September 1999

Oregon Wine Country
Inspired by Conte d'automne (Autumn Tale), today I took a long-overdue visit to some of the vineyards in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
(30 September 99)
Future in Hand: Wireless Web for Palm Pilots
My OHSU medical informatics classmate Jason, an "early adopter" of Palm Pilot technology, told me about AvantGo, a company that specializes in Internet "push" technology for Palm Pilots. By sending the palm pilot webpages that are specially formatted for the small screen, it puts Internet information in the palm of your hand, when -- and more importantly, where -- you need it. Hmm, maybe I should reformat the Runker Room for Palm Pilots ...
(29 September 99)
Conte d'automne (Autumn Tale) (France 1998; Dir: Eric Rohmer)
A light comedy in the tradition of Shakespeare's As You Like It, this story takes place in sunny French wine country. A middle-aged widow (Beatrice Romand) feels lonely but is reluctant to venture far from her vineyard. Two friends (Marie Riviere, Alexia Portal) take it upon themselves to jumpstart her lovelife, separately and with different motives. The interesting characters are the women; the men are reduced to silly playthings, unwitting pawns for their various machinations. (Which isn't too far from the truth?) This is the last in director Rohmer's "Tales of the Seasons" series.
(27 September 99)
Portland Restaurants
- Southpark Seafood Grill & Wine Bar 901 Salmon St., Portland OR 97205 (503) 326-1300
  Modern decor, clean lines yet warm. Friendly, efficient service. A small sampling of the weekend brunch menu included a nice goat cheese salad and what amounted to glorified hash browns, fairly pedestrian stuff from a chef who is supposed to be one of the more imaginitive in Portland. The use of a bean paste instead of butter for the bread was interesting. I will have to try lunch and/or supper before passing judgement.
- New Seoul Garden Restaurant 10860 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton OR 97005 (503) 526-8800
  Things can turn into a bit of a carnivore-fest at this Korean barbecue house, especially if you sit at one of the tables with a cook-it-yourself built-in grill (minimum order of two meat dishes; order just one and the chef will cook the meat in the kitchen and it will be brought to your conventional table). The presentation of the kalbee is unusual: a long, thin, rolled strip of meat and a pair of scissors, with which you cut the meat to the desired size for grilling. Tasty nonetheless. My first impression of beef tongue, thinly sliced and lean, after grilling: meat chips. Muffled karaoke from the club next door can be heard over the sound of sizzling meat. As this is grand opening week, the owner, a middle-aged woman, was hovering around. By her own account, she has run successful restaurants at two other locations in Portland over the years. Three-peat?
(26 September 99)
Oregon's Nikkei Pioneers -- Determined To Succeed
Today I helped set up the new exhibit at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. It combines part of an exhibit that was once displayed at the Oregon Historical Society with new photos and biographical information about the pioneering issei who came to Oregon from Japan around the turn of the century. The exhibit will open in a couple of weeks. One of the other volunteers was a nisei woman who could name almost everybody in the archival pictures. Sugoi!
- Japanese Immigrants in Oregon
- The Hood River Issei by Linda Tamura
- Stubborn Twig; Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family by Lauren Kessler
"Oregon's Issei: Determined to Succeed" at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, 117 NW 2nd Avenue, Portland OR, until 15 January 2000. Friday and Saturday 1100 h-1500 h, Sunday 1200 h-1500 h. Admission: Free. Call (503) 224-1458 for more information.
(25 September 99)
Bridgeport Ale House 3632 Hawthorne Blvd. Portland OR (503) 233-6540
The OHSU Pathology Department marked the beginning of another academic year by having a welcoming social for the incoming residents. Like most pathology training programs, there is little interest from North Americans, so the ranks are filled with international medical graduates, this year mostly from China. A nice evening of great beer, gourmet pizza and interesting stories at one of Portland's many fine microbreweries.
