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John Lindsey
24th January 2004, 21:54
http://www.californianonline.com/news/stories/20040124/localnews/287747.html

Seeing "The Last Samurai" put Mary Ikeda Otto of Salinas in touch with a grand cinematic adventure.

The Tom Cruise movie also stirred memories, being that Otto, too, is descendant of samurai.

"In the winter, when I was a girl, we'd gather around the potbellied stove," she recalled.

"My father would tell us stories of the days when his father and grandfather were samurai."

Otto, in Salinas since 1966, was an original owner of the popular Shogun Japanese Cuisine Restaurant, 216 Main St. in Oldtown Salinas.

Japanese culture surfaces in every corner of her tidy house.

It's in the artwork and in the rice and fish served in a red Japanese bowl and eaten with chopsticks. It's in the green tea steaming from delicate porcelain cups.

An aged silk scroll hangs on one wall.

Otto's formal Japanese garden is precise as a saber blade in its layout of rock, sand and bush.

"It's beautiful when it rains and the moss gets all green," she said.

Otto was born in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, in 1922. Though she never met her samurai ancestors, she inherited their values.

She inherited the family crest, too. It shows eagle feathers on twin arrow shafts. Samurai warriors wore such crests on their kimono sleeves.

The samurai, the military class, rose to prominence in feudal Japan. The "Bushido" was its code of conduct. Bushido valued, for example, honor over wealth or life.

In 1871, feudalism ended in Japan and so did privileges and status of the samurai.

Otto's great-grandfather, Niijiro Ikeda, was out of his samurai job and became a healer using herbal medicine.

Still, fixed in tradition, Bushido's values trickled down.

"I was brought up with many should not's, should do's and should be's," Otto said.

"I must not dishonor the family name or be lazy or lie."

She was to set goals and to do her best, to make eye contact when speaking, to forgive others, to make each day count.

"I should be respectful of the elderly, of my teachers and of my parents," Otto said.

Bushido stressed honesty, pride in background, humility, the value of friends, generosity, kindness, loyalty, sacrifice and honor.

Otto's father, Taira Ikeda, was raised in the Bushido way.

In 1902, when he was 19, he immigrated to Vancouver.

Several years later, his sister wrote from Japan. Her letter urged him to take a bride, a "picture bride," but one of samurai ancestry.

From Japan, Ikeda received a photo Kumi Koki.

"My father decided that, as long as Kumi Koki was brought up the Bushido way, she was good enough to marry," Otto said.

The marriage was by proxy. Kumi Koki was in Japan. Ikeda was in Canada.

It took five years for him to save enough for the one-way ticket that would bring his bride across the sea.

In 1920, the boat from Japan sailed into Vancouver harbor. Using binoculars, Ikeda scanned its deck.

When Ikeda saw his bride crossing the gangway, he admitted that he'd never seen a woman more beautiful.

He was 40. She was 25.

Yet, because he was of samurai stock and a product of Bushido values, he must be a man of integrity and compassion, Otto's mother reasoned.

Otto grew up the eldest of six children. She spoke Japanese at home.

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, her family and others of Japanese descent were rounded up and shipped to internment camps.

At the end of World War II, her mother told Otto not to mention that she was of the Shizoku, or samurai, class.

No more would there be a class distinction, her mother said. The war had made it so.

"It is good, but I hoped the Bushido ways would live forever," Otto said.

Seeing "The Last Samurai" -- she's seen it twice -- made Otto reflect again on the lessons taught by her parents and the lessons of Bushido.

The samurai way now "rests in peace," Otto said.

"The samurai's time came and went like fallen cherry blossoms," she said. "A time to bloom and a time to die."

Originally published Saturday, January 24, 2004

Ron Tisdale
27th January 2004, 15:33
"I was brought up with many should not's, should do's and should be's," Otto said.

"I must not dishonor the family name or be lazy or lie."

She was to set goals and to do her best, to make eye contact when speaking, to forgive others, to make each day count.

"I should be respectful of the elderly, of my teachers and of my parents," Otto said.

Bushido stressed honesty, pride in background, humility, the value of friends, generosity, kindness, loyalty, sacrifice and honor.

I don't know...sounds just like my middle class african american upbringing to me...maybe certain values are global...

RT

Joseph Svinth
28th January 2004, 02:47
My guess is that what was really being stressed, back in the day, was not Bushido, but Yamato damashii -- in other words, Neo-Confucian values rather than Japanese militarism.

