July 1999

  • Cultural Concerns
    Dominic Hasek, all-star goaltender of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres announced today that he will end his North American professional hockey career after the 1999-2000 season, at the age of 34. Worried that his children, 9 and 4 years old, are not learning their heritage language and culture while in the US, he will forgo the last year of his contract so that they can grow up in the Czech Republic. He also cited his discomfort with the intense media attention his talented performance has drawn over the past few years. I doubt if similar thoughts crossed the mind of my father when my sister and I were small. Research scientists do not earn $7 million per year, nor do they have to deal with the pressures of celebrity. But perhaps they should -- and what if they did?
    (29 July 99)

  • Hideous Kinky (UK/France 1998; Dir: Gillies McKinnon) ***
    A single mother (Titanic's Kate Winslet), wanting to learn about Islam, moves to Morocco with her two young daughters in tow. They are befriended by a local man, who tries to be a good provider, but is thwarted by his past. Apparently going to Morocco was the thing for counterculture Brits to do in the 1970s. The daughters are more mature and responsible than their free spirit mother, and serve as her stabilizing influence. The film has some rich images of Moroccan markets and the countryside.
    (26 July 99)

  • Tahsis Tyee
    This weekend I went with a couple of Nanaimo friends to the fishing community of Tahsis, on Nootka Sound*, on the Pacific Ocean side of the north end of Vancouver Island. I put my account of our day on my Tahsis page.
    * Close to Gold River, where 123 Chinese migrants were apprehended last week while attempting to illegally enter Canada on a rickety unmarked boat.
    (24-25 July 99)

  • L'ecole de la chair (School of Flesh) (France 1998; Dir: Benoit Jacquot) ***
    In a French twist on the usual May-September relationship, well-to-do 40-ish fashion executive Dominique (Isabelle Huppert of Madame Bovary) takes up with Quentin (Vincent Martinez), a young street hustler. She tries to control her boy toy with money. He controls her with his attention. After a too-brief interlude in Morocco, it is back to Paris for more power struggles, before the inevitable conclusion. The story is based on Nikutai no gakko, a novel by Yukio Mishima. While the action is transposed to France, there are Japanese elements in the decor of Dominique's apartement (paper lanterns, calligraphy), the take-out sushi they eat, and the Japanese restaurant they visit.
    (22 July 99)

  • Sunset Kayak
    Tonight I went with a high school friend to the open house of Ocean River Sports at their new rental location on Harbour Road. We enjoyed complimentary burgers and a free paddle in one of their Current Designs kayaks. On Wednesdays and Fridays, they will rent you a kayak for the entire evening for just $20 (taxes included -- a big deal in Canada!). They also offer a range of tours and instructional courses, including an Assistant Guide Training Course, which covers group leadership, navigation, risk management, radio skills, safety and technical skills, all in preparation for the Assistant Guide exam. With the increase in ecotourism, there is a demand for qualified kayaking guides. If you like kayaking and working with people, guiding would be a good way to earn some extra money while having fun!

    Afterwards, we went for a beer to Spinnakers Pub, which has a great view of Victoria's Inner Harbour, with the Washington's Olympic Mountains in the distance. Their pale ale tasted thinner than I remember. Their stout was good, though -- full flavour with coffee notes.

    My friend is the editor of Monday Magazine, Victoria's free alternative weekly newspaper, which covers some important issues not dealt with by the mainstream press. Unfortunately you cannot read any of the stories at their website, since the Canadian courts are deliberating whether newspapers and magazines have the right to distribute writers' work electronically after the paper version of the publication is issued.
    (22 July 99)

  • Central Station (Brazil/France 1999; Dir: Walter Salles) ****
    This touching, unconventional buddy picture brings together a street-smart 9-year-old boy and an aging former schoolteacher. After the death of the boy's mother, the unlikely pair go off in search of his father. I enjoyed the travelogue aspect of this film, as we see Brazil through the window of a bus, from Rio de Janiero to the new rural settlements at "the end of the world", the site of a pilgrimage scene straight out of Le Notte di Cabiria (The Nights of Cabiria). The story keeps you guessing and the performances are strong. Fernanda Montenegro makes the not-quite-completely-hardened Dora likeable, despite her questionable morals. (She makes her living in Rio de Janiero's Central Station by writing letters for illiterate passersby, but doesn't mail them. One of the best parts of the film is the opening sequence, in which a parade of the faces of Brazil's people dictate their messages.) Japan's Kinema Junpo was involved in the production of this film, but there isn't even one Nikkei Brazil-jin character.
    (20 July 99)