Wandafuru Raifu (After Life) (Japan 1998; Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda)
I saw this young Japanese director and his fine debut feature Maboroshi (Illusion) at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1996. No sophomore jinx here, as he delivers a quiet, poignant, thought-provoking film about a week in the life of an agency that processes the newly dead for the afterlife. Each person is asked to select one memory from their life that they will be left with for eternity. For the teenage girls the task is easy -- their trip to Tokyo Disneyland. For others, videos of one's life, one tape for each year, are provided to prod one's memory ("BA-ka! A-DJA!"). Many choose gestures of kindness shown by others.
(24 September 99)
OHSU 1999 Fall Term
The Master's degree program in Medical Informatics at Oregon Health Sciences University started up this week after the summer break. I got together with some of my second year classmates at The Nag's Head, a McMenamin's Pub in the Nob Hill area, to hear summer vacation stories as well as to offer and receive words of encouragement for the thesis each of us is starting to work on. The atmosphere is cosy and quiet enough for relaxed conversation.
(23 September 99)
Koukou-sei Gundan
On a rare afternoon off today, I found myself in the shopping district of downtown Portland. Waiting for a light at one corner, I looked across and saw two Asian girls in Japanese-style high school uniforms. Strange, I thought, maybe there is a private girls' school in Portland that has adopted Japanese teaching practices. I saw another group, and another, and another, all toting shopping bags, giggling and speaking Japanese. They were everywhere -- this could have been Shinjuku! Then I realized they must have be Japanese students on a year-end school trip (the accompanying adult with the video camera was the final tipoff). In Japan, high school students often go on one last trip together after "Exam Hell" and before they go off to different universities. The trips used to be to somewhere in Japan, but now with the strength of the yen, I guess it is just as easy to go to America or Europe.
A Taste of Bali 947 SW Broadway, Portland OR 97205 (503) 224-BALI
There are a lot of regulars at this Indonesian food counter, as comments about the cashier's new haircut showed. The food is hearty, if a bit heavy-handed. Big portions for the rice dishes. I want to go back to try their noodle soups and special drinks.
Guru in Seven (Great Britain 1998; Dir: Shani Grewal)
Sanjay, a young second-generation Punjabi Briton, responds to his girlfriend leaving him by attempting to bed seven women in seven days. Despite the Porky's-like plot, the film manages to touch on some universal diaspora issues like arranged marriage, intermarriage, illegal immigration, intergenerational conflict and cultural identity. Sanjay addresses the camera directly, so we know exactly what is thinking. Sanjay's younger brother finds happiness by immigrating himself -- to Toronto! I liked the bhangra soundtrack and the hilarious Bollywood interlude, but muddy sound made the dialogue difficult to hear, and the fast-cutting, handheld camerawork left me a bit nauseated (though I saw The Blair Witch Project and didn't have a problem).
(22 September 99)
Evening Walk in Portland
I am back in Portland OR, catching my breath before the start of school:
- Portland Bridges
  River city + road traffic + river traffic = bridges. There are many spans across the Willamette, some of which are drawbridges. Each of them contends with tall watergoing vessels in a different way.
- Kell's Irish Pub 112 SW Second Ave., Portland OR 97204 (503) 227-4057
  A bit of Ireland in Portland's Old Town. There are microbrews and Guinness on tap, and behind the bar is a wall o' whiskey. Live Celtic music plays seven days a week, with an occasional impromptu bagpipe recital.
  (19 September 99)
- Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
  On the way back to Portland from Vancouver, I stopped to see the site of one of the most dramatic volcanic eruptions in modern times. From the Elk Rock Viewpoint, you can see the gray mudflow and hummocks that still fill the North Fork Toutle River valley. At the Coldwater Ridge Visitors Center, there are a number of educational displays and videos. The most dramatic sequence shows the swelling and subsequent meltdown and slide of the entire north side of the mountain, followed by the billowing cloud of the explosion. Gently abrasive lava soap is sold in the gift shop. The best view is to be had at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, at the end of the road less than 5 miles away from the volcano, from where you stare into the maw of the crater. The observatory is in the "blast zone", within which entire forests were blown down like matchsticks. Part of it was left as is, so scientists could study the effects on the ecosystem, which has recovered surprisingly quickly. Visiting here you will be impressed by nature's power, as well as its ability to regenerate.