However, to the average 21st century newspaper reader, Neo-Confucian would sound like a fortune cookie delivered from The Matrix. Also, the editor probably asked the writer to somehow link to The Last Samurai. Hence, the slant.

Earl Hartman
28th January 2004, 22:56
Judging from her name, it looks like Ms. Otto really stuck to her "bushido" values by marrying a ketou. I wonder how many revolutions per second her great-grandfather is doing in his grave?

Of course, it is pathetic, and a clear indication of how far from her roots she has inevitably strayed, that a Japanese American would "connect to her bushido values" by seeing a piece of Hollywood entertainment like "Dances With Cruise".....I mean "The Last Samurai".

That's sort of like me trying to get in touch with my Jewishness by watching "The Ten Commandments".

gmellis
28th January 2004, 23:58
Earl echoes my thoughts exactly yet again.

Having lived in Japan as long as I have and learned a thing or two, I'm going to go the politically incorrect route here and state openly my opinion that: The average Japanese-American has about as much Japanese in them as a California sushi role. I realize that people want to retouch with their roots these days and all and find a long-lost Irishman or Navajo in their blood, now that it?fs in fashion, either due to a feeling of disenchantment with the McDonalds-esque bland American hodgepodge culture (it IS a young country folks, give her time) which has tended to shed traditions, out of a need to reject American culture because of bad racial or other disenchanting experiences and to idealize and romanticize about ones ancestors' culture, or merely just genuine interest in where one comes from. Grand. That's great. It's certainly easier for a Japanese-American to trace back their origins, and many other minority groups, being as inter-racial marriage was out of the question until very recently. But if you are going to retouch with the motherland, like Earl commented, don't delve into the depths of that culture through reruns of Shogun and Dances with Samurai. How about even, oh.....I dunno, LIVING in that country of ancestral origin even a little while to see what's what, or even repeated and extended vacations to break beyond the surface. I'm sure a lot of romanticizers would gain a newfound respect for their current accommodations once they were confronted with the realities and realize how un-(enter ancestry here) they really are, instead of a little room full of trinkets from "the old world" and fanciful notions. Don't get me wrong, if those are family heirlooms, I can understand the need to preserve and cherish them, especially if they were the few remnants of items from their parents and grandparents that Japanese-Americans (or other group) protected despite losing so many assets from the prison camps (let's face it, they were prisons).
By the way, I have a child who is half Japanese and half American, and will raise her to respect both cultures, but I will say this: If you were raised in America from birth or a very young age and you hung out with kids her were mostly not from your parent's country, and you watched American TV and spoke English most of the day, and such, you are American, NOT Irish-American, or African-American, or Lithuanian-American, etc. Of course these are generalities and who knows where to draw the line exactly. Hell a person could immigrate late in life and STILL be American in values and mindset and such. I won?ft delve into that deep question now though. I had a Kenyan professor for a class on the sociology of racism and discrimination in college whom I enjoyed many a slow walk and chat with on his way back to his office; wise man he is. One day in class, he asked the few "African-Americans" what exactly it was that made them African except their ancestral roots and the color of their skin, as well as a few minor traces of fondness for strong percussion and dancing. The students were lost for words. The professor then went on that, from his perspective as an "African" and more specifically as a "Kenyan," there was very little African he could see in them from having interacted with them all semester, which embarrassed them a little (since they couldn?ft call the well-known race card on a Kenyan of all people) and for all practical purposes, their mannerisms, speech patterns, movements and belief system was entirely American. They were a bit more humble and open-minded for the rest of the semester. Sometimes I wish we had more vocal first-generations like him chime in now and then in the public to add perspective.

Now again, I have no problem with people getting in touch with their roots. Hell, I would love to visit the motherland some day, once I pin down exactly where that was. No shame in learning where we come from, just like there is no shame in learning about history. But it seems like fantasizers grasp for any romantic idealized notions about their ancestors that they can, and play down or remain ignorant of the whole picture, a picture which may or may not have been the incentive for their ancestors to leave that country to begin with. Has she returned to japan and cracked open the koseki (family registry) to know for certain that their blood has samurai in it? Because the odds of them being peasants rather than grand samurai is very low. I will add that even within the samurai cast, there were a lot of very poor and miserable samurai sub-classes as well, so odds of being from Nobunaga stock or whatnot is miniscule at best. Sorry to rain on the party, but let?fs just try to be honest and strive to see the whole picture, that?fs all I'm saying.

Earl Hartman
29th January 2004, 00:42
Hey, Greg. Well, you know, great minds and all....

