon Health Sciences University fulfils its Public Education mission in part through Healthy Talks, a series of Saturday morning talks on various topics related to the clinical care and research done by the University. This week's program was "Medical Genetics: Information Explosion". Members of the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics showed how knowledge gained from the Human Genome Project is already being used to investigate the causes and potential cures of several previously enigmatic diseases. Crucial to success in this field has been progress in the area of bioinformatics, the use of computers to analyse genetic data.A videotape of the program will be replayed several times this coming week in the evening on Portland Cable Access Channel 30.
(01 May 1999)