Abolish daylight saving time

As Sunday's return to daylight saving time approaches, I am re-publishing this commentary I originally posted last November, as most of the United States returned to standard time.

Read my post about a scientific study that presented evidence that human internal clocks are disrupted for the entire period of daylight saving time, and only return to normal during standard time.

On Sunday, daylight savings ended in most of the United States, including the state where I live. Monday was the first regular workday following the time change, and I will be returning home in complete darkness, an abrupt shift from the previous workweek.

I don’t travel very often, but when I do, I find it difficult to adjust to a time zone change of two or three hours. One hour is less difficult, but I think most people accept changing time as part of the effort of traveling.

But when it comes to Daylight Saving Time, the majority of the country has no choice whatsoever. Essentially, shifting from standard time to daylight savings time and back again forces most Americans to shift time zones twice a year, as if they were moving from Chicago to New York time and back, forcing their internal clocks to adjust to the change.

I imagine you are thinking, "What's the big deal? You take a couple days to get adjusted, and then you forget about it."

I think it’s obvious that in the spring, many people have trouble the first few days, probably feeling a little more sleepy and less alert than usual. Though I’ve never seen any studies, I strongly suspect there is a higher rate of traffic accidents and other such incidents during the first days after changing to daylight savings time.

I understand that supporters of daylight saving time argue that energy is saved during the summer because it doesn’t get dark until later, during hours when people are normally active. Lights don’t have to be turned on because the sun is still out. People can enjoy their outdoor activities for an extra hour.

And yet the sudden shift from twilight at 6 pm to complete darkness at 6 pm a few days later seems to me as going against our basic connection to nature and the earth, to have our schedules shifted so dramatically and unnaturally.

During college I spent one (fall) semester in Japan. I didn’t realize what had happened until I had returned to the states and went through the time shift the next year. But during that fall, I experienced the days getting shorter through September and October, the days and nights got colder gradually. And it was pleasant, and it seemed natural, that the seasons turned gradually, without the abrupt shift of a time change.

Ever since, I've dreaded the return of the time shifts twice a year. Most people probably just accept it. But if you live through a whole half-year in a country without daylight saving time, I'd imagine you would feel the way I do.

"Disneyland will never be completed..."

If you're a fan of the Disney theme parks, there is a fascinating new blog by a handful of people in management at Disney Imagineering and Pixar offering their suggestions for how Disneyland can be improved.

Here's a sample:

For no apparent reason the current powers that be lowered the rockets off their perch and slapped the contraption on terra firma right in front of the entrance to Tomorrowland. Gone is the vista. Gone is the clean open space. Gone is the thrill of spiraling over the rooftops of Tomorrowland. Gone is the gleeming [sic] white rocket spire far in the distance that drew you into Tomorrowland. Now the ride is the exact same experience as Dumbo's Flight with the added benefit of being in one of the worst places imaginable for a ride of this sort.

And another:

One has to wonder, if the Imagineers went to the parks more often: Would that giant wand and sorcerer hat still exist? Would the fluorescent lights along the Casey Jr. track be more satisfactorily hidden? Would that lady on Main Street who cuts silhouettes that render each of her subjects as hydrocephalic, would she still be working there?

With Pixar creative head John Lasseter set to become creative consultant for Disney Imagineering (who design and update the theme parks) and with an ever-increasing number of Disney attractions based on Pixar films (Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, a Bug's Land in California Adventures, and the Submarine Voyage's re-opening next year with a Finding Nemo theme), it will be interesting to see if the suggestions find a receptive audience.

Thanks to Theme Park Insider for the tip.

Another essential Disneyland website is Yesterland, which documents rides and attractions which no longer exist at the theme park.

In related news, Mice Age's Al Lutz reports that the Imagineers will be updating Disneyland's Haunted Mansion to give it better special effects and a more coherent plotline.

The biggest changes will be coming to the attic scene, as that's where the new plotline will be most evident. As it is now, the attic scene is simply a cluttered and dusty place with a ghost inexplicably dressed like a bride with that spooky beating heart. But when the additions are all installed, the bride will become a much more sinister character who has apparently been killing off all of her previous husbands.