I know this Japanese-American guy here at work, and he absolutely loathes Japan. He has to go there on business every now and again and he just can't stand the place. He has no interest in the culture, speaks no Japanese, and has no interest in learning. It's kind of funny talking with him.

For a while after we came back here from Japan, we would go up to San Francisco to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown. After a couple of times, my wife got bored and we stopped going. To her, it was not Japanese, it was Japanese-American, and, thus, foreign to her. She said it reeked of being a "translated" culture, and, as such, it held no interest for her, since was able to read it in the original, so to speak. Being actually Japanese, she has no need for transplanted cultural nostalgia.

But of course, as far as my wife is concerned, most young people in Japan don't really understand how to be properly Japanese any more, so it's not so strange that she would fnd the attempts of 3rd or 4th generation Japanese Amercians to reclaim their "Japaneseness" to be kind of strange.

Joseph Svinth
29th January 2004, 03:05
The Cherry Blossom festivals are mostly commercial, and the round-eyes usually do the better cultural demonstrations. Since the late 1960s, Asian American intellectuals have instead been into the Poor Pitiful Us routines. Indeed, this is one of the major theme of contemporary Asian American literature. But, if you want to have fun sometime, ask one of them why they say that it is pathetic to see hakujin trying to go Asiatic, but it's okay for Asians to dye their hair blond, eat Big Macs, and wear elevator shoes.

As for returning to my roots, I've been to Tacoma a bunch of times, and can even give a decent tour if I have to. Never gotten all misty-eyed about it, though.

Diane Mirro
30th January 2004, 16:30
So on the one hand we have all the sappy-eyed romantics longing for the Good Ol' Days when all Japanese were Samurai, all Native Americans wore eagle feathers, and all Scots played the pipes...(of course, some of you heathens would tell them to ditch the pipes...) And if you cannot find Tibetan blood in your ancestry? No problem--you can always claim to be the reincarnation of the 5th Dalai Lama...

...On the other hand we have the cynics who take potshots at anyone trying, earnestly but at times mistakenly, to recapture or preserve aspects of their cultural past...I can even agree with you here, having seen folks who had less than the 1/8th Native American blood required for legal possession of eagle feathers make their headdresses and bustles out of road-killed turkey vulture feathers...

Let's hear it for the Middle Path! It's not wrong to enjoy learning about your cultural origins, or to develop an interest in some of the trappings--whether it be the food, dances, music, arts, martial ways or other aspects. Not all of us can hop a plane--much less a time machine--to go back to where/when these endeavors are/were practiced most authentically. So, what do we do? THE BEST WE CAN. And if that means participating in a Japanese festival in America, or a Gathering of the Clans in Salado, Texas, so be it. And if some people find such activities pathetic, well, no one is forcing them to participate, right? ;)

Those of us Westerners practicing koryu arts have no right to throw stones. So what if the Japanese lady was prompted to reminisce because of the movie? My interest in the martial arts was kindled by the old Kung Fu series. Does that make it any less worthwhile than the kid whose family had a centuries-old martial tradition? In point of fact, THAT kid is LESS likely to appreciate and continue the lineage. We never fully appreciate what we have, only what we long for. As for the professor with the African students, well, all I can say is that it's no challenge for a mature, learned adult to take on a few self-conscious teenagers. The guy was a bully in my book.

So! Now that I've gotten off my soapbox, I will say what I meant to in the beginning: lighten up! Enjoy what you do, let others enjoy what they do, and realize that we all have a ton to learn. I have yet to see a perfect human. I thank you for your thought-provoking posts--may we all continue to share our views with one another.

Ron Tisdale
30th January 2004, 17:11
..."African-Americans" what exactly it was that made them African except their ancestral roots and the color of their skin, as well as a few minor traces of fondness for strong percussion and dancing.

I lived in Kenya for a year, and two things really struck me as funny. The Kenyans thought I sounded so un-african american that some had trouble not bursting out laughing...I sounded like all the white americans they knew.

I thought it funny that they all sounded like they were british.

The fact is, in many cases, it is indeed difficult to make a case for a strong influence from Africa remaining in mainstream 'african american' culture. But of the things mentioned above...are they not enough? Is there anything about them that means those students should not recognize their ancestors' continent in their chosen group name?

And more importantly, why would this recognition irk anyone not immediately concerned? Including someone from the continent which (albeit without full knowledge of the consequences, and in many cases not willingly) participated in the diaspora.

In my opinion, many in Africa should be, and are, grateful for the recognition.