  Volcano Review, a visitor's guide to the monument quotes a Japanese proverb: "A natural calamity will strike at about the time the terror of the last one is forgotten." ("Tensai wa wasuretakoro ni yattekuru.")
  
  Live Volcanocam
  
  Where were you when the mountain blew?
  18 May 2000
  marks the 20th anniversary of the Mt. St. Helens eruption
  
  Jake's Famous Crawfish 401 SW 12th, Portland OR (503) 226-1419
  Jake's seems to be a place Portlanders go to celebrate special times -- lots of big tables of happy people, as well as relatively private booths. A downtown landmark since 1892, the period decor is intact. The service is friendly but not cloying, attentive yet unobtrusive. The food is very good, though not great. If you've never eaten crawfish before, this is the place to have it. (Personally, those little critters are more work than their food value.) The Caesar salad is served the way it was meant to be, with the romaine lettuce leaves intact. Dessert is a high point, with a one-two punch of truffle cake and Oregon marionberry crumble. The bar seems like a fun place. They have a happy hour.
(19 September 99)
American Pie (USA 1999; Dir: Paul Weitz) 1/2
Rite of passage story about American high school kids on the cusp of graduation. Hilarious, surprisingly sensitive, even accurate at times, though there were occasional lapses into gross-out visuals and bathroom humour (but this is a teen flick, after all). Canadian Eugene Levy is great as the supportive if awkward father of one of the hormonal teens. A song by the Toronto group Barenaked Ladies is on the soundtrack. Internet technology is incorporated into the plot.
(15 September 99)
Rathtrevor Beach, Vancouver Island
This weekend I tried out this campground near Parksville BC, about two hours north of Victoria on the east shore of the Island. Popular with young families, its main attraction is the beach, sandy and full of lifeforms, with a great view of the coast mountains on the mainland across the Inside Passage. The tide goes way out -- at low tide, you can walk for half an hour to reach the water. The campground was once a family farm, operated at the turn of the century by a young single mother of five after the death of her husband. Now it is a provincial park.
Arlington Roadhouse Restaurant
Next to the highway just south of Parksville, at a distance convenient for brunch after a late morning start. The food is basic but hearty and the portions are huge -- omlettes that fill the plate and pancakes that spill over the edge. If you speak Japanese, the waitress may ask you to help expand her vocabulary. They run an inn and a pub as well.
Cowichan Native Village 200 Cowichan Way, Duncan BC Canada V9L 6P4
Just at the south end of Duncan on the banks of the Cowichan River, this is an educational centre about the history, culture and art of the Cowichan (Khowutzun = "Basking in the sun that warms your back") people.
(10-12 September 99)
Victoria Restaurants
I have not been eating out every day, but here is my take on some medium-priced restaurants around Victoria:
- The Keg 500 Fort Street, Victoria BC, (250) 386-7789
  You always know what you are getting at The Keg, at any of the national restaurant chain's outlets. Steak and fixings, done to perfection and friendly, attentive service. Not very imaginitive, but great if that is what you happen to be after. Try to get one of the window tables with what is one the better views of sunset on Victoria's Inner Harbour.
- Passero's 1102 Yates Street, Victoria BC, (250) 384-6474
  The decor makes this place feel like a taverna despite its location on the ground floor of an office building, one block from the Inner Harbour. Marinated octopus is the highlight of the menu. The rest is the usual Greek standards, -- souvlaki, moussaka, et al -- compentently if conventionally rendered. Friendly, attentive service. The owner is always on hand, asking how things are. On the wall there are photos of the exploits of the local men's soccer team sponsored by the restaurant.