I've probably ridden the Haunted Mansion fifteen or twenty times, growing up in Los Angeles and being a frequent visitor to Disneyland. But I never knew until a couple of years ago that there was some sort of story behind the ride. Apparently the story was pieced together by fans and popularized on the internet, but knowing the story makes the ride that much more interesting.

From Al Lutz' commentary:

You can bet that these changes to Haunted Mansion will cause quite a stir from the online Disney community, which is exactly what WDI is expecting. Certainly there will be outcries from the diehards, but the Imagineers working on this project openly admit that they are aiming these show changes to the other 99% of Haunted Mansion riders who have never heard of Master Gracey or the convoluted story of his bride awaiting his return from sea.

Cherry blossom forecasting wars

It's cherry blossom season in Japan. According to this story by the Associated Press' Mari Yamaguchi, the competition is fierce between the government weather forecast agency and private forecasting companies to accurately predict when the trees will start blossoming in different parts of Japan.

Weathernews Inc. is a typical rival. It puts blossom forecasts and cherry blossom maps on its Web site, and provides weather information to 1.5 million individuals and 3,000 corporate subscribers, including 30 retailers.

The company's Web site also gives real-time cherry blossom condition reports, so visitors can click on an area and find out if it's time to pack a picnic basket — a service the Meteorological Agency does not provide.

"We just want to help people to enjoy the flowers," said Weathernews spokesman Masaki Ito. "Nothing is more disappointing than cherry festivals without flowers."

[snip]

The competition goes far beyond aesthetics: Japan's cherry blossom party season means big bucks. Millions of people crowd the country's parks and spend freely on picnic tarps, food and drink. Stores and cities depend on forecasts to plan the revelry.

"We monitor the blossoms very closely, using both the Meteorological Agency and private forecasts," said Mayumi Ito, a spokeswoman for Seven & I Holdings Co., owner of 7-Eleven convenience stores. "Staffers also visit nearby parks to check the blossoms."

In anticipation of the flowers, the convenience chain doubles stocks of snacks, paper plates and cups, plastic tarps — and beer. The day before the season starts, it orders boxed lunch shipments. Sales at outlets near main cherry blossom parks tripled during last year's season, Ito said.

More information about cherry blossom customs at this website.

Hakuna Matata

Today's New York Times describes the origins and various incarnations of the hit song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," as the songwriter's heirs struggled to receive fair compensation.

In 1930s Johannesburg, musician Solomon Linda formed an innovative singing group named the Original Evening Birds and they recorded "Mbube," a song based on his experiences herding cattle and protecting them from a predatory lion. The recording became a huge hit in South Africa, and inspired versions throughout the world. In 1961, an American songwriter re-worked the lyrics to those we are familiar with today.

By all rights, Mr. Linda should have been a rich man.

Instead, he lived in Soweto with barely a stick of furniture, sleeping on a dirt floor carpeted with cow dung.

Mr. Linda received 10 shillings — about 87 cents today — when he signed over the copyright of "Mbube" in 1952 to Gallo Studios, the company that produced his record.

The injustice was revealed by a 2000 Rolling Stone article, and though Linda had passed away in 1962, his family filed a lawsuit in 2004. The publishing house settled with the family in February, agreeing the pay royalties from 1987 onward. The basis of the lawsuit was the Dickens Provision, a British law returning all rights to a creative work twenty-five years after the death of its creator.

The publicity surrounding the case also put the Walt Disney Company in a negative light, as the song was used in the 1994 blockbuster "The Lion King" and its various stage versions around the world.

"I was angry before," said Ms. Nsele, who, as a government nurse, is one of the few of Mr. Linda's descendants who is employed. "They didn't ask permission. They just decided to do anything they wanted with my father's song."

"But now it seems we must forgive, because they have come to their senses and realized they have made a mistake," Ms. Nsele said. "The Bible says you must try to forgive."

