Happy Birthday, Chippy and Elijah!

Both Elijah and Chippy turned 15 yesterday. What a turbulent decade and half for all of us! Fortunately we have had this pair of siblings living with us side by side since the moment they stepped out their adoption basket into our arms, on the steps of Main Post Office one midday in July 2012. They stayed temporarily in our Pacific Avenue HQ office until they could go home with Gail and me. So many people passed through admiring Elijah's blue eyes and Chippy's pinky ears.

The brother was so happy with his sister next to him, but totally lost and heartbroken after she was picked up by Paul towards the end of the day. The siblings met once when we organized their 5th birthday party. Chippy was surprisingly calm but Elijah was scarred.

They have been our true love and companion all these 15 years and many years to come!

Chasing ISS Two Days in a Row

Last Friday and Saturday (April 15-16), two days in a row, Paul and I went to East Cliff to watch and chase ISS' route over Santa Cruz. They were different experiences for us.

The Friday's chase was such an easy one with a dark and clear sky at 8:55 pm. As the route was advantageously high, we spotted it right away the moment it appeared below a treetop, and watched it disappearing into the sky minutes later.

The Saturday's chase was an entirely different experience with big patches of clouds all over the dusky sky at 8:05 pm. It was Paul who spotted ISS, but it was already over our heads then. It did not disappoint us though. It shone over the cloudy darkness and moved forward, with a resolute and clear goal.

At that moment I wished that our life would be like ISS' clearly charted routes. Strangely speaking, life is almost similar: sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is not. But we always need a goal in mind, without which we will be headless and rootless.

Spotting ISS in March

Right after our dinner at 8:00 pm, Paul and I drove to Pleasure Point to spot the International Space Station (ISS) over Santa Cruz. 

Both of us were excited about the sight, even though we had observed it many times. For one thing, it was the most advantageous position in the months of March and April, 2017. For another, it was like greeting an old friend that might not been there anymore, in the time of budgetary cuts.

At exactly 8:29 pm, the faithful ISS appeared over the starred sky at the maximum height of 75°. Normally, five minutes are just a blink, but now, an eternity. It passed over us proud and determined along its charted course. Wish we could do so with our life and future.

Because of our optimal observing position at the corner of the 38th and East Cliff drive, ISS was visible longer than usual before it finally disappeared in the sky. We finished our night walk and went home feeling accomplished.

SightingLocation

Leaflet | Powered by Esri | National Geographic, DeLorme, HERE, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, increment P Corp.

Location: Santa Cruz, California, United States

The following ISS sightings are possible from Monday Mar 27, 2017 through Tuesday Apr 11, 2017

Date	Visible	Max Height	Appears	Disappears	Share Event
Mon Mar 27, 8:29 PM	5 min	75°	10° above SW	18° above NE
Tue Mar 28, 9:16 PM	2 min	23°	22° above NW	17° above N
Wed Mar 29, 8:23 PM	4 min	40°	34° above WNW	11° above NE
Thu Mar 30, 9:08 PM	2 min	13°	12° above NW	10° above N
Fri Mar 31, 8:15 PM	3 min	20°	19° above NW	11° above NNE
Sun Apr 2, 8:07 PM	2 min	11°	11° above NNW	10° above N
Fri Apr 7, 10:14 PM	< 1 min	11°	11° above NNW	11° above NNW
Sat Apr 8, 9:22 PM	1 min	14°	10° above N	14° above NNE
Sun Apr 9, 8:31 PM	< 1 min	10°	10° above NNE	10° above NNE
Sun Apr 9, 10:06 PM	< 1 min	15°	15° above NNW	15° above NNW
Mon Apr 10, 9:14 PM	3 min	25°	10° above NNW	25° above NNE

Miracles in the Winter Sky

Monday, January 30th, 2017,  Paul and I observed, with awe, one miracle after another in the sky. I was so glad that I had the day free for us to share all these magical moments together.

Around noon, there was a low rattling sound in the sky. We went out in the side-yard and saw five military helicopters flying by in a majestic formation.

Right after finishing the late afternoon call with Hui, the two of us left home and arrived at Moran Lake Park at 5:25 pm. Five minutes later we saw one of the most magnificent sunsets. Bold strokes of brilliant colors splashed generously over the whole sky. When we retreated to Pleasure Point, the sky became dusky. It was a perfect moment to sight the International Space Station (ISS) over Santa Cruz. At 5:57 pm, a bright ISS was passing by the moon at an advantageous 88 degrees, as scheduled.

Courtesy of spotthestation.nasa.gov

Once the ISS disappeared in the clouds, we turned and watched the evening sky: there was an impressive formation of celestial bodies, Mars, Venus and the Moon. What a sky we have! What a beautiful life we enjoy!

