Trekkin' With Takei

What takes a minute to describe
took two seconds to experience.
-Ian McEwan
'Enduring Love'

This coming May 8, 2009 the new STAR TREK movie will be the ‘talk of the town’. This version will chronicle the early days of Captain James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members. It is set before “The Original Series” beginnings when the newly graduated cadets are fresh from the Starfleet Academy and are sent on their first space mission.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yrdEe95Hs0

One of these cadets will be played by thirty-six year old actor John Cho as ‘Hikaru Sulu’. “The Original Series” began in 1966 and included actor George Takei as ‘Hikaru Sulu’.

On March 28, 2009 Alan Freiman and I had the opportunity for a guided tour of the Japanese American Museum in Downtown Los Angeles.


This was an especially arranged tour as we had recently met the Star Trek famed celebrity, George Takei, through mutual friends in early February 2009. George was accompanied with his longtime partner, Brad Altman, who assisted in the tour.
PHOTO: Brad Altman


George has such a passion for the telling of the stories that took place in the early 1940s. In 1942, the Takei family was sent to the Rohwer War Relocation Center for internment in Arkansas. The family was later transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California. Despite this experience, the family developed a renewed dedication and remained involved in the American democratic process.

George was a mere five year old in 1942. His family returned to Los Angeles at the end of World War II but George still remembers the fear of the unknown on his parents’ faces.



We enjoyed a pleasant lunch in the nearby Little Tokyo area followed by my first tasting of Muchi ice-cream (it consists of small oval pieces of ice cream that have a light rice coating around them). George and Brad showed us a wall with very significant words written right across the street from the Museum in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. The credit is not disclosed on the wall; however, I told George I would photograph the words and give him his due credit on my blog. These are the words that were actually written by George Takei:

America is a continuing story of a breaking from the past—the departure from old homes to build a new life. The late 19th Century boats bringing Japanese immigrants to the United States carried a cargo of ambition, industry and energy.

These Nikkei built the roads into the sierras, transformed wastelands into a major Californian industry—agriculture—and contributed to the growth of the cities. They enriched the life, commerce and culture of this new land.

But in 1942, they again packed their luggage for another break. World War II cut into the building of the Japanese-American community with the barbed wire edge of American Internment camps. Undaunted, they and their children continued the struggle to reaffirm the basic ideals of human dignity and freedom.

This wall is dedicated to the pioneering spirit of those early Nikkei whose lives, struggles and achievements make a full and moving picture—both a part of and an interacting element in the large American panorama.

-Written By George Hosato Takei

Twenty-five years ago today:

April 6, 1984, Friday

Today was ‘runny nose in-between business calls’ day. I was glad when my workday was at an end. I could relax and recover.

While at work I received a personal call from Michael Thoennes.
“I just want to know if you’ll be able to come over tonight,” Michael asked.
“Probably not,” I explained as he quite blatantly heard my sniffles and misery. “I might be able to come on Saturday, depending on how I feel.”

I decided to call Chris Cordellos at 9:15am but he wasn’t at the Base. He was at a doctors’ appointment. When I called at 2:30pm I learned he was at yet another doctors’ appointment. The switchboard person suggested I call back at 5pm as he was ‘on-duty’. I decided against calling.

I came straight home after work and lounged around. Michael T. called to tell me he was going out to San Mateo, CA.
“Oh, thrilling,” I thought silently, “the damn smokaholic”.
I doubt if I will drive down to see him tomorrow. I am much better off recuperating from my cold at home. I do feel myself getting better.

I decided to change three of my pending Job Transfer requests to titles of ‘Service Representative’ in the Business Service Center in San Francisco. I need a change. This is what I will definitely do next week.

I telephoned Chris while I was watching the TV-series DALLAS.

We had a good talk. We are still in good terms. He is still dreading his time with the US Coast Guard and wishes he could be back in the Bay Area.
“I do have about nine days off around Memorial Day,” Chris said.
His time off are perfect timing for my forthcoming birthday. We mutually discussed our hopes to make that trip to Huntington Beach at the end of August this year as well.