"Not 'try,' " her 17-year-old daughter Zandile corrected. "It says 'forgive.' "

Apparently the story is not as new as I thought. There is an more comprehensive account of the story here. The story ends on an optimistic note.

Solomon Linda wasn't bitter that his song brought success to others. "He was happy," his daughter Fildah told [Rolling Stone journalist] Malan. "He didn't know he was supposed to get something."

Saint Paddy's Day

I tried to talk my daughter's preschool class into going to today's St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Los Angeles. It was probably just as well, as the rain started a little before the start of the parade reached its destination at Pershing Square.


The parade was organized by the Los Angeles Fire Department, which accounts for the large number of fire trucks. There were also a large LAPD presence, including assault and rescue vehicles.

The people on the back of the Farmer John truck were throwing out plastic coin holders, many of which sat on the street untouched.

I don't really see the connection to St. Patrick's Day, but Wells Fargo Bank also had an entry, a stagecoach pulled by four horses.




As expected, many people turned out in festive green clothing and adornments. This vendor across from Pershing Square was doing slow business. He might have had more luck selling umbrellas.

One interesting aside: as the parade opened with bikers on Harleys roaring by and I was taking pictures, a woman asked me what was going on. She wasn't sure if I said, "St. Patrick's Day Parade" or "St. Patrick's Gay Parade."

I've never heard of a St. Patrick's Gay Parade, but I suppose that would be an interesting combination.


Afterwards, I made my way to my local McDonald's for a Shamrock Shake, a treat I associate with St. Patrick's Day when I was growing up. (Hmm...I don't suppose McDonald's Irish roots have anything to do with making special shakes for St. Patrick's Day?) I was told the machine was not working. Maybe next year.

And the rocket's red glare!

According to this New York Times article, a group called the National Anthem Project is touring the country to try to re-teach Americans the lyrics and history of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Dismayed by a Harris Poll that showed that 61 percent of Americans did not know all the words to our national anthem, a collection of music teachers organized the effort, with corporate sponsorship by Jeep and support from the Girl Scouts of America, Disney, the NBA, the NFL, and others.

Currently in Dallas, Texas, the tour will be visiting Little Rock, Nashville, and Indianapolis in the next few weeks. You can sing the anthem at the event to try to win a scholarship for your local school's music program and a chance to participate at the finale in Washington D.C.

There have been earnest attempts to drop the song as the anthem, and replace it with something more benign, like "America the Beautiful." A major problem with "The Star-Spangled Banner," experts say, is that it is all but unsingable.

Steven Blier, a vocal coach at the Juilliard School, rattled off four reasons: "It's rangy, it has that legato phrase on a high note, the climax ends on a high note with a bad vowel, and the word setting is bad at some crucial spots." The song's lowest note, at the word "say" in the first line, is an octave and a half below its highest notes, at "red glare" and "free" toward the end.

So, paradoxically, the song may arouse feelings of humiliation and embarrassment rather than pride. "It's an awkward song to ask untrained people to belt out," Mr. Blier said.

In related news, Dr. Ed Siegel of Solano Beach, California is on a one-man crusade to have the Star-Spangled Banner sung in a lower key, G minor, when audiences are asked to sing along. According to Dr. Siegel, most people cannot hit the high notes in the song at its current designation of B flat major.

From an earlier New York Times article:

[Siegel] claims that ''The Star Spangled Banner'' has contributed to a nationwide decrease in singing, because Americans are routinely embarrassed by how badly they sound hollering it out. ''This has caused a form of post-traumatic stress disorder in our culture,'' he says. ''People freak when asked to sing.''

Of course, changing the song's key doesn't fix its absurdly wide range, and the new lows will be too low for some. ''People can mumble those parts if necessary,'' Siegel says. ''But everyone should be able to hit the high notes -- that's where it gets exciting.''

Baseball & national pride

Despite some concerns about my daughter's condition, my mother and I went to the Sunday game of the World Baseball tournament in Anaheim. The game was a matchup between South Korea and Mexico, two nations that have large immigrant populations in Los Angeles and Southern California.