And my thanks to Diane Mirro and her post.

Ron (though I think Greg had some very insightful points) Tisdale

Earl Hartman
30th January 2004, 18:31
I have no objection whatsoever to anyone trying to "find their roots" or whatever you want to call it. Everybody does it in one way or another all the time (And I certainly hope the Scots never let go of their pipes. I absolutely loves me some bagpipes, man. And good Scots whisky? Fuhgeddaboutit. Haggis, OTOH.....)

I just found it funny that the woman in queston had to wax all nostalgic about her samurai past by watching a ridiculous piece of trumped-up Hollywood crapola entertainment made by a bunch of white guys to showcase the story of a white guy finding something worth living for in Ye Olde Mytique East since his own country was so bereft of spititual values. I mean, the movie was a crock. Like I said, can you imagine a similar article about a Jewish woman who had gotten all misty-eyed after seeing Charlton Heston split the Red Sea and a reporter getting all breathless about all of the Jewish memorabilia she had in her house? Oh, look, it's a mezuzah! How ethnic and exotic!

Like I said, clealry the woman has strong feelings about her Japanese heritage. Excellent. More power to her. This feeling waxes strongest when the person in question feels that he or she has lost, or is in the process of losing, that heritage. As a Japanese-American, the woman has may avenues for learning about or recovering that heritage: language lessons, flower arranging, all sorts of cultural pursuits, etc. Instead, she watches piece of pop culture ephemera like Dances With Cruise. That's like me watching "Annie Hall" and then going to a "kosher-style" (but not really kosher) deli to eat a hot pastrami on rye. If I want to be Jewish, I can keep kosher, keep the Sabbath, study Talmud, and send my kids to yeshiva. If I want to feel nostalgic about being Jewish, I can read "Portnoy's Complaint".

As a white American, I cannot know anything about how that woman feels about her Japaneseness. I just find it a little ironic that she would seek to relate to it via an American movie about an American in Japan. It seems to me that there ought to be better ways to do it.

Also, I do not practice martial arts so that I can understand "the soul of Japan", whatever that might be. Originally, that may have been so, but I got over that. As an outsider, there is simply no way that I will ever be able to relate to Japanese things the way a Japanese would, or feel the same kind of feeling of cultural ownership towards Japanese things a Japanese American, desperate to maintain some connection to the Old Country, might.

To that I say: so what?

This is, actually, an extremely intersesting question: should you practice the budo as a Japanese cultural pursuit, or should you practice budo as budo, believeing that there is something in the budo that transcends nationality?

Discuss.

Cady Goldfield
30th January 2004, 19:12
What Earl said. Yeah. I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with Earl!

BTW, although I thought that both the article and the movie were a nostalgic crock, I loved the movie's cinematograpny and butt kickin'. And the shots of the 1,000-year-old temple, authentic carpentry in the village repro work, etc.

Diane Mirro
30th January 2004, 19:41
...I do not allow anyone to "should" on me. Nor do I "should" on myself (or anyone else, for that matter)--that is the quickest way to get all hung up on self-doubt, recriminations, second guessing and misery trying to please others.

I practice my art for the simple reason that I enjoy it, it intrigues/challenges/fascinates me. I do not have to answer to ANYONE for it--except myself. Nor do you have to answer to anyone unless you choose to. But make sure you make your choices for the right reasons--not because you think you "should" do something.

Ron Tisdale
30th January 2004, 19:46
No arguement from me Earl. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I do have one problem with it. Someone I know who is also JA (sansei) and is pretty divorced from Japanese culture (except for aikido) was also pretty caiught up in it. Frankly, from what I've read about the inaccuracies etc., I think he makes way too much of it.

I think I enjoy aikido both as a cultural assest and as a budo...I'm not sure the two are mutually exclusive. My two pence, anyways...

Ron

Earl Hartman
30th January 2004, 20:07
The movie is OK, but it is what it is: a romantic fantasy made to appeal to a mass audience that has certain preconceptions about Japan.

I saw it, and it could have been a lot worse. As my wife said, for a movie about Japan made by Americans, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Still, my interest in things Japanese started with seeing too many movies when I was a kid, so I suppose I shouldn't be too judgmental. However, this is the sort of thing in which teenagers indulge, and you can forgive them because, well, they're young and stupid. I just hope that anyone, regardless of whether or not they had samurai ancestors, who develops an interest in budo from seeing the movie will eventually come to understand things a little more deeply.

