Out of my cave

My last post below was May 11. It’s been a month of non-stop work and prepping for the big day. Didn’t even know the Lakers were playing in the NBA Finals until someone mentioned it last week at Pavillions at 9:30pm…after Game 3.

In Tokyo now; we arrived last night. We took ANA’s premium economy class for the first time; it was basically as roomy as business class with the same food. You can even order snacks in-between meals like udon, ramen and tonkatsu sandwiches. Highly recommended. A celebrity sat behind Harumi: the popular enka singer, Jero (ジェロ). It’s nice to see everyone here again.

Looking forward to seeing Mom, Pop, Carol, Michael, Sue and Deano here next week…and going to Bora Bora the following week!

Quote of the week

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Happy Mother’s Day!

A happy Mother’s Day to mom, and my future mother-in-law in Yokohama, Japan…and Carol, cousin Amy, Coco, Cheryl, Linda and all of our other friends!

Later today we’re taking mom to Torafuku for dinner…thanks Sue for making arrangements!

Will leave with this quote:

“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”

–Honore de Balzac, author

Manny Ramirez opinions

Biggest news story today was clearly Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension for using banned substances. I first heard about it afternoon on an elevator video screen in Century City. As expected, opinions varied, based on articles I read this evening:

“I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I’m sorry about this whole situation.” — Manny Ramirez

“Who hasn’t done something we wish we hadn’t done?” asked Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti. “Had he dismissed it or acted like it was somebody else’s fault, I’d have a hard time with it. He took ownership of what transpired. That speaks to the man. Admit your mistake in a public forum, that’s not easy to do.” — Ned Colleti, Dodgers GM

“You see that there’s no favorites being played. That shows you that baseball is serious about what they’re saying and doing. I’m happy that we’re heading in the right direction.” — San Diego Padres pitching ace Jake Peavy

“Hey Giant-fan! Why are you even on this chat board? Or are you here just to show us how to deal with PED using team members from all the experience you have.” — Fan comment, Dodgers.MLB.com article

“Now take some of that 8 million you just saved and spend it on a bullpen that can hold a 6 run lead.” — Another fan (Dodgers blew a 6-0 lead tonight, losing 11 – 9)

“We’ve had a chance to learn from him and it brought us confidence to be where we are right now. It’d be tough to say we won’t miss him in the lineup, but I feel we’ll find a way to get the job done.” — Andre Ethier, Dodger outfielder

“I’m turned off by players that try and test the system. It doesn’t make any sense.” — Larry Bowa, Dodgers 3rd base coach

“I must admit, when I first heard the news that Ramírez had tested positive for use of a banned substance, I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I was filled with a lot of I-told-ya’-so anger directed at the people in Los Angeles, most notably the fawning media that had bought into the whole Manny act and that had apparently decided that we Big Meanies in Boston had made it all up.” — Bob Ryan, Boston Globe sports columnist

There’s a good chance we already know how this whole thing is going to end, probably a Sunday game against the Giants in late September, 50,000 people on their feet screaming, ‘Manny, Manny.’” — T.J. Simers, L.A. Times sports columnist

Quote of the week

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

– John Wooden

Obama’s stand in the auto crisis

Interesting article on President Obama managing the many people and organizations with a stake in GM and Chrysler. Excerpt below:

For a new president, the automobile industry crisis has tested the boundaries of his activist approach and the acuity of his political instincts. As with so many issues in his action-packed 100 days in office, Mr. Obama confronted choices few of his predecessors encountered. His ongoing intervention in an iconic sector of the economy offers a case study in the education, management and decision-making of a fledgling president.

Tutored by veterans of past administrations, Mr. Obama, often after dinner with his wife and daughters, devoured briefing papers until midnight to master the intricacies of the auto industry. But he had advisers deal directly with the car companies and never spoke with the G.M. chief executive he effectively fired.

Methodical and dispassionate, Mr. Obama aggravated powerful players in Congress and the unions that helped elect him, then moved to assuage them. He encouraged internal debate but was forced to head off tensions as his treasury secretary and White House economic adviser maneuvered for position. In the end, he struggled with the proper balance between government power and market forces, a theme that has defined his first months in office.

From The New York Times.

