Category Archives: English

Have A Safe Journey

Now that the scare about self concocted liquid explosives bringing down planes is about to fade due to the complete elimination of all liquids and gels in the possession of passengers, all of us who like or need to travel are wondering what will be next. I’m not looking forward to my next flight to Europe or elsewhere. No more brushing teeth (no toothpaste), no more applying deodorant (yuck), no more water to drink. (Hello, flight attendant!?). And no more of the liquid meals I’ve preferred to the ghastly trays which airlines try to pass off as “in flight meal”.

Shoe bombs, toilet bombs …. what is next? Shall we install cameras in plane lavatories to prevent bombs from being assembled in there? Subject passengers to strip searches before each flight? X-ray everyone to make sure they don’t carry something dangerous inside their bodies?

I wonder when we will finally wake up and begin to rationally and honesty address the roots of terrorism instead of the symptoms.

P.S. 2016: Ten years later. Toothpaste and deodorants are not a problem, since small “travel sized” containers are now widely available. But air passengers suffer even more indignities, and surprisingly, people only grumble but still accept the new status quo. And yet, a relatively small portion of the general public is interested in examining the political, economic, ideological and religious factors responsible for creating and feeding the terrorism problem in the first place. But I suppose that would be too complicated. 

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Bad Dog!

In England, a guard dog went on a rampage, ripping apart a costly collection of rare teddy bears valued at more than $900,000. Among the victims of Barney the dog was Mabel, a brown 1909 bear once owned by a young Elvis Presley. All in all the six-year-old Doberman pinscher reduced hundreds of teddies to bits of limbs and fluffy stuffing. “He just went beserk”, said Daniel Medley, general manager of Wookey Hole Caves near Wells. A security guard chased the dog for several minutes before finally catching and subduing him. I guess Barney is in the doghouse now.

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DIY Liposuction

I’m a believer in self reliance and the “do it yourself” concept. But some people are taking it a bit far. According to a wire report, a Massachusetts couple was arrested for allegedly performing liposcutions in the basement of their home. One female patient has died. Luiz Carlos Ribeiro and Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro were charged with practicing medizine without a license. I wonder how they found their patients. Word of mouth?

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Mount Palomar

Just returned from a trip to Southern California’s Mount Palomar Observatory. While immersing myself in astronomy books as a child, I often marveled at the groundbreaking images taken with this telescope. And it carried my imagination away to other worlds and galaxies far away. Visiting the historic observatory had been a childhood dream of mine, and I was very excited to finally get there in person.

Completed in 1948, the big 200-inch reflector was the world’s largest telescope for many decades. Together with the Mount Wilson Observatory, it is the place where modern cosmology was born. Measurements obtained from these two observatories led to the discovery of foreign galaxies, the expanding universe, the composition of the universe, the birth and death of stars and the formation of planets.

Today, Mount Palomar’s Hale telescope wouldn’t even make the top-ten list among the world’s largest telescopes. Here’s a list:

http://astro.nineplanets.org/bigeyes.html

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Beethoven

Heard one of my favorite pieces of music at the Hollywood Bowl: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conduced by Leonard Slatkin. What a delight on a perfect summer night!

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Warning: Trees Can Endanger Your Health

The fear of negligence and liability lawsuits is rampant in today’s America. More and more, we are turning into a nanny state, in which even the minutest risk needs to be prevented, mitigated and legislated. Case in point is the large number of old trees which the City of Santa Monica is currently cutting down. Why? For the most part because these trees could potentially fall over and (gasp!) injure or kill someone.

Never mind that the risk is so remote that the National Safety Council does not even keep track of it. Compare that to the risk of driving a car on a public street, or that of becoming a crime victim. Indeed, the risk of catching Lyme disease (from an infected tick) or West Nile Fever (from an infected mosquito), both of which are found in our area, is much higher. Indeed, I would be willing to bet that the risk of getting killed by lightning is higher than that of getting hit by falling tree.

One needs to understand that Santa Monica, the city in which I currently live, is quite wealthy. What probably would have been just an accident in some other place became a huge lawsuit here when such a freak accident involving a tree did indeed happen here. So now, we are throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Ever mindful of lurking dangers to the public while watching the City’s finances, the City Attorney and other bureaucrats have decided that it is far better for all of us if we remove these old, mighty trees and replace them with tiny new ones. Not only do saplings have a smaller tendency to fall over and kill unsuspecting city folk, but they are also cheaper to prune and maintain. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Our public parks will be very safe now.

As for me: I have sat under these old trees countless times. And I have always been quite content with taking that risk in exchange for their majestic beauty, the shade and the wonderful scent. I spent the last few days on a personal cruisade to stop the cutting in the park adjacent to where I live. I was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times and various local papers, addressed the Santa Monica City Council and spoke at various neighborhood association meetings. Unfortunately none of this was successful, and the 80 – 90 year old trees fell victim to the chainsaws during the last few days.

Here is some press about it. (The reporter misspelled my last name):

City Removes Reed Park Trees

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R.I.P. “Opa”

Saddened about death of my grandfather Gottfried (“Fritz”) Koch of Eisenerz, Austria, who passed away at the age of 84 years. “Opa” leaves behind my grandmother, his wife of 63 years, as well as children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Although he could sometimes be stern on the outside, I remember him as a loving man who will forever be in my heart as a part of many beautiful childhood memories.

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Edward R. Murrow

Last night I was impressed by “Good Night And Good Luck”. The movie is set during the witchhunts of the McCarthy era and focuses on one of the greatest TV- and radio journalists of all times, Edward Murrow and his work for CBS. The movie is a sobering reminder of the vital function of a free press as a guardian against radicalism and as a protector of civil liberties.

By the way: Murrow’s portrayal as an intense chainsmoker rarely seen without a cigarette is entirely accurate. Murrow contracted lung cancer. He died in 1965, two days after his 57th birthday.

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London Retires Iconic Routemaster Bus

An era just ended in London, when the city pulled the world famous, old red double decker buses out of regular service. “Routemaster” buses were built from 1959 to 1968 and have been in service ever since. Although they were initially received with skepticism, Londoners and tourists alike soon began to love them with passion.

These buses have several features missing on modern counterparts: There is a conductor who takes tickets, gives directions and helps passengers. (On modern buses, the driver also processes tickets, which wastes time at bus stops). Secondly, the Routemaster has no doors. Passengers can board or exit the bus at any time, which is very convenient when there is a traffic jam and the bus just inches forward.

The decision to retire the buses had to be a financial one. There is the cost of maintaining the old vehicles, the cost for two operators and the danger of liability lawsuits brought by passengers falling off the bus. All this was probably too tough to swallow for a cash strapped public transportation system.

On the other hand, what often is overlooked is the impact this will make on tourism and the city’s spirit. London’s classic taxis, buses and phone booths are quintessential icons which distinguish the British capital from all other cities around the world. I find it sad that the city’s leaders did not come up with a solution to preserve the London’s heritage.

My feeling is that this decision is completely at odds with the public’s wishes. On bulletin boards and blogs, it is hard to find any messages not expressing anger and outrage over this move.

The good news is that about 20 “show” buses will remain for certain runs — mostly as tourist attractions. The rest will probably be bought by private parties. Word has it that they can be had for 5,000 to 10,000 pounds.

There is an organization dedicated to the Routemaster:

http://www.routemaster.org.uk/

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