Ron Tisdale
30th January 2004, 20:14
preconceptions

:) Sure you didn't mean 'mis-conceptions'? :)

Earl Hartman
30th January 2004, 20:25
No, preconceptions is good enough. Perhaps most preconceptions are misconceptions, but the two are not necessarily synonomous.

Ron Tisdale
30th January 2004, 20:32
Darn...now I'm thinking about set theory...Darn....!

:)

Jack B
30th January 2004, 21:10
The technical inaccuracies don't particularly bother me. It's a movie for heaven's sake. The only thing I fault The Last Samurai for is that they were so proud of their subtlety that they hit you on the head with it to make sure you don't miss it. Notwithstanding, I am so glad they underplayed the romance. I could feel the temptation to drop open a kimono here or there, and to their credit they passed up the opportunities. It was trite, to us, but I liked it.

Earl, what's wrong with reminiscing about the times that never were? I still like Fiddler on the Roof -- my mom used to tell me it was the story of our family. Sort of... turns out Zayde was a middle-class business owner from Belaya-Tserkov, which is more of a nice suburb with a two-story synagogue covering a city block. Not a milk farm. But they did have to live in the Pale, and they sent three sons away to Romania to keep them from being taken for the Russian Army's front lines, and they did all have to leave and rendezvous in America.

We really don't have a right to judge what emotions should be aroused in someone else when they see a work of art, cheesy or not, that showcases some of the ideals of her ancestral culture.

Neil Yamamoto
30th January 2004, 21:20
John- feel free to delete if you get too many complaints.

Well, in my own attempts to discover my Japanese roots, I’ve discovered my proud samurai ancestry really probably consisted of one of the survivors of the siege of Tottori castle who fled down the country to the Okayama area and took up “Farming.” Read- killed the people on the land and claimed it as their own. Amazing how many families in the area all settled there to take up “farming” about the same time.

So, yesterday, to honor my ancestors and their traditions, I dressed up in my kimono, hakama, waraji sandals, put my katana in a pool cue case and went for a walk down the street until I found a house that looked pretty good to me. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it had been recently remodeled. So, I tied my sleeves back with my tasuke, pulled the sword out of the bag and knocked on the door. When the resident answered the door, I immediately pulled her out the door, drew my blade and cut her head off, being careful to not get blood on my new house. I then went in and discovering she had an elderly mother and father with her, I killed them as well, but with respect and kindness for the elderly, and I wept at how sad life can be.

As I moved the bodies, I noticed the woman had on a wedding ring. This meant I had one more action to take. Once the bodies were moved and the blood cleaned from the walkway, I had time to kill. (so to speak) This gave me plenty of time to take all their possesions for which I had no use and to bag them up so the local charity. I prefer NW community services for the blind BTW, so they could come by and put the clothes and furniture not to my taste to good use for those who can not provide for themselves in society.

Then I waited until her husband came home and when he parked his car, I immediately was there to slam the door of his Ford Explorer against his leg and disable him. I then I allowed him to commit seppuku since he was of Japanese ancestry! He confessed to being of peasant origins, but I was feeling benevolent, so I still allowed him the honor of a samurai death! I performed the actions of a kaishakunin properly, unlike the shameful events with the seppuku of Mishima-san, and ensured his head did not roll away by cutting perfectly to leave a small strip of flesh intact with my cut.

Once I had buried the bodies in the backyard, (hard work but a samurai never shirks away from hard work!) I then mounted his head so my girlfriend could join me in a viewing ceremony later that evening.

I then had a moving company pack up and deliver my belonging to my new household. I then invited my friend and family over to share in my good fortune! A samurai must be willing to take care of his family and his fortunes are theirs. My parents well somewhat shocked by my actions- forgivable, they have somewhat become corrupted by western values- but they wept with joy when they understood I had reconnected with my Japanese heritage as they drove away in their new Ford Explorer.

Yes, it is truly a great thing to discover your family heritage. It is somewhat ironic that it took an American movie to make me see what I had been missing all these years. Perhaps I shall buy the movie when it comes out on DVD and watch it on my new Japanese made big screen television.

Ron Tisdale
30th January 2004, 21:29
Neil, that was priceless!

:) John, please don't delete that!

RT

Earl Hartman
30th January 2004, 21:32
Originally posted by Jack B
Earl, what's wrong with reminiscing about the times that never were?

Ummmmm.....because they never were, maybe?

Speaking of waxing nostalgic, a guy I know, a religious Israeli, went to see The Ten Commandments, and found the whole thing so funny that he couldn't help but laugh out loud. A woman sitting in front of him got all irate, and, assuming that he was an anti-Semite or something, turned around and hissed "If you're going to make fun of my culture, please do it somewhere else!"