Family crest

Last night got an e-fax from my dad’s cousin in Hiroshima, Yoshinori Sawa, with our family crest, or kamon (家紋). After asking some relatives on the Osa side, he managed to track it down. It looks cool…will have to learn more about its meaning when we’re back in Japan. Thank you Yoshinori!

Quote of the week

“I don’t think that Tim Geithner was motivated by anything other than concern to get the financial system working again. But I think that mindsets can be shaped by people you associate with, and you come to think that what’s good for Wall Street is good for America . . . [This] led to a bailout that was designed to try to get a lot of money to Wall Street, to share the largesse with other market participants, but that had deeply obvious flaws in that it put at risk the American taxpayer unnecessarily.”

– Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel-winning economist at Columbia University and bailout critic, from today’s New York Times

Food in Tokyo

It’s Sunday morning and we’ll be heading to the airport in a couple hours. Thanks to Harumi, we ate really well this week, probably too well … veggies next week.

Our first meal…tonkatsu (とんかつ), fried shrimp (えび フライ) and potato croquette (コロッケ) lunch at Wako, between Yurakucho station and the Imperial Hotel.

ハンバーグ (hamgaagu, or Japanese-style hamburger) at Tsubame Grill (つばめ グリル), near Tokyo station. Really good…the hamburger was so tender. If you like Hawaii loco moco, you’ll like this.

Tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen at Kyuushuu Jangara (九州 じゃんがら) in Nihonbashi. Outstanding!

Click for more pictures…

Obama’s new Blackberry

President Obama will soon get his new, high-security Blackberry, according to the Washington Times:

The top-secret BlackBerry 8830 is in the final stages of development by the National Security Agency, which will soon begin checking to make sure its encryption software meets federal standards. The device could be ready for use in the next few months.

Once in hand, the president will be able to send text and e-mail and make phone calls to others with the secure software loaded on their devices. Others expected to get secure BlackBerrys include top aides as well as first lady Michelle Obama.

The software being used is called SecureVoice, developed by The Genesis Key Inc. of Washington. It can turn any BlackBerry 8830 or Curve into a device that is designed to defeat hackers, eavesdroppers and spies.

“With the recent foreign cybersecurity threats, it is important that the president has a BlackBerry that is completely secure at the top-secret level,” said Gary S. Elliott, Genesis’ chief information assurance officer, who is a specialist in cyberwarfare threats.

Busy week

We arrived in Tokyo Sunday evening and it’s already Friday morning. The days have been packed with planning and running errands … and every evening we’ve had dinner with friends, former colleagues or Harumi’s folks. We got many things done which is great.

Of course food is one of the important reasons to visit Japan, so I’ll post a few pictures later today when I have more time. Harumi took the shot above near Jindaiji temple in Chofu, about 10 miles west of Shinjuku (yes I had a ソフト　クリーム）.

Off to Tokyo

It’s been exactly one year this month since our family vacation to Japan. Today Harumi and I will be going there for one week. But I think we’re equally excited about eating some great food, like curry at Sangosho in Kamakura and Kaotan Ramen in Nishi Azabu, two of Harumi’s favorite restaurants. Will try to post here during our stay there. It’s 7am now and back to some work I need to finish before we take off.

Mom online: status report

One month ago today I posted about mom’s iMac and getting her started using the Internet and email. Looks like she’s taken to it like a duck to water, as mom’s been reading the Japan online news sites every day, sending email in both Japanese and English and even called cousin John to help her replace the Mac Mail icon on her desktop (that she deleted again) because she couldn’t wait for me to fix it! (thanks Carol for the tip)

Mom told me on Wednesday with a happy face that it’s all おもしろい (omoshiroi, or interesting), and she told uncle to try it.

Now if we can find some bowling web sites we may be able to get pop online.

Tribute to Lincoln

Back in February I had bookmarked this amazing tribute to Abraham Lincoln by designer Maira Kalman called “In Love with A. Lincoln” and meant to post it here.

The first two reader comments said it all:

Wow.

what a lovely tribute, maira. thank you so much for this long treat of beautiful pictures and words…

Abraham Lincoln quotes here and here.

Cool Honda commercial

A colleague just showed me this cool Honda commercial. If you can spare two minutes it’s definitely worth a look. After seeing it you’ll understand why it took 606 takes and $6 million to get right. I was told no computer graphics animation was used.

