Virginia has recommended the movie: A Million Miles Away to see in advance of our November 3rd coffee and conversation topic.
Click on the trailer below. Ron, Lee, Virginia and Tom have already seen the full movie based on a real-life story of NASA Astronaut and Flight Engineer José Hernandez. This will be our Salon topic for November 3rd. You are invited to preview the film on Amazon Prime prior to our scheduled discussion.
A lifelong pacifist, Albert Einstein Feared a Nazi Bomb:click HERE so he signed the warning letter written by émigré Leó Szilárd addressed to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "the Nazis might be developing nuclear weapons."
After Hitler lost WWII and the Nazi Atomic Bomb no longer a threat, Leó Szilárd and Albert Einstein opposed the use of the bomb in Japan.
Leó Szilárd letter (signed by Einstein) addressed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
The new Oppenheimer movie has just been released giving us a rare opportunity to revisit one of history's most pivotal moments: the Manhattan Project. Patricia found tickets available Sun July 23 at 2 pm (IMAX) at Edwards Aliso Creek. ... let us know if you want to go. We'll gather together for a meal after the screening. Ron has recommended Urban Plates, an excellent restaurant just a few steps from the theater. The film runs 180 minutes, so dinner about 5pm.
109 East Palace by Jennet Conant, one of my favorite books, tells the Manhattan Project story from Dorothy's office on East Palace Avenue in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Every scientist bound for the Secret City of Los Alamos came through her office, and were then spirited away, up the hill, to the secret lab site.
As a kid, I lived in Monte Vista, Colorado, just 154 miles north of what is now Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Later, as a teacher, I met Richard Feynman, the "Boy Genius of Los Alamos" who told the story that...
There was a problem when scientists were away from Los Alamos during the project. All documents, research and notes were to be placed in their office safes each night, but when they were away, their research was often needed. So Richard Feynman learned to crack safes.
It became Feynman's job to access this material when scientists were off campus.
Patricia is excited, we both are, to share the story of our traditional Japanese wedding at Senju Shrine, a Tokyo shinto temple.
Date: Friday, June 9, 2023
Time: 10:00 am (following Tai Chi on)
Address: 21682 "B" Ocean Vista Drive. Laguna Beach, 92651
Go-yen and Goem
Tom and Virginia display their go-yen (5 yen coin necklaces). In Japanese word play, go-yen and goem, a word community are often linked together Yugi, my friend from Niimi told me that in Japan, people carry two or three of these in their wallets, or as shown here, wear them as a necklace.
Click HERE for our Japan Web site.It includes 34 Travel Tips, a Library and hundreds of pages of interesting notes and photos about both ancient and modern Japan. (The site is optimized for tablets and computers, but on mobile devices you can scroll to the bottom, then click on WEB VERSION.
When you click on each of the following photos, they are rendered in a larger, more dramatic, even more beautiful format. Thank you Ron.
Japan Travel Tip #1, in the right column is for those interested in the important things to know before traveling to Japan. As you finish the first travel tip, click on NEWER POST at the bottom to go to Tip #2.
Four years before our wedding, we sat together to pen the principles for our marriage.
A year before our wedding I had those First Principles engraved in kanji on the inner surface of Patricia's engagement ring.
Below: Tom in a summer Yukata, and Anna in a kimono from Kyoto.
Four years before our wedding, Patricia and I sat together to pen the principles for our relationship (based on our reading of Steinbeck and Ricketts). A year before our wedding I had those First Principles engraved in kanji on the inner surface of Patricia's engagement ring.
Travel through time. Walk the way of the Shogun. Thinking back on 9 visits to Japan, I can see why my journeys there felt more like time traveling. One moment you're enjoying a wedding reception 50 floors above Rippongi, Tokyo and the next you're walking the Temple of the Correct Fortune from the Kamakura period over 600 years ago.
Shōfuku-ji in Hagashimurayama, Tokyo, the Temple of Correct Fortune, is registered as a National Treasure of Japan, the oldest building in Tokyo.
Tip #15 Click HERE for Home Stays In Japan They are the best way to learn about the culture of Japan. Book home stays instead of ordinary hotels. Stay with a three generation Japanese family. In Asuka Village for example, Patricia was treated by Tanaka-san to the 23 step process of dressing in a kimono.
Violet shows Mary how to tie a yukata.
When Tanaka-san (above) in Asuka, Japan,
first dressed Patricia in a formal kimono, there were braided cords, a silk obi and, I lost track, 22 other pieces used to dress her properly. While it took a long time for such a happy outcome, each moment was visual and kinesthetic poetry.
Like all of our experiences in Japan this was done in a mindful, thought filled way, without a sense of time.
This reflected the Japanese concept of
Ryote to ryome de
"With both hands, and both eyes."
In the presence of our Japanese hosts, or even people on the street, each experience left us with a sense that something just happened that was mindful, earnest, and heart-felt.
Ryote to ryome de
a gift,
given with both hands.
In 2005, while preparing for my Japan-Fulbright time in Japan, we were taught, when exchanging business cards, to receive their cards with both hands, bow, read earnestly each word on their card, check the back, then with both hands bow and give our card, mindful and timelessly.
Ryote to ryome de
a gift,
given with both hands.
While I take this moment to bow out, check back soon as more photos will be posted.
If you have photos of our Japan Day celebration,
I will post them here.
Please send to 1tobymanzanares@gmail.com
Maybe next time, I will introduce you to Gassan Sadatoshi,
the finest sword smith I've ever met in Japan.
I spent 2 timeless hours with him, one afternoon.
His time, a gift, given with both hands.
For Gassan in his home, slide the scrubber bar to 1:56,
Last week Elle mentioned hypnotizing a rooster, but when it came to an explanation, I opted for DG, delayed gratification, a way to heighten interest by delaying the answer to an interesting question. For discussion next Friday.
Ethologists, scientists who study animal behavior, refer to this as "tonic immobility", a semi paralytic state triggered in some animals when threatened by a predator, like "playing opossum" or "deer in the headlights."
While we practice Tai Chi on the beach, our friends on the road can practice with us by bringing up the Aliso Beach Web cam Friday's at 8:30 am. Click on the web cam link above. As you travel, send us a photo or short video clip so we can see what you see. And travelers can see us practice Tai Chi at Aliso Beach.
June 18, 2023: From Alaska, Ron, midway through Polar Bear tai chi.
