Packing....

...on my way to my California Tour 2008!  I leave tomorrow, and can't wait!  I am leaving John and Gunner and Deuce Fishalo Fish Gigolo (our beta) for Thanksgiving and am feeling very guilty about this.  John already has about 6 invitations to various holiday parties without me.  I've also heard him make secret plans to have Guitar Hero parties with his friends which will involve beer, pizza boxes and couch-sleeping.  

It's about 70 degrees today which is a great deal colder than it has been (November?  I thought it was still August.) I'm looking forward to a crisp clear San Francisco trip and am packing accordingly.  Can't wait to see all my friends and family!

The Power of Words

In 1971, Archie Bunker lit up television screens with what would now be seen as shocking political incorrectness.  His views stemmed from his experience, from his hard life, from what he knew. He was liked by audiences - thought of as a decent man, if not somewhat misguided.  A product of his times.  

Watching "All In The Family now," in 2008 - the jokes don't even seem that funny.  We've left that dialog behind... it doesn't resonate. From the Greatest Generation to the Boomer Generation, to Generation X, Y, Z (Can't we do something noteworthy already?) the discriminatory language and animosity against other races has faded.  Political correctness has won the day.

And everyone makes fun of political correctness, but I'll tell you what I think it's brought.  It allowed a black man to receive 62 Million votes today.  9/10 people polled at the booths said "race is not an issue".  How is that for the power of kitchen table conversation?  Because my parents and their parents would not tolerate racism or any talk resembling racism in their homes, my brothers and sisters and I didn't blink at the thought of electing a black president. And because millions of other homes around the country did the same, we've made a seismic shift in less than half a century.

Only 40 years after MLK was shot. Whether you voted for him or not, that is something that should give us pride.

Halloween

The Japanese kids LOVE the trick or treat holiday. Oh boy.  With pitch perfect English, these midget pumpkinheads and witches would ask "Trick or Treat?" and say "Thank you!" Not a one needed to be prompted on the "thank you." So adorable. So very wee. 

From what I understand, Okinawans don't celebrate Halloween, but because there are so many Americans here, the kids get into the spirit. Not every one of the houses in my neighborhood were giving out candy last night, but apparently word got out that C-17 (ours) was flinging bags of M&M's like it was goin' out of style (and we were).  At about 6:30 pm, I had to leave to pick up John from the office.  I walked over to my car in the driveway, and out of no where comes a pack of two-wheeling 5 year olds, biking past all the other condos, then promptly flinging their bikes on our doorstep and furiously knocking on our door.  They didn't even notice that the mistress of the house was standing 5 feet from them.  The word on the street was "C-17's got the goods!" and that's all they needed to hear.   

After several rounds of this dance (me trying to escape my own driveway, then going back in to get candy) I finally got John and we went to Gordie's for the evening.  Gordie's is a hamburger joint in the neighborhood run by a lovely Okinawan couple. It's pure 1950's hawaii, complete with surfboards and palm leaves.  Limited menu, but the best onion rings in town. Even some of the tables are made from 1950's school desks.  You can count on hearing the Beatles, Elvis or oddly Jack Johnson (Okinawans are obsessed with Jack Johnson, it seems).  John had arranged to have Gordie's play Ju-on, the Japanese version of the Horror movie "The Grudge".  They have an outside deck complete with projector and huge screen.  It felt like we were at a drive in.

The scariest part of all was the bats.  They flew overhead the entire movie.  I'm always afraid one is going to dive-bomb me. Two nights ago we were standing underneath a giant tree just infested with bats.  We had flash lights, and we would try to illuminate them.  They are more monkey than bird - they have these creepy little hands that climb through the branches like monkeys, trying to find the perfect branch for upside-down hanging. Up close their faces even resemble frightful little monkeys, with blonde goatees that stick straight up when they sleep upside down. How fun to have a Halloween complete with herds of bats flying overhead!