Quote of the week

“The emotions are, in fact, in charge of the temple of morality, and moral reasoning is really just a servant masquerading as a high priest.”

– Jonathan Haight, University of Virginia, from David Brooks’ recent Op-Ed, “The End of Philosophy“

Toyota to Overhaul U.S. Operations

New sheriff in town at Toyota:

Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to announce as early as Friday in Japan a major overhaul of its U.S. operations, bringing engineering, manufacturing and sales under a single executive to revamp the ailing business.

People familiar with the matter said Yoshi Inaba, a former senior executive who left the auto maker in 2007, has been formally asked by Toyota this week to oversee most of the key aspects of the U.S. business.

With the appointment, Toyota is expected to bring Mr. Inaba back to the company’s board, the people said. It is highly unusual for Toyota to bring back an executive who left the company.

As part of the reorganization, Toyota is expected to have its New York unit, Toyota Motor North America Inc., function as the company’s full-fledged U.S. headquarters that brings engineering, manufacturing and sales under one umbrella, the people said. Previously, the unit’s main function was investor relations and government affairs. Mr. Inaba, a fluent English speaker, is expected to be named president of Toyota Motor North America and live in New York.

From the Wall Street Journal.

Back to 100 Yen = $1.00

The Yen/Dollar exchange rate has gone from 90 to 100 since the beginning of the year, which is helpful because we’ll be visiting Tokyo in less than two weeks. From the Wall Street Journal:

Japan’s economy is mired in recession. The Bank of Japan’s tankan survey of corporate sentiment recently showed that the country’s big manufacturers are more pessimistic than ever. Exports fell 50% in February from a year earlier.

So the steady erosion of the yen against the dollar — it is down about 10% since the start of the year — could continue for some time. Goldman Sachs suggests that a fair value for the yen is around 114 to the dollar.

Surely, few in Japan are upset by this. Over the course of a year, Toyota Motor says, a one-point rise in the yen against the dollar eats up $400 million of its operating profit.

Meanwhile Bloomberg just reported that the Japanese government may announce a new 15.4 trillion yen ($154 billion) stimulus package to help revive the economy.

2010 Prius

Toyota’s 2010 Prius debuts next month. Based on a few reviews I read, the 3rd generation Prius is a higher-performance car (0 to 60 mph in 9.8 seconds) but is still rated at 50 miles a gallon.

How much will this markedly improved package cost?

That is another good question that has more than one answer. Prices have not been announced, and the most basic version, to be called Prius I, will not be available until later this year. It is likely to be priced comparably to the base 2009 model, which was $22,600. (Toyota said last week that it was planning a hybrid version of its Yaris subcompact that would compete more directly with the less expensive Honda Insight.)

The mainstream version that goes on sale in May will be the Prius II, in the mid-$20,000 range. From there, there will be Priuses III, IV and V, with additional luxury features and higher prices.

But wait, as the infomercials say, there’s more. Stand-alone options like a navigation system, solar-cell roof ventilation, pre-collision automatic braking, radar cruise control, lane-minders and automated parallel parking are all in the works. Fully loaded, the Prius will easily top $30,000.

From The New York Times and Jalopnik.

Mac vs. PC

At the end of last year I bought an HP Elitebook 6930p notebook with Windows XP and Office 2007, to use as my main computer for work. I love my 15″ MacBookPro, but the Mac version of Office seriously suffers in usability, which I am now totally convinced of after using the much better PC version of Office for 3+ months now. I still use my Mac for my home computing, digital photos, etc.

With Windows 7 rumored to be released later this year, this article caught my eye:

Quote of the week

“The perennial procurement and contracting cycle, going back many decades, of adding layer and layer of cost and complexity onto fewer and fewer platforms that take longer and longer to build, must come to an end. There is broad agreement on the need for acquisition and contracting reform in the Department of Defense. There have been enough studies, enough hand-wringing, enough rhetoric. Now is the time for action.”

– Robert M. Gates, U.S. Defense Secretary, in announcing the new Pentagon budget

Newspaper vs. online ad spend

Annual revenue for the 15 year old online advertising industry is closing fast on the 200 year old newspaper advertising industry.

From Silicon Alley Insider.