- Med Grill 1010 Yates (at Vancouver St.), Victoria BC, (250) 360-1660
  The B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association calls this Victoria's 1999 Restaurant of the Year -- an overstatement, I think. It seems like the owners blew their budget on a nice-looking interior. The big place has a great atmosphere, but the food isn't all that interesting. Examples of their "West Coast cuisine with a Mediterranan flair": cream of corn soup with basil, grilled salmon with couscous. The only really new taste was the chicken polenta, vivid and spicy. Large portions, however. The service was friendly, though often forgetful. Their large outdoor patio is usable even into chilly September (if they would only remember to turn on the heaters!).
(06-07 September 99)
Miracle Beach, Vancouver Island
I used the Discover Camping telephone reservation system (1-800-689-9025) to book a campsite for the Labour Day long weekend. All of the campgrounds in the southern half of Vancouver Island were booked, so I ended up going to Miracle Beach, four hours' drive north of Victoria, on the east shore between Courtenay and Campbell River. This was a BC Parks (provincial government) campground, so firewood, water, showers, and a program of evening educational shows were all included in the daily fee. There was a beachside walk and self-guided interpretive trail through second-growth Douglas fir forest. You can draw a parallel between big trees and coral reefs -- they support the lives of many organisms other than themselves.
Mt. Washington Alpine Resort was not far away. The drive up provides a great view of the Strait of Georgia, with small islands hanging near the horizon like clouds. The downhill ski area was extensive and looked like it would be challenging. You could ride the chairlift to the top to see the great view and walk around a few short trails at the summit. I sampled 5 km of the extensive hiking around nearby Forbidden Plateau; these trails are used for crosscountry skiing in the wintertime.
All around the mountain on Sunday afternoon you could hear the sounds of Eaglefest 1, the inaugural iteration of what is to be an annual late summer concert. Aging rockers turned out in force to hear Canadian music acts of the past, like Trooper (1970s), Colin James (1980s), 54-40 (1980s), Big Sugar (early to mid-1990s) and Tom Cochrane (1980s to mid-90s).
(03-06 September 99)
1999 Victoria Fringe Festival
I took in more of Victoria's 13th annual festival of alternative theatre. Some of these shows may also be presented at Vancouver's Fringe Festival later this month:
- The Fire Guy (Montreal QC)
  This street performer drew a huge crowd by Victoria's Inner Harbour, where the two-level walkway forms a natural theatre space. His late evening time slot was perfect for his entertaining non-stop show of fire juggling and swallowing, interspersed with self-deprecating humour. He went to circus school to learn his craft and even got a flame tattoo on his chest! (Donations at the end were supposedly to go towards the cost of removing the tattoo.)
- I Might Be Edgar Allen Poe (Dawson Nichols, Seattle WA)
  An awesome one-man production (right down to the lighting and stage managing) about a psychiatric patient who has an affinity for the works of American writer Edgar Allen Poe. He brings to life stories like The Raven and The Telltale Heart as well as several entertaining non-Poe characters, such as his fellow patients, his psychiatrist and a college literature professor (We have all had one like him: "Quiet, please. I can wait. I know this material. I'm not doing this for my benefit.").
- The Spectator (Outlaw Productions, Vancouver BC)
  A one-man show about the distinction between being a fan and a spectator in the modern world of professional sports. By betting on games, a speculator denies himself the thrill of athletic achievement. John Shaw brings to life various venues where sports are viewed, including a strip club where even the dancers watch the big games, and a sports bar where we witness a nail-bitingly close Olympic gold medal ice hockey match! I thought the epilogue, in which the character finds salvation and spells out the underlying theme of the play, was unnecessary.
- Loveplay (The Weird Sisters, London UK)
  Kath Burlinson and Alison Goldie are technically flawless as they convincingly move between a wide range of characters with little more than a change of voice and posture. Proficient as this show is, it seems to lack the magical quality of last year's best-of-festival It's Uncanny. The subject matter is similar (relationships -- dating, familial, parental), but the presentation is more conventional.
(01-02 September 99)

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