Courtesy of skyandtelescope.com

A Short but Full-Lived Life -- The Nomad

After reading The Nomad: the Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt (Interlinks; 2003) edited by Elizabeth Kershaw, I could not help but be drawn to the intimacy that oozed from Isabelle Eberhardt's diaries covering her three years' life as a nomad, from 1900 to 1903. Never content with the genteel city life, she set her mind on the Algerian Desert to seek both adventures and peace, which took real courage and inspiration. She started with a need to flee inertia and stagnation, but ended with the realization that "The fact of the matter is that constant, genuine attention to things outside ourselves that bring us no material gain will mellow and uplift the soul and raise it above trivial mundane concerns (page 162)." Not surprisingly she did manage to find her true destiny in the sun-drenched El Qued.

I started to read Isabelle Eberhardt in the early 1990s through the recommendation of our Australian friend Daisy, and her own global trekking. What I love most about Eberhardt's writings is their timelessness. There is no time limit on themes or characters in books like the Oblivion Seekers and In the Shadow of Islam published more than a hundred years ago. Today, we may still observe similar day laborers waiting for work in front of San Lorenzo Lumber on River Street. Ethnicity and physical locations may change, but the same nomad life style lingers.

Eberhardt's short, 27-year life was fraught with poverty, uncertainty, disaster and even an assassination attempt on her life. She did live a full life, however, with her increasing domestic bliss with her husband Slimane Ehnni. She never seemed to feel satisfied with her learning and literary endeavors. Just a few months before her death, she was planning to write one article per week for La Dépêche du Midi. After collecting enough stories to make a book, she was hoping that she and her husband would be more serene (page 187) and stable.

The Winner Takes It All

Thursday night when Paul told me that Leonard Cohen had died, one thought jumped into my mind: The Nobel Committee for Literature should have given Cohen the prize, since he was more poetic than any musicians alive. I could not believe my eyes on reading the first thing in the morning, Jonathan Wells's article Forget Bob Dylan. Leonard Cohen should have been the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. "Great minds think alike," I texted to Paul immediately.

This year's Nobel Prize for Literature is the most controversial one I can ever remember. It silenced Bob Dylan for more than a month, which fermented a rumor circulated on WeChat. Now I would not be surprised if it might have contributed to the passing of a disappointed Cohen.

If we put Dylan and Cohen together for a comparison of poetic expression, Cohen is definitely the winner judging from his literature education, novel and poetry publishing, and his being a top lyricist and musician since the late 1960's. Perhaps the Committee was looking beyond poetic expression, for something bigger and more enduring, such as influence. In so far as influence is concerned, Dylan does surpass Cohen and most of his fellow musicians worldwide, thus The Winner Takes It All, as ABBA sings.

Cohen himself realized the paradox of life a long time ago in Anthem,

I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.

Courtesy of http://cdn.thegentlemansjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cohen5-670x359.jpg

Mind and Soul Occupied (Okkupert)

After watching Occupied, a 2015 Norwegian TV series, Paul and I have found our minds occupied ever since. The TV series is based on the original idea developed by Jo Nesbø, and directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg. It is a futurist piece about fictitious Norwegian Prime Minister Jesper Berg's hopeless efforts against the energy crisis to ensure independence and peace for Norway. He is seen gambling on thorium-based nuclear energy at the beginning of the show, but shaking hands reluctantly with the subversive ex-military leader towards the end of season one.

Hans Martin Djupvik, a member of Norwegian special police force and Berg's former bodyguard, is Nesbø's Harry Hole in the series. He is brave, resourceful, but frustrated with his surroundings. His loyalty to his country lands him the label of Russian collaborator, ruining both his own and his wife's promising careers in law enforcement. Meanwhile Wenche Arnesen, the Norwegian Police Security Service chief, has sabotaged every single operation by Djupvik and his team, with her clandestine maneuvering. Even her suicide is played to muddle the political water. Throughout the series, our traditional values have been greatly challenged, such as war vs. peace, patriotism vs. nationalism, loyalty vs. betrayal and resistance vs. terrorism.

Girl on the Train and We

Yesterday evening, Paul and I went to the Pacific Regal to see the American rendition of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. We had very low expectation before the movie, for we had heard lots of complaints about its being transplanted from London to New York, and Westchester County to boot. To offset our disappointment, Paul bought us two giant Pacific Rim burritos at Planet Fresh and popcorn for the theater.