Seniority vs. ability

It’s difficult to argue with the points below if the goal is better education for children.

My point, as I made clear in the column, is that it’s a shame that when we do lay off teachers, ability has nothing to do with it. The only consideration is seniority. Every school has teachers who stand above the rest. Some of them veterans, some of them not.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ray Cortines told me Tuesday that in the best scenario, a school has a good mix of senior, middle-experience and newer teachers, all of them feeding off of and learning from each other.

But the last-hired, first-fired system is no way to attract bright minds to the profession. Why would you want a job where you knew that the minute hard times came along, you’d be automatically bumped while less competent teachers would keep their jobs? And judging by my e-mail, a lot of teachers agree. In fact, some of them sound ready to rise up against their union bosses.

It’s true there is no easy way to evaluate teachers. But that’s because of the sorry politics of the matter, in which teacher unions are at war with school districts, politicians are paid too well to challenge the teacher lobby or fix an absurdly byzantine school funding system, and the children pay the price for the inability of the adults to work it out.

Principals, teachers and administrators need to grow up and work together to bounce the bad apples, polish the good ones and create bonus incentives for the best, and I’m tired of hearing everyone whine about how it can’t be done or won’t be done, or that no model exists.

From Los Angeles Times’ columunist Steve Lopez.

Encouraging signs

Some cautiously optimistic news that we may be past the worst of the economic downturn:

April 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said there are “encouraging signs” that financial markets are recovering and expressed confidence in the response of global policy makers to the crisis.

“You’re seeing encouraging signs of improvement in our markets — we want to reinforce that,” Geithner said today in a Bloomberg Television interview in London. “I’ve never seen this much support around the world.”

Geithner’s remarks reflect the view of some analysts that the worst of the economic downturn may be past, even as some banks are likely to fail and unemployment is set to worsen. The Treasury chief said the main danger is that banks and investors take too little risk and refrain from betting on a recovery.

The Dow closed today up 152 points, or 2%.

From Bloomberg.

Jeff Bezos vs. Bailout CEOs

Difficult to disagree with the points made here:

Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer and founder of Amazon, is a proponent of a Japanese philosophy called kaizen — which loosely translated means continuous improvement. As part of this belief, he has been working alongside folks at his company’s distribution centers in Lexington, Ky., perhaps to find out what else can he do to make Amazon better. This news was widely covered in blogs.

What caught my eye was the comments in response to Saul Hansell’s piece in The New York Times blog. Some of them pointed out the difference between Bezos and Bailout CEOs, who are good at offering excuses. Or others, like Auto Industry executives, who are often compared to lazy, brainless lumps.

As someone points out, the bailout money is going to companies that are big, not necessarily the best. The best companies wouldn’t need to be bailed out because they would be good at what they do.

Part of running a good company is knowing how each little part works and recognizing the importance of every person who contributes to the effort. Bezos clearly gets that. The bailout CEOs don’t.

From GigaOm.

Happy anniversary!

Happy 51st anniversary to mom and pop! Doesn’t seem that long ago that we were celebrating their 50th anniversary party at Lawry’s.

Good luck in Vegas! Safe travels home.

Quote of the week

“And so today, I am announcing that my administration will offer G.M. and Chrysler a limited period of time to work with creditors, unions and other stakeholders to fundamentally restructure in a way that would justify an investment of additional tax dollars; a period during which they must produce plans that would give the American people confidence in their long-term prospects for success.”

– President Barack Obama

Ichiro’s game-winning hit

Late posting this, but worth watching again — video from the Japan broadcast of the WBC final. I don’t know what the heck the announcer was saying after Ichiro’s game-winning hit, but he sure was excited.

Good post-game interview of Ichiro here. And a longer video of the 10th inning and post-game celebration here.

Kindle 2 arrived

My Kindle 2 arrived at the office today. It’s a cool device, and was ready to go out of the box. The size feels right in your hands, and the screen is clear and easy to read. Will report more later after I’ve had a chance to use it.

Amazon said that Kindle book sales already represent ten percent of their total book sales, which is amazing as it’s only been in the market for 16 months.

Fountain of youth?

Depending on your point of view, you may think that the online age quiz, RealAge, can help you live a longer healthier life, or invade your privacy and expose you to marketing emails to sell you drugs from the big pharmaceutical companies.