  • Usa outta here!
    I am working today at the Victoria General Hospital, one of two sites in Victoria served by the Capital Health Region pathologists. About 500 to 600 rabbits make their home on the grounds of the hospital, which is on the outskirts of the city. They are mostly the wild population that was here originally, supplemented by abandoned pets and the fact that they breed like, well, rabbits. The CHR made local headlines last week, when it announced that it would begin shooting the bunnies. Though the furry friends are popular with the pediatric patients, they burrow holes, chew wires, block ducts and leave potentially disease-laden droppings that CHR spokespeople say can be tracked into the hospital by the shoes of staff and visitors. I wonder what is for lunch in the cafeteria?
    usagi = Japanese for "rabbit"; diminutive = "usa-chan"
    (20 July 99)

  • Such A Long Journey (Canada/UK 1998; Dir: Sturla Gunnarsson) ****
    In 1970s Bombay, family man and banker Gustad Noble (Roshan Seth) finds his life falling apart. People are using the wall outside his apartment building as a public restroom, his college-age son is rebelling, his little daughter has contracted malaria and his wife has fallen under the influence of the witch upstairs. On top of all this, he is being drawn into a spy mystery and war with Pakistan is about to be declared. Based on the award-winning novel by Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry. Great performances, although the village idiot role was a bit over the top. The gold-hued flashbacks to Gustad's more prosperous past work well, particularly the one involving the chicken. Visually rich location shots from India. Memorable quotes (all belonging to the street artist character): "Problems start when we look for permanence." "Religion, prayer -- as long as it helps, what does it matter?" "Fate is the script of the gods."
    (19 July 99)

  • Nitinaht Novice: Windsurfing on Vancouver Island
    Windsurfers on Nitinaht Lake
    None of these is me
    This weekend my Nanaimo friends took me camping to Nitinaht Lake, on the west side of Vancouver Island, about one hour's drive from Duncan BC.
    (17-18 July 99)

  • Ba Mua (Three Seasons) (Vietnam/USA 1999; Dir: Tony Bui) ****
    Four stories of modern Vietnam:

    • A woman working as a lotus flower harvester becomes a scribe for the poet master of the garden's temple, who has lost his fingers to leprosy. He dictates but one poem before deciding he has said all he has to say. Meanwhile in the city, sales of real lotus flowers suffer as people take a liking to the modern convenience of plastic flowers.
    • A cyclo (bicycle taxi) driver woos a prostitute, who wants desperately to join the air-conditioned world of the Europeans and Americans. This one is part Mona Lisa, part Phantom Menace and part Catcher in the Rye.
    • A street urchin loses his briefcase of trinkets, on which he depends for his livelihood. Little budding capitalist that he is, he refuses to respond to the attentions of a female counterpart until he finds it.
    • An American ex-marine (Harvey Keitel) returns to meet and reconcile with the daughter he left behind at the end of the Vietnam War.

    Some beautiful images. You can almost feel the heat of a Saigon day and the cool relief of the nighttime.
    (14 July 99)

  • My Name Is Joe (Scotland 1998; Dir: Ken Loach) ****
    The story of Joe (Peter Mullan), a 37-year-old recovering alcoholic who meets Sarah (Louise Goodall), a heart-of-gold social worker in a downtrodden part of Glasgow. Joe slips back into his old ways, severely challenging the strength of their relationship. Strong performances all round -- gritty and very realistic. The North American distributor of this film saw fit to add subtitles. They come in handy on occasion, even if the Scottish accents aren't as thick as in Trainspotting. "Tadger", however, wasn't translated! ;-)
    (12 July 99)

  • Chemainus (Chimunesu) BC
    I stopped by this little town on the way back to Victoria today.
    (11 July 99)

  • Nanaimo BC
    I visited with some friends from medical school and internship who are now general practitioners in Nanaimo. They don't need to own a recreational property -- they live in a holiday area! We went sea kayaking from their backyard and enjoyed a barbeque that featured locally caught oysters, Dungeness crab and part of a 25-pound salmon.
    (10-11 July 99)