The weather was unusually cold for this part of the country in March, thanks to an Arctic storm that swept through California starting Friday, bringing heavy snow to the mountains and hail storms at lower elevations. We bundled up and made our way to Anaheim Stadium.

Walking through the parking lot, we saw many people carrying Korean flags and wearing Korean team caps. And they were probably outnumbered inside the stadium by Mexican fans by three to one.

Some scenes from inside the stadium:





























For some reason, the game started at a late time, 8 pm. We watched batting and fielding practice for both teams, and watched Korea take a 2-0 lead on a first inning home run. Mexico came back with a bases-empty home run in the third inning. We left after four innings, and found out later that the game ended with the same 2-1 score.

The opening flag ceremony and playing of the national anthems:















The crowd sitting around us was mostly pro-Mexico. There was a lot of chanting of "Meh-hee-coh, Meh-hee-coh" throughout the game. A guy a few rows below us was also chanting things like "Si, se puede!" and "Pancho Villa!"

The upper level of the stadium above us near the right field foul pole was also visibly pro-Mexico. When someone bravely showed up with a South Korean flag, there was a loud and prolonged booing from that area.

Two Los Angeles Stations

On Friday, our daughter was sick from preschool, and I ended up taking her to my parents-in-law. When I have to make the round trip between there to work, I'll often take the Metrolink train to Union Station and then the Red Line to downtown's financial district.

Here are some photos from along the way.



Los Angeles Union Station is one of the last remaining grand railway stations in the United States.
In addition to being a railroad station for Amtrak and the commuter service Metrolink, Union Station is also one terminus for Los Angeles' subway, the Metro Red Line, which runs from downtown through Hollywood and to the San Fernando Valley, and on a separate shorter line, along Wilshire Boulevard. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced an ambitious 12-mile, $5 billion plan to extend the Red Line to service Los Angeles' Westside district, Beverly Hills, and the coastal city of Santa Monica (and run the Red Line to the Pacific Ocean, as they say in the local press).

The timetable for arrivals and departures into Union Station.










Just outside the main waiting area is a lovely garden.









Three stations down from Union Station on the Red Line, the 7th/Metro station is one of the busiest MTA subway stations, as the Blue Line from Long Beach reaches its northern point here. You often see commuters in a mad scramble to get from the arriving Blue Line car downstairs to the lower level to catch their connecting Red Line train, and vice versa.

At the street level at Figueroa Street is an easily-missed public artwork. As you go up the escalator or stairs from the station, you see a mural painted on the ceiling of the station entrance.













It presents the view of the downtown skyline if there were open sky instead of the building, a former Home Savings of America office tower, above the subway station.

Three Strikes

On Wednesday, the 710 freeway, a major artery in metropolitan Los Angeles, was shut down for over four hours as a police pursuit resulted in a standoff with the man (wanted for a previous kidnapping) sandwiched between two SWAT team military vehicles on the freeway.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the suspect had previously been deported to Mexico for another crime and had re-entered the country illegally. A law enforcement spokesperson said this could be the third strike for the suspect.

Traffic was at a standstill for the seven miles of the freeway closed in both directions. Thousands of vehicles flooded onto neighborhood streets.

Officials said they operated by the book Wednesday and proceeded with extra caution because they believed the driver might have been armed. After the arrest, they determined that he had no gun.

"When it comes to human life, traffic becomes secondary," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore.

But during the standoff, a man was killed in an vehicle accident, apparently due to the freeway shutdown. According to the California Highway Patrol, the man's car had slowed from 50 miles per hour to 5 mph as he saw the slowing traffic. The car following him did not slow down and crashed full-speed into the victim.

How does law enforcement balance the life of the suspect against the life of the accident victim? Not to mention the thousands of hours of lost productivity and major inconvenience to all the people stuck in traffic.

My gut reaction is that a public example should be made of the suspect, to discourage others from leading police on high speed chases. I don't support capital punishment, but twenty five years of hard labor would be fitting.

No Joy in Mudville

My family has been a baseball family as long as I can remember. Last fall, when I heard about the World Baseball Classic tournament featuring teams from the top baseball-playing countries around the world, I was pretty excited.