It turns out that our preparation was exaggerated, even though the food was good for our body. When a Metro North train appeared on the big screen, we were enchanted. It brought us instantly back to our daily walks at Croton Landing, with commuter and commercial trains passing constantly to and from the Croton-Harmon Station. It also awakened our recollections of our train riding experiences to New York City and other destinations, looking out of windows at houses along both sides of railway tracks and wondering about their inhabitants' daily lives.

The film is a little reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window with a window to the outside world. As a thriller, they differ drastically with the personal involvement of Rachel Watson, the protagonist. Because of her entanglement with two households, she is not a true objective observer to the two houses along the railway route, embodiment of perfect and imperfect marriages. With her alcoholic blackouts, she embarks on more strenuous adventures than L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies does in Rear Window.

In general, people dislike replacing one geographical location with another when remaking a foreign film for domestic assumption. In doing so, they are afraid of losing unique exotic flavor. One good example is BBC One's Wallander. The winning of a Broadcasting Press Guild Award (Best Actor for Kenneth Branagh) and six British Academy Television Awards has revealed potentials of transplantation, namely, locality and relevancy somehow might be more essential to us sometimes.

Our Annual Pilgrimage to OCC (Orange County Choppers)

Last Thursday, Paul and I went to pay our annual visit to OCC, Newburgh, NY. The visit was extra sweet, for we could not make it during our last June trip, due to the short stay. It was a perfect day for driving, sunny and breezy. We took the non-turnpike way there and the turnpike way back, meandering through Bear Mountain.

All the windows to the workshop were dark. We did not see any new productions created in 2016. However we did experience the familiar strong atmosphere of patriotism with theme motorcycles dedicated to fallen heroes, fire-fighters and policemen. There was, however on display a new "Custom" production bike, which could be yours for a mere $35,000.

The main store was very quiet, with few visitors, but a lot of merchandise. After circling the hall, we decided to enjoy our annual OCC burgers. We ordered Texas Run and Smokey Bacon Blue. They were as delicious as our memory served. Looking around, the Café was surprisingly busy for 2:30 pm, with a table of women friends chatting and another table of men doing some business transactions. The bar was full with young men in airman and army uniforms and others in mechanic's uniforms.

While at our table, we recalled the OCC's humble gift shop trailer adjacent to the original production shop in the same building that housed Paul Senior's iron fabrication business. We shopped there on our 2004 maiden visit, after watching Rick and several other original team members busily working there. It has been over a decade now. During this period, many changes have taken place: the rise, breakup and reorganization of Teutul's family and production teams, all through the reality show on the Discovery Channel.

Walking along Chicken Alley

Yesterday evening at 6:00 pm, Paul and I joined the last Live Oak History Walk of the summer. Guided by two local historians Norman and Kathy Poitevin, over 62 of us walkers started at Live Oak School (1916 Capitola Road), and headed north along Chanticleer Avenue. 

Courtesy of Paul Titangos Photography

Chanticleer Avenue, or Chicken Alley, was officially recorded by Santa Cruz Sentinel on 13 July 1911. The road name originated from two sources: Edmond Rostand’s 1910 play, and home of early poultry ranches in the Chanticleer neighborhood.  The popularity of the poultry industry was a natural result of soil depletion, and lack of viable irrigation after previous 50 years' wheat and oat farming, and fruit and vegetable cultivation. Around 1910, Frank and David Wilson, two real estate agents, established the Wilson Bros. poultry company. They purchased several wheat farms and subdivided them into long and narrow new lots equipped with poultry units typically comprised of a 2-bedroom house, one or two coops and chickens. Those lots not only gave the neighborhood a unique land feature, but also defined its residents' occupations, and their families.

Courtesy of Paul Titangos Photography

We visited more than 22 houses built since the rise of chicken ranches on both sides of Chanticleer Avenue, with odd numbers like 1935 and even numbers like 1840. Interestingly, very few house owners were locals, but were from other states, or from countries such as Canada, Denmark, England, or Germany. Their former occupations varied too. But the new opportunity brought them here to work either directly in the poultry industry or indirectly for their families, working as butchers, real estate agents, school teachers, shopkeepers or bank-tellers or managers.

Courtesy of Paul Titangos Photography

At 7:30 pm, we completed our tour outside 2235 Capitola Road. The house owner was a little alarmed at first by our appearance, but immediately expressed his satisfaction at the mention of his house's fame. He is one of the few owners who are familiar with the long history about their homes. Moreover, there is a sharp contrast among the existing old houses: some houses are well-kept and well-preserved while others are dilapidated, and one, only a few days earlier, was torn down without an original trace.

Courtesy of Paul Titangos Photography

Full of local pride and well-being, Paul and I turned around and walked home to see our anxious Chippy and quiet home on the lot once inhabited by numerous hens and roosters.

 Courtesy of Paul Titangos Photography