Americans yearn to be young. So it is little wonder that RealAge, which promises to help shave years off your age, has become one of the most popular tests on the Internet.

While few people would fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health and hand it over to a drug company looking for suggestions for new medications, that is essentially what RealAge is doing.

The test has received widespread publicity because of its affiliation with Dr. Mehmet Oz, a popular author and regular on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Whether they are attracted by Dr. Oz’s appeal or by the ads all over the Internet for the test, people come to the site, then provide an e-mail address to take it. They are asked throughout the test if they would like a free RealAge membership. If people answer yes to any of the prompts, they become RealAge members, and their test results go into a marketing database.

RealAge allows drug companies to send e-mail messages based on those test results. It acts as a clearinghouse for drug companies, including Pfizer, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, allowing them to use almost any combination of answers from the test to find people to market to, including whether someone is taking antidepressants, how sexually active they are and even if their marriage is happy.

From The New York Times.

Kindle 2 coming soon

I just ordered my Kindle 2 from Amazon. I’ve been fascinated by Kindle since its launch in November 2007. Kindle represents an optimal model for digital media distribution and consumption — a simple to use and slim device, a wide selection of new and old titles (250,000, including most of the NY Times best sellers), huge cost savings vs. shipping (and returning) physical books and the ability to buy anytime, anywhere, with free wireless delivery in less than 60 seconds.

Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief of Slate, writes:

The notion that physical books are ending their lifecycle is upsetting to people who hold them to be synonymous with literature and terrifying to those who make their living within the existing structures of publishing.

Japan wins World Baseball Classic

It was fitting that Ichiro Suzuki drove in the winning runs in the 10th inning to beat South Korea 5 to 3 in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic.

LOS ANGELES — To Japan and South Korea, the final of the World Baseball Classic was more than the final game of a 16-team tournament. It was the chance, the prized chance, to subdue a despised rival and be called the best team in the world. It was an opportunity for one proud country to incense another.

With a pulsating 5-3 win over South Korea in 10 innings Monday night, the Japanese won their second straight Classic and remained atop the international baseball world. Until the next tournament, in 2013, the Japanese can boast about being superior to the South Koreans and any country where players pick up bats and baseballs.

Ichiro Suzuki lined a two-out, two-strike single to center field off Chang Yong Lim to drive in two runs in the 10th and ignite a celebration from Dodger Stadium to Tokyo. But Suzuki did not immediately celebrate. After he scooted to second on the throw home, he showed no emotion. He calmly lifted his hand to call a timeout.

“I believe that Ichiro’s hit is something I’ll never forget,” said Tatsunori Hara, the Japanese manager. “It’s an image that will forever be imprinted in my mind.”

From The New York Times. The entire article is a good read.

The new hard times

The New York Times launched a new video series called “The New Hard Times.” It’s a conversation between generations and includes reader-submitted video, like this interview of 82 year old June Reistroffer Hamer by her 13 year old grandson. You’ll see about a minute into the video that even 70 years later, memories of hardships endured during the Great Depression still evoke strong emotions. Click here to watch.

Quote of the week

“When investing, pessimism is your friend, euphoria the enemy. Beware the investment activity that produces applause; the great moves are usually greeted by yawns.”

– Warren Buffet, from Berkshire Hathaway’s 2008 annual letter to shareholders

Japan vs. Korea

Japan moves on to the finals against South Korea in the World Baseball Classic after beating the United States 9 – 4.

On Sunday, the Japanese won by employing the style that has made them famous: fundamental baseball and strong starting pitching, this time from Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka. The country also played flawless defense and pounded out 10 hits.

Japan manager Tatsunori Hara did his part, writing in seven left-handed hitters in the starting lineup against Team USA starter Roy Oswalt.

The strategy worked. Of the six hits Oswalt allowed, five of them came to left-handed hitters.

“I really respect American baseball, so the fact that we were able to play against the American team was wonderful,” Hara said. “The fact that we won today is something that even for the Japanese baseball world is something that will remain in history.”

Japan is now headed to the World Baseball Classic championship game to defend its title against Korea in the fifth meeting between the two countries in this tournament. The teams split two games in Pool A at the Tokyo Dome and split two games at PETCO Park in the second round.

From Worldbaseballclassic.com.