Happy Halloween!  I tried to carve an elaborate pirate pumpkin and it ended up as pumpkin soup.  Oh well. 

John got a defense verdict this week!  Yeah!  He's so much fun to watch... I try to go to his trials when I can.  I feel like I'm back working in a law firm, sizing up the jury, etc. 

I finished this session of bootcamp today - 5lbs and 3 inches trimmer.  It is still 85 degrees here if you can believe it.  I am just so excited to come home for Thanksgiving.  

Protests

I'm reading this book - Blowback, by Chalmers Johnson, a UCSD professor (although I never had him).  Prophetically written just prior to 9/11, its title refers to CIA terminology for the unintended consequences of secret American foreign policy actions. Interestingly for me personally, a large portion of the book talks about Okinawan and the continued American military presence on this island. I'm not sure if I've expressed it in previous posts, but Okinawans are not Japanese. Their history includes Chinese colonization, then Japanese, then American, (it actually became part of America from '45-'72), then America "gave" it back to Japan.  That's fairly recent. That's Watergate recent. 

Without going into Dr. Johnson's entire thesis, I found as I was reading that his account of Okinawa and their feelings towards the US Military to be a little.... extreme.  He details a deep seated resentment by the Okinawans (and many mainland Japanese) at our foreign policy and it's implications for their country. He warns that the results of this resentment have been, time and time again, a blowback, or some form of terrorist attack on American interests. (like I said, pretty prophetic that it was written just prior to 9/11.)  Still, his inclusion of Okinawans in the book seemed so extreme to me.  The Okinawans are lovely people.  Sure, I can't converse that well with them, but they always greet me with a smile when I run into them on the street.  I haven't noticed any outright hostility.  Sure, there are some restaurants that shoe us out, pointing to signs that say "no Americans."  And some of the places we do like to go definitely give us the cold shoulder and bad tables. There are the hand-painted wooden signs in our neighborhood that say "No more Sunabe Airbase." And obviously when the alleged attack of the young girl by the Marine happened several months ago, the island was pretty hostile to Military.

All in all, I think it's really easy for the military to live in a bubble as to how our hosts really feel about us. After all, it is the Japanese government, not the Okinawans that have acquiesced to our residual bases here. The word on the street is that Japan relies on us for safety in the treacherous Asian continent, what with Kim Jon Il, et al. Although,  Johnson really refutes that theory as a cover for our own interests.

Yesterday, I was driving home from the gym, and as I crossed out of the Kadena gate, I noticed large film crews filming cars as we exited the base, and a good sized mob of protesters, all Okinawan/Japanese.  The signs were in Kanji, and I could not read them. I presume that they were not protesting Johnny's Used Cars, which is located across the street from Kadena AFB, but rather the base itself.  No info on the news about this protest (the only English TV we get is AFN, provided by the military, and not likely to cover a protest to our base). Japanese TV may have had a story, but I really can't understand Japanese enough to get much from it.

What is my point?  I'm not quite sure. Much of the point of Blowback was that it was the result of SECRET foreign policy actions taken by our government (in our name). Like our role in the coup of Mossadegh in Iran.  Like arming the Taliban in the 80's.  The secret part is key.  But it does not have to be a deliberate secret. An ignorant population has the same effect as a secretive government. I did not even know that we had military bases in Japan until my husband's job dragged me into the middle of it, nor did pretty much anyone I know.  There are thousands and thousands of Americans on this island. An island the size of Los Angeles... U.S. bases take up one fifth of it.  So maybe it's not that US foreign policy is secret - the information is out there for those who search.  But these protests are not on the news.  As an American citizen and a military wife, I am interested in knowing why my neighbors are upset. And yet, I can't seem to find out the details of this protest directed at one of our bases. But I think I can make a guess.

Just trying to make sense of it all.