Somehow, that speaks volumes to me.

Besides, people judge things all the time. That's how we get through life. My point is that with all of the authentic Japanese culture that is available, it seems a shame that some people choose to use pop entertainment to vicariously relate. It just seems sad. But, like I said, perhaps from small acorns mighty oaks may grow.

Anyway, I don't know about you, but Anatevka is the LAST place I would want to live.

Anyway, like you said, it's just a movie. That's sort of my whole point.

Ben Bartlett
30th January 2004, 21:39
Originally posted by Ron Tisdale
Neil, that was priceless!

:) John, please don't delete that!

RT
I second that. At least I've had one good laugh for today. Thanks Neil!

Cady Goldfield
30th January 2004, 21:48
Originally posted by Jack B
Earl, what's wrong with reminiscing about the times that never were? I still like Fiddler on the Roof -- my mom used to tell me it was the story of our family. Sort of... turns out Zayde was a middle-class business owner from Belaya-Tserkov, which is more of a nice suburb with a two-story synagogue covering a city block. Not a milk farm. But they did have to live in the Pale, and they sent three sons away to Romania to keep them from being taken for the Russian Army's front lines, and they did all have to leave and rendezvous in America.

My father's parents really did come from a shtetl in the Pale of Russian Ukraine that was just like Anetevka in Fiddler.
Of course, watching the movie or play I have to remind myself that in my grandparent's ghetto shtetl of Yenishpalya, they just didn't break out into singing-dancing numbers at the drop of a hat, and the pogroms were much worse than the Rated PG Disney one shown in Fiddler.

I suspect that any Japanese person watching Last Samurai would be reminding him/herself that samurai didn't charge into battle with swords drawn, or take multiple huge, blood-splatting, gut-ripping bullets from a Gatling gun and then be able to carry on a conversation. :D

Cady Goldfield
30th January 2004, 21:52
Neil,
You couldn't have done a better reverse-cultural assimilation job than that, even if you were John Belushi!

:toast:

Earl Hartman
30th January 2004, 22:54
Neil:

You didn't mention if they had a good selection of single malts.

ghp
31st January 2004, 04:11
You didn't mention if they had a good selection of single malts. Neil, tell Earl about the new single-malt you found. (I'm still waiting :D

I agree with Cady, your reverse-cultural dig was priceless. I get to see the similar actions every year during the Highland Gatherings -- all sorts of "brigadoonery" that never happened in historic Scotland (been there, done that. Was soundly laughed at!! :laugh: ) Errr, my "historic Scotland" quip refers to pre-1820, pre Walter Scott pagentry -- back when highlanders were actually viewed as dirty, ignorant, flea-infested boors by those in Edinburgh. The same way that Americans still view the mountain people of Appalachia. [I'm not saying that view is justified -- I'm just stating that is the prevailing opinion, even amongst educated people.]

Oh .... and Jack:
what's wrong with reminiscing about the times that never were? Have you ever attended an SCA gathering? There you'll find the answer! You'll discover all sorts of well-meaning people acting out their versions of the "Middle ages as it should have been." Trouble is .... that ain't how it was. Harmless? Yes. Fun? Yes. Historic? No. [caveat: there are some very learned and skilled amature historians & craftspeople amongst the SCA]

Cheers,
Guy

Joseph Svinth
31st January 2004, 07:58
Neil --

So, is the new place in Capitol Hill or Queen Anne?

It can't be Delridge, as Ginsu knives don't usually work as well as advertised on Samoans. It wasn't White Center, either, as you didn't mention anything about the pit bull or the meth lab. Nor was it Medina, because you said the guy drove a Ford. It wasn't Rainier, because you know what they do to Asian guys in skirts in that part of town.

Thus, my thinking Capitol Hill or Queen Anne.

Neil Yamamoto
31st January 2004, 08:39
Well, I'm glad you guys enjoyed my lunchtime drivel.

Joe, the new place is actually by Green Lake, remember, I said I walked there. :)

Joseph Svinth
31st January 2004, 09:45
I forgot about Green Lake.

Yes, it's a neighborhood your parents might go, if only to get their new Ford Bronco. Had you gone the other way, however, toward Lake City Way, then probably they would have wanted it delivered. Roger Sale once wrote that living around Green Lake between the wars was about as close to bliss as one gets in Seattle, but I have never heard anyone say that about Lake City Way.