Since Hideo Nomo made a big splash with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, my mother has been rooting for Japanese stars as Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui.

In December, I bought my mother two three-game ticket scripts for the second round series March 12-16 in Anaheim Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Six games would be played in round robin format with the two top teams from Pool A and Pool B. Pool A featured four Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. Pool B is mostly North American teams: USA, Canada, Mexico, and South Africa.

There were two different ticket script options of three games each, and based on news reports and blogger accounts, Japan was likely to win Pool A and USA was the heavy favorite to win Pool B.

So I bought the ticket scripts that featured three games with the Pool A Champion, expecting my mother would be able to see three games with the Japanese national team. I would go to the Sunday game, against the Pool B Champion, and two other friends of my mother's would go with her to the Monday and Wednesday night games (against the Pool B and Pool A runners-up).

And then it all fell apart.

In first-round play, Japan easily dominated the Taiwanese and Chinese teams, but in last Saturday's game against South Korea, the Korean team came from behind to win 3-2. The Japanese team finished with a 2-1 record, the South Koreans perfect at 3-0.

Thus my mother will be seeing three games next week with the South Korean team, although the Wednesday game will be against Japan.

Today, the US team, with such superstars as Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Johnny Damon, fell to the Canadian team, 8-6. Even if USA manages to beat the anemic South African team tomorrow, with a Canadian win against Mexico, Canada will be the Pool B champion and USA will be the runner-up.

So instead of seeing USA and Japan play in next Sunday's night game, in all likelihood my mother and I will be treated to South Korea versus Canada.

To be fair to the Japanese team, when they took the field last Saturday against South Korea, they were already guaranteed a spot in the second round. The only thing they had to play for was national pride, since teams start with a 0-0 record in the second round.

The US team doesn't have an excuse. If they don't manage to beat South Africa on Friday, they are going home. It would be a disgrace greater than America's national baseball team failing to qualify for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.

UPDATE: The US team won its game on Friday, taking out their frustration on South Africa with a 17-0 victory. They advance to the second round, despite an identical 2-1 record as the Canadian team, thanks to rules for teams tied in the standings which favor teams allowing fewer runs to their opponents.

Mexico won Pool B, by virtue of 9-1 victory over Canada on Thursday. It seems that the mathematical model "If A>B and if B>C, then A>C" does not apply to sports opponents, especially in baseball. Rather than Canada being the best team in the pool, the best explanation may be that Canada had a "Miracle on Ice" moment against the favored American team.

Downtown Los Angeles walking tour

I took my camera to work with me yesterday to take pictures from my frequent walks around downtown Los Angeles during my lunch hour.

Many t.v. commercials have bee filmed in front of The Standard Hotel (at right) on Flower Street at 6th Street over the past couple of years, and the hotel is the hip place to attend rooftop parties in the evenings.


A little further north on Flower, the view from 5th and Flower looking up at the Citigroup tower (made famous in the 80s tv show L.A. Law), on the left, and the US Bank Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast and the purported target of Al Qaeda terrorists in 2002, on the right.






Walking up the hill, where Flower becomes Hope Street, and looking back toward the Financial District.

Walt Disney Concert Hall is on the left, and the US Bank Tower is in the center background.


Some more photos of Disney Hall, designed by architect Frank Gehry and the newest part of the Los Angeles Music Center:










Walking around Disney Hall, looking down Grand Avenue:



















About a block down on Grand Avenue is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), which is co-hosting the Masters of American Comics exhibition for another couple of weeks.

Crossing from Grand Avenue to Hope Street in front of the Mellon Bank building, there is this view of the Bonaventure Hotel and the downtown YMCA building in green at the bottom of the picture.











Walking down the Bunker Hill steps and turning right at the Central Library onto 5th Street, looking up at the Bonaventure Hotel from the corner of 5th and Flower:










In the courtyard of the City National Plaza, with its twin charcoal gray towers, is this fountain, a favorite destination for those on their lunch hour.

You can see a gmap of the route here, and a more detailed map of the buildings in downtown at this site.