  • Millennium Quarters
    I have encountered some new coins since coming back to Canada. To celebrate the end of the millennium, the Canadian Mint is issuing the Millennium Series, a special quarter for every month of 1999. July's quarter celebrates Canadian cultural diversity.
    (09 July 99)

  • The Dreamlife of Angels (La Vie Revee des Anges) (France 1998; Dir: Erik Zonca) ****
    Wanderer Isa (Elodie Bouchez) and angry Marie (Natasha Regnier) meet, move in together and experience life. Almost every scene has at least one person smoking a cigarette! Similar to One Sings, The Other Doesn't, but with a narrower timeframe and better execution.
    (08 July 99)

  • Canadian Tax Dollars At Work: Public Libraries
    I have been spending evenings after work at the McPherson Library at the University of Victoria, researching a term paper and perusing their impressive collection of computing and data management journals. (The library at the Royal Jubilee Hospital is also well stocked, with health care management periodicals.) This alone could have been a reason to come up to Victoria! Some journals I have found particularly helpful:

    There is an elderly bearded homeless man with wild hair who stores his belongings in the library's study area and comes to retrieve them with a shopping cart every night at closing time. I have overheard some of his conversations with the other students, and he seems quite articulate, reasonable and ... sane. I wonder who he is? A former grad student? A retired professor?
    (05-08 July 99)

  • Island Summer
    I am back in Victoria to do a one-month pathology locum (temporary position) providing summer replacement help to the Department of Laboratory Services of Victoria's Capital Health Region. I had a day before starting and was able to do a few things:

    • Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
      In the Victoria city guide I read that the AGGV has a large collection of Japanese art. If they do, it was in storage. The focus at this time is China, with some ancient carved amber pieces and some photographs from a rural part of China. Outside in the gallery garden, though, there is a small Shinto shrine that was brought over from Japan. The kami-sama must feel a bit disoriented.
    • Whales (USA 1996; Dir: David Clark)
      Incredible footage of cetaceans in their natural habitat, mainly gray whales off the West Coast of North America. I saw this film at the IMAX theatre in the Royal British Columbia Museum. The big screen format lets one appreciate the size of these creatures.
    • The Bent Mast 512 Simcoe, Victoria BC
      I have been told this pub, a short walk from the downtown core, is popular with the local residents. If so, it must be for the beer and (on days warmer than today) the patio. The food definitely doesn't qualify as a drawing card. According to the menu, their clam chowder is served only "as availablity of ingredients allow" -- which, from the taste of it, just means whether there is a store-bought can in the kitchen cupboard.
    (04 July 99)

  • Crescent Beach
    Crescent Beach is a popular beach close to the southern Vancouver suburb of White Rocks, one of many beaches in the greater Vancouver area. It is a nice place to explore the intertidal zone, windsurf, or just stroll. Benches along the walkway have dedication plaques to the deceased who enjoyed the area in life, with touching messages from their families.

    In the evening, I boarded a BC Ferry and was treated to a beautiful sunset during the crossing to Vancouver Island.
    (03 July 99)

  • Rushmore (USA 1999; Dir: Wes Anderson) **
    A high school geek becomes involved in a love triangle with a young teacher at the school and an industrialist school benefactor (Bill Murray). The story is slow moving, and none of the characters are all that engaging. With his compulsive over-involvement in extracurricular clubs at the expense of his studies, the student reminded me of "somebody" from my high school days.
    (02 July 99)

  • Hi, Karate
    I must admit I know next to nothing about karate, the Okinawan martial art. My friend Dave C. has joined the local dojo that his young kids attend in Vancouver. On this rainy Saturday morning, I joined him for one of the one-hour sessions he attends three times a week. The first part was "Cardio Karate", something like Tae Bo, with lots of high-speed punching and kicking. Next, one of the instructors led us through some technique practice with basic kata (punches, kicks and blocks), pushups and situps. Then we did some strength building by punching and kicking some heavy punching bags. Finally, more pushups and situps. Quite a workout! Enjoyable, too, for the social and skill acquisition aspects.
    (02 July 99)

  • Happy Canada Day! Today is a national holiday in the Great White North, where I am headed today for some summer work. There's an update at the Nikkei Nexus
    (01 July 99)

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