Takashimaya

So, certain readers have complained recently about my lack of bloggage. I have no one to blame but myself.  Those of you who know me... (and lets get real, the only people who read this blog are my father, mother in law and father in law.  And George.  Hi George.) ... those of you who know me, know that I can be focused to a fault.  These days, graduate school is sucking up the majority of my focus, which also entails a ton of political reading, and then, naturally the election which is driving me insane.  My poor overworked husband is not home enough to distract me out of this hole, so I'm left here stewing in my own juices.  The jewelry biz has also been taking a lot of time.  We put together a really great photo shoot last month, and I will be posting the photos on the Jib & Genoa site soon. Lord knows that the first thing to go in a bad economy is JEWELRY, so we'll see how long we can stay afloat. 

So speaking of jewelry, I realized that I never posted Tokyo photos other than the Mt. Fuji ones.  The second day we were in Tokyo, we stopped by Takashimaya, the Japanese department store that carries our jewelry.  

Takashimaya is like a Neiman Marcus only much bigger.  I'd compare it to Harrod's of London, and they have many many stores around the world.  They are one of our biggest customers. 

We even made it into their Christmas catalog last year!

Lauren and I were milling around the jewelry section, looking for remnants of our jewelry (they had ordered for Holiday '07, so if they had anything left, I figured it would be in a sale bin.)  Very shortly thereafter, I spotted the Jib & Genoa case.  I was so excited to see it, and Lauren said I should snap a photo.  I know that most department stores forbid photography, but I thought I'd take a shot.  In my broken Japenglish, I asked one of the shopgirls if I could take a photo.  She politely declined my request.  So then I said "I am the designer" trying to tell her that I'm only taking a photo of my own pieces.  Meanwhile, I couldn't have looked less stylish.  I'm pretty sure I was wearing a beanie, a baggy t-shirt and baggy jeans not in an interesting, Kate Moss sort of way.  There is no way she's going to buy that I am a designer.

WELL.  She just about fainted.  She starting waving her hands around and putting them over her mouth.  Then she told another shopgirl and that one put her hand over her stomach and her heart and started smiling and giggling. Then those two go tell two more shopgirls and they are literally freaking out. Yammering to each other putting the back of their hands to their foreheads.  thankfully, they composed themselves long enough for me to take a photo.

Meanwhile, Lauren, who has the most infectious laugh you've ever heard, is laughing hysterically at this ridiculous gaggle of Japanese girls who are freaking out because I am an actual designer and clearly look like a fool.  It was the most embarrassing and flattering moment that I can recall.  

I think I should get a videographer and just go around to clothing stores here and tell people I am the designer of this or that, and just film them freaking out.  I love Japanese people. 

I am counting the days till I get to go home for the holidays.  I am craving some heirloom tomatoes from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.  It's odd how you can miss certain types of produce.  Daikon radishes and bitter mellon just don't do it for me.

Welfare and Pork

Want to know how those bi-partisans in congress got that dirty diaper of a bailout bill passed? How they garnered the support of those liberal Democrats looking out for main street tax payers and conservative Republicans who are ideologically opposed to corporate welfare?

They bribed them.  Works every time. Here's some fun ones:

1. Repeal of a $.39 excise tax on wooden arrows manufactured in Oregon;

2. $128 million of tax relief for the manufacturers of car racing tracks, aimed at congressmen in Nascar states, such as Virginia and North Carolina;

3. A provision to give $10 million in tax breaks to small television and film producers (thankfully not my congressman Waxman, because he had already, amazingly voted for it. At lease he's not being bought);

4. $223 million to Alaskan fishermen who were affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

5. An increase in limit on the excise tax of RUM to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

6. $19 billion for companies doing research and experimentation in the United States, (Microsoft, Boeing, United Technologies, EDS, and Harley-Davidson)

7. $148 to clothing manufacturers that use imported wool fabric.

8. $3 million to businesses doing business in American Samoa.

Full list here, in full